Chapter 49.4
“Elle.”
Carrie’s tone had me fighting not to laugh.
“What? What my Car-ree Elledeebean do? What you Elle say wrong?”
Elle got out between loud grunts.
My eyebrows rose as my gaze darted from Doogie towards a space unknown the voices were coming from over his shoulder. “You sure you can handle all that?” I teased.
Elle snorted. “No. He not, but my Carr-rie wants Doodie. She wants, she has.”
A proud sniff from off behind Doogie had my grin widening. “Doodie no choice.”
“Did you have to say it like that?”
Carrie whispered.
“Jes,”
Elle said simply.
“Bully,”
I thought I heard Carrie laughingly mutter under her breath.
Elle’s purr was so loud it nearly drowned out Carrie fussing over her.
“This turned out so much better than I could have imagined,”
I murmured.
“Quiet,”
Doogie grumbled, trying to sound annoyed but looking too happy to care.
“Happys. Talkies. Good now,”
Odix grumbled. Holding his arms out, he growled, “Give back now.”
My big ol’ grizzly bear of a male made the universal kiddies’ sign for uppies. I doubted he had any clue of the fact. Odix’s impatience was endearing, much as I wanted to brain him for once again interfering with me, well, interfering myself.
Ugh. I almost hated myself, as I truly understood it from his side too.
“Give me over to the big galoot if you know what’s good for ya.”
Patting Doogie on the shoulder, I sighed like I was put out but snuggled right into Odix’s arms as he took me and curled me into his chest.
“MINE,”
Odix growled out ominously as he toted me right past his best friend and straight into the hut without so much as a how-do-ya-do.
Marching past everyone and right down the hall, he left his bedroom door open behind him, taking me right to his bed to sit on it and situate me in his lap so he could bury his face in my hair.
“My Jo,”
he croaked out, his voice cracking on the words. Rocking a little where he sat with me in his lap, he smoothed a hand up my back, the other sliding cautiously over my belly. “Odix- Odix not-”
“She’s just fine, Cake.”
My hand rested over his and I pecked a kiss to his cheek. “All is well, my hairy butt.”
Sniffling quite loudly, Odix’s head jerked up at the silly endearment.
Smiling, I brushed the tears gathering in his eyes away. “Missed you and that big old juicy booty of yours-”
I barely had the words out and Odix was curling his arms around me and claiming my mouth. “My Jo,”
he breathed, the moment we had to break for air, to dive right back in.
A soft grunt at the door had Odix growling viciously against my mouth. Bright, light blue eyes as warm as the sky narrowed as they popped open to glare at the interloper intruding on our moment.
Celuk rumbled something to Odix that had my big old grizzly bear of a beast tempering his annoyance.
Glancing down at me, then away, he grumbled, “No want to.”
“Not ask Odix,”
Celuk replied silkily.
Odix’s rumble started up but he was trying to muffle it.
Ugh. The power plays in this house.
Meeting Celuk’s gaze, I leaned my head on Odix’s shoulder. This seemed to mollify the big brute cuddling me so sweetly. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
I asked. “Is it Buu? Is he awake?”
Swallowing thickly, I popped out of Odix’s arms, pushed past Celuk, and ran down the hall.
“No run,”
Celuk grumbled after me, dogging my steps.
“I’ll run if I fucking want to! You ain’t the boss of me!”
I growled, yet slowed my pace to a speedy walk.
A choked noise left Odix, who was right behind Celuk.
Celuk just snorted at my obstinacy.
“Is he awake? What’s wrong?”
I babbled, rushing into the living room.
Rek sat at one end of the couch, arms folded over his chest, my purse snug to his chest, one of my shirts draped over his lap.
Buu was sprawled out along the other end, mumbling in his sleep.
Jeh-kal frowned at Buu from where he stood sentry, his big buns planted on the coffee table.
Listening for a moment, my nose scrunched. “Dace is his fellow clansmen, person, or whatever. She’s human. She’s in his Suns cave.”
Walking over, I knelt beside him, brushing that little puff of longer fur that got in his eyes if he let it go too long without a trim out of his face. “He’s worried about her.”
Frowning, I murmured, “Perhaps he went to go check on her before coming back to me and she wasn’t there.”
“Left my Jo,”
Rek chuffed. “No care why. My Jo Buu a- a boob.”
“Glad to see you’re feeling more yourself,”
I muttered absently, eyeing Buu’s deep frown as he slept.
Taking his hand in mine, I placed a kiss to his knuckles. “It’s okay, Peekaboo. We’ll check on Dace. I’m sure she’s fine.”
Buu’s soft whimpering mumbles turned into a deep, sated purr. “My Joalee,”
he sighed dreamily, still dead assed asleep.
“Peaky-boobs. Name perfect,”
Rek muttered. “Him- OW! Why pinch Rek?! Want Rek listen? Rek needs ears to hear!”
Rek glowered but it simmered down when he found Celuk glaring at him warningly along with Gopher, who’d just bitch slapped Rek upside the head.
“Waiting to smack Rek in stupid head.”
Gopher chuffed as he moved past Rek.
Rek made a face at him but kept hold of my purse, looking like he was worried someone might take it from him if he left it unattended.
“Rek ‘tect my Jo bag. Otherwise, Rek beat Goober up,”
Rek huffed.
Celuk, Gopher, Jeh-kal, and even Odix all snorted simultaneously.
Rek’s glower turned into a pout. “See, my Jo? You males mean. Picks on Rek.”
“Rek picks on self,”
Odix mumbled under his breath.
“Will he be okay?”
I asked Jeh-kal, jerking my chin at Buu as I ignored the petty bullshit.
“Be ‘kay,”
Jeh-kal assured me. “Make shift. Hard.”
“How was that even possible?”
I sputtered in disbelief.
Jeh-kal’s smile was all teeth. “Jeh-kal bossy, like my Jo.”
Celuk rumbled out, “Jeh-kal Yowie, Ketire, like Buu, Lo denaii… more.”
“No wonder you’re built like a tank,”
I murmured, eyeing Jeh-kal with interest.
Jeh-kal puffed out his chest at my perusal.
Gopher came up beside me and flopped down on the floor near my legs. Wrapping an arm around my knee, he pressed the side of his head to my thigh. “Go’ no know Buu my Jo’s. Hear Jo scream. Think Jo’s Buu hurt Jo.”
Peering up at me, pleading for understanding, his throat worked as he struggled to speak. “Gopher sorry. Jo forgive?”
Squeezing my ass down onto the floor with him, I smiled when he growled and immediately curled me into his lap, stood, walked over and plopped us down onto the couch between where Rek was sitting and Buu’s feet.
Gopher would have pressed a kiss to my temple but I grabbed his mug and jerked his head down to me to plant one on him. “Baby ‘kay?”
he worriedly asked the moment I broke our kiss.
“I must not be doing this right,”
I muttered, then grabbed his face to plant one on him all over again.
I kept this up, only letting him up for air when absolutely necessary, until his purr had gone guttural and one of his hands had found my ass to squeeze it.
Smiling against his lips, I whispered as I pulled back, brown eyes twinkling, “That’s more like it.”
“Missed my Jo,”
he breathed, once more quickly getting choked up.
Pressing his forehead to mine, nostrils still flared, throat working, he closed his eyes as he struggled to ease his rapid breaths.
“Missed you too, a fuckton, Gogo boots.”
“Goober… boob,”
Rek mutteringly corrected while quickly throwing his hands over his head protectively and dropping to his side.
Gopher shocked the stuffing out of me, glancing up in time to spy that and bursting out laughing.
When I stared at him curiously, he grinned and shrugged. “Rek mouthy. All talk. Gopher no care no more. Rek say what he want. Gopher no have to listen.”
“Goober listens. Just pretends not. Rek no care. Rek know,”
Rek grumbled, looking supremely perturbed by the idea that Gopher would ignore him.
Celuk coughed to cover up a laugh as he watched the byplay.
“Buu said he let you take me,”
I told Celuk. “He knew I needed help he couldn’t offer.”
Glancing from Buu’s prone form and back to him, I swallowed thickly. “He said I was his and he was mine, and demanded I bite him. He seemed really worried about it.”
Celuk’s gaze followed mine as it slid back to Buu.
“He tried something similar, getting me to bite him, before he left me by that log for you to find me,”
I muttered worriedly.
It was Jeh-kal who spoke up.
“Buu bite claim Jo?” he asked.
“Yes,”
I admitted, my hand absently going to the spot to rub it.
Jeh-kal nodded, like he expected as much. “Jo not bite Buu back, Buu think Jo not claim him.”
“But I-”
Frowning, stopping myself from finishing that thought, I stopped, blew out a deep breath, and nodded. It didn’t matter what I said. In some ways very similar to me, Buu was an actions speak louder kinda being. My gaze shot from Buu to Jeh-kal. “I should wait for him to wake up first, right?”
“Wake first,”
Jeh-kal agreed.
“No want him wake by Rek, think Rek do it,”
Rek grumbled, making a face as he glanced Buu’s way.
“Be nice,”
I warned Rek, who was about to lift his hand and fan his nose like he though Buu smelled bad.
With a grunt, Rek hugged my purse tighter to him and mumbled, half under his breath, “Him… fur looks… very soft,”
he finally finished. “Rek can see why my Jojomine let him dummy head talk my Jojo into trying to make Rek’s baby girl.”
A loud grunt. I just waited for it. “But Rek’s fur softer. Rek better.”
A loud harrumph followed.
“Rek head gets bigger, Rek ‘splode,”
Gopher muttered softly through the side of his mouth.
“Odix fur softer,”
Odix argued with a soft snort.
“Celuk think Jeh-kal’s softer. Softest all,”
Celuk chimed in, fighting a smirk as Jeh-kal looked to him sharply with a What the fuck? Keep me out of this bullshit, asshole! look.
Smiling slowly, I nodded along thoughtfully. “Snow Patrol is plushy as a marshmallow fluff polar bear,”
I agreed sweetly.
“No,”
Rek barked. “Jeh-kal, Tor, Hyde, biggest penis. They not get softest too!”
Glaring at Jeh-kal, he snarled, “Picks one!”
Odix scowled at that as Jeh-kal made an exasperated noise and walked off towards the kitchen, Celuk fought a smirk-smiling laugh, Rek bared his teeth at Jeh-kal as he left, and Gopher flat out laughed his ass off, not one single shit given, while I basked in the glory of this shit show.
“How him pick how big penis is?”
Odix blurted, looking beyond perplexed. “Can’t make smaller.”
“Rek no know! No care! Rek say, him can’t have both!”
Rek snapped.
“Rek softest then,”
Celuk offered.
“Yesss,”
Rek hissed out.
“The softest princess husband brother in Yetidom,”
I just had to go and add.
Rek’s hiss died a very abrupt death. The look he gave me said I wasn’t funny, not at all. “Him bride,”
Rek snapped.