by Celia Kyle
And they both watched as their Oso walked away from them… again.
“How are we going to fix this?” Sevith asked.
Hiren shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Eight
Early the next morning, Jenna stood outside Noah’s bedroom door, lips barely an inch from the hollow-core wood panel. “Come on, Noah, it’s time to get up, bud. You’ve got to get ready for school.”
She listened for any signs of life, smiling to herself when she heard a sleepy grunt followed by the rustling of bed sheets. She knocked softly once more, hoping to drum up some kind of vocal response. Jenna liked to be sure he heard her, as her ten-year-old brother had a tendency to oversleep if left to his own devices.
“I heard you, I heard you. I’m coming,” he grumbled and groaned.
The door tugged open, and Noah stared at her blearily in the bright light of the hallway, his blue eyes squinting half-shut and mouth turned down. Jenna’s heart swelled with adoration for the little guy. It was rare she was home for the morning routine. Normally Bea prodded Noah through the usual steps of preparing for school and grabbing some sad semblance of breakfast. Jenna did her best, and the reason she was normally absent in the mornings was because she was usually at work already. This was also why Bea tended to seem so mature and wise beyond her years. She had plenty of practice taking on responsibilities.
That struck Jenna with another pang of guilt straight to her very core. She wanted to be there for them, to guide and look after them in the mornings so they had the best possible start to their days, but usually she simple couldn’t be there.
On one hand, it was nice this morning to, for once, be around to do the little things like rouse Noah from sleep and, hopefully, prepare a real breakfast. On the other… it was blaringly clear that the only reason Jenna was present that morning was because she’d gotten fired from the diner because of those two ridiculously handsome Drokten warriors. It was a double-edged sword and a situation that absolutely could not remain permanent. In fact, she needed to find another job to replace the one she’d lost as soon as possible. It was lovely to be home to spend extra, precious time with Noah and Beatrice, but it was also a clanging reminder that she’d failed in another area of her life. Miserably.
And it also reminded her of the men she’d said no to yesterday. The men she secretly missed.
Last night she’d tossed and turned in bed, trying to get some sleep and ignoring the lingering heat between her thighs. But it was difficult to not think of them and disregard the sexual needs they’d awakened in her. Her mind constantly flashed to images of their hard, impossibly large cocks tenting their pants. Both of them wanted her. Both of them, at once. Two big blue men at once. What would that be like? What would it have been like to have the both of them in that bed with her? To fall asleep in both of their arms…
Sevith was so stoic and strong.
Hiren looked at her like she was the sun, moon and stars.
She was surprisingly mellow now over the fact that they were the reason she’d been fired from not one, but two different jobs. They’d meant well. They had. And she had to admit she’d secretly enjoyed their company yesterday and would’ve loved to hear their stories about their lives and their home world.
But she’d done the right thing when she told them goodbye and said she couldn’t be their Oso or leave the planet with them. She had. Right? She had no room in her life for two males who couldn’t handle the idea of her having “children” other than their own and who wanted to take her—and only her—off planet to start a new life with them. All the nopes. Noah and Bea came first in everything.
She hadn’t yet told Jade, her best friend, what had gone down at the party. As far as Jade knew, she’d left work early for unknown reasons. Jade had been texting, but Jenna hadn’t been ready to do more than send back a few emojis, letting her know she was okay, and they’d talk later.
But, as soon as the kids left for school, Jenna needed to give her friend a call and update her on the whole mess. Maybe they could meet up? Jade was so smart—she’d help her figure all this out and come up with ideas on how to get her jobs back or to find new ones.
Yeah, that sounded good.
“How’d you sleep, kiddo?”
He shrugged and yawned. “Okay, I guess. I had a couple of nightmares, but nothing too crazy.” Then he paused to cough. The deep, wet coughs set her teeth on edge. When he was done Jenna handed him his morning medicine. Each night they gave him his lung treatment before bed. The machine sat on his nightstand.
He swallowed the medicine and then frowned at her through innocent blue eyes. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the diner?”
Jenna winced. “Uh, don’t worry about that. I’m here today, but it’s not a big deal. Just hurry to the bathroom and hop in the shower. Okay? I’ll work on breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” Noah parroted, brightening instantly.
Jenna couldn’t help but grin as she tousled his blond hair. “Yup, but you have to get all cleaned up for school first. All right?”
“Okay!” Noah happily agreed and rushed down the hall to the waiting bathroom.
Jenna’s eyes followed after him for a long moment, letting her gaze linger. He always brightened after his morning meds. God, she loved that kid. Bea, too. She would have to figure out a game plan—fast—because the idea of having to give up either one of her siblings to strangers to raise was a thought too painful to bear. A giant kick in the stomach. She would literally lose her mind, so she just wasn’t going to let it happen.
She knocked on Beatrice’s door as she passed on her way to the kitchen, and received a prompt and clear, “I’m awake!” from her little sister, as expected.
Jenna shook her head over the sound of Bea and Noah fighting over who got to use the bathroom first. She went to the kitchen and fried up eggs and bacon (with a dash of hot sauce for good measure) and buttered toast while they tugged on their clothes and eventually stumbled into the dining area. The kids hungrily scarfed down their food while Jenna sipped black coffee.
And suddenly the doorbell rang. They all paused, staring at each other in confusion.
“Who could that be this early?” Bea mumbled around her eggs.
“Ms. Carmine, maybe?” Noah suggested.
“God, I super hope not,” Jenna grumbled. She did not have the ability to handle Ms. Carmine this early in the day. “But, just in case, I need both of you to go to your rooms.”
“Why?” Beatrice questioned.
“Bea…,” Jenna warned.
“Ugh, okay.” And her sister stood and left with Noah trailing behind.
Jenna paused at the front door and took a breath, mentally preparing herself for what she would find on the other side of the door. What if it was the Department of Families prepared to turn their household upside down? Had they already heard that she’d lost two of her jobs? Dread pooled in her gut as she placed her hand on the palm pad to unlock the door.
But when she tugged the panel open, her eyes went wide—wider than she could imagine because nothing could prepare her for what she found waiting on her doorstep. Certainly not any of… them.
Sevith and Hiren stood tall, broad-shouldered and unbearably handsome in the doorway with a small group of fellow Drokten warriors flanking them. And they all appeared to be carrying bags of food.
“Sevith? Hiren? What… what are you two doing here?” She hissed low. What if the kids saw them standing at the front door and became frightened? Jenna was used to the presence of the Drokten but a lot of people, including her brother and sister, had still never met them in real life.
“We have come to speak with you,” Hiren answered smoothly and without hesitation.
“And we have brought sustenance,” Sevith added as he gestured at the Drokten males behind them.
Sevith stepped aside and the males filed past, barging into the house and nearly shoving Jenna aside in the process.
“Oh.” She leapt out of
the way and stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as the massive aliens moved into her apartment and clomped their way into the kitchen.
Then she stared back at Hiren and Sevith, horror and confusion warring within her as she listened to the clanging sounds of the Drokten messing around in her kitchen. There were no shouts of terror—yet—so she could only imagine that Noah and Bea had so far remained in their rooms while the blue aliens ransacked her space.
“What are they doing? What’s going on? I don’t understand.” Jenna ranted as Hiren and Sevith also stepped through the open doorway and into the apartment, nudging the door shut behind them. They almost had to stoop as they made their way down the hall, Sevith leading fearlessly while Hiren stayed back a few steps with Jenna.
“You two can’t just keep on showing up like this,” Jenna groaned and rolled her eyes. “I have a life, you know. One that has no room for two gigantic Drokten males.”
“We apologize for disrupting your routine in this manner,” Hiren murmured in his usual calm voice. “But we mean you and your family no harm.”
“You keep saying things like that,” Jenna huffed, “but then you show up and get me in trouble with Secretary Wells. Or get me fired from my job at the diner. Or show up again out of the blue to ransack my kitchen while my brother and sister are present,” Jenna snapped. “What if they get hurt?”
Hiren flashed her an almost comically indignant expression, head tilted to the side while he narrowed his blue eyes. “Do you truly think we pose a threat to your siblings?”
She opened her mouth to respond and then closed it again. “No, I guess not,” she muttered. “Sorry, I was just upset at…”
“It’s okay,” he answered. “We are here to protect you, not to hurt you.”
She blew out a breath. Annoyingly enough, Jenna realized that despite her discomfort and shock at having a group of aliens show up uninvited, she knew deep down on an instinctual level that they hadn’t come to cause hurt to her or her makeshift family.
Not that it was any less uncomfortable for six Drokten to be invading her space.
Sevith turned back to tag her with that same hot midnight-blue gaze she remembered. “Our Jenna has missed us,” he said with an impossibly deep voice. “No matter her protestations, our mate is happy we have returned.”
Grr. How was he able to read her like that? “I’m not your mate!” she reminded him. “You’re supposed to be finding someone else for yourself who is a better match.” Every time she thought she’d never see them again, there they were, showing up again. Not giving up.
“You are our correct match,” the commander of the Drokten fleet chuckled.
The clang and thump of aliens going through her kitchen reached her ears, and with a groan of annoyance, she pushed past Hiren and Sevith and darted down the hall to check on what was happening in her kitchen. Drokten warriors were busily going through her cabinets and pantry—moving things around, removing items and replacing them with the brand-new groceries from the bags they’d carried into the apartment.
She stared around at the gathering with utter confusion, cupping her face with both hands. “What is happening? What is happening to my life?” Jenna moaned and dragged her hands down her face as she watched helplessly. The Drokten warriors seemed to have a pretty clear game plan, and she noted that there was a thin thread of organization and style to what they were doing, even if it made little sense to her personally.
“We knew you would be in need of supplementary resources,” Hiren revealed as he joined her.
“We want to help you,” Sevith spoke more bluntly. “We will help you.”
“Whether I ask for help or not, apparently,” Jenna added with a sigh.
Just when she wasn’t sure things could get anymore out of hand, she heard the tell-tale clomp-clomp of her siblings’ shoes as they rushed through the apartment and back to the kitchen.
“Oh no,” she murmured, fear overtaking all other emotions as she spun to try and head them off—keep them out.
But she was too late. She turned to see Noah and Beatrice both standing stock-still in the entry to the kitchen, mouths hanging open as they observed the big blue Drokten essentially ransacking the kitchen.
“Oh… my… God…” Beatrice murmured, her hand lifted to cover her open mouth.
Noah, however, had broken into a smile and stared at the scene with bright-eyed curiosity. He rushed into the kitchen and right up to one of the nearest warriors. “Oh wow! I’ve seen you guys on TV. Are you the nice aliens that saved us from the bad aliens?”
“Noah, wait!” Jenna hissed through gritted teeth.
“He’s no trouble,” Hiren assured her softly.
“We will not harm a hair on his head,” Sevith agreed.
“Yes, we are the Drokten…the ‘nice’ aliens,” a warrior with a deep scar across this cheek responded.
Noah gazed up at him in pure wonder. Beatrice slowly and quietly padded forward until she stood at Jenna’s side, linking her arm with her older sister’s for reassurance.
“We did indeed annihilate the Zignill,” the male continued, “and we remain on your planet to protect you and make sure they do not reappear.”
Bea made a choking sound.
Jenna patted her hand. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “They’re here to… to help.”
“Are-are-are you sure?” Bea grunted when she finally got the stuttered words out, barely audible, but her frustration was clear.
No, I’m not. But instead, Jenna gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “Yes, I’m sure.”
Noah continued to watch the six Drokten like they were the most amazing beings he’d ever seen in his life. Like he’d just met all his heroes at once.
And then the activity in the kitchen came to a halt. All the packing seemed to be complete. They’d filled her apartment with an enormous amount of food, thereby saving her untold amounts of currency. The tension left her body and she was about to genuinely thank them for their help and offer introductions then…
“Take the young ones to another room,” Sevith ordered.
“What?” Bea gasped, her eyes wide with horror. She clung tight to Jenna.
“You’re not taking my brother and sister anywhere,” Jenna protested fiercely.
Hiren’s gentle touch on her shoulder drew her attention. “We just mean to a separate room in your domicile. They will be looked after. They will not be harmed.”
“Why do they need to go?”
“We need to discuss something vital among the three of us, and it would be inappropriate to have the young ones present for such a conversation,” Sevith explained.
Jenna sighed. He wanted the three of them to talk in private. Now it made sense. She gave Bea what she hoped was a convincing smile. “It’s okay. I need to talk to Sevith and Hiren. You can go with the other Drokten and all of you can wait in Noah’s room. Make introductions and watch over your brother while he shows the Drokten his toys. I’ll be right here,” she assured her little sister. Then she turned and met her brother’s inquisitive gaze. “Noah, I need you to take the warriors who brought us all this food to your room, and you’re going to hang out with them there and be super nice to them. Maybe you could take out a game or something. Okay?”
Noah nodded in agreement.
Bea looked nervous but Noah was obviously overjoyed at this turn of events. A huge smile spread across his face. “Let’s go,” he announced to the other males in the kitchen. Then her brother eagerly walked away with four Drokten warriors down the hallway, enthusiastically rattling off an unending line of questions about their alien society, their weapons and what their home planet was like. Bea trailed behind. They all entered her brother’s room and then the door closed behind them.
Which left Jenna alone in the kitchen with Sevith and Hiren.
She folded her arms over her chest and stared back and forth between the two shirtless males. Yes, they were handsome and unbelievably sexy, and she had to admit she was thrilled to s
ee them again, but… “So?” Jenna prompted when neither male said a word. “What’s so important you had to kick my siblings out of our own kitchen?”
“We are here to remind you that you are our mate.” Hiren replied, going back to that line of commentary. Great.
“This again? You guys, I already told you—”
“We know what you said yesterday,” Sevith rumbled, “but none of those reasons for your denial of us are true barriers to our triad.”
Jenna released a deep sigh. “Yes, they are! They are very valid reasons.” And right now, she wished these reasons weren’t in the way because if things were different, she’d love to just throw herself in their arms and stop this constant denial. But, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t. “Look,” she gestured toward the hallway, “you can see I have kids to take care of. Remember how upset you two were at finding out about them? When you say you want me, that means you’ll also be stuck taking on my brother and sister too because we’re a package deal. Think about that. Do you really want me in your life as well as Noah and Bea? And I can’t just take them with me to another planet, even if you wanted that, which you don’t. This will never work. Never. Work.”
Didn’t these two men understand how important Noah and Bea were to her? How they were her everything? They’d lost their parents and were all each other had left. And Noah was only ten and still so small and sick…
“Stay calm,” Hiren murmured and to her annoyance—and relief—she instantly experienced a wave of soothing stillness wash over her body from head to toe. “We did not arrive to cause you agitation. We wanted to be with you and make sure you were taken care of…and to meet your siblings. Perhaps we could continue to talk about this while we cook a traditional Drokten breakfast? The warriors have been guarding you all night and would greatly appreciate nourishment. And it would be good for you and your siblings to begin sampling our healthy food.”