Chapter 27 Gedeon
GEDEON
Zion often said the playthings he dragged to his underground had a distinct flavor. Sour, bitter, sweet, salty—it all depended on the person and their vileness, as he’d put it.
But the taste of him… Perfection. As if it had been tailored specifically for me.
Though I had forgotten to bring toppings for the pancakes, his cum could serve as the condiment to our breakfast.
Moving off Zion, I towered over Kali kneeling on the blanket. “Did you like it?” I asked, curling a finger under her chin to keep it lifted. “Did you enjoy watching me toy with him?”
She cleared her throat, the column of which was shaped to fit my palm flawlessly. “Yes.” Her approval came out as a squeak.
She was so adorable, all flustered.
Before she could collect herself, I roughly pulled her to me until her palms hit my chest and I could ravage her lips. Such a fascinating soul she was, reluctant to admit what she wanted.
But Zion and I were her future, and many lessons could be taught in the years to come.
Because I was not letting either of them go. Kali had become the firelight in the darkness drowning me in the mornings, and Zion, the shelter in the barren land I wandered daily.
“You found my note.” I fluffed her hair to partly fall down her front and the rest down her back, bolstering her illusion of safety. Humans were animals, our instincts rudimentary. Limit the vision, cover up, and our comfort levels spiked.
“It said to collect the boxes.” Kali waved at the pile of food containers she had brought. “What is the meaning of all this?”
My chest swelled. She had chosen to play my game instead of erecting a wall around herself and closing off. “Breakfast,” I said. “Like we used to have together.”
“I don’t think so. My anger hasn’t ebbed.” She fiddled with the sleeve of her leather jacket. “I’m here only for the scenery.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I playfully tugged on the neckline of her t-shirt, earning a glower in return.
As much as she resisted in accepting the truth of my actions—that they had been for the benefit of them both; the rest of the world could fall apart, for all I cared—I was inevitable. A certain future of hers. And his.
“I should’ve returned to my room to eat,” she grumbled.
“But we have pancakes,” Zion piped up, lounging on his back, his hands hooked behind his head as a pillow, his navy sweatpants sitting below his hips, his softened cock exposed to the morning sunshine. “And me.”
Insane was an understatement when it came to him.
Kali pointed at his crotch. “You’ll get a sunburn.”
“You mean my dick will get a nice tan? And will become a lickable sausage?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “You know, protein is considered a good way to start your day,” he drawled, yet scrambled to tuck himself in.
As much of a sucker for doling out and receiving pain as he was, having his most sensitive flesh peeling from overexposure had to be pushing the limit of his masochistic tendencies.
Giggles burst out of Kali, and she hurriedly covered her mouth to muffle her laugh.
My molars ground at her resistance to showing vulnerability. I had broken her trust, but nothing was going to stop me from building it back up. I had found a way to her heart once, and I was set on doing it again.
And again. However many times she required me to walk the path.
Wriggling into a cross-legged position, she reached for the clear box.
I snatched it before she could claim it.
Placing it between my legs, I smirked. “What will you give me for this?” Knowing her, she would have picked out precisely five pancakes, all slightly burnt, “with a crisp,” as she would describe it, and then scurried away to eat by herself.
And I wanted her to stay. To spend a morning with us. To talk.
She huffed with frustration, but inspected the three plastic containers she had collected on her way here, one after another.
Her love of pastries was unparalleled. I suspected she would become the first person to break out of Ilasall’s prison if you so much as dangled the bait of a chocolate croissant in front of her.
The lid on the yellow box snapped in place, and she reluctantly offered the treats to me. “You can have these.”
I passed her two pancakes in exchange. Four muffins the shade of dark walnut—chocolate—filled the box she had given me. The slightly bitter aroma wafted up my nostrils, and my speech ability abandoned me.
I had often taken a bite of Kali’s pastries whenever they were chocolate. It had been my favorite flavor since I was a little kid.
And she remembered. Even after three months of separation.
Noticing me staring at her in awe, she swiftly erased her smile and devoured the first pancake in four large bites.
Leaning down, Zion clamped his teeth around the other one she was holding and bit off two-thirds.
She gawked at him. At the inch of the fluffy goodness remaining in her grasp. Then back at him.
Growling a war cry, she leaped on him, swatting his arms away and attempting to pluck the pancake sticking out of his mouth. They tumbled onto the blanket, fighting, crumbs flying everywhere, both choking as they failed to swallow the baked batter they were furiously chewing.
With Zion on his back, she straddled him, and I couldn’t help it anymore—I cracked up. The brawl had dissolved the last tension freezing the atmosphere surrounding us, and I yearned for it to remain like this forever, their joy and bickering a constant in our lives.
This was exactly how I wished our mornings would look like.
Catching her fists, Zion inhaled the last piece of the pancake, his body shaking with glee.
Hopping off, she punched his shoulder. “You owe me now.”
He gestured at his groin. “I can pay you in sausage.” And laughed at her as she shot him a dirty look.
She eyed the box sitting between my thighs. “I want another pancake. I didn’t get to eat my second one.”
“Not so fast.” I moved the food container behind my back, out of her sight. “I want a deal.”
“Another bargain,” she puffed out her indignation.
As many as she required.
Her circumstances in Ilasall had taught her to view the fulfillment of her wishes as transactions.
Ilasall supplied the black-banded with necessities to ensure their workforce did not starve, but not a drop more.
It’d had left her with no other choice but to provide favors, to sell her body in a trade for whatever she was in need of at the time.
With the concept of giving or accepting something without reciprocation foreign to her, deals had become her specialty. Uprooting a deeply ingrained belief was going to take time, so sometimes, indulging her seemed to be a more effective tactic than giving out promises.
“Stay with us for breakfast,” I said. “Don’t run off.”
She fussed with her boots’ laces, wrapping the strings around her fingers. “That’s a steep price for one pancake.”
To sweeten the deal, I jerked my chin to Zion. “I’ll throw him in too.”
Zion perked up. “Ooh, I’m a valuable asset to have. Have you seen my ass? It’s worth a thousand pancakes. You should say yes.”
Kali shook her head. “You’re selling yourself too low. Your ass is worth at least ten years’ worth of pancakes, not a mere thousand.”
He bopped her nose. “Gods, you’re cute.” Rolling onto his stomach, he rested his chin in his palms. “I’m so happy we took you for ourselves.”
A decision I had not regretted for a single second. Kali was the one who had changed everything, who had also shown me the way to Zion.
Though, to be frank, the truth was that he had reeled me in long ago, even without my knowledge. There had to be a reason why rest would evade me whenever Zion had participated in our smuggling operations. Why sleep would allow me to enter its realm only after he had returned.
But the instinct to protect him had turned me into a fool. Ilasall was going to target us either way, whether I had him in my bed or not.
“I want unlimited pancakes,” she declared, and waved at the bottle laying in the middle of the blanket. “And whatever is in that thermos.”
Such a peculiar mind. Demanding an item when you had no clue what it contained. No wonder I had succumbed to her spell.
“I will accept your terms.” I pulled the transparent container from behind me. “But on one condition—you talk in addition to having breakfast with Zion and me.”
I loved that she made me work for her forgiveness. That instead of turning away, she had issued me a challenge. A duel. Not of fists or words, but of actions.
I could play such a game. Win it. Starting with claiming our first match’s points by foreseeing her next move and obliterating the loopholes in our deal.
She tilted her head in thought. “Fine.”
Handing her the box, I grabbed a couple of pancakes off the top, smirking at her displeasure. She would have made me sell my soul for them.
Better did she know, I would have scoured hell for the gates back to the living realm. I had no doubt the so-called heaven would sooner relocate to another universe than grant me entrance.
Shifting to make myself more comfortable, I pulled on the blanket. The open thermos teetered, toppling—
Zion seized the insulated bottle. “If we’re making deals, then I want one too. I told you a boner story. I want one in return.” He tapped the rim. “For this.”
Kali snorted. “A boner story?”
He nodded. “Yeah. When we were teenagers, during a sleepover at Gedeon’s, I got a hard-on. So in the morning, I jerked off in their bathroom. I couldn’t look at his parents afterward.”
Now I snorted. “It didn’t stop you from staying for breakfast.”
Kali rolled her lips to mask the bubble of amusement boiling inside her. But it burst, and her giggles burrowed into my veins. Like a drug, the sound of it loosened my muscles and sent my brain on vacation.
I had developed an addiction to her laughter, especially when mixed with Zion’s.
“You had maple syrup. Of course I wasn’t going anywhere.” Zion offered the thermos to me. “So, what will it be?”
Wracking my mind for a safe memory, I poured the coffee concoction into a cup for Kali and topped off Zion.
Steam rose from the light-colored liquid, blending with the earthy scent lingering from last night’s storm.
The aroma tickled my nose, as pleasant as the fragrance of a basil plant Kali had once hauled to our bedroom.
“Well?” She took a sip and immediately went for another one.
“Remember when we moved here, and you came into my study to help me unload all the books?” I asked Zion.
He plucked a pancake out of the box on Kali’s lap. “Your father’s collection.”
“You had just finished carrying the boxes up to Ava’s apartment and were wearing those blue shorts…
” I trailed off as I rubbed my face. In hindsight, I had missed so many signs my own body was screaming.
“The way dirt and grime clung to you… I mixed up half the books on the shelves and had to reorganize them after you left because I couldn’t stop looking at you. ”
“I told you I’m pretty. You can’t deny it anymore.” His feet swayed in the air as he stuffed half the round cake into his mouth.
“That you are,” I confessed. “So much that sometimes I wonder how I have lasted this long away from you.”
Munching on the fluffy goodness, he grinned. “So I’m the reason for how many of your hard-ons again?”
I traced the rim of the thermos. “Too many, Zion. Too many.”