Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

KEIR

Dash turnedup the speed of the vibrator he’d inserted into my ass while he fucked himself on my cock so well that when I emptied inside him, I passed out for a minute. My mind was soaring as the aftershocks rolled through me.

I was still blindfolded, but Dash’s soft kisses over my chest felt amazing. “I love you.”

His words washed over me like a warm shower before he brushed the blindfold off my eyes. When I could focus again, I saw the love shining back at me, which warmed my soul.

“I love you too. Thank you for making me feel so damn good. Please, let’s never lose this part of us—the part that craves physical fulfillment. I will want you always, even after we have kids and our lives get crazy.”

Dash chuckled. “That was really good, Dearly, but I don’t think you knocked me up.”

He untied me, rubbing my wrists again. “Did I hurt you? I’m going to figure out somehow not to leave these marks.” I liked hearing it—it meant we’d do it again.

Dash then turned off the beads in my ass. “You okay with them there? You want them out?”

“Please.” The beads had felt really good while he was riding my cock, but right now, I wanted to cuddle and take a nap before dinner.

Slowly, Dash eased them out of me. They were a little longer than I expected, but damn if they hadn’t done the job. I saw my cum sliding down his legs, and I was filled with pride that I’d made a sticky mess of him. I loved it when Dash had me top him, though with what we’d just done, I wasn’t sure who had topped whom.

Dash took the beads into the bathroom with him to clean up, and I coiled the silk ropes, stuffing them into the zippered “Cancun” bag we’d bought. Dash planned to mail them back to us before we left on Sunday, but I’d decided to just put them in my checked suitcase. I didn’t care if anyone saw them. It was nobody’s business what we got up to in bed but ours.

The shower in the large bathroom turned on, so I strolled in. “You got room for a guest?”

Dash flashed me a beautiful grin and took my hand, pulling me inside with him. “So, the baby thing—you ready? We can start figuring out egg donors and surrogates when we get home.”

I hugged him hard, almost taking the two of us down to the marble floor. “I can’t wait. We better make the most of this trip. Our next vacation might be with babies in tow.”

I’d never heard anything better in my life!

“Let’s find Thane.I wanna see if I can rile him up again. That was fun.” Dash rubbed his hands together like an evil villain, making me laugh.

“Okay, let’s go look for him. He likes the beach bar, so let’s go there. I haven’t seen the cat around lately. Wonder what’s up with that?”

Dash pointed down the beach to a cabana. “Isn’t that Thane?”

It was hard to see because the lights around the property were starting to illuminate with the sunset. Dash had much better vision than me. “I can’t tell. Do you recognize the aura?”

“Whoa! Who’s that woman?” I squinted to see the outline of a woman with curves for days.

“What’s her aura?”

“Black as night.”

“Well, let’s go see what we can learn, shall we?” I took Dash’s hand, and we darted through the palms to get behind the cabana where the two were standing nearby. Dash stopped us before we got too close, and we listened to the two of them.

“Look, you three aren’t helping at all. You need to break them up. We can’t—” That was the woman whose voice I didn’t recognize.

“I don’t like the idea of driving a wedge between them. They’re soulmates.” The voice was definitely Thane’s, but higher pitched.

“Seriously? You really gotta get over this shit if you’re gonna roll with me.” That voice was Thane’s, too, but it was lower in pitch and had an unusual timbre.

“What the hell?”I didn’t have to say it aloud, thankfully.

“I’m not sure, Dearly, but something’s definitely up.”

“You two are supposed to be another balanced pair like the prince and the Custos Albus. The only reason that I agreed to allow your mating is because you’re not tracked. Neither Heaven nor Hell knows you exist. If you can’t break the Key and the Gatekeeper, I’ll destroy all three of you.”

“All three?” Dash had picked up on the discussion as well.

“You said you wanted a balanced pair to combat the Gatekeeper and the Key, but you won’t give us the powers they’re developing.” That was the low-pitched voice again.

“Goddess, we’re trying.” That was the high-pitched voice.

“Goddess? Is that⁠—?”

Dash nodded and grabbed my hand. “You got your cell?”

He led me to the end of the beach, far away from that cabana, and called Jonas. “Dude, it’s Dash. Question. Is there another balanced pair like Jay and Scotty?”

I was busy staring in the direction of the cabana. I saw the woman’s shadow become smaller and assumed she was walking away.

“We’ll find out.” Dash took my hand and pulled me closer, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw that damn black cat slink through the palm trees and scamper up the stairs and into the lobby.

I pointed, and Dash’s head turned quickly to see the cat. “Jonas, how about a cat? Can a demon take the form of a cat?”

Dash laughed. “I’m not making that up, man. This strange cat wandering around everywhere we go, and we haven’t fed it. Okay. Call me back.”

After ending the call, Dash turned to me. “Jonas said he’ll check into some things and call us back.”

“So, do we follow the cat, or do we find Thane?” I really didn’t want to do either, but we’d heard our names—our identities—called out. We were involved somehow, but I didn’t think either of us knew how or why.

Dash took my hand and kissed it. “We’re not doing either, and we’re not splitting up. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I don’t like the vibe I’m getting.”

I nodded and followed Dash up the stairs of the main lobby to see the black cat was gone. There was a young man emptying ashtrays in the lounge, so I walked over to him. “Did you happen to see a black cat come through here?”

The young guy stopped his work. “¿Arrepentido?”

Dash chuckled. “I don’t speak Spanish, but I think he doesn’t understand much English. I’m guessing the cat is long gone.”

I nodded in agreement and turned to the young man. “Sorry. Buenos Noches.”

The guy gave a nod and left us. I turned to Dash. “Now what?”

“We were going to walk on the beach, so let’s go.” Dash took my hand, and we headed back toward the beach. We slipped off our shoes and strolled on the sand, our hands clasped as the moon rose in the night sky.

I turned to my handsome husband and sighed. “So?”

“Let’s go get a drink and figure this out later. We’re still on our honeymoon, and we have a hell of a lot of others to keep watch for now. Let’s let them handle the heavy lifting for a couple more days, okay?”

How could I argue with that?

Thursday morning,after a beautiful night of making love with my Dash, I woke far too early. I rested my head on Dash’s strong chest for a while, but finally, I needed to use the bathroom.

I slid from under his arm and leg, heading to relieve myself. Once finished, I stepped out of the bathroom to see the clock on the wall. It was seven in the morning, and I was starving.

I scribbled a note.

Love,

Went to get us something for breakfast. Don’t get up. I’ll be back with coffee and food.

Xoxo,

Keir

I pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before grabbing my room key and sliding my feet into flip-flops. I glanced back at the bed, staring at my husband, and I smiled. I was a lucky fucker on many fronts.

The breakfast buffet was in the middle of the resort, so I made my way around the large infinity pool near our cabana, taking the path to the huge blue open-air building. There wasn’t much of a line this early, which made me hopeful that I’d make it back to the room before Dash woke. We had a microwave, so we could warm the food if needed.

“Isn’t this serendipitous?”

I turned to see Thane strolling up the walk, the black cat following behind him. A spirit following them, which surprised me. We’d seen a few in Cancun—Cristina came to mind immediately, but we’d seen others around the resort. Cristina had been helpful, and those at the resort hadn’t bothered us. Had some entity told them we were on vacation? Maybe only Cristina had heard of us south of the border?

“Good morning, Thane.” The queue moved a few feet, so we followed it.

Thane was grinning as though he had a secret, which had me curious about the previous evening’s activities. “Did you have a good night?” I studied him carefully to see him glance around, picking up the cat when it came near.

“I just stayed in and read. It was a book about an angel who isn’t perfect and a demon who isn’t completely evil, and how they got to know each other. It was left in the room, and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.”

Thane glanced up at me, and his eyes flashed black for an instant. His voice was normal, neither high-pitched nor deep as I’d heard the previous night.

“It’s nice to snuggle up with a good book, isn’t it? I’ve been lax in keeping up with my reading. I’ll have to get the title from you so I can check it out.” If it was a book, it didn’t sound like a bad one, but something told me there was more to his story than he was giving away.

“Will you join me for breakfast?”

I wanted to laugh, but he was completely serious, this time wearing a navy T-shirt with white letters spelling Cancun. He had on plain black flip-flops and ugly plaid board shorts. I didn’t have the heart to tell him they weren’t shorts to wear anywhere but in the water. Hell, what did I know? Maybe he was going swimming after breakfast?

“I bet you’ll be glad to get home where your warm suits are more appropriate,” I said. He glanced down at his shorts and back at me before he grinned.

In some moments, he reminded me of a shy man who wasn’t sure of himself but was looking for any human connection. Then... “How’d you get away from the possessive asshole you married?” He asked shit that pissed people off.

“Dash isn’t an asshole. We’ve only been married about six weeks, and we’re on our honeymoon. What’s with the attitude?” Only one of a million questions I had circling my brain.

“I don’t have an attitude. I just don’t like the guy. What’s up with his weird eye color?”

Ah, was he going to take potshots at my gorgeous husband? I wasn’t about to let him get away with that shit.

“I think it’s sexy, and it’s not like it’s something he has any control over. He was in an accident, and when he woke from his coma his right eye had turned white. That’s a very mean and unfair thing to say.” The longer I spoke, the more upset I became.

“I-I-I didn’t mean to upset you. You’re right. It was a mean thing to say. I apologize.” His voice was higher than it had been. I was reminded of the conversation the previous night with the woman where his voice kept changing in pitch like it was doing now.

“Apology accepted. How about we have a cup of coffee while you eat? I’m taking food back to the room for Dash and me.” I wanted to see if I could get that low voice out of him again.

We sat at a table for two—his choice, not mine—near the beach. The server quickly told us about the buffet and took our beverage order. “May I have two boxes, a container of orange juice, and a carafe of coffee to take to my room? I’ll have a cup of coffee with my friend now, please.”

“I’ll have a cup of coffee and a glass of tomato juice.” The server started to walk away when Thane spoke up again. “Make that a bloody Mary.” There was that low voice.

“So, uh, what are your plans now that you’ve retired?” I hoped to keep him talking.

“I’m gonna start kicking ass and taking names.” It was the low voice again.

“You don’t have to be all macho with me. Dash owns a motorcycle garage, and with those guys around, I get enough of that kind of attitude. You seem like a really nice guy. That’s the one I’d like to get to know.” It wasn’t a lie...

“Oh. I mean, Dash is so manly. He doesn’t really look gay.” Higher voice.

“How does gay look?” Now I was pissed again.

“I just mean, he looks kind of like a model. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Suddenly, Thane began choking out of the blue.

My chair fell when I hopped up to bang him on the back. I gave him my glass of water once he finally stopped and tried to catch his breath. “You okay?”

“I’d be better if someone wouldn’t choke me.”

That makes no sense.“Who choked you? I didn’t touch you.”

“No, no. Not—” the high voice said before the low voice picked up again. “You probably like to choke. You wanna choke on my cock?”

“He most assuredly does not, you little pissant.” I turned my head to the right to see Dash standing next to me, anger evident on his face.

Dash took my hand. “I thought you were coming back. Let’s get food and go back to the room.”

The hand I was holding was shaking and squeezing mine. Obviously, the man was angry, and just as I was about to warn Thane to back off, he stood and pushed Dash. Of course, my guy didn’t move an inch.

“You wanna go? I’ll go, just not here. Come on. Let’s go to the beach.” Dash released my hand to snap his fingers, stopping everything. The humans around us froze instantly, but Thane hadn’t, and neither had the spirit hovering nearby.

“How’d you do that?” Thane asked, his voice normal and his eyes huge.

“Come on, you slimy bastard. I’m gonna make you wish you were dead.” Dash grabbed Thane around the neck just as the spirit came forward.

“Aura?” I could see it was a young man of about fifteen, but I had no idea who he was.

“White.” My husband didn’t take his eyes off Thane.

“Hello. I’m Keir Dearly. Who are you?”

The spirit stepped closer to me. “I’m Ren.”

I turned to Dash. “Let him go. This is more important.”

Dash released Thane, who stumbled back onto the sand and fell to his knees, coughing and choking again.

“Step over here, Ren. Dashiell, come on. Leave Thane alone.”

“Yeah, you pussy. Run along before I kick your ass.” The words came out of Thane’s mouth in the low voice, but his face showed he had no control over what he was saying. That sealed it for me.

“Thane, are you still in there? Who else is in there?” I took two steps closer with my hand out, but then, out of nowhere, that cat came at me, screeching with its claws extended.

Dash pulled me into his chest and put his arm up, knocking the cat to the ground in one swift move. “Get out of here and take that thing with you.” Dash pointed to the stunned cat that quickly recovered and took off.

Thane watched it and turned to Dash. “I’ll get you back for that, you fucking bully. You’ll rue the day you messed with us I promise.” He then took off running after the cat.

Dash kept his eyes on Thane until he was beyond the palm trees on the other side of the property, still chasing the cat. I rolled my eyes at the whole thing, returning my attention to Ren. I was actually surprised he was still there after all that crazy.

“Ren let’s go over here where we can talk freely. Love, undo it, please.” I circled my finger and pointed to the frozen humans around the restaurant.

Dash nodded and snapped his fingers before we led Ren to a small seating area. Dash and I sat on the loveseat facing the water. “We’ll look more normal if we just sit here taking in the view. Ren, I’m Dash. What’s going on?”

“I died in a bike accident. The one who brought my grandpa to meet me asked that I do them a favor, and I said yes. I was told to tell you to be very careful. You’re dealing with an unknown pair.”

I glanced at Dash, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders. We both knew who had sent the young man—my father. He was in the Angel of Death Collective, as we’d discovered a while ago. I knew he was kind, so if someone had to meet me when I die, I would definitely want it to be my father.

“An unknown pair? How can they be unknown? Who’s minding the asylum?” Dash squeezed my shoulder. He had a point.

“Is there anything you need, Ren? Any unfinished business I can help you with?” It was natural for me to try to help the dead. It was in my DNA, if my father was anything to go by. He was still helping people on the other side. Even knowing the possible consequences of my actions, I wanted to make sure the newly deceased had all their business sorted before they left the human plane.

“No! No! No! No! No!” Suddenly, the spirit morphed into Beelzebub. “You two are too fucking easy. You’re gonna die a minute after Nyx sets eyes on you.”