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I thread my fingers behind me until I find Ezryn’s hand. He squeezes it gently. “Okay, Petal. Come for us.”

Ezryn’s cock slams into me one final, punishing time, and I come with a scream, thighs jerking, toes curling, my entire body seizing and shaking as the orgasm tears through me. Through the daze, I feel Ezryn pulse and twitch inside me, his eruption warm and sudden, and he collapses over me, pinning me against the mattress as we both gasp for air.

Dayton is next; Farron slams into him so hard he nearly loses grip, and with a guttural, animal sound, he comes, hips jittering, his whole body shuddering against me. In the chaos, I barely remember to breathe, soothed only by the feel of Ezryn dropping small kisses down my spine as I ride out the aftershocks.

Farron’s rhythm staggers, then stops, and he surrenders with a soft, lovely noise, spilling inside Dayton, his hands clutching at the bed like he might fly off the edge of the world. Caspian lets loose a high, crystalline moan and finishes as Keldarion slams one last time into him. Keldarion’s howl is a pure storm, as though someone had ripped out the heart of a blizzard and set it free in this unmade bed. Caspian crumples, Farron follows a beat later, and Keldarion alone stays upright, arms trembling as he gentles his grip and kisses the back of Caspian’s neck.

The world blurs into panting silence, into six bodies slick and glazed and shaking on a bed that smells like sex.

Dayton is the first to move, lips lingering on my neck as he withdraws. “You’re leaking all over my thighs, Blossom,” he murmurs, and there’s pride there. He trails his fingers down my body, savoring the slickness, then lifts them to my mouth. I suck them clean, still trembling.

Ezryn pulls out slowly and collapses fully atop me, propping his chin on my shoulder. “You should see yourself right now, Rose. Ruined but still so radiant. Can’t decide if I want to fuck you again or feed you something sweet.”

“Both,” I say, and my voice is shredded and raw. “Both sound quite nice.”

He laughs, rough and throaty, and hugs me close.

Behind us, Farron is a blissed-out puddle, boneless and sated, Caspian draped over him with a lazy possessiveness.

“Did I mention,” Caspian yawns and tucks a stray lock of hair behind Farron’s ear, “that I think we broke the bed?”

The mattress makes a half-hearted creak in protest.

“It’s because I didn’t build this one,” Ezryn grumbles.

“Or the fact that it’s thousands of years old.” I laugh.

Keldarion, somehow still poised, wipes the sweat from his brow and surveys the aftermath. His gaze lands on me, and for a moment, there’s nothing but ice-blue sincerity. “Are you alright?” he asks, and I know it’s not just about the sex but about everything, about how I feel inside and out, if I’m happy, if I’m whole.

I want to laugh, but instead I reach for him, pulling him down into the tangle of limbs, feeling his chest seize when I bury my face in his snowy hair and kiss the pointed shell of his ear. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted,” I whisper, and it’s true. “You are all everything I’ve ever wanted.”

I close my eyes, heart complete.

39

Keldarion

They’re a mess of tangled limbs and soft breathing. I stand at the end of the now-broken bed and stare down at my family. Afterward, we cleaned in the bathing chambers where fresh water still flows through, troughs and basins filled by the rain.

Such as now, when a summerlike shower rumbles outside. A few places in this broken room are leaking, but it’s warm and humid enough we don’t mind.

Our last night here. Will it be our last night of peace ever?

This bed is smaller than the one Ezryn built in Castletree, and the five of them are practically on top of one another, limbs entangled. I can barely see Rosalina beneath the ring of Ezryn’s arms. Dayton’s got a leg flung over her. Caspian’s on the edge, but Farron’s slung an arm over his waist.

Caspian lies on his back, dark hair a curtain around his face. He seems so at peace, breath steady.

I believed I’d be mourning the loss of him my entire life. But he’s here, sleeping without even the flicker of a nightmare.

Rosalina didn’t just break the curse; she brought us together. All the realms united.

What if this is the last time we are together? The thought struck me sharp and painful. And afterward, I knew sleep would not come.

I walk outside to a small balcony. The railing crumbled long ago, so I sit, letting my legs dangle off the edge of the isle itself.

The rain has slowed to a drizzle, but the drops are still fat and heavy, splattering on the ground. The night sky above is filled with bloated gray clouds, with the stars only poking out in scattered specks.

Below lie more and more clouds, but beyond them…