by Honor James
Briar nodded and sighed. “You are right. We should have taken that time. We deserved it. Now we need it. I don’t think I will be able to let either of you far from my sight for a time.” She had struggled to come back from her last attack. She was now struggling to keep from having this one wipe her out completely.
“We’ll do our statements tomorrow and tell the captain we’re taking the mandatory time. It’s only a couple weeks, but we both have a bunch of vacation time banked so we’ll extend it with that. And, Briar, if you need to talk to a counselor or someone you trust of a female persuasion, just say the word and we’ll get it arranged.”
“That sounds good to me,” Briar said softly. “I just need the two of you,” she said simply. “Three times. He invaded and attacked me in three places where I should be safe above all other places. I know that I wasn’t personally attacked by what he did to my home, but it felt personal. He destroyed it. He attacked me in my morgue, where I should have been safe because of all of the security. And then he came for me and my mates, claiming that he was my mate when nothing could be further from the truth. He hurt those I love. He wanted to kill me and hurt me again. I just.” By this point Briar was in tears, her hands clenching tightly as she spoke.
“Shh, baby,” he whispered. “I know. But he’s gone now and he can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again. We’ll keep you close for however long you need and we’ll get back to our lives. We won’t let him and his sickness take away who we are and what we do, Briar. It won’t be easy, we all know that, but we are all stronger as a unit than alone. And you are not alone, not any longer, sweetheart.”
“No more am I alone.” She whispered that truth she knew. “I have the two of you. My strong and amazing mates.” She looked up at Byrne and then to Danel. “I will always need you in my life. Together we will find our way again, right?”
“Absolutely.” Danel was the one to answer her. He shot her a look and smiled gently. Reaching over, he took her hand in his and squeezed her chilled fingers. “We can do anything as a team, Briar. This is just a bump on the path of our journey together. Together we will overcome anything that is put before us.”
That had Briar smiling. Turning her hand over, she squeezed Danel’s hand in hers and told them both how much she loved them. Finally she settled her head on Byrne’s shoulder and smiled. “I would like to marry you both. Our laws have changed so that I can be married to the both of you. I just need for you two to decide what my last name will be.” Whose name would be first in the hyphenation of her name. “Can we?” They hadn’t asked her. The mating superseded any piece of paper, but she wanted that piece of paper, a great deal more than she had ever dreamed.
“Well, this is just so sudden.” Danel waved a hand near his face. “I don’t know what to say. Oh my Gods, the pressure,” he said, eyes wide. Then he grinned at her and retook her hand. “Of course we can have a marriage, too, sweetheart. Whatever you would like to do we will ensure it’s done. As for the last name, well, we could use both our last names if you wanted to do a hyphenation. Though technically they are clan names more than surnames like what you humans have.”
Briar shrugged. “I want that though. I want to carry a part of both of you forever, and that would do it. Clan name or not, I don’t mind. I just want and need this.” She rested back against Byrne again and closed her eyes. “I just need the two of you. Everything else is just background.”
“We’ll make it happen for you, Briar. When you are ready we can start figuring out the details,” Byrne said quietly. “We can have it as large or as small as you would like. Invite whomever you wish and we will have a party afterward before kicking everyone out so we can have you all to ourselves.”
“Good. I want that so that when we do have children they will come into the world with the names of both of your clans. Will that be okay? I have no idea how the whole fathering of our children will be, but I want them accepted by both of you as your children. I know, getting ahead of myself and not making sense but I’m trying to think of the far future. One day we will be there, right?” If they were there she would be feeling safe, she would know she was safe and they would have helped her to get past this irrational fear she had swamping her again.
“We will both, equally, be able to have the opportunity to give you children. That is why I took your pussy during our initial mating,” he said with a chuckle. “If a Luhpyne takes his mate’s anus during the mating, then he’s effectively neutered and cannot father children. But since I took your pussy and Danel your anus, that means we can each have a chance to give you kids. And they will be loved by us both for as long as we shall live.”
That had her smiling, and she nodded. “I’m glad. I would love to have one of each of you running around. I think that it would be a great deal of fun to be able to have you both there with me during having babies and all of that.” She was actually able to smile, a real and true smile. For that moment she forgot everything that had just happened and instead simply focused on the future.
“Of course we’ll be there. Through the diapers, the midnight feedings, the two-in-the-morning walk-arounds, singing every nursery rhyme imaginable to get the kid back to sleep, and all the stuff that comes after. First steps, first words, first time the kid embarrasses the shit out of us in a public place and we all get red faced and flustered.”
Briar just grinned. “I love how that sounds.” She placed her head back on his shoulder and sighed. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her hand against his bare chest and her cheek along his bare shoulder where she pushed his shirt aside. “I like that thought, so very much more than the other thoughts. I think that I will just keep that one in mind if you are okay with that?”
“Of you dreaming of the little Byrnes and Danels running around wreaking havoc upon the world?” he asked. Chuckling when she nodded, he gave her a squeeze. “Go for it. If that makes you happy I’m all for it. Though I think that, when we do have children, I will need to send an apology package to my parents.”
“Ditto,” Danel said on a heavy sigh. “If only to suck up enough to get them to tell me how they survived all those years with me terrorizing them, the neighbors, and pretty much anyone else in our township.”
Briar laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “Oh God, why? Were the two of you that bad?” she asked with a frown. “Seriously, I have to know, were you two that bad as children? If so, I think I will need to ask your parents how they dealt with the two of you and then make you guys help me wrangle the children as they get older.” She knew that they would though.
“I’m pleading the fifth,” Danel said.
Byrne snorted and chuckled. “Oh, brother, I don’t think we can get away with that. She’ll just ask our parents,” he pointed out. “I was a brat,” he admitted to her. “I got into all sorts of trouble and likely contributed about ninety-nine percent of my mother’s gray hair. The other one percent wasn’t me. That much I know, since my fathers are a bunch of troublemakers, too.”
Briar snickered. “I love it.” She rubbed her cheek to his chest again and sighed. “You still worked out to be an amazing man. Both of you. You are both such amazing men. No matter what kind of children you were, you are both truly the most marvelous of men and you make me so very happy to be in your life.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Danel said with a grin her way. “It’s actually sort of a miracle I survived long enough to become who I am. I was absolutely sure my mother would kill me at least once a week. Only maternal love likely kept me alive.”
“Well, let’s hope that one day I will have that same control,” she teased. It was nice, being able to move back from the horror of only hours earlier and into teasing. “I just need the both of you, always.” She couldn’t deal without them close and was smart enough to recognize it.
“Not like we are planning on being anywhere else,” he said. He was slowing the truck down and turning onto an unlit road. “We’re about five minutes away from the house now. When we reach
the drive and gates, you’ll be able to get your first look at the outside. The lights on the grounds come on automatically when we key in our codes.”
“Good,” she whispered and sighed. Turning, she looked toward the road once more, and when the house came into view she felt her eyes go wide. “Wow,” she whispered in awe. The home was beautiful. It looked almost like an antebellum mansion from days long gone. There were even trees lining the brick-paved drive. “This is…stunning.” That was the only word she could come up with. “This is our home?”
“This is our home,” Byrne told her with a grin.
Danel stopped in front of a large wrought-iron gate and leaned out the window toward a keypad. When he drew back inside the SUV, the gate began to move, and right on cue, everything on the grounds lit up. The driveway had little lanterns on both sides. There was a fountain and bushes with lights that made the plants appear to glow from within.
“Eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a gaming room, a den, a library, kitchen, formal and informal dining rooms, a ballroom at the back off the sunroom, and two living areas, one on the main floor and one off the master suite upstairs. There’s a pool out back, fully enclosed with moveable walls for the summer months. A gym in the basement as well as a sauna and a movie room. It’s a lot of space, but it’s actually really well designed. You can’t see it from the front, but there are three wings off the back side, one of which is just for the master suite and then all the guest rooms,” he told her as they pulled up to the front doors.
“Wow. This place is amazing.” Briar smiled and shook her head. “It’s as if it’s from my dreams. I know how silly that sounds, but this is the kind of home that I have always dreamed of as a forever home. This place is amazing. I can’t wait to see it in the daytime as well,” she whispered honestly. “A sauna? Wow. And a pool? You guys really must make a heck of a lot more money than I do at the AEDA because there is no way in heck I could afford something like this.”
“Oh, this place we bought long before we got into the AEDA,” Danel told her, turning off the truck. “We got it for a serious steal right after the war was over. The owners wanted the hell out of Dodge and headed off for somewhere warm and one of the few places the war never reached.”
“Ah. Do you think that it was because the Veil opened up and they knew that this would be close to comings and goings of those from the other side?” Some humans didn’t want to be anywhere close to the Veil. Some wanted to be as far from it as they could possibly get.
“More than likely.” He nodded. “A lot of humans really hate being so close to the Veil and the various portal points. They are even more wigged out when they realize just how close the Veil actually cut on their lands. Not that it could do anything to them of course, but they weren’t exactly thinking rationally when this all went down. Now.” He looked to her. “Are you ready to head inside and get a nice hot bath?”
“Yes, very much so,” Briar said with a smile. “I like the idea that we are close to the Veil. Even though I’ve never been over there, I like knowing that we are so close to your home, to your parents. I really do. Weird I know, but true.”
“The Veil actually cuts through part of the property,” Byrne said, opening the door on their side. He slid out of the truck and eased her onto her own feet, his arm still around her and holding her up. “Not that you can get through at any point here. Only the spots that opened between the worlds fully can be used for that. But in a way, you are right, it is kind of nice to think that they aren’t that far away, sort of.”
“Really? That is very interesting. I think I like that,” she said with a smile. “That you are both so close to your home while you are still here with me in my home.” So that they could be happy, as could she. “I’m sure they would come to see you if you extended the invitation, wouldn’t they?”
“Unfortunately,” Danel muttered as he moved past them. He had keys out and was unlocking the door. Byrne held her back as Danel went to a panel inside and punched in a very long string of numbers. “The only real problem is that we might not ever get them to leave.”
“Would that really be so bad?” Briar asked softly. “To have your family come to visit you. I would think you would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” she asked with a frown. “Or is there something that you aren’t telling me about your family?”
“No, love, it wouldn’t be bad for them to visit,” he said. Pushing the door wider, he stood back as she and Byrne stepped inside the foyer. It had a freaking chandelier, for the love of God! “I love my parents and would kill for them, just as I would for you. But they tend to make me feel like I’ve reverted to about six years old after three days and everything I do or say is wrong or inappropriate. I clean up my language around them because my mother would box my ears. I usually go for short visits and then come home. It’s either that or go stark raving mad and go racing through the county naked and shrieking like a banshee.”
Briar could only grin. “I love it.” She looked around the home and instantly loved the way it felt. Every single part of the home seemed to reach out and wrap around her. “I love this home,” she whispered. “It’s incredible and it feels as if every single part of this home is for me. It feels like this home was made for me.”
“Oh thank the Gods.” Byrne breathed out. At her look he shrugged. “We figured you’d either absolutely hate it or love it beyond words. I’m just glad it was the second one.” He chuckled. Grinning at her, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Go, look around. I’ll go up and get a bath started for you.”
“That sounds good,” Briar told him with a happy grin. “Really nice and warm, please.” She moved closer to Danel now that Byrne had walked away. Slipping her hand into his, she looked up at him. “Show me around our home, please?”
Nodding, he squeezed her fingers and led her through the main floor, showing her the large rooms and how they had opened up the kitchen and one of the dining rooms to make it feel larger. He told her about moving some of the walls here and there as he guided her through. “We prefer open spaces as much as possible, and the flow of the house when we bought it was stifled. We felt seriously claustrophobic here.”
“I prefer it as well. It’s nice to be able to have room to move around. I like space so that I don’t feel as if everything is falling in on me.” Which was why her morgue was as large as it was. “It feels as if this house was made for me,” she admitted as she allowed her hand to trail along the marble counter. “Do you think we will be able to spend time here often?”
“Absolutely. It’s a little far when we have to work, but we can be out here whenever we’re all off and on holidays. We’ll just have to rearrange our schedules so that we can all be off at the same time. I’d hate to have to sleep without you at the condo if I’m stuck working. And I know Byrne feels the same way,” he said.
“I can’t sleep without both of you either,” she said without hesitation. “So yes, we will have to figure out our schedules so that we can all get together on our working days. I need that, a great deal. I refuse to work without the two of you in the same building with me. I refuse to be home without both of you as well.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised her. She knew it was a promise. She could feel it in her gut and from what she knew of her mate. “Come on, let’s go upstairs. I’ll give you the nickel tour up there and by then your bath should be ready to go.”
“I know we will.” She knew without a shadow of a doubt that they would. She knew that these two men would move heaven and earth for her should she ask it of them. “I also know that the captain will do just about anything to keep the mated couples happy, especially now that there seem to be more of them all working together, right?” She hoped.
“In theory, though.” He snickered and shook his head. “Given the ass kicking Zhubin handed him, I doubt he’d dare say anything about the matings. At least if he wants to keep on breathing without the help of machines. The laws were put in place for a reason, a very good reason, espec
ially when there is a Luhpyne in the mix. The mating affects them deeply and they need time to stabilize a bit, which is why there’s that mandatory time off for all mated couples. The rest of us have it a bit easier. It’s not nearly as brain rattling as it is for them, but it’s still really nice to have some time with our mates to find our groove together.”
“Good,” she grumbled. “The mating affects us humans deeply as well. I know it has me at least. Mating with the two of you has been the best thing that I’ve ever done, as well as one of the scariest. Taking that final step and accepting both of you was hard, I won’t lie, but I’m happy for it.”
“We’re just glad you could trust enough to go through with it,” he said softly. Tugging her to a stop in the hallway, he rubbed both his hands up and down her arms as he faced her. “We would have understood if you couldn’t, but I know it’s been really hard on Byrne. Being Luhpyne, he felt responsible for what you-know-who did to you. Same race and all that. No talking him out of that one, unfortunately, no matter how much logic I used. I’m pretty sure, right up until he was able to bite you, he was scared spitless you’d change your mind.”
Briar nodded and sighed. “And it’s funny, I feel just as safe with him now as I do you. Even before, when I was avoiding you and he was watching me I felt safe. I think that it’s because I knew, deep down, that you would never, ever hurt me. Either of you. I knew that you would always be there for me. Even in my fear I knew that.” She just couldn’t act on it because the fear was too great.
“Your soul recognized us even as your mind tried to protect you. Trust me, we get it. It’s why we didn’t push too hard at any given time. We’re not idiots, but we also weren’t going to let you try to forget the fact we were around either.” Smiling, he kissed her lips gently. “If he seems a little overly overprotective, go with it for a while, will you? For me?”
