Noel made a cooing noise, still asleep but only just. His brows furrowed as his breath hitched. I covered my mouth with my palm to keep quiet as I watched Jai move his hand inside Noel’s underwear. I was painfully hard now, but Gideon was right behind me. The prospect of getting caught was half the thrill, and I shook my head as Jai smirked sinfully.
As Jai worked Noel’s erection, Noel started to wake. His eyes fluttered, and he whimpered. Careful not to jostle Gideon, I reached out to play with Noel’s nipple over his shirt. He gasped, and his eyes shot open.
“What—”
I covered his mouth with my hand, rubbing our noses together as my other hand circled his peaked nub. His wide eyes blinked at me, then shot back to Gideon over my shoulder. They bugged out of his head. His nostrils flared with every breath, air hot on my hand. I simply smiled at him.
“Shh,” I shushed, and he grunted against my hand. Jai’s quiet laugh was lost in Noel’s hair, and Noel reached back, hand cradling the back of Jai’s head.
Stealthily, Jai and I worked Noel up in tandem. Noel didn’t fight us. He rocked his hips into Jai’s hand as his choppy breathing fanned over my knuckles. Gideon continued to snore, entirely unaware.
At some point, Jai must have done something good because Noel moaned quietly, eyes rolling back into his head. I pinched Noel’s nipple gently, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Jai twisted his wrist and whispered something in Utopian against Noel’s ear, voice rough and husky.
Noel stiffened and twitched, coming with the quietest of whines. Jai stroked him through his orgasm, and when I was sure Noel wouldn’t make any noise, I removed my hand and pressed my lips to his.
Chest heaving, Noel lay back against Jai’s chest, and I settled on my side once more, pulling Gideon’s hand to rest over my heart. Jai kissed Noel’s temple, then pulled his hand out from Noel’s underwear. His fingers were slick with Noel’s release, and he raised them to Noel’s mouth, arching a questioning eyebrow.
Gazes locked with his Other, Noel took Jai’s hand and licked his fingers clean. Lust pulsed through my veins with every beat of my heart as Noel sucked on Jai’s index finger. Flames roared in Jai’s eyes, and when Noel tilted his head up for a kiss, tongue coated in the cum he’d collected, Jai groaned.
Their kiss was wet and filthy, and I pressed the heel of my hand to my erection to calm my hormones. My groin pinched, but it eased my demanding arousal.
“I can…” Noel whispered as he caught his breath, hand falling to Jai’s hip.
“Next time,” Jai said with another kiss to Noel’s swollen lips.
Gideon snorted behind me, and all three of us froze. With a grunt, Gideon yanked me close until every inch of my body was tucked to his front. He nosed at the back of my head, and Jai and Noel smiled as they watched. I blushed as I basked in the snuggles.
As Gideon roused, I thought of non-sexy things to calm my erection and my racing heart. Noel and Jai smiled lazily at each other as Jai twirled a lock of white hair around his finger. The flush from Noel’s orgasm started to fade, and we snickered quietly as Noel tugged down the hem of his shirt to cover the wet stain in his underwear.
I felt the moment Gideon awoke, his hand on my chest adding pressure as he groaned. “What time is it?”
“We’re so fucking late to training,” Jai said, smothering his laughter in Noel’s shoulder. “Because you and Riley got high.”
“What?” Gideon bolted up in bed, his blond hair a rat’s nest, green eyes still bloodshot. “We’re late? Fuck!”
Noel and I laughed into our pillow as Gideon staggered out of bed, wearing his shirt and underwear from yesterday. Jai fell back on the bed with a guffaw. Gideon glared at us.
“Get up! We’re late,” he barked.
We laughed harder.
“I’m telling Uriel you got Riley high,” Jai threatened, and Gideon’s jaw clenched.
“I did not—it was an accident.” Snatching his pants from the floor, he pointed at me. “Blame Riley.”
“Hey!” I sat up and scowled. “I didn’t know they were stoners until we got there.”
Jai rolled off the bed and straightened, wearing nothing but his boxers. “You should’ve known they’d be burning sacred herbs,” he said to Gideon. “They’re always burning sacred herbs.”
Gideon exhaled impatiently. “Fine. I got Riley high. I’m pretty sure we made fools out of ourselves in front of a delivery man. Now, we’re late to training, and it’s all my fault. Are you happy?”
“I’m never letting you live this down.” Jai grinned like a fiend. “But next time, we’re all getting high together.”
“You two were so funny.” Noel cackled.
“Can we not…” Gideon waved his hands at us, urging us to get up. “We have to go.”
“Gideon, it’s okay.” Noel sat up, the blankets pooling in his lap. “This is a safe space. We can talk about your secret drug habit.”
With a deep scowl, Gideon ground out, “I hate all of you.”
“Actually, I remember you stating very clearly that you loved all of us,” Jai said.
“So much,” Noel added. “You loved us so much.”
“Nailed it.” Jai mimicked Gideon’s deep voice and stuck his fist out. Noel bumped their knuckles together, then they made the sounds of an explosion as their fingers burst out like bombs.
Huh, Gideon and I had done that yester—oh, they were making fun of us.
“For Trinity’s sake.” Gideon covered his blushing face with his palm, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
“For what it’s worth, I thought yesterday was a good day,” I said.
Noel knocked my shoulder with his as Jai laughed. Gideon glowered. I beamed at him. He heaved an exaggerated sigh.
“Fuck my existence.”
Chapter Fourteen
Obie swung his sword, and it whistled over my head as I ducked. I slashed at his calf, but he dodged the hit. I straightened, gripping my swords tightly in my sweaty grasp. We circled each other, Obie’s emerald wings fluttering behind his back. His dark eyes tracked my every move, hulking body coiled taut with tension, but then he smiled.
“You’re doing great,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” I said. “You too.”
Then I lunged at him and tried to cut off his head. Of course, he parried, and the force of his blade meeting mine made my arms tremble. Metal clashed all around us as we sparred in pairs. Uriel and Gideon walked through the pairs, observing and giving direction.
Jai and Deborah charged each other like angry bulls, weapons crashing. Noel and Isaac twisted and twirled around each other in a graceful dance. Jael stood to the side, fingers tapping their blade, eyes alight with interest as they awaited their turn.
On our late arrival at training, we were teased and berated mercilessly. The shaming doubled when Jai let it slip that Gideon and I were under the influence of drugs yesterday. In retaliation, Gideon shared that Jai took Noel to an erotic art convention.
“It was very romantic,” Noel had assured everyone, much to Jai’s horror.
After the heckling ceased—and Uriel punished our tardiness with one hundred burpees followed by one hundred crunches—we joined the squad’s training.