12. Valentina

12

VALENTINA

H ours later with my packed bag in hand, I ascend the steps to my mates’ apartment. But by the time I’m halfway up, Pietro appears in the stairwell, grabbing my bag as he slides a hand to the back of my neck.

The possessive touch shoots my lust sky high, and I turn in the stairwell, shoving him against the wall to take his mouth. He nearly drops the bag as he wraps both muscular arms around me and thrusts his tongue between my lips. As his delicious flavor bursts across my senses, I groan and suck at him, desperate for more.

Our bond snaps, pulls and tightens, demanding more, demanding something deeper. Demanding that thing we’ve never been ready to formalize. Without meaning to, I bring my hand to his chest to cover the stunning ziol cross there. He breaks the kiss, blood smeared over his lips, his eyes hooded as he stares at me. In that stare, I see a male who’s completely in love, whose focus is me, always me.

“I’m already dreading leaving,” I whisper into the space between us.

His lashes flutter, and he tucks my hair behind my ear. Trailing his fingers down my throat and down into the top of my shirt, he cocks his head to the side.

“We need to talk about that,” he says quietly. “Because I don’t think I can let you go again. Last time…” his voice trails off as he brings his free hand to his chest. “Alé will tell you I was out of my mind with anguish for months after you left. I would never hold you back from your dreams, but…” He stops speaking, but I know what he means.

“I cried every day for six months,” I admit, “last time I went home. It was so terrible. And even though I’m making great career progress, I’m not fulfilled, not like I could be.”

His smile is wry. “And yet we cannot give up our dreams, so what are we to do?”

I glance up the stairwell. “Talk with our mate about this. Try to come up with some ideas. I cannot bear the thought of parting from you both again.”

“Then let us enjoy each other,” he encourages. “The conversation will happen soon enough.”

But by the time we reach the top of the stairs, Alé stands there with a thoughtful smile. He’s got a dishrag slung over one muscular shoulder, his black button-down open to the waist.

“Damn you look good in that.” I wave my hand at all of him.

“I know,” he says confidently. “If we’re going to have a talk, I want to be half naked or full naked. So, I got started while you two were lurking in the stairwell.”

Laughing, I cross the threshold and leap into his arms, taking his mouth as fervently as I took Pietro’s. I kiss and kiss and kiss him as Pietro rounds us with my suitcase, disappearing into their apartment.

When we finally part, I call my wings, letting them erupt from my back to flare above my head. Alé’s eyes go wide as he takes in the fluttering smoky feathers at my back. Reaching out, he strokes the very edge of my wings, sending heat shooting through me. I love it when he touches my wings. And the way he looks at them, like they aren’t lesser, like there’s nothing wrong with their smaller size, makes me feel beautiful and cherished.

“I love you.” Tears fill my eyes as I think about how much he loves me, how much he’s always loved me. “And I want to bite you, Alé.”

He calls his wings, flaring them huge and dark up around us, cocooning us in shadows as his lips come to mine. “I want that with a desperation I can’t ignore. Let’s do it, amore. Let’s figure out how to make this work. It’s time, my heart.”

He’s right. It is time, despite my current project and need to succeed. Something has to give.

“We need ideas,” I mutter, frustrated because I’ve always tried to think of ideas for us to be together, and only one thing has ever come to me. That thing is nigh impossible, although I’ve been considering it for a while.

“We’ll figure it out,” he says quietly, rubbing his larger wings on mine. “For now, let’s fly, mate.” He unfurls his wings and tucks them up behind his back.

Pietro reappears in the doorway with a bright smile and a small bag slung over his shoulder. He pats it and beams at me. “Snacks for the flight.” He gestures up the hallway. “Let’s head for the roof. We can start up there and fly over downtown, then head toward the gas station to give you the full ward experience.”

The walls shimmy around us. The building is happy for us, so I pat her gently, careful not to tickle her again.

A door opens at the far end of the hall. Laughing, we grab one another's hands and walk to the door. Ascending a small flight of metal stairs, we reach the top and go out onto the hot roof of the building.

Above us, the haven’s protective wards glow faintly green. I call my wings again, and Pietro comes to my front, lifting my chin with one finger.

“We’re with you if you want us, alright?” Crimson eyes scan my face before thin lips pull into a wicked smirk. “You can do this, my love.”

Unfurling my wings once more, I reach for my mates’ hands. “I know I can do this,” I start, “but hang on to me for the first little bit? I still get nervous.”

Alessandro steps onto the roof’s edge and falls off it, flaring his wings high. He drops from view as I laugh, then he reappears, beating the sky with his beautiful black shadow wings. “Come, amore,” he croons. “Jump into the sky, and I will fly below you. Pietro can fly beside you, and we will keep you safe.”

Nerves fill my chest, my heart rate spiking as I step to the edge where he floats with no problem.

Pietro wraps an arm around my waist and brings his mouth to my ear, nipping it softly. “I have the utmost faith, mate. Your wings are as beautiful as the rest of you.” He slides his hand up between my shoulder blades and then brings the other one to the base of my wings, stroking and touching the shadowy feathers.

Curling forward, I revel in the sensations his stroking elicits—heat, excitement, the need to fly with them. Spreading my smaller wings as wide as they’ll go, I step to the very edge and resist the urge to look down three stories to the ground.

Instead, I leap for Alé, beating my wings fast to carry me. I falter and drop, nearly slamming into him, but I manage to catch a current and soar upward. Pietro is a comforting presence next to me as Alé flies upside down with both hands behind his head, winking at me as I claw and grasp at the sky.

I’m like a filly standing for the first time, but when we grab a faster current together, I find my footing and soar easily with my mates.

They guide me up into the clouds, through a series of stronger and stronger currents. Eventually, we’re able to grab a current that runs along the underside of the pale green ward. We ride that all the way to the singular country road that humans can access Ever by, if called by the town’s magical artifact, a map.

We fly for an hour, until my wings begin to tire. I never fly at Hearth HQ. The last thing I need is Evenia judging my wings and finding my entire personage lacking because of them. I haven’t flown in many years.

When I start to flag, dropping out of the sky a few times, Alé comes up underneath me, pulling me to his chest. I cross my arms over his chest, putting my chin on them as I smile at him. He loops and swirls and plays as Pietro flies quietly next to us with a soft smile on his face. Dropping through the clouds, Alé alights gracefully in a field of wildflowers.

Pietro lands next to us and removes the bag from his shoulders. He withdraws a blanket and lays it out flat.

I laugh up at Alé. “You can put me down, mate.”

“Can’t do it,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m still busy feeling you up.”

I bury my head in his chest and scent him, listening for his heart and the steady thrum of blood through his veins. “I need to taste you,” I say on a sigh. “All over.”

“You have the go ahead,” Pietro jokes.

Alé drops us gently to the blanket, and Pietro joins us, pressing his big body against mine.

“I packed bruschetta, extra olives, espresso and a little bit of bread.” He reaches for the bag. “Oh, and grapes.” Grabbing one, he pops it into my mouth, growling when I nip at his fingertips.

Alé finally releases me, but I shove my way between his thighs with my back to his chest. It’s so easy with them, so natural to behave like we get to do this all the time.

“Listen,” I start, suddenly nervous to share something I’ve been thinking about for a while. “I want to talk to you both.”

Alé’s warm lips come to my neck. “Tell me it’s about how you’re desperate to bite and claim me.”

“Well,” I chuckle, “that’s part of the conversation. But, no. There’s something else.” Glancing between my handsome mates, I force a smile despite uncharacteristic nerves and focus on the steady beating of their hearts.

“I’ve got an idea for a portal station that would connect all the havens together, essentially rendering our current travel methods null.” I release my breath, looking between Pietro and Alé.

Their expressions are neutral. I recognize those looks.

Pietro’s mouth drops slightly open, crimson eyes scanning my face. “Such a thing has been suggested many times before, has it not?”

“It has,” I admit. “Evenia’s always shot the idea down because of security concerns. But I’ve got a couple of ideas bubbling about how we could get around that.” I look at Pietro, then over my shoulder to Alé. “How much of a security concern do you feel living here in Ever, versus if you were able to travel to any haven quickly?”

“Give me the option to travel,” Pietro gruffs, “to be a tourist and spend money in other havens. The way the portal system is set up now makes it a pain in the ass to visit other parts of the system. We’d see far more travel if there was something like this.”

“Agreed,” Alé murmurs. “Not to mention you could fuck me every night and go to work every morning at HQ.”

“Gods, yes,” Pietro moans, shifting onto his knees until he can touch us both. “We need that, mate. Imagine if we could be together all the time. I just, I…”

Words seem to fail him, and I understand it. Time and distance have split us apart for far too long.

“I don’t know exactly how it’ll work,” I admit. “But I am bound and determined to figure it out. The thought of leaving you both is tearing me apart already.”

“So, it’s time.” Alé’s eyes tense around the edges. His heart rate speeds up, thumping in his chest as his blood sings for me.

“It’s time,” I agree. “We’ve been apart for so long—centuries—and I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to. I want you both with me all of the time. Do you agree?”

Alé pulls me to him, crushing me against his chest as he threads both hands through my hair and hovers his mouth above mine. “Fuck yes, my heart. We need this.”

“Agreed,” Pietro whispers into my ear, nibbling on the lobe.

“Then, I’ll make it happen.” The promise falls easily from my lips, as if it’s every day I convince Evenia to do something she’s refused to do many times.

But more than anything, I believe that now is the time for my mates and me to be together. And I will do whatever it takes to make that happen for us.