Thoreau - Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Wayne
When Arch and I linked Reau at the end of his shift, we didn't expect to find him agitated and teary. Usually, he happily told us every little detail about his job and the old folks who wanted to pet Spring, but not tonight.
Apparently, one of the nurses had fallen for Mrs. Merriweather's deathbed sob story and called Bram when Mrs. Merriweather said she wanted to say goodbye to her only child.
No doubt Gamma Reuben's going to teach that nurse a lesson in how to do his job, I smirked.
Yeah, Arch agreed. Gamma made it very clear that there was supposed to be no contact between his mate and that miserable bitch.
Unfortunately, Reau got caught in the middle. As he was leaving, he saw Bram standing in distress outside the old hag's room, and his kind heart had him volunteering to go inside with Bram, and he'd stayed with the omega until Gamma Reuben showed up.
I'd hoped that would be the end of it for Reau, but Arch linked me about what the two of them just talked about, and I sighed.
Whatever Mrs. Merriweather was screaming at Bram, it stirred up all his memories of his biologicals, I told Ocean in a gloomy tone.
Gamma took care of her, Ocean growled. Larch said gamma carried Bram out to his SUV, then went back and snapped her neck.
She didn't deserve the mercy, I growled back. Our baby boy's going to have a nightmare tonight because of her!
When we first met Curls, he had nightmares two to three times a week. They gradually decreased, and now he had one every month or two unless someone or something triggered him.
Even if he didn't tell us, we always knew when that happened. He spiraled into all the negative thoughts he'd had when we first met him, calling himself bad and broken and - the one I hated the most - retarded.
If I could, I'd bleach that word out of his brain.
As I ran out of the garage, I saw Arch had Reau seated on the trunk lid and wondered why he had our baby outside in the cold instead of inside my car, which was obviously running.
"And Wayne?" Reau's sweet voice came to my ears as I got closer. "Will he be mad—"
"He won't be mad, I promise you." Arch kissed his forehead. "But he'll for sure want his own soul-sucking kiss."
"A soul-sucking kiss?" I grinned as I came to a stop behind them. "Hell, yeah, I want a soul-sucking kiss from my baby boy!"
Reau's little giggles made my heart flutter, but the thought of French kissing him made my stomach tighten.
I loved any kind of kissing with him, of course, but I'd been looking forward to this for years now, ever since he told Arch to "suck Wayne's big, soft lips" so he could watch. He had asked for "princess" kisses, though, and we'd honored that request all this time, patiently waiting for the day he was ready for more.
And today's that day, I thought with a smirk as I nudged Arch out of the way and framed Reau's face with my palms.
"You sure you want this, Curls?" I whispered.
"Yes, I am. I'm only sorry ChiChi and I didn't wait for you." He blinked his big eyes up at me. "He said you wouldn't be mad, but are you?"
"No, baby, I'm not mad." Stroking my thumbs over his cold cheeks, I frowned. "You're freezing. Let's get in the car and warm you up."
"You warm me up," he whispered, his eyelids drooping down until I could see only a glimmer of blue-green. "Warm me up with a tongue kiss like Arch did."
Fucking hell! My eyes widened. If I make it through the next five minutes without coming in my jeans, it'll be a miracle!
But if that was the price I had to pay, I'd endure it gladly if it meant I could finally suck his soul into my mouth.
Not wasting any time after his invitation, I put my lips against his and kissed him gently, then touched my tongue to his cupid's bow. Arch had taught him well, apparently, because Reau immediately opened up for me, and I eased inside the warm, wet cavern of his mouth.
He moaned a little as the tip of my tongue met his, and that excited me even more. Moving my hands, I knocked his beanie off and gripped fistfuls of his hair so I could angle his head a bit - and because I loved the feel of his silky curls tangling around my fingers.
Don't go too far, Arch cautioned in the link.
I know, I managed to retort despite my fizzing brain.
Then two bricks of ice found their way under my jacket and hoodie and clamped onto my sides. Jerking back as Reau's hands skimmed over my skin, I grabbed his wrists before his fingers could travel any further south.
"Goddess, Curls! You're cold as ice!" I growled. "Time to get you in front of the heater!"
He giggled as I scooped him up and glanced at Arch, who only smirked as he opened the back door of my car.
"You want me to chauffeur the two of you home?" he asked.
"Sure." With a grin, I winked at him and sat in the back seat.
"I know what a chauffeur is!" Reau yelped. "Yes, yes, be our chauffeur, Bear-Bear! Then Wayne and I can kiss all the way to my house!"
I groaned as Ocean snickered and Arch protested being left out.
"It's only fair, Arch. You two get to steal little kisses all day in the classes you don't have with me, plus at the garage after school." Reau sat on my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck, then buried his face in my throat.
"Yeah, but that's not kissing you!" Arch growled as he got in the driver's seat.
"I'll make it up to you at home," our baby boy promised.
Then he started giving me cat kisses, which was what he called it when he licked our skin. At first, he would only drop cat kisses on our necks, but recently he'd moved down to our chests and abs, to our great pleasure.
And I can't wait until the day he puts that quick little tongue to work on my dick, I smirked as he explored the notch between my collarbones.
Of course, just the thought gave me a boner, and I had to shift his bubble butt off me and onto the seat.
"Aww, Wayne!" he pouted. "I like feeling your hard dicky rubbing on my tushy!"
Fucking hell!
Wayne and Arch's big surprise for me was to take me to see two houses and help pick which one we wanted for our own.
After Mom Evie and Dad Nathan became chosen mates, they built their own place, and the current alphas built a brand-new house for their mate a couple of years before they found Luna Posy. That left the old alpha houses of Great Rocks and River Rapids empty, and Mom Evie and Dad Nathan said Arch and Wayne could inherit one and one of their younger brothers could inherit the other.
So here I was as Arch showed me around his old house. We'd already toured Wayne's childhood home, and it was beautiful with lots of rooms and property around it, but Spring had helped me see how upset it made Wayne to be there.
He remembers his dad in every room, my wolf told me when I hadn't realized Wayne was struggling. Alpha Shawn Black was an amazing man and an even more amazing father. Losing him nearly killed Alpha Wyatt, and Wayne wasn't in much better shape. It might be better to let Wade or Wesley inherit the River Rapids house. They were very young when Alpha Shawn died, so they don't remember him very much at all.
"And this is the master bedroom," Arch said as he ushered us into a room with light gray walls. "There are two big closets, and the bathroom has a rainfall shower and a big whirlpool tub!"
"Big enough for all three of us?" Wayne grinned as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down, and my jaw dropped.
"Take a bath together?" I gasped.
My face heated up as my brain filled with images of all of us being naked together in hot, bubbly water...
"Oh, yeah." Arch ran his knuckles down the side of Wayne's face. "Can't wait, baby."
"I can't wait for us to live together." Wayne grabbed Arch's big hand and brought it to his lips, then kissed his knuckles. "We'll wake up together and eat together and go to bed together and christen every room by fucking in them one by one—"
"Wayne!" Arch barked. "How many times have I told you to watch your mouth, especially around innocent ears?"
"They can't be too innocent anymore," Wayne smirked.
"You've certainly done your best to corrupt them!"
I didn't know whose innocent ears they were talking about, but I was too busy thinking to care.
"We will live all together in a house?" I interrupted their bickering to ask. "Just the three of us?"
"Yep! Isn't that exciting?" Wayne's free hand reached out and held mine.
"That's why we showed you both houses, baby," Arch explained. "Once we're chosen mates, we'll move in together and start our new lives."
"But I live with Dad and Papa and Bubble," I pouted.
"Yeah," Wayne said slowly, "but once we take each other as chosen mates, we'll live together."
"Then when will I go back home to Dad and Papa and Bubble?"
"Never," he snorted.
My mouth fell open as I stared at him.
My eyes stung, and I blinked really fast. I loved Wayne and Arch, but I wasn't sure if I could give up my family for them.
And I'd been locked away before by people who were ashamed of me. Were my boyfriends planning to do that, too? I did not want them to be ashamed of me, and I did not want to be trapped in a room ever again!
They are not ashamed of you, little one, Spring told me, and they have no intention of keeping you a prisoner here.
You don't know that! He just said I'd never see Dad or Papa or Bubble again!
Without waiting to hear his answer, I looked up at Wayne.
"I will never see them again?"
"What? Of course you will!" He laughed. "What are you talking about?"
Two tears skimmed down my cheeks, and my lower lip trembled. Now he was laughing at me?
Arch nudged Wayne out of the way and cupped my face in his palms.
"He didn't mean it like that, Curls, and he's not laughing at you. We would never stop you from seeing your family. You can see them whenever you want."
"What—" I hiccuped and tried again. "What did he mean, then? Are you going to lock me up in here, WayWay?"
"No, but I might tie you up in here," he smirked, and my lungs went wild as panic made my vision blurry.
"Shut up, idiot!" Arch roared. "Read the room! You're making it worse! Can't you see he's upset?!"
"Oh, hey, Reau, I'm sorry! I was just teasing! I would never, ever lock you up. Neither would Arch. And of course I wasn't laughing at you. I love you, baby."
Pulling me against his chest, he turned my head and pressed my ear over his heart, and I closed my eyes as I listened to his heartbeat.
"You're okay, baby," he whispered as one of his big hands held my head in place and the other wrapped around my back. "We will never do anything to hurt you or control you, and of course we'd never lock you up or keep you away from your family."
"You are not ashamed of me?" I whispered.
"No, Curls. Neither of us are ashamed of you. Everyone knows you're ours and we're yours. We've never hidden that we're in love and love each other, have we?"
"No." I sniffed and nuzzled into his hard chest.
"I know you're struggling today because some things triggered you and your nightmare last night, but you are not back at Gray Shadows. You are not with your parents. There are no cages here and there never will be. All Arch and I want is to take care of you. To keep you happy and healthy. You know why?"
"Why, WayWay?"
"Because we love you."
"I love you, too." I wiped my eyes and nose on his shirt. "Bear-Bear, I love you, too."
"And I love you and Wayne. So, so much." Arch laid his hand on my back. "Listen, all that Wayne meant was that mates live together. Look at Atticus and Livvy. Now that they're mates, Atticus will probably move out of his family home and move into Livvy's house. They'll live together and have pups and raise them in the house they share. Understand?"
"But what about my room at Dad and Papa's?"
"I'm sure they will keep it for you and welcome you home any time you want to visit, but remember how Leo and Poppy moved to their own home after they found out they were mates? You would do the same," Wayne explained in a gentle voice. "You could bring all your stuff with you, but your main home would be with us."
"But my secret room! And the hidden garden! And our secret fort!" I whimpered.
"Those things will still be there. They won't disappear, and beta and Gelo aren't going to destroy them or anything. We can go over and hang out whenever we want."
"And if beta and Gelo adopt any pups," Arch chimed in, "we can go over and play with them in the garden or the secret fort. Wouldn't that be fun?"
I nodded because it did sound fun.
"I know you don't like change or disruptions in your routine, so we'll take it slow," Wayne said. "Maybe you could sleep over at beta's every other night or on the weekends until you get used to living with us. How does that sound?"
"Wait." I lifted my head as surprise widened my eyes. "We could have a sleepover every night? Even school nights?!"
"Oh, yeah," Wayne smirked, "but I don't know how much sleeping will happen."
"Why not?" I tiled my head and blinked at him.
"We'll be busy doing something else." He grinned and nudged my nose with his. "Remember that night you were merged with Spring? I promised I'd tell you a secret on my eighteenth birthday?"
I searched through my memories until I remembered the moment and promise.
"Yes, I do, WayWay!" I jumped up and down. "I have waited so long to know the secret!"
"After your birthday next week, it's only four weeks until mine." He lowered his mouth to brush a kiss against my lips, and I hummed with happiness. "That's when I'll tell you, and then you'll know what we'll be doing instead of sleeping."
As Arch looped his arms around both of us, I leaned back in Wayne's arms and looked up at him.
"But we will go to sleep at some point, right?" I checked to make sure. "I am grumpy if I don't get enough sleep."
"We know," they chorused with matching grins.
"Eventually, we'll go to sleep," Arch assured me with a snicker. "Probably sooner rather than later until you develop the stamina to make it more than two or three rounds, little bottom."
"Rounds? And I'm little bottom again?"
My forehead scrunched up. I didn't hate that nickname, even if I didn't quite understand it, but they didn't call me that very often and never in front of someone.
"You'll always be our little bottom," Wayne laughed.
"But you can top any time you want to." Arch's eyebrows lowered as he glared at Wayne. "We'll all learn together and figure out what works for each of us as we go, okay?"
"Okay." I shrugged.
They obviously knew a lot more about living together than I did, and I knew they would help me understand it all when the time was right.
Papa said he'd tell me more specific details when I was a bigger boy, but he hadn't yet, and I was getting impatient.
Aren't I a big enough boy yet? I grumbled.
He's planning to tell you the morning of your birthday next week, Spring told me. Just in case you find your mate that day.
You could have told me some things, too, you know! I've been asking you for a long time, I whined at him.
To be honest, little one, I tried to sleep or not pay attention when Everett was making a conquest. I didn't like that he had so many partners while we were looking for our mate. I kept telling him it was a bad idea, that he or she would hate to know he hadn't waited, but he didn't listen to me.
I knew Spring and his first human hadn't gotten along, and Dad had explained the reason why shortly after I met Spring, so I wasn't surprised to hear what he said now.
Still, I grumped, you could give me a few pointers. I'm worried I will mess up.
Even if you do, it's okay, he assured me. No one is perfect the first time they do anything, including mating.
But what if I do something that disgusts my mates? Or—
Stop, little one. Those who love you won't be disgusted by anything you do. Shaking his head, Spring smirked. In fact, I expect you to freak out before he or they will. The first time you get semen in your mouth should be interesting. I mean, look at how fussy you are if anything sticky gets on your hands. Plus, what are you going to do if you can't stand how it tastes?
My eyes widened. Papa had told me years ago that boy-to-boy mates could put their dickies in each other's mouths, but I hadn't made the connection with ejaculation until just now.
Would I like how it tasted or felt it in my mouth?
As Arch and Wayne led me back to the living room, I nodded to myself with determination.
It is smooth like warm gelatin, I told him, so I think I will be okay to drink it—
Drink it?! he choked. How much do you think comes out?
—and I will try tasting it tonight when I masterbate in the shower.
Spring
Oh my Goddess! I moaned. You'd think I'd be used to it by now!
Used to what, Spring? demanded my little one with a frown. Masterbating? Drinking semen? What does it taste like, anyway? Is it sweet or salty or sour? It smells like it would taste salty. Does everyone have a different flavor? Will Arch's taste one way and Wayne's another? Or will they both taste like mine? Because if I train myself to like mine, but theirs is different, that could be a problem—
As he rambled on, I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. If I could survive losing my human half, I could survive Thoreau's first mating.
Probably.