Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Keir
I ’m in hell. There’s no other explanation for my current circumstances. I spend close to two hours listening to Briar’s begging moans before they finally settle down.
And I don’t begrudge any of them happiness… Okay, maybe Easton, but that’s because he’s a royal dick.
This house is old enough that I hear the water running through the pipes, indicating someone turned on the shower.
Another few minutes pass before Briar shuffles out.
She’s in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, but her hair is only slightly wet at the ends, like she purposely avoided washing it. Not that I can blame her. It’s frigid in here. We’ve failed to provide her even basic necessities to ride out her heat.
Briar’s socked foot dances against the floor as she appraises me. “I think I broke them.” Her thumb points toward the hallway. “They were both snoring.”
I pat my chest, and she scrambles forward. My hands land on her ass, and she snuggles close. The soft cooing sound she releases signals to my system that I should be purring. It only takes a few seconds for my body to comply.
When I first got back from my walk, I angrily cleaned and sanitized to pass the time. I tug the blanket off the back of the couch. It’s fresh out of the dryer and still warm in spots, which is nice, because the tiny space heater doesn’t do shit to keep the living room warm.
My nose twitches with her scent. Despite her shower, she smells heavily of both Calder and Easton, but that’s to be expected. It doesn’t stop my instincts from screaming that I should toss her down on the couch and ensure she smells like me again.
“I missed you,” she mumbles against my T-shirt.
“Me too, baby girl. Me fucking too.”
Briar stays glued to my purring chest, and I refuse to move. It would ruin a perfect moment in time. This house is actually beautiful, but it needs a fucking fireplace.
Or working heat.
Still, I allow Briar to soak up my warmth, and I swear the moment is more intimate than a good portion of the sex I’ve had in my life.
After a while, Briar’s stomach starts to growl.
That’s right.
She was busy with Easton. That means there’s food around here somewhere. Knowing Calder, it’s probably in the oven. Not that it’ll still be fresh. It’s been hours, but there is a microwave, so if push comes to shove, I’ll reheat it that way.
“As much as I don’t want to move, it’s time I make us something to eat. We have no idea how long you’ll be clear for or if another wave will hit.” I kiss the side of Briar’s head, and she lets out a humph as she rises on her knees. Her hair falls away from her face, and the angry red claiming bite on her throat comes into view.
I would be pleasantly surprised if that was Calder’s bite, but I know damn well it’s Easton’s. I don’t even need to scent the bite to know. I can feel it in my fucking soul.
My hand wraps around her throat, and I tease my thumb over the marks.
Briar shivers, biting her thick lower lip.
“You’re good with this?” I ask, studying her face.
Those huge bluish-gray eyes of hers blink owlishly. “This is going to sound…” Her forehead wrinkles. “It’s going to sound insane, but I am. There’s a certain safety in having a bond. It’s something my father never offered my mother.” Her shoulders bounce. “My instincts are ecstatic. Me as a person, I’m coming to terms with it, and I’m not displeased. I guess you could call this cautiously optimistic?”
I don’t have the first clue what to say to that, so I wrap my hand in her hair and pull her closer for a hug.
Jesus Christ.
I’m going to take a swing or two at Easton before tonight is over.
Briar sits in my lap, facing me, as she eats from my hand like the adorable little thing she is. Her scent is still as enticing, even with hints of Easton mixed in.
Her fingers dig into my clavicles as I faintly pick up the sound of someone coming into the room.
“Did you enjoy your nap?” she asks, smiling brightly, but it’s not at me.
“It’s always been on my bucket list to wake up as Calder’s little spoon,” Easton says drolly.
“There’s food,” I grunt, being as cordial as I can manage.
“Come give me a kiss,” Briar says, stretching to the side.
Easton strides closer. I can’t fully see him, but I catch him out of my peripheral vision. He bends down, and Briar kisses the hell out of him, all while staying planted on my lap.
They separate, and Easton slides into the seat adjacent to us. He grabs a plate and forks one of the grilled chicken breasts, dropping it onto his plate.
Briar kisses my cheek and carefully twists herself until she’s sitting facing the table with her back to my chest. “I love the courting gifts you got for me.” She reaches a hand over and squeezes his forearm. “Do you truly intend to teach me to use them?”
Easton chuckles, his eyes glittering. He looks more playful than I’ve ever seen him as he smirks. “So you can take me out at will? Of course, love.”
Briar snorts. “Can’t do that. It would cause me pain through the bond, but I might be able to stand minimal agony for a light maiming.”
If nothing else, I’m sure the bond does give her a sense of security, as she mentioned. Maybe she’s more calculated than I gave her credit for, and that intrigues me.
Easton deserves nothing less than a partner who will constantly keep him on his toes. He also needs someone who will give him hell when he inevitably takes something too far.
“I will teach you how to use your daggers.” East cuts into the chicken breast he put on his plate.
“And you,” Briar says, glancing over her shoulder at me. “I’d like you to teach me that crazy kick thing. Okay, maybe not that, but basic self-defense stuff.”
My hand tightens on her middle. “Of course.”
“Perfect,” she purrs, refocusing on Easton. “Now, if we could discuss my next courting gift?”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Anything you want, my love.”
“I want you to pass Keir’s contract off to me.” Briar leans forward, and her hair brushes my arm. “He’s mine. You said I would be your equal, and I want him. Find yourself another bodyguard if we can’t share.”
Easton’s eyes narrow as his head tilts.
“I also want access to whatever collateral you used to force him into that contract I keep hearing about.” Briar grabs her soda from the table, taking a long swig.
My heart races.
In no universe do I want her seeing the proof Easton has of my transgressions.
No fucking thank you.
Every kill I’ve made since signing that fucking contract has been on Easton’s orders, but it’s my hands that are stained in blood.
Briar wasn’t wrong when she called him the king who orders around his minions. It’s not just what he might have collected over the last four years. He had shit on me long before I signed. It’s what forced my compliance.
My eyes fly to East’s, and his jaw clenches.
“No,” he grinds out. “Even I’m not cruel enough to expose Keir’s sins to you. Ask for something else.”
“I don’t want something else.” Briar places her soda back on the table. “I want to know that Keir is here of his own free will. Do you honestly think I want to see any of that? Fuck no. I want it so I can destroy it. Then we’ll know he stays with us of his own volition.”
A slow smile crosses my face. Never did I consider that she might be an ally against Easton, but more than that, it makes my chest tight to realize how much she cares.
Easton’s teeth grind together so forcefully, it looks like he might chip a tooth.
Several eternities pass, and he finally nods.
“Fine.”
A low whoosh leaves my lips as I exhale heavily. I would have bet my last dollar that he would have told her to move on, because that wasn’t happening, but it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised for a change.
Briar and I settle on the couch in the living room. She lies in front of me, and we’re both snuggled under the blanket from earlier. I changed into sweats after we ate, and despite the fact there’s no heat, I’m quite warm.
I make a point of monitoring Briar’s temperature just to be safe. The Christmas movie that the little omega picked plays in the background, but my focus stays on her. She’s already got the three of us twisted around her little finger, considering Easton sits in the club chair without a word of complaint over her movie selection. He types away on his phone, and if I had to guess, he’s catching up on work, but I’m surprised he even stuck around in our vicinity.
Calder finally stumbles out an hour later with the blanket from the bed wrapped around his shoulders. He takes the other chair without a word.
Briar stays focused on the screen, but she works a hand behind her under the blanket and cups my cock. She peeks at me over her shoulder, and a sly smile tips at her lips.
I smirk back, nuzzling my cheek to the side of her head. The material probably should deaden the experience, but she jerks me perfectly, and the sneaky factor makes everything hotter.
With a little movement, she readjusts my shaft to aim toward her, and she shimmies down her sweats. I wait for her to pull mine out of the way, but she scoots back, which places my still- clothed cock between her thighs. Even the warmth of her body through the material is intense, and I snake my hand down to tease her clit.
That gets her fidgeting, like she doesn’t know what to do with herself. I bend close to her ear and murmur, “Just relax, baby girl, and stay quiet…unless you’d like company.”
She nods.
I can’t tell if she’s saying she wants them to join us or if she’s acknowledging that she understands, but she brings one arm down to swirl around my crown as it sticks through her legs.
I wish I had the power to dissolve pieces of clothing through sheer willpower alone. Her scent gets even more potent, and I realize how sweaty her T-shirt is. Even with the space heater, it can’t be more than somewhere in the high fifties in here.
Readjusting my hand, I run my palm over her swollen nub and work two fingers down to slip inside her. She’s not soaked, but she’s just slick enough that I’m not concerned about hurting her.
The way she wiggles back into my chest while teasing my crown and making sure her thighs clench over the rest of my length makes me ache to slam inside her. Easton continues typing away on his phone, and the chick on the TV screen runs from the lumberjack into the forest. I haven’t been paying attention, but I bet that leads to some naughty goodness of its own.
Briar’s thumb circles my crown, and my fingers get even wetter.
Fuck me.
I wish I could be in so many different places at once. Using the hand of the arm her head is resting on, I stretch down to cup her tit. Her nipple is hard as I tease my fingers over it.
“I’m starving,” Calder says, shoving himself out of his chair and rearranging his glasses. It’s always strange to see him in them, since he prefers his contacts. Or that’s my assumption, because that’s what he tends to wear around the office. “Do you guys want anything?”
“All good,” Briar squeaks as I stretch my fingers wide inside her core.
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Easton grunts that he doesn’t want anything, and Calder takes off.
The little omega starts to really tremble, and she drops my cock to reach back to shove at my sweats.
I pull my hand free of her pussy to help get them down, and my shaft bounces between her thighs. Moving close to her ear, I ask, “Do you think you’ll be able to stay quiet?”
She nods, and my eyes flick to Easton. He’s still distracted. If I could have made guesses on how my life was going to go, I never would have thought I’d be about to fuck his bonded omega. It’s just one of those things that a rational person without a death wish would never try. But that makes it so much hotter, like an extra special fuck you to him for all the years he’s tormented me.
Also, sliding inside Briar again would be worth the risk, even if I didn’t know she’s got him wrapped around her finger.
I am shocked that he’s not picking up her arousal in the bond, but I’ve never had one to know how they work. Maybe she’s really good at blocking her emotions and feelings, or he could just be distracted.
Briar uses her fingers wrapped around my crown to push me from her clit to her opening. She pops her knee up just a bit and wiggles back. It doesn’t fully bury my tip inside her, but it’s so close that the tiniest flex of my hips does.
Curling over her top half, I study the way her chest heaves and how she nibbles at her lower lip. The sounds of the holiday movie play in the background, and it appears the guy caught the runaway woman.
Briar’s hand slides back, clutching at my ass and guiding me to work deeper. I chuckle at the way her nails desperately dig in.
“Ahh, yes, it appears she forgave him for lying about having an ex-wife,” Easton says.
“I don’t think I could get over that. That woman tormented her every day at work, and she had no idea why,” Briar says.
Is that the plot that’s been playing out?
I hadn’t noticed, but the husky tone of the little omega’s voice will give us away if she keeps talking.
“It’s a shame he wasn’t truthful from the start,” Easton says, like the delusional fucker he is. “That’s why I prefer to get things out in the open. No secrets will come up later and surprise me.”
I roll my eyes.
He is fucking insane.
Briar grunts, but I have no idea what it means.
Covert couch sex with an unknowing audience isn’t frantic. It’s more of a slow rocking as I work on burying all of my length inside her. The position makes her even tighter than she was on top of me in the SUV.
Bringing a hand down, I work her clit once more. At the very least, she needs to get there before I do, but it’s been a lot of fucking years since I was with anyone regularly.
Briar grinds back to meet me, and her inner walls ripple, like she’s trying to find my knot.
I get close to her ear, licking and sucking on her throat. I’d go for her mouth, but that would require her to twist her head at an awkward angle. She wiggles her ass against my pelvis, and it teases my knot, applying the friction it craves.
Speeding up my movements, I circle her clit with firmer pressure until her pussy clamps down on my shaft. Her fingers dig into my ass as I rock into her, fucking her through her orgasm. It’s quite a satisfying moment, knowing I’m able to bring her pleasure.
Calder walks into the room with a plate and drops into the chair he started in right as my balls tighten. “Okay, what did I miss? Does she know about the snotty ex?”
Briar trembles against my chest, and my cock swells impossibly hard as I paint her pussy in my hot cum. “Yes. Yes, she does.”
If I wasn’t so preoccupied, I’d laugh. She’s not very good at subterfuge, but she’s so damn pretty, it’s hard not to bury my teeth in her soft flesh.