by T. M. Smith
In less than sixty seconds, the pants and the towel lay on the floor, forgotten, as Kaden wrapped his lips around Aiyan’s already rock-hard cock. “Oh…my…fuck.” Aiyan groaned, spreading his legs wide to allow his husband full access to his body. “Kaden, stop, I’m gonna come if you don’t stop and I really, really want to fuck you right now, baby.”
One last deep suck topped off with a swirl of his tongue around the crown of Aiyan’s cock and Kaden sat back. He reached for the allive plant on the bedside table, snapping a piece off and squeezing the oily liquid into the palm of his hand. He watched as Aiyan’s eyes rolled back into his head before closing as he generously coated the thick column of flesh with lubricant. Wanting to feel the burn, Kaden barely pushed one finger into his ass, just enough to coat his hole and entrance.
Aiyan’s fingers dug into his hips as he slowly lowered himself, his hole clenching and quivering as he took his time taking his husband into his warm, welcoming body. “Kaden, baby, so tight, so hot, I love how your body opens up to me.”
Rocking his hips back and forth a couple of times to loosen his channel, Kaden stared down into dark, vibrant, gold-rimmed eyes. “You like that, My Prince? Then you’ll love this.” Kaden lifted himself up until the tip of Aiyan’s dick remained inside him, then slammed down until he was once again buried balls deep.
“Oh…God, yes! Do it again, please,” Aiyan shouted and begged. Kaden set up a steady, punishing rhythm. Riding Aiyan hard until his balls drew up tight, and with one last upward thrust of Aiyan’s hips, his orgasm hit, spraying both their chests with thick, white ropes of come. He shrieked when Aiyan stood, then turned and fell back onto the bed on top of him, driving deep inside with one thrust. The wood planks beneath their mattress banged loudly against the wall as Aiyan fucked him hard and deep until he found his own release, collapsing on top of Kaden, breathless and shaking.
They squirmed around until their heads lay on the fluffy pillows, Aiyan pulling the sheet up and over them, neither caring enough to shower or wash off the sweat and come. “I love you, Aiyan,” Kaden whispered, kissing the side of Aiyan’s neck, smiling when strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. He vaguely remembered the warmth of Aiyan’s lips when he bent and kissed his forehead. Exhausted and spent, Kaden drifted off to sleep, only to revisit the past he couldn’t seem to get away from.
Chapter 6 | Welcome to the world
Two eggs, four slices of toast topped to the breaking point with butter and peach preserves, along with more slices of ham than Aiya could count, and yet she still felt hungry. Rubbing her large round belly, she sighed. “I’m going to be too big to fit through a door if this kid doesn’t pop out soon.”
Sawyer reached out, patting her tummy with the palm of his hand while Maeve wrapped an arm around her. “Hush now, you’re beautiful regardless of your size. Ian will come when he’s ready and not one minute before.” Her wife tried to reassure her.
A nasty retort was on the tip of her tongue, but Aiyan chose that moment to shuffle into the kitchen, collapsing onto the bench across from them. “Rough night?” she asked her twin.
He simply nodded, grabbing a cup and filling it to the spilling point with coffee. Aiya swore she could see the coffee entering his body and slowly trickling down, his skin going from pale white to a glowing peach with every sip. Eyes a little brighter, he grabbed a plate and began filling it from the bowls of food covering every square inch of the table.
“Everything okay, Aiyan?” Sawyer asked.
Shaking his head, Aiyan met Sawyer’s gaze. “He had another nightmare last night. It was…” Aiyan trailed off, staring blankly at the wall behind Sawyer. “…different.”
“Normally, I can calm him with a kiss or shake him awake. This time, the dream seemed to try and, I don’t know, pull him under?” Aiyan sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
“Is this the first time it’s been so bad?” Raven asked from the doorway. Sliding onto the bench beside Aiyan, he waited for a response.
“Yeah.” The sadness in Aiyan’s tone spoke volumes.
“Tell you what, I’ll seek him out later and find a quiet place for us to talk. He still hasn’t made peace with it all yet, Aiyan, everything he endured while Cillian had him. It can’t help that his entire life changed at the same time he was taken. Leaving the only home he ever knew, you two getting married, being here without any of his family aside from Sawyer.” Raven had one arm wrapped around Aiyan for support.
“That doesn’t make any sense. We love each other, and he’s happy here, wants to be here with me. Why would our marriage trouble him? Raven, I don’t understand.” Aiyan was exhausted and frustrated, grasping at straws, desperate to help his husband put the horrible event behind them for good. He and Raven had spoken about it on more than one occasion. Not being able to help Kaden overcome his demons weighed heavily on Aiyan, which was understandable.
Before Raven could respond, Aiya gasped and the attention of everyone in the kitchen was now solely on her. “Aiya—” Sawyer was cut off when a tiny three-year-old tornado blew into the kitchen, his father on his heels.
Running straight over to Aiya and pushing his way between her and Maeve, Apollo climbed up onto the bench and laid a hand on Aiya’s belly. Smiling wide, little blue eyes sparkling, he smiled at Raven. “Papa, it’s time.”
“Dammit Pol, what have we told you about running inside?” Tanis sounded exasperated, completely oblivious to what was happening.
He reached for Apollo, but Sawyer waved him off. “No, wait.” Leaning around Aiya, he spoke directly to the little boy. “It’s time for what, Pol?”
“To meet Ian, of course.” He responded very matter of factly.
“Sawyer,” Aiya’s voice trembled. “Either my water just broke, or…” She let the sentence trail off.
“Or what?” Aiyan asked, quickly standing.
Raven ducked and looked under the table. Sure enough, there was a puddle of liquid directly under Aiya, pooling on the concrete floor at her feet. Personality shifting from best-friend-offering-a-shoulder-to-cry-on to serious-and-ready-to-deliver-a-baby, Raven stood and started barking orders. “Sawyer, carry Aiya to the room we’ve prepared for the delivery. Maeve, go with them and find the parents.” They both nodded, Sawyer standing and scooping a dazed Aiya into his arms effortlessly, rushing out of the kitchen with Maeve on his heels.
Apollo jumped down and tried to follow, but Tanis stopped him. The little boy threw a fit. Screaming, arms and legs flailing, he shrieked and smacked Tanis’s chest. “I have to go with them, Daddy! Ian wants me there; put me down!”
“Boy, I will whip your a—” Tanis was cut off mid-curse by his husband.
“Babe, go with them.” Raven’s words were met with an angry glare. “Please,” he begged. Tanis stood and eyed him for a minute. Finally, he conceded with a curt nod and left the kitchen to follow Sawyer with Apollo still banging his fists on his chest, hollering to be put down.
“Aiyan, come with me.” The two of them quickly gathered everything Raven would need to deliver Ian before meeting Aiya and her “entourage” in the delivery room, as Maeve had dubbed it.
Preparing to welcome a child had sent Maeve in search of as many texts as she could find to get ready for the birth. A very old text from before GWI, What to Expect When You’re Expecting that was so worn in places, the words were unreadable, wrote of such a room. A delivery room that was in a building devoted to only medical care called a hospital. This was where women would go to give birth two centuries ago. Aiya and Maeve had laughed at such a concept. Of course, prior to GWI there were also horrifying diseases like Cancer, HIV and Alzheimer’s that had no cure. These infections were puzzling enough without trying to figure out exactly what a delivery room was.
Had they not known exactly where Aiya was, all they needed to do was follow the screams. Raven knew early on the birth would be difficult for her, what with her tiny, barely five-foot frame that’d been taken over by the f
etus. Raven smiled, shaking his head when he saw a very irate three-year-old standing outside the door of the delivery room. An equally irate, though much larger, version of said three-year-old was standing with him. Raven knelt down in front of his son, kissing his forehead and promising to let him into the room as soon as Ian was born.
“Trust me son, you do not want to see where babies come from,” Tanis joked, shuddering.
Another scream, much louder than the others, and a few choice words Raven did not want his son repeating poured out of the room. Something crashed against the wall just as he was beckoned. “Raven! Hurry!” Sawyer shouted.
Tanis paced the hallway outside the delivery room while Apollo grumbled and bitched. Eventually, he worked himself into a tirade of epic proportions, for which Tanis was grateful, since the boy passed smooth out right after. It seemed like days went by while Tanis waited in the hall along with Rian, Mia, and Gabry. He’d just sat down when Pol’s head popped up, punctuated by the shrill cry of a baby. The look of wonder on his son’s face at the sound washed away all the anxiety, anger, and exhaustion Tanis felt. At times, it was more than he could wrap his mind around. Knowing that his son already had a match at the age of three, a match not yet born, confused Tanis. He trusted his husband though, so when Raven shared his dream, Tanis could only take him at his word.
Apollo squealed, jumping down and running toward the door as it opened. Raven squatted and caught him before he made it into the room. “Shhhhhh. Ian is very small and sensitive to lights and sounds. You don’t want to scare him or make him cry, do you?”
Those precious blue eyes went wide, little cherub lips opening. Pol shook his head and whispered, “No, Papa.”
“That’s my boy.” Raven stood and kissed Tanis as soon as he was close enough. “Take him on in, I’ll be right behind you. Rian, Mia, do you want to meet your grandson?”
The delivery room was far too small for everyone, so Rian and Mia went in for long enough to see the tiny bundle in their daughter’s arms, head full of white-blond hair like his mother. “Oh, my baby, he’s perfect.” Mia spoke softly. She and Rian both kissed the baby, then Aiya before leaving them and promising to return later with Cirian and Maya.
Aiya sat in the middle of the bed, leaning back against the headboard holding Ian. Sawyer was on her left, Maeve on her right, and young Pol was sitting tentatively at the foot of the bed, staring at the bundle in Aiya’s arms with awe. “You want to meet Ian, Pol?” Aiya asked, nodding her consent when Pol asked if she was sure.
Raven watched as the tiny human being God had placed in the care of him and his husband slowly crawled up the bed. Since the day they brought Apollo to House Gaeland, he’d been a bundle of pent-up energy—like a tiny tsunami waiting for a body of water to wreak havoc on. Now that his future husband was finally here, Pol seemed almost tame in his presence. Maeve slid off the bed so Apollo could sit beside Aiya. As soon as he reached up and cupped Ian’s cheek, his eyes blinked open. Tiny emerald-green orbs watched Apollo’s every move.
Raven jumped when Tanis spoke from beside him, not realizing he’d stood and walked over. “Oh wow, he has your eyes Sawyer, but…brighter.” Raven could hear the wonder in Tanis’s tone. Ian did indeed have a very vibrant shade of green eyes that matched his father’s, but the brilliance of Ian’s was more obvious. Apollo moved around, trying to get comfortable, and Ian followed his every move with those dazzling green eyes.
They all watched as Pol leaned in and kissed Ian on the forehead then proceeded to hold a conversation with the newborn. “I’m so happy you are here, Ian; we’ve been waiting forever for you to finish cooking.” Everyone chuckled. Once, when Apollo asked Sawyer why Ian couldn’t come right then, unable to wrap his young mind around the concept of waiting, Sawyer told him they had to wait for Ian to finish cooking.
A soft knock on the door drew their attention, Maya peeking in as she pushed it open. “May we come in?”
“Of course.” Raven waved her and Cirian into the room. “Pol, sweetie, why don’t you and I and Daddy go see if we can find something for Aiya and Sawyer to eat while Ian visits with his grandparents?” Surprisingly, he didn’t put up a fight, kissing Ian on the cheek and promising to return before hopping off the bed and following Raven out of the room.
“My angel, he is precious.” Cirian beamed. Maya bent and took her grandson from her daughter, the first grandparent to hold him. In a rare show of emotion, Aiya watched as the strictest of her parents oohed and aahed over her baby.
Cradling her grandson in her arms, Maya turned so Cirian could look over her shoulder. “Well, hello there Ian; I’m your grandma and I’m so happy to finally meet you. My word Cirian, he looks so much like Aiyan when he was a baby, don’t you think?”
Cirian nodded, smiling. “Indeed he does.” He touched the tip of Ian’s nose, the baby reaching up and wrapping his grandda’s finger in a small but firm grip. “Oh, would you look at that, Maya, the wee lad has a strong grip.”
Aiya leaned against Sawyer, her head on his shoulder, her hand held by her wife, the three of them watching her parents get acquainted with Ian. Maya’s eyes were misty with unshed tears, though they didn’t dare leave the confines of her eyelids. Cirian’s crystal blue eyes lit up like stars as he smiled down at Ian. Although both were happy, Aiya could see the faintest hint of sadness in her mother’s eyes. She knew how badly Maya had wanted to conceive. The fact that she and Cirian had tried several times unsuccessfully had always been a sore spot for the usually tough-as-nails leader of the ruling House.
Becoming grandparents seemed to have softened both Maya and Cirian though, and for that Aiya was ecstatic. The birth had exhausted her—with a yawn, she snuggled closer to Sawyer and drifted off to sleep. Aiyan, Kaden, Gabriel, and Gabry all came to meet the newest member of the family, but Aiya slept right through until Ian decided it was time to eat which led to a lesson in breastfeeding.
“And on that note, we’re out of here,” Aiyan joked, kissing his nephew on the cheek before leading his husband out of the room.
Chapter 7 | The Plan
August could hear the bells from the small church at House Gaeland chiming in the distance. Those bells likely rang in celebration of the birth of Aiya’s child with the Outkast that had once been a member of his encampment. Oddly, the obnoxious noise put him at peace. It had been weighing heavily on his heart—the need to kill Aiyan’s twin was all-encompassing, blotting out anything else in his path. But learning she was with child made it difficult to consider. Had the opportunity to end her presented itself before today, he couldn’t rightly say he would have done so. Taking his revenge on Aiyan for murdering his twin sister by responding in kind, he had never factored in a child.
“Something wrong?” Cillian’s growl interrupted his train of thought. August shook his head, not bothering to put the gesture into words. “So the bitch had her pup; it changes nothing.” Cillian snarled.
“No, it doesn’t. Makes it easier, in fact.” August continued to stare out at the horizon, attempting to ignore the big stupid man beside him.
Cillian doubled over laughing, unable to speak until he caught his breath. “Jesus, I keep forgetting that you, my friend, are plagued by a conscience.”
August spun around, glaring at Cillian, fists clenched. “We…are…not...friends. You are but a means to an end.” He relaxed, one eyebrow raised. “Much like your friend, the guard.”
“Whatever.” Cillian waved him off, turning and ducking into the tent they’d set up as a base where they’d map out where each person was going and when. Each man underestimated the other, and that could be their mutual undoing. Cillian only saw August as hired muscle—the pissed off redhead with a need for vengeance he could use as a scapegoat if things went south. He could easily have August do his dirty work by fueling the fire of his anger over the death of his sister. But, if Cillian wasn’t careful, the fire would rage and spread, burn out of control, and take him out in the process.
A large tabl
e sat in the middle of the tent with several maps spread out. Robert looked up, grinning when he caught August’s gaze. “Augie, glad you could make it.” The man’s booming voice shook the flaps of the tent. He made his way around the table, clapping August on the back. Draping an arm over his shoulder, Robert led him over to the table. There was an older map of the entire area of House Gaeland, the forest, and the clearing. It covered all the land surrounding the palace grounds. Then there were newer maps: one of palace grounds and one of the clearing stretching out to the encampment.
Where the newer drawings were current with the design of the palace, the older maps showed the original design, including the bunker beneath the palace and a couple of entrances that weren’t on the crisp, clean map. Cillian snapped two of his meaty fingers to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, listen up. August, Robert, you two are going to follow the next convoy to arrive at the clearing up to the palace. There’s a trail on either side of the road that leads up to the palace once you cross the bridge.” Cillian pointed to two spots on the largest map on the table that were on either side of the winding road.