"Jordan," Rafe said shortly, way more awake than me. "He's having a nightmare."
It took way too long to orient myself and figure out what that meant. If we’d been under attack, I’d be dead. I couldn’t let myself get this tired again.
Jordan writhed on the bed, his skin burning hot when I reached out and touched him. He growled and jerked away, but didn't wake.
"Don't touch her!" he mumbled with ferocity. "Don't hurt her."
"Fucking hell." I wanted to cry; the anguish in his voice was killing me.
"Jordan," Rafe said, trying to snap him out. "Brother. You're having a nightmare."
Just more moans and sad sounds. When I couldn't take it any longer, I threw myself onto him as gently as I could, while still wrapping my arms around him and holding him close. "Jordan, I'm here," I said. "Everyone is safe. We're all okay."
I kept saying it over and over, holding him as he tried to jerk free, until eventually he calmed and fell back into a deep sleep. My entire body trembled as I kneeled beside him. I tried to shift away, but his arms tensed around my waist, pulling me back to him. And I let him.
Moving carefully, I got comfortable again with Jordan wrapped around me like a blanket, and kissed his hair.
"He was having nightmares about me," I whispered into the darkness, knowing Rafe was still right there with us, despite his silence.
He released a long breath, lying down behind me and brushing my tangled hair back to expose my shoulder. "It wasn't about you, Vi," he replied in a hushed voice. His soft lips touched my shoulder, pressing feather-light kisses to my skin. "It was about losing you. About those sick fucks hurting you. It's his biggest fear right now."
My heart squeezed painfully, and I stroked my fingers through Jordan's hair as he snored softly against me. His head was tucked into my chest, like he was listening to my heartbeat.
"How can you even know his biggest fears?" I replied with an edge of sadness and desperation.
Rafe shifted closer, molding his body to my back and tucking his arms around me, just above where Jordan held my waist. "Because it's how I feel, and Jordan has a better heart than me."
I wanted to argue with him over that comment, but it was neither the time nor the place. So, I let it go and relaxed into their combined hold. He was wrong, though. Rafe's heart was far bigger than he let anyone see. Especially when it came to his best friend... and me.
When I woke again, it was to the sound of heavy rain falling outside and soft whispers above my head. I was warm and cozy, though, so I made no attempts to get up. Instead, I just yawned and mumbled a sleepy "good morning" to let both guys know I was awake.
They still sandwiched me, and in the light of a new day, my thoughts turned dirty.
"How did you sleep, Cinderella?" Rafe asked me, dragging soft kisses up the side of my neck. Like that wasn't doing all kinds of delicious things to my body. I groaned and arched my back, pushing my ass against him and finding he was in exactly the same kind of mood.
Well... isn't that an interesting development.
"Pretty good," I replied, my voice still a hushed murmur as I cracked my lids open and found myself face to face with Jordan. "How about you?"
A slow smile curved his lips as he stared back at me, and Rafe's palm smoothed over my hip, grabbing me possessively. Suggestively.
"Better than I have in a long time," Jordan replied with just a hint of shadows in his eyes. I knew what he meant, though. For the past month he’d have barely slept at all, and when he did it would have been tense, panicked sleep fraught with nightmares.
Struck by the calm serenity in his gaze, I let my instincts take over. I reached out and cupped his face with my palm, bringing his lips to mine for a tender kiss that said all the emotional shit I was too broken to say out loud. He groaned and kissed me back, turning it from a sweet, caring moment into something much, much more.
"Fucking hell," Rafe muttered in my ear, and I froze.
I hadn't meant to push things so far, so fast. They were barely okay with sharing me on the best of days. What the hell had I been thinking, initiating sexual contact while both of them were in bed with me?
Rafe's fingers tensed on my hip, but instead of pushing me away in anger, he pulled me closer. His hard length twitched against my butt, and Jordan's lips moved to my throat, coaxing me with intoxicating kisses.
Hold up. Is this... are they okay with this?
Jordan's hands shifted to my breasts, and I let out a small, breathy moan when his fingers found my hard nipples through the thin cotton of my shirt.
Rafe let out a growl of frustration, his kiss on my shoulder turning to a bite.
"Nope," he declared, even as his hips rocked against my ass. "No, I can't do this."
My heart sunk to the floor and cracked in two. Was this the breaking point for him? The moment that he realized he was most definitely not okay with sharing me with his friend? Was he going to make me choose?
"Rafe," I protested, slipping my hand under the covers to link my fingers with his where they remained on my hip. Despite his words, he hadn't made any move to get out of bed or even to stop touching me. Lord knew his dick was still hard as rock against me, too.
Jordan sighed, but it was a resigned sound. "Bro, don't—"
"I don't mean never," Rafe corrected, cutting off Jordan's protest. "I just mean..." He trailed off, kissing the back of my neck again for a second like he wanted to memorize the taste of my skin. "I just need some time to get used to this. Us. All three of us. It's seriously fucking with the caveman part of my brain, and I need to take it slow."
My heart lurched with hope. Was he saying that... he was okay with this? Indefinitely?
"I get that," Jordan commented, leaning back slightly on the pillows with a tiny wince of pain. "The first time I saw your hands on our girl, I wanted to shove your head in a fountain. Then hold it there."
"What?" I squeaked in shock, but Rafe let out a small chuckle as his fingers traced small circles on my hip without unlinking our hands.
"You could fucking try, Jordy," he replied with a teasing tone. "It's been a while, but I do recall that Fallen Angel kicked Sushi's ass in the fight ring the last time."
My jaw dropped. "Sushi?" I repeated, and Jordan grinned.
"What?" He shrugged, his dark eyes glittering. "My grandmother's line came from the Fractured Isles just before the Monarch War. From Japan, specifically. It seemed like an amusing homage to my heritage at the time."
I snickered a laugh. "That's adorable."
Neither of them had moved away from me. Both of them still had their hands on my flesh, and I was willing to put money down that they were both still hard, even though Jordan wasn't close enough for me to know definitively.
"So what do we do now?" I asked in a more serious voice. I shifted in the bed slightly, enough that I could see Rafe from the corner of my eye.
Jordan didn't answer, waiting like I was to see what Rafe would say.
The silence stretched for a long moment, then Rafe grabbed my chin and brought my lips to his for a bruising kiss.
"Now I'm going to take a shower. A long one. And Jordy is gonna fill you in on the discussion we had while you were still asleep." He kissed me again, hard, then let me go and slid out of the bed.
I made a small sound of shock and confusion as he stood up, totally unconcerned with the shape of his boxers. "Rafe..." I protested, not entirely sure what I could or should say in response. Had he seriously just told us it was okay to fuck in his bed? Because that was the subtext I'd pulled from his words.
He grinned and shot me a wink. "Have fun, Sleeping Beauty." He gave Jordan a meaningful look, then disappeared into the attached bathroom and closed the door firmly behind him.
Confused as fuck, I turned my attention back to the prince still in bed with me. "Alright, spill. What was this discussion you had while I slept?"
A sly grin spread over his face, and I noted that his bruises looked heaps better already. Most of them had faded into the greenish yellow that barely hurt anymore.
"I'll have to show you," he replied suggestively, snaking his hand back over my waist and pulling me flush against his body. "And when Rafe says he's taking a long shower, he really only means five minutes. Ten, maybe. So we'll have to be quick... if you want to, that is?"
My brows shot up. Apparently I hadn't misread Rafe after all.
So... did I want to fuck Jordan while Rafe was just twenty feet away, naked and wet in the shower and probably taking care of himself? Uh, yeah. That was a resounding yes.
Chapter 19
The shower was still running as the stars cleared from my eyes and my breathing slowly returned to normal, and I stared at the closed door. Had he heard us? Did I want him to?
Yes. One hundred percent, yes. I wanted us to be a unit. A team. I didn’t want two boyfriends who knew about each other but pretended the other wasn't sleeping with their girl. And yeah, I wanted to see what it'd be like to have them both in bed together with a whole lot less clothing and a whole lot more fucking involved.
Anyone who wanted to judge me for wanting that could go jump off a damn cliff. They clearly hadn't met my playboy princes or felt the tease of four hands on their body...
Jordan groaned and pushed up, then dipped back down to kiss me again. "Go. I'm going to run back to my room to get changed."