Page 433 of Filthy Elites

I was vaguely aware of his brothers drawing closer around us. Felix cleared his throat. Darius kissed me again, almost tenderly, and then raised his head to glower at the younger guy.

“Maybe there should be some apologies before the passionate mauling continues,” Felix said wryly. As his gaze darted to me, his mouth twisted. “Starting with me. We seem to keep getting tangled up in misunderstandings and miscommunication. I should have spoken up for you sooner—before these two bullied you out of the house.”

My throat tightened. “I get it,” I said, letting my gaze hold his before looking at Lucan and Darius again. “I was hiding things, and that was a sore spot for you, especially after the lies we’d only just cleared up. But I swear I only wanted to take down the people who actually hurt you and the Nobles. I’d like to see the alliance between my family and yours back in place if that’s possible. I’m not here to wage war.”

“Only on the people who deserved it,” Lucan said, glancing down at Holly and Brant. “I can’t help thinking we’re lucky you haven’t decided we deserve retribution too.”

The corner of my lips quirked upward. “I’m sure you could get there if you tried really hard.”

He smiled back, cautious but I thought more out of fear of saying the wrong thing than because he was wary of me anymore. “I think I like being on your side a whole lot better. Or on top of you. Or under you. I’m pretty open to the possibilities, if you still are.”

I motioned him closer, and he rested a hand on my waist. Then I met Darius’s eyes.

The eldest Rosano brother’s face had darkened. He tipped his head to rest his forehead against mine. “I’m going to lead the Hell Kickers one day. I should be a better man than I’ve been to you. I promise I don’t normally let my temper get the better of me like that. If you want to yell at me a while to even the score, have at it.”

I touched his cheek. “Yelling is definitely not what I want to do with you. I just need to know that we’re good now. No more worries about my loyalties?”

He paused. “Is it going to be a problem, being with us and being true to your family at the same time? We don’t know that Ezra won’t want his own retribution no matter what you tell him.”

I didn’t even need to think to know my answer. “I’ll only stand with my family when they deserve it too. My brother doesn’t have me on a leash—I make my own rules.” At least, I did from now on. After what I’d just survived, there wasn’t a single part of me that was willing to jump atanyone’scommand anymore, even my brother’s.

Darius exhaled roughly. “I wasn’t worried about that. I don’t think you’d turn on us for his gain—hell, you already had the perfect opportunity if you’d been interested in going there. I just don’t want to ruinyourlife so I can have you in mine.”

An ache formed around my heart, but it wasn’t an unpleasant one. “The three of you haven’t been ruining my life,” I said softly. “You’re reminding me how to live for myself again. And I’m not letting anyone take what’s mine away from me ever again.”

“We’re yours,” Lucan said without hesitation. “As long as you’ll have us.”

“So let’s get on with making you ours,” Darius growled. “We’ve waited too long as it is. We’ll fucking christen the site of your victory.”

He hefted my petite frame against his brawny one in a single smooth movement and marched me past the fallen bodies into the deeper shadows of the storage area. As he set me on a box where my legs could splay around his waist, I curled my fingers into his shirt and tipped my head back to welcome his kiss.

It really was the perfect place to reclaim everything that’d been ours for one brief night years ago, that the woman lying dead a few feet away had nearly stolen from us forever, along with everything else she’d robbed us of.

We were never going to be easy people, any of us. We’d been broken and brutal with each other, and we all had our sharp edges still. But the slate was clear now, no more secrets or resentments left between us. Just me and the men some part of me had always known were meant to be by my side. The fierceness of our hearts fit together just right.

All three of those men surrounded me now. Lucan came around Darius to tuck his hand around my waist, peeling back my jacket so he could kiss the bare skin of my upper arm beneath. Felix clambered right up on the boxes next to me and pressed his lips to the top of my head as he eased the jacket off my other arm.

“It’s getting cool out,” he murmured, “but we’re going to keep you nice and hot.”

A giddy giggle that wasn’t at all like me tumbled from my throat against Darius’s lips. He kissed me harder and then pulled back just an inch. “I love hearing you like that. But there are all kinds of other sounds I want to hear from that mouth too.”

I peered at him through my eyelashes. “You’ll get what you deserve.”

He grinned. “Then I’d better get on with earning those moans.”

He tugged the jacket right off me, and Felix wasted no time jerking down the zipper at the back of my dress. The guys didn’t hesitate to make good on his promise to warm me up. They all leaned closer, Darius capturing my mouth again while his hands roamed down my sides, Felix nibbling my neck and teasing his fingers over the curve of one breast, Lucan cupping the other with a flick of his thumb over my pebbling nipple.

Quivers of pleasure raced through my nerves from every direction. I couldn’t restrain a whimper, arching into their combined touch.

It was so much better than the first time. Better because I wasn’t that hesitant teen girl who’d been afraid she’d embarrass herself. Better because we all knew this wasn’t just one night. We were in this thing together, for as long as the world didn’t manage to tear us apart.

Darius lowered his head abruptly, searing a path over my jaw and down my neck. Felix took the opportunity to turn my face toward him and plant his lips on mine. As his tongue darted blissfully into my mouth, Lucan worked his own kind of magic fondling my breast and squeezing my ass.

I gave a little growl of encouragement, my panties dampening. Darius dropped low enough to yank down my bra and bring his mouth to the breast Felix had released. His tongue swiveled around the peak in perfect symphony with the movements of Felix’s dueling with my own and Lucan’s now curling around my earlobe.

They finally earned one of those moans, reverberating through my chest alongside the rush of pleasure. I clutched at Lucan’s collar, Darius’s shirt, rocking instinctively, propelled by so much need I couldn’t hold myself back.

“We’ve got you, Lady Noble,” Darius said in a voice that nearly melted me. He shoved up my skirt and gripped my panties. “I fucking love these dresses. And they make it so much easier to get right where I want to go.”

---