“Okay. Just remember we want you with us. You’re our family, too, Gid. And family sticks together.” Jai crouched and heaved a slab of plaster onto his shoulder. “Now stop slacking, old man. I’m doing all the work here!”
“Watch the attitude, kid, or I’ll show you exactly what this old man is capable of.” Gideon stood and palmed his sledgehammer like it was light as a feather.
“Are you threatening me with a sledgehammer?” Jai teased as he carried the debris outside and tossed it into the yard.
When he returned, Gideon stopped him from lifting more wood scraps, a massive hand landing on Jai’s biceps, squeezing once. No words were spoken, but Jai understood. He nodded. Just once.
A throat cleared. “Why does it smell like feelings in here?”
Noel placed the bag of sub sandwiches on the tarp-covered kitchen counter, and both Jai and Gideon jolted in surprise at his sudden appearance.
“Gideon was getting all mushy on me,” Jai said with a naughty grin, and Gideon chuckled.
“Aw, I’m sad I missed it.” Noel rubbed Gideon’s back as he planted his feet between his Other and his Prime. He swiped a finger over Jai’s shoulder, tracing the cawing blackbird. “You’re all sweaty.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Jai wiggled his eyebrows, and Noel laughed.
“Not necessarily.” Then Noel winked, biting his bottom lip before he sauntered into the kitchen, an extra sway to his hips.
Gideon watched Noel strut in confused alarm, then shot Jai a bewildered look. Jai couldn’t have explained, even if he wanted to. So he shrugged, and Gideon shook his head, cursing under his breath.
“Maker have mercy.”
Chapter One
“Are you done yet?” I asked for the thousandth time in five minutes, and Uriel shot me a glare over his coffee mug.
“What’s the rule?” he practically growled, and I huffed, plopping my elbows on the counter and cradling my chin in my hands.
“Don’t talk to Uriel in the morning before he’s had his coffee,” I recited.
“And have I had my coffee?”
I pointed at the mug in his hand, the one he’d just poured and had only sipped once. A light brown eyebrow arched in reprimand, and I grumbled under my breath.
“You’ve been a good boy all summer. Don’t ruin your streak now. I feel like Jai will be rather disappointed if he’s not the first one to spank the sass out of you.” Humor danced in Uriel’s sea-green eyes as I balked.
“What?” I screeched, and he laughed.
Taking a gulp of his coffee, Uriel leaned back on his stool as Obie set a fresh omelet before him. “Thank you, pet. This looks delicious.”
At the praise, Obie’s brown skin darkened in a pleased blush. “You’re welcome, sir.”
“Give me a kiss,” Uriel demanded, and Obie obliged.
I looked away, shifting uncomfortably on my stool, and met Delilah’s stare as she ate her marshmallow cereal. This morning, she wore a short, frilly nightgown, and her pale hair was fastened in two pigtails. Her blue eyes glittered in amusement at my reaction to Uriel and Obie’s affections.
Feeling childish, I stuck my tongue out at her, and she giggled, mirroring me. We snickered as Obie returned to the stove and cooked himself eggs. He always ate last, after serving breakfast for the rest of us. At the beginning of the summer, I’d offered to help, but Obie had silently shaken his head.
Uriel told me later that Obie liked making breakfast for everyone the same way he liked being the one to keep the apartment clean and tidy. The only room Obie didn’t clean was mine—or Delilah’s, actually—and that wasn’t for lack of trying. Uriel had put his foot down the third time Obie had snuck in to vacuum the hot pink carpet.
I didn’t necessarily care, but Uriel was adamant that I have my own space and privacy while I stayed with them. None of them were allowed to go into my room without asking first, even to clean.
For Obie’s disobedience, he’d spent the next three days kneeling on the ground instead of sitting in a chair or on the couch whenever the situation required not standing. I’d felt terrible for causing Obie discomfort when he was simply being kind, but Uriel had laughed off my guilt.
“Oh, don’t believe those doll eyes of his. He loves it.” Uriel passed Obie’s kneeling form, still imposing compared to Uriel’s childlike stature, and ran his palm lovingly over Obie’s dark hair. “Don’t you, pet?”
“Yes, sir.” Obie leaned in to Uriel’s touch, shivering when Uriel’s fingers tightened his short curls and pulled roughly. The harsh tug was followed by a loving kiss to Obie’s cheek, and Obie smiled.
Even after nearly three months of living with them, I still didn’t understand their dynamic fully. Their relationship was… weird. Uriel was the boss, and he made the rules. It was understood that Obie and Delilah followed those rules. When they didn’t, Uriel punished them.
“Why do you discipline them?” I’d asked in a whisper one night as Delilah stood with her nose in the corner, her penance for sassing him.
Uriel lowered his book with a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Because she broke the rules, and there are consequences when rules are broken. Isn’t that right, baby girl?”
He’d raised his voice so Delilah could hear him, and she whimpered. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?” He set his book aside and waited as I sifted through my embarrassed confusion.
“Why are there rules?”
“Because they like rules. It helps them feel safe, stable, and secure.” He smiled, sharp and dark. “And because they enjoy breaking the rules sometimes.”
“Why?”
“Different reasons. Delilah needs to know I love her enough to enforce the rules I’ve given her. Obie enjoys the power exchange. The pain of the punishment.”
I flinched. “You hurt him?”
There was a long stretch of silence as I stared at my socks, and it wasn’t until I raised my eyes to meet Uriel’s gaze that he answered. “When he asks me to.”
“But you love each other.” Hurt burrowed into my heart at the betrayal as Uriel took my hand in his. “How could you hurt someone you love?”
“There’s a fine line between pain and pleasure, Riley, and some people enjoy playing with it. I don’t hurt him in the way you think I do.” His grip on my hand tightened to make his point. “I would never harm him or betray the trust he puts in me. But I also don’t shy away when he needs me. Sometimes, controlled pain can overshadow the chaos.”
“I don’t understand.”
He’d freed my hand and skimmed his fingers over my cheek, back into my hair. He massaged my scalp until my tense muscles relaxed. “Because, to you, pain is a weapon. To Obie, pain is a release. There’s freedom in surrender.”
Their relationship still confused me, but I understood the most important thing: it was consensual, based on affection and trust. For all of Uriel’s demands and sternness, he spoiled Obie and Delilah rotten. It was clear he adored them, and they looked at him with stars in their eyes. They were in love, even if they showed it in ways I didn’t fully comprehend.