“Baby, we should get up.” Colton rolls over in bed and drapes his arm across my abdomen lightly. Snuggling up close after one of the best night’s sleep I have had in a long time. I’m so relaxed it feels like I’m floating on a happy cloud.
It felt like it had been forever since we had real intimacy like this. Time alone to relax and curl up without any need to get up. Now that early morning patrols for vampires are a thing of the past, Colton has been trying to get used to sleeping late with me and adopting lazy morning routines while I’m pregnant. We know they won’t last after these babies arrive. We are making the most of the time we have left in a future of broken sleep and tiny demands.
“Hmmm,” I murmur sleepily and bury my face under his chin, pressing bodily to that chiseled torso as he wraps his arms around me. “Five more minutes.” I revel in his warmth and close my eyes to doze back off.
The sun has been up a while, and the daily noises of Lycan life outside has been getting louder for the past hour. I know Colton wants to start his day and see what needs his attention, but I have other plans. The growth of our offspring is exhausting, and the need for sleep has been steadily increasing with the passing days. No more stress about wars and invasions pulling my brain around means I can focus on doing nothing.
“How about I energize you with some exercise? Wake you up a little.” Colton nudges me suggestively, snakes a hand down my back to cup my butt, and pulls me groin to groin. A little bump that startles a small laugh from me. Sexy time has been off the table for a while, given how fragile he deems me, and it’s a nice surprise to find him willing to bring it back.
My hormones have most definitely missed that kind of contact with my normally oversexed mate. Hating that his protective nature trumped his hornier side. A smile breaks across my face, and I tilt my head back, instantly wide awake and raring to go. I wouldn’t say no to that kind of exercise with my hunky boy.
“I’m game if you aren’t going to get all weird and cool off two minutes into foreplay.” Like every time I initiated sex before thoughts of babies hit his brain.
“Doc assured me that as long as we’re not overly wild that it’s perfectly safe. Just don’t expect acrobatics or crazy antics. Slow and gentle is what I can deal with.” He kisses me on the forehead with a soft grazing of lips.
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?” I laugh at him, amused by his cuteness, but our moment of progress is short-lived. I don’t get to inch closer or return the kiss.
Alora, get your butt down here. Carmen and Jasper are about to kill one another. She is in making all kinds of noise and attracting viewers.
Meadow’s urgent tone of despair hits us both in the pack link, and Colton groans, letting me go, and rolls onto his back again. That change of atmosphere and the buzz between us die instantly when duty calls.
I’m deflated and know I won’t get that moment back anytime soon, especially not with World War three about to break downstairs. All it takes is Carmen’s super shriek, and we have to reglaze the entire homestead again.
“Your brother…… your adopted sister….. why am I not surprised?” Colton exhales. His tone is unamused. Over the last few days, since what seemed like progress between them, Carmen has put Jasper through his paces and refused to relent in any way. Bickering, standoffs, and even outright verbal fights over the dumbest things.
She’s punishing him for his rejection of her, even though he’s made it clear he has changed his mind on that front now he’s living here and seeing her every day. Carmen just can’t back down.
“Maybe this is the tipping point, and she finally gives in!” I shrug and roll off the bed, grabbing the nearest robe so we can go stop the mayhem. I have been waiting for the eruption that might finally break the ice. I could feel it building these past days.
“Or maybe Jasper will up and leave because, let’s face it, Carmen is hard work.”
I glare icily at Colton with a ‘don’t even say it or bring up the past’ and make it clear that his next sentences better not reference the fact that he used to date her. I may love the girl, but I don’t like any kind reminder that Colton knows her in ways I don’t. I’m not normally jealous, but these baby hormones have made it a touchy subject lately.
“Carmen is someone I love. Don’t utter another word, Santo. I’m pregnant and prone to irrational tears and rage.” I warn and haul on my robe and slippers before marching ahead of him to get out first. Ignoring the look he throws my way and sticking my chin in the air to highlight my slightly annoyed temperament.
Colton has the sense to follow at speed silently, and we make our way down the stairs to the main hall, where we hear the arguing and smashing of what might be a vase.
“Stop! Carmen, please…. You’re being a complete psy…….” Jasper’s pleading tone leads us to their location.
“Don’t even!!! I dare you… finish that word, and you’ll see exactly how bad I can be!” Carmen screeches at my brother, and it’s almost to the level that her gift kicks in but not quite. Everyone watching the show still winces, though, and I cover my ears and throw my mate a look of despair. I hope she doesn’t kick off because I already have the start of a headache.
“What’s going on? Jesus Christ, you two.” Colton rubs his forehead. Clearly, it’s too early in our day for this, and the glare from alpha sends all the watchers crowding the hall running off to get back to what they are supposed to be doing. They know better than to stick around when drama erupts.
“Carmen, what’s going on?” I interject while pushing past him to stand between the sparring duo.
“I’m rejecting him, BUT he just won’t listen or accept it. Keeps following me around and talking at me. He can’t understand why on earth I would refuse the mate bond…. Like, is he really that dense?” She throws her hands up in the air, waving them around, and turns to pace off. My mood frizzles, which brings on the fatigue with extra oomph.
“I didn’t say I don’t understand. I get it. I rejected you and made life hell for both of us. I know you’re still hurt and mad and trying to punish me. Do you forget that imprinting tells me everything I need to know about you and how you deal with things? I know why you’re like this.”
“Oh my god. I’m going back to bed.” Colton turns and shakes his head, looking like he intends to take off and leave me to deal with this alone. Passing Jasper with a ‘you’re on your own’ grimace and pats him on the shoulder in a show of bro-like solidarity. Lately, these two have bonded and started to become friends.
“One step, and you’ll be mateless for the foreseeable future,” I warn sternly. There’s no way he’s escaping this.
“Babe?” Colton relents, giving me the puppy dog eyes, but I thrust my hands on my hips and head nod towards my brother. Colton obediently walks back to his side and slumps down on the bottom step beside him with a groan. Huffing with a heavy exhale and props his hands under his chin and his elbows on his knees to support them. He knows when not to test me, and this is one of those moments.
“Carmen, stop tantrumming. Come here and talk to me like an adult. I have no idea what kicked this off but aren’t you tired of this already?” I know I am. She gets the same no-nonsense tone, and for once, it actually works on her. Maybe because I really am fed up with it. She sighs heavily, turns back towards me, and wanders back with resignation. Avoiding Jasper’s eye.
“I’m not going to forgive him. I’m done being someone everyone throws away. I’m no one’s forced choice.” She glares his way, pouting like a child even though her eyes are misty, and that flex of her jaw hints at tears being close. I have to stop the smile that tugs at my face as her emotions hit me in proximity. Carmen is bluffing and trying her hardest to convince herself that Jasper should go away. Inside she’s begging him to come to give her a hug, and I have to stop myself from tugging her into my arms for one.
“And I told you I’m sorry and willing to do whatever it takes to mend things between us. You’re not a forced choice, Carms. I am choosing to be with you. You just have to stop telling me to go away when I get within ten feet. How can I fix us if I can’t get near you to talk?” It’s obvious by Jasper’s despair and lack of energy that they have quarreled for a while. We only came down when it hit volcanic level.
“Should have thought about that before then, shouldn’t you?” She snaps right back, venom hitching up again. She is holding back real tears as her voice wavers.
“Carmen, I wasn’t thinking straight. I was experiencing a lot that day, like my long-lost sister being Luna of my enemy. I have a lot of issues Sierra is working through with me. One is my hang-ups about this pack…… and my initial reaction to you being Santo. I’m sorry, okay? You know it’s not like it was. I’m really trying. I’m begging you to give me a chance.”
“Oh boy. Carmen, you know I love you, but sometimes your stubbornness is your worst flaw. Can you not give a little and think of the happy future you can have with your destined mate if you let him grovel and work it out?” I implore her with a soft smile and head tilting to the side in hopes of appealing to her inner love for me. “We will be real sisters.” Technically not, but I see Jasper as my brother, regardless of my DNA.
“I’m fine on my own. I don’t need a man to be fulfilled in life. I have my pack, and you’re already my sister.” She pouts, aiming it his way.
“My kids want cousins… I’m an only child. Alora has only one brother. That’s an order from your alpha.” Colton smirks at her, not being helpful in this situation, then stretches his legs out and stifles a yawn with his fist. I could kick him for his obvious disinterest. Obviously, he isn’t invested in this scene at all and is already thinking about how to escape and go back to bed.
“Look at how happy Sierra and Radar are, huh? They’re planning pups already and have a cozy little love nest picked out on the grounds. You’re just delaying the inevitable.” I try appealing differently, and I’m rewarded with a scowl from my girl.
“Radar isn’t an asshole. That’s why they’re happy!” Carmen throws her hair over her shoulder, sarcasm fluent this morning, and once again pointedly glares at Jasper, who runs a palm down his face and looks like he might scream. I can almost sympathize and feel his very real frustration.
“See how impossible she is?” He gestures with open palms at me, looking for someone to side with him, and I shrug.
I gesture a cutting-throat, wild hand-waving motion at my brother to tell him to shut up and am met with a blank stare. I probably didn’t need these two butting heads to start my day.
I honestly don’t know if the fates were thinking clearly in pairing these two up like this. Both are headstrong, stubborn, and feisty-tempered on a good day. It’s a wall meeting a wall, although Jasper is trying more than Carmen is.
“I can’t take this anymore. Move. It’s like listening to toddlers fighting over a toy.” Meadow’s harsh tone comes from behind Jasper as he is shoved ungracefully aside to allow my sassy queen to march over to me. She shakes her head and catches Carmen by the wrist before turning and tugging her back again to where she came from. Full-on aggressive mode that I expect from Meds, and she wastes no time in hauling Carmen around.
“Here, this belongs to you, don’t leave your things lying around so carelessly, or you won’t get given them back.”