Page 25 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)

Chapter twenty-five

F or the second morning in a row, I wake up surrounded by my mates. This feels like a dream. I’m curled around my growly wolf and based on the colorful beach scene on the arm wrapped around my ribs, I know Wyatt is behind me. He leans closer, nuzzling along the back of my neck.

I turn in his arms and kiss his nose, delighting in his glorious bedhead. He cracks one eye open at me, a sleepy smile crossing his handsome face. “Good morning, Sage.” The scratchy cadence to his voice sends tingles straight to my clit, and a shiver rolls down my spine.

“Good morning to you, too.”

I feel Maverick roll over behind me, and he slides an arm beneath my neck and another across my stomach to pull me back into his chest. I can’t resist thrusting my hips back, and I’m rewarded with the feel of his hard cock pressing into the cleft of my ass.

“Not fair,” he growls in my ear. When he presses closer, grinding against me, I let out a moan much louder than I intended. These guys are hell on my self-control.

Piper shoots up from behind Wyatt, her eyes locking with mine from across our vast sea of men. “Sage! It’s the third!” She jumps up and bolts out of the room and down the hall while I’m still fighting to get out of Maverick’s arms.

“Wait for me. I have little legs!”

I finally fight my way to freedom and bolt down the hall after her, the guys following us to see what all the fuss is about.

By the time I make it to the kitchen, Piper is halfway through a giant cinnamon roll and is possessively clutching a box of Cadbury Caramel Eggs to her chest. I jump up to sit on the counter and grab the large, still steaming cup of coffee that’s waiting for me.

I take several sips of my caffeine goodness before I wake up enough to look around the kitchen. The balloons that fill the room along with the pile of gifts and snacks are nothing new to me, but the guys are looking around dumbfounded.

Maverick rubs his eyes like he thinks everything will disappear if he blinks. “Um, what’s going on? Who did all this and why? More importantly, how the hell did they get in?”

I hold up a finger in a wait gesture while I take another sip of coffee. The cinnamon flavor explodes on my tongue, telling me that Ashley helped pick our gifts this year, it’s her favorite kind of coffee.

Piper is digging through the pile of packages like a little kid who can’t wait to open presents. I jump off the counter and before she realizes I’m close enough, I take a bite out of her cinnamon roll.

She gasps in outrage. “What the fuck Sage! This is mine! Someone stop this treasonous behavior.”

I jump to grab her arm, attempting to pull the rest of the roll down within reach. Hands around my waist take me by surprise. For a second, I forgot the guys were here. My butt plops down on the counter again and Liam stands between my knees, looking far too pleased with himself.

“I got her Piper, your treat is safe,” Liam laughs at my outrage. The twinkle in his eye is so captivating it’s hard to stay annoyed with him. Hard, but not impossible.

“How dare you pick sides, Liam? This means war!” From the corner of my eye, I see Wyatt sneak up behind Piper and nip the last bite of cinnamon roll right out of her fingers.

The smug look on her face turns to shock as she spins in place. Her eyes narrow and she reaches out, smearing the frosting left on her fingers through his beard.

Laughing at the mess she made of him, I blow Wyatt a kiss. “You’re my favorite today.”

Maverick clears his throat, still looking lost. “Does anyone else feel like they woke up in a different reality? What is going on?”

I take pity on him. I can tell he doesn’t like feeling out of control, and a magically stocked kitchen is about as far from control as you can get. “Today is the joint celebration day for our birthdays. With Piper’s on the ninth, Atlas’ the sixteenth and mine the twenty-third of this month. it’s easier on our family to have one day for them to spoil us versus three.

He nods, his eyes still searching the room as if he’s waiting for our family to pop out and shout ‘surprise’. “Okay, I get that, but how did this all get here?”

Piper moves over to the sink to get a wet rag so she can help Wyatt get the frosting out of his beard. Catching Milo fighting laughter at the sight has me struggling to keep my giggles in.

“Everything here came to be the same way this house did. Rory, the dragon of winter, dreamed it into existence. His power is over all dreams, so anything he can imagine he can pull from the dream realm into reality. It’s become tradition that he delivers a breakfast feast for us on our celebration day.”

I pause for a moment as my memory takes me back to how we used to celebrate before we escaped the pack. Somehow Liam picks up on my unease, his large hands gently rubbing me from knee to hip. “Since we left the pack, we’ve worked to build new traditions, especially around holidays. Mama always makes her special cinnamon rolls for Piper’s birthday and Papa makes hand carved wooden gifts of some kind.”

Piper is picking at the tape on one of the wrapped presents. I lock eyes with Walker and point him towards what she’s doing. “We wait to open our gifts until our actual birthdays. Right, Piper?”

Walker takes the hint, lacing his fingers with hers he pulls her away from the temptation of the packages.

I nudge Liam out of the way so I can hop down and grab the TV remote. I need to get things set up for our video call. “I hope you guys are ready for the level of crazy that’s about to hit. Our family takes things to a whole new level.”

I love my family, but is it too much to ask that they don’t act like Piper and I are teenagers on prom night? I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if one of the guys had initiated a sex talk with our mates. Thank goodness not all of them were there. Ben, Ivar, and Sam were in hell with the grandparents for something.

After we made it through the video call, Walker, Wyatt, and Maverick left to pick up a boat that Walker just bought in Venice. I was pleasantly surprised when Piper asked if she could tag along. It makes my heart happy to see her come out of her shell and get comfortable around the guys. They better not fuck this up.

Liam set himself up in one of our spare offices. He had some work things to do and reluctantly said he had to stay behind. That leaves me walking down to the dock hand in hand with Milo. Of all our mates, he makes me the most nervous. He’s quiet, thoughtful, possibly even shy. And I’m… not. I hope my outlandish personality doesn’t scare him. As much as I want this to work out for the seven of us, I refuse to tone myself down for anyone.

Once we get to the end of the dock, I grab the water hose and toss it into the water. I turn it on before sitting down and dangling my feet off the end of the dock. Setting my bag to the side, I pat the warm wooden planks beside me. “Since everyone else is busy, I thought this would be a good time to help you get some sea potato pictures.”

His eyes widen in shock and then sweep over the water. “Seriously? You can call manatees to you on a whim?”

I laugh so hard I snort. “Not exactly. Roux, one of the dragons you met this morning, can speak to animals. He met the local manatees when he was here on vacation and let them know it was safe for them to be here, and I would supply snacks. Now they know when I turn the hose on that they can come up for a visit. Shasta set up wards around the bay so no one can see them or us and it's safe for us to swim with them.”

I dig into the bag I brought and pull out a handful of the organic lettuce I grow in our greenhouse just for moments like this.

When I look up, Milo is watching me with an odd look on his face. He reaches over, palming my cheek before leaning in to kiss me. His eyes stay open as his lips slide across mine. His kiss is firmer than I expected. He takes control of my mouth, licking along the seam of my lips until I open for him. The deep groan he lets out as our tongues duel makes my lips curve against his. We are lost in each other until I feel a gentle nudge on my foot. Reluctantly, I break the kiss, maintaining our weirdly intimate eye contact.

“I could do this all day with you.” The deep timber of his voice slides over me, almost as sensual as a physical caress.

“Agreed.” I rub my nose along his. “I never knew kissing my mate would be this amazing.”

I look down and see a manatee swimming closer to bump Milo’s foot. “Are you ready to swim? Our friends are getting restless.”

The smile that lights up his face makes him even sexier, and he wasn’t hurting in the looks department to begin with. “Thank you, Sage. This is one of the most amazing things to ever happen to me. You’re giving me something I thought was a dream.”

We spend several hours swimming with the manatees. Milo slowly comes out of his shell, and it’s so much fun to see the way he can’t stop smiling. He takes so many pictures, I think he may even have put Maggie to shame with the number of photos he takes.

The highlight of the day was when one of the babies came up and hugged his leg. I kept waiting for him to throw his hands in the air and squeal like a little girl.

We are just heading inside to get cleaned up when we see Piper and the guys sail past the house, making their way through Lemon Bay. I wave at them from the back patio, then head in for my shower.

Piper is coming in from the dock just as I’m headed to the kitchen, and she drags me back upstairs into her room. “Are you okay, Pip? How was your day with the guys?”

She heads into her closet to change out of her bathing suit. “It was good. I actually had a great time with them all. I just wanted a minute to catch up with you and make sure that you’re doing okay.”

I smile as she walks back into the room. “Good. I’m glad you’re opening up and giving the guys a chance. I had a fantastic day with Milo.” We head back to the kitchen to join our mates. It’s surprising how much I love hearing their voices echo throughout the house. “I was thinking an early dinner on the beach and a bonfire tonight? Sandwiches and pasta salad. That kinda stuff.”

She nods in agreement, pausing outside the room that Liam claimed for his office. “I’m going to check on Liam and see if he’s ready for dinner.”

I rub her arm as I walk past. “Take your time. I have plenty of hands to help get the food ready.”

As I walk into the kitchen, I let out a loud whistle. “Alright boys, I need some muscle to help get dinner ready and carry everything down to the beach. Any objection to a picnic and bonfire tonight?”

Wyatt picks me up and sets me on the counter. Again. “Really?” I snark. “This seems to be becoming a habit with you guys. Picking me up and sticking me on the counter is not my idea of a game.”

Wyatt braces his arms on either side of me, leaning in close he rubs his nose up the side of my neck. When his lips brush my ear, I fight the urge to whimper. “How else are you supposed to reach the upper cabinets?”

My eyes snap open and I grin at him. He leans back slightly, the shock clear on his face. Now it’s my turn to lean in. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and trail my tongue up his neck. He groans and I use his distraction to slide one knee between his legs and my other leg around his hip to hold him in place. When my tongue flicks across his earlobe, I whisper, “Two can play this game, baby. Just remember how delicate your balls are.”

I press slightly with my knee to bring my point home. He yelps and jumps back out of my hold. My laughter bursts out, grabbing everyone’s attention, especially once they see the tears pouring down my face.

“Wyatt, you good bro?” Mav asks as he walks over.

I make grabby hands at Maverick, not caring if I look childish or slightly unhinged. When he steps between my knees, I wrap myself around him like a koala. “Mav, he was being mean to me. It’s rude to pick on people because of their height.” My smile turns a bit wicked when I wink at Wyatt over Mav’s shoulder. “I had to teach him that dynamite comes in small packages.”

Maverick’s entire body shakes from his laughter. I look up into his grey eyes and grin.

He rubs his hands up my spine and into my hair. “I missed you today, shorty. I really enjoyed my time with embers, but would love some Sage time, too.”

His words make my heart melt and while I’m still reeling, he brushes his lips across mine, pulling me into a toe-curling kiss. He’s showing me exactly how much he missed me today.

When we finally pull apart, I see Wyatt leaning against the kitchen island, pouting. “Just because I have a thing for tails does not give you a pass to be a douche nugget. You are no longer my favorite of the day.”

The guys laugh at that. Even Wyatt cracks a smile, and Mav helps me off the counter. We are just getting the pasta salad into the fridge to cool down when Piper and Liam walk in hand in hand.

When he walks over to plant a kiss on my forehead, my heart beats a little faster. I love the sexy kisses but there is something about the sweetness and caring behind a forehead kiss that melts me.

Liam steps back, his eyes flicking back and forth between Piper and me. “Piper and I are going to go for a walk on the beach before dinner. I need to stretch my legs after being inside all day.”

I wink at Piper and shoo them out the door. “Have fun. We will have everything set up when you guys get back.”