Crimson Bonds

Relationships

The room around me seems to blur, becoming soft and distant. My body feels weightless, drifting in and out of consciousness, but the warmth of Dante's arms around me keeps me tethered, secure. The residual heat from their healing still lingers in my limbs, making me feel warm, almost hazy, like I'm floating between sleep and wakefulness.

But something stirs me from the edges of sleep—a soft sound, almost like a whisper, followed by a faint rustling nearby. My eyelids flutter open, though I'm still caught in that sleepy haze, and at first, everything is blurred, indistinct.

I shift slightly, blinking against the dim light, and that's when I see it—Nikolai, standing close to Lila, his expression more serious than usual, his playful grin softened into something else. His hand is resting on her arm, his thumb brushing her skin in a way that feels surprisingly tender for him. And then, before I can fully register what's happening, he leans in, his lips pressing softly against hers.

For a moment, I'm not sure what I'm seeing. My sleep-addled brain can't quite make sense of it. I blink, trying to clear the fog, but the scene before me is real. Nikolai is kissing Lila, and she's kissing him back, her hands resting lightly on his chest as though this is something familiar, something they've done before.

A flush of confusion rolls through me, but it's not just confusion—it's something else. Something unexpected, something I can't quite place. I shift again, but my body feels heavy with sleep, unable to fully wake.

Nikolai pulls back slowly, his gaze lingering on Lila's face for a moment before he turns toward Dante, who's still holding me. There's a spark of something in Nikolai's eyes—a mischievous glint, but also something deeper, something serious, almost reverent.

Before I can fully process what's happening, Nikolai steps closer to Dante, who tilts his head up slightly in acknowledgment. My breath catches as Nikolai leans down, brushing his lips against Dante's in a kiss that is equally soft, but with an intensity behind it. The kind of intensity that sends a shiver down my spine.

I should be startled by what I'm seeing. But as I lie there, half-awake in Dante's arms, watching the scene unfold, something inside me shifts. I realize, in that moment, I'm not confused. I'm not unsettled. Instead, there's a different kind of heat building in me—one I can't deny.

I'm definitely into it.

It's a strange realization, one I wasn't expecting. But as I watch the way Nikolai's hand rests gently on Dante's shoulder, the way they move together, so familiar, so natural, something clicks inside me. I feel my heartbeat quicken, but it's not out of fear or confusion. It's something much deeper, something primal.

I'm not jealous. I'm drawn in.

Dante pulls back from Nikolai, his eyes flicking to mine, catching me awake. For a second, I'm worried that he'll say something, but he doesn't. Instead, there's a softness in his gaze, an understanding, like he knows exactly what I'm feeling. He knows I saw, knows I'm watching, and yet he says nothing.

Nikolai smirks, the usual mischief in his eyes, but there's a glimmer of something warmer, something knowing. "You're awake, sweetheart," he says softly, almost teasing, but not in a mocking way. It's like he's welcoming me into something I didn't know I was already part of.

I blink, still feeling the aftereffects of sleep, but something compels me to joke, maybe to ground myself in the strange reality of what I've just witnessed. "You're handing out kisses, and I'm left out?" I say, half-smiling, my voice a little weaker than I intended.

Nikolai raises an eyebrow, his smirk widening into a full grin. "Left out? We can't have that, can we?"

Before I can fully process what's happening, Nikolai moves closer, his hand brushing lightly against my cheek as he leans down. His lips meet mine in a kiss that's surprisingly soft, more gentle than I would have expected from him. There's heat in it, yes, but also a tenderness that catches me off guard.

My heart stutters in my chest, and I melt into the kiss, letting the warmth of his touch sink into me. It's different from everything I've experienced with them so far—more personal, more intimate. My pulse quickens, and I feel the connection between us, the strange bond that's formed, intensify in that single moment.

When Nikolai finally pulls back, his grin returns, playful but with a spark of something deeper. "Better?" he asks, his tone light, but there's an edge to his voice that tells me he knows exactly what I'm feeling.

I blink, momentarily speechless, before managing a small laugh. "Yeah, better." I squeak out. Dante's arms tighten slightly around me, a quiet reassurance, and I feel myself relax into him, the strange tension from moments ago melting away into something warmer, more intimate. I don't fully understand what's happening, but I don't need to. There's something unspoken in the air, something that connects us all, and for the first time since this whirlwind started, I don't feel like an outsider. I feel like I belong, like this is where I'm supposed to be—right here, in the center of it all.

Lila smiles softly from where she stands, her eyes warm and understanding, as though she expected this, knew this moment would come. She sits down beside me on the bed, her hand resting gently on my arm. "You're not alone, Olivia," she says quietly, her voice a soothing balm. "We're in this together. All of us. If you want to be."

I glance at her, at Nikolai, at Dante. The air between us is charged with something I can't quite name, but it's not uncomfortable. It's... comforting. Right.

And as I lean back into Dante's embrace once more, the exhaustion pulling at me again, I let myself fall back into that warmth, into their embrace, knowing now that whatever this is, whatever we are, it's something real. Something that connects us all in ways I'm only just beginning to understand.

For the first time in a this crazy string of events, I'm not afraid of what comes next.