Porpoiseful Intent [Placida Pod 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (17 page)

Emery let his words sink in. He nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“Hell yeah, I’m right. You know I am. We’re in this together, by the way. Don’t you dare start any of this pity bullshit. You did all you could do. Your father is the pod Alpha, by the way. I guaran-damn-tee you he’s feeling at least twice as bad as you do right now that Erik got away. Probably a lot more. He
is
responsible for the pod right now. So save some of that pity for him.”

Emery let his head fall forward, his forehead touching Sean’s. “What would I do without you?”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re stuck with me for life.”

* * * *

Erik remained under the dock most of the night. Before dawn he crept out, shifted into dolphin form, and made his way back to Sarasota Bay.

Keeping to the bottom of the channel, he swiftly swam out to the Gulf of Mexico. He didn’t dare risk going south, back to the rented trailer in Placida.

He did, however, have a plan. And as long as he could safely reach Mexico, it meant he’d still have a chance to get his revenge…and possibly even control of the Placida Pod.

He headed west, swimming for his life.

* * * *

Three days later, Sean was out on a jobsite when his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number and almost didn’t answer it. “Sean Morita.”

With the caller’s initial hesitation, he thought the call had dropped before a woman spoke. “Sean, it’s Olivia.”

Over the sound of road construction machinery, he wasn’t sure he’d heard the woman correctly. “Olivia?”

“Emery’s sister. Can we talk?”

He walked over to where his truck sat parked in the shade and closed the door, shutting out the worst of the noise. “What’s wrong?”

“Can we meet somewhere to talk?”

“I can’t drive over there right now, I’m sorry.”

“I’m in Sarasota.”

“You’re over here? I thought you and Barry had gone home.”

“We did. But I drove over this morning. I’d like to talk with you. Alone. Please don’t tell Emery or my parents I’m here.”

He couldn’t get any other answers out of her on the phone. They met nearly an hour later at a small café in downtown Sarasota, not too far from Sean’s jobsite. Olivia sat at a back corner table with a glass of what looked like iced tea in front of her. After the waitress took his order, Sean leaned in and took her hands. He didn’t need to be able to read her mind to see something deeply troubled her.

“What’s going on? Why didn’t you want me to tell Emery or your parents you’re here? And does Brad know you’re here?”

“Brad knows.” She took a deep breath. When her eyes met his, it looked like she’d been crying at some point in the not-too-distant past. “Tell me what it’s like,” she whispered.

His brows drew together. “What what’s like?”

“Having a mate-bond.”

Alarm bells went off in his head. “Are you sure this is a conversation you want to be having with me?”

“Please, Sean. You and Em are the only people I know, other than Alexis and Carter, who have it.”

“Is this about the other day in my living room? Because I didn’t mean to put you two on the spot, but I wasn’t going to let anyone ramrod guilt down their—”

She squeezed his hands. “Please.”

He took a deep breath. “I can’t explain it. Take the love you feel for whoever you’ve romantically loved the most in your life and multiply it by infinity. Like you can’t even remember what it felt like loving someone else. Like he’s a part of me, part of my soul.” He let his eyes drift to their hands, where they were clasped on the table. “Like if he died, I wouldn’t want to live. Wouldn’t know how to live.”

Gazing into her eyes again, he continued. “But just because you don’t have a mate-bond with someone doesn’t mean you can’t love them and spend the rest of your life with them. You love Brad, right?”

“Yes. But Alexis thought she loved George, too.”

“No. She didn’t just think it. She did love him. Whatever whacky magic stirs up when a mate-bond forms between people is like hitting the Powerball numbers. You can’t regret your choices in life about who to love just because you don’t have a mate-bond.”

She eased her hands free and reached into her purse. Withdrawing some papers, she put them on the table and pushed them over to him.

He picked them up and read them. It was her will, and Brad’s, including clauses naming Sean and Emery the guardian of any children they had.

“Are you sure you want me on here?”

She nodded. “I want it in writing, so no one can take them away from you. Not my parents, not Brad’s family, no one. If anything ever happens to me and Brad, we agree we want you and Emery to raise them. Any children we have. We want you and Em because you have a mate-bond. You’re meant to be together. If I can’t raise my kids, I want that for them.”

He stared at the papers for a long time without speaking, not sure what to think, much less say. “You’ve talked this over with Brad?” he eventually managed to ask.

“He suggested it.”

“Why aren’t you talking to Em about this?”

“Because he’s got a lot on his plate. He’s going to be taking over as Alpha. I know he’s upset about…everything that happened.” She reached across the table and clasped his wrist. “Please, Sean. It would really put our minds at ease to know the two of you are there in case anything ever happens. And I know as my brother he wouldn’t say no.”

“You realize the chances of needing us to do this are very slim, right?” He forced a chuckle. “You’re both young and healthy.”

She leveled her gaze at him. “So were Barry and George. And I’m the current pod Alpha’s eldest daughter. I’m going to be the next pod Alpha’s eldest sister. You don’t think that puts a target on my back if that psycho comes back? Erik was part of the pod. He probably has my address.”

She had a point he couldn’t argue with.

He nodded. “Okay.” He folded the papers and handed them back to her. “We’ll do it.”

She jumped up and rounded the table to hug him. “Thank you, Sean,” she whispered against his shoulder, her voice sounding choked. “You have no idea what a relief this is.”

* * * *

Sean tried not to let it bother him when he went back to work after their lunch. When he returned to the office later that afternoon, he found a sticky note on his desk.

Sean, you and Emery for dinner tonight, please. See you at 7. — Mom

He stared at it for a moment.
Dammit.
Sure he could say no, or make excuses, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He called Emery. “Guess what?”

“Chicken butt?”

“Haha, very funny. Mom wants us over for dinner at their place at seven.”

He heard Emery’s tired sigh. “No way of getting out of it?”

“You want to call her and tell her?”

“Not really.”

“Then get your stuff wrapped up and meet me at our house so we can be on time.”

They pulled into the Moritas’ yard at five ’til. Sean led the way up the stairs. He knocked on the front door before opening it and calling out, “We’re here.”

“In here, guys,” Sam called back.

They found Sam and Helen in the kitchen. The delicious aroma of brisket swirled through the house.

“That smells great,” Sean said.

He didn’t miss his mom’s tight, nervous smile. “Glad you think so, Sean.” She leaned in for a kiss on the cheek from Sean, then Emery.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Sean asked.

“She’s not happy with me,” Sam said.

“Why?”

Sam wryly smiled. “We had lunch with Louise and Joseph this afternoon. Had a nice, long talk, too.”

Helen nervously giggled. “You know, we really don’t need to—”

“Helen,” Sam calmly said, “we talked about it. If you can deal with our son being gay, you can deal with this.”

Her lips flattened into a tight, thin line, but she didn’t respond.

“Um, Dad? What’s going on?”

He offered Sean and Emery both beers before answering “I told Joseph that I will help with security and logistics for the superpod.”

Sean blinked, sure he’d misheard him. “What?”

Sam smiled. “You heard me correct, son.”

Helen fumbled a dish of mashed potatoes, nearly dropping it, but recovering in time to prevent from spilling anything.

Emery gently took it from her and carried it out to the table.

“My son is going to be the husband of the pod’s Alpha,” Sam proudly said, a broad grin on his face. “You think I’m not going to help? Of course I’m going to help. I told Joseph I’d take people out in my boat and help keep an eye on things while everyone’s out there. I’ll be happy to help.”

Helen made a strange little noise in her throat.

Sean, torn between making sure she was okay and his dad’s sudden pride in the whole situation, didn’t know who to focus on. He chose his dad, because he was currently making the most noise. “Um, what?”

Sam lightly smacked Sean in the chest with the back of his hand. “I’m so proud of you, son. Both of you. Holding a superpod is a huge honor!” Emery had appeared in the doorway. At Sam’s words, he turned and disappeared again.

Sean didn’t miss it, however. “Hey, you get back here!”

Emery returned to the doorway. “Yeeesss?”

Sam grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the kitchen. “Mister Bashful. You are going to be the head of the pod!”

Sean and Emery exchanged an uneasy glance.

Sam didn’t miss it. “Yes, I know. I went from trying to ignore the whole dolphin thing to volunteering. Well, let me tell you both something. Sean keeps telling me I need a hobby, right?”

Sean numbly nodded.

“Okay, then. You should be happy. I have a hobby. I’m helping Joseph with the preparations for the superpod.”

Sean and Emery both stared at him. In unison, they said, “What?”

Another shrill, nervous giggle burped out of Helen. She carried a dish of vegetables out to the dining room.

“That’s right,” Sam said. Then he leaned in close and dropped his voice. “I think your mother is still having a little trouble dealing with the dolphin thing. Oh, she loves you, Emery,” he assured him, “but she’s not quite sure how to…process it, I guess you’d say.”

Sean took a long swig of his beer.

Emery glanced at him, then looked at Sam. “Well, thank you, Dad. I appreciate you doing that. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

“I just want you to promise me one thing.”

“Sure. What’s that?”

Sam glanced over his shoulder to make sure Helen was out of earshot. He lowered his voice even more, his expression turning murderous. “That son of a bitch Erik shows up, I get to kill him.”

THE END

WWW.TYMBERDALTON.COM

Tymber Dalton lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. Not only is she active in the BDSM lifestyle, the two-time EPIC winner is also the bestselling author of over thirty-five books such as
The Reluctant Dom
,
Cardinal’s Rule
, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Deep Space Mission Corps series, the Placida Pod series, and many more.

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