“Yes, please, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a hot chocolate,” he replies, watching me closely. I don’t know why I am under such scrutiny from him, but I can’t say that I am not enjoying it.
I like being the sole focus of his attention, probably more than I should.
It doesn’t take us long to set everything up, and Baz helps me make the drinks for everyone, and then hands them out as the guys slowly reappear, all freshly showered, in their jammies and looking adorable.
When we’re curled up on the couch with our drinks, watching the fireplace, and Baz is back from taking a shower too, I try to just enjoy the moment. I’m feeling extremely cozy, so it should be an easy thing to do, but of course my brain starts to wander, and I can’t keep my mouth shut.
“Okay, questions,” I say into the peaceful silence. I look at Coen, “Did you know that Dimi could make illusions?”
Coen nods, “Yes, but I didn’t know that he could do it from so far away. Then again, I think there are a lot of things that we don’t know about Dimitri and his magic. That’s always been the case, I mean,we’ve always known that there is more to him and his magic that he’s filled us in on, but recent events have me thinking that what we do know is the tip of the iceberg.”
“Fair point, I think you’re most likely right,” I admit. Gathering my thoughts, I ask the next question that’s been bothering me, “Okay, next question. I know that the guy grabbed my face, but I could have handled it, and you guys seemed to take it a lot more seriously than I thought. He was an asshole, but he was flirting.”
The guys share a look, and then Raiden nods, “Alright, I’ll take this one.” He moves closer and cups my cheek in his hand. “First, he touched you without permission, it doesn’t matter to what extent that it was, it is not fucking okay, and he deserved to lose his fingers. Second,” he steps even closer. “Only us, Neith. We’re jealous creatures, you are ours. End of.”
I swallow thickly. That was hotter than it should have been, and I should be pissed that he said that I belonged to them because I belong to myself, and I have always been adamant about that in the past, but actually, I am one thousand percent okay with it, and I know that he doesn’t mean it in a controlling way.
I like it a lot.
I’m not sure that there’s much that the guys could do that I wouldn't like. Within reason.
My eyes dart around at the other men who are watching me closely but are all clearly in agreement, and then they land on Baz, who’s leaning up against the wall, watching us all closely. His gaze meets mine, and he simply nods, sipping his hot chocolate.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that he was the one who took Joe’s fingers. In the most efficient and bloodthirsty way possible.
“I’m good with that,” I reply after a moment, and Doc smirks.
He knows exactly how I feel about their possessiveness.
“Good,” Van replies with finality. He then changes the subject, “We didn’t really get the chance to talk about the whole Griff and Neith potentially being true mates thing, and that they apparently haven’t existed for so long that it’s not even spoken about anymore.”
“That last part is probably the least surprising thing about that situation,” Reed says thoughtfully. He continues, “It seems to me like very few things that should be spoken about simply aren’t anymore.”
“Agreed. I find it more than a little bit suspicious,” Coen agrees.
Van sighs and runs his hand over his stubbled jaw, “I know, but unfortunately for the moment, looking into that is going to have to go on the back burner unless it directly affects us. We just don’t have the time. “
“We really don’t,” Griff nods and then sips his hot chocolate.
Since we got off track for the moment, I decide to be the one who gets us back on track for a change and answer Van’s question, “When it comes to the true mates thing, what’s there to talk about? We’ll go to the cave, after we somehow find it without really knowing where it is. Then we’ll do the thing that Michael told us that we should do, and find out if there is something else completely unique about us that could potentially cause us problems because it’s so rare. Then we’ll come back here and get a snack because we will all be hungry by that point, and hopefully by the time we’re done eating, the plant that Raiden needs will be ready, and we can go back to House.”
They all stare at me for a moment.
There is a small chance that the explanation may have gotten a little bit away from me.
Just a small chance.
Doc shrugs, “You’re not wrong. I have to say that you’re taking it a lot better than I thought.”
“Well, after everything that we’ve been through, this is sort of normal,” I reply and then look at Griff. “Plus, it’s not a bad thing. It’s not something that we really have to worry about, and I would be really honored to be Griff’s official true mate and since we’re all apparently admitting how possessive we are then I feel like now is probably a good time to warn you that I’m also pretty possessive over you all, and I like the fact that there is an official thing tying me to most of you.” I sip my chocolate and grin, “I’ll take fingers too.”
“We know,” Raiden smirks.
“Good, just making sure,” I reply.
Griff gets up and stretches, “Come on, we’ve got to get up pretty early tomorrow to get to the cave.”
“Wherever that is,” River mutters.
