Page 84 of Knuckles & Knives

“Yes,” he says roughly.

“Yes, what?”

His jaw tightens, but he answers. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Kieran?” I turn to the platinum-haired strategist, seeing the way his ice-blue eyes darken with reluctant arousal.

“I understand.”

“Say it properly.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Axel?”

“Fuck, yes ma’am,” he breathes, his wild energy channeled into submission that’s somehow more dangerous than his usual chaos.

“Marcus?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says quietly, his composed exterior cracking to reveal the passionate man underneath.

“Good.” I step back, studying my four naked, submissive lovers with satisfaction. “Now that we’ve established the proper chain of command, let’s discuss the operation.”

But before I can continue, Dom steps forward, his powerful frame trembling with suppressed need. “Raven?—”

“Ma’am,” I correct sharply.

“Ma’am,” he agrees. “You’ve made your point. We understand who’s in charge. But we need you to understand something too.”

“Which is?”

“That we can’t function if we’re constantly terrified of losing you.” His voice breaks slightly. “You’re not just our leader or ourlover. You’re our everything. The thought of you dying—it breaks something fundamental in all of us.”

The raw honesty in his voice almost undoes my resolve. Almost.

“Then trust me not to die,” I say simply. “Trust that I’m skilled enough, smart enough, and careful enough to survive this fight. Trust that the woman who earned your loyalty and love isn’t going to throw her life away carelessly.”

“Can you promise that?” Kieran asks, vulnerability bleeding through his usual composure.

“I can promise that I’ll fight with everything I have to come home to you. All of you. But I can’t promise safety, because safety isn’t an option in the life we’ve chosen.”

“Then promise us something else,” Axel says, his wild eyes intense with desperate need.

“What?”

“Promise that if we follow your orders, if we trust your judgment, you’ll let us protect you in every way possible without overriding your authority.”

I consider this, seeing the compromise they’re offering. Not sidelining me from the fight but being allowed to use their skills to keep me as safe as possible within the parameters of the mission.

“I can live with that,” I agree. “As long as you understand that protection doesn’t mean wrapping me in bubble wrap and hiding me from danger.”

“We understand,” Marcus says. “We’ll trust your leadership if you’ll trust our devotion.”

“Deal.” I move toward the weapons cache, and this time none of them try to stop me. “Now get dressed and armed. We have innocent people to save and enemies to kill.”

As they move to comply, I catch Dom’s eye and see something that makes my pulse quicken—not just submission,but admiration. The kind of respect that comes from recognizing a superior force.

“For the record,” he says quietly as he pulls on tactical gear, “that was the most arousing display of dominance I’ve ever witnessed.”