realm, Avery quickly filled that position with his charming smile and comforting presence.
“Des…” I drop my hand from Avery’s chest and turn to face Desmond completely. Avery wastes no time crowding into me from behind, the chiseled planes of his chest brushing against my back. I can feel his cock through his sweatpants, but I don’t focus on that. Not now.
“We weren’t just lovers, Em,” Desmond whispers despondently. He looks young just then. Young and vulnerable, like a forlorn child. I don’t like this expression on my fierce warrior’s face, not one fucking bit. “We were best friends. And now…”
“And now what?” I demand. “Desmond, we’re still best friends. Honestly, all of you assholes are my best friends. My relationship with Avery has nothing to do with my relationship with you. Yeah, I’ll be the first to admit that something changed between Avery and me during our time here. We became closer than ever before, and I feel as if I can trust him with anything.” As if my words were some sort of catalyst, Avery begins kissing my skin desperately. First my shoulder, where my shirt has fallen down, and then the curve of my neck. “But that doesn’t negate what I have with you. You’re my best friend as well, Dessy. Sometimes I need Avery’s calm, soothing presence, and sometimes I need your jubilant one. Sometimes I want to be assured everything’s okay, and other times I want to put pubic hair in Tate’s food.” I shrug calmly, but my lips can’t help but twitch when he breaks into laughter.
Because, yeah, we totally did that to Tate before.
And yes, Tate fucked the shit out of me in revenge.
“I need all of you guys,” I admit on an exhale. “Helio’s steadfast presence. Your joy. Avery’s calm-head—”
“He’s a fucking serial killer, Em,” Des reminds me dryly, and Avery’s lips pause where they’re nibbling on my earlobe.
“I take offense to that,” he murmurs before resuming his ministrations once more.
“Even today, when I got shot—”
“What the fuck?” Avery pulls away from my back as if my skin caught on fire. Desmond stares at me with wide eyes.
“You got shot at?” he demands.
I mayyyyy or may not have forgotten to mention that little snippet of information when we got home. I think Tate was pissed and embarrassed that he allowed someone to get the drop on us, especially a pesky human. And me? I knew my men would react like this.
“I’m fine,” I huff in irritation. “It was just a graze on my shoulder—”
Before I can even finish speaking, Desmond is pulling my shirt over my head and Avery is unclasping my bra.
Touch as light as a moth’s wing, Desmond begins to stroke at the puckered pink skin that was once spewing blood. So much blood that I had to burn my clothes with the help of Sin. Of course, he didn’t ask why I wanted to light them on fire. He probably thought it was a form of date night or some shit.
“It’s healed,” Des murmurs in stark wonderment.
“I’m the Goddess of Pain.” My voice is breathy when Desmond lowers his lips to my skin and begins to kiss at the sensitive, freshly healed mark.
“So you made yourself feel pain in order to heal?” Avery whispers in my ear, once more pulling me flush against his hard body. And I mean hard.
“That’s naughty, baby,” Des murmurs as he kisses a blazing trail from my shoulder to the top of my right breast. He lingers there, and I bite my lip to contain the agonized mewl that wants to escape.
“I thought you guys were mad…at…each other,” I pant out. Instead of answering right away, Avery grabs both of my wrists and forces them behind my back. This position pushes my breasts further into Desmond’s suckling mouth.
“Nah.” The God of Combat licks a fiery trail around my areola, never touching the one area I so desperately want him to. “You only confirmed what I already knew—that I’m better.”
Avery scoffs as he moves my wrists into one hand and pushes down my shorts and panties with the other.
“You keep telling yourself that.” I can feel something soft wrap around my wrists, but I can’t turn to see what the object is. It doesn’t feel like rope or anything of the sort.
“I guarantee you that I can make her come faster than you,” Desmond challenges from where his lips rest on my breast.
Avery’s fingernails scrape down my back until it stops at my ass cheek. I