Page 12 of The Magic of Betrayal
“I feel like a shower is in order, I’m all sweaty. Maybe some food then? Pizza? What the hell time is it anyway? Was I gone long?” She asked, each question coming out faster than the last.
“Slow it down, Red. Last thing we need is you getting stressed right now. You were out for close to eighteen hours. It’s almost midnight, so no take-out places will be open in this tiny ass town. Any other requests for food?” Sloane told her the facts, and I thought his straight from the hip no bullshit attitude was exactly what she needed right now.
“I think I have some frozen pizzas. That’ll work. Thank you, Sloane.” She smiled at him and he returned it before muttering about preheating the oven and leaving the room.
Kai was burying his face into her neck, his purrs erupting from his chest at a volume I’d never heard from him before. Saige’s giggles had my mouth lifting at the corner, watching Kai sniff her, and lay kisses up and down her throat. Suddenly he jerked back, eyes wide.
“What is it, Kai?” Cam demanded.
Kai shook his head, bringing Saige’s hand up to his nose, running it up and down her wrist and arm, taking deep inhales.
“I just… thought I smelled something familiar, but that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Something orsomeone?” Cam pushed, wanting more information, and I listened eagerly.
“Thought I smelled Johnny for a second, that damn Acqua Di Gio cologne he’s always got on, and don’t get me wrong, that scent is there, faintly… but there’s something else that’s stronger, and I’ve never scented that from him.” Kai processed his thoughts aloud and then Saige piped up.
“Does it smell like old books and coffee?”
“That’s it.” Kai snapped his fingers with a dramatic flourish that only he could pull off, “But Johnny doesn’t have that smell. It just startled me for a moment.”
Kai leaned back down and continued the sniff and kiss fest, and when her hand came up to playfully push him back, he caught hold of her wrist and brought it to his cheek, the two of them staring into one another’s eyes with a longing that I could feel from where I was standing.
Silently shuffling over to scoot onto the mattress myself, Cam shot me a look that relayed his relief. We’d all been beside ourselves when our girl went unconscious, but losing someone important had always been Cam’s biggest fear. Well, at least for the past fifteen years.
"You scared me, Sprout," Kai confessed, running his fingers down her cheek.
"I was scared, too. I'm so glad you all figured out how to ensure that doesn't happen anymore, this is where I belong." Saige leaned in and pressed a kiss to Kai’s mouth.
Cam folded his huge frame around our girl, dropping an arm over her waist and snuggling his face into her hair and neck.
"Baby girl..." he rumbled, a deep sigh leaving his lips before continuing, "I would've burned down all of the realms combined to get you back. We all would have. Did you learn anything of interest while you were there? Anything that would help explain the prophecy or why this seems to keep happening?"
Sloane returned just then with two pizzas and a basket loaded up with water, diet Dr. Pepper, and beer. Saige started laughing at the sight.
"You look like a pissy little red riding hood with that basket, Sloane," she giggled, bringing a smile to all of our faces.
"First of all, Red, let's get one thing straight. I'm not little anything, and if we're going with that story, you should know I'm the big bad wolf and I'm here to eat up little Red," he glowered, my dick throbbed at the sexual current that ran through his words. Jesus.
Saige's cheeks blushed, nearly matching her fiery hair.
"Get over here with that food, man. Sprout was just about to tell us more about her time in Besmet." Kai explained, helping her sit up.
"Red. What in the name of Jupiter's cock are you wearing right now?" Sloane's eyes nearly bugged out, and we all turned our attention to her.
"It's just a tank to—" She looked down at the same time Kai's howling laughter filled the space. "That dirty fucking demon dickheaded dingleberry..." she shrieked, outraged.
"Is that a... penis snail?" Cam questioned, his eyebrows nearly hitting his hairline.
"It looks like the saddest fucking creature in all the galaxies, where did you get it? Is that a thing that lives in the demon realm? Fuck, that's the shit nightmares are made of." Sloane visibly shuddered and I laughed like hell.
"So, there's this man—"
"Better not be, Sprout." Kai's eyes narrowed and a growl built in his chest. By the moon, he was turning into a jealous fuck.
Cam's eyes also narrowed and I took it upon myself to get these alpha dickheads to stop making fools of themselves.
"Enough. Let our girl tell us her story. There are other men in the world, you know this, right? It's not like she mentions another dude and that means she's dating him. You guys are going to growl yourselves into an early grave if you keep this shit up. Knock it off."
