Briar's Saviors [Beyond the Veil 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Honor James

  “Ah, well, that’s good.” Her men, so sweet. They were always looking to take care of her. How much better could her life get? She continued to eat, and when her slice of pizza was gone she looked to the box again. “Can I have it now? I ate a piece of pizza and I’m sure I will eat more later, but for now, can I have it please?”

  Danel snickered. “She ate the pizza and you did promise,” he said, looking and sounding pretty amused.

  “I did at that.” Byrne nodded. Reaching over, he snagged the bag and handed it to her. “Have at it, love. Just go slow. Apparently this one is a little on the extra sweet side of things. But I was promised that you would love it.”

  Briar took the small box and opened it. Seeing the cupcake inside, she all but melted. “Oh heavens. You went to Gigi’s and got me a cupcake? They have the best, best cupcakes ever in the history of ever.” She literally had to wipe the corners of her mouth, it was watering so much. Reverently, she peeled the cupcake paper off and began to eat, moaning and sighing as she did so.

  “Silly woman,” he snorted, his lips curled in amusement as he watched her. “Of course I went to Gigi’s. I know how much you love the treats there. You plaster yourself to the window anytime we happen to get within a block of the place.”

  That had Briar grinning. “You are too funny. I don’t plaster myself to the window.” Okay, so she might stop and drool when they walked by, but who could blame her? The heavenly scents that wafted up and around her, the way that the cupcakes all looked. It was decadent. She took another bite and sighed in pure pleasure. “Perfect.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” He smiled back at her. “Took me a while to figure out what to get you. Thankfully what’s-her-name over there had some advice based on your last visit. She was very helpful, thank the Gods. I don’t think I could have survived otherwise with all those options before me.”

  “It’s perfect. It’s decadent, and while it’s sweet, there is a spicy flavor as well. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect cupcake should I have tried. Even if I had been the one to get it I don’t think that it would have tasted nearly this good.” And it was all because he brought it to her.

  “Glad you like it,” he said quietly. Grabbing another slice of pizza, Byrne slid the box to Danel to snag another one. While she feasted on her cupcake, the men finished off the pizza with ease.

  “I love it. Thank you.” Briar put half of the cupcake back into the box and smiled. “However, that is far too much for one sitting. I think that I will put this half into the fridge and save it for tomorrow. Then I’m going to go and brush my teeth and crawl into bed. I wouldn’t mind someone or two someones joining me.”

  “I’ll tidy up and be there soon,” Byrne said, his gaze moving to Danel.

  “I’ll come along with you, Briar. If you want, we can stop in the office and you can pick out a gun you’d prefer to carry around,” he said softly. He’d put a hand on her back. It was a comforting weight as he rubbed it up and down her spine.

  “That sounds good.” Leaning into the heat of Danel, she allowed him to walk along with her to the kitchen first so she could put the cupcake in the fridge and grab a bottle of water and then down the hall toward their offices.

  Stepping into the room, he led her over to the wall and, pressing a hand to what actually looked like a plaque, a chunk of the wall slid back and out of the way. Reaching into the opening, he keyed in a security code and put his palm on the scanner there, and a heavy vault door opened toward them. As it did, she saw that it wasn’t just your average gun vault with a few weapons. It was a bloody bank vault they’d converted into a weapons room. “Go ahead,” he said with a smirk, waving her to enter. Likely because her damned jaw was on the floor.

  “Wow.” Briar was stunned. She hadn’t realized that they had so many weapons in here. “I can fire a handgun. Which would you suggest?” She was just mind-blown right now at all of the weapons she faced. There was everything from rocket launchers to swords. It was…wow. That was all she could think. Wow.

  “Well, if you would step over to this wall, Briar, and bring your jaw, too.” He chuckled. Moving to a corner, he turned on a display light and eyed up the hundreds, literally hundreds, of handguns on the wall and in various drawers. “You have an average-sized hand with long fingers, but your bone structure is a little on the delicate size so we don’t need anything that will snap a wrist. You’re going to need something that will fit with comfort and not weigh a ton either. Hmm.” He pulled about five off the wall and three others from drawers and laid them out on the table in the middle of the room.

  “Give those a heft and try different movements with them to see how they feel. Remember that you will likely have it in a purse or pocket, so you need to think about dragging it up from that position specifically. Which, if you don’t like the balance on one of these, would be more difficult to manage,” Danel told her.

  She lifted each weapon individually and checked the slide and sights. Finally she nodded. “I know which one that I want.” She put her hand on the Glock and smiled. “This one. I know it’s an older model, but the track record is incredible and I like how it feels the best in my hands. So this will be mine.”

  Nodding, he put the others back into their slots and then handed her a box of ammunition. “I’m assuming they taught you not only to shoot but how to load and care for your weapon, too. There’s spare cleaning kits down by your kneecaps if you want to grab one, too.”

  “Yes, they did just that.” She reached for the cleaning kit and knew what he wanted. Pulling the gun apart, she began to clean the already meticulously clean weapon and put it back together. Once that was done she loaded the clip and waited. She didn’t put them together until he had looked over what she had done. She respected him enough to give him that.

  Nodding, he lifted his eyes to hers as she slid home the clip and then pulled back the slide. Danel took the weapon when she offered it and checked the slide, one bullet in there sitting pretty. He popped the clip and popped out the bullet, handing her everything back. “Glad to see it, love,” he said. Leaning in, he kissed her gently. “But, you shoot me, and there will be hell to pay. Just warning you now. You say you’d never do it, but I know you women. Go all crazy ass and boom! A man’s got a hole in his ass and is pissing into a bag for a month.”

  Briar laughed at him and shook her head. “I would never and could never hurt you. You know that as well as I do. So we will keep the weapon in the side table drawer. I think that is a good compromise, don’t you?” That way she could get it if she needed it. She would have it on her at all times when not in bed, but when in bed it could remain there.

  “I think it will work.” He smiled at her. “Come on, darling, let’s go get cleaned up and into bed. I’m exhausted, and fuck, I have no idea how you’re even still standing and communicating so well. Strongest damn woman I have ever met,” he told her. Stepping close, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, dropping a kiss on her hair.

  She snorted. “It’s not that so much as I’m terrified of the dreams that will come when I close my eyes.” She was being perfectly honest with them, and they both knew it. “I don’t know how to deal with this. I just hope that the two of you won’t hate me if I have nightmares all night.”

  “You’ll be fine,” he said softly. “We’ll be doing those breathing exercises again, and if you really suck up, maybe we can talk Byrne into giving you a massage. He’s apparently very well trained according to his mother. And no, she’s never gotten one out of him either, so she may be blowing smoke up my ass.”

  “Watch what you say about my mother, Ahnjel,” Byrne called out from the direction of the kitchen.

  Briar grinned and looked toward the kitchen. “Is he telling the truth? Do you know how to give a marvelous massage? If so, do you think it will be possible for me to get one?” She wasn’t going to touch the fact that he had snarled at Danel about his mother. She respected the hell out of him for wanting to protect her
like he did.

  “Of course I know how to give a massage. My fathers insisted that a man needed weapons in his arsenal that a woman wouldn’t see coming. So I took massage courses, dance and cooking classes as well. My mother was very appreciative of all those classes even if I was most definitely not at the time. Now, doesn’t hurt to have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  “You are so right there. Suddenly your fathers and mother are seriously high on my list of people I like. Somehow that makes them less terrifying.” She knew how strange that sounded and just laughed. “Just go with it. My mind works seriously differently from yours, so just go with it.” She was teasing, mostly. Thankfully, however, her mind was off of the fear so that was huge.

  “Well, I’m sure my five-foot-two, hundred-pound-when-soaking-wet mother will be glad to hear that,” Byrne commented. He was grinning and shaking his head as he walked toward them up the hall. “Though I think she’s always wanted to be feared, at least a little. But she just doesn’t have the stature really. Too cutesy for her own good.”

  Briar was grinning. “I won’t tell her that you said that. I have a feeling that she wouldn’t appreciate her son calling her cutesy.” She wanted to know more about their families now. “Tell me about them? Your families? I want to know about them. Everything, anything, please?”

  “She knows I call her that all the time.” He shrugged. “I even tell her that to her face. If I lift her up or bend over so we’re eye to eye, that is.”

  Danel snorted and looked like he was fighting not to laugh.

  “Dude, seriously, don’t make me start talking about your mama,” Byrne said. Danel lost his amusement and narrowed his eyes. “My mom is tiny, really tiny, and has two mates. Both are Luhpynes while she is Vhampire. She’ll love you, and my dads will likely regale you with stories of exploits and horror stories of me as a child. Most are out-and-out lies, so you can just nod and ignore it all.”

  That had Briar shaking her head. “It’s just stunning to me that such a petite woman could give birth to such a massive man. I mean, you are both like whoa crazy huge. Seriously.” Cocking her head to the side Briar asked, “What about you, Danel? Is your mother a petite woman as well? And does she rule the roost, so to speak? I’m sure that her husbands would do anything at all that she asked them to do, wouldn’t they?”

  “My mother is of an average build, not as tall as my fathers, of course, but not as petite as Byrne’s mother. She would stand around five foot eight, at a guess. All mothers rule the roost, as you say. They are the one that doles out punishments and know everything. Even when there is no earthly way for them to know, they still know and you get in even more shit for it.”

  That had her grinning. “I love it. And your fathers dote on her don’t they?” One thing she had learned from seeing the matings, especially the trios and quads, the men absolutely doted on the women. They would move heaven and earth for them without question.

  “Of course,” Byrne said. “She can make them very happy or very, very miserable. They know that to have a happy home is to have a happy mate. So she is kept happy and they are happy. Though, she is a troublemaker. At least my mother is. Every time I see her it’s the same shit. Byrne, I’m very unhappy with you. Then I get all these dirty-ass fucking looks from my dads! It’s not my fault she’s unhappy, especially since it’s usually something moronic like it was too long since my last visit, or I don’t call more or something of that ilk. They know it, I know it, and yet my dads always act like a nuclear strike is about to occur.”

  Briar snickered. She couldn’t help herself. “Well, hopefully you bringing home a mate will help to appease her and make her not say that she’s unhappy with you? I look forward to meeting them, all of them, and I’m also dreading it. I hate to say it but there it is. I’m worried sick about meeting them.”

  “You shouldn’t be, Briar. You will be welcomed like the family you are. Expect a lot of hugging from the mothers,” Danel said. “Even our fathers will likely get into it and give you a big hug and say things they shouldn’t. Just roll with it unless you are uncomfortable and then tell them to back it up.”

  She felt panic then, real panic. “I…” She didn’t know if she would be able to let another man touch her. Her mates were one thing. She actually and truly did love them. But their fathers, especially Byrne’s fathers, she wasn’t so sure about. “I don’t know.” She knew her breath was coming in pants, she was feeling light-headed and wanted to cry. She wanted to be stronger than this, but just the thoughts had her in a panic mode.

  Byrne wrapped her up in his arms from behind while Danel cupped her face and made her look up at him. “Slow breath in, slow breath out. Focus on each pull and push of air, Briar. You are strong, you are brave, you are amazing, and you are ours. If you can’t hug them that is fine. We’ll tell them that you aren’t ready for that and they will respect it. See? Nice and easy fix.”

  She nodded. “I’m not ready for that.” She gulped. “I’m so sorry, but I’m not.” She had gotten to a point where she could work, she could function, and mostly deal with the people at their workplace, but the thought of another man touching her had her ready to hit the roof.

  “It’s fine.” He smiled down at her. Sliding his thumbs over her cheeks, he leaned in until his forehead rested to hers. “We will warn them before we visit to keep it to a handshake if you’re comfortable with that. We won’t tell them the why’s of it all, just that it’s your preference until you know them well enough.”

  “Thank you.” She whispered softly. “I don’t think that I would be able to handle it. I appreciate you being willing to keep my secrets as well. I know that doesn’t sit well with you, but I appreciate you keeping my secrets.”

  “Your secrets are ours to guard. We are your mates, Briar. Until you give us permission to share them, we wouldn’t,” he said. Dropping a kiss to her lips, he drew back. “Come, let’s get ready for bed and try and get some sleep tonight.”

  “That sounds good to me.” Briar agreed with the whole sleep part of everything. “Sleep sounds very good. Let’s do this. I need to feel you both holding me. I need to feel you loving me again.” She would never not need them and they both knew that.

  Byrne’s arms loosened. “Go and have a quick shower, Briar. We’ll clean up quickly in the other bathrooms and all meet back at the bed. One of us will be between us and any entryway at all times so you can relax and take the time you need.”

  “Thank you.” She touched her fingers to his cheek and nodded. “I am stronger than this. I know that I am. I just need to regather myself.” Something so small as thinking of her future in-laws hugging her had her panicking. She had to get a tighter grip on herself. Had to.

  “It’s fine, we understand. Go and bathe. Quick,” he said quietly. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and rubbed her back. “Go on, baby. We’ll be right there. Danel, you hit the shower first and I’ll double-check the system.”

  “Got it.” He nodded before smiling at her and letting her move around him.

  Briar gave them both one last look and nodded. She walked away from them so that she could get bathed. She needed the time to pull herself back together and appreciated them for understanding that was exactly what she needed. With one last smile, she waved over her shoulder as she disappeared behind the door of the bedroom.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “So, what did you not tell her?” Danel asked quietly. He knew Byrne well enough to know he’d edited what he’d told Briar.

  “Not a lot, but he’s closer than I let on,” he said just as softly. “Last possible sighting was less than four hours outside of the city, right before I came in the door. I have no idea how he got here that fast, but there is definitely someone helping him, Danel.”

  Nodding, he shot a look up the hall toward their bedroom before facing the Luhpyne again. “We both know the first place he’s going to go.”

  “I had agents go over to her old place to ensure that if he showed up they c
ould shoot his ass,” Byrne said on a sigh. “I think he’s going to get there and realize her scent is cold and come looking for her. He knows she’s got real mates. Not that fucked up, whatever was going on in his head. He’s going to come looking for us.”

  “Not like we’re hiding either,” Danel murmured. “We’re listed, and really, if he’s even got a halfway decent nose on him he’ll figure out we’re holed up here just from all those we have around us out there.”

  “It’s going to take more than a good nose,” Byrne said. He stepped into the bathroom to strip and clambered into the shower stall, a tighter fit than their custom made one in their two rooms. But it was furthest from Briar right then and they needed to talk so it would have to do. Wrinkling his nose, he stepped into the bathroom and hopped up onto the vanity, eyes on their bedroom door.

  “We gave them some of that masking agent shit,” Byrne told him as he started the shower. “He’ll have to be right on top of them to even find them. We hated the idea of using it, but it made the most sense. If he shows up and scents a lot of agents, he’ll likely go batshit crazy. But, if he gets here and scents nothing…” Byrne trailed off.

  “Maybe he’ll try to sneak in and come for us quietly. The hunting instinct will kick in instead of the fight or flight.” It was a good plan, in theory. But they weren’t dealing with the average Luhpyne either, this guy was beyond fucked in the head.

  “If he plays by the rules,” Byrne said, nearly echoing his thoughts.

  “Yeah, if he plays by the rules,” he muttered. Rubbing a hand over his face, he let out a breath. It was going to be a long night. He and Byrne would sleep in shifts and try and keep Briar asleep so she could actually rest and recover from all the stress of the day. It was going to be a damned long night.

  * * * *

  He was furious. She wasn’t there. In anger, he toppled the statue that was in the foyer of the home he took over. This was not how he planned this. At all. He was going to come back and kill the bitch so that he could go on with his life. She had to die in order for him to be completely free. He had been assured that if she weren’t alive any longer that the Council would have no hold on him.