Something warm expanded within me when I thought of Peter, my mate. It was like dropping down into a hot bath. I felt my spine sag a little, my muscles going all floppy and relaxed.
There was nothing wrong with doing things on your own, being single, or wanting independence, but the sadness came when it wasn’t wanted. I could’ve spent some time just being, and that wouldn’t have been a bad thing, but this…
When you bit me, my heart stopped and then it started beating again. For you, Flick, always for you. Peter’s words washed over me in a wave of love, care, concern, and need that seemed to heal wounds I didn’t even know existed.
Don’t they deserve that too? my beast asked.
They do. Everyone does.
“Sure,” I said. “I’d be happy to help.”
18
Aidan’s intake of breath was harsh.
We lay on the bed, Peter cradling my body against his with that great lump of a cock pushed up into the softness of my butt, his hand stroking my flank. His lips went to my neck, an encouraging rumble vibrating through me as I reached out for Aidan.
We’d talked when we got home and got Kade his dinner and put him to bed. Then we’d filed automatically into the bedroom once we saw he was deeply asleep. I’d described haltingly what had happened, until Peter pulled me into his lap and then pushed my hair to one side, kissing the bared skin, then it’d all gotten a bit ‘Letters to Penthouse’. The words came tumbling out about what we’d done, but I’m not sure if they were well phrased or not. I couldn’t see them past the technicolour playback of what had just happened in this room hours earlier.
Aidan was hard when we finished, his hand straying to the straining bulge in his jeans. And my eyes went with it, unable to look away, until he said, “Is this… Could we… Will you touch me?”
For a moment, I felt stung. I wasn’t sure why. I knew there was an attraction between all three of us and I had acted on it with one of them. I shifted forward, hand outstretched, as if finally acting on a task that was on my to do list.
“Not yet, not today,” Aidan said, catching me by the wrist. “But…if you feel like it? Later?”
It turned out several days passed before later arrived, but now it was here.
We’d come back to bed after we’d dropped Kade off to school, probably to distract me. I still felt the tension in my bones at letting him go and run off, joining the friends he’d already made and ready to make more. He’d seemed so little and fragile as he walked through the school gates, but I’d grabbed Peter’s hand and held on ferociously tight as Kade went, waving when he turned around to make one last goodbye. Peter’s hands roamed like his lips did, bringing my consciousness back to the here and now, grounding me.
And what a place to come back to.
Aidan wasn’t as broad in the chest as Peter was. I don’t think I’d ever met a man of his size, but Aidan’s body was a masterwork of muscled perfection. I found my eyes wouldn’t settle, taking in the tight pecs, the cobblestone stomach, and that sharp V of muscle at his hips. I looked for so long, it took Peter saying, “It’s OK. You can touch him. We want you to,” to wake me out of it. He thought I was feeling reticent, but really, I was just stunned.
How is this real? I thought. How can this be where I landed?
Aidan seemed to take pity on me, covering my hand with his and bringing it to his chest.
“It’s OK, Flick. We have all the time in the world. We can—”
His eyes went wide when I swept in and kissed him, but he responded readily enough. I’d read enough about kisses meaning a million things other than just the press of mouths, so I tried to inject that somehow. I caught his lips between my teeth, sucked them, scored them, thrust my tongue between his.
He’d been so fucking patient. He’d had to be, I refused to apologise for that anymore, but rig
ht now, I didn’t need that. I needed him.
He was sneaky in a way, getting under my skin while I healed, sorting things out with Peter. He just was there, making sure we were OK, all four of us. If you’d told me when I was young that the way to my heart would be getting my son a yoghurt and making sure he brushed his teeth before bed, I’d have laughed at you, but here I was. I felt a tremendous feeling of rightness when his arms wrapped around me and our kisses slowed. He held me cradled next to him, and for a moment, we just were. Each of my mates covering my body with theirs.
Mates, my Tirian agreed. They will fight to the death to protect you and the cub.
That’s not why I… That’s not why I care about them.
It was in Peter’s never-ending gentleness, the way he held the power of his body at bay, being careful when he played with Kade’s LEGOs not to break any of his crazy constructions. Peter could have strode in here, thrown his considerable weight around, and had all of us scurrying. Instead, he watched—his proximity, his occupation of space, making sure not to crowd any of us, force any of us into a corner.
And Aidan was born to be a father in the way he watched all of us, anticipating what was needed and stepping in to get it done. The easy way he smiled and was able to cheer the two of us out of almost any mood with his almost boyish antics.
I looked up into his eyes as I slid my hand down his chest and abs, feeling the muscles tense when it reached his waistband.
“Flick, you…”