“Watching you.”
“This whole time?” he asks, pushing past me with the beam and throwing it outside with everything else we have decided we do not want in the house. We will light it on fire when we have finished clearing out the home. Or rather, when Beren finishes clearing out the home. “I have been working hard to fix our home, and you are just standing there?”
“I have been extremely busy,” I tell him. I want him to press further so I can tell him what I was so busy doing. Of course, I am not that lucky because as much as Beren wants to be in bed with me, he is better about getting work done before indulging in the best part of being alive.
“I want this home ready by the time the human after the next is to arrive,” Beren says as he pushes past me again and goes to grab more debris and trash from the house.
I roll my eyes at him and his constant desire to have a female join our home. His timeline gives us many days to prepare the house. I do not know why it is so important for him to get it done right this instant. What’s even more surprising is how badly he desires a female. I am happy to watch Erkoz and Xoth’s mate bathe. Beren wishes for us to have a female of our own, though. One we only have to share with one another instead of everyone else.
“Have you spoken with Ralleth about being allowed a female?” I ask.
Most brothers who already have male mates are not even being considered for wooing a female human. I do not know if Ralleth, our tribe’s leader, even knows our interest in having one. Beren probably hopes one will fall into our laps and the others will be okay with us having her.
“No.” Beren shoots me a look that tells me he does not want to be reminded that the chances of us getting a human female are very, very small. So small, in fact, they are null because we have not yet made it clear to anyone that we wish to have a female.
We cannot very well demand one the next time one comes. We most certainly cannot just ask for her if we feel a calling to her because the brothers who only want to bed females might be upset with us. Not that they would not also be happy for us, but there are plenty of brothers who have never felt a calling to someone. It would seem unfair to them if Beren and I had our souls call to another.
Beren and I have been together for almost five years now, and in that time, we have been much happier than many of our brothers because we have had one another. The others will think we are being cruel in taking one of the few females who come to bless us since we already have one another. It is not cruelty on purpose, but it will still be seen that way.
“Then it does not matter if the house is cleaned,” I say and lean back against the door frame to do my favorite activity; watching Beren lift heavy things. “We should wait for Toron to come back. He said he would help us.”
Beren looks at me as though I have lost my mind. “There is a good chance he never returns. His mate was kidnapped before they mated, and if the bloodlust takes him, he is going to die out there.”
“Negative, negative,” I chide him. “I think he will find his mate.”
“Oh, so it is just us that you do not think will get to have a female?”
“We already have a female willing to do plenty for us,” I say, not letting him goad me into anything. Well, maybe he could goad me into bed. I would allow that in a heartbeat. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Erkoz and Xoth’s mate is bathing now. It is around the right time.”
Beren continues working in the house even though his attention is most definitely grabbed when he hears Kendra is bathing right now. I tap my claws against the door frame, wondering how many more moments he can pretend we are not about to go. Surely not very many because it is much more enjoyable than cleaning out a house.
We watch her bathe and imagine what it would be like if we had a soft human to toy with. Then we go back to our room in the great hall and make love many times before falling asleep.
Beren’s sigh is soft, but I know I have won as soon as I hear it.
“Fine, but we are finishing the house tomorrow,” Beren snaps at me. He can be as angry as he wants right now because I know how much I enjoy him being angry in our bed. “The next human is coming in two days, which means we have thirty until a female we can have will be here. If by some miracle from the goddess she wants us, I want a home we can bring her to.”
“Yes, the goddess will bless us with a human female who wants the company of two males who find pleasure in one another.” I keep my eye roll to myself and my tone as serious as I can when I do not think it is serious at all.
Beren very much wants a human, and I very much want my mate to be happy. I could be satisfied with just Beren so long as I can continue to look at Kendra, but if a human were to want him, I would hope she would want me, too.
“I know you mock me, but what if she did?”
“Then I would have to learn to share my mate’s attention.” I clap him on the back, a smile splitting both of our lips.
Beren is a grumpy male who always thinks he must care for me and everyone else. When he lets himself relax, he is at his most handsome. Right now, this is one of those times that I hope never to forget because his smile is carefree, and his laugh brings me much joy.
“I am a needy male, you know this. Think of how exhausted you would be if you had a female to sate as well as me.”
Beren’s eyes close, and the smile stays on his lips. Yes, he would very much love to see if he could keep up with two mates who need him often. I would make fun of him more, but the bathing pool comes into focus, and we take up our spot against a wall.
Beren adds more wood to the fire before joining me in bed. He pulls the blankets over me first, making sure I am fully covered and warm, before sliding in next to me and wrapping his fingers in mine. My brain is still catching up with everything that has happened since I am still coming down from the high of Beren using my body to bring us both pleasure.
He is much better at taking care of us when we finish than I am. Maybe it is because he has always been the one to take control that I find myself able to let everything else consume me in the moment.
We used to share this room with two other mated brothers, but when females started coming to the tribe, they left the great hall to find a home in one of the empty houses in the tribe. They have no interest in wooing a female like Beren and I want, but they did think it was best to free up more beds in the great hall for the females who will be coming. Now that Beren and I are leaving, our room can be used as a second human female room.
“How are you feeling?” Beren asks as he rolls onto his side to face me. My eyes are closed, but I crack them open and then roll onto my side as well so our faces are close to one another.