by Liam Lawson
“My nina said her sister’s competing in the track meet. Hottest place to be in town tonight.” It was the only thing going on in town tonight. His grin suggested he knew this. I guess he would be familiar with this place. How long had he been gone again?
“I asked him to come,” Soraya said. I don’t think I’d ever heard her so cheerful.
In all fairness, I’d been primed to dislike her dad since she’d first told me about him. She rarely brought him up or was open to talking about him but when she did, you’d think he’d made the heavens and the earth and his decision to basically abandon her with her stepmother made perfect sense. You can blame all my years in foster care, but I can’t stand parents who leave their kids. I’m honestly not sure what I’d do if I ever met my birth parents, whoever or whatever they are, but I knew what I wanted to do to this man. He might have left her with a woman who cared deeply for her instead of putting her into foster care, but he was still hurting my best friend.
Valencia gave Soraya a strained smile. “That’s sweet.”
“Isn’t it though,” Angelo said, beaming. He pulled Soraya close to his side in a hug.
“I didn’t realize you cared about Scarlett so much,” Valencia said.
“I adore that girl,” Angelo said. “And I always love coming to check out all the fresh talent.”
Valencia’s eyes flashed with anger. Angelo didn’t notice. He was too busy checking out the runner girls warming up below. Including Scarlett, who was about to race. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten he particular event.
“Can we talk?” Valencia didn’t wait for an answer, she grabbed Angelo by the upper arm and pulled him away.
“Who’s your dad’s friend?” Daisy or Carina—I forgot which was which—asked Soraya.
“Mr. Glow,” she said absently, staring in the direction her father and stepmother had vanished. “I’m going after them.”
She took off into the crowd without a backwards look.
The signal for the race went off. Absinthe and I returned our attention to the track as Scarlett took off. She was glorious, sprinting all out and giving everything she had. This was her final event for the evening—and therefore she had nothing to hold back for. Her competition quickly fell behind. Absinthe and I cheered as loud as we could, our voices joining in the tumult. Woodhurst liked having a champion who made the completion eat her dust.
It surprised nobody when she finished first by a good margin. Absinthe and I took off from our seats at the same time, making our way down the stands to the field as Scarlett, staggering from exhaustion, made her way off the track proper. We met her in the grass, heedless of her running mates, and pulled her into a three-way hug.
Cheers and congratulations spilled from us and we pulled her close. She was sweaty and smelled it and we didn’t care.
We came apart and she beamed at us. Then, as she looked past us, her expression faltered. She looked up into the stands, looking for where we’d told her we’d be sitting. I looked back—our segment of the bench we’d been sitting at was empty. No Mr. Glow, Daisy, or Carina. No Angelo, Soraya, or Valencia.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
I had no idea how to answer that, so I tried for the truth. “Soraya’s dad showed up and got into an argument with your mom.”
Scarlett bit her lip. “Daisy and Carina?”
“Not sure,” I said, scanning the crowd. “They were seriously crushing on your stepdad’s friend though.”
I continued scanning the crowd, looking for any member of Scarlett family or friends that had come with to support her and stopped when I found Angelo. I started to say something, then froze.
He was standing on the stairs that cut up through the metal benches and across from him was Lilian She. What the hell did those two have to talk about? Where was Valencia?
“Did they even see me?” Scarlett asked. “Don’t—how will they know I’m not a fuck-up if they didn’t see?”
Oh shit. I hadn’t even thought of what running track might mean to Scarlett outside of simply keeping her in school or competing. Something inside my chest splintered.
Absinthe threw her arms around Scarlett before I could, pulling her into a sudden and tight embrace. “They saw you, Sweetheart, they did.”
Sweetheart? That was new.
Scarlett shuddered in her arms and sank into her. She pulled her head up just enough that she could look over Absinthe’s shoulder as she addressed me. Her eyes were watery with unshed tears.
“Take me home?”
I nodded and together Absinthe and I guided her back to the parking lot. Which was where we encountered a problem.
Absinthe had given me a ride her on her motorcycle and it only fit two. We’d been under the impression that Scarlett was going home—as in with her mother—after the meet.
“You two go on ahead,” I told them. “Get home, get relaxed, I’ll walk or bum a ride from someone.”
Scarlett nodded and after Absinthe gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, they both swung up on the bike and took off.
I was almost out of the parking lot when Valencia pulled up beside me in a huge SUV. “Have you seen her?” she asked without preamble. “She’s not answering her phone. Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, Ms. Estrada,” I said. “She’s just…she’s hurt. Absinthe and I were the only ones who saw her last race.”
She grimaced and for a second looked as if she might be ready to cry. It was easy to see where Scarlett got her looks from. They made the exact same expression when they were fighting back tears. Their noses did this little wrinkle that emphasized the feline characteristics of their features. Scarlett had always put me in mind of a cheetah, and would continue to do so after tonight, and her mom shared some of those qualities.
“Where is she?” Valencia asked.
“Absinthe’s giving her a ride back to our place,” I said. “We came on her motorcycle and there wasn’t room.”
Valencia looked me up and down. “And gentlemen that you are, you sent them on ahead.” She sighed. “You don’t mind her being there right now?”
I shook my head and noticed her eyes flit up to my antlers. They tended to draw attention from people who weren’t used to being around me.
“Hop in,” she said. “I’ll give you a ride home. Tell her to call me.”
“Will do, Ms. Estrada,” I said, hopping in.
She rolled her eyes at me. “It’s Valencia. Don’t call me ‘miss’ anything again.”
The ride home was awkward and silent. I was eager to get out of the car when Valencia pulled up in front of Eleanor’s house. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, then closed it and shook her head. I was almost halfway up the driveway when she called after me.
“You take good care of her, alright?”
I turned and gave her a nod.
She drove off.
When I walked into the loft we shared over Eleanor’s garage, I was greeted to an absolutely glorious sight. The girls had only made it halfway onto the bed and were rapidly sinking to the floor amidst their discarded clothes. Scarlett still wore her sports bra and her legs were spread wide with Absinthe’s hand vanishing into her panties. Absinthe was topless but still had her jeans and motorcycle boots on. Their lips were locked in a passionate kiss that broke as the door closed behind me.
They stared at me, their heavy breathing and sweat doing fascinating things to their breasts. Scarlett blushed and turned her head away, but Absinthe smirked.
“See?” she said, glancing down at my abrupt and eager erection straining against the groin of my jeans. “I told you he wouldn’t mind.”
My mind was completely blank. Absinthe’s hand began to move in Scarlett’ panties again, causing her to whimper and clutch at the biker chick’s toned arm. They’d never touched like this before, at least, not anywhere I’d ever seen. The only time anything even close to this had happened was when Absinthe had first come after us when she’d accidentally mated to me.
“Your mom wants you to call her.” I don’t know why I said it. It just sort of popped out.
Fortunately, Absinthe did something with that unseen hand that made Scarlett toss her head back and gasp.
Absinthe smirked, then glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “Get naked and get over here.”
She didn’t need to tell me twice!
An instant later I was completely nude and stripping off Absinthe’s pants, thong, and boots in almost a single go. Her sex was enflamed and beaded with arousal. I rose slightly and ran my tongue along its length.
She moaned, then reached around to pull me away, with shake of her head. “Please. It’s about her tonight,” she gasped. “Not me.”
I understood and threw myself into Scarlett, pressing my lips into hers. She tasted Absinthe on my tongue as I pulled her up onto the bed. As we kissed, Absinthe navigated around us, stripping Scarlett of her underwear until we were all three naked in bed.
I positioned myself over Scarlett. Absinthe spread Scarlett legs apart and got behind me, reaching between my own legs to fondle my balls a moment before taking my erection in her hand. Her fingers were slick with Scarlett’s fluids. The realization made my member twitch in her grip
I swear I could feel her smirking behind me as she guided me to Scarlett’s bare, soaking entrance. As the head made contact, Scarlett let out a moan. Her glowing green eyes opened to meet mine and with Absinthe’s guidance, I slipped into her ready, welcoming passage.
She was wet and tight, gripping me hard as I slid deeper and deeper into her until I bottomed out.
Absinthe pressed herself into me from behind, her breasts against my shoulder blades, pebbled nipples crushed into my skin. Her lips brushed against my ear. “Pound her.”
I did. I gave Scarlett everything I had, ploughing into her over and over again. We kissed but my rhythm became too much and our lips came apart. Only to be replaced by Absinthe as she slid around me and captured Scarlett’s mouth with her own once more. A hand reached between us to cup one of Scarlett pert breasts, fingers pinching the dark nipple. My hand took the other breast and mirrored Absinthe’s movements.
All the while, I drove myself into her with everything I could. I poured myself into her, everything I had to give. I was so proud of her. She’d done something amazing tonight, supernatural aid or no, and she deserved so much better than family drama as a reward. She was more than just my best friend’s little stepsister. More than an accident that was now stuck with me.
Absinthe and Scarlett broke their kiss and two pairs of smoldering green eyes looked up at me, blazing with lust and adoration and something else. Something more.
Absinthe’s hand slithered between Scarlett and I to the place where our bodies joined. Scarlett broke eye contact as her entire body exploded. Her back arched, trapping Absinthe’s hand between us as her passage clenched down on me with powerful muscles. Fluids gushed over my erection and down my thighs.
I exploded a moment later, burying myself into her. Absinthe now had both hands between us, and I had no idea how. One played with my balls while the other circled Scarlett’s clit, all the while Scarlett and I rode our mutual orgasm, feeding off of each other’s pleasure, each of us prolonging the moment for the other until we collapsed together in a sweaty heap.
Absinthe allowed us a moment and then rolled me off of Scarlett to the side.
We both blinked at her with barely comprehending eyes as she delivered her trademark smirk and moved between Scarlett’s thighs.
My now flaccid member twitched as she lowered herself, holding Scarlett’s gaze the whole while.
Scarlett hand grabbed mine and squeezed. Hard.
She was afraid. I could sense her fear radiating from her in sharp pulses in time with her palpitating heartbeat. But she held my hand and never broke Absinthe’s gaze. Not even when her entire body tensed up a second later as Absinthe’s tongue made contact with her bare, just-used sex.
“Oh-oh-OHHH,” Scarlett moaned. Her thighs trembled and Absinthe had to push on them to keep them from closing. Her hips lifted up, pressing her sex to Absinthe’s mouth. Her eyes closed as she bit her lip—only for another cry to escape her a moment later.
Absinthe went nuts, latching onto Scarlett and devouring her sex, doing who-knew-what with her tongue. Scarlett came again, a smaller, shuddering orgasm than the one she’d had with me. Another followed right on the heels of that one. And then other.
Gasping for air, Scarlett reached down and shoved at Absinthe’s head. “No more! Please, no more. I’m too sensitive.”
Absinthe, her grinning lips soaked with a mixture of Scarlett and my fluids, rose up and flopped down on the bed on Scarlett’ other side.
They kissed. A slow, gentle kiss, pull of passion but also deliberate, conscious choice. This wasn’t the pair of them caught up in the moment or trapped by my magic. Something was growing here. Between them and between the three of us.
I sighed and wondered what the hell I was going to do, because I was quickly falling in love with both of these girls. My rising erection gave me an immediate answer at least and I rolled back atop them to continue our lovemaking.
Chapter Four
Scarlett didn’t go home all weekend. She stayed with us, making love, swimming, doing something that actually resembled homework, and basically laying low. It was relaxing in a way that was utterly unfamiliar. It felt like it could become normal very easily. Three people all staying in a tiny garage apartment should have felt cramped, especially with two of them being women and only one bathroom between us. Okay, sure we could use the amenities of Eleanor’s house, but we tried not to use them and really didn’t need to. We seemed to unconsciously coordinate with each other, drawing strength and comfort from one another’s presence.
Absinthe’s former alpha had said that I’d stolen her away by proving myself to be an alpha her inner wolf was willing to follow. Absinthe had also infected both Scarlett and I with her werewolf virus and even though my own magic had mutated it, I had a feeling that the werewolf magic wasn’t gone so much as absorbed. Nobody said anything about wolves or packs, but I couldn’t help recalling the physical language the Road Wolves had shared between them as we shared our space together. We knew when someone was thirsty or hungry, when they needed the bathroom, or wanted to make love.
The girls spent another afternoon with Thomas by the pool fiddling with his tech while I was forced to catch up on all the homework I’d put off, but otherwise it was just the three of us. It all just worked for us. Some of the magic of Eleanor’s land, which she hadn’t satisfactorily explained to me yet, other than to say it had something to do with fae magic, might have had something to do with it. That magic liked having me on her property and I’d been sleeping better since moving there. But not nearly so well as I did with Scarlett and Absinthe curled tightly into me those two nights together.
I went to Hardin’s Monday morning class fresher and with more energy than I’d ever felt. I was downright chipper. I wasn’t really looking forward to hearing all about Soraya’s adventures with her dick-head dad, but hey, at least I’d get to spend some time with my best friend.
Except that Soraya wasn’t there that day for class. She texted after, saying she was catching up with her dad. I couldn’t really blame her for that but her timing sucked. Our group was meeting up after class to knock out our project for the evil overlord masquerading as our professor and there was no doubt whatsoever that she was the brains of the outfit.
I tried not to let her absence get me down or worse, be jealous that she was spending time with her dad. I had less than a leg to stand on there. If Soraya wanted to spend time with other men that was more than her prerogative and if that man was a family member…maybe I struggled with it because my adopted father was such an asshole. I couldn’t imagine Nicole or me actually wanting to spend time with the pretentious authoritarian. Angelo Cabal gave me similar vibes. Controlling, manipulative, and completely self-absorbed. I sighed
as we sat down to work and I explained the situation to my fellow students.
It turned out we weren’t as dumb as we thought. Without Soraya there to guide and direct us and, okay, do all the real work for us, we actually had to apply ourselves and didn’t do half bad. I broke everything up into pieces and we worked on our individual parts simultaneously so that we could adjust the presentation as needed and double check each other. It took most of the afternoon, but we knocked out almost the entire project. What was more, we all seemed to understand at least the portions of the theories we’d individually worked on to create the presentation.
I texted Soraya on my way home to update her—she’d care far more than any of us that she’d missed today—and resisted the urge to whistle as I strolled. Things were going well. Really well.
Absinthe’s motorcycle was in the driveway when I got home. Didn’t she have work today? I usually didn’t see her until closer to dinner time. I heard her and Scarlett before I saw them, voices raised but not shouting. The conversation stopped as soon as I opened the door.
They were standing in front of our beat-up old sofa. Scarlett was shaking in place and looked about ready to throw herself at Absinthe. And not in the fun way. Her head was lowered, she wasn’t breaking Absinthe’s gaze, and her teeth were bared. I couldn’t make out Absinthe’s expression
“What’s going—”
Scarlett rushed over, interrupting before I could even finish the question. “Daisy and Carina are missing.”
Who the hell were Dairy and Carina?
Absinthe must have read my mind because she said, “Her friends that went with us to her track meet.”
Oh right, them. I vaguely recalled them now. I hadn’t bothered to pay them much attention. Mostly because they had a chronic case of stink-eye every time they’d looked my way.
Absinthe went on. “They haven’t been in touch and Scarlett is worried.”
Scarlett was speaking almost before Absinthe had finished. “It’s not just me they haven’t spoken with. They haven’t been home since the track meet. Even Daisy’s little sister doesn’t know where they went.”
