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ChapterTwenty

Delaney

“Before we get too far down the ideas rabbit hole, perhaps we could possibly sleep first? I don't think I can make anybody in this room happy until that happens first.”

“Sorry, got excited by the glitter. Of course, we should sleep.

It's been a really long day.” Leo looks bashful as he says this, and if I wasn't feeling like I was dead on my feet, I'd be jumping all in to go rescue the rest of my mates as soon as possible.

But I'm not good to them if I’m delirious from needing sleep.

I squeeze Saladriel gently on the shoulder as I walk past him, going towards where I know the bedroom is. I hadn't paid much attention to it earlier, but of course there's only one bed.

“That's definitely not going to fit everybody,” I sigh to myself as I start figuring out who the heck is going to get left out.

“Maybe if we lie on it sideways? Our feet would hang off, but surely that would be better than sleeping apart from you.” I should have known that Leo wouldn't let me out of his sight for long. I'm sure he has every intention of being attached to me at the hip.

Although, if we're going to be attached, I think there are plenty more interesting ways we can do it than via hip.

I'm clearly talking about his massive gargoyle cock.

“Or maybe there are extra blankets somewhere and we can just make a big bed on the floor? The carpeting wouldn't be too bad.”

“We'll figure it out, Delaney. Don't you worry about us,” Wil says as he starts opening up closets.

Leo scoops me up and peels back the blankets with one arm, tucking me right into the middle of the bed and wrapping himself around me.

Rush sits on the other side of me tentatively, kicking off his shoes and pulling off his T-shirt. “I think I'll go take a quick shower before I try and sleep, if that's alright? Will that keep you up?”

I wave him off and let out a massive yawn. “Of course not. Go take care of yourself, just come kiss me before you go to sleep?”

I snuggle into Leo, tucking my knee between his legs, feeling at peace having him here even if we weren't separated all that long.

We've been on again off again through no fault of our own since we met, so I'm going to inhale the clean water scent he emanates through his thick grey skin as long as I can.

“Oh, if you guys crawl in next to her, the bed should accommodate you,” Saladriel explains as he grabs a blanket and heads back out to the living room.

I sit up with a frown on my face, wanting to call him back, but then I remember the conversation we just had, and I plop back down on my back.

Earlier we had a moment, and I liked kissing him, and now I’m all confused.

I don’t feel the pull to him like I do all the others, but it’s difficult to just shut off the part of me that still thinks we need to claim him.

“You okay?” Leo asks for just me to hear.

“Yes and no. I need to sit with the Saladriel situation a bit, I think.”

“Can I lay next to you while you fall asleep? I'll move when Rush gets out of the shower, I just want you to be the last thing I hold before I go to sleep in the living room with Saladriel.”

I yank Wil onto the bed with us. Like Saladriel promised, as soon as he's lying down, the bed magically expands enough to house the three of us.

Wil sits up with furrowed brows, looking at the bed. “Convenient. One bed trope?”

“Wil, are you telling me you read romance?”

I'm so, so sleepy, but I really need to know the answer to this.

“Likely not the stuff you're used to. Fundamentalists have their own form of romance novels, and it centers on newly married people being forced to share a bed for the first time, glorifying their purity. It’s definitely propaganda and has less than zero juicy bits.”

“Kinky. Get under the covers. You’re sleeping next to me.”

And then Spencer climbs in, and as I'm drifting off, the bed rustles one more time from Rush climbing in, and it's something to be tucked in tight between all these men that are already becoming such a big part of my life, and a lot of the worries from the day melt away.

A part of my mind is still worried about Saladriel out there by himself, but if we're going to split ways, then attempting to get any closer, physically or emotionally, will only make it harder.

I'm not even going to share the dreams I have with you, because they're disturbing even to me, but I'm sure Rush would be ecstatic to hear the role that potatoes played in them.

In fact, I might need to question him later about if it's possible for him to influence dreams. It seems like too big of a coincidence to me, and definitely something a demon would do.

???

“You need to get out, you're not supposed to be here. What made you think this was a good idea?”

“I had to see you. I'm sorry, I couldn't wait another day.”

“Well, your timing sucks. It's not going to work if she sees you right now. Get out of here before you wake her up.”

“But baby, you promised we’d finally end our dry spell. Now you want me to wait longer? When am I going to be enough for you?”

The conversation gets quieter after that, changing to whispers, and my whole body is pulled tight, nausea and acid fighting for dominance in my throat.

Part of me wants to sneak out there and see who's talking, and part of me wants to ignore it completely because if I do, then nothing will change. Nothing will be ruined.

I can't even work through the process of elimination to figure out who’s involved, because I seem to be the only one that was sleeping.

I must have been exhausted. Judging by the temperature of the sheets around me, it's been a while since anybody's been in here with me.

So it's possible then that multiple people are in on whatever deception I apparently missed.

My legs shake as I tiptoe out of the room, trying so hard to be quiet. I shouldn't have to sneak around; these are my mates. I never thought I'd have to worry about anybody being dishonest with me. But I guess there really is a first time for everything.

Just as I make it to the threshold, I can see some bodies through the crack of the door, and I don't want to believe what I'm seeing, but it's pretty hard to ignore the evidence.

I take a deep breath and start out there, making sure I get a full measure of the scene before I cast any judgments that would make me look dumb. We will not be acting out the miscommunication trope today.

“You guys better start explaining yourselves right now.”

Leo and Rush freeze immediately, hands falling away from the female in front of them. They spin to me with horror on their faces, but they know they've been caught. There's no way to explain themselves out of this.

Really, there's only way this scene can end. “How long has this been going on?”

“Delaney, please,” Rush begs as actual tears fall from his eyes.

I'm not mistaken that he's actually hard now either, when he's been claiming since we got here that it was impossible.

“She's one of the main reasons Leo and I came together in the first place. She was desperate to see Leo. Not that he remembers her, but—” he looks to his partner in crime, who's opening and closing his mouth over and over again, unable to think of anything to defend himself.

“I promise you're the only one for us,” Rush finally says as he looks between me and this other female, who like a total bitch is just sitting there quietly. Not so mouthy now that I'm in front of her, is she?

I get closer so I can inspect her, doing my best to ignore the fact that she's shamelessly wearing no pants and is already lying on her back with her legs spread for my men.

“I can't have this anywhere near me. I know you two have history, but this is not the way to go about re-igniting your flame.”

“Told you she'd be pissed,” Spencer calls from the kitchen where he's making toast. “Told you not to bring that shit over here, Rush. This is on you. I'm not getting you out of this scrape.”

“I expect this from you Rush, but Leo? You promised I was important to you.”

“Are they done yet?” Saladriel yells from somewhere else in the room. I do a survey of the room until I find him in the corner with his hands over his ears, clearly trying to block out all the noises these men were about to make.

“What would have happened if I would have kept sleeping? Would you have just had your way with her? Completely ignoring the fact that we're supposed to be something to each other? That I’m the only vagina owner, starch or otherwise, you should want to pound?”

Rush eyes the woman, although maybe that's too generous of a term.

Ho bag. Homewrecker. Mound of mashed potatoes perfectly sculpted on the dining table.

Doesn't matter what you call it. She had her own voice that they've perfected. There’s no way this is their first time together; you don’t get hips like that without practice.

“Rush, I'm only going to say this one time, so let me be clear.

If you're with me, you can't be doing this, unless I'm involved. What the hell were you thinking trying to leave me out?” And I stalk straight up to him , grabbing a handful of the potatoes as I do and reaching into his pants to put them where I know he wants it.

He somehow made the mashed potatoes the perfect consistency, so it's as moldable as playdough. I guess those instant potatoes are good for lots of things after all. Probably best my brother never got the answer about why we had so many in our kitchen.

I squish the potatoes around Rush’s extremely hard and throbbing dick, and I will admit I get no small amount of satisfaction from doing it. This mashed potato fetish goes much deeper than I thought it did, but we’re not going to kink shame.

Wil pops his head in. “Wait, you're not mad at them?”