Prism (Awakened Chronicles Book 3)

by Harley Austin

  “You’re not angry at her?” Brayden asked. “She just left you thinking she’d died.”

  “I’m sure she had a reason, Bray; and it was probably a damn good one. Carissa wouldn’t have left like she did if it wasn’t necessary.”

  “I think I’d be upset.”

  “Maybe I should be—but I’m just so glad to hear that she’s alive.”

  Brayden smiled watching him turn down the lights of their room after slipping into the sleeping bag they’d zipped together into one thick bag. He couldn’t remember seeing Parker this happy, ever.

  “You’re still really in love with her.”

  “I am. I—what’s wrong?” Parker looked at Brayden’s face in the dim light of the room as he slipped off his shoes and then into the well insulted bag.

  “Nothing. I guess I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me now that you know Carissa’s alive.”

  “Hey—Bray.” Parker reached out to him. “Nothing is going to change between us.”

  “Carissa said the same thing, but, I’m not so sure.”

  “So you told her about us?”

  “Parker, she already knew about us. The magic ring she gave you was like her version of an Amazon Echo. She could listen in on everything we said—and everything we did.”

  “Everything? You mean, even when you and I were doing it?”

  Brayden nodded.

  “Was she okay with that?”

  “She—” Brayden chose his words carefully. “Didn’t seem to be offended by the two of us dating.”

  Parker nodded. “I think Carissa and I were attracted. Just like the other newbloods here.”

  “Oh you think?” Brayden smiled a half grin.

  “So what did you think?”

  “About what?”

  “Carissa—was she like the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen?”

  Brayden nodded. “She’s hot, Parker. No doubt.”

  “I bet you were attracted to her.”

  “Yea. Ah, I was. A little,” was all Brayden said, turning over to face away from Parker.

  Both still in their insulated bodysuits, Parker moved up close to him under the covers, spooning with him in a snug muscular embrace. “Only a little? The woman is smokin’ hot, Bray. I can’t believe you weren’t more attracted than just ‘a little’.”

  “What do you want me to say, Park? God. She’s your fiancé.”

  “That she’s hot.”

  “Okay, she’s hot. No doubt.” Brayden conceded. “Go to sleep.”

  “Can’t sleep. I’m way too excited knowing she’s alive. Hey—” Parker suddenly had an epiphany, “do you think she was attracted to you?”

  “Can we, talk about something else? Other than your fiancé?”

  “I can’t help it. I guess I keep going off.”

  “You have been. All day.” Brayden grumbled.

  “Sorry. I just thought it might be cool if she was just as attracted to you as she was me.”

  “Huh?” Brayden turned around in Parker’s embrace. “Why?”

  “I guess I was thinking maybe the three of us would at least be friends. Maybe none of us would be jealous then.”

  “You’d get jealous if I was sleeping with your fiancé, Parker. That’s nonsense.”

  “Was Carissa jealous of you and I sleeping together?”

  Brayden thought for a moment. “Not that I noticed,” he admitted.

  “Well, what if she liked you too? I mean as much as she likes me?”

  “I think you’d be tempting fate and Human nature.”

  “We’re not exactly Human, Bray, in case that fact was lost on you over the past couple of days.”

  “I—just don’t see it working. The three of us? I don’t know—”

  “Well, you guys could just have your own alone time then. I wouldn’t need to be there.”

  “You want Carissa to sleep with me?” Brayden’s brow lifted.

  “I’m sleeping with you. Bray, I don’t know that I’ve ever said this to you before but, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”

  “No, you’ve never said that to me before.” Brayden smiled. A warm glowing feeling rose from deep within him.

  Parker nodded. “Well, until this morning I wasn’t sure I realized it myself. I love you, Bray. I think you and I are perfect for each other.”

  Brayden had never felt this way about anyone before. He wasn’t sure how Parker felt so he’d kept the feelings to himself. “I feel the same way about you, Winter. I’ve been in love with you since the first day I saw you sitting in the pub aboard ship. Maybe it was the genetics thing, but—I think it was more than that. I’ve never wanted to just be with someone as much as I like being with you. It’s why I moved in with you.”

  “Do you think you and Carissa could ever fall in love?”

  “Honestly?” Brayden looked him in the eyes.

  “Yea. Honestly.”

  Brayden nodded. “I think that’s possible. I mean—I don’t know her, but, if you love her and I love you, what would stop the two of us from falling in love? Maybe it could work.”

  “I think you should kiss her the next time you see her.”

  “Winter—” Brayden’s tone sounded a bit incredulous. “You want me to kiss your fiancé?”

  Parker placed his hand on Brayden’s chest. “Yea, I mean, really kiss her. Like you do me.”

  “You’re really serious.”

  “I am. I want you to fall in love with her too. I think you should kiss her. I bet she’d kiss you. You’re handsome-hot. At least I think so.”

  Brayden looked into the warmth of Parker’s eyes. He sighed. “I think I need to tell you something, Winter. I think—I may have, sort of already, kissed her, I mean.” He looked briefly away from Parker, a little sheepishly.

  “You did?” Parker’s eyes lit. “You and Carissa really kissed?!”

  Brayden nodded. “We did. Made out, actually. In your apartment. When we were talking—talking about how much she missed you.”

  Parker grinned slapping Brayden lightly on the chest. “See! I knew you’d be attracted to her.”

  “Yea. I didn’t exactly know what this attraction thing was a week ago when we met. Honestly, I wasn’t going to say anything. I mean, at least not yet. I shouldn’t be keeping secrets from you, Winter. But, Carissa’s just—” Brayden shook his head with a deep sigh.

  “Unreal, isn’t she?”

  “She’s fantastic, Winter. Truth be told, I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. She is unreal.”

  “You spent the night with her!” Parker grinned widely, inching his body up onto Brayden’s. “Didn’t you! C’mon. Admit it. You slept with Carissa! You dog, I know you did!”

  Brayden moved himself over the top of Parker, folding himself between Parker’s thighs. He took Parker’s wrists in his hands lifting his thick arms above his head, his nose nearly touching Parkers “Not only did I sleep with Carissa,” Brayden kissed him warmly while grinding his hips over Parker’s, “but I fucked your fiancé—hmmm—every which way from Sunday.” Brayden ground the front of his hips with Parker’s.

  Parker chuckled into their kiss. “I’ll bet you did. Or more like she fucked you.” Parker kissed Brayden tightly.

  “God. She did,” Brayden admitted. “Like I was her boy toy. She wanted me doing her from the back. She wouldn’t let me stop.”

  “She has a g-spot that gets nailed when you go in from the back.”

  “I noticed. But, God, Parker, Carissa’s ass—” he shook his head, his pulse jumping just thinking about her, “I couldn’t stop watching her, she just needed to be fucked the way her ass just lifted.”

  “Did she scream?” Parker could feel not just Brayden’s, but his own male swelling firmer and firmer between them as they kissed and talked about Carissa.

  “Only when I was grabbing her ass and filling her with my cock.” His over-the-top words muffled between their pressed lips and his hips against Parker’s. “God she was tight.”
>
  Parker half laughed into their kiss. “I like it when you grab my ass,” he assured.

  Brayden let go of his wrists and began gripping both of his glutes through his bodysuit.

  “I was going to tell you,” Brayden lifted his lips from Parker’s. “I just didn’t know how.”

  “Carissa would have told me, Bray. I know she had her secrets, but she wouldn’t have kept something like you a secret from me.”

  “You’re really not mad?”

  “No! I want the three of us to be together.”

  “You are one really weird guy,” he shook his head.

  “You’re just as weird as I am, Mr. Newblood.”

  “Ohhh,” Brayden sighed, “don’t remind me. I might have fucked O’Brien the other night too. Just so you know.”

  Parker chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Tyler and I both fucked Romero last night. That Brazilian ass of hers—”

  “No kidding. I noticed.” Brayden shook his head. “These genetics of ours are insane.” He sighed, resting his forehead onto Parker’s.

  “Tell me about it. The quicker we get out of here and find Carissa, the better.”

  * * * * *

  “So, the Dark woman isn’t as dead as we had been led to believe.” Rigel paced their Seattle office slowly, his British accent as refined as it was thick.

  “She apparently has feelings for Parker,” Christie stood in his office, watching the director closely.

  “Not unusual. Why she didn’t fake his death as well is befuddling, however. The Dark are up to something.”

  “They want the Lear twin back, obviously.”

  “Indeed. We’ve struck a serious blow to their designs. Without all twelve, the Meridian will be all but useless to our adversaries. Are you certain the last of our harvest is safely stored?”

  “Frozen in the Yukon. They’re not going anywhere.”

  “I believe you said the same thing about Ian Diamond?”

  “We all make mistakes, Director. Besides, if you recall, Amy took over my charge of Ian even before the raid in Puerto Rico went south, no thanks to the Dominion.”

  “Agreed, Christie, my dear. I know what happened. Amethyst is no longer a reliable operative these days.”

  “They’ll be pulling out all the stops to find the Lear woman.”

  “Let them. The more they search the more they will reveal themselves to us. And when they exposed whatever weakness is in their armor, I assure you, my dear, we will exploit it.”

  “You’re seriously going after the Dark?” Christie raised her brow.

  “I am. That clan has been a thorn in the side of the Seven for millennia. Well before I took charge from my predecessors. They allowed the Dark to exist.” He turned and met eyes with the halfblood; his tone grew cold. “I assure you, I will not be doing the same.”

  28

  B oth Brayden and Parker were half undressed in the shower room when O’Brien and Lear entered. One of the few rooms in the hotel that actually wasn’t made totally of ice, the shower room had Teak slatted walls to keep the not so warm water from hitting the ice walls just beyond them. Several spray nozzles lined the walls at the back of the room. The open shower had two long wood benches for dressing and undressing.

  “Ladies,” Brayden greeted, standing barefoot on the Teak-wood slatted floor holding his still warm shirt in his hand.

  “Mornin’ to you, Gentlemen,” O’Brien greeted in her typical thick Irish.

  He was a little surprised when she began undressing in front of them.

  “Oh. Ah?” Parker looked at Brayden and then back at the now topless O’Brien. “I guess we can wait for you two to finish.”

  “It’s the only shower in the hotel guys, and it’s not women’s only.”

  Brayden locked eyes with Parker who shrugged and began slipping off the bottoms of his tights.

  Both watched the thickly white haired Lear lift off her shirt revealing not just her beautiful feminine curves, but a stunningly detailed, feather-winged serpent tattoo that wrapped her body, as if slithering around her tummy from beneath her pants, then traveling around her sides and back, between her breasts, over her shoulder and then down one arm to her wrist. The wings of the serpent spread across her back and down her ribs. Much too detailed for a simple tattoo needle, the silver-blue image contrasted but also blended with her pale skin in beautiful elegance as if rendered by the hand of a master artisan.

  Both guys stood in awe as they watched her slip out of the bottoms of her bodysuit to reveal the rest of the serpent wrapping around one leg all the way to her foot.

  “Jesus,” fell out of Brayden’s mouth. Both guys approached her after slipping out of their bottoms. “What’s this? It’s beautiful.”

  “I don’t know, actually,” Lear admitted. “It’s just something I’ve always had.”

  “You were born with this?” Parker asked as both moved around her, their eyes tracing the intricate details of the design. Her curves were just as mesmerizing the way the tattoo seemed to flow over them.

  O’Brien was out of her pants, folding them and placing the suit on the bench. “She knows what it is, guys. She just doesn’t want to admit it.” O’Brien left the three of them and entered the back part of the shower room. She turned on the water. The water wasn’t exactly hot, but in the cold temperature of the hotel, it felt incredibly warm as cool steam rose from the water hitting her skin.

  The guys followed Lear to where O’Brien was filling the room with cool steam.

  “So, what is it?” Brayden nodded to Lear as her shower came on adding even more steam to the cool room. He turned his nozzle on as well.

  Parker was still looking at the natural ink. “The design is really incredible.”

  “Parker, don’t stare at the lady,” Brayden scolded.

  “I don’t mind.” Lear’s eyes were already fixed on the unclothed beautifully-cut muscular guy standing in front of her. Parker moved into her shower with her, his eyes fixed in hers.

  “Lord.” Brayden watched O’Brien rolling her eyes. “What is with your friend, Michaels?”

  “Beats me.” Brayden shrugged watching Parker’s fingers begin moving over Lear’s skin, following the pattern of her tattoo. Within a moment the two were lip-locked in the shower spray.

  Both O’Brien and Brayden had finished soaping, rinsing, turned off each of their water and now dried in the cooler air of the outer part of the shower room.

  “They’ll freeze to death in there eventually,” O’Brien nodded toward the back of the room where both were still making out. At least they were using some soap on each other now.

  “Yea. I don’t get it.” Brayden frowned.

  “Genetics. Don’t get bent over it. He was just as flipped over her yesterday. You saw him.”

  “Yea.”

  “You’re quite nice yourself, Brayden.” She used his first name. “I don’t know that I’ve seen a guy so nicely hung.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled. “You’re, ah,” Brayden fished for some words as he watched her dry, her nipples half blue and erect in the cold. “Really beautiful.”

  “We all are. It’s our curse.”

  “Is that what newbloods are? A curse?”

  “Depends on who you ask.” She slipped on a fresh pair of the bodysuit pants they’d found in a small laundry area. Brayden pulled on some fresh ones as well. “Other’s say we’re the saviors.”

  “Saviors of what?” he unfurled a new shirt, the new one just plain with no printing on it.

  “Some say the world—” She pulled on her own fresh top.

  He grinned. “Is that so?” He pulled on his shirt.

  She nodded, adjusting herself into the snug-fitting insulated clothes. She then picked up all of their dirties, including Brayden’s. “Others say the Universe.”

  He lost his smile watching her turn and leave the room.

  * * * * *

  “Now I’m jealous—” Brayden admitted, scowling at Parker as he came back into t
heir room freshly dressed with still wet hair.

  “About Lear?”

  “Man you just zone out whenever you’re around her.”

  “Sorry. She’s—” he sighed. “A little intense.”

  “Keep that up and you’ll have her pregnant in a few days.” He mocked, not withholding his sarcasm.

  “Not with as empty as you keep me I won’t.”

  Brayden smiled at the comment.

  “What did you and Bryn talk about?” Parker flopped onto their bed.

  “What else—you doing Lear in the shower.”

  “Bray, I need to tell you something. O’Brien’s really different. I think she’s like psychic or something. She—”

  “The proper term in Psionic.” Romero entered the room with Tyler in tow.

  “Psionic?” Brayden got up from their bed. “What is that?”

  “We’ve been talking with Wynn. O’Brien used to work for the Seven.”

  “What?” Now Parker got back up.

  “Yea. Only she quit and they tossed her back in with the rest of us.”

  “Is she like a spy?”

  “Who knows? She’s the only empath in the group.”

  “Empath?” Parker moved around their bed to stand next to Brayden.

  “Empathy is like the beginnings of the Psionic talents, guys. O’Brien’s not even awakened yet and she’s empathic.”

  “Awakened? That’s like becoming one of these gods, right?”

  “That’s what they call it—becoming awakened. We’re not sure how or why but the government has been searching out people like us, people they call newbloods. Evidently we’re very susceptible, receptive, awaken-able.”

  “It sounds like we have some of the genetics of these gods already. Look at all of us.” Brayden added.

  “We do,” Romero agreed. “I’m told the gods are really nice looking, beautiful in fact.”

  “So if we come in contact with one of these gods,” Parker began, “they can turn us into one of them?”

  “That’s apparently how it works. Certain body fluids carry their invasive genetics—blood, even semen.”

  “Who are these gods, Cierra,” Parker asked. “I’ve never even heard of any of this?”