At the man.
“Yes,” he said.
Ethan took his hand.
****
“Come here,” Niko saidsoftly, already guiding Ethan backward toward the bedroom.
Ethan barely had time to register the movement before Niko was with him, hands warm and certain, pulling him into the space that smelled faintly of cedar and lake air and all the things Ethan had tried to make into a life.The door closed behind them with a quiet click.
Niko didn’t hesitate.
“Will you come with us?”he asked, the words tumbling out like he’d been holding them too long.“You and Poppy.And Lucy, if she wants.We can make it work—Hawaii, here, wherever.We can time-share.We can build something.I don’t care how it looks as long as we’re together.”
Ethan just stared at him.
So, Niko kept going, voice rougher now.“I already love her.I already love you.You’ve got my heart, both of you, and I’m not pretending otherwise.I want to be in your lives.I want to wake up with you every fucking day.I want to help raise her.I want—”
Ethan kissed him.
It wasn’t hurried.It wasn’t desperate.It was steady, certain, full of everything he’d never believed he was allowed to ask for.
“Yes,” Ethan said against Niko’s mouth.“I want that.All of it.I want you.I want her.I want us—here, in Hawaii, wherever the hell the world takes us.And I want to face what’s coming with you.”
Niko’s hands slid into his hair, holding him close, their foreheads resting together as they breathed each other in.
“We’ll raise Poppy,” Niko murmured.“We’ll build something.And then we’ll burn the rest of it down.”
Ethan laughed softly, emotion thick in his throat.“Sounds like a plan.”
“Will you give yourself to me?”Niko asked, holding her gaze.
“In every sense of the word,” Ethan answered immediately.
Niko didn’t need to be told twice and had them both stripped out of their clothes in seconds.
He sank to his knees in front of Ethan, hands sliding over his hips before he took him into his mouth, slow at first, reverent in a way that made Ethan’s breath catch immediately.It wasn’t rushed.It was like he was relearning him, reminding them both what this felt like.
“Christ ...baby,” Ethan breathed, hands coming down to rest on Niko’s shoulders.“You’re going to pull the world out from under me like that?”
Niko smiled around him, a soft, affectionate curve of his mouth as he drew on him again, letting his tongue glide along every sensitive place he remembered.“Where would the fun be if I didn’t?”he murmured before taking him back in.
His hands were warm and steady, one cradling Ethan, the other anchoring him close, paying attention to every sound, every shift of breath, every tightening of fingers.He wasn’t just touching him—he was listening to him, learning him all over again.
“Easy,” Ethan groaned, hips starting to move without his permission.“You’re going to make me lose it too fast.”
Niko didn’t stop.He didn’t want to.He held him there, letting him feel everything, until Ethan shuddered and gave himself over, warmth spilling against Niko’s tongue as he held him through it.Niko stayed with him, steady and gentle, until Ethan leaned down into him, breathing hard.
When Niko finally looked up, Ethan’s face was open and flushed, and so damn beautiful it almost hurt.
“I love you,” Ethan said quietly, his hand coming up to cup Niko’s jaw.“So much.”
Something in Niko softened at that.He rose, drawing Ethan with him, and guided him back onto the bed like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Niko leaned in and kissed him—slow, deep, full of everything they’d held back for three long years.
“I love you, too,” Niko whispered.“And I am going to make you and Poppy so fucking happy.”