Page 20 of Essa

I narrow my eyes at Seth, unsure what kind of game this is but wanting so badly to play. He gives me a bright smile and reaches for my hands. I don't need any more of his prompting, and I don't need him to guide me to where I need to go.

I flutter my fingers over Adam's pecs and, oh so, slowly move them to the softly pebbled nipples before circling them with the tips of my fingers. I ignore the scars as best I can, instead choosing to enjoy how Adam responds to the feel of me.

Adam sucks in a deep gulp of breath and closes his eyes for a long moment. I look down at his body, wanting to ask Seth if it's okay, but my eyes snag on Adam's cock and how it twitches against its confines.

Seth's hands return to Adam's body, this time pressing hard into his abdominals and dragging downward. Adam flexes them and rolls his hips as Seth grows closer to the edge of his pants. Seth stops the movement of his fingers at the edge of the sweats and looks at me.

I know what to do. I try to mimic the action, starting with my fingers underneath his pecs and trailing them down over the hard ridges of his abs and over the tapered v until they settle at the waistband of his pants. I watch his cock the entire time, watching it twitch and jerk in his sweats over and over again, dancing for me and my touches.

Seth leans, grabs Adam's sweats in his hands on either side of his hips, and tugs them down gently, slowly, until just the barest hint of dark curls appear. Seth watches me as he runs his fingers over the new skin he's just exposed all the way down to the sides of Adam's glutes. He pulls away, waiting for me to follow his touches. My fangs bite harder into my bottom lip as I try to calm my breathing.

Someone in the room moves. It's not a loud sound. It's not a sound directed at us. It's probably just Jovi or Alik shifting around on the couch, but I've been so distracted with what Seth and I are doing that I've forgotten about the others.

As soon as I hear the sound, my entire body goes on high alert, my pupils constricting, my muscles tensing. I have Adam pushed down against the couch with me crouching over him in seconds. I bare my teeth as I drag Seth behind me as well.

No one touches what's mine.

"Fucking fuck, Essa!" Jovi shouts.

I snap my attention over to him, where he has a hand slapped over his eyes, one over Sloane's and one over Alik's. Sloane's shaking, tears already falling from her eyes.

My lips pull back more, my voice coming out sweet. "I won't hurt her. I won't hurt any of you."

Phial and Avery's nest is empty when I try to tell them the same thing. Good, at least they're already gone. I suck in a deep breath, closing my eyes, trying to force myself to calm down.

No one is trying to hurt my males. No one is here to hurt us. No one is here to take them from me.

Another deep breath. And another.

"Can I do anything?" Seth's voice is dry and cracked as he places a shaky hand on my shoulder.

He's probably just as terrified of me as the others, but he's forcing that down to comfort me. I wrap my hand over his, hoping he knows this means more to me than he could ever know.

"Give me just a moment," I say. "Is Adam okay?"

"Oh yeah." Seth tries to laugh, but it's hollow. "He wasn't lying when he said he isn't scared of you. He'd be better at this part than me."

"You're doing really good," I say, my voice filled with emotion as my fangs retract. My vision normalizes as my pupils dilateback to their normal size. It's the fastest I've ever been able to come down from the anger when it's been this strong. Well, actually, I don't think it's ever been this strong. "Thank you."

I squeeze Seth's hand and then turn around to check to ensure he and Adam are okay. I scan over Seth first, making sure nothing managed to hurt him. When I'm certain he's okay, I crawl over Adam's body, his eyes heavy with venom and lust. I don't press against his groin, where he's still very much eager for me. I pinch his chin between my thumb and forefinger, turning it on each side to make sure he's okay.

"You will let Seth take you to bed," I tell him, noticing the disappointment in his eyes.

I flick my gaze over to Seth, who's watching both of us. His tongue licks at his bottom lip before he rubs his chin.

"Essa will be there to watch you sleep," Seth says, shifting behind me so he can get off the couch and help Adam to his feet. "She'll be with us after she makes sure her friends are okay."

Seth doesn't wait for me to agree to his statements, but it's not like I'll say no. I'd like to continue doing what we were doing, but it's good we were stopped. I need to make sure Adam is okay with things going further when he's not drugged. I don't think Seth would let me do anything to hurt his male, but we should discuss these things beforehand.

"Are you okay?" I ask, unsure if I'm ready for my friends to answer. I hope I didn't make any of them pee on themselves. I was really angry, though, and there's a chance it happened.

"Is she done being scary?" Phial asks, his voice startling me as I look back at the nest.

"She's good," Alik says, swatting Jovi's hand from his face. He keeps a hand on Sloane's back as she cries against Jovi's neck.

I feel bad for making my best friend do that. I will make it up to her. Lots of food and girl talk and hair braiding. Yes, that will be perfect.

"Oh, good. I was scared I was going to suffocate Avery." Phial's humor is back in full force as his scales shimmer back to a soft green. He's curled up on top of the nest, his body covering Avery so completely that I didn't notice them in the nest while he was camouflaged.

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