And when Aarav finally softened enough to slip free of Cash’s ass, he disappeared only briefly to clean himself up then brought a washcloth and tended to both Sola and Cash.
They’d curled up in the big bed together, cuddling as they soaked in the gratitude they had for the way they could make each other feel and the fact that they had survived this nightmare—more whole than ever before because they had found their missing pieces in each other.
It was around the time Cash thought he might doze off given the bone-deep serenity coursing through him and the sleepless hours he’d endured the previous two nights that an odd scraping noise from the other room caught his attention. “What’s that?”
He might not have cared enough to investigate, but Aarav sat upright, then bolted into the kitchen.
Sola and Cash chased him, lurching to a stop when they realized Miss Nibbles had somehow gotten on the countertop and was helping herself to the salad Aarav had been in the middle of making when Sola knocked. She’d burrowed into the salad and was munching a carrot held in her adorable paws, looking up at them from the bowl like she’d found her own personal paradise.
They should have scolded her, but none of them bothered, especially not when they could relate.
Sola laughed, the sound lighter and easier than he’d ever heard from her before. She patted the bunny on the head and said, “You know, we have a friend, Mr. Prickles. I think the two of you might get along really well.”
Cash had no idea what it was about this place that seemed to collect misfits and strays and turn them into the perfect network of friends and…family…but he knew he’d never been as lucky as the day they’d been sent to execute him and decided to make him one of their own instead. He hadn’t exactly found his purpose yet, aside from adoring his two wonderful partners, but he was sure they would help him discover what he was meant for in addition to loving them.
For now, that was more than enough.
When Aarav asked their home automation system to play some music and started shaking his ass to a song laced with a strong beat overlaid with sitar, he knew they’d ended up exactly where they’d always been meant to be.
20
Ace punched Liam in the shoulder as they left the gym. It was more of a love tap, but it felt so good to be able to have full use of his arm again with that damn cast off. “Thanks for staying late to work out with me. I didn’t want to wait another day to get back at it.”
“No problem. Can’t have you getting stronger than me.” Liam teased. They both knew no matter how many hours Ace put in at the gym rehabbing the arm he’d recently broken on a mission, he’d never bulk up to Liam’s standards. The man was practically a walking mountain.
Not that Ace was complaining, and certainly didn’t when they spent alone time in bed together, with Liam covering him, the weight of his muscles a warm comfort. They’d been partners at Shields for a few months now, but partners in life a whole lot longer.
Ace laughed at the man who was his roommate, and so much more, as they rounded the corner past the lobby of the Shields headquarters. Down the hall, before the elevators to the living quarters upstairs, was the command center and then the kitchen where they shared so many meals and fun times with the rest of their found family.
Coming to Shields had been one of the best decisions they’d ever made. Not only for their careers, but also for the stability of their relationship and the support system they’d found. Not to mention the sweet and sexy woman they’d both had their eyes on from the moment they’d been introduced to her. Ruby.
Figuring out how to approach her without ruining all those other amazing aspects of being a Shield, well…that was something they hadn’t figured out yet.
“Did someone forget to turn the light off? Let me get it quick.” Liam spotted the glow coming from beneath the command center door at the same time Ace did.
They turned long enough for him to pop it open. But instead of flicking the light off and continuing toward their apartment, a long, steamy shower together, and the massage of his arm Liam had promised—which would absolutely lead to massaging other parts of him, hopefully with Liam’s mouth and cock—Liam froze. “Ruby? What are you doing?”
Ace went onto his tiptoes to peek over Liam’s massive shoulder at the woman typing furiously from the gaming chair she’d insisted James buy for her. The thing looked like it belonged in a racecar. Considering her deft handling of the mega-computer in front of her, checking various screens in the bank of at least ten monitors arranged in an arc before her as her fingers flew over the keyboard and mouse, he figured it wasn’t so different.
She could probably run the world from that thing.
Liam entered cautiously and Ace followed on his heels. Not wanting to startle her, he called, “Hey, earth to Ruby.”
Still no response. It could have been because of the headset she was wearing, but more likely she was hyper-focused on whatever she was doing. In fact, he didn’t even see her blink as they approached. When Liam tapped her shoulder, she screeched and whipped around so fast the cord on her headphones jerked her head back.
“Sorry!” Liam held his hands up, palms facing her. “It’s late. Everything okay?”
Ace could already tell it wasn’t. Her usually pale skin was ghost-white, her bright red hair seeming even more vibrant against her translucent complexion. Her pulse pounded in her neck and her eyes were wide and watery.
Ruby glanced away, back to her computer and tried to get rid of them. “Sure. Fine. Everything’s peachy. Sorry, guys, but I need to concentrate right now.”
“On what?” Liam wasn’t about to leave her any more than Ace was. Something wasn’t right.
Ruby never panicked. She was always flippant, and a bit dismissive. Never so serious and certainly not downright fucking scared. Whatever she was doing was bad news.
“I’m not sure…” she muttered as she hit ten-thousand different keys, staring at a string of characters flying by that might as well have been Chinese for all he could understand them. “I was mining some blockchain because House of Goblins is releasing an NFT I wanted to get in on.”
Ace whipped his gaze to Liam, who shrugged. He heard the words she was saying, but they weren’t making sense in his brain. His mind translated it ascomputer stuff, womp womp womp womp womp.