River stiffened at the thought, his finger hovering over the X to close the screen he was on.
“Should I ask what evil thought is passing through your brain?” Wyatt said before nibbling on his earlobe. Pleasure skimmed through River and he shook, loving how Wyatt instantly tightened his arms.
“I just thought how nice it is to be safe at home again.”
Wyatt hummed in his ear. “It is starting to feel like home, isn’t it?”
“Slowly.” River snorted. “Though it’s been so long, I’m not sure I’d recognize the feeling.”
“And Bel?”
River groaned playfully, turning his head to rub his nose against Wyatt’s. He was wrapped in his wonderful woodsy scent. If anything felt like home, it was Wyatt, but he knew that he was starting to feel something more for the adorable vampire with the wild hair, sparkling blue eyes, and extensive bow tie collection.
“Just gotta hear that you’re right, don’t you?”
“I don’t mind it every once in a while.”
“Yes, you sexy bastard, you were right. I like Bel. He belongs in our little pack. He needs our pack.”
Wyatt nipped at River’s lip, then caressed it with his tongue. “He needs us. The way he reached out to you tonight…”
“I know.”
Wyatt closed his eyes, and River pressed gentle kisses to each of his eyelids. Wyatt’s entire being was too focused on protecting River, but that hadn’t always been possible when they’d been with the MacPherson clan. There were times he’d had to stand back and allow River to suffer through painful moments if they were to retain their protection from the other werewolves. It had killed Wyatt by little bits each time, but tonight, Wyatt had been able to relax. For the first time, he hadn’t needed to worry about River’s safety because it was clear Bel would never do anything to hurt River.
The smallest whisper of noise had both of them pulling apart to see Bel standing at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a comfortable pair of pale-blue pajama bottoms and a dark-blue T-shirt. He looked unsure and was even starting to turn toward the stairs.
“Are you ready for the movie?” River asked, letting his earlier joy flow into his voice. Tonight had been about making steps forward, and he wanted to celebrate that and not think about the past.
“If you’d rather…just you and Wyatt…” Bel said with a wave of his hand toward the couch.
“Nope!” River climbed off Wyatt’s lap and quickly crossed the room to grab Bel’s hand. He half dragged the vampire over to the couch while he instructed Wyatt to set up the movie on Bel’s giant TV.
When Bel moved toward the single chair, River pulled him over and forced him to take the seat in the center of the couch close enough to Wyatt that they were touching from hip to knee. Bel flashed Wyatt an awkward grin, and Wyatt warmly smiled while stretching his arm across the back of the sofa behind Bel’s head. River immediately snuggled in on the other side, resting his head on Bel’s shoulder.
River released a happy sigh. “Pizza should be here in about thirty minutes, but I figured we could at least start the movie. If it’s good, we can totally cram in the sequel tonight.”
“Okay,” Bel said softly. He was stiff under River as if he wasn’t sure about their arrangement. “Is this…is this what you meant by a puppy pile? Us sitting close?”
“Yeah.” River tilted his head up so he could see Bel’s eyes. “Is this okay? Are you comfortable?”
Bel’s gaze darted over to Wyatt and back to River. His smile returned, and River could feel him relax against him. He shifted for a second; then his arm wrapped around River’s shoulders, pulling him in closer while he leaned a little more on Wyatt. “This is perfect,” Bel said on a sigh.
The movie started, but River’s mind was only partially paying attention to the action on the screen. He was too aware of the warmth of Bel’s body, the mingling scents of Bel and Wyatt, the sense of peace that came from having a place where he finally felt safe. Maybe this could be home.
8
Wyatt looked up from the computer screen in front of him and at the vampire who was currently looking into a microscope while lightly clutching a pen in his left hand. He and River had been living with Bel for just over a month, and he couldn’t believe how happy he was. Never had he expected life to take this strange and wonderfully unexpected turn.
When he’d been young, he had dreams of becoming a doctor. He wanted to help people, not that he would have gotten a lot of work among his kind. Werewolves healed too quickly on their own and couldn’t catch the flu or even a cold. But he’d always been fascinated by the complexities of the human body.