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My laugh comes out rough. “That easy?”

“No.” She kisses the corner of my mouth. “But I found part of you.”

Theo’s hand spreads over my stomach. I turn my head and kiss him. His mouth is comforting and familiar, his beard rough in a way that helps me stay inside my skin. When I deepen the kiss, his purr fills the room.

Pepper watches us with dark, soft eyes.

I reach for her without breaking the kiss, and she comes closer at once. Her hands slide under the hem of my shirt, palms flattening over my stomach. I tense before I can stop myself.

Pepper pauses.

I breathe through it and cover her hands with mine. “Keep going.”

Her touch moves over me as though she’s putting my edges back where they belong. Soft caresses over my stomach, chest, shoulders, and arms. Theo follows with his mouth at my neck and his hands over mine when I need the extra pressure.

My shirt comes off. Then Theo’s. Pepper’s borrowed shirt follows, and the room fills with the scent of us, sweet omega warmth and alpha heat, my own salt and apple threaded between them.

Pepper presses her cheek to my bare chest. “Your heart is beating so fast.”

“That’s because a beautiful woman took her shirt off in front of me.”

Theo grunts. “Honest answer.”

Pepper smiles against my skin and kisses me there, right over the beat she found. The pleasure is small and devastating. My hands slide into her hair, and for the first time since the springs, I’m not listening for water.

Theo kisses the side of my neck. “Better?”

“Getting there.”

Pepper lifts her head. “More?”

My body answers before I can. I’m hard beneath my sleep pants, aching and alive. Her eyes drop, and her scent blooms sweeter.

“More,” I say.

Theo’s arm tightens across my chest, holding me against him while Pepper unties the drawstring at my waist. Her hand slips inside, warm fingers wrapping around me with careful pressure. I groan.

Theo’s mouth moves against my shoulder. “That’s it.”

Pepper strokes me slowly, watching my face. “Tell me what feels real.”

Her hand moves again.

“That.”

She smiles and drags her palm down my shaft. “Keep going.”

I grip Theo’s thigh. “Theo’s chest behind me. Your hand. The quilt under my legs.”

Pepper leans in and kisses me while she touches me, her mouth soft and greedy. Theo’s hand slides down my stomach and joins Pepper’s.

My hips lift into their hand. Pleasure gathers, slow and bright. Pepper shifts closer, her bare thigh brushing mine, slick scent rising between us. Theo’s breath changes.

I break the kiss and look at her. “You too.”

“This is for you.”

“I know what I said.”