Page 50 of The Last Aether

Tears burned the backs of my eyes. “That conversation changed everything for me. Before that, I would only wear long-sleeved shirts, even in the dead of summer. I was so embarrassed about how different my skin was.”

Atlas lifted my arm, his lips skimming the mottled flesh. “You’re beautiful. Every last piece of you.”

Warmth bloomed low in my belly at the casual touch.

“He gave me peace about my body I hadn’t ever had before. But he took away my chance to be grateful for it by stealing the memory of why.”

Kai muttered a curse. “He always has been gifted at wiping memories.”

“But I don’t understand why,” I said.

Phoenix traced a design on my uninjured shoulder. “Once we’ve met our aether, it’s almost impossible to stay away. Even more so once you know for sure she’s yours and you’re hers. It would’ve been agony for him to not see you every day.”

“Agony he put himself in,” Kai grumbled.

“I’m with you there,” Phoenix agreed.

Atlas frowned as he studied us. “I know he fucked up, and trust me, I’ve got plenty of anger about it. But don’t you feel a little bad for the guy? He’s been torturing himself for a decade.”

My stomach twisted, little pricks of guilt embedding themselves there. Riven had taken so much on his shoulders. Most of all, his father’s actions. But none of that cleared away the fact that he’d stolen my choices from me.

Smoke swirled around Phoenix. “Because of him, we might never have met Aura. If he’d succeeded, Quincy would’ve never been able to get a read through her bindings.”

“But he did,” Atlas urged. “And we have each other now. Don’t let his mistakes tear us apart.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him,” I said softly.

Kai nuzzled the side of my neck. “That’s understandable.”

Atlas’s mouth hardened into a line. “But don’t close yourself off from the possibility either.”

My gentle giant with the kindest heart I’d ever known. I leaned across Phoenix and pressed a kiss to Atlas’s lips. “Love you.”

His hazel eyes blazed. “More than you’ll ever know.”

Kai’s hands slid under the covers, trailing over my thighs and dipping under the nightgown the guys had dressed me in. He leaned forward and trailed his lips up my spine. “No matter the path that took us here. You’re ours and we’re yours.”

That sense of belonging dug in deep. One I needed so desperately right now.

Phoenix groaned. “You’re killing me, Pip. But you need your rest, you’ve been through a lot today.”

I straightened, meeting his dark gaze. “I don’t need rest. I need you. All of you.”

Phoenix swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the movement. “Aura…”

That rasp was back. The one that had heat settling low, swirling and building.

Kai’s fingers trailed higher, seeking out that heat.

My lips met Phoenix’s in a long, slow kiss. It was gentle ebbs and flows that Kai accompanied with his fingers. Phoenix let out a low, rumbling growl, deepening the kiss to something else altogether.

When I broke away, I was gasping for breath. My skin was burning, as if I’d taken some of Phoenix’s internal flame. Sparks danced in his eyes.

Kai’s fingers fisted in my nightgown, tugging it over my head and sending it sailing to the floor. “I need to taste you. Been thinking about that since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

A second later, the covers were gone, and I was being rolled between Phoenix and Atlas. As Kai moved to the end of the bed, he tugged me with him so that he could perfectly settle himself between my legs.

Atlas’s fingers skimmed my cheek, down my neck, and then circled my breast. “Every time I look at you, you’re somehow more beautiful.” He traced one of the silver lightning bolts on my chest, making me gasp.