I threw my head back and laughed out loud as I turned and grabbed the first package of sausage. “How about we make sure to keep to our stations until breakfast is done? Does that work for you?”
He looked like he was about to nod his head yes until he remembered something. “Celine, you are a guest. You don't need to cook us breakfast. Plus, it's my morning. I'm just crazy and make more work for myself when it's my day.”
I found a knife and sliced open the package as I shrugged. “I'm fine. I’m an early riser, and I need something to do.” I turned my attention to the links, ignoring his stare as I got to work.
We worked like this for a bit until the oil from the sausage crackled and popped out at me, hitting my chest, and I hissed out in pain. "Shit!"
I backed up and ran right into Duce's chest. "What's wrong?" His brows pinched as his gaze flicked from the pan to me. Looking like he was going to give the pan a beating. I laughed it off.
"I'm okay." He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at me until I said, "Really! I'm fine." I looked down at my clothes. "But I do think I need you to introduce me to your sister, so I can properly beg her to borrow some clothes.”
He stiffened for a second, hesitated. I immediately backtracked, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Gears mentioned it, but, ya, I get how you wouldn't want your sister to meet the siren assassin. How about someone taking me to a store close by? I can just grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and I should be good.” I made a move to get around him, pretending that I needed the sink that was behind him, but I really just wanted to get away.
His hand snapped out, grabbing my arm, and I resisted the urge to twist out and punch him in the stomach. That was my normal reaction to men yanking on me, but he was surprisingly gentle. “That's not what I meant. I'm sorry.” He exhaled as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the ground. “Look, I'm really protective over my sister.” I nodded my head like I understood, but he shook his head. “No, I don't think you understand. It took me six months of working with the guys in this house before they were even introduced to my sister. Even then, they couldn't be around her without me around for another six months.”
Wow. That's really protective. Like on the crazy side of the scale, but I didn't say that. I just nodded. I think my face said something that I was thinking because he took both of my hands and placed a kiss on each before looking at me.
“You must think that's crazy, and it might be, though I feel like I have gotten better over the years. Anyways, I would like to tell you a little about us, and that may clear up some confusion, if you’d let me?”
“Sure.” It was rare that Duce looked so serious and kind at the same time, so I felt like it was something he wanted to get off his chest.
He pulled the sausage pan off the heat, the bacon was in the oven on a timer, and tugged me to the side where there was a small nook for two people. “My mother died when Emma was born, and I was only four. From that point on, the only thing we had was a drunk, abusive asshole of a father. I protected Emma as best as I could, taking the beatings for her, making sure she got fed and dressed. I remember making bottles of formula and singing to her at night to try and keep her from crying and waking up our father.” He paused, looking down at his hands on the table.
“I always took her with me, and if I wasn't allowed to take her with me, then I just wouldn't go. Our community was a tight pack, and people would help us, but it was still very old school. They would just throw bandaids over the real problem. The night I turned eight, Emma was four, my father showed up sober and told us to get in the car. I asked him where we were going, and he said that he was getting us new clothes.” His hands clenched together on the table. He whispered more to himself than to me, “I should’ve known that something was off then. He would never use any money on us if he didn't have to.”
“He got us clothes and even got us both candy. I thought he was finally seeing us for the first time, but as soon as he rolled up to a shack in the middle of nowhere, I knew something was off. He told us to get out, that he wanted to introduce us to someone. I remember thinking I didn't want to meet any of his drunk friends, but since I got new clothes and a lollipop, I would put up with it.” I was compelled at that moment to slide my hand over the table and cover his clenched hands with mine. Encouraging him to finish.
“He sold us that night.” He growled out with rage. “He got us lookin all nice and pretty to make sure he got top dollar and sold us to a child slave trader. They separated Emma and me, and we were immediately shoved into cages, cages that were magicked to keep us in human form. More manageable that way.” His eyes looked lost for a second, caught in the memory. “I remember screaming for Emma. I screamed and screamed until they took me out and beat me so hard that I wolfed out and started to howl instead. They moved me into the room where the troublemakers were, still keeping us in cages, and that was when I met Rabid.” He gave a small, sad smile. “He was curled up in the corner of his cage, but I could see all the scars and bruises all over his back, and I felt sorry for him. I talked to him. Tried to joke with him, but he would never respond or even move from his curled-up position. We were like that for what felt like months, but one day, they came for me. Talking about how they finally found a buyer for a pretty boy wolf shifter. They were bummed because the buyer only wanted a boy to play with, and they wanted to get rid of the girl I came in with. All she did was cry, and they could never take a good picture of her to sell. I didn't want to leave Emma, and when they tried to take me out, I screamed, kicked, spit, bit. I did everything I could think of, but they were so strong.”
It was then he looked up at me and smiled. “Apparently, Rabid liked me because something inside of him snapped, and he shifted into this massive wolf, breaking the magic on the cage and busting out. I won't go into details, but that day, he saved Emma and me, and we have stuck together ever since then.”
He looked me in the eyes; sincerity shined as he pleaded with me to understand. “The problem is that I’m crazy overprotective of Emma and the people she meets, but it's not because of you, it's because of me.”
I squeezed his hands tightly. “I have a feeling that Rabid took care of those traders, but if they were still alive, I would want to hunt them down and, for once in my life, make a mess of their bodies.” A brilliant smile broke across his face, but I continued, “I understand why you would be that way, and if I had a sibling, I would’ve already installed a GPS tracker on the back of their neck while they were sleeping.”
He barked out a laugh as he squeezed my hand back. “Don't think I haven't tried. Emma is just as surly as any of the guys here but also sweet when you get to know her. I am sure she would let you borrow some of her clothes, and I’m sorry, again.”
At that moment, the timer for the bacon beeped, and I got up. “Don't worry about it. But thank you for trusting me with your story.” I turned off the timer and opened up the oven. Heat slammed into me as the crackling sound of perfectly crispy bacon came out, and that mouthwatering scent filled the room. I grabbed the mitt and took all three sheets out. “That also explains why Rabid is so grumpy and protective about your crew.”
Duce came up behind me, circling my waist as he rested his head on my shoulder. “Yeah, there is a lot about Rabid that is a little much, but know this, it's not without reason.”
I turned around in his arms, staying close, as I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” I ran my hands up his back and scratched my nails slightly down, doing this a few times until his eyes rolled up.
“That's not fair, that feels so good.” I giggled as I stood up on my tippy toes and placed a few soft kisses on his neck. He groaned as he moved his body closer, bending so that I could cover more skin with kisses. “Jesus, woman, the things you are making me feel.” He pressed his growing length into me.
I whispered along his neck, “And I'm just getting started.” I moved my hands lower and grabbed his ass, pulling his body to smash into mine as close as he could. His hand gripped my head, pulling me to make the kisses hard, and I nipped at his soft flesh.
“Fucking hell, can you not do that around our fucking food.” I stiffened and broke away from Duce, turning towards the angry voice, while Duce sighed and took much longer to acknowledge Dino.
“You were interrupting something, so if you could just scoot back on out, I would appreciate it.” Duce rolled out as he grabbed my hips and yanked me back to him, grinding himself between my ass cheeks and making me blush. “Unless you want to join in?”
He kissed along my neck, but I was completely taken off guard by what he just said. Dino just stood there, watching Duce kiss and suckle on my neck, hands roaming my body as he was getting me all hot and bothered. His hand cupped my breast and pinched a nipple, and I couldn't help the moan that passed my lips.
Dino growled out, angrier than before, “Some of us are starving, you know. It's rude to let food get cold for the rest of us,pendejo!” His eyes traced my body before he sharply turned away, slamming his palm against the door on his way out.
“You know, he is right. We shouldn't let the food get cold.” Even if I liked where this was going, my stomach was getting all rumbly with all the yummy breakfast smells in the air.
Duce whined, but ultimately agreed, and we plated all of our work and took it out to the large table that had Rabid, Gears, Bricks, and Dino all waiting patiently. Dino’s amethyst eyes heated as I set the sausage in front of him, but then he jerked his head away, effectively dismissing me. Duce and Bricks glared at him. Gears just kept a thoughtful expression while Rabid was digging into the mountain of pancakes Duce made.
