Chapter 59
A Surprise for Bel
Someone was poking him.
Did they not understand the dangers of waking a vampire too early in the evening? The sun couldn’t have possibly set yet.
Bel curled up into a tighter ball and pulled the fluffy goose-down duvet higher. If he disappeared from view, maybe the poker would go away.
Yes, this might not make logical sense. Bel knew this, but he didn’t care. The hardest part of any day was waking up. He didn’t like stirring from sleep and crawling from his nice, warm, comfy bed. Especially if there was a warm body or two pressed against him.
Why did he have to get up?
Bel didn’t do mornings. Er…evenings. He didn’t do waking. And when he had to, it was never graceful.
Everyone knew this. Yet, someone was still poking at him.
There was a deep, warm chuckle and Bel luxuriated in the sound. It was like rich hot chocolate for his ears.
“Come on, Bel. Get up,” Wyatt prodded, laughter filling his tone.
“Why?” Bel whined, but at least it was partially muffled by the pillow pressed to his face.
A hand landed on his hip and squeezed through the fluff of feathers. “Because the sun has already set, and you need to start your day. We want to spend some time with you.”
Hmmmm…time with his mates was one of the few things that was more enticing than sleeping.
But why couldn’t he have both?
There was one benefit to being a vampire that trumped werewolves every time. Speed. He and Wyatt might be a pretty good match for strength, but he was still faster.
Bel kicked off the blanket, popped up, grabbed Wyatt’s arm, and spun them both around. A surprised cry left Wyatt’s parted lips and an evil laugh might have escaped Bel as he pinned his lover to the mattress and promptly straddled his hips.
“Is this why you decided to wake me?” Bel leaned close and stole a sweet kiss.
But one kiss wasn’t enough. Wyatt had amazing lips, soft and full like they were made for his mouth.
Well, his and River’s. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue along Wyatt’s until he finally dragged out a happy moan.
“Sex is not why I woke you,” Wyatt murmured, their lips brushing against each other with each word.
Sex might not be why he’d disturbed Bel’s sleep, but the man with the large wandering hands wasn’t exactly pushing him away.
No, those wonderful hands were sliding along Bel’s back, massaging muscles and pulling him closer.
“I think sex should be the only reason you wake me.” He paused to kiss along Wyatt’s jaw and then corrected himself. “Or at the very least, among the top three reasons for ever waking me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Wyatt panted. “But really…sex…”
“I know. We need River. Is he in the house?”
“Yes, but—”
Bel didn’t need to hear more. He had a surefire way of bringing River to the bedroom.
He tugged at Wyatt’s jeans, getting them unbuttoned and opened.
As he slipped his fingers inside to wrap around Wyatt’s hardening dick, he allowed his fangs to slide down.
It didn’t take much. He was also a bit peckish when he first woke, and both of his men loved the feel of his fangs lightly grazing their flesh.
Wyatt moaned loudly, thrusting up into Bel’s hand. He didn’t need to feed, but he was happy to take a nip to make his mate happy.
“Oh, sounds like you want me now,” Bel teased.
“I always want you, Bel. You’re mine.” Wyatt’s hand finally slid to his ass and pulled his boxers down, freeing his cock. Bel moved his hand so he could thrust against Wyatt, grunting at the feel of their dicks rubbing together.
“What the hell!” River shouted from the open doorway. “This was the whole reason you said I couldn’t wake Bel. You said you have more self-control!”
“He overpowered me,” Wyatt argued. “Plus, he’s using his fangs.”
Bel looked over his shoulder at River and smiled, letting the fangs in question press into his bottom lip.
He thrust his hips into Wyatt and groaned extravagantly.
Bel would never have thought it possible, but Wyatt and River made him feel sexy, made him feel wanted, desired.
How could anyone desire such a nerdy little vampire?
But the proof was clear to see in how River kicked off his shoes and frantically ripped off his clothes as he crossed the room.
River jumped onto the bed, tackling Bel and turning them into a tangle of limbs and warm skin. Everything was a blur of pleasure after that. He reveled in their cries of ecstasy and joyous laughter. And what better way to wake up was there than with an orgasm and nibbles from both of his mates?
Nearly an hour later, Bel was happily humming to himself as he slowly licked at the freshly healed wound on River’s neck, sending a shiver through his lover. Wyatt was wrapped around him from behind, pressing kisses along his shoulder.
“I hope you both learned your lesson,” Bel murmured, sending a gust of hot breath across River’s damp skin. “Be careful when you disturb a vampire’s sleep.”
“I love waking you up, Bel,” River mumbled. He turned his head and gently kissed Bel’s lips. “Almost as much as I love you.”
Even after all these months, Bel’s heart still skipped when either of them said those magical three words to him. His entire world had changed for the better when he met Wyatt and River. Now he couldn’t imagine living without them.
“I love you, my River.” Bel tipped his head up, kissing River again. He twisted and found Wyatt smiling, waiting for his kiss. “I love you, my Wyatt.”
Wyatt returned the kiss, still grinning. “Love you, Bel. Happy birthday.”
Bel jerked away and stared at the man for a second, his brain trying to make sense of those last two words.
Birthday? Was it his birthday? It wasn’t the anniversary of the night he’d been turned into a vampire.
That wasn’t for another few months. They had to be talking about his human birthday, the one he shared with his twin, Rafe.
“Is it my birthday?”
River laughed and kissed his cheek. “Yes, we confirmed it with Rafe and Marcus. Today is your birthday.”
“We’re sorry we missed it last year,” Wyatt apologized, brushing a kiss across the opposite jaw.
“No, that’s fine. All of this was so new last year.
Besides, my brothers and I stopped celebrating our birthdays after we hit one hundred.
” He could feel his smile become a little crooked as he struggled to hold on to it.
“After having so many and nothing really changing, they didn’t feel special anymore. ”
River grabbed his chin and turned his head so that Bel was staring directly into his eyes. “Well, that stops now. We are making every birthday special from now on.”
“Which is why I was trying to wake you up. We want to celebrate your birthday in private before we’re expected for dinner at Ronan’s.”
River tipped his head to look around Bel. “Which you failed at miserably since we’re both in bed with him.”
Bel bit his lip when he felt Wyatt shrug behind him. “True, but he’s awake.”
River made a grumpy noise and leaned close to Bel, pressing their foreheads together. “You have to get out of bed. We have surprises.”
Words escaped him. His mates had secretly planned something for his birthday? How? When? Well, obviously when he’d been sleeping during the day. But still, he couldn’t believe they’d gone to the trouble. His heart ached and a lump suddenly grew in his throat.
“Really? But you shouldn’t…didn’t need to.”
“We did it because you are special to us, Bel, and we want to celebrate the day you were given to the world,” Wyatt whispered in his ear.
Tears burned his eyes, and he was grateful that River rolled out of the bed, then pulled him out as well. He was about to start crying over their thoughtfulness and it would ruin the happy event they were trying to plan.
As it was, River allowed him to put on only sleep pants, while his wolves grabbed jeans. He wasn’t quite sure why they’d bothered. He had a feeling this surprise was going to leave him wanting to properly thank his mates. At least clothes would slow that impulse a little.
With River and Wyatt holding his hands, he didn’t get more than a few steps down the stairs when he spotted the first surprise. Balloons. A couple of hundred balloons of every color of the rainbow bobbed in the living room on long ribbons. No one had ever gotten him balloons before.
He walked slowly into the colorful forest, tapping a balloon here or there. They were so happy and fun as they bobbed and swayed.
In the center of the room, he found a large display of cupcakes, each differently decorated. Some had bats or little wolves drawn on them. Others had holes where fangs might have punctured them and a strawberry gel poured out. Beside them were two wrapped boxes.
“Here! Sit! Open your gifts!” River ordered, ushering him to the center of the sofa.
River immediately sat on one side of Bel while Wyatt settled on the other. His arm rested along the back so that he was holding both of them. Not an easy task since River was struggling to sit still. River placed the smaller of the two boxes in his lap and grinned. “Open it.”
With slightly trembling fingers, Bel tore away the pretty balloon-covered paper and opened the box to find a collection of twenty new bow ties. They ranged from elegant to silly. His instant favorite might have been the ones with the tiny wolves on them. His lovers knew him so very well.
“They’re beautiful!” He quickly kissed both of his mates, perfectly content to sit and inspect his new ties. There was no doubt in his mind that Wyatt and River had selected each one of these ties for him. But River was too impatient for bow tie inspection.
“Okay, now open the other one,” River prodded. “It’s not exactly sexy, but we think you’ll like it.”
The box looked too big and awkward to hold in his lap, so he got up and kneeled beside the table before ripping off the wrapping. A gasp of surprise was caught in his throat. They couldn’t have. But they did!
As Rafe would put it, they got him science shit. It was perfect. It was something he would have happily bought himself for his work.
“You got me a new centrifuge!” Bel cried out, tossing the paper in the air so that he could get at the giant box. “How-how did you know?”
“When we were working in the lab last week, you complained that your current centrifuge didn’t have the kind of RPMs you needed, and that it was slowing with age,” Wyatt easily replied.
River kneeled on the floor beside him. “Do you like it? Wyatt explained that it spins shit.” River twirled one finger in the air as he spoke, but his eyes were unsure. “That it’s used for separating things. He said this is a good one. It even heats and cools stuff, which your old one doesn’t do.”
Bel grabbed River and pulled him into his lap. “It’s perfect. Amazing. I love it! But not half as much as I love you.”
“We love you too, Bel. Happy birthday,” River murmured against his lips.
They kissed several times before Bel got up and crossed to where Wyatt still lounged on the sofa. He crawled into the larger man’s lap and kissed him, no longer caring about the tears slipping silently down his cheeks. He couldn’t hold them back any longer.
“Why the tears?” Wyatt asked, wiping away one streak with his thumb.
“Happy tears. Very, very happy tears,” Bel answered as he pressed his face into Wyatt’s neck.
River’s warm body pressed to his side, and he was in his puppy pile of cuddles where he belonged.
Maybe it was silly to get choked up over a birthday celebration when he was the ripe old age of two hundred and five, but his mates had made him feel special.
He and his brothers had left birthdays behind for that very reason.
They’d stopped feeling special. They stopped feeling like they should be celebrated.
But River and Wyatt were changing so many things in his life. When he was with them, he always felt cherished and loved. He felt like they were truly happy he was alive and in their lives. After so many years of pain and torment, he’d never thought this possible.
Now he treasured every moment he had with them. This was only the start of the celebrations they were going to have in their lives together.