Page 173 of Tempt

‘Tell us everything,’ Dante says, obviously using his voice because Lucie waves a hand in his direction.

‘I know ASL. You don’t need to voice for me.’

Dante blinks at him, obviously curious about his background, but doesn’t ask. Now’s not the time. Instead, he just squeezes him once more.

‘It’s a long story, and I’m too tired to go into too many details,’ I begin, but Dante and Cielo just settle back, waiting. ‘Eissa managed to start a revolution, his old companion isn’t dead like we thought, and Jyrion is going to shut down the portals.’

Everyone blinks at me, Lucie’s face crumpling once more, tears sliding down his cheeks as he attempts to drink his tea.

My hands finally fall to my lap, and everyone slumps back, staring blankly at me. They’re in shock, and I am too. And the more I sit here, the more exhausted I become. I just want to shower and sink into bed with Eissa, to hold him to me and breathe him in.

Dante must catch the way I look because he gets my attention.

‘You look exhausted. Why don’t I make up the spare bed in my place for Lucie and…’ He points outside.

‘Vyrian. He’s Quilliyn’s brother.’

His eyes widen. ‘I didn’t know he had another. I thought there were only three.’

‘They hid him away…he’s different.’

Dante’s lips turn down, and then he straightens his shoulders. ‘Well, that makes me hate that royal family even more…’ He shakes out his hands and then adds, ‘I’ll take them back to ours and let you have some time to…be together.’

My chest aches at the thought, but Lucie just nods, setting his empty mug of tea down and standing. He looks forlorn, like his heart is breaking. I stand and pull him into a hug, squeezing him tightly.

‘I’ll check in on you tomorrow. Try to sleep.’

‘How can I sleep when he’s not here?’

I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. I just let Cielo and Dante wrap him up and guide him toward the door. And just as they do, Vyrian appears, soaking wet, water dripping off him onto my floor.

‘Rain. It is magical. I thought it would never end.’ He blinks, catching sight of Cielo, Dante, and Lucie, and he cocks his head. ‘Are you going out to see the magic sky water? If so, it has ended.’

Dante lets out a soft laugh and peers back at me, his eyes twinkling. ‘No, we’re going to my place. To sleep and rest. You have had a long day.’

Vyrian’s lips turn down, but Dante seems to catch on because he reaches out and touches him gently. His ears flutter, and his eyes widen.

‘I will give you a room with windows. We can open them, and you can listen to it. And I have a porch you can sit on if you’d like.’

Vyrian is delighted by this. ‘I should like to sleep in the rain.’

Dante lets out another soft laugh and then guides them out of my house, leaving Eissa and me alone. We stare at one another for a long moment, and then he picks me up and carries me to bed.

I convince him to let us shower, to wash off the horror of today. He agrees, slipping into my small shower with me and taking his time running soap over my skin. He lets me do the same even though his Vyastil skin doesn’t need it. And when we dry off, we fall into bed, our naked bodies tangled around each other, our lips meeting in a frantic kiss.

We came so close to losing it all. We could have lost one another, could have been separated like Lucie and Dhoryn. It only makes us more fevered.

He’s on top of me, his hips grinding down against my own, his tongue pushing into my mouth and down my throat. I swallow around it. I feel his groan, the vibration moving through me, the drip of his slit against my cock. He shifts up and sinks down on me, my cock sliding into him.

I gasp and arch up, my fingers digging into his skin.

My Luca. My Luca, he chants through the bond, riding me. I’m so close, my body clenched tightly. The sight of him above me, his head thrown back, his strong thighs flexing as he moves, nearly undoes me. My big, strong Vyastil.

Mine. I thrust my hips up, and I see his lips part, his cocks pushing from his body. I reach out and grab onto them, shuttling my fists up and down each one, making a sharp trill leave his lips, a sound even I can hear.

Yours.

Yes, me. That’s who you belong to.