Broken Pieces

by Deja Black

  “Safe, Remi. I have you. You are safe.”

  Remi’s heartbeat was slow, his breaths shallow, but he was alive.

  Once more, Peter pressed his power forward, watched as it twisted around his mate, poured over his body searching for every wound, every tear, every bruise and began to heal.

  Remi’s eyes opened and closed, his breath stuttering as the open gashes from Alonya’s claws closed.

  “Peter?”

  The hope in that one spoken word nearly broke Peter’s heart.

  “Yes, Remi. I’m here. Quiet now. Rest.”

  “I thought I was going to die,” he whispered.

  His voice was low, scratchy, but Peter rejoiced as his strength returned, the thrum of his energy removing the pain.

  “I would never let that happen.”

  Epilogue

  The fallout from the serial killings took weeks to resolve. Fortunately, evidence was found tying all of the murders together without bringing to light any trace of Peter’s coven or the secrets surrounding them.

  Kaden was still shell-shocked, and asked many questions, refusing to be talked out of what he’d seen. He’d wanted to know everything, and Peter gave Remi permission to tell him. Seems it was better to have friends in high places when it came to crazy people showing up to kill people they considered enemies and the men and women they loved.

  For Remi’s personal trauma, being held captive was something he didn’t know if he would ever forget. Visits from family and friends did very little to stop him from jumping at his own shadow. Members of their coven shadowed his home, guarded him and Peter while they slept, patrolled in groups of two and four, sometimes wolf and sometimes man.

  They were silent, only speaking when addressed but watched him in ways that were just this side of unnerving. Still, he understood. He was necessary, his existence vital to their Korol.

  It was worth all of it, though, for Peter to hold him tightly at night, his strong arms wrapped around him helping him to sleep while Aiden ensured his dreams were both calm and nightmare free.

  They’d binged watched television shows at night with Remi working during the day. Mrs. Dunham, the Tolliver caretaker, sent meals over. Remi just lived and tried to forget claws and teeth and so much blood. There would be days when he stood in the kitchen, tried to make coffee and remembered and those memories nearly killed him.

  Peter mentioned the possibility of a therapist, said that while it didn’t work for Dan, it might help Remi. Maybe if Remi just talked about it, things could get better?

  Remi wasn’t all that sure, choosing work instead. What would he say anyway? Big, tough detective was attacked by a woman who had the power to hold him captive? That he still had nightmares? He’d rather use the time it would take to talk to a stranger to get to know Peter better, to reconnect with his father and show Armand Devereaux just how happy he planned to be with the path he’d chosen for himself.

  Remi woke, his mind quiet for once without Aiden’s power or the restless tossing and turning until he fell asleep in Peter’s arms. That didn’t stop his thoughts from traveling, especially now.

  Now, his hands roamed over the body of his mate as Peter held him, touching his back, his skin, breathing in his scent. He eased one leg between Remi’s, slid his hand along his skin to play with his balls.

  “It’s been a while.”

  “Weeks, mon ami, my friend,” Remi said, his breath catching, but he still didn’t know if he was ready for what Peter wanted.

  “How about you fuck me?” Peter suggested.

  Remi rolled over until his eyes were searching Peter’s, looking to see if he’d heard what he thought he had.

  “What are you looking for, sweetheart? I wish I had my camera right now. That picture would be gorgeous.” His face was earnest, his need evident, but Remi was still unsure.

  “You want me that way?”

  “To sink your dick so deep into me, I can feel the head in my throat? To have you any and every way that I can? Yes, yes I do.” Peter smiled. “How about I lie here, and you touch me. Do whatever you want. But, just touch me. I need your touch, Remi.”

  And, Remi needed it to. He needed to touch Peter and know that this was real, not some figment of his imagination and that he hadn’t died in that forest at Alonya’s hands.

  He touched Peter, traced his fingers over his smooth skin, kissed his cheeks, his eyelids, his lips. Kissed him long and reverently.

  He tasted his collarbone, ran his tongue over his trim waist, and enjoyed the whisper of power that flew over Peter’s skin.

  Remi slid down Peter’s body, then sucked in his lover’s cock, skated his tongue around and around the bulb, groaning happily when Peter grunted in pleasure but held himself carefully still.

  At last, Remi took that big dick all the way to the back of his throat and used his lips and tongue for all he was worth. His reward for a job well done arrived when Peter came, long, hard and shivery down his throat.

  When he was done, when he had licked up every bittersweet drop, he climbed over Peter, looked into his eyes and kissed him again. Moaning in pleasure, he kissed his mate desperately and held him close.

  “To hold you like this, to have you beneath me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted from the first moment I saw you.”

  Peter smiled, a hint of green lighting his eyes. Sliding his hand along Remi’s arm, he spilled current over his lover’s body, and Remi gasped. The results of that bolt rushing the heat in his balls.

  “Peter, baby. I can’t take it.”

  Peter’s smile turned wicked, “You’ll do more than that, mate.” That growl, a reminder of the heat they’d share and the moments to come.

  Remi groaned as he was dragged over Peter’s body, his cock receiving the friction it had missed for so long.

  Claws drew along his waist, over his ass, spreading his cheeks as Peter thickened beneath him. “Let us feel you, mate. Then, we’ll have our turn.”

  When Remi awoke later, he was tired and sated, enjoying the brush of Peter’s kisses along his neck. Last night was the thing of fantasies he hoped would never end.

  But, along with the light came the reality of Kristoff’s absence.

  “Kristoff is still gone,” Peter said.

  Remi didn’t know how to respond. It was difficult for him to get himself back, and he was human. He had no idea what it would take for Kristoff. At Peter’s request, he’d finally called the therapist that Dan suggested, and he was talking.

  There was no quick fix, no four-letter label that would solve it all. He was told he would need time, a support system, and to realize he couldn’t do it all by himself. That was the start. The rest was to believe it.

  But, he didn’t know what to say to any of them. There was no way to know how profoundly affected a man like Kristoff Dumanovsky was. It was appalling enough for him to leave and apparently stay gone.

  Emissaries from the coven arrived from Russia and had asked Peter to take his place as Korol for them. “My uncle’s gone. If he were here, I’d ask him for his advice. I never wanted this, to lead, but it’s my obligation. I would feel better if I could speak with him, but in the end, this has to be my decision.”

  Remi hated to use the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason,” but when he looked at Peter now, it was right. He’d breezed in that store one day out of many and recognized his future.

  Peter was stronger, more self-possessed. He was a leader in every sense of the word. Remi respected him as much as he loved him.

  “Kristoff needs time,” Remi offered.

  Peter nodded. “And, while I understand, it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss him.”

  His chin on the crown of Peter’s head, Remi embraced the pull of Peter’s creatures as they stood close. “I can feel them.”

  “You can feel us.”

  A blue glow slithered out and over the both of them, drifted around their legs, spun slowly over the top of their hea
ds.

  Remi sighed, enjoying the brush of electricity over his skin. “Whatever you want, whatever you need, I will be here by your side. If it’s creating art, capturing memories through your photos, working for your charity, or doing it all and still leading a coven of nelapsi and wolves into the future, then I will be there.”

  Remi paused, taking a moment to savor Peter before he continued. “But, this is your chance to help your father’s people grow, to move them beyond their ancient beliefs and into a new world.”

  “Yes, instead of helping them to grow, my father ran away. He loved my mother, left with her, but imagine if he had stayed, had forced the ancient fossils spewing hate and venom in his coven to accept the woman he loved?”

  “The lives that should have been saved rather than lost. A different outcome.”

  Peter’s grip tightened, and Remi swore he felt the tips of claws. “We wouldn’t be together.”

  “You don’t know that. Baby, everything has a reason, a purpose. Your father’s failure can be your lesson to your... our people. We can help them, move them forward, but only if you want to.”

  Life would never be the same, Remi thought later as he knotted his tie. Peter was on the phone most of the day. They would be visiting Russia to meet with the coven members there so Peter could be introduced as Korol.

  He’d decided to shoulder the responsibility, and Remi would do whatever was needed to help him even if it meant taking some time off work to travel to another entirely different country, with an archaic set of rules. Merde... shit. What had he gotten himself into? But, for Peter, what wouldn’t he do?

  Many of the people in Kazan had sent messages, happy with the news that they were to have a new leader, a leader with vision.

  But, there were some who were still afraid, had heard the rumors that Peter’s Supruga was human. They would go, visit and show them the benefits of a balanced Korol, the blessings that will come from this union.

  They would do it together. That was it, plain and simple. Where Peter went, so did he.

  “Well, it’s all set,” Peter said. “Kristoff...”

  “We’ll have him back with us. I promise you.”

  “Promises can be broken.”

  “No promise I will ever make to you will be broken, Peter,” Remi said as he walked down the front stairs and out the door.

  “Remi,” Peter called.

  “Yeah, baby,” Remi answered back as he stepped up into his truck, adjusting the rear-view mirror before looking at the man he intended to spend the rest of his life loving.

  “I love you.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Arrogant bastard.”

  “Peter.”

  “Yes.”

  Remi could almost see Peter grinding his teeth.

  “I’ll never stop loving you.”

  The way those green eyes lit up and the smile that followed?

  Remi would never stop loving that.

  About the Author

  Deja Black had fantasies of men loving men, men who felt strongly, loved hard, and needed a hero. Then one great day she came across a book and discovered the world of m/m writing, encountered others who shared her obsession as much as she did, and found a world where she could not only be accepted for the lives and loves she envisioned, but she could create them too. So why not? Why not take the stories she would write and throw away as a teenager, grow them, dream them, and make them a reality where she could know her own characters, let them live their story, and make them real for someone else? And she did. Now, with the support of her hubby and some intense time management, she is learning to balance her family of two children at home and the many others she teaches each and every day with her passion for writing what she loves to read.

  Deja is always interested in connecting with new people who also share her love, so please feel free to contact her at:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deja.black.69

  Blog: http://dejablack77.blogspot.com/

  Email: DejaBlack69@gmail.com