The room went silent as we listened to the rapid flutter of the babies heartbeat. But we could only hear one.
“Is Ace sure?”
Yes. Listen closely. Their heartbeats are synced, but the little ones is just a fraction of a second behind.
I listened. There it was. A strong thump followed by a tiny flutter.
Hang on, did you say ‘she’? Am I having twin daughters?
Yes, I wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise.
Oh, I was surprised alright.
“Congratulations, guys. We are having two baby girls.” My stomach rolled. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
Chapter Six
The next week was a wave of appointments. High risk obstetricians, heart specialists, my oncologist, scans, ultrasounds, blood tests. A lot of serious faces and serious decisions.
No one would let me walk anywhere. They practically carried me to the car and back. Oz hovered over me every second of the day until I wanted to punch him in the throat if he asked me how I was one more time. It was probably the hormones. Probably.
Ace told me that the littlest baby was getting stronger as she channeled her life force into her, but as a result Ace was getting weaker. I didn’t know how I was so sure, but there was an emptiness that I felt in my soul. An emptiness that I knew had once been filled by Ace.
“We have to tell Lucifer what Ace is doing.”
“Tell Lucifer what?” Oops, I’d forgotten only Eli knew about Ace’s involvement. Dammit baby brain.
“Uh, Ace is channeling her life force into the babies to take a little of the strain from me.”
Lux nodded like that was the most logical thing in the world. “But she's getting really faint. I think she’s overtaxing herself with the extra baby. We need to tell Luc before he finds out himself.”
“That's a bad idea.”
I’m with tall, dark and deadly over there. Bad, bad idea.
“Ace can’t sustain both babies. He's going to notice and be angry. We should tell him now, before it's too late.”
I can and I will. You will not tell Luc. It is better to ask forgiveness from the Devil than permission.
“Ace is a fallen angel. Let her do her thing. She deserves the chance.”
The rest of the ride was silent as I wondered how the hell I’d gotten to this place. Life, or fate, had a lot to answer for. I was exhausted, and didn’t protest as Lux hefted me out of the car and into his arms. We rode the lift up to Eli’s apartment. Eli would make me go straight to bed. His bed.
I briefly thought of that sexy flash I’d seen from Eli the night Clary had arrived. The dominant commanding Eli. I wondered if that was the voice he’d use in the bedroom.
Would he tie me to the headboard with one of his ties? I imagined him leaning over me, commanding me not to cum until he gave me his permission. He would explore my prone body at his leisure, kissing some places, biting other places, explaining what he wanted from me in that steady voice, so filled with authority. He would call me Miss Jones, and not Arcadia, as he bit the inside of my thigh, hard enough to leave a mark. He’d soothe the hurt with a swirl of his tongue, which would move up to explore the folds. And when I’d get close to coming, he’d stop, tsk, and move back to exploring my body. He’d do this over and over, until I was begging him to give me release, and only then would slide his delicious cock inside me, taking my nipples in his mouth and biting the sensitive buds as he rode my wet and ready body, until I screamed in pleasure.
“I don’t know what the fuck you are thinking about right now, but you need to stop,” Lux’s voice was hoarse and strained, and I realized I was breathing heavily.
“I can feel your wetness on my arm, and it makes me want to make love to you here in the elevator. But we cannot.” I didn't know if that last part was for my benefit or his. It had been so long since I’d had sex, I might actually be going insane.
Who knew there was a dirty little submissive inside that prim and proper exterior? Ace laughed quietly.
“It’s the hormones,” I whined to both of them.
Sure it is. Liar, liar pants on fire.
Lux just grunted as the lift shuddered to a stop. He knocked on Eli’s doors, and when the man himself opened it in only his boxer shorts, I blushed the brightest shade of pink ever. Lux pushed me into Eli’s arms.
“I'm going for a swim. Then a cold shower. Call me if you need me,” he said gruffly, and almost ran to the stairs.
Eli placed me on my feet, sliding me gently down his delectable body. He was all lean muscle, smooth and sculpted. I gulped.
“What’s his problem?” Eli asked, as he held my elbow, guiding me toward the bedroom like a dementia patient.
“Blue balls.”
Eli let out a choked laugh. “It seems to be an epidemic. Ri came to see me with a sore wrist today. RSI.”
I blinked. “That's a joke, right?”
Eli just laughed as he pulled back the covers, hooking me up to my obs machine and then tucking me in.
“Still on nights?” I asked him as he climbed in beside me.
“Mmhmm.” He said as his eyes closed.
“Have you ever thought of tying me up?”
HIs eyes snapped open. “What?”
“Never mind.”
He reached over and flicked my taut nipple. “I asked what you said.” The sensation rocketed through my body.
“I said have you ever thought of tying me up?”
He leaned over and sucked my nipple through my shirt and I arched off the bed towards him.
“Every night since you arrived here four months ago. But now is not the time. We will have the rest of our lives for me to do all the things I dream of doing to you. Now rest, Arcadia.”
I did as I was told. Just this time.
Sam and Tolliver agreed to live together, so I could have Tolliver’s apartment and Clary could have mine. I wanted to nest, and I couldn’t do that in Eli’s smaller apartment. Oz and I spent hours online shopping, and the delivery guy knew me by name now. Tolliver’s apartment had once been decorated with modern low line furnituremade from chrome and glass but was now a mass of amazon and IKEA boxes, and a mountain of onesies. It was like Babies’R’Us threw up all over the place.
We’d turned Tolliver’s second bedroom into a nursery and Orion had painted it like an island paradise, complete with coconut trees, brightly colored tropical birds, the deep blue ocean and golden sand. Ri turned out to be quite the artist. When I’d said so, he’d just given me a lascivious wink.
“I’m good with my hands. When this is all over, I’m going to paint you with my tongue from head to toe, tasting every delicious inch of you.” It was a standard Ri kind of comment that he used to flirt all the time; a blend of teasing promise and smoldering sexuality. I was used to them now, and although I found him incredibly sexy, I’d learned to ignore the pickup lines and look for the sub context of what he was saying.
But not today.
Something possessed my body, and I had him backed up against the still wet paint, my hands under his shirt and my body pressed tight against his. As tight as it would go with my bump.
It was like I'd turned into some sex crazed monster, but then he was kissing me back, and all thoughts left my brain.
I tore his shirt off, kissing my way down his hard smooth chest, and he did the same, kissing my neck and biting the vein there hard. I moaned and pressed closer to him. His hands ran down to my ass and squeezed, and I could feel the hard length of him beneath his jeans.
He jumpedaway as if he’d been burned. “We can’t. The cardiologist said no undue physical exertion, and that includes sex. Fuck, does that include sex. Your health, and the babies, are more important. You feel so good though,” he groaned, running his fingers over my cheek, down jaw and the back of his hand brushing over the hard bud of my nipple. I moaned and Ri took another two steps back.
“Soon, Beautiful Girl. Soon.” He reached forward and rubbed my belly, as if reminding hi
mself why. “Let's just get this little family into the world first.”
It was then that I realized I didn't need to worry about Orion. He would be fine.
He led me to the bedroom, his hand around my back. “How about I give you a foot rub, and you have a rest.”
Actually a nap sounded good right now. I sat on the bed, and Ri leaned down, pulling off my fluffy slipper socks, and laid me back on the bed.
“Ri, do you ever regret how you lived? Before you died the first time, I mean.”
Ri took one of my feet into his hands, and pressed his thumb into the arch. I moaned with happiness. My eyes felt like lead weights, as if they were just waiting for the comfort of a pillow to relax.
“I made a lot of people happy, if I do say so myself. But yeah, I regret it sometimes. Hell wasn't a party. And I never got to have a family of my own. I would have liked that.”
I opened one eye and gave him a sleepy smile. “You will. I promise.”
Chapter Seven
I sat on Oz’s lap, his laptop open on the table in front of us.
“We need a plan. And a spreadsheet. I can’t leave the house, so you guys need to redeem yourselves and help each other. Let’s start with Val. What's the opposite of Gluttony?”
Oz typed it into the search engine. “Uh, temperance.”
I groaned. This one was hard. Given the fact I nearly mauled Ri earlier, apparently temperance, or self-restraint, wasn’t something I had in abundance.
“Let's leave him until last. What about Pride?”
“Humility.”
Clary, who was sitting across from us from us, scoffed. “Send him to Africa. There is no place for ego there.”
Oz screwed up his face. “Eli can’t go to Africa. Cady needs him. She comes first, always.”
I leaned back and kissed his cheek.
Somewhere between kissing Oz’s rough cheek and turning back to the computer screen, I had an epiphany. The answer was so simple, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Eli didn't need to go to Africa to see tragedy and learn humility. There was plenty of tragedy right here in NYC. There were people he could help, with the aid of Tolliver and Sam's new charitable foundation. We could provide life changing care to the uninsurable. But would it be enough?
I explained my idea to Oz and Clary, and Oz's fingers flew across the keyboard to find already established facilities that Eli could work out of, or maybe we could even build our own if we needed too?
As Oz did what he did best -well maybe not what he did best, he was pretty clever with certain parts of his anatomy- I turned to my best friend. “What about you Clary? Are you going back to Africa after all this is over?”
Clary stared at a spot in the distance, the place where memories play on a nightmarish loop, then she shook her head. “No, I'm not going back to Africa. I'm needed here, with you. Like the lumberjack said, you are the most important thing right now. Maybe I'll join Doc McBuffins in the projects. He’ll need a nurse.”
A selfish part of me was glad Clary wasn't going back. I did need her. And if not me, the babies would need her. She would never say anything, but sometimes I would catch her looking at me with the saddest eyes. She didn't expect me to make it through. The odds were too stacked against me. I literally felt weaker every day. My body wasting away except my big, round belly filled with life. When I was being honest with myself, I didn't expect it either. But I would fight, and so would everyone else.
“That's a great idea. He will need the help, and it's easier than finding work in NYC. The foundation will pay you a wage, of course.”
She'd be fine after I was gone then. She'd have a steady job. And if I didn't redeem Eli... I shut down the thought. I would redeem them all. But if the worst happened, I knew the guys would take care of her. Make sure she wanted for nothing, because she had loved me too.
There was a knock at the door, and Clary got up to open it. Valery walked in with a huge casserole dish.
“I just need to put this in your oven, ma chérie.”
“I think she has enough in her oven, don't you?” Clary teased.
Valery muttered something unflattering in French, but his mouth tilted up at the corners. He put the dish into the oven and the walked over, kissing me gently on the lips, one hand rubbing my belly like Buddha.
“Beautiful. Now I must get back to the buns in my oven.”
Clary choked out a laugh. I smiled and smacked him on the butt on the way out.
We were having a family dinner, which was just a fancy way of letting them all see me eat. The idea of food turned my stomach, but I didn't care. I was eating for three. Much to everyone's disagreement, I’d even invited Lucifer.
Ace sounded weak. My gut said she needed Luc. And the babies would be fine for a night. She was like a mother hen with her eggs though, so she was pouting about it.
I'm not pouting, she said in a disgruntled voice. She sounded stronger already, and I tried not to grin.
“When's the Devil arriving?”
I hushed her. “Don't call him that. He's Luc. I don't think you get my leeway.”
He'll chew her up and spit out her bones, Ace added
Metaphorically, right?
Ace just laughed.
“Luc should be here after the other guys arrive. At 6 minutes past 6, or at least that's what his RSVP said.”
I stood and waddled toward the table, ensuring once more that everything was perfect. I wanted this one happy memory. I was wearing a beautiful wrap dress that Sam had bought for me, the latest in maternity fashion. In all honesty, it looked like a tent.
I straightened the silverware once more, adjusted the bouquet of tulips that Tolliver had had delivered this morning, and fussed with the napkins. It was only five.
“It's as perfect now as it was ten minutes ago. For Christ sake, just sit down. Oh crap, can I say for Christ’s sake? I’m going to have to get Mammy to light a candle for me. I’m going to hell,” Clary said as she crossed herself.
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as everyone says,” a voice said from behind me, making Clary jump and whirl around. Lucifer stood at the doorway, leaning against the door jamb, a, well devilish, grin on his face.
Always with the dramatic entrances, my love. Ace said, and she sounded happier and stronger already. She may not have wanted… I snapped down on my thoughts immediately.
Luc tilted his head at me. “It's hard to guard your thoughts all night, Arcadia. You should just get it off your chest now.”
“There's nothing on my chest.” I gave Oz a stern look, cutting off the inevitable Oz boob joke. “Come in Luc, sit down. This is Clary.”
“Yes, of the Mulligans of Boston. I’ve met more than one of your kin, despite their strict Catholicism. Usually only the men, though. The women are practically in line for sainthood.” He laughed at his own joke, and looked Clary up and down. “Your heart is way too good. You won’t be heading to my domain unless you intend on taking over the family business? Cracking skulls doesn’t seem like your style.”
Clary’s face went carefully blank. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Luc laughed. “You don’t have Ace boosting your mental shields like Arcadia does. But don’t worry. I don’t care. You aren’t your family, and you always get judged on your own actions. Blood does not matter in the end.”
I just stared. If Luc was insinuating what I thought he was, he was trying to say the Mulligans were part of the Irish mob. I looked from one to the other, and the silence was stifling.
“Luc would you like a beer?” A beer appeared in his hand from nowhere. “Okay then.”
Quit showing off for the mortals. You're early, by the way. Since when do you turn up early to anything?
Since my consort was reborn into a mortal body and I don’t get to spend nearly enough time teasing her delicious body, Luc crooned and I grimaced. Ew.
Come on guys. There’s kids present.
Kids?
Ace g
roaned. Seriously. It’s like the babies are draining you of your IQ. Yes, Arcadia is having twins.
Oz felt me tense, and his own body tensed in response.
“I wonder where the rest of the guys are? Mini Oz, call All Users and tell them that it is time to get to Arcadia’s apartment for dinner. We will need help with the serving.”
Clever boy.
“You look well for a woman carrying twins, Arcadia.” Luc’s tone was pleasant.
“Thanks, Lucifer. Valery has me on these kale shakes that some Italian doctor swears will cure everything.”
Luc laughed. “If there is a more angelic food then kale, I’m yet to find it. All goodness and purity, not taste.”
I gave him a smile. He was kinda of charming when he wasn't being scary.
That’s your mistake, Arcadia. He is always scary, even more so when he is smiling, Ace said, her tone affectionate, with a little fear.
“I'm not going to lie, I think Azriel is scarier. All that perfection isn't natural. He looks like a store mannequin come to life.” I shuddered with exaggeration. “It's just not natural.”
“I wouldn't say his name too often, Arcadia. He is likely just to appear in the mirror like Candyman. There's a Yankees game on, mind if I watch? We don’t get ESPN down below. Bad reception.”
“Probably the brimstone. Go for it. Mini-Oz, turn on TV and switch to ESPN.”
The TV turned on. “Sometimes I think you humans do possess magic,” Luc said as he walked over to the couch. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
The door opened and Lux strode in, looking fine in a tight white shirt and black jeans that molded to his thighs like latex. He came over and kissed me.
“Everything okay?” He whispered in my ear.
“Yes, for now.”
Clary looked pale, and I grabbed her arm, dragging her into the kitchen. It wouldn't help much in the way of privacy, but it was something.
“Are you okay?” I asked, rubbing her arm reassuringly.
“He looks so… normal? Hot, for sure, as sexy as he is scary. But I was expecting something more…”
The Redeemable Part Three Page 4