Chapter Nineteen

Nomad

It took twenty-four hours of sleep, food and being pampered by his mates to bring about Nomad's full grumpy self. And get Harley to say he was back to his normal self. That was an hour before and finally Harley gave into his own need to rest and had sprawled out next to him on the bed where he'd lain after feeding everyone once more and was fast asleep.

Cosmo, on the other hand, was pretending to sleep on the other side of Harley. Cosmo was the one who worried Nomad more than Harley, who had better control of his fury, though Nomad could feel it butting against his own, even in sleep. His little kitty was anxious. The dark circles under his eyes showed he'd slept little, and his thoughts were chaotic when they seeped through the barrier he'd erected to hide them from Nomad. The scarring on his arm was a reminder none of them needed.

Nomad moved carefully so as not to disturb Harley as he leaned back against the headboard. "Come and sit on Daddy's lap," he encouraged quietly.

Blond eyelashes fluttered for a second before he sighed and gave in, crawling to the end of the bed, then sliding over Nomad's legs to do as he'd requested. He nestled into his warm, naked chest and tucked his head under Nomad's chin. He wrapped his arms around Cosmo and gently rocked him.

Tell Daddy what's bothering you?

Everything… the owls… mating… my life… not being a part of something anymore…

That's a lot. Nomad tapped at his curls. You got going on in there. Let's deal with each thing. The owls, we'll deal with them tomorrow. You want to kick their ass's?

Rip out their intestines and hang them from the trees, more like it.

Nomad chuckles rumbled inside him. Whatever our kitty wants.

Cosmo purred his approval, moving and latching on to Nomad's nipple to suck at it like his binkie.

Mating… is that an issue because you aren't happy with us? he asked tentatively, trying to gauge what Cosmo's real issue was.

Daddyyyyy, I'm very happy with you both. It's just that I can't go running off ‘cause I don't want to get my bottom spanked or disappoint you both.

No, you're right. We'd be very disappointed if you went off alone after the last time. We're a team now.

I know.

He sensed the sigh rather than heard it when Cosmo chewed a little harder on his nipple, making Nomad's cock take notice. He worked to not let himself get sidetracked. So what's the life problem?

It kinda fits with not being a part of anything anymore. What do I do now? I had stuff to do before… now. His mouth unlatched from Nomad's puckered nipple, and he shrugged, wiping at his lips. "I feel lost Daddy."

Harley stirred at their side and reached a hand up to stroke Cosmo's thigh. "You're right where you're meant to be." His sleep roughened voice could just be heard, while his eyes remained closed.

Such a Harley thing to be asleep and awake enough to participate in the conversation.

"He's right. With us, you'll have whatever life you want. We can find you things to do if that's what you want or need. But you have to remember, now you have choices. We'll have a home to make here. That could be a full-time job." He tapped Cosmos's nose when it wrinkled, and he got bombarded by his thoughts. "I know you have all these skills, you can still use them. What I'm saying is you get to choose."

His curls bounced as he jiggled on Nomad, making his semi-hard cock take more notice. He swallowed back the groan, thinking about anything other than Cosmo's firm ass.

Harley

He didn't feel like he'd been asleep long when Nomad and Cosmo started talking. His brain was processing on some level, and he was pretty sure he answered Cosmo, but then things had gone quiet and he'd drifted deeper into sleep. When he woke sometime later the bed was empty and the sky was brightening outside the window. He rolled over and felt the coolness of the sheets before shoving them off to walk naked into the bathroom.

Dripping water, he stepped out of the shower and found Cosmo sitting on the rug playing with two of the small bath toys Harley had bought him. Nomad was at the sink, brushing his teeth.

Harley ran his hands through his wet hair. "Fuck, I must be tired if I didn't hear you come in the room."

Cosmo giggled, giving him a shy look. "We's playin' the quiet game. I's the winner as Daddy Nomad was splashing water, so he wasn't quiet," Cosmo pointed out gleefully, wiggling his bottom on the rug.

Harley ran his hand over Cosmo's curls. "You did a grand job. I'll need to find you the prefect present when I go shopping."

Up off the floor, Cosmo touched his hair. "Daddyyyy, you wet me."

He scuttled to the towel rail and picked up two. He rubbed his head, walking back to Harley who grinned in amusement.

"Thank you." Harley took the towel and dried himself, seeing Cosmo's little side recede as he stood a little straighter.

How long has he been Little for?

We got up two hours ago so he could play because he needed it.

Is everything okay?

Yes.

"You know that I can feel when you block me." Cosmo's hands went to his hips. "What did I say about that?"

He looked utterly serious, and Harley tried to look regretful. "We're sorry. I was checking in. I was worried I'd missed something and didn't want to upset you. "

Cosmo sidled up to him, hips swaying, his cat flashing in his eyes. He was every bit the assassin he'd been trained to be. "I'm fine, Daddy. But don't make me spank your bottom for forgetting the rules."

Harley actually flinched at just how much he sounded like Nomad and resembled him with the gleam in his eyes. His cock twitched and Harley took a step back.

"That told you," Nomad choked out, laughing.

Harley scowled in his direction, swiping at his body to dry himself off. "So, what's the plan? We've lost time and we need to decide what comes next."

Cosmo never lost the look as he flicked out his claws. "It's time to go hunt some owls!"

Cosmo

It was a little strange, having his mates' eyes on him as he slipped into the specially designed bodysuit the council had commissioned for him. He'd been able to save one from the fire and he was grateful to have it now that they were preparing to hunt the owls. Made of thin, flexible woven metal wires, it had perfectly concealed compartments specially designed for his blades and near translucent nets spun to resemble spiderwebs. After all these years, gearing up was instinct. Each blade had a place and his fingers easily slid them into their pouches, but that wasn't the most important feature of the suit.

Even the fact that it was difficult to pierce unless blades, fangs or claws ripped into it at the precise angle needed to slice between the fibers wasn't what made the suit special. Although it was the reason the council enforcer had refused to allow him to change out of his sleep clothes when they'd come for him. They'd have never been able to slice up his leg if he'd had it on. No, what made it special was the flexibility of the design. Not only did it not restrict his movements even when he was executing his most acrobatic maneuvers, but when the moment came when he needed to shift, the mesh shrunk down with him rather than tearing away, meaning he had the same protection even in his cat form and better still, was never without his blades.

"They'll spot anything coming at them from the ground," Cosmo declared, "which is why we are going to hunt them from the trees. Daddies, I need you to camouflage yourselves in the sturdiest treetops you can, one to the east, one to the west, but wait until the feathers start flying before you engage. By then, I will have them in such a frenzy of confusion that it will be difficult for them to protect themselves."

Thoughts of vengeance made Cosmo giddy, especially as he slid a small, silver cylinder into a pouch in the suit, then removed a wrapped vial from his bag. The blowgun and what he intended to slather each of his darts with, would give the owls a taste of what they'd inflicted on his Daddy Nomad. He tipped each of the ten needlelike projectiles with stonefish venom, fully intending to introduce them to the owls to exact his revenge.

"Your smile is particularly devious today, cutie," Daddy Harley said, his thoughts revealing how impressed he was.

"'Cause I've got a surprise for the owls, Daddy," Cosmo replied. "But I will need you to harvest their eyes, and the blowgun needles I fire into them, so we can retrieve the devices behind them."

Daddy Harley chuckled. "I like your idea of a surprise."

Cosmo grinned at that, then turned a deadly serious gaze upon his mates as he held up the vile after dipping the last needle in. "Only harvest with gloves. This is stonefish poison. "

Now Daddy Nomad chuckled. "We'll remember. You just bear in mind to keep your mind open to us and let us know if you run into any trouble. Don't try to shield yourself from us while this operation is going on. All it will do is distract us, because we'll be worried about you."

"I understand Daddy and I've been thinking about what you said, about setting up a home for us being a full-time job," Cosmo admitted. "You're right. We've all been on the road and working for the council for so long that we need a special place where we can leave all thoughts of work and missions along with the past behind us when we step through the door. I would love to create that for us. I'll be happy to have that be my focus for a little while and let someone else worry about the intel we recover and how to best make use of it. The other night I was worried about how it would feel to sit on the sidelines, but I was more worried about the trouble I'd brought our way. It made me sad to think that Daddy Nomad got hurt because of me. It was okay to do what I did when I only had myself to worry about, but I don't think it's okay anymore. Not when one of you might be the target. I'll keep my skills sharp by creating a playground in the backyard that we can all enjoy having fun in."

"Now that is an idea I can get behind." Daddy Harley's chuckle warmed his chest.

"Good. I'm glad Daddy. Now let's go wreck some owls."