“Will there be no secrets here? I don’t know how I feel about that.” This thought pops into my head, triggering my nose to scrunch up. Looking back, it really does seem that way. After Nato bonded us, it was a discussion. After what happened with Sage today, it looks like that was a discussion too.
As soon as we came in the door, Egan pretty much deposited me in Nato’s lap and whipped his shirt off for show and tell. Maybe this is how they envision this polyamorous relationship?
“Babe.” Jari plucks me out of Nato’s lap and settles me onto his own. “We were all best friends before you came along. Brothers even. There are no secrets. You should get used to that before we get too far into this.” He smacks a loud, wet kiss on my cheek.
“Oh really? What happened to a little mystery? Or more importantly, privacy?”
He chuckles. “You know how competitive siblings can be. You can bet we will be comparing notes on who pleases you best. All in good fun.” His eyes twinkle.
“I don’t understand you all. I don’t get how that wouldn’t cause jealousy. Aren’t you afraid I’ll favor one over the others?”
Jari laughs, but these are very real thoughts I’ve been having, and one of the reasons I am struggling with having so many lovers.
“Sweets. Did you see the way Egan snarled at everyone at Mehki’s, or the way we kept pulling you away from Yunez? We get plenty jealous. Just not of each other. We have dreamed of this type of bond for so long we just don’t have that type of animosity between us. Even if he doesn’t show it, Sage has been a part of that dreaming too.” His eyes slide to said dreamer.
My eyes follow his trajectory, and Sage meets my gaze. He doesn’t say anything, and his face gives nothing away.
A finger on my chin pulls me back around to face Jari. “Now, as far as you preferring one over the others… Well, let’s just say we know to split our time evenly so we all get a fair amount of time with you. And isn’t that the sport of it? I know I’ll do my damned best to get you to love me most. We all will…a friendly competition.”
“You are all bonkers. Absolutely crazy.”
Egan settles next to us and pulls my feet into his lap. “Do you really think you could favor any of us? I don’t think you can. I’ve been watching how you interact with all of us, and I just don’t see it.”
Now that he’s said it, I guess he’s right. I haven’t wanted to spend time with anyone over the others.
“I guess I don’t.” I sigh. I’ll just have to take it a day at time.
“All right, you. Let’s get to bed. We are all exhausted.” Nato pulls me up and leads me to the bathroom. “Do your thing and we’ll go after.” He slaps my ass and shuts the door.
I go through my nightly routine of cleaning my face, brushing my teeth, and you know, gotta make sure the hoo-ha is all cleaned up too. Letting the guys into the bathroom, I hide in the closet to change into jammies. I’m ahead of the game this time. No long sleeves or pants for me—it’d be like roasting over an open fire with all the body heat they throw off. Might as well stick an apple in my mouth.
I find a drawer of sleep shirts that are surprisingly comfortable. Or not surprising. Yunez seems to have a certain way he wants this to play out. Slipping a sleep shirt over my head, I exit the closet ready to get some shut eye. I don’t know if it is all the adrenaline rushes or just expending such a high amount of energy, but I have been able to sleep anywhere, anytime. As evidenced by my car naps and forest siestas.
They are all still in the bathroom by the time I fall into bed. I would like to say I waited for them to come back to see how they would all be comfortable in the bed, but I fall asleep face down where I landed, starfish style.
A HAND ON my shoulder rocks me back and forth. It leaves my shoulder and smooths hair away from my face. I nuzzle the pillow tighter, not quite wanting to wake up. Scratchy scruff glides along my cheek, and Jari whispers in my ear.
“Sweets. You promised me today. It’s time.” Fingers walk down my arm before making their way under the covers to ghost down my side, and a tremor starts at my scalp and runs to my toes. The fingertips make it to my thigh before sliding up, up, and up. Pushing my sleep shirt up. When his hand starts to curve inward toward the apex of my thighs, my eyes pop open.
What I see is the upside-down face of Jari and a roguish grin. His eyebrows lift over mischievous eyes as if to ask what I’m waiting for.
I return his grin and slowly lift myself from the bed, trying not to wake the others. Jari must have slept on the outside with me next to him. Nato lies on the other side of me, followed by Egan and then Sage. They all are completely conked out.
Judging by the little bit of light in the room, it’s pretty early in the morning. Good thing I got that nap in yesterday.
In the bathroom, Jari has already laid out my outfit for the day, black cargo hiking pants and a long-sleeve, moisture-wicking black shirt. Very Lara Croft. He must have something really specific in mind. Nothing crazy, I hope.
Actually, come to think of it, we have to stay in the surrounding woods since we’re supposed to stay hidden. So I guess the outfit is more him being considerate so I don’t have to dig around in the closet than having a special event planned.
Jari is already waiting for me in the kitchen with a banana and coffee. A note on the counter tells the guys that we are out and not to expect us back too early. It brings a smile to my face. When I first met Jari, he came across as the laid-back fellow of the group. He seemed lighthearted and good-natured. Now I can add cocky to that.
I study him as we make quick work of our breakfast. He is dressed identical to me, even down to the colors. We’re twinsies. I beam at him, smiling through a mouthful of banana. He raises his eyebrows, but I just shake my head.
He looks happy this morning. Elated, with barely restrained excitement. Seeing him so happy does something to me. My heart stutters, and I get the warm and fuzzies starting in my toes but spreading up my body. It touches me that I have made him so happy. Although I don’t really deserve this sort of reaction. At least not when he doesn’t really know me.
There I go down logic road again. I make a mental effort to leave all that behind me today and focus only on how I feel and going with my gut instinct.
He grabs my hand and tugs me out of the house, picking up a small backpack as we go. Once we’re out of sight of the house, he turns backward and holds both of my hands in his. A tenderness that I haven’t experienced from him yet shines out.
“Sweets, finally! You don’t know how long I have waited for this day to come. It’s been torture knowing the others got time with you first.” He pauses and scrunches up his face. “Actually, I guess it was just Egan since he got to take you out for alone time yesterday. Nato stole into your bed like a thief in the night.” I bark out a laugh at that, which pulls a smile from Jari. “Then he also stole into your bed the next day when you took a nap. We should just call him Thief. That can be his nickname.” He turns around to walk forward, retaining one of my hands.
“I agree. I can’t think of anything better as an inside joke. I like this. I’ve never had people to have inside jokes with.”
“That makes me sad for you, Iss. We are going to have so many inside jokes that people will die with envy to be a part of our super-secret, squirrely club.” I snort because, who wouldn’t want to be invited into a super-secret, squirrely club.
“And our secret club just happens to be dubbed the Lusty Legion?”
He chuckles. “We could also be the Horny Horde. I’m okay with that too.” He leers at me.
“Oh yeah, I bet people will be banging down our doors to be a part of that club.”
“Wishing they were banging something…” He laughs. “Like you didn’t see how the men reacted at Mehki’s. I think people are going to be more envious than you think.”
“Yeah, that was a bit scary. I hope to never encounter that again. When are you all going to start filling me in on what you are trying to do and more about the
se attacks?”
His good humor slips away as he answers me. “We will, believe me. The time will be here before you know it. We wanted a few days for you to get to know us before we dive into all the heavy stuff.”
“Yeah, Nato said as much. I just feel like the recent events have changed our priorities a little bit.”
“Maybe, but no one knows where we are now, so why not take the time and enjoy it? You still have two more bonds to complete anyway before we start any training or take you around other people.”
A branch snaps behind us.
Jari spins around and pushes me behind him. I peek around him at a man leaning against a tree trunk. There aren’t any branches in his vicinity, so he must have snapped a stick on purpose because he wanted us to know that he was there.
“Jari, my boy. What a surprise.” His words are light, but his sardonic smile is mocking. This man is several inches taller than Jari, and broader too. I know on sight that he is one of the Fennin. I don’t get any warm and fuzzy feelings from him, though. Not a doubt in my mind that this man is one of the bad guys.
“Jon.” What the hell. Everyone I have met has such unusual names. Then this guy is named Jon?
“This isn’t that sweet little Mazza I have heard so much about, is it?” His accent is stiff and cold. Shivers race down my spine from the bad vibes this guy is spinning out. His gray eyes have no emotion. They are just blank.
That’s real reassuring.
His gaze lingers on what he can see of me.
“What do you care? You are in a committed relationship, so I wouldn’t think you would be in the market for a Mazza.” Jari steps back, crowding me to back up with him. That right there, that’s a sign. This guy is bad news bears.
None of my guys are cowards, and they don’t shy away from confrontation. They demonstrated their willingness to chase after danger head on at Mehki’s, so I know if Jari is backing away, this guy is a real threat.
Jon takes a step away from the tree and pauses. “Why would my relationship status matter? Mazzas are signs of new times and bringers of great change. Why wouldn’t I want to know the Mazza? Tell me, have you bonded her yet?” He continues walking toward us.
“I don’t believe that is any of your concern.” Jari takes another step backward.
“I think it is. I can see that she has at least one bond. Nato, I hear. Why don’t we go back to wherever you are staying and discuss your plans regarding the Mazza? I’m sure Rainer would be very interested in where her allegiance will lie.”
Faster than I can follow, Jari whips out a dagger and throws it where Jon stands.
The dagger sails right through Jon. His image ripples and fades. Gasping, I make to turn around and search for the intruder, but he has completely disappeared. He has to be somewhere else if that was a trick. Before I can spin around, arms flash over my head. Two large hands grab Jari and press thumbs into his temples.
He gives a small grunt, falls to his knees, and then face plants.
I scream, but one of those same hands covers my mouth. I buck and kick, digging my fingers into the arms holding me, doing my best to rip them away.
I keep waiting for him to pull the same stunt on me, but he doesn’t. The only thing Jon tries to do is subdue me. I guess I’m not that big of a threat.
I draw blood, but I might as well be trying to roll one of the large red boulders by my LL’s house uphill. Impossible.
“That’s enough now. I won’t hurt you.” Definitely the voice of Jon.
He turns me around to face him, using one hand to hold my body in place and one hand on my face to hold my attention. Up close he is even more intimidating. There is no warmth here. No compassion. Just cold calculation.
I sense other people making their way into the field. As hard as I strain, I can’t turn my head with Jon still gripping my jaw.
“You found her? Good. What do you want to do with Jari?” This comes from a woman who sounds as if she is right at my back. I don’t like the intimately familiar tone in her voice as she mentions my Levan Fennin.
Oh god, Jari! This guy must be from Zien House like Nato to be able to knock him out that way. That doesn’t mean that there’s any lasting damage. I have to believe that. He finally releases my jaw only to trap both my arms in a bruising grip. Turning my head, I catch sight of Jari on the ground. Tears well in my eyes and leak out. Jari isn’t moving or making any sound.
Please let him be okay. Please. Please, please.
I know this Jon did something similar to what Nato did to me. No lasting damage, I repeat to myself. I’m going with that line of thinking.
“We’ll take him with us. She bears some affection for him. It could come in handy.”
Ah, hell. They’re taking him as collateral. I wish I could convince these people that I don’t need Jari or care for him, but I don’t have the brain power to pull that off right now.
“I will take the Mazza. If she hasn’t completed the bond, I imagine she won’t be safe with your men.”
“She hasn’t. Jari hasn’t bonded her, so that’s at least one bond she hasn’t completed.”
How in the heck does he know that?
Jon shoves me backward into the woman. She pulls my arms behind me, binding them with some type of cloth. Now that Jon is not holding me captive, I see who stands with me in the field.
Women. All women, and Jon.
They must have been out looking for me.
The women are all dressed in similar hiking clothes. This group looks like they were prepared for a camping trip. Convenient ruse in case someone ran across their group?
The woman holding on to me leads me to the two closest women.
“We need to get them away from here before anyone realizes they are gone. Take her back to the access road.”
The new women take one arm each and start guiding me away from the way we came. I bend my neck to see what they are doing with Jari, but the woman on my left jerks my arm.
I can’t get away now. There are too many people, and I’m not a good fighter. First thing on the agenda when I get free: self-defense lessons. We are going to start a fight club, bitch. So this never happens again.
Who could these people be? I piece together the scraps of information I’ve received.
Jari knew the man’s name. So someone he is acquainted with. This could be part of the faction that wants to conquer the human realm. Actually, that’s the only group I know of that would be after us.
I’m screwed if this is a different group. I’ll be going in completely blind. The best I can do is try to get more information from these women, watch for an opening to escape, and look for potential allies.
“Who are you?” I ask the two women dragging me out of the woods. One is blonde with large green eyes, sporting almost elfin features. The other is more on the muscular side with a broader frame. She isn’t classically beautiful, but still striking with her black hair and black eyes.
“Trying to get information?” the dark beauty answers. “It won’t work, you know. We are to take you to the vehicle that will drive you out of here. Under strict orders not to give you any useful information.”
Damn. Another item on the agenda: spy lessons.
“At least tell me if Jari will be with me?” I put my best distressed face forward, and it’s pretty easy, because let’s face it, I’m pretty fucking distressed.
The two women exchange glances, and the blonde elf shrugs.
“No harm in telling you this I guess, since you’ll know soon enough. Jari is being taken separately, but don’t worry, they want him relatively close to you,” black-haired beauty reveals with a hushed voice. Interesting. This one may have some compassion after all. It sounds like she doesn’t want others to hear her sharing this with me.
“Do you all mean me any harm?”
Elf girl answers me this time, and I am surprised at the deep tone of her voice. Not what I expected out of a waif of a girl.
“That depends on you, doesn
’t it?” We come up onto a dirt road, and I can see an old SUV pulled off to the side and partially hidden by the brush. “Here we are.”
Elf girl opens the back door, pushes me in, and climbs in beside me. I guess they don’t trust me to be in the back seat on my own. Probably smart. I don’t know what I would have done, but it would have been epic. Like opening the door and rolling out of the moving vehicle before running off into the woods.
The other woman gets in the driver’s seat, and as I’m trying to get comfortable, elf girl touches my forehead.
“Sorry about this. Protocol, you know.”
Damn it. Not a…
THE STEADY TICK-tocking of an old-fashioned clock dominates the silence in the room. I sit up abruptly and glance around as everything rushes back to me. The forest with Jari. The attack. The trip to the vehicle.
The room I am in is plush for hostage quarters. An incredibly thick, silky comforter sits under me, and the mattress is so soft I’m sunk down a few inches. The loveseat, desk, and coffee table in the sitting room are grand and delicately carved pieces of furniture. This could be a room in a swanky-rustic mountain lodge. But no way my kidnappers would put me in a place where I could easily escape.
This is probably some property owned by someone in their deranged club.
My mouth is parched. I spot a wet bar in the corner and stand up to get myself a glass of water. Dizziness takes over, and I sit back down before the room spins any more.
Shit. This sucks harder balls than it did before.
Flopping back on the bed, I take a deep breath and try to calm my raging headache.
At least I can be relatively certain that Jon did the same thing to Jari. That’s as comforting as the thought could be. Not sure how I’ll react if that’s not the case.
Jari. I have to find a way out of here to get him. As soon as my brain quiets down.
A lock snicks, and my door swings open. The door was locked from the outside. Also good to know.
A girl a few years younger than me stands just inside with her back pressed to the closed door. She has a kind face, still rounded with youth, and a weary demeanor. Jet-black hair is piled on top of her head. Her gunmetal-gray eyes are jaded. They look like she knows exactly what the world has to offer, and she finds it lacking.
Marks of the Mazza: Reverse Harem (Mazza Series Book 1) Page 13