29
DALTON
Kain’s welcome home dinner is received so well that I feel overwhelmed. Preparing and cooking so many dishes was hard work but more fun than I’ve ever had in my day job. Not only has it cemented my desire to cook, but it’s made me realize that without a true passion, life can become dull and uninteresting.
Nothing about my life feels like that now.
Darleen insists that she will wash the dishes with Dad while the rest of us relax in the den. As Kain makes the short but slow walk to Dad’s recliner, I catch Travis’s gaze drifting to each of us, a small smile tugging the corners of his mouth. “I’m going to head off,” he says.
“No.” Gabriella reaches to touch his arm. “Stay. It’ll be fun.”
“I have to catch up on work,” he says. “I didn’t get time off to come home. I’ve had to bring my project with me, and with the time difference, getting in touch with the colleagues I need information from isn’t easy. This was cool, though. It’s good to see Kain home safe and sound. It’s been good to spend time with you all.”
“When are you going back?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Travis admits. It’s the first time he’s mentioned an uncertain return date. Something about the way he says it makes me wonder if he’s intending on going back to Germany at all.
“We’ll hang out tomorrow?” Blake says. “Maybe grab a beer.”
“That’ll be great,” Travis says. “Maybe I’ll book to come see you for some ink.”
Blake beams, the prospect of inking another one of his friends and family like an affirmation of his talent.
Gabriella leans in to kiss her brother and hold him in a sisterly hug, then he shakes each of our hands and I accompany him to the door. “Mom knows about you guys,” he says as he pauses on our front step. “She knows you’re good guys, so even though it’s not a standard arrangement, she knows you’ll take care of her daughter.”
“You serious?”
He nods and shoves his hands into his pockets. There’s something different about Travis since he returned from Germany. A sadness that I can’t quite put my finger on. He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He’s with us, but he still feels apart.
“And you?” I ask. “Are you okay with it?”
“I told Kain I am.”
“You don’t know how much it means to us for you to give your approval.”
He shrugs, brushing off my comment, but it is a big deal. Bigger than he seems to realize.
“Just look after her,” he says. “That’s all I expect, okay?”
“Of course. That’s all we want to do.”
He turns and takes another step. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He calls it over his shoulder and doesn’t turn to wave. I watch as he makes his way next door with rigid shoulders, and my stomach tightens. I won’t discuss it in front of Gabriella, but when she leaves later, I’ll tell my brothers. Something’s not right with our friend and we need to find out what it is.
Back in the den, Kain’s eyes are drooping, and Gabriella is watching him, concerned. “I think you need to go to bed,” she says, rising and taking his hand so that he can’t say no. Kain uses his other hand to push himself up, and wobbles slightly on his feet, requiring Gabriella to wrap her arm around his back. “You overdid your first day home.”
“I’m fine,” he says quietly, even though it’s quite clear she’s right.
Blake stands quickly, stepping in to support Kain’s weight. I closely follow as they make their way upstairs, bracing to catch Kain if he loses his balance. Thankfully, he makes it up okay.
In Kain’s bedroom, Blake helps him to sit on the edge of his bed. Gabriella kneels before him, peeling his socks from his feet. There’s so much tenderness in the way she touches Kain, as though she’s worried he might break. He watches her, conflicted. I know my brother and he won’t like being seen as weak and helpless, but he will enjoy Gabriella taking care of him. It’s been a long time since a woman laid tender hands on us. “Lay back,” she says, helping him twist until his legs are on the bed and his head is cradled by his pillow.
“Come lie with me,” Kain says softly, patting the bed next to him. Quickly, Gabriella crawls into the nook between his arm and chest, snuggling against him. Her hand hovers over his chest as though she remembers how bruised he’s been there and doesn’t want to risk touching him. His hand reaches out to grasp hers and presses it to his heart. “It’s okay,” he says. “I’m not going to break if you touch me.”
I sit on the bed on one side, and Blake matches me on the other. It’s the first time we’ve all been together with any privacy for weeks. It’s been too long.
“I…I thought I was going to lose you,” Gabriella whispers, her voice sounding constricted. “I thought that…”
“I’m okay,” Kain says. “You don’t need to go back there now. We need to look forward.”
I rest my hand on my brother’s leg, wanting him to know I understand. He’s faced his mortality and doesn’t need to be reminded of it. He needs positivity and things to look forward to. We all need to remember that in the weeks and months to come.
“I thought that I was never going to be able to tell you that I love you,” she says.
Kain twists to stare down at her. “Say it again,” he rasps, emotion drawing his features.
“I love you,” she whispers. “I love you all.”
Kain kisses her mouth fiercely, as though her confession has made him regain strength, and Gabriella kisses him back, gripping the sleeve of his shirt in her fingers until her knuckles are white and small moans reverberate in her throat.
My heart swells, feeling her words in a place that has hoped for them for so long and never believed they would come.
“We love you too, Gab,” Blake says, resting his hand on her waist. She turns, flushed from Kain’s kiss, and draws Blake closer until they’re eye to eye, mouth to mouth, kissing passionately.
My heart soars, feeling the shift between us. The deal we struck is slipping away, and in its place is something deeper that will unite us. Kain turns to embrace Gabriella from behind as Blake worships her from the front. I clamber onto the bed, waiting for Blake to release her, needing to show her just what her words — her love — mean to me.
When Gab draws away from Blake, she searches for me and reaches her hand out as I climb over her. The embrace she gives me is as tight as the one by the front door, but this time she whispers, “I love you, Dalton,” into my ear and I have to kiss her. My brothers give me space to settle between her thighs and I take her mouth, murmuring words of affection between nibbles of her lips and cheeks and jaw. She smells so good and feels like home, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from ripping off her clothes and taking her right here, right now.
When I draw back, Gabriella whimpers, her hips shifting against the bar of my rock-hard cock, searching for pressure. I thrust once, twice, giving her hints of what is hers now. What will always be hers as long as she wants it.
“Damn, you’re needy,” I smile, pushing her hair back from my face.
“I think our girl needs some good loving,” Kain rasps, his fingers twirling in her hair that fans across the pillow like spun gold.
“I think our girl needs some dial-a-dick,” Blake says, and we all laugh so hard that tears form in our eyes.
“Not to put a damper on the dick idea,” Kain says, “But Dad and Darleen are currently downstairs, and my heart isn’t ready for the kind of dicking Gabriella deserves.”
Gab turns and reaches out to touch Kain’s face. “Then we’ll wait, baby,” she says. “My vibrator hasn’t had any action recently. It can keep me going for as long as you need.”
Both me and Blake scowl at that idea, but Gab makes a tutting sound with her tongue. “It’s either all of us or none of us from now on. If this thing is going to work, we need to be united.”
“She’s right,” Blake says. “I fucking hated knowing when you guys were over there making Gab feel good and I was over here or at work imagining it.”
“Me too,” Kain says. “Although watching you guys through the window was hotter than Satan’s BBQ.”
“Watching is fine,” Gab says. “In fact, watching is horny as fuck.”
“That’s our girl,” I laugh, kissing her again fiercely.
She turns to Kain, touching his bearded jawline. “I know you’re not ready for the main course, but how about I give you a little starter?”
He reaches down and squeezes his cock. “I think I could handle that.”
I draw back and give Gab space to change position. She tugs at Kain’s black joggers and underwear, revealing his cock. She turns to me and Blake, her eyes gleaming. “One of you needs to listen out for the parents. Tonight you get to watch. If the parents stay downstairs, you’ll get your turn. If not, next time, I’ll give you starters, main course, and dessert.”
“Shit,” Blake says, licking his lips with anticipation.
I decide to take door duty, not trusting Blake to keep his concentration when he’s watching Gabriella suck Kain into oblivion. When she licks the tip of my brother’s cock, swirling around the tip, flicking her tongue on the sensitive underside, then sinking down to suck him deep, my knees feel weak. Kain raises his arms, gripping the bars of his metal headboard, staring down at our beautiful girl as she takes care of him in the most pleasurable way and I’m filled with a swell of the most amazing love from my brothers and the woman who has always been our number one girl, even when she had pigtails and scabby knees.
And for the first time in my life, I can see our futures laid out, ready for us to seize.