Page 33 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)

She only paused before rising long enough to kiss Brax and tell him we’d be back.

Then she was out of her chair, and I was with her.

She almost dragged me to the dance floor.

It was rather crowded. The bar sure did attract a lot of people, and many of them liked to dance.

Cerys wasn’t showing her pregnancy enough to be noticed with the flowy top she wore.

She was wearing jeans and boots, just like I was.

“I love to dance, and I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when I’m too big to shake my ass.

This bar is such a great place to have a good time.

It’s here that Brax finally broke down and confessed he wanted me.

We’d danced around the subject for months.

Every time that man came into the ER, I almost died.

God, that uniform of his.” She waved her hand, fanning herself.

“Ah, so you have a thing for a man in uniform, I see,” I teased.

“I do. And so do you. Don’t tell me you don’t find Fennick extra hot when he puts on his ranger uniform. If you say he doesn’t, you’re lying.”

I grinned. “You caught me. That man is gorgeous in plain clothes, and then boom, he puts that uniform on, and I’m a goner. It’s hard to let him out of the house,” I confessed.

Cerys smirked. I had no inhibitions with her when it came to talking about Fennick and how he affected me. Even though we’d only known each other briefly, I saw her as a friend.

We kept shaking our asses and talking, though we had to get close to do it over the music. We’d been up there maybe fifteen or twenty minutes when I thought it might be time to give Cerys a break. Before the song ended, she asked me a solemn question.

“I’ve got to ask as Fennick’s friend. Are you going to let him claim you?

He’s letting you have time, which is cool, but I don’t want him hurt, Akiva.

Fennick has true feelings for you. He’s not saying things just to get sex.

The guy can get that without subterfuge.

If you’re not serious about a forever relationship, tell him and walk away.

The guy is about to lose his heart to you.

I can see it.” Her tone was filled with warning.

She didn’t say it, but I knew if I intentionally hurt him, Cerys would find a way to make me regret it.

I was able to give her an honest answer.

“Cerys, I don’t want to hurt Fennick. And I know he means what he says.

It’s scary to think that anyone would feel like that about me.

And the threats I seem to have surrounding me aren’t minor.

I wanted him to carefully consider everything I shared before we took a final step.

However, so you don’t kick my ass right this second, I can tell you that if he’s still willing to claim me, I’ll be his. One hundred percent.”

Her face lit up with joy as she squealed, and I was hugged and almost strangled. I patted her back and then eventually pried her arms away.

“Oops, sorry. I didn’t mean to strangle you. That’s fantastic. When do you intend to tell him? He doesn’t know yet,” she stated rather than making it a question.

“No, I haven’t told him. He’s been distracted these last couple of days, and I was worried that meant he was reconsidering his offer to claim me,” I confessed.

Cerys frowned. I noted she searched the bar, and then my hand was taken. She led me to a dark, quieter corner. As we went, I saw Brax watching us, and he gave her a nod. Yep, whatever she told her man, he was listening to.

“Akiva, I need you to listen to me. Fennick Mason is all in for you. Ripper and he want nothing more than to claim you fully for all the world to see. He isn’t second-guessing himself. It’s that damn footprint and scent they couldn’t track that’s bothering him. It worries the others. I can tell.”

“Wait, what footprint? They never mentioned a print when he and Nico returned from investigating where I had fallen. They acted like it could’ve been someone too afraid to speak, or just my imagination. What did they say to the others?”

“Oh crap, they didn’t tell you. I didn’t know, sorry.

But I don’t believe in keeping anything secret.

They do it for the right reason in their heads.

It’s to prevent us from worrying and to protect us.

I’m trying to teach Brax and the others that it adds to my anxiety when he does that. He’s slowly getting there.”

“I’d rather know it, despite how distressing it could be. I feel in control when I’m armed with all the information. Please tell me what they said.”

Cerys sighed, but she did as I asked. When she was done, I wasn’t mad at Fen and Nico. I was annoyed that they hid it from me. It made me feel better to know I hadn’t imagined it.

“We’d better get back to the dance floor or the table. They’re becoming impatient. Brax keeps asking if we’re alright. He’ll break and come over here in a second. If he does, the other six cavemen will follow,” Cerys informed me.

I hugged her. “Thank you for being truthful with me. And yes, let’s sit and have a drink. I think a rest is needed. If they ask what we were talking about—.”

Cerys completed my sentence. “We’ll tell them it was woman-talk and they can’t handle it. That’ll get them going and riled up.”

Her humor had me smiling as we walked back to the table. We had to weave through some tables to get there. Cerys and I were still chatting, but we moved on to discussing Christmas dinner. About halfway through the maze of tables, we were stopped.

It was next to a table of four men. I categorized them with one look.

They were rough men, probably there as tourists who were looking to get drunk, party, and fuck.

Their eyes told me they found the two of us attractive.

This would be their move to get us in bed.

I never missed this part of socializing.

The inevitable pickup attempt. While they weren’t ugly, I had zero interest in them and knew Cerys wouldn’t.

We were stopped when one guy put his leg out and blocked our way. He smiled cockily up at us.

“Well, look at what we have here, guys. Will you look at these two? Damn, you’re beautiful and sexy little things. I saw you on the dance floor earlier. I hoped we’d get a chance to meet. Why don’t you sit down and let us get to know you?” he asked.

“Thank you for the invitation, but we’re here with others and we need to rejoin them. Have a nice night,” Cerys said politely. I stayed silent and watched the four men closely. If they thought to get handsy, I’d get Cerys out of the way.

The man doing the talking shook his head. “Now, don’t be like that. Let us buy you a drink. I’m sure your friends won’t mind. If they look like the two of you, have them join us.” The guy turned his head to smirk at his leering buddies.

Cerys flashed him a sudden smile. “Why, I think that’s a great idea. We’ll ask our party to join you.”

She made a vague wave in the air. It would be impossible to know who she was gesturing to. However, I bet money she was chatting with Brax telepathically. I looked forward to seeing these guys’ faces when he and Fennick came over. There were plenty of tables of women she could be signaling.

The other guys gave us flirtatious looks and insisted we sit.

Cerys told them we’d wait for our party to get there first. She kept herself out of reach of the one who put up his leg.

He still had it blocking the walk-through.

I had to concentrate not to give away the approach of Brax, Fennick, and, wouldn’t you know it, the other five Sentinels.

The entire bunch came over. Their glowering faces would intimidate anyone with half a brain.

I wondered if these men had half. The seven Sentinels encircled the table and crossed their arms. The guy who’d stopped us, who introduced himself as David while we waited, frowned up at them.

“Can we help you?” David asked. He dropped his outstretched leg and sat taller in his chair. His friends Ryan, Bode, and Ian, went from slouching to alert.

“We’re here to join you,” Royal told him.

“Join us? Why would we want you to do that? We don’t know you,” Bode replied.

“You don’t know us, but you issued the invitation, so we assumed you wanted to get to know us,” Nico added.

“There’s been a mistake. We didn’t ask you over here. If you don’t mind moving, we’re getting to know these two lovely ladies and their friends who will join them,” David said.

“Exactly. So let’s grab more chairs,” Keir stated. He scanned the area to see if there were any extras.

“Wait a minute. Don’t tell us you’re the remainder of their party,” Ian said hesitantly.

“They are. I told you we were here with others. I didn’t say they were women. That was your assumption. I don’t judge based on sexuality. You like who you like,” Cerys said sweetly.

The four men looked a combination of mortified and upset.

Finally, David spoke again. “There’s been a mistake. We’re not looking for trouble. We only wanted some companionship.”

“Then make sure when you find women who attract you, they aren’t taken. This one and the two babies in her belly are mine,” Brax growled out as he brought Cerys to lean against him. Their arms automatically went around each other.

“And this one is mine, minus the babies, but give us time,” Fennick said as he mirrored Brax’s action. I smiled at him.

“We’re sorry. No offense intended. I can see how it appeared. Ladies, have a good evening. Take care,” Ryan stated. The others murmured the same. They sounded sincere, so we nodded and told them to have a good night, then went back to our table.

“I swear we already knew we couldn’t take Cerys anywhere without her causing an uproar. Now we have two of them. We’ll have to bring in more reinforcements,” Gunner muttered.

His statement sparked a fun and heated discussion. We spent several minutes laughing and talking while we rested. It was a ton of fun for me. Every time we recalled the expressions on the four men’s faces, we burst out laughing.