<b>Chapter </b><b>120 </b>
<b>Xavier </b>
Levi’s gate sealed to a dull shimmer and the corridor took back its hush. The moment the war room faded, I caught Envy shift her weight, subtle, a little wince she tried to hide as she rolled her ankle and set her hand at the small of her back.
That was all it took. Maddox lifted his head inside me, ears forward, a low, warning rumble pressing against my ribs. “Off your feet. Now.”
I stepped to her, palms finding her hips. “You good?”
“Fine,” she lied, which would’ve worked on anyone who didn’t know the way her jaw tightens when her spineins. The swell beneath her dress curved a little fuller thanst week, our child making their quiet case for more room. It did something fierce and
foolish to me every time I looked.
“Meeting’s over,” I said, already deciding. “Noah can handle topside. Levi’s got the decoy.
You’re with me.”
Her brow arched. “Alpha voice? In my house?”
“In our house,” I corrected, soft. “And our house says sit.”
A second set of bootfalls,zy on purpose. Haiden slid in beside us, hands in his pockets, gaze flicking once to Envy’s belly and staying there with a look that was half prayer, half grin. “Talen’s pacing,” he said. “If I don’t put him where he can watch you breathe, he’s going to chew through a door.<b>” </b>
I snorted.” Pack of reasonable–men“, Maddox grumbled in my head, deeply pleased. Move
her.
“Levi,” I said through the midnlink
“Listening,” came his answer, dry as ever.
“You’re on our. Sing out if the cord twitches.”
<b>“</b>It will,” he said. “I’ll wake you if ‘when‘ bes ‘now.‘ Go away.”
<b>3 </b>
I
“Bossy<b>,</b><b>” </b>Haiden muttered, already sliding an arm around Envy’s waist. “C’mon, mdy. Your fan club insists.<b>” </b>
She rolled her eyes but didn’t fight us, which was how I knew she was tired, pregnancy rolling in hard and making her need regr naps. We steered her down the moonlit hall toward our rooms; the Underworld’s heartbeat kept time under our boots, slow and sane. At the door, our wards lifted like a cat leaning into a hand. I peeled them back, set them
to purr<b>. </b>
“Couch or bed?” I asked.
“Couch,” she said. “<b>If </b>Iy t I’ll be out before I can pretend to argue with you.”
“Promises, promises.” Haiden detoured to the sideboard,ing back with water, fruit, and the indecent stash of honey biscuits he swears are for the ‘guests.‘
I eased Envy down, then knelt at her feet and unbuckled her sandals, thumbs circling the bone at her ankle. Heat shimmered under my hands as Maddox lent me a little of his warmth; I worked up her calf, slow, steady, watching her eyes unfocus, the tight line of
her mouth soften.
Haiden dropped onto the other end of the couch and lifted her legs into hisp, kneading the arches with his knuckles like he was trying to convince the knots to sign a treaty. “There she is,” he murmured when her shoulders finally let go. “Hello, spine. Remember what not–hurting feels like?”
“You’re insufferable,” she sighed, half augh.
“urate,” he said, without shame.
I leaned over and brushed a kiss against the curve of her belly. “Hey, little one,” I said, low and private. “Your other daddys ran a very boring meeting. We fixed it by stealing your
mother.”
A tap answered from inside, light, curious. Maddox went very still, the way a great beast does when a birdnds on its nose. I pressed my palm there and felt the answering push. Every time feels like the first time.
Haiden’s face went soft in that way he pretends it never does. “Talen says if anything in this realm breathes wrong, he’ll personally handle the paperwork for its funeral.” He
<b>?</b>?
3
[]]
93%
nced at me, smirking. “He wrote ‘personally‘ in blood.”
“Tell him to use ink,<b>” </b>I said. “We’re housebroken now.”
Envy’s eyes fluttered, not quite asleep. “What about Noah?”
“Topside,” I said. “Hawk’s in his glory. Dad and Tommy are already moving pieces. We’ve got two hours of quiet, minimum. We’re hoarding them.<b>” </b>
“And Mum’s making some more of that cake you liked the other day.” Haiden said softly.
Haiden’s mouth quirked. “And Mum’s making more of that cake you liked.”
Envy’sshes fluttered. The room tilted sweeter, the way it does when her scent warms, sugar and heat curling through the room like a secret. Maddox rumbled, pleased and very sure of our next priorities. “Now.”
I bent, kissed the smile trying to hide at the corner of her mouth. “Caketer,” I murmured. “You first.”
Haiden shifted, sliding in closer until her calves were bracketed in hisp. He rubbed slow. circles into her arches, then trailed a thumb up the soft inside of her ankle,zy, patient, devastating. “Tell me when anything pinches,” he said, voice gone rough velvet.
“I’ll tell you,” she whispered, already arching into my palm as I smoothed a hand along the curve of her hip and up. I took my time with the buttons at her corbone, kissing each patch of skin I uncovered, letting her chase my mouth when she wanted more. She did. Gods, she did. Maddox prowled inside my chest andy down, guarding; Talen uncoiled in Haiden, a low, content purr vibrating through his touch. We shifted her sideways on the couch, propped in myp, her back to my chest, Haiden angling in at her knees. Supported. Framed. Worshiped.
“Easy,” I breathed against her temple, one hand syed over the gentle swell of her belly. The other traced her mating marks, slow and reverent. “You’re safe.”
She turned her face, found my mouth with hers, soft at first, then hungry. Haiden kissed the inside of her knee, then higher, then higher still<b>, </b>his breath stuttering when she made a sound that went straight through both of us. I swallowed it, kissed it back to her, felt her rx further into the bracket of our bodies.
3
<b>1 </b>
<
<b>13:34 </b>Wed, Sep 3
“Perfect,” Haiden coaxed, lips at her thigh, at the ce her pulse beat wild. “Tell us what you need<b>.</b>”
“Closer,<b>” </b>she said, breath catching. “Both of you<b>.</b><b>” </b>
We obliged, closing the distance inch by inch. I mapped the new lines of her body with my hands, memorizing every curve that hadn’t been therest week, kissing the ce where our child pressed against my palm. Haiden’s knuckles skimmed my fingers; he looked up, eyes dark, and we moved together, a practiced, careful choreography, no rush, no strain, everything cradled and easy. Herughter bubbled up when I teased the corner of her mouth with my teeth; it melted into a sigh when Haiden’s tongue traced a slow line where her skin was most sensitive. The room seemed to lean closer,mps dimming on
their own,
wards humming like a low note under our breathing. Maddox’s satisfaction rolled through me; Talen’s purr climbed, a bass thread under hers.
“Xavier,” she said, warning, praise, plea. I answered with my mouth, with my hands, with a promise against her skin: “I’ve got you.”
<b>Chapter </b>Comments
2
Write Comments