Page 79 of Released

My hands stay limp at my sides as I kiss him back, my whole body sated and relaxed. He pulls away, and I glance down my body to see Ash giving me one of his beautiful smiles that used to be so rare.

“You are everything we could ever want or need, Princess,” he tells me in a gruff voice, his own body loose. “Don’t ever fucking forget it.”

“I love you, all of you,” I tell them, gasping as Ash finally pulls out, and Loki helps me to sit up.

Ash wraps his arms around me, kissing my forehead and pulling me in close so that our sweaty bodies are pressed together.

“I love you too, Princess.”

Loki trails his fingers down my side, kissing my neck and cheek.

“I fucking love you, Lilly.”

“Should you guys still call me that, you know, given my new name?” I ask, and they pull back to look at me, considering looks on their faces.

“You’ll always be Lilly to us,” Ash states, running his palm down the side of my face. “And we can always say it’s your nickname.”

“Although,” Loki starts, and when I look at him he has a shit-stirring grin on his lips so I know that whatever will come next may earn him a black eye or two. “Technically, she is now free to marry whoever she wants, given that your wife died.”

Ash growls, and it’s only my arms still wrapped around his waist that stops him from lunging at the trickster.

“Only if I get to marry all of you,” I blurt, realising how right that feels as the words leave my mouth.

Both pause, barely even breathing as they look at me, a mixture of consideration and hunger on their faces. Before anyone can say another word, the sound of Violet crying, then Jax’s deep, soothing voice can be heard down the hall.

“She probably wants feeding,” I tell them, the sound of her cries hitting me hard in the chest. Ash steps away immediately, he knows how a sense of panic washes over me when she’s upset, and he helps me down off the piano and Loki pulls up his sweats and grabs my PJs.

“Go get cleaned up, Jax can soothe her for a minute,” Ash tells me gently, pulling his own sweats up and intertwining our fingers, leading me from the room as Loki follows.

We walk into the big bedroom to find Jax rocking Violet in his huge arms, wearing only boxer briefs, and the sight stuns me for a moment before Ash gives a chuckle and pushes me into the bathroom.

“Clean up first, fuck him later,” Loki says with a quiet laugh, and Jax looks up with a smirk, his blue eyes heating as he takes in my nudity and freshly fucked appearance.

Kai walks in then, carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies and a thermos of mint tea that I know will be the exact right temperature to drink straight away. I place a kiss on his cheek, his own eyes growing warm.

“You look stunning, sweetheart,” he murmurs in my ear, and I shake my head with a giggle.

Reluctantly, I head to the bathroom, turning around as I reach the door to see all four of them cooing over the small baby in Jax’s arms, and my heart feels so full it might just burst out of my chest.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

ASH

Guilty.

That one word holds such weight. A word that signals our freedom.

Both my father and Loki’s are charged with first-degree murder, life in prison with no parole as their punishment, and we’ve made sure that they won’t be able to bribe their way out by getting there first.

We drive the new mini bus that Jax picked up yesterday back to my place in the woods, Violet asleep in the back with Lilly at her side and Loki next to Lilly.Lost My Mindby Alice Kristiansen plays quietly over the speakers, and I can’t help feeling that this is our song. All five of us lost in each other.

“I can’t quite believe it,” Lilly whispers, resting her head on Loki’s shoulder as we drive through the fall afternoon. “Is it really over?”

“It’s really over, Princess,” I say from the front, craning my neck to look back at her.

“And what happens now?” she asks, a small smile playing on her lush lips.

“Anything we want, sweetheart,” Kai tells her, and her smile grows, rivaling the sunlight filtering through the trees alongside the road.

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