Page 83 of The Brotherhood

“Why unexpected?” she asked, her words still smiling.

“You’ve never had a big brother, I see.”

“Nope, never. Always wanted one, though,” she said, making him turn to see the radiance he heard in her voice. Being her first anything felt like a fair tradeoff.

“Big brothers snoop and spy on everything to make sure all is in order.”

She flopped back on the bed and smiled at the ceiling, the sweet sight making him want to rip something apart. She aimed her glittery gaze and smile at him. “Uncle Sinrik.” She got up on her elbow, gaze wide with mischief. “I have an idea.”

He instinctively shook his head. “No.”

“There’s a whole bunch of nuns in the swamp that are supposed to marry robot soldiers.”

He drew his head back, perplexed and she laughed at him.

“Don’t worry, they were rescued from a wicked convent where they were forced to do far worse things I was told.”

“What is your sick point?” he had to know, confused now, to which she laughed then aimed her not so innocent grin at him.

“Well, you canhaveone.”

He pulled the chair away from the bed and sat on it, crossing his arms over its back as he turned more perplexed. “What would I do with a nun?”

Then it dawned on him and her laugh exploded at seeing it on his face. “It doesn’t have to be weird!” she laughed.

“I’m afraid it fucking does,” he disagreed in sharp disgust. “I don’t have to be religious to know that’s perverted.”

She sighed and lay back down, contemplating the ceiling again. “There’s other women in the swamp too, not just nuns.”

“Are you the swamp matchmaker?” he suddenly worried.

She got on her side, back in the game with that one. “As a matter of fact, I’m the Belle Eveque.”

He smirked with raised brows. “Royalty. Figures.”

She nodded proudly. “I convinced all the celibate men to marry.”

“Did you,” he said in mock surprise.

“This was pre-bat bite,” she swore. “Of course they’ll all say I had persuasive powers back then too,” she muttered with an eye roll. “But it wasn’t me, it was Bishop.”

“And he thought this up all by himself?”

She squinted, her mouth turning down in a cute grimace. “Welllll…”

“Right. Keep your witchy words away from me, please.”

She eyed him with an inquisitive look, still smiling. He realized this was her in her natural element. He immediately marked it as a gauge. She should always look that way.

“You’re good at this,” she fished openly.

“Good at what?” he asked, back to guarded.

“Being a big brother. You had practice?”

The question brought him to the tarpit of his forgotten past. “No,” he answered. “An only child.” That was the only truth he had, the only one that mattered. “We’re both virgin siblings. Perfect for each other.”

He watched her cheeks turn pink, realizing he was creating a list of necessary things. The smiles, the blushes, the mischief—all of them required, all needing a bubble of protection.

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