Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Artemis

A s far as high-tension, high-risk outings to a public place in order to stock up on supplies so we could hole up for a few weeks went, our trip to the travel center was a success. The SUV was full to the brim with everything from food to fuel for the generator to a few extra things, like books and a card game Gideon had picked up, to keep us entertained for however long we needed to stay hidden.

To be honest, as quaint as I thought the cliffside house was and as much work as Fletcher had put into it, I hoped we’d be able to leave it in time and return to Barrington and our lives once the threat of Justice Goode taking Gideon from us or harming our strange little unit was removed.

And I did think it could be removed, I just didn’t know how yet.

Gideon was in a surprisingly good mood for someone with a deep fear of other people who had just spent a few hours in public. He chatted away about the cows and about his good memories of growing up on a remote farm as I drove us back to the coast. He added in a few references to his favorite captive omega princes and their apparently incredible alpha dragon princes, though I lost track of which prince was which after a while.

I liked it when Gideon was happy. He radiated happiness in a way you couldn’t help but feel. I still had my suspicions about what the true source of that happiness was, and I was fairly certain he’d snuck back into the bookshop and purchased one of the books about pregnancy when he thought Fletcher and I were distracted, but I didn’t want to bring it up until we all felt safe.

Interestingly, Fletcher was hard to read on the drive home, even with the bond. He was deep in thought, but the emotions that accompanied his thoughts bounced around so much that there was no way I could figure out what he was thinking. Only couples who had been bonded for a long, long time could read each other’s thoughts literally. For everyone else, the bond only transmitted feelings.

“You okay?” I asked Fletcher once we parked in front of the house and got out to unload the car.

“Yeah,” Fletcher said, frowning slightly as we pulled bags out of the back and walked them up onto the front porch.

I waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t, I asked, “Are you sure?”

Fletcher glanced up at me, like he was coming out of a trance, as we headed back to get another load from the car while Gideon took the bags from the porch into the house. Then he smiled.

“It’s nothing bad, I swear,” he said. “I just ran into an old omega, must have been eighty if he was a day, at the travel center. He gave me a lot to think about.”

We hauled a few more bags of groceries from deeper in the SUV and carried them to the porch.

“Care to share?” I asked with a smirk as we continued on to the house.

Fletcher huffed a laugh. “Did you know marriages between three people are actually legal?” he asked.

I nearly tripped up the stairs. “No, I did not,” I said, my body suddenly thrumming with possibilities.

There was no question in my mind. If I could marry both Fletcher and Gideon and if they were allowed legally to add a third to the marriage they already had on the books, then I would drop to one knee for both of them and offer them my eternal love and loyalty.

Fletcher clearly sensed my feelings on the matter, but I didn’t get the bolt of joy from him in return, like I would have expected.

“The law only allows it if you can prove all three people in the marriage are bonded,” he said as we headed back to the SUV for another load.

My high hopes faltered. “Are three-way bonds possible?” I asked, hoping Fletcher would say yes and lay out a game plan for how we could bond with Gideon.

I got another wave of wry bitterness from him instead. “Randy, the omega I talked to, is bonded to two alphas. So yes, apparently it’s possible.”

I fought to hang onto that hope. “If they can do it, we can, too.”

Fletcher shook his head as we took the fuel containers out of the SUV. Instead of carrying them to the porch, we took them around to the side of the house where the generator sat .

“Two alphas bonding with the same omega isn’t the same as two omegas bonding with the same alpha,” Fletcher said.

“Are there other cases of two omegas bonding with the same alpha?” I asked, hope still beating in my heart.

“I don’t know,” Fletcher said as we set the fuel containers down beside the generator.

The generator looked to be in good condition. With a little effort, we were able to dust it off a little, add fuel, and then fire it up in a relatively short time. Blessedly, it went to work right away. So that was one thing that was working in our favor.

“Hey! The fridge has just turned on!” Gideon called through the open window to the kitchen a few feet down the house from us. “Good job, guys!”

I grinned, my heart fluttering and my spirits lifting. If my omega was happy, I was happy.

That thought had me looking at Fletcher again. Gideon made him so happy, too. If any threesome could figure out how all three of us could bond, it had to be us. We almost had everything in place, I was sure. Fletcher and I were bonded, Fletcher and Gideon were deeply in love and had been married for years, and if I had to bet on it, I would say that Gideon was carrying my child as we spoke.

My thoughts shifted in a different direction as we headed back to the SUV to get the last of our purchases.

“What about the two alphas in Randy’s marriage?” I asked Fletcher as we cleared out the back of the car. “Were they bonded to each other through the marriage?”

Only alphas and omegas bonded. It was a fact of nature as sure and certain as gravity. Alphas didn’t bond with each other, and as Fletcher and Gideon definitely already knew, all the love in the world couldn’t make two omegas bond.

The forlorn feeling that came from Fletcher as we headed up to the house told me he’d considered that, too. “I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t think to ask. I wish I had.”

“It’s okay,” I said, resting a hand on Fletcher’s back for a second once we were in the house.

“Thank you two for getting the fridge working so quickly,” Gideon greeted us with an effusion of emotion once we took the last couple bags into the kitchen. “It’ll take a while to really get cold, but I’ve already put the meat and milk and things in there. It’s a tight fit, but we bought a lot of stuff.”

“Do we have room for it all?” Fletcher asked, crossing to check on the pantry, where Gideon had already done an amazing job of arranging things.

We had just enough room. That could be said about a lot of things with the house. There was just enough room to store all our supplies and to keep the three of us cozy and comfortable. We spent the next couple hours arranging things the way we wanted them and giving the place the deep clean it desperately needed.

Fletcher took the lead with everyone’s cleaning duties. I definitely didn’t mind. The more he was given the chance to take charge of things and feel like he had some sort of control over our bizarre situation, the more Fletcher relaxed and shone. The increased comfort I felt from him through our bond was dead sexy in so many ways. My thing for having an omega take control of me extended beyond the bedroom, and Fletcher had everything I needed to be in my happy place.

For a while, we forgot Goode and the dangerous situation we were in entirely.

“I feel like one of the palace servants in evil King Freslik’s palace,” Gideon said late into the afternoon, as he scrubbed the hardwood of the living room floor on his hands and knees.

We’d taken all the rugs outside to beat them and moved the furniture to the side of the room that Gid had already scrubbed. A little soap and elbow grease had already made the room so much brighter and homier.

“Are there stories about the palace servants?” I asked, carrying a load of wood across the room to the holder next to the crackling fireplace. “Or is it just the princes?”

“Oh, there are stories about the palace servants, too,” Gideon said. “One is a foundling who it turns out is actually a dragon-shifter, like the alpha princes. Another finds some magic seeds and plants them in the garden and goes off on adventures in the sky. And another is so pure of heart that when they are mistaken for one of the princes, a nobleman falls in love with him and marries him, and when that nobleman becomes king after King Freslik meets his just end, he becomes the King Consort.”

“I like that,” I said, brushing off my hands, then heading outside again for another load of wood. “You’re so passionate about these stories. You really should write your own versions.”

Gideon pushed himself up from where he’d been scrubbing. “Depending on how much time we spend here, I might. I bought a few notebooks and some pens this morning to compensate for having to leave my laptop behind.”

I knew it bothered Gideon that he’d had to leave his work and his passion at the farm, but Fletcher had been right when he’d mentioned to me earlier that any electronics we might have with us would be a way for Goode to trace and find them.

That reminded me of the one electronic device I still had with me. When I headed back out for another load of firewood, I pulled my phone from my back pocket and checked for service. There wasn’t any in front of the house, but luckily, as I moved around the back, towards the edge of the cliff, I picked up just a little shred of service.

I decided to take that opportunity to call Victor while I could.

“Hey, Artemis. It’s good to hear your voice,” Victor answered the call.

I laughed, “You saw me last week and I texted you earlier.”

“Yeah, but I know what you’re dealing with right now,” Victor said. “Simon and I are worried about you.”

That made me smile. Good friends were worth their weight in gold.

“Have you heard anything about Goode in the last twenty-four hours?” I asked.

“Only that he’s dropped off the radar,” Victor answered. “I did a little asking around, even managing to contact his assistant, but no one knows where he is now.”

That concerned me. I glanced toward the drive, as if Goode would come racing up the gravel at any second.

“Goode’s assistant said he expects Goode has gone back to The People’s compound for a while,” Victor went on. “They don’t generally do cell phones.”

“The alphas have them,” I said, filling in the little I knew from chatting with Gideon. “Some of the betas and omegas have them secretly. I doubt anyone is going to be calling them to check on Goode anytime soon, though.”

“Do you want me to put out some deep feelers to see if I can pin down Goode’s location?” Victor asked.

“Yes,” I said, swimming with relief. “But I’m not sure how you’ll be able to let me know. I’m going to turn off my phone for a while. There’s some concern that Goode will be able to track us through our electronics.”

“Does he know you’re with Fletcher and Gideon?” Victor asked, sounding surprised.

“No,” I said. “But I don’t want to take the chance of him finding out.”

I could practically see Victor nodding on the other end of the call. “I’ll do what I can here to figure out what’s going on for you. If I hear anything, I’ll call and leave a message.”

“I’ll check once a day in case you call.”

I was happy with that arrangement. We talked for about a minute more before my signal started to falter, then we said goodbye. As soon as I ended the call, I turned my phone off entirely before sticking it back in my pocket.

“Is everything okay?”

I turned at the sound of Fletcher’s voice as he approached me from the kitchen porch.

“Yeah,” I said. “I think we might actually be alright.”

I expected Fletcher to come near me and then stop so we could talk the situation through. Instead, he walked all the way up to me, slid his arms around me, and lifted to his toes so he could capture my mouth in a searing kiss.

My three seconds of surprise at his boldness quickly melted into hot, pulsing arousal. I grabbed him and pulled him close in return, dropping one hand to squeeze his ass. The passion came out of nowhere, but I wanted it so desperately that I just went with it.

Fletcher hooked a hand around the back of my neck and fought me for control of the kiss. His lips and tongue were demanding, taking what they wanted, despite our relative positions. I challenged him for control for a little bit because I liked the fight, but I really wanted him to win. I wanted him to kiss me into submission, shove me down to the overgrown grass beside the cliff, tear my jeans off, and ride me into the sunset.

I was a little surprised when Fletcher murmured, “I want you to bend me over that stump over there and fuck me until you send me into heat again.”

I grinned as I tightened my hold on his ass and pushed my straining erection against his belly. “And here I was thinking I wanted you to throw me down and bounce on my cock until I rearranged your insides.”

Fletcher’s answering laugh was low and wicked. “I might be able to arrange that,” he said.

Between kisses, he reached for the button of my fly, then tugged the zipper down. I growled with want as he scooped a hand into my briefs and stroked my cock up until the wet tip poked over the waistband.

“It’s too bad we don’t have a Mammulator 6000 lying around,” he said, reaching down to cup and squeeze my balls. “I wouldn’t mind spying on you as a machine like that pumped everything you’ve got out of these balls.”

“Tie me up while you milk me and I’ll give you every bit of the show you’re after,” I panted.

The spike of lust I felt through the bond was almost enough to make me come. I held back, dancing with the feeling that I wouldn’t let myself come unless my omega asked me to, or better yet, forced me to. The only thing better than being milked by a machine with Fletcher watching would have been being milked by force.

Although the way I liked things, it would have to be the illusion of being forced, because right now, I would have given anything to have Fletcher test just how much cum the balls he was fondling could produce.

I grabbed the sides of his face as he shifted to stroking my cock again and kissed him. We both groaned and I shifted my feet apart, bracing for orgasm and hoping I wouldn’t lose my balance once it hit me.

“Hey, guys, do you know where we put the?—”

Gideon’s voice shattered the moment. Fletcher and I both gasped and jumped back from each other, dripping in guilt. It didn’t help anything that the top of my hard cock was very much visible above the band of my briefs and my open fly.

“Oh. Sorry,” Gideon said, turning red faster than I’d ever seen anyone do before and radiating embarrassment. “I’ll just let the two of you get on with it.”

He turned to head back into the house.

“Gid, no, I’m sorry,” Fletcher said, breaking away from me with a sigh and striding back to the house. “We shouldn’t be?—”

He didn’t finish the sentence. I felt the hitch of emotion that stopped him from saying something he didn’t actually believe, that he and I shouldn’t be hot for each other. We were going to be horny for each other, now that we were bonded, no matter how much guilt it caused. We wouldn’t always be able to just stop like we did either.

I tucked myself back into my jeans and followed Fletcher and Gideon into the house.

“No, it’s okay,” Gideon was in the middle of saying as he filled up his scrubbing bucket from the sink, not looking at Fletcher as he spoke. “Believe me, I’ve been around you two enough in the last few days to know what kind of sexual chemistry you have. I really don’t mind if you flex that now and again, especially since I’m?—”

He stopped and darted a glance at me. All my suspicions about him being pregnant rushed back.

I was certain he was going to confess, but instead he turned to Fletcher and said, “Especially since I’m still a little wary of alphas. And I just finished my heat. I’ve never had the libido that you do?—”

“That’s a big fat lie,” Fletcher interrupted him with a surprise grin.

I was surprised, too. Especially when Gideon blushed even deeper and lowered his eyes with the sexiest, most charming look.

“Okay, I’ve been known to be a horn dog on occasion,” he admitted quietly.

My brow flew up and my cock begged me to take it out again. I could tell from what I felt from Fletcher, and the glow Gideon seemed to radiate, that he wasn’t making that up. The possibilities for future sexy times ran wild in my head. Maybe I could have my two omegas at the same time. Maybe I could fuck Gideon while Fletcher fucked me.

A shiver of longing from Fletcher told me he’d felt my fantasy. “Okay,” he said, raising his hands and taking a step back. “Maybe we should all just cool off and see to our own tasks for a while. This could get out of control really fast.”

“I wouldn’t mind it getting out of control,” I muttered.

Gideon snorted with laughter, splashing water from his bucket as he took it out of the sink.

“You two, behave,” Fletcher ordered us. God, I loved it when he got bossy. “We’re in the middle of sprucing up the house. It isn’t going to do any of us a lick of good if we drop our responsibilities for a threesome every time we get the itch.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, sharing a naughty look with Gideon.

That just made Gideon laugh harder and Fletcher throw up his hands with a sigh. The front of his jeans bulged, though, giving away that he wasn’t as annoyed as he was pretending to be .

“Let’s just clean the house,” he said, turning and marching off.

Ten seconds later, we heard the bathroom door slam shut.

“You know what he’s doing in there,” Gideon told me with the most adorable, sexy look.

“Yeah, I can guess,” I said, then added, “Excuse me while I, er, go chop some more wood.”

I headed straight for the back door and marched off the porch toward a secluded area of trees, Gideon’s laughter echoing behind me.

I smiled, happiness filling me that was as pure as Gideon’s smile. It was crazy what we were all doing, small picture and big picture, but I was settling into it awfully quickly. The three of us just worked together. I could see this little life experiment we’d embarked on working wonderfully. I just didn’t know how long we had before reality caught up with us.