Page 73 of The Lost Elemental

I looked around at all of them. Fear and hope warred within me in equal measure. But there was only one thing to say.

“I’ll try.”

39

That drowning warmth was back. But I was just fine with it. Because it meant I was surrounded by my guys. Their heat at my front and back, a cocoon of comfort and warmth. I let out a low, sleepy moan.

“God, someone kill me now with the sounds she’s making,” Phoenix said, a husky grit clinging to his voice.

Kai chuckled. “But it’s a hell of a way to go. Just think about the sounds she’ll make when we—”

A smack sounded. “Watch it,” Atlas warned.

“That hurt, A. Please tell me you’re not planning on being the guarder of her virtue.”

I blinked a few times. Morning light poured in through the windows, illuminating the room, the bed. My stomach gave a healthy flip. “Hi.”

Kai grinned at me, leaning forward and brushing his lips against mine. “Morning.”

I pressed my mouth together in a thin line. “Morning breath,” I mumbled, covering the lower half of my face.

His lips twitched. “Nothing but sweetness on those lips.”

I let out a snort of disbelief as Atlas propped himself up on the pillows behind Kai, his gaze sweeping over my face. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good.” The best I had in months. Since the nightmares had returned, and each night I’d woken drenched in sweat.

“Me too,” Phoenix whispered in my ear. That rough voice sent a pleasant shiver over my skin. He traced circles on my lower stomach with his thumb.

A cascade of sparks danced through my nerve endings. Hell.

Kai grinned. “How do you feel?”

“I, uh…” Those fingers were too damn distracting.

“Having trouble getting your words out, Pip?” he pushed.

I sent him a glare. “I’m just—”

Phoenix’s hand dipped a little lower. My thighs pressed together to relieve the ache.

“You’re just what?” Kai asked.

The corner of Atlas’s mouth kicked up. “She’s got a nice blush on those cheeks, can’t be feeling too poorly.”

Phoenix’s lips skimmed my ear. “You need something, Pip?”

I didn’t have words for what I needed in that moment. For someone to dunk me in an ice bath? Someone to fuck me senseless? To run screaming from the room because these three made me feel far too much? I liked option two the best.

Atlas reached over Kai, his fingers tucking the hair behind my ear, then trailing down my neck. “Need your words, Aura.”

“I—I want…”

“Yes?” Kai prodded.

“To feel.” It was the only thing I could think to say. I’d spent so much time trying to turn things off instead. The nightmares, the worry about making ends meet, the fear that I’d never make it out of the struggle I’d been stuck in.

“We can make you feel, Aura,” Phoenix growled.