Page 70 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

32

HOLTER

She handles like a dream. I’ve piloted a lot of expensivesolosin my life, but thisomadacuts through the water even better than Castor’s Gorsca. And keeping Belle safe is well worth it. The mark on her hand makes it even more important. She’s the future. She and others like her will be the ones who can turn around the way our society works. It has endless meaning for our people, but I don’t care about them. I haven’t for a while. Right now, the only thing that matters is here. Keeping her safe.

Having her get all worked up about where I was born? It made me proud to be her mate. Nico’s right, she’s going to change everything. She makes me want to fight to change everything. I want my geminae brothers to have what I have too.

I glance over at her. Her hand. Excitement vibrates through me. The mark appeared. We’re going to be a family. Maybe not right now. But why would it appear if she couldn’t have children? I don’t even know how to feel about it. Ecstatic? Confused? I took her hand and had it clasped in mine in the showroom. We don’t need more males poking around her. Not now. Not when we need to settle into whatever this is, this motley pod we’ve made.

“What do you think back there, Nico?” I ask. “Does it have enough space?”

“It does. Pull over.” Belle laughs and moves her hand up my leg.

I turn to Belle.

She shakes her head. “No, never mind, what I want to do with all of you is going to take a pod bed. And Eros. I want to go home.” Belle places her hand on my leg. It makes me hard. Her hand on my knee is enough.

I pilot ouromadathrough the green dome district. Eros follows behind us.

“I love you both.” She looks from me to Nico in the back. She grips my leg with her fingertips, and I hold back a groan.

“I love you more than him.” Nico’s tone is deep, and I know he’s pushing buttons.

“Nico?” Belle takes her hand from my knee, and now I really do want to hit him.

“My love can’t be quantified.” I don’t need to look to see Nico’s scowl. I’m rewarded with Belle’s hand back on my leg. She makes small circles with her thumb, and I almost miss the turn for Glyden.

“You need to register.” It’s more than Nico’s normal grunt.

“Register? Not yet it’s not safe.” I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it in the back of my head. That while we’re mated, it isn’t official.

“You know I love you. When you think it’s the right time. I can’t wait to be official.” She smiles at me. And I can’t get us home fast enough. The second I can throw away the damn scent block will be a blessing.

We don’t have a dock for our ownomadayet, so I pull it into one of the general spaces. They don’t have the touchless, movable docking system. The tension is growing in here. As angry as Nico and I am, relief rolls off us.

I’m stunned once again. I’m part of this whole thing. Part of a pod. Even as angry as we were—are. We’re in this together. And it hits me hard. There’s a lot we need to talk about. A lot Eros needs to tell us. With Belle we are one. It’s like a tidal wave took me out and I know who I am, where I want to be. It’s with Belle, it’s with my pod. I need them. I need here.

I’m out and around the side of theomadabefore Nico maneuvers out of the back. I reach for Belle. She holds out her hands and hops into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist. She doesn’t squirm to get down like she normally does. No. She’s clinging to me like a baby seahorse. My heart reaches out for her, and I thunder away from our newomada, leaving the door open. Nico thunders after us. Eros reaches us as we hit the elevator. He’s got the control pads for bothomadas. He raises his head, letting me know they are both taken care of.

We’re in our apartment. Clothes are flying. Belle’s, Nico’s, and Eros’s. Her lips trace the edge of my collar. A hiss slips from me as Belle’s lips make their way down my chest, leaving a trail of wet kisses behind. My body is on fire, every nerve ending tingling with desire. I run my fingers through her hair, pulling her closer to me, wanting to feel every inch of her body against mine. I tug on the back of her head, bringing her closer. She’s so sexy it’s hard to believe she’s my mate. That this will be my forever. My cock twitches. Her soft skin beneath my fingers is all I’ve ever wanted.

Nico and Eros watch us, their eyes filled with hunger. They know what we want, what we need. But this is my moment. We will register when we find out who’s attacking our family. I’m not giving them another reason to come after Belle. But damn, this makes it even more real for me. We are a pod. Joy is scattering my thoughts, but one thing is clear: I will protect our pod with everything I have.

I release her head, and she turns to the others. Belle stretches out her arm, and Nico grabs her hand. He traces the broken circle with his index finger. We all watch, and when he presses a kiss to her palm, it’s like a switch is flipped. Her arms wrap around my neck, and I head down the hall with her attached around my waist. Our clothes are a trail to the bedroom. Clues to an easily solved mystery.

In the bedroom, Nico takes the lead. Belle is still in my arms, her legs crossed around my back and her hands running through my hair. Her warm breath is on my neck. Nico stands in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on Belle. He nods once, and Eros moves closer to her. He tenderly runs his hands over her curves, tracing her backside as she kisses the side of my neck. Damn, her touch shakes me to my core. I would give anything to her.

Nico watches intently, his eyes dark with desire. I move us closer to him, my hands wandering over Belle’s body, feeling every curve and every inch of her skin. She moans softly as we touch her, her body arching towards us.

“Come here, Little Krill.” There’s desperation in his tone. I get it. I pass Belle to him, and his hands run over her breasts as he kisses her deeply.

“Fuck, we’re lucky.” Eros moves behind her, his hands trailing down her back as he kisses her neck. My breath hitches. We’re all going to have her tonight. More than once.

This truce won’t last forever. We’re going to need to know what happened to her. And there is something Nico is keeping from me. Something more than a viperfish attacked him. I’ll find out what it is, but not today. Today we are a whole pod with a mate who is becoming more of a mermaid every day. She knows what she wants, and I want her to have it. I want her to have all of us. All the pleasure, every day. I’ll see to it. No one can deny her. Hell, if she wants to parade around the city showing everyone her partially connected fertility circle, I’ll take her.

Tonight, however, she’s ours and ours alone. I’m not being jealous, wanting her for just us. No, that’s normal, wanting the pod to have unity.

We turn her around and wrap her arms around Nico’s neck. Her little moans and sighs have me even harder than before. He demands pleasure from her. There’s no other way to describe it. I’m shocked that he stops and lets her go to Eros.

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