by T. S. Snow
Char was waiting for me outside the van, a female Healer beside her.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you thought you were going to escape a Healer. You look like hell, Logan,” she commented, frowning in concern.
I just shrugged. “Nothing a shower and a decent meal won’t cure.” Goddess, just the thought of being able to shower and eat gave me an extra burst of energy.
Unfortunately, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. AMIA had taken over, which meant I’d have to give my statement, and then we had to figure out where Ricardo and Cara had run off to.
“Sir, please. It’ll only take a minute. We have to assess all damage. I can have you feeling as good as new in no time,” the Healer offered.
Char just raised an eyebrow at me. “Don’t tell me you’re a big baby who’s afraid of a little Healer?” she challenged.
Damn her for knowing which buttons to push.
Sighing, I followed after both of them. The Healer made me sit on a small chair, and I glared at Charisma while the Healer started working on me. I felt a sudden warmth in multiple places in my body, where I’d been hit either when we’d been caught or during the fight to escape.
There were parts of me burning that I hadn’t even realized I’d hurt.
She was just about done when we heard people yelling Char’s name, and then Andres rushed over, followed by a second guy.
Andres was the first to meet her, hugging and kissing her before he put her down. Next, a tall male I’d never seen before with dark skin picked Char up and kissed her too.
He held nothing back, and neither did she. Their kiss spoke of intimacy, relief, and love.
Their kiss deepened, and instead of being put off by it, I found the display rather…intriguing.
Especially when a smiling Andres joined them, his front to Charisma’s back, and started to kiss her neck, holding her too.
There were so many possibilities in that scene, so many ways it could be so much better, so much sexier.
Particularly if they took directions well.
I felt myself getting hard just at the thought of it. Even if they didn’t take directions all that well, it was still quite an appealing challenge. Trying to get them to bend to my will, getting them to see how much more fun things could be when there was someone calling the shots…
The possibilities were endless.
15
Charisma
“Get a room!” Blair’s words and the disgust in them penetrated the lustful fog in my brain, and I tried to jump out of Bast’s arms, only to be locked in place by Andres.
Right.
Having a threesome in public was probably a terrible, terrible idea.
I mean, it depended on the public, I guessed, because I’d very much enjoyed Bast watching while Andres and I had sex, but it was different. It was just that…I’d missed them so much, and I’d been so worried that we’d fail and Bast would take the blame for our deaths.
And I knew they’d been just as worried about me, maybe more so. Hell, I couldn’t even imagine what I’d have been like if our roles had been reversed. I probably would’ve brought the damn city down trying to find them.
“Seriously, you guys. The lovey-dovey stuff is cute and all, but unless you want to be the topic of conversation in every Arcane newspaper and newscast, you might want to break up the party until you’re somewhere more private. Due to the level of illusion magic used, we’re only able to keep humans away, not all mages.” As she spoke, I looked around the open area, and sure enough, there were at least a couple news station vans parked nearby.
I jumped away from the guys, and this time, they let me. Then I turned my panicked eyes at Andres. “Please tell me you put up some kind of illusion barrier before you joined in.”
He gave me a sheepish smile, and I closed my eyes, mortified.
“But…what about your reputation?” I hissed. It would be such a fucking mess if news broke out that the Illudere heir was sharing a woman with some other random person. I doubted they’d recognize Bast for who he truly was.
It was one thing for us to do the nasty at home or in places where it wouldn’t be common knowledge. I didn’t want Andres to be ashamed of his relationship with me or the whole group thing, but he had to think as the future head of the Illuderes too. Just because I wanted nothing more to do with the way our society was structured, it didn’t mean I wanted Andres to give up his birthright. Andres was a kind, gentle guy who would do good for his people. I didn’t want him being with me to jeopardize that.
“Don’t worry about it, I got you guys covered. The minute I saw them running to you, I put up an illusion, blocking the view from outside. You only have to worry about me, Nightshade, and the Healers, basically.” Blair waved as if to say no big deal. “Anyway, the reason I came over here was because we need a statement from the two of you, and from Soulbinder when he wakes up.”
Shit. Logan. I’d completely forgotten about him!
I whipped my head to look at him and found him standing close to us. Rather than confusion, disgust, or whatever else, his gaze was heated as he looked at all three of us.
Oh.
Oh.
Was…was Logan aroused by this?
Without permission, my eyes trailed down his body and landed on his jeans, where I could see the evidence of his…interest.
Granted, it was more a bulge than anything, but holy mother of erections.
Logan was packing some serious power in those pants.
Bastille chuckled beside me, and I turned to him, blushing when I realized he’d caught me ogling.
Instead of being annoyed, he just sent me a wink.
So, so weird. I knew I was in a relationship with two guys and Bast had more than encouraged me to pursue other men, but man, it still felt so weird. One day, I’d probably get used to it, but it might take a while.
“My love, why don’t you and Logan go do what you have to do, and then we can go home?” Bast suggested, gently nudging me in Logan’s direction.
Logan raised an eyebrow at Bast, then Andres, as if expecting one of them to intervene, but neither said a word about it.
“Yeah, you crazy kids go ahead. Bast and I are going to see if there’s anything else we can help with, and then we’re all going home. You’re probably hungry and wanting a shower.”
At Andres’ words, my stomach growled loudly and I blushed, avoiding their gazes.
“Go, Char. We’ll find some food to tide you and Nightshade over until we can take you home.” It was only then that I noticed how, in spite of their smiles, I could see the worry in their eyes.
I nodded, and both Logan and I started to slowly make our way to the conglomerate of SUVs. I knew without having to ask that Christian would be there, coordinating things.
I risked a glance at Logan and found him looking at me. Unable to stand the awkward silence, I began talking.
“By the way, I wanted to thank you. For carrying Theo all the way out here. You probably saved his life. I know it must’ve been hard and all, considering you were hurt and Theo is probably crazy heavy. But…thank you. You didn’t have to do it; after all, he’s from a rival house, but you saved his ass anyway, and while he might be too proud to admit it, I’m not. So, thank you for saving him. And for having my back in there. I…I’m not entirely sure I would’ve made it out without you. Actually, I probably wouldn’t have made it out without you. When you’re ready, if you want to, call me and I’ll make you a brand-new MET, free of charge. And I’ll make it even more awesome than the first one. It’s…It’s not much, but it’s what I can do to thank you.”
Logan put a hand on my forearm and pulled me to him, closing the distance between us.
I tilted my head way up so I could look at him, gulping at the fire I saw in his eyes.
“What if I don’t want a MET? What if I want something else from you?”
Oh boy.
I tried to speak twice before I was finally able to clear my throat enough to weakl
y ask, “What…what do you want, then?”
It was barely above a whisper.
Instead of answering, Logan smiled, and there was a wicked glint to his eyes that I’d only seen once before.
Instead of answering, though, Logan’s smile just turned more wicked, then he released me, putting some space between us.
Finally letting me breathe again.
“Just remember that you owe me when I come calling.”
And with that, he walked towards the cars and AMIA agents, leaving me a hot mess.
I was so, so in way over my head.
We didn’t make it home until an hour later, but the minute we did, I hurried straight to the bathroom, leaving Andres and Bast in the living room. I had what felt like about a week’s worth of grime, blood, and whatever else that I needed to get off my body, then I was going to force the guys into the mother of all snuggle parties.
On the couch.
While I shot people online.
Nothing like a little in-game bloodbath to get all the frustration and anger out, to reach the Zen mindset I liked to live by.
Well, if what I normally had could be considered Zen, but my point still stood.
At least in-game violence meant I wasn’t hurting anyone in real life, which was all that mattered, really.
Especially after Christian had informed me that Cara and Ricardo had managed to fucking escape. Though they were going to send Blair out with a team to capture Cara. If I knew my cousin at all—which was proving to be less true than I’d thought—then Cara would be chilling in the Silverstorm mansion, without a single care in the world.
I hoped Blair found her and kicked her freaking ass for me.
Actually, I was pretty sure that if Blair ever found Cara, she would kick her ass, because Cara was basically everything Blair didn’t like in a person.
Oh to be a fly on the wall.
First things first, however.
I stripped, throwing the clothes I’d been wearing straight in the trash. There was no way I could salvage them, and even if I could, I really didn’t want to remember what I’d been through whenever I stared at the smiling Mariochu. It was basically a Pikachu, but he wore Mario’s red hat and had a big, thick mustache.
Oh well, not like I didn’t have an assortment of other equally cute shirts, anyway. Thankfully, the jeans I’d been wearing weren’t one of my favorite pairs, because that would’ve sucked so hard.
Without bothering to look in the mirror and risk scarring myself for life, I jumped in the shower.
I turned the water on and just stood under the hot, scalding spray, hoping the heat would wash away my very soul.
The feel of the hot water falling on my sore muscles had me relaxing and moaning out loud.
This truly was the good stuff. Nothing beat the feeling of a hot stream on your body.
As I washed my hair and body, I thought back to what had happened and the consequences it would have.
Logan had managed to give Christian the address for a secondary base, and they were using intel they’d gathered to storm the other locations they’d discovered.
If all went according to plan, the resistance would be pretty much wiped out by nightfall. Now all they needed was to find and capture the leaders.
Not that the ideology behind the movement would ever truly disappear, but I just hoped their methods changed and they didn’t go about trying to change things with so much brutality.
I felt a bit bad for the members of the resistance that had been misguided and lied to, thinking they were working to depose a system they disagreed with, when in fact, they were just helping a tyrant get rid of his opposition. However, I had a feeling Christian would be more benevolent than people would expect him to be and try to advocate on their behalf against the Council of Six.
It sucked to be lied to, but they should’ve at least suspected something was up based on their own actions. The fact they had been deceived didn’t absolve them from the consequences.
One wrong did not justify another.
I washed the shampoo out of my hair and opened my eyes to find someone standing right in front of me.
With a yelp, I literally jumped and tried to cover myself.
Unfortunately, the whole jumping on the wet floor meant I lost my balance, and if fucking Andres hadn’t caught me, I would’ve fallen on my butt.
“Oops, better watch your step,” Andres joked, grinning like a fucking loon.
“What the fuck!?” I squealed, my heart beating faster than the soundtrack of a Mario game when you were running out of time.
Andres just kept grinning at me. “I tried calling your name a few times actually, but you were stuck somewhere far, far away, inside your head. So I decided to join you for your shower. To be honest, I’d kind of hoped my naked body would’ve brought you back to Earth. I’m crushed it didn’t work, really.” Andres let go of me and placed a hand over his heart, as if to illustrate his point. “I guess you’ll have to kiss me all over to make it up to me and the ego you just destroyed.” He blinked, faking innocence, and I just narrowed my eyes at him.
“You. Scared. Me.” I punctuated my accusation by hitting him on his stupidly hard chest.
Unashamed, Andres just laughed before hugging me.
He was naked.
I was naked.
It was a naked hug.
Neither my brain nor my body were ready for this kind of clothes-less engagement.
But it did feel incredibly nice, even if I had something hard poking me in the belly.
“Shh, just ignore it and enjoy the hug. My dick has a mind of its own, but this isn’t about sex. Though I’d have zero complaints if you wanted to go a round or two after we feed you a lot more than those cereal bars we managed to find, and you get enough rest. This is about comfort.” He hugged me tighter, and I basked in the moment. I laid my head on his shoulder so that my nose would be right in the curve of his neck, and I just breathed him in.
Andres smelled like soap, and my shampoo, probably a consequence of the whole him creeping in on my shower thing. Water cascaded down my back, still doing a wonderful job of keeping my body all lax and happy, and in Andres’ arms, I felt like I could finally just truly breathe again.
All the tension seemed to just…leave my body the more we stood like that.
Eventually, Andres spoke again. “Let’s get you out of here and dry, so Bast can feed you and we can all just chill together. He’s been cooking since we got here, all mother-hen-like. If we don’t go check on him soon, he might end up cooking all the food he has in the fridge, and I’m not entirely sure the three of us will be able to eat all of it.”
Just picturing Bast in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, brought a smile to my face.
“Right. Yeah, let me just finish my shower real quick, and then I’ll be out,” I said.
I thought Andres would take that as his cue to leave, but instead, he just hung back, arms crossed over his chest, and watched me.
I stopped with the bottle of conditioner in my hand, giving him a pointed look.
“Oh, you thought I was going to miss the show? No way. Please, take your time.”
“Fine,” I grumbled before turning my back on him and rubbing the conditioner through my hair.
If he wanted to enjoy the show, that was on him, but I wasn’t going to make things easy for him after he took five years off my life.
No siree, I only rewarded good behavior. Bad behavior had to be punished early in the relationship, before we settled.
Sheldon had managed to condition Penny, so I didn’t see why I couldn’t condition Andres either. Smiling at my evil plan, I washed the conditioner and started to lather soap on my body.
Before I could start washing my back, however, I felt a hot, wet body rubbing all over my back, literally sliding side to side on me.
I turned my head and saw Andres grinning as he went all Buster Moon during the carwash scene in Sing on me. Except, he was the koala, and I was the car he
was rubbing himself all over in order to clean.
“Just helping you wash your back,” the jerk said, really rubbing against me in a way that was not even slightly sexy no matter how hot he might be.
“Were you dropped on your head as a child?” I asked, but I was fighting hard not to laugh. Far be it from me to encourage his crazy shenanigans.
“Actually, yes. Breastfeeding incident. My mother fell asleep while feeding me, and I fell. Then she woke up really fast and never fell asleep while feeding me again. Very tragic, really.” He brushed it off as if being dropped on his head as an infant wasn’t that big of a deal. I just gaped at him. “Not that I blame her or anything. I mean, babies are a hell lot of work. Anyway, I survived, and here we are. Now, how about you wash my back?” Andres stopped rubbing against me and turned, as if expecting me to…return the favor.
“I’m not going all Buster Moon on you. I’m not a koala.”
“Oh, c’mon. Live a little,” he challenged.
Biting my lip, I stared at his back, then the soap in my hand. I did want to play. And it would be fun to see how much I could tease him and whether or not it would make him lose control.
“Oh, fine. I guess it’s only fair,” I replied before I put even more soap on my front and returned the favor.
We were both grinning by the time we finished our shower and dried up.
I knew that tomorrow, I’d have to go into AMIA headquarters, help out with work, and get caught up on what had happened. I also wanted to go to the hospital to check up on Theo, whose injuries had been a little too severe for just a quick healing. But for today, I was going to enjoy my boyfriends and get as much rest as I could.
16
Andres
The minute Char got out of the shower, she put on underwear, one of Bast’s shirts, and rushed to the couch. On the coffee table, Bast had laid out an assortment of foods, from homemade pizza—apparently, he made his own dough and pizza, then froze it for later—to finger food. There was even a plate with fried noodles.
