Dianthe Rising (21 page)

Chapter Nineteen

After talking to Sean for another hour and assuring him we would both be at mum and dads next Sunday, we were finally on our own.

Daniel and I decided the best thing to do was to head back to my flat and face the music. There was no way I was going near the university.

We had talked a while longer after Sean had left and concluded the four of us had to sit down and talk through what we expected to happen. The only problem was I had no clue on how to contact either Robin or Kale. I figured that if I went home they would both eventually show up there. I could try to contact Robin through our bond. But I was not sure how it worked.

That is how Daniel and I ended up watching bad B movies on the couch when Robin and Kale showed up. The old woman had just started screaming, “I’ll swallow your soul. I’ll swallow your soul,” when Robin and Kale folded into the flat. I swear I jumped a foot off the couch. I would have gone over the back of it if Daniel had not had such a good hold on me. The popcorn, unfortunately, didn’t survive and was a casualty of my scare.

Both men seemed to be in a much better mood that when I left them. They sauntered over to us where Robin proceeded to pick me up and sit me in his lap. Kale sat on the other side of him and reached across us.

“Hey, you must be Daniel. Nice to meet you, man.” He shook Daniel’s hand and pulled back enough to kiss me.

“Hey, baby, how are you doing? Did you guys have a good night?”

I shook my head in bemusement while I looked closely at Kale. There were several fading bruises across his face but there was also a definite twinkle in his eye.

“Daniel,” I said. “This is Kale. Kale, Daniel.”

“Hey,” Daniel raised his head. “You’re Dia’s wolf mate, right?”

“Yup, that’s me. You know Robin, I hear. The Fae fuck... I mean mate.”

Eyes narrowed, I asked Kale, “Did you two sort out your differences?”

Robin broke into the conversation while nuzzling into my neck. “Indeed, Dianthe, we did. It took a while but we spent some time in the Fae realm and in the end we worked everything out to our satisfaction.”

A ruddy blush spread across Kale’s face but he agreed with Robin. “Yeah, everything is all worked out, baby. No more in-fighting, I promise.”

My body leaned slightly forward and I turned around so I could see them both. “You both worked out your problems in the few hours we’ve been apart?” I replied slowly.

“Well,” drawled Robin, “not exactly. We needed more time than allocated to sort our issues. I took us to the Fae lands and time passes differently there.”

“How different,” I asked.

Daniel started to say something but shook his head and sat back. I think he saw what was coming.

“About three week’s difference, I would guess,” Robin answered in a bored tone.

“Three weeks, you two are telling me, you have been gone for three flipping weeks. What did you do?”

“We did what you told us to, my love,” Robin positively glowed.

“What I told you to do, what did I tell you to do?” I had to think for a moment. “I told you to talk, fight or...”

“Fuck?” Robin replied.

“Umm, I think I said make out,” I petered off.

“Potato-patato,” Robin chuckled.

My mouth literally hung open... “You guys?”

“Yeah,” grumbled Kale. “We talked, we fought, and we fucked.”

Daniel did cut in this time. “So are you guys good now?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Kale said gruffly. “A lot happened in that time and the Puck and I have come to an understanding.”

“Hey, man, that’s all we can ask for, right, Dia?”

“Ummm, yeah, I guess so.” This had been the most confusing day of my life. And truth be told I didn’t know how much more I could absorb tonight.

“Dianthe,” Robin cut in. “What do you say we forget everything else tonight and enjoy the film?”

“I’d like that, Robin.”

The boys settled in on the couch and spread me across them. I do think they took hints from the severed hand in the movie though. There were lots of wondering fingers until I fell asleep toward the end.

*****

The next morning I opened my eyes to darkness. Oh, thank God. Someone had actually shut those curtains. I went to stretch out but found my movements severely hindered. Sometime during the previous night we had moved to the bed. Normally that’s not a bad idea. However, four people in one puny double bed was not an easy fit. I had no idea how they managed it but I was at the center of their giant puppy pile without being squished.

Very carefully, I began to try to disentangle myself without wakening any one. I should have known that was a lost cause considering who was in my bed. Daniel lay on my left side with a leg and arm both thrown over me. On my right, Robin curled around me snuggled tight. He had my head resting on his shoulder with one arm underneath me, the other cupping my breast. His head rested on the top of mine. Kale was behind Robin, his body protectively curved around the sexy Fae. Kale’s legs entwined with Robin's and his arm was across us both. His hand tucked into my waist as if he were trying to draw us closer in his sleep.

Robin’s husky whisper filtered down to my ear. “Good morrow, my beautiful Lady, hmmm. Are you sure you want to keep wiggling like that?” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m more than happy to oblige you at a moment’s notice.”

I could feel the beginning of his arousal as it hardened against my belly.

“No,” I whispered. “I need to go to the bathroom. Nature is calling, you dork.”

“Pity,” he sighed and wiggled back into Kale.

A masculine moan rumbled from behind Robin and the hand on my hip tightened.

“Seriously, Robin, stop it. I need to pee,” I squealed. With a sigh, he scooted back and tapped Daniel on the head.

Daniel sat straight up and took in his surrounding, completely alert and looking for danger. My bathroom needs forgotten in a moment of awe as I watched Daniel. He really was combat trained. However, you can only hold Mother Nature back for so long and I started pushing male limbs out of the way to get to the toilet. So much soda before bed is not a good thing.

After I finished my morning ablutions, I was ready to face the guys. I found them all gathered around my kitchen counter making toast and tea. Three heads turned to smile at me when I entered the room. The first thing I noticed was that Robin had not put up his glamour. He was not wearing it last night and he hadn’t changed back. Another tiny slice of my heart melted right then.

They were winning me over piece by piece. That he was comfortable enough to be himself around us meant more than I thought it would. The next thing I noticed was that boxers were as far as they had gone to show any form of modesty. I took my time looking at them, taking in their differences and similarities.

Daniel was the largest of the lot. At over six and a half feet tall, he had the broadest chest I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t built with the masses of muscles you would think most men his size to be. His body perfectly proportioned and I wanted to drool every time I saw him.

Kale was the next largest. He stood just under Daniel’s impressive height. His muscled body was more defined than Daniel's, if that was possible. Kale managed it without looking like a hyped up body builder. Ropes of muscle covered his body along with wicked scars from past battles. I assumed they were from wolf fights but it was something I would have to enquire about another day.

Last, but not least, was Robin. He was the smallest of my men in stature. He topped out at around six foot two. Impressive for most but in a land of giants he looked shorter. He had the body of an athlete. He was long and lithesome, full of power and grace. His mercurial eyes caught me in their net and pulled me in. I stepped closer to him unconsciously and found myself at the center of their gathering.

A plate was set before me with toast and marmalade already laid out. A steaming cup of tea appeared at its side and I sat down and sighed in bliss.

“I could get use to this. I may never let you three leave the flat again.” Male approval rumbled about me.

“Dianthe,” Robin broke in. “As much appeal as that idea has, it is time to speak of unfortunately more important things.”

I turned until I was facing all three of them and carefully sat my tea down. They must have been speaking amongst their selves while I was in the shower. The determined look on their faces showed solidarity in an upcoming battle. It had me worried,
what were going to spring on me
, so I went ahead and threw it out there.

“Okay, what do you want? I’m obviously not going to like it from the look on your faces.”

Daniel reached out a hand and ran a finger down my cheek. “It’s nothing bad, baby.”

Kale added, “Unfortunately, it might be an uncomfortable subject.”

“They’re only a couple of issues,” Daniel inserted.

A hand rose for silence and I asked them to stop for a moment. “Okay, guys, one at a time. Pick one of you to tell me what’s going on and I will hear you out.”

They both looked at Robin who had overnight it seemed, become the unofficial leader of the three. Robin took my hand into his and after he kissed the back of my palm, he began to speak softly.

“It’s nothing bad, dearling. However, there are things that must be dealt with. The first and more simple of the problems are with your adoptive family.”

“What’s wrong with my family?” I jumped up startled.

“Nothing,” Daniel threw in quickly. A warning glance passed between Robin and Daniel.

“As Daniel said, my love, nothing is wrong with your family. They are all blissfully well and unaware of any of our goings on. The problem is introducing us to your family and your new relationship. We’ve talked it over with each other and wanted to ask your thoughts on the issue.”

“Oh.” I sat for a moment. “Oh,” the second one came out much louder. “Crap, I cannot tell my family about this.”

Turning back to them, I hurried on. “Not that I’m ashamed of you in any way. I’m proud to be with each of you. You have to realize this has happened in a matter of weeks and my family would never understand. They are devout Catholics. Mum and dad would die. I,” my voice faltered, and I put my head in my hands. “What am I going to do?”

Wrapping me in his arms, Kale nestled his chin atop my head. “Shhh... Sweetheart, listen to the Fae,” he spoke softly to me. "Let him finish before you panic alright?”

I nodded into his chest and closed my eyes as Robin continued, “We understand the situation, Dianthe. As much as we would love to be open about our relationship, we do understand it is not possible at this time. Together we have devised that Daniel will be the face of our group. Your family knows him already and approves of him. In their eyes, he will be your partner and eventual husband. We will still be your mates and in the eyes of our world, you will be mated to the three of us.”

My Puck lifted my chin and looked into my eyes. “Are you okay with that?”

My heart cracked with the pain of their sacrifice. “No,” I whispered. “I want to claim all three of you. But how do I accomplish it without destroying my family? Daniel, your family may not speak to you again if you agreed to go public. But I don’t want to deny any of you.”

Daniel moved closer and wrapped his arms around Kale and me. “Oh, sexy girl, I could never be ashamed of anything you choose to do. I will proudly stand beside you if you want to announce our ménage.”

“Are you sure?” I whispered. “We will be excommunicated.”

“Pftttt...” He blew through his lips. “I may be Catholic but I have enough knowledge to know that it takes more than the church’s say so to get into Heaven."

My eyes travelled back and forth between them and I asked, “Are you all okay with this? That I want us to publically be in a group relationship?”

Robin joined us and encompassed us all in a hug. “Dianthe darling, you have made us the happiest men on this planet. Of course we are “okay” as you say with it.”

Yet another little piece of my heart melted into place. I took a moment to reflect on the confirmation of our commitment before I thought about the next part. I was almost too afraid to ask the next question, but knew it had to be done.

“If that was the easy one, what’s the hard decision?”

“It’s not that it’s any harder,” Kale whispered into my hair. “Just a bit more emotionally draining for you, baby.”

“Go ahead and tell me while we are in a group cuddle.”

Robin, again taking lead, took over the conversation, “We need you to speak to your biological mother again.”

“Okay," I hedged. “Why?”

“Because your powers are surfacing and we need to understand more about them. We also need more information on this prophecy that your father had knowledge of. There are endless ramblings of foreseen powers. The seers predict such things. You are the first being I have met that has been bred to be a power.”

“So what does that mean?” I murmured.

“It means that we need to talk to your birth mother and find your father.”

The only thing I could say to that was... “Crap.”

*****

As impossible as it sounds, I am falling in love with three vastly different, mostly non-human men. How does that even happen? I’ve only known them for less than three weeks. Yet in my heart and soul, it’s as if we have been together for years. I really don’t want to be judged for my choices. However, I can’t find the energy to care what anyone else thinks. I can only hope that one day my family will forgive me for the disgrace and heartache I’m about to cause them.

We talked for another hour or two on how to proceed. In the end, I decided I wanted to sit down with mum on our own and explain the situation. It would be a good way to get a feel on how to proceed. I had a pretty good idea how dad and Sean would react. It would not be well.

Robin was going to make contact with my birth mother again. We were going to set up a meeting with her to learn any new information that we can. I honestly don’t have a clue where all this is leading but I guess it’s going to have to start with me picking up the phone and calling mum.