the bed, her curled in his arms. Bardhyl gives them space and sits at the table helping himself to dried meats, lost in his own thoughts. I unwrap a large piece of cheese and cut it into chunks with the knife. Down here, the temperature remains cool enough that food doesn’t spoil quickly.
Before I know it, I’m joining Bardhyl, slumped in my seat, both of us still naked, eating cheese and meats on crackers. “Didn’t realize how starved I was,” I murmur.
“I could eat everything here and still be hungry.” He smiles lopsidedly, and his gaze sails over to the pair on the bed. They need some alone time after everything.
“So, thoughts on how we destroy Mad?” I ask.
Bardhyl stuffs a big slice of cheese into his mouth before reaching for more crackers. When he swallows his food, he says, “Element of surprise. We need something he isn’t expecting to give us time to reach him.”
I scratch my head. “Great idea. We just don’t have the element of surprise. Mad’s surely expecting us.”
His lips thin. “That’s the part I haven’t worked out yet.”
Meira
Dušan wipes away the loose tear threading from the corner of my eye. “No more crying, gorgeous. We made it out alive and now we’re the ones Mad should be scared of.”
The determination in his voice, the belief he holds, is reason enough that I straighten my back and chase away the fear of what could have happened. I’ve always been one to put the past behind me and move forward. But with my growing feelings for these three Ash Wolves, something within me has shifted. A trepidation, a gut feeling weighing me down that I may lose them.
“You’re right,” I say. I wipe my cheeks clean as I pull a leg under me and twist to face Dušan on the bed. “I’m holding on to fear, and that’s stupid.”
He cradles the sides of my face with his large palms, and I beam under his gaze. He always makes me feel like nothing can touch me. “You are the strongest person I know. We are going to defeat Mad, and then the four of us can be together how we were meant to.”
I try to ignore the shiver gripping my spine and avoid asking the obvious question of how in the world we’re going to achieve that. This isn’t the time for those thoughts. After being battered and deflated, this is a time to recharge.
“I’m ready to destroy Mad.”
He laughs softly, and the way he looks at me, I almost expect him to say I’m not going to be facing Mad. But instead, his mouth suddenly grazes mine, gentle at first, then he kisses me intensely. It’s scorching hot, thunderous. I melt against him. After everything, this is exactly what I desire. To have him against me, to hear the hunger in his growls, to feel his desperate arousal.
Whatever we have going is so much more than animal and physical attraction. This is a deep passion that sweeps through me like an inferno, and I stand no chance of driving it aside.
When he pushes his tongue past the seam of my lips, I moan with need, and I glide my hand along his rock-hard chest, my fingers pulling at his top. I draw him closer and kiss him with the built-up emotions that have me knotted up.
Eagerly, we kiss like chaotic teenagers, lips bruising, teeth clicking, and I want so much more. We may be in a small, icy cold grotto of a room that smells like stale bread, but a sense of comfort and safety encases me.
It’s been too long since I had all my men with me, and now I intend to make the most of everything I’ve missed.
He groans against my mouth before dragging his lips over my chin and to the curve of my neck, where he nibbles on my skin. I tilt my head back, my eyes shut, and only focus on the heaviness of his breath, the warmth of his mouth, the hunger at which he takes mock bites out of my shoulder.
Greedy fingers tug on the sleeve of my coat, finding more skin to smother in kisses.
His hands fall between us and unbutton my coat hastily. He nudges the fabric open, exposing me completely naked underneath. Sliding the coat over my arms, he makes quick work of scrunching the material halfway down my arms. With my arms trapped in the sleeves, he tucks them behind my back.
“I’m caught,” I whisper, breathing