Maiming: A Reverse Harem Series (To Tame a Shifter Book 3) Page 4

  Fuck. I forgot about that.

  Could Helen just tell Myla how fucking precious I am? Would that help things in my favor?

  I don’t think anything really can. Not in this department.

  Maybe I’m just always a screw up.

  Alloex strides through the front door with several text books in tow, pausing just as he closes it behind him. With a thud he pushes off his boots slowly, his brows scrunch oddly. His mother looks up at her youngest son. All four of us look at him.

  And then he adds one more comment just to confirm that I am indeed a complete screw up.

  “Why’s it reek of sex in here?”

  Six

  The Favorite

  In my entire life I’ve never been as nervous about a dinner as I am right now. Myla has every spice and herb I could ever think of, and I make use of them as I try to keep myself occupied with endless tasks. Keeping busy almost makes me forget how knotted my stomach feels right now.

  “I love when young women know how to use a good bay leaf, don’t you Myla.” Helen passes me a big smile that sets me at ease.

  She’s so encouraging. I’m happy she’s here. Grateful—I’m incredibly grateful she’s here. Even if she is complimenting me about a fucking bay leaf right now.

  I won’t admit it, but I want to fit here. I want it so damn bad it’s all I think about. I want these men to be able to make a life with me. And that requires me to put in an effort when I’ve never done that before.

  I’ll make Myla like me. She might not realize it, but she and I are going to have one of those disgustingly sweet mother daughter friendships … any day now.

  Because I want Kain. And I want her to know that I’m someone worthy of having him.

  When she looks to where I’m standing at the long white kitchen counter, Myla’s smile on her lips isn’t like Helen’s. Reserved. That’s the word I’d use to describe everything about Myla. Including her smile.

  “How old are you, Arlow?” Myla continues slicing vegetables but she keeps her emerald eyes on me.

  “I’ll be twenty-four next week.”

  “On the night of the Fire Festival. Isn’t that exciting?” Helen preps several dozen steaks at my side.

  The amount of food in this kitchen right now is more food than I’ve eaten all year, I’m almost certain of it.

  “You’re just a little younger than Kain,” Myla says quietly.

  All this food, the dozens of steaks, the cucumbers, lettuce, cheese, pasta, and bread, it’s mostly for Helen’s family. Sure Kain, Chaos, and Rime have a large appetite all by themselves, but Helen has eleven kids—all boys—and a husband.

  And Myla just has Kain.

  And she’s lost him once before to a pretty woman who didn’t really care about him as much as Kain’s mother thought.

  I understand Myla completely. She’s afraid to like me. Completely terrified that I’ll steal Kain away and discard him.

  Or worse, he’ll leave again.

  I understand that.

  A big palm pushes over my stomach, warm and hard, sealing me right up against the panes of a strong chest. “My girl smells fucking delicious.” The heat of Chaos’ breath sends tingles down my neck and across my arms.

  “I think it’s the sauce, K.” I smile, tilting my head back until I can almost see his brilliant eyes.

  “Mmm, maybe. Maybe it’s both.” His lips are heavy when they press to the side of my jaw. The feel of his big body surrounding me slips away as he wanders farther into the busy kitchen.

  I try to blink through the energy building low in my stomach. You’d think I didn’t just have sex just hours ago. But it’s not my fault. They’ve conditioned my sex drive to expect orgasms daily. Sometimes twice daily. Having several sexy, brooding men in my life is really a hardship, let me tell you.

  “Don’t do it, Chaos.” Myla points at him and the hurt expression in his eyes looks so genuine.

  His fingers splay across his heart as if he’s truly wounded by her warning tone.

  Until he swipes a hunk of cheese off of the table. His mouth opens wide in deliberately taunting way, his smile pulling wider by the second. I can’t help but smile at them. Kain’s mother seems to be Chaos’ mother as well. They all act like such a sweet family.

  These poor women. I can’t get the men to listen at all, I can’t imagine having over a dozen men not listening. Always taunting. Always laughing… Always taking care of me.

  Warmth sears through my chest.

  With a twist of my wrist, the chunk of white cheese rises away from the dragon shifter’s greedy paws. Chaos’ teeth snap closed without any food to sink into. Confusion lowers his brows as he looks at the food dangling above him, hovering with the assistance of my magic. My fingers arch and I guide the cheese right back where it belongs on the tabletop.

  Myla looks to me with a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. The sound of Helen’s laughter fills the room. It’s a smothered sound that hums for a long moment while her son looks to me with outrage in his big eyes.

  “Did you just do that?” He points. I blink innocently. Silence dips in.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chaos.”

  “You took food right out of my hands. Do you know what happens in the wild when prey takes food from a deadly predator?”

  Hmmm, do they get eaten? Slow. Deep. Hard.

  My words slip into his thoughts. His jaw locks stiffly as a look of amusement and lust shines in his eyes. The lashes lining his gaze are so dark they only intensify his every emotion.

  Stalking steps tap against the flooring as he takes his time coming toward me. My back presses into the countertop. I truly feel like a hunted creature looking into the eyes of the beast who’s about to own my body.

  Slowly warmth surrounds me, his arm grazing against mine, his body so near but not quiet touching. He drags it out. My gaze shifts between his and he takes his sweet time letting my heart rate accelerate to a thundering sound that floods my ears.

  His palm lifts, it brushes my skin with the slightest touch.

  And then he has the balls to swipe a spoonful of tomato sauce from the pot that’s bubbling behind me. He darts away, his smile so big I swear he could store food in there like a squirrel if he wanted. The moment the red liquid touches his lips I force every drop of it above him. It slides unnaturally from the ladle, the sauce swirls up, up, up until it’s a storm cloud looming above his head.

  He pulls the now clean spoon away from his lips, his brows raise as he looks up at the mess that’s held above him.

  “Low, I want you to be careful, baby.”

  “Did you just call me baby?”

  “I—I just don’t want you to do anything brash.” Big hands lift to me, trying to diffuse the situation he got himself into.

  Myla coughs but it sounds a like a quiet laugh, and I have to do a double take when I look at her. Her eyes shine just like Kain’s when she smiles. Deep dimples pierce her smile. She looks younger when she smiles.

  “You did this to yourself.” Myla continues to load her veggies into a pan while she chastises the shifter in front of me.

  “Just put him out of his misery, Arlow,” Helen whispers.

  Her son looks like all his trust has been broken when he looks at his mother.

  “I thought I was your favorite, Mom.”

  “Oh, child. You and I both know that none of you are my favorite.”

  Myla snorts and it only makes Helen laugh harder.

  Chaos shakes his head but he never once looks away from the threatening red sauce dancing above his head.

  To be honest, he’s too sweet to ever harm. Not even with food.

  Gently I pull the red liquid back to its place in the pot in front of me. A visible sigh leaves Chaos, lowering his stiffly held shoulders.

  “I knew my girl cared too much to truly hurt me. Unlike some people.” His gaze cuts to his mother, and it only makes the woman laugh even more.

  The possessive w
ay his hands encircle my hips makes me wonder if he even realizes the way he touches me. If it’s a conscious claim or if it’s natural for him. It feels natural. It feels like the most natural thing in the world to be held in his hands.

  When I realize how smugly the two women are looking at me as I cling to Chaos, a smile tilts my lips. It feels good being here. It feels like a home. A home I’m almost a part of.

  I turn to grab the big bowl of salad off the table. Big slices of tomatoes and onions color the bowl and I only manage to take one step before Chaos steals it from my hands. If it wasn’t all vegetables, I’d think he was actually taking it for himself but I know better.

  The man isn’t going to risk my wrath for some lettuce.

  “Let me help you.” His palm pushes over my hip, tingling a sweet feeling of being cared for all through me. Another bowl is scooped off the counter before he heads toward the front door. I grab a big tray of stuffed mushrooms and trail after him. We pass Sinister as he dozes on the couch.

  Being a perfect gentleman must really take it out of him.

  Faded pink and orange hues of sunlight casts across the green grass. Long tables run the side of the house, and that’s where Chaos and I start placing food at the center. There are enough wooden seats to accommodate two dozen people. I know Helen has a large family, but my stomach twists at the possibility of other people joining us.

  Rime and Kain sit at the far end of the table and between them is Alloex. They’re speaking quietly as they seem to be helping him with an assignment. Rime’s words are a steady stream of information, his arm draped across the back of Alloex’s chair as he explains something in detail.

  My brows raise as I wonder what they’re discussing. I move my tray of food closer to them and character names and comparisons of what the analogy of the story actually represents are a low rumbling explanation that hums against Rime’s lips.

  And I’ve never been more aroused by words in my entire life.

  Literature. Rime is explaining literature like it’s his first language.

  When my hip hits hard on a chair, clattering it loudly against the table, the three of them look up. A knowing smile pulls at Kain’s lips, but the serious expression on Rime’s face never changes. Pale blue eyes look calculating as they study me.

  “Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes narrowing on me and my lingering behavior.

  “I didn’t know you liked to read.”

  “I used to.” He keeps that suspicious look held in his cold but beautiful gaze. “When I was alone, I read a lot to pass the time. I’d keep books with me as I travelled around the North.”

  I’ve got to have a serious talk with my heart and the way it loves him. But goddess he makes it so damn easy to want to love him.

  “Does that … interest you, Arlow? Rime reading books, that interests you?” Kain has a similar narrowed look in his eyes, but his smile is so much wider I know he knows the way my insides are fluttering and tightening and all but roaring with desire. It’s been a hectic day for my sex drive. It’s not my fault.

  “It’s not that interesting.” I shrug carelessly as if I can’t be bothered to give it much thought and it makes the hint of a smile tilt Rime’s lips.

  I love when he smiles. Even if it is from my ridiculousness.

  “It smells like it’s not that interesting.” Rime nods, his gaze locked on me, that wicked smirk of his pulling at his lips.

  My thighs shift, and I hate how transparent their shifter abilities make every. They’re in my senses, they’re in my thoughts, can I not be turned on in peace?

  Is that too much to ask?

  “Goddess, do you guys do anything other than fuck?” Alloex rolls his eyes, but before he can complain again his brother cuts him off.

  “Watch your mouth, Ex.”

  Another eye roll from the boy and Chaos is still pinning him with a look as he sits down several baskets of dinner rolls. I eye each basket.

  Yes, there’s clearly going to be more than just family here tonight.

  “You like being her pet, don’t you, dickless?” Rime arches a brow at his friend while he watches Chaos work.

  All he’s doing is helping me with the food, but Rime can’t stand not teasing him.

  “I don’t know I think being favorite has it’s benefits.” Chaos pushes a big hand across my stomach, his calloused palm sending a shiver right through me.

  The taunting back and forth between them is pointed, and I know they’re minutes away from wrestling one another to the ground if it continues.

  “Is he your favorite?” Alloex askes with genuine curiosity about his brother’s relationship.

  My lips part, my mouth opening slowly. Really, they’re all my favorite at different times of the day. Rime is my favorite when he shows me the side of him beneath the cold exterior of his personality. He makes me fall hard when he’s genuine. Kain is my favorite every single time he takes charge of any situation. He makes it easy to breathe, and all my emotions settle into place because I know he’ll take care of everything. And Chaos, Chaos is my favorite every time he shows me the good within all the terribleness of the world. Chaos is the good within the terribleness.

  Instead of saying all that adorableness to these sweet assholes, I bite back.

  “Currently he’s my favorite, yes.” I nod like it’s completely obvious to everyone.

  “Yes! This is what winning looks like, my friend.” Chaos gives an obnoxious wink to Rime that only makes the ice dragon shake his head slowly.

  “What about earlier when you and Rime had sex?” I choke on air itself when Alloex says the word sex. “Was Rime your favorite then?” He tilts his head at me, but I know he’s just pressing our buttons now.

  “Yes, Rime was definitely my favorite then.”

  “Fuck, would you look at that…” Rime’s lips tip up in a cruel taunting smile. “…an underdog victory.”

  My eyes roll hard, partly because of how petty this conversation is and partly because of how right Rime is in saying he’s an underdog.

  “Anyway,” I drag out that word until they all look to me. “I have to finish dinner.” I slip out of Chaos’ annoyingly delicious touch. My back turns to their quiet murmurs and laughter, but before I can leave to go inside a sweet and innocent voice catches at my attention, steeling my spine the moment I hear it.

  “Does it bother you that they’re both each other’s favorite? Does it bother you that you’re the third wheel in an otherwise perfect relationship?” Brylee’s hips sway as she comes a little closer, opening the white gate and letting herself right on into our lives.

  I look from the blonde woman back to Chaos and then to Rime and Kain who are huddled around Alloex. The way Rime and Kain’s arms brush against the back of the chair makes them look like close friends.

  Closer than Rime and Chaos really. But that doesn’t stop Brylee from spewing her judgmental thoughts all over me.

  “Love and affection doesn’t work like that actually.” I stare at her, assessing every terrible thing about the woman before me. “Through all the teasing and all the laughter of favoritism, I know where I stand.”

  “How do you know? Because they fuck you?” She hisses the words through tight lips like it’s a nasty thought to even say. “Just because they fuck you doesn’t mean they care about you. They’ll toss you aside and keep going with their lives together just like they always do.”

  “That’s enough!” Chaos’ words are a roar that doesn’t even deter her gaze.

  I blink at her for a few moments, but the rage inside me barely lets me processes her words. On steady steps I trail closer to her.

  “I know that they care about me, because I’m here. And you’re there.” A smile that’s more cruel than amused carves my lips, and the sight of it only makes her scowl deepen.

  A gentle hand brushes over the inside of my palm, not taking my hand in his but skimming at my hard-set attention until I finally look into the brightest red eyes. “Come inside. Your fo
od’s almost done, Arrie.” I can tell Sinister is trying to pull me away from this incident.

  He’s trying ease the tension in the least confrontational way. I’m trying to make a home here and he knows it.

  He’s right. I need to go inside.

  “And what about you three?” Brylee turns her violent words to the men behind me. “Doesn’t it bother you, knowing you’ll always be second, and third, and fourth best to a demon?” The word demon is an ugly sound against her nasty tongue.

  She can insult me all she wants but how dare she turn all of this on Sinister, who hasn’t done a single fucking thing to anyone.

  My fingers sink into my palm. Magic rips through me, demanding an outlet. I close my eyes to the feel of it. I try to ignore the stinging feel of the energy tearing through me.

  And then a sharp screech snaps my eyes open so fast all I see is her pretty dress wafting in the wind as her petite body slams hard against the dirt.

  I blink. I blink again.

  Did I do that?

  The gate quietly opens and Agatha walks blindly past the girl lying on the ground. The old mage’s stride is a bumpy and trudging pace but she settles with ease into the first chair at the table is if she’s sat there a thousand times.

  “You know spirits don’t like negative energies, Girl. The Spirit of Ocknala is always watching.” She doesn’t look at any of us even as I beam at her with the biggest smile. Maybe Aggie is my guardian angel. A fairy goddess mother sent to help me.

  From the three sexy shifters she brought me, to the girl now sitting on her ass in the dirt, I’d have to say she might really be.

  “Low, darling, can you bring me a cold glass of gin, dear? Warding off spirits really takes it out of you.” Her gray brows furrow and she really does look tired. All her wild dancing and flirting with older men has worked up a sweat.

  “It’d be my…” Fucking. “…pleasure.” The smile on my face is wide and when I turn, Sinister’s smirk matches mine.

  I don’t look at Brylee as she dusts herself off. I don’t turn back at all as I walk inside the house.