“You saw me not that long ago,” Remy said dryly as I threw myself at Marie, carefully hugging her despite her reassurance that she was feeling okay.
“I was just being polite,” I huffed. “We both know I like Marie more than you.”
“Harsh but fair.” Remy chuckled. “My mate is truly extraordinary.”
A sharp pain flickered through me, and I flinched before catching myself. Marie untangled herself from my embrace and studied my face. “You good?”
“Yeah.” I smiled at her, unconvincingly, based on the way her pretty cupid’s bow mouth frowned. “It’s just been a long few months is all.”
Her bright green eyes watched me for another moment before she glanced at Warrick and Bastian behind me. “No doubt. Come sit with me a bit so we can chat.”
I did as I was told, and Remy settled on Marie’s other side while Warrick and Bastian drifted around, conversing with various partygoers but never going too far.
An hour flew by before Marie announced I needed to dance and all but shoved me off the bench before doing the same to Remy. Neither of us were willing to argue with her, so we danced around the bonfire while she hollered after us.
That lasted for about thirty seconds before Bastian yanked me away.
“What are you doing?” I whispered in his ear as he placed his hand firmly against my lower back, pulling me a lot closer to his body than Remy had.
Bastian chuckled, and I tried to ignore the shivers that ran down my spine as his breath tickled my neck. “Dancing with my lovely packmate.” He kissed my neck before quietly saying into my ear, “Dual purpose, remember? You’ll find what you need, but we’ll also show we’re a united pack.”
He spun me away, my hair fanning out around me before I was back in his arms. “And kisses accomplish that?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“They accomplish many things.” He grinned at me.
I rolled my eyes, but the smile that touched my lips was more real than the one that had been there a minute ago.
We swirled around the bonfire while Warrick stood on the sidelines. His expression was bemused as he chatted with some of Dragomir’s scouts, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes sharpened on me—or Bastian.
Bastian’s mask never slipped once. He laughed and spun me around over and over again, only taking breaks to pin me close to him. His hands lingered on my hips while he kissed my neck or whispered ridiculous things in my ear. To everyone else, I was sure it looked like we were happy and in love—or at least in lust.
It was a stark contrast to how he’d been the last couple of days, and that bothered me because I thought I’d been getting better at reading his tells.
Just how good of a liar was he?
The Dragomirs made an appearance too. Dagan spoke with Warrick for a while before checking in with Remy and Marie. I spotted Alexis out of the corner of my eye more than once, but he never approached us. It didn’t stop my skin from crawling as I felt his attention on me though.
As the night went on, the crowd got rowdier just as we’d anticipated. Demands were made for Dagan to join the musicians, and he finally agreed, causing everyone to cheer. I didn’t like Dagan, but he did have a surprisingly good voice.
This was the opportunity we’d been waiting for.
Bastian led me in one final spin before pulling me close and kissing me deeply. I’d known it was coming, but the taste of him still halted every thought in my head. He smiled against my lips, and the hand on my hip tightened.
Right. I should probably kiss him back.
I tightened my arms around the back of his neck and parted my lips. Bastian didn’t hesitate, his tongue sliding in to tease me while he deepened the kiss. Several people, one of whom was definitely Remy, hooted and hollered. A warm chest pressed against my back, and then Warrick’s scent enveloped me.
I’d never been so terrified and turned on at the same time.
The memory of Warrick slamming that sword through my chest was still far too fresh and had my adrenaline pumping. But that didn’t stop the heady feeling of being trapped between two really attractive men.
The only way it could have been better was if Ryker were here.
Nope. I grasped all those thoughts and shoved them into a corner of my mind, wagging a mental finger at them in warning.
Hands trailed down from my hips to grip my ass, and then I was being lifted up. I wrapped my legs around Bastian’s waist, and he walked us away from the bonfire.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Warrick’s deep voice trailed after us. “Keep her warm for me.”
