Page 34 of Vicious Fates and Vast Futures
THREE GAMES OF BILLIARDSlater and I’m winning two to one.
Bryn’s grinning. “Well played, Nairna. Can we consider this a continuing challenge?”
I toss myself down on the deep couch as I smile. “You just don’t want to have to mark this down as a loss.”
“Damn right,” he chuckles, flopping down next to me. He looks delectable in his low-slung grey sweats, shirtless, his deep cut lines making a perfect V and a little line of dark hair on clear display, both of which are dragging my attention downwards. He watches me intently as I somehow manage to pull my sex-addled brain back to what I’m doing.
“Adi teach you to work that thing?”
“It’s called a remote. And yeah, it’s easy.”
Bryn stares silently as I press buttons.
“Want to watch a movie?” I ask.
He hums. “I’d rather read one,” he grumbles, but I can hear the playfulness in his voice. This side of Bryn is so new to me, and I think I like it. My aura buzzes happily, rolling and coiling with his, as I put on the first episode of a series I started a while back.
A FEW HOURS LATER ANDwe’re cleaning up our mess in the kitchen.
“No, I’m telling you, En”—Bryn is obviously annoyed—“it makes no sense. If he really wanted the kid dead, he’d have stabbed him, not pushed him out a window. This is entirely a fuckup of his own making.”
I laugh. “There would be no plot if that happened, Bryn.”
He shakes his head, still bothered, but slips next to me, leaning his butt against the counter as he crosses his arms over his bare chest.
His hand comes out and gently turns my chin towards him. “Would you join me in my bed, En?”
My eyebrows shoot up. This is a far cry from the dominant Bryn I’ve seen when it comes to sex. I cock my head, studying his chiseled face. “Are you not interested in fucking me into next week?”
A growl escapes him. “And what makes you think that?”
I shrug, breaking his gaze. “You are just...more passive than I’ve seen.”
“Oh, I’ll still make you come so hard you stop breathing, pup. But attempting to top a female who’s just been blessed by the Goddess of Death seems like a spectacularly bad idea.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Bryn joins in before pulling me into his arms. “No, I told you, Nairna, we meet each other where we’re at. Do youneedto be dominated right now? Sometimes it helps when you’re feeling overwhelmed. If you need it, I’ll give it.”
I shake my head, mind running a mile a minute, trying to come up with some words.
Bryn smiles. “Good. I was hoping we could meet on level ground tonight.” His smile is incredible and I feel his aura swirling playfully around me.
“Why?” It’s the best I can manage.
He blinks as shock slowly spreads across his face. Without another word, he scoops me up, which feels silly as fuck to me given that we’re the same height, and carries me to his room.
He places me gently upon the bed’s rich-brown comforter as I look around. My eyes widen. His headboard, if you can call it that, is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf carved into the wooden wall. Books cover it, along with an old map of Ireland and Scotland. A few candles dot the shelves. I see some books that look like first editions. My eyes take in the opposite wall, which is, slightly inexplicably, brick. The lighting is dim and I’m surrounded by Bryn’s woodsy and leather scent. Despite my nerves being on edge, my whole body relaxes.
Bryn closes the door, crosses the room, and climbs onto the bed with me. He takes my face in both of his hands, kneeling in front of me. “Nairna, I would like to apologize. I’m sorry that my behavior has given you the impression that I would like a twenty-four seven dom sub dynamic with you.”
My eyes widen, and he continues, “I never intended to give that impression. Icertainlydon’t like my partners to be submissive in all aspects of life.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even want themalwayssubmissive in bed.”
The honesty written across his face hits me in the chest. I take a deep breath as he stares at me. I should trust him. Him and Ossy. They are honest and true. They care for me as much as they do for Adi. I shake my head silently, thinking. Can four people love each other with similar depth and passion? Could they invest in me, the same way they have each other? Bryn and Ossy are both silently, fiercely protective of each other, as much as they are of Adi. And I know—I feel—Adi’s devotion to me. Could these two males truly adore me as well?
He sighs and rubs his head. “How could I have fucked this up?” I hear the sorrow and regret in his tone, though I’m not sure he intended me to hear his muttering.
I blink, still feeling pretty damned stunned, but I quickly speak up, our bond making me need to assuage him. “It’s less that I thought you wanted me collared all the time and more that I am still adjusting to this idea that we all could...love each other individually. And...that I can rely on someone.”
Something flickers in his eyes, and before I can blink, he’s got his arms around me and he lays us down together tenderly.
