“He doesn’t remember you,” Helio whispers to me gruffly, but his voice carries. Sin throws his head back in hearty laughter before the noise cuts off abruptly, his smile fading as rapidly as it appeared.
“You know, you weren’t supposed to see my present until it went boom,” he continues in that indolent tone. Posture decidedly lackadaisical, he begins to pace, waving his cigarette in the air with every word. “That wasn’t very nice, Emily Lopez.”
“That was you, fucker?” I ask, charging forward with murder on my mind. Only Helio’s palm on my stomach prohibits me from torturing the cocky asshole. “I loved that car.”
“And it was even prettier in my colors,” he muses, stopping his pacing abruptly. He spins towards me and smiles sharply. “Did you like it, my love? The show? Don’t you agree that the flames were as pretty as the most brilliant sunset? Or sunrise. Or sun.” He stares down at his cigarette still hanging from his fingers before abruptly stabbing it against his arm. A low moan of satisfaction leaves his lips—I swear the man is seconds from orgasming.
I press up on my tiptoes and speak into Helio’s ear. “I need to talk to him.”
“No,” he growls in response, continuing to back us up step after step. He regards Arsin as if he’s a wild, feral animal—not at all different from the way he looked at him before. Sin has always been…eccentric, to put it mildly. Helio’s more wary of Arsin than he is of any of my other men.
“Helio, please,” I beg, watching Sin’s frantic eyes flicker from face to face. “It worked for you.”
He merely grunts in response, but I know what he wants to say. I’m saner than him. I was never going to kill you. Arsin? He won’t hesitate to light you on fire.
“I’m not going to hurt her!” my fire mate growls, baring his teeth in a decidedly feral move. “I would never hurt her!” He stares over Helio’s shoulder, imploring me with his eyes to trust him. Go to him.
And then, I see it.
A tiny flicker of light in his eyes that breaks up the monotony of darkness and insanity. Arsin remembers me—remembers us. I don’t know how long he’s had those memories, but he knows I’m the Goddess of Pain and he’s the God of Flames. He knows that he’s mine.
“Emily!” he rumbles, his giant body shaking. Though he’s wearing a tailored suit, there’s no mistaking him for anything less than savage. Sin is better suited for the wilderness than in a heavily populated city. No one can glance at him and say with certainty that he belongs. Even the most beautiful presents have the capability of housing bombs. And Sin? He’s seconds away from detonating.
“Helio,” I warn, attempting to sidestep the large man. “Helio!” My tone comes out sharper, almost acerbic, and he finally turns to look at me over his shoulder. “He remembers.”
But I can still see uncertainty on his face. His innate need to protect me from anyone who seeks to bring me harm, even from my other mates.
“Em?” Now Sin doesn’t sound angry or even manic. He sounds…broken. His body shakes as if he has a tenuous hold on his rage. “I wouldn’t hurt her!” The last statement is directed at a stone-faced Helio, accompanied by a burst of Arsin’s power.
I turn my face away as brilliant flames tear away at the wooden beams of the house. It’s a myriad of colors—orange like the setting sun, yellow like the finest of amber stones, and a deep burgundy red that reminds me vaguely of blood. They all mesh together as they eat away at the walls and the ceiling, fiery hands reaching towards us before shying away. And, in the middle of it all, is Arsin, God of Flames. He appears unscathed, but his eyes are wild and desperate.
I take Helio’s lapse of concentration to lunge forward, extending my arms out to embrace my mate.
I don’t overly like that term. Mate, I mean. It makes it sound as if our connection is paranormal or something, but I can assure you, it was wrought from hard work. I had to fight for each of my men, and I’ll be damned if I let something like fate dictate who I should and shouldn’t love. But when we inevitably came together—a family in the truest sense of the word—I knew in my soul that these men were always meant to be mine. It just took us a while to get there.
His body trembles against mine as I rest my head on his chest. I can feel his arms snaking around my waist, holding me flush against him.
“Emily,” he whispers, his voice barely audible over the crackling fire. “I remember you.” He presses his face into my neck and inhales deeply. “I can’t stop.”
“You can, my love,” I whisper soothingly, pulling away and forking my fingers through his messy blond hair. Abruptly, he takes a step away from me and begins to shed his clothes. His jacket. His white dress shirt. His black pants. And then his boxer briefs. It isn’t long until I’m looking at an entirely naked Arsin, his cock long and proud and steadily getting harder under my attention.
“I remember,” he repeats, wonderment emanating from his eyes. Before I can respond, the fire diminishes as if it had never appeared in the first place, and his eyes roll into the back of his head. I release a startled yelp as he falls to the floor in a heap of naked flesh and sinewy muscles.
Helio stands behind him, fist raised, and shrugs unrepentantly when he notices my glare.
“I think it’s time we talked,” I manage to
