Page 57 of Tangled Threads Of Fate

I snuggled into his massive chest.Gah, this guy.It was hard to imagine I’d only known him a week—my soul felt like I’d known him for a lifetime. Several lifetimes, even. “Not a single regret.” I leaned up and kissed him once more, and he gave a shuddering sigh of relief.

“Thank fuck, because I can’t look at the pool without thinking about you screaming my name, and getting hard.” He stood up, still holding me like a baby, and strode to the other side of the pool. As we got closer to Tryp and Erus, my chest got lighter and lighter. It wasn’t painful being away from them, like it had been with Milo that first night in Heraklion. More like when all three of them were together in the same spot, it felt like the sun was shining softly on me and everything was all right.

Happiness. That was the feeling.

Milo plopped me down on the lounger between them, and Tryp snuggled closer, rubbing his cheek on me like a cat.

“Sorry,” Erus muttered. “He’s been dying to scent mark you since you bonded.”

I flushed pink, but smiled goofily. It was like that happy, tipsy feeling you got after a half glass of good wine. “And you?”

He grinned. “I’m better at restraining myself,” he teased, though maybe he was chastising his errant friend. Boyfriend? Lover? Twin? Man, this was getting kinda weird and very mythological, I guess. They hadn’t exactly been known for keeping the family lines distinct.

“You guys aren’t actually related at all, right?” That was probably a completely inappropriate thing to ask, but I kindareallywanted to know.

Tryp looked up from where he was running his cheek on my shoulder. “Goddess, no. I’m far too handsome to be related to this guy.”

Erus rolled his eyes. “We were created to be the opposite sides of the same coin. I was born into a high-class family, hewas born into one of the poorest. He is brave and brash”—Tryp snorted in derision—“and I am careful and considerate. But the one thing that anchors us both is that I love him more than anything or anyone in this whole world. Including our former Goddess.” Theincluding youhung in the air, and I was pretty okay with that. “We share the samesoul.It is hard to express that kind of relationship to anyone else.”

I nodded, because I could only imagine. Actually, no, I couldn’t. The concept of a soul was such a weird idea to me. I mean, as a society, we talked about souls, but I’d always just assumed it was a human concept we used when teaching young children how not to be psychos, or to explain why music made us feel the way we did.

Until recently. Obviously, now the idea of a soul was probably fundamental to my continued existence.

Erus was looking longingly at his other half rubbing on me. Tryp was pressing his body to my stomach now, and it should feel weird, because I mean, itwasfucking strange. These guys were completely unknown to me a week ago. They had lion heads, for fuck’s sake. But instead, it just felt nice, felt right, like I was being claimed.

So I lifted an arm and waved Erus closer. “Do you want to…?” I waved a hand in Tryp’s direction. The relief that flashed across Erus’s face made my heart clench. He leaned against my chest and rubbed his cheek in short, sharp motions on my clavicle.

Despite their closeness, their hands remained in respectful positions, though maybe I wouldn’t have minded so much if they’d wandered a little more. I looked up at Nate, who was still on the other side of the pool, sunglasses over his eyes so I couldn’t tell if he was watching this display or not. Was this okay? I knew he was okay with Milo, but this felt intimate in a different way.

He didn’t barge over here and yank me back into his arms, so I just had to trust that if he had a problem, he’d tell me. He wasn’t exactly a wilting flower. He was a fucking God of War.

Still, I raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave a tiny hand gesture that I took to meanit’s fine.

Tryp flopped back with a contented sound. “Finally. I’ve been dying to do that for days.” He winced. “Sorry. I just meant to do your cheek, but once I started, I couldn’t stop.”

Reaching out, I stroked my fingers through his golden hair. Maybe that was too intimate too? Trying not to second-guess myself at every turn, I continued the motion, and when my fingers scraped against his scalp, he actually purred. Or a strange, gurgling noise deep in his chest that might have been a purr.

It actually shocked me into stilling. “Uh…”

Erus laid back and laughed. “That was a good noise. I think Tryp likes your stroking.”

“So it really was a purr?”

He shook his head. “We can’t purr. But we can make, like, a happy thumping sound in our chest when something feels good.”

So fucking strange.“Do you have any more lion-ish traits?”

“I like to fuck from the back—does that count?” Tryp laughed, nudging my fingers with the top of his head again. I went back to scratching his scalp, and he swallowed down the noise he’d made before. It was kind of cute.

Erus rolled his eyes at his lover. “In answer to your question, not really. We are far more man than beast, and other than scent marking, a slight possessiveness, and the odd noise, we don’t really possess that many qualities to the creature whose visage we share. We aren’t lions. We are Genii. It’s different.”

Tilting my head at him, I tried to remember what he looked like. I’d only seen their other forms in flashes, right before I keeled over in shock. “Can I see again?”

Tryp lifted his head to look down at me. “Will it make you faint? Because I think the God of War might thump me if I make you pass out once more.”

There was a grumble of agreement from across the pool that let me know that Nate was indeed paying attention to what was going on.

Shaking my head, I grinned at Tryp. “It’s fine. I’m expecting it now. Besides, I’ve seen Milo in his full bull glory. I’m becoming desensitized.”

---