Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
brENEK
I could tell when Jamal began to blame himself.
The injury looked worse than it really was.
We weren’t the only ones who’d seen the danger of Jamal’s stumbles.
Several clan brothers rushed forward when we did.
My skin only touched the fire for a few seconds as I caught myself before Rukon and Garrun yanked me back and away from the flames.
Tyos and Dras had grabbed Jamal, who was unconscious by the time the healers arrived, and Idrull himself had kept Torgrind from joining me in the flames in his haste to get to Jamal. It was over in seconds.
“It's nothing, kolrav,” I reassured him, pressing a kiss to his temple as he leaned against me. “It won’t even leave a mark. The bandage was only to keep the poultice covered.”
“Still… you got hurt because of me,” he croaked. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–”
“I know you didn’t,” I murmured, resting my cheek against his hair. Torgrind rubbed Jamal’s back, giving him more comfort. He needed us both to feel better.
For a long while, we just held him. Having him in my arms helped reassure me that he was safe and well and that the nightmares from the night prior that showed me the reality of what would have happened if I hadn’t twisted to trade places with him were all untrue. He was safe.
When he finally sat up, he looked ashamed, his gaze locked on his hands in his lap.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble. I thought…
” He sighed. “Since I was a child, everyone in my life has always been trying to change me. To make me smaller, more quiet, less trouble. No one ever just wanted me. So when I thought you were trying to control me as well, I tried to push you away.” He curled in on himself a little, his face a mask of heartache.
“I just want to be wanted as I am. To not be told I’m too much. Is that really so bad?”
“No,” Torgrind replied and I nodded in agreement. “You are perfect the way you are, tavi. We don’t want to change you. We only want you safe.”
A flicker of a smile crossed Jamal’s face as he attempted to lighten the conversation. “We again? Should I be worried about you two working together against me?”
That made me snort. “No, varakai. It is not me and him against you. It is us together.”
Jamal looked up, his brows drawn together to show his confusion. I tipped my head, giving him a knowing smile.
“You will not choose between us. Right?”
“Right,” he agreed, still frowning.
“Then I will accept that and Torgrind’s place at your side. I want you, varakai. If I can only have that if Torgrind is with us, I can accept that.”
Torgrind dipped his chin when Jamal looked at him again. “We might not get along all the time, but Brenek is my clan brother. I respect him. And I will accept his presence if it means I get to have you.”
Jamal’s gorgeous green eyes looked between us like he was surprised by our words. It made sense. Torgrind and I still argued with each other regularly, but when it came to Jamal, we were of the same mind. We would do whatever it took to keep him. Including getting along with each other.
Letting out a breath, the tension in Jamal’s body seemed to ease, and he scrubbed his hands over his face roughly for a moment before nodding once. When he looked back up at us, his familiar mischievous grin pulled at his lips and I could just tell he was looking to make trouble.
“So… Does that mean you’ll fuck me at the same time?” he asked hopefully.
My brows snapped together in my confusion. “I thought we already did that.”
Shaking his head, an eager smile finally broke through the shadows on his face. “Simon told me about group sex. He said if prepared well enough, I could take both your cocks together. I want to try it.”
It took work to school my face to not react.
Thus far, the most I’d touched Torgrind was a brush of skin as we passed Jamal between us or with my hand against his chest when Jamal hugged it between them.
Neither of us had touched each other during sex.
And if what Jamal said was true, there would be a lot of touching between us if we were to give him what he wanted.
We decided to wait on the group sex for the moment. Jamal looked enthusiastic about the idea, but when Torgrind pointed out he still looked pale, Jamal admitted he was still hungover and uncomfortable. He agreed if we didn’t want anyone to be vomited on, it was best to wait.
While it wasn’t our intention, the waiting was enough of a lesson for Jamal that when the next evening meal came around, he didn’t ask for even a drop of alcohol.
He wanted us to touch him, and in order to get what he wanted, he needed rest, not more alcohol to ease his discomfort.
That didn’t mean he didn’t pout about it.
“But why? I’m fine now,” he complained.
“Because Brenek needs his rest,” Torgrind said offhandedly.
I made a face at the comment, but wiped it away when Torgrind gave me a significant look, giving Jamal a soft smile when he twisted in my arms to look at me. “True rest would be nice. I didn’t sleep well last night. I was worried you’d get sick in your sleep and choke.”
Torgrind hummed his agreement, leaning his head back against the rocks and closing his eyes. “Or kick me. You kick more when you’ve been drinking.”
His tease made Jamal gasp, and just like I knew he predicted, our little troublemaker kicked out just to punish him for the comment. Torgrind caught his foot before he could cause any damage, setting it in his lap and rubbing it with his thumbs, causing Jamal to groan and melt against me.
I raised an eyebrow at Jamal’s quick submission, and Torgrind grinned at me. “He likes to be massaged. It’s a good way to get him relaxed.”
Humming thoughtfully, I carefully maneuvered him to rub at his shoulders.
We’d taken him to the water after our meal because Jamal complained he felt gross and sweaty after vomiting and using a cloth as I had earlier had only helped so much.
With the sun setting and the flicker of bugs that lit up in the darkness dancing among the trees, it was a pretty sight, and I’d hoped that would be enough to ease the sting of us refusing him when he eventually asked for sex.
“Mmm…” Jamal moaned happily, going pliant in my arms. It was my turn to hold Jamal in my lap since Torgrind had gotten that honor during the meal, and I found it increasingly difficult to keep my word when he was naked, wet, and moaning against me.
My cock hardened against his back, and he responded in kind, hardening enough to be seen poking out of the water. When Torgrind noticed, he gave me an exasperated look. I just shrugged.
“You try not to react when he’s moaning like that while in your lap.”
“Oh, he’s reacting, I’m sure, ” Jamal smirked without opening his eyes. He moved his other foot, running it between Torgrind’s legs teasingly, and grinned when Torgrind caught his ankle to stop him. “Hiding something?”
Torgrind sighed, giving his attention to Jamal’s other foot to keep him distracted. “How did I end up with two troublemakers in my life?”
“You’re just lucky, I guess,” Jamal replied.
After Jamal was asleep, I slipped out of bed and got dressed heading for the tent flap to slip outside. I paused when Torgrind’s whispered voice asked, “Where are you going?”
“To find Simon.”
The more I thought about it, the more I thought Simon might have been teasing about Jamal taking us both at once.
He was already so tight around my cock when we fucked.
I couldn’t imagine another cock in there.
If he was only teasing, I wanted him to be the one to tell Jamal the truth.
I refused to take the fall for his lies.
And if it wasn’t… then I needed to know how it was done. I wouldn’t be the one refusing to give Jamal what he needed.
I didn't expect Torgrind to follow me after I slipped out of the tent, so when he caught up with me as I headed for the village center, I frowned at him over my shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“I get the feeling I know what you wish to ask, and I need to know as well. We will need to be quick, though. If Jamal wakes up without at least one of us there, he will be upset.”
True. With that in mind, I sought out Simon, glad to find him still in the village center with a few other males I didn’t recognize. He looked up at me when Torgrind and I came to find him, studying us with a frown.
“Did you two fix whatever it was you did to Jamal? He got seriously messed up last night.”
Torgrind dipped his chin once. “We spoke with him. He is fine now. Resting.”
“Well good. He’s fun, and I don’t want you two chasing him away. We need more people like him around.” He took us in again, wrinkling his nose in confusion. “Why aren’t you with him right now?”
“He asked us for something, and we need more information,” I told him. “I want to know if he is misinformed or not.”
“Okay…” Simon said slowly, eyeing us both. “What’d he ask for?”
“Tell us about him taking both of our cocks. That seems impossible.”
The male who sat beside Simon and had just taken a drink from his cup choked on it, pounding on his chest to clear it. I thought his reaction was proof that Jamal was mistaken until a slow mischievous grin spread across Simon’s face. I almost felt the need to step back from that expression.
“Oh, it’s very possible. Sit down, gentlemen. Let’s have a little chat.”