Shinji thought he was managing pretty well. He was definitely dealing better than he had in the past. Kippei went to school for the day and he stayed home with Hyun-ki, who had been enough of a distraction that he’d managed not to think too much about anything besides having fun with her. Rien would be fine; it was a mantra he forced to go around and around in his head throughout the day, along with he’ll be home soon.

But he tired easily and Hyun-ki lay down with him in the afternoon for a nap, and when Kippei came home the desperate need to have him close was almost all consuming. Shinji crumbled in the evening and went to bed early and just clung to Kippei while Kippei studied or just lay there with him, threading fingers through his hair and Shinji was sure that then, when they were alone in the dark together, Kippei was the only thing keeping him sane.

But as the days slipped past it became both easier and harder. It was easier to just ignore everything and focus on taking care of Hyun-ki, and it was harder to believe something wasn’t wrong. When he woke up from his afternoon nap he just lay there, watching Hyun-ki sleep, stroking her cheek and petting her hair, wishing he knew what the hell he was supposed to do. If Rien didn’t come home soon, he was going to panic.

“I want your daddy,” he whispered secretively to Hyun-ki.

Kippei watched him worriedly, glad that he was handling it so far, but well aware that it only went so far. If Rien wasn’t back soon, they were going to have a mess on their hands. Or he was, really, since without Rien it was just him, watching over Shinji. Kippei decided that if Rien ever thought they didn’t need him again, Kippei was going to beat him up because obviously, they did, and it was hurting Shinji not having him here, which was only fine as long as Rien was coming right back as soon as possible. If he thought he didn’t have to, he was dead wrong and he needed a good kick in the head. Or two.

For Rien himself, it hardly mattered if they needed him back or not – he needed them just as badly, and he was simply incapable of staying away any longer than he absolutely had to. Once he was back he still had to go through the hours of reports and debriefing until he wanted to scream, and by the time he told his story for the third time he had pretty much had enough.

“You’ve got everything there,” he said wearily, “you know everything I know and it’s your job to make sense of it. I’m going home now. My family is waiting for me.” And he just stood up and walked out, not caring if it was against protocol or what the hell ever, he needed a hug and he sure as hell wasn’t getting it here.

No one tried to stop him, and when he got outside there was a plain, unmarked car waiting to take him home. He blinked at it for a minute, but he was too tired to smile and just climbed gratefully in, unable to think of anything but Shinji and Kippei and Yuni, safe at home and waiting for him. When it had been just him and Kippei, he hadn’t ever bothered to wake Kippei up when he got home in the middle of the night, but he knew Shinji would kill him if he didn’t, and quite honestly he didn’t give a damn whether they wanted him to or not, he wanted to see them and he was going to wake them the hell up, 3am or no 3am.

Shinji was already awake, feeling restless and desperate, pacing the house and drinking a cup of herbal tea in the hopes it would put him to sleep but it wasn’t working.  He wanted in a bone deep way that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with his body being trained to need Rien there from the moment he’d shown up in the hospital instead of Kippei. That, and the pounding hurt of his heart that only got worse every day Rien didn’t come home.

He heard the car pull up out front and froze, hesitating a moment in disbelief until he saw the shine of the headlights through the front curtains and then he had already put the cup down and was bolting out the front door, halting on the front steps and hopping nervously from foot to foot as Rien spoke to whoever was driving and shut the door, the car pulling away and then Shinji didn’t hold back at all, stumbling forward and wrapping his arms tight around Rien’s waist from behind, burying his face between his shoulder blades and barely holding back the sobs of relief as he felt Rien’s pulse under his hands.

Rien sighed with relief as he watched the car leave, and then he simply turned and scooped Shinji up in his arms, raining kisses on his face and hair as he carried him inside.

“Hey, beautiful, s’all okay,” he murmured, heading for the nearest place to sit down and collapsing on the couch for the time being, Shinji still cuddled in his lap. “M’alright, I’m back, missed you so much,” he admitted, rubbing Shinji’s back and tilting his face up to kiss him properly.

“Home now, princess,” he assured Shinji in a warm, relieved voice. “All okay, promise.”

Shinji pulled back far enough that he could run his hands over Rien, searching for anything wrong but he was fine, just like he said and Shinji breathed a heavy sigh of relief, a shaky smile finally appearing as he met Rien’s gaze. He was finally home…Rien was home, and everything in him felt like it was collapsing in on itself, finally letting go of all the tension he’d been carrying since Rien left.

“Home,” he whispered and leaned in to kiss Rien hard on the mouth. “Oh god, you’re home.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, smiling back, feeling warm for the first time in a week with Shinji’s hands on him again. After a minute he realised that Shinji had come out to meet him, and he tilted his head. “What you doin’ awake in the middle of night, hm? Do Ki know you’re out here not sleepin’?” he asked worriedly, wondering at it. Kippei never usually let Shinji move without it waking him up.

“He does now,” Kippei answered from the doorway, smiling wryly from where he stood, holding Yuni in his arms. He kissed her cheek and set her down, letting her run over to throw herself into the little pile Rien and Shinji were making on the couch.

“Papa Ri!” she cried delightedly, tumbling into Shinji’s lap and reaching up to hug Rien’s neck. “Papa Ri is home!”

Shinji wrapped an arm around her but otherwise refused to let go of Rien, ignoring the fact he hadn’t been sleeping because as if he wanted to sleep now that Rien was home. He grinned at Kippei, knowing he had to be just as happy to have Rien home, safe and sound, and rested his head on Rien’s shoulder, feeling warm and content in a way the tea had been incapable of making him.

“Papa Ri’s home,” he agreed with Yuni. “Isn’t it great?”

She just beamed at him, resting her head on Rien’s shoulder and playing with his hair, twirling the curls around her tiny, chubby fingers. It was great, nothing made her feel safer and more content than having all three of them home, ready to cuddle her no matter what happened.

Kippei chuckled, taking a moment to stroke their hair, all three of them – his angels, all together again at last. He headed out to the kitchen to find some warm drinks, collecting Shinji’s tea on the way and warming it up.

Shinji just focussed on breathing, feeling tired and worn to his bones now that he wasn’t worried out of his mind. He settled in beside Rien and let his eyes slide to half open, watching Hyun-ki playing happily and wondering what she thought of Rien leaving, really. Had to be even scarier for her.

“Love you, Ri. Missed you really bad.”

Rien wrapped his arms around them both, cuddling them warmly and unable to stop smiling, feeling relieved down to his bones, probably like Shinji did.

“Missed you real bad too,” he agreed. “Just wanted to get home again. Kept thinkin’ bout you all the time, you an’ Ki an’ little miss here…” He tickled the little girl’s middle, making her giggle and squirm. Yeah, it was good to be home again.

Shinji just smiled at them both, finding them adorable but not having the energy to play. The longer he sat there the more exhausted he felt until he finally gave up and got up, going to Kippei and wrapping his arms around him, hiding his face in against his throat and letting his eyes slide shut.

“Everyone’s safe again now,” he mumbled tiredly.

Kippei hugged him warmly, stroking his hair and kissing the top of his head. “Yeah, everything’s okay now,” he agreed, smiling faintly as he held Shinji tight. “C’mere,” he murmured, “come sit down.” He picked up two of the mugs in one hand and steered Shinji with the other, keeping an arm around him and taking him back to the couch to curl up near Rien, handing Shinji’s tea to him and a mug of coffee to Rien, going back to the kitchen briefly for another mug of tea and some hot chocolate for Hyun-ki.

“Here you go, baby,” he told her when he came back, handing it to her and waiting for Rien to settle down and make sure she didn’t spill it before he sat down beside Shinji and pulled him into his lap, cuddling him close again and stroking his hair in long, soothing strokes.

“Feels nice,” Shinji observed softly, watching Hyun-ki and Rien while he sank into the feeling of being safe at home with them all, Kippei’s hands the most comforting thing of all.

“Are you really okay?” He asked Rien quietly. “I mean…inside and out?”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” Rien assured him, reaching over to touch his cheek. “All sides good,” he sighed contentedly, shifting over to lean against Kippei, resting his head on one strong shoulder and grinning at Shinji, feeling rather blissfully warm and happy and safe. Safe enough to relax down to bedrock, and that was a rare enough thing.

“Missed this,” he sighed, petting Yuni’s hair and smoothing it down – it was obvious Shinji had fixed it earlier, and Rien was pleased to see that nothing had fallen apart, they’d all done well enough taking care of each other while he was gone.

“You took a long time getting back,” Kippei noted dryly. “If I ever find out you took any longer than you had to, believe me, I will make sure you are sorry. We need you,” he added softly, still running his fingers gently through Shinji’s hair.

Rien chuckled in wry amusement. “Ain’t worry bout that none, I never can wait to get back, trust me. I rather be here than anyplace else in the world.”

“Ri-papa loves us, Yuni,” Shinji whispered loudly, as if it were a secret, but he was grinning and he knew she understood how special it was. “Yuni loves Ri-papa?” They knew she did, but Rien would probably like to hear it and Shinji knew Hyun-ki never got tired of telling them.

She nodded seriously, snuggling into Rien’s lap where she was held and smiling happily at Shinji.

“Love Shinji and Ri and Papa Ki,” she agreed, rubbing her cheek against Rien’s shirt and then yawning suddenly, having been woken up by Kippei when he heard that Rien was home.

Rien sighed. “Think it is bedtime,” he decided, because he could definitely use some sleep, and Shinji looked exhausted. Kippei looked the same as always, but Rien was willing to bet he hadn’t been sleeping well either.

Shinji just smiled back at her and poked her nose gently, of the opinion it was like a little button that made her giggle when you pressed it and sure enough he was rewarded with a small, tired laugh.

“Yeah, bedtime for everyone,” he agreed. But he let Rien take Hyun-ki in to put her back to bed and went instead to their room, crawling into bed on the side, wanting Rien in the middle where they could both hold on and let the worry fade away. He looked up at Kippei and grinned because the man really was pure sex, half naked in the doorway.

“Ri in the middle?”

Kippei hummed in agreement, thinking it sounded like a good idea, coming over to stand beside Shinji while they waited for Rien. He wrapped his arms around Shinji and kissed his hair, smiling faintly to himself and feeling warm deep inside.

“I’m really proud of you,” he noted softly. “You were a big help while he was gone, you did just fine. It was hard for everybody, but you did good.”

Shinji felt better about it. He hadn’t panicked, hadn’t thrown a tantrum or refused to do anything. He’d taken care of Hyun-ki and had controlled himself. It was a definite improvement on the previous times Rien had gone to work. It didn’t make him miss Rien any less when he was gone, but at least he was learning to handle it.

“Can’t do it without you,” he pointed out. “Love you so much, Ki.”

“Love you too,” Kippei agreed, “always and forever.” He tilted Shinji’s face up to kiss him warmly, slow and sweet, and Rien paused in the doorway when he came back, just watching them, feeling like he might burst with how much he loved them.

“Look so good,” he said huskily, moving into the room with his eyes still fixed on them, gratefully stripping out of his clothes and climbing into bed, scooting over to wrap his arms around Shinji’s waist and nuzzle up against him.

Shinji hurriedly kicked off his pyjama pants before snuggling in against Rien, loving the way Rien smothered people in bed, needing that closeness more than ever.

“Sexy Ri…our sexy Rien, home safe and sound and perfect as always…” He rained kisses down on Rien’s face and throat, murmering random sweet nothings against his skin, something in him growing more desperate the longer he had Rien back safely.

Kippei watched them for a moment before he went around and climbed in on the other side, shedding his own pants and sliding in behind Rien, wrapping his arms around both of them from behind and kissing Rien’s shoulder, lingering over it and sucking hard, purring satisfaction in the back of his throat as Rien was once again marked his. Theirs.

Rien moaned and shivered, tangling his fingers in Shinji’s hair and pulling him back to his mouth for more serious kisses, loving the hot sweetness of Shinji’s tongue against his own.

“Love you,” he murmured, “love you both so much.”

“Love you more,” Shinji countered, kissing back just as hungrily. “Love you so much I feel like I’m going insane when you’re not with me. Need you so bad, all the time. Want your kisses and your hands and…god, everything!” He couldn’t get close enough; couldn’t share enough hot kisses, or touch enough smooth skin.

Rien groaned softly, feeling like he might go mad trapped between them like this, and not caring because it just felt so good.

“Everything,” he agreed breathlessly. “Want you, need you, so bad.” He arched his back against Kippei, trying to rub against both of them at the same time, and mostly failing, but unable to help himself with the rising desperation taking him over.

Shinji both wondered what Rien had done on his mission and knew he didn’t want to know. All he knew was that Rien needed something now that he could give him and he had to do his best to try and do just that, which wasnt hard when he wanted the same things just as badly. He rubbed up against him, slipping a hand down between their bodies to close around their cocks, squeezing gently.

Rien moaned in relief, feeling oddly as if he was really home now, with Shinji touching him in the careful way he always did, and Kippei pressed hard against him from behind, slowly grinding against his bare ass. He realised somewhat vaguely that if Kippei had his way he was going to get teased half to death tonight, but he wanted them any which way he could get them, so it didn’t matter really.

“Feels good,” he murmured, caressing Shinji’s back and licking his throat, sighing again, in pleasure this time. “You’re so hot…” So sexy.

Shinji was sure he would never understand why they thought that, but at the same time he didn’t really think it mattered when you were already in bed naked with people you were married to. They could think whatever they wanted, as long as Shinji got to keep doing this with them. His fingers teased Rien’s length while his tongue licked a wet path down his chest, delighting in every whimper and moan he won from Rien’s lips.

“You like it, Ri?”

Rien wasn’t sure how he was supposed to answer that when Shinji insisted on taking his breath away every other minute, but he moaned in heartfelt appreciation as the heat and hunger warmed him all the way through, leaving him aching with the need for more.

Chuckling softly behind him, Kippei slid a hand up his side, stroking his skin as teasingly as Rien had expected, lingering but never quite touching the places he knew Rien liked best. Teasing Rien was just fun, he always got so desperate and needy, begging as if he might die if he didn’t get it.

Shinji watched, fascinated as Kippei slowly brought Rien undone and he dissolved into a pleading, begging mass of wanton flesh. He was beautiful and sexy and cute as all hell and Shinji was reminded again of all the reasons he couldn’t live without him.

“My Rien. It’s not fair that other people get to have you, you’re mine.”

“Nobody else does, anymore,” Rien reminded him in a husky, shaken voice, still shuddering under Kippei’s hands, trying not to groan out loud in case Hyun-ki might hear them. Kippei was evil, and damn right he didn’t do this stuff with anyone else anymore, the two of them together were more than enough to handle sometimes. He grinned breathlessly at the thought, absolutely sure that he was exactly where he belonged.

“They get to see you when I don’t, that’s bad enough!” Shinji breathed huskily, hating those people who took Rien from him, for weeks at a time, where he was unsafe and unprotected and Shinji had no idea what was going on.

“No one else should get to have your time. You belong to us.”

Rien chuckled wryly. “I know, princess,” he agreed, but there was nothing they could do about it, really, and he got back to the serious business of kissing the hell out of Shinji. Damn, he tasted good.

“Right where I belong,” he sighed finally, a long, slow exhalation of contentment. “Right here with you.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Kippei told him sternly, biting down on his shoulder and growling fiercely, as if someone might try to take him away.

“Never forget!” Shinji emphasised, staring at the hard bite mark and licking his lips, feeling horribly turned on and wanting relief. He wrapped his fingers back around Rien and himself, stroking slowly, teasing but groaning as the pleasure built in his gut.

“Touch me.”

Rien’s hands fluttered over him, unable to decide where to settle as he wanted to touch everything at once. “Want you,” he moaned, nearly writhing between them as he slid his hands down Shinji’s back to squeeze his ass, loving the feelings sweeping through him, but wanting more too.

“You are in the middle,” Kippei pointed out. “Do you want to be more in the middle?” he asked, slightly amused and looking past him to raise his eyebrow at Shinji.

“Rien sandwich,” Shinji agreed, panting at the thought of it and smirking, licking Rien’s cheek before reaching over to grab the lube from the bedside table and tossing it to Kippei, not trusting himself to prepare Rien well enough when they were both so distracted and definitely not trusting Rien not to tell them to just do it.

Rien already wanted to tell them to just do it, but Kippei already had the lube so he just went with it, distracting himself by kissing Shinji again, loving the way he tasted, and feeling in the kiss that Shinji was just as hungry as he was, which was a great thing to come home to.

Taking his time, Kippei hummed in satisfaction as he watched them, teasing Rien with his fingers in the process, drawing it out as long as possible and smirking faintly as he wondered if it would be Rien or Shinji that broke first and started begging him to hurry up.

Shinji was nearly at breaking point, but refused to give in before Rien, finding it as amusing as ever that Rien dissolved between them, turning into the most amazingly sexual creature Shinji had ever seen. He didn’t think he would ever get used to Rien wanting him that badly. Kippei, definitely, who wouldn’t want him? But Rien clearly felt that way about him as well, and that was mind-blowing.

“Come on Ri…Tell us you want us.”

It wasn’t quite the near insane desperation that Rien had used to feel when he came home from a mission where he’d had to sleep with someone else, the need to be with them so completely, and get clean again. Still, it had been a long time he’d been away, and he’d missed them in every cell of his body. There was nothing like sex, for him, to make him feel reconnected and whole again, and he held out as long as he could because he knew Kippei wanted him to, but when Shinji joined in he really didn’t have a chance of resisting.

“Want you want you want you so bad,” he agreed, writhing and reaching hungrily for more touches and kisses, delighted with anything and everything he could get, just thrilled to be right where he belonged again, home and between them. “Love you so much.”

Shinji laughed in delight, leaning in to give him exactly what he wanted, kisses and hugs and teasing touches to drive him ever closer to the edge. He grinned at Kippei over his shoulder, loving how into Kippei was, how lost in trying to make Rien beg and plead and writhe between them. It was almost like playing doubles, and he couldn’t get enough of that.

“Love you. Mine, all mine.”

“All yours,” Kippei and Rien agreed, nearly simultaneously, and they grinned breathlessly at each other. Shinji made everything worth it, all the pain and heartache of getting here, all the work of keeping what they had, all the worry and the wonder and the stress, Shinji’s delighted laughter in a moment like this paid for it all.

“Now, please,” Rien begged, “now now, want you now.”

Kippei chuckled and nodded his agreement, glancing at Shinji to assure him they were ready. “Go ahead then,” he murmured, watching them intently as he put a little more lube on himself and handed it to Shinji.

Shinji grinned, snatching up the lube and rubbing it on himself with a few good slippery strokes, moaning at how good it felt and at the thought of being inside Rien in just a few seconds. He leaned in close, rubbing against Rien as he searched for his hole, smirking when he found it, licking his cheek playfully as he pushed in, slow and sliding easy, meeting Kippei’s gaze over Rien’s shoulder.

“With me. You need to be in with me.” Because he loved how Kippei’s cock felt pressed up against his own inside Rien’s body.

“That was the plan,” Kippei murmured, smirking a little as he moved forward and kissed Rien’s shoulder, stroking a soothing hand down his arm as he pushed in slow and careful, loving the tight heat and the awed look on Shinji’s face, the way they felt moving together and the way Rien just melted and relaxed and took them both in, moaning like he’d never felt anything better in his life.

“Yeahhh,” Kippei breathed, giving Shinji a brilliant smile as he leaned forward over Rien’s shoulder to give Shinji a hot, fervent kiss. Like this, together, all of them… oh hell yes.

Shinji knew he wasn’t going to last long, not when he hadn’t had sex for at least a week and he could feel Kippei screwing hard into Rien right beside him, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the sense of oneness that ran through his body and obliterated every other thought in his head until his whole world was reduced to the three of them and how amazing it felt. He drove hard into Rien, knowing it wouldn’t hurt him, that Rien knew how to move so it would always feel good, and trusting him to do just that.

When he came it was as if someone had sliced open his spine and spilled all control out of his body and he slumped limp and breathless against Rien, hair sweaty and sticking to his neck in thick tendrils.

“Oh god.”

Rien was right behind him, and Kippei didn’t last much longer than that, all three of them collapsing together in a tangled pile of sweaty limbs and breathless euphoria.

“Hell yeah,” Rien breathed, stroking Shinji’s hair down and kissing his forehead, his eyes, his cheekbones, wanting to just thank him, love him, give him every bit of affection he’d been storing up while he’d been gone.

“Mhmm,” Kippei agreed, nuzzling the back of Rien’s neck and giving Shinji a brilliant smile over his shoulder. Damn right. He shifted carefully and pulled out, rubbing Rien’s back as he got up and went to find a wet cloth to clean them all up with.

“Here you go,” he murmured, handing it to Shinji as he came back.

Shinji latched on to it clumsily, laughing softly at his lack of motor control, feeling too light and sated and as if someone had pulled all the darkness out of him, leaving only air and awesomeness. He took the cloth and went about cleaning himself up, much happier when he didn’t have sticky stuff all over himself, though he would have preferred a shower to get rid of the sweat. But the fact was he was too worn out to move away from them or the bed.

“That was awesome,” he yawned. “Hope we didn’t wake up Yuni-bug.”

Rien laughed, taking the cloth from Shinji and finishing the clean up, folding it over to a clean side and giving him a general rubdown on his back and his neck, knowing the sweat bothered him just as much as the rest of it.

“I doubt it,” he murmured, but then again they had not been careful about their noise.

“I’ll go check on her,” Kippei told them, pulling on a robe and tying it closed as he headed out the door and down the hall.

Shinji blinked, a little surprised but then…not. He grinned and snuggled in against Rien’s side, taking the cloth and cleaning him up while he nuzzled his shoulder.

“Kippei makes the cutest damn dad ever. Can you imagine him at parent teacher interviews? He’s gonna be amazing.”

Rien laughed helplessly, burying his face in Shinji’s hair and laughing himself silly. Partly because it was funny, and partly because he was still just so relieved to be home again.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, he will.” And it was a hilarious image. Kippei was going to be an awesome dad alright, but it cracked him the hell up.

Shinji was delighted to have a partner in crime; someone else who found Kippei impossibly awesome and adorably cute at the same time. Someone else who knew what an amazing father Kippei would be, as well as an incredibly lover. But Kippei was also his partner in crime for knowing those things about Rien, and that just made it all the more amazing. He grinned and shifted his pillows into a more comfortable position for sleeping and curled up against Rien’s side, just watching him.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can talk to us if you need to.”

“I’m fine,” Rien promised, giving him a warm smile, his eyes deep chocolate happiness. “Was a long job, not a bad one,” he murmured. “Once I’m home again, s’all good.” He stroked the back of his knuckles across Shinji’s cheek, revelling in the softness of it. “You are so gorgeous,” he mumbled to himself, smiling in completely pleased, satisified contentment, because the prettiest angel he’d ever seen was all his. And Kippei’s.

Shinji blushed a deep red that only stood out all the more on pale skin with his jet black hair but he felt good. He liked that Rien thought he was gorgeous, whether it was true or not and he knew it was a sign of how far his mind had mended that he could see that now. The only truth that really mattered was what Rien and Kippei thought, everything else was irrelevant to his small world.

“I love you, Ri. Missed you like crazy, but I took good care of Yuni, and Kippei took care of me, and me and Yuni cooked dinner and stuff to take care of Kippei. But we all missed you. Need you.”

“Missed you too,” Rien assured him, snuggling him tight. “Missed all of you so much, couldn’t wait to get back.” He chuckled softly. “I kinda told them off, actually. When I got in earlier, had to give all my reports an’ crap so many times, was so tired an’ just got sick of it. Told ‘em they already knew everythin’ I knew, an’ it was their job to make sense of it. Jus’ walked out.”

Shinji laughed at that, completely delighted, easily able to imagine Rien doing just that, and picturing the faces of his superiors when he walked out. He loved Rien like crazy; loved that Rien was slightly insane.

“You’re adorable,” he pointed out with a grin, kissing him warmly and then looking up as the door opened and Kippei appeared. “Yuni-bug okay?”

“Yeah,” Kippei agreed. “She was fine, she woke up, I read her a story. She’s sleeping now.” He wasn’t sure if she knew what had woken her up – he’d tried to reassure her that they hadn’t been fighting, but he wasn’t sure if she had really understood. He’d have to ask Rien to talk to her tomorrow and make sure.

He crawled back into bed with them, dropping his robe on the floor and slipping under the blankets to cuddle up and wrap around them, sighing in contentment. So much better.

Shinji grinned and kissed him over Rien’s shoulder, all of the worry of the week drained away and Rien safe and warm and happy with them. It felt good, knowing he had survived Rien going off to work for a long period of time, without freaking out and without hurtin Hyun-ki or Kippei, and without any incident really to speak of. He could do it, he could make it, he could live like a normal human being and it felt great.

“Night, lovers.”

“Night, princess,” Rien murmured, kissing him again for goodnight and relaxing gratefully between them. God, he felt good, whole and warm and home again. He never wanted to leave again, and he wished it was that simple.