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Hesitantly, I stowed my blade on my thigh and reached out to Zane’s face, gently tracing my finger down his cheek and across one puffy, hard, red-brown scab. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and he leaned into my touch when I cupped his jaw.
I swallowed. “I was so scared,” I whispered. Emotion clawed at my throat, and my jaw grew tight.
His eyes flicked open, and the sincerity swirling in the gorgeous gray was mesmerizing. “I know. So are we.”
“Are?”I breathed. Why did he speak in the present tense?
“Scared that we frightened you off. That you wouldn’t come back to us.” He blinked, and the scent of hot, salty tears—not mine—flooded my nostrils.
“Even scared, I could never abandon you. Any of you. I can’t even begin to imagine what life without you guys would look like. I’m not sure I could go on.” My bottom lip trembled. “You’re all really okay?”
Slowly, he nodded. “We are. Our beasts are gone. Theonlything we want to do to you today, tonight and every moment after is worship you. Be with you. Love you.” I sucked in a breath. “Because we do. We love you.”
Our eyes locked for a moment, then next thing I knew, I had dropped the pouch of berries and Zane had my back plastered against the tree while I shoved my fingers into his damp hair. Our mouths met with a flurry of motion, kissing like we were literally the only thing keeping each other alive. I drank him in, the taste of him on my tongue more crucial than the very air around us.
To hell with breathing. This was all I would ever need.
Kisses from my men were all I needed to keep my heart beating. All I needed to survive.
We kissed passionately, almost violently, for several minutes. It was as if I was trying to crawl inside him the way I grappled at his body, unable to keep my hands still. Like I was making sure he was real, he was here. Tangible. And in one perfect—if not a little banged up—piece.
His hand moved up under my shirt, and he cupped my breast, kneading it until I moaned and melted deeper into his embrace. He was the only thing holding me up against the tree now. His fingers pinched my nipple, and I gasped.
He pulled away, his silver gaze hooded as it trekked down my heated body. A smile stretched across his mouth, slow and purposeful.
My chest heaved.
Fluidly, he bent down, picked up my berry pouch, then took my hand. “Come on. We have a surprise for you.”
Still flustered and hot from that kiss against the tree, I stumbled a couple of steps, but he kept me on my feet and tugged me into his side, wrapping his arm around me.
Opening the door to the cabin, Zane let me step inside first.
Rix and Jorik were standing there in the living room, their eyes cautious, smiles small. But a nod from Zane had the tension seeping out of their shoulders and their smiles growing.
“What’s this?” I asked, stepping out of Zane’s arms and taking in the pile of blankets and pillows on the floor, much like our “orgy nest,” as Rix called it, from a week ago.
“We want to worship you, Angel,” Jorik said. “Treat you like the queen that you are.”
“We have a hot bath with candles for you in the bathroom,” Rix added. “Then, after that, we’re going to show you just how much we missed you. How much we love you.”
A sob clutched at my throat, and I shook my head. “Are you guys not hungry? Tired?”Haunted?
Rix tipped his head toward the empty pan that had once held the cooked grouse. “Thank you for the food, Wildcat, it was delicious.”
I dismissed his gratitude with an erratic wave of my hand and shake of my head. “Of course, I made you guys food, but you have to be exhausted, then. Let me keep watch and you three get some sleep.”
“Let us worry about when we need to sleep,” Zane said, his voice husky and sending warm ribbons of desire rippling through me. He came up behind me and set the pouch of berries down on the counter. “Now head into the bathroom. Go soak away the last of your worries, then bring that beautiful naked body back out here.” His words were kind, but they left zero room for negotiation, and I found myself moving to the bathroom, peeling my shirt over my head.
I’d bathed last night, but I was sweaty from my walk, and a warm bath would do my muscles some good. My neck and shoulders were tight from the fear that had spun through me for the last week. A soak would be nice.
I didn’t bother to close the bathroom door, but stripped and stepped into the steaming water. It was the perfect temperature—just a little too hot—and smelled like lavender.
The men were quiet in the living room. Nobody came into the bathroom, and I didn’t hear them speak at all. All of their voices were quite rough and scratchy, so it probably hurt for them to talk.
I heard them moving around a bit and could feel their heartbeats. It was something that I would never take for granted and realized just how much I’d missed having them in the house with me. Yes, I ached for them while they were gone, but just feeling their presence, their hearts and bodies close by, was so overwhelmingly reassuring that before I knew it, I was crying.
I didn’t sob. Didn’t make a sound. I just let the tears fall silently into the tub as I sat there with my eyes closed, tuning in one by one to each of my men, matching my heartbeat with theirs.
