“Kai in the middle,” Derrick said. “Obviously.”
I groaned. “I hate both of you.”
“Liar,” they said in unison.
They didn’t touch me.
Not really.
But they didn’t have to.
The tension was a live wire stretching between the three of us, taut and waiting to snap. Every breath I took was scented with them-clean skin, heat, danger. A low-grade fever I couldn’t sweat out. I shifted beneath the sheets, tugging them over me like they could be armor.
And of course, the moment I got comfortable, one of them had to open his mouth.
“You always sleep in that?” Derrick’s voice was a low, amused rasp behind me.
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction.
Dalton growled. “You mean the oversized pajama that definitely does not do a good job in hiding her curves?”
“Bite me,” I muttered.
“I would, mouse,” Derrick said. “But I promised I’d behave.”
“Your definition of ‘behave’ sounds dangerously flexible.”
Silence. Then the unmistakable sound of a body shifting closer.
Too close.
I felt heat at my back, the whisper of a breath at my neck.
“And yours, Kai?” Dalton’s voice this time. Lower, Rougher. “What’s your definition of ‘just sleep’?”
Summer stretched inside me like a cat in the sun, tail flicking with delight.
I rolled onto my back, glancing between the two of them as their shadows hovered. “You two planning on edging me into a breakdown, or are we going to pretend this bed isn’t a ticking time bomb?”
Derrick leaned on one elbow, watching me like I was prey and he was just waiting for the right moment to pounce. “Just curious. You said no touching. But you didn’t say anything about watching.”
“Or about heat,” Dalton added, brushing his fingers against the edge of the blanket near my hip, not quite touching, but close enough to make every nerve in my body scream awake. “It’s a cold night, after all.”
“Try me,” I whispered, voice tight.
“Oh, we are,” Derrick said, voice dark with promise.
They didn’t press further, not right away. But they didn’t give me space either. They lied there, one on each side of me, heat seeping into my bones, and every now and then one of them would shift-accidentally, of course-and brush an arm against mine, or a leg against my calf.
Summer was practically purring, nudging at me from inside like a wolf trying to nose her way into my skin. ‘Let them. Just a little. Just once.’
‘No.’
‘Yes.’
‘No.’
A hand brushed my wrist. Calloused fingers. Warm.
I flinched-but I didn’t pull away.
“You’re trembling,” Dalton murmured, his voice so gentle it made me angrier than if he’d barked. “You okay?”
“Adrenaline,” I lied. “Or maybe rage. You choose.”
“You’re safe, Kai,” Derrick said, and his voice had dropped the teasing completely now. “We won’t take what you don’t give.”
The quiet that followed wasn’t uncomfortable.
It was unbearable.
Because they meant it.
Because they were holding back.
And I was too aware of everything I wasn’t doing-of every inch between us, and how badly I
wanted to close it.
I sighed, loudly. “If either of you gets handsy while I’m unconscious, I’ll fry your nervous system like a toaster in a bathtub.”
“Noted,” Dalton said, chuckling.
“Kind of worth it,” Derrick muttered.
I elbowed him in the ribs, making him grunt.
He retaliated by shifting, and suddenly my thigh was pressed against his. And Summer, that traitorous little beast, wagged her damn metaphorical tail like we were at a fated mates picnic.
“You two are exhausting,” I grumbled.
“And yet,” Dalton whispered, “you didn’t ask us to leave.”
I didn’t answer.
Because he was right.
I didn’t want them gone.
And for all my threats and sarcasm, the truth curled up in my chest like Summer with her head on her paws.
They were danger. They were chaos.
And still-still-they made me feel safer than I’d ever felt alone.
DALTON POV
She finally stopped shifting. Her breathing slows, and her body goes soft against the pillow.
I don’t move. Not even a twitch.
I just sit there in the dark, watching her like a certified fucking creep. Yeah, I’m self-aware. Sue me. But damn it, have you seen her? The way her lashes rest like black fans on her cheeks? The way her lips part just slightly when she’s relaxed, like she’s trying to say something even in her sleep?
It’s quiet. Peaceful.
And for the first time in hours, my wolf isn’t growling. He’s quiet too. Not calm, exactly-just…
watchful. Like me. Like we’re both scared if we blink, she’ll vanish.
I lean my elbow on my knee, resting my chin on my hand, and allow myself to breathe her in.
Sweet. Wildflowers. Storms.
She’s chaos wrapped in silk. And I want her more than I’ve wanted anything in my damn life.
I’m about to reach out-just to move a stray short lock from her forehead, nothing weird, I swear-when I feel it.
That prickling. That annoying, infuriating sense of someone else’s presence.
I turn my head.
And of course.
There he is. Derrick. On the other side of the bed. Sitting just like I am. Leaning toward her like he has any right.
Our eyes meet over her sleeping form, and I swear we have an entire silent argument in a half-second.
I arch a brow.
He scowls.
I narrow my eyes.
He tilts his chin like he’s daring me to say something.
I lean forward slightly, careful not to jostle her. “Creeping on a sleeping girl, Derrick? That’s new, even for you.”
His jaw tightens. “Says the bastard who’s been staring at her for twenty minutes straight. You blinked maybe twice.”
“I was making sure she was okay.”
“Sure. That’s what you were doing. Watching her lips like they’re your last meal.”
I grit my teeth. “Maybe don’t project your own perversions on me.”
He exhales slowly through his nose, like he’s trying really hard not to punch me. Honestly? I felt the same. But Kai is asleep, and the last thing I want is to wake her up with a full-blown territorial growl-off.
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