Astrid Cielo (7 page)

Xavier
smiled.
 
"Thank you."

Xavier
placed Aspen in the middle of the bed, crawled in beside her and gathered her
in his arms.
 
Her head lay over his
heart, a part of him she already owned though she didn't know it.
 
Skylar stood rooted at the foot of the bed
staring at them.

"Get
in the bed, Sky."

"Maybe
I shouldn't.
 
She wasn't exactly happy
with me."

"Don't
be ridiculous.
 
How she supposed to trust
that you won't leave her again if she wakes up and you're not there?"

"I
don-"

"Please,
don't go," Aspen said.

Her
voice startled them both, but Skylar nodded and climbed in on her other
side.
 
He didn't hesitate to spoon her
from behind and to rest his hand on her stomach.

"I'll
never leave you, sweetheart," Sky whispered into Aspen's ear.

Xavier
kissed the top of Aspen's head.

"Go
to sleep, Aspen. We'll be here when you wake up."

Aspen's
breathing soon evened out and Skylar settled down beside her, his eyes still
glowing mutedly.
 
His dream had affected
him more than he'd admitted.

"
You going
to tell me more about that dream?"

Xavier
could feel the shudder that went through Sky.
 
The silence stretched between them, so long that Xavier thought Skylar
wouldn't answer the question.

"I've
always worked for the Council.
 
Even as a
kid I spent lots of time within my adoptive father's department and time at
home was spent training.
 
I thought that
I'd never find a case that affected me...I mean I always did the jobs expected
of me.
 
I hated having to mete out
justice in the form of death, but I'd been trained since birth..."

Xavier
clasped his hand with Skylar's over Aspen's abdomen.
 
Aspen nuzzled Xavier's chest in her sleep, a
purr breaking forth.
 
Skylar sighed and
kissed Aspen's shoulder.

"I
met her in a restaurant.
 
She came to the
table and asked how my meal was and it was instant.
 
She didn't hesitate at all--not like
you.
 
Her smile erased everything from my
mind and my wolf howled inside of me and I just wanted her.
 
I never meant to betray you...but this last
case...I've never seen anything like it."

Xavier
didn't say anything, waited for Skylar to finish.
 
He held his breath hoping that for once,
Skylar would share more than just the barest of details with him about his
job.
 
Xavier knew that Skylar didn't keep
him in the dark on purpose, but it hurt all the same.
 
He saw what each case slowly did to his
mate.
 
Skylar would never admit it, but
Xavier knew the truth.
 
Each case
affected him more than Skylar felt it should.
 
Xavier knew that Skylar stayed away for a week or so after each case
just to collect himself.
 
He didn’t know
whether to rail on Skylar or kiss him for saving him the darker aspects of his
job.

"Most
of the time I see the aftermath and I can handle it.
 
I see all sorts of things that shifters do to
humans and vice versa.
 
This time though,
I made it in time to see a victim that wasn't dead...at least she wasn't.
 
He cut them and I know he loved to hear them
scream.
 
The smell of her blood was
overwhelming.
 
Then he would shift and I
know the smell of her fear got him off.
 
He then tortured her even more, biting her and growling at her.
 
Torture.
 
All of it just torture.
 
Then he'd clamp his teeth around her
neck.
 
I tried but I couldn't save
her.
 
I..."

"Sky,
if it's one thing I know for sure, it's that if you could've saved her then you
would have.
 
Have you talked to you
father about this?"

Skylar
jerked his hand from Xavier's and Xavier sighed.
 
He'd done it this time.

"He's
not my father.
 
Just
because he took in the kid no one wanted doesn't make him my father."

"I'm
sorry, but he obviously cares for you."

"I
don't want to talk about this anymore."

Skylar
wound himself around Aspen and sighed.
 
Xavier watched the worry that creased his face drained away as Skylar
drifted to sleep.
 
They'd been together
for three years, yet it'd always felt as if something were missing.
 

Skylar
was less than forthcoming about his job and his past.
 
Xavier never said it, but he hated that Sky
didn't feel as though he could confide in him.
 
He would always be thankful for Skylar saving him.
 
He still shuddered when he thought of that
day.
 
Xavier grabbed onto Skylar's hand
and let himself drift off to sleep.

Aspen
sighed and snuggled closer to the warmth radiating at her side.
 
Smooth hot skin met her finger tips and a
purr broke free.
 
She
kneaded
the flesh under her fingers careful to keep her claws sheathed.
 
Another arm snaked around her waist and a
hard body pressed from behind.
 
She
arched
into the body rubbing her buttocks over the erection
pressed there.
 
It'd been so long since
she'd been held.
 
It felt as though fire
were tickling her flesh and her nipples pebbled waiting for hot mouths.

Skylar.
 
Xavier.

It
seemed weird that she felt so comfortable sandwiched between the two, and still
felt so distant.
 
Her cougar, however,
didn't care what qualms she held about losing herself in the two it deemed her
mates.
 

A
groan cut through the otherwise silent bedroom and she smiled.
 
Aspen slowly opened her eyes to a still dark
room, but it didn't matter.
 
She could
see perfectly in the dark.
 
She could see
how Skylar's muscles bunched each time she
kneaded
with her fingers, the restrained power behind the hand that held her so gently,
yet firmly.

"Aspen,
if you keep doing that with your ass then I'm going to fuck you."

Aspen
smiled at Xavier's growled warning and arched one more time.
 
Her squeal was cut off with a moan when
Xavier pulled her leg over his and slid his erection through her dripping wet
folds bumping her clit.
 
She felt Skylar
jerk and opened her eyes to see her nails digging into his chest.

"I'm
sor
-"

Her
words were cut off by Skylar's lips his tongue plundering her with an intensity
she remembered from their first night.
 
His taste and touch were amplified by the hard body moving behind her.
 
Xavier's erection rubbed enticingly over her
clit and already she could feel the stirrings of an orgasm beginning.

A
knock on the door pulled her from the moment, but Skylar's incessant forays
into her mouth soon let her forget the knock.
 
But none of them could ignore the pounding.

"Aspen,
I'm sorry, but you're the only one left."

Aspen
pulled away from Skylar and sighed.
 
It
probably wasn't a good idea anyways.
 

"I'm
sorry, but that's Essence.
 
I've got to
get the door."

Aspen
dodged their hands and ignored their pleas to scramble off the end of the
bed.
 
She pulled on her sleep shirt and
left the room and two horny wolves.
 

Aspen
shook her head.
 
What had she been
thinking?
 
She stopped in her room and
put on a pair of shorts before going to the door.
 
Essence sighed when she opened the door and
Gunner yawned before leaning against Essence's legs.

"I'm
so sorry, Aspen, but Mrs. Dawson is sick and no one else is available to keep
Gunner.
 
I've got clinical today and
Zackary has class.
 
Could you keep
Gunner?
 
It'll only be until after lunch
and Zackary can make it home."

"Sure, Essence."

Aspen
frowned when Essence backed up and pulled Gunner behind her.
 
A low feline growl erupted from the
strawberry blonde female and her hazel eyes glowed in the still darkened light.

Aspen
turned and found Skylar and Xavier standing behind her.
 
She turned back to Essence.

"
It's
okay, Essence.
 
This is Skylar and Xavier.
 
They're my..."

"We're
her mates," Skylar said and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Essence
took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I
don't know..."

"We'll
take good care of your son, ma'am.
 
He
won't come to any harm."

Xavier
joined Skylar in placing a hand on her opposite shoulder.
 
Essence stared for what seemed forever before
nodding.
 
She knelt and turned Gunner to
face her.

"I
want you to be good for Aspen, okay."

Gunner
nodded and yawned.

Essence
led him into the house and laid him on the couch.
 
He was sleeping before she turned to
leave.
 
She hesitated at the door and
Aspen patted her on the shoulder.

"I
promise he'll be safe, Essence."

Essence
sighed and smiled though it didn't reach her eyes.

"Thanks
Aspen."

Essence
left and Aspen turned to find Xavier covering a sleeping Gunner with a
blanket.
 
She placed a hand over her
abdomen and could see Xavier doing the same to her own son.
 
Skylar hugged her from behind and she
stiffened.

"I'm
sorry, Aspen.
 
I can't say it
enough."

Aspen
nodded and looked at the clock on the wall.
 
4:30 am.
 
She frowned.
 
Nursing school was brutal.
 
Thank goodness she'd gone to culinary
school.
 

"Let
me get to cooking.
 
If I know children,
he'll be up in an hour or so ready to eat and play."

Skylar
turned her in his arms and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Didn't
you hear me?"

"I
heard you, Skylar.
 
Loud and clear, but it
doesn't change the fact that I'm confused."

"I
know, baby.
 
Do you need any help in the
kitchen?"

"Are
you kidding?
 
I'm a chef."

Skylar
kissed her again, this time with more heat.

"How
could I forget the first time we met?"
 

Aspen
smiled and pulled from him leaving her two...mates to guard a sleeping toddler.

She
found solace in the practiced movements of cooking.
 
Cracking half a dozen eggs she added milk and
whisked the ingredients.
 
She chopped the
ham and cheese and placed them to the side while she heated up the
skillet.
 
She'd always enjoyed watching
the way the butter sizzled and then melted in the pan.
 
She could use oil, but the flavor from the
butter just made the omelets so much tastier.
 

The
egg mixture sizzled as it hit the pan and the aromas of the kitchen made her
smile.
 
Aspen loved an omelet.
 

"Are
you sure you don't need help?"

Aspen
turned to find Xavier leaning shirtless against the counter.
 
Something about this male made her want him, not
just the pheromones she knew dictated their mating.
 
She could see herself liking him despite the
mating bond that would eventually overtake them all.
 

Aspen
frowned.
 
She could remember the
arguments her mother and father always had.
 
They'd never cheated on one another, but then again, Aspen didn't think
it was physically possible to cheat on a mate.
 
It was till death do you part, quite literally.
 
But no matter the sacred bond her mother and
father shared she could feel even as a child the dislike they shared for one
another.
 
The loathing they felt when
their baser needs overcame their hatred and they mated, often in an explosive
manner.
 
Those were times she was
grateful to have Caleb and his parents.
 
They were her safe haven of sorts.

Aspen
bit her lip when Xavier lifted her chin with his fingers to stare into his
brown eyes.
 

"What's
made you so sad, Aspen?"

She
turned and flipped the eggs before adding the ham and cheese to the skillet.

"Who
says I'm sad?"

"No
one, you just seem sad.
 
By the way, I'm
not an expert with kids, but I'm pretty sure omelets are not their chosen
fare."

Aspen
gasped.
 
"But they're ham and
cheese!"

Xavier
smiled and tapped her on the nose gently with a finger.

"Be
that as it may, my younger brother and sister wouldn't eat that type of stuff
for breakfast.
 
Loved
pancakes and bacon or sausage though."

Aspen
smiled.
 
"Did you take care of
them?"

Xavier
laughed.
 
"You could say that.
 
As the oldest, it fell on me when my parents
went to work.
 
It was quite a learning
experience."

Aspen
nodded.
 
She transferred the finished
omelets to a plate and pulled out the ingredients for pancakes.
 
"I always wanted brothers and
sisters."

"Only child, huh?"

Aspen
nodded.
 
"I had the kids in the
pride to play with, but it wasn't the same.
 
Caleb and I became best friends and I consider him my brother, but I
never
really
had any."

"Why
didn't you beg your parents for a baby brother or sister?"

Xavier
took the spatula from her and mixed the ingredients together, his muscles
bunching with each stir.
 
Aspen squeezed
her legs together and barely controlled the moan that threatened to spill from
her lips.
 
Xavier winked and gave her a
knowing smile.

"Let's
just say that my parents aren't exactly each other’s favorite people."

"Not
true mates?"

Aspen
laughed though even she knew it held no joy.
 
Laughter like that had always sounded wrong to her, like it shouldn't
exist.

"They
are true mates, but lucky me, I got the two that hated each other despite the
true mating pull."

Xavier
nodded and was silent as he poured the pancake batter into small half-dollar
sized circles into the already heated skillet.
 

"They're
so tiny," Aspen said watching Xavier work.

"Kids
loved '
em
."

Silence
ensued.
 
Not exactly silence.
 
The sizzling of the pan filled the kitchen,
but Xavier didn't speak.
 
He just worked
quietly.
 
When he finally did speak,
Aspen jumped.

"Is
the fact that
me
and Skylar have already mated going
to be a problem for you?"

To
be honest, Aspen hadn't given it much thought and under the circumstances she'd
not had a chance.
 
They'd only showed up
in her life for about twenty-four hours now.
 
How was she supposed to know how their mating made her feel?
 
She thought back to the night before when
Xavier had stroked Skylar's cock.
 
Had
she been repulsed?
 
What if she were to
watch while Skylar fucked Xavier or vice versa?
 
Would that make her uncomfortable?

If
how turned on she was last night was any indicator, their mating only enticed
her.
 
And what woman hadn't thought of
two males showering her with attention?
 
Or maybe she was just weird.

"Aspen?"

Aspen
looked into Xavier's brown eyes and smiled.
 
She couldn't see herself mating him, at least not without Skylar.
 
And she wanted to see them in the throes of
passion.
 
It would be...interesting.
 
She hated that her pondering of his question
caused such hurt to enter his beautiful brown eyes.

"I'm
sorry, Xavier, it's just that I've never actually thought about it, but did it
seem to bother me last night when you touched Skylar?"

Xavier
shook his head.

"Then
I don't think that's going to be the problem."

Xavier
sighed and placed his tiny pancakes on a plate.

"Then
what is the problem?"

Aspen
turned to find Skylar watching them.
 
What was the problem?
 
Was she
scared they were going to leave?
 
Was she
scared that her mating would be as horrible as her mother and father's?
 
In all honesty, she wasn't sure, but she knew
she wasn't ready to let herself fall for the two wolves standing with her now.