“Well,” Eryx said, drawing the word out slowly. “Are we staying?”
I listened as Av talked in the hearth room, her voice bright and animated. A fire crackled merrily in the background, mixing with the sound of my friend talking. She was deep in conversation with the others, and she sounded happy. I watched as Briony snuggled in next to her, the necromancer’s arm hugging the teenager close before pressing a light kiss to the top of the girl’s head.
“I am,” I said, feeling as though this was a conversation I should be having with Ember first. Still, I knew it in my bones now that I’d had a bit of time to sort through the events of the evening, of the past weeks. “But whatever you want is fine.”
Eryx nodded. “I am not sure just yet. But I’m staying for a few days, no matter what.”
I nodded absently, as Lux wandered down the hall, on her way back from Ember’s bedroom. “Excuse me, please,” I said, getting up. “I am tired. I think I’ll go lay down for a while.”
A small smile played on Rhiannon’s lips as I walked away. My brother would stay. I knew it in my guts, the way I knew I’d never leave Ember or the family we’d build here—bit by bit, in a new world.
CHAPTER 44
EMBER
A heavy weightsank into the bed next to me. I rolled over to find Ares pulling a black cashmere sweater off. His muscled back was covered in the most beautiful floral tattoos and he was wearing a pair of thin gray sweatpants.
I reached out to snap the waistband of his pants. “Hey there.”
Ares twisted as he climbed into bed, sliding under the covers first and then on top of me. He brushed a soft kiss to my lips, as he cradled my head in his hands. Like the needy, wanton girl I was, I pushed his sweatpants down.
The night had been long and terrifying, but here, in Hemlock House, where all the dreams I’d saved over the years had come to fruition in such a short time, I wanted my happy ending. I wanted my family, the family I chose, and I wantedhim. Now.
Ares slipped out of his pants, kicking them onto the floor, deepening the kiss as he pulled me closer. “This place is incredible,” he said as he settled against me. “You are incredible.”
Though habit told me to deny it, I just nodded. Fear had me in its grip. What I wanted wasn’t the only factor here. Everyoneelse still got to choose what they wanted to do. “I wanted us to stay together—but if no one else does, that’s okay…”
“Stop,” he said, his voice rumbling through me. “I don’t know what the rest of them are doing, but I’m not leaving.”
The smallest of smiles quirked at my lips, a rush of joy mixing with the particular pleasure of having Ares’ hard body pressed against mine. His erection grew harder by the moment, distracting me as I said, “You can keep your place, of course. And you don’t have to?—”
Ares’ mouth was on mine. “Shut up,” he said, his lips moving on mine. “I’m staying. With you. No hedging.”
“All in?”
He pulled back from me to look into my eyes, pushing hair back from my face. The gray light of a new day dawning filtered through the sheer curtains Lux had drawn before she left. In this light, and in my arms, there was no one but Ares. No sound but his words as he made his pledge to me. “All in.”
His cock hardened against my belly with his words. My back arched at the feeling. “Ares,” I breathed.
I hadn’t known it, but this was what I had waited for. This, right here, right now. The peace of being chosen. The feeling of finally being home. Not just with a place, but with people. Withmypeople. Withmyperson.
Ares licked his fingers, then slipped them between us, between my legs as he kissed me. Gently, they slid against my clit, parting my inner lips until they sank deep within me. As he curved his two fingers inside me, wet heat bloomed between my legs.
“I love you, Ember,” he breathed against my mouth. Blood sang in my veins at his declaration, a smile on my lips as he chided me. “Don’t try to give me another out again.”
I nodded as he added a finger, my body responding to his slow, but intense attention. My breath quickened as he strummed like a lyre, picking out a song my heart recognized.The one we had been playing together for longer than I realized.
“I belong wherever you are,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “And you belong tome.”
I moaned at his words. At the claim he held on me. This was what I’d searched for, all my long life. A place to belong.
“Say it, Ember,” he ordered me as he pulled out of me. I could feel him grip his cock with his wet fingers, sliding my slick desire down his shaft as he fit himself against me.
I took the head of his cock, spreading my legs wider, loving the way it felt as he stretched me open. But even more, I loved the promise he made to me with his words. With every reassertion of his claim on me, I sank deeper into the safety and love he offered me.
I had always been afraid of this. Afraid to give myself too fully to someone, knowing that someday, they would be disappointed by me. Disappointed by the power I possessed that they would never have. But Ares had proven time and again that would not be a problem between us. That he was more than secure enough to appreciate what and who I was.
This possession was not a balancing, but a fulfillment of my need to be assured that there was somewhere inmylife that I was safe and protected. That for all the ways I’d committed to protecting others, that someone would do the same for me.
