For some reason, that makes me smile.
His little pout is adorable, although I’m sure if I told him that he’d puff up and deny that any part of him could ever be adorable, but it lightens the heaviness I’m feeling all the same.
“Come here,” I tell Ire, and he immediately steps into me, like he was just waiting for the invitation. With this move, I’m showing all three of them that it’s okay to touch me at the same time.
I brush a lock of shiny black hair out of Toreon’s face, gratitude blazing in my eyes for him and all that he does for me, and then I turn and wrap my arms around Ire’s neck and squeeze. “Thank you for coming,” I whisper against his neck, and he crushes me against him, his hand shaking where he rubs up and down between my wings, even as Vudu keeps his hand on my hip.
I step away just to place a kiss on his lips before I turn in Vudu’s hold. I hug my arms around my giant mate, nuzzling against his chest for a moment before I stand on my tiptoes to brush my lips over his.
With a small smile as I pull away, I reach down to thread my fingers through Toreon’s hand. I turn to look at all three of them, willing my eyes to dry up so that I can see them and shove away all the worry and tension and fear that I’ve been holding onto for so long.
“You’re all okay,” I whisper, like I need to say it—I need to keep saying it until it sinks in that it’s really true.
“We’re all okay,” Toreon repeats, giving my hand a squeeze.
It’s odd how natural this all feels, and I can’t help the wide happy smile that crawls across my face. I look past the guys and find Medley and Sable watching me between their demons. Their eyes are filled with tears, the same happy smiles on their faces. Only, their joy is all for me. Like seeing me being cared for and cherished warms them just the same.
Like the triplets we are, we all laugh at the same time, and then that cracks us up even more as we wipe happy tears from our eyes and revel in our connection, one we can finally nurture after being denied our whole lives.
“Well, if that’s not just adorable and creepy all at the same time,” Crux muses, and all of our mates snort, grunt, or bark out a laugh of agreement.
“They’ll be dressing alike and finishing each other’s sentences in no time,” Flint quips, giving me a friendly wink.
“We do have a uniform you’ll be required to wear at least once,” Delta tells me, and she and Medley laugh, their mates all quick to join in.
“Hope you like leather,” Medley declares through a snicker, and I chuckle at her adorable giggle, my mind whirring with the possibilities of what the hell they could be talking about.
“Can we go home now?” Jerif asks, like being here is an inconvenience he’d like remedied immediately.
Delta rolls her eyes and huffs out a sigh, but when he grabs her chin and tilts her head back, his lips nipping at hers, she melts right into him like butter on a biscuit, as Medley would say.
“We have a suite we set up for you, Sable,” Rafferty tells me, his blue eyes soft and kind. “We didn’t know that you’d...be attached, but your mates are all welcome, of course,” he adds, gesturing to Ire, Toreon, and Vudu.
I’m so stunned by the offer I don’t immediately know what to say. My eyes prickle with emotion, but before I can thank him and accept, Ire steps forward.
“I have a place here. My mate will be staying with me,” he declares, like that’s all there is to say about it.
“Oh, you’re gonna live in Hell?” Medley asks with surprise, her wide gray eyes fixed on mine.
I struggle to answer her as Ire turns his blazing blue gaze on me. I turn to Toreon and then Vudu, seeking their input. They don’t say anything, but I feel tension in their countenances.
“Um, I honestly haven’t given it much thought,” I admit. “I’m technically homeless…” I suspect that Vudu and Toreon are too, though I don’t say that. “We’ll have to talk about it,” I finally answer, looking around at my guys and shrugging.
I’m not sure about living in Hell, but I’m not sure about where I’d live in the Mortal