Page 140 of Charlie

"That's the cold water, you idiot," Cam laughs, covering Lach's hand as he turns the water off. Cam cranks the hot water, smirking at Lach's inability to move his gaze from my body.

Jack stands suddenly, looking down at me with dark eyes. "You have never looked more like a selkie, mo chridhe." His throat bobs. "Legend says fishermen used to steal the selkie skins so their women couldn't disappear back into the ocean," he murmurs, his voice sliding over me like velvet.

"Would you do that?" I ask him, my body humming beneath his gaze.

"Do you want the pretty answer or the real answer?"

"Real," I say without hesitation, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

"I would lock it up in a chest with a thousand chains and drop it into the deepest part of the ocean."

"What if I wanted to go home?"

"I would tell you where the chest is, and you would dive for it," he says, crossing his arms.

"And then what?"

"I would help you."

"But you'd drown."

"Anything for you." He flips the switch on the towel warmer hanging on the wall and stalks away from us without another word.

"Is he saying he'd rather die than lose me?" I ask, turning to Lach, my heart in my throat.

"I think we all would if I'm being completely honest," he shrugs. I tuck that knowledge away to examine later.

I hear the shower turn on and have a hard time keeping my mind off the mental image of Jack's large soapy hand sliding up and down that magic cock of his.

Cam pulls my hair outside the tub and gently dries it with the towel before combing it with his fingers.

"I didn't make it awkward by proposing to you, did I?" I ask, the question falling from my lips without my permission. He stands and moves to the side of the tub, his ring flashing in the light as he grips the side and eases back down on his knees.

"Not even the tiniest bit. When I returned to find you and found out I would have to share you, I wasn't sure I would be strong enough. I couldn't rip you away from Lach and Jack to start over again – plus, I don't think you would have been happy.

"Are you happy?" I ask him, his words breaking my heart more than a little bit.

"There isn't a word to describe how I feel, Charlie. I'm more than happy. When the four of us are together, it's like coming home. I feel complete." He flicks water at me to break the tension and then yelps and jumps away as I send a wave of water back.

"Will one of you hand me a towel?" I ask, rivulets of water streaming down my body as I push to my feet, steam billowing from my body. Both of them exhale sharply, reaching for me, trapping me between them as they lean over the side of the tub. Lach grips my chin and pulls my mouth to his while Cam kisses my neck, his hands skating down my body. Jack chooses that moment to burst out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped tightly around his waist that does absolutely nothing to hide his raging hard-on.

"Why don't you two go take a shower? I'll get Charlie dried off." He tugs a towel from the rack and stalks toward me, lust radiating from him in waves. Cam and Lach leave me with a kiss on the cheek, and then Jack wraps me in a towel and lifts me out of the bathtub. He walks to the bed and throws me down, the towel opening and presenting me to him like a goddamn present. His gaze travels down my body, stopping between my legs. I open for him, desperate for anything he'll give me. I'll never forget how he looks at me at this moment, his jaw flexing, nostrils flaring, the way his eyes darken, and that predatory grace and quietness that seems to settle over his shoulder like a mantle.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Charlotte," he rasps, palming my thighs and pushing them wider.

"I hope so," I breathe, slipping from his grip, turning over to my stomach, and pushing my ass in the air. He grips my cheeks, spreading them wide as he slides a finger down my crack, brushing the sensitive area around my asshole.

"Stop teasing me," he growls.

"Or what? Your control will snap, and you'll finally fuck my ass?" He makes a strangled sound, his beard scratching against sensitive skin as he leans his forehead against my lower back.

"God, I'm not strong enough for this," he says, his voice raw.

"Go ask them," I beg, my body buzzing with need.

"If I start, I won't be able to stop. It'll ruin our dinner plans."

"Go ask them," I say again, the last word ending with a sob.