Page 16 of Sharing Their Prize

Settling her against the soft pillows, I bend down and drop a soft kiss to her lips. The moment her pillowy mouth touches mine, something snaps and I need more. Parting her lips, I slip my tongue into her mouth. Licking and tasting. Flicking against her own seeking slickness.

Kez’s light touch against my shoulder is the only thing that keeps me from climbing into the bed beside her and sinking back inside her body. With more strength than I thought possible, I pull back from her, dragging my thumb across her cheek and over her kiss-swollen lips.

“Close your eyes, baby girl.” I say through the emotion trying to close my throat.

“We are so grateful for having this night to spend with you,” Kez says, stepping into my place and leaning down to kiss her next.

Ivy keeps her eyes closed but lifts her chin to accept him. When a tear appears at the corner of her eye and rolls down the side of her face, my resolve fractures into a million pieces.

“Before you go,” she croaks through her own emotion as her dark brown eyes flutter open. “My name isn’t Ivy, it’s Jaya. I wan—wanted you to know be—before—”

“Shhh,” I hush her, cupping the side of her face. “It’s time to sleep now. Can you do that, baby girl? Keep your pretty eyes closed for us until you drift off.”

She nods her head, and another tear slides down the side of her face when her lids close.

Looking over my shoulder, Kez has the syringe pinched between his thumb and forefinger. I can’t stand to watch him inject her—to erase us from her memory—so with a snarl, I grab my clothes from the end of the bed and stalk out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

11

KEZ

Ivy jumps at the sound of the slammed door.

“Kez?” she whimpers.

“Shh, sweetheart,” I whisper.

“Will you make sure he’s okay?” she asks and my already broken heart shatters completely.

My fist squeezes around the syringe until I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter in my grip.

“I will,” I promise. “Now, go to sleep.” Bending down, I tuck the blankets up under her chin and softly kiss her forehead.

Another tear slips from beneath her thick lashes and she curls into a tight ball.

Rubbing at my sternum, I force myself to turn away. I’m halfway across the room when I realize I’m still holding the syringe. And I’m naked.

Spinning back, I grab my clothes from the end of the bed and head into the ensuite where I step into my pants. Without thinking through what I’m doing, I empty the syringe over the toilet and then toss it into the garbage. There will be hell to pay for what I just did, but I’ll deal with that later.

When I slip quietly out of the room, I expect to see Jacob pacing in the hallway but he’s nowhere to be seen.

If I were a grumpy bear, where would I stalk off to, to lick my wounds?

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. The theater, where we first laid eyes on Ivy dances behind my lids. Turning to the left, I start jogging until I reach the doorway. Sure enough, Jacob is sitting all alone in the front row.

Letting out my held breath, I stride in and settle into the seat beside him. Jacob’s head snaps to the side and when he sees it’s me, he crumples. Slouching down into his seat, he brings his hands up to his face and lets out a whine like someone is killing him.

Seeing him like this has my heart pounding until it’s crashing into my rib cage, trying to break through before shredding itself on the jagged ends.

“I would bet my entire faction that she’s ours.” Jacob groans.

I feel it too. But I’ve never heard of a triad mating before. Especially not one from different factions. “Can that really happen?”

Jacob turns his narrowed eyes on me. “I don’t give a fuck if it can happen or not. You’re mine too, Kezreth.” Hearing him say that sends warmth to where my chest aches. “But without her…it feels incomplete. You’re right, we need to go to Jarik.”

“And what if he tells us to get bent?” Suddenly I’m not so sure about going to the alpha of alphas. Especially after I just wasted the serum into the toilet.

“Then we go back and get her. If she’s already gone, we’ll track her down.”

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