“Go to sleep, Bel,” Wyatt whispered. “We’ll talk more tonight.”
Bel shifted on his side and Wyatt moved in closer, spooning him. River turned so that he was facing the vampire. His fingers trailed over the strong arm thrown over Bel’s waist and up Bel’s pale arm. Tired blue eyes flicked open, and River felt himself falling into those calming depths.
“You’re not really my prisoner. I’d never do that to you,” Bel whispered.
River smiled. “I know,” he said around the lump in his throat.
River had been sure he’d never love anyone like he loved Wyatt. The man was his everything. His joy, his hope, his future. But Bel was quickly proving that there was room in his heart to love another person just as much. In many ways, Wyatt and Bel were night and day. All except for their compassion and unwavering devotion.
“Promise you’ll still be here when I wake up. Please.”
River gently kissed Bel. “I promise.” River kissed him again, and he could feel the vampire drift off to sleep.
No matter what the future brought them, they would never be parted from their Bel again.
17
Less than an hour after sunset, Rafe was banging on the front door. Bel smiled at the feeling of agitation from his twin. For him to already be on his doorstep, Rafe would have had to leave his penthouse downtown the second the sun finished sinking below the horizon.
Bel had barely finished opening the door when he found himself in Rafe’s tight embrace.
“I’m sorry,” Rafe murmured into his neck.
Bel returned the embrace, managing only a nod. He didn’t trust his voice just yet. It had been only a few nights since the meeting at Marcus’s house. Not the longest they’d gone without seeing each other, but the longest they’d gone when they separated angry. They just couldn’t stay mad at each other.
After a moment, Rafe stepped back, but still gripped Bel’s arms for another couple of seconds, as if he were afraid to completely let go.
“We’re good, Rafe. We always were,” Bel said.
Rafe gave a small, jerky nod. “Of course.” With his perpetual smirk in place, Rafe released him and continued into the house. Bel’s heart gave a sad sigh. He didn’t much care for Rafe’s mask, but after too many painful years with Julianna, they all had coping mechanisms. At the very least, Rafe had Philippe. There was no way Philippe allowed Rafe to hide how he was feeling from him.
Philippe greeted Bel next, a knowing smile on his lips. Bel hugged him tightly.
“Thank you,” he whispered in his new brother’s ear.
Philippe chuckled softly. “You’re welcome, but it didn’t take nearly as much nudging from me as you might think.” Philippe released Bel and looked past him at Rafe. “He regretted everything the second you walked out the door. He’s just stubborn.”
“Yes, it runs in the family.”
Philippe had just stepped around him when Ethan crashed into him, arms wrapping tightly around his waist.
“Ethan!” Bel cried in surprise.
“Little Varik rode with us,” Rafe offered up.
“Marcus and Aiden had a meeting already scheduled with the leader of the Montgomery clan. They were worried about canceling it, so they let me come in their place. They don’t want you to think they disapprove.”
“More like a little spy,” Rafe said.
Ethan released Bel and glared at Rafe for a second before smiling at Bel again. “They just said, ‘Don’t be stupid.’ ”
“That leaves quite a bit of room for us to work,” Philippe said.
“Oh, yes. We can be completely idiotic, ridiculous, reckless, impulsive—”
“Enough, Rafe,” Bel said as he closed the door behind Ethan.
He followed his family into the living room where Wyatt and River were already standing, looking tense and uncomfortable. When they rose that evening, they’d both dressed in the nicest clothes in their wardrobes, but Bel had marched them back into their closet and asked them to change into jeans and T-shirts. It was who they were. He didn’t want his wolves pretending to be anything in their own home. He wanted his family to get to know the real Wyatt and River.
Rafe walked straight up to Wyatt, eyes narrowed. “Are you the black wolf or the gray one?”
“Black,” Wyatt replied.
Rafe extended his hand. “Thank you for not biting my balls that day.”
“Rafe!” Bel shouted, but it was barely heard over Ethan’s and River’s laughter.
Even Wyatt looked as if he were trying not to laugh as he shook Rafe’s hand. “You’d have to do something pretty horrible to warrant an attack like that. Something like…hurting Bel.”
Rafe’s smile turned wicked, and Bel could only rub the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Your pets have some bite, my sweet Bel,” Rafe teased.
“As you know firsthand,” River snapped.
“They’re not pets, Rafe.” There was no keeping the sharpness out of his voice. The term “pet” wasn’t complimentary within the vampire world. Pets were humans vampires kept for amusement, sex, and blood donors. The poor things were usually treated horribly and generally died while in the care of their vampire. Pets had no rights and no means of escape, since the world couldn’t be allowed to know vampires existed.
Rafe strolled over to a chair and dropped gracefully into it. “Yes, I understand they’re quite a bit bigger than that bloody bird. You’ve always gotten so attached to the animals that stuck around.”
“They are nothing like Ozzie!”
“Mon amour, you’re the only one who sees them in the same vein as Ozzie,” Philippe said as he sat on the arm of Rafe’s chair. “This is bigger than what you’re thinking.”
Rafe’s brow furrowed as he watched Bel cross over to stand with Wyatt and River. “Well, yes, I know he cares for them. He made that quite clear at Marcus’s house. What are you thinking, mon ange? Are they like my Lola or Gideon?”
Lola was Rafe’s oldest friend and closest confidant outside his own family, while Gideon was a young vampire he’d rescued years ago. Bel suspected he’d say the man was more of a younger brother or even a son.
“No, Rafe. I see them more like…how you hold Philippe in your heart. They are mine, and I’m theirs. I love them. I won’t be parted from them. Even if they are never officially made Variks, they are mine.”
Rafe’s mouth hung open, but no words came out. Both Philippe and Ethan were looking quite happy and maybe even smug. But Bel didn’t get a chance to think about it.
River crushed him in a tight hug, his face buried in his neck. Waves of love and joy slammed into Bel from both wolves, followed by the warm embrace of Wyatt’s arms around the two of them. He was loved, truly and completely. They never had to utter the words. Bel could feel it so strongly. He’d felt it for days now. Known it even when they tried to leave him.
“Wait…both of them?” Rafe asked, and Bel started shaking with laughter. “My geeky, scientist brother who thinks sex is limited to a creature’s gender is involved with two men?”
“We’re not involved. We’re in love,” River corrected.