LAILAH
THREE
Sleeping with two extremely cuddly men was wonderful, but when you woke up and needed to pee like a racehorse, it had its challenges.
Brayden had my legs trapped between his, and Micah was sleeping with his head right on my bladder.
The more I tried to move, the tighter they held on.
I let out a loud groan of frustration that apparently had been loud enough to hear in the living room, because the bedroom door opened and Parker’s grinning face appeared.
“Trouble, you are in a bit of a pickle, aren’t you?” Parker teased as he sauntered into the room shirtless, sweatpants low on his hips. I would have appreciated the sight of him more if I didn’t have more pressing issues.
“It would be rather lovely if you could help me get out of this mess,” I begged, waving a hand at my situation. “I have to pee so bad.”
“What do I get out of it?” Parker asked, crossing his arms at the end of the bed.
I growled as Micah shifted and nuzzled into my bladder. “Whatever you want! Please, I’m going to pee my pants!”
Parker gave me a wide, toothy grin. “Alright, Trouble. I’ll get you free, but you owe me, and you have to do whatever I ask in return.”
“Fine, fine, I agree. Now help me!” I said, nodding my head as sweat started to break out on my forehead.
“Be right back,” Parker said, heading back out into the living room. A minute later he came back with the ice bucket in hand.
“No! No, Parker! Don’t do that! If you do that, even I can’t protect you,” I hissed, but it was too late.
Parker upended the bucket full of slushy ice water all over Micah’s back, causing him to bolt upright, gasping.
“Holy fucking shit!” Micah bellowed.
Hearing Parker snickering, Micah flew off the bed, blessed sword in hand, and lunged for Parker.
Being smarter than I gave him credit for, Parker bolted out the door, closing it behind him to slow Micah down.
Unable to hang on any longer, I scrambled out of the cold, wet bed and dashed for the bathroom.
“What the hell is going on?” I heard a gravelly Brayden call from the bed.
I smothered my laughter as I relieved myself, waiting to hear the telltale signs that Micah caught up to Parker.
When I still didn’t hear anything after walking back into the bedroom and finding it empty, I headed to the living room.
I paused, seeing a shivering Parker on the small balcony in only his boxers, pounding on the glass door.
Micah stood near it with a smirk on his lips, his arms crossed.
The door to the room opened, and Hudson walked in and also took a moment to assess what he was seeing. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not, but I’m just glad they aren’t actively trying to kill each other,” I said, walking over to Hudson. “How’s your dad doing?”
Hudson shrugged. “As well as can be expected. He left before the sun was up with an action plan in place.”
“Can we help? I know it’s your parents’ company, but surely there’s something the Elementi can do to assist,” I said, grabbing Hudson’s hand and twining our fingers together.
Hudson gave my hand a squeeze, and a soft smile appeared on his lips.
“Actually, I said the same thing. My mother and her people have open access to his office and lab, so both staffs will need to be looked into. I believe it would be best to have an outside group handle the situation, especially since we know the demons are a part of it.”
“So does that mean we’re going to your house for Christmas?” I asked with a grin.
I knew we had an opportunity to stay here and to celebrate with Brayden’s family, but I felt like so much had happened, it might be better if we didn’t. Besides, who wouldn’t want to travel more of the world if you had free transportation and a place to stay?
“Yes, it seems that’s the way things are turning out. I will have to call my mother to give her a heads up, but I know we have more than enough room in the villa for us all to fit,” Hudson said.
“Where exactly does your mother live?” I asked, realizing I didn’t even know.
“Nice, right on the coast of France.”
I let out a shriek of happiness that seemed to get everyone’s attention, causing Jay to come out of the back bedroom. The rest just gawked.
“Micah, let Parker back in before he freezes to death. We need to get back to the house so we can pack. We’re going to FRANCE!” I crowed as I did a happy dance.
I heard the sliding glass door open and was promptly scooped up by a frigid Parker, who rolled me up with him in the comforter on the bed.
“Oh my god, I think I might have literally frozen my balls off. They are so far up inside me I’m surprised I’m not talking like a girl,” Parker said, shivering around me.
“We don’t have time for this! We need to get going, we have important things to do,” I grumbled, squirming around in the blanket.
“Nope, you’re going to make good on your promise to do whatever I ask. So you are going to be bundled up in here with me until I’m warm enough to know I’m not a eunuch,” Parker pouted, snuggling his head against my neck.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I resigned myself to my situation and relaxed.
“You know, there is something you could do to help me warm up faster,” Parker said, sliding his icicle hand under my sweatshirt.
“I am not getting naked and letting you grope me like some frat boy,” I said, tweaking his nipple.
“Ah! Damn, Trouble, that wasn’t what I meant, but I should have thought of that first,” Parker grumbled, twisting so he was wrapped around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. “I was going to say we could make out, but now I don’t think I’m going to ask. You owe me after that titty twister.”
“Is it still called a titty twister if you’re a guy?” I asked, getting totally sidetracked. “Isn’t it a purple nurple?”
Parker pulled back just enough so we were nose to nose. “God, you really are the perfect woman, aren’t you?”
Not letting me answer, he captured my mouth with his, and I hummed against his full, kissable lips.
Parker nipped, catching my bottom lip between his teeth and pulling me closer to him before he released it.
I chased after him and wiggled one of my arms out of his hold to wrap around his neck.
I let my fingers scrape along the back of his neck, making him shiver with pleasure.
He grabbed my ass with both hands and pulled it flush with his pelvis so I could feel the swell of his dick.
I couldn’t hold back—I moaned into his mouth, feeling how thick he was.
Now that I had been introduced to good sex, I craved it.
I knew for sure that Parker was no longer cold, as his skin heated under my touch.
His lips were hot as they ran down along my neck and nipped at my jaw.
He slid his hand under my shirt again, letting his wide hand trail along my ribs until it stopped right under my breast. I arched into him to be closer, not that it was even possible with how close we were already.
My power hummed in delight at the contact, his power reaching out and swirling, caressing me.
His power was emotions, and there were a hell of a lot of them flying around right now.
“Sorry to interrupt, but just checking if you still wanted to go to France. If we want to be there in time for Christmas, you’re going to need to come up for air,” Brayden called from somewhere in the bedroom.
My answer was to shove Parker away from me and fling off the blanket. Rolling away and off the bed, I landed on my feet and ran over to Brayden, who caught me with an oof when I flung myself at him.
“Let’s go to France!” I cheered as Brayden grinned at me.
“Damn, should I be offended that that’s all it took to get her to drop me like a hot potato?” Parker muttered as he followed Brayden out of the bedroom.
“Just wait until she finds out we are taking the helicopter back up to the cabin,” Micah said with a smug expression.
Wiggling, Brayden set me back on my feet so I could face Micah. “Run that by me one more time?”
“Oh, you mean the part about us taking the helicopter back? Let’s hope you don’t have an episode and try to crash this aircraft too. It’s less forgiving,” Micah tossed over his shoulder as he walked into the back bedroom.
My jaw fell open at his comment. “Not cool, Micah!”
“Come on. My father called and said they’re waiting on us to have breakfast with them in their suite. Seems he has gathered all the parents so we can share what’s going on,” Brayden explained as he took my hand and led me out of the room.
I was seated at the large dining room table in the equally giant suite that Brayden’s parents were staying in, a plate of food piled high in front of me.
Jay had promptly sent me to sit down as he made up the plate for me, saying something about replacing the calories I used last night.
My stomach growled, but I waited until everyone was seated at the table before I started.
Jay sat on my left and Hudson was to my right, following my lead and waiting for the parents to be seated.
I was thrilled to see Adriana here with us, her hazel eyes bright and clear just like Brayden’s. Her silver-gray hair was tucked behind her ears, and she seemed so much more relaxed than the last few times I’d seen her.
“Lailah dear, the boys tell me that you’re off to France.
I’m sad that we won’t get to spend Christmas with you, but there is always next year.
Let’s hope that things will settle down by then.
I have a feeling there’s a lot that I’m going to find out I missed and will need to deal with.
Please let me know if there is any way that I can help.
I already sent my research to the Elementi HQ, so they have that data,” Adriana said as frown lines creased her brow.
“I can’t believe I allowed myself to be manipulated in such an awful way. ”
Reaching across the table, I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m just thankful that we were able to help. We will figure this out, I promise.”
“That’s a hefty promise to make, girl,” Makoto interjected. “You might be careful you don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”
Bristling at his words, I turned my gaze to Jay’s father.
Today he was wearing a dark burgundy yukata, and I wondered if he only wore traditional Japanese clothing.
His salt-and-pepper hair was swept back from his face in a neat and orderly fashion, and his wrinkled face showed that the scowl he was giving me was a normal expression.
“I couldn’t agree more—I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” I stated and turned back to my food, ignoring the cranky old man.
Jay’s hand found my leg, and he gave my thigh a gentle squeeze, causing me to look up at him. His slate-gray eyes watched me intently as if he was checking to see how upset his father had made me. I gave him a smile, stretching to place a kiss on his cheek.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, wanting to set him at ease.
Jay’s shoulders relaxed, and he picked up his fork and started eating. Looking around, I saw everyone was seated and digging into their own meals.
“It seems that we all have been keeping things to ourselves, and I feel like if we are going to have any chance figuring things out, we need to come clean,” Tobias announced once the meal was underway.
“That better not have been directed at me, Tobias Jones,” Makoto snapped.
This was going to get us nowhere.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed my seat back and stood up, drawing everyone’s attention.
“I appreciate all of you trying to start us off on the right foot for this investigation, but I think it’s best if we go into it with no preconceived notions.
We know a member of the Dark Army was in the lab and took the serum.
That’s more than enough to go on, and the more time we waste here, the more information we will lose.
It has been a pleasure to meet you all, and I truly wish it had been under different circumstances. ”
With that, I started for the door, knowing that the boys would be following after me in a moment. There was too much at stake and not enough time to get ahead of it.