"Breakfast," Selene announced. "I'm starving. And Lizzie needs to refuel after last night."
"I need a shower," I countered. "And possibly a wheelchair."
Lucien snorted. "I'll carry you."
"Of course you will."
He did, in fact, carry me to the bathroom—bridal style, his amber eyes soft with something that might have been affection. He set me down gently and turned on the shower, testing the temperature before helping me inside.
"I'll be right outside," he said. "Yell if you need me."
I caught his wrist before he could leave. "Lucien. Last night—"
His expression flickered. "Was too much?"
"Was perfect." I squeezed his hand. "You were perfect. All of you."
Something in his posture relaxed. He leaned in and pressed a rough kiss to my forehead—so at odds with the feral creature who'd knotted me on the rug—and then he was gone, leaving me alone with the steam and the water and the evidence of last night painted on my skin.
I stood under the spray for a long time, letting the heat soak into my sore muscles. When I finally emerged, wrapped in a fluffy towel, I found clothes waiting for me—soft leggings and an oversized sweater that smelled faintly of Selene's jasmine perfume.
I dressed and made my way downstairs, following the sound of voices to the kitchen. They were all there—Lucien at the stove, flipping pancakes with surprising skill; Selene at the counter, arranging fruit on a platter; Azrael setting the table with precise, elegant movements; Darius watching from the doorway, a cup of coffee in his hands.
They looked up when I entered, and four sets of eyes softened with warmth.
"There she is," Selene said, beaming. "Come sit, darling. Breakfast is almost ready."
I took my place at the table, surrounded by the four supernatural criminals who had claimed me, marked me, and utterly destroyed me. And as I watched them move around the kitchen—bickering over pancake technique, stealing bites of fruit, casting soft glances in my direction—I realized something that made my chest ache with the sweetness of it.
I wasn't just their possession. I wasn't just their human, their chaos agent, their stray they'd aggressively adopted.
I washome.
And so were they.
