by Honor James
“We won’t leave you alone, promise,” Danel said, moving closer to her. Someone pulled up the blankets and they both wrapped her in their arms. “We would never leave you alone to face them, Briar. We love you too much and we grew up with these people. We know what they can be like.”
“I know that you wouldn’t. I’m just reminding you to please not leave me alone,” she said happily. “Besides, I know that the two of you will want to stick close just so you can ensure that your parents don’t give too many of your secrets away.”
“There is that factor as well,” Byrne said with a chuckle. “Gods, we should likely frisk them all before they come in the room, Danel.”
“What? Why?” he asked. Her thoughts as well.
“Dude, embarrassing baby pictures,” Byrne said.
“Oh.” Danel drew the word out. “Fuck, right, good plan.”
Briar was laughing her ass off. Shaking her head, she said, “Nope. Not happening. I mean it. If they have embarrassing baby pictures, I totally want to see them. More than likely they are oil paintings with as old as the two of you are.” She was teasing them and they knew it by the looks on their faces.
“Hey, that’s just rude.” Danel tickled her sides. Nibbling at her shoulder he hugged her close to him and shook his head. “They are photos, not oil paintings, woman. We’ve had that tech a lot longer than your world has. Just because your photography didn’t show up until the 1800s, doesn’t mean we weren’t snapping pictures back in the day.”
“I know.” She was giggling but then sighed and leaned into Danel. “We both know that I love to tease you. It always makes me so very happy. You are both just far too good to me.” And she loved it. “I don’t know what I’ve ever done to deserve you, but I’m glad that I have you and that makes me very happy.”
“We are not too good to you, Briar, so shush on that. We treat you like you should be treated, as a goddess. Our mate,” he said gently. “Close your eyes for an hour, love. Then we’ll need to get moving so we are not late. We do not need to give them a reason to go off on a rant on our asses. They already have more than enough ammunition to bury us under as it is.”
“Why is that?” Briar asked, but she had her eyes closed as she asked that question. “Why would your families be upset with you when we are going to come see them? I don’t understand. At all. So why in the world?” She didn’t know why anyone could be upset with her men.
“Because we never visit enough, because it took us so long to let them meet you,” Byrne muttered. He put his head on her belly and hugged her legs. “They tend to nag us about coming across all the time, but they don’t seem to understand we work here. They really need to get some fucking hobbies.”
Briar grinned and she shook her head. “And now they will add even more to it. When are you going to give them grandchildren and so on and on. Just make sure they know not for a good long while, please. I want to have my life with the two of you before we do anything about having children, please.”
“Will do. Now, are you going to sleep, darling, or should we get up and armor up?” he asked. Tipping his head, he grinned at her. “And I’m only partially kidding about armoring up. I fully plan on wearing a protective cup to this meeting.”
“Nope, I’m going to sleep,” she whispered with a smile. Yawning, she gave one last hug and one last smile and was very shortly sound asleep in her men’s arms.
* * * *
“Ready?” Danel asked.
“Not even a little. You?” Byrne asked in return.
“Never,” he muttered.
Both of them were holding onto one of her hands. Not to keep her from running, she realized, but to ground themselves. Her poor mates were girding their loins to face their mamas. If she wasn’t so worried about making a good impression she’d be pissing herself laughing.
“All right, let’s do this before I call in a bomb threat or something to get us out of this,” Byrne said. He took a step forward and pulled her along which, in turn, meant she was pulling Danel along.
Briar looked at the building and stopped. “We will be fine,” she said and smiled at both of them. “It’s very generous of them to come to this side because of me.” It was very kind actually. She just simply didn’t think she would ever be able to go to that side of the Veil, not now and not ever.
Squeezing her hand, Danel stepped forward and opened the door. “Here we go,” he said softly.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,” Byrne muttered under his breath. “Save my mother, damn scary woman.”
Danel snorted out a laugh but quickly rearranged his expression as a group, a large group, stood up and looked expectantly toward them.
Briar was laughing, until the large group began to descend upon them. She pulled back and settled in behind Danel. She squeezed his hand tightly. “I’m not sure if I can do this,” she whispered but didn’t run. She instead leaned upon Danel, taking strength from him as she did so.
“It’ll be okay, babe,” he said softly. Rubbing his thumb over her fingers, he leaned in and kissed a slightly older woman. “Hi, Mama, how are you?”
She saw Byrne hugging a few men and leaning over to kiss a tiny woman, his mother she assumed. She also got to watch as his mama scolded him in a hushed tone.
“Is she all right, baby?” the woman before Danel said, pulling Briar’s attention back to her.
“She’s okay, just not ready to face everyone at once, Mama. Can you, you know?” he said.
“Of course, dear.” She smiled up at her son. Then she turned and shooed everyone off, including Byrne’s male family members, leaving just the two women there. “Better?” she asked as she turned back around.
“Much. Thanks, Mama,” he said softly. Then he tugged his mother’s hand gently. “No hugging, Mama. She’s not as touchy-feely as our people, so hold back the urge to smother her will you please.”
“I do not smother.” She snorted, her tone haughty. “And I would never hug anyone that didn’t want it,” she added on a grumble.
Briar smiled. She instantly liked this woman. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She held her hand out to the woman. “He is, however, correct. I’m not big on being touchy-feely except with Byrne and Danel. I’m sorry if that offends you.” She didn’t want to touch anyone, just her mates.
“It doesn’t. And since he’s not providing introductions”—she smacked Danel’s gut with the back of her hand—“I’m Dinna.” She shook Briar’s hand. “And this is Byrne’s mother, Martinetta. We’re so happy to meet you, Briar. We’ve heard a lot about you and are ever so pleased this day has come. Not just so these two would stop moping around, but because we’ve so desperately needed another female in the group. Too many damned males,” she muttered.
Briar grinned. “Very nice to meet both of you.” She did, however, blush and duck her head. “I’m so sorry that I kept them at such an arm’s length for so long. I just wasn’t ready for them until now. Now I think I am ready to begin my life with them. I hope that I am, at least.”
“Why were you keeping them so far away?” Martinetta asked quietly. She moved closer and lightly touched Briar’s arm. “Come, sit and have tea with us. Tell us what you wish or tell us nothing, but we would like to get to know you more, if you are willing, little one.”
“Something very bad happened,” she said softly and allowed the woman to lead her to a table. It felt weird, but Briar felt the words tumbling from her mouth, telling Martinetta everything that happened to her and why she pushed her mates to the side for as long as she did. When she finished speaking she felt worn out and weak and realized she had been crying. She lifted a Kleenex that someone had given her and wiped at her eyes. Leaning back, she shook her head and waited for the mothers of her mates to tell her that she wasn’t worthy.
Martinetta stroked her hair gently while Danel’s mother, Dinna, squeezed her fingers gently, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles. “You are a very brave woman,
Briar,” Martinetta told her quietly. “Not only for overcoming such a thing happening to you but in taking on your mates. And I am all the prouder of these boys for letting you have the time to heal.”
Briar nodded and took in a deep breath. “They’ve taught me to live again,” she whispered with a watery smile. “They are the most amazing of men. I couldn’t be happier that they are mine. I’m just glad that they thought I was worth the wait.”
“They were right, you were worth it, Briar,” Dinna said softly. “Now, let’s have some tea and talk about things. We brought images of these two brats with us to show you that, no matter what they may claim, they were always hell bent on driving their parents around the bend. The fact I’m not fully white or locked up in something akin to one of your mental institutions, well, it’s a bloody miracle.”
“Mama!” Danel protested. “You promised not to bring any images with you!”
“I told you we should have patted them down before we let them meet, Briar,” Byrne grumbled.
Briar just smiled and looked lovingly over to her mates. She was happy. She deserved it, too, dammit. After all of the bad that she had gone through, she knew she deserved the happiness they gave her. “Just look at it this way, boys. One day you will be able to do the same if we ever have children,” she teased.
“No, they’ll be dragging out the images to tell our children what not to do. And what the consequences are should they do it,” Byrne said. Grabbing a chair, he swung it around and straddled it, edging close to her so he could press a kiss to her shoulder. “These are not two women you want anywhere near our poor, innocent little babies when they come into this world, many years into the future.”
“That’s the key right there. Many years in the future. I have to house-train the two of you before we do anything at all with babies.” Heavens only knew that she was seriously not even close to being ready to have a child. At all. In the least.
They both shot her horrified looks. “House-train?” Danel sputtered. “I’ll damn well have you know we were ‘house-trained’ long before we ever moved out of our parents’ homes.”
“That is true.” Martinetta nodded. “It felt wrong to unleash Byrne on the world without at least curbing a few of his wilder tendencies. That and teaching him how to cook and clean up after himself. No woman ever needs to be stuck being a maid for her mate.”
“Gee, thanks, Mom,” Byrne muttered.
Briar just grinned and leaned against Byrne. “Don’t worry, sweets, I promise to make it all up to you later. Cross my heart,” she teased him happily. “And yes, I did say house-trained, but you do cook rather well, so that is a definite plus. Now if only I could get you to warm the bed for me before I climb in.” She began to laugh at that. They all knew that when she climbed into bed it was typically on top of one or the other of them.
He rolled his eyes at her and tapped the end of her nose. “Be careful what you wish for, Briar,” he said softly. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and smiled. “I love you, sweetheart. You doing okay?” he asked, drawing back a little to look in her eyes.
“Surprisingly, I am.” Which was odd, but she was doing well. Even with the boisterous parents all around, she was doing fairly well. “I wish for you to kiss me, will that happen?” Briar turned her face up to Byrne and looked at him, waiting and expecting for him to do just that.
“Probably shouldn’t in front of my mom,” he said, tipping his head toward Martinetta a little. “But what the hell.” He grinned. Cupping her face, he kissed her gently. Sliding his tongue in when she opened for him and doing very naughty things that his mother wouldn’t notice. Hopefully.
When he pulled, back Briar was more than a little breathless. “You are very, very good at that,” she whispered and brushed her thumb against his lips with a gentle smile. “We are good together. You are darn tootin’ lucky to have me.” She was teasing him and he knew it.
“Damned straight I am,” he said, his voice serious. Brushing a quick kiss to her lips, he shifted in his seat and wrapped a loose arm around her shoulders. And then he grinned at everyone that was watching them. Danel was the only one snickering and trying to hide it. Martinetta looked mildly embarrassed while Dinna seemed unsure whether to be amused or upset by the display.
Briar looked at them all and surprised her mates by saying, “With as long as I held off on having true and real happiness I refuse to give up one single moment more of it. If I have a desire to have a kiss from my mates, then I will have a kiss from them. I will keep the non-PG stuff to the bedroom or our home, but kissing and hugging, you better believe I will show that out in public.”
“Good girl,” Byrne said. Squeezing her closer, he brushed a kiss to her cheek. “I think we should go home soon for some non-PG stuff,” he whispered, just for her ears.
Both the mothers cleared their throats. “So, Briar, tell us a little more about you. Please,” Dinna asked.
Briar looked at the women and knew that she likely just lost any hope of having a semi-decent relationship with her in-laws, but she didn’t care. Honestly, if they couldn’t handle the fact that she was going to be touchy-feely with their sons, then they would have to set up times to see them without her around. “I’m the medical examiner for the AEDA. Right now I’m on leave of absence because someone decided to blow my lab up for some reason, and honestly, I needed the time off to be with my mates. I’ve no family and very few friends, but the ones I do have are ones that would go to the wall for me as I would for them. I’m honestly a very boring person.”
“Hardly boring, that sounds like a very exciting career you have,” Martinetta said softly. “And don’t mind her, Dinna’s horny,” she muttered.
“Mom!” Byrne said in a loud voice.
“Oh, be quiet, dear. Really. How do you think you got here, hmm?” she asked.
“Immaculate conception of course,” he said, perfectly straight faced.
Snorting, Martinetta shook her head and looked to Briar before rolling her eyes. “Sure, dear, you just hold onto that delusion as long as you can.”
Briar laughed and shook her head. “Oh lordy, you are far too funny.” She looked to Dinna and smiled. “I understand completely. I really and truly do. Believe me, it’s something that is crawling through me as well.” She couldn’t help it. She was damn horny. To Martinetta, she grinned. “Well, for the most part, honestly, my job is very boring. I’m typically not bombed or shot at. Promise.”
“That’s good. A mate should be kept safe at all times,” Dinna said. “From what little Danel decided to share with me and then what I pulled out of his fathers, I hear they did well in keeping you safe. Though I heard there was something after the bombing? My mates are resisting telling me because it’s not an officially closed case yet, and apparently, my son told them not to tell me. Ever. Can you believe the nerve of the boy?”
“There’s still paperwork being filed, Mom, and it’s Briar’s story to tell if she wants to, not mine or any of my fathers’ to share,” Danel said.
Briar began to toy with the napkin, and finally she whispered to the people before her. “The man who attacked me, the one who drove the wedge between myself and my mates.” She swallowed, hard. “He attacked us,” she whispered. “In our home. He attacked us, and I removed him from the world.” Her hand was shaking and tears dripped, but she didn’t look up, she didn’t raise her voice. She simply gave the words slowly and calmly, belying what she was actually feeling inside.
Byrne hugged her closer, and she felt Danel move to her other side, his hand coming to rest on her hair which he gently stroked. “That is terrible for you to have to go through,” Dinna said softly. “I didn’t mean to pry, Briar. Forgive me for being so nosy,” she whispered, squeezing Briar’s hand as she took it in hers.
Briar nodded and took in a deep breath. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But at least I know now that he will never again hurt me or any other being on the face of this or any other planet. He’s gone forever now.
”
“Good for you,” Martinetta said. “Of course, I’d have gutted him first and made him suffer for a while. But that’s just me,” she said with a shrug.
“Mom, you really shouldn’t be admitting such things around us,” Byrne said, chuckling under his breath.
“Yes, she should.” Briar smiled and nodded. “Believe me, if I could have I would have, but I’m not stupid. I know that I wouldn’t have stood a chance against a Luhpyne in full rage, and that’s what he was. So I picked up the gun and fired until every bullet in the chamber was gone.” And then some. It took her mates to pull her out of the state she had fallen into.
“Drilled every shot into his heart and surrounding area,” Danel commented quietly. “Right on target.”
“At least she didn’t shoot him in the groin like she’d been practicing on the range,” Byrne pointed out. Both their mothers’ eyes went huge at that. “You should have seen her targets, Mom, brutal, absolutely brutal.”
Briar shrugged. “That was working out aggression. He was hurting you so I only wanted to kill him. I needed to simply kill him and that was what I focused on. It was pure and complete adrenaline, nothing more.”
“Well, you definitely killed him,” he said softly. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he nuzzled at her skin. “Saved our hides. So damned brave, Briar,” he whispered. Squeezing her close, he sat up a little in his chair. “We should get you home, love. You’ve had a roller coaster of emotions the last while and you look tired. I also have to pop into the office briefly, so we need to get moving so I can do that and then get you home to bed.”
“I think that sounds good.” Briar took in a deep breath and nodded. “I don’t think I want to go into the office though. Can you just run in and run out please? That way you can use the excuse that you want to get me back home?” That way they could go back to the peace of their country home.
“Absolutely,” he said with a smile. Getting to his feet, he hugged his mother and then Danel’s. Danel hugged his mother and then Martinetta. They took Briar’s hands and led her back outside to the SUV.