by Honor James
“Thank god it’s not just me, then,” she whispered softly. “Because the minute I saw you I wanted you. Of course I was scared, what girl wouldn’t be when faced with not one amazing and larger-than-life man, but two, that pull her in so deeply that there is no her without them?”
“Only the smart ones are scared. The rest, well, I’m not going there, because I really don’t want to be quoted later.” He wiped down the counter before stacking dishes into the dishwasher. “But you also have to know we’d never hurt you. It would be like cutting off our own arm to cause you harm. You’re much too important to us, which is also why we have no problem giving you whatever time you need. Or answering whatever questions you may have.”
“Thank you for that. I will be satisfied if you just tell me everything about mating, bonding, whatever it’s called. Tell me about it. What’s to be expected of me, what’s to come of us. How it would work for all three of us to be together. You know, everything,” she teased with a grin.
“You really want to start this conversation before we have to sit before the captain? Honestly, this might be a topic we should discuss while I’m keeping you from making that call. I’m thinking it will be a lot easier than any other plan I may have.”
“Crap. Good point. All right. After the meeting with the cap. When we are in the clean room and you are trying to keep me from making the call. That’s when we will discuss this. As long as I will retain the knowledge, that is.”
“Of course you will retain the information.” He turned to look at her. Frowning, he tipped his head. “Why would you ask such a question, Lilly? Is there something I need to know that you haven’t told me? And no, I’m not in your head, so you really do need to tell me if there is something. You have a very expressive face,” he added.
“No, I just honestly don’t remember needing to get to the phone. So I just wanted to make sure that I would recall a conversation that we were having if I were trying to get a landline. That’s what has me worried, I guess.”
“Do you remember us talking in the morgue? When I wouldn’t let you look at the body again, then when I took you up to our office and made you lay down on the sofa. Do you remember any of that, Lilly?” he asked softly.
“Yes, I recall us talking in the morgue, and I remember us laying down on the sofa, but the morgue thing is really fuzzy, and getting worse with each moment that passes. I honestly couldn’t tell you who was in there, other than you, me, and a body. A female, right?” Her frustration rolled off of her in waves, he could feel her upset rising another notch with the end of her words.
“Briar was there. She’s the one that called me when you went into your trance or fugue or whatever we’re going to call it. So you remember me and the nap,” he said quietly. “That’s good. Which means it’s only in the moments preceding me arriving. Which was the time that you were staring at the body. As soon as I got there, I pulled your attention away. Do you remember how I got your attention?”
Her frustration was palpable when she spoke, “No. No, I don’t recall what you did to pull my attention to you. I hate that I don’t know as well. How are we going to survive this?” she asked quietly.
“Hey,” he said, moving toward her. Taking her hands, he drew her to her feet and then cupped her face. “We will figure this out, Lilly, but getting frustrated isn’t going to help. I realize it’s a very frustrating situation. But you need to remember, you are not alone. Not anymore, all right? And, since you don’t recall, I think I need to remind you, if you would like me to.”
“I would like that very much.” She moved so that she was closer to him and sighed. “I feel better when you are close. I feel as if things are going to be okay. They will, right? We will figure this all out and take care of it before it causes serious issues for us?”
“We will,” he told her with a small smile. Leaning in, he brushed his nose to hers lightly. “I pulled you out of your trance right in this position. Made you look at me and then…” His lips touched hers, slowly and then a little harder.
Lilly felt the kiss all the way to the tips of her toes. Wrapping her arm around his shoulders, she pulled him closer, pulled her body as tightly to his as she could. A low moan escaped her, and she shivered fully. When they parted, she licked her lips and shivered. “Goodness. I can see how that would affect anyone. You are truly remarkable.”
“Hardly.” His voice sounded deeper. He licked his lips and dropped his hands to her hips. “It’s all you, darling. Most definitely you.” He let out a ragged breath. “You completely fry my brain with a kiss like that.”
“And that thing you do with your tongue, when it brushes up against the roof of my mouth, it makes me shudder. I love it when you do that part.” Her voice was a little shaky, her desire evident in her tone. “I really, really love your kisses and think you should kiss me often.”
“I think you may have said something like that the first time I kissed you,” he said softly. “I’ll kiss you anytime you want, Lilly. Gladly. I quite like kissing you. You’re so sensitive and responsive.” His words were a soft caress to her senses.
“Only because it’s you,” she whispered honestly. “I happen to really, really love having you kissing me. And yes, I will tell you often that you should kiss me. I just hope that you won’t mind if I try to pull you into closets or whatever while we are at work and sneak a kiss here and there.”
“As long as you don’t mind me doing the same,” he said quietly. Pressing a light kiss to her lips, he drew back. “We need to get moving, Lil. You ready to head into the office?” he asked. Stepping back, he ran a hand through his hair.
“Yep, I am as ready as I am going to be.” Taking a deep breath, Lilly looked to Ax. “Just don’t forget that I will from time to time lean heavily on you. You are my rock. I know we barely know each other, but you truly are my rock and I need you in life.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Lilly,” he said softly. “I’ll be right with you through everything. Promise. Now, we need to get moving. Otherwise, I’ll keep kissing you and we’ll never get anything done today.”
“Good.” She moved so that her hand was in his and gave it a squeeze. “We will go, because I could go on kissing and touching you all day and that would get us into trouble. Especially if we continue before Gav comes back home to us, right?”
“Potentially,” he said. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her wrist. “Shit, need to grab my band. Meet you at the front door,” he said, letting her hand go. With a wink, he was gone in the next second. Literally! He’d been right there and then…not. What the hell?
Aloud, she voiced her thoughts. “What the hell?” He had literally disappeared on her. “Oh my.” She didn’t move, instead she just stood there and shook her head. When she saw him again, she had her mouth open and wide. “Dear God, what in the hell was that?”
Shrugging into his jacket, he shot her a curious look. One that slowly inched into a smug grin. “What was what, darling?” he asked. Stopping a foot from her, he cocked a brow up. “Is there a problem, Lilly?”
“You. You disappeared. What in the hell was that? I mean like, poof, and you were gone.” Her mouth was moving, opening and closing in total shock. “And why did you have to have your cuff? We know that we are supposed to be together, right?”
“The cuff is to cover the mark, a private matter between mates. Until the mating is complete, it’s to be that way. After the mating, it will be a choice, to advertise or not. As to the other,” he grinned wider. “I’m very, very old, Lilly. In that time, as I previously mentioned, I’ve learned a great many things. One day I might just share them all with you. Today, my dear, is not that day. Coming?” He held out a hand to her.
“Yeah.” Her hand slipped into his and she licked her lips. “I think that you should make me disappear with you one day. That might be interesting. As for the cuff”—she shrugged, her arm moving to wrap around his waist, and pressed her cheek to his shoulder—“I will leave that up to you and
what you want.”
His arms wrapped around her tight, keeping her close to him. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to leave it off for long. I’ve worn it for so long now.” His chest lifted and then lowered quickly in a sigh. “I’ll have to think about it. I’ve kept the mark private for so long I don’t know if I’ll be able to share it with another outside of our home.”
“And I would be perfectly fine with that. You are mine, I am yours. That’s all that matters. I know that it’s there, as do you and Gav, so that’s what is really important. I don’t mind at all if you both want to continue to wear them. As long as you leave them off when we are home.”
“Always little mate,” he said, giving her a quick squeeze. Then his arms dropped. “Let’s get moving. We have a full schedule today. And”—he stepped back, turning to look at the clock on the wall—“we’re going to be late for our meeting with the captain soon.”
“Not again.” She hated meetings. “Okay. Let’s hurry or we will be late, and that will be just bad. Although, I’m sure that he’s gotten a full report on me already and has learned that I’m seldom ever on time for anything, really.”
Snorting at that, Ax tightened his hold on her hand and tugged. “We’re not going to be late. We will arrive on time. Even if I have to use every trick I’ve ever learned, and probably make up a few new ones along the way.” He pulled her out the front door and toward the truck on the driveway.
“Then I look forward to learning your tricks, because I am notoriously late.” She got into his truck and, when he got in, added, “So if you could help me stay on schedule in the future, I would be very, very grateful, please.”
“Going to be tough,” he said with a grin. Turning on the engine, he pulled out of the drive quickly. “You are quite distracting, Lilly. Your lips are killer, your kisses lethal, it’s going to be the ultimate challenge. Thankfully, when we mate, we’ll be taking some time off. We may need it just to recover.”
“Good. How long can we take off? Especially since I’m a new transfer. Do you think that the captain will have a fit if I take time off now?” she asked with a frown. “I really hope not. That would be all-around bad, I think.”
“It’s mandatory for new matings,” he told her as he drove. His eyes never once left the road as his speed increased. “It’s written into the laws. Any new mating couple or couples gets a week off or more, as needed. It all depends on those mating and where the mating takes place, here or beyond the Veil.”
“And where will ours take place?” Lilly asked softly. “I am glad that we will have a week mandatory, because I think that we will need to use all of that time to get to know each other without the worry of anything else happening.” Frowning, she added, “But that means we can’t continue our mating until after this case is solved.”
“Well…” He smiled slightly. Cursing, he swung around a slow moving vehicle. “I swear to the Gods,” he grumbled, throwing the other driver a dirty look. “It’s only mandatory that after a mating, a week is taken. It’s the time needed to cement the bonds and to get some of the need out of our systems. Doesn’t say anywhere when that time has to be taken.” He switched lanes again. “If we do it beyond the Veil, it doesn’t seem to take the same toll on our systems. If we do it here, it seems to be more stressful, at least for some of the races, not all. And it depends on the individuals involved. Lots of factors, really.”
“Well, we will do it on the other side of the Veil, then. I don’t want to do anything to give you issues. I truly believe that we should take every single precaution that we can so that we can have as much time together as we possibly can. I will leave it to the two of you as to when we should bond, but know that I want to and I need to sooner rather than later if we can, please.”
“Absolutely, Lilly.” He was nodding. And chewing his lip…hmm, that was new. “I’ll talk to Gavriel when he returns. See what his thoughts are on it, and we’ll go from there. A lot of this will depend on his mother’s health, or lack thereof, given the deterioration of late.” Artaxias let out a sigh. “Gods, I have no idea how he’s going to handle that.”
“Good point.” Lilly frowned and shook her head. “I don’t like that idea at all. The idea that she might pass far too soon. Do you think that is what is going to happen?” she asked quietly. “I hate to think of it happening to the poor man. Do you think it will set him off?”
“I honestly don’t know, Lilly,” he said quietly. “Others that have been stricken with this disease either pass quickly or linger for far too long. Given the frequency of her episodes, we’ll know soon whether it will be one or the other. I fear for Gavriel either way. Either he will lose her fast, or he’ll have to watch her suffer an indeterminate length of time.”
“I don’t know which one is worse,” she admitted to him. “We will just need to be there for him. We will need to always be there for him. That’s all that I can think of. We will be there for him, because it’s what we should do as a bonded trio, right?”
“Absolutely.” He nodded. “He’ll need the support, no matter to what extent he’ll allow, which we’ll need to tread carefully with. He’s got magic within, innate and powerful. While he trains to master it in times of highly emotional situations, he can be a little wonky. Whatever happens, we need to ensure he has a place of calm and serenity.”
“I think that is a good idea. We will do whatever we can. I have no idea what he might need, but I hope that I will be able to give it to him. I don’t want him to feel alone, because he’s not. That’s something he has to keep in mind, that he’s no longer alone.” She just hoped that whatever the Magic User needed, she could give it to him.
“Gavriel has never been alone. I’ve been glued to him since he blew up his first tree. Mainly because a young lord had been sitting in said tree when it blew up. And Gav had actually been aiming for the young lord. The poor tree never saw it coming. But he’s also always had his mother. Unlike myself, he’s never been without parental love and acceptance.”
“And now he has me as well. Somehow and some way, we will figure this out. We will learn how to help him together. We will poke and prod until he cries ‘uncle,’ and then we will do it some more. That’s how it should be with mates, right?”
“Uh, sure?” He didn’t sound sure. His next words confirmed that suspicion. “I’ve never been mated, or around mated couples. Besides Gavriel’s mother and mates, I mean. And really, I tried to avoid them as much as possible. So, really, I’m going into this as blind as you are, Lil.”
“Oh boy.” She really hoped that someone somewhere would be able to give them some advice. “I think that we need to find and talk to some bonded couples or trios or whatever. I really think that we need all of the advice on this that we can possibly get please.”
“Only one that I know of that could help.” He frowned. “Lacey, Zhubin, and Ansell. They’re newly mated, unfortunately. Only been a few months. But, they are likely our only option on this side of the Veil. Other than that, I’d have to hit up my contacts on the other side and see who we might be able to meet with.”
“I think that we should go ahead and see them all. I think that perhaps Lacey, Zhubin, and Ansell will be our best bet in figuring out just what the hell is going on with us, right? I really and truly believe that we should pump them for as much information as they will give us.”
“Don’t use the word pump around them. For the love of the Gods, please don’t,” he said. Shaking his head, he whipped the vehicle up an off-ramp and onto the city streets. “It will lead to bad, mind-deforming things that no amount of bleach can erase.”
“Uhm, ok?” she asked with a frown. “I don’t understand. Why in the world would using the word pump around them cause us any issues with mind deforming things? Are they really that bad? I mean, I’ve seen them in the halls, but that’s about it.”
“They are newly mated. Words like ‘pump,’ ‘grind,’ ‘rub,’all very bad to use around newly mated couples, trios and so forth.
Especially when it involves Luhpynes, who are dirty minded on the best of days. They will share a look, that will lead to suggestions, and then you are racing out of the room as clothing is thrown willy-nilly about. Trust me, some things you just cannot ever un-see.”
“Oh goodness gracious.” That had Lilly laughing, though. “I will keep that in mind, but will that happen with us as well? I’m just asking so that I know what to look out for, is all.” So that she would know exactly what it was that she had in her future.
“Dunno, little mate, but we can ask. I don’t know if they know the Vhampire or Spiryte mating practices, but we will ask. Maybe we can get a sit-down with Thorin, Zhubin’s father,” he explained, the odd name now cropping up in the conversation. “He’s a Luhpyne Regent and therefore has more knowledge of such things. Plus, I haven’t seen him or Genette, his mate, in forever. Be good to see them and their other mates as well. Get their take on it all.”
“I think that sounds like a good idea. Do you know of any Vhampires or Spirytes that have mated who we could ask? Somehow figure out how all of this will work? I want to go into this with as much knowledge as humanly possible. I want to know all that there is to know about being a part of this trio, and I think that you guys want to know that as well, right?”
“As long as I know what to expect, that’s all I need to know. The rest, we will figure out together,” he said, turning onto another street. Minutes later, they were pulling into the parkade. After they’d parked, they both got out and headed for the elevators. “I’ll see if they’re around, Zhubin and cohorts. Maybe we can talk to them before we subject you to the pictures.”
“I think that would be best. I want to do that, so that I can hopefully retain the information even after seeing the photos. I think the only way that will work is if we talk to them first. And the bonus would be that it would hopefully relax me a bit more for looking at the images.” Something it was clear she was not looking forward to.