Not that the thought of sliding up behind Lily isn’t at the top of my mind. With all her attention on Tris, I could let my hands roam all over her, hunting for those secret places that make her tip back her head and gasp out my name...
But like Tris said, this is Lily’s scene, and I’m not about to hijack the script when it’s already better than any porn I’ve ever watched.
So, I settle on the stiff little stool and try not to melt off the edges.
“Just like that, beautiful,” Tristan gasps, applying a little more pressure to Lily’s bobbing head. She’s slurping all over him like he’s a delicious treat, and I have to press the heel of my palm against my cock to stop it from erupting. “Just a little more and I’m gonna come down your perfect throat.”
Ugh.I’m pretty sure I just tore a hole through my boxers.
Tristan hisses, his sweet face fierce in his pleasure, and I feel my heart pound in my chest. Fuck, he’s so precious to me, he deserves to be adored like this every day. I’m emotional and jetlagged, so pissed and hurt on behalf of my mom, but I’m also fuckingoverjoyedto find them here, caring for her and each other. Our pack, doing what mates do, even if I still have to convince the omega on her knees that we’re worthy of her love.
“So goddamn perfect,” Tristan groans, his hips jerking forward as he finds his release. Tears have squeezed out of the corners of Lily’s eyes, and I watch, mesmerized, as she gazes up at him. His softening cock is still between her lips, and she doesn’t look like she’s about to give it back in a hurry.
“Fuck me,” I groan, feeling my own release flood my pants.
When I catch them both staring at me wide-eyed, I shrug. Yep, I’m sitting on the stool in the corner, and coming like a teenager after his first glimpse at porn. “I’m lucky I didn’t knot the goddamn stool,” I mutter, looking around for a napkin.
Before I can get very far, there’s a polite tap at the door, and Otley murmurs through the wood, “I’m about to serve up dinner if anyone in there is still hungry.”
Lily flushes from her collar to her roots, but I just chuckle and think about licking the embarrassment off her cheeks. “Speaking for myself,” I call back, “I’m going to need double helpings of everything.”
Lily is still blushing when we sit down to eat, but she’s quickly distracted by the flow of conversation around the table. As Otley dishes up a couple of trays of pasta from Lexington’s, I eavesdrop on the chatter, absorbing all the things I’ve missed over the last couple of days. I’m pleased to hear that Logan, Zander, and Leo have been spending a lot of time in the stables, and the joy on Leo’s face as he raves about Moondance makes my heart sing. Tristan and Otley have been pretty busy catchingup on work, but Rosie and Doc are trying to coax them to come along on their next day trip to a hot spring. Lily huffs a little at that, but when I reach over to squeeze her hand, she just gives me a rueful smile.
Even Mom and Jenny have joined us, although they spend most of the time just listening or talking quietly amongst themselves. I try not to flinch every time Mom’s confused gaze wanders over the table, or frown at the tiny portions of food that Jenny manages to coax past her lips. Mom has always insisted on staying at the care facility because she likes her independence, but after the fiasco with the reporter, I know that I’ll have to come up with a new plan.
By the time we’ve cleaned up the kitchen and got Leo to bed, exhaustion is pulling at my limbs. Rosie and Doc want to watch a documentary while they work on their puzzle, but I follow Mom and Jenny into her suite. I sit on the edge of the bed while she washes up, conflicting emotions making my chest ache. I’m so glad to have everyone here, under our roof, but it hurts to realize they’re only seeing a shadow of my brilliant, fearless mother.
She still kisses my forehead when she climbs under the covers, clutching the blue blanket she knitted for me when I was small. I try not to focus on how fragile her hands are, or the confusion that slips over her face as she peers around the room. I know from bitter experience that it’s only a matter of time before she looks at me in the same way, and as soon as her eyes are closed, I sneak out of the room like a coward.
The guys must feel my despair through the bond, because the moment I step into the pack suite, their hands are on me, stripping away my clothes. I know I should shower off the travel grime – even though I spent most of the trip in the luxury of a private jet – but I’m too damn heartsore for anything but a swipe of toothpaste before I’m tumbling into bed.
I feel a flicker of arousal as Lily and Tristan snuggle into my sides, but I can’t get past the memories tumbling through my head.
“Tell us what you need, babe,” Tristan murmurs, stroking my side.
“To sleep. To forget.” I wince at the word, since remembering is a luxury for my mom now.
“We’re more than happy to distract you,” Tristan grins, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “How about Lily and I take you on a date tomorrow?”
That grabs my attention, but the dad part of me is hard to ignore. “Can Leo come too?”
“Try keeping him away,” Lily laughs, her floral scent washing over me like a balm. “Next to Bobby and Moondance, you’re pretty much all he can talk about.”
I grin, because getting edged out of his affections by a teenage wrangler doesn’t even phase me; I just want to be somewhere on his list. But as I turn towards her, I can see the strain on her face and sigh. “I’m sorry you had to leave the farm, sweetheart. I’d hoped to have cleaned this mess up by now, but some of these reporters are ruthless.”
I can feel the other alphas watching us as they quietly get ready for bed, and I know that Otley feels as bad as I do about this debacle. We’ve thrown both our money and influence into stamping the story out, but every day new rumors spring up like noxious weeds.
“I have an idea about that…” Lily says quietly, biting her lip. “It’s just something that the reporter said at the care facility…”
Otley already filled me in on what went down at Serene Brook, and how Lily was both verbally and physically harassed by the asshole who got in my mom’s face. I can feel Logan’s anger from across the room, and I know that we’re going to have a conversation in the near future about making everyoneinvolved regret their life choices. But in the meantime, I keep my focus on Lily, because one thing I’ve learned about her is that she’s kickass in a crisis.
“He said they’re not going to stop until every skeleton is dragged out of the closet. So, I thought, why don’t we lay it all out for them?” Her blue eyes search my face. “If there’s someone you trust – a reporter who isn’t just in it for the dirt – then we could invite them out here, and we could answer their questions. We could give them the real story, not the rumors and lies.”
“You really want to do that?”
She shrugs, but there’s a determined gleam in her eyes. “There’d have to be conditions, of course. No interviewing Leo or Catherine, and if they overstep our boundaries, we kick them out, no second chances.”
I glance at Ot, who’s watching Lily with a hell of a lot of respect in his eyes. “We could make that work,” he says quietly. “If you’re sure, I’ll set it up in the morning.”
