Page 25 of The Shapeshifter’s Secretary (Charmed Away Temp Agency #3)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Tony couldn’t blush any harder if he tried. He knew Zephyr was only trying to help, and for a little while it did, but once the pain dialed down, Tony became more focused on how Zephyr was touching him. Whenever the magic swept over his thigh with Zephyr’s touch, it sent tingles to his groin, and no amount of berating himself could stop his response. He remembered how that magic felt during sex, especially while Zephyr was stretching him, and his dick swelled until the seam of his jeans was digging into it. He couldn’t even readjust without bringing Zephyr’s attention to it.
Of course, Taron noticed right away and immediately started scolding Zephyr, which drew Zephyr’s attention to the problem anyway. Tony wanted to run and hide, but he was stuck hiding his response behind his hands and squeezing his eyes shut, willing it to go back down. He’d never been this horny in his life, but with these two, it was getting ridiculous. It’d only been a few hours since they’d given him a mind-blowing orgasm. Why couldn’t he keep it together out in public at the very least?
“Taron, stop it. You know that wasn’t my intention. Didn’t you say the police wanted to speak with us?”
When Tony peeked his eyes open, Taron was glaring at Zephyr but had no response other than waving the officers into the cafe to speak with them. Thankfully, they were bickering long enough for Tony’s erection to die down, so when the officers spoke to him, he didn’t have to hide his crotch with his hands. He wished he could cross his legs or something when that happened because there was no good way to hide it when it did.
Tony’s account of the incident was short, he wasn’t actually paying attention to the driver. Taron had been giving him these looks like he thought Tony was cute, and it made him blush profusely. Tony was not cute. But tell that to Taron. The adoring look only got stronger the more Tony blushed. It was Zephyr’s account that shed the most light. He’d seen the medusa driver too focused on the back seat and said that she was at fault for the accident. It was what the officers suspected as well, but with Zephyr’s account of it, they felt confident with their assessment. They thanked the three of them and left after checking one last time that an ambulance wasn’t necessary.
After all was said and done, it was a lot later than they’d intended to leave. They got a taxi for the rest of the drive to the station and a car was waiting for them on the other side of the portal. It was an older model truck, all metal, and probably weighed a ton. Tony was curious about it, but Zephyr didn’t stop long enough to explain. He opened the back door, pulling out a wooden cane, and offered it to Tony.
“A member of my convocation makes these. It doesn’t conduct lightning, so you’ll be safe to use it. I hope it’s the right size. I forgot to ask before I left.”
Tony took the cane, admiring it for a moment. It was made of wood, so safe for him to use around Zephyr and his family, but it was also decorated along the shaft. Textures and images were carved into it, including a little depiction of a thunderbird right on top. It was beautiful.
“This is… for me?” He had to ask because no one had ever gotten him something that nice before. When he was younger, his gifts from his parents were always clothes, because he grew fast like his brothers, and with all the training his family put him through, anything he didn’t grow out of got torn or stained eventually.
“Yes, baby, that’s for you. You can bring it to work too, so you won’t be left without one while we’re testing the devices.”
Tears burned his eyes, surprising him and both men with him. They’d both been so nice since he met them, he didn’t know how to handle it.
A rumble of thunder drew Tony out of his head, and Zephyr was quick to take the ugly metal cane that the military hospital gave him, tossing it into the back of the truck.
“Come on. Our kind is allowed to fly freely here, and I don’t want you outside without some sort of protection. The younger members of the convocation don’t have control yet.”
Tony remembered that lesson from the first day he’d met Zephyr. It felt like he’d known both men longer than a couple of weeks. Only a week for Zephyr. Was it really that recently that they met?
With a little help from Zephyr getting into the truck, since it was taller than what Tony normally rode in, they got moving, driving through open plains away from the station. After years in the military, he was used to long stretches of nothing while traveling, so he turned his focus to his companions instead.
“Have you been here before?” he asked Taron. He still didn’t quite know what their relationship was before now. He had a few guesses, but their animosity made it hard to know for sure.
Taron looked decidedly uncomfortable when he admitted, “A few times, yes.”
Zephyr gave a derisive snort but didn’t add more to the conversation. Taron glared at him, but his gaze flicked momentarily to Tony, and he stopped himself from arguing with the man. That felt like progress to Tony.
“What about you, a thaisce? Ever been to the plains before?”
He shook his head. “No. I lived up north until I joined the military. Then I spent all my time in the desert.”
“What does the human military even do?” Taron asked. “Wasn’t their point to fight other humans back in the day?”
Tony shrugged. “They work together with the council but only on the human side of things. We’re sent off to war zones to deal with other humans. Otherwise, there’s a lot of controversy about supposed war crimes and discrimination. It’s a whole thing. I don’t really know. I actually worked with a group of supes as security, just in case they had to interact with other humans. They were pretty nice.”
Before he got injured, anyway. He hadn’t heard from them since the incident. He wasn’t sure if it was intentional or if they were just busy, but he was assured by a few people that everyone else only had minor injuries, so he didn’t think they were unable to. He tried not to let it get to him. He was just human security. He wasn’t really important to the team.
A low rumble of thunder preceded a group of three thunderbirds flying overhead. Tony gingerly leaned forward to get a better look, only to be nudged back by both Taron and Zephyr.
“They’ll be in view in a second. Don’t hurt yourself,” Zephyr chided gently.
He flushed at the reprimand, sitting back in his seat. It got frustrating sometimes when simple things like leaning forward hurt. He felt okay thanks to the magic from the druids and Zephyr’s assistance earlier, but it probably wasn’t smart to push.
Taron took his hand and kissed the back of it. “Don’t worry, a thaisce. We’ll figure out how to get you better.”
He said that before, and he seemed so adamant about it. Tony found it hard not to get his hopes up. He saw lots of doctors before he was discharged. They all said the same thing. It was just how he had to live now, and he needed to get used to it. He wasn’t sure Taron would be able to do much more than he already had.
“We’re getting close,” Zephyr said, drawing Tony’s attention back to the front. The three thunderbirds were in his line of sight now, two bigger ones flanking a smaller one as they headed in the same direction Zephyr seemed to be going. They had similar coloring to Zephyr, and it was fascinating to watch the lightning coming off them as they flew across the sky. After cresting a small hill, he saw where they were heading. There was a small cluster of houses surrounding a larger community building in the middle. It was the only town in sight, and it was where the thunderbirds landed, too.
“Is that where you live?” Tony asked curiously.
“When I’m with my convocation, yes. My house is on the outskirts, though. The convocation is nosy, and I like my privacy when I’m here.”
“You don’t live here full time?”
Zephyr shook his head. “No. I run a company closer to the coast. It’s safe to fly over the water, as long as I steer clear of ships.”
Oh. That was interesting. Tony knew thunderbirds couldn’t live in cities, that was the whole point of the experiments, but he didn’t know they lived nearby. He had a lot of questions for the both of them since his knowledge of supes was pretty limited, but he wasn’t sure if it was rude to ask.
They pulled through the main part of the town, and Zephyr waved lazily at a few people that he passed. They got a lot of curious looks, but Zephyr didn’t stop to chat. He drove past the community building and down the road to the edge of the town, where his house sat alone. It was a simple one-story design, but it had a long metal conductor on top, probably to prevent lightning strikes from hitting the home directly.
Zephyr parked in the driveway and helped Tony get out of the truck safely. Taron met them around front, and Tony frowned when he noticed how anxious he looked.
“Are you okay?”
Taron forced a smile. “I’m alright, a thaisce. Let’s get you inside and comfortable.”
He didn’t give Tony a chance to argue before he started gently nudging him to get him moving. There was a small set of stairs to tackle, but it was a lot easier than when he had to get up to his apartment. He knew why both men wanted him to move. He just couldn’t afford to live anywhere else. And he didn’t want to burden his… boyfriends? Friends with benefits? He wasn’t sure. They hadn’t actually discussed it. They were both plenty touchy-feely with him, so he didn’t think it was a one-night thing. What did that make them? Dating? What was a couple with three people in it? A throuple? But they didn’t seem interested in each other. They mostly just begrudgingly accepted each other’s presence for Tony’s sake. Did that make him poly?
He didn’t know, and it was confusing to think about. If it were up to him, he’d want everyone to get along and be happy together. But until he knew why the two of them hated each other, he doubted that would happen. And until they talked about it, he wasn’t sure what to call them either.
All he knew was that he wanted them both. Was that selfish? Or was his life finally turning in a better direction?