I have to stifle a twinge of disappointment that follows his decision to obey Carter’s rule.
Sebastian disappears into the bathroom and takes a very long shower that ends with a guttural groan that filters through the wooden walls and has me blushing furiously. Both guys still in the room curse softly, and Carter turns his back on me as he readjusts himself.
So Sebastian just made himself come in the bathroom. Cool. That’s totally normal—and not insanely hot or anything.
My body apparently isn’t tired enough, because I squirm under the covers. Sebastian returns to the bedroom, his limbs loose and his smile wide. He leans in over the pillow wall, crawling halfway on top of Troy, and kisses my cheek goodnight. His lips are soft against my skin, and the caress sends shivers down my body despite how innocent it is.
Then Troy slaps Sebastian’s ass—he did place himself right across his lap—and Sebastian lets out an indecent moan and flushes pink again, and I drag my covers over my head, giggling, to hide my reaction to the whole thing.
God. These guys.
“Get your ass to the other side of the bed,” Carter barks, his tone vibrating with authority.
I peer from under the covers to find Sebastian sulkily crawling over to the far end, but Troy hooks his arm around Sebastian’s waist and pulls him back for a kiss.
This one isn’t innocent at all, and I gasp at how they devour each other, Sebastian’s hands clenching in Troy’s long hair. When Sebastian finally tears himself away, they’re both breathing hard. Carter mutters darkly to himself as he reaches over to switch off the lights. Troy glances at me just before the room is plunged into darkness and throws me a wink that tells me he knows exactly how much I enjoyed all of this.
Because I did. The guys clearly care for each other, and I’m not fooled by Carter’s grumbling either. My eyes adjust in the darkness. I raise myself on my elbows and see he has curled himself around Sebastian’s back, his arm thrown over the other man’s waist as they spoon. Troy is lying on his back between us, his arms behind his head. His massive biceps make my mouth water, which is a clear sign for me to go to sleep.
If I’m thinking about sinking my teeth into the arm of a guy I wanted to stab mere hours ago, I’m clearly delirious from exhaustion.
Only I know I’m lying to myself. My chest hurts with how much I crave this dynamic in a relationship. And as the guys fall asleep one by one, their soft snores punctuating the quiet of the house, I know that I could never do anything to endanger their easy companionship.
So tomorrow morning, I’ll ask them to take me back to my car. I’ll dig it out from under all the snow and get away from them because the temptation here is too much for me. I know already that I could never bring myself to choose, and the last thing I want is to wedge myself in their lives and ruin what they have going on.
That’s what I’ll do. I’ll promise them my silence—and find out how I can repay them for their amazing hospitality. Then I’ll get out of their lives for good.
Chapter
Six
SEBASTIAN
I’ve never slept better in my life. The cozy bed Troy constructed for us after we built this house is perfectly warm, Carter’s heavy weight presses against my back, including his morning wood, which I appreciate, and I have my arms full of our beautiful human mate.
On that thought, my brain wakes up.
I have my arms full of our beautiful human mate.
I jerk to awareness, opening my eyes to find Emma’s sleeping form sandwiched between Troy and me. My hand is resting on her hip, so I snatch it back, panicking. She scrunches her eyes together and turns her face into the pillow, then settles back to sleep, seeming perfectly content right where she is.
I lift my head and meet Troy’s sleepy gaze. His heavy arm is wrapped around her middle, and he’s plastered to her back under the covers.
“Did you do this?” I mouth, furious.
This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I suggested that pillow wall. I knew we’d be all over her if we didn’t put up a barrier. I didn’t want to freak her out. I should have known apillow wall wouldn’t be enough to hold Troy back. Honestly, I’m not sure I could have prevented this if I put barbed wire and an electric fence around her.
Keeping a mate away from werewolves is never a good idea.
And now that she’s here, right between us, I can’t deny that this is perfection. Denying my own impulses has been hard, but Emma is human. She doesn’t function like we do, with physical touch a huge necessity to our well-being. She also doesn’t know us, and any human woman who woke up with three strangers cuddling her would panic, I’m sure of it.
But Troy shakes his head at me and murmurs, “She rolled over to my side around midnight. I put her here to keep her warm.”
Shit.
She was probably too cold—we keep the bedroom cool because of the heat we generate—and was unconsciously drawn to us.
“Whass goin’ on?” Carter mumbles behind me, his warm breath brushing the nape of my neck.
