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Celia snuggled against Dex’s side, and he curled a strand of her pink hair around his finger. These idle moments alone with her were precious to him. Not that he minded sharing her, because he didn’t, he loved watching her with Nick and Simon. When it was just the two of them though, they chattered about everything.
It was a Thursday night, Simon was at work, and Nick hadn’t come home from trial yet. He’d been late every night this week, and he was grumpy as hell too. That probably wasn’t just the trial, but because of Daniel too.
For just over two weeks they’d been hunting her dad. When he was located, by the time they arrived there to confront him, he’d have disappeared. Daniel had involved the law, claiming he feared for his life—the asshole should—and the cops had come calling at the cabin two days after they mated.
Simon had given a partial truth as a statement... he’d been attacked by Carl and Rico. He’d taken three bullets, and if not for his ability to shift and run fast he would’ve died. When he ran off, both men were still alive, and no, he had no idea where they were. They’d been suspicious though and interrogated him over why he hadn’t gone to the hospital for his GSW’s, why he hadn’t reported the assault to the police, and if he had any ideas where Rico and Carl might be.
Nick said the investigators bought Simon’s mistruths, but Dex had his doubts. Simon didn’t give a fuck what any of them thought since he was the injured party.
Either way, the authorities hadn’t been back, but neither had Rico’s body shown up. Dex wanted to put this whole affair behind them. They’d wed in three days, and Dex selfishly didn’t want to utter the motherfucker’s name ever again. As it was, they worried that at any given moment her parent would show up.
“Did I tell you I’m thinking of applying for the bartender job at CrissCross? Or was that Simon I told?” She petted his chest, and he deduced she wasn’t aware of her actions. His bear took notice, surfacing just enough the beast snuffled its pleasure.
“Had to have been Simon.” He pressed his lips to her temple just so he could feel her soft skin against his mouth. “CrissCross, huh?” It was the strip club in town. At her nod, he said, “Last time you mentioned that place, you wanted to bring a girl home to fuck you. You still angling for that to happen?”
She jabbed him in the gut. “Don’t pretend the idea of me licking pussy or getting mine eaten by a chick, doesn’t give you a hard on.”
She was as bi as he was, so she’d always be interested in female sex, and he wouldn’t mind watching her in action with another woman. He grumbled anyway. “Isn’t it enough I have to share you with Nick and Simon?”
“I know! They hog all my time and don’t share me with you. It’s so unfair.” Celia added the right amount of outrage to her voice that she sounded almost believable. When she bitched, he joined her, and she gave him the same lip service.
The woman is a keeper. “They never played well with others on the playground either.”
“Did the twin flame mark appear the moment y’all met?”
“Those two met first. Kinda hard not to meet when your family is so intertwined, but yeah, they say it was immediate for them.” He rubbed her arm as she sat quiet in his embrace listening to his story. “Simon’s dad, Peter, had heard about a bear being placed with a human foster family. He wanted me to socialize with bears so I could learn about my history. Nick and Simon attended an all-bear school. Elite and only the privileged attended. Peter met with my foster parents and paid for my tuition. There, I was the odd kid out. Nick and Simon stuck together, but their alphaness already was showing by then, and it scared some of the kids off. They knew they were fated too, but they expected a woman to join them. I had no idea what the twin flame was when it happened and, yeah, it was instant, just like the night you showed up here. They tried to explain what the twin flame mark was, and I didn’t really believe them. It took a visit from Peter and Nick’s dad, Roger, to convince me.”
She grinned up at him. “So you know how I felt.”
Nodding, he outlined her mouth with his fingers. “Yeah.”
The hum of an engine came from outside, and he tensed as he debated if he should go to the door to determine who it was. Footsteps crunched across the lawn, hit the front porch, and then a key jiggled in the lock.
Nick entered, his tight features relaxing the moment he spied them cuddled on the sofa together.
“There’s one of the anti-sharers,” she said in a stage whisper.
Dex chuckled, but Nick didn’t bother asking, simply elevated his eyebrows. He probably suspected it was bullshit anyway. His alpha chucked his brief case on the loveseat as he stepped over the coffee table—apparently taking the direct path to them—and reached down to yank Celia to her feet. The smooch he gave her should’ve made Dex jealous. Instead his dick grew interested at the visual they created.
There’d been a time when it was just the two of them in a relationship. Their bond was special, and he was thankful for it, but Celia amplified their relationship, and brought all four of them together. That completed them as twin flames and as lovers, because as a unit they were the perfect combination.
Just last night, Celia had sat astride Simon’s cock reverse cowgirl style. She’d leaned back against Simon’s chest while the tattooist fucked her from beneath. Dex’d been on all fours being fucked by Nick, while Dex licked and sucked on her clit. The three of them had shared a woman before, but he’d never taken cock up his ass in the presence of another woman until Celia. Nick had, but not Dex. That’d been a personal thing for him.
Nick jerked Dex from his pleasant thoughts when he grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet. He cupped Dex’s face and kissed him with the same eagerness as he had Celia. Warmed by Nick’s show of affection, Dex melted inside. He loved them both more than his own life. Yeah, he loved Simon, but like he would a brother, not as a lover.
His alpha roped one arm around Dex’s waist and the other about Celia’s shoulders. “We’ve got your dad, Celia.”
“Where is he?” She withdrew from Nick’s hold as if rejecting his support, and Dex could almost feel her emotionally retreating from them.
“A clan member has him. Simon’s in the middle of a tattoo and can’t get free for another hour. He’s canceling the rest of his appointments for the night.” Nick cupped her chin and tilted her head back to stare at her. “He’ll call when he can meet us there. What’s wrong?”
“I thought he’d left town for good.” She fiddled with her fingers.
Dex scowled at her. “That’s not what’s bothering you, sweetheart.”
A sigh exhaled from her lungs. “I want to confront him, but now that I’ve got the opportunity, I don’t know what I’m going to say.”
“Say nothing.” Nick’s hand shifted from her chin to the back of her neck. He tugged her into a Nick-Dex-hug. They sandwiched her, embracing one another. “We can do all the talking, minx. Or we can say nothing and let Simon tear him apart.”
Yeah, because after her dad sent the hitmen to the house to kill their mate, there was no way anyone would talk Simon down from murdering Daniel.