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“Please, can I bathe with Eiden?” I ask of Wolf.

“Of course,” he says, smiling.

Seven slips out of the bed.

Wolf carries me through the bathing area and onto the separate room off the side so I cango. When the annoying male lingers, I shoo him out.

He frowns. “You can barely stand,” he says. “I will turn my back, and that is my only concession. After you’re done, I will carry you to the pool.”

“Fine,” I mutter. I need to go. It’s not like I can wait.

Barely have I finished when he scoops me up and carries me toward the pool… just as Eiden comes tearing in… and comes to an abrupt stop.

“Go ahead,” Wolf says, handing me off to Eiden.

Eiden blinks. Wolf smirks and splashes into the pool. He wades over to the soap dishes and begins to clean.

Eiden exhales a slow breath. “Did Jude bang his head?”

I giggle. “No.”

His eyes search mine as he carefully wades me into the pool, the hot water soothing my aches. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine.” I cup his cheeks, feeling how he trembles. I wrap my arms and legs around him as the water envelopes us. He heaves a ragged breath and cuddles me back. “I enjoyed it. I’m just a little sore.”

“I know the perfect solution for that,” he says, voice dipping to a husky purr.

I snort a giggle.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Wolf says from the other side of the pool.

We both turn in his direction. He has been efficient with his cleaning, and his thick, tawny hair looks dark as he rakes a hand through it, slicking it back against his head. The water clings to the dark hair covering his thickly muscled chest and belly in the most arresting way as he wades out.

“That is one hot shifter,” Eiden says thickly as Jude climbs steps out of the pool, both our gazes glued on his ass.

I turn, finding Eiden now watching me with a question in his eyes.

“What?”

“Did that upset you?” he asks.

His question confronts me.

Should I have been upset that someone else was admiring my mate?

“If it were Marigold, I would want to scratch her pretty eyes out,” I say bluntly. I stroke my fingers over his cheek. “But heishot, and I like that you think so too.”

“Thank fuck.” Eiden’s mouth slants over mine, and we share a kiss full of nipping teeth and dueling tongues. When he tears his lips away, we are both panting hard. Like last time, he takes over to the pool’s edge and sits me on the side. Only today, there is no preamble. With a groan, he buries his head between my legs. His agile tongue moves over me, easing all the soreness and lifting me swiftly toward a blissful climax.

After, Eiden takes his time bathing me, and I take my turn to wash him with the same loving care before we both dip under the water and rinse the subs away.

“May I tend you?” I ask, sliding my arms and legs around him. I can feel his cock hard between us. I want to touch and kiss him there, to be the one making him come.

“Wolf is not here anymore,” he says, feigning innocence. “Was that not one of your rules?”

I groan. He is right. It still doesn’t feel quite right to initiate something when Wolf is not here. His easy acceptance today and last night has gone a long way to allying my worries. I sense a time will come when I might feel comfortable being with one mate without the other.

Mate?