Letting me stop pretending I’m not already in it.
“Still think I’m the one struggling?” I murmur, close enough now that my voice brushes against her skin. Her scent is perfuming bright and bold, filling the room and signalling to all of us just how aroused she is.
Her fingers curl into the blankets. “A bit,” she says, stubborn even now.
A low sound pulls from my chest, rough and instinctive, and her body reacts to it immediately, arching slightly into the contact at her hip.
That does something to me.
Not control.
Not calm.
Something sharper. Clearer.
“Keep pushing,” I say quietly, my thumb dragging a slow line along her side, feeling the way her skin reacts under the touch. “See where that gets you.”
Her head tilts, exposing more of her throat, her voice softer now but steady. “I am.”
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just choice.
And that’s it.
That’s the moment something in me stops fighting it.
Not because the heat demands it.
Becauseshedoes.
Because she’s standing here – lying here – choosing me like she’s already decided I’m worth the risk.
My grip tightens, my body shifting closer without thought, instinct finally aligning with something I’m not trying to shut down.
“Brat,” I murmur again, quieter this time.
And this time, I don’t hold back.
I dip my head, capturing her lips in a fierce kiss. She tastes like sweet coconut and the lingering warmth of jasmine, her mouth soft and yielding against mine. A small sound escapes her, a mix between a sigh and a moan, and it sends a surge of desire coursing through me.
I pull her closer and her body melts into mine, her curves fitting perfectly against my hard planes. I can feel the heat radiating from her, the scent of her arousal wrapping around us like a thick cloud. My tongue sweeps into her mouth, tangling with hers, and she responds eagerly, her hands coming up to grasp at my shoulders.
I break the kiss, but only so I can taste her somewhere new. I track her jawline with my mouth, tongue flicking over the delicate bone before I bite—gentle, but enough to mark the moment. Her skin is warm and impossibly soft under my lips. I can’t help but linger. The sound she makes when I graze her with my teeth is sharp and stuttered, and it punches through my control with force. I want to hear it again. I want to map out every place that will make her gasp like that, make her lean in instead of away.
So I work my way down, slow and deliberate, lips and teeth and tongue tracing the line of her jaw to the hollow beneath her ear. I pause there, pressing my nose into her hair and breathing her in. The scent is even more intense this close — less jasmine and more raw heat, all her, all for me. I drag my lips along the side of her neck, feeling her pulse flutter beneath the skin, and then suck gently at the soft spot above her collarbone.
She shivers. Not with cold. With want.
I risk a glance across the nest. Finn’s eyes are molten, fixed on where my mouth is at her throat. Sol’s still making that steady, grounding purr, but even he is watching now, pupils blown wide. Koa’s hand has stilled on her braid, fingers curledtight like he’s holding himself back from joining in. The room is thick with expectation, every sense dialed up and waiting.
But I only care about her. About how she feels. How she tastes. How her body is already arching into my touch, begging for more even as she pretends she’s in control of the game.
I move lower, lips and tongue tracing her pulse, following it down to the slender curve of her shoulder. Her skin jumps under my mouth as I bite there, a little harder this time, and she lets out a noise that’s half laughter and half challenge. My own body answers with a jolt of heat, tight and aching and so close to snapping.
“You like that, brat?” I murmur against her skin, letting my teeth scrape her lightly.