Not a bad view. Not at all.
And there was something so… exhilarating about being carried like I weighed nothing at all. Maybe my independent, empowered side should be offended by this, but every other part of me fucking loved it.
I squealed when he tossed me onto the bed, bouncing across the mattress, trying to get my bearings. By the time I shoved my hair out of my face and arranged my face into an appropriately evil glare, he was naked in front of me, his cock hard between us, giving me no doubt about his intentions.
I grinned and licked my lips.
“Gods, are you trying to kill me, woman?” He groaned. “Look at all this blood. I’m taking a shower in that very nice, very big bathroom, and you are going to stay here.” He pointed his finger in my face. “I mean it, Emberline. When I come through that door, you’d better be right where I put you.”
I wrinkled my nose and stuck my chin in the air. “And if I’m not?”
“Then you’ll get spanked. Hard. Until your ass is red.”
All of a sudden, I was breathing hard, heat pulsing between my legs. Confused. Turned on. Was spanking… something I liked? Was I supposed to get this excited by the threat of being punished? Maybe there was something wrong with me.
He stared down, a wicked smile full of fangs. “Good girl. Now, be there when I get back.”
Those two words…I didn’t understand what was even happening right now.
Dante started the shower, stepping under the water, working shampoo into his long hair, white foam dripping off muscles, cut abs, and perfect hips. He left the door open, so I could see everything. I leaned back into the pillows and decided to enjoy the show.
When he turned to face me, I laced my fingers behindmy head and settled in. I didn’t know what true happiness consisted of, but I couldn’t ever remember feeling so… full before.
I woke in the dark,on my stomach, my mouth bone dry, like I’d been snoring.
Shit. I sat up fast, scanning the room, heart catching on itself when I discovered not one, not two, but three vampires staring at me.
Fuck, I’d better not have been ugly snoring with my mouth wide open.
With a slight smile, Dante silently reached out a glass of water, and I drank the whole thing in one go. He had a towel tied around his waist, and the air in the room was still damp, so I hadn’t been asleep for too long.
“Is this an intervention?” I handed the glass back to him. “Because this feels like one. Or an interrogation, without the whips and chains.”
His smile vanished.Right.Probably too soon to start making torture jokes.
“We’ve been discussing your idea of us being a family.” Dante leaned forward. “Andwhat to do about the three of us being in love with you. So, I suppose the question is… do you love Nico and Gabriel?”
Wow. Okay.So much worse than an intervention.
I opened my mouth, and he held up a hand.
“Before you answer, I know your heart, Emberline. Better than my own. All I’m asking for is the truth,” he urged gently. “And I’ll repeat your words back to you... ‘If thisalliance cracks apart because we love each other, then we deserve to be turned into thralls’.”
Suddenly, this whole thing felt like a trap, with Nico and Gabriel watching me so intensely, like our futures all hung on what I said next. But Dante—all of them—they did deserve the truth. It was time to clear the air between us, so I took a breath, fingers twisting the covers.
“Yes. Yes, I love them, but I didn’t want to ruin everything.” Tears dripped from my eyes, and now I couldn’t look at any of them.
“I just… I didn’t mean to fall in love. With any of you.” I tried to glare at Gabriel, but I ended up just looking pathetic. “I was forced to marryyou, then your brother stole me at the altar, and Nico was only supposed to be my bodyguard, but then I ended up… liking all of you. A lot. After growing up thinking you were these morally degenerative monsters…”
“Gee, thanks.” Nico rolled his eyes.
“After believing my uncle’s lies, I discovered I not only liked you, but Irespectedyou, and then you disappeared, and everything got complicated, and now… here we are.” None of them said a word, and I dropped my head.
Oh gods, Ihadruined everything.
The mattress sagged, and arms went around me, along with the woodsy smell of amber. Gabriel tucked me to his chest as though I was the most precious thing in the world, which just made me cry harder.
This was awful. Terrible.A disaster.
