Chapter 338: Chapter 338: Holy Fuck, I Can’t Feel My Legs

He started moving, his hips lifting to meet hers, one hand on her breast and the other between her legs. Eve watched in the mirror as he worked her....watched her own face contort with pleasure, watched her body respond despite her exhaustion.

"You’re incredible," Damon murmured. "Look at you. Taking everything we give you. Still wanting more."

His fingers on her clit were gentle, circling with barely-there pressure that somehow felt more intense than anything that had come before.

"One more time," Damon whispered. "Give me one more."

Eve didn’t think she could. Her body was wrung out, oversensitized, pushed past every limit she thought she had.

But Damon was patient. He worked her slowly, building pleasure in tiny increments, never pushing too hard or too fast.

When the fifth orgasm finally came, it was different....softer but deeper, rolling through her in waves that seemed to go on forever. She watched herself in the mirror as it happened, saw the moment she shattered, and it was beautiful and devastating and absolutely perfect.

Damon followed with a groan, and they collapsed together in a tangle of limbs.

For a long time, no one moved. No one spoke. They just lay there in a pile of satisfied exhaustion.

"Holy fuck," Eve finally managed. "I can’t feel my legs."

"Good," Silas said, sounding smug. "We did our job properly."

"I’m never moving again."

"You say that now," Damon said with amusement. "But give it a few hours and you’ll be ready for round two."

"Absolutely not. I’m retiring from sex. Effective immediately."

All three of her mates laughed.

Damian pulled a blanket over them and gathered Eve against his chest. "Sleep. We’ll clean up later."

"Can’t sleep. Too much..." Eve’s words trailed off as exhaustion pulled at her.

"Yes you can," Silas said softly. "Just rest. We’ve got you."

Surrounded by her mates, thoroughly claimed and absolutely cherished, Eve let herself drift.

The sadness about Vessa leaving was still there, but it felt manageable now. Smaller. Because this was what she had....these men who loved her, this bond that connected them, this family they’d built.

Vessa was going to find herself. And she’d come back when she was ready.

And in the meantime, Eve had everything she needed right here.

***

POV: Maya

Maya stood in the estate kitchen at three in the morning, unable to sleep, staring at the contents of her phone like they held the answer to every question she’d been avoiding for weeks.

Her apartment lease renewal notice. Due in two weeks.

The subletter she’d found when she’d thought her stay at the Blackwood estate would be temporary had just given notice. The apartment was hers again if she wanted it. Back to her old life. Back to normalcy. Back to being just... human.

Except she didn’t know if she wanted that anymore.

"Can’t sleep either?"

Maya jumped, nearly dropping her phone. Raphael stood in the kitchen doorway looking immaculate despite the late hour, his amber eyes tracking over her with the kind of perception that made her feel uncomfortably seen.

"Just thinking," Maya said, setting her phone down.

"About?" Raphael moved into the kitchen with that supernatural grace that still made her nervous. He began preparing tea without asking if she wanted any.....just assuming, the way he always did.

"My apartment lease is up. I need to decide if I’m renewing or..." Maya trailed off.

"Or staying here permanently," Raphael finished. He set a cup of tea in front of her. Chamomile. How did he know that was her favorite? "That’s a significant decision."

"Yeah." Maya wrapped her hands around the warm cup. "I don’t know what to do."

"What do you want to do?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn’t be awake at three AM having an existential crisis in the kitchen."

Raphael’s mouth quirked. "Fair point." He settled into the chair across from her with his own tea. "So let’s examine your options. Option one: return to your human life. The apartment. The accounting job. The normal, safe, predictable existence you had before Eve dragged you into the supernatural world."

Maya flinched at how accurately he’d summarized it. "When you put it like that, it sounds boring."

"Is it boring? Or is it safe?" Raphael’s eyes were too knowing. "There’s no shame in choosing safety, Maya. This world is dangerous. You’ve seen that firsthand. Going back to your old life would be the sensible choice."

"But?"

"But you’re still here. Three months after Eve no longer needed active protection. Two months after the reform passed and the immediate danger was resolved. You’re still here, sleeping in a guest room, having breakfast with werewolves, attending pack bonfires like you belong." He paused. "So clearly some part of you doesn’t want safe and sensible."

Maya stared into her tea. "I like it here. I like feeling like I’m part of something important. Like my life matters beyond spreadsheets and quarterly reports."

"Then stay."

"It’s not that simple. I’m human. I’ll always be human. I can’t keep up with supernatural politics and pack dynamics and Court intrigue. Eventually I’ll just be..." She struggled for the word. "A liability. Someone they have to protect instead of someone who can contribute."

Raphael was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was gentle. "You’re already contributing, Maya. You keep Eve grounded. Remind her what it’s like to have normal human concerns and perspectives. You’re the bridge between her old life and her new one. That’s not nothing."

"But it’s not enough. Not long-term." Maya’s throat felt tight. "What happens in ten years when Eve’s still young and powerful and I’m just... older? What happens when the age gap becomes obvious? When I can’t keep up anymore?"

"Then you’ll adapt. The same way you’ve adapted to everything else in this insane world." Raphael’s expression turned thoughtful. "Though there is another option you haven’t considered yet."

Maya looked up sharply. "What option?"

"You could ask to be turned."