Page 96 of Reclaiming Quinn
Chapter Twenty-Four
A SHARPknock on the door had Deke sitting up and running a hand over his eyes. There was a delicious ache in his ass, and he smiled as he remembered Quinn’s mind slotting with his own. When the two became one, Deke felt whole at last. Years of searching for something that would satisfy him had finally come to an end.
Another knock, this one harder.
“Quinn, Rupert’s at the door.”
“Go ’way,” he grumbled but still sat up.
“Quinn, Gareth wants you and Deke to come to the great room.”
“And I wanted a pony, but I never got it,” Quinn snarked. “We’ll be right there.”
It seemed awfully early to be…. Oh crap. It was already nearly noon.
“Holy shit, we slept most of the day,” Deke said, shocked.
“Yet you’re still exhausted.”
It was nice that Quinn could feel him, and even better to know that he’d never have to worry about either of them hiding if they were hurt or upset.
“I am.” He leered at Quinn. “After we see what Gareth has to say, I vote we go back to bed.”
Quinn arched an eyebrow. “Really? At this rate the lube bottle will be empty by the end of the week.”
“I’ll buy the next one. I think I saw a fifty-five-gallon tub online somewhere. That should last us a couple weeks.”
Quinn laughed as he came around the side of the bed, bent down, and kissed Deke. “I gotta admit, Mother Moon knew what she was doing when she handed out mates. Mine is damn near perfect.”
“Damn near?” Deke squawked. “What do you mean damn near?”
A snicker as Quinn turned and headed for the bathroom. In Quinn’s mind, Deke could hear the laughter, and it thrilled Deke how free Quinn felt at the moment. He could also sense the fear that had gripped Quinn since they’d met had been relegated to a bit of background noise. Oh, Deke was under no illusions that Quinn was healed. That kind of trauma didn’t vanish, and he would always need to be alert if it reared up again, but with Quinn saying he wanted to see a therapist, Deke was confident that one day Quinn would exit that dark tunnel for good.
He returned a few minutes later, pink and freshly scrubbed. “You’re not dressed.”
“Crawl back into bed with me. Gareth can wait.”
“No, I can’t,” Gareth boomed from down the hall. “Get your asses out here, or I’m coming in and bringing everyone with me.”
“Think they’d like the floorshow?” Quinn whispered.
“You were a bit of a brat growing up, weren’t you?”
A shrug. “Maybe a little.”
Deke couldn’t wait to see if that Quinn reemerged. He sat up and moved into his chair, grateful when Quinn handed him some clothes. “These should do until we can decide on living arrangements.”
“If you’re with me, I don’t care where we live. I’ll talk to Lyram about building us a cabin, but in the meantime, I’m happy to stay here, if you’ll have me.”
Quinn came up from behind and nibbled on Deke’s neck. “I plan on having you many, many times. And I also have ideas about how you’ll have me.” And just like that, Deke’s cock hardened. Yep, his mate was pure brat.
Goddess, Deke loved him so.
By the time they got out to the great room, the groups had divided up. Rupert sat beside Zach, while another group—the other Vampyri, Deke figured—stood around Sean and the babies. Gareth and Lyram were in the doorway, watching the proceedings.
“Okay, let’s make this short and sweet. When we spoke with Mother, she released the Vampyri from their vows. They are now free to live their own lives, without restrictions. You are all going to have to make up your minds about what it is you want, but once again I’d like to remind you about the offer I’ve made for you to travel with us and be protectors of my family.” He stepped closer. “I understand if you don’t want to do it. After all, you’ve spent so many years building lives of your own, and—”
“We spoke of it last night, Alpha,” Zach said. “With one exception, everyone here will go with you.”
