But never again. I would keep them with me now, even if I had to collapse the world around me to achieve it.
I slumped down onto the couch, with Braxus laying his big head on my lap. “Did you know?”
He tilted his head at me, his eyes soft and shiny. Sometimes, I wished I could speak to him the way Hayle could. He huffed and shook his head, but then canted it to the side. I was going to take that as asort ofresponse.
My mother had died over and over, because of me. Because of a history I’d needed to create. My mind shied away from the idea that the Goddess had intervened—that was just too much.
It was all too much. Honestly, this made everything I’d ever gone through so much worse.
The door opened, and given that Braxus wasn’t snarling, I knew who it must be. I looked over my shoulder at Hayle, who vaulted over the back of the couch to land beside me. His butt hadn’t even settled on the cushions before he was dragging me into his arms. He kissed my cheeks, my forehead, the corners of my lips, like he was trying to smother me with love, and I soaked in every single second.
“I knew you were special. My Soul Tie.” He nuzzled his cheek against mine. “Are you okay?”
Pressed this close to Hayle, his arms like a protective wall around me, I felt better. But I was still not okay. “Not really. How do I deal with this? Is this power…” I dropped my voice lower. “Is it something I should even try to do? What if I’m screwing up the natural order of things?”What if I make a mistake and create a world that’s unimaginable?“Is it a power I can use forever, or is it something that has a finite number of uses? There’s so much I don’t know.”
He just held me tighter. “We’ll figure it out together. Me and you and Vox.”
Holding my cheeks between his large palms, he kissed me. Not softly this time, but with the ferality that he kept closely under wraps. He kissed me like he wanted to possess me.
Braxus huffed a disgruntled noise and headed off to a different room near the front door of the dorm. Close enough to keep guard, but far enough away that he didn’t have to watch us make out like horny teenagers. Hayle chuckled low, his throat rumbling against my lips as I kissed my way down his neck toward his collarbone.
“Where’s Alucius?”
“Keeping an eye on the threats,” he answered, his hands running down my back until he could cup my ass.
“Svenna is a spy,” I told him as I kissed his pec.
“Braxus told me. Eleventh Line. Can’t really blame her, though. She was a fierce warrior, then got sent down here to look after farm boy conscript fodder and entitled rich kids.” He kneaded the fleshy muscles of my ass cheeks as he tilted his head back, giving my mouth better access to all the places I wanted to taste.
Yeah, I thought so too. Vox saw it as a betrayal, but honestly, they were reaping what they’d sown. I didn’t care what happened to the First Line in Fortaare, and honestly, I hoped Feodore Vylan died a horrible, terrible death after what he’d done to his son.
Hayle made an impatient noise as he lifted me, carrying me to the bedroom. He held me so easily, his strength something I both admired and found incredibly sexy. “I need to be inside you right now. In a different world, I could’ve lost you.”
Kicking shut my door, he placed me back on my feet and began to strip me out of my clothes before moving onto his own. He made slowly kissing each inch of skin as it became available to his lips a type of foreplay that had me panting.
I buried my fingers in his hair, scraping my fingers across his scalp in that way I knew he loved. He shuddered between my thighs, and I smirked to myself. This man was mine; I owned him body, heart and soul, and he owned me.
“I love you, Hayle.”
He stopped, looking up at me with eyes that were full of so many different emotions, I’d have to stare for hours to untangle them. “I know. Love you too, Avie.” He groaned as he buried his face between my breasts. “So fucking much.”
“Starting without me again? I’m going to get a complex.” Vox’s cool voice slid between us, and I turned my head toward the doorway. He stood there, silhouetted by the light from the common room like a dark god. So fucking handsome.
Hayle raised an eyebrow. “Not my fault you’re busy doing responsible stuff, while I’m down here making sure that our Soul Tie is too sexually satisfied to even think about making goo-goo eyes at the pretty traitor.”
I flushed pink. Lierick was undeniably attractive. The kind of handsome that made you forget how to breathe. But he was on my shitlist and would remain there, until I was certain he wasn’t a threat to me or the people who meant the world to me. Especially Vox.
Scowling, I wrapped my fingers in Hayle’s hair and tugged. “He may be handsome, but I’m happy with you two.”
Hayle moaned, dipping his chin forward so his hair tugged against his scalp. “Whatever you say, Avie.” His tongue thrust out and flicked across my nipple, making me loosen my hold. Underhanded tactics. “Go ahead and discuss it with the Ice Prince. I intend to worship these breasts, and my mother taught me never to speak with my mouth full.” He sucked my nipple into his mouth, making me moan loud enough that the Eighth Line probably heard it from the floor above us.
Watching Vox get naked, I tried not to drool, the heat in his normally cool glare doing something to my insides that made me breathe harder. I realized that Hayle had taken off his elementaltalwhen Vox’s magic lifted him, shifting him to the side so Vox could sit at the end of the bed.
He lifted him even higher, and Hayle glared down at him. “Hey! I was doing some of my best work there.”
Vox grinned and pulled me into his lap, facing me away. “Just an interlude, Taeme. We have to give our girl the best seat in the house.” With that, he slid me down onto his cock, and Ihissed out a breath as he stretched me perfectly. Gripping my hips, he slid me back up until just the head of his long, thick cock remained inside me, then dropped me down again.
Damn.
