by Honor James
“Which is why you would have to be the primary because if not the genetics would recognize that they weren’t first?” That sounded weird, even in her mind, but it made a weird kind of sense, too. Very strange indeed. “To be honest, before this day I don’t think that I could have even said pregnancy without fear, but now…” She shrugged. “Now I feel the need for more.” There was hesitation, there was fear rolling off of her when she whispered, “And the rape?” she asked quietly. “He was Luhpyne and he came inside of me. Will that negate our mating?”
She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel for a long moment before loosening. “No, he wasn’t one of your chosen mates. Now, what I’m going to say next will sound horrible and I don’t mean it to be, but I mean it literally and not in the overall scheme so please, understand I don’t mean to harm you.” He looked to her briefly before continuing. “What he did has no effect on our mating or possible future pregnancy. In essence, he was shooting blanks because you and he are not genetically or cosmically linked to one another.”
Reaching over he took her hand in his and held it tightly. “He hurt you baby, and for that he will suffer untold pain before he dies a horrible death. But what he did has no effect on us, you, me and Danel, as a unit. While one of the races could, potentially, possibly and on a super small portion of a chance, get someone pregnant, it’s a crap shoot of universal proportions.”
Briar had tears in her eyes and nodded. She couldn’t speak for several minutes but finally with a nod she whispered to him. “I’m glad that he didn’t tear that from us as well.” She took several moments to pull herself back together and turned to look at him. “Thank you for telling me that. I’m glad that he couldn’t tear us apart. He already took a great deal from us in keeping me from you for as long as he did. Never again though, right?”
“Never again,” he agreed. Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers gently. “He can’t take anything more from us than we are willing to give. And I’m giving him nothing of any of us. All he can expect is one pissed-off Luhpyne and a seriously annoyed Ahnjel. Which, some say, is actually the scarier of the two. The Ahnjel, that is.”
Briar smiled and nodded. “Well, I hope never to see the pissed-off sides of the two of you. I happen to enjoy the happy sides of you both, the loving and caring sides. I like you both, a great deal. I more than like you both, a great deal,” she admitted very, very softly. “From here out we live for ourselves, for the three of us, right?”
“Correct.” He nodded. Slowing, he turned into a parking lot and into a spot a moment later. “Come on,” he said with a smile as he shut off the engine and slid from the truck. Walking around to her side, he pulled open the door. “We are at our destination.”
She took his hands in hers and smiled. Letting him pull her out of the truck she took that moment and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him as she did so. “Thank you. For everything, Byrne. For giving me time. For being you. For being patient. For everything.”
“I would do anything for you, Briar. Which, by this point in time, you really should know already. But you are most welcome for all of that. Though, honestly, I am not an overly patient man. You just happen to bring out the best in me.” He muttered the last bit, hugging her in return.
That had her smiling. “I’m glad that I am special in your world. I’m very happy that I get to be unique and all yours,” she said with a smile. “You are unique as well. I don’t think that I would be able to let any male besides you and Danel close to me.” And she was fine with that.
“We wouldn’t let you let any other male this close. Trust me, I catch another guy with you like this and he’ll have to get a bag to carry around his arms in after I rip them from his body. If he survived me beating him to death with them, of course. Now, come on, let’s get inside. I smell rain coming and I don’t want you getting wet.” He grinned a second later and snickered. “Well, not in that manner anyway.” Another snicker. Men, sometimes they were such children, no matter their race.
“Good. I am fine with you not letting another male anywhere close to me. I happen to really not want another male within a mile of me if you please.” It took her a moment to understand his words, and when she did she sputtered, turned red, and nodded. “Right, yes. Well, I honestly don’t know what to say to that,” she admitted softly.
Chuckling, he hugged her to him. “Probably best you don’t. At all, possibly ever.” He laughed. Stepping back, he took her hand and led her into the high security building. Still chuckling, he led her past a security desk with two guards who just nodded to them and to an elevator in the back he needed a key card and code for. Pushing her into the car, gently he hit a button for the top floor, again using his card before it even began to move.
“Where are we?” Briar asked finally. “Is this where you live?” She turned to look up at Byrne, no fear, just curiosity. “Are you bringing me to your home?” she asked with her lips turning up in a curved smile. With happiness blooming in her chest that he would trust her in his space.
“One of them. It’s where Danel and I live when we’re working. When we have time off, we either go to the other side of the Veil and to our respective homes or out to a place we have in the countryside.” As they came to a stop the doors slid open into a wide foyer with a door right across from them. Taking her hand, he led her to the door and, opening it, let her inside. “Welcome to one of our homes,” he said, waving an arm. It was a huge space with lots of windows and wide open rooms. There were a few doors down a hall to her right, likely bedrooms and bathrooms, she guessed, but the main living spaces were all open with only a few posts to hold up the roof.
She looked over the space and felt a weight lifting. Inhaling the scents of the home, she sighed. “This is perfect.” She looked down the halls but then back to the windows. She walked to them and looked out over the city. “Byrne, I love this space. It’s amazing,” she whispered honestly to him. “Thank you, for letting me be here.”
He tipped his head slightly and put his hands behind his back. “Wander around if you like, take it all in. Did you want something to drink since you’re off the clock for the day? Wine, beer, juice, or perhaps just a bit of water. We also have a fairly healthy selection of hard liquor as well if you’d prefer.”
“I would honestly love cranberry juice or orange juice if you have it. I’ve never been much of a drinker.” She lost herself in the bottle for a short time after what happened to her, but she didn’t ever want to go back there. “Do you mind if I look in the closed doors?” she asked quietly and moved to the hall.
“Go for it, all the socks and underwear should be picked up but don’t panic if it’s not. We’re pretty much bachelor’s.” He smiled. “Go along, I’ll come find you when I scrounge up your juice,” he said, turning to head for the kitchen, with all its very shiny appliances.
“Sounds good to me.” She looked down the hall and began to look through the rooms. She opened the first door and walked in. The silk brocade bedcovering was in a deep burgundy red and was obviously silk and very, very expensive. She moved into the room and ran her hand over it, turned, and looked around and smiled. This wasn’t either man’s room. It had to be a spare room.
Walking out, she opened the next door and stepped in. She could tell that this was Byrne’s room. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she knew that it was his. She climbed up onto the massive bed and lay down in the middle of it. Closing her eyes, she sighed and pulled a pillow closer. She could smell him on the pillow and that relaxed her all the more. Weird. Very weird.
When he went to find her it was to see her in his room, on his bed, curled around his pillow. Stopping in the doorway, he didn’t move another inch or say anything. Not that he could have spoken right then. There appeared to be a large lump in his throat and a suspiciously damp sensation around his eyes. Blinking, he let out a slow breath.
Too long, much too long, he’d wanted her in his space. The Luhpyne had fought against him, wanting to c
arry her off and help her heal as it believed. But Byrne had fought back, keeping his animal side in check and letting her come to him. He’d always known the reward would be greater because of that patience. And, if what he was seeing now could truly be believed, he’d been right.
Moving into the room, he made sure to walk around the bed so that she’d see him. Only she had her eyes closed and her nose buried in his pillow. Crouching down, he reached out and gently stroked a finger over her hand. “Hey,” he said softly when her eyes popped open. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he murmured quietly. He’d never, ever do anything to cause this woman harm, mentally or otherwise. She was too damned precious to him, meant so much, and held his future in her little hands.
“This is your bed isn’t it?” she asked quietly and shifted slightly, patting the bed at her side. “Lay down with me? I would really and truly enjoy feeling you holding me close, smelling your scent surrounding me. I very much would like that, please?” She reached her hand out to him. She needed to feel him close to her. Wanted to know just how it would feel to have him holding her close.
Taking her hand, he set the glass she hadn’t noticed he carried on the bedside table. Then he stood up and joined her on the bed. He settled in next to her, close but not close enough. He was leaving space between them, giving her room she didn’t need right then.
Briar moved in closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Are you afraid of me?” she asked softly. “You seem as if you don’t want to be close to me. Do I make you nervous?” She hoped not. She wanted to be close to him. She needed to be close to him. She wanted to be with him. Period.
“No, but I also don’t want to crowd you,” he said quietly. His arms slid around her in a light hold, one of his hands resting on the curve of her hip. “I don’t want you to look at me with fear in your eyes again, Briar. I’ve seen too much of it and I never want to see it again.”
“I know you more now,” she whispered softly and moved in far closer to him. “Before I didn’t. Before I was afraid of everything and everyone. I’m not of you and Danel any longer. I only feel heat, need, and desire. I feel hope.” And that was the key word there. “I feel hope for our future, I feel happiness for what we could have.”
“That’s good,” he said softly. He began to rub his hand up and down her back gently. “Hope is always good. Especially after all you’ve been through. To not have hope is, well, terrible really. I’m glad that you’re thinking about having a future with us as a part of it.”
“It’s what I need,” she admitted to him. “I need to have a future with you. I need to be able to feel love once again. I know that we will be slow going in, but we have wasted so much time now.” She felt stupid for it in a way. “I just. I want a life with you. With you both. I need a life with you both, and now that I’m ready for it I really and truly don’t think I want to slow down.”
“The time was not wasted, Briar. You needed the time to heal and to learn to trust in yourself again. To know that you were strong enough to be with your mates. To remember that we would never do anything to cause you harm and that we’ll be there no matter what. Yes, it was hard to give you that space but we knew that it had to be that way. We only want you happy, sweetheart. That is all that matters to us.”
“With you holding me, with you touching me I am happy,” she admitted. “I feel whole when I have the two of you near me. I feel as if life is finally right when the two of you are with me. That makes me happy, knowing that the two of you are mine.” She hoped that made sense to him. She loved him, so very much. She knew how silly it was, but she loved both of her mates a great deal.
“Good.” He nodded and squeezed her a little closer. “Very good,” he murmured. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he just held her close, his heartbeat in her ear a steady and soothing rhythm. It was a little slower than a human heart rate, but perfect for a Luhpyne in the prime of life. And warm, God he was so nice and warm.
Briar sighed and whispered, “You are so very warm. So soothing. These are both things that I love so very, very much about being in your arms.” Her hands moved over his back, her hands slipping up and under his shirt to touch the skin. “That feels so very nice.”
She could hear a low growl as his abs clenched under her hands. “You’re playing with fire, little one. Be very careful where those hands go next,” he warned quietly. There was a threat to the words, but it was one she understood and yet wasn’t afraid of. Her mate wouldn’t hurt her, but he also wouldn’t be trifled with, not after waiting so long.
“And if I wanted you to love me?” Briar asked quietly. “When we bond, when we all form that final bond do we all three have to be there?” She knew she had to be there, but she needed to know if both men had to be there as well. “If so, I should stop touching you now because I’m finding as I touch you that I want you. That I want to be with you. That I want to love you and have you loving me.”
He let out a tortured groan and put a hand over hers, stopping her wayward touch dead. “Yes, we all need to be present for the mating bond to properly form. If one member is absent, they are forever cut out of the link and can never mate. They can’t even be a part of the mated group that they should have been. It’s a form of shunning I suppose would be the closest term for it you would know.”
“Then we can’t do anything,” she whispered. “I never want to cut him out. I need you both.” She moved her hand so that she was on the outside of his clothing once more and simply rested against him. “I hope that we will be able to do this soon, however. Doesn’t have to be tonight, but I do want this with the two of you. I need it. A great deal.”
“It will happen when it is meant to happen, Briar. Today, tomorrow, or next year. You are in our lives now and that is a tremendous relief to us both. We can wait until the moment is right and you are ready for what comes next.”
“Thank you for that.” Briar smiled up at him and then moved back so that she was resting completely against him, her head on his shoulder. “We will all come together when you guys are ready for it as well. That makes me happy. To know that you both want me as I do you.”
“Oh, darling, you have no idea just how much I want you. Lately I’ve been feeling a lot like that horrifying nursery tale you have on this side. The one with the big bad wolf in it. Really not a great image for wolves I must protest on their behest.”
Briar shuddered. “Oh Gods.” She breathed and pressed her lips to the side of his neck. “Then I refuse to tell you how I’m feeling.” Although he could likely scent her need, smell how much she needed and wanted him. It was sad really how much she wanted her men.
Chuckling, he hugged her to him. “I think I have a very good idea how you are feeling. Or, I know what your scent is telling me. I won’t say more since I don’t want to embarrass you but I feel the same, Briar, promise.”
“Good.” She rubbed her cheek to his shoulder and chest and closed her eyes. “Do you mind if I sleep in here with you? Do you mind if I make this my room instead of the spare room?” She wanted to be with both men, with Byrne and Danel both, and hoped maybe one day she could convince Danel as well to join them.
“You can sleep wherever you feel most comfortable,” he said. “In case you’re wondering, that was a yes. You are always welcome to sleep in here, with me or without me. But I should warn you, Luhpynes sleep naked.” There was definitely a big shit-eating grin on his face at those words.
Briar laughed. “So does this human. So I’m thinking that we need to ensure that Danel feels the same way and wants to cement this bond forming between us.” It was one she could almost see. “And see if he will sleep with us. Do you think that he would, or would that give you issues?” She wanted to be able to rest between both men, to know that no matter what she was protected even in sleep.
“Doesn’t cause me any issue, but it might you. He’s a cover hog. Tends to roll up like a weiner in a bun and sleeps like that all night. Though, it may be race specific. I’ve heard te
ll of other Ahnjels that do the same thing. Never quite figured out why and they aren’t sharing either.”
“Right. Well, I will make sure to keep that in mind. I will ensure that he knows that if he hogs the covers then he will just have his own covers and I will snuggle up with you in our own covers.” She didn’t know if that would work or not, but she could certainly hope so.
“He’ll probably just roll you up in his covers. Which should be interesting if one of you decides to get out of bed.” He gave a snort and then chuckled softly, likely trying to envision how that would go over.
That had her laughing as well. “Well, all that I know is that I will need to touch both of you. I will want to touch both of you so he will have to learn to adjust his sleeping habits. I want to be able to hold you both close. Or rather having you both holding me close that is.”
“You get to tell him to change his sleep habits. He tends to try and punch me when I tell him to do anything outside of the work environment. Even there I try to temper what I tell him to do. And they say Luhpynes have tempers. Obviously they’ve never dealt with Ahnjels. The universe’s perpetual PMSing species.”
“Oh God, that’s priceless.” Briar was giggling, no, she was laughing loudly. “You are killing me. That’s too freaking funny. I love it,” she told him honestly. “And don’t worry, I will tell him. No, I will ask nicely and ensure that he knows the rewards of doing as I would like.”
