Chapter 1276: Where All His Roads Returned

When Melissa finally drew away, their foreheads remained touching.

Phei’s eyes opened slowly.

The gold hidden inside that impossible amethyst caught the elevator light.

Melissa smiled at him. "Better?"

His arm tightened around her waist. "Considerably."

"Good."

Phei looked at her for a long moment before brushing his thumb across her lower lip. "You know, whenever I’m tense from now on, I might start expecting that."

"I know you. You’ll start pretending to be tense."

"That’s a very hurtful accusation."

"It is also true."

Phei’s grin answered for him before the elevator chimed and doors opened onto the upper private level.

Phei and Melissa stepped into the long hallway together, fingers intertwined once more. Their penthouse waited at the far end beyond the broad corridor, while several people moving through the restricted floor inevitably looked toward them.

Phei barely noticed.

Melissa noticed even less.

Somewhere along the walk Phei drew her closer, kissed her forehead and then, without the slightest warning, bent down and swept one arm beneath her knees.

Melissa yelped as the floor disappeared beneath her feet.

"Phei!"

He lifted her effortlessly into a princess carry, one arm beneath her legs and the other behind her back, his expression carrying such innocent satisfaction that Melissa immediately struck his chest with the heel of her palm.

"You could have warned me!" she complained through helpless laughter, one arm already wrapping around his neck despite herself.

Phei continued strolling down the corridor as though carrying his pregnant woman through one of the most luxurious buildings in Paradise was simply proper travel etiquette. "Where’s the fun in that?"

Melissa stared at him, then laughed again and rested her cheek briefly against his shoulder.

Anyone watching them became scenery.

Phei’s gaze stayed mostly upon the woman in his arms, occasionally dropping toward her stomach with that same ridiculous new-father fascination he had apparently decided to wear permanently. Melissa caught him doing it twice and said nothing, because her own hand had already wandered there again.

By the time they reached the enormous penthouse doors, she finally patted his shoulder.

"Okay. Put me down."

Phei looked genuinely offended. "No."

Melissa narrowed her eyes. "I know you lost my watch."

His steps stopped before Phei’s eyes moved slowly toward her.

Melissa smiled sweetly. "And if you don’t want me angry with you for an entire week...<anno data-annotation-id="f04a34fd-6540-940a-cdf3-101b0c9de9c9" data-title=""">"<sup>1</anno>

His expression changed instantly.

"Gods, my arms suddenly feel incredibly sore." Phei lowered her with shameless care, flexing his hands afterward as though carrying Melissa’s weight had nearly made the Cosmic Dragon tired at all. "Thank you for your consideration, my love."

Melissa stared at him.

Phei smiled.

"Does your shamelessness actually have a limit?"

"Probably. We haven’t found it yet."

She shook her head, fighting another smile while Phei reached for the doors.

They opened.

The living room beyond was full.

Phei barely crossed the threshold before faces turned toward him from couches, windows, the dining side and nearly every other corner of the enormous space. Conversation died beneath the immediate realization that the person they had spent most of the previous day worrying over had finally decided to return looking unfairly healthy, considerably more handsome and wearing enough new hair to start another collection of questions before anyone reached the old ones.

Phei smiled.

"Hey, girls."

Maddie moved first;

She practically launched herself across the living room and hit him hard enough that anyone else would have taken several embarrassed steps backward. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she buried herself against him, and the worry on her face destroyed every attempt at royal dignity.

"Are you okay?" she demanded, pulling back just enough to inspect him before grabbing him again. "You scared the hell out of us yesterday morning, then disappeared after we reached..."

Phei kissed her and Maddie’s unfinished complaint vanished beneath his mouth.

Her eyes widened before immediately closing, before her fingers tightened behind his neck while Phei kissed her warmly enough to make several women nearby exchange knowing looks. When he finally released her lips, he kept one arm around her waist and brushed a thumb beneath her eye.

"I’m fine," he assured her, his smile softening when he saw how genuine the concern remained. "I just had something I needed to take care of, and my head was... somewhere unpleasant for a while."

Maddie’s eyes searched his.

Phei suddenly tilted his head, his expression became theatrical: "Wait. Does everyone see this?"

Maddie’s brows pulled together. "See what?"

Phei looked around the room and pointed at the princess currently clinging to him. "Maddie is actually worried about me and she ran to me, hugged me and everything. I need witnesses because she will deny this later."

Maddie’s concern vanished beneath a wicked grin. "Do you still like your head attached to your shoulders, my love?"

Laughter broke through the room.

Phei nodded thoughtfully while Maddie tightened one arm around his neck in demonstration. "See? There she the Maddie I know."

Sierra reached him next, smiling despite the lingering concern in her eyes. Phei opened an arm for her and she stepped directly into it, pressing herself against him before he kissed her temple and then her lips. Valentina came after her, followed by Patricia and Catrina, and the reunion quickly dissolved into the wonderful problem of Phei possessing more women than arms.

Amber hugged him tightly enough to make her relief obvious, Yuki slipped into his embrace afterward with a quiet complaint about him apparently developing a hobby of making people worry, while Delilah merely looked at him for several breaths before her expression softened and she stepped forward.

Phei drew her close.

His lips found hers.

Around him, while laughter and overlapping complaints filled the living room, Phei quietly did something none of them noticed and every time his hand settled upon one of his women after another, his awareness reached through that touch as he Bonded them with his Spiritual Bond Ring.

There was no grand flare of power and no mark blazing across skin but juts a quiet thread simply found the woman beneath his palm, descended beyond flesh and essence and settled into the place his soul recognized as hers without them even knowing. One after another, those bonds were now like joined the growing constellation inside him, each carrying its own distinct presence<anno data-annotation-id="b2c70741-70e3-d3bc-b6aa-e811e4749670" data-title=".">.¹</anno>

Maddie.

Sierra.

Valentina.

Patricia.

Catrina.

Delilah<anno data-annotation-id="2bf56447-f1d4-dc7a-1ede-5f5bbdcc4d2a" data-title=".">.¹</anno>

Phei had begun doing it from the first embrace and he intended to continue.

Across the room, Dravenna placed one hand dramatically against her chest while watching him pass from one embrace into another. Her jade eyes shone with amusement as she sighed. "This is far too much affection for my poor weak heart. Especially when there isn’t even a man in it."

Phei looked toward her and smiled, Dravenna smiled beautifully in return but he wisely saved that problem for later as Emily reached him before he could answer, opening her arms with an affectionate smile as though requesting nothing more dangerous than a hug.

Phei looked at her.

Emily looked at him; Phei kissed her instead.

A startled little moan escaped her before she could swallow it, her fingers clutched the front of his clothes while the kiss lasted several shameless seconds. When Phei released her, Emily’s cheeks had warmed considerably, and he softened the attack by kissing her forehead.

"I didn’t worry you too much, did I?" he asked, studying her face.

Emily immediately recovered enough dignity to lift her chin. "No. I’m strong. I knew whatever happened, you were going to get through it."

Several women rolled their eyes at once.

Phei stared at the ceiling with suspicious gratitude. "Finally. Someone has faith in me."

"Bootlicker," Maddie muttered but Emily stuck her tongue out at her.

<annotations style="display: none;">You guys remember the watch the little thief took right?Remember not the Mark’s Anchor, just the Ring’s Bond.I won’t be mentioning it everytime but remember he’ll be bonding them all.</annotations>