Page 54 of Eight Embers

Rush sits on the other side of me tentatively, kicking off his shoes and pulling off his T-shirt. “I think I'll go take a quick shower before I try and sleep, if that's alright? Will that keep you up?”

I wave him off and let out a massive yawn. “Of course not. Go take care of yourself, just come kiss me before you go to sleep?”

I snuggle into Leo, tucking my knee between his legs, feeling at peace having him here even if we weren't separated all that long. We've been on again off again through no fault of our own since we met, so I'm going to inhale the clean water scent he emanates through his thick grey skin as long as I can.

“Oh, if you guys crawl in next to her, the bed should accommodate you,” Saladriel explains as he grabs a blanket and heads back out to the living room.

I sit up with a frown on my face, wanting to call him back, but then I remember the conversation we just had, and I plop back down on my back. Earlier we had a moment, and I liked kissinghim, and now I’m all confused. I don’t feel the pull to him like I do all the others, but it’s difficult to just shut off the part of me that still thinks we need to claim him.

“You okay?” Leo asks for just me to hear.

“Yes and no. I need to sit with the Saladriel situation a bit, I think.”

“Can I lay next to you while you fall asleep? I'll move when Rush gets out of the shower, I just want you to be the last thing I hold before I go to sleep in the living room with Saladriel.”

I yank Wil onto the bed with us. Like Saladriel promised, as soon as he's lying down, the bed magically expands enough to house the three of us.

Wil sits up with furrowed brows, looking at the bed. “Convenient. One bed trope?”

“Wil, are you telling me you read romance?”

I'm so, so sleepy, but I really need to know the answer to this.

“Likely not the stuff you're used to. Fundamentalists have their own form of romance novels, and it centers on newly married people being forced to share a bed for the first time, glorifying their purity. It’s definitely propaganda and has less than zero juicy bits.”

“Kinky. Get under the covers. You’re sleeping next to me.”

And then Spencer climbs in, and as I'm drifting off, the bed rustles one more time from Rush climbing in, and it's something to be tucked in tight between all these men that are already becoming such a big part of my life, and a lot of the worries from the day melt away.

A part of my mind is still worried about Saladriel out there by himself, but if we're going to split ways, then attempting to get any closer, physically or emotionally, will only make it harder.

I'm not even going to share the dreams I have with you, because they're disturbing even to me, but I'm sure Rush would be ecstatic to hear the role that potatoes played in them. In fact, I might need to question him later about if it's possible for him to influence dreams. It seems like too big of a coincidence to me, and definitely something a demon would do.

???

“You need to get out, you're not supposed to be here. What made you think this was a good idea?”

“I had to see you. I'm sorry, I couldn't wait another day.”

“Well, your timing sucks. It's not going to work if she sees you right now. Get out of here before you wake her up.”

“But baby, you promised we’d finally end our dry spell. Now you want me to wait longer? When am I going to be enough for you?”

The conversation gets quieter after that, changing to whispers, and my whole body is pulled tight, nausea and acid fighting for dominance in my throat.

Part of me wants to sneak out there and see who's talking, and part of me wants to ignore it completely because if I do, then nothing will change. Nothing will be ruined.

I can't even work through the process of elimination to figure out who’s involved, because I seem to be the only one that was sleeping. I must have been exhausted. Judging by the temperature of the sheets around me, it's been a while sinceanybody's been in here with me. So it's possible then that multiple people are in on whatever deception I apparently missed.

My legs shake as I tiptoe out of the room, trying so hard to be quiet. I shouldn't have to sneak around; these are my mates. I never thought I'd have to worry about anybody being dishonest with me. But I guess there really is a first time for everything.

Just as I make it to the threshold, I can see some bodies through the crack of the door, and I don't want to believe what I'm seeing, but it's pretty hard to ignore the evidence.

I take a deep breath and start out there, making sure I get a full measure of the scene before I cast any judgments that would make me look dumb. We will not be acting out the miscommunication trope today.

“You guys better start explaining yourselves right now.”

Leo and Rush freeze immediately, hands falling away from the female in front of them. They spin to me with horror on their faces, but they know they've been caught. There's no way to explain themselves out of this.

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