Page 34 of Seven is Swell

“My comfort is at the bottom of my priority list right now. I realize both of us have hectic schedules, you have a lot of people you need to spend time with or choose to spend time with, so this is me trying to lighten that burden and trying to make it easier for us to spend time together. I want this. I wantus.”

“I’m too tired to debate this anymore right now. I’m going to take a shower. Cory, what still needs to be done for dinner?”

Cory and Adam are still mostly collapsed on the ground, wrapped around each other, and trying to take control of their breathing and their headspace. Maybe they’re in shock. “Oh, uh, we just need to stir the pasta into the sauce and heat it up for a second, and if somebody can toss the dressing into the salad, that would be good. The bread is in the oven staying warm.”

“I can handle that,” Ash says, turning towards the kitchen. “You all go take care of what you need to do, let me make myself useful.”

Without waiting for a response, he does just that and I kick my brother’s calf just to get him in on helping our new bond mates and our mate. “Come on, you two,” I say to Cory and Adam, offering a hand to them to help them up.

Jackson steps over and grabs Delaney, who doesn’t protest at all about being carried. But then again, she usually doesn’t.

“If you want, I can run to your guys’ rooms and get you some clothes for the night?” I offer, wanting to be helpful.

Cory blushes a little, chewing their lip. “That won’t be necessary.”

I follow their line of sight to see other suitcases stacked neatly in the corner and understanding descends on me. “Let me guess, another premonition?”

They pat me on the chest as they pass me. “You catch on quick.”

I usher everybody into the bathroom, get the water going nice and hot like Delaney likes, and then I set out to grab their suitcases.

I smile to myself as I hear them talking in the shower together, washing each other up and being awkward about it, meanwhile I’m unpacking their bags.

Conduit suites are equipped with everything to accommodate this many people, so there’re plenty of dressers to go around in our large room. I put a suitcase on top of the dressers I’m assigning them at random and start throwing their clothes in the drawers in some semblance of order, then I head back into the bathroom to make sure they’ll have all the towels they need.

I’m just in time for the water to turn off, so I stand there with a big fluffy towel and wait for Delaney to exit the shower, holding it out for her step into it so I can dry her off. I can’t resist the temptation to pull her into my arms. “I’m so proud of you,” I tell her as I kiss her on the side of her head. “You doing okay?”

She wraps her arms around me and even though I almost always want to be naked with her, being in a situation like this is next level. Me and my brother are no longer her only mates, which is both good and terrifying, but it will be an adjustment. This means my girl is one step closer to becoming who she was always meant to be, and that is cause for celebration.

“I guess a lot happened today. I don’t know how I am to be honest, but I think I’m mostly excited.” She turns to look at Adam and watch him change, then she spins out of my arms and walks up to him boldly. She pushes him against the dresser andtakes his mouth, placing a palm on either side of his face to keep him where she wants him.

It's hot as hell. Even though I used to have some issues with the guy, I feel like all of that was just because he didn’t know how he fit into Delaney’s life or what he was allowed to take from her. He wasn’t giving himself permission to love her like he needed to, like he really did already, so as long as he treats her right, I’m on his team.

“Mates?” He asks her. Did he miss how long ago, minutes-wise, that happened? Fuck, did he not feel it and is just now seeing the marks?

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t control—"

Cory stops her with another kiss, getting right in between her and Adam. “You don’t apologize,” they insist. “This was the goddess working, giving you what you need and rewarding us for some something incredible we must have done for her at some point.”

She looks unsure, but I think it's unwarranted. “You’re both staying here tonight, then?”

“Delaney,” Adam breathes as he steps into some clean boxers and throws a shirt on. “Nobody’s prying us away from you. It’s hard to contemplate that I basically just got married. Hehe,fuck. I have a ring on my hand. Delaney, come here.”

She blinks some tears away, smiling as she's wrapped up into him and Cory. “Don’t you think it’s kind of about time?”

He throws her on top of the dresser and steps between her legs, rubbing hands up both of her bare thighs before pushing the towel out of the way. “I never actually thought I could have you. Forgive me for wasting so much time. But I’m ready now. Cory,” he says, turning to them more, “I don’t know how this is all goingto work out yet, but you both need to promise me you'll let me know if either of you feel like you’re not getting enough time or attention from me, alright? This is gonna be tricky for me to balance but you’re both too important to me to mess this up.” He kisses Cory next, and I’m already loving the different shapes our new family is taking.

???

The next few days go by mostly well and by that, I mean I get to wake up my mate every single morning buried between her thighs. So far, we haven’t come across the demon again, though it hasn’t escaped mine or my brother’s attention that there are still plenty of people talking about him. We’re trying to learn as much as we can, but nobody seems to know much other than the fact he's apparently sexually attractive and he’s got blue skin.

Some people say periwinkle, I’ve heard cerulean, ocean blue, sky blue… I don’t know if everybody’s just really bad at their colors and never had crayons as a kid, or if his color shifts depending on his mood.

Either way, my brother and I are trying to be proactive, so we scheduled a meeting with Delaney's mom to talk to her about the situation.

Everybody’s done with classes for the day, so we’re all piled up on Delaney's couch which hopefully is reinforced and able to hold us all. She’s sitting half on mine and half on my brother’s laps, with everybody else around us, including Ash who’s been surprisingly eager to help everybody out with breakfasts in the morning and with general housekeeping things like laundry and such. We’ve jokingly named him the team mom, but I can see therelationship between him and Delaney starting to heal a little, which is nothing but good.

“Do you think we need to prepare anyone for what they could potentially see once we start the video call?” I comb through the ends of Delaney's hair with my fingers, feeling nervous for some reason.

---