Page 68 of Bonds of Fate

Leo’s cinnamon scent precedes him when he returns.

“What kept you, Leo? Hmm?”

“What do you want me to say? If you saw what I saw, you’d have needed three minutes to yourself, too. At least now, I might last long enough to see one of them come. Fuck.”

Nix thinks back to what he did see—Luca, kneeling behind him, sucking slick off his fingers—and his face goes hot with something that’s not quite embarrassment.

Or if it is embarrassment, it feels good.

He’s not interested in whatever game Jamie is playing with what Nix is sure is Gideon’s excellent pasta. His wolf thinks he should start something with their alpha to see if he can get everyone moving toward the main event when he looks up to see Rowan clearing his plate, still chewing his last mouthful, and grabbing anyone else’s plate as he goes.

It’s like he read Nix’s body because they are surely on the same wavelength. Nix wants to climb down and thank him personally, maybe on his knees. He moves to stand and intercept when Gideon puts his fork down.

“Alright, Rowan. I move to adjourn this meeting to the couch. Luca, color?” Nix checks in with his baby to see he’s got Finn’s neck between his teeth, eye glazed, nails dug in hard to those magnificently broad shoulders.

Finn is similarly tense and red-faced, eyes glittering behind his glasses, but hands securely on Luca’s waist and not an inch lower.

“Luca. Color.”

Luca’s focus comes back long enough to look up into Gideon’s eyes. “Green, sugar. Soooo green. Super green. Green as the grass, green as–”

“I think we get it.” He rubs a hand over Luca’s hair, and it’s the look of pure, fond affection that settles Nix’s last tiny worry.

This isn’t just sex. It’s love. Pure. He hopes that he might have that, too, someday.

He catches Jamie’s eye, and he knows that he can have it—maybe evendoesalready, if he can just let himself believe.

“Kitten? You ready?” Gideon has turned that fond look on him, and it has the same level of affection in it. He must hesitate at seeing it because Gideon frowns a tiny bit and crouches down, whispering so Luca can’t hear. “Nix, are you sure? You don’t mrmpf–” Nix grabs his face and kisses him hard. He holds his cheeks and sucks his lower lip in, and then opens his mouth in surrender.

He’s happy to know Gideon can read his mind about this, too, because his jaw is suddenly held firmly, and there’s pressure for him to open wider. Gideon tastes like the little bit of dinner he’d managed to eat and a lot like a thunderstorm in the summer—fiery, passionate, and a little like anticipation.

The firm grip and the taste of him drop Nix all the way down into that floaty place.

He’s drooling when Gideon breaks away, and Jamie–who had the best seat in the house–says, “Jesus, fuck, Gid.”

The floaty place Nix has been courting all evening finally descends, wrapping around him like a shield, forcing the worst part of the morning back into its box. The echoes of old horrors, the weight of today’s revelations—he refuses to let them weigh him down.

But his wolf won’t let him forget.

They need this. Need them.

And so, he lets the floaty feeling pull him under because this is where he belongs.

If he could focus better, he’s sure he’d see the most self-satisfied smirk on the alpha’s face.

“Finn, Jay, you have the codes for Luca tonight. You know the drill.”

Nix doesn’t know the codes or what the “drill” is, but Luca squeals when Finn stands up, now holding him under his juicy butt.

A shadow falls over where Nix has slumped, belly sizzling from that kiss, and when Jamie stands up, he’s held tight under his butt.

“Baby boy, go with Gray.”

Nix is more than happy to go with Gray. He loves Gray, but Jamie needs to know the plan.

“Jamie.” There’s a sudden quiet in the room, but Nix has long since passed caring.

“Mmm?”

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