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Eden

Check your dick bouquets for warts.

Exhilaration sparkles through every inch of me, bubbly and carbonated, and I giggle as I jog back through the tunnel. My lips are tingling, roughed from Dom’s stubble. The taste of him still lingers on them, spicy and hungry and...

I laugh again.

He kissed me.

He really, really kissed me.

From dawn until dark, today has been a rollercoaster. It’s like for weeks, months even, all five of us have been slowly ticking closer and closer to a precipice, and now we’re starting to drop . It’s rough and painful and swift, and all of us are crashing into one another, butit’s moving.

I push into the house, my fingers still pressed against my smiling lips.

We’re moving forward.

I walk into the gym, where the tunnel opens out, and it’s where most of the civilians have set up their sleeping arrangements. A dozen of them are there to greet me, and they jump to their feet as soon as the door swings open.

“Was it all okay?” Ava asks, and she worries at her lip piercing.

I blink, confused, thinking of the way Lucky’s cock pressed against me. Jayk’s nervousness, and Jasper’s sweet goodbye, and Beau’s wink—how he looked so much brighter than he has been in weeks.

Dom’s long, mind-shattering, darn-near-close-to-orgasm-inducing kiss.

“They’re.. . Oh, Ava. They are incredible. You have no idea, I?—”

Sloane snorts, shaking her head as she holsters her pistol.

“Eden.” Ava massages her forehead. “I already know way too much about your sex life. I was asking about the raid.”

Oh.

I look around at the group. Their guns and bows and the feather arrow fletchings in the basket by Jennifer’s cushioned, elevated foot.

Of course she’s talking about the raid.

Fighting my blush, I clear my throat. “Oh, yes. Well. That was fine, too.”

It was fine.

It’s a good idea, if they can pull it off. We need the food and if we can secure it without doing anything that would be seen as a betrayal of Alastair, then we should do it.

Of course, there’s always the chance that the Reapers will attack us when they discover what we’ve done, but our defenses are as strong as they can be, and they’re not trained fighters.

It’s worth the risk.

Besides, if the Reapers truly want us as allies, then they should want us to keep up our strength... right?

I could see Jayk fretting—not that he’d ever admit it—but all five of them went over the plan for hours. Locked together, and after actually working as a team, that plan is as solid as it can be, given the circumstances.

Well, I was there too, but raids are decidedly not my expertise.

Instead, I spent most of the day poring over books from Jasper’s library—even finding an oddly placed history section that had a delightful tome filled with old war recipes I know I can make good use of.

But while the details of their maneuvers were something I left to them, there was one thing they asked me to assist with.

I look around at the women. No two of them look the same, but they’re all strong. All so, so beautiful.

I think I know just how to handle my little task.

I smile warmly at Ava—maybe too warmly, judging by the way her friendly expression retreats.

“What?” she asks suspiciously. “No, Eden. Congrats on your dick bouquet, really, but if they gave you warts or something, you need to go to the med bay. We’re not that close.”

My smile dies. “They do not have warts!” I huff and wonder if it’s wrong to be vaguely offended that she wouldn’t assist me with my hypothetical STI. “Look, there is one small favor I have to ask—and it is to help with the raid.”

Sloane shrugs one shoulder, grimacing at the chipped head of an arrow. “Sure. As long as it doesn’t involve taking our clothes off.”

I take a deep breath, and steel my resolve.

“Well, actually . . .”

Twelve heads turn my way, and Sloane’s eyes widen.

Right as my shirt hits the floor.