Page 35 of Little Music of Night

He shrugged, and I still ate the strawberry. It was perfect, too. I sighed happily as I polished off my plate, now completely content. I did want a soak, but . . .

“You should go to him,” I said. “I feel taken care of and can relax in the bath.”

He frowned. “I would prefer proper aftercare but . . .”

“Go to him,” I said. “But then, tomorrow, come back to me.”

“I will.”

He stole a kiss and then disappeared, leaving me alone to think.

With a groan, I got up and went to my bathroom, turning on the hot water to my tub. This required a salt soak and then maybe even a call to Lisa.

My thoughts swirled as I grabbed a bag of epsom salts from under the sink and dumped a few scoops in the steaming water. Within a couple minutes, I was sinking down into the tub. For all the bullshit things that were wrong with this apartment, a shitty tub was not one of them. It was deep enough to truly relax into, and I liked to take advantage of that when I could.

Was this what I wanted? To be with Erik and Ray? The fated mates business was still so new to me. But when I was with them, everything in my world felt right. All the desires I’d ignored for so long could finally bloom in their sunlight, and I could still have my career too.

What was wrong with wanting to be loved, successful, and thoroughly fucked by two handsome monsters?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I wanted to fall in love on my own timeline, and this? Wasthismy own timeline? It was different than how I thought it would happen. Hell, I never even expected to really meetsomeone. I’d been so unsure going on a date was even right for me.

But now, here I was.

I wanted them.

I knew Erik wanted me. He was ready to complete our bond.

But what about Ray?

I knew he wanted me too, of course. And I understood his hesitance. But if he could not trust me to know what I wanted then why would we even try?

I sank further into the water until my chin dipped just below the surface and sighed, closing my eyes. The heat felt good on my muscles, especially after all our sex. Even better on the marks I hoped would be there for the next week.

I took my time soaking, but eventually I realized I needed to call Lisa and talk through all of this with her. She was always my voice of reason. Although admittedly I needed to take her out for dinner after the billion questions I’d asked her in the last week.

About fifteen minutes later, I sank down on my couch with a cup of hot tea and called her. My phone rang a couple times, but then she answered.

“What happened this time?”

I groaned. “Is it that obvious?”

Her laugh made me smile at least. “Yeah. Well, I expected this, honestly.”

“It’s a lot,” I said. “Are you busy?”

“Nope. I was about to eat ice cream and watch some medical drama I’ve read fanfic about.”

My brows shot up. “I have so many questions.”

“Save them for another day. Tell me about your mates.”

“Well. First, they’re cursed.”

Then I launched into everything. I didn’t spare any details. None. Lisa was my best friend and I knew I could tell her anything, and she could tell me anything too.

By the time I got to the end, I heard the familiar pop of a wine bottle on the other end of the line.