Leaning forward, desperate to keep myself quiet, I tasted his lips. My body twisted, his arms moving automatically to my shoulders.
His warm tongue, warmer with the coolness around us, caressed the roof of my mouth. When I shivered, he sucked in air, too. “Damn,” he murmured, eyes burning with unspoken hunger. There was an inch between us, it filled with our heavy breaths. “Every time we kiss, it's like the first one all over again.”
“Were you always such a romantic?” I asked, fighting down my surge of fluff and sugar.
Something stopped him. Following his gaze, I looked up.
There'd been no noise, but Jacob stood in the open door. His poise was casual, one leg crossed at the knee so the toe of his shoe touched the gravel.
When Jacob spoke, his voice was a baritone, coming from the deep valley of his heart. “It's the same for me, Marina. When we kiss... it's as fierce as the very first time.”
Kite didn't loosen his hold on me, but he did stand, bringing me with him. The two men shared a look, saying things without twitching their tongues.
On long legs, Jacob approached. His heels left nothing, not a peep, as he crossed broken glass to meet us in the near darkness. “Is it the same for you?” he asked me softly, forming the tip of our triangle.
I was trapped; Jacob in front, Kite to my left, and solid brick everywhere else. Tonight, there would be no running.
Not from them.
They waited, eager but pretending not to be. Shivering, I tucked my arm into Kite's, then reached for Jacob with my other. The skin of his hand was like polished stone in my grip.
“Yes,” I hushed. “When we kiss... when we do anything...” My stomach fluttered. “It's brand new. It never loses its strength.”
Unlike me, who was losing it by the second as I spilled my guts.
Smiling so that it touched his eyes, Jacob sank his fingers into my hair. He held my jaw, and though I saw the kiss coming, it didn't matter.
Static, whiskey, shadows and gluttony... that was what he was made from.
Our lips touched and relearned their curves, old friends or new friends or both. No matter how much we did any of this, I was convinced it'd never lose its shine. How could something so perfect exist between two people, never mind three?
“Is everything cleaned up inside?” Kite asked, breaking the moment.
Jacob released me, but kept his hand cupping the back of my skull. “Completely done, everyone is gone, too.”
“Then maybe we should go where it's warmer.”
Blinking, I looked between them and realized that I wasn't actually cold. Not anymore.
With Kite and Jacob, there existed a warmth that crept into my soul. It was wild and it fed off of this strange, insistent passion we all indulged in.
This warmth was special.
Magical.
Was this really love?
Again, I thought about that damn letter—about my mission. My world had been simpler when all that existed was the threat of my own death balanced against my desire for revenge.
It wasn't long ago that I hadn't cared if I died.
Now... I didn't want just myself to live, but these men, as well. Could I manage that, keep all of us safe, and still spill the blood I'd hunted for so long?
Hands tugged at me, leading me to the door. “Where are we going?” I asked, stirring from my cloudy thoughts.
“Inside,” Jacob said, one arm coiling around my waist. Kite joined in, a palm on my lower back. Together they led me into the bar, a place that had been so loud, but was now eerily silent. I felt like I was walking to the ends of the Earth.
I scanned the room, amazed that Jacob had straightened it out as much as he had. He worked fast and efficient, had he needed us at all earlier?
The idea prickled me. Wait. What if...
Carefully, I pried out of their arms. “Jacob, did you even need us this morning?”
His eyebrows went up. “Why would you ask that?”
I wasn't so easily tricked. “Look at how fast you cleaned this whole place up!” I gestured, then narrowed my eyes, voice going hot around the edges. “You lied to interrupt us. I'm right, aren't I?” I didn't let him say anything, my volume going higher. “Why? Why the hell would you lie like that?”
Kite bristled, facing his friend with disbelief. “Is she right?”
Tension rolled over Jacob’s shoulders. I spotted it, saw how it made the contours of his jaw turn jagged. Finally, he tucked his hands into his pockets and sighed. “This place did need to be fixed up, but I didn't need to stop you both to get it done in time.”
A lump formed in my throat. “If you cared about us doing things without you, why not just admit it sooner?”
“I don't care.” The words fell out, and he considered them in the air. “Not the way you're thinking.” When he locked his gaze on me, the intensity made me back up. “I wanted you, Marina. Just the smell of you, the way you slipped into my ears.” He inhaled sharply. “I needed you, and I couldn't have you. Not then. If I hadn't forced you here tonight, just to have you by my side, I might have gone insane.”