darkening their natural coloring, as they caught just how much I needed them tonight.
Tomorrow we would face Stepanov, and as confident as I was in our ability to beat him, I couldn’t shake the nervous jitters that had been riding me all day, nor my Phoenix’s desire to be near her mates. If this ended up being our last night together, I didn’t want to have any regrets. And I’d regret not taking full advantage of our time together to resolidify our relationship and love for each other.
“Well then, I’m glad as hell that I grabbed this.” Damien reached into the pocket of his jeans and procured the gold ring they’d designed for me. “I’ve been walking around with this in my pocket all day, wondering how to broach this subject. I know the last time we tried, it didn’t end well, but I’d like to call you mine before we go into tomorrow, sweetheart. I’ve lost all the blood family I have, but right here, before my brothers, before you, my mate, and before the heavens above us, I swear to love you, to provide for you, and to protect you for as long as I live, and to do the same for my brothers. You’re my family now, the ones I’ll lean on and support.” Damien knelt before me on one knee, and the others shifted around me to do the same, placing me in their center. “Will you have us, Nix? Do you claim us as we claim you?”
“I do.” It was crystal clear in the descending light, a declaration and a promise.
“Do you remember your vows?” Joshua prompted all of us.
We each nodded, and the guys moved to form a semi-circle before me. My heart was an excited jumble in my chest. We were doing this. We were really doing this.
Joshua smiled brilliantly, taking the lead as their voices all joined in one chorus.
“Your happiness before mine, always I swear. Your dreams before mine, always I swear. Your life before mine, always I swear. Your soul before mine, always I swear. Eternally vowed. Through life, through death, eternally bonded.”
Damien broke the ring apart, and slowly began rebuilding it, one piece at a time to symbolize our unity, seven pieces of a whole, each beautiful on their own, but stronger when they were woven together. Gently, he slipped it onto my shaking finger while each of my men touched some part of my body, joining us all in this unity we’d made.
My voice didn’t waver as I spoke my vows, looking to each one of my men as I sealed my life with theirs and promised them my forever. “Your happiness before mine, always I swear. Your dreams before mine, always I swear. Your life before mine, always I swear. Your soul before mine, always I swear. Eternally vowed. Through life, through death, eternally bonded. We are but seven sparks of the same flame, and I will burn for you for eternity,” I promised, and I swore I could actually feel the tether binding us together as they crushed me between them, each of them kissing, hugging, and loving on me in some way.
“Fuck, I love you,” Killian growled, one hand stroking down my back while the other captured my chin so he could steal a long, lingering kiss that was surprisingly gentle for my big mate.
Damien held me tightly against his chest, just on the edge of crushing me too tightly as he buried his face into the crook of my neck and shoulder, breathing in my smoky sweet signature scent. “I love you. I love you. I love you,” he murmured, before his light stubble abraded my skin, sending shivers down my back. The others fell away, and I clung to him, my nails digging into his shoulders until he pulled back and crashed his lips down upon mine. The taste of his tears mingled with the rich flavor of his tongue against mine, and I drank him in as he claimed my mouth over and over again.
I barely registered that he’d pushed me back into the mattress until it cradled my body as Damien settled over me.
His lips moved to graze my neck before brushing my ear as he whispered, “Kiss your other mates, Nix. They need you as much as I do.”
I reached for Theo next, who had stripped in his short time out of my arms, dragging him down until his mouth captured my own. He tasted savory and sweet, the combination