Page 158 of Librarian

I shove at him instead.

“Kidding. Kidding!” He laughs and hugs me harder. “Jesus. Stop hitting me! I love you too, even if you are a fucking psycho.”

“I’m a psycho?” I growl. “I’m not the one who just—argh. You facetious, insufferable?—”

He shakes his head, still laughing. “I’m not good with that emotional shit. It’s half the reason I ticked the sex box in the beginning. I can’t—” He bites his lip, humour fleeing. “I have no idea how to come up with the flowery shit that you deserve. All I know is that when you told me I might have to spend eternity with you and a bunch of old books, I wasn’t upset. I’d take that any day, because you’d be there, challenging me, arguing with me, breaking my brain with how smart you are. You have me by the balls, Ice Queen, and I’m fucking happy about it.”

That is, without a doubt, one of the most honest, uncouth declarations of love I’ve ever heard.

It also completely melts me.

“I love you,” he mumbles like an afterthought. “Sorry it took me a while to figure it out.”

I give up on trying to hold back my own chuckle and kiss him. “Well, it’s a good thing I have enough brains for the both of us.”

He swats my bare ass. “For all seven of us, you mean.” A devilish glint enters his eye. “How sore are you right now?”

“Sore?” I frown, taking inventory. “Not really. Sensitive, maybe, but I’m—North!”

He grips the back of my knee, drags it up and over his shoulder, and rolls over me. Before I can say anything, he drives his cock into my pussy with a tiny masculine noise of satisfaction that undoes me. Retreating to safer ground, I realise, as our eyes lock.

And I let him, my body welcoming his with a sigh.

Because sometimes, the loudest declarations are made without words.

Forty-Four

Kyrith

My new normal is being pleasantly surprised by which man is in my bed each morning.

I fell asleep with Dakari, but I blink open my eyes to find Jasper propped up on one elbow, staring down at me. From this angle, the light streaming through the clock faces catches in his curls, making him seem more angelic than normal.

“Good morning.” I stretch, feeling the pleasant ache in my limbs. “Did Dakari…?”

“He’s gotten started. Leo and Pierce are messing with the plumbing, and North’s gone with Lambert to check on his dad.” Jasper lists them off one by one. “I think they’re trying to get him to move in with someone else for a while, for his safety.”

“That’s a smart idea.” I shove myself into a sitting position, smiling as I spot the tray with breakfast set carefully on the bedside table. “Thank you.”

“Any time, lass.” He kisses me sweetly. “Leo set you out some clothes for when you’re done.”

Those words are quiet, almost wistful, and I follow his gaze to where an outfit has been hung carefully on the door of my closet. He’s even included a pair of sensible, low-heeled boots.

Submission outside the bedroom. He’s been doing it all weekend, though the Library has been closed. His choices so far have been safe enough, but I have a feeling he’ll start testing my boundaries now that we’re open again.

I shiver, and Jasper smirks.

“Don’t laugh, or I’ll start picking out your clothes,” I say, brows rising when his pupils expand and that pretty blush rises to bless his cheeks. “Do…do you want that?”

He shrugs, the action so casual that it can only be an affectation. “I’m happy to dress myself, Mistress, but I’d never say no to helping you.”

I bite my lip as I consider it, and he uses the moment to place the tray on my lap. Serving me.

“I can manage my clothes,” I finally say, watching him deflate. “But I think you’ll look good on your knees lacing up my shoes.”

The memory of him undoing them on our first night together is burned into my brain.

His groan is almost inaudible, but as I finish my food and slip out from the covers, he can’t hide the way he tracks my every movement. The skirt Leo has chosen is…tight. Shorter than my usual ones, though arguably still tame by modern standards. It clings all the way from my hips to my knees, with a slit at the back to allow for movement.