by Tamara White
I take a small sip of my latte and find it’s cooled down enough for me to really enjoy it. We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Britt decides to get serious.
"So, how's the sex between you four?"
I choke on my coffee, almost spilling it all over myself in my hurry to put the mug down. Britt laughs and hands me a napkin so I can clean up the small bit coffee that has dribbled out of my mouth.
"Seriously, Britt? You couldn't wait until I swallowed before asking that?"
She grins, clearly unperturbed. "Where's the fun in that?"
I narrow my eyes at her.
"Oh, come on, Mer! Stop trying to avoid the question and give me all the juicy details."
I look around to make sure no one is watching us or listening in. Thankfully, though, everyone else seems to be distracted by their own things.
I fidget in my seat before responding. "Sex is... good."
She grimaces and leans forward in her seat. "Seriously? All you’ve got is good? Are they not giving you mind-blowing orgasms that make you forget your own name?" she asks, before getting a far off look in her eyes. After a moment, she shakes her head and focuses back on me. "If you can still remember your name after sex with any one of those delicious men, then I may have to get my guys to give them some tips.” She smirks mischievously.
I squirm, unable to meet her gaze. "Uh, well..."
She leans back in the chair, her eyes going wide. "No!" she gasps. "No freaking way! You have got to be kidding me!"
The look of shock on her face makes me feel incredibly awkward. I mean it’s not that big of a deal, is it?
"Emerald, I swear by all things that are holy in this world, if you haven't let at least one of those men pound you into every known surface imaginable to man, I may just have to slap you!"
At my continued silence, she slaps a hand against the table, drawing the attention of a few nearby customers. I blush furiously as she begins to laugh, drawing even more attention to us.
I beg her to quiet down. "Britt! Control yourself!"
She regains her composure, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Sorry, I just don't know whether to admire your extreme self-control or slap you upside the back of the head. You said Talon hadn't slept with anyone the entire time he was with Heather, so I assumed the moment you came back from the dead, he would have jumped your bones."
I narrow my eyes at her. "Well, maybe he would have, but the timing didn't exactly work out in our favor. Besides, we would have if you didn't keep interrupting us!"
“Wait! I've interrupted you? When?" she demands, staring me down intently.
"Well, earlier today for one. Why else do you think Nik wouldn't let you into the bedroom?"
Understanding crosses her eyes, and she chuckles. "Sorry, Mer. I'll try to be more tactful in the future. But, damn. I can't believe nothing has happened between you two yet. The chemistry between you and Talon can heat up a room." She sighs, fanning herself dramatically. "Please tell me you plan to get a piece of that man, and soon?"
I sigh dreamily. "Oh, yes. I definitely want some alone time with Talon. But with everything going on, in order to get that alone time, I think I'm going to have to pull a fire alarm or something."
"You know I could magic you some alone time if you really want," she offers, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Thanks, but I'd prefer to find some alone time on my own. Otherwise, I’m sure I'd be thinking about the fact you knew why I needed the alone time in the first place." I shudder at that. I understand she can hear my thoughts occasionally, but for her to know exactly when I planned to do something with one of my soul-ties, nope! Just can't do it.
"Okay, time for a subject change. Tell me, Britt. How is married life for you and your four sexy men? Now I bet you're getting plenty of action." I wink, cradling my mug as I lean closer.
The mood between us goes from carefree to tense in an instant. When Britt finally meets my eyes, her blue ones are watering, and I watch in absolute shock as the first tear falls.
I rise from my seat, crouching down beside her as she wipes the tears away. "Britt, what is it? What'd I say?"
She shoos me back to my seat. I go begrudgingly, but I know she won't talk if I coddle her. It’s just who she is. Instead, I move my chair a little closer to be able to reach out and just hold her hand. It’s the small things that mean the most to her.
After a few moments of silent tears, she regains her composure. She lifts her head slowly and meets my eyes, hers filled with sadness. "The coven is threatening my husbands. The head witch is saying I'm hoarding power by not sharing them with the other females. There are far more female witches than there are males. Usually, one male is paired with multiple females, but lucky me, I fell in love with four men instead."
She sighs heavily and takes a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Anyway, the head of the coven says I have to share my men, or he'll unbind us. It just sucks. We had just started talking about having kids after a pretty scary situation, and now I just don't know what to do. If I want to have a child, we have to register with the coven. But if we do that, then the head of the coven will know I don't plan on sharing my men. I just don't know what to do. If I tell my husbands I want to hold off on having children, they'll be devastated, but I don’t want to risk us being unbound either."
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. Is there anything you can do? Can you just go ahead and have a child without telling the coven?"
She shakes her head sadly. "No, there's nothing I can do. As for having children, I don't need their permission to have one, but if I got pregnant without registering it with them, the old laws state they have the right to take my newborn child from me and sever all ties with my partner, or in this case, partners.”
I gasp in shock. "They would do that? Take a child away from its mother because of some stupid archaic law? I can't believe your coven would be that heartless."
She shrugs. "It all depends. They could also leave me with the child, but then take away my husbands. And if the coven decided to do that, they could bind our feelings, magically suppressing what we already felt for each other."
"They can do that?" I ask, thinking about my own ties. I hadn't ever planned to have children, but the thought of someone taking an unborn child from its mother enrages me nonetheless. It would be just like what happened to my own mother. I pity any fool that tries to take a child from my friend, because I guarantee a small army will rise up to get that child back, with me leading the charge.
She nods, looking completely defeated. "Yeah, they can. It has to be an unanimous vote, but most of the council doesn’t exactly approve of us. It doesn't help that one of the council members has been after Torie for a while. She propositioned him before we got together and has been trying to get her hands on him, even after we got married."
She sighs and rubs a hand over her eyes. "Don't worry about your ties, though. Witches won't interfere in vampire soul-ties unless a coven Queen deems it’s a suitable punishment for a crime that’s been committed, and since your mother is the Queen, I doubt you could ever do any wrong in her eyes."
I frown, wondering if there's anything I can do to help Britt. Maybe if I bring it up to my mother, she could talk to the witches for me? There must be something we can do.
I can't imagine being torn from one of my guys because my kind lacked the number of males necessary to procreate. Not to mention my right to have a child being based solely on a bunch of witches deciding whether I deserved to or not; it must be hell in the coven.
Britt claps her hands together, startling me from my thoughts. "Enough doom and gloom. I promised you a fun time out, not some depressing day of problems." With that, she pushes away from the table and gets to her feet, a happy mask falling in place.
I can tell it’s a mask because I know this bothers her far more than she'd care for others to see. Her husbands must have some kind of idea that this is eating at her, though. If not, maybe I should make them aware?
"Yep, sorry just thinking too hard." I force a smile and follow her out the coffee shop. We head into the nail salon two doors down, and the workers rush us to a seat, greeting Britt by name. I take it she's been here a lot, too.
We spend the next two hours getting pampered in our massage chairs, all the while talking about what we missed out on in each other’s lives in the last several years.
After we finish up and Britt is at the counter paying for the pamper day, an uneasy feeling sends a shiver through me. I freeze, having felt something watching me, and turn subtly to look out the shop windows.
I try to remain inconspicuous, pretending to leaf through pamphlets on appropriate nail care while taking a peek outside.
I swear I can see something shift in the shadows across the street, but it could just be a trick of the light. As we leave the shop and head back towards the car, I take another quick glance over, seeing nothing but an empty street. I must have imagined it.
I shake my head at my silliness. I'm just being overly paranoid. I can't think that something bad will happen every time I leave the safety of the coven, or I'll never be allowed to leave again. Besides, I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to spend time alone with Britt again and I don’t want to ruin things by panicking over nothing.
Ten – Surprise Training Session
Emerald
I drove us back to the coven, and we rode in comfortable silence. We had a relaxing day out, but I could sense that Britt wasn't in the mood to talk.
Britt walks with me back to my room, but stops me before I can open the door. She wraps her arms around me in a massive bone-crushing hug. "Thank you for letting me take you out today, Mer. I didn't realize how much I, too, needed the break." She pulls away with a teary grin. "I really did miss you."
"I know, Britt. I missed you, too."
After a moment, she lets go and waves goodbye, before walking back down the hallway towards the elevator. I can tell her heart is heavy with sadness, and I vow to find out if there's anything I can do to make her life easier. My mother may know of a way we can intercede on her behalf, or at the very least, could ask Macy what exactly the big deal is and why her council is so against Britt having four husbands.
Still thinking about Britt, I go into our room and freeze at the sight before me. Talon, Nik, and Dev are all dressed in suits, but that's not the most shocking part. They're busy stashing weapons anywhere they can in the suits as if they were designed to have little hidey holes and secret pockets for just such a purpose.
"What's going on, guys?" I ask, closing the door behind me.
Nik and Dev avoid my gaze, instead seeking out Talon's. He mutters, "Why do I always have to deliver the news that's gonna upset her?"
"Upset me? What's going to upset me?" I ask, feeling confused.
Dev chuckles. "You get to deliver the bad news because she's less likely to kill you than she is us."
Talon sighs and meets my eyes, determined. "We're meeting the local pack today, remember? We have to explain our reasoning for killing those three rogues and almost killing the fourth."
Oh, I'm just gonna pretend that I didn't totally forget about the pack meeting. "Oh, right. Hold on, give me two minutes, and I'll be ready to go." I smile at them and walk into our bedroom to get ready, with Talon following behind me. When I open the drawer, he speaks. "Em, you're not coming."
I freeze, turning as my eyes narrow dangerously. "What do you mean, I'm not coming?"
Dev sucks in an audible breath from the other room, and Nik’s whispers can be heard even from here. "Should we leave him? She might kill him in a fit of rage."
"Both of you two idiots better get in here right now, or it will be you two that I’ll kill in a fit of rage," I growl through clenched teeth.
They hurry into the bedroom but refuse to meet my eyes, all signs of their cheeky demeanor gone. I guess it’s not as funny when you’re actually faced with the woman who may very well put you in the direct line of fire of her rage.
"Explain! Why am I not coming? Do you even think you have the power to stop me?" I demand answers as I stand there with my hands on my hips, my anger quickly rising.
Talon takes a step towards me, but halts when I spear him with a glare. He shakes his head as if he’s disappointed in me. "Emerald, you're not coming with us, and that's final."
"Final? Who do you think you're talking to, Talon? One of your little lackeys that you train? No, I am your goddamn soul-tie, and you will treat me like one! If you guys are in trouble, then so am I!" As I talk, my voice gets steadily louder. By the end, it’s risen to a full shout, and my beast is pacing in my mind, demanding to be released.
Dev holds up his hands and approaches slowly. I imagine my eyes are blood red as my beast pushes to be free.
"Em, please, think about this logically. You died and came back to life. Everyone thinks you're dead. If you come with us, then they'll know you survived the attack, and it will paint an even bigger target on your back. They'll demand to know how you survived, and some of the unsavory members of the pack will tell their friends and so forth, until word gets back to more rogues, or even to your pack. Then what will you do? The whole world will be after you, hunting you because of your existence alone. We're protecting you by leaving you behind."
His words make sense, but the thought of them leaving me alone to go deal with the pack makes me... anxious. What if they get hurt because of their actions saving me? I should be there to defend them!
But after a few tense moments, I sigh, giving in. "You're right." I turn to Talon and take the few steps towards him until his arms envelop me. "I'm sorry I was acting like such a bitch. It's just that I only recently found you guys. If one of you got hurt because you saved me, I could never forgive myself."
I inhale Talon's scent and find myself relaxing against him. He runs a hand down my back and rests his head on top of mine. "Don't worry, Em. We’ll be careful. And if it helps, I'll protect the two idiots," he murmurs, and I laugh against his chest.
"Oh, sure. I’m the one who convinced her to stay here, but I'm still classed as an idiot," Dev mutters indignantly.
I turn in Talon's arm and see Dev's pout from across the room.
"Come here, Dev," I coax and open my arms invitingly.
He approaches, walking into them willingly, and I end up sandwiched between the two of them. Nik watches us with an open fascination, and I smile at him.
After a moment of being sandwiched between the two of them, I squeeze myself out of their arms with a sigh. I move, so all three of them can see me clearly as I speak.
"While I'm not happy that I'm staying behind, I understand why I must. Maybe next time, though, we discuss it first, yeah?" I approach Talon slowly, feeling seductive as I move my hips side to side, drawing his unwavering gaze. "Otherwise, I'm going to make sure it's me that interrupts us from going further next time," I purr, stepping up to press my lips against his. His mouth parts in a soft gasp, and I take advantage of the movement to grip his bottom lip between my teeth, pulling it lightly until he groans.
I let go of his lip, and step out of reach before he can grab me, a wicked grin on my face. I walk around the three of them and into the bathroom, my heart racing a mile a minute with the need to have him.
I close the bathroom door and sink to the floor, my body flushed with need. I definitely need a cold shower after that.
A few minutes later, and after my heart has calmed down enough that I trust myself on my feet, I go to take a quick shower, setting the water to cold until I know I'm no longer craving my soul-ties. Who am I kidding? I'll always crave them, but at least now I feel somewhat calmer. Slowly, I turn the water to warm while I think about what I'll do while the guys are gone. It’s the first time since being here that I'll be alone and I'm not too sure how to feel about that.
I dry myself off, feeling a moment of regret for not bringing in a change of clothes, but there's nothing I can do about that now. I w
alk out of the bathroom, glad to find the guys have left the bedroom, so I can put my clothes on without my hormones getting fired up again.
Once dressed, I walk out into the outer room, and see the guys are all standing by the door, ready to go.
Nik smirks at me and pulls me in for a quick hug. "We have to go now, but I promise we'll be back before the night is over."
With that, I'm handed off to Talon. He inhales the scent coming off my hair, which is the new lily shampoo one of the guys put in the bathroom for me. "We figured you might get lonely without us, so we have someone coming by soon to keep you company."
"Who?" I ask, feeling intrigued.
Dev wags his finger at me with a mischievous grin. "Nuh uh, no telling. That would ruin the surprise." He bends down to give me a quick kiss before striding out the door, Nik following after him with a wave. Talon hesitates, his hand on the door knob. "Stay safe, Emerald. We'll be back before you know it."
With that, he closes the door behind him, leaving me to myself. I sigh heavily, before moving into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. When it’s done, I take my mug and go sit in front of the TV.
As I sit there, I find myself becoming increasingly anxious from the loneliness, but then a knock sounds at the door, distracting me from my thoughts. I'm curious who the guys invited over, but a bit nervous as well. I hope it’s Britt, but I have a feeling it's not her.
I walk to door, inhaling deeply to determine if I recognize the visitor by their smell. I smile at the familiar scent and open the door with welcoming arms.
My father waits out in the hallway, his green eyes full of glee. "I hope you're ready to come for a run.” He grins, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
A genuine smile splits my face, and I nod eagerly. "Yes! I'm dying to burn some energy!" I exclaim, excited to go for a run. I can't believe the guys invited my father over. I will definitely have to thank them for this.
