Page 140 of Blood in the Water

I choked out a laugh. “Thanks.”

She grinned as her fingertip traced down my jaw. “I’m serious. You four and Cas are so far off the attractiveness chart that you’ve practically broken the meter. It’s a girl’s nightmare and dream at the same time.”

“Nightmare?”

“How am I supposed to get anything done with five hot guys constantly distracting me?” she sighed. “I have an evil empire to build, you know.”

“Very important work.”

“I know.”

“You’d rather we all left you alone, then? So you can focus your efforts on your evil empire?”

She poked me in the side. “I didn’t say that.”

“Well, good, because I would love to distract you constantly.” I took her lips in another heated kiss. “You don’t mind, though?”

“Mmm,” she melted into my kiss. “Mind what?”

“Five of us. Well, I don’t know about Obi, but I’d say solidly, at least four of us want you.” I knew she’d already been somewhat intimate with Cas, Ryuji, and Wynn. ThankGodshe’d said something earlier because I think I would have wasted away in misery if I hadn’t gotten to be included in this.

“So far, everyone seems fine with seeing how things play out. That’s what I want. I understand if that makes you uncomfortable.” She propped herself up on her elbow. “We probably should have talked about thisbeforewe made out.”

I shook my head. I knew this was a possibility from the first time I met her, and I realized Wynn and I looked at her the exact same way.

“My whole life, I’ve been living on the defensive.” I drew my arms around her. Her thigh hooked around mine. “On the outside. Always wondering if I was good enough. Everyone I knew made fun of my speech, and at the same time that I felt ostracized, I also felt a constant need to surpass their wildest expectations in some effort to prove myself. It’s how I got so good at computers. But it still never seemed to matter because I couldn’t get over the fear of rejection. I was always alone.”

The only person who made me feel like I belonged was the son of the man who took me in. We eventually decided it wassafer to stay away from each other—well,hedecided that—so no one would paint even bigger targets on our backs. But that was a story for another time.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I want you,” I said solidly. “I don’t mind watching, and I’m good at sharing.”

She smiled, then closed her eyes to rest her cheek against my chest.

I sucked in a deep breath. “Do you… want to sleep here?”

She wound her fingers in mine. “I’d love to, Ciel.”

“I’m not talking about sex. Just… if you want to sleep. You can sleep here. With me.”

“Yes,” she said clearly, firmly. Her fingers closed around my chin and forced me to look her directly in her eyes. “Yes, sleep sounds great.”

We chatted about nothing for a while longer, but eventually, her eyelids became heavy, and she drifted off.

“Buenas noches, ángel,” I whispered as I looped my fingers around the curls in her hair.

How the hell did I get so lucky?

49

OBI

Isat straight up in bed, eyes blazing, hands automatically reaching for my weapons. It took all of three seconds to orient myself. I was in my bed. I was in New York. I was safe.

It was just a nightmare.

My fingers clenched in the folds of my sheets. My sisters were fine. I was fine. Our home was not burning to the ground with us inside it. We were not being pursued by murderers and thieves. We were safe. I’d worked for fifteen years to ensure we’d be safe, yet these dreams would haunt me for the rest of my life.