A self-satisfied smile sharpens his expression. Then, just as I think he’s going to pull away, he slips those fucking magical fingers into my pants, into my underwear, and into my renewed wetness.
I try to stifle a moan, my hips jerking, as he easily finds my clit. Again.
“One more, Princess?” he whispers into my neck, sucking gently behind my ear. “Then lunch? Then if you need more words, we’ll talk.”
“Yes,” I moan. “Yes, Sully. Please.”
He hovers his mouth over my ear, his breath warm and almost invasive, overwhelming and delicious. “Say you are mine, Mirth. When you come. Say you’re mine, say my name.”
I wrap one hand over the wrist of the hand he’s using to pleasure me. My other hand goes around the side of his neck because he’s covered the rest of his skin. I lift his chin with my thumb, staring him straight in the eyes. I keep his gaze locked to mine even as pleasure streaks through me, even as he has to pin me against the counter with his body so my legs don’t give out.
He looks deep into my eyes— and doesn’t falter in response to whatever I reveal to him. He looks at me as if I’m everything. Everything he wants. Everything he desires.
As I orgasm, suddenly and almost painfully, my grip on his neck tightens. I don’t drop his gaze, and I don’t question the desire, the need, as I say, “You’re mine, Salvatore. I claim you. I claim you.”
The weave of essence still threaded around us — a connection born through a lifetime of friendship and solidified through shared grief — tightens over us.
“I love you, Euphrosyne,” Sully whispers, cupping my pussy tightly as the lingering sparks of my orgasm fade.
Something more than skin deep snaps into place between us. As if just for the next breath, our souls splinter into each other, resolving into one whole. Together.
Sully brushes his lips against mine.
And we’re two people again.
A tiny sliver of the empty space that Armin’s death has left in my soul, the space I acknowledged as I released a single handful of his ashes to the wind, isn’t quite so empty anymore.
“Mine,” Sully murmurs.
“Mine,” I agree. “Forever, now.”
“No, Mirth.” His tone is deadly serious. “It’s always been forever between us. I tried to be Armin’s, but it was you I needed. It was always you. And if I have to spend the rest of our life together proving it, I’ll do so gladly.”
Reality tries to intrude, and a sharp pain coalesces in my chest. “It’s not just me and what I want … which is most definitely you. This is about the intersection point, and …” I swallow harshly, struggling to hold his gaze even as I can feel the protective bubble surrounding us slowly dissolve.
“I know,” he says simply and definitively. “And we’re going to prove that we’re the best choice overall. Even if you don’t want to fuck all of us.” Grinning saucily, he pulls his hand free from my panties, then sucks on his middle finger and forefinger.
I blink at him. “We?”
“Yes.” He does up my pants, stepping back to run his gaze over me. Then, seemingly satisfied, he holds his arm out. “I believe we’re late for lunch now.”
I slap his forearm instead of taking it. “Sully!”
He grabs my hand, kissing the back of it tenderly, then twining his fingers through mine. “I’m not supposed to be chasing after you. Yet. It’s not only my secret to tell.”
I narrow my eyes at him even as a completely different warmth slowly spreads through my chest. It feels a lot like hopeand contentment, where before I felt only resolve and a sense of duty.
He laughs at my expression, snagging my backpack and swinging it over his shoulder as he leads us toward the bathroom door.
Roz is waiting for us, gazing out the exterior door at the end of the hall.
We’ve exited the building before my well-fucked brain clicks together the little hints Sully has teased.
“You think … you think I can have you and still do my duty?” I whisper, almost too low for my own ears.
But Sully hears me. “It’s not just me. And yes, I know it.”
“Ah, Salvatore!”Tereza says, striding purposefully toward us as we step through the open patio doors that lead into the teacher’s lounge. “You found Her Highness. Lovely.”
