We made love quickly yet passionately – a fiery storm of desire that left us both panting and wanting more. But something was still off between us; it felt incomplete without Heath’s penetration. He’d fucked the others, put his cock in mouths and in their asses, but not mine. Apart from that first moment in the cemetery, he hadn’t even put his tongue in my mouth. He acted as if I were fragile glass that might shatter if he touched me too hard.

I couldn’t believe he was actually afraid to hurt me. He’d been rough before. A thread of fear slithered through me. Was it because I was now a Reaper? Did he know the extent of my change?

Later that evening, Riley, Tor, Enzo and I sat together on the couch, and Heath finally joined us after a long shower. I saw him step out of the bathroom, his cock jutting from his towel as he dried himself off. My mouth watered at the sight of him – he was so beautiful.

“I thought you’d never come out,” Riley teased him.

Heath blushed slightly before sitting down next to me on the couch. We watched TV together, our legs tangled together under the blanket. I couldn’t help but reach for him, tracing the lines of his abdomen with my fingers. He groaned and jumped up.

“I think we need popcorn,” he said before hurrying into the kitchen.

I tried to not be hurt by what was clearly a rejection, and even the others glanced at each other in confusion.

“Excuse me,” I murmured. “I think I’ll help him find the butter.”

Tor laughed and gave me a dark look full of dirty promises. “You do that. And bring extra.”

Enzo and Riley chuckled as well, and a hot blush bloomed on my cheeks.

Heath’s eyes widened when I went into the kitchen.

“I’m here to help you,” I said, and suddenly it had a deeper meaning.

His eyes closed briefly before he gave me a bright, fake smile. “My hands have been busy, but I think my fingers have enough strength to push a microwave button.”

“You don’t have to tell me how good those fingers are at pushing buttons.” I grinned and went to put my arms around him.

He dodged my embrace by opening the microwave door, and I ended up giving him a back hug instead. I laid my face between his broad shoulder blades and whispered, “What’s wrong, Heath?”

He gently pried my hands loose from his waist and turned to face me. There was a world of longing and pain in those blue eyes as his gaze travelled over my face like a drowning man watching rescue slip away.

“Tell me,” I said softly.

His gaze flicked toward the other room where the guys were still watching a movie, Riley now with his head in Torin’s lap while Tor’s fingers played with the curls falling over Rye’s forehead. Enzo’s eyes flicked our way then he turned back to the movie.

“Kiss me,” I begged, tilting my face up. He hadn’t kissed me on the lips nor directly participating in any of the lovemaking since I’d been back. He stayed on the periphery fucking, or being fucked, by one of the other guys. I needed him between my legs. I grabbed one of his hands and placed it on my breast. “Make me come.”

He groaned in a way that sounded like a thousand torments, then claimed my lips in a searing kiss, one that spoke of desperation and longing after weeks spent apart. Our mouths moved together hungrily, tongues dancing and twining as if trying to make up for lost time.

“Sierra,” Heath murmured against my lips, pulling back to look into my eyes. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again.”

“Me too,” I admitted, my heart aching at the raw vulnerability in his voice. “But I’m here now, and we’re together. That’s all that matters.”

The others moved from the sofa and came to create a circle of support and affection that held us together. It wasn’t long before the warmth of their bodies and the scent of their skin turned my spark of passion into a roaring need that demanded satisfaction.

Heath remained close, but his touch was softer, more tender. He gently kissed my forehead, my cheeks, the back of my hands, murmuring words of love and gratitude for my safe return. And as much as I reveled in the heat of the other men’s passion, I was hurt and confused by Heath’s restraint.

“Let me touch you,” I whispered to Heath, reaching for the hard length of him jutting through his briefs. But he pulled back, his expression a mixture of love and turmoil that left me feeling even more bewildered.

“Sierra, I ... I need to take this slow,” he said, stroking my hair and pressing a soft kiss to my temple. “I’ve missed you so much.”

As if sensing my uncertainty, Riley wrapped his arms around both Heath and me, drawing us together in an embrace that spoke of love, desire, and unbreakable bonds. Enzo and Torin moved in as well, and Enzo claimed my lips as Tor drew Heath aside and backed him against a wall in a bruising kiss. Enzo and Riley captured my attention taking turns kissing my mouth and my pussy, turning my head toward one of them every time my gaze wandered to watch Tor and Heath. Enzo flipped me over, drawing me up on all fours facing away from the others, and shoved his delicious cock so fast and far inside me I lurched forward, right in Riley’s waiting erection. I couldn’t see, but I heard Torin and Heath slip out of the room, but Enzo’s skilled fingers on my clit drove me to distraction once more.

HEATH

Tor pushed me against another wall, our dicks pressed together almost painfully. “What the fuck is going on with you and Sierra?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, grabbing his ass.

He jerked my hands away by my wrists and pinned them over my head, grinding against me. “Bullshit. You’ve barely touched her, must less fucked her, that I’ve been able to see. What’s going on?” He punctuated his question with a hard bite on my neck, and I moaned.

To my horror, I also began to cry. And told him everything.

“Bullshit,” he said again, louder this time, and thrust his hands through his hair. “She’s lying. Gotta be.”

He spoke firmly, but I could hear the underlying doubt and desperation in his voice.

“I want to believe that too. But what if she isn’t?”

“She is,” he insisted. “Think about the timing. She only said that when Harris was re-staking ownership over the estate. She was just trying to throw him off.”

It was a lifeline I’d been trying to cling to as well, but… “She said there was DNA evidence. Something like that is easily proven, isn’t it?”

“Or easily faked, if you know the right people.”

True … my parents and their cronies weren’t known to obey all laws, natural or otherwise.

A look of dawning came over Tor’s face. “When my mother was drunk, she said something about a DNA database Helene was keeping, but she got cagey and wouldn’t tell me more about it. She seemed scared.”

My stomach sank. “Well, doesn’t that prove Helene wasn’t lying?”

His expression said I was being an idiot. “No offense, but this is Helene Warner we’re talking about. Don’t you think she would find a way to manipulate a tool like that to her advantage?”

Yeah, that sounded exactly like something she would do. “No offense taken.”

“So, what now?” Tor asked. “Besides go in there and fuck that girl’s brains out like she’s been begging you to.”

My cock twitched, aching to do just that. Still … on the off chance …

“Maybe I should just tell her the truth.”

“To what end?” Tor gripped a handful of my hair to the point of pain, pulling my head back until I arched away from the wall. “If it’s true, you’ve already fucked her, and the damage has been done. It would only hurt her to find out now.”

“It would hurt her more to find out that I knew and then kept doing it!”

“But the point is that you don’t know. And I’d be willing to bet my entire family estate that it isn’t true.” He slipped a finger in my ass as he said it, and I gasped.