That the latter made it through the port protocols so quickly surprised me, but also demonstrated that seers coming to New York City weren’t a concern for SCARB or the NYPD, at least not yet. Within minutes, more chairs were pulled up, along with four or five more tables, which extended our booth out into the main floor until we basically took up that whole end of the restaurant.
I couldn't help noticing the stares of humans and new-refugee seers from other parts of the restaurant. Those stares continued as we started to talk and throw jokes and banter back and forth across the long table. The kitchen staff had already started working on food for us, so no one had even really looked at a menu yet when heaping platters began to appear, carried on shoulders by waitstaff who emerged in ever-increasing numbers from the kitchen. Plates, glasses and utensils soon followed, along with pitchers of juice, coffee, water and milk. I even saw a few harder drinks circulating as infiltrators started to wind down, and to pull their light off high-alert status after days and days of nothing but vigilance and stress.
Looking around at all of them, it hit me again, that the trip had been disastrous in some ways. Even in our few victories, it had been hard on everyone.
"Few died, wife," Revik reminded me, caressing my fingers. "That's a victory."
I nodded, relaxing a little. He was right, of course.
The kitchen staff spoiled us with a mound of blueberry pancakes, syrup of every variety, followed by crepes, croissants, sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, a large bowl of fruit that was simply heavenly after days of crap restaurant and 'field food,' as Revik called it, the seer equivalent of canned beans. As we dug into the comfort fare, they began bringing out more gourmet offerings, too, including fancy-looking and incredibly delicate pastries. They even had a large green salad, almost like they knew we hadn't seen a lot of fresh vegetables, either, and despite the fact that I knew they were probably getting low on that kind of thing already.
I found myself looking around at everyone, all of us filthy, sweaty, sore, bruised and battered...all of us needing at least eight hours of real sleep, if not closer to a solid twenty-four. Most, if not all of us, in dire need of alone time even beyond sleep, both the paired variety and the more solitary version.
Of course, some of us smelled more like vomit than others.
Revik laughed. I felt another pulse of heat on him as he leaned down to my ear.
"It's barely noticeable, love," he murmured.
"I meant you," I said back, grinning at him.
Instead of answering, he kissed me, hard enough and with enough behind it that I reacted before my mind caught up, curling my fingers into his hair when he didn't pull away. Before I knew it, I was coiling my light into his, sliding close enough that I wrapped a leg over his lap. I stopped him when his hand started pulling at the buckles on my vest, his fingers even more deft than usual.
When we both came up for air, half the table was laughing at us.
I fought to smile back, but honestly, I wasn’t feeling that amused at that point, especially with Revik pulling on my light in sharp jerks, his fingers still deliberately massaging the muscles of my thigh. Even so, I found myself thinking that the others looked cheered by seeing us together for some reason.
Maybe just because, like Revik said, most of us made it out of that mess alive.
When I glanced at Revik though, he didn’t look particularly amused, either. His eyes were glowing brighter, bright enough to be visible to more than just me. He took my hand after the others had looked away, pulling it into his lap. He held it against him deliberately, closing his eyes when I let him. He rested his face briefly on my shoulder, leaning his mouth by my ear and still holding my hand on him as he merged his light further into mine.
"Gods, wife," he said, quieter. "Don’t stop...please..."
Luckily everyone was loud enough by then that no one heard him but me.
"You weren't kidding," I told him softly. “Do you want to go upstairs?”
“No. Not right now. Soon, though...” He sent another, stronger pulse of heat. "Thanks to that poser son of a bitch ex- of yours, I'm feeling possessive, too. On the verge of marking my territory possessive..."
I smiled, somewhat humorlessly that time, but didn't ask who he meant.
"Are you actually extended?" I murmured instead, feeling another pulse of heat off him.
He nodded, his hand now deeper on my thigh, between my legs. I felt him pulling on me, wanting me to use my hand more deliberately. "Please," he said, quieter. "I'll be quiet, I promise...please, wife..."
"In here?" I murmured, raising an eyebrow at him. "No."
"I'll be quiet," he repeated, softer. “They want us to, anyway.”
I laughed, but felt my cheeks warm when his light coiled deeper into mine, pulling on me unapologetically. I pushed him off a few seconds later, feeling my breath shortening, enough that I knew we were treading on dangerous ground, given everything going on between our light right then. When I looked up next, I was having trouble focusing my eyes, and Wreg was smirking at me, nudging Jorag to look at the two of us.
"Check out the horny youngsters," he scoffed, pointing at us with the hand that clutched a glass of orange juice. "Is this your way of ensuring we all get laid tonight? Or are you looking to start some kind of orgy...?" Wreg looked down the table then, calling out in a loud voice. "...Who's up for group sex at Nenzi's place?"
I felt a scattered wave of different lights reacting down the table to his words, not all of them strictly in humor. I could even feel smatterings of what Revik referenced when he said they wanted us to fool around in here.
I have to admit, it threw me.
Even contemplating that idea felt pretty weird with this group...a lot weirder than it had with the rebels at that base in China. That was the only other time I’d ever been in a situation where a group of seers wanted to light-bond following a particularly dangerous op...and really, that had been awkward enough. I got that it was at least partly biological, that wanting to be closer to the light of the leaders of the group, but yeah, it threw me.
I mean, I knew these people. Even just knowing some of them wanted to, or were even tempted to want to, was weird.
Hell, my brother’s boyfriend was here.
Balidor was here. I couldn’t imagine Revik being totally cool with that, either, no matter how many fences had been mended in that area.
On the surface everyone only laughed, though, shaking their heads at Wreg.
Jorag winked at me, then wrapped an arm around Neela, causing Yumi to burst out in an uncharacteristic laugh. I didn’t miss the look Poresh gave Wreg, either, or the pulse of heat that came off Illeg’s light as she took in Holo’s body in a single, predatory gaze.
Luckily, Revik didn’t seem to see most of the flirting, especially Jorag or Garensche’s smiles at me. Catching my gaze, Balidor only rolled his eyes, half in apology, even as I saw a smile tug at his lips. I smiled back, fighting to keep my expression as light as his.
It struck me suddenly, that Wreg probably hadn't told Jon about that whole “incident” at the Rebel hideout in the Chinese mountains yet, either. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I found myself thinking that Wreg had better lay off with the jokes about orgies with the boss, or he was going to get all of us in trouble.
Seeing Wreg's quizzical look along with the faintly predatory smile, I blanked out my expression...wiping my mind clean, too, even as I stuffed a fork-full of blueberry pancake in my mouth.
When I glanced up at Revik next, he frowned.
"You started this,” I said defensively. “Don’t you dare get pissed off at me.”
Revik nodded, but that other look remained on his face as he glanced at Wreg. He didn't let his gaze linger, but I saw Wreg notice that, too, and couldn't help seeing the sharper look that came to his expression as he looked between us.
"He's going to find out eventually, you know," Revik murmured, his eyes focusing elsewhere along the table. "Maybe you’re right. M
aybe we shouldn’t include Wreg in this. It’s too soon.”
I gave him a sharper look. “You were serious. About the bonding thing?”
He gave me a level look. “I wasn’t entirely not serious.” Hesitating, he took a bite of pancake off my plate, popping it into his mouth with his fork. When he finished chewing and swallowing, he seemed about to say more, then shook his head, as if in surrender.
“Yeah. I’m serious. And I want Wreg involved, so that means Jon.”
“What?” I said, letting the hand holding my fork fall to thunk on the table. “No. No way. Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” Revik said, giving me a hard look. “You know why.”
“No, I don’t,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “I have absolutely no idea why. You have a reason, too. A specific one. What aren’t you telling me?”
He shook his head again, but not exactly in a ‘no.’ Glancing at my expression, he frowned a little. “I just want the group tighter,” he said. “I think we need it, given what’s probably coming our way. I want them more connected to you...”
“More connected to me?” My lips pursed as I looked at him. “Why me?”
“Because I can’t protect you right now,” he said, colder. “Not on my own.”
I blinked, staring at him again in disbelief. “Hey. Overprotective guy. Telekinetic seer here. Just train me to use the telekinesis better, then you won’t need to protect me, all right?”
He gave me a hard look.
Seeing the utter lack of compromise in his expression, I felt my pulse quicken, even as my mouth twisted into another frown.
“You’re serious?” I said. “Jesus, Revik. That’s a terrible idea.”
“Is it?” he said, staring at me. “Think about it, Allie.”
“I am thinking about it,” I said, keeping my voice low with an effort. “Jon would totally flip out. Even if he went along with it, I would flip out. I don’t want to do that with Jon! I don’t want to do that with any of them! There’d be issues with Jon and Wreg afterwards...just from the way Yumi and Delek look at Jon, I can guarantee that. Never mind Oli and Poresh and whichever of the other seers might have a crush on Wreg...” When Revik clicked at me in irritation, I added, “You had an issue with me afterwards, remember? Do you really want to have sex in front of Balidor, given everything?”
He gave me a harder look. “Yes. And fuck you for bringing up your infidelity right now.”
I stared at him, feeling his words like a punch.
“Jesus,” I said, pulling away. “So not convincing me this is a good idea.”
He shook his head, catching hold of my thigh when I started to remove my leg from around him. “Hey. I’m sorry...I’m sorry.” Gripping my leg tighter, he pulled on my light to get me to look at him. “Allie...I’m sorry. I really am. I know how I’m acting right now. I just really don’t understand why you’re not hearing me on this. Our safety as a group is more important than a few hurt feelings and jealous tantrums...including mine. I’m not fucking around right now...”
I felt my mouth harden into a frown. "I am hearing you,” I said. “I'm sorry you don’t like my answer. But no. No way."
He nodded, but I could tell from his eyes he hadn’t dropped it.
I could also see the frustration seething there, almost on the surface, along with something else, I realized. A fear pulsed there, something I almost recognized, but that I hadn’t felt on him in months. Not just fear, a kind of helplessness, like he was lost somewhere, fighting unseen opponents.
It scared me a little, especially when I put it together with the way he’d looked when we were talking about Menlim.
It occurred to me in the same set of seconds that I remembered that fear mostly from the tank, back when we’d still been trying to separate his light from that of the Dreng. Back then, the same feeling seemed to exude out of his very pores. It had been so intense at times I hadn’t been able to sleep. Most of the time, I could barely eat, or think straight, and the fear hadn’t even really been mine, strictly speaking.
“Revik,” I said, softer. I rubbed his chest with my hand, watching his eyes close in reaction. “Come on, baby. What is going on with you right now? Just tell me. Stop stalling and tell me...”
He shook his head, gazing out over the table without seeming to see anyone sitting there.
I felt that feeling of helplessness worsen, along with a flush of protectiveness intense enough that my hands tightened on him. When he still hadn’t broken the silence, I tried to turn his head with my hand. He let me, but I could feel the frustration there, still.
“Hey,” I said, tugging on his hair. “Let’s get out of here. Hang out in the room.”
“Not right now,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why not?”
“Not right now, Allie,” he repeated. “You don’t want to be alone with me right now.”
“Yes, I do,” I coaxed.
When I pulled at his light, he shook his head a second time, his eyes unseeing as he extricated himself from my aleimi. Giving in, I nodded, but felt my muscles tense a little, even as I removed my hands from him.
"It's you Jon's worried about, you know,” Revik said, his voice blunt. “He’s jealous of you and Wreg...probably because on some level he senses what happened in China. I don’t see how our being together in front of them will make that worse. It might even make it better. If he gets the purpose of that kind of bonding, he’ll realize it’s not personal...not the way he thinks."
Glancing down, he saw my expression and frowned back at me.
“...He wants it, too,” he added. “Jon. The group thing. I’ve felt it on him before now. He might not know he wants it, but I can feel it...” When I only shook my head, clicking at him in open anger that time, I saw Revik force his own expression to relax, right before he softened his voice. "Allie...you've got to start thinking like a seer when it comes to some of these things. I’m not going to jeopardize the group...or you...just because your brother and you still think of yourselves as human.”
“Are you actually pressuring me about this?” I said, anger edging into my voice. “Pulling the ‘you’re acting like an uptight human’ card? Seriously?”
Revik shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“I wish you’d just trust me for once,” he said, frustration coloring his voice. “Just trust me and do what I fucking ask, Alyson...for once.”
I stared at him, feeling a kind of disbelief as I stared at his face.
His fear was on the surface now, though, vibrating my aleimi as he looked at me. He was breathing harder, and I felt those sparks of current going through his light, making it difficult to comprehend his actual facial expressions.
I fought down the part of me that wanted to get angry at his words, to take them at face value. I fought to hold on to what I could feel behind his words, instead, before this turned into something that would take us days to get past, instead of minutes or hours.
After a longer moment of doing that, I almost succeeded.
Letting out an exhale, I climbed off his lap completely, fighting to extricate his light well enough to think. Whatever this was about, it wasn’t just Revik having an exhibitionist moment. I highly doubted this was even about sex, truthfully. Combing my fingers through my hair, I stared down at the table, feeling his eyes on me.
His light exuded caution now.
“Allie,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, my lips still pursed.
“Allie,” he began again. “I mean it, I’m really sorry––”
“If you really are serious about this,” I said, still gazing down at the table. “Then you need to be open about it, with the group.” I raised my eyes, giving him a level look. “You need to put it to a vote. If the group agrees it’s in our best interests, not just a sexual free-for-all, then I’ll agree to it, too. With the caveat that anyone who wants to opt out, can. And the cav
eat that it not be a sexual free-for-all. Not for me, anyway.” Giving him a more pointed look, I added, “...Not for us.”
Seeing something in his eyes react, I hesitated before adding,
“...And before that, you need to talk to Jon. Don’t lay it on him in the moment, without any chance to think it through. If you do that, you’re just being an dick...” Muttering into my coffee, I clicked under my breath. “...Not that I want him involved, mind you. You also might have to get me really drunk. Or erect a wall between us...something.”
Shuddering a little, I pushed the image away.
“...And you’re going to owe me, either way,” I added, sharper. “Big time. And this better really be about the group’s security, not some weird possessiveness thing...”
Revik’s eyes changed as I spoke.
I saw surprise flicker there, along with a relief so palpable that it shocked me.
I watched him think over my words, even as his hand reached out, and he started to rub my leg again through my pants. His caresses grew more deliberate as he continued to think, until I started finding them really distracting again. I bit my lip as he gazed out over the table, feeling his light coiling into mine again, even with the serious look on his face as he seemed to be assessing the group, then me.
“You won’t be angry with me?” he said finally. Without looking at me directly, he added, “Not that I’m not willing to have you be a little angry with me. I just want to know.”
I shook my head, more confused than angry at that point. “Revik...what the hell is going on with you right now? Are you going to tell me?”
“No,” he said. “Not right now.”
“Does that mean not later in the room, either?” I pressed.
“No,” he said, then amended his words. “I mean, yes...not then, either.” He hesitated, glancing at me. “You know part of it already, Allie.”
“Menlim?”
He nodded, once. “Menlim,” he said.
Thinking about his words, I glanced over the table, too, watching as Wreg spoke to Jorag, resting a hand on his shoulder. Watching the group interact together, my nerves worsened.
Allie's War Season Three Page 93
