Page 155 of The Obedient Lie

I wastuckedbetween them.

Fully clothed. And yet the most naked I’d ever felt.

They didn’t speak again for hours.

Luca only stirred once, sometime near dusk, murmuring something likeyou’re warmbefore moving closer.

Bastion stayed on my lap until I shifted beneath him.

“I have to stretch,” I whispered.

He opened his eyes. “You can’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Good.”

I smiled, even though it hurt. “You’re very demanding when you’re dying.”

“I’m not dying.”

“Youlooklike it.”

Bastion tugged lightly at my wrist, guiding me down beside him.

They both pulled me into the center again.

Their twin body heat still clung to my skin.

And this time, it wasn’t about desire.

It was abouttrust.

One heavy arm thrown across my waist. Another curled around my thigh.

Both twins were still asleep.

And I waswarm. Too warm.

Bastion’s breath was on my collarbone. Luca’s forehead pressed between my shoulder blades.

They’d tucked me in likearmor.

I didn’t move. Not yet. Just watched the light creep in through the half-closed blinds.

Then I felt it — Bastion shifted.

He didn’t pull back. Just opened his eyes slowly, still hazy with sleep and fever.

His voice was rough when he spoke. “You stayed.”

I smiled faintly. “Of course I stayed.”

He said that as if I would have left them as soon as they fell asleep.

His hand curled around thigh again, like it had the night before.

“No one ever has.”