Chapter 36
Delmar
Ipace at the foot of the bed. It’s weird being in the guest room. I want to take Blair down to our pod room, but that’s a big deal. And more than a little intimidating. “I’m going out there to get her.”
When I step past Clark, he reaches out and wraps his hand around my shoulder. “No, you’re not.”
I glare at his fingers pushing into my clavicle. “Why not?” I swipe his hand from my body.
“Because she has to work things out with each of us. If she doesn’t, then there’s no pod—it’s just a bunch of males she’s been thrown together with.
She’ll have her favorites, and the rest of us will be jealous.
We’ll fail. She needs time with Forrest too.
Plus, Forrest has some shit to deal with.
You don’t want jealousy to strangle us.”
Jealousy is death in a pod. “Mermaids don’t have favorites.” That’s what my mother always said.
“Blair’s not a mermaid yet, is she?” Clark’s brown eyes light up under his raised eyebrows.
“No, but I don’t think Blair would—”
“We don’t know what she will do. But favorites? Maybe it won’t be a problem.”
That’s easy for him to say. It’s already crossed my mind that Blair likes Clark, Zion, and Grayson a lot.
She’s spent more time with the three of them.
More than Forrest, Alexei, or Sterling. Though Sterling certainly isn’t in the running for favorites.
If anything, we’re going to drag him by the fluke into mating.
Fuck. I miss when everything felt easy. When everything was calm water and it felt like we would be a normal pod. Well, a normal pod that had a governor, an assassin, and the head of a hospital in it.
Who am I kidding? We were never a normal pod.
I glance back to the hallway. There’s a thud against the bedroom wall from out in the hall. “What is he doing with her out there?”
“Doesn’t matter. Give them space.” The sheets are already rumpled from where we had gotten things started before Blair realized Forrest hadn’t followed. I smooth the covers down and fluff the pillow, more to keep myself from running out into the hall than anything.
Clark moves across the room and settles on the ledge below the windows.
It’s dark outside, the exterior dome lights turned off for the night.
Shadows of something large flicker against the glass.
I have to wonder whether it’s one of Blair’s niece’s sharks coming back around for another bite of Zion.
“I need to—” I reach for the door handle when I hear a soft moan in the hall. “They’re outside the door.”
“Patience,” Clark says, stopping me from pulling the door open.
“Fuck it.” I push my ear to the door, desperate to know what’s going on outside the room. The handle shakes, and I jump back.
Clark laughs.
The door inches open, and Blair steps into the room, though she’s not looking at Clark or me. Instead, she’s focused back out in the hallway. “I’ll be back.” Her hand disappears from the grip she had on the door, and it tips closed again.
I turn to Clark and he comes over to me.
“She’ll be back.” He rests his hand on my arm.
It’s a big change—putting ourselves out there, competing with the likes of the Driftwood pod and others.
Even young Haakon’s fathers. They’re salt of the sea males.
Ones who work with their hands. Ones who could be a good fit for Blair.
Maybe even a better fit than us. It makes my stomach churn.
Everything’s riding on this, and desperation isn’t a good look. I cross my arms over my chest and wait.
When the door opens again, there’s a confused look on her face and a blush up the sides of her cheeks.
My heart lodges in my throat. “Blair.” I reach for her, and she takes my hand. I need to blast that look away. I pull her onto my lap. “Everything okay?”
She nods, and her fingers intertwine with mine. “Everything okay in here?” She’s crimson from her ears to her chest. Her tunic’s half tucked into her trousers.
“Delmar’s a little impatient,” Clark says. He rises from the ledge along the wall. “But how are you doing, Brave One?”
“I’m feeling brave.”
“I like that.” Clark steps up to her, their toes touching. It takes me a second to shake off my paralysis just watching them.
“Blair,” I say, swiping her loose hair away from her shoulder.
I trail my fingertips around the edge of her neck.
She glances back at the door.
My eyes follow. Forrest doesn’t barrel in.
There’s no thudding of the door as it bounces open and hits the wall.
Not that I expected him to. He’s been on edge lately, ever since the large government change.
I know he really wants things to work out with Blair, but I could feel his hesitation back when we were in the kitchen.
The thought of living the rest of my days in a pod like this? In a pod that’s more roommates than family? I don’t want it. But I’m also not selfish enough to force Blair into our pod if it’s not what she wants. Even if this might be our last chance at having a mate again.
I kiss her knuckles. “I’m not going to lie, Blair. I’m a little nervous.”
“That makes two of us.” Her eyes flick to Clark. Who will no doubt give me a dressing-down later for admitting to my weakness. “Thank you for being honest with me.”
“Always.” I kiss her soft cheek.
She nuzzles into my side. Our breathing syncs.
I tip her chin up to me, and her silken hair curtains around her when our lips touch.
I’m not inexperienced. There’s a spark that has me gripping her back, pulling her toward me.
I’m not sure if I’m the last of the Masons to kiss Blair.
There’s no competition for last place. It doesn’t matter.
But I can’t believe I’ve waited this long.
The kiss in the kitchen was good, but it’s nothing like this. I’m on fire.
I grip her waist, sit, and pull her fully onto my lap. Her hips are moving, and I’m thrusting up against her.
My left hand finds the edge of her purple tunic, and I graze the skin under it. Goosebumps trail behind my fingers, and she moans into my mouth.
“Arms up,” Clark says, standing behind Blair. Her hands vanish from the back of my neck.
I don’t want to stop kissing her, but the rising silken shirt parts us.
“Delmar.” Her eyes are dilated, but more interestingly, there’s a strip of lace over her breasts.
“What’s this?” I run my fingertip between her skin and the pink strap.
“It’s a bra. It holds the girls up.”
“It’s in the way.” Clark does something behind her, and the two cups hang off her body.
I pull it off and toss the scrap of shiny fabric over my shoulder. “Why would you ever need such a thing?” I lightly touch her until I reach her nipple.
“I guess I don’t. My breasts aren’t that large. But I’ve gotten used to them over the years, and I feel rather naked without one on.”
“You’re still not naked,” Clark states.
“I guess I’m not. But then, neither are you.” She cocks her head.
Clark tugs on his tunic and pants, and they’re close to gone before I’ve snapped out of it.
“You too, handsome . . . male.”
I pull off my tunic and lean back into Blair.
“What were you going to say?” Because I have a feeling I know what she was going to say.
Youngling, podlet. I’m not that much younger than a lot of the other Masons, but enough that sometimes the generations separate us.
Especially between me and Forrest. He’s not as old as my fathers, but he’s closer in age to them than he is to me.
It’s never mattered to me, but . . . “You are so beautiful.”
“Grab her leggings, Delmar,” Clark demands.
I slide my fingers under the waistband and pull the tie.
The loose fabric comes undone, and it’s easy to tug down the layers of fabric.
Away from her beautiful skin. I move her off my lap and inch off the side of the bed, down to my knees, and throw one of Blair’s legs over my shoulder. I want to taste her.
Her leg vibrates with my first touch. “You don’t have to—”
“Do you not want me to?” I pause, hovering over her core. Blair’s reclining on the bed, pushed up on her elbows, with her legs off the edge of the bed.
“No. I mean, yes. Yes, I do. I . . .”
Clark moves around to her side. “Blair, tell us what you want.”
She bites her lip again. The tinge of red trails down her chest. The way she changes colors intrigues me. “I . . . it’s hard.”
“We’re very hard, Blair. But I promise we’re not scary. We just want you to have everything you want.” I should wait for her words, but I can’t help but press a kiss to the inside of her thigh.
“Higher,” she whispers.
“Really? How much higher should Delmar go?” Clark laughs.
I can’t see what Clark’s doing. But Blair squirms when I inch kisses upward. They’re light and playful and are nowhere near her clit. For every inch I go upward, I move away from her core.
“Is he doing what you want?” Clark asks.
She rolls from side to side a bit. And I’m not one to torture such a lovely female. But it is rather fun. I grab the thigh that’s over my shoulder and pinch it. Her heel presses into the middle of my back.
I move my kisses closer. Because not tasting her is as much a punishment for me as it is for her.
“Closer.” Her breath is heavy. And her free leg twitches on the side of the bed.
But I move farther away.
Blair pushes up onto her elbows. “For a teacher, you don’t follow directions well.”
I burst out with a quick laugh. And head right out into my delectable work. I part her lips and circle her clit, adjusting my hands to get the best leverage I can. Her legs flop wide and still.
“I’ve got you, Brave One.” Clark’s kisses echo on her skin.
I place my hand on her belly. She’s trembling. And for a moment, I wonder if I’m doing something wrong, but then Blair lets out a long, slow, hissing moan. It hits me in my chest. It’s a sound of delayed longing, and it burns in my ears.
“It’s good Blair, isn’t it?” Clark asks.
“Yes.” Her hips lift from the edge of the mattress. “So good.”
“That’s what I thought, Brave One.”
Her moans are muffled, and I can only guess that it’s from Clark’s lips.
“You’re so close. Fuck, you’re beautiful when you’re this close. Don’t hide from me . . . that’s it,” Clark continues.
Her fingers tighten in my hair, pulling, and the tension’s almost enough to make me come. I thrust a finger into her, working it in rhythm with my tongue. Blair’s legs tighten, and she bounces. Her knees tighten around my head.
I kiss along the edge of her thigh as the last bits of her orgasm shake out of her. She tugs on my head, nudging me up from the floor.
When I settle on the mattress, I expect her to be sleepy, but her eyes are bright. And she licks her lips. “Come here.” She tugs at me. I’m frantically taking off the rest of my clothes.
Clark’s kissing the back of her neck, one hand working her breast, the other on her hip. Our lips meet. I’m ravenous for her. Her hand snakes down between us. And damn, I’m liable to come like a podlet when she tightens her fingers around my cock and pumps me.
I pull back, and she’s a vixen. Her eyes jump.
“I want you. I want you now.” She pushes on my shoulder, flattening me against the mattress.
I willingly roll, and Blair straddles me.
Clark moves behind her. His hand travels up and down her arms to her hips.
Her head lolls back, and I grab her thighs, pulling her down onto me.
Her head falls forward, and our eyes lock. “I want you.”
“I’m yours.”
She positions me at her entrance, and I slide in. My eyes slam shut, but I pry them open, watching her as I slowly slide into her. It’s beyond words. My brain is scrambled.
When she’s seated all the way, her eyes close. “So good.”
“Fabulous.” My fingers dig into her hips, and I thrust up into her, setting a rhythm that has me a second away from breaking apart.
“Blair,” Clark says. And honestly, I’d forgotten he was even in the room with us.
Which is a lot, as Clark dominates a room.
I pull myself up and kiss up the side of her breast. Her lavender scent surrounds me.
“Delmar,” she says, her eyes holding me as we move together. The bed shakes. I’m focused on her and only her. The next time we’re together, it won’t be in the guest room but where she belongs. Where she will be our queen. The pod bedroom.
Blair rolls her neck. Clark’s there, nipping and sucking on her skin. It’s an out-of-body experience watching her. Watching them. Her movements are ever more frenzied, eyes clamped tightly shut, lips parted.
“Don’t stop. It feels so good, Delmar. Don’t stop.” Her words rush out of her, and she grabs the sides of my head with both hands and kisses me.
It takes me a second to realize I’m not moving, then I’m out of my daze and back at it. Driving up stronger, harder with each thrust. Clark’s hand snakes between us, reaching down for her clit.
“That’s it, Blair. I wouldn’t dream of it. It’s so sexy when you tell us what you want,” Clark calls from behind.
She breaks our kiss, her hips jerking wildly. “More,” she screams. “Oh . . .” Blair laughs and covers her mouth.
“No, don’t.” I move her hand away from her cherry lips. “Clark’s right. I love it when you tell us what you want. It makes me want to give you twice as much.”
“Twice as much? I don’t think I’d be able to handle that.”
“Oh, I think you can.” Clark circles her clit again, and Blair gasps.
I wipe the hair away from her forehead and hold her beautiful eyes. Our rhythm bounces the bed. Can she?
“I can,” she gasps, answering my unasked question. I’d stop in a heartbeat if she told me to. I’d do anything she needed. Willingly. I don’t need release or pleasure. “It’s so good.” Her eyes roll into the back of her head.
“You’re so good.” I lean in and nip at her breast.
And she fires off, dragging me with her into a volcano tube of heat. It’s dark and warm, and I never want to leave.