Riley pulls back with a sweet laugh. “Food first. We’ll see about satiating other ‘hungers’ after.”
Before I can pull her back to us, Riley leaves the nest, still laughing.
Fuck. I love her laugh so much. The sound makes me warm all inside.
Then Mathew kisses my shoulder. “You’re insatiable, you know that?”
“Me?” I turn to him. “I’m pretty sure you’re just as bad.” I reach down, wrapping my hand around his very hard dick through his pyjama bottoms.
“Well, of course, with you here...” He chuckles, nibbling my shoulder, leaving small bites behind.
We’re supposed to be resting right now. I really don’t think I’ve got enough energy for another round.
But that doesn’t seem to stop my body, at all.
13
Luca
The room for the babies is coming along really well. We decorated a lot early on, then we got busy with the raid and after the raid with making sure the kids found their families or finding foster families for them, and then with other things. But as Vera and Mathew have hit their third trimester, it seems we’ve all gotten the itch to finish this room up as quickly as possible.
Not that ‘quickly’ actually means that any of this is going very fast.
We’ve decided, and rejected, five different colours for the walls. Then chosen, and rejected, seven or eight patterns of wallpaper. And, currently, the walls are still white. Which is a very safe choice, but not really what everyone seems to want.
We want something fun on the walls, but what exactly that something is supposed to be is unclear.
We’ve still got plenty of time in theory, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be cutting it very close.
Plus, if for some reason Vera or Mathew goes into labour early, one or both of the kids could be here within a month. It feels like we’re cutting it very short. Sure, it would be best if the little ones stayed inside as long as possible, but that doesn’t happen with all kids, and being prepared for early arrivals is important too.
Vera opens the drawer with baby socks and empties it, putting everything on top of the dresser. Then she takes the small wicker baskets we bought a couple of days ago and starts sorting the socks by colour, all the pastel green together, all the pastel blue together, all the pastel purple together, on and on.
Then she turns to look at me. “How did we end up with this many?” She laughs, incredulously.
I go over to her, sliding my arms around my beautiful mate, holding up one of my hands so I can count them off. “My parents. Erika and her pack. Some from Nathan and his siblings. Ehhh... Oh, the mini dino ones come from Lily.”
She leans back against me. “There are a lot of people who gave us things.”
“Because they care and want to get the best for the little ones.” I kiss her shoulder. “Just like we do.”
“I guess. It’s just...” She lets out a long breath. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had so many people around. I was a middle kid, and wasn’t particularly good at anything, people didn’t really pay much attention to me.” Her voice drops, unhappy. “Until they wanted to marry me off to that bastard. Of course, then I suddenly existed, but that attention wasn’t any fun.”
I slowly sway us side to side, trying to wrap her in my pheromones, showing her how much I love her, how much I care about her. “That’s all behind you. None of that matters anymore. We’re your family now. And we all love you so much. To us, you’re special, no matter what.”
She reaches up over her shoulder, touching my face, her pheromones taking on a tinge of surprise. “You’re not wearing your mask.”
I kiss her fingers. “I’ll probably have to put one on soon enough, but, for now, I don’t have to wear it.”
I’ve been stretching the time between wearing a mask as much as possible. I do have to be very aware of how my mind and body are reacting, but I’ve been getting better and better at it.
The night of the raid, something changed. I felt stronger, I felt safer, and that seems to have had a positive effect on being around Vera and Caleb’s pheromones too. Mathew’s pheromones were never as much of a problem, mostly because he barely has any. But it’s been such a good feeling that I can be around my other mates without my brain trying to mess with me.
It wasn’t some magical spell or anything, but it probably helped that the place that’s connected to so much of my trauma is finally gone and that I was part of the reason it’s gone now.
And having my amazing pack with me, as determined to get rid of the place, but also always trying to keep me safe and protected, that probably helped a lot too.
No, not ‘probably’, that definitely helped.
