Page 21

CHAPTER 21 - KNOXE

I never thought I’d thank the thief avatar, but I did, over and over when my girl came back to us. She felt so good on my lap. Soft, warm, and soothing. Ecstatic she was healthy and safe, I cuddled her waist with one forearm, nuzzled the side of her neck, and rubbed her thigh.

“Then a massive plot twist unfolds.” Tor gesticulated with wide arms as he regaled Astra and Pascal about the latest comic that arrived in the mail. “And boom! I won’t spoil it, Supergal.”

“Yeah, don’t,” Pascal warned.

“If you spoil it for me, I’ll have to kill you.” Astra slapped Tor’s arm.

Hell, I was so happy, the nerd talk didn’t make me want to pour concrete in my ears. Normally, I had Raze to ground me when they dove in. I missed his company and wise council and hoped to catch up with him again.

Guilt circled my chest and squeezed that our brother didn’t have his pack or tribe to rally around and support him in our absence. We spoke to him sparingly when Ben loaned us his phone to show he was one us always. Any contact on the prison’s communications channels was forbidden to avoid alerting the prison authorities. Without Raze, our team was divided and missing one part of us that made us whole. This made me more determined than ever to get us out of here to be a unit again. That way we all shared her fairly and none of us got priority, when Astra promised not to favor one man in her harem over the other.

Silver eyes flashed in my memory. Raze out of it, drugged, skin burned, fangs bared, claws ready to shred Tor, Pascal, or me if we came near her. Sunset’s safety trumped everything, and we backed off and let her go with him. Her return to the prison proved her loyalty, trustworthiness, and courage without a shadow of doubt. God knew we didn’t want to add her name to the list of fugitives we went after.

The scent of food frying on the stove brought me back to the moment, and I brushed her back, loving the feel of her next to my body.

This morning, Sentry Ben informed us of her return, and we shaved, showered, and put our fresh clothes on, wanting to look and smell our best for her. To say we were excited to see her was an understatement. Six and a quarter days stretched into a painful eternity.

Then she was in the hall, on her way to Cell Ward A, putting one foot in front of the other as she followed the warden. An angel in orange prison attire, her sunset hair streaks burning brighter than the day we met.

When the sentries let her in, we descended on her like wolves wanting a piece of a bunny. Her lips tasted even sweeter than I remembered. She smelled even better than her usual fruity candy. Her hair never felt as silky and looked as shiny. The break did wonders for her.

Astra’s small, warm palm came to the back of my hand. “I’m sorry I’m ignoring you.” Nothing I wasn’t used to, only I didn’t have Raze as my buffer anymore. “No more nerd talk,” she instructed the other two.

“Boring.” Tor pretended to fall asleep, mocking how I felt about the subject matter. I was a realist and had the imagination of a blade tip. Zero.

“What have you been up to?” Astra swiveled on my lap and brushed my jaw with the back of her finger.

“No business talk,” Tor warned, reminding me of our pact, which I had no intention of breaking.

Her mind would be in a spin from the last week, and I’d give her a few days to settle in before I dumped her with the heavy shit like a deep dive into the thief avatar’s intel, or catching ten more escapees based on information Tor extracted, and the plans to hide the prisoners in the vamp planet.

“Looking after these two.” I gestured to my two brothers.

Tor spluttered out a laugh. “Good one, Mopey.”

Right back at him. “Don’t think I didn’t miss the sly cuddles you gave Pascal when I turned my back.”

“He loves my cuddles,” Tor shot back, and took a sip of the Coke can he shared with Asra.

Raze would throw it in the trash if he were here. That thought, amid the hundreds that circled my head this past week, charged me with greater resolve to bring him back into the fold…however it was possible.

Astra giggled and her cheeks flushed pink. Fucking cute. Fucking perfect. Fucking ours forever.

I clasped her hand between both of mine and broke protocol. “We’ve got an incredible lead and we’re gonna round up all these assholes soon. I’m going to figure out a way for us to be with him .” It needed to be said to reassure her when leaving was clearly difficult for her.

“Okay.” Her eyes glistened and she nodded. “Who wants to play cards?”

Distraction 101. Fine by me. We shouldn’t mention him when it put him in danger. And I hoped Vartros did a good job of erasing any sign of our brother, because I didn’t want that asshole Vancor setting his sights on Raze when our brother tore off the dick his son.

Vancor… I had a lot to say about him. Talk about a conflict of fucking interest. Who appointed that asshole to this role? And to replace Vartros? Friends in high places, that was who. All signs suggested they were friends who wanted us dead. Fresh testimony supplied by Serena and Loco heightened the suspicions Tor and I had over the warden’s reckless decisions, putting Pascal in cuffs, refusing to retrieve Astra after her kidnap, and approving Tor to go on missions in untested technology.

“I’ll get the pack.” Pascal stood, came over, dropped a kiss on her head and strode out of the cafeteria.

The smell of leftovers from breakfast got stronger, and my stomach clenched with hunger even though I’d already eaten.

A whistle warned us of the meal to collect, and we got up, grabbing four plates full of breakfast smorgasbord including eggs, bacon, mushrooms, toast, beans, sausage, tomato and friend potatoes. More than she could possibly eat, but she’d polish of most of it if she hadn’t eaten much yesterday, knowing her time with Raze came to a close.

“Mmm,” my girl hummed, picking at her scrambled eggs with her fork.

Pascal arrived with the set of cards, dropping them to the table and diving into a second round of breakfast, a treat we were never afforded.

“You go first,” I instructed my girl, wanting her belly full and content.

I lifted a slice of crispy bacon and fed it to her. She happily accepted it with a smile and a nip of my fingers. Sometimes I wiped the meat’s grease from her lips and sucked it off my finger.

Tor got that glint in his eye that spelled another joke was on the way. “So, Supergal, I’ve been thinking about a serious topic.”

She finished a mushroom with hollandaise sauce and took his bait, a fiendish smile curling on her lips. “How serious?”

“You know how you did that thing to us?” His flicked his finger between him and me, and I tensed. He wasn’t supposed to bring that up.

She leaned in and whispered, “Altering your DNA?”

“Yeah, that.” Tor stroked his bamboo knife as if the butt of his joke was coming. “Could you tweak mine and give me the biggest cock on the team?” His palms spread twelve inches wide. “I’m talking monster dick that matches the beasts in your audiobooks.”

Our girl howled, earning the attention of the cook.

Even I got a kick out of it and smiled, my body easing back into my chair, appreciative of him for lowering her grief of saying goodbye to Raze.

“You don’t need more junk in your trunk, babe,” I played along, patting his leg. Anything to keep that smile on her face.

“Your dick is fine.” Pascal didn’t catch on, though he was getting better in that department.

Astra recovered, sat up and punched Tor’s stomach, making him grin. “You’re not coming near me with a monster dick. I don’t care if it’s a romance genre. Raze’s is big enough, thank you.”

Tor buffed the end of his knife. “Can I have one as big as his?” He batted his lashes.

Pascal shook his head, finally catching on to Tor’s antics.

“Your’s is perfect, Superguy.” Astra poked out her tongue. “It’s what you do with it that counts.”

Tor feigned disappointment. “Well what else can you do? You can’t give me more sparkling personality. I’ve got too much already.”

Astra’s lip twitched, and she tried hard not to laugh. “I could try for some monster appendages like a clit sucker or tickler.”

Tor perked up at each suggestion. “Put me down for both of those.”

“I want to experiment on test subjects first.” She patted his knee. “I don’t want to ruin that fabulous cock, if you know what I mean.”

“You’re the best, Supergal. Come here.” He patted his thighs, and she shifted off my lap onto his. “You’re the biggest bad-ass superhero there is. Fuck the comics. I’m writing one about you. It’s called Sunset Streak.”

Nice cover. Not that the sentries heard it from their position by the wall.

She leaned back to look up at his blue eyes framed by sandy brows. “You’re so romantic.”

Tor ran a hand from her neck to her lower back.

I playfully punched his arm. “That’s my nickname, and it’s copyrighted. You owe me fifty percent royalties.”

“Fifty?” Tor scoffed. “P-man and I are splitting forty-five each for writing it.”

Pascal’s mouth lifted into an excited smile. “We are?”

“Fuck, yeah.” Pascal cringed at Tor’s cuss. “Supergal gets five percent for creative input. And Knoxe can have five for the name.”

“Five?” I joked. “I’ll take you to court for copyright infringement.”

Astra snorted. “How about you settle it a different way?”

Ah. The flush of her cheeks told me what kind of way. “I’m in.”

Tor’s eyes darkened as they took me in. “Me too.”

“Good.” Astra rubbed his shoulder. “What does you-know-who get? He’s going to be a character, right?”

Tor scratched his chin. “One percent. Sorry Supergal, you’re down to four. These royalty margins are tight.”

She slapped his chest, and the frost that gripped my heart these past six days starting from her kidnapping, melted at her gorgeous, humorous smile. “You’re lucky I like you.”

Tor wrapped both arms around her. “You love me.”

“Yeah, I do. A lot.” The way their lips came together confirmed it.

He hummed his appreciation. “I think P-man and I can cut a little of our percentage down for you. Forty-four for us and six for you.”

“So generous!” She giggled and repeated the kiss. “Still only six?”

“Kiss me, babe.” Tor leaned over his wheelchair. “I need to assess whether you’re worth a four.”

I leaned over and smacked him on the lips to keep up the game. “That’s easily a ten.”

“Yep, it is.” Tor grinned. “You’re gonna have to do better, Supergal.”

She laughed and pinched his nipples.

“Oh, you found my weakness, Supergal. You’ve shot up to ten!”

“I’ve lost track of whose getting what,” Pascal muttered.

Astra’s fingers pointed to her. “I’m getting ten. Knoxe eight. Our other friend two for rounding off’s sake. You and Tor are splitting eighty. That’s forty each.”

Thank god she was a math’s and chemistry whiz because I was utterly lost.

“I’m cool with that.” Pascal blew her a kiss.

Tor lifted his arms and placed them behind his head. “She loves me one hundred and ten percent.”

“Nice try, Superguy. I’m not biting this time.” At her promise, he mocked sadness and went back to eating as best he could in his chair and with our girl on his lap.

“Okay,” Tor got serious. “So we’ve established mine and Pascal’s future career in between his music side hustle. What’s yours, Supergal?”

We often dreamed up fun careers for a good laugh. This talk steered toward a realistic conversation. Hopes and dreams were things you couldn’t afford to lose in a place like the Guardians.

We once discussed where we’d go to celebrate our release from this place, and things turned sexy, with Pascal wanting a massage, me offering, and him shooting back with the question of whether I’d touch his cock. Ab-so-fucking-lutely, I would. I wanted to for a while. We shook on that pact. Blood drained to my cock thinking about it.

Astra tapped her lip, inflating him even more. “How do you think I’d do at audiobook narration?”

Tor kept a straight face. “I’d listen to you.”

“You’d probably be the only one.” She leaned her head on his. “What about skincare or health products?” Her wink told us she gave us a nod to her newfound superpower. “Think I can bottle it?”

Tor’s mischievous grin returned with a vengeance. “You’d become a squillionaire if you founded a cream for larger penises.”

“You two are abnormally obsessed with dicks,” Pascal echoed my sentiments, and I hoped they killed that conversation while inside these walls.

“I’ve got four, that’s enough for me.” Astra’s smile spelled trouble, and my dick twitched, confused about whether to make another appearance. I shut him down, and he stilled.

“Three cocks, one monster dick,” Tor corrected, and her cute laugh set my heart aflame.

“You’ll fill the world with monster dick, Sunset,” I warned about her magick cream.

“Good point,” she mused, tapping her mouth again, and I wanted to suck it between mine.

“I’ll have to limit consumption.” She raised a finger. “And make a bigger boob cream. Because it’s not fair if I do one and not the other.”

Tor massaged her knuckles. “I love that you’re fair.” He dropped a kiss to one. “How about a shampoo for curing male baldness?”

Her eyes lit up. “I can get behind that.” She tickled his chin. “I’ll give you a cut for the idea.”

“I won’t accept anything less than fifty percent royalties,” Tor declared.

Sunset laughed and tickled him again. “I can spare that change if I’m going to be a squillionaire. I’ll have the time to get creative, since our other friend will be a happy house-husband raising our twelve kids.”

“Twelve?” I shoved sausage into my mouth to stop myself from thinking about that.

Pascal got on top of the question before it went any further south. “What do you want to do, Knoxe?” His green eyes lifted to mine and stayed put, impressing me with his effort for that, his touch sensitivity, and conversing with me, when he used to find it hard.

I clasped my fingers together and rubbed my hands. “I haven’t really put much thought into it.”

“What do you like to do outside of this?” Ten points for Pascal maintaining a conversation and not retreating into himself.

I shared with him for the first time in a long time, deepening our bond. “In all honesty, I enjoy this work and want to continue. With my new upgrade.” I wiggled my fingers. “I could get work as a superhero.”

Pascal’s hunch flattened into a straight back at the mention of his second favorite pastime. “I wouldn’t mind doing that part-time. Need a partner in crime?”

My heart flared with the heat of friendship. “Yeah, I do. Just one, though. Not those two dick-obsessed fiends.” I flicked my finger at Sunset and Tor jokingly.

Astra reached over to punch my chest. “Take it back.”

“Can’t, sorry,” I teased. “You’re not cool enough for our club.”

Pascal’s smile lit up.

Tor sniffed. “That’s okay, Supergal. They don’t appreciate monster dick like you and me. We’ll make a great team.”

“Team monster dick.” Astra raised a fist and bumped it with Tor’s.

I rubbed my forehead and laughed. “God, how old are we?”

“Old enough to read about monster dick,” Tor quipped, taking the hint and returning to eating.

I laughed and ate the rest of my meal. This past week, I worked out in the gym like mad to expend restless energy for not being in training, out on a mission, and to harness the burn of my muscles to ward off thoughts of Sunset. All that exercise worked up an appetite.

For the time ever, I began to imagine our future as contractor superheroes saving the world from villains, and the idea didn’t seem as childish or stupid when we kind of already did that. I never got lost in fantasy because of the pressure my father used to put on me, but now I found the appeal in it, and finally came around to my girlfriend and two buddies’ viewpoint. These three changed me for the better, and I couldn’t imagine a future without them.