Biteme92:Four-ish? Should be home from work by then.
SavageScars:Works for me. Later.
Carefully rolling the floating tray table away from the tub, I rise out of the bath and pull the plug. Such a cheap thing, but so handy in achieving the best of both worlds; lounging in the bath, and games.
Reaching for the fluffy towel on the counter, I wrap it around myself just in time for the light to start streaming in through the glass wall. The sunrise is a mottle of pink and orange, tiny silhouettes racing around dozens of stories below. From this high up, there’s a fantastic view of the ocean, the colors dancing across the surface, and it never ceases to take my breath away.
I’d never seen the ocean before coming here, living smack dab in the center of the country. Even after staring at it for months, it hasn't lost any of the magic from that first day. It seems to stretch on forever, and a wistful longing takes root, lamenting how small the world seemed while growing up. The same people, the same routine and scenery, the same beliefs. And now I’m here, realizing that the bubble that I was trapped in may as well have been smaller than this apartment.
And far too many people will never realize what they’re missing, that there’s somethingbetterout there waiting for them to find it.
A concerned caress snakes through my system and I shiver, Malcolm catching on to my change in mood and checking in. It’s been a massive relief to find out that he can’tchangemy feelings, more that he’s aware and can respond with a wave of calm support that I can lean on as I muddle through my thoughts, knowing that I’m not alone.
Wrapping the towel around myself, I get a sudden spark of excitement right before he calls out, “Hey, love, are you almost done? I have something I want to give you before I leave for work.”
Shaking my head in amusement, I give the glass wall my back and shout, "You were out half the night andstillplan to make it to work without a power nap? You're going to be dead on your feet by lunch; I don’t know how you do it."
Opening the door the rest of the way, I step into the main room, only to stop dead in my tracks as two sets of heated gazes meet mine. Malcolm draws my attention as he clears his throat, and by the time I look back at Kasen, hands clasped behind his back and expression neutral, I’m convinced that I imagined it. Mentally, I curse myself for searching for things that aren’t there, that I shouldn’t be looking for in the first place.
Malcolm sends another wave of reassurance to keep me company, though this time, there’s an undercurrent of lust that makes me squirm. “You spoil me with such lovely greetings,” he declares, languidly perusing without an ounce of shame despite the company. “I’m tempted to replace your entire wardrobe with towels, but I do so love seeing you in silk. And lace.” He sighs. “The burden of beauty, I suppose; too many choices, not enough hours in the day.”
Cheeks flaming in embarrassment, I rush towards my room to get dressed, but it means I need to pass by the two of them. “Why do you hate me?”
Malcolm bursts out laughing while Kasen respectfully turns his attention to inspecting the ceiling. “Oh, gorgeous, if you knew how adorable you look when flustered, you’d understand.”
Picking up my pace, I suddenly crash into a barrier that Malcolm conjures in front of me with a swivel of his wrist, like a shimmering bubble with a decent amount of give. I bounce off, stumbling towards the recessed pit in the center of the room. Impact never comes though, and I wind up sprawled across Kasen’s arms, currently outstretched in front of him on the ground as he dove to break my fall. He pivots to glower at Malcolm who's simply beaming with wicked amusement, and I send all of my indignant irritation his way.
His smile falters slightly before he returns affectionate teasing, but I start erecting one of those mental blocks he slipped up and told me about in the heat of the moment last night. I’m not good at it by any means, and as soon as he sees I’m trying to shut him out, he hastens closer to offer me a hand up. Cupping my cheek, he acts like if he assaults me with enough excitement to counteract my irritation, I’ll consider him endearing instead of annoying.
I’m ashamed to admit that it sort of works.
“I brought you a friend to play with while I'm at work. Surprise!” He sweeps a hand out to gesture at Kasen, getting to his feet beside us and towering over us both, looking far more annoyed than I am.
Frantically straightening my towel, I cover myself again, though I'm sure Kasen got an eyeful of a lot more than the floor. “Malcolm!” I hiss, panic flaring in my chest.
He places his palm over the mark on my chest and I shiver as he leans in, kissing me lazily, like we have all of the time in the world instead of anaudiencewatching everything play out. “Pay attention to me while I say this, alright?” At my hesitant nod, I’m shocked to see a bit of heat creep into his own cheeks as he declares, “I don’t want you feeding off of just anyone, but I’m not against the idea of Kasen. I’m one hundred percent okay if something ends up happening between you two, so long as you want it, and don’t leave me out in the cold.”
I blink at him a few times, mulling his words around in my head to see if I’m misinterpreting them. There’s a steady thrum of nerves coming from Malcolm not only through the bond, but enough that I can scent a trace of fear on his skin like a pheromone calling to my newfound predatory instincts. Flicking my gaze over to Kasen, he’s looking anywhere besides at us, awkwardly shifting between his feet.
Turning back to Malcolm, I cautiously guess, “You like the idea of watching me with him? Like a voyeurism thing?”
He closes his eyes, muttering a grumbled string of words too low for me to decipher. “I wouldn’t be... opposed.”
I furrow my brow, trying to riddle it out. Mates are territorial, especially where fateds are concerned, and don’t let anyone outside of their packs touch... oh.OH.
“Malcolm?” I wait until he opens his eyes, seeing how uncomfortable this is making both of them and have mercy on them, taking a deep breath as a weird sense of purpose settles on my shoulders. This is something I can do for Malcolm, help him after everything he’s done for me, especially now that I’m more confident in the permanence of our relationship. “I’m happy to be an excuse so you can spend time with Kasen outside of work without people getting suspicious.”
Malcolm tosses up a mental block so fast it makes my head spin, walling himself off like he’s trying to spare me the rush of relief he must be feeling. No wonder he was so calm when I confessed about wanting to bite Kasen and try to convince me it wouldn’t be cheating on him; he was probably dealing with his own issues all this time, throwing himself obsessively into our relationship and showering me with gifts to compensate for his guilt of having a crush on Kasen.
Which means Malcolm was lucky enough to find two fated mates, but felt like he had to choose between us, and picked the one that he thought needed him the most.
The poor man must have been secretly going through hell these last few months after telling me that being mates means he’ll never look at anyone else, that I’d be his entire world, then finding Kasen when I was already struggling to accept the bond. He assumes I’d balk at the idea of forming a pack since I used to be human, but I can honestly say after feeling the way everything clicked so perfectly between us... the gods know what they’re doing far more than I do. If they think Malcolm needs another mate, I’m not going to be the thing to stand in the way of that.
Now that I have the bond, I can’t imagine the void that’d be left behind without it. I want Malcolm to be happy, and it weirdly doesn’t make me jealous thinking of them together. Kasen’s presence just feels... safe. Like coming home. If that isn’t proof that he’s supposed to be part of this little pack that Malcolm’s putting together, I don’t know what is. I may not have ever expected to be in one, but not like I didn’t think about what it might be like at one point. I just couldn’t even get one relationship off of the ground, let alone multiple, and most humans still treat the concept like something hedonistic.
If Malcolm is pushing us together like this, he must need to hide their relationship behind mine. Which means right now, he needs my help, but doesn’t know how to go about asking for it.
And I thought the coast was supposed to be progressive; what a joke. Even in my backwater town where they sneer at interspecies matings, they care about the races, not whether or not someone’s straight. Hell, it’s not like I don’t notice how pretty a girl is when she walks by.
