Ferris Braden [Beyond the Marius Brothers 6] (9 page)

Over the next week Rylan got more done than most people I knew could in months. At first he was set on doing it all himself, but after Onah and I pinned him down and fucked him all night long when he told us no we didn’t need to help yet again… He changed his tune. And he did it with a big smile on his face.

Onah, who had been trained as our idea of a medic on this plane, took over the blood donations. Riley had said the margays would not feel any effects with their heightened healing abilities if they donated once a week or every other week.

I was Rylan’s new liaison with the covens closest to the other margay packs. Granted, not all wanted to help and get involved, but I was proud of most of my people. They were willing to jump right in and welcome the margays into their households. It was a lot of hard work and schmoozing I wasn’t used to but at the end of the day I was still doing my duty as a warrior.

Which was keeping people safe.
We’d also been invited to have dinner with Emmett and Travis at the warrior compound where they were staying until their house was finished being built. It was nice to relax with two men I thought of as my friends and let my mates get to know them.
Both
of them had gone and let Ayden help them and they were stronger for it. Sure, Travis was still a jealous newly mated vampire, but they both were handling things better.
I was just glad Emmett was learning that real friends don’t just turn to each other only when they need help. He’d started texting me every so often, updating me on the house or telling me something crazy that happened.
“I don’t have to worry about the fact you’re always texting another man, do I?” Rylan asked quietly a week and a day after his parents were killed. We were visiting the site of the new palace, already having approved blueprints as the sale of the land was done. They were making amazing progress and Rylan was sparing no expense to build the place right.
“No, baby,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around him. “I love Emmett. He’s a good friend who helped me when I needed it and we’ve had some ups and downs but we’re working through it. But there are only two men who I’m
in
love with and have given my heart to.”
“I love you guys too,” he sighed and I smiled at Onah over his shoulder. The grin on the huge man’s face lit up the whole day.
“Really? I’m not the only one?” Rylan giggled as we shook our heads. Onah gave out a loud
whoop
and raced over to us, lifting us both up as if we weighed nothing. He spun us around and I started to feel nauseous. “I love you both so much.”
“And now that the Queen reversed the effects of your blood on vampires, I can drink from both the sexy men I love,” I teased as he set us down. There had been so much going on but that had been a priority to him. When he’d asked me to drink from him, he’d been crushed when I’d said no. He hadn’t been around when everyone found out what fae blood did to vampires.
He understood when I’d explained it to him, but he’d wanted to go wake the Queen up and get it fixed right in that moment. Never mind it had been two in the morning and she probably would have zapped our asses for disturbing her. Luckily, Rylan and I had talked him out of it and set up an appointment with her the next day when we woke up.
“Glad you’re so excited, Onah,” Rylan teased as he snuggled in both our arms. “What do you think of our new home so far?”
“I think it was genius to dismantle parts of the palace and bring it over here to be put in the new one,” he answered quietly. I nodded my agreement. Last week when we’d gone to bury the margays’ dead and hold a service for them, and then Rylan pledging his oath as the new King, everyone had been so sad to leave the old palace behind.
The next thing I knew, Rylan was calling in Italian workers to pull up the marble floors, safely remove columns, and a bunch of other building materials that had made the palace. He said that he’d never be able to sell the land anyways because too many people would question what the palace had been for. Plus, it was his family’s land and he didn’t want it gone before Paolo could grow up to appreciate it.
He’d talk about when the war with the demons was over that we’d build some luxurious summer home there that any supernatural being who’d helped in the fight could go enjoy.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him the war with the demons had been going on since before I was born and would probably always be fought. But I was pretty sure he knew that and it was his way of dealing with leaving his homeland. Who knew? Maybe the fight would end one day and we’d be victorious.
Either way, as long as I had Rylan and Onah, I’d keep up the good fight.
“After the foundation is in and the frame of the house is put up, Tyler agreed to help me put in several secret escape passages. If we’d had some of those, the attack from the demons wouldn’t have gone the way it did. We need to be prepared for every contingency. He said we can do that while the builders are working on the roof of the palace and then when we’re done they should be too and we can start moving in.”
“How long are they estimating before it’s done?” I asked, eyeing over how far they’d already come. The stone foundation and extensive basement were finished. Now they were working on the outer walls of the main floor.
“Two to three weeks,” he answered with a bright smile. “Finding a vampire building crew that could fit us in was lucky as fuck. They move so damn fast and no one has to feel awkward because humans are around.”
“But you got humans in Italy excavating materials at the old palace. Won’t that raise questions?” I didn’t have a problem with humans. But I’d learned that people, whether they be human, vampire, or any other kind, liked to talk.
“Nope, Caleb set that one up. There were several fae builders who went over to Greece that were looking for work. The Queen let them in the palace and then magically sealed it back up. We’ve got a crew getting the materials out, and another helping my people pack up all the history in that palace. All the while, several of the warriors agreed to stay there and be security for the project.”
Just then a man came running over to us with a big smile. “Your highness, if you can find us some lights so we can keep working tonight, my crew has agreed to keep going. We figure if the weather holds out on the nicer days before we end up with snow, might as well work the extra hours.”
“I will get them here. Are you sure your men aren’t pushing too hard? I don’t want anyone hurt,” Rylan replied gently.
“No way,” the man chuckled. “The blood you gave us this morning will keep us going into the night. I’ve never felt so energized. We had to adjust our normal working habits because my guys kept accidentally throwing stone with their newfound strength, but we figured out how to compensate.”
“Good. We’ve got another shipment of it coming in tomorrow.” Rylan had gotten all his packs to donate blood for the workers and ship it out to get the palace done as quickly as possible. Next week they’d start giving it to the covens they were staying in to help them. But until then, they had all been more than happy to get stuck with a needle to see the new palace built. To them it meant their people were safe and going to make it so they all jumped in to help.
The man nodded and headed back to the site.
“We have some lights in the warrior compound’s garage,” I said, wanting to keep that smile on my mate’s face. “I’ll get some guys to help me bring them over.”
“You guys are the best,” Rylan purred, rubbing up against us. “What would I do without you?”
“You’ll never have to find out, baby,” Onah said and I couldn’t agree more.

“And this is Paolo in his fairy costume,” I said like a proud papa as I passed around one of the dozens of shots Rylan had taken of his baby brother from his first Halloween. “Rylan said it was important for his brother to appreciate all the different people in his family.”

“I’ve never seen a boy dressed in a Tinker Bell costume before,” Elena Marius chuckled. We were all in one of the larger drawing rooms in the new palace. It wasn’t fully decorated yet and everyone hadn’t unpacked, but it was built and habitable. “He is the cutest baby. Cutest one ever next to my sons and granddaughter of course.”

“Of course,” I agreed with a snicker as I rubbed my fingers over Paolo’s cheek as he cooed from my lap. I knew he was Rylan’s brother, but to me, he was my son. And he would want for nothing ever and always know he was loved. We’d found a permanent nanny for him, Katrina, who also used to work in a human grammar school and could teach Paolo when he was ready.

He was the smartest baby ever though. He was already playing games and doing things that were for kids three years old and he wasn’t even a year old yet. His birthday was in January and I knew we were going to throw him a party like the coven had never seen.

“No, no ponies for him,” Rylan chuckled, shaking his head. “Maybe once he’s old enough to ride it you can get him one and we can teach him.”

“Fine, but if he asks for one when he starts talking, he’s getting one,” I replied with a pout. Everyone laughed at that and Paolo clapped his hands and giggled as if he had any clue what was going on. Did I mention how cute he was?

“Your highness, have I mentioned lately how much I love that portal of yours?” Ferris said before stuffing himself with another piece of freshly caught, grilled with garlic, calamari. “And the chef we have just knows how to prepare everything. I swear I’m going to get fat.”

“We keep you on a strict workout regimen,” Rylan purred, eyeing over our mate. “Eat away, my love.”
“I have to agree with you, Ferris,” she said as she popped a piece in her mouth as well. “The portal was always for necessity if someone needed to cross onto this plane. It’s brought me such joy to use it for something fun like this. And when Elena told me about those Alaskan King crabs she loved, we had such fun going to get some.”
“Yes and luckily Damian got me that GPS contraption that shows positions in real time so you didn’t open the portal right into the middle of their village or over the ocean,” Elena added.
“Did we ever feast when we got them back. I thought Desmond was going to pass out in shock as we brought bushel after bushel through the portal.”
“It was partially shock and partially hunger,” Desmond joked.
Rylan smiled as more guests were shown into the drawing room. My mate had
insisted
that we have a massive Thanksgiving Day dinner. He said his mother always threw one for All Saints’ Day and it was something spectacular, but since he now lived in America, he wanted his people to embrace our culture. And since so many of his people already lived here, he wanted to let them know that their traditions were now sacred to him.
He was talking to some of the wolves when there was a loud crash. Everyone raced over to the noise only to find little Mikey crying because he’d broken one of the art pieces on display. Rylan had made the drawing room into a showroom basically so everyone could enjoy the beauty that his people created. He said it would be a great way for the margays to get commissioned projects and simply share the art.
“I just wanted to touch the pretty blue inside,” Mikey wailed. “And now Mommy’s gonna be mad!”
“It was just an accident,” Susan said with a sigh. She picked her son up. “I’ll pay or work off whatever the price was. I’m so sorry about that, your highness.”
“Not at all, accidents happen,” Bevin replied instead. He waited until Mikey was watching him and bumped another one of his pieces with his elbow, his mouth going wide in pretend shock when it broke on the floor. “See? We all bump into things and break them.”
“You don’t hate me for breaking your stuff?” Mikey asked as he wiped his eyes.
“No way, pint size!” Bevin exclaimed as he leaned in and blew a raspberry on Mikey’s cheek. “I’ll tell you what. If you ask us if there’s anything you want to look at before just touching what’s fragile, I’ll make you a hanging blue crystal set for your window.”
“But my room is the Batcave. Can the Batcave have that?” he asked in awe, his eyes begging for Bevin to say yes.
“There are lots of caves in Italy that are
full
of crystals and pretty things. I know Batman wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
Problem solved. Mikey wanted Bevin to hold him after that and spent most of the time before dinner on the man’s hip. The glass was cleaned up and no harm done. The more I got to know Bevin, the more I liked the man. He was smart, funny, and loyal to Rylan and that made me relieved that my mate had such an advisor.
We sat down to dinner at the great table that had been dismantled and shipped from the palace in Italy and rebuilt here. Rylan stood and tapped his glass with a fork, smiling out at all our guests.
“I’d like to thank you for joining us at our first Thanksgiving in our new home. You all have become so much more than people who were there for us when we needed you. I honestly can say that we are all friends here and I see everyone at this table as my extended family. We couldn’t have survived and found a new home without you. This feast is for you.”
There were several cheers that went up and everyone was all smiles as we dug into the delicious meal. A good time was had by all and when the night was over, they all left with full stomachs. Ferris and I helped clean up, the palace not having a full staff yet. Plus, we weren’t raised with having servants, so for us it was normal to help out after a meal.
“Where’s Rylan?” Ferris asked me when we were done. We shared a concerned glance and quickly started looking for him.
“You would have loved it, Mother,” Rylan was saying when we found him in his study.
The first thing he’d had done when we’d moved in was hang a family portrait that his mother had painted from one of his pictures after Paolo was born. My heart wept for him because this wasn’t the first time we’d walked in on him talking to the painting. Maybe it would have been strange to some, but with his family’s tomb back in Italy, it wasn’t like he could visit their graves to be near them and talk to them.
“Everyone was happy and enjoyed the feast,” he continued, none the wiser that we were standing there. “It was a party worthy of your seal of approval. And Paolo was all smiles, enchanting everyone as you did. Father, the rest of the packs have moved to safe locations. I will protect our people so a tragedy like what happened to you never occurs again. The covens are happy to have such talented people with them.
“And they’re thrilled over the strength they get from our blood. I’ve been very careful with that though, checking in regularly and making sure no one treats our people as food. It really doesn’t seem to be a problem though. The vampires are wonderful. I just got word that another of our people found their mate in the coven they moved into. Isn’t that wonderful? There’s joy and love blossoming out of the terror and fear that made us have to move.
“It gives me hope that our people will thrive and call their new covens home one day. I know I’ll never forget you both, and neither will your people. I’ll make sure Paolo hears about you all the time and will know the kind of people you were. I hope you’re smiling down from heaven at the way my mates have taken on the role of his fathers though. They love him so much. You should see the way they dote on Paolo.
“I’m sorry you never got to meet my mates. You would have liked them. They are good men and have done so much for the people you love and for me. I wouldn’t have survived losing you without them. Every day they give me strength and show me how special I am to them. I know all you ever wanted was for me to be happy. It’s not been easy and the road ahead is long and a lot of work has to be accomplished. But with them, I’m happy every minute of it.”
“So are we,” Ferris said quietly. “And I’m sorry we never got to meet them either. They raised a fine man and the way you talk about them I think we would have loved to have them as in-laws.”
“Thank you for saying that,” Rylan whispered, turning to face us as he wiped tears off his cheeks. “I meant every word. I love you both so much and need you more than I need air. You smile and you take my breath away. You laugh and my heart feels as light as the clouds in the sky. You touch me and my skin turns ablaze and I want nothing but to be in your arms as you love on me.”
I smiled and closed the distance between us, wrapping an arm around Rylan. “You mean like this?” I breathed against his ear before kissing that hot spot for him under his neck. “Does this get you hot, baby?”
“Yes, so hot,” he mewled as he held on to me tightly. “Take me to our bed, my strong, sexy mate.”
“You never have to ask me that twice,” I growled as I swung him up into my arms. Ferris gave us both a heated look and followed me out of the study and up the stairs. The rooms Rylan had had designed for us were gorgeous but yet, very much us. The moment I had walked into them, even before any of the furniture had been brought in, I knew it was home.
Ferris and I ripped off his clothes as we entered our rooms, not even making it to the bed yet. Rylan yowled and squirmed in my arms. I moaned in delight when I saw he was hard, leaking, and wanting us.
“I want one of you on each end and then switch afterwards,” he begged as we got onto the bed and surrounded him. “I need to feel you both inside of me tonight.”
“Done and done,” Ferris agreed, moving to the head of the bed as I flipped Rylan over. I moaned as I saw the plug already in our mate. “Someone was planning to seduce us tonight.”
“We have a lot of places left in the palace to christen,” he purred as he helped Ferris undo his pants. “And leave the clothes on. I love when I’m naked, at your mercy, and you both are still dressed. It makes me feel so erotically sexy and desired.”
“I’m okay with that,” I said, clearing my throat loudly. I loved the picture our mate always painted for us with what he wanted. Besides, I didn’t know if I could wait to undress before I was inside of him. I watched as Rylan lapped at Ferris’s cock, teasing our mate to the point his chest was heaving. I slapped Rylan’s pert ass hard and he made happy mewling noises. “Suck that cock all the way down your throat. We’re giving you what you want so no teasing.”
“Yes, my love.” He did as I ordered immediately and I yanked the plug out of his tight ass, smiling when I saw there was more than enough slick left over for me to enter him. I grabbed his hips firmly and thrust my cock into him hard. Rylan loved to feel the need and undying passion when we took him. And he always wanted more.
“I love the way my gorgeous mate looks when he sucks my cock,” Ferris praised as I felt Rylan’s hole twitch at the compliment.
“Brace your hands on the bed, baby. This is going to be a hard ride,” I warned. He moaned and moved his hands from Ferris’s thighs to the bedding as I wanted. The moment he did, I started pounding into his perfect body. “Such a good mate. So strong, so smart, and so loving. You were wonderful tonight, Ry. We were both proud of you and the way you made all our guests so welcome in our home.”
“And you’ve made it a wonderful home,” Ferris agreed. “It might not be unpacked fully yet, but it’s home. We have everything we need here and then some and all because you smelled your mate driving that little car. I’m so glad you did.”
Rylan nodded his head, letting us know he felt the same way. It didn’t take me long until I was ready to blow. I reached down and stroked Rylan’s cock in time with my thrusts. He went wild, burying his face against Ferris’s body. Our baby blew first and then Ferris. Once my mates were taken care of, I let my own orgasm find me. I cried out their names as I pumped my seed deep into his sweet ass.
“I love you both,” I panted when I was spent. Rylan let Ferris’s dick go with a loud pop.
“As we love you,” Ry purred. He moved quick as a flash, pulling off my cock, knocking Ferris back to the bed, and sitting on his dick. Then he leaned back until his mouth was directly in front of my groin. “I’m feeling kinky and I want to ride his fat cock tonight.”
“It’s such a hardship that we have being mated to you,” I drawled as I grabbed my dick and moved it into his mouth. Rylan moaned as he started swirling his hips.
“Do that thing I love, baby,” Ferris pleaded as he propped himself up on his elbows to watch the show. Rylan gave me a wink and started moving his hips faster than we could even keep up with. “Oh fuck, Ry. Jesus, you know how to please a man. Ride that cock all night, baby!”
“It’s like getting three blow jobs at once,” I groaned as I massaged my balls. “Scream for us, Ry, and I’ll let you tie me down tomorrow and fuck me with your toys.” My mate lost his rhythm as his eyes went wide. He and Ferris had had so much fun when I was on display, at their mercy, and begging for attention. Fate knew how much I’d enjoyed it. They’d brought me off at least seven times that night until I’d passed out in pleasure.
Ferris moaned at the idea and Rylan went back to moving faster than we could see. I blew in no time, shooting deep down his throat as he swallowed everything I had to give him. Ferris roared out his release and shot deep into our kitty. I pulled out of Rylan’s mouth, yanked him off our spent mate, and fucked him once more just for good measure.
“I never get tired of how strong you both are and the places you take my body,” he cooed once we were both spent. I chuckled as I moved him next to Ferris and curled up around Rylan’s back.
“I told you. We’ll just have to suffer through it. It’s such a sacrifice to take care of our mate,” I teased.
“Be nice or we won’t give you a dozen orgasms this time,” he threatened as he slapped my hip. We shared a laugh before drifting off into a peaceful sleep in each other’s arms.
Always in each other’s arms where we belonged.