Page 71 of Kiss of Smoke

“There are many solitary Mer—that will explain the lack of a body.” Robin pulled me in, and I wrapped my arms around him. “But we can both attest that the Ghosthand is dead, and won’t be coming back. Nobody needs to know what this grove really is.”

I nodded, exhaling and burying my face in his chest.

Blessed Branches, I loved this man.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked, turning my head to watch the sunset glint off the sea.

Robin laughed softly, holding me tighter. “I have a charm set on those files. I figured you were looking into the reports, and finding out that there were some rather important blank spaces.”

“I was trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want them to ruin this. She’s earned peace, Robin. She went through more than we ever knew.”

He stroked my hair out of my face as I spoke. “I’m not going to argue against that. This is one of the many reasons I love you—because in some ways, you see more than I do, even if we disagree on who deserves peace and who doesn’t.”

“You’re not upset?” I asked. “That I want her to remain here?”

Robin shook his head. “She’s no longer a danger to anyone. Arresting and executing her… it would be the same outcome, but more bloodshed is not going to bring anyone else closure.”

He meant the queen. Titania had emotionally settled in the last six months, though she was still in mourning, and I believed he was right.

Blood wasn’t going to bring back the princess, and would do nothing but reopen old wounds for the queen.

“I love you,” I breathed.

He held me tightly, and we stayed that way until the sun sank and the stars were bright above us.

25

The next dayI didn’t want to do anything. My legs were aching from the run. After re-forming myself from the tree, I had to build up my muscles and stamina all over again.

Robin pulled himself out of my bed early and was taking a shower when I got my wake-up call.

Gwyn burst through the door and jumped on the bed. “Ready, Bananas?”

I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head and covering my mess of bed-hair. “No. Let’s do something else, like sleep, or nap.”

“Those are the same thing.” Jack’s crisp voice filled the room and he pried the pillow away from me.

I reached for it without opening my eyes, and only succeeded in grabbing the front of Jack’s pants. Which, from what I felt under my hand, he was totally okay with.

I thought of the masquerade night, and the fact that we hadn’t had much alone time since then.

“We could… do other things in bed that aren’t sleeping?” I suggested hopefully, cracking one eye open.

Jack sucked in a breath as I gripped him, stroking his length through the material of his pants.

“We could do that,” Gwyn growled, climbing over the bed and stretching out alongside me. I had slept in nothing but my panties and a tank top, and he was already sliding the strap down over my shoulder and kissing my bare skin.

I moaned, arching my back so he could kiss his way down the rest of my arm, still holding Jack.

He waited only another second before shedding his shirt and climbing out of his running pants, laying next to me with a soft groan. Jack’s hand slipped inside my panties, stroking up between my legs.

I shivered as the sound of the shower water turned off, and heard Robin get out. This would be the first time I had all of them at once, and my heart was probably going to explode from excitement.

Gwyn found the other strap, then essentially tore it off me, throwing the shredded cloth at the wardrobe.

Heat spread in my body, curling in my stomach and all the way down to my toes. I squeezed Jack’s cock once more before letting go, reaching out to them both.

Jack slid his hand away from me, but Gwyn kept kissing his way down my arm. He nipped at the crook of my elbow, nibbled his way down my forearm, and then he slid my panties down to my thighs, pressing his mouth to the naked skin.

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