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Since that first morning, when Ash had pushed her against the counter and filled her up, there had been a few other times when she’d stolen moments alone with him or Nic, and she’d heard the two of them in the shower more than once, pushing the boundaries of independent connections within their shared little universe. She craved those moments as much as the ones they all shared together, like if they each knew the others, they could be a stronger unit.

Not that she should have been thinking of units or together or anything beyond mind-blowing, athletic pleasure, but when the world felt too bright and the pain of her losses felt too big, Hanna’s mind brought her back to Ash and Nic, to the two men who made her feel so safe.

It was, without a doubt, a dangerous want, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. The Princes truly were a family, Ash and Nicco closer than the rest, and she found herself wondering on more than one occasion exactly what it would feel like to be part of that family for herself.

“Let’s go for a walk, Han,” Ash said, coming up behind her and dragging his strong fingers along her lower back. “I could use some fresh air.”

Hanna didn’t argue, just let herself be tugged out of the door and down the small worn footpath toward the edge of a copse of trees. No doubt Ash had some dangerous game in mind, and since she was very much coming to love his dangerous games, she didn’t argue, instead she followed him to the bank of the stream, where he settled on the cool ground and pulled her into his lap.

“It’s a little cold out,” she murmured, though Ash did always have a way of warming her skin.

“I do like where your head’s at, Cherry,” he said, kissing along her neck. It hadn’t taken Ash or Nicco long to discover the spot that made her squirm, and his simple touch was already lighting her to flame. “But I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

Hanna shifted in his hold, catching his gaze. His bright blue eyes always turned to a stormy gray when there was something on his mind.

“Nicco asked if I’d want to take over the club,” he said, stroking her arm in a movement more of comfort than arousal.

Hanna considered his words and his tone and the dark aura around him. “You’re worried about him.” This wasn’t good news.

“The club is the one thing that keeps Nic going,” Ash muttered. “He has Dante and the rest of us, and I know that’s important to him, but I think… I think…”

Hanna read between the lines. “You think he’s saying goodbye.”

Ash chewed on his lip, and she could see the glassy sheen he was trying so hard to blink back. “I can’t lose him, Hanna. Any more than I could lose you.”

She filed that confession away, aware that extreme emotions came in waves, wishing it was enough to love someone for them to stay.

“We can be there,” she said. “We can hold him and help him and…” Love him. “Show him how much we care. But we…can’t save him, Ash. Only he can do that.”

Ash nodded. “But you see it too, right? I’m not…jumping at shadows.”

She shook her head. “You’re not jumping at shadows.”

“I wish that made me feel better,” he said quietly. “I’ve been worrying about him since the last time we were here, after everything went down with his dad. I guess I wasn’t worrying enough.”

“What did you say?” Hanna asked. “When he asked you about the club.”

“I told him I didn’t want it,” Ash replied. “And that I didn’t want him to leave.”

Hanna nodded, feeling a tightness in her own throat, the idea of Nicco’s presence slipping away, his eyes no longer telling stories in eddies of earthy brown, his fingers no longer tangling with hers as they took Ash to the edge together. He was a complex man, and she knew she’d never fully understand him, but he had a way of getting under a person’s skin, making them want to be vulnerable and honest, making them want to show him just a touch of the light, because Nicco deserved it, even if he didn’t believe as much. She couldn’t understand a world in which he wasn’t there.

To say nothing of Ash. She and Ash had their history, but he had been by Nicco’s side for a decade, his knight in battle, his prince in power. Ash had recovered from so much in his life, but he would never recover from that.

“Let’s…talk to him,” Hanna said. “Just to see where we’re at.”

Because she knew it wouldn’t do either of them any good to keep sitting on the bank driving themselves to the edge with what-ifs and maybes. If only for the moment, Nicco was here, and there was still something they could do about it.

This time, she led Ash up the trail, back into the small cabin, where Nicco was standing at the counter, putting together some delicious-smelling dish, as he always did.

“If that’s what fucking against a tree looks like, I think you’re doing it wrong,” he said. His quips were always quiet, subtle and understated, but she’d come to understand him better in the last few days, and she found herself listening more when Nicco spoke. It was so different from her relationship with Ash, which burned bright as the sun. Nicco was her moon, forcing the tides high, calming the crash against the shore.

“You want to teach me, Angel?” Ash said, clearly unable to keep from volleying back the flirtation. Hanna loved being between them, but fuck if it wasn’t the best foreplay in the world to see them flirt and play with each other, in an epic power game. Nicco wasn’t a man who kneeled often, but he kneeled for Ash with pleasure.

“One track mind,” Nic replied. “But why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you say next?”

Hanna came to stand on Nicco’s other side. “We’re worried about you.”

Nicco shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”