Never More

by Dana Marie Bell

  They said their goodbyes and hung up. Raven pocketed his phone and took a deep breath. He was about to do something he’d rarely done willingly.

  Spend time with family.

  Raven knocked on the door, half prepared to bolt if anyone other than Robin or Michaela answered the door. While he’d found the Dunnes to be warm and welcoming, it still felt odd that anyone wanted to spend quality time with their relatives. For him, it often meant pain, followed by a drugged haze, followed by…

  Ugh. Raven shuddered just as the door opened, the memories riding him hard. He preferred not to think about his forced couplings with Titannia, the Dark Queen, the first Leannan Sidhe.

  The very first vampire.

  It had been brutal, degrading, a torturous blend of fucking and feeding until he’d been drained physically, emotionally and psychically. Then she’d toss him out of her bed without a thought, sending him out into the world naked and afraid with whatever orders her whims had demanded. If he tried to deny the Dark Queen, it wasn’t Raven who would pay the price, it was his mother.

  So Raven had complied, cringing inside as his soul was slowly chipped away, whittled down to next to nothing. He’d thought his ultimate fate would be dying at her fangs, but instead he’d been freed by the man who had claimed him and named him as his own.

  The man who now stood in the doorway, his bright red hair flowing in the wind of Raven’s arrival, his bright blue eyes dancing merrily until he took in the look on Raven’s face. “What ails you, my son?”

  And with those words Raven was brought back from his horrible memories to the present, the reality that he was, indeed, the son of Robin Goodfellow, aka the Hob. Dark Court fae whispered his name, frightened their children with tales of his revenge. White Court bowed to him out of fear of his wrath.

  Michaela Exton, the once-mortal bondmate of Robin, had no problem goosing the infamous Hob on his ass. Robin jumped, causing Raven to laugh out loud.

  “Move. I want to say hello.” Michaela leaned around Robin, her gaze filled with affection. “Hey, Raven! You finally made it.”

  “I’m not late, am I?” Raven looked at the thick-banded watch on his wrist, well aware he was perfectly on time but wanting to admire one of the gifts his father had given him. Robin made a point out of showing affection to Raven, daring any and all to say anything negative about his son in the Hob’s presence. Needless to say, so far none had dared.

  “No, my son.” Robin stepped out, allowing Michaela room to give Raven a hug hello. While Robin seemed to have gotten over some of his issues with Raven’s crush on Michaela, he still didn’t allow her to linger in Raven’s arms. He pulled her close, cradling her against him, her back to his front. “Now. What was the cause of your displeasure when I opened the door?”

  Raven knew if he mentioned what he’d been thinking about, his father would go ballistic. Literally. It wouldn’t be the first time the Hob accidentally knocked down a building or three. “Nothing, just bad memories.”

  Robin’s gaze cleared. They each had their regrets, not least of which was Robin’s failure to discover his lost children. At least Raven was with him now, and it gave them both some comfort. “Ah, I see.” He smiled and inhaled the scent of his bondmate, something he often did when trying to calm himself. “Are you ready to meet the chaos?”

  “Chaos?”

  Just as Raven was about to ask what his father was talking about, feminine shrieks sounded from inside the house. The thunder of multiple people running down wooden steps assaulted his ears. “What the hell?”

  Robin quickly stepped aside as Ruby Dunne, Moira Blackthorn, Akane Dunne and Amanda Pierson, the blonde he’d been dreaming of, came thundering out of the house, laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs.

  Robin watched the whole thing with an amused expression. “What, pray tell, is the problem, ladies?”

  “Spider!” Ruby shuddered, rubbing her arms so hard they began to turn red.

  “Big one.” Moira gagged.

  Akane, one of the most dangerous Blades on Robin’s roster, held her hands out about a foot apart. “Huge.” Her strange eyes were wide with fear.

  Amanda was gasping with laughter. Behind the other women’s backs she held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart, indicating the actual size of the terrifying arachnid that had sent four strong women screaming for the front yard.

  Raven shook his head. “Want me to take care of it?”

  All three of them nodded. Amanda merely shrugged. “I said we could take it out with the can of hairspray sitting nearby, but they didn’t believe me.”

  “It wasn’t hairspray, it was feminine deodorant spray,” Ruby replied.

  “It was?” Moira lifted her hand to her hair with a wince. “Fuck me.”

  “This is what happens when you have five women trying to put makeup on and do their hair in one bathroom.” Akane rubbed her hand over her baby bump. “I knew I should have gone to Shane’s workshop to get ready.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “Can someone please go kill the horrible beast in the bathroom so I can get Huey, Dewey and Louie back upstairs?” She clapped her hands together sharply. “C’mon, people. I’m aging here.”

  Raven was utterly charmed. Amanda didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the dirty looks Akane sent her, or the way Moira was whimpering about the spider. Ruby was shaking her head at her friend, and Michaela?

  Michaela watched the whole thing with a wistful expression that immediately made Raven take a step closer in concern. “Are you okay?”

  “Mm.” She snuggled closer to Robin and offered Raven a soft smile. “I’m missing my family, that’s all.”

  Robin stroked his hand down Michaela’s hip. “Hush, my darling. They’ll be here tomorrow.”

  “I know.” Michaela patted Robin’s hand. “But watching them play—” she pointed her chin toward the other girls, “—reminds me it’s been a while since I spent some time with my brothers and sister.”

  “Why is Amanda here?” Raven winced. He hadn’t meant to make his interest in the blonde so obvious, but cutting in on Robin and Michaela’s quiet moment was sure to clue his father in.

  “She’s my wedding planner. Ruby recommended her.” Michaela laughed as Ruby flailed her arms at Amanda, who watched her with bemusement. “Isn’t she great?”

  Robin quietly laughed. “She’s something.”

  “Yes, she is.” Since the first moment Li had brought Amanda’s image up on the screen, Raven had dreamt of meeting her. Now here she was, surrounded by the women Robin loved best in the world. It spoke well of her that all of them had welcomed her with such warmth. “When is Cassie getting here?”

  “When Oberon does. They’ve got some Court stuff to deal with that’s way over my pay grade.” Michaela turned in Robin’s arms and gave her bondmate a kiss. “We have to go if we’re going to make it on time.”

  “Snod will be with you at all times, my dear.” Robin couldn’t take his gaze off of Michaela.

  Raven wanted that. He wanted someone to focus on, someone who would love him unconditionally. He was more likely to get eaten by a unicorn, but that didn’t mean he craved it any less.

  Leo Dunne stuck his head out the front door of his parents’ house. “The spider’s been released into the wild. You can all come back in now.”

  “Finally.” Amanda marched past him, the others trailing behind her. “Let’s get crackin’, ladies.”

  “I have to rewash my hair,” Moira sighed.

  “Nah. You smell fresh as a daisy,” Ruby said with a laugh.

  Akane grunted. “I swear, babysitting these guys is going to kill me.”

  Chapter Two

  Amanda sighed happily as she stared around the ten-by-ten room. “It was so worth it.”

  Ruby stared at Amanda like her head was on fire. “Are you insane?” She held up
her hand. “Wait, don’t answer that. I already know the answer.”

  Michaela was too busy giggling to answer.

  Moira smirked over at Ruby. “You know what? I agree with Amanda. That asshole deserved the pummeling he got.”

  “Hell yeah.” Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the cold, hard concrete wall of their jail cell. “It got even more fun when his buddies jumped in.”

  Ruby shook her head in disbelief. “Only you would get into a brawl with bouncers and think it’s fun.”

  “He shouldn’t have touched my ass.” Amanda sniffed disdainfully. “I swear, I got more action tonight than I have in months.”

  “He wasn’t feeling you up, he was trying to throw your ass out for getting rowdy.” Ruby slumped over onto the paper-thin mattress. “Leo’s going to kill me.”

  “No, he’s not.” Amanda reached over and patted Ruby’s shoulder. “Not until the baby’s born, anyway.”

  Ruby groaned. “I’m a dead girl.”

  Michaela finally stopped laughing, but her grin was wide and wicked. “Robin is going to be ticked too.”

  Ruby sobbed theatrically. Really, she needed to calm down. It wasn’t the first time Amanda had been thrown out of a strip joint, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  “Ya think?” Moira shuddered. “I do not want him mad at me. That man is scary when he’s pissed.”

  “He won’t be mad at you. He’ll be mad at me.” Michaela tilted her head. “And possibly Snod.”

  Amanda felt sorry for Samuel Snodgrass. Robin Goodfellow took his future wife’s security very seriously. The sweet, gentle bruiser who’d introduced himself simply as Snod adored tiny Michaela and followed her everywhere. He was more like an eager puppy than a guardian, but Michaela seemed to like him. And he’d waded right in when he saw Michaela being swung at, earning his own ride in a police car. Now he was holed up in his own cell on the opposite side of the precinct. Considering his size, he shouldn’t have any trouble keeping the other inmates off of him.

  Now all they had to do was get bailed out, beat the charges, and get Michaela married off to Mr. Goodfellow, and everything would be copasetic. Easy peasy lemon-squeezy, right?

  Right.

  “Anyway, I’ll tell everyone I started it and let you all off the hook, okay?” Amanda didn’t care. It wasn’t like she had anyone waiting for her at home, ready to get into it with her because she’d gotten into a brawl. “Besides, it really was worth it.”

  “Was not,” Ruby muttered. “We could have just walked away.”

  “Pfft. That bitch tried to make off with your purse, sweetie. No way was I going to allow that.” Ruby might have been brave enough to go after her man, but that didn’t mean she’d grown stainless-steel balls. Ruby would have probably called the cops, called management, or simply reported her purse stolen. She would have rather gone through the hassle of calling credit card companies and getting her driver’s license replaced than make a ruckus.

  Amanda, on the other hand, wasn’t one to put up with that kind of shit, especially when she saw the woman walking away with Ruby’s belongings slung over her arm. She’d leapt up, called the skank out, and hadn’t been the least afraid when the would-be thief threw a punch her way. You didn’t mess with Amanda Pierson’s friends unless you wanted a whole can of whoop-ass dumped on you.

  Too bad the skank wasn’t in the cell with her now. She still wanted to pound her Crayola-covered face into the pavement and see what marks it left behind. She was betting on Sleazo the Clown. Seriously, the bitch needed to learn to put her makeup on with a brush, not a paint roller.

  “I could have handled it without landing us in jail, you know.” Ruby curled up in a cute little ball of poutiness. “Stuff like asking security to help us instead of simply accusing her and then jumping her.”

  “She started it,” Amanda pointed out. “I didn’t throw the first punch, she did.”

  “Yet who’s sitting in jail and who’s not?” Ruby, ever the realist, glared at Amanda.

  “I’m pretty sure she’s sitting in a different cell, Ruby.” Michaela rolled her eyes. “They’re not going to put her in with us on the off chance she’ll get her ass beat again.”

  “Besides, she did steal your purse. She deserves to be in here.” Moira sighed. “It’s the fight that will get the boys mad at us. Especially since…” Moira darted a glance toward Amanda. “Well, you know.”

  No, Amanda didn’t, and it was starting to bug the hell out of her. The three women obviously had something they were keeping from her. While she could understand that Moira and Michaela would want to keep secrets from someone they’d just met, she and Ruby had always told each other everything. So what was going on that even Ruby kept her mouth shut?

  Amanda was going to find out what they were keeping from her if it was the last thing she did. Whatever had Ruby spooked to the point of silence was going to get dragged into the light of day. Ruby couldn’t deny Amanda forever. Already she was tense whenever one of those pregnant pauses came up, darting Amanda guilty looks like she knew she should tell but wasn’t allowed to.

  Amanda didn’t get the sense that the secret was dangerous for Ruby to know, just that it had something to do with the family Ruby had married into. Maybe it had to do with Shane’s kidnapping? Or Leo’s sudden desire to move back to Nebraska?

  Gah. It drove Amanda nuts not knowing. Therefore, Amanda was going to drive Ruby nuts until Amanda did.

  “We got your purse back, right?” Michaela patted Ruby’s hand. “So it’s not all bad.”

  “And Shane’s wife got away, so the boys should be here soon.” Amanda couldn’t remember her name. Akira? Akiko? Something like that. She’d barely met Shane’s very pregnant spouse before she was being whisked away by Shane to his workshop. Shane’s wife wound up meeting them at the bar in Omaha, right before the fight broke out. How Ak…whatever her name was got away, Amanda didn’t know, but she sure as hell wasn’t sitting in their cell with them.

  “That’s right. Akane will bring the guys, and this will soon be a bad memory.” Michaela smiled cheerfully. “Look on the bright side—you’ll have something to tell your kid once it pops out.”

  Ruby rubbed her stomach protectively. She was barely three months along, so the baby bump barely showed. She’d been designated driver, another reason Amanda couldn’t let someone steal Ruby’s purse. “We’ve been discussing names already.”

  “Oh, do tell.” Amanda nudged the others until she was right next to Ruby.

  Ruby smiled. “Piper for a girl and Rory for a boy.”

  “Aw,” Amanda cooed. “I like them.”

  “Yeah. Don’t tell Robin, but we chose Rory after him.”

  Michaela clapped in delight. “He’s going to love that.”

  “Yeah, he is. He’s been a good friend. Hell, Aileen still wants to formally adopt him, did you know that?” Ruby laughed. “And I think he’d let her.”

  “Wouldn’t his mother have something to say about that?” To Amanda, Aileen Dunne seemed far too young to be the mother of Shane, Leo and Moira, but all three assured her she was. Amanda wanted her damn beauty secrets. And Sean’s. That man had an ass to die for, daddy to three grown people or not. The way he filled out a pair of Levi’s should be illegal.

  I mean, damn.

  Add in that Irish brogue and the bright green eyes, and Amanda was all over that. Aileen was a lucky woman, because Sean treated her like she was the hottest thing this side of lava.

  Amanda wanted her own Sean, but she doubted she’d find someone like him. Her luck seemed to run to losers. They were either sweet but dumb as hell, or hot and full of themselves, or smart and egotistical about it.

  Yuck.

  The hot ones were usually so narcissistic Amanda might as well not even be there. After all, when your right hand and a mirror were preferable to the woman
on your arm, what was the point? The ones who were sweet but not too bright couldn’t keep up with her and wound up getting scared away. And the smart ones thought they could either use her or talk down to her.

  The ones who treated her like an equal, like Leo, all seemed taken or were so gay they farted glitter rainbows. Great shopping companions and just the people you wanted to bitch about other men to, but not exactly her Mr. Wonderful.

  Worst of all were the ones who wanted her simply for her looks and acted offended as hell when she voiced an opinion on anything, even her own meals. Amanda refused to be anyone’s arm-candy.

  She wanted someone who, if they didn’t have a job, was willing to take on the role of house-husband. Amanda had no trouble being the breadwinner in her family. She felt the modern family took on all shapes, sizes, sexes and distribution of assets. If her future husband was down with changing diapers and dealing with daycare, so was Amanda. So long as the workload was shared, she’d be a happy puppy.

  “Robin’s mother and father are no longer in the picture.” Michaela shot Ruby a warning glance. “And the man Robin considers his brother has already adopted him, if only informally.”

  Amanda was having trouble keeping all these people straight in her head. “Who would that be?”

  Michaela was silent for a moment. “Oberon Airgeatine.”

  “Man, his parents must have really liked Shakespeare to name him that.” Amanda blinked. “Come to think of it, so must Robin’s parents. I mean, is his nickname Puck?”

  “Yup!” Michaela giggled.

  Amanda was amused. Michaela’s giggles were infectious. “So you fuck Puck?”

  Michaela’s giggles intensified.

  Moira tilted her head. “I wonder when the guys will get here?”

  Amanda rubbed her hands together. “I wonder if we’ll wind up on YouTube?”

  “No, please no,” Ruby groaned. “The last thing I want is my fat ass being shamed all over the world.”

  “Just because you Muppet flail when you fight…okay, that is pretty embarrassing.” Amanda ducked as Ruby swung wildly at her. “See what I mean?”