10. Gabriel

CHAPTER 10

GAbrIEL

Clan Daddy: Family dinner will be at 8 in the grand lodge.

Clan Daddy: Barring death, everyone's attendance is expected.

Death might have been better.

I couldn't remember the last time a family dinner had been this uncomfortable. It probably hadn't happened since our mother died.

Scratch that.

It was this bad when Wolfy met Theo.

History seemed destined to repeat itself when our eldest brother stared our clan of three into an early grave upon arrival.

It hadn't helped that it was seven minutes after 8 pm when we walked —not star hopped—into the so-called grand lodge, with its soaring thatched roof and folding patio doors flung open to let in the warm sea breeze.

Still feels chilly as fuck in here .

If it had been up to me, we would have had our butts planted in the wicker seats at seven to 8, but between Theo changing his outfit twenty times and Dre encouraging his indecisiveness, there was no hope of getting off on the right foot.

By some miracle, Wolfy had stopped paying much attention to us once the food arrived—a smorgasbord of ethically sourced surf, with the option of turf for Xanny—but that didn't mean others at the table weren't clocking us.

A very specific someone.

Ziggy Andromeda hadn't looked our way once, yet I knew he was aware of Theo's every move.

Like a predator hunting another predator.

In response, our chaotic alien was being louder than usual—animatedly gabbing with Xanny about the latest failed lawsuits from former Rose Island residents who'd been forced from their multi-million-dollar homes to make way for the Xander Marin Wildlife Preserve.

Eat the nouveau riche.

Dre, in turn, was staring at Ziggy with enough ice to freeze this tropical paradise, while Simon's piercing gaze flickered between Ziggy and Theo.

Meanwhile, I'm sweating enough for everyone.

I'd just finished swallowing some crab when my phone buzzed in my pocket. With a sigh, I fished it out, wondering which of The Rabble would be the first to bust our balls for bringing the drama.

To my surprise, it wasn't the group chat—just a lone supe who was apparently sweating bullets right along with me .

Go Go Gadget: Dude. We need to get them to shake hands and make up already. Or shake… tendrils. Fuck if I know.

I exhaled in relief, thankful that the only other person who got me—outside of my triad—was back on Earth, even if I directed my grin down at my phone. The last thing I wanted was to blow up Micah's spot if Ziggy didn't know what he was up to.

Who am I kidding?

I'm sure he knows.

There wasn't much that got past a Stellarian, since they could literally taste your emotions in the air. Add in a stellar collision bond, and you might as well start confessing your sins before they happened. The only saving grace was that—unless they'd accessed their host's memories—they couldn't read minds.

But I can.

Ever since Dre and I had discovered we were more Stellarian than most, we'd started referring to our abilities as ‘mind-snatching' as a nod to how Theo took over a body.

Let's see what you're scheming over there, Alien Rambo.

As natural as breathing, I focused on connecting my consciousness to Ziggy's only to discover that galactic mercenary was locked up tight.

What the fuck?

The only other times I'd encountered mental walls that solid were with Luca and Wolfy—a skill our mentor most likely taught our brother to keep their secrets secret.

The truth is out there now, bro .

I looked up to find Dre still staring at Ziggy with laser focus, so I changed my trajectory to my twin's head instead.

"Are you in? What's he thinking about?"

"I'm in Micah's head, and there is some fascinating intel in there…"

"Really? Like what?"

I didn't immediately join him out of respect for my newish texting buddy—a development that had started soon after Ziggy moved into the Salah estate. It seemed a little random to hear from Micah at first—even with how many times we'd crossed paths at Deathball games—but after a few awkward exchanges, I started enjoying myself.

The hero known as Exo-Tech was smart, funny, and clearly way out of his league with crushing on his new Stellarian housemate. Plus, it was kind of nice having a friend outside of my own clan.

A really attractive friend…

Dre shot me a sly look that told me if anyone at this table was scheming, it was him.

"Let me handle this. Just keep your hot nerd distracted."

Hot nerd?

Mine?!

I ducked my head, pretending to give all my attention to my phone to hopefully hide the blush creeping up my neck.

Yes, Micah Salah was ridiculously hot—and yes, the combination of his intelligence and badass superpowers only added to this hotness—but me creeping on the mate of my mate's son would probably be frowned upon.

This family is twisted enough as it is.

The larger issue was that Dre had apparently picked up on my forbidden crush, but I buried that humiliation and focused on my role.

Being a pretty little distraction.

The usual.

I wouldn't trust either of these fools to let out their tendrils right now [knife emoji]

Go Go Gadget: Facts. I take it yours at least knew about Tendril Touchy Time from the jump?

I chuckled under my breath. Another thing I liked about Micah was that he wasn't shy at all about sex shit. It had shocked me the first time he straight up asked if Theo ever fucked me with his tendrils, but I'd quickly realized he just liked to salaciously gossip.

Get that Tendril Touchy Time tea.

I was about to respond when I felt a familiar tendril brush the back of my neck.

Speak of the devil…

It wasn't unusual for Theo to check in like this—especially when my attention was on anything other than him—so I simply sent my chaotic alien an affectionate tap to his brain and continued my conversation with Micah.

Oh, yes. I'm pretty sure he stuck a tendril down my throat the first time we hooked up, but I was way too out of it to know what was happeningggghjj

My finger slipped and hit send as a tendril suddenly slid down the back of my pants.

"THEO!"

I scolded our brat in his head, but he continued chatting with Xanny as if he wasn't already forcing his naturally lubricated tendril tip into my hole.

Fuck!

My desperate gaze landed on Dre as I choked on air, but he just grinned evilly.

I'm fucked.

"Just let it happen, Gabe. Keep texting."

I barely swallowed a whimper as Theo unceremoniously shoved a few inches in, branching off into smaller tendrils once inside to massage my prostate with the methodical skill of a psychopath.

I'm not gonna make it.

My phone buzzed.

Go Go Gadget: Duuuuude. The fucking SOMNO?! [Sleepy face emoji] It's my fave.

Now I was squirming in place, simultaneously trying to get Theo to stop and keep going, all while attempting to keep my horny thoughts from running wild.

A daily struggle for me .

Unfortunately, that was when Theo decided to snake yet another tendril down my pants. This one kept going, ghosting over my taint before wrapping around my balls like a strap.

Imma die.

I'd lost the ability to text at this point but, true to form, Micah was chatty enough for the both of us.

Go Go Gadget: Sometimes, Zig keeps me asleep the entire time, so I just wake up the next morning all sloppy and used. Why is that so hot? [water droplets emoji x10]

In a last-ditch effort to stop the inevitable, I dropped a hand into my lap, hoping to put some pressure on my throbbing dick.

It didn't help that Micah was describing my favorite thing on Earth, or that the fanfic Theo had written about Dre and me had my twin leaving me in that exact sloppy state. It also didn't help that Theo chose that moment to release my balls and coil his tendril around my shaft, jacking me in time with every tap on my blast-off button.

Least helpful of all was how the supe texting me was the hottest nerd, liked the same freaky shit as me, and had unknowingly starred in my apparently not -so-secret late-night fantasies where I was the one putting bitches to sleep to have my way with them.

So. Ducking. Hot.

I'd barely pressed send on my autocorrected confession when Dre put the final nail in my coffin.

"You love it, slut. "

My vision whited out, and I bit my lip so hard, I tasted blood—anything to stop from alerting the entire table that I was coming in my goddamn pants.

Dead and buried six feet the fuck under.

"Good boy," Dre snickered in my ear while I panted like a dog and wondered if I could just roll under the table without anyone noticing.

"You good, G?" Balty hollered from the other end—drawing everyone's attention my way.

Because of course he did.

"Fine," I croaked as Theo roughly yanked his tendrils away. "I'm just…" My gaze landed on Micah's. "Overheated."

I expected to find confusion or even concern in his expression, but instead, his rich brown eyes were blown out, and his cheeks had darkened with the prettiest blush I'd ever seen.

Pretty little prey.

GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!

I stood up so fast, I almost toppled my chair—thankful as always that my black clothing hid bodily fluids of all kinds. "I, um, think I just need to go lie down… back in the room."

On another planet.

Before I could leave, Isaiah Salah reached across Dre, waving an Altoids tin in my direction.

"Take this with you, li'l Suarez." He grinned broadly, showcasing the full force of that signature Salah charm. "A prescription from my personal stash."

"Izzy," Zion warned from across the table. "Leave baby boy alone. "

"Psssh…" Izzy waved a dismissive hand in his brother's direction. "He's the same age as Meeks. Definitely old enough for a bong mitzvah."

"Definitely," I breathed, snatching the tin and star hopping back to our assigned bungalow before anyone could stop me.

And so what if I immediately stripped down and rubbed out another one while thinking about shit I shouldn't before blazing through a joint that was definitely laced with something extra?

Just a slutty little stoner, that's me.

I may or may not have also passed out on the bungalow deck, lost in the stars, until the other halves of my whole returned to cuddle me between them in bed—right where I belonged.

A slut made of star stuff.

That's me…