Shattered Alpha Page 4

  “He went to his business, needing to work out some stuff with Remus, and we crashed. We got a bit worried when we slept off our hangovers and you still weren’t home, so I jogged over here to, um, hear the fun so we didn’t worry.”

  I realized why they were being so awkward. “I would never blame you for that. I get how you took responsibility for not pushing before or inserting yourselves into situations, but this was completely different.” They both relaxed, and I was glad we addressed that right away.

  “We went to bed and got up this morning to head to the greenhouse like we do on Sunday, surprised when you weren’t there, but hoped maybe you were just sleeping in. We stayed a bit longer than normal, talking with some of the new fairies on ideas on what to do about expanding or what can be done since it’s winter in Chicago. Alok called and gave us…

  “It didn’t make much sense, but we got there was a problem and to get here. Brian pulled up as we did, so he must have figured it out too or tracked your phone.”

  “Sorry to worry you guys, and thanks for the save.”

  “We’ll always come for you, Sera,” Reagan promised, and I heard him loud and clear. No matter how much we stumbled or the hiccups, they would keep coming back and prove they were really in this like they’d first said.

  Good.

  3

  “Crap, my SUV, they’ve probably towed it by now,” I groaned.

  “No, Brian used the extra keys and brought it in the hopes to get another chance to talk to you without seeming like—whatever,” Hagan answered, handing me my bag since he’d gotten it from upstairs.

  It got awkward now that it was time to go. I had work in the morning but… Yeah, it was awkward.

  “What do you want, Sera?” Dain whispered, cupping my cheek. “You want to go see your present, I can feel how excited you are.”

  “Yeah, but we just—isn’t it weird I’m just leaving?”

  His eyes flashed shock, but then he smiled. “Are you inviting me over to stay the night now that I can sleep in your bed?”

  “Yes, that,” I muttered, my cheeks heating. “I have closet space. That whole first closet is empty. You could put stuff in there. Not move in, but, you know.”

  “Yes, I would love that. Give me a bit to clean up and pick clothes for training tomorrow, and I’ll be over.”

  “Okay, good,” I sighed, feeling all the eyes on us. I gave him a quick kiss and hurried to the door, not hurrying at all I was so sore.

  “It’s painful to watch,” Goran murmured as he scooped me up into his arms. “Is she still hungry?”

  “Yes, sorry.”

  “Don’t ever apologize for kissing me,” he chuckled, lowering his head to mine. He moaned as I took a lot, feeling better as the rapid healing kicked in now that I had more energy. “Better?”

  “Yes,” I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder as he got in Hagan’s SUV with me, coordinated enough where he didn’t even have to set me down or make me get in first to do it. “Sorry I worried you all. I didn’t mean to.”

  “Keeps life interesting,” Zlat chuckled.

  Brat.

  We said goodbye to the ancients when we got home, Reagan carrying me into the house since I didn’t have shoes or was like wearing real clothes. We went in through the garage, and I gasped as I saw what was in the kitchen.

  “The seeds were late, that’s why we didn’t give them to you on your birthday,” Hagan explained as I took in the frigging flower shop in my kitchen. “Happy birthday, Sera.”

  Reagan echoed him, and I was a total girl, heading to the first vase and burying my face in the huge rose buds. “I’ve never seen these before. What are they?”

  “Midnight supreme roses,” Reagan answered. “Laila took your advice on branching out into rare flowers and getting a whole greenhouse set up for that before wedding season. When we saw some of the fairies looking at options, we ordered these for you, buying the seeds for the bushes they could keep using if they grew you a bunch for your birthday. I’ve never seen a rose like them either, but they perfectly match your eyes that we love so much.”

  “This is amazing,” I whispered, turning to Hagan and kissing him first before Reagan. “I’ve never gotten flowers before.” Hagan opened his mouth, and I waved him off. “I don’t count those because I didn’t accept them, nor like Vlad’s congratulations. You know what I mean.”

  “I do, and we waited so long we wanted to do it right,” Reagan said, giving me another kiss. “How about you take some up and put them in a hot bath. It hurts us you’re this sore.”

  “Just that I’m sore or the reason why?” I checked.

  He shrugged. “Dain was already yours. You just made it official. That doesn’t change where we’re at or he’s moving in.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed, leaning my forehead against his chest. “That was how I meant it. It bothers both of us that his vow made him my servant basically, not my equal. I’ve been in such pain from losing the bond with Riley, and then what I saw—I—he’s not a replacement, but it felt—”

  “We get it,” he promised, Hagan nodding when I glanced at him.

  “I told Alena no more sirening people without discussing it first. It’s easy to get swept up, and she’s—my siren’s a pain in the ass.”

  “She is, but you wanted it too,” Hagan chuckled, giving me a quick kiss. “As your Betas we agree no more unless talking about all the possible repercussions because I didn’t see this potential crap with his family either. As the men who love you, yes, it would be nice to have at least some consistency.”

  That was fair. It was fair, and I could give it to them.

  Hagan actually carried me up to my room with a bunch of the flowers, chuckling as I blushed at how sweet it was they were taking care of me and being cute. “Thanks for pushing us to go out with the others. It was fun and nice to blow off some steam since we’re kid free.”

  “Yeah, we should send them on tons of educational trips,” I teased him, saying what both of them and the boys said. Goofs.

  I went for the tub, thinking I could shower for real after instead of just how Goran had quickly gotten me cleaned up, which had been incredibly awkward. I couldn’t even imagine how it had gone for Dain. Hagan left me once I was settled, and I stared at the faucet as the water came pouring in. Two days. Almost forty-eight hours completely gone.

  So we hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. Had we taken bathroom breaks or just worked off our hydrations with sweaty fun? I gasped as another memory hit me, twitching in the warm water.

  I felt him as soon as he arrived at the house, more in tune with him than ever before. He hurried upstairs, feeling me too. Seconds after entering my suite, he was standing in my bathroom.

  “I felt your orgasm echo from outside and had one too,” he panted, licking his lips. “How long will this last?”

  “Since when am I the one with answers ever?” I drawled, cutting the water so he could get in.

  “Am I welcome?” he checked.

  “Yes.” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I snapped like that. You were acting weird and are maybe the last person I would think to just jump me like that with conflict and so many people around.”

  “That was unlike me,” he agreed, making quick work of his clothes. He grabbed a few things and carefully climbed over the glass side before raising it again. He held up a small jar of something. “I remembered you received this in the gift basket from Nina. It will help heal you in sensitive areas where I was too rough.”

  “I think it was the forty-eight hours of sex more than you being rough,” I reminded him. I went to take it, but he didn’t hand it over.

  “Let me, my love?” he whispered, smiling when I nodded. He put some muscle healing salts in the water, barely an inch of the water not covered in petals. He set that on the rug before taking a scoop from the jar and putting it out there as well. He moved his hand between my legs and gently applied it to both my sore entrances.

  And we had another echo
. I moaned loudly as I remembered him doing the same but roughly, passionately until I came again and again.

  “Wow, we’re really good at sex,” I gasped when it was over. “Holy crap, did we have fun.”

  “It always is with you,” he promised, moving me onto him as he sank in the water. A few minutes of just lying there, listening to the bath fill, and he shut off the water again, gently rubbing his hand over my back where the bruise had been. “I am sorry I injured you.”

  “Dain, I almost killed you, so really you aren’t the one who needs to apologize. You were completely depleted. I didn’t think my siren would ever accidentally do that.”

  “She wasn’t herself either, probably just as high from my magic as I was from your powers. I’m sorry I let them fully out to mate instead of what I was supposed to do.”

  I turned enough to kiss his firm, sculpted chest. “It probably would have been the same even if you hadn’t. My power stripped Noah of all of his control. I get how you saw it. I don’t regret it, but we should have really talked about it first. I was a bit shocked you were pushing like that.”

  “Only because you do not see yourself as you truly are, who we all see,” he murmured, kissing my hair. “I would beg, plead, and so much more to be at your side. Many would. Part of it is what I’ve felt from you at losing Riley and how the bond echoes in you. I didn’t understand fully what happened, but the pain you were in—I did not mean to take advantage of that. I was desperate to remind you that others loved you. That I love you with all of me.”

  “I get it. You didn’t take advantage, and you weren’t revenge. We both know that, and as long as you aren’t taking this as we’re going to buy our own place with a white picket fence and change everything, then I’m fine.”

  He snorted. “No, I always think those things are tacky. I much prefer wrought iron like you have around this house and for you to stay here where you are happy. I am thrilled with space in the closet, knowing I am welcome to sleep in your bed. The rest is the same.” He flinched and hugged me to him. “I might be a bit more protective of you.”

  “That’s fine,” I assured him. He wasn’t a pain in the ass, far from it, so if he got a bit pushy with being careful, I was fine with that. He made two glasses of strawberry wine appear, handing me one. “Hey, cut that out. You were almost dead, Dain.”

  “This is nothing,” he promised me as he turned me to sit on his lap sideways. “The glasses and wine were here. It’s when I call something from a distance or make it with my magic that I shouldn’t do right now.”

  “Hey, I’m the um, whatever that word was, so you have to listen to me,” I argued.

  “Oh, is that how it works now?” he challenged, smiling widely at the idea.

  “Yes.”

  “But it doesn’t work both ways. I’m not sure that is fair.”

  I went to say something quippy but realized it wasn’t. “Is there something you want from me like that? I’m okay with people asking. Yelling or bitching about things I can’t change is bad, but if people talk to me, I’m actually pretty easygoing.”

  “You are. You aren’t nearly as big of a pain in the ass as you make yourself seem. Others are idiots.” He gave me a gentle kiss. “And no, I cannot think of a single thing. I was merely teasing you.”

  “Good,” I sighed, sipping my wine. We relaxed in silence, enjoying the wine, the bath, and each other. Then we took a shower to really clean up, Dain looking relieved when I was healed and moving better.

  That didn’t mean we were having sex though. No way.

  He had such a thing for my hair, like a few others, that I knew he really wanted to comb it and blow dry it. Plus, it made me a kitten for anyone who did it, so I knew they also loved that I agreed to just about anything as a reward. When he finished, though, I realized there was something I wanted.

  I stared at him as he knelt to light the fire, studying his naked back. “Can I ask for something and not offend you?”

  “Anything,” he agreed, glancing at me with a frown. “You could never offend me, Sera.”

  “Can I see your wings?” I whispered, wondering if I got to now as the wife or whatever. Fairies were very secretive about their wings, and it was like a huge insult to ask to see them.

  He smiled brightly at me. “Wow, you’ve really hidden how much you want to see them from me, haven’t you?”

  I shrugged. “I was a little girl once that hoped fairies were real and were nice like the movies even if I never admitted it. I know it’s such a bad taboo thing though because the very calm Shaw snapped at a trainee who asked, saying she’d show them after she saw him masturbate.”

  “It’s not quite like that,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “But it is very personal. I would have shown you any time after we were intimate. I would love for you to see them just as any other part of me.” He turned so his back was to me, and I gasped as they appeared. Well, I couldn’t see them fully. They were transparent, but light catching, ethereal for sure, and sort of trippy. “You may touch them.”

  I moved from the bench seat and knelt behind him, gently touching them. He let out a deep moan, and I pulled back my hand.

  “That’s why it’s personal, Sera. It’s like me playing with your hair or teasing your hip. It’s intimate.”

  “I don’t want to get you wound up when there’s no way we can finish just yet,” I murmured, still touching his wing again. “That’s so fucking cool.” He turned so I could see his front with them out behind him. “You look like an angel.”

  “Maybe a fallen one, as I certainly sin,” he murmured, eyeing me over. “You always look heavenly to me. No celestial being could look more beautiful than you do, my love.” I blushed, and I saw how much he liked it. His wings disappeared, and he helped me to my feet. “I want to hold you in my arms all night, keep the nightmares and pain away.”

  “You would, wouldn’t you,” I breathed, believing if anyone could it was Dain. I gave him a gentle kiss before dropping the towel and getting onto the bed naked. “I do love how you dote on me.”

  “It was my evil plot to win you over,” he teased, turning off the light after he went to hang up our towels. The light from the fire danced over his perfect body, showing every dip and line that made him look even more angelic in a way. “Sera, you keep looking at me like that and it will be difficult to behave.”

  “Tomorrow after work will you come over and make love to me?” I blurted, wanting that honeymoon sort of idea he’d mentioned.

  “I would like nothing more.” He bounced his head around. “No, I would like it more if I was able to take you to dinner first and then bring you home and make love to you wherever you want since it is a child free house for a while.”

  “On the rug you gave me,” I offered as he climbed into bed with me. “I was thinking of doing that Friday. I was going to pick up fancy food, have a picnic on the rug, naked, with a glass of wine and—”

  He moved his hand over my mouth. “Woman, you have to stop or I will take you as a husband should his wife after they mate.”

  I moved his hand away. “Why am I not more freaked out you use those words?”

  “Because I think you knew that was what I was to you the moment you saw me, the moment you truly saw me at court. We are two of a kind, souls who longed for each other. I knew it from the moment you kissed me and I felt how much you saw and that you wanted to save me, knowing what it was to be abandoned by family and wanting to heal my wounds from it.”

  It was beautiful for him to put it that way… And pretty accurate. I had always felt him a kindred spirit. I just hoped he really knew it could never be just the two of us though, or we would be in big trouble.

  4

  The next morning I woke before my alarm and without any nightmares for the first time in a long, long time. And then I spent the twenty minutes I had left showing my appreciation to Dain.

  “What did I do to deserve that?” he murmured, hugging me to him as we both gasped for air, already t
urning off our alarms.

  “Do you know the last time I slept through a whole night without a nightmare or even just waking up or waking to soaked sheets? I can’t even remember.”

  “Noah sleeps with you now and again,” he argued, his tone cautious.

  “That’s true,” I admitted. “But he normally crawls in later or it’s after something we were up late for. I actually slept for nine hours. I don’t know that I’ve ever slept for nine hours.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Amazing,” I purred, pulling his head down for another kiss, feeding heavily. “I feel so fucking amazing. Thank you. I promise to listen and get more sleep.”

  “Good,” he sighed. All of them had been worried about that. They knew I had the nightmares, there was no way to hide them with our hearing. Even after my bedroom was soundproofed, I screamed so loud they still heard it, felt my terror. “I’ll catch a ride with Noah and see you after the first day of the lunar cycle run with everyone?”

  “Crap, I forgot that was tonight. It’s so weird to miss days.”

  He shrugged. “You didn’t work or get all involved one weekend. Everyone will survive.”

  I rolled my eyes as I got out of bed. He made it sound like we’d binged on Netflix instead of what we’d really done. We hurried to get ready, and he gave me a kiss as I rushed to leave while he waited for Noah. He gave me a confused look that I wasn’t grabbing my work bag.

  “I have my first meeting here so we don’t have the ears of the office. I have an order to pick up at Once Upon A Bagel. I gotta hurry.”

  “Right, you’ll fill me in later?”

  I flinched at that. “Because of what happened or something else?”

  Then he flinched. “Am I not allowed to ask now that I’m yours?”