Page 47 of Vengeful Mates

“Not as beautiful as you,” I countered, smirking at her.

She swatted the air with her camel whip, pretending to get me. “Cheesy.”

My woman didn’t like it when I got sweet with her. Screw it, she’d get all of me. Sweet and romantic, with gifts and love notes. Ruthless in my reckoning. Book nerd and thirst for knowledge. Demanding and punishing in the bedroom. Experimental and creative in the kitchen with my meals.

“Next time we’re alone,” I warned. “I’ll torture you with compliments.”

She groaned and swatted the air again. “Shut up and break this curse!”

Solving problems was my god’s charge, and I was going to break the curse, come hell or high water. I owed it to my brothers and woman. To the gods. Anticipation to crack the curse burned hot as our camels carried us further from the river, deeper into the desert.

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when I break the damn curse?” I rocked from side to side as our camels sailed up the rocky terrain, to the edges of the Valley of Kings.

Aaliyah flashed a wistful grin at me. “Cuddling and kissing and lots of it.”

“No sex?” I teased.

“Kiddo cockblocking!” She emphasized the words, and I chuckled.

I clicked and steered my ride away from perilous ground. “We’ll babysit Mia.”

Aaliyah’s legs squeezed as our camels climbed a steep slope to reach the pinnacle over into the valley. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Nurse A worried we’d get up to mischief in her absence.Hell, yeah.Stuff Mia full of junk food, popcorn, hype her up with Slade games, and let her watch movies all night. What bad biker daddies did. What a lot of cool parents did every once in a while. My mate needn’t be so strict all the time. Live a little. Kids needed to have fun within reason, and we’d make sure Mia had it in spades.

“It’s for two nights. She won’t die from being spoiled.” I grinned at my woman, and she scoffed, shaking her head, knowing us too well. “Slade already slips her lollipops and cookies when you’re not watching.”

“She’s got diabetes.”

“He’s careful. Only one and we watch her insulin.”

“Fuck, his balls are gone!” Aaliyah bunched the reins in her hand and whipped them from side to side, hitting her legs.

I fell forward with laughter.

Aaliyah frowned. “Did you just throw him under the bus for your pissing contest?”

“No.” My competition with Slade got hot at times, but I wouldn’t sink that low. “Come on, Sorceress. Two nights. Be with your mate.”

They deserved some alone time after spending so long apart. Zethan was my close friend, my brother, and he ached to be with her. Daddy and I were selfish bastards at the best of times, wanting her to ourselves as often as possible, but if I put myself in his shoes, fuck, I wouldn’t wish that kind of curse on my worst enemy.

Nothing pleased me more than breaking both curses, making my woman and brother happy, and completing the five of us as a harem… if that didn’t shatter the bond between us.

Her legs tightened on the camel’s sides. “I can’t. We just spent three nights away a month ago. I don’t want to put Mia through that again.”

Woman had the nerve to say my back was stiff from sitting too much. Right back at her. She was too stiff and strict when it came to health. Too rigid when it came to caring for her child over her own needs. Residual guilt for adopting Mia. My woman wasn’t going to punish herself forever if I had a say in it.

I casually threw my hand out. “I can’t have the gift voucher for Love Cabins in the Blue Mountains go to waste.”

Aaliyah’s hand went to her heart and her eyes glassed over with happy tears. “Fuck, that’s so thoughtful and sweet. Thank you, Daddy.”

Gratitude wrapped the bond in a loving embrace, and I wished we’d just taken one camel so I could squeeze her to me, nuzzle, and kiss her neck. Receive the kisses she stretched back to give me. Rock into the hand job she offered.

“Thank Slade and Alaric, too.” With me closing in on cracking the curse, we pitched in to surprise them. I was getting ahead of myself, but, hey, it felt like the perfect moment to tell her.

Aaliyah sniffed, holding back her tears, caging the love that wanted to burst free. Woman didn’t want to get her hopes up only to have them dashed and buried under the sands of time. I didn’t blame her when I came close too many times to count.

“I will.” She swiped at a leaked tear and smiled at me longingly, buoyed by our surprise. “I’m looking forward to it.”

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