The first dinner after our reunion was a blast. It ended with a food fight, and I had some kind of gravy all over me. I probably looked gross, but that didn’t matter.

I was grinning to myself when I walked up to my room—once again filled with my belongings, though I did get a little mad at Rylan for throwing away all those things I’d left behind. He should have waited one more week.

I was licking some gravy off myself when I saw Rylan lying on my bed. That stopped me in my tracks.

“Hey, Sera,” he said, already cleaned up. His hair was wet and running down his neck in clumps. That made him look even more attractive.

I was squealing on the inside. Then I looked above him and saw three new portraits on my wall, next to Kael’s. “Explain that,” I said, pointing to them. “And why are you in my bed?”

“I thought I couldn’t let Kael get all the glory.” He stretched his arms in front of him, making his pectorals stretch as well.

I hope I wasn’t showing my lust too much on my face.

“And,” he added, “I haven’t been getting any sleep since you were gone. Since you’re the cure for my insomnia, I figure I’d spend some time here.”

I remembered his messed-up study. “Did you get your study sorted and packed?”

He nodded. “It’s all better now. Sorry about being stupid.”

I inched closer.

His eyes raked over me. “You might want to get yourself washed up first.”

“I was about to do that.”

He quirked a smile, but it was slightly melancholic, which made me wonder why Rylan was getting all emotional on me. “I shouldn’t have tossed you aside,” he said. “I was just torn, you know? Between—”

“You don’t have to explain,” I said, smiling. “I understand. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” I wanted to give him a hug, but he had already washed up, and I doubted he wished to get smeared by the gravy stains on my robes. I pointed to the bathroom. “I’ll take a shower.”

“I’ll be here,” he said, watching me with his blue eyes.

It made my chest thump just a little faster. I dashed into the bathroom, ran the tap, and threw water over my face.

Wait. Did that mean Rylan wanted to sleep by my side tonight? I mean, we had once, but that was during a really emotional moment. I wasn’t quite thinking straight. And the princes had left soon after I’d fallen asleep.

My imagination ran wild as I slipped my robes off and stepped into the shower.

I thought I heard a commotion starting outside over the sound of the running water. What was happening? I dried my hair with a towel after I took my time showering, and put on my nightgown.

When I opened the bathroom door and peered out, I saw all four brothers squeezed on my bed, waiting for my entrance.

My mouth fell open.

They looked too delicious.

Holy Aereala, smite me now and take my breath away. I didn’t care if I died right after looking at all of them like that.

“Rylan was trying to have you all to himself again,” Kael said, eyes twinkling.

Micah said, “He needed help with sleep.”

“Was his excuse,” Gaius added.

Rylan muttered something I couldn’t hear, then picked up his volume. “You guys are making this place too warm. We need a bigger bed.”

There were fans situated in my room—new inventions, which had only been installed in the palace. They were apparently new workings of soul magic that had recently been made by the Intelligence Council.

The fans did little to cool the heat simmering from the princes, however.

Gaius kicked Kael off the mattress. “Making space for you, Sera.”

“Hey!” Kael said, picking himself up from the ground.

I rushed up to them and took Kael’s spot before he could. “Thanks,” I said to Gaius.

Rylan propped himself up. “I need to be next to her.”

“No, you don’t,” Kael said. He was shoving himself onto the bed, next to me, and I let him, though it was getting a little too squeezed. We really did need a bigger bed. “Sera’s mine, remember? She kissed me first.”

Micah snorted. “You might have kissed Sera first, but I was the first to show her my dragon.”

“You did?” Rylan asked.

“Yeah. She even got on top of it and rode it.”

I raised a finger. “Okay, why does that sound so… uh…”

“It was a hell of an experience,” Micah continued.

“You asshole!” Kael said. He cracked his knuckles, as if readying to swing a fist at Micah. “That was supposed to be shared between all of us!”

“We’ll all get our turns, right?” Gaius asked me.

“With what?” I gulped.

“You, riding our dragons.”

I didn’t want to answer that. I had probably turned a deep shade of red.

Kael tucked his hands behind his head, almost elbowing me in the face. “We need another game. We’ve already done the kissing thing. So, next one to get into Sera’s kni—”

I covered his mouth. I did not want to go there. That was way too much for me to handle. “Don’t you dare start,” I said, fake menace in my tone.

He laughed and winked at me. Then he shoved my head down and slammed his lips into mine. I sucked in his ocean-like scent, feeling his hard body against mine, and lost my breath.

“I think I’d win,” he said, pulling back with a smirk.

I looked at the others, and they were peering at me with half-aroused, half-jealous looks.

That was when I felt something in my mind snap, because my emotions took control and I was shaking with anticipation, joy, and nervousness. A fizzling ran through me. I sat up and swung my index finger toward the door. “That’s it—everybody out!” I was probably blushing way too hard.

Rylan’s brows shot up. “Wait, wha—?”

I wanted these four princes, but it was just too much at once. I was feeling strange things in my belly that I wasn’t sure I should be feeling, so I shook my finger at the door and tried to kick Kael off the bed again. He was too heavy to budge.

“She’s embarrassed,” Gaius said, laughing.

“That’s adorable,” Kael said.

Rylan leapt over to me, not caring that he was smashing himself over Gaius, and pulled me into a kiss. It was too many limbs, and too much sizzling. Combined with that strange, warm tingle thing we had going on? I was certain I’d die from how hard my heart was beating.

“We’re staying no matter what, Sera,” Rylan said.

Gaius looked at me. “You’re not chasing us away. And get off me, Rylan.”

“We’ll have lots of fun,” Kael said.

Micah tapped Rylan. “And your foot’s kicking me. Also, I want to be next to Sera.”

That statement lit something in Kael’s eyes. “How about arm-wrestling to settle this?”

“Chess would be more my style,” Micah said.

I held a loose pillow to my face and squealed. They probably thought that I was crazy, but my feminine parts were making the gears in my head go haywire.

“We’re not going to get any sleep like this, huh?” I asked.

“Nope,” Rylan said, slipping himself between Gaius and me. “Not a chance. I guess that defeats the purpose of me coming here.”

I laughed. “That’s all right.”

It was.

Because everything right now was fine. And I could be at peace with myself, because I knew I wasn’t alone.

I slipped my arms around Rylan, hugged him tight, and smiled.

“Okay, Rylan,” Gaius said. “That was supposed to by my spot.”

“I was the first in this room. You all are extras.”

Micah muttered something, before adding more loudly, “I’m not sure why I’m the farthest away. I don’t want to lie next to Gaius.”

“I’m happy over here,” Kael said.

Micah sat up. “Shut up, Kael. Sera, tell him you’d prefer me next to you.”

My mouth fell open. “What?” I truly couldn’t decide.

“We need to come up with a better sleeping position,” Gaius said. “Sera, what do you think?”

Then they all sat up, and four sets of eyes fell on me, waiting for my verdict.

What had I gotten myself into?