“You still smell like me,” he whispered.
I nestled in further, breathing in the fresh spring scent that always seemed to lift my mood a little. It was almost too wonderful to be real: the sensation of being surrounded by that smell while Cabe’s body pressed solidly around me, somehow unyielding and soft all at once. I felt like I could sink into him. I traced the skin of the arm that was tucked beneath my head, marveling at how I could be close to him and not feel that horrible itching that had always convinced me that there was something wrong between us. I had thought that the bond had been forcing us together against my will, but truly… the bond had been unsettled. It hadn’t formed properly because I had been using Silas as some sort of conduit. Now the bond had settled down and I had only my own feelings to consider.
Mine, and theirs.
“Are you okay with it?” Cabe whispered, repeating his question from earlier.
It was much easier to answer him now, in the comfort of darkness, without the others watching or listening.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I think so.”
They weren’t going to pressure me for sex. While I was sure it had more to do with them being unwilling to share me in that way with each other, I was still grateful, because I wasn’t ready for that. It was difficult enough to wrap my head around a relationship with the four of them.
Cabe’s hand swept down my side, brushing beneath the hem of my pajama top and settling over my stomach. His palm flattened to my skin, his fingers stretching out, and he released a breath against my neck.
“Good.” He pushed against my stomach, forcing me to shift back slightly, and a rush of heat flooded through me. “Very good,” he breathed.
I placed my hand over his, unsure how to conduct myself. I was surprised at the way my body reacted to his touch; as surprised as I was at the way my body had reacted to Silas the night before. I wasn’t an idiot—I knew what sexual attraction was—but I hadn’t ever experienced it like this. I hadn’t expected my body to bow to the sting of pain, or arch back against the feeling of a body behind me.
Cabe grunted softly, his hand slipping from my stomach to my waist, his fingers gripping me in what felt like restraint. I wondered if I had done something wrong, but I could feel the thump of his heartbeat against mine, and the thrill of heat that radiated from him. He felt good, his emotion draped over me like a blanket of flames, licking hotly over my skin. After a few moments he relaxed his grip, his hand moving back to my stomach. I shivered, and his fingers brushed out as he buried his face into the pillow behind me. I could feel the reaction of his body and it brought a rush of awareness into mine that had me catching a whimper on my tongue.
Someone in the room groaned, and I realised that the sound had come from the floor.
“Seph…” Noah’s voice was caught on a growl. “We can feel you…”
“For fuck’s sake,” Quillan swore roughly, obviously having awoken at some point. He ripped me out of Cabe’s arms and set me on his other side, almost to the point of falling off the mattress.
“Sorry,” I managed.
Cabe laughed, but it sounded a little pained.
“Sleep.” Quillan reached around me and covered my mouth with his hand.
It was amusing that as different as he and Silas were from one another, they still used the same technique to stop me from talking. His action caused his chest to press against my turned back, and I could feel the heavy press of his heart. It was tinged with the same burning need that I had felt from Cabe, and I widened my eyes, staring at the others lying on the floor. Noah was lying on his back, his arm thrown over his eyes, his fists clenched. Silas was sitting up, his eyes fixed on me; glaring with an intensity that had my throat catching. I gradually felt for all of them with my senses, travelling down the lines of the bond that connected me to each of them. Somehow, my emotion had leaked onto them, and they had all reacted to it. I could feel the awakening need inside them as surely as I could feel it inside myself.
“Sorry,” I choked out again, the word muffled against Quillan’s hand.
Silas shook his head at me and Quillan tightened his grip around the lower-half of my face.
“Damn,” Cabe grumbled softly. “How can I still feel her?”
“We all can, idiot,” Noah retorted lowly. “It’s driving me insane.”
“Stop touching her, Miro.” Silas’s voice was projected lowly, injected with anger and pain, though there was also an edge to his accent that matched the heated feeling I could feel stemming from him.
He looked like he was seconds away from surging to his feet and approaching the bed, and I didn’t know whether he wanted to sink his teeth into me again or tear me away from the others. I shuddered against Quillan.
“I’m barely touching her.”