The floor trembled. The walls breathed. In and out. Ezekiel stopped moving and spun to face him, his alert gaze noting the direct, focused stare. Very casually, he reached out to his brother and drew him away from Pepper and behind his own body. The smile faded from Pepper's eyes.
"Wyatt. You're up. Good to see you on your feet," Ezekiel greeted.
"Just in time to witness the cozy little domestic scene," Wyatt spat back, his fury rising in direct proportion to the tension in the room.
The three babies stopped twirling and looked at him, puzzled. There was no way they couldn't feel that mounting tension.
"Mordichai capped the babies' teeth earlier this morning," Ezekiel said. "We were entertaining them in the hopes that if it was too painful, we could distract them."
Wyatt's eyes dropped to his children. Every morning, for the last two weeks, they'd played on his bed, Pepper making certain they didn't get too lively and hurt him. He'd gotten up often, this certainly wasn't his first time, but this time he was much steadier and knew he was well on the way to mending.
He noted all three girls had wet circles around the clothing at their necks. A wide wet circle. On their pale skin was a growing rash, rings of red dots. Instantly he was frowning, his alarm kicking in. They were all still cutting teeth and they drooled, but not like that. Not so severely. There was a faint hint of color in the saliva.
He dropped down on one knee, wincing as his thigh pulled and throbbed. Instantly all three girls ran to him. It had taken a lot of work to get Thym to trust him, but she finally had capitulated, mostly, he figured, because he didn't push himself on her. She still kept aloof from most of the others. He was gratified when she wound her arm around his leg.
"Does your mouth hurt?" he asked, infusing gentleness in his tone, breathing away the dark, angry jealousy that was growing inside of him like a fierce beast.
The three little girls looked at one another. He felt the energy swirling around them as they communicated telepathically. He wanted to groan aloud and glanced up at Pepper to see if she understood what kind of trouble they were in with three girls who could talk silently to one another behind their parents' backs.
The moment his eyes met Pepper's he knew she was aware of the monster growing inside of him. He'd tried to warn her he wasn't the sweet guy she believed him to be. All along he'd told her, but she persisted in looking at him through rose-colored glasses. He had to live with her heat cycle and men throwing themselves at her, she could see what was inside of him, snarling and clawing to rip apart anyone who got near her. Then he took in her clothes.
"What the fuck are you wearin'?" he demanded, angry all over. Fury took over, absolute fury. His gaze dropped over her body, and need slammed low and wicked, a powerful punch to his groin. He nearly saw stars.
She looked like a million bucks, sexy as hell. Her skirt clung to her hips and flared out to swing around her calves and clung to her bottom lovingly. There was a slit up the side exposing far too much leg. And the camisole top was bordering on indecency. Worse, she was wearing the boots. The ones with the stiletto heels, the ones that clearly shouted "fuck me" to any male within a five-mile radius.
"Where in the sweet hell did you get that outfit?"
The tops of her breasts were barely there, but they were there, the swell creamy and pale and just asking for a man to touch. His breath left his lungs in a rush. He could only guess at how long Malichai and the others had been ogling her and what state their bodies were in.
"Go change. Right now. Get the hell into the bedroom and change your clothes." He bit out every word, enunciating each between his teeth.
She looked hurt. "Nonny went to town, Wyatt," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She picked up more clothing for us." Her hand smoothed down the skirt, color creeping up her neck and into her face. She looked uncertain, her gaze shifting toward Ezekiel and Mordichai. "I thought..." she trailed off.
His gaze dropped to the boots. "Why the hell would you even think to wear them?"
"You said the girls shouldn't go barefoot in the swamp and if I did, they would, so I'm trying to get used to something covering my feet."
"That's what you're doin', is it?" he sneered, wanting to slam his fist in Mordichai's face because the man wouldn't stop looking at her.
"There's nothing wrong with the way you look, Pepper," Ezekiel said. "Wyatt's just being a pinhead. What's wrong with the girls, Wyatt?"
The warning note in his voice triggered more aggression in Wyatt, but Thym's little hand brushed his arm, bringing his attention back to his daughter. She signed.
Pepper gasped. "She's says it stings and burns around her neck where it's wet. All of them say that. I didn't realize..."
"Because you were too busy havin' fun bein' the center of attention," Wyatt snapped. "Zeke, they need those caps off now. Right now. That venom is lyin' against their skin." He turned Thym toward him. "Damn it. She's gettin' a rash. They all are."
He raised his furious gaze to Pepper. She looked as if he'd slapped her.
"We'll take care of it right now," Ezekiel said. "Come on girls. Let's get those caps off your teeth."
"I'll bathe them as soon as you do," Pepper said.
"Nonny can help you," Wyatt snapped before either man could volunteer.
Wyatt, Ezekiel said, choosing to only include him in their private communication. Just so you know, you're being a bastard.
Ezekiel reached down and lifted Ginger and then Elle into his arms. "Pepper, you'll have to bring Thym. She only goes to you, Nonny, or Wyatt." He stalked out, followed by Mordichai.
Wyatt could hear the quiet censure in his friend's voice, but it didn't stop the monster in him. She was going with the two men. They were both affected by the biochemical spilling from her body, the enhancement that made a sensual, sexy woman all the more potent. Ezekiel tried hard to ignore it. He knew the cost on her, but Mordichai had only arrived the week before.
Swearing in his native language, Wyatt turned away from them, disgusted with himself and his lack of discipline, angry with Pepper because she couldn't avoid the men, frustrated that she'd been avoiding him, sleeping in the nursery with the babies because of his injuries. He wanted to put his fist through the wall.
Pepper waited, her eyes on him, not moving to take Thym from him. He stayed where he was, afraid if he moved, important parts of his anatomy might shatter. He was being a bastard. Ezekiel knew it. Mordichai knew it. Hell. Even he knew it. The only person in the room who didn't seem to know it was Pepper. She just stood there, entirely focused on him. Hurt and guilt in her eyes. She looked... shattered. More shattered than his damned cock would be if he moved. So he moved.
He stood up, the pain in his thigh helping to take some of the action out of his cock, and went straight to her. She didn't move, holding herself still, her gaze clinging to his. He could almost see the thoughts running through her head. She wanted to run. Get away from him. Not because he was a fucking bastard, but because she thought she was too flawed to be around his family and friends.
"You're not leavin' me, Pepper. This isn't about you. This is about me. There's nothin' wrong with the way you look. You're beautiful and sexy and I love that. Don' listen to me when I'm bein' a bastard. Kick my shins or somethin'. You do when I'm bossy. Kick 'em when I'm not nice."
She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "It's happening again, Wyatt, and I can't stop it," she whispered, her voice low. "I told you it would happen. It's always going to happen. It will never stop and eventually, you won't be able to control whatever's in you and you'll hurt or kill one of your friends. You'd never be able to live with that, and neither would I."
"I'll learn." He made it a promise. Not just to her. To himself.
She swallowed hard and reached down to pick up Thym. "You know you'd be better off with me gone. It's going to be hard enough to raise the girls without that kind of threat hanging over their heads. Their father in jail or dead because of their mother."
&nb
sp; His heart seized and for a moment he couldn't breathe. The fact that she even indicated he could raise the girls alone meant she had been thinking of leaving for a few days, had actually made up her mind to try to separate herself from the children. He knew how much she loved them, so he knew how serious she was.
"If you dared to leave me, Pepper, I'd find you. There's no place on this earth that you could go that I wouldn't track you down. We'll work it out. That's what couples do. They work shit out."
She shook her head, her mouth curving into a humorless smile. "We aren't a normal couple and this isn't normal shit. This is dangerous and you know it. I can't stop what's happening to me and you..."
He stepped into her space, so close he breathed her into his lungs. So close the heat of his body radiated to her cooler one. He knew that was part of the reason the girls accepted him so readily. He was hot and they were always cold. Before his injuries, Pepper always burrowed close, now she wasn't coming near him.
"We would have taken care of this problem a long time ago if you'd stopped hidin' in the nursery," he pointed out.
That rocked her, another body blow. "You almost died. Right in front of me, you almost died. It was terrifying. I tried to be so careful and follow orders, when all I wanted to do was lie next to you and hold you."
"What the hell? Whose orders?" he demanded.