Sleeper_Google, page 27
part #3 of Hunter Series
Trent reached out with one hand. “You don’t have to hurt me. I would never cut you out. You’re my partner.”
Trent’s hand brushed over the dragon tat and I swear I saw it flash before he covered it with his big palm. Gray gasped and his hand came over Trent’s, holding it to his side as he gritted his teeth. He held Trent’s hand down, keeping it over his dragon.
I couldn’t hold out a second longer. I lost my careful rhythm and slammed down on Trent. My whole body tightened and I could feel Trent’s cock swelling inside me. It was all I needed. I came again. Gray leaned in, kissing me and drinking down my cries of pleasure. I was with both the men I loved.
Loved. I loved them and that felt good and right, and it scared me in the best way possible.
Gray fell back onto the soft carpet, his chest heaving as much as Trent’s was.
My wolf smiled up at me, his whole body relaxed. “That was worth waiting a lifetime for. Damn, man. What the fuck was that? That was spectacular.”
Gray stared up at the ceiling.
I rolled off Trent and moved in between them. “What are you talking about?”
My body was humming with pleasure, with peace. I reached out so I had a hand on both of them.
“My dragon,” Gray began. He went silent for a moment and then he burst into laughter. “I think my dragon’s bi.”
Trent started laughing and I couldn’t hold back.
We lay there, laughing and together for the first time.
I didn’t realize it might be the last.
Chapter Seventeen
I woke up to the click of a door closing. It was a soft sound, but it still startled me awake. I rolled over and realized one of my men had left the room. Gray’s side of the bed was empty, though I could still feel the heat of his body there.
“Give him a little time.” Trent turned over on his side.
A glint of daylight from where we hadn’t completely closed the curtains allowed me to see his outline, and I rolled toward him but not before I’d seen the clock. It was a couple of minutes after one in the afternoon. We hadn’t gone to bed until well after dawn. Gray should have stayed asleep for hours, and that worried me. “I think I should talk to him.”
“I think you should let him have some space.” Trent’s hand found my hair, smoothing it back. “He gave us a lot tonight. This was hard on him. He needs to process. He hasn’t been planning this for a year the way I have.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head at that statement. “Yeah, Gray’s not the only one having trouble processing. I thought you couldn’t stand me.”
“I was disconcerted at first,” Trent admitted. “I think deep down in my soul I didn’t believe the myths.”
“The myths?”
“That there was one perfect mate out there in the world for me.”
It was a myth that wolf parents told their sons and daughters sometimes. And sometimes they told their sons and daughters that it was complete shit and they should simply attempt to find a mate they could procreate with as soon as possible. Since he’d brought it up, it gave me a really good reason to ask him a few questions. “You obviously didn’t believe it before since you were married.”
“I was.” He scooted closer to me, his hand running under the covers to stroke along my side. “I told you I didn’t marry my wife for the reasons you thought I did. Honestly, it still feels weird to call Lissa my wife.”
“Can you tell me the reasons or is it a big secret?” I didn’t want the day to start. I wanted to stay warm and safe and here in bed until someone dragged me out of it.
He pulled me into his arms. “It’s not a big deal.”
I laid my head on his chest, loving how I could hear his heart beating. “It’s a big deal to me. I would tell you about my prior relationships but they mostly involved tequila and one-night stands.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve had a few of those. Melissa wasn’t one of them. And I meant it’s not a big secret. I’m not ashamed of it. I just don’t talk about it much, but I meant what I said. You’re my true mate, Kelsey. Everything I have, whether it be a material possession or the story of my life, I’ll share it with you.”
I hoped he couldn’t see how his words made me tear up. I pressed forward because I did need to hear this particular story. Come to think of it, I wanted all of his stories. “She was your wife? You had to be young when you married her.”
“I was barely eighteen and we’d recently finished what our group considered high school. Melissa was my best friend.” Trent’s hands moved over my back, stroking me like it gave him comfort. “Her mother and mine were as close as sisters and they managed to get pregnant within months of one another. In the wolf world, that means something.”
Because fertility was a problem for the wolves. It certainly had been before Devinshea Quinn and the queen had started performing fertility rituals. Any child was seen as a blessing, but two friends having children close together would have been seen as something special. “You grew up together?”
“We did. Lissa and I were the only kids in our pack for a long time. I think the next child to come along was four years behind us. It made us close. Close enough that she was willing to tell me her secret.”
I could guess. There was only one truly scandalous secret in the wolf world. Wolves are shockingly tolerant. Drugs? That’s what kids do. Teen sex? Just hormones. Don’t bother with condoms. Criminal activity? Don’t get caught and everything’s cool, baby. But one thing will get a wolf parent twelve kinds of freaked out. “She liked girls. She was gay.”
Trent rested his head against mine. “She was. Lissa always knew it, but her parents were in denial. The trouble really started when we moved. I sometimes wonder if they knew and that’s why we all moved. You have to understand that some of the more rural packs are different from what you’ll find in the city. Lissa and I spent our first twelve years with the Boston pack. I had an uncle on my father’s side who was the beta. I loved him, but he and my father fought a lot and over the years my dad became more and more certain that any human interaction would harm the pack. But the Boston pack was a city pack, very mainstream, integrated with the other supernaturals. So our parents decided to move deep into the woods.”
I’d heard rumors of packs that isolated themselves. They were more than a little cult-like. “You were Lupus Solum?”
It was what they called themselves. Wolves Alone. I’d never dealt with them but Marcus had told me they were rare, but troublesome to the Council. They attempted to free themselves of outside influences. No humans allowed. No other supernaturals. They kept to themselves and did as little business as possible with outsiders. I found it hard to believe that Trent had grown up in one of those backward, intolerant communities.
“My parents were. I never was. I hated it and so did Lissa. The other kids our age had grown up in the group. They were true believers and the first thing they believed was that female wolves started trying to get pregnant as soon as they could. Lupus Solum relies on female wolves having babies. Often the men of the group will take fertile females into their beds with or without their permission. There’s only one way to stop it once the female turns eighteen. Before that, they’re careful because no matter how isolated they try to be, there are always police or family services who will come and look around the community if they aren’t careful.”
“That’s horrible.” But I did understand. I’d grown up with a man who called himself my father and who would make sure his abuse of my person came in the form of denial and verbal abuse no one could arrest him for.
“There was one way out for me.”
“The Army.” He’d gone in at a young age. “That’s where you met my dad.”
His voice changed and I could hear his smile. “I met your dad years after he’d left the service. Your dad was a legend, but mostly for his deep desire to stick it to the man, as he would have put it. I did however serve under the same CO who commanded your father’s unit. That’s how I knew him. Our unit was close-knit and even after a wolf left, he could call on any of us and we would answer.”
“The all werewolf unit?”
“Yes. They would send in a senior officer to meet the new recruits and a few of us found ourselves pulled into specialty units,” he explained. “But I knew before I left that I couldn’t leave Lissa behind. We ran away under cover of night and when we made it to Boston, I married her. It was the only way I could get her out.”
Now I understood. “They would have found a way to keep her without your claim. They would have married her to one of the males, and she would have been treated like breeding stock.”
“Oh yes.” He kissed my nose and cheeks. “But the marriage license meant we had some cover from the traditional packs. Like I said, we snuck out one night, got married, and I swore my fealty to the head of the Boston pack. Because we were married, when Lissa’s parents came and tried to take her back, our alpha refused.”
It had been an act of kindness on Trent’s part. By marrying his best friend, he cut himself off from everything else. “Wolves don’t divorce. You must have loved her to be willing to give up the rest of your life.”
“She was the only person who knew me, the real me,” he whispered. “She was my sister in every way that counted. I couldn’t leave her there to be raped and used. This is what I meant, Kelsey. I know what normal means to some people and how destructive it can be. We weren’t born to conform. We were born to live, and for me that meant saving my friend. Even though in the end, I couldn’t.”
Because despite all of his efforts, she’d still died. “What happened to her?”
He was quiet for a moment, but I felt his hands on me, taking comfort from me. I moved against that touch, letting him know how each stroke warmed me, made me feel happy and comfortable in my own skin. This was what I’d missed. There was nothing inherently sexual in his touch. This was one wolf displaying his love and affection for another. “Lissa was reckless in those days. I went into the Army because I could support her that way. And honestly, I wanted to see something outside of Boston and the tiny town we grew up in. I wanted to see the world. I shouldn’t have left her.”
“She got into trouble?”
“A ton of it. She was all right when I was close, most of the time, but I got sent on my first deployment and she decided to try to save the younger girls. She would sneak back into the woods and meet with a few of the young girls to try to convince them to run away before they were married to whoever the alpha deemed worthy. On one of those trips, they were waiting for her.”
I wrapped myself around him, knowing this was hard for him to talk about. “Who is they?”
“Lupus Solum has packs across the country. Small, but they can be nasty when they want to be. Apparently Lissa and me successfully getting out caused trouble with some of the younger wolves. They wanted to leave, too, and the elders decided to send a message. One of the girls Lissa was trying to save betrayed her.”
I could only imagine what happened next. “They killed her?”
“Only after they tortured her. And because Lissa had been actively causing trouble, my uncle felt like he couldn’t help us. Politics, he said. We’d broken their laws and at that point in time no one cared about a small group of wolves that could basically be called a cult. If it happened now, I could go to the Council and petition for relief, but back then we were very insular.”
“What did you do?” He wouldn’t have let it pass.
“I came home and buried her. I tried to get the Boston pack to listen to me and when they wouldn’t, I decided to take care of it all on my own. One night right after the full moon, I snuck back in. On a new moon, adult Lupus Solum packs hold prayer rituals. They leave the children and gather together and pray for fertility. I burned the village down starting with their gathering space,” Trent admitted. “I probably killed my own parents, but I don’t know. It was chaos. I have no idea how many of them got out and I didn’t care. Still don’t. I spared the children. Everyone else was fair game. I couldn’t let it stand.”
“Of course you couldn’t.” I rubbed my cheek against his chest. It didn’t bother me at all that he’d gone back.
“So that’s the story of my marriage. My never consummated marriage. You’re the first woman I ever felt the spark with, likely the only one I’ll ever feel it with, so if you go to Hell, I want to go with you.”
That made me sit up. “Trent…”
The door came open and Gray was standing there. “Kelsey, the queen is here. She wants you to come upstairs with her. She says your father is lucid, but he won’t last long. He wants to say good-bye to you.”
I was up and out of bed in a heartbeat.
* * * *
“He begged Liv for five minutes,” Zoey explained as we walked into her condo. “I should have had Sarah do it, but she won’t leave Felix’s side.”
Because their happily ever after hadn’t lasted as long as it should have. I certainly got that. Felix Day had left Heaven to be with his wife. It made a girl wonder why he would give it all up to kill a couple of demons. “Liv used a spell to keep my dad awake and in control of his body?”
“I did.” Liv stood in the hallway. “But it’s white magic, Kelsey. It’s perfectly safe so it won’t last long, and I believe once it wears off the old soul will be resettled. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.”
I hugged my bestie. “I want the best for both of them and that means allowing Lee to have the life Heaven wanted for him. My father lived his lone wolf life. This is his chance for something better. But I do thank you for letting me say good-bye to him.”
Liv sighed and hugged me back. “I’m so sorry you have to say good-bye at all.”
But I was feeling so much more optimistic. It’s surprising what hours of sex with two hot men followed by steak and potatoes and brownies can do to a girl’s outlook on life. “I’m happy to have met him.”
“Kelsey, Gray and Trent are here,” Liv whispered. “And they have that possessive caveman look but they’re not beating on each other. Should I be worried?”
I stepped back, a smile on my face. They really did have possessive caveman looks. “I tried to explain to them that I could walk to the condo on my own, but alas, they worry.”
“I would worry less if you didn’t run around promising to sign demon contracts,” Trent admitted.
Gray wasn’t about to let that go without some input. “Yeah, for me it’s all the fights that she manages to find. More and more I see the pros of having a partner who can help keep her out of trouble.”
“We are so talking later,” Liv promised as I moved down the hallway and into the room Lee shared with his brother. Lee was wrapped in a blanket on his bed. Donovan paced while Quinn sat with Lee.
“We’re trying to keep it from the other kids,” the queen explained. “I don’t know that they would understand. It’s best to tell them Lee’s sick and we’re watching over him.”
“They know.” Kids knew everything. “They know something’s wrong but kids are resilient. Once Lee is back to normal they’ll probably forget anything happened at all.”
“Well, I hope you’re right. I’m going to check in on the others. Mia’s here. Sarah didn’t want her to try to sleep in the hospital so I let the kids stay up. They don’t have school so I’m going to let them sleep.” The queen smiled at Lee. “Here she is, old friend.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I miss you.”
Lee looked up, his eyes so much older than normal. “Did I ever tell you how happy I am to be your son?”
“And I to be your mom.” Tears dripped from the queen’s eyes. “Rest well. I’ll take care of you.”
He nodded her way and then looked around the room. “Can I have a moment alone with my daughter?”
Quinn took his wife’s hand. “Of course. Thank you, Lee. For everything.”
Lee winked up at him. “Go easy on the kid. It can be hard to be the only human in the family.”
Donovan held out a hand as Quinn and the queen walked out. “Good-bye, Lee.”
Lee held the king’s hand between both of his small ones. “Don’t forget.”
“Never.” It sounded like a promise. “You’re my son. I will never forget.”
He walked out the door, his eyes suspiciously bright.
“What is he not supposed to forget?” I had to ask.
My dad shook his head. “It’s a problem for another day. Don’t worry about it. Let me look at you. You’re the single most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You should be glad you take after your momma.”
There were those tears again. “I’m glad I got to meet you.”
“Oh, darlin’, I wish I’d been with you all those years.”
But now I realized in some ways he had. “Did I ever tell you about the dreams I had when I was a kid?”
He shook his head. “No. I can’t imagine how great they were given the father you did have. I looked him up in the Council records. He was a true monster, Kelsey. I can’t believe I left you with him.”
I didn’t want to spend our last few moments wrapped in guilt. “You didn’t know. I don’t blame you and honestly, I’ve started to think that these things happen for a reason. If I’d had you for a dad, I’d probably be all soft and mushy.”
“You would not,” he grumbled. “But you would have been loved.”
And that’s where I had him. “When I was young, well, even through about a year ago, I had these dreams and in them I was running. It was always night, but there was nothing scary about the darkness. It was like I knew that forest was where I belonged. Even on the darkest night, I could see. I could see the forest and hear the harmony there. I would run and I was so free in those dreams. There were times when I felt so bad about my real life that I prayed for bedtime because I knew I could be free in my dreams.”
“That was your wolf, darlin’,” my father said. “She was with you even back then. Long before you felt her manifest, she was there.”
