Experiment 1.04 – Subject Rhodes, N.
Title: Discovery of Tampered Trial Conditions
Britney, Brains, and Betrayal
“Nix?” There are soft lips on his cheek and then against his ear.
“Mmmm. Sleeping. Go ‘way,” Nix groans and tries to roll over, only to find himself flat on his back.
“You don’t want to sleep the day away. Gideon’s making lunch, I think, and…” Finn chuckles and slides off the bed.
Nix cracks a single eyelid to watch his alpha walk away. Rawr.
“Hey, bring dat ass—er…bum back here.”
“No can do,” echoes out of Finn’s bathroom. “And don’t you have stuff you need to do?”
Shit. He does. Darn you, Luca.
Nix groans and rolls off the bed, landing on his feet like the superhero ninja his children believe him to be (he really is). He shakes off his fatigue, and instead of a shower with Finn (boo-hoo), he throws open Finn’s closet and chooses a very nice white button-down shirt.
He’d love to go sans pants, but the kids are probably somewhere with big eyes and bigger questions. And while he won’t ever lie, he’d prefer to keep pushing the conversation around why he prefers to go without pants so often to much later in his children’s lives.
“Boxers?” He pulls open Finn’s drawers to find very practical and much-too-large boxer briefs.
“Oooh, sexy,” he mutters.
Shit. Okay, he can’t wear his from earlier since Finn ripped them off and apparently tacked them to the wall over his sciencey-table-lab-desk thing.
“Aww, so romantic.” He flicks them with a finger and shouts, “Love you, Finnie. Bye.”
“Love you too. Good luck!”
“Thank you!” Nix skips out of his room and straight into Gideon’s room, as Luc’s panty drawer is always full of new and exciting choices that always fit Nix, too.
It’s a bit suspicious, given Luca is a bit juicier in the butt than he is.
He slides into a pair of white panties that are relatively modest, if you don’t count the peek-a-boo holes in front and the easy-access crotch.
Wait, a gosh-darn minute.
Good Luck?
Stuff he needs to do?
Then, it hits him. The instincts that have served him well for the last few years are pinging so hard.
He tiptoes back into Finn’s room, and he hears his mate singing Britney’s classic “Oops I Did It Again. Got lost in the game…I think I’m in love…sent from above…oh, baby, baby.”
Careful not to send anything along their mental bond, Nix spots Finn’s phone on the nightstand, where he remembers the alpha had placed it with a smile when he’d spotted Nix a few hours ago.
He hesitates to violate his mate’s privacy like this, but if he’s right? That sneaky doctor-so-and-so deserves what he gets, and if he’s wrong, he’ll confess.
In this, it’s better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
Nix keys the not-at-all-secret passcode and goes straight to the last message.
9:25 AM Rowan
Ur Welcome
9:25 AM Finn
What did you do
9:26 AM Rowan
Just accept the present I launched ur way
9:26 AM Finn
Im scared right now
9:27 AM Rowan
Triggered Luc/Nx BJ contest
9:28 AM Finn
You’re so dead
Everybody know?
Wow. Finn has excellent instincts. It’s not hard to believe that Rowan did something so sneaky on purpose. It sucks even more that he and Luca are predictable enough to fall for it.
9:29 AM Finn
Thanks tho
9:29 AM Rowan
Fuck yes otherwise whats the pnt
Enjoy. U owe me
11:29 AM Finn
I really do. I should feel bad, but it was so good
That little shi–poop.
Nix peeks around the corner to see Finn dancing with a satisfied smile on his face. It tickles Nix’s happy places to see the contentment his mate feels after they’ve been together. But…
It’s 11:41 AM now, and Finn must have sent his last damning text before he woke Nix up.
“I’m not that innocent!” Trails out of the bathroom and whistling takes its place when the shower shuts off.
Nix wants to be mad, but three things are stopping him:
Nix enjoyed every second. Would probably still be enjoying it with another mate somewhere in the house if he hadn’t figured it out.
Luca and he had pulled a similar stunt right after the babies were born that involved vegetables of various lengths, a ruler, and a PowerPoint presentation. Whoo, that was fun. Even the spanking they’d had afterward.
Maybe he and Luc could turn it around and make them pay. Nothing like a double cross to really seal the Luc/Nix superiority in the prank department (yes, it’s their ship name).
He slips the phone back onto the nightstand and creeps down to the main level through the library in an attempt to avoid being discovered.
But he is both unlucky and lucky because he discovers his chaotic family in the kitchen: kids in booster chairs at the island, Grandpa-Artem singing Wheels on the Bus with the actions, and…
Leo grinning at his phone. Like he’d been given the best gift ever.
So, everyone is in on it.
Happy anticipatory grins are in place; even Gideon has a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face. Probably more for the chaos than the orgasm, knowing him.
“Hey, Kitten. Where are you headed? You need me for anything?” He waggles his eyebrows.
“Daddy!” Little voices call to him, and he presses kisses to the tops of tiny heads, nibbling little bits of fruit from tiny fingers, and he’s offered a single chicken nugget with quiet reverence.
“Thank you.” He accepts it with a bow and eats it right up, all in one bite, rubbing his tummy and wiggling for effect. “So delicious. Thank you.”
He’s rewarded with a quiet giggle, and it improves Nix’s mood even more, an idea solidifying so fast he freezes in place. He has to lock the bond output down to a trickle so he can modulate his glee without tipping off the perpetrators.
Now, to find Luca before any more of them receive their undeserved rewards. Hopefully, it’s not too late.
He spins on his heel and follows his lavender-colored bond toward the music studio.
“Hey, Nix. Where are you going? I’m going for a shower…if you want to…uh…” Leo’s voice fades away when Nix leaves him in the dust.
It’s a tiny bit rude, sure.
But if Leo offered post-workout shower sex to Nix’s face, he’s not sure he could resist the offer. Leo is massive these days, bulked up beyond anything he’d ever been before. And post-workout, those beautiful muscles were…engorged–nope.
No more of that, Nixie. Nope. Save it for next time.
Sigh.
He finds Luca asleep, naked on Jamie’s lap on the studio couch while Jamie surfs his phone. Most people would think he’s on there answering emails or composing lyrics, but no—Jamie has a tiny addiction to watching his thirst edits.
Yup, Roadie tributes to his eight-pack and peach of an ass. Nix tries not to think about LRH’s fans as individuals that he wants to hunt down and explain exactly how Jamie belongs to him and his packmates. They’re all just nice, respectful people who just enjoy LRH’s music.
Just. Their. Music. Grrr.
The alpha’s eyebrows go up when he sees him in the white shirt and panties, but he very casually turns his phone off.
All. The. Way. Off.
Et tu, Jamie?
“Hey, baby boy. Do you need me for anything?”
“No, thank you, Daddy.” Jamie’s eye twitches a tiny bit.
A micro-expression, Arlo calls them.
They’d discovered Nix has a genuine talent for reading them. Logan says it’s a natural talent, but that trauma can push a natural talent into a full-blown skill.
And Nix’s new power says Jamie has recently been called Daddy for other reasons than parenting their babies.
“I need to borrow, Luc. Would that be okay? You’re not too busy?”
“Oh no, if you’re sure you don’t need me? It’s been a long morning in the uh…booth.” Jamie is agitated as he’s a terrible liar—his guilt flashing like a beacon on his face.
Nix tries to dredge up some pity for him because it’s never been easy for him to be part of a prank.
But he’d had his chance to confess, so he could live with the consequences.
“I’m glad you got a…head.”
“Wha–?!” Jamie drops his phone and scrambles to pick it up. As if Nix could read it anyway.
His beloved is so not up to the subterfuge.
“I said, I am glad you got ahead with the guide. That you weren’t in over your head?”
“Oh, yeah. No. I mean—yes. I am…up to date. Fuck me.” He mutters the last bit under his breath.
“Kids are eating, if you want any? Gideon is cooking chicken balls.”
“You mean fingers?”
“Finger? Me?” Nix says, activating his deep voice and then sucking on a finger like he is licking something delicious.
“Finger you? What?”
Nix wants to laugh at Jamie’s panicked face.
“Are you okay, Alpha?” Nix purrs as Luca groans on Jamie’s lap.
Probably because Jamie is now clutching him to his chest like a shield.
“I am. Great. Hungry…confused,” he whispers, but hasn’t taken his eyes off Nix’s mouth. “Want to eat you–lunch. Yup.” He dumps Luca on the couch with a squeak, and he almost runs out of the studio like his ass is on fire.
“Bye!” Nix yells after him before breaking into laughter.
“What is happening right now? Did you just scare away a sure thing?” Luca asks, rubbing his eyes and pulling his t-shirt on over his head.
“Sure thing? Yeah. Listen, about that…”
“Are you afraid you’re going to lose? By the sounds of that conversation, I sucked his brains out for real. Might be permanent.”
Sighing, Nix throws himself onto the couch, knee folded and leg up under his butt. “They set us up, baby. Turned us against each other so they could watch us scramble and get competitively-motivated, superior blowjobs.”
Luca freezes, mouth agape like a fish. He’s got no reason to doubt Nix is telling the truth.
“Rowan,” he growls and throws off the blanket. “That shit. But for the record, my blowjobs are always superior.”
“You don’t have to tell me. But, yeah, ego is what got us into this mess in the first place. Finn’s phone told the whole sordid story. And I’ve been dodging not-so-subtle innuendo since. The only one I can’t be sure got in on it is Gray. But I have a plan—”
“There you are—uh, hey, you two. Whatcha doing?” Grayson is standing at the door, a sheen of sweat and paint covering his stunning chest. Nix watches as a drop of sweat trickles down, down over tight abs, a hip-cut that reveals his mating bite and his gorgeous tattoos—
Goddess, save him.
“Wondered if anyone wanted to shower with me?”
It’s the second request Nix has had today, which isn’t actually that many, but the grin that goes with it…is also not new.
Finn always says to test the hypothesis.
But Luca beats him to it.
“No, thank you, Gray. Nixie and I have plans.”
The shock that crosses Grayson’s face is clear to even someone who hasn’t had supplemental training.
Because never—ever—has Luca Wilde turned down a sweaty Grayson Pearce.
Ever.
Luca squeezes his hand under the blanket.
“Plans? Like, right now?” Grayson asks, his eyebrows raised with disbelief.
“Sorry. Maybe later?”
“Before tomorrow, though?” Grayson asks, not-at-all subtle in his disappointed confusion.
Nix wants to laugh out loud. “Sure, baby. Later for sure.” They just stare at him with identical smiles on their faces until he turns and leaves. “Bye, Gray!”
They wait until Nix can feel him getting consolation kisses from Leo through their bond before they break out into laughter.
“So, you have a plan, I assume?” Luca asks.
“I gosh-darn do.”