“Then take off the armor,” I said.

“What?” he asked.

“Get naked,” Rhys called.

“I can speak for myself, thank you,” I said, glancing back at him.

He made a little motion as if to say, Be my guest. I turned back to Mistral. I gazed up into his face, and found that his eyes were already beginning to fade to a soft grey, like rain clouds. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, a little uncertainly, as if he wasn’t used to smiling much.

“Get naked,” I said.

He grinned, a brief flash of it. “Then what?”

“We have sex.”

“I’m first,” Abeloec said, hugging me from behind.

I nodded. “Agreed.”

Mistral’s face darkened; I could almost see clouds in his eyes. Not just the color of the irises, but the actual image of clouds floating in the pupils. “Why is he first?” he asked.

“Because he can be part of the foreplay,” I said.

“She means, once I’ve fucked her, then you can do it rougher,” said Abeloec.

Mistral smiled again, but this smile was different. This was a smile that made me breathe harder. “You really liked what I did to your breast?” he asked.

I swallowed hard, pressing myself against Abeloec’s body, almost as if I were afraid of the taller man in front of me. I nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

“Good,” he said, and he reached for the leather fastenings that held his armor in place. “Very good,” he whispered.