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“You’re supposed to use it to saveyourasses,” I point out. “Not mine.”
“It’s ours,” Cain says. “That means we get to use it how we choose to, and this is how we’re choosing to use it. You can’t stop us from doing that.”
I open my mouth to argue—but then pause. He does have a point. “Well, I can refuse your help.”
“You could,” Cain acknowledges.
Damn it. It’s like they know I’ll say yes. And I suppose I have to. What other choice do I have? Try to find an Aurora Gem or another equally valuable replacement while fighting off bounty hunters? That’s no life. I’ll lose eventually and the cost will be my existence.
I sigh, and the men get triumphant looks on their faces—they know they’ve won. Damn it. “Fine. I don’t think I’m worth it, but it’s your choice, it’s your key.”
“Sorry, what was that you were saying to me earlier?” North asks. “About knowing your worth? Not downplaying it?”
I flip him off, but I’m struggling to hide down a smile. “How dare you throw my own words back at me?”
North takes my hands, not letting me slide into joke territory. “You are worth ten times more than an Immortal Key, or any other artifact. A hundred times more.”
My heart is thumping in my chest so loudly that I’m sure all three of the men can hear it, hell, the people who have the suite next door to us can probably hear it. I feel like I might cry. And I don’t cry in front of people. I just don’t.
“Really, are you sure? You—you have to be sure. Something like this you can’t take back.”
“Kiara,” Raven says, final speaking up, “when are you going to realize that we’d do anything for you?”
My heart feels like it’s breaking. He’s so goddamn earnest. Is it just this ‘fated mate’ thing that’s making me feel this way?
But what if fated mates are just bullshit? I’ve never heard of them. I was telling the truth earlier when I said that. What if I’m right, and fated mates are just something that the men believe in, but they aren’t actually real?
That means that whatever I’m feeling right now—my heart shifting in my chest, like someone’s wrapped a string around it and tugged—it could be up to anything. I don’t know if it’s fate or not. But I’m being taken care of by these men. They’re risking their lives for me and helping me out even though they barely know me.
I can’t help but think that, whatever the reason, it almost doesn’t matter. I feel how I feel. I don’t know how to say it out loud. But the emotions welling up inside me, pushing up against me from the inside? I can feel those. And they feel real. I can’t deny that.
I wish I had the words to express this sensation, but I’m not used to this. It’s sad, honestly. I’ve been alone so long I don’t know how to tell people that I care about them? That I appreciate them?
But there is another way, without words, that I can make my emotions known.
I turn to North and put my hands on his face, framing it, and draw him into me. Surprise flashes over his face, but then I kiss him, and he melts. Like it’s already a habit for him to kiss me, like he already knows that this is how it’s supposed to be.
I wish I had that kind of faith, but I think maybe I’m starting to learn how to.
North gets his hands on my hips and pulls me into his lap as we kiss, the kiss turning heated until I pull away with a gasp. Cain and Raven are watching, heat back in their gazes, and I get up from the couch and go over to them.
Raven doesn’t move. He stares up at me like I’m made of starlight, his eyes dark and wide, and I sit on his lap and take his face in my hands just as I did with North. Raven knows what’s coming, and he wraps his arm around my waist to anchor me as I kiss him, sweet and deep.
I turn away, toward Cain, who’s already standing up. He yanks me to him, and I kiss him with passion and fervor, hanging onto the front of his shirt. I can feel Raven and North watching, seeing Cain’s hands as they slide down to grab my ass, and I shiver.
By the time I break away, I’m breathing hard, and so is Cain.
I can feel the heat of the gazes from the other two like a physical touch, like fingers trailing down my spine.
“Do we… have to leave to get the key right now?” I ask, my voice a little husky. “Or can it wait a little while?”
I don’t have a concealment charm, so I’m wary of more bounty hunters finding us. But I’m pretty sure the temple or whatever it’s called that we were just at is untraceable, so we were untraceable while we were there. That probably bought us some extra time.
And if we have any extra time at all, I damn sure know how I want to spend it.
Cain smiles, flashing me the reckless, devilish grin that I’m starting to love so much. “I think we can probably spare a few minutes. Why? What did you have in mind?”
My stomach clenches, desire shooting through me like a firework bursting in the sky.
