by Honor James
Snorting, he nodded. “Likely the best approach. Though, with you, you could tell him to do something and actually get away with it. He loves and adores you, me he tolerates on bad days and respects the rest of the time. Apparently some ancestor of the Luhpyne race ate one of his ancestors. They are still holding a grudge.”
“Oh dear heavens.” Briar shook her head at that. “Well, I happen to love and adore him as well and wish that he would get his happy butt home. I would very much like to feel the two of you holding me close. That would make my night.”
“He should be here any time now,” Byrne told her quietly. “Unless he got pulled onto that case they’ve been trying to tie up. No, I don’t know which one. I’ve just heard various mutterings for the last while about it. They keep losing witnesses right before they go to question them. Let’s just say the captain isn’t happy about it and wants the case closed, last week.”
“Ah, gotcha.” She hated that, too. “Well, it’s one thing that I don’t do, deal with cases. I am pretty much just the medical staff for everyone and the ME when you need me.” Which seemed to be all the time now. It was fine though. She loved what she did and would continue to do it.
“Which is all too often these days,” he muttered, an echo of her own thoughts. “You are very good at what you do, Briar. I love that about you, so efficient and you take no crap from anyone.” She felt him move slightly. “Close your eyes and rest, sweetheart. You need to sleep.”
Briar did close her eyes. A smile on her lips and a sigh in her voice. “Thank you for being here for me. For being part of my life. For giving me time.” And time was something she had needed. When she had initially met Byrne and Danel if anyone had told her she would be ready for a life with them she would have shot them, literally, but now she was and knew it. She wanted that happily ever after.
“I will always do anything for you, Briar. No matter what the cost might be to me personally. All you ever have to do is ask, sweetheart.” She felt him kiss her forehead lightly, and then the weight of a blanket fell over her body. “Sleep,” he said gently, once again rubbing her back in slow and calming motions.
She felt herself relaxing completely, her body resting against his even as she yawned. “I will ask, but that goes for you, too,” she whispered sleepily. “Please? If there is anything that you want from me please tell me.” And without another moment she was sound asleep in his arms.
Chapter Seven
“Huh, I don’t think she’s awake.” Danel’s voice reached her.
“Not quite, she’s getting there though. Maybe once we pour some coffee into her she’ll actually open her eyes and look at us.”
Comedians, they were both bloody comedians. So she didn’t have her eyes open. She was up. She was even sitting at the table with Danel while Byrne made breakfast. Apparently it was his week to cook, thus why Danel was sitting next to her and commenting on her alertness and such.
“Keep on poking the sleeping bear and I swear I’m going to bite you.” So Briar wasn’t a morning person. So sue her. “But coffee would be good. Very good. Straight black please so that I can get my caffeine jolt as quickly as possible so I can be somewhat human again,” she muttered.
A laugh next to her startled her a little. “Here.” Byrne pressed a cup into her hand. “It’s strong and black, drink up. And you are not a morning person, but we can live with that as long as you can live with two people who are.”
“Only as long as you don’t mind me being all grumbly until I get my caffeine,” she mumbled and took her first drink of the amazing brew with an appreciative sigh. “Oh this is so very, very good.” She licked her lips and opened her eyes a little. “You make one heck of a cup of coffee. I think I might just keep you.”
That earned her a snort and a kiss on the top of her head. “Funny girl,” he muttered before moving away from her.
“You may be as grumbly and grumpy as you wish whenever you wish. But fully expect us to do everything and anything to change your mood,” Danel said. “We much prefer to see you smiling and happy, Briar.”
“Oh I like how that sounds.” Briar turned to Danel and smiled. “So what would you do to make me smile?” Her face went serious again. “How could you make me smile if I woke and was all grumpy and grumbly and ready to take someone’s head off?”
He had a perfectly serious expression as he leaned in. “I would show you the picture of Byrne in a leotard with a tiara on his head. It’s all pink as well and the tiara says princess in fake diamonds.”
“Hey!” the Luhpyne in question spun around. “That was doctored damn it. It’s fake, a fraud, completely and totally a lie.”
Briar, however, began to grin, widely. “I would much rather see it in person. To see Byrne in nothing but a leotard. One that is easily torn,” she said and then blushed. “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from.”
Both men were staring at her, Byrne in horror and Danel with amusement, as her cheeks only got hotter. “I cannot believe you said that,” both said in near synchronization. Danel was, of course, laughing and only getting louder. But poor Byrne sounded absolutely disgusted with her and even stuck his tongue out in her direction.
“I know, I can’t believe I said it either. I’m so sorry, Byrne,” she whispered. “Can you forgive me?” Her cheeks were getting redder and redder with each moment she spoke. “I just.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why I did, but somehow the thought of you in a leotard is pretty awesome.”
Danel was laughing so hard now that all she could hear was a wheeze of air in and a near hyena sound on the exhale. Byrne shot him a nasty, killing look. Sighing, he moved to her chair and leaned over. “I would forgive you anything, Briar. But I am never, ever dressing up in a leotard.”
Turning her face up to look at him, Briar licked her lips and smiled. “Will you kiss me then?” She wanted to know, needed to know. “I really think that you should kiss me. I know that it would make me all kinds of happy, and I think you need it as well.” She found herself addicted to his kisses.
Byrne pursed his lips and looked to be thinking much too hard. “Since you are so damned adorable I will, but no leotards.” Dipping his head down, he kissed her gently. He took his time to kiss her, to scramble her brains and make everything turn into a hazy mist of pure need.
She kissed him back, her hands fisting in his shirt, and she whimpered when he pulled back. “No leotards.” She licked her lips and grinned. “You might be able to talk me into one, one day. If you are very, very lucky.”
“Why?” he asked, tipping his head. “I would much rather just discuss you running around naked than in something that should never be on your marvelous body hiding it from sight. That just doesn’t seem logical at all. Your thinking is just slightly flawed, darling.”
She went quiet then. She hadn’t thought of being naked with them. Suddenly the past rushed up and kicked her in the teeth. She pulled back and whispered, “I don’t know if the two of you have seen the images after the attack or not, but one thing that I am not is beautiful. My body is…” She shivered, her hands rubbing up and down her arms and sadness swamping her, pausing before completing her thought. “I have scars. Even with the tech they used from the other side I still scarred. They can only surmise that it’s because of an enzyme he used. He wanted me to scar. He wanted me to see them every day and know that he did that to me. He wanted me to never feel comfortable in my own skin again.”
“Hey.” Danel reached over and took her hand in his. Byrne wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “You are beautiful, inside and out. What he did to you has no bearing on that, Briar. He cannot take away the light that shines through you and gives you the beauty you have. He may have dimmed it briefly with his actions, but it is strong once more. We all have scars, Briar, some on the outside, some on the inside. Only the lucky have them on the outside, but the strong have them within and still live life to the fullest.”
Never before had she heard a
nything so beautiful. She sniffed and nodded. “How do you always seem to know what I need?” She whispered her question against his shoulder. “How do you know just what to say to make it better once more?” She wiped her eyes and pulled back to look at them. “Thank you,” she said once more. “For helping calm and center me again. It means more to me than you know.”
“I’d tell you something equally profound and intelligent sounding,” he said, cupping her cheek. “But the reality is I’m making this shit up as I go along.” Leaning in, Danel kissed her gently before drawing back to rub his thumb to her cheek. “It all comes from the heart and is the truth, Briar. There’s nothing more pure and honest than speaking from the heart when it comes to our mate.”
That had her smiling and she nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For being so patient. For giving me time. For not pressing as so many likely would have.” She was sure that any human male would never have waited for her, and honestly she wasn’t so sure that any other besides her two males would have waited for her from the other side of the Veil.
“They don’t know you like we do. You needed time and it was something we could give you. Yes, it cost us a bit but we would gladly do it again, tenfold just to have you here, now.” Danel squeezed her hand and sat back in his seat.
“He’s right,” Byrne told her, loosening his hold on her to step back a little. “You’re our mate and too damn special to be rushed into something you weren’t ready for. Nothing would be gained from pushing you and everything would be lost.”
Briar could only nod. She smiled because she was so very, very happy. “I am happy that you waited for me. That you were able to give me as much as you did. Thank you for it. Thank you for waiting for me. No more waiting though. We are in this life now together forever, right?”
“Absolutely.” He nodded. Leaning over, he kissed her gently. “Drink your coffee. Food’s coming but not for a little longer, so drink.” With a wink, he went back into the kitchen while Danel squeezed her fingers and sat next to her.
She all but melted in reaction to the kiss. Good heavens these men could do that to her that quickly. She loved that about them.
Finally Briar pulled back and she smiled. “You boys make me forget everything. The two of you seriously make me all melty inside, and that is not something that I am used to, at all. It makes me happy by the way, that you do that.”
“Good,” Danel said quietly. “You need to feel good inside and out. You deserve to feel nothing but Briar. Too long you’ve had to live otherwise, but with us, we only want you to feel the love we have for you. To know that we cherish you and will always, no matter what, put you and your needs above our own.”
That had her smiling and she nodded. “I cherish and adore you as well. I think that I always have and honestly I likely always will. You both make me feel good. Feel whole again.” Which was huge for her. Massive actually. “Now, what is it that we were going to do? I swear I forgot everything with those kisses,” she teased, something else that was coming back to her.
A plate came to rest before her with pancakes, a fruit cup, bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs. “Anything you don’t want, don’t eat. You were a little too snarly to ask what you wanted for breakfast when we got up this morning,” Byrne said with a smirk. He poured her more coffee and handed her the syrup. “We’ll figure it all out, Briar. For now though, eat up and get some more caffeine into your system.”
“Yes, caffeine and I need each other.” A smile quirked her lips as she added, “Maybe from now on you should just bring me coffee to bed and then kiss me so I forget everything else?” She was bad and knew it.
Both of them just looked at her. Sharing a look long moments later, she caught Danel rolling his eyes and hiding a grin behind his own cup. She’d missed something, some guy code or who knew what. But that was fine, one of them would eventually tell her later.
Byrne came back with two more plates, heavy on the meat on his, more fruit on Danel’s. Sitting down, he looked at her plate. “Eat, woman. You’re too damn thin and shouldn’t be skipping out on any meals.”
She snorted. “I’m not too damn thin, thank you very freaking much.” She was perfectly happy with her size. She would never be model thin but that was fine. She was just happy being her average-sized self. She did, however, begin to eat. As she ate she sighed. “Oh this is good.” Her pancakes were very good, not too thick, not too airy, but perfect. Just as she liked them.
“You are too thin, you don’t realize just how much weight you’ve lost and kept off these last years,” Danel said. “Those of us who watch you each and every day definitely noticed. We were worried, but you seemed to bounce back a little so we kept quiet.”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize I had lost a lot of weight,” she admitted to them. “I will do what I can to regain to a healthy range, whatever you guys think might be healthy. According to the doctors I’m about ten pounds overweight for my height. Short girl here, and evidently I’m supposed to be all bones or whatever.” She rolled her eyes simply because she could.
“You are not short, by human standards,” Byrne said. “But you could do with a little more weight. Your doctors are idiots. They are going by standards that are still influenced by your Hollywood. A little more weight so that you have a nice healthy look about you. Not so much that you don’t like yourself and really, it’s just our opinion, so if you don’t want to you don’t have to.”
“No, I want to be able to get back to myself. I want to be me. I need to be me again. If you tell me that I have lost weight then I trust you. I want to be healthy. I want to go back to myself as well. I’m tired of not being me. No more. Now I’m just simply me,” she told him honestly.
“Good.” He nodded. Reaching out, he touched her cheek lightly. “I just don’t want you to ever take anything I say the wrong way. I will always be blunt and say what I mean and mean what I say. I happened to love the way you were before but it is your body and therefore your choice. You need to be comfortable inside your own skin.”
“Thank you for being blunt. That’s what I want and that’s what I will give in return. I will always tell you what I’m thinking when I think it. That’s how I want to have our relationship, for all three of us. I need for us to have an open and honest relationship please.”
“You’ve always been blunt, Briar,” Danel said, lifting up a glass of juice to take a sip. “And we appreciate it,” he added with a smile. “Eat your breakfast and drink more caffeine. We have to get to work at some point today do not forget.”
“Crap,” she muttered. “I hate having to have to think about going back in there but you are right. We need to work. We need to get our happy selves in there so we can deal with all this crap.” She never hated her job before this one moment. Damn if she didn’t want to stay with these men right now.
“We have our entire lives before us, Doc. No need to rush into anything yet. Besides, you should at least live here for a few days so you can observe us in our natural habitat.” Danel smiled for her, something he just didn’t usually do, and she knew it was specifically for her.
She laughed. “Oh God, is it that bad?” she asked with a frown. “Are you two slobs or something? Please tell me that you don’t toss your dirty clothes on the floor? If so, we will have words and they won’t be nice ones.” That was her job. Sadly, Briar had a very bad habit of missing the hamper.
“You’ve seen my room,” Byrne said, shaking his head at her. “I don’t think he’s referring to the occasional sock that makes a break for it over the wall. I think he might be referencing the fact that we’re pretty much bachelors, and that it might be a little tricky for us to get along for the first while. I’m still not used to living with him and I’ve been in the same housing since—” He stopped. Clearing his throat, he shrugged. “Not going there.”
“Okay. So where will we live? Where can we all live? Sorry but my place is über tiny and you boys just wouldn’t fit,” she told them honestly. “And I refuse t
o live in separate homes, so we need to figure this out if you wouldn’t mind.”
“We can live here,” Danel said. “Or, if you don’t like it, we can find a new place. We have the house outside of the city, but it’s a very long commute so we don’t tend to stay there when we are working on cases.”
Briar shrugged and said, “I honestly don’t care where we live. It’s all in your boy’s hands,” she said with a grin. “I really think that the two of you need to work out where we are going to live because it affects your lives far more than it does mine.”
“How precisely does it affect us more than you?” he asked curiously, his head tipped to the side slightly. “I hate to typecast or anything of the sort, but women tend to have a lot more stuff than any man I know, no matter the species.”
“Then you don’t know me. I’m a minimalist. I don’t like being surrounded by things. I would rather just get out and live life. It would affect you because you would have to live together. I don’t know how that would work with two men living together, sharing a home, sharing a woman.” She didn’t know how these kinds of relationships worked, but she was willing to learn. Hell yeah!
“We already live together, Briar. We have since we started with the AEDA and even before the Veil fell. We were in the same unit who came across to put an end to the fighting here. We’ve known one another for a very long time,” Byrne said. “This is our home.” He waved a hand. “And we have a second one away from the city because sometimes you need to get away. But, again, it’s ours. Co-owned and everything.”
“Really?” she asked with a grin. “I didn’t know that. Well, then see?” She shrugged. “Life will be good then won’t it? I think that this is a beautiful home. I don’t have a lot of things, as you may well know. I have a few old medical books, but those were passed to me from my great-grandfather, and I wouldn’t want to part with them even though most everything is now on data pads. So other than that and my clothes, I’m good.”