Page 75 of Thirst
My breath hitched, and I pressed a hand to my mouth, shoulders curling inward as we walked. After letting out a shaky exhale, the tears I’d been holding back spilled over. “I hated having him there.” My voice trembled. “He watched me bleed again…and he smiled.”
When we reached the sacred space between the oaks, Zane pulled me into his chest, one hand cradling the back of my head. “I know, and I’m here. He doesn’t know it was you.”
A moment later, another set of arms wrapped around me. Finn pressed against my back, steady and warm. Zane’s fierce protectiveness grounded me. Alongside it, Finn’s determination to protect me too promised safety. Our connection remained just shy of whole, a door ajar, waiting for me to pull it open.
Chapter 22
Sidney
Zane moved to cup my face, his thumb brushing away the dampness on my cheek with infinite tenderness. He didn’t speak, didn’t rush, just held me, his forehead resting against mine.
Finn’s hand found mine and laced our fingers together. The cut on my palm burned for a heartbeat before the sting faded. With his other hand, he drew feather-light circles on the pulse point of my wrist.
I drew in a shaky breath, then another. The moss glowed brighter at our presence beneath the half-moon. Mist coiled around the gnarled roots of the oaks, their trunks silvered with age and haloed in bioluminescent lichen. The air tasted metallic, sharp with iron and rain. Moisture clung to my skin, cool and electric, as magic thrummed through the soles of my feet.
“We have until the moon sets,” Zane murmured, his lips brushing my temple. “There’s no hurry, Sidney. We can just?—”
“No.” I met his eyes, then Finn’s. “I want this. Iwant you both. I just needed…” I couldn’t finish, but I didn’t have to.
Finn released my hands and signed,We understand.
Zane pressed a kiss to my eyelids, then my cheek and earlobes, and finally the corner of my mouth, each one gentle, giving me time to pull away if I needed to. I didn’t. Instead, I tilted my head, seeking his lips properly.
With his hands cradling my face, he kissed me with slow intention, his lips a tender promise against mine.
When we parted, Finn watched us with soft eyes. The weight that had pressed on my chest since seeing Bruvor eased from their support.
Finn’s smile was pure warmth as he cupped my face, tilting it up to look at him. “Beautiful. Mine. Ours,” he said.
Zane’s voice dropped lower, rougher. “I want to show you what it means to be cherished.”
“Yes. I want you both,” I breathed, the words a plea.
Finn’s hands moved slowly, uncertain.At the same time?His eyes searched mine, giving me space to refuse.
I reached for him, pulling him closer but ensuring he could read my lips. “Yes. Both of you. Please. I need to feel something good. Something real.”
Zane’s arms tightened around my waist. He exchanged a glance with Finn, and then both of them nodded.
Finn cradled my cheeks and turned me toward him. He kissed me, and it was tentative, filled with such profound fragility that it made my heart ache. I parted my lips in a silent invitation, and he accepted, sliding his tongue against mine with a growing, desperate confidence that unraveled me. Threading his fingers through my hair, he held me gently, as if I might break.
Behind me, Zane’s teeth scraped harder against myneck, not piercing skin, but leaving a trail of fire. His fingers worked at the tie of my shift, and the fabric gave way to pool at my feet.
The night air caressed my exposed flesh, raising goosebumps. A surge of raw vulnerability swept over me, not just from my nakedness, but from the exposure of my very soul.
Zane’s hands shaped the curves of my body. “You’re beautiful, Sidney,” he said, voice rough with emotion. “Every hidden part of you.”
Finn traced the curve of my spine with such gentleness that tears welled in my eyes. When I looked at him, he signed,Perfect.
Their expressions said it all, full of wonder and adoration and a fierce protection. They would guard this moment and me against anything. They saw me through the illusion, truly saw me. And neither of them turned away.
“I don’t deserve you,” I whispered.
Zane pulled me closer. “Yes, you do.” He kissed me slowly again, as if he had all the time in the world to prove it.
Finn caught my hand and kissed my palm over the mending cut from the bonding ritual. He took my other hand, his lips lingering on that wound as well, tender and deliberate. When he looked up at me, moonlight brushed over the faint freckles scattered across his cheeks and nose, but his eyes held fierce devotion, a promise that he would never let anyone hurt me like that again.
Zane shed his clothes with fluid grace, shadows rising around his ankles as his bronze skin caught the moonlight. He turned and spread his cloak on the moss. The gesture, so simple and thoughtful, made my throat tighten.
