Back to the apartment

We lie there, breaths steadying in the cool hush of the penthouse bedroom, city lights casting faint patterns across Elena's freckled skin as she traces idle circles on my chest. Eva and Liam murmur softly across the bed, their forms tangled and spent, but Elena shifts closer, her thigh draping mine under the sheets, green eyes searching mine with that familiar tactical glint softened by afterglow.

"Back to yours?" she whispers, voice husky from cries still echoing in my ears, her fingers pausing to squeeze gently. I nod, the symbiote's subtle hum fading into quiet satisfaction, no urge to linger in this borrowed tangle.

"Yeah. Mine." The words anchor us, pulling us from the web of borrowed bodies. Elena's lips curve, a quiet claim in her gaze. No jealousy, just the pull of our unmarked thread, stronger for the night's shared chaos. She kisses my shoulder, rising fluid to gather her dress, the lace of her panties discarded like a shed skin.

We slip away while Eva and Liam doze, elevator descending in mirrored silence, Elena's hand laced in mine, warm and certain. Back at my apartment, Tessa's faint snores greet us from the couch.