Page 19 of Crossing Between
"That burned water was your favorite midnight snack with noodles." I flicked his ear as I walked around him to go help Elias with plating the food.
"I also learned to cook as soon as I could handle the stove." My brother teased me as he set up the TV trays next to the couch and chair in the living room. Our house wasn't big enough for a dining room.
"You two are obviously close." Elias was amused as he handed me a plate piled with bacon and eggs. "It makes me a little envious. My sisters usually just ignore me unless I can help them do something."
"We're the only family we have." I took a second plate and followed him into the living room. I set the food on the trays. "Even if he is a brat."
"Just for that, dear sister," Ryan pushed me into the middle of the couch. "You get to sit between your two partners instead of in your chair."
Kenji had sat on the right side of the couch and pulled one of the trays in between us. "I figured since there aren't enough trays for everyone, we could share." He nudged our shoulders together and I couldn't help but smile at his actions.
"You're really sweet." I squeezed his hand before starting to dig into breakfast. "Thank you for the food."
The meal passed with pleasant conversation and before I knew it, it was late afternoon before the two detectives headed out. I'd enjoyed being between both of them on the couch. It had felt safe, warm, and I had wanted to curl up in their laps. Having Ryan there helped remind me that they weren't just new friends, they were colleagues.
Even if I was developing a crush on them as well as Varon.
Chapter 14: Kenji
Zoey's laughter still echoed in my head after the breakfast we spent together. Just remembering it was helping to keep my inner rage soothed. She was cute and I couldn't wait to get to know her more. She had this button nose I wanted to boop so badly. I just wasn't sure if she would appreciate it at this point.
I'd told Elias we needed to relax on our day off, but I was such a hypocrite as I stood in front of the board in our home office with all of the evidence we had so far on the killings that were linked together. We were missing something. The victims were not related, the locations were random, and every kill was slightly different. Yet, they were done by the same killer. The killer's black tarred aura stink could not be hidden from the victim's bodies.
"You're supposed to be playing video games, bud." Elias leaned against the doorway. "We should lock this room electronically with only an emergency option to open it so we stop working on our days off."
I grunted and scratched the back of my head in frustration. "I know. This is just annoying. The longer we take to solve these murders, the more people die." I turned away from the board to stop myself from bashing it to the ground. "You up to spar?"
Elias grinned, his eyes changed to his krakens, showing his excitement. "You don't have to ask."
A chuckle slipped out as I followed him out of the office and down the hallway. "Feeling some pent-up energy, too?"
"Oh yeah." Elias cracked his neck as he walked to our workout room. It used to be the great room, but when we were renovating the place we decided to use the large space for our fitness. Its walls were also reinforced for when we went all out on our sparring matches.
We learned after the second time we broke one of the walls and had to repair it that it was just monetarily smarter to pay for the reinforcement like the station's workout room. Varon had helped us out with the cost as long as we agreed that he could come over once in a while to use it with us. He didn't get to use the stations because everyone else was afraid of him, which was smart, but we were closer to him than the others.
Flashes of our undercover work years ago went through my mind. My cock hardened as I remembered Varon biting me as an emergency feeder due to injury. It was one of the greatest feelings of my life. I'd cum after he pulled his fangs out and I'd wanted to feel it ever since. Varon had that impact on me. I was just good at hiding it. I had to with my other desire for my partner.
I hurriedly turned away from Elias as I finished my set with the weights I'd used while thinking about the past. I couldn't let him see my hard-on. It took a few minutes of thinking of things like Grum shirtless to get my cock down.
"Alright. Gloves or no gloves?" Elias faced me in the middle of the workout room. "No holds barred?"
I studied my partner for a second. "No holds barred." My shirt ripped down the middle as I let my more demonic side out. My fangs grew to my chin as my muscles bulged. I kicked off my shoes before my clawed feet could ruin them. A shirt wasn't a big deal but my shoes were my precious gems. My horns glinted under the lights as I puffed out my chest.
"Fight!" Elias roared as we met in the middle of the room.
The sounds of fierce combat echoed around the room. Elias wielded his gray tentacles in place of his arms, weaving them rapidly to block each crushing blow from my fists. We moved into a hypnotic dance, one that was practiced and familiar. It pumped up our blood and my rage surfaced as I landed a blow into his stomach, throwing him across the room.
My lungs began to heave as I swung my fist down and Elias ran at me swiftly. He deftly caught it between his tentacles, coiling them tightly. With a heave of effort, he used the leverage to flip me off my feet.
The force of my landing shook the walls, but I quickly rolled back up, laughter bubbling from my chest. "Well struck!"
I growled as a tentacle landed a stinging slap across my bare chest, leaving an angry welt where Elias' suckers stuck to the skin briefly. We strained against each other in a contest of power for almost five minutes before breaking apart as our chests heaved from exertion.
"Let's call it a draw today," Elias panted, shifting his tentacles back into muscular arms that I admired. I shrank down to my human guise as we clasped forearms. "That always helps make me feel better."
"Same." I picked up my shredded shirt and used it to wipe off the sweat on my forehead. "Almost as good as sex."
Elias barked out a laugh at me. "You're not serious. Nothing is better than sex. The scents, the touches, the sounds. It's primal and instinctive." He walked over to me, his leaner body rocked side to side almost like a dancer at times in my mind. "Sparring is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it has nothing on sex."
