“Business. Horses. And barely that before …”
“The skiing accident.”
“Yes.”
“But he made an impression,” I say. “Eli says you were being wooed from multiple directions. But Armin felt … right?”
Rian regards me steadily.
For a moment, I think he’s trying to see beneath my skin. Into my soul. Into the truth of me. Or …
“Can you feel that between us?” My voice is a little thin, my heart thumping again.
He nods, just once. “Like I’ve known you for a lot longer than I actually have. Like it’s … easy between us.”
Relief steadies my heart. “Yes. Same. So ask me everything you’re worried about asking Mirth.”
He flushes a little, eyes on his neglected espresso now. “I don’t … I’ve been surrounded by shifters my entire life. And sex with multiple partners is just either fun or a biological impulse.”
“But not with Mirth.”
“No. It’s different with Mirth.” He finally meets my gaze. “I want to know how it’s supposed to work in a bond group. Some shifters are polyamorous, but I never saw that as … never thought of it —”
“Are you worried that you’re going to have to suck dick? Or that you’re going to have to share Mirth?”
Rian reels back a bit at my bluntness. But then he just grimaces and nods. “The jealousy.”
“Listen, I don’t come from a bond group. Not like Mirth does, with her father having multiple chosen mates. Neither does Bolan, Eli, or Christoph.”
Rian shifts in his seat, then takes a deliberate sip of his triple shot. Presumably because I just outlined the full extent of the bond group for the first time. I should have left this all to Eli. But I followed my impulses, and here we are.
“But I do know that Mirth is our crux,” I say, quietly but with utter resolve. “We revolve around her. Our only true role within the relationship is to love and balance Mirth. It doesn’t have to be sexual. This isn’t about incest, if that has you worried?”
“I’m not that much of an idiot,” Rian says, clearly feeling like a complete idiot. “Siblings are bonded by blood and sometimes … soul.”
So it’s the soul bond he’s questioning. If he’s been skin-to-skin with Mirth, as I know he has, I have no idea how he can question that connection.
I can’t fix that for him. All I can do is address the concern he’s outlined for me.
“Right. So, say if Armin were still …” Grief cracks through my voice, but I get it under control quickly. “There’s a good chance it might have been on and off again between Armin and me for our entire lives together, even as I’m full on with Mirth.”
“And the others?”
“Am I fucking them?”
Rian huffs, then exasperatedly asks, “Am I expected to fuck any of them? Or you?”
I bark out a laugh, drawing even more attention than before. Greg, leaning back against a standing-height table, sipping a coffee, straightens warily as if I’m about to be assaulted.
Rian grimaces. “I just want Mirth.”
“Right. Well, you understand consent, right?”
“Of course.”
“The rest of us understand it as well. No one is going to be grabbing your cock or sticking a thumb up your ass without you asking.”
Rian blushes deeply, taking another sip of his coffee. “That wasn’t actually my concern, really.”
