24. Deimos

Chapter 24

Deimos

“He’s not coming,” I muttered, not for the first time, my gaze sliding across the table to the empty seat.

“Relax, he’ll be here,” Cameron assured me, bringing Damon up to his shoulder to burp. “I made him promise, and you know how Phobos feels about promises. Besides, he wouldn’t want to disappoint your mother. She even made his favorite pie.”

“Yeah…” I wasn’t sure I believed it, though. While he’d answered Cam’s texts, my brother and I had barely spoken over the past three months. He hadn’t even met his nephew yet. Phobos had forgiven me countless times over the centuries, for some truly atrocious acts, but I knew better than most how a broken heart could change a man.

My parents were bickering in the kitchen, as usual, and Harmonia and the girls had surprisingly begged off the family meal, saying they didn’t want to get in the way of the fireworks. It wasn’t like Phobos and I were going to duke it out or anything. We did have some manners .

“Here, burp your son so I can eat something,” Cam said, passing me the baby, and I felt my bad mood dissolving as I held him to my chest, smoothing a hand in circles on his little back.

I tucked my nose into Damon’s neck and breathed in his warm scent. After Gorgias, I’d given up any hope of becoming a father, until the exact moment Cam had told me he was pregnant, but it was everything. I’d say it was a shame I hadn’t done it sooner, but I knew the truth. I hadn’t been ready until my sidekick—my partner —came along.

Cameron was watching us as he snacked on crackers and hummus, a secret smile on his face. “What?” I asked, feeling a little self-conscious.

“Oh, nothing. Just admiring how our little lion tamer has you wrapped around his finger.” Our son’s name literally translated to “tamer,” and mythology had loved to paint me and my brother as lions. Cam thought this was hilarious.

He stood up and dropped a kiss on our son’s head, before giving me one on the lips, far too chaste for my liking. “I’m going to go see if your mom needs help in the kitchen. You two be good.”

“What trouble could we possibly get into?” I called after him, earning me a wink. Then to my son, I whispered conspiratorially, “At least not yet, anyway. I’ll wait until you’re at least two before we go toilet-paper your uncle’s house.”

He replied with a hearty burp and a dribble of spit-up over my shoulder.

Cameron hadn’t gone into the kitchen to help my mother so much as to act as referee, as evidenced by how just a minute later, my father appeared. “They kicked you out?” I guessed, moving Devon around to face forward .

The mighty Ares, god of war, AKA Dad, flopped down in his chair, pouting. “Yes. They said my shitty attitude was going to make the potatoes bitter. That’s not a thing… is it?”

“I mean, it could be?” What did I know? Zeek did most of the cooking at our place. And even though our baby wasn’t old enough to eat solids yet, Zeek had been perfecting his pureed gourmet baby food. Cameron thought it was good enough that he should be marketing the damn stuff. Either way, Damon was already the most spoiled baby in the history of the world.

Zeek had insisted on moving with us when we bought our new little fixer-upper along the lake, claiming he would be the perfect nanny, and I had to say, he’d been spot-on. Besides the cooking, he had a knack for putting Damon to sleep, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy the smell of diapers. Cameron had tried to invite Zeek for family dinner tonight, but the little demon actually had a date! Some goblin he’d met on a dating app. The saying was true—there really was someone out there for everyone.

I was about to tell my dad about the renovations we’d started on the new house when I paused, a shiver traveling down my spine. I knew it was him even before I saw him, the temperature in the house dropping several degrees; my twin had arrived, and he was not happy about it.

Standing, I passed Damon over to my dad. “Just in case,” I muttered under my breath.

“Like I would really hurt a baby,” Phobos gritted out from the doorway, because of course he heard me. “I’m not you .”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, you didn’t actually believe I would do that, did you?”

“No, of course not, it was just a ploy to kidnap someone,” he snapped .

“Who is now my mate! It all worked out in the end. Can’t we get past this, already? Cameron has.”

Phobos took a wide step into the room, closing the distance between us. “If you hadn’t interfered, he would’ve been my mate instead, but you couldn’t just let me have him, could you!”

I groaned, rubbing a hand down my face. “ Let you have him? He is his own man and makes his own decisions. He never loved you, Brother. Can’t you just be happy for me for once?”

“For once? I have always supported you. Always! Even when you were being a right jackass!” he seethed, pointing a finger my way, sending an arc of energy that crackled between us and snapped the stem of one of Mom’s wine glasses clean in half. Oops.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad shielding Damon, while backing toward the kitchen, no doubt to get Cameron. I didn’t want to involve my mate, though. Phobos was my brother; no one was closer than we were, but something had broken between us, and I wanted to be the one to fix it.

Without giving myself a chance to doubt the action, I closed the remaining distance and wrapped my arms around my brother. He went rigid on instinct. “What are you… doing?” he sputtered.

“I’m hugging my brother,” I said, propping my chin on his shoulder. “I miss you.”

Almost instantly he sagged in my grip, before bringing his arms up to hug me back. “I miss you too,” he admitted softly. “I just wanted the happily ever after, you know? I always seem to come in last.”

I pulled back to look at him. “What are you talking about? You always win. You’re the good guy, the literal superhero. You’re the chosen son ,” I tacked on, gesturing to where our parents were in the kitchen.

Phobos jerked back, frowning. “What are you talking about? ”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Oh, please. Like you don’t know you’re Dad’s favorite.”

His jaw dropped in genuine surprise. “Yeah, right! Dad is always telling me how skilled you are on the battlefield, that I should try to be more like you.”

“What? But…” There was this strange ethereal, untethered sensation going on, and I felt like I was in danger of floating away. “But he told me—"

“Uhhh… I can explain,” our father said, tiptoeing back into the room, and I was glad to see he’d left Damon out of harm’s way. He held his hands up, stalling us. “I just thought if I could generate a little bit of friendly rivalry between you, that you would both strive to improve your game. You know, a bit of competition is good for you.”

Phobos came to stand beside me, and we both crossed our arms and glared at the man who’d driven a wedge between us so deeply that we’d very nearly come to blows. You didn’t toy with family.

“I’m sorry! I never intended to make either of you feel like you weren’t enough. I love you both, and I’m infinitely proud of all you’ve achieved. Let me make it up to you,” he pleaded. “Anything at all. Just please don’t tell your mother how epically I screwed up. She only just let me back into her bed after last time…”

I shared a look with my brother, mischief creeping into our expressions. “I dunno, Dad, how many years have you been messing with us? I don’t know if that’s something I can forgive.”

Dad groaned. “Any chance you’ll take cash? I have no qualms about buying your silence.”

I tapped a finger on my lips in thought. “How about babysitting every Friday night for the next decade?”

Phobos interjected to say, “I don’t have kids, so I’ll take that cash to start with.”

Our negotiations were interrupted when Mom and Cameron came back from the kitchen, Mom carrying a platter of taco fillings. “If you’re going to get feisty, you can take it outside. It’s dinnertime.”

“No, we’re done,” I said, turning to my brother. “We’re good, right?”

“Yeah… we’re good,” he said, smiling softly as he clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. I suspected we still had a ways to go before we were truly good, but it was a step in the right direction.

Cameron smiled back and forth between us before taking his seat beside me with Damon in his lap. It was a juggle, now that Damon was reaching for everything, so we took turns holding our son and eating quick bites of food.

Toward the end of the meal, my foot brushed Cam’s under the table, and I got a tiny shock. I froze, taco halfway to my mouth as the tingling sensation crawled up my calf, and my cock immediately got hard, conditioned to know that with power came pleasure. Cameron was due for a transfer of energy, and through trial and error, we’d found the most fun way to do that was with sex. My brain and body now saw the two acts as entirely entwined.

Beside me, Cameron cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I just need to go wash my hands.” He pushed his chair back from the table, and on his way out of the dining room, he looked back at me with a flirty glance. I knew that look well…

I lasted all of one minute before the pressure building up in my pants had hit danger mode. “Here, Uncle Phobos,” I said, thrusting Damon at my brother. “Just need the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, right,” he muttered, not fooled by my lame excuse. He had eyes, after all, but he gave all his attention down to the little munchkin in his lap, seemingly grateful for the distraction. I sensed another lion was being tamed by our Damon .

I tried to look casual as I made my way through the labyrinthine halls to the bathroom— our bathroom, as we’d started calling it—but I was past trying to play it cool. I needed my mate. Now.

Raising my hand to knock, the door swung open before I could even make contact, and Cameron clawed his fingers into my shirt, dragging me inside and slamming the door, before shoving me back against it. “What took you so long?” he panted between kisses as he tugged frantically at my belt.

“You know me, always discreet,” I said, and we both laughed since I was anything but.

I fell to my knees and dragged his pants down with me, only to find myself struck speechless. “Cameron,” I groaned, running my hands up his thighs, clad in blue Spandex.

He blushed, gnawing on his lip self-consciously. “I was in the mood to play dress-up.”

I was torn between wanting to leave him dressed just like this and needing to bury myself inside him. I rubbed my face over his thick cock, dampening the smooth material with my mouth. “You’re killing me.”

He let me indulge in my fantasy for a few minutes, before he gripped my hair and dragged my face back. “How about if I leave the top on?”

“Deal,” I panted, stripping the tights off in one move before hiking him up and setting his ass on the counter, and as I sank into his needy ass, we both sighed in pleasure and relief.

We were perfect for each other in ways we never could’ve predicted, that went far beyond a give and take of power. I gave him permission not to be perfect, and he made me want to try. We met each other somewhere in the middle and somehow found balance .

When I slid my hand up his back under his bodysuit, ready to siphon away any buildup of power, he stopped me with a hand on my cheek. His eyes were tender, even as his legs tightened around my waist. “Not today. Today, I just need you.”

I kissed him, soft and sweet. “I’m yours, and not just for today. You have me for always.”

Our lovemaking started off slow, but as usual, we grew desperate, straining toward a release that never seemed like enough. Cameron clung to me, muffling his cries in my shoulder, until I felt him tighten around me. His pulsing muscles milked my seed from me as I released inside him with a guttural groan. My knot expanded, sealing us together, and Cameron shuddered, gasping to catch his breath.

He chuckled, looking down between us at my cum-stained shirt and his ruined costume. “We seem to have made a mess… again. What will your parents think of me?” His eyes twinkled with humor.

“Serves us right for not getting naked,” I said as I started peeling his bodysuit off. “It’s a good thing I packed us a change of clothes.” It had been in case Damon spat up or if Cameron had been leaking milk, but I was even more glad for it now.

Speaking of milk…

A tiny drop of the white gold was dangling precariously from his nipple, and I bit my lip, so tempted. “Just a taste…” I told him, leaning down to collect it from the peaked nub, savoring the sweet, rich flavor on my tongue. Cameron gasped, his tight channel fluttering around my knot. I looked up at him through my lashes and saw shock, but also curiosity and maybe… interest.

He watched as I lapped up the leak from the other nipple, and as much as I wanted to close my lips around it and pull a mouthful from him, my knot chose that precise moment to loosen. We both groaned as we separated, and I took a step back to admire his thighs, a mess of come and slick.

“You wash up, and I’ll run and grab your clothes. And we’ll revisit this … later,” I promised, trailing a finger across his chest.

“Yes, we certainly will.” Blushing, Cameron leaned into the shower and cranked on the water. “Hurry back, because you know Phobos is going to eat all the pie.”

Worth it , I thought. My life with Cameron was worth all the pie.

Find out if Phobos gets his happily ever after in

Take Two by Trisha Linde and Colbie Dunbar

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