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DEMI
I twirled aroundthe moment I stepped through the front door, doing a happy dance as the scents of home embraced me like a warm hug. It had been a week since the fateful night of the gala, and I was as thrilled as a kitten with a fresh bag of catnip to be home.
Walking through the front door felt somehow achingly familiar and yet vastly different. Perhaps because this time, I walked through the door as a truly free woman.
No more hiding. No more fear.
My life was my own to do with as I pleased.
And I knew exactly what—or should I say,who—I wanted.
“Feel good to be home, Baby?” Hades grinned, smacking me on the ass on his way past, carrying a suitcase in his hand with another slung under his arm.
“It feels incredible,” I sighed, any remaining tension flowing out of me.
Even Thane was in good spirits. His face was a mottle of fading bruises and his ribs would be healing for the next four to five weeks, but he grinned widely as he spotted the tail end of my terrible dance moves.
“Careful,” Eli warned, but his words were gentle and his smile warm. “You were just cleared from concussion protocol.”
“I’m not jumping off a cliff,” I teased, but the rawness of my voice somewhat diminished it. My throat was still mending, but luckily, no permanent damage had been done. I twirled one more time for effect. “I’m dancing around my living room. And now I’m heading into my kitchen.”
“Godsdamn, I enjoy hearing her call this placehers,” Leo rumbled.
I grinned and put a little extra swing into my step as I sashayed my way into the kitchen.
Thane picked up his pace, entering right behind me, but I caught his wince from moving too fast as he covered his ribs with his forearm.
“Hey,” I called softly, going to the cabinet and retrieving some pain meds. I filled a cup with water and crossed to him, holding out both with an insistent look. “Take these. The last time you had anything for the pain was before we boarded the plane.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You don’t have to take care of me, Darling.”
“I’m your Omega. It’s in the job description.” I shrugged, a small smile playing across my lips.
Thane scoffed. “And here I thought it wasmyjob as your Alpha to take care ofyou. I was getting ready to make you something to eat. Are you hungry?”
I bit my lip as he popped the pills and tipped the water back, watching the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
I wanted to say yes, but it certainly wasn’t for food.
Reading me easily, Knox smirked on his way past. “Oh, she’s hungry alright.”
I flushed, and Thane’s confusion cleared a second later as he caught on.
“Ohhh. You’rehungry, are you?”
“Starving.”
I’d been fighting off flashes of pre-heat during my hospital stay, but my body seemed to know I needed to heal—as did my mate. Thane had been admitted with me, and the guys had taken turns rotating throughout our rooms while we recovered enough to go home.
I hadn’t wanted them to know, and subsequently worry, so I’d taken cold showers and shoved ice under my arms to keep my body temperature low. Anything to hold out a few more days.
The plane ride back to Vermont had been torture. Bathed in all their scents in such a confined space had brought the heat roaring back to the surface. It simmered just beneath my skin, threatening to flare at any second.
I was ready to give myself over to the blaze, but only if all my men were ready to surrender with me—and I was worried about Thane.
“I could scent you throughout the entire fucking flight.” Jamison’s tenor was as smooth, husky, and warm as his scent—and just as heady. His words caressed the back of my neck as he moved behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist, hauling me back against the hard lines of his body. A possessive rumble vibrated through him and into me.
I shivered, and my blood warmed.
