The Coming Storm (20 page)

“I’m just fucking spinning out of control here and I don’t know what to do. I should turn to you, right? I mean that’s what people in love do so does that mean I don’t really love you? But I think I do, I swear I
know
I do but maybe I don’t know anything anymore and what do I do with that? And a man tried to kill me and I killed one. I should be helping you and I just keep feeling like the floor is dropping out from—”

He covered my rambling mouth with his hand as my chest heaved. I hadn’t even realized I was starting to hyperventilate until he did that, leaving my nose clear for air of course. Aurelo nodded that he heard me loud and clear before kissing my forehead.

“Then we’re going to keep things very simple, baby. I wasn’t thinking about everything. Only us making up and getting back on track. I’m sorry. I should have. I’m older and jaded so a lot of this other stuff doesn’t faze me.” I felt my heart sink into my stomach and he clucked his tongue at me as I started to lower my head. Glancing back at him, he gave me a wink. “I’m glad you’re not as jaded as me. The way you see the world makes me feel more alive.”

I nodded and he removed his hand from my mouth. “Simple. Okay. I can do simple.” I kept nodding as I thought that over and finished showering. When I was done, he was waiting for me with a towel. “What does simple entail?”

“Do you want space? It’s okay to want some alone time. I won’t get upset.” I could see the truth of his words in his eyes. He wouldn’t get pissed or hold it against me if I told him to take a hike for a while.

I thought about it while I dried off and then walked into the bedroom, sitting on the bed and bracing my arms on my knees as I sighed. “No. I don’t know if this makes me a total wuss but I just keep coming back to I just really want a hug and someone I love and trust to tell me I did the right thing by taking that man’s life and that I’m not a horrible person. I’m a computer geek, Aurelo. I never, ever thought I’d kill someone.”

Instantly he was there next to me, holding me tightly as he whispered everything I needed to hear as he soothed me. And I believed him. As stupid as it sounds, I just needed to hear the words. I wasn’t a trained solider. I wasn’t old enough to have seen war or anything that would make me understand what I’d done was the only way.

But Aurelo had. And he assured me that Seattle, Boston, and Julus would be telling me the same thing if they were sitting there right then. It helped and slowly I felt as if I wasn’t about to shatter into tiny pieces under the stress of it all.

And with his help, a little of the pain that he’d caused faded so that I was able to tilt my neck and kiss him. He kept it simple as he promised and it was just what I needed. So that’s what we did the rest of the night into the morning. We handled one piece of our jumbled mess at a time, and with setting the issue to rest, I was able to let him in a little more so we could take another step forward, back to where we’d been.

Weird? Yes, I understand that. But to my logical, systematic, and computer processing like brain it made complete sense. I’d hit my limit. I couldn’t add anything until I had a partial system dump and emptied the recycle bin after a defragment, error check, and disk clean up. I didn’t have room for Aurelo and letting him back in, taking the steps needed until I could figure out how to get through what was already there.

The kicker was he was the way to get through it
and
the help I needed to let him back in my life. Which really meant all around he was what I needed and
that
was love. So I didn’t need to doubt how I felt about him anymore, now did I?

12

I liked making up. I mean I
really
liked making up. By the time lunch rolled around, Aurelo and I had made up a lot and gotten several hours of sleep in. I’d gotten a text from Seattle that we’d been invited stretch our malamute legs on the flock’s lands since all we’d gotten to do was fight during shifting the night before and that would leave our animals restless.

The owls understood that. Plus, Director Woodrow was so grateful for our helping his people we were his honored guests for the meal. I didn’t want to miss that!

Aurelo had tried to drag me back into bed with him for more
making up,
but I’d darted away, keeping him on his toes, laughing when he’d given chase. I found my brothers on the back terrace of the estate getting undressed as most of the owls were already shifting and taking to the sky.

“I can’t imagine how cool it would be to fly,” I said with a tone of awe as I watched while I pulled off my jeans. “I mean, running on four legs the first time was a trip but flying? I’m not sure I would have been coordinated enough not to plummet to my death.”

Director Woodrow chuckled from behind me. “We work really hard with the young ones to make sure that doesn’t happen. They start off easy, and just like owls in the wild, some of it is just instinct, Chicago. Of course we’re sentient but we are owls, as you are malamutes and certain things come naturally to you.”

“Makes sense.” I had to give him that. “Maybe it’s the dog in me that screams
noooo, not happening
. I just see me crashing.”

“I have the same reaction when I think of running around on four paws with a big tail and fur,” he assured me. “My flock will stay close to you and your brothers to guide you as to the confines of our land so you don’t wander somewhere where you might be seen. Go enjoy yourself. You deserve a chance to run before what you face tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Director Woodrow. I can’t think of a better way for us to let out some stress,” Seattle said with a big smile before shifting.

We all followed suit, and I saw Aurelo was there then. Padding over to him, I jumped up on him, resting my front paws on his chest before giving his cheek a lick when he leaned down enough.

“You are as beautiful as a malamute as you are a man. Go have fun with your family. I will be here waiting for your return.”

I gave him a happy yap, since we didn’t bark, before taking off. I didn’t need to be told twice! We were careful of where the owls were but otherwise it was completely stress free. We ran around, jumping on each other and playing as if it was a couple years before and we were just hanging out on the weekend at home before Mom called us for dinner.

Which made me happy and sad at the same time. I missed them desperately of course, but I never thought we’d ever get this feeling of ease and family back with them gone. As if we’d lost it when we’d lost them.

After about an hour, Seattle started herding us back towards the flock house. I could tell none of us wanted to go and we still had ample energy left but it would be rude to our hosts to assume they had nothing better to do than watch us play all day. That and we didn’t know how tiring it was to fly all that time.

I tended to think it was incredibly tiring.

When we got back, I shifted and smiled when I saw Hadley do the same after he landed. I walked over to him, noticing Aurelo was watching us out of the corner of my eye. I was making my way to him… I just wanted to say a quick
hi
was all.

“Hey! Glad to see you on your feet and not all loopy,” I said with a wink. “I guess someone caught you up on our names and that I wasn’t claiming to be
all
of Chicago?”

“Good to see
all
of you again too,” he replied before licking his lips. I thought that was an odd way to specify he was glad none of my family got hurt in the fight. “I hear I won’t be seeing you for long though. That’s a shame.”

“Um, yeah, we’re leaving tonight. We have to get to the PP. Good luck with everything, Hadley.” I turned to leave, and he grabbed my arm gently as he stared at me intently.

“You don’t have to run off just yet.”

I looked up at the man. The handsome owl confused me. He was either odd or there was something I seriously was missing about him. “Everyone’s going in for lunch.” I nodded towards the terrace doors that people were filing through, quickly leaving less and less people outside. “And Aurelo’s waiting for me.”

“Of course you’d have a lover.” His tone seemed upset about that. Now why would that be? “I forgot that you were distraught that someone got hurt. He saved your life, right?”

“Yeah, he did. He’s okay though, thank the gods.”

Hadley gave me a fake smile as he let me go, looking as if he was ready to grind his teeth down. “Glad to hear it. Enjoy lunch.”

“You too.” I got one step away before bumping into a firm wall of flesh. Strong hands steadied me, and I knew that scent all too well. “Hey.”

“Hey, baby,” Aurelo purred, his light green eyes filled with heat and focused on me. But then he glanced up. “Hang on—Hadley, was it?”

“Yeah. Look, I didn’t mean to poach. You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Trying what?” I asked, glancing between them as I realized it was just us now on the terrace, everyone else inside the mansion.

“Trying for you, my sexy lover.” Aurelo turned me around and pulled me back against him so I felt his hard-on pressing into my back. “Hadley wants you. Look at his cock standing proud and leaking for you.”

“T-That’s for m-me?” I gasped, looking from it to Hadley’s face, back to his groin. He had an impressive dick so it was difficult not to stare only at it.

“You know how sexy you are. Don’t play coy,” Hadley snapped.

“No, he doesn’t. Chicago doesn’t play games,” Aurelo said firmly. “I love them sometimes on the other hand. Right, baby?” His fingers ran down my ribs and I shivered against him. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

“Yes.”

I blinked at Hadley and it hit me. The intense looks he’d been giving me were lust. I missed it because his were different than I’d seen directed at me before from the few men who had given them.

“You want my Chicago, don’t you? I saw you watching him undress before the run as if you were trying to figure out how to get him naked again later for just you.” Hadley nodded, watching Aurelo’s hands as they pressed flat against my chest and slowly ran down my body until he was bent over me and rubbing my hip bones. I whimpered and threw one arm back around his neck. “See how responsive he is? How desperate are you to have a taste of him?”

“I’d do just about anything,” Hadley growled. “Why are you torturing me with what I can’t have? I said I wasn’t trying to poach.”

“Who says you can’t have him?” Aurelo cooed as he started playing my body with those talented hands. I swore he either had my instruction manual or I had landing lights the way he knew just where to touch me. “You can’t keep
my
Chicago. But he was practically innocent before me and I want him to experience everything and that means more than me.”

“You’re saying I can fuck him?” I watched Hadley’s cock twitch at the idea, liking that, but not that they were talking about me like I wasn’t there.

“The final decision is up to Chicago, of course, but we have an agreement that I can pick men for him to sample being with because I like to watch men pleasing him before I join in,” Aurelo explained. He cupped my sac and I moaned, moving my other arm around his neck as well to try and keep standing. “That’s it, my love. Make those sweet noises for me so Hadley can hear and beg for your attention.”

I barely heard him, lost in the sensations racing through my body when he grabbed my cock and stroked me slowly. “Please, Aurelo, faster. Please. I’m so wound up after a run. I need. I was going to come find you and beg you to take me after lunch however you wanted.”

“Say the words, Chicago,” he growled. I bit back a smile. We’d talked earlier about how much it thrilled him when I said the dirty words instead of being vague. It flat did it for Aurelo and I probably could get anything I wanted when I did it.

“I want your big cock fucking me until I scream and then you fuck me some more.”

“And if I want Hadley to fuck you first?” My cock twitched before I could say anything. As I said, the owl shifter was handsome. That was an understatement really now that I was paying better attention. I found that I didn’t notice other men as much when with Aurelo. He was my flame that I was just drawn to.

I gasped as he stroked me faster. “Yes, whatever you want, Aurelo.”

“Jesus, he begs so pretty,” Hadley groaned. “Tell me what I need to do for you to say
yes
. I can’t keep him. Fine, I’ll take the taste and you can fuck me while I do. I don’t care. I want him.”

“You sure?” Aurelo breathed in my ear so only I could hear. “You seemed to want to get away from him earlier. I think he’s hot but more than that, he’s intense in his attraction to you. That should give you one hell of a ride and a new experience. One that I will enjoy watching before joining in, but I don’t want to push you after we just found our way back to each other.”

I tilted my neck so I could look up at him. “I trust you. If you think this will be fun for us and something we’ll enjoy, then I’m in. He’s attractive and you’re into it. Yes, I submit to him and your will, Aurelo. I figure that’s also enough proof that I’m completely in this relationship and didn’t just say that so you’d fight to live.”

He frowned and that was the last thing I wanted. “That’s not why you’re agreeing to this though, right?”

“No,” I snickered. “I’m not agreeing to let basically a stranger fuck me and join us in bed to prove my commitment to you. It’s like the cherry on top.”