Page 116 of The Last Valkyrie

Arne wouldn’t know more from Dieter for a while. It might be too late by then—the Lepers could have been camping with the Dokkalfar right now, even. Sven said Deitryce was holding meetings at her camp, most likely concerning the new threat I represented. Magnus said Kelvar had already known about the army, but had planned to wait until after Salos’ enshrining to tell the campus, so students wouldn’t get too worried.

“The time for caring about our fears and worries is over,” I murmured.

“That’s what I said,” Magnus answered.

“Did you ask about Salos at all? Namely, how theHelhe was elected when Kelvar’s name was also likely on the shortlist?”

The bloodrender nodded. “It’s as you suspected, love. Kelvar, Dahlia, and Ingvus bickered for so long they saw no other way out. He’s hoping to keep Salos with busy-work so he can’t cause too much damage.”

Sven scoffed. “Good luck with that. My father is a disruptor and schemer. They’ve opened a can of worms they won’t be able to close . . .”

When he trailed off, I glanced at him. He wanted to say more.

“. . . Unless I kill him first,” he finished with a snarl.

I sat on the edge of my bed. Bowed my head and put my chin between my palms. Things were dreary once again. There didn’t seem to be a way to escape it.War will only make things more tragic and awful.

I looked up then. My mates were in their own worlds. They all wanted to be doing something, and Arne suggested they go out and warn the students themselves, so people could get ready.

I longed for my guys. Something deep and visceral called to me—a flash of desire when I stared at their concerned faces, their strong bodies. We all wanted to do what was right, but we didn’t know our next move.

“Guys,” I said, just as they were getting ready to leave my longhouse to go on their Paul Revere mission. When their faces turned, I said, “I’m scared, just like anyone, but let’s give Kelvar a chance to operate how he wants.”

Magnus furrowed his brow, his gaunt cheeks going concave as he inhaled sharply. “Silvermoon?”

I sat straighter, finding my voice. “If tonight is going to be the last night of peace before war . . . and we don’t know what’s going to happen . . . then I just want to be with you all. I can’t stand the thought of losing any of you. We don’t know what tomorrow brings, but maybe just tonight, we can make our own fate.”

Slowly, my mates walked toward me like moths to flame.

Grim was the first there, tilting my chin, seeing the sadness and hope in my eyes. “We’re not going anywhere, Vini. You willalwayshave us.”

“Then show me,” I croaked, closing my eyes to fight off tears. “Because I’m not feeling very confident that we’ll all be standing in a couple d—”

His lips crashed over mine before I could finish. The heat and want burrowing in my belly flared to life, igniting every part of me as my mountainous mate claimed my lips with a drastic kiss.

He kneeled in front of me at the edge of the bed so he’d be eye-level. My hands quested around his handsome face, his palms were warm on my cheeks.

Everything had begun with this man, this protective sentinel, and it felt right to have him be the initiator of our heated passion. The other guys crowded in around my bed, making themselves comfortable as they watched.

I didn’t want thoughts or feelings or emotions. I just wanted touch—so different now than a mere two hours ago when I hadn’t needed their consolation to rid myself of my headache.

Now, all I could think about wasthem. My hands on them, their lips on me. Our skin touching, sliding together as we so often did in times of need and necessity. Because that’s what this was—not a want or a desire, aneed.

If I was going to lose my mates, I needed to have one solid memory of them together with me, where our passion took over and dictated our lives.

Grim was an unselfish man. He let the others come over and twist my head left and right, kissing and placating me with soft touches. Magnus took my left, hovering at the side of my bed, and Sven was there to my right at the foot of it.

Arne sat behind me, peppering kisses along my shoulders and the nape of my neck. His soft touch brought a groan from my lips, easing out the tension where my wings had sprouted from.

No one moved too fast. I was hyperaware of every touch, every finger laid on me, and unlike in the past when things had seemed like a blur and I became lost in the tangle of limbs, this time I stayed in the present. Their individual scents filled me, the feeling of one set of lips over another, and how unique they felt.

We had come from different backgrounds, all of us, yet the one thing we shared was the love we had for each other. The love they had forme. They swaddled me in it, not letting me escapethe heat of their desire and longing, even as one face separated from mine and a brisk spurt of air glided between us before another warm pair of lips met mine.

Gently, Grim helped me out of my pants, while Arne took me tunic off from the back, over my raised arms. When I was bare, I scooted back on the bed to recline in a comfortable position.

There had been moments of extreme pleasure with these men—things taken to the brink of desire as bondage and choking and eager orgasms commanded our dalliances, everyone vying to outdo the other and make me come the hardest.

Now, there was only simple longing and soft pleasure. This was a moment stuck in time, sizzling onto my mind so I would never forget it, no matter what happened outside this longhouse once the storm hit and things became dire.

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