11 Video Games & Violence

Onyx

Ember gets home from her girls' night late and goes straight to bed. I listen from the hallway as her breathing evens out. It might be desperate, but I can’t help myself.

The next morning Ember bakes scones with my mother while I watch from the table. She listens to everything my mother says and asks intelligent questions. Her green hair shimmers as she laughs.

“What do you think?” she asks intently as I take a bite of the blackberry scone smeared with butter. It’s still warm and the pastry is tender.

“You are an incredible baker. And don’t tell my mom, but you might be even better than she is,” I say. Mom smiles from the doorway before she heads out, giving us privacy.

“What should we do today? Since I have another free day being an unwanted and involuntary guest,” she says.

A grin spreads across my face. “Want to play some video games?”

To my delight, she agrees.

She settles on the sofa in the family room while I run to grab a few video games. When my hand reaches for the case on my shelf, something small rolls under my fingers.

What the hell?

Pinching the item, I open my hand and frown down at a tiny translucent orange chicken. Frowning at it, I spot a second one sitting higher on the shelf, tucked behind a figurine. This one is green.

The chickens tumble in my palm as I wander back into the family room.

“Whatcha got there?” Ember asks. There’s something more than casual curiosity in her voice, and I narrow my eyes at her.

“Do you know anything about tiny chickens?”

A beautiful flush rises up her neck as she buries her face in the cushion to stifle giggles.

“Seriously?” I ask.

Wiping at her eyes, she takes a deep breath to steady herself and says, “To be fair, it was Marigold’s plan.”

“Girls are weird,” I grumble, tucking the chickens into my pocket .

Her amused smirk makes my stomach clench. She’s stunning.

It takes a moment to focus with her so near, but soon I’m showing her the controls for a racing game.

She sits cuddled up against my chest. My arm is around her waist, so my controller sits against her hip and her head rests against the hollow of my neck. Having her soft figure pressed against me is distracting, and I crash my race car on the first round.

Before we can race again, Cedar clears his throat. He leans against the archway that leads to the hallway. “Hey, did anyone lose a tiny chicken?”

With a frown, he holds up a teeny purple bird between his thumb and index finger.

We dissolve into laughter and I drop my controller onto the rug.

“What?” he asks.

“I have no idea, dude,” I wheeze. “But that’s fucking hilarious.”

Shaking his head, Cedar disappears back to his room.

“I hope he likes them,” Ember whispers. Turning my head, we’re nose to nose. “Cause there’s a lot of them hidden in his stuff. Marigold primarily got them for him.”

“So am I just a casualty and you guys mainly hit Cedar?” I ask, just as quietly.

When she shakes her head, her emerald hair shimmers. “Nope, all you boys got chickened.”

Chuckling, I grab her chin and tip her mouth up to mine for a brief kiss .

With a wicked grin, she pulls away. “I think we were in the middle of a race.”

It takes concentrated effort to take my hands off her and return to our game. But feeling her laugh vibrate through me as she plays the video game is another type of paradise.

Ember races recklessly, crashing her car and swerving off the road every few seconds. She scrunches her eyes closed and laughs. I could stay like this with her forever.

As my car races by with a first place banner, I pull her up until I can kiss against her neck, below her ear. She shivers against me.

“Have I ever told you that green is my favorite color?” I murmur, twining a lock of her hair around my finger.

“Hey, I’m trying to drive here,” she says, rotating her shoulders.

“Is that what you were doing?” I ask, nipping at her skin. I’ve had enough video games with her intoxicating scent invading my senses.

She twists to face me and glares. “Maybe if you weren’t so distracting.”

“Game’s over. Want to go again?” Her pupils dilate at my words and I smirk.

“Maybe in a minute,” she says. She drops her controller onto the cushion beside us, and I set mine aside too. Achingly slow, her hand comes up to my neck and her fingertips slip below the neckline of my shirt. Why am I wearing a shirt again? More importantly, why is she wearing a shirt ?

My eyes close at her touch, and I can feel her moving closer, her chest skimming mine. Kisses feather down my jaw, and I raise my chin to give her access. Her soft growl of approval nearly undoes me, but I let her control everything, my hands loosely around her hips.

Her other hand threads in my hair and she pulls, moving my face to where she wants me. One tentative kiss, and then a harder one. Her tongue licks across my mouth and I open. Her wildflower taste is the only thing I want in the world. Without breaking our kiss, she climbs over me until she’s straddling me, her thighs over mine.

My hold on her hips tightens and I slide one hand up under her shirt and up her spine. The other goes to her ass. She’s perfect.

Her phone in her back pocket buzzes. I pull it out and she jerks back, grabbing it from my hand. Biting her lip, she powers it down and tosses it aside. “Sorry, my mom is driving me crazy.”

I don’t question her. I’m too drunk on the feel of her against me. She grinds her hips down and my pulse speeds, blood pounding in my ears and my skin. The only cure for this fire is the cause of it.

Her delicate fingers brush hair out of my face and her glowing eyes lock with mine. A little eyeliner remains around her lashes, but the rest of her face is scrubbed clean so I can see the lightest spray of freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She’s stunning .

“Hey, I need to go see my brother,” she says. Not exactly what I was expecting her to say. She eases off of me.

My pounding heart starts to calm. If she doesn’t want to take things further right now, that’s fine with me.

“Sure, let’s go.”

Her hand flattens against my chest. “It’s something I need to do alone. Why don’t you chill and enjoy your games. I bet you haven’t gotten to play since I arrived.”

Lifting her hand, I press a kiss to her fingers. “I’ve been occupied with better things.” Before releasing her, I bite down on the meat of her palm, below her thumb. She jolts, her hips pressing forward against me. “Give me five more minutes,” I say, skimming my hands up her thighs to her waist.

“Five minutes? Give yourself more credit than that,” she says, kissing my cheek before she climbs off of me.

“Hey!” I say, flushing. “That’s not-” She laughs. “When that happens, you won’t be going anywhere for hours. Maybe days.”

Grabbing her phone, she heads to the hall. “Seriously, just let me talk to my brother for a bit and then I’ll meet you back here and we can pick up where we left off.”

The promise leaves me adjusting my pants and taking deep breaths before I can get up.

Without her here, nothing holds my attention .

After getting a snack, I wander out of my cabin. Maybe I’ll meet her in between the two cabins and we can go for a run and then have some quality time together out in the woods. The thought of her under me in soft grass is tempting.

I meander along the edge of the meadow, generally heading toward Jasper and Marigold’s cabin, but as I near the south side, I catch movement through the tinted window of the tiny office I work out of. Maybe Vale is checking security camera feeds or something. I’ve been off duty for days now.

Jogging the distance, I pull the door open. Instead of Vale or Slate sitting at my desk, the chair is pushed aside and Ember hovers over the keyboard.

“Onyx!” she yips, spinning to face me. Her phone is clutched tightly against her breasts.

Confusion chokes me, anger burning it away. There are only a few reasons why she would be getting into one of our work computers, and none of them are good.

“Ember, what are you doing?”

Her mouth opens but no sound comes out. Fear oozes out of her and I hate that she feels any fear because of me, but it can’t be helped. I wasn’t the one who snuck into my office.

My approach slows, like she’s a skittish animal. Making eye contact, I try to reason with her. “I was honest with you about everything. I need you to tell me exactly what’s going on, and we can figure it out together. ”

Her breathing is ragged and she glances at the door. Gently, I take her elbow and lead her to the chair where I can pull her into my lap. She curls in on herself against my chest.

“I’ll take care of it if you just tell me,” I say, my anger replaced with worry as I feel how her pulse flutters.

With shaky hands, Ember unlocks her phone and shows me a string of texts from her mother - demands for all sorts of information about our security and resources.

My eyes catch on the last text.

Sienna: If you can’t do your duty, you aren’t fit to be Heir. We will have to reevaluate your position.

Glancing at the computer, I can see she hasn’t gotten past my password.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “She’s my Alpha too. I was ignoring her, but I have to do something to help my pack.”

“You didn’t do any damage,” I say, my arms banding around her protectively. It’s true, even if she intended to.

Her next breath shakes like she’s fighting off tears. “What if something happens to her? I already lost my dad, and I know they’re shitty parents but they’re the only ones I have. What if someone challenges her and kills her, and I’m not there?” Her voice is raw, rasping until it’s just a whisper

“I’m sorry. I wish I could do something to help with that. But I’m not going to lie. I’m glad you’re here safe with me. If someone wants to take her out, they’ll probably go for you too. I can’t let that happen.”

“It’s not your responsibility,” she whispers.

“I hate to break it to you,” I say, nuzzling into her neck. “But I care about you.”

Despite her despair, she smiles.

“I know my mom is awful and I don’t want to be like her,” she whispers. “I don’t want to pick a mate because of his rank and treat my children like tools to be exploited. I don’t want to rule by fear. It makes me sick that I believed her for so long.”

“You won’t be like her. You are so much better than that,” I say, my voice scraping over each word.

She looks up at me through dark lashes, her expression vulnerable. But I’m not the only one standing behind her now. She’s always had Jasper, and now she’s won over Hazel and Marigold too. I know even Slate would stand behind her. We aren’t going to let her get hurt if we can help it.

The harsh truth is that she’s tangled up in her pack’s troubles and she won’t be safe until it’s over. Even here, Sienna is sinking her claws into her. And one day of trust isn’t enough to undo eighteen years of conditioning.

“Are you going to tell Slate or Jasper what I did?” she asks.

“You need to talk with them about all of this. ”

She snuggles in closer, her nose bumping against my neck and her breath ghosting across my skin. “I will,” she says, and I feel the movement of her lips.

“Come on, let’s go home,” I say. I want to get her out of this stuffy office before someone finds us here and starts asking questions.

Besides, the way she’s touching me brings up fantasies of laying her across my desk, and there really isn’t room unless I shoved my computer off, and that’s not a good idea.