by Elise Jae
“You forget, you’re inside me. Mind and body.” She wiggles her hips as if I could have actually forgotten. “I know you’re not ready to sleep.”
She slides down me, her lips kissing a line down my body until she can take my cock in hand.
“Is it true what they say?” She strokes me, but her eyes meet mine. “You can come more than twice?”
“I’ve never had the pleasure.”
She hums, kissing the tip of me. “I guess we’ll just have to try until we make it happen.
I’ve spent so long with only my hand or Hannah to relieve these needs, and I always had to tell Hannah what I wanted.
As Wren strokes me, her tongue and lips working over the head of my cock, I realize just how shallow those interactions were. I realize how much I was missing.
Cursing when Wren takes me into her mouth, as much as she can and her fingernails drag along my balls, I can't stop myself from lacing my fingers in her hair.
I want to guide her lower. I want to teach her how to take all of me.
She pulls back and takes a deep breath, looking at me with a devilish smile. “We’ll get there, big boy, but not tonight.”
I rest my hand on her head when she takes me again, not putting any pressure on her, but she does work her way onto me. And each stroke of her lips and tongue, each ghost of her throat….
“I’m close, darling.”
She hums and it only makes it that much harder to see past the spots in my vision.
And then, I’m pouring into her mouth, coming harder as I feel her swallow, as I feel how much she likes it. I didn’t get that last time.
By the time I’m done, she pulls back with a smile and licks her lips. “God you’re delicious.” Pressing another kiss to my tip, she smiles and drags her finger along the ridges on my underside. “I’d be happy to drink you down any chance I get.”
Again, she disappears into the bathroom, and again, I can’t quite come to terms with my luck.
She’s back more quickly this time and when she snuggles close, I’m overwhelmed by how content she is.
She pats my arm, her hand limp and her lids fluttering “If you don’t wake me up in two hours, I’m going to be very upset. This is just a nap.”
“Whatever you say, Love.”
Her breathing starts to even out, and I bundle her closer.
Curled up like this, sleeping, she seems so small, so fragile. I don’t like the marks starting to show on her shoulder.
The comm tone is a light burble. Something I’ve gotten used to, not something that would actually wake anyone else up.
I don’t even get out of bed. I pull the handheld comm from the disarray of my nightstand and only engage audio.
“What do you want?” I say it because I’m tired. I say it because I’m still angry.
I can tell from the pause that Drift doesn’t appreciate it. “You need to be at the meeting this afternoon. Both of you.” I glance to the plate glass at our left and see the beginnings of dawn creeping into the caldera.
“I don’t go to meetings. You made your decree pretty clear.”
“You’ve broken the rules. You don’t get to complain when the rest of them change.”
He disconnects, and I breathe a heavy, frustrated sigh.
I am not going to be able to go back to sleep, but if I stay in bed, those thoughts are just going to fester, and that will eventually make its way across the bond. So I tuck the blankets more tightly around Wren, and slip from the bed.
I hadn’t been lying when I said I’d wished I’d cleaned. The place isn’t the worst it’s been. Back in the beginning, before Drift put me on lock down, long before Core had bonded to Cindy, I’d gone to my other brother’s house and been completely stunned by the way he lived.
I could only hope that she’d kicked his ass into gear.
Wren’s still sleeping when I toss the last of my week’s clothing down the chute they almost made it too when I threw them in that vague direction. I’m glad she’s getting her rest. I plan to make sure she needs it.
As dawn breaks, I tab the dial up to tint the window and keep it dark enough she won’t wake. And then, I slip upstairs to grab her bags. The kitchen sink is full of dishes I should have done, and I probably need to clean out the refrigerator… but I don’t want to spend that much time away from her. Especially as I feel her waking up.
When I set her bags beside the bedroom door, she reaches out to me. “I don’t like that.” She opens and closes her hands. “Now that I have you, I don’t want to wake up without you.”
When I go back to her, she gives me ample reason to never leave the bed before her again.
Hours later, the snow is a white curtain beyond the windows, and the last thing I want is to go out into it… even if we’ll never step outside between my garage and Drift’s.
She’s on the couch, sorting out the transfer of the rest of her things from storage and I’ve just finished up the last of my dishes.
I catch her looking at the clock again as it ghosts in the upper corner of the news program that’s muted on the wall screen.
She knows we have to go soon, and she’s just as excited about it as I am.
When I go to her, I don’t even have to say that it’s time to get ready. She tosses her tablet to the side and loops her arms around my neck.
“Do we have to?” She’s all but hanging from me, her feet swinging a few feet from the ground. “It’s warm here, and pants aren’t required.”
“If it wasn’t an actual summons, I would let you call Drift and tell him no.”
“Make me pretend to be the bad guy?”
“No, but he always has a harder time arguing with women. I think you all fluster him.”
“So you’d be using me as a weapon, to your advantage.” The idea makes her brighten.
“Precisely.”
“We still have to go, don’t we?”
“Yes. But it will give you the opportunity to meet the others.”
She sighs as she crosses the room and pulls her pants off the chair in the corner. “Bondmates? Or brothers.”
“Both, but I thought, maybe, the bondmates would be able to help you with any… questions.”
I like watching her put her pants on… if for no other reason than that I know I’ll soon be able to take them off her again.
I follow her downstairs and pull a shirt on, combing back my hair and securing it out of my face as she does her makeup.
The paint changes her in subtle ways. Ways I’ll have to get used to if these meetings become a regular occurrence.
“What?” she asks as she pauses, a wand covered in pink gloss suspended an inch from her lips.
“You’re beautiful. You know that right?”
“Is this the part where you tell me you’d rather I didn’t wear makeup?”
“No. That’s your call and always will be. But when we get home, I plan on messing it up.”
“Deal.” She smiles so brightly, it hurts and does a little wiggle as she slicks it over her lips. “Besides, this is war paint. Gotta be prepared to go into battle if I have to face Drift again.”
Five
WREN
Everyone turns when we walk through the door, and I realize what that mild apprehension was. Fault doesn’t come to these meetings. Everyone—save for Kimba and Drift—is surprised to see him. They’re only marginally more surprised to see me.
“The recluse returns!” One of them says loudly in their language. “Did you come to show off your woman? Or was there another reason you chose to finally deem us worthy of your presence.”
There’s a prickle of ill ease before Fault responds with a joke.
Because they don’t know.
I want to march across the room and slap Drift so hard I can’t feel my hand for days. I want to kick him where it will hurt, and then I want to take Fault home and make love to him until he forgets that the man who’s supposed to protect all of them has chosen to do this to him.
“You’re right. Too many witnesses.”
When I look back three of them are watching us with a curious look on their faces. Like they heard the exchange, but they’re all the way on the other side of the room, so I know they couldn’t have. A petite and very pregnant woman sits between them. She looks eerily familiar.
“How is it?” One of them says, still in their language. “That the brute got a bondmate before mine came in.”
I could let them continue on, not knowing I understand them, but I already dislike one of them. There’s no reason I need to add to that list because they didn’t hold their tongue. “Fate decided he’d earned me.”
I see the quick confusion and understanding as they realize I speak their language.
Laughing, another says, “You’ll have to excuse Hazard, he’s been on the waiting list for months. And he’s not the most patient of men.”
Hazard looks like he’s about to argue, but the way his jaw moves, I’d be willing to bet he literally bites his tongue before he says, “Welcome to the family.”
Fault goes around the room introducing me as Hazard moves to a chair, dropping into the seat to… not quite sulk, but I can’t figure out the expression on his face.
Hand at my back, Fault turns me away from Andrea and Strike. “Don’t worry, no one can read him.”
That doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“And this is Laurel and her bondmate, Richter.”
“Oh!” I say, with a chuckle. “You’re my mix up!”
They look at me warily.
I point at myself and then her. “Lauren, Laurel. The Agency escort didn’t pay enough attention and switched us.”
Laurel goes a little pale, and Richter’s hand tightens—infinitesimally—on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad.” I smile and glance at her bondmate. “I’m sure you and I would have got on just fine, but I think fate intervened and we’re happier all around.”
Laurel, who looks just as eerily familiar as the woman I’ve been told is her younger sister, smiles even though her brows pinch. “Where have you been all this time?”
“I was staying with one of the women who works for the Agency here. She was actually the second bondmate to ever set foot on the planet.”
“And you matched with Fault.” Again, Hazard is watching us with a confused twist to his face.
We hadn’t discussed how we were going to explain away our little… accident, so I don’t even try to lie. Vague truths are always better. “You could say that a different kind of fate brought us together. He wasn’t in the system for me to match with, so the universe dropped him in my lap.”
A cute woman whose dark curls probably add another two inches to her height, hands her baby off to yet another overly-large, but small compared to Fault, man and turns to me with a scrutiny that might have been unnerving, if Fault hadn’t whispered that she was in charge of the Brotherhood’s—and their bondmate’s—wellbeing before he was dragged away by the man they called Trench.
“Ohhhhhh.” Cindy smirks as she looks between me and Laurel. “I can see how an agent in a hurry might have mixed you two up. You’re not twins, but I’d believe it if you said you were sisters.”
“We’re not related though… right?” Laurel looks at me like she’s not even sure what to think.
“I can answer that!” Cindy pulls a tablet from her bag.
But whatever she hoped for after typing in a myriad of codes, doesn’t seem to appear—if her face is any indication.
Her frown is deep as she stabs at the pad. “I don’t have access to your medical terminal.
“Do you have access to everyone’s?” Andrea looks a little sick.
“Of course, I’m here to make sure everyone’s healthy and fighting fit, not just Core.”
I knew exactly why Drift would keep her out of Fault’s records.
“Weird.” She holds the pad out to me. “Can you log in for me?”
I have to shrug and shake my head. “I don’t know the code yet.”
That frown twists and she looks around the room. “Fault,” she calls out, hopping to her feet and hurrying to where he stands with Drift and Trench. “Why don’t I have access to your medical terminal?”
I don’t look at Fault, I watch Drift’s face. It’s why I see the momentary tightening of his jaw.
“It’s probably just a glitch.” Fault says smoothly.
“That’s what I thought.” Her smile is bright as she turns the pad to him, “But if you grant remote access now, I can sate all our curiosity.”
“What curiosity is that?” Drift asks, his voice even, flat.
“I think Wren and the Ardem sisters might be related.” Everyone looks at me after that pronouncement, and I know that with Laurel next to me, they’re probably thinking the same thing.
But if she has access to his medical data, she might see something Drift doesn’t want out in the open.
I have no idea how Drift plans to keep the secret they’ve spent so long hiding…. But Fault takes the pad from her and types in a string of information.
He scowls at it. “The code’s not working.”
He types in once again. And a third time.
I hear the tell-tale squawk of technology locking itself out, and would bet everything I own that he did it on purpose.
Cindy doesn’t look pleased, but she takes the tablet back, her expression brightening. “I’ll see if I can grab the info from the Agency.”
She taps through the screens as everyone moves back to the enormous, curved couch and takes their places. I wait for Fault. It’s why I’m still close enough to hear the confused sound Cindy makes before looking up at me with a smirk.
“I didn’t actually know it was possible to score a perfect one hundred. Most of us are ninety sixes through ninety eights.”
No one in the room is confused by the numbers. The fertility score is something every human and sian alike knows.
“Well, you’re looking at it. I always did well on tests.”
Drift’s gaze darkens and he turns a glare on Fault. If anyone else catches it, they don’t say a thing.
Cindy’s smile is impossibly wide. “Then I guess we can expect an even more rowdy play pen at these meetings in a few months.”
“Maybe in a while,” Fault says, pulling me back to his side. “I’d like to enjoy having her to myself for a while.”
That’s met by knowing chuckles.
FAULT
I don’t like the way Drift watches her for the rest of the meeting. I barely pay attention to the information Kimba covers—I’ll read the summary when we get home. It’s how I’ve always gotten this information before. There’s no reason this little show Drift forced us to put on has to change that.
And when the others break up, the unbonded ones leaving right away, the bonded pairs taking longer as they pack up children and bondmates... Drift summons me with the faintest movement of his head.
I leave Wren talking with the Ardem sisters and clench my jaw, knowing I don’t want to hear whatever he has to say.
When I stop beside him, I look back over the room. The others are happy. I see in their faces the way I feel when Wren and I are alone… but I can’t feel it here. Not with Drift standing in silent judgement beside me.
“You should have told me about her score.”
“I didn’t know ahead of time.”
“Didn’t you?”
“I didn’t read her file. Did you read Kimba’s before you bonded with her?”
“No.” He says it through clenched teeth.
“And your bonding wasn’t an accident.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
No, he didn’t. His whole goal was to keep the Brotherhood safe and the monsters inside the rim of the caldera. I was problematic to both those goals.
“I don’t want anymore.” Drift turns to me, jaw clenched.
“You’ve broken enough rules. Try not to break any others.”
What he means is… don’t get her pregnant.
She came here with that expectation. She came here with a lot of expectations that haven’t been met. And if she wants children, I know, without a single doubt I will give them to her.
Drift’s eyes narrow. “I don’t like that look. Just remember. There are going to be consequences.”
“What? What would you do to me?” A sickening thought rushes through me and I try to tamp it down before it floods me and washes over her as well. “What would you do to Wren?”
“Don’t force me to find out.”
When I turn, it’s Kimba whose gaze I meet first. She’s watching us with narrowed eyes, and I know she didn’t catch all of the conversation, but she had to have felt something to make her look at us with that level of suspicion.
“If you touch her. If you even accidentally brush past her. I will make you regret having ever issued that threat.” I don’t try to hide how I feel. “You should know better.”
Wren comes to us then. “I don’t know what you two are talking about, but the conversation is over.”
She steps between us, and I wrap my arms around her shoulders. Just having her close calms me.
“You and I,” she says to Drift. “Are going to have problems. But I can tell from the way you’re looking at my mate, that we’re going to have to get past them with an agreement to disagree.”
“Everything alright?” Kimba asks as she joins us, hand on her stomach. “Or do I need to get my husband someplace safe.”
“We’re leaving, but we should talk.” Her gaze travels from Kimba to Drift. “I don’t respond well to threats.”
Drift hesitates, but his focus is solely on her. She’s the one he sees as a threat now.
“What did you do in your past life?”
I feel her smile, even as the unease of not knowing that answer washes through me.
“I taught krav maga, self defense, and worked on a tactical weapons range. So believe me when I tell you, you don’t scare me.”
Six