“Your leg. How’s your leg? Jesus fucking Christ, Perri.”
“It’s fine, I’m fine…”
I came really close to death—close to losing him forever. And I know it would have killed him to lose me, and I’d have caused his end, too. When our day comes, it’ll hopefully come for the both of us, together. There is no other acceptable possibility. But for now, we’re alive, and life is fucking beautiful.
“I love you,” I whisper against his lips.
He holds me for a while longer, until we both make sure the other one is really here, safe, and we have calmed down. Then at last, Stellan turns on his heels and walks to the truck. Helios and Griffin are standing under theBeetle, waiting for us, and I give them a thumbs up over Stellan’s shoulder, my legs still hooked around his waist as he carries me like a child.
Then he does something I wouldn’t have expected from him in a thousand years: he hands me over to Alastair like a precious package, and says, “There’s someone else who’s happy to have found you.”
Stellan always tolerated my lovers, at best, or straight up ignored them, and he certainly never enjoyed handing me over to one of them. He was never jealous. He just dislikes most people.
“Oh,” I say as I let go of him and land in the King’s big arms.
Alastair’s beautiful smile is the first thing I see, teeth pearly white, as he looks down at me. “Hi, Perri.”
“Hi,” I say shyly, for some reason, before throwing my arms around his neck. He smells so damn good, flowery and sweet. I didn’t expect him to leave the Traveling Market to come to my rescue. I pull away just enough to give him a wet kiss, full oftongue, and he growls happily. “Thank you for being here. And thank you for keeping Stellan safe.”
His pale eyes twinkle in the twilight. “The pleasure was all mine.”
And I know it’s not just a turn of phrase. Alastair has long harbored a crush for Stellan. He’s not as discreet as he thinks he is. It’s one of the reasons I was attracted to him in the first place, beside his good attributes—the man is a beast in bed. He always watched Stellan with such tenderness when he thought no one else was watching, and I understand the feeling so well.
“Hey, who says I’m not the one who kept him safe?” Stellan says behind me.
I snort. He’s making jokes around Alastair already? They must have gotten close while I was gone.
Alastair kisses the top of my head and gently places me on my feet.
“Come on guys,” I say. “I’ll introduce you to Griffin, Helios, and Beet.”
Stellan offers me an arm, noticing my slight limp. I might have run a little too hard with an unhealed wound. To my surprise, Alastair reaches for my other arm, and I end up sandwiched between the two hottest men on the planet.
Lucky bastard, I think to myself.
We walk to theBeetle, and even from a distance, I can tell Griffin is tense. He has a hand over Helios’ shoulder, ready to pull him out of harm’s way in a heartbeat if necessary. Mutants rarely cross paths, and when they do it often ends in disaster. Oliver still has a scar from where Griffin stabbed him with his sword. To be fair, he kind of deserved it.
Stellan is oblivious to the tension, eyes on theBeetlelooming in front of us. “Incredible…” he whispers.
I doubt Griffin will allow them inside, and it’s a shame.
We stop a respectful distance away from the couple, and I let go of Stellan and Alastair’s arms to step up. “So, Helios, Griffin, let me introduce you to Stellan and Alastair.”
Helios waves happily, and Griffin nods stiffly. Helios seems hesitant to shake their hands, but Griffin’s nervous grip on his shoulder holds him firmly in place.
The three bigger men study each other awkwardly, without making a move or saying a word, for an excruciatingly long time, until I groan loudly and say, “Hell, guys. You’re like brothers or something.” I gesture between Alastair and Griffin. “Stop acting like you have a stick up your butts. And we’re all on the same side here.”
“I know, they’re so annoying,”says Beet through Griffin’s wristband, making Stellan start.“You would think they weren’t both born in labs and could use someone who understood what they went through in life. But really, what do I know? It’s not like I’m an expert in the human experience, with decades of data on psychology and history.”
Helios and I snort, sharing a smile. The two mutants look mollified and a little embarrassed.
“How about we all eat dinner together tonight?” Helios says. “We made stew. There’s a road over there with a vantage point, it looks decent to spend the night.”
Alastair’s diplomatic training finally kicks in, and he smiles politely. “That would be great, thank you. This one over here could use a warm bowl of stew.” He nods towards Stellan, who scowls.
Butterflies flutter in my stomach. He’s really taking care of him, and it looks like Stellan lets him.
We get back in the truck, and I squeal when I notice the purple octopus plushie on the dashboard and grab it. “I thought it was lost forever!”
