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A few days later, I flipped through TV channels while Oisin sat on the floor near the sectional. Hisashi and Black were working the bookstore, Black selling books and sorting out a box of old manuscripts while Hisashi told fortunes and used his unusual charm to convince people to buy cheesy occult knick-knacks. Con was working at the university. That left me alone with a cranky fae.
Oisin was brooding while pretending not to worry. He hummed as he sorted his laundry, folding some things, but setting aside the fussier items to be ironed and hung up. Even though he was trying to appear at ease, I could tell his heart wasn't in it. Both him and Hisashi had been acting weird ever since our little...adventure. I was hoping in Oisin's case it was just worry over his sister. But something told me that was wishful thinking.
"Do you think Evalyn made it back home okay?" I asked lightly, deciding on a news station and turning the volume down so I could hear Oisin's answer. The further away she got from Oisin the better. At least that's what he had insisted as he shoved her out the door. But I didn’t think he really wanted her gone.
He lifted one shoulder in a graceful shrug, his loose hair slipping over the soft weave of the blue sweater he wore. I wanted to go wrap him up in a hug, just so I could feel the sensations of soft angora and his silky hair against my skin—Oisin was all about sensory indulgence. But I refrained, even if it killed me to see him acting worried. He didn't take well to coddling.
“She’ll be fine,” he said, dismissive.
I nodded. He was probably right. "What do you think your dear old dad will make of it, if he noticed her power, then it disappeared?"
He frowned. "Hopefully he will think she was hiding, he found her, then she was killed before he could get to her."
I let out a sigh. "Does he know you killed the others?"
Oisin glanced at me and I was not happy to see the blank mask he wore. "He didn't. He might figure it out now. I was far more...sly back then. I was careful to appear uncaring, and I never met any of my siblings, as far as he knew. But this time...he knew I was here, and if he did track her, then he will know she came to me."
I nudged him with my foot. "She'll be okay. She doesn't have what he wants anymore."
Oisin nodded. "You're right, of course. Evalyn will be fine." He still didn't sound very happy.
Maybe it wasn’t Evalyn that was worrying him. Something was up, but damned if I could figure it out. I was an emotional idiot. And he masked almost every emotion he had, especially if it was something I wouldn't like.
I stared at the news—some special highlight about Ontonagon and how our crime rate had stayed so low, even though the population had grown exponentially in the last few years—while I tried to figure out how to handle the fae.
Kaimana saved me from myself by gliding into the room in a cropped tank top and yoga pants. She wasn't wearing a bra, as usual, and I had trouble focusing on her face. I was a terrible human being. Her hair was damp, and I smiled at her. "Go for a midday swim in the tub, did you?"
She laughed, her rich alto soothing my frayed nerves. "You should come join me next time." She leaned down and kissed me, her soft lips brushing against mine before she pulled back to whisper, "I could show you my half-shift."
I blinked at her. "I'm not getting in the tub with a kraken. I value my life."
She laughed her throaty laugh and went to sit next to Oisin. "Laundry? You must be under the weather, fae, if you can't think of anything more entertaining to do than laundry." She lifted an argyle sock from the basket, then went digging about to find its mate.
Oisin frowned at her as she rolled them together, then took the socks away from her to do it right. He was so fussy about his damned clothes. The princess.
Kaimana laughed and nudged him with her shoulder. "Why are you two in here pouting? Did someone die?"
I glanced at her, then at Oisin. "That's what I've been trying to figure out," I said in defeat.
Oisin looked at me. "What are you yammering about, gryphon. Everything is fine." He shook his head. "As I've said countless times already."
Kai glanced between us. "It doesn't feel fine in here. It feels...boring." She flopped backward, sprawling on the floor, her damp hair fanning out in wavy tendrils that reminded me of her tentacles. "It feels like someone is worrying about things when they should be enjoying all life has to offer." Nothing ever bothered her. Typical ancient sea monster.
I stared at her exposed midriff for a few seconds, tempted to go down there and lick the smooth expanse of olive skin, just to see her squirm. Shaking myself, I threw the remote aside and stared at Oisin. "Something's up. You're worried. And it freaks me out when you worry, Oisin. If you aren't snarking and making innuendos, then it must be serious."
He tilted his head back and let out a frustrated groan. "Nothing. Is. Wrong."
I tilted my head. "Lie."
He threw his socks into the basket and stood, glaring down at me. "I'm worried about my sister and my father," he said calmly.
Truth.
"That's all it is."
Lie.
"Is it about what we did with Hisashi?" I asked, biting my lip. "Because, honestly Oisin. I thought you were really, really happy about that. But if the whole thing makes you so uncomfortable...."
He rolled his eyes so hard it was a surprise they didn't get stuck back in his skull like that. "Gesa. You are an idiot. I have no idea how you ever survived on your own all these years before we found you."
Kaimana rolled over onto her stomach and gazed up at us from beneath a curtain of black hair, her dark blue eyes sparkling. "And what happened with the pretty fox?" she purred.
I glanced at her and tried to stop from grinning. I didn't succeed. "You'll have to talk to Hisashi about the details." Two details. Both of them quite large. I shuddered in memory.
Kai lifted an eyebrow. "Now I'm jealous." She stuck out her bottom lip at me in a pout, then turned to Oisin. "Whatever it was, you did a good job."
The fae grinned right back. "We did. She was senseless with bliss."
I leaned back with a groan. "Oh, shut the fuck up."
Kai stood, giving me a good view of some truly breathtaking cleavage in the process. She swept her hair back and walked over to Oisin. Reaching out a hand to him, she cupped his cheek. "Are you truly okay, little fae?"
He looked up into her eyes and I swear they had some sort of silent conversation that I didn't understand. "I will be." He smirked, all seriousness falling away as he retreated to his usual mode of deflection. "But I might need a hug."
Kai laughed and wrapped him in one of her smothering embraces. Oisin was so short his nose ended up practically in her tits, and his hands smoothed over her curvy hips before wrapping around her hour-glass waist. Kai pulled back and held him at arm's length, her face mock-serious. "Better?"
He gave her some serious puppy-dog eyes. "A little. Maybe it would work better...without clothes?"
I choked. He was absolutely shameless.
Sure, I'd envisioned fucking every one of my pride in every combination possible. Who wouldn't? But I didn't just assume they were all into each other. Apparently, it was a wasted courtesy.
Kai pulled her shirt off with a laugh. "Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"
Oisin pushed her sweats off her hips as he bent his head to suckle on one of her nipples and Kai tangled her hands in his long hair, holding him there. She gasped in pleasure when he bit her and licked away the sting. "Oh," she said in a husky voice. "You're right. Much more comforting this way."
I rolled my eyes at their poorly staged porno. "You are both idiots."
I was practically drooling. But I hadn't quite thought this out—in my fantasies, I forgot to factor in that both Kai and Oisin had absolutely no modesty and never hesitated to do or say whatever the hell they wanted.
Kai looked at me and stuck out her tongue. "Stuffy, up-tight gryphon."
Oisin lifted his head and grinned at me as Kai made quick work of his fly. "She really is."
They both paced toward me, and I tried not to react. "Sounds like me."
While Oisin peeled off his sweater and pants, Kai climbed onto my lap, straddling my legs as she pressed her breasts to mine. "Mmm...we'll have to change that." She slipped her hands through my hair and pulled me to her, her grip just shy of painful. Her lips were soft but demanding. I caressed her back, and reached down to grip her round ass. She pulled away to kiss a path down the side of my neck, pausing to nip at the tender flesh as she went.
Oisin knelt on the couch beside us, slowly stroking himself. "Now that is a beautiful sight. I'm going to burn that one into my memory forever," he breathed as Kai got rid of my clothes, climbing off me just long enough for me to lift my hips and pull off my pants.
I paused at Oisin's strangely reverent tone. But Kai's hands on my breasts brought me back to the here and now. "Sometimes, all we can do is enjoy the moment we’re given," she breathed, "without thinking of the ones yet to come." She stroked and squeezed, giving me a saucy grin before she slid to her knees at my feet and pushed my legs apart.
I dropped my head back against the couch as Kai lapped at my clit, making me hiss.
Oisin kissed me, biting and urgent, his graceful hands cupping my breasts. I stroked him hard and fast, feeling the edge to his urgency. "Gesa, please," he begged, and my heart clenched a bit at the sound of his voice, desperate and raw.
Something was wrong with the fae. I was afraid he was coming apart at the edges.
I shifted and Kaimana and Oisin followed my urging until I lay on the couch on my back, Kai between my thighs and Oisin straddling my shoulders. I took Oisin in my mouth, gripping his hips as his smooth, controlled fae grace became clumsy and unhinged. Kai slipped two fingers inside me as she hammered my clit with her tongue urging me to meet Oisin's abandon. I took him deeper, growling around his cock as I came.
Oisin's climax followed on the heels of my own and I drank him down, hoping this desperation—whatever it was—was released with his orgasm.
Kai, not at all perturbed about being left behind, slipped up beside us, stroking herself to orgasm as she kissed me, growling at the taste of Oisin on my tongue. I shivered at the primal, creature side of her that I could feel cresting just under the surface.
Afterward, we managed to pile onto the over-sized sectional, our sweaty bodies pressed together uncomfortably. "Mine," Kai whispered as she snaked an arm around Oisin and me, holding us tight. "Oceans could separate us, but you will always be mine." She drifted off to sleep soon after, and I laughed silently at being trapped in this sweaty pile.
Oisin's lay atop me, as usual, and his silky red hair tickled my collar bones and chest. I stroked his head with my free hand. "I love you," I whispered. "Please be okay, Oisin."
He heaved a sigh against my neck, then lifted his head to meet my eyes. "I love you, darling. We all do. Whatever happens, you will never be alone."
He planted a tender kiss to the top swell of my breast, then turned to press a kiss to Kai's head, where it rested on my shoulder. "You are surrounded by so much strength and so much love."
I didn't know what to say. His words should be comforting. But instead there was hollowness inside, and I wanted to cry. Oisin smiled at me and pushed up to kiss my chin. "Stop worrying, gryphon. Everything will be fine."