Chapter Seventeen
Max
Just as we’d expected, Brodie and Kye got an earlier flight home.
Rian was so pissed off when he got home that he wanted to drive back to town to rip Holly Gerrell apart. It wasn’t unreasonable, really, but we distracted him with research on fireproofing the house and the outbuilding.
Holden came home late, having dealt with the situation with the interim Sheriff—since Holly’s husband had fucked up so bad he couldn’t show his face in town again, let alone be the sheriff.
Despite everything, the whole pack was sad that she’d done this to herself. An arson was a felony and even if we wouldn’t have wanted to press charges, the DA was going to make an example of her.
We understood, but it still sucked. She was a victim of her husband’s actions just like we were. I wished she would’ve done something more reasonable like taken out our windows with a baseball bat or something. Fire was different.
In a way I got it, though. She hated her husband and his broken promises so much that she wanted to destroy the house because she couldn’t have it. She hadn’t come to our property to destroy us. Hell, once she sobered up, her first question had been if anyone got hurt.
Sadly the remorse didn’t do much in the grand scheme of things with what she’d done.
Once everything was wrapped up with the short investigation, Brodie, Lina, and Mr. Keller, her dad, replaced all the charred parts in the corner of the house. Mr. Keller had experience in repairing fire damage and knowing how much to tear down, so Brodie had asked him to help.
We all knew that he also wanted to bring the Kellers closer to the pack for Lina and Carys’ sake. It was clear that Mr. Keller knew what Brodie was doing, so when he asked if Brodie wanted some help with the deck building, Brodie readily agreed.
By early August, we had a brand new deck and had a barbeque party with Lina’s parents as guests. They were good people, the Kellers. They were fine with most of the pack being non-humans and they made it clear that they’d be fine with Lina moving in with us.
We ended up painting the house very thoroughly with the fire retardant stuff and chose a slightly more vibrant forest green than what the old moss green had been. It felt right, the injection of light and joy to the outside of the old Victorian.
It made it more uniform with how it felt on the inside, too.
It took about two weeks before someone figured that we should have a hot tub on the deck. So Brodie and Lina went back to alter the deck so that the fancy hot tub Rian chose for us would fit there perfectly.
Of course, that meant that when we came back from the next full moon run, the humans and vampires were lounging in the bubbly water.
“Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye on the grill!” Carys said cheerfully.
Yes, the top-notch gas grill with a massive griddle was doing its thing and we could all smell that the meat was just about done cooking.
After we shook most of the river water, dirt, and other debris off our fur, we padded inside the sunroom to shift and put some clothes on.
When I stepped back onto the deck, Luca was getting out of the tub and I almost stumbled.
Ben, who was right behind me, grabbed my arm, his attention going where mine was.
Ben leaned closer to talk into my ear, his breath raising goose bumps on my skin. “It’s almost a shame that we’re so damn hungry after a run,” he rumbled, voice hoarse from the growling and howling we’d gotten up to.
I shivered and nodded, incredibly glad that my black sweats concealed everything a little better. Not that everyone but the humans wouldn’t know what I was feeling. At least we were all very polite about these things.
We walked toward the grill and Luca, who was toweling off as he stood by the tub in his skimpy swimwear, smiled at us. Then his nostrils flared, and his hands stopped moving, his eyes going almost black in the string lights illuminating the deck.
He cleared his throat just as Ben nudged me with his elbow. “Come on. Let’s eat.” There was an urgency in his tone that felt oddly gratifying.
The next time I glanced at Luca, he was smirking a little bit. Damn imp.
Rian, Brodie, and Holden obviously caught what was brewing between the three of us. Then Kye saw a glance between Brodie and Rian, and his eyes widened.
He’d come out of the tub, too, and was filling his own plate. “So, girls?” he raised his voice a little.
Carys and Lina were in the tub, but turned to look at him.
His sister looked so happy and a bit flushed in the warm water. “Yeah?”
“Do you want to try and set up the outdoor movie thing tonight? I don’t feel like going to bed anytime soon.”
“Oh, that could be fun. We should eat first, though!”
And just like that, they were distracted. They wouldn’t question if Ben, Luca, and I weren’t there later.
It wasn’t as if we needed to hide from anyone, but with everyone else outside the house, watching a movie, we wouldn’t be self-conscious.
Half an hour later, the three of us were stepping inside our new room. All the room had needed was new wallpaper and some adjustments in décor—Rian’s words—and we were set.
I closed the door behind us all and watched as Ben and Luca launched at each other. I chuckled as I walked around the bed to turn the lamp on. Then I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms as I took in the way the two of them moved together.
It was interesting to me how different the dynamics were between us. Whenever Luca and Ben came together, there was some push and pull, some sort of a power thing that could go either way. Seeing it in action was incredible.
Within minutes, they were writhing on the bed, naked and hard as they still couldn’t decide who would be doing what. I pushed away from the wall and rounded the bed to park myself on the edge. Leaning my back against the headboard, I ignored how hard I was getting and admired them together.
Maybe it was the full moon and the tub effect, but there was something almost frantic about them. In no time, Luca was on all fours, moaning as my brother pushed inside him.
Then Luca locked gazes with me and I couldn’t help the noise that escaped me.
Ben moved them so that Luca was closer to me, then began to fuck him hard and fast. Luca closed his eyes and rode the feeling for a moment, then blindly reached out for me.
I offered him my hands, but he shook his head, opened his eyes, and grabbed my waistband. He freed my cock and swallowed me down.
Gasping, I grabbed his shoulder and wrapped my fingers around the side of his head. Then I rode the wave of hormones and pleasure until we all came within a minute of one another.
Luca slumped down, his head on my thigh as I panted for breath. Ben chuckled, which made Luca whine. I could imagine why.
Ben pressed his forehead between Luca’s shoulder blades and just breathed in the scent of sex and us for a while. Then he pulled out and headed to the bathroom.
We’d changed the bathroom so that the door was on the inside of our room instead of in the hallway. It had come in handy several times already.
The bathroom between Carys and Rian’s rooms was now just Carys and Lina’s, and Rian and Holden had a brand new one in theirs—Holden had tried to protest but Rian had told him it was nonnegotiable.
The renovations had been extensive and expensive, but—“What are you thinking about?” Luca murmured, still sounding barely conscious.
“Renovations,” I blurted out the truth.
He laughed then nuzzled my cock that tried to rally immediately. “You want to keep doing that or add a load in me?”
It was safe to say I forgot all about the house for a good while.
Luca and I started to go on little adventures in town. He wanted to “assimilate.” Which was his way of saying he wanted to get the locals used to having him around.
He was friendly to everyone who came to say hi and even took some photos with a few fans, but he asked them not to post them online just in case. We didn’t need a bunch of bored, desperate paparazzi to come calling, after all.
We went to the next town over, Warren, for some second-hand shopping and the bookstore. Then, after Luca was fully relaxed there, too, we went to the movie theater with Ben, just to get out a little more.
One night we were all watching the first Jurassic Park film in the backyard—the projector had been an excellent idea. Kye called bathroom break, and then when those who needed it came back from inside, Ben looked around and laughed.
“Guys, it’s Friday night. We’re sitting here all happy and having fun.” When we looked at him quizzically, he gestured at all of us. “We’re such fucking homebodies, which is awesome given everything we’ve been through.”
Luca chuckled, seeing the humor immediately. “Well my life has certainly changed. And for the better, might I add.”
Rian nodded rapidly. “It’s not that long ago when a Friday night for Brodie and I would’ve been spent at some kink party or other.”
I’d already forgotten about that, even though I knew some kink was still a part of both of their lives with their respective partners.
“I’ve never been into partying. I leave that to my brother,” Lina deadpanned.
Carys kissed her cheek. “And I’m glad.” Carys had seen too much already. I didn’t blame her for wanting to stay at home most of the time. “But next time anyone’s going to the movies, count me in!”
“How about we concentrate on the one we’re watching right now, first?” Kye asked, handed the massive popcorn bucket he’d refreshed inside to Brodie, and settled on the extra large beanbag chair next to him.
Holden pressed play and soon we were all completely engrossed by the story.
“Ithink I want to study psychology,” I said quietly.
Luca turned his head where he was lounging in the sun next to me on the little platform we’d built at the swimming hole for sunbathing purposes.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I sighed and turned to lean on my elbow. “I don’t know more than that yet, but it feels right.”
He rolled over to mirror my pose. “If it feels right, then it’s worth trying out. If you find out something else that seems more you, then you change it up.”
I leaned closer to kiss him. After a moment of making out, we continued to sunbathe.
He hummed under his breath again. I’d started to pick up more and more complete melodies in these moments.
“That’s new, isn’t it?” I asked after a while.
“Huh?”
“The song.”
“Oh. It is.”
I had my eyes closed but I felt him shrug next to me.
My tone was careful when I asked, “Do you realize you played that on the guitar yesterday?”
Luca froze. I gave him space by not turning my head to look at him.
“I did?”
“Yup.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t comment anything more, just released a long breath and continued to soak in the afternoon sunlight.
A while later I heard someone approaching on the path, then the breeze turned and brought us the scent of my brother. Wolf and motor oil. I knew it was one of Luca’s favorite scents, too.
“Brace yourself,” I said, knowing what he’d do.
“What?” Luca sounded confused.
Three seconds later, Ben cannonballed into the swimming hole, splashing us both with the cool river water.
Luca sat up, sputtering as he wiped his face.
“Told you so.” I gave my brother the finger as soon as he surfaced, but it just made him cackle.
He waded to us and sat on the edge of the little platform. “So I’ve good news,” he started, looking at us. He was beaming, as much as Ben ever did that sort of thing. “I got a raise.”
“Holy shit!” I sat up and went to hug him. “Congrats. That’s so great.”
“What he said,” Luca said and came to hug him, too.
Then he pushed Ben back into the hole.
Once Ben was done coughing up river water, he joined us in sunbathing.
Some time later, Luca wanted a bite, so he nudged me until I sat up, then straddled me and bit into my neck.
It led into hand jobs all around, and even that felt risqué. We didn’t want the girls to get accidental eyefuls of something they couldn’t unsee, after all.
Eventually, we grabbed our stuff and walked back to the house.
“It looks so good now,” Luca said as we got into the yard.
The sun hit the large house just right, and the green popped against the equally vibrant background.
“It does,” Ben agreed.
The chickens were digging around in the backyard, looking oddly photogenic against all the wildflowers.
“We should celebrate all the good things,” Luca said apropos of nothing. “Just the three of us.”
I turned to him. “What do you mean?”
“Ben’s raise, you figuring out your studies, me maybe starting to write music again….”
“What do you suggest?” Ben asked, taking his hand.
We’d come to a halt near the chicken coop of all things, and the ladies were starting to wonder if we were about to feed them.
“Go hiking somewhere. Camp overnight. You two could shift in a new environment. Could be fun?”
I looked at Ben and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, then smiled.
“Could be a lot of fun,” I stated.
“Definitely,” Ben agreed. “Did you look into where you’d want to go?”
“Well not super far. Maybe stay in Pennsylvania. We could look online to find some really pretty place?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.” I squeezed his hand. Ben kissed his shoulder.
“Okay, let’s go inside and change. I don’t feel the cold the same way but this isn’t comfortable.” He gestured at his board shorts that clung to his body in places.
It was safe to say we took care of that, and him, upstairs.
Everyone wore knowing looks by the time we surfaced again, which made me blush. I might’ve been the loud one this time.