Chapter 11 #2
There was some hidden temptation layered under River’s words that were teasing Bel’s brain and libido. River and Wyatt would stay young and virile with him so much longer than if they were merely human. No sickness to plague them. And they healed quickly from injury.
Bel cleared his throat and forced his eyes over to the cellos again. “I guess we’re all much older than we appear.”
“What was it like growing up in London at that time? Were you and your brothers sons of a duke? You’ve all got that polished, aristocratic look to you. Even Winter manages to feel like a blueblood in his hoodie and jeans.”
Bel rocked back with his own bark of laughter. River was so very wrong, but also not too far off from the truth.
“Our mother, Julianna Varik, was an opera singer, which was and wasn’t a euphemism for courtesan.
Her voice was ethereal. Positively heavenly.
She performed on the stage for years. She was also the toast of London.
Everyone wanted her at their parties, and from what I gathered, the men wanted her in their beds. ”
“But she turned them all away,” River said enthusiastically.
Bel shrugged. “She did until she met my father, Harrison Thatcher. He was the second son of a duke without much prospect of ever inheriting the title. He paid for my mother’s lovely town house and gave her an excellent allowance, which she invested.
They were together for many years, resulting in the birth of myself and my brothers. ”
“What happened?”
“Harrison’s older brother died before he could father an heir. My biological father inherited the title and was forced to marry. His wife wasn’t fond of the world knowing that Harrison kept my mother, so he was forced to put her aside.”
“Shit.”
Bel shrugged again. It all seemed so very long ago, like a story from someone else’s life. At the time, he’d been just a small child. He never saw Harrison much to begin with and never truly felt his absence when he left. At least, not like Julianna had.
“My mother had been practical about the arrangement. She’d always known they wouldn’t marry and that it would all end eventually. She invested wisely and made ample money from her performances, so we were able to live in quite the high style in London. She made sure we had all the best tutors.”
“And she made sure you learned to play instruments?”
“Julianna loved music, and she taught us to love it as well. She played the harp and the piano, but she mostly sang.”
River reached over and very carefully took one of Bel’s hands in his. “She sounded amazing. I’m assuming she passed long ago.”
“A few months now.”
Fingers tightened around Bel’s hand in a flinch, and he nearly smiled. “Julianna met and fell in love with Aiden when Rafe and I were about eleven. He treated us like we were his own children. But after about a year, Julianna fell ill. Aiden tried to save her life by changing her into a vampire.”
“This story doesn’t have a happy ending, does it?”
Bel shook his head. “She escaped death, but the rebirth affected something in her brain. She was given to bouts of extreme violence. Only a vampire could control her, overpower her.”
“Oh God,” River whispered. Undoubtedly his thoughts had jumped ahead to the obvious conclusion considering what he knew of the Variks already.
“So, my brothers and I chose to become vampires when we were older. It was the only way to protect her. To protect each other.”
River leaned his head against Bel’s, fingers tightening around his hand. “You have an amazing family. You’ve loved and supported each other over all these long years.”
“That’s why I feel so abandoned by them now.” Bel lifted his head, not caring that River could see the tears fighting to fall down his cheeks. “How could they turn their back on my request? How could they not see helping you and Wyatt is the right thing to do?”
River released Bel’s hand and cupped the side of his face.
“Because they are trying very hard to protect you and the rest of their family right now. They have not abandoned you.” His thumb slowly brushed along Bel’s cheekbone, wiping away a tear that had slipped free.
“Trust me, Bel, I know what it is to be abandoned. They have not abandoned you. They just need some more time.”
“River…” Bel whispered brokenly. He didn’t even know what he was pleading for any longer.
Leaning forward those last couple of inches, River brushed his lips against Bel’s.
A gasp left Bel, but he didn’t pull away, didn’t move a muscle.
He wasn’t ready for this to end. His eyes fell shut as River brushed their lips together again.
Then finally, they kissed. Soft and sweet and so fucking perfect.
Bel’s heart soared at that gentle touch.
River’s hand tightened on his face and he pulled away for a second before diving in for another kiss.
The tip of his tongue slid along the seam of Bel’s lips, and they instantly parted.
A desperate moan jumped from his throat, and he eagerly tangled his tongue with River’s, loving the sinuous slide, building heat, and the taste of River. Everything was so wonderful.
But he belonged to Wyatt.
Bel jerked away as that horrible thought slammed through his brain. River wasn’t his. Would never be his. River belonged to Wyatt, and nothing in this world could make him hurt Wyatt. Hurt either of the two men.
“Please don’t stop on my account.” Wyatt’s deep voice came from the doorway and Bel cringed, self-loathing pouring across his soul, before he registered the amusement in Wyatt’s tone rather than anger.
“Wyatt,” Bel said on a choked gulp. “I’m sorry. So very sorry. This is all my fault.”
Wyatt walked calmly into the room and shocked Bel speechless by kneeling on the floor right in front of where he was still sitting on the box.
The older wolf was smiling a strange, almost secretive smile, but that was forgotten when he placed his hands on Bel’s knees and slid upward to dig into the tense muscles of his thighs.
Bel promptly swallowed his tongue as Wyatt inched closer. The wolf leaned forward and captured River’s lips in an eager kiss that sent all the blood rushing to Bel’s cock. Some part of him wanted to run away, escape, but Wyatt was holding him in place and…damn…he loved watching them kiss.
“Mmm…missed you, babe,” River said with a hum of pleasure when the kiss ended.
“Oh yeah, I could tell,” Wyatt teased.
Bel’s eyes darted from River to Wyatt. They were both smiling, so very happy. And it didn’t make a bit of sense. Bel had kissed River. Wyatt saw Bel kissing him. He should be upset. They both should be.
And then Wyatt was kissing Bel with the same sweet tenderness River had used only moments ago.
Thought was wiped from his brain and there was only Wyatt’s touch, his wonderful warmth and scent wrapping around him.
Fingers dug into Bel’s legs, and Wyatt deepened the kiss.
River’s lips brushed along his jaw and nipped at his earlobe, a hint of teeth and the swipe of his tongue.
Bel moaned against their combined efforts.
He was going to come in his goddamn pants.
He couldn’t remember ever being so hard, needing anything so much.
The kiss ended slowly, and Bel was reluctant to open his eyes again.
Didn’t want to face the real world after being wrapped in pure joy.
He blinked at Wyatt. The werewolf was smiling, but there was a little wrinkle between his brows as if he were unsure of what Bel’s reaction would be.
River nuzzled close, a little sigh escaping him.
“I don’t understand,” Bel said as he tried to get his brain back online.
There were so many emotions swirling around—both his and the wolves’—that he could barely pick them apart.
The lust was shining so clear, but there was something else.
Hope. Worry. Caution. “I thought you and River were…but why—”
And then the real reason became blisteringly clear. They were doing it because they thought it was expected. It was part of him being their protector. They didn’t actually want him.
Cold gripped Bel from head to toe despite the closeness of both wolves.
“You did this with Brett, and you think—”
Wyatt cut off his words with another kiss. When he pulled away, he said firmly, “Definitely not.”
“But—”
Wyatt silenced him again with another kiss, but he was smiling while he did it. “I can keep this up all night,” he purred.
“I—”
Wyatt kissed him again, and now Bel was smiling.
River huffed in his ear. “If he’s going to keep this up, I want a turn.”
Wyatt ended the kiss and turned his attention to River. He kissed him with a growl, and Bel could feel River melting into him. Then River was kissing Bel, and he could no longer remember what had been so important to say just minutes ago.
“We were never involved with Brett. We never touched him, never wanted to. Not like this,” Wyatt murmured, ending with a nibble along Bel’s neck.
With a great deal of reluctance, Bel pulled away from River and placed a restraining hand against their chests. He couldn’t think when they were touching him, and he very much needed to think clearly. At least for a short time.
“Remember, he didn’t like us to be in human form,” River pointed out with a little lift of his eyebrows.
Oh, yeah. Brett needed them as wolves to command them. Otherwise, he didn’t seem to trust them. Didn’t want to be near them.
“Bel, we’ve never been interested in adding another person to our relationship,” Wyatt said. “We have always been happy just the two of us.”
“But then we met you,” River chimed in.
“Over the past couple of months, you’ve changed so much for us.”
Wyatt lowered his head, kissing Bel slowly, sweetly, seducing his body and heart all over again. Bel couldn’t imagine ever telling this man no. Every touch, every breath called to him with a siren song.
“This has nothing to do with protection. It’s about desire. We want you.”
“For the night?”
“For as long as you want us,” River murmured.
It sounded like a dream, but he couldn’t shake his lingering doubts. He didn’t want to be the reason a beautiful relationship was destroyed. “Are you sure?”
Wyatt slid his hands up Bel’s thighs, kneading muscles along the way so that Bel’s eyes nearly rolled up into the back of his head. No one had ever touched him like that, and it felt like pure heaven.
“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about it,” Wyatt murmured.
“Months,” River added with a bit of a frustrated growl.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“We wanted it to happen naturally. We didn’t want you to feel pressured into anything. We wanted to be sure you wanted us as well.”
River groaned. “Maybe it wasn’t all natural. We weren’t above a little prodding and evil scheming to get you moving.”
Bel narrowed his eyes on River, though he didn’t feel anything but joy. “Scheming, how?”
“Hugs, nuzzling, tickling, snuggling,” Wyatt listed.
“And then all those new clothes you got us just kept disappearing!” River said in the most fake innocent voice Bel had ever heard.
“The half-naked puppy pile to watch that game show you didn’t even like?” Bel growled when he wanted to shout with laughter.
“Sue me! I was getting desperate.” River threw his arms up and glared at Bel. “You wouldn’t break.”
Bel looked from Wyatt to River, a smile starting to tease one corner of his mouth. “You talked about this? Kissing? Together liked this?”
River’s grinned turned absolutely filthy, and the last of the blood in Bel’s brain rushed south. “Well, I might have also jerked off to the thought of Wyatt fucking me while I sucked your dick. If you want, we can go upstairs right now, and I’ll show you exactly how it looked in my mind.”
“Yesss,” Bel hissed before grabbing River in a brutal kiss that had the man moaning into his mouth. Wyatt’s hands wandered up his body, tugging his shirt from where it was tucked into his pants. It was looking doubtful that they’d even make it out of the music room.
And then the doorbell rang.
Bel broke off the kiss but continued to hold River by the back of the neck. They all sat frozen, waiting, unwilling to even breathe.
“Maybe they’ll just go away,” River whispered.
Seconds ticked by and the doorbell rang again.
Wyatt pushed to his feet and walked over to the window. The music room was at the front of the house, offering a view of the front door.
Bel wanted to cry. His cock was hard as steel and leaking in his briefs. He was on the edge of what was likely to be the greatest sexual experience of his very long existence, and he was being cock-blocked by…
“It’s your brother,” Wyatt announced.
Bel finally reached inside, ready to snap at his twin for visiting at such a horrible time, when he discovered that it wasn’t Rafe outside his door. It was Winter.
There was no denying the rush of disappointment that swamped his heart.
He and Rafe had suffered disagreements over the years, but they’d never remained mad at each other for long.
He’d been sure Rafe would appear on his doorstep first with his usual bluster and cockiness that dissolved into hugs and apologies. Winter shouldn’t be here.
It couldn’t be a good sign.
“Go talk to your brother. We’ll still be here when he leaves,” River said before kissing his temple.
Yes, he had to talk to Winter, get the latest news from his family. And then he could forget for a little while in Wyatt and River’s arms.