Rory
These sexy men live in an abandoned church. Upon entry is a giant table with chairs all around it. Maps and files are laid out haphazardly. I know from Finley that these guys are all ruthless mercenaries, though recently they were assigned to take out the mindless Infernals.
Why are these particular mercenaries all gods among men when it comes to their looks? There isn't an ugly one in the bunch, and they are toned to geek statue perfections from what I've seen this morning. They do not believe in shirts first thing in the morning, and my libido is not complaining at all. Finley and I even had sex this morning, but I'm still making a wet mess of my underwear. Le sigh.
"So, beautiful, what do you like to eat for breakfast? I'm thinking omelets this morning?"
I almost choked on my spite at how close this handsome man was leaning across the bar top to talk to me. The sides of his blonde head are shaved close, leaving the top several inches longer than he has spiked up at the front. His muscular arms and chest are covered in Japanese-style tattoos. His baby blue eyes have me captured.
"Omelets sound delicious. I'm not picky. Do you have any coffee?" I question needing the life-giving fluid.
He chuckles at me before moving to the other side of the kitchen. With his back to me, I can make out a mural of two samurai fighting with swords in one hand and spears crossed in the ground in front of them.
Wow, I wonder who did his tattoos? They are so detailed. When I find out, I need to have a few more added. They almost look similar to Lachlan Hartley's work.
I look around this part of the building, noticing they have redone this entire church building to suit their needs. I love how open the kitchen is, which looks out into a game/theater room with two giant leather sectional couches and a large TV on one wall. There is an entertainment center set up for video games. The furry rug on the floor looks so comfortable to lie on.
"Here you go, beautiful." He says, setting down the coffee along with flavor creamer, heavy cream, and sugar cubes. "I don't know how you like your coffee, so here's a little of everything. We have more flavors of creamer in the fridge. Griff is a basic bitch, so we keep the pumpkin spice stocked up." A laugh escapes my throat at his description of the stoic man.
Speaking of...Griffen moves silently, coming up behind him and clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm a basic bitch, am I, Kage?" He is so deadpan it's hard to tell what he is thinking.
"Commander! I was just telling Rory how much you like pumpkin spice." Griffen hums under his breath at Kage's words. Going for coffee now, he takes a large glass bottle with pumpkin spice written on it.
"I tired of it going out of season, so I learned how to make my own. We all take turns in the kitchen. Are you okay with this?" He asks me while fixing his coffee. I just put a bit of heavy cream in mine.
"Oh, hell no, is she cooking, Commander!" Finley sits beside me with a shiver. "Su cocina es mala. ¡Muy asqueroso!"
I don't know what he said, but it had to be along the lines of how gross my cooking was. The repugnant, sickened look on his face tells me everything.
I smack him in the peck with the back of my hand. "My cooking isn't that bad!"
Fin gives me a disbelieving look. "Mi sol, not even the starving stray animals would eat it."
He turns to look at Griffen with a pleading look on his face. "Por favor, whatever you do, don't let her cook. Even if it's slightly edible, es toxico!"
I narrow my eyes at him and purse my lips with a harrumph. He looks at me. "Lo siento, mi sol, but I was sick all night each time I've eaten your cooking." I release a groan because, of course, he is correct. We were both fighting for the toilet in my two-bedroom, one-bath townhouse.
"We don't need to be poisoned so Rory is off kitchen duty," Griffen announces after sipping his coffee in a black mug that says Nightmare Before Coffee.
So, he has a sense of humor.
Kage hands Finley his unique mug that says Bone Daddy, with a skeleton dog on it. I snort at how ironic his cup is.
"It's funny how our little lost puppy is a giant ass dog, isn't it?" Kage says with a chuckle.
"It's not that funny, hermano," Finley grouses, and I nudge him with my elbow gently in the ribs.
"Oh, come on, Fin. You're a badass hellhound now. Embrace it." I grin at him proudly. I'm still mooning over the fact that even a pure-blood demon prince called him impressive. That's my hellhound all right!
"Coffee," the man who helped fight off our attackers last night says before Fin answers me.
Kage hands him a black mug that has a skeleton hand with just the middle finger up. I'm not so sure that one fits him. He smiles at me. "Morning, Rory." He says before sitting on the stool to the other side of me.
The man is gorgeous with spiraling black hair that has a slight bluish tint to it like a raven's feathers hugging his face. He has this boyish look to him with the freckles that dot his nose and under his eyes. He appears younger than Finley and me, but according to Fin, he is older. His muscles aren't as large as Kage's, but they are clearly defined as Griffen and Finley's.
I think I want to be in on their workout regimen. To watch them, that is. Round is a shape. I'm okay with mine.
"Where's Avery? Isn't he supposed to be helping you?" Griffen asks Kage, who is busy working at the stove to make omelets.
"I'll help," Mr. Young and Gorgeous gets up, moving to pull vegetables out of the fridge. He turns to find Fox in his way. "Commander, you're in my way."
Griffen just nods to him, sitting on the stool next to me. My heart is feeling as though it's about to jump out of my chest. His aura is intense, but my body sure likes him. Just his smell is enough to get me off.
Fin is skating his finger across my center, which is not helping either. Finley leans down to whisper in my ear, "I can smell your arousal, mi sol." I stiffen. He blows air across my neck.
"Trust me. I'm okay with it not being just for me. Te amo. I love you." I relax at his words. I swear, Finley already knows me better than I know myself.
"Avery got pissed at me last night and left. He and Ajax haven't come home yet. Duncan said he wasn't hungry," Kage explains, cracking eggs into the pan.
Griffen frowns at Kage's words. "I'll talk with them later. What was the fight about this time?"
"The fact I was already drunk when he stumbled in smelling of alcohol and cheap perfume with lipstick and a hickey along his neck. We were supposed to go out together. Since he didn't bother to come get me, I had a fun time putting on my favorite stripping music to grind to the beat all on my own."
"I watched to keep him safe," the gorgeous man (who Fin told me is Booker) comments, handing half the chopped veggies and meat over to Kage.
They make the food while also sipping their coffee. I notice Kage's mug has ghosts on it that say here for the BOOs.
I'm noticing a Halloween theme. Finally, more people like me who live Halloween time all year long.
Kage snorts, "says the guy who threatened to stab me if I fell on my head while using the pole." Booker just shrugs.
Kage notices me staring at my plain black mug. "If you stick around, beautiful, we will get your own." I grin at that. Yep, I need a matching mug.
"We need to plan for you and Finley to stay here. You're not going back. You need to quit your job, too." Unless I get a better offer, quitting my job is not in the cards like Fox thinks.
"What am I supposed to do for money?" I will not be out of money just in case I need to run again.
"We'll take care of it," Griffen says in a bossy tone that's grating on my nerves.
"No, you won't. I'll pay my way."
"You will be. You will work for us as our medic. This means we will pay you. You will live with us, chip in on chores, and patch us up." He comments as if it has already been decided.
Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. I've been thinking about leaving to work for a private doctor, anyway. I used to work as the Death Kings' private nurse, but since Ryder's niece became his physician's assistant, I'm rarely needed. I miss working privately.
"Fine, but you will include me. I want to know about your jobs so that I will know what supplies I will need when you guys return. There will be times I will need to go just in case someone will not make it home if I'm not there to assist. Got it?"
"No. You will stay," Griffen demands. I smirk at Mr. Bossy Pants. We shall see about that. Fin and I share knowing smiles.
Fin has already tried to keep me away from danger. It beautifully backfired on him, so he hasn't tried since. I'm stubborn, and I will get what I want.
"Fin, we may need to fetch the master's slippers like good obedient dogs," I retort.
Snorts and then coughs to cover the laughter sound around the room. One laugh echoes around the room. "You want me to kill her now, Commander?"
The man with light brown hair, forest green eyes, and a slightly more muscular build than Griffen enters the room behind us. He winks at me before sitting on Finley's other side. Griffen shakes his head, and Kage hands him a cup of coffee mug that says Witches' Brew inside a cauldron.
"I see you're alive, Ajax. Where's he that shall not be named?" Kage asks, drawing attention to him.
He shrugs. "Probably still with that chick, he picked up. He should be home soon," Ajax comments insouciantly.
Kage snaps the wooden spoon in his hand, which startles me. I swear I jumped a foot off this bar stool.
Griffen's hand lands on my knee while Fin moves to stroke my lower back. I have to swallow the lump in my throat.
"He will not hurt you," Griffen's sultry voice is soft and cajoling.
He then focuses his attention on Kage. Speaking to him in some beautiful foreign language. Kage appears sheepish, then looks at me.
"Sorry, beautiful. I lost my temper. I'm mad at Avery's decision." He turns back to cooking the food.
When he turns back around, in hand is a plate of a giant delicious-smelling omelet. Booker set condiments down in front of me.
"Eat Rory. The other's food will be done shortly. Sorry for spooking you." Kage gives me a flirtatious smile that I return before digging in.
That wasn't the worst reaction I've had to something triggering my past trauma. Kage didn't scare me that bad. I can look at it objectively as I eat.
Kage reacted to Avery's being with a woman. Is there some unrequited love happening between those two? Maybe some unexpressed feelings or gestures that have been missed? Or maybe there is some miscommunication between them or none? What is their relationship? I'm going to be watching them closely.
After we all sit down to eat, Griffen and Finley gather plates to wash. "Would you like to tell us why the spoon snapping caused you to jump? I know the look you had on your face well. We all have PTSD." So, Griffen misses nothing.
I catch Finley's gaze. He knows about the years of abuse at my ex-husband's hands. It came up in one of our early morning discussions. When he accidentally triggered me way worse than the snapping spoon did. It wasn't easy sharing my space with a man again at first. There was a lot of mistrust in the male gender that I had to reconcile and work through.
"I was abused by my ex-husband. Not just verbal and mental, but physical as well. It's not something I like to dwell on, but I have trauma from it. I can't control my actions sometimes when I relive the past." They all nod as if they deal with it together all the time.
"Griff nearly killed me with a garrote around my neck made from my guitar string when a car backfired while we were training," Finley says.
I frown because I never knew that about him. Finley rereads my mind.
"Booker was teaching me to play before training, so I just set it down. I'm horrible, by the way. So when Griff destroyed my guitar, I gave up." He doesn't hold Fox in contempt for trying to kill him.
"I've almost killed Avery multiple times in my sleep, reliving the past. He tried to kill me too," Kage says.
They sleep in the same bed. There is something more than friendship between those two.
"I've almost killed everyone here at least once," Ajax shrugs nonchalantly. "I'll kill you if you leave or betray us." Was that a joke? I can not tell if he is serious or not.
"Water dripping," Booker utters, which has every single guy around me shuddering slightly.
"We all have scars from Booker being triggered. Por el sol, we could have ended up dead at his hands," Finely comments, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
I look at the boyish Booker and just cannot see that. Booker shrugs, saying words under his breath that sound vaguely like French.
I guess I'll find out living with them. I'll probably trigger and go into hiding if any of them are triggered.
"I wish I could speak all these other languages like these guys do. Being the tech guy sucks sometimes," Ajax grouses.
"We removed you from the field for a reason, Ajax. You're too valuable to lose," Griffen says, pointing his fork at the man.
Ajax rolls his eyes at him. "Yeah, well, being cooped up isn't a picnic when you're used to fighting. I'm the one who taught Booker everything I know about knives and swords. You just taught them all how to shoot. I know what weapons you prefer, Demon Commander," Ajax teases Griffen, which doesn't seem that smart to me as cold as the man is.
"You're right. You were valuable in the field. You're even more valuable now behind a computer," Griffen reminds him. I wonder what was going on with Ajax when Griffen had to sideline him.
"I'm going back to bed," Ajax rasps, starting back toward the hall.
"I'm taking you to your appointment in four hours," Giffen reminds him, but his words make Ajax pause.
"No. Fin can take me," Ajax replies.
Griffen doesn't argue with the man. he just nods to him. He walks out the backdoor towards the pool.
Fin sighs. "Griff is such a worrywart. Ajax won't miss the appointment. Even if we have to tie up Ajax to get him there. I'll be out most of the day. Will you be okay with that?"
I move so that I'm in his lap, straddling his waist. I curl my fingers in his brown hair. "So long as you top up before you go. Can't have you snacking on an innocent human again, now, can we?"
He scoffs, "That human was far from innocent. He tried to..."
I press my finger to his lips to shush him. "I know, Fin."
I looked around to find Booker and Kage had gone outside with Griffen, thankfully. This is not a conversation I want to have with human men present. Of course, since I met them with Duncan Shaw in his Infernal form, they might not mind too much. Still, it's best to keep this between Finley and me.
"Let's go upstairs. We have things to do before that appointment." One of those being his teeth in my skin as he drinks my blood. Thanks to my rapid healing, no marks are ever left.