5. Violentia

CHAPTER 5

VIOLENTIA

Gay for Lizard Dick: [Prayer hands emoji] Hey Vi… Can you give me the period talk?

What.

The actual.

Fuck?

The sheer absurdity of Baltasar's question had me fumbling my phone and almost ripping out the fake eyelashes I was applying at the same time.

You can always count on Baby Hulk to leave maximum damage in his wake.

"Oh nooooo… nononononooooo!"

Kai's panicked voice had me racing out of the bathroom—lashes be damned—assuming it was one of my brothers or brothers-in-law upsetting her.

I've been waiting for an excuse to punch one of those doofuses for a while.

"Motherfucking fucking FUCK!!!"

I found Kai hovering over her open suitcase, stomping her little foot in that adorable way she did when she was really mad.

So fucking cute.

"What's up, K-pop?" I kept my tone as casual as possible, using every ounce of willpower to hide my amusement at her rage.

Forget about my berserker mode.

Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman.

Kai groaned and flopped backward onto the bed—her breasts and belly protruding skyward like a sexy mountain range.

Stop it, Vi.

No creeping on your sexy friend in her time of need.

"I'm just so tired of being such a space case!" she wailed, her voice muffled by the delicate hands covering her face. "Like, who forgets to pack essential items for a trip?"

I frowned and peered at the suitcase's contents strewn about the room, trying to determine what was missing.

Bathing suits, dresses, sandals, sun hat, toiletries…

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out," I soothed, calmly working with what limited info I had. "Wolfy can stop at the store on our way to the airport."

Kai lifted her hands from her face and gaped at me in horror. "Absolutely not, Vi! I will not be asking the fucking Hand of Death to run an errand for me for… lady things."

I scoffed. Wolfy may be older than me by a year—and the de facto head of our clan—but I'd been bossing around that spooky little shit since before I could talk.

As scary as The Hand of Death legitimately was, I knew his love for his siblings ran deep. I also knew, even with everything that had happened between us, Wolfy would always have my back.

Even if he should never have forgiven me for my betrayal.

I banished my unpleasant thoughts beneath a broad smile. "Okay then, you can just borrow whatever lady things you need from me."

Anything you need.

On paper, Kai wasn't my type. She had the femme part down pat, but she was a bit more insistently self-sufficient than I usually went for.

I do love a pillow princess.

Despite her headstrong ways, I had a little crush on my brother's bestie. Actually, an enormous crush. I was beyond obsessed with this tap-dancing, foul-mouthed, tea-spilling, soft-looking, tiny tasty treat.

But I'll just keep that to myself.

No need to make things weird.

"I… don't think this is something I can borrow from you, Vi." Kai's pale cheeks were tinged with enough pink to compliment her dye job, and I zeroed in on her helpless reaction like a hawk.

"C'mon, K," I purred as I advanced on towering heels, fueled by the look of fear on her pretty face. "Tell Mommy what you need. "

I hadn't known many pregnant women, but I'd surely never seen one move as fast as she did. Before I could blink, Kai was off the bed and gathering her scattered items to shove back into her suitcase.

"Actually, I'm cool," she stammered, her face now officially brighter than her hair. "I'm sure I'll be able to find something on the island."

Huh.

I'd expected her signature sass-filled clapback—another thing I was weirdly obsessed with—not this timid little mouse routine. This was the woman I'd witnessed go toe-to-toe with Xanny when he was in one of his moods, so I'd always believed she wasn't afraid of much.

She'd better not be scared of me!

Kai and I had only started hanging out after I returned from Iceland, but we'd instantly clicked. Maybe it was because we were the only two women in this band of pricks—aside from our precious Lizard Queen—but no one was more surprised than me by our fast friendship.

Either way, I was the one who got her to her doctor's appointments on time, who made sure she was eating healthy, and who took her to the spa for regular massages. Xander and Butch may have been hovering like mother hens since she started carrying their child, but it was obvious their protectiveness was for the finished product, not the woman doing all the work.

But what else do you expect from two superpowered dicks?

Normies like Kai weren't equipped for our world, but the reverse was equally true. Supes might look like tall, extra buff, inhumanly hot humans, but we were painfully aware of how "other" we were .

Literal aliens from outer space.

Our physical incompatibility with fragile normies was why we tended to stick to our own kind. Supes generally liked it rough, so this arrangement worked for most of my kind, but my issue was that I liked fragile normies.

Especially the fragile part.

It wasn't that I wanted to hurt them—quite the opposite. I caused enough pain as the family's enforcer, so when I was ‘off the clock,' I preferred using a softer touch on the women I was in bed with. Since I was a supe, however, it could never go further than that.

Not unless they're already involved in our world.

Like Kai.

Unfortunately, my pink-haired fantasies probably weren't going to become reality. Not only was Kai pseudo-claimed by my brother, I assumed the last thing she wanted was to get even more entangled than she already was with this batshit family.

Especially since some might say I'm the most batshit one of all.

Not that I can control it…

That was another reason I preferred not to tangle with my own kind. While my clan had plenty of allies—and the age-old divide between heroes and villains was officially obliterated—I couldn't be sure something wouldn't trigger my fight instincts in the middle of the act.

It happened as recently as this past summer. Sometime during Daisy's East Coast birthday celebration, Dahlia Salah and I had wandered inside to raid her parents' liquor cabinet. Not wanting to wile out around the kids, we ended up drinking on her bedroom terrace overlooking the vegetable garden.

An hour later, we were half-naked on the outdoor daybed, fully wasted with our tongues down each other's throats, battling for dominance.

It didn't end well.

Apparently, I blacked out and tried to fight Atmosphera as Ultra Violent. When I came to, the daybed was shredded and Dahlia had used her wind power to snatch part of the impenetrable garden fencing and restrain me against the terrace railing. She hadn't killed me because of the newly signed contract between both our families, but still refused to trust me enough to let me go.

I can't say I blame her.

Even though I swore I was lucid, she left me strung up and alone for an hour before returning with Wolfy and Simon.

That would have been a good time to black out again…

Instead, I had to deal with my brother's tight-lipped disappointment while his bitchy inventus whispered in my ear as he cut me loose.

"You'd better learn to control your psychopathy around this family, or so help me."

Unfortunately, it wasn't something I could control, but I knew better than to take Simon's threats lightly. Since that incident, I'd refused to put myself in any more situations that might lure my berserker beast out of hiding.

The absolute last thing I would ever want to do would be to make Wolfy choose between a sibling or his inventus.

He's suffered enough for this family .

He's suffered enough because of me.

Since then, Simon and I had reached an understanding—tense as it was—thanks to Wolfy constantly creating forced proximity situations for us to endure together. Deep down, I knew our Mafia Queen still didn't trust me, but I hoped Wolfy did.

The humiliating situation with Atmosphera was the last time I'd shacked up with a supe. Since then, it had been normies only, although I quickly realized there was more to my attraction than how non-threatening they were.

The lightbulb moment happened in a bookstore. I was stocking up on pregnancy books so someone in this family could understand what Kai needed when I was knocked into from behind. Whoever it was dropped their entire stack on the floor, and if it had been a dude bro, I probably would have murdered him with my eyeballs. The instant I realized it was a woman —an extremely flustered one at that—I immediately kneeled to help.

"Gosh, you don't have to… Oh, I really appreciate that! I swear, I'm a mess sometimes… all the time, really. My husband always says it's a wonder I haven't broken multiple bones with how clumsy I am?—"

Operating on instinct alone, I'd laid a hand over hers, covering her wedding ring from sight. "Hey," I softly said, waiting until she met my gaze to continue. "It's okay. You're okay."

I hadn't understood the weight on someone's shoulders could be a physical thing until I witnessed it lift from hers. "Thanks," she'd replied in a breathy voice, offering me a relieved smile. "Thank you."

It wasn't until the cashier was ringing up my purchases that I realized the woman was thanking me for more than simply helping with her books. I was halfway to the family compound before it hit me how good it felt to have cared for another person in that way. It took until I was bringing myself to orgasm later that night to admit how turned on the caretaking dynamic had made me.

How I wanted more.

After that, I was fixated on this new development. It felt like some previously locked door inside myself had been flung wide open, only to reveal another door I now had to find the key for.

I dusted off my old Bangers profile, but all it took was a few dates to understand I wasn't going to find what I was looking for in another casual encounter.

What I needed was a lifestyle.

An internet rabbit hole brought me to a local kink club called The Refinery during their monthly Dungeon 101 event—when the doors were opened to non-members for the night. It was an enlightening experience for many reasons.

First, I met a woman who described herself as a "Dommy Mommy" before pointing to her "princess" across the bar. I'd done my research on kink dynamics, so I confidently asked why she wouldn't prefer a babygirl or little, both of which seemed to be commonly paired with Mommies.

"Ageplay is not for me," she'd kindly explained. "And while babygirls can be sweet, I needed someone with a little more… bite."

When I involuntarily wrinkled my nose and asked if this meant she had a brat on her hands, she threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, no, no, no. My princess may have her moments, but it's simply because she needs to be reminded she's a good girl at heart. "

I was on the edge of my seat—so close to unlocking the answers, I was practically shaking. "And how do you remind her?" I'd asked, hoping I wasn't being too nosey but desperate to know.

The Mommy smiled knowingly, probably recognizing a kindred spirit. "Loving care, copious praise, and shiny gifts for when she's extra good," she replied before her smile turned into a smirk. "And lots of orgasms."

Yes.

The word echoed in my head as she walked away.

That is what I want.

The other enlightening aspect of that fateful evening was when I'd spotted Dre of all people in deep conversation with one of the club's owners. I took that sibling sighting as my cue to leave and never return to his turf, more than satisfied with the intel I'd gathered.

I now knew what I was and who I needed to find.

A Mommy looking for a princess.

Back in the present, my gaze drifted to where Kai was still kneeling on the floor, messily stuffing her belongings back into her suitcase, still looking flustered as hell. Without thinking, I dropped to my knees and rested my hand on hers, just like I'd done for the stranger in the bookstore.

"How can I help?" I asked, giving her a comforting squeeze.

Anything.

She swallowed thickly as she met my gaze, her pretty hazel eyes searching mine. "Just… Can you just be there for me this week, Vi. Please? "

While I would've loved her to ask for more, I was more than happy to fulfill her simple request.

As simple as breathing.

"Of course, K-pop." I smiled, already feeling something click into place. "Whatever you need."