Page 62 of The Gathering
Ethan nearly lost all strength at hearing that.
Checkmate.
He’d programmed his own end.
No matter what happened… no matter how painful… he was the one that orchestrated it all.
No, not just him. Him and his brothers. His digital soul extensions. His artificial family.
****
Cat launched off her chair when Ethan slowly dropped to his knees, breaths ragged and straining. She wrapped her arms around his shivering body, ice-cold on the surface, boiling hot just beneath. “I got you!” she gasped, “I got you.” She held his head, her sob meeting his as he clung to her so hard.
“I’m fucking sorry,” he swore, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry, I’m fucking sorry.”
“I know baby,” she wept, petting his head. “I know you are, I know. I never want to hurt you, baby. I didn’t do this to hurt you, I swear it.”
“I know you didn’t,” he choked, fighting to breathe. “I did it, I did every fucking bit of it. It should’ve beenmenot you. I deserve this, I deserve losing you. I never fucking deserved you. Oh fuck, what have I done to you?” He grabbed her face, petting it. “They’re inside you, they’re fucking inside you.”
His gaze moved over her face and landed on her mouth. He stared at it, his shaking, fingers tensing. He jerked her to his lips and kissed her. Oh God. He was a hurricane of growling heat, tongue and teeth. She was drowning and rejoicing and clawing in terror.
Zero!
Don’t fight it, Kitten. Take every fucking drop.
“Ethan,” she gasped, his hot mouth everywhere, making the world spin.
Somehow, he got them to his bed, his boiling heavy body pinning hers. Then he stripped her clothes off like they were on fire. The second she was naked, he shoved her open wide and fell between her legs, burying his mouth in her pussy.
Holy fuck,Zero shuddered as she gripped his head, bucking on his mouth with shocked cries.
Zero,Omnis whispered.What is this?
We’re tied into her, brother, that’s what this is. Enjoy the fucking ride.
Holy Shit Time
Even through the overwhelming need and pleasure, Cat felt it. Omnis’ pain, cutting her open.
She shoved on Ethan’s head, fighting to close her legs. “Stop,” she gasped.
His stormy gaze hit her while his hot breaths continued their burn.
She sat up, swallowing at the look on his face as he slowly rose up, kneeling, watching her, a man still clinging to a ledge. “Talk to me,” he barely said.
“It’s just… they’re in me,” she whispered.
He stared so hard at her she couldn’t breathe. His head slowly lowered, the flash of pain in his eyes tearing through her. “Are you saying… we can’t be…”
“I didn’t finish… telling you everything, Ethan.”
He knelt there, frozen for endless seconds. Slowly he moved to the foot of the bed and sat, holding his head.
She stared at his beautiful back. The brotherhood tattoo moving with every deep breath. “Are you…”
Oh God.
“Are you in love with them?”
