His grin turns wicked. “Not now, my truth. You must train for your duel.”
I scowl. “Really, Malach? You’re still inside me.”
“You don’t mind, do you?” He drags his lips along my jaw. “I can’t bear to leave you yet.”
And there he goes again, making my heart bleed.
I kiss the dimple in his chin. “You can stay as long as you want.”
Genuine regret crosses his face. “We must train.”
I rock my hips, pushing him deeper inside me. He’s getting hard again. I’m tempting him, and I’m obsessed with the outcome. Malach wants to train, and he has a one-track mind—if I can distract him, I’ll essentially be all-powerful.
His eyes widen as I squeeze him with my inner muscles. He pulls out and drops back on his heels. “You did that on purpose.” He sounds scandalized, and I can’t help but giggle.
Silvery shapes form beside us, and I groan. “For fuck’s sake. This is inappropriate, Mom.” She can’t hear me. I’m almost sure of that, but her echoes are crossing a line.
Malach covers his half-hard dick with his hand, and I smother another giggle as an earlier version of us takes shape. Fingers entwined, they’re preparing to deliver vows to each other.Gods, we were so young.
Malach grapples with his pants and tosses mine to me. I wince at the stickiness between my legs. “If we’re going to practice dueling, I need to rinse off first.”
His soft expression sours. “Fine,” he mutters sullenly.
I roll my eyes. “Malach, I’m not going to train while dripping cum.”
“I understand.” Except, he doesn’t. His bottom lip juts out in an obvious pout as if I took away his favorite toy.
I shake my head. “You can fill me up again later. How about that?”
His eyes take on a faraway gleam, and I shiver as I imagine what he’s thinking about. Malach is needy in a freaky way, and I love it.
I climb to my feet, feeling grounded—like I’ve finally gotten things right. Luca, Alistair, Ciprian, Riven, and Malach own my heart, even if I haven’t gotten around to having thatconversation with Riven yet. Maybe it’s destiny, or maybe I was born greedy, but I won’t give any of them up.
“Let’s train,” I say, sparing one last glance for the younger versions of us. They seem softer, their edges less defined. My mom stands off to one side, smiling proudly, her eyes filled with tears. Even through the echo, I can make out the shadowed, fading bruises on her wrists. The hollows beneath her eyes are endless.
The reminder sobers me.
She might not have been strong enough to get rid of him, but she did her best, and I’ll do the rest. For her memory and for my future. Then maybe she’ll be able to rest, the echoes of her pain fading enough to allow her to finally experience peace.
For her sake, I hope the eternal beyond is real.
I grind to a halt as we leave Mom’s sitting room.
Malach bumps into me, his fingers grazing my wings as he does his best not to bowl me over. My feathers are still golden, but the color is fading.
Luca, Alistair, Ciprian, and Riven stare at my shiny wings, which decide to flutter like they’re showing off a new trick.Naturally. If I could communicate with them the same way Luca talks to his basilisk, I would tell them to knock it off.
“They’re awesome,” Ciprian says, running his fingertips along one feather.
Under his touch, it glows metallic once again. His eyes light up, and he reaches for another one. I shiver as he caresses the edge and step back against Malach’s chest, needing a break from the stimulation before this leads to more. I’m sticky enough as it is.
“None of that,” I gasp. “I’ve got things to do.”
Cipriansighs. “Later?”
“Yes,please.” The word explodes out of me before I can stop it. But with all of them staring at my wings, all I can think about is how incredible it would be to be touched by all of them at the same time. I might not survive the pleasure, but I’m happy to give it my best shot.
No one laughs. The heat in the hallway skyrockets.
