Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Gideon

I was happy. I definitely was. And I felt safe, safer than I’d felt in years. It was just that….

There was no other way to put it. I was in the way.

“Hold that side up a little higher,” Artemis called to Fletcher as the two of them worked on repairing the front porch the day after our trip to the travel center. “Right there, right…yeah.”

“Sounds like something you’d say to me when I had you bent over a barrel,” Fletcher had teased him, not realizing I was just on the other side of the window, rearranging the cushions on the living room furniture.

“I wouldn’t have to say it,” Artemis answered Fletcher’s naughty comment in an amorous voice. “You’d hit the spot right the first time.”

“Over and over and over,” Fletcher teased him in return.

Three minutes later, the sound of the two of them working was replaced by heavy breathing and moans and smacking sounds as the two of them kissed.

Later on that afternoon, after I’d woken up from a desperately needed nap, I heard those same sounds again, coming from the living room. I slipped silently out of bed and tiptoed to the bedroom door, cracking it just enough to get an eyeful of a naked Fletcher bouncing on Artemis’s lap. Artemis’s jeans were around his ankles, and he held Fletcher’s waist as the two of them moved together.

I kept watching until they were done, because how could I not? The two of them were smoking hot together. Fletcher was a thousand times freer than I could ever be while fucking. At least while fucking an alpha. I’d been in his same position and he’d been in Artemis’s plenty of times, and I’d ridden him with as much abandon as he was riding now.

That would have been fine, but that night, or rather, in the super early morning hours, I’d been awakened from a sound sleep by the bed rocking and muffled sounds of pleasure. It had taken me a second as I pretended to continue sleeping to figure out that Fletcher was on top and Artemis was face down, his cries muffled in the pillow, as Fletcher pounded his ass.

I was deeply tempted to take my own, fully erect cock in hand at that point to get off along with them, but that would have alerted them to the fact I was awake.

I didn’t want to interrupt them. I didn’t want to come between two bonded mates. Even if one of them was my husband and the other was the sire of my baby.

I could tell Fletcher and Artemis were trying so hard not to upset me. When they knew I was awake or paying attention to them, they were incredibly attentive to me and kept their hands off each other. Fletcher had always been physically affectionate and that didn’t change at all as we continued fixing up the house the next day. He kissed me, hugged me, and told me he loved me constantly.

It was wonderful, but I knew his relaxed mood was because of his bond with Artemis. Artemis made me feel safe and protected, too. As soon as I let him know I wasn’t afraid of him and I actually liked when he touched me, he turned just as affectionate as Fletcher. He kissed me, asked if there was anything I needed every five minutes, and on the third day, when we were all taking a break by lounging around the yard, looking out over the sea, as the unseasonably warm sun shone down on us, I sat in his lap while he cuddled me.

It was lovely. I knew he cared about me. I knew we were falling in love. I could feel the question on his lips that I could have sworn he’d been about to ask when he caught me looking at baby books at the travel center, but he never outright asked it. He just caressed me and leaned in close to breathe in my scent and made me feel special.

But I wasn’t the one he had wedged against the porch railing in the middle of the afternoon, trousers around his knees, which were hooked over Artemis’s arms, as he plowed into him over and over again with enough force to push into his womb, even though Fletcher wasn’t in heat. I wasn’t the one on my knees with his cock down my throat early the next morning, when the two of them had gone out to fetch firewood and not come back for fifteen minutes.

I was in the way.

Any hope I’d had that I could just ignore how hot Fletcher and Artemis were for each other and how they either didn’t have the ability or the desire to keep it in their trousers came to a head around lunchtime on our fourth day of being at the cabin.

I was in the kitchen, making sandwiches and soup, when I heard one of the chairs in the living room scraping repeatedly against the hardwood floor. I knew what I was hearing. It aroused me and had my hole dripping slick. Omegas were extra horny when they were pregnant, but I knew that wasn’t the whole reason I had to stop and lean against the counter to breathe my erection away.

Something had to be done.

I shifted the pot of soup off the hottest of the burners then took a deep breath and headed into the living room. I saw exactly what I expected to see, but not in the way I anticipated.

Fletcher had Artemis spread across the larger of the two recliners. His trousers were off and his legs were balanced on the arms of the chair. He was half hunched over the back of the chair, hugging it tightly, as Fletcher railed him from behind.

“Be careful that you don’t unbalance and knock the chair over,” I called out to them, aroused and depressed at the same time.

My husband and my alpha jerked and swore, then scrambled to swing around and climb out of the chair to face me. It was easier for Fletcher to do, since he still had his jeans on and only had to scramble back, tuck his still-hard cock into his underwear, and zip up. Artemis backed off the chair and turned to face me, but with only a long-sleeved t-shirt on, when he faced me, I got a full view of his thick, dripping erection, and he couldn’t hide it.

“Gideon,” Fletcher gasped, red in the face. “We weren’t…it’s not…we didn’t know…. ”

“We need to talk,” I said with a sigh.

Fletcher and Artemis exchanged a guilty look, which hurt even more, since they were communicating through their bond, as Artemis bent to grab his jeans and underwear.

“We’re not…I know this must be odd for you,” Fletcher tried again, his conflicted swirl of emotions so thick I could almost taste them.

“Sit down, Fletcher,” I told him as I moved to take a seat in the smaller of the recliners. I chose that chair on purpose, because I didn’t want either of them to try to sit next to me and pet me like a child. What we had to discuss wasn’t childish at all.

Fletcher moved to sit on the couch, and once Artemis had his trousers on, he sat in the large recliner. It felt right that the three of us had different chairs.

“We need to sort this out,” I said, staring from one to the other seriously.

“Baby, I’m sorry if this?—”

I held up a hand to stop Fletcher.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I get it. The two of you have bonded. I’ve read enough to know that a new bond makes the alpha and omega super horny for each other. And I know you haven’t been able to let loose and really fuck the way you want to ever since you’ve been with me.”

The look of misery that came over Fletcher’s face shot straight to my heart. I knew Fletcher had issues with the fact that he could never give me the baby that I’d always wanted, but surely he must have known that I felt bad for not being able to top him the way an alpha would.

“The bond is no excuse for the way we haven’t been able to control ourselves,” Artemis said, radiating goodwill and care toward me. “We shouldn’t have been so secretive about what we were doing.”

“It’s not secretive,” I said, genuinely surprised that he thought that was it. “It’s instinct. Even I can feel it. It’s like the entire house buzzes when the two of you are having sex. I get hard, too. Part of me, a big part of me, wishes I was involved.”

That surprised Fletcher and Artemis. They sat up straighter in unison and looked at each other. It was almost funny.

“I’m not completely frigid,” I told them, trying to shoot for humor as I smirked. “Your bond has me all worked up, too. I’m not afraid of Artemis at all. Granted, I don’t want to be fucked hard the way Fletcher apparently likes it, but I do like sex.”

The vibes in the room turned a little sheepish and a whole lot heated.

“Are you certain you would want to join in?” Artemis asked.

I was surprised, both with how exactly his question matched what I’d been thinking and how torn I felt inside because of it.

“I just don’t want to be in the way of the bonded mate relationship the two of you clearly have,” I said quietly.

“Oh, honey, it’s not?—”

“You could never be in the way, baby.”

Artemis and Fletcher spoke overtop of each other, but then both stopped.

All three of us sat straighter and I sucked in a breath at the sound of a car coming up the gravel drive.

In an instant, our conversation was over and all three of us bolted for the door. Artemis and Fletcher were suddenly full of aggressive energy, but I rushed for the door as a way of escaping the confines of the house so I could run.

We dashed out to the porch, but I immediately wanted to turn and race back into the house at the sight of the fancy, black SUV that appeared from the tree line, where the drive curved, and came to a stop close to Artemis’s and Fletcher’s cars.

I knew Goode had found us even before he cut the engine and got out of his car.

He walked with the slow confidence of an alpha who had finally found the prize he’d been searching for and who knew he could just reach out and take it.

At least, that’s how he walked at first. He stopped cold for a second when he spotted Artemis standing on the porch by Fletcher’s side, the two of them shielding me.

“Mr. Montgomery?” he asked, surprised.

At least, pretending to be surprised. Something about his shock reaction felt off to me.

“What a pleasant surprise,” he continues with a smile, approaching the porch as if he’d been invited. “I had no idea you knew my husband.”

“He’s not your husband,” Fletcher snapped, reaching a hand back, like he was searching to make certain I was still there and still safe. “He’s my husband.”

Goode’s smile didn’t falter one bit as he came to stand at the bottom of the porch’s two stairs. It was obvious his smile was for Artemis, but he glanced briefly at Fletcher before saying, “I think the law would have something to say about that.”

“Your cult marriage is the one that’s not valid in the eyes of the law,” Fletcher growled. “Our court marriage is.”

“Now you know we don’t recognize omega-omega marriage in the community,” Goode said, still smiling and sounding every bit like a righteous pastor gently chastising a wayward family member. “Any marriage but that between an alpha and an omega, or barring that, a male and a female, is considered anathema in the eyes of God. Marriage is for the purpose of procreation and spiritual guidance. It’s not a vessel for the sins of the flesh.”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I hadn’t heard someone speak those sentiments to me personally since I fled The People.

“I think you should leave,” Artemis said. “Gideon is protected, both by his husband and by me.”

“And who are you to these two?” Goode challenged him. “In our interview, you told me you were married. Is that marriage with this one?” He gestured to Fletcher, his fake smile slipping into hate for a moment. “Are you here to collect your wayward omega as well?”

“I’m here to protect my…friends,” Artemis said.

I didn’t know if I wanted him to call me his omega to Goode’s face or not. I didn’t know if I deserved that honor. Fletcher was Artemis’s omega, I was just…extra.

“Get off my property,” Fletcher growled, balling his hands into fists. “I won’t let you take my husband.”

Goode stepped back with a look of shock. “Who said I was here to take anybody? I simply came to chat with…Gideon, to clear the air. There’s so much confusion between us right now, isn’t there, my friend,” he addressed me directly.

I was almost completely shielded behind Fletcher and Artemis. I could just barely see through the gap between their shoulders.

“I’m not leaving with you,” I told him, surprised that I could summon enough courage for that.

“I didn’t say you had to,” Goode said with a shrug. “ Consider me a visitor.” He glanced to the side, to where the ladder leaned against the side of the porch and the pile of shingles in the corner that Artemis and Fletcher had been planning to use to patch a few spots on the roof. “Or better still, consider me an extra set of helping hands. God smiles upon the man who helps his neighbor. Let me help you.”

“No,” Fletcher said. “Get back in your car and leave.”

Artemis shifted to face him, and after a glance between the two of them that I knew was bond communication, they both turned towards me.

“If we chase him off, he’ll just come back with reinforcements,” Artemis whispered so that Goode couldn’t hear him. “He doesn’t have anyone with him now. This could be the best chance we get to eliminate the problem he poses without causing too much fuss.”

“Are you suggesting we kill him?” Fletcher said, paling. He then lowered his voice even more and whispered, “Please say you’re suggesting we kill him.”

“Fletcher!” I hissed. I didn’t have to say more, I just stared at him with wide, shocked eyes.

Fletcher winced. “I know, I know. Except I wouldn’t put it past him to try to kill all of us.”

He had a horrific point. How did you safely deal with someone when you knew they had murder and abduction on their mind? Artemis still had his phone so in theory, he could call the police, but what would they do? You couldn’t arrest a man for visiting the omega he believed was his husband. For trespassing, maybe, but Artemis was right. He’d just come back with reinforcements.

We had to deal with this problem ourselves, one way or another.

Artemis and Fletcher stared at each other for a long time. I could have sworn I felt the conversation they were having, too. Stranger still, even though my baby wasn’t more than a collection of cells inside me that wasn’t even rounding my stomach, I felt them pulse with…communication as well. That was the only word I could think of to describe it.

We nodded to each other, then straightened and faced Goode again, like we’d been in a team huddle and now knew our game plan.

“You can stay,” Artemis said. “We do need help with the roof.”

“But you can’t be alone with Gideon for a second,” Fletcher added. “And I want your car keys.”

That was a good thing to add. I was so proud of my husband.

Fletcher drew in a breath, then relaxed. Artemis must have thought the same thing at him through the bond.

“I agree to those terms,” Goode said in the tone of voice he would use to say he’d agreed to bring potato salad to a picnic. He still held his car keys in one hand, and he held them out to Artemis as he stepped up onto the porch. “When do we start?”

“Now is as good a time as any,” Artemis said.

He accepted the car keys, then immediately handed them over to Fletcher, though he kept eye contact with Goode as he did. It was a clear indication of who was in charge and a strong message to Goode.

Goode sent another loathing look at Fletcher. At least, I could see in his eyes that it was loathing. He was still smiling and pretending like everything was fine and happy. It was something a lot of us who grew up with The People had perfected as a survival technique.

“So,” Goode said, clapping his hands together. Do you want me up on the ladder, nailing shingles, or should I be the one handing them up to one of you?”

“Oh, you’re definitely going up on the roof,” Artemis said. “You’re staying as far away from Gideon as possible.”

“You know what?” Fletcher said, and for a moment I thought he was going to call the whole thing off. “Take off your shoes,” he ordered instead. “And your shirt.”

“I beg your pardon?” Goode said, his false smile slipping.

Artemis sucked in a breath, like he suddenly understood, then nodded. “Take off your shoes. It’s so you don’t run.”

“You already have my car keys,” Goode said, losing even more of his false sense of casualness. “Is this really necessary?”

“Yes,” Fletcher and Artemis answered in unison.

I smiled despite myself and despite the tension of the situation. Maybe I was coming between the two of them, but they were already so much in accord. Maybe my addition to whatever they had going on was more like the descant line over a particularly nice melody and harmony. Three parts could work together, right?

That hopeful thought withered as I caught Goode staring at me. I didn’t need to be close to him to feel the lust and calculation he radiated. I didn’t know how on earth we could possibly resolve the sticky situation we were in. I fully expected Goode to double-cross all of us at some point. I just hoped my mates could come up with a way to stop him before it was too late.