That growl succeeded in making Bristol release him. "Who are you?"
"The lucky bastard who happens to be your brother's boyfriend. And I'll make sure he calls you before he sticks his dick in my ass later. Now goodnight." Maris stepped around him and went to his airbike that was parked a few feet away. As he pulled his helmet on, he glanced back to see Bristol still eye-balling him.
Whatever.
Every family had its asshole. And in Maris's case, his had a solid dozen. Putting it out of his mind, he headed for the hospital.
*
Ture checked the clock as his anxiety worsened. Maris should have been here already...
What if something happened to him?
Unable to breathe for the panic, he pulled his link out to call.
"Where's Ana?"
Relief tore through him as he heard that deep, glorious accent. Turning, he threw himself into Maris's arms. "What took you so long? You had me worried."
"Sorry. Your brother showed up while I was leaving."
"You didn't give him your name, did you?"
Maris shook his head. "You told me not to." He held the restaurant's security card out to Ture.
"Keep it."
"You sure?"
Ture nodded. "And to answer your question, Ana's doctor threw me out until I could, and I quote, get a hold of myself."
Maris gave him an adorable smile. "Sounds about right. Want to try again?"
"Sure."
Maris offered him his arm. Ture tucked his hand into his elbow and led him to Anachelle's room. She lay in the bed, chewing crushed ice while a nurse checked her vitals.
The nurse arched her brow at Ture. "Are you calm now?"
Ture rolled his eyes. "Yes, my sanity just arrived."
Her gaze practically licked Maris from head to foot. Dressed in his all black protective biker gear, he was exquisite. Especially since he'd grown his whiskers into a sexy well-trimmed beard. A slow smile spread across her face. "I hate to ask this cutie, but are you family?"
"He's the baby's father," Anachelle answered before Maris had a chance to speak.
Maris arched a brow, but didn't contradict her. After all, they'd been teasing him about acting like an expectant father for weeks now.
"Oh good," the nurse said, holding her hand out to Mari. "I'm Aundrea and I'm the nurse assigned for the delivery. I was just telling your..."
"Girlfriend," Anachelle supplied.
"Girlfriend that she's at three centimeters, so we should have a little time. But we shouldn't assume anything. I'm going to let the doctor know you're here, and will be right back." She left them.
Maris frowned at Anachelle. "Boyfriend?"
She shrugged. "I'd already told them that Ture was my brother so that he could stay with me while we waited for you, and I didn't want to chance them thinking you two were incestuous or something."
"Great," Maris breathed. "So instead of being your creepy incestuous brother, I'm your scuzzy boyfriend who's snaking on you with your brother. Lovely. Just the label I was looking for." He moved to kiss her on her cheek. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"
"It's a little painful. I won't lie. But manageable for the moment. I'm glad you two are here. In spite of what they think, you and Ture are all the family I have. Thank you both for taking care of me." Tears filled her eyes then ran down her cheeks.
Maris hugged her close. "Oh, honey. We love you. We're always here for you, you know that."
Ture held her hand. "Don't you worry about anything, except that little boy."
Sniffing back her tears, she nodded.
*
Hours later, Maris left the delivery room to find Ture asleep on a waiting room couch. Since Ana had pegged him as the baby's father and Ture as her brother, the doctor had allowed Maris to stay and forced Ture out once serious labor began.
Shaken by it all, he knelt beside the couch and touched Ture's arm.
Ture woke up with a jerk then frowned. "Is something wrong, baby?"
"I am so glad I'm not a woman." He let out a ragged breath. "That...was terrifying. I'm thinking we'd better lock Darling up whenever Zarya goes into labor. It's going to get ugly."
Ture cupped his cheek. "How is she and the baby?"
"She's fine and sleeping. The boy... It was amazing, Ture. I wish you'd been there. One minute, Ana was calling out for every set of male testicles in the universe to be cut off, and the next...this tiny little person was in the doctor's hands. He gave the baby to me while they cut the cord, and I stared into these dark eyes that stared back at me. He's so tiny and perfect. Beautiful. You want to see him?"
"Absolutely." Ture sat up. "How are you doing?"
"Good, but exhausted." Maris yawned then put his arm around Ture's shoulders as he led him toward the nursery. "I'd give anything if you could carry me home."
"Oh, baby, I wish."
Maris stopped in front of a large window and waved at one of the attending nurses. She smiled brightly then moved to pick up one of the blue-swaddled babies. She brought him closer for Ture to see.
Tears misted in his eyes. "Oh, Mari, he is beautiful."
"I know, right?"
"What did she name him?"
"Terek Andros . . . Sulle."
Ture quirked an eyebrow at that.
Grinning sheepishly, Maris shrugged. "They think I'm the father, and she had to list the father's name for his registration. At least this way his real father can't come in and use him against her later. They'll never have a record of his real name anywhere."
That was very true. "So do you have to pay child support?"
He laughed. "No. I'm going to sign away custody as soon as she can get the paperwork drawn up."
Turning back toward the baby, Ture smiled. "Hey, little Terek," he said, even though the baby couldn't hear him. Then he waved at the baby.
It was the most adorable thing Maris had ever seen. He yawned again.
Ture frowned. "I need to get you to bed."
Maris's eyes widened in acute interest as his body perked up instantly. "That's my boy."
Laughing, Ture shook his head. "Is that all you think about?"
"Of course not. Food . . . which you also give me. Damn, Tur, I think you're the perfect man."
They both froze as Maris realized what he'd said. It was the closest thing to an avowal of love that he'd made. Terror filled him.
"Relax, honey. I know you're tired and I'm not making anything big out of it." Ture walked him toward the door. "Let me get you home and tucked in."
Maris followed Ture to his transport then headed for his airbike. This was the only part of his Phrixian past that he'd really hung on to. He could still remember the stunned look on Darling's face the first time he'd seen Maris riding one.
"It's so not you."
Maris smiled as he strapped his helmet on. Darling was right. He didn't normally go for things that messed up his hair or clothes. But he loved the freedom of it. The sensation of flying through the air at over two hundred miles an hour... There was nothing like that kind of freedom.
Ture hated that he drove one. He thought it was dangerous. But then so was breathing.
Maris checked his mirrors. He narrowed his eyes as he saw someone just outside the hospital, watching him. Was it attraction or nefarious?
From this distance, he couldn't tell. Still, he called it in to the Sentella so that they could set up a guard for Anachelle and the baby.
Better safe than sorry.
And as he headed back to Ture's, a new fear gripped him. Unlike Darling and the very small group of Maris's friends, Ture wasn't military trained. He was purely civ.
Defenseless.
If the League or a bounty hunter went after Ture, there was nothing he could do to protect himself.
Suddenly terrified, Maris gunned the engine and made the building in record time. He parked and locked it down fast, then ran inside.
Holding his breath, he tried not to panic. But he couldn't help it.
"Ture?" He scanned the apartment.
There was no sign of him.
Even more frantic, he went through the rooms. He'd just cleared the bathroom when he heard someone out front. His heart racing, he ran down the hallway to find Ture locking the door.
Ture had barely turned around when someone seized him and shoved him back against the wall. Not painfully, but the unexpected act startled him. He started to panic until the wonderful scent of Maris's skin and cologne hit him. When he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, Maris claimed his lips with a kiss so hot that it made his head reel. Maris held him with a desperation that was as concerning as it was incredible.
When Maris finally pulled back, he laid his head on Ture's shoulder and still kept him locked in his arms. He could feel the fierce, hard beating of Maris's heart against his chest.
"Baby? What's wrong?"
Maris drew a ragged breath. "I'm just tired. I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry."
"It's all right. I don't mind when you go all military on me. So long as you don't hurt me, I'm good with it."
He lifted his head to pierce him with a sincere stare. "I would never hurt you."
Extremely worried now, Ture nodded. "I know." He brushed his fingers against the beard he'd talked Maris into growing. He'd never cared for them in the past, but Maris made it look sexier than hell. "I really do love you, Mari. Insanity and all."
Maris wanted to return those words with every part of himself. But he couldn't. Especially not tonight. To say that back would dare fate to hurt Ture. To rip him out of Maris's life.
Instead, he finally stepped away so that Ture could enter his apartment. Still he couldn't shake the bad feeling in his gut. Something was wrong. Every instinct he had was on high alert.
Shrugging his jacket off, he laid it over the chair where he usually kept it.
"You know, Mari... I've been thinking."
His gut knotted with dread. Here it comes . . . Get out. He knew it was too good to last. "Yeah?"
Ture hedged, which twisted Maris's stomach into a painful knot. "I . . . um . . . would you . . . " He let out a hard breath. "Okay, I'm just going to say it. I can do this. Really . . . Would you like to move in with me? I mean, you're already here most of the time, anyway. Right?"
Maris went weak at the offer as joy ripped through him. "I'd love to."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
Ture bit his lip as happiness filled him. He'd been wanting to ask Maris to move in, but had been too afraid to since Maris was so reluctant to say he loved him. Not that he had to. It showed in everything Maris did. Big and little. Such as taking over the paperwork so that Ture could focus on prepping the kitchen and leave a little earlier to come home. Stepping in with a willing pair of hands whenever Ture or his staff needed help. Going into the fridge for him so that he wouldn't get chilled. Letting him go first in the shower every morning so that he never had to take a lukewarm or cold bath. A million thoughtful things that came together to make Maris the sweetest, hottest lover anyone could ask for. And while Mari wasn't perfect, he tried. That more than anything meant the universe to him.
He pressed his cheek to Maris's. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being you, sweetie."
Maris frowned as Ture left him and headed for the bedroom. "I do love you," he whispered. But every time he tried to say it out loud, he choked on the words.
Just once in his life, he wanted everything to work out. Nothing would make him happier than to relive the last few weeks over and over again, until he died from pure joy overload. He didn't want any of it to change.
Ever.
But nothing ever lasted.
Not the bad.
And especially not the good.
CHAPTER 9
Maris paused as someone knocked on his bedroom door. "Come in."
Darling opened it and entered the room with a frown. "I just heard that you'd returned and. . . ." His scowl deepened as he saw the bags Maris was packing. Because of his reluctance to tempt fate, Maris had spent the last two weeks moving his things over to Ture's apartment. He was hoping if he went slow enough, bad luck wouldn't take notice of him and slap him down for daring to be happy with someone else.
"You're leaving?"
Maris duplicated his scowl as he caught the hurt note in Darling's voice. "You're not jealous, are you?"
"Honestly? A little, yeah. I miss having you around, bud. I haven't seen you in weeks."
Maris tucked his shirts into his bag then closed the distance between them. He pulled Darling into his arms and gave him a light hug. "You know you're my first love."
Darling tightened his grip before he released him. "I'm not used to sharing you like this. I don't like it, Mari."
"So you do love me?" he teased.
"You know I do."
But not romantically. Darling's heart and soul would always belong to Zarya first and Maris was good with that. And now that he had Ture, he understood it better than he ever had before.
Darling swallowed hard. "Through thick and thin, brothers to the bitter end, right?"
Maris gave him a sincere stare. "Always. You need me, night or day, you know I'm here for you. Ture says he accepts that and is good with it." The gods knew, Ture had already proven it. He had yet to say anything nasty about how often Maris vanished whenever Darling beckoned.
"You really care about him, don't you?"
Maris hesitated. What he felt was so complicated. He seriously enjoyed hanging out in the restaurant with Ture and his staff. Stealing kisses in the corners when no one was looking. It didn't bother him at all that they spent sixteen to twenty hours a day there.
He even enjoyed helping Ana tend Terek in the middle of the night. Watching the baby during the day so that she could rest. It was the first time in his life that he really felt like he was home. That he was part of a family that accepted everything about him. Even his early morning crankiness.
When he'd first moved into the Caronese Winter Palace as an ambassador, Darling's uncle had made him feel like a venereal disease in a whorehouse. Arturo had gone out of his way to verbally attack him and Darling.
Then after Arturo's death, Darling had been...honestly, insane. For a time, he'd even feared that Darling might kill them both.
Until Zarya.
She had healed Darling and returned him to the best friend he'd been growing up. But from the moment she moved in, Darling had been preoccupied with her, leaving Maris to feel like a third wheel. They'd tried to include him, but they wanted and needed to be alone at times, and that was how it should be.
Still, he'd felt a bit abandoned and a lot lonely.
At least until Ture had come into his life. He didn't know what it was about that man, but he calmed the rage inside Maris that had simmered in his gut since the day his parents had disowned him. Ture touched a part of him that he hadn't even known he possessed. All he wanted was to be with him. And yet he lived in a state of constant fear that he would lose everything again.
It left him twisted in a knot and unsure. Terrified and anxious, and at the same time happy and serene.
None of it made sense to him.
"I'm not sure how to answer."
Darling narrowed his gaze suspiciously. "What was the first thing that entered your mind, and I know it wasn't what you just said."
Sighing, Maris stepped away. Darling knew him better than anyone. Even himself. "Yes. I like him a lot."
"Then what's the problem?"
"You know the problem." Maris looked down at his clothes and luggage. "What am I doing, Darling? I know this isn't going to last. It can't. It never does. And I'm so tired of being hurt. How did you ever forgive Zarya for betraying you?"
Darling snorted. "It wasn't easy. But this great friend of mine threw her at me and left me with no choice, except to deal with the pain of my past. And I wanted to hate her in ways you can't imagine. I craved it. Yet as hard as it was to trust her, the agon
y of existing without her was so much worse. There are only a handful of people in this universe I need. The thought of losing one of you sends me into a panic that is indescribable. It's why the sight of those bags on your bed pisses me off to an Andarion type of rage level. I can't protect you if you're not here."
"As long as I'm sober, I do a pretty good job of protecting my own posterior...and yours."
"I know. But as of last night, the League has increased the bounty on all our heads again. At this point, your ass is worth almost twice the price of mine. I think Kyr is using you to hurt me."
"What about Zarya and Drake?"
"Zarya's a political nightmare for him that he's publicly avoiding. Who knows what he's doing in private? Likewise, he's staying away from naming my brothers and sister. He's not sure they helped rescue Zarya and Ture and the others, so legally, he can't touch them."
That made Maris feel a bit better. "Is there a price on Ture's head?"
"No. Just those of us Kyr could identify in the rescue party."
"Me, you, Nykyrian and Caillen."
He nodded. "It's just a matter of time before they start sending in their top assassins."
Maris zipped his last bag closed. "Saf will warn me before they come after me."
"If he knows. Kyr might not tell him."
Maris shook his head in denial. "Kyr doesn't know we still talk." If he did, he'd kill their little brother and then Maris would annihilate him over it. Ever since Saf had been mistaken for him and brutally attacked when his father had tried to assassinate him, Maris had been hyper protective of him.
No one touched Saf with immunity.
"It's about to get bad, Mari. I had to dispatch troops to solidify my borders an hour ago. The League is headed for our colonies and is trying to blockade and embargo us. Most of the empires have withdrawn in fear of them. They hit two of the Sentella's smaller bases yesterday, and killed almost two hundred people. They injured over a thousand more."
"I'm not afraid."
"Nor am I. Not for me. But for those I love...I don't want to see you hurt because I rage-hit your brother when I should have held my temper in check."
Maris smiled at him. "I told you when we headed out to rescue Zarya that if you were going to hell, I'd be driving the bus. Bring the rain."
Darling sighed. "And it's coming, my brother. With a torrential downpour. One I don't want you caught in."
CHAPTER 10
Over and over, Darling's warning replayed in Maris's head as he sat in the commercial transport that was locked in traffic. He'd never been patient with such things, but today...
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