I wouldn’t know how, even if I tried.
“Then no flirting with Silas to piss me off either,” Archer snaps back, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“Just us,” Sax adds, and I run my tongue along my bottom lip as I exhale.
“I can handle that.”
Baron scoffs. “You can't stand us, Little Flame.”
My eyes meet his, a shiver running down my spine at his nickname.
“I also can't stand others laying claim on you.”
I'm not sure if it's me or my phoenix talking right now, but Teddy snickers.
“Jealousy looks good on you,” he muses as Archer shakes his head.
“Besides, there are no others. There haven't been since the night we stood in that hall and rejected you.”
Disbelief coats my veins, balanced on the tip of my tongue, ready for me to call them out, when Archer's magic heats my hand again, giving me the truth.
“It doesn't make any sense,” I blurt, and Sax offers me a soft smile.
But now isn't the time to understand. I just need this feeling to go.
Uncertainty wars inside of me, but as Archer’s hand remains warm against mine, keeping me trapped in the truth, my phoenix settles in a way I didn't think would be possible.
“I still don't forgive you,” I fluster, and Archer grins.
“I wouldn't expect you to.”
“The ball's in your court now, Ivy,” Teddy murmurs, and my gaze lingers on each of them.
Sax's hands are clenched in his lap, while Teddy scrubs at the back of his neck nervously. Archer sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, but as I reach Baron's stare, all I see is longing.
Daring to tempt the heat radiating from me, Teddy approaches me first, and Archer surprisingly moves out of the way, giving way for the Water Protector to reach for my hand.
I lace my fingers with his, nerves seeping into my bones as he pulls me into his embrace. I expect to set us both alight, but thankfully, no flames come.
He backs up slowly, taking me with him, until he blindly finds the side of the bed. Instead of falling down and taking me with him, he spins on the spot, laying me flat against the pristinely laid comforter.
It's only in that moment that I realize when my magic flared up, and the flames consumed me, they incinerated the clothes I was wearing.
Teddy's eyes graze over me from head to toe.
“I really am sad that I don't get to taste you first, but I get the feeling that feasting on you will bring this all to an end too quickly.”
“That's all it needs to be, right? Me coming at the hands of one of you, while the other three touch me too,” I rasp, and he cocks a brow.
“Is that what you want, Princess?” he asks, and I gulp, slowly shaking my head.
“Words,” Sax says from over his shoulder, and I fight the desire to roll my eyes.
“Please help me,” I rasp. “All of you,” I confirm, consequences be damned, and it triggers everybody into motion.
Archer grabs my waist and shuffles me farther up the bed, nestling between the four of them, Archer and Teddy to my left, twins to my right.
My legs splay open of their own accord, my thighs wide, eager for the chaos and carnage inside of me to mellow out. The burning inside of me wanes, making way for the heated sensation that washes over me under their intense stares.
