Chapter 14
Blaze
Ikeep tapping my phone to make sure I haven’t missed any updates. It’s past six, an hour later than I know Juniper got off from work. It doesn’t bother me that I haven’t heard from either of them, though it is taking most of my strength not to walk to her house to see if he’s inside.
I push the Codex copy away from me and slump into my seat. My eyes are beginning to cross from staring at the words and symbols all day. I’m looking for the loophole I missed last time, familiarizing myself with every phrase and conjunction that could ever get thrown at us for keeping her.
If she’ll have us.
The last sprite was no help. She’d just repeated back her oath to my godforsaken mother, refusing to spill whether she’d told her what I was up to yet. Finally, I grew tired of trying to get it out of her, and I’d squashed her like the absolute cockroach she was.
It’s been a while since I’ve lost control like that over another magical creature.
Maybe my brother is right.
Maybe it’s high time they remember who I am.
Luckily, sprite blood isn’t visible to humans. I can’t imagine trying to explain this to Juniper.
My phone vibrates just as I rub my hands over my eyes. Shit, I need a break. I pick up the device eagerly, hoping it’s one of them to break me free from this labor.
Juniper
I need to see you.
Her eagerness perks my curiosity.
Is everything okay?
Can you come over?
Yeah. Are you okay?
I’m okay. I just want to see you.
I’m putting on my coat and boots when I get another text, this time from North.
North
She hates me.
The message makes me smile. I’m ecstatic about how invested he is in this.
Torturing my brother is a favorite pastime.
Why? What did you do
I did everything. She wants you.
It shouldn’t make me as happy as it does that she’s waiting for me before jumping in with my brother. And yet, I could dance.
I’m going over there soon.
Fix it.
I’m dying.
I laugh and shove my phone into my pocket before heading out of the front door.
By the time I reach Juniper’s home, both of them have texted me again. Juniper, to ask me if I want to order something to eat when I get there, and North to, once again, tell me how much he’s apparently losing his mind.
So dramatic.
The moment I turn onto her street, I can smell the frigid air, and the sight of the icicles dripping like daggers from the tree limbs above makes me smirk.
He is in a state.
Something about that makes me walk a little taller, has my shoulders pushing back and my chin holding high.
North never gets anxious about anything.
The fact that he’s foaming at the mouth for her almost makes me want to keep him in suspense.
I’m tempted to shut off my phone so that if he wants an update, he has to come watch me fuck her through the windows first.
Juniper is pacing on her screened-in porch when I reach her home.
Though, her pacing isn’t the only thing I notice.
North’s mark glows blue beneath the remnants of my faulty attempt at keeping her safe last night.
The sight has jealousy swimming through my gut—not over her, but over the fact that I wasn’t enough.
“Hey, angel,” I say when she doesn’t look up.
Juniper’s head jerks my way, and when she sees me, her shoulders relax.
“Nick,” she breathes.
I ascend the steps as she quickly opens the door, and when I’m standing in the threshold, my body seems to unclench at the look of longing in her eyes.
She presses her hands to my cheeks and kisses me as the door closes. It’s a warm surprise, one that I wasn’t sure I’d get after her afternoon with North. Still, I can feel her holding back as she threads her fingers through my hair, and when we part, I watch her throat move up and down.
Pack whines from the other side of the door.
I brace my hand against her face and tilt her head back by her chin, brows narrowing when she continues to look elsewhere.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing, I…” She backs out of my embrace and glances toward the street, hand on her hip. “I guess I’m just still processing. I met your brother today,” she finally answers.
“Oh. Yeah, he texted. I’m sorry, I should have told you he was coming to the bar. Today got away from me.”
Her face stiffens, eyes narrowing as if that was the wrong answer.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was your twin?” she asks.
I fucking knew I should have texted her.
Dammit.
“He’s my brother. I didn’t realize him being my twin mattered,” I reply, confused.
“I don’t…” Juniper pivots to go inside, forcing me to follow after her.
Pack jumps up and greets me this time. It’s a stark contrast from yesterday, and I’m glad the pup is already used to having me around.
“Are you mad?” I ask once I’ve shut the door and given Pack her muffin from my pocket.
“Yes, I—Did you just give Pack a treat?”
I nod. “Stopped by the bakery to get one of those bacon muffins for her. Should I not have? Danielle said these were her favorite.”
Juniper huffs. “That doesn’t make up for anything. I’m still mad at you.”
“For not telling you my brother would be at the bar?”
I hardly have time to appreciate how cute and cozy her home is before a cat swats at my ear. I swing back out of instinct and dodge its next swipe. The tuxedo feline’s tail twitches as it sits up, eyes seeming to scrutinize me for a beat. I squint at it and tap my fingers on its perch to play.
“Are you playing with my cat?” Juniper asks from the other side of the couch.
I almost smile. “Yes. I like cats. And they usually like me. Do you not want me to play with it?”
“No, I want to be mad at you for two seconds without you looking goddamn adorable,” she blurts.
The smirk finishes spreading crookedly across my lips. I give the cat one more scratching pet, then start taking my jacket off.
“What are you doing? I didn’t say you were staying. I’m mad,” she says.
“You keep saying that. Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
I resist chuckling and hang my jacket on her coat stand. She shifts on her feet when I turn to face her, arms folding across her chest. The stance makes me squint. It’s interesting she’s so upset about this, unless that isn’t what she’s upset about.
“You’re flustered,” I realize. “Why?”
“Because suddenly there are two of you. There are two of you, and you should have told me.”
“Why?”
The cat jumps onto the back of the couch and rubs against my hands before standing on its hind legs and stretching its front claws to my chest. I pet the cat and revel in the pissed off stare Juniper is looking at me with.
“Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. I like your brother. And I really like you. And that’s… new.”
My teeth clench to keep from smiling. “Oh?”
“Yes,” she says shortly.
“Did he kiss you?”
Her eyes flutter, chest rising. “Kind of.”
My brows lift. “Kind of?”
“Yes.”
“How do you kind of kiss someone?”
I’m crying inside trying to hold back my laughter.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t a full kiss. It was a kind of kiss,” she argues.
“Hm,” I say, stroking the cat’s chin.
“Can you stop petting my cat for one minute?”
“I thought I’d be stroking another kitten by now, but we’re talking about kissing my brother instead,” I joke. “Why didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you kiss him?”
“Because I didn’t know what we were, and it isn’t like this is just some random person—Wait a minute.” Her eyes narrow. “You’re okay with this?”
“With you liking my brother?” I shrug. “Yeah.”
“You’re okay with me kissing him?”
“Yes.”
“With me giving him my underwear? With me flirting and touching and fantasizing about sex with him and… all of that?”
“You gave him your underwear? Damn. I had to take them off of you. That’s not really fair,” I tease her.
“It was totally different with him than it was with us,” she says.
“And I kind of like the sound of that,” I joke.
Juniper blinks as if she’s processing it. “Oh.”
Oh.
I don’t know if I like her tone. I can’t tell if she’s relieved or even more upset.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
Shit, why does she look disappointed?
“Nothing, I just… I guess I didn’t expect you to be okay with it.”
Ah.
I set the cat down and make my way around the couch, enclosing the space between us. She looks as confused about this as I am, like she’s also not sure why she’s upset.
When I reach her, I take one of her hands into mine and brush her hair back with the other. “Did you hope I would be jealous?” I ask.
“Maybe a little,” she admits.
I smile as I bend and press my lips to her cheek, her jaw, her ear… I can feel her relaxing with each brush of my mouth against her skin, and she squeezes my fingers when my teeth graze her earlobe.
“There’s nothing he can do that will ever make me feel as if he has an edge over what we have,” I swear.
“Nothing at all?” she asks.
I sink my hands lower down her delicious body, gripping her ass tightly as my teeth drag along the column of her throat. “He can touch you… taste you… make you scream and beg… You can be ours, angel, but you were all mine first.”
Juniper groans and works her hands into my hair.
“So you’re willing to share?” she asks.
I push my thumbs beneath the waistband of her leggings and tug. “If that’s what you want,” I tell her.
“I think it’s what I want,” she manages. “I mean, I…”
She’s stammering as if she still needs permission, and I wonder who made her feel this way.
“Do you want me—” I slip one digit between her thighs, finding her soaking pussy already so swollen for me “—here? And him—” My middle finger slips between her cheeks to her other entrance, and she whimpers against my mouth, leg hiking around my waist. “—here?”
I pull back so I can memorize this look on her face. Surprise. Pleasure. Absolute desire. I can see her mind reeling as she imagines it—the three of us together, all at once.
“Fuck, yes,” she whispers.
“That’s my girl,” I breathe, sliding my fingers deliberately in and out of her. God, she’s soaking. “Fuck, Juniper.”
“Nick.”