by JL Madore
“What about them?” I ask, pointing to my mates.
“With a little manipulation, I was able to keep them out of it. According to our story, you came back from an extended absence, you got a call from the lobby warning you that hostiles were on the way up, you cleared the building, and when they reached upstairs, you and I fought them off and escaped through the dumbwaiter chute.”
“Close enough. I can sell it. And what’s the damage?”
“The top floor is a warzone. Other than that, the building remains sound and structurally secure. Throw some money at it, and you’ll be up and running in a month.”
Brant chuckles. “Throwing money at things is his best event.”
I roll my eyes but he’s not wrong. “Alright, take a month. Maybe by then, we’ll have things sorted out with the realms. Oh, and I want this property up to snuff too. I’m thinking of a small stone castle. Calli mentioned she likes them.”
Calli frowns. “I do, but don’t spread yourself too thin. Fix the FCO Headquarters so people can get back to work, but we don’t need a new and improved mate house here if we’re headed off to open the portal gate. You don’t have to take on every task in every direction.”
I smile. “It’s what I do. But I hear your concern and I agree, we need to prioritize.”
“We need to get the Portal Gate open.”
Lukas stretches his neck from side to side. “I don’t mean to be indelicate… but how close are you all to getting Calli to full power?”
Calli shakes her head. “Seriously? Did everyone know about the grand finale except me?”
I grip her hand where it lay on the table and squeeze. “It’s a matter of wildling lore, Spitfire.”
The blazing blush of her cheeks is too cute.
I refocus on Lukas and sober. “We’re close. I realize we’ve run out of time. Sure as shit, my father and whoever he’s corrupted on the Fae Council will be gunning for us and digging in at the site of the Portal Gate at the same time.”
“I think we should dispatch a team to the site of the Portal Gate and secure it as a preventative measure.”
I nod. “Absolutely. Do that. And what about media fallout from Calli blazing across the city?”
Lukas pulls out his phone and calls up a video. “They’ll know, about Calli, all right. Jayne and I got this wiped from human news and planted a story of a glider that caught fire and drifted over the city. Fiske altered the memories of the sightings citywide, but there are fae species who won’t be affected by his mind manipulations.”
“Okay, so we operate under the assumption that the great Black Knight knows we’re on to him, we’ve blocked whatever he was manipulating behind the scenes, and that Calli can not only call her firebird but can fly and breathe streams of fire.”
“Looks that way.”
“So from what side do you think they’ll attack us?”
Lukas shakes his head. “Hard to tell. I’d say your best bet is for the five of you to drop off-grid and get Calli up to full strength as soon as possible.”
“Wait,” Calli says, her brow furrowed. “When you say off-grid what do you mean?”
“I mean not anywhere Barron owns or the five of you have frequented. You five need to disappear for a bit and ready for the battle ahead. Full-strength, four soul shards to complete your pendant, training complete… including being able to land without taking yourself or your mates out of the battle completely.”
The look on Calli’s face is too fucking cute. “He’s not criticizing your skills, Spitfire. He’s objectively assessing our shortcomings so we can make a tactical decision on how to best approach the next phase of our plan.”
She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. “Hmph, I’d like to see him land. It’s not as easy as you think. Did you see how big my feet are when I’m a phoenix? No wonder I tripped over the stupid shed. And it’s a stupid spot for a shed anyway. Right in the middle of the yard where someone can trip on it.”
I kiss her knuckles and stand. “All right. We’ll leave tonight. Get us a vehicle, stock it, and sweep it for any kind of tracking. If we’re leaving our backup in the dark, I don’t want to find ourselves alone against a horde. Also, we’ll need burner phones, and we’ll have to live small and pay by cash so we’ll need a float. For a week or two, what do you think we’ll need... fifty thousand in fifties and hundreds?”
Calli chokes. “Wow, your idea of living small and mine are realms apart. Last year I made thirty-eight thousand for the entire year.”
I chuckle. “I’m not suggesting we’ll need that much, but it’ll be good to have it if we do. I won’t have my mates going hungry on the side of the road if we breakdown.”
Calli rolls her eyes. “Then yeah, fifty large should be good. We do, after all, have to feed Brant.”
Calli
“On the road again,” Jaxx sings, giving his best Willie impression, which, I’ll admit, is pretty damn good. He’s got a guitar in his lap and is sitting on the couch in the lounge area of our beloved tour bus.
Hawk is driving. Brant and Kotah are putting away groceries. And I’m sitting at the front with Hawk taking it all in. “I thought we were supposed to be off-grid. Aren’t the bad guys going to recognize that we’re in our own vehicle. They already attacked us in this once before.”
Hawk casts a sideways glance and smiles. “It was available on short notice, and Lukas had it painted and changed the plates since our last adventure. He also kept it off the FCO fleet list and locked in his garage.”
“Is he paranoid or psychic? Did he know we’d be here again so soon?”
“Lukas is extremely good at his job and a remarkable tactician. If he says this vehicle is clean and off-grid. I don’t doubt it for a second.”
“And, I guess it doesn’t hurt that he poofed a magic spell on it before we left.”
Hawk smiles and takes the ramp onto the highway going west. “I’m sure he’d prefer if you described what he did as casting a ward of protection on us, not poofing a magic spell.”
“Potato-Tomato. Same thing.”
He laughs. “No. It’s really not.”
We drive along for a while and I watch the yellow road lines appear in the wash of our headlights and disappear as we mow them over. Casting a glance back at the guys, I smile at the country music singalong going on back there.
“So you and Kotah worked out all the tension?”
He draws a deep breath and exhales. “Yeah. It was touchy there for a bit, but we got there.”
“I’m relieved. It was twisting me up to see the two of you hurting.”
“No more. We sorted through it.”
Good. I’m relieved to hear it. “Sooo, this grand finale.”
He licks his lips and bites back a smile. “Yes? What about it?”
“Well, you missed the convo when Jaxx and Brant briefed me, so I thought we should recap. I’m a little overwhelmed at the idea that I could end up conceiving during the mating orgy that gets me my full powers.”
He chuckles. “I love that you consider it a mating orgy. That makes my night.”
“Glad my mortification amuses you.”
He sobers. “Apologies. I for one am looking forward to the grand finale, as you call it. And knowing the other males, I can guarantee I’m not alone in that.”
“I’ll give you that. Aside from me envisioning my hoohaw dripping wet with the cream from all four of you, the fivesome sounds sexy.”
“So does your dripping pussy.” Hawk adjusts in his seat and runs a hand down the front of his pants. “Fuck, now I’ll have that image burning in my mind for the next four hours.”
I roll my eyes. “But getting my full powers means I might be endangering a baby by going into the battle at the Portal Gate. Is there any cosmic birth-control I can take? Does Lukas have a magic spell for that? So we can have the mating orgy without the worry of a baby?”
“If you conceive, and that’s a big if, there’s no danger to the baby other than you
getting killed. In which case, it doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant or not, because you’ll be dead. And no, Lukas does not have a magic spell to counter the magical intention of the universe. He’s good but he’s not that good.”
I sigh, staring out at the night.
“Why are you more afraid of the baby aspect than the death by violent rebels? Do you not want children?”
I shrug. “It’s not that. I’m pro-family when it comes down to it… I just figured that would be something we’d address years down the road once all this Portal Gate craziness is over. I mean, we don’t even know what state the fae realms will be in. It just seems fast.”
“And is that your only objection?”
I search his expression but can’t tell where his question is coming from. “What else would it be?”
He shrugs, turning the dial to start the windshield wipers. There’s a light mist starting and it’s dotting the windshield. “I want to make sure you’re not having second thoughts about committing to us long term. Entanglements get stickier with kids in the mix.”
I frown. “Well, you can stop wondering about that right now, Mr. Barron. You’re mine. This quint is mine. And I’m not going anywhere willingly. I’m a little unnerved that the universe can decide willy-nilly when I pop out kids. That’s it. That’s all.”
Hawk snorts. “It’s not willy-nilly. It’s one time when all four of us release inside you. For the next five or ten years, we can leave it at three inside you and one inside Jaxx, or Kotah or Brant or me. There are measures of control beyond willy-nilly. Besides, with all the side hustle going on with your males, how often do you expect we’ll all be around and all on the same page?”
“Not that often, I guess.” I think about that. With Hawk running his business and Kotah’s duties as Fae Prime about to take hold, there haven’t been that many opportunities for all five of us to get together even if we wanted to. And yeah, even if it is all five of us, that doesn’t mean they all need to finish inside me.
“Feel better?”
I nod. “Yeah. I do.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hawk
I wake to silence on the bus and the sweet succulence of someone sucking on my cock. Eyes closed, I stretch and curl my pelvis, arching deeper into that mouth. “Now this is how every male should wake up.”
“That’s what I thought,” Calli says, around my erection. “They sent me in to wake you up and I saw your morning wood and thought this is much better than an alarm clock.”
“Infinitely better.” I shudder as she grips my sac and squeezes my balls. “Where is everyone?”
“They got your note and are inside shopping. Kids in a candy store by now, I expect.”
I chuckle and reach down to stroke my fingers through her hair. “They took the list, though, yeah?”
“Mhmm.” The vibration of her affirmation against the swollen tip of my cock is perfection.
“And are we supposed to join them?”
“Mhmm.”
I groan, pushing into that vibration. “How many questions can I think of where you’ll answer me that same way?”
She chuckles, the effect is not nearly as erotic.
“Give my sac another squeeze, would you?”
“Mhmm.”
Yep. There it is. The zing and sting of my balls getting fondled bring my hand up to my nipple ring. While she’s going to town, I grip the hoop on my chest and twist it. “So fucking good.”
“Mhmm.”
“Are you good to swallow? Because I’m close.”
“Mhmmmm.”
My fingers tighten in her hair and she’s riding my shaft with a hunger that always humbles me. Calli loves sucking cock. I draw a deep breath and the scent of her arousal does me in. My breath escapes in a throaty burst and my abs clench. When I stiffen, the heat of my release is so gratifying.
Calli swallows and sucks, growling like a primal animal.
“Oh... fuck.” After another racking spasm and a second rush of cream, I settle and fall limp against the mattress of the back bedroom. When I’m once again able to form full sentences, I chuckle and pull her up to kiss her. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” She sets her palm against my chest. “I’m officially applying to be your alarm clock for work.”
“You’re hired.”
She laughs and rolls off the bed. “You should’ve held out for a second interview. Geez, Barron. Do I have to explain everything to you? I thought you were a shrewd businessman.”
I chuckle and get up. “You’re right. I was too eager and rushed the deal. I should’ve held out.”
Calli meets me chest-to-chest and wraps her arms around my back. “We’ll practice until you get it. There’s always tomorrow morning.”
“Perfect. I can hardly wait.”
She kisses me again and heads out to the bus proper. “Get dressed. If we don’t get in there soon, you’ll own the entire store.”
I grab my clothes off the back of the chair where I tossed them early this morning when I parked for the night. After pulling my black khakis up my thighs, I pull my t-shirt on and tuck things in. That’s true, my husbands know how to shop.
Kotah
It’s one o’clock that afternoon when Jaxx pulls our tour bus into an interstate rest area north of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He drives us around back and stops in one of the long, extended spots near the treeline of a wooded grove.
I step off the bus, fill my lungs with the clean, fresh air, and smile. “Remember the first rest stop we visited?”
Calli rolls her eyes and blushes. “I felt so bad for you.”
Jaxx shakes his head. “I missed this one.”
Hawk steps off the bus carrying the bags of merchandise we bought this morning. “We were closing in on the property Calli wanted us to check out to find her drow gangbangers and I stopped at a rest stop to regroup. Calli and Kotah were making out hot and heavy in the backseat of my SUV.”
I close my eyes. “The smell of Calli’s arousal and burnt leather upholstery will forever be etched in my memory.”
Brant laughs and points over at us. “Calli got off, dry-humping the wolf’s lap. She was naked after burning off her clothes and nearly caught Hawk’s truck seats on fire.”
“But we needed to get back to business,” Hawk says.
“All too soon.” I laugh, hardening behind my fly just thinking about it. “I needed a few minutes alone in the restroom before I could continue.”
Jaxx’s grins. “Oh, the early days. So, you weren’t a total virgin when our fiery seductress got hold of you above the roadhouse. You had spent time with the palm sisters.”
“A lot of time.” I take the five paintball guns out and lay them on the picnic table. “I didn’t leave my room much in the teen years when I was living in the palace. If my nose wasn’t in my books, my hand was in my pants.”
“Damn straight,” Brant says, his chest bouncing. “One day I’ll tell you about the time Maggie and her agri-tour caught me tossing off behind the straw bales.”
“Oh, no,” Calli says.
Brant chuckles. “Oh, yes. Needless to say, those were interesting Yelp reviews.”
Hawk shakes his head and pops the tab of a cider. After taking a long haul, he points to the gear. “Okay, first teamwork training game, capture the flag. Kotah and Brant versus Calli and Jaxx. I’ll play the wildcard and will be against all of you. Pick your colors.”
Calli picks up the green ammo and hands it to me. “Green is the color of frogs.”
I laugh. “Hey, I was the last pick. You guys already picked red for blood and black for death.”
“Good one,” Jaxx says, grabbing black. “I’m death.”
“Yep, I’ll be bloodshed.” Brant grabs the red.
Hawk goes for bright blue without any bravado and that leaves Calli with orange. Her grin widens. “Orange for the lick of flames that are going to burn your fine asses.”
Brant’s bear growls with pleasure. “Let’s do
this.”
Calli raises her hand. “First, show me what I’m doing. I’ve never held one of these before.”
I raise my hand as well. “I’m with Calli. We didn’t get a lot of paintball wargames at the palace.”
Brant frowns. “That’s too bad for you. I bet there are a few people you would’ve liked to take a free shot at.”
“You’re not kidding.”
Jaxx sidles over to us and holds up his weapon. The guns are sleek black and chrome numbers with long, slender barrels that stick out front and a plastic bottle up top that holds paintballs, and a small bottle below the handgrip.
“The gas pressure bottle under here propels the paintballs when you pull the trigger. The tube up top holds forty paintballs. This is your safety. Click it off safe, point, and shoot.”
He looks at Calli and then me. “Sounds easy enough.”
Brant pulls his goggles over his head and hands us each a pair. “Safety first, my lovelies. Fun’s fun until you get a paintball to the groin.”
Calli snorts. “And how do goggles help with that?”
“They don’t. Speaking from experience—watch your aim. My nuts are having flashbacks and crawling inside me just thinking about it.”
Hawk grabs his weapon, locks his blue paintballs into place at the top of his gun, and pulls on his goggles. “Warm-up here and give me ten minutes to hide the flags.”
He holds up two pairs of Calli’s panties and raises them high when she jumps at him. “What the hell, Hawk?”
“Added incentive, Spitfire. Whoever captures the panties most often over the next couple of hours gets dibs on planning the mating orgy.”
I laugh at the sudden surge of testosterone in the air.
Between Hawk, Jaxx, and Brant, I don’t care what they have planned. The five of us together for the first time will be awesome regardless of where we are or what’s been planned beyond making love to our female.
“Challenge accepted.” Jaxx meets Brant with a fist bump.
“Okay, give me five to set things up.”
Calli shakes her head. “I can’t believe you’re hiding my underwear in a rest stop forest.”
Hawk laughs, turning toward the trees, waving Calli’s undies in the air. “The needs of the many outweigh the complaints of the few, Spitfire.”