17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Dana
He's just going to have to pout. I am not taking him with me to the pharmacy. He would attract too much attention. It's going to be bad enough with Beckett in tow.
Honestly, I'd feel a lot better about it if Beckett didn't go with me, either. It isn't that I think something will happen to him. I have a decent, functional relationship with the pharmacy. They even encouraged me to go to the Selection. They would probably be happy for me, and would celebrate Beckett … if I wasn't walking in there with pictures of their recently departed flunkies, or whatever those men were.
I've never felt such rage as I did when Beckett froze up on the lawn at the center. Never. I had tunnel vision. All I could hear was him confirming that those were the Alphas who left marks on him, and all I could see were their faces. There was no thought behind my movement. I barely remember pulling the gun or firing it. I do remember breaking every single one of those bones. I remember every satisfying pop.
“If you're not out of there within ten minutes, I'm coming in,” Pierce says before leaning across me and opening the door. “I can see the front of the building from here. I'll start timing when the front door closes behind you.”
“Be right back.” I get out of the car first and scan the street, then nod at Beckett. “Are you sure you won't stay back?”
He climbs out and adjusts his clothes. “Not a chance. You're not going in there alone.”
“Okay. I don't think anything will happen, but if it does, you run. Understand? You run.”
He nods. “I understand. I won't, but I understand that you're telling me to.”
“Beckett.”
“Look. You can be a badass detective. I won't get in your way. But I don't have it in me to let you walk into the pharmacy alone. Understand?”
“Fine.” I sigh. “But I don't like it. Don't make yourself into a target.”
He nods and offers me his arm.
As a rule, I don't hang on men's arms. I don't let them help me. That stopped years ago, with everything else. But I can take Beckett's arm. I might actually need it right now. I haven't said anything about the burning ache running up and down the length of my leg since that little altercation at the center, and I don't intend to. I just need to finish up at the pharmacy and then I'll make a beeline for a hot bath and an evening in bed with my heating pad. Hell, I might actually take the pain meds the doctors keep prescribing me.
The pharmacy is empty when Beckett and I walk in. That's a bit of luck to be grateful for. Hopefully this will be a quick and easy conversation. Reminding myself again that Michael and Jonah like me, I walk right up to the counter.
Rebecca's eyes widen and her smile brightens as she eyes Beckett. “Good evening, detective.”
“Hey,” I smile. “Are you all terribly busy right now?”
She shakes her head. “Not really. They're just working up the last of today's orders. Do you need something?”
“Actually, I do. I just have a few questions for them, if they can give me a minute or two.”
“Oh,” she says, going straight into seriousness. “Official business. Let me go ask. One second.”
Beckett moves his arm around my waist and I look at him. He winks at me and nods back toward the counter.
Rebecca comes back a moment later. “They'll be right with you. Just step over to the side.”
“Thanks, Rebecca.”
Beckett accompanies me to the side counter partition to wait. He keeps his arm around my waist, his hand on my hip. The pressure and warmth is worth not leaning against the stool like I usually would.
After a minute, Jonah comes to stand in front of me. “Rebecca said you have some questions?”
I nod. “We respect each other, so I'm going to get right to the point and be blunt about it.”
“Go ahead,” Michael says, coming up to lean against the counter beside Jonah.
I nod again. “I'm working a case. A missing girl. I'm going to show you some pictures.” I pull up Celia's picture first. “Have you seen her?”
They both look at the picture closely, but they both shake their heads.
“I haven't seen her around,” Jonah says. “Have you asked the wharf boys?”
I shake my head. “No. And here's why.” I bring up the pictures of the Alphas I just took care of.
Michael blows out a breath, his cheeks puffing out as he meets my eyes. “You? Or someone else?”
“Me. Do you know them?”
Jonah leans forward to take a closer look. “Listen. Don't go running in the wrong direction with this, okay? You know we're trying to clean up around here. You've been watching us for years. You know the work we put in. You've seen it.”
“I have.”
They exchange a look and Michael gives Jonah a nod. “Okay,” Jonah continues. “So, part of that is cutting ties with certain undesirables. We broke off from Dad's usual crew after he retired. We keep up some things because, well, they benefit us. They benefit other people, too. But we went away from anything having to do with the center. Dad had his hands in all kinds of shit, and we didn't agree with it. When we took over here, we cut the center out of everything. No more Omegas for friends and favors. No more sneaking Alphas into the center. Nothing. Some people got pissed and started doing their own thing. We don't have anything to do with that.”
That's a lot of information to digest. And I only have about four minutes before Pierce comes charging in. “You think those people took the girl?” My bet is that the people that Jonah and Michael broke away from work for the mayor now, they took Celia, and that's where we'll find her.
“I wouldn't be surprised,” Michael says.
“Last question and then I have to run before my Valla comes in after me.”
“Valla?” Jonah asks, eyes wide. “But I thought?” He gestures toward Beckett.
“I get the best of both worlds,” I smirk, and he smiles at me. “Last question. What do you think of the mayor?”
“Of the Coburn?” Michael asks.
I nod.
They look at each other, then Michael answers. “We think he needs to tighten his ship.”
That's all I need. “Thank you. I'll get out of your hair now.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Jonah calls as I'm turning around. “You're not even going to introduce us?”
Beckett offers his hand. “Beckett.”
Jonah shakes it. Ecstatically. “Jonah. This is Michael.”
Michael shakes his hand, too. “I want to meet the Valla.”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe next time.” I glance at my watch. Jesus. “We're going now.”
Pierce is five paces from the door when Beckett and I walk back onto the street. He waves the car over without looking back. Beckett gets in before me and slides over so I can get in. I scoot in next to him as efficiently as I can and Pierce slides in beside me.
“How did it go?” he asks.
“How well do you know the mayor?” I ask in return.
“It's really the mayor?”
I nod. “Sounds like.”
“Damn,” Pierce says. “I don't know much, but I didn't think he'd be the type to abduct Omegas.”
That makes two of us. The mayor didn't get elected under the typical Get this city clean! Slogan. He was put into office for having common sense and because he had the beginning of a decent plan. I thought things were going well in that arena, but I guess you can't know everything.
“We can pay him a visit tomorrow.” I lean into Beckett just a little more.
“Not tonight?” Pierce asks. “I thought you'd want to go get her as soon as possible.”
That's the thing about being a detective that people don't understand. I am here to dig up the information and present it. I am not an authority figure. I don't have the power to barge into the mayor's office or house and drag anybody out, no matter how much money her daddy throws at me. All I can do, and all I'm willing to do, is find the information and give it to him. Nothing more.
I used to do more, though. I used to storm castles and burn bridges and anything else I needed to do to solve the problem and save the day. But after being burned one too many times, I got tired of cleaning up ashes. I'm not a phoenix. I have limits, and I exhausted them a long time ago.
“No,” Beckett answers for me, and I look at him. He puts his arm around my shoulder. “We can go visit the mayor tomorrow. If it's alright with you, I'd like to go home. I'm exhausted. And hungry. Do we have a plan for dinner? It's late. Should we pick something up?”
“Pizza,” I suggest. “We should get pizza. No plates or silverware to clean up. Just a box and napkins.”
“Pizza it is,” Pierce agrees.
He pulls out his phone and puts in the order for one supreme pizza, hold the mushrooms, and one pepperoni pizza with light sauce. We swing by the shop to pick it up on our way out of the city and eat it on the way back to Pierce's place. I don't think I'll be able to call it home for a while, but I'll get there eventually.
Once we get back, Beckett picks me up as soon as I get out of the car.
“Don't sass me,” he says when I raise my brows at him. “I'm carrying you straight to the tub.”
“I'm perfectly capable of – ”
“You're perfectly capable of being quiet and letting me carry you inside and up all those stairs to the master bath. And then you'll be perfectly capable of soaking in really hot water for at least half an hour. Then you can be perfectly capable of taking some medicine and letting me tuck you into bed for the night.”
“Beckett.”
“Dana.”
“What is happening right now?” Pierce demands. “What happened?”
“It's nothing,” I tell him.
“She's a liar,” Beckett deadpans. “She was leaning on me when we were walking down the sidewalk. She was limping. And then she leaned against me again while we were in the pharmacy.”
“You were hurt when you attacked that piece of garbage at the center, weren't you? Pierce asks, and opens the door for Beckett to carry me inside.
“No,” I start, but rush to amend. “Not exactly. I just expected too much from my leg and I put too much pressure on my hip. I don't care. It was completely worth it.”
Pierce nods. “I understand.”
Well, that's something. At least he isn't a raging lunatic because I'm in pain.
“But it's still unacceptable.”
Never mind.
“You have to communicate your needs, Dana. How am I to attend to them if I don't know what they are?”
“I'll tell you,” Beckett offers, turning us sideways so that we fit through the doorway. “Every time. I'll tell you.”
He won't have to. If Pierce is going to mark me the way I marked Beckett, nobody will have to tell him anything. He'll be able to feel when I'm in pain or stressed. Whether it's through intuition or instinct, he'll know.
Pierce doesn't take me from Beckett, but he does follow us upstairs. He fills the tub while Beckett helps me undress.
“Are you getting in with me?” I ask him in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Not this time,” he answers. “But I'll stay with you and help you out. Then I'll give you a nice massage. Pierce can help if he wants to.”
I don't even argue. That actually sounds amazing. The very idea of both of them soothing the soreness from my body has me sighing.
“Will you go get her something for pain?” Beckett asks.
“In my bag,” I tell him. “On the floor beside the big dresser in your bedroom.”
“Our bedroom,” Pierce corrects.
“Our bedroom,” I agree. “I have some anti-inflammatory meds. They're in the yellow bottle with the blue lid.”
“Got it.” Pierce disappears into the bedroom on his mission.
“It's hot,” Beckett warns as I step into the tub.
I nod and tighten my hold on his hand as I lift my other foot into the tub. I manage to keep the wince off of my face as I lower myself into the water. It's almost like now that I've given myself permission to feel the pain, I'm being blasted with it.
“Go slow,” Beckett reminds me. “I won't let you fall.”
“I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you,” I tell him, but I still let him put his arm around my shoulders as I lay back against the tub.
“We'll take care of each other,” Becket assures me. “And we'll pray that Pierce never gets hurt because I don't think I could carry him up the stairs.”
I laugh at that, and let myself relax into the heat of the water. I don't take too many soaks. I'll never admit it out loud, but I'm genuinely afraid of losing my balance and falling. I have had nightmares about cracking my skull open on my tiled bathroom floor and laying there for days, naked, freezing to death.
I take the medication when Pierce puts it to my lips without opening my eyes.
“Here,” he says, holding a glass to my lips. It's just water, made to feel colder by the hot water I'm laying in.
It doesn't get awkward until our breathing starts echoing off of the walls. I can't sit here and listen to us breathe at each other. “Somebody talk about something.”
“No bubbles in the tub,” Pierce blurts.
I crack open one eye. “What?”
“There are no bubbles in the water,”he repeats
“Do you have bubbles?” I ask. I can't imagine a man like Pierce sitting around in bubble baths, but stranger things have happened.
“I do, believe it or not.”
“Should I have bubbles?”
“No,” he says. I can almost hear him thinking. “Do you want bubbles?”
“I don't have an opinion about bubbles. Why are we discussing this?”
Beckett laughs. “Because he's staring at you pretty hard and his dick is going to rip a hole in his pants. Not to be crude.” He laughs again, flicking water at Pierce. “Glare at someone else. It's true. Where do you keep that thing when you're walking around.”
“You are a child,” Pierce mumbles. “I'm leaving.”
“Don't you dare,” I say, pulling myself out of the water and up into a sitting position. Two pairs of eyes follow the flow of water down my body. “You stay right here and talk to me about bubbles or anything else. Beckett, stop looking at Pierce's dick.”
“This is ridiculous,” Pierce mumbles, but leans back against the door frame.
“Talk,” I order.
“What happened to your leg?” Beckett asks.
“About something else.”
“No,” Pierce agrees. “I want to know, too. We need to know, Dana. I see surgical scarring. Is it something that will require future procedures?”
I sigh heavily and let myself sink a little deeper into the water. “You won't like it,” I tell them. “Neither of you will like it. But it happened a long time ago and there's nothing to be done about it now. I don't think I'll need any more surgeries, but I won't say never.”
“Tell us,” Pierce says.
So I do.
I tell them the same story I told the Alpha at the bakery, but I go into a little more detail about a few things, like how I felt at the time and the healing process and the long months of physical therapy. By the end of it, the water's lukewarm and there are two very angry men fogging up the bathroom with their sharp scents.
“That's …” Beckett starts, but he doesn't have the words to finish the thought.
“Thank you for trusting us,” Pierce says solemnly. “I'm sorry that happened to you.”
“I'm sorry, too,” Beckett offers. “Not all Omegas are like that. It's just – ”
“This city. It ruins people,” I tell them. “It does. That's why I started my business. I wanted to help. I wanted to make a positive difference. But Coburn got me, just like it gets everyone else. I'm just lucky that it didn't destroy me. It could have been so much worse.”
“Let's get you to bed,” Beckett says softly. “There's some oil and a heating pad with your name on it.”
I let them do most of the lifting when I get out of the tub. I don't feel guilty about it, either. I'm starting to really hurt now, despite the soak and the meds. Beckett towels me off and follows me as I make my way to the bed. I don't look back, but I imagine he has his hands up, just waiting for me to fall. I don't want to see it. I don't want him to feel like he has to take care of me. This is only a moment. Just one. I am strong and capable most of the time. I just need help right now. This is just one single moment in time.
~
It has been a very long time since I had a massage. Every massage I've had has been either functional or medical. This is my very first sensual massage, and I'm not entirely sure if it's meant to be sensual. Even if it isn't, it's certainly having that effect. Every inch of skin I have is tingling in anticipation of the next pass of hands.
Both sets of hands.
Less than five minutes after Beckett started rubbing oil into my feet, Pierce started on my hands. I've never had a hand massage, either. I'm going to want a lot of them from now on and I made them very aware of that.
Beckett is working on one of my thighs now. Pierce is working on the other one. It's heavenly. But I'm about to put a stop to all of it. Their attention is beginning to feel a little too good. I don't know if they can tell or not, but I'm starting to feel a different kind of ache.
I remove my arm from covering my eyes and look down at their hands on my body. I shouldn't have done it. Feeling it without seeing it was bad enough. Watching their hands pressing and manipulating tight muscles, pulling skin tight and releasing it, makes it so much worse. Pierce's fingertips dip between my thighs to press gently against the inner muscle and it's suddenly too much.
“Okay,” I announce. “I think I … “
“Shh,” Beckett hushes me. “Be still. We're working here.”
Pierce's fingers inch a little higher and I turn my head to look at him. His hooded eyes are focused on where he's touching me. His gaze moves from his hands to Beckett's, and back to his again. A low purr starts rumbling in his chest as he watches and something inside me tightens. He drags his eyes away from my legs to meet mine and the intensity I see in them makes my breath falter.
“Is it any better?” He asks.
I nod, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.
“Good.”
He moves his hand higher, just a bit, just far enough that his fingers slide against my pussy as they press into the crease of my leg.
“Pierce,” I caution.
“Shh,” Beckett hushes again. “Let him, Dana. He hasn't gotten to touch you. Can't you tell how much he needs it?”
“We haven't even kissed,” I tell him.
Pierce bends over me and kisses first my top lip, then the bottom. “If you need kisses, Dana, all you need to do is tell me. I'll give you all the kisses you want.” He kisses the corner of my mouth once, then slants his mouth over mine, kissing my lips again and again until I open to him. He takes my mouth as completely as Beckett did, but it's an unexpectedly gentle thing. He lets his teeth scrape over my bottom lip as he lifts away slightly and brushes his nose against mine. “Better?”
“Yes.” I nod, blinking up at him.
“Good,” he purrs, then slides his fingers over and between my slick folds.
I gasp and spread my thighs as much as I can with Pierce and Beckett kneeling on either side of me. He rubs his thumb in a slow circle over my clit and I moan, lifting my hips to encourage him to do more.
“Be still,” Beckett reminds. “You'll undo all the work we did.”
Pierce circles my clit again and slips a fingertip inside me, and I reach down to grab his wrist. Not to pull him away, to keep him there. Beckett slides his hands down my leg to wrap his hand around my ankle. He squeezes firmly, then massages up my calf. When he gets to my knee, he moves his hand to the inside of my thigh and continues moving it upward until I can feel him nudge Pierce's, then pushes it back down to my knee. Pierce never stops circling my swollen clit, rubbing it side to side, never letting more than his fingertips inside me, while the sounds coming from me become more and more needy.
What was probably meant to be a slow and steady trek toward an orgasm turns into a race as every bit of blood and common sense rushes to my pussy. It's going to hurt when I cum. It always does if I'm already hurting because my muscles tighten up. The pressure before the release is painful and it lingers; and the more intense the orgasm, the more excruciating the ache is afterward. The dread of it makes me frown and I can't help the whimper that escapes even though I'm in the middle of such a beautiful thing with my Omega and my Valla.
“Wait,” Beckett says softly. “Slow down.”
“I'm barely moving,” Pierce says, kissing me again.
“It's too fast,” Beckett insists. “It's not right.”
Pierce stops moving suddenly and I hiss. “Don't just stop.”
“I don't want to hurt you.”
“It's going to hurt no matter what, Pierce. Don't stop.”
He takes a breath and starts moving again. He moves the pads of his fingertips to my clit, sliding them slowly and firmly from side to side.
Beckett lowers himself to the mattress beside me and lays against me. He reaches up and turns my mouth toward his so he can give me one of his deep, consuming kisses. He sinks his fingers into my hair and licks between my lips as Pierce purrs into my ear.
“I'm going to mark you here,” Pierce murmurs, and nips the column of my neck. “So everyone can see that you belong to me.”
That shouldn't affect me the way it does. I'm an Alpha. Alphas do the marking. Alphas do the claiming. But hearing him say it and the feel of his teeth skimming my skin is undeniably delicious.
“Yes,” I breathe. “Do it.”
“Not now,” he purrs. “Not until I'm inside you. Not until you're cumming all over my knot. Then I'll mark you.”
That's all it takes. My orgasm takes me suddenly and violently, and I cry out in pleasure and anticipatory pain as every muscle I have clenches with each wave of it.
Beckett puts sweet kisses along my jaw while I breathe in and out as I come back down to earth. “Are you alright?” he asks, pushing his hand down my side to press the heel of his hand into my thigh muscle.
Surprisingly, it doesn't hurt any more than it did before the orgasm. I feel the ache, but it's nothing compared to what I expected. Hopefully that won't be waiting for me to catch up to it tomorrow morning. “More than alright.”
After I collect myself, I roll over onto my stomach. Pierce is on his back with one hand resting on the back of my thigh, just underneath my ass, and Beckett is curled against my side with his hand wrapped around my waist. For our first night sleeping together, it isn't awkward. It's just comfortable.