Page 71 of These Dangerous Fates

“This is where you belong. Here, with me. With the three of us.” With each statement, I thrust harder and harder. “Our soul bonded. Our mate. Our beloved.”

She’s gasping now, hanging on to every word that falls from my lips. It’s like she can’t get near enough to me. Her legs wrap around my waist and she pulls me closer.

“You are safe,” I whisper against her lips. “Protected. Cared for.”

Reaching between us, I rub her clit with my thumb. She moans as her release barrels through her and makes her shake from the force of it. I bring her through it, and only once her breathing has calmed, do I kiss her gently.

“You are loved, Ellis.”

* * *

I wake up in a tangle of limbs. Too many to just be mine and Ellis’s. I pry my eyes open and find Kai sprawled across the bed with Ellis tucked safely between us. Looking around the room, I find Sterling passed out in a chair, his neck bent at an angle I’m sure he’ll regret when he wakes.

It didn’t take long for Ellis to fall asleep after we had sex last night. Her eyes shone with tears at my words, but they didn’t fall. Holding her, tucked tight against my chest, brought me a sense of peace I’ll remember for the rest of my life. My soul bonded, safe in my arms, loved and cared for. I only hope I can be what she needs and not let her down.

I grab my phone from the floor next to the bed and check the time. Damn. We slept for almost an entire day. It doesn’t surprise me, though. Even before Ellis was captured, we hadn’t really been getting a lot of sleep with the challenge and everything. And considering I used more of my magic in a record amount of time than I ever have in my life, it’s a miracle I was able to stay awake at all.

Now, I stretch out and glance at Kai over Ellis’s sleeping form. My movements wake him, and he gives me a bleary smile as he stretches, too. I’m hit with this quivering in my chest. A sensation of free falling when I look at him. This bloody and vicious vampire who cares so deeply for his friends and his beloved. This creature who has somehow wormed his way into my heart, settling next to the spot Ellis has claimed as her own.

It started as just a way to help him burn off his emotions. Being an empath has always been hard for him. He struggles with separating his emotions from those he pulls from people around him. There are times he gets so wound up, the only way to bring him back down is to fuck him. And at first, that’s all it ever was. A rough fuck. Something to take the edge off. Somewhere along the way, it’s morphed. At least for me. And, from the things he’s said, and the things he’s done, I’m almost certain it has for him, too.

His gray eyes shine as he watches me. No hint of red this morning. A slow smile pulls up the corners of his mouth. A shiver travels down my back at the glint of fang peeking out from under his top lip. I have always wondered what it would feel like to have him bite me.

His smile grows, and I just know he is reading me right now. And fuck it. I don’t care. I let him read all my emotions, the same ones I feel for Ellis. The ones that have slowly grown over time from friend to something … more. I let him know just how much he has burrowed his way into my heart—and now shares a piece of it with the woman lying between us.

Kai leans up on his elbow and reaches across Ellis to palm the back of my head. He draws me in and surprises me with a gentle kiss, unlike any we have ever shared. Usually, it’s a battle for dominance. A clash of tongue and teeth. Bruising kisses that leave our lips puffy and chests heaving.

This kiss throws me. It’s slow and drugging. It steals my breath and makes my head spin. It’s dangerous. Addicting. Emotions erupt inside me, and I don’t repress them. I let them flow through me, let them float out into the universe so Kai can read them. The kiss deepens, and as his tongue brushes against mine, I moan deep in my throat.

A soft, sleepy chuckle breaks us apart. “I think I could wake up to that sight for the rest of my life,” Ellis says, smiling at us as she blinks sleep from her eyes.

Kai laughs and leans down to kiss her, just as soft as he kissed me. Ellis’s hands tangle in his hair and she heaves a sigh as he pulls away.

“It’s a good thing you have eternity to do so,” Kai says as he slips out of bed.

My thoughts try to linger on his words, on the fact that Ellis has eternity with Kai as his beloved, but I’m distracted by Kai’s naked body. He stretches his arms overhead and I know by her stillness, Ellis is just as invested in what she is seeing as I am. Kai has never never been bulky like Sterling. He is all long, lean muscles covered in tats and piercings. As discreetly as I can, I adjust myself under the covers as Kai pulls on sweats and shoves his erection into them.

“You’re both drooling,” Kai says drily. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drool all over my sheets.” He winks as he saunters into the bathroom and closes the door.

Ellis settles against my side and closes her eyes with a smile. “Yeah. I can definitely get used to that.”

I laugh and place a kiss on her forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” Her eyes open, but I catch a few shadows still lingering. “I’m happy to be back.”

I run my fingers through her curls. “But …”

She sighs. “I just have so many questions. Is Noah really my dad? Why am I bonded to all three of you? What is this warehouse Sam kept mentioning?” She sits up and shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just feel like something is hanging over my head and whatever it is, it’s about to drop, and it’s not going to be pleasant.”

“I hate to agree with you, Ellis, but I think you’re right.” Sterling grumbles as he wakes up and stretches his neck with a wince. “Holy fuck. That was a bad idea sleeping in the chair.”

Ellis looks at Sterling and bites her lip like she is debating saying or doing something. But in the end, she just looks down at her hands. I squeeze her shoulder as I climb out of bed and walk to Sterling. Purple light flares around my hands and I place them on his neck, letting my magic heal his aches. Sterling groans and rolls his head from side to side as I step away.

“Thanks, man.”

“Sure thing,” I say and pat him on the back.

I let the magic linger in my hands, marveling at how easy it was to call forth. In all my 109 years of living, I always thought it was second nature. But since accepting Ellis as my soul bonded, it’s easier than breathing. I blink and there it is. No thought required. It blows my mind.

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