Page 77 of Puck My Life

Deacon climbs over me, pushing me into the couch, burying his face in my neck.

“Vae,” he breathes. “Vae, what the hell is this?”

I shove him back, but I can’t, and when his lips graze the spot; I melt with a whimpered whine.

He drags his teeth over the spot and then sits up, pulling me with him. His eyes are wild, and his hair’s a mess, but with every touch, I feel better. I reach out, clutching his shirt and dragging him back, but he just pulls me up off the couch and stands me up. The room spins wildly, but Raynor is there to catch me, pressing his hot chest against my back.

“Vae, why didn’t you say anything?” Deacon hisses, fury radiating off his body.

I bite my lip.

“Vae, why?” Mal growls and fists my hair, turning my head so I’m looking straight at him.

“Because you saw me as family, I didn’t want you to want to be with me because you loved me like that. I didn’t want to make things weird.”

“You’re our Vae!” Deacon thunders. “You needed us. No one else is touching you, Vae. You belong to us. This heat is ours.”

All the words are right, but the tone is wrong.

But so very right.

It’s delicious gravel growls that reach into me and hit this spot that has been striving to break free for all this time. I let out a whimper and lean towards Mal.

His eyes flash, and he leans forward, touching his lips to mine. With each second in their arms, the sickness is fading, but the heat is rising.

I’m being swept under.

I cling to them until I open my eyes, not sure when I closed them, and find myself sitting on the kitchen table. How did I get here?

“We’re changing the sheets on the couch; the ones for the bedroom will be dry soon, and you can go back to sleep.” Raynor puts a hand on my thigh and squeezes, then turns back to the sink, turning the tap off.

Raynor holds a glass of water to my lips and growls at me to drink. My forehead is damp and cool, but I’m exhausted. I feel wrung out and tired.

“What happened?”

“You. You happened. I am so angry with you right now, Vae.”

I shudder, catching fleeting glimpses of memory. “You know.”

“We know. We all know. What I can’t work out is why you would hide it; why wouldn’t you come to us?”

“And have my family dump their girlfriend so they can service their sister?” I say the words bitterly.

“You’re not our sister.” He says the words in a fierce hiss that says absolutely how he feels about it. “We have never seen each other as siblings.”

I look away sullenly.

“No one would think helping you through your heat would be servicing you, Vae. We just want to be with you.”

“You don’t love me! I just wanted it to be-”

“Wait just one damn minute. We have always loved you!”

“You’re not in love with me.”

“How do you know? Have we ever talked about it?”

“Tell me now, then, are you in love with me?”