Page 157 of Gates of Tartarus

Pressing his forehead against mine, his breath warms my lips, and when he whispers in response his lips brush against mine. “Woman, you could tempt a saint to sin. For the love, Lachy and Walker will kill me if you’re not awake enough tomorrow. I’ll rub your back until you fall asleep, yeah? But don’t think I’m not going to take you up on that offer to relieve your tension as soon as I fucking can.”

I shrug and am about to turn back over when he mutters, “Ah, fuck it,” and rolls on top of me, pressing me into the bed and kissing me so deeply and thoroughly I can’t breathe because it feelsso. Fucking.Good. Pleasure, bone deep and electric, runs through me, like I’ve touched a spark, and I moan quietly against his mouth. We’re lost to the moment, so when the heavy curtain twitches, we both startle back, lips swollen, eyes wide and dark. Walker’s tattooed hand is just visible, and Jonah snaps out, voice surprisingly sharp, “Oh fuckoff, Walker!”

The man himself peeks around the curtain edge, hand overtly covering his eyes but mouth showing his dimples. “Ah, yeah guys. As your... fellow boyfriend? Potential partner? We need to think of a word or something... I feel I should warn you that I just lit up with some fucking gorgeous feelings that went straight to my dick. I mean, hell to the yeah, but also...” I flush, a hand covering my mouth in horror, and Jonah croons a quiet, comforting sound as I try to melt into myself. This is my worst fucking nightmare come to life. Echoes of my time with Dustin run through my head, and I press my lips together trying to swallow my panic, but a small keening sound pushes through before I can.

Walker drops his hand at the noise and cocks his head before hurriedly saying, “I. Like,justme. I didn’t see Maddox or Gemma or Hideo react at all. So I’m not sure what is going on or whatever, but I didn’t feel right not telling you that some of this goodness was coming my way.” He pauses consideringly, then says, clearly surprised, “Not that I minded it. Like. Unexpected benefit to this arrangement. But I’m not sure if… uh... it was going to push out further or whatever. So. Yeah. Thought you should know. Also was getting kind of uncomfortable sitting there withthissituation going on.” He motions to his lower half, and I’m caught between embarrassment and appreciation for... his situation.

“Right,” Jonah says shortly. “Ah. Right. Okay. Well, Kai needs to sleep, so. That’s what we’ll do. Sleep.” He sounds so disconsolate and let down I can’t help laughing, the feeling pulling me from my embarrassment, and I pat his face gently.

“Rain check?” I ask, and he smiles like the sun, nodding.

“Rain check,” he confirms.

Walker’s still standing awkwardly in the small space, clearly unsure of what to do, and sweet Jonah takes pity on him. “Okay, man,” he says, unexpectedly taking charge of the entire thing. “I’m gonna get Kai here to sleep. We’ll be down for three hours. You set your timer and come wake me,onlyme, and we can trade out, if that’s cool with Kailani. Then you’ll get three hours, ‘til the refuel, and we’ll all be good for the meeting.”

“You guys don’t have to sleep with me,” I protest. “I’ll be fine.”

They exchange looks, and Walker asks carefully, “Do you not want me to change with Jonah? I understand if you’re not comfortable with that.”

“No!” I blurt out, then try to backtrack to sound less freaking eager. “Um, no, I mean, it’s fine if you want to, but I’m trying to say you don’thaveto.”

Walker smiles at me then, the expression odd on his normally confident face, looks hesitantly at Jonah, who just sits back, before leaning over to place a gentle, incredibly soft kiss on my lips. “Okay,” he murmurs against them, “I’ll be back in a few hours.” Standing up, he mutters, though not unhappily, “this shit is weird…” then he nods at Jonah and walks out.

???

I wake slowly, smiling sleepily at the feeling of the hard, naked arm wrapped tightly around my body. Without thinking I drop a soft kiss on the bicep close to my face, then jolt in surprise at the unfamiliar, appreciative rumble from the naked chest pressed to my back. There’s a brief moment of silence, and then hesitant lips trace the line of my neck with gentle kisses as the arm which had been wrapped around me strokes my skin from shoulder to fingertips. I recognize the calloused hands of Walker and relax slightly as I remember he and Jonah had planned on switching some time in the night. Clearly, I had been dead to the world when that happened, and I’m now intertwined with a very happy, very naked, very cautious Walker.

I move slightly, trying to sit up, but corded arms flex and press me back into him, and he growls lightly, nipping at the skin on my shoulder in clear protest. Shivers run down my body in response, and I can feel his lips smile against me at my reaction. His free hand grows in confidence, moving from my arm to my side, caressing the bare skin with butterfly pressure. His other arm is pillowed under my head, and I turn into his hand and drop a soft kiss against his fingers. Walker presses his forehead to the nape of my neck and exhales deeply, like he was waiting for me to, I don’t know, acknowledge that I’m okay with him here, in bed, with me, and my acceptance of his presence both surprises and relieves him. There is clearly something in the confident, arrogant man that thinks he doesn’t have a place with me, or a chance with me.

The plane is quiet with the sort of hush that means no one is awake yet, and the air is still, like a forest pool at dawn. Even my breathing seems loud in the cabin, my breath shivering in uneven rhythm as I exhale quietly. Walker’s hand is moving in patterns from my throat, curving along the side of my bodyjustgrazing the edge of my breasts in agonizing closeness, down to my hip, and fingertip light over my ass before circling back up and repeating the motion. It is devastating. Trembling earthquakes of sensation ricochet through me, my heart lurching so loudly with each movement there’s no way Walker can’t feel it. On the next pass his fingers pause questioningly on the edge of my boy shorts, catching the edge in a silent request. I don’t respond immediately, and he lets them drift away, resuming his silent movements. Before I can think too hard about it, my hand drops and catches his, moving it back to its resting point on my hip.

He groans, deep in his throat, more a vibration than a sound, and, so slowly I’m shaking with nervousness and anticipation by the end, he pulls my underwear off and throws it to the side, leaving me almost naked before him. I can feel him pull back slightly, and I don’t want to turn to face him, to see why he’s now so still, so silent.Maybe I’m disappointing? Christ, what am I doing? This is insane. I am on a fucking PLANE.

I’m about to move, grab the blanket, and bury my embarrassed face in it, when I feel his fingertips trace the curve of my back, then lower, over the bare skin, so lightly I can almost feel the ridges of his fingerprints, and I hear him swallow audibly.

“Fuck,” he says, the word a prayer in his mouth. “Fuck. Kailani.”

Slowly, I turn to face him. His jaw is flexed, barely visible in the darkness of the room, and his hands are shaking faintly. He moves towards me like a drunk man, swaying slightly, eyes locked on mine like he’s afraid that if he makes any sudden movements I’ll bolt. I feel frozen in front of him, a deer in the face of a predator, and I can tell how desperately, how tightly, he’s holding himself back, scared of my reactions and carefully giving me time in every movement to say no.

He doesn’t look away, doesn’t blink, until he’s a millimeter from my face, dark eyes still focused completely on mine.

“Your eyes,” he whispers almost wonderingly, but I press my lips against his, and he can’t speak. As soon as I move, something in him is unleashed, and his careful movements grow darker, more wild. Kissing Walker is like… it’s like standing on a cliff at night, with a storm raging all around you, and walking right up to the edge, feeling the updrafts pull you towards the sea below. It’s dangerous and feral, chaotic and unrestrained, and it grabs at something in my soul. I will never need to be careful or cautious with Walker in the bedroom, I can tell that in an instant. He’s a place where dark fantasies become darker, and thrills of anticipation caress my skin.

He pulls back from our kiss looking drugged and savage, when, for lack of a better expression, Jonahknockson my shields. I startle back from Walker, completely surprised. I can’t even verbalize how it felt or what just happened, and Walker looks concerned, then frustrated, when Jonah silently enters the room, sealing the curtain shut behind him. Jonah’s pupils are blown out, the black almost eclipsing the near black of his eyes, making him look otherworldly. His hair hangs in a curtain around his bare shoulders, and he stares at my naked body, drinking in the little he can see in the dark room.

He shakes his head slightly, and he has to clear his throat quietly before speaking, voice so soft no one beyond our little trio could hear it even if they tried. “Ah... Christ.” Running his hand over his head, pushing his hair back, he tries again, Walker and I still frozen in our compromising position. “I… uh... you woke me up.”

Walker and I exchange confused glances before realization dawns on Walker’s face, and he sighs. “She broadcasting?”

Jonah nods, breath coming in quick, shaky pants. “Yeah, man.” Smoke enters his tone, deepening the smooth sound and adding something more ragged and raw. “Fuckyeah.”

I don’t even have time to be embarrassed or apologize before he surges into me, pressing me back against Walker on thedecidedlytoo small for three people bed. But Jonah clearly doesnotgive afuck, because he crashes into me with determined force, twisting my neck to meet my lips in a ravishing kiss, his body hard and smooth against my back. “Goddamn, Kai. Your fucking ass,” he says, low and vicious. He grabs it in a surprisingly bruising grasp, lightening slightly at my gasp, and he kisses me again as Walker lies unmoving, pressed against my front.

Jonah completely ignores the fact that Walker isn’t moving, whispering against my lips between kissing me, “bad idea… fuck... other people…” but still bends me back towards him, which pushes my chest out towards Walker, who comes to a clear decision.

“... fucking weird…” he whispers to himself but moves his hands around my back to unclasp my bra. He fumbles for a moment, hands pressed against me by Jonah, and he frowns slightly before figuring it out, a surprisingly adorable look of victory and anticipation crossing his face, before he pulls it off in one swift move. Both men stop dead, neither breathing, and reality crashes over me that I’m now buck naked between two men on an airplane with other people, and they’re both staring at me with saucer-wide eyes, which I don’t know how to interpret.

“God. Fucking. Damn. Kailani,” Walker says reverentially. “Goddamn, woman.”

---