Erin M. Leaf (23 page)

Gideon knew Theo wasn’t quite
ready, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He felt squeezed thin by his life.
Desperate. He lined up, cock still wet and slippery from Bea, and slowly pushed
inside. He was so hard he hurt. Theo grunted, then breathed out, letting him
in.

“Wow,” Bea said, staring up at
them.

Gideon had to close his eyes. The
look on her face… “I’m so fucking close,” he muttered, resting his forehead at
the top of Theo’s spine. “We didn’t even do that much foreplay, and I feel like
a fourteen year old about to go off.”

Theo let out a breath. “Like we
care. Just move, already.”

Gideon laughed, then began to move.
As the sunlight warmed the room, their lovemaking warmed their bodies. Gideon
slowly pulled out and thrust back in, again and again, until the tip of his
cock began to vibrate, just like last time. He groaned as he swelled more,
shoving into Theo as if he were dying. Bea keened, spine arching. He knew Theo’s
shaft must also be vibrating—he could feel it, in the base of his spine. He bit
down on Theo’s shoulder, loving the way bonding felt. It wasn’t very human, but
for once, he didn’t care. To be so close to his mates that he could see into
their hearts with his own was a joy he would never give up again.

Too soon, Bea’s eyes went wide, the
silver so bright Gideon couldn’t look away. He held his breath and shoved in
one final time, pushing Theo into her as well. His orgasm crawled up through
his bones, hot as a desert under the noon sun. Theo groaned and then Bea closed
her eyes, mouth open, fingers digging into his arms. His mind opened. He saw
how hard the last three months had been for her. He felt her loneliness and
worry, sensed her exhaustion. He cried out as pleasure and pain swirled inside
him, and then he felt Theo’s mind, his desperation when Gideon was abducted.
His devastation when they couldn’t find Bea. His frustration and anger every
time Gideon pushed him away, every time Theo tried to touch him.

He felt them sweeping inside his
consciousness and he willingly let them in. He wanted them to know how sorry he
was that he’d had to shut them out. He offered them everything he had and they
accepted, forgiving him a thousand times over and more. He climaxed again,
dragging them along with him, and this time it was nothing but joy, no
devastation. Someone groaned as they were swept along, and Gideon grinned
fiercely, holding onto his lovers tightly, even as his body began to relax into
the afterglow.

A long time later, he finally
gathered enough energy to roll off of Theo. He didn’t want to crush Bea and she
was beneath both of them. He tried to speak and had to clear his throat before
he could make a sound. “Are you okay?”

Theo sighed, rolling to the side
with a totally stupid look on his face. “I’m fine.”

“I’m awesome,” Bea said, giggling.

Gideon laughed. “Yeah.”

“We should do that all the damn
time,” she said, patting Theo’s side distractedly.

Gideon shook his head. “You’re
pleasure drunk.”

“Yup. And I have no problem with
that.” Bea closed her eyes and stretched, humming as her muscles loosened.
Sunlight fell across the curve of her hip, highlighting her smooth skin.

Gideon watched her sink into the
warmth, then shared a possessive look with Theo. “We’re not letting her go
again.”

“Damn straight,” Theo said,
absently fingering the spot on his thigh where the knitting needle had
punctured him, so many months ago.

“You’re not really that straight,”
Bea said, smirking.

To Gideon’s shock, Theo blushed.

“Shut up,” he said. “Am too.”

Gideon laughed. “I think not, my
friend. Not considering where I just had my dick.”

Theo hmpf’d, turning even redder.

Bea kissed his cheek impishly. “It’s
okay. I don’t mind.” She rubbed her face against his. “I kind of like it,
actually. You’ll have to do that again so I can see better.”

“Oh my God, will you two stop?”
Theo begged.

Gideon would’ve taken pity on him,
except Theo didn’t roll away. He wasn’t really upset. Bea hugged him, eyes
sparkling. Gideon rolled into them both and closed his eyes. It didn’t matter
what had happened with Eran or his parents. He had his whole family right here
with him.

Epilogue

“Jill, I’ve finished up with Mr. Johnson.
Could you change his bandage while I see to his wife?” Bea asked her. They were
in the field hospital on a warm spring day. The new hospital was still under
construction across the road, so they’d had to make do with the tents all
through winter. Bea didn’t mind that much because they’d also managed to get
their hands on some good portable heaters.

“Of course, Dr. Morgan,” Jill
replied, smiling. “You should go sit down, anyway.” She twisted and pointed to
the chair she’d dragged in when she realized Bea was on duty. “There. Go. I had
to confiscate that chair from security and you know how cranky they can get.”

Bea rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You’re about to pop. I can see
your bellybutton,” Jill retorted, not the least bit intimidated. “Through your
scrubs
and
your doctor jacket.”

“I’m pregnant, not sick, Jill.” Bea
absently rubbed the small of her back. “I don’t have to sit down.” She’d be
damned if she’d admit Jill had a point.

“Those two sexy men of yours are
going to come and drag you off if you keep working here.” Jill grinned. “I’m
kind of looking forward to that, actually.”

Bea ignored her, smiling at her
next patient, Mrs. Johnson. “That doesn’t look so bad,” she said, handling the
woman’s cut hand carefully.

“Two guys? And they’re both yours? Why
in the world would you do that to yourself? Men are so much work.” The woman flapped
her good hand at the indignant ‘hey’ from her husband and glanced down at Bea’s
stomach. “And what if you have a boy? That’ll be three times the trouble, then.”
She smiled.

“You should
see
her two hotties,” Jill chimed in. Bea threw the nurse a
quelling look as the woman chuckled.

“They’d have to be hot to go
through that.”

“I’m sitting right here, you know,
dear,” her husband said peevishly.

The woman ignored him.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Bea
murmured, lifting her patient’s hand. She rested it against her abdomen as she
stretched across the woman to pull the lamp closer. Just her luck, a
contraction hit right as she leaned over.

The woman’s eyebrows lifted as she
felt it against her palm. “I think my hand can wait. You have more important
things to do.”

“Dammit,” Bea muttered, breathing
slowly. She leaned back as the contraction eased off. “I have another hour on
my shift.”

The woman gently eased her arm
away. “I’m sure the nurse can patch up my wound. It’s a clean cut. Just some
glass. My husband was the one who needed stitches.” She smiled across Bea at
the man sitting near her cot. He grinned back.

Bea sighed, knowing that her two
men were not nearly as sweet and calm as this woman’s husband. “They’re going
to freak out,” she muttered under her breath as she stood up. Unfortunately,
she caught Jill staring fixedly at her, eyes narrowed.
Dammit times a
hundred,
she thought, disgusted.
The jig is up.

“You’re having contractions?
Seriously? Oh my God, go sit down!” Jill ushered Bea over to the chair.

“Sitting doesn’t actually feel any
better, you know.” Bea shook off Jill’s hand. “Maybe I can go hide and do this
thing before they get here.”

Jill laughed. “Oh, I doubt that.
These things take a while, as you know.” She frowned as Bea clutched the back
of the chair. Hard. “Wait. How long have you been in labor?”

“Maybe five hours?” Bea panted.

“Five hours? And you’ve been
working this whole time? What am I saying, of course you have, because you’re
crazy. Okay, you sit. I’m going to find you a bed,” Jill marched off.

Bea didn’t argue this time. She sat
down. Another contraction was starting and they were beginning to get stronger
now. She grabbed the tent pole and breathed, counting off the seconds. Outside,
the unseasonably warm spring breeze wafted through still-bare trees, gently
pushing against the tent’s flaps. Bea focused on that, trying not to panic. Her
healing factor helped with the pain, but the contractions were still very
intense.
Dammit
.

****

“Okay, I got a spot all ready for
you,” Jill said ten minutes later.

Bea wiped at her face with her
sleeve. “Thank you. Because I think the baby is crowning.” If she was wrong,
she’d eat her shoes. She would swear she’d just sweated through transition over
the past fifteen minutes.

“Oh crap, really?” Jill asked,
abandoning all her professionalism. “Where are your two guys? I sent Doug off
to fetch them.”

“It’ll be a lot easier if they aren’t
here, trust me,” Bea said, trying not to push. “Where’s the bed?”

“Just over here. Can you walk?”
Jill said, offering her hand.

Bea took it. “Yeah, I can walk. I’m
not going to have this baby in the triage tent.”

Jill led her through the beds and out
into the sunlight. The maternity tent was only ten feet away, but to Bea it
suddenly looked like an insurmountable distance. She panted, gripping her
stomach. Jill held her up, thank God, and somehow, they made it there. Three
other laboring women were inside, in various stages of cursing and freaking
out. She smiled weakly when she realized that someone had hung up a makeshift
privacy curtain for her.

Jill saw her expression. “Yes,
well, I didn’t think it would be very professional if all the patients you’d treated
got to see your hoo-ha.”

Bea choked down a laugh. “My hoo-ha?”

Jill rolled her eyes. “You know
what I mean. Now, come on. I’ll help you with your pants. I got Doug to cover
my patients so I’m staying with you.”

“Thanks, Jill,” Bea gritted out,
resisting another contraction. “I’ve got to push. Like, right now. And if I
forget to tell you later, you’re my hero.”

Jill tsk’ed and helped her onto the
bed, piling pillows behind her. “Okay, let me have a looksee.” She snapped on a
pair of gloves.

Bea breathed through the exam,
grimacing. It was uncomfortable, but necessary.

“Yep, it’s time,” Jill said a
moment later.

“No cord?” Bea asked, worried.

“As far as I can tell right now,
you’re all clear,” Jill replied, putting a warm cloth on her perineum.

Bea didn’t ask again. She didn’t
have the energy. She took a deep breath and started pushing.

****

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell
us!” Gideon exclaimed, running through the makeshift parking lot. “What was she
thinking?”

“She was thinking that having the
two of us there freaking out wouldn’t be helpful,” Theo said, only half-joking.

Gideon glared at him as they saw
Bea’s nurse waving at them from one of the tents. It wasn’t the tent where
their bond-mate usually worked. “Shit. She’s having the baby. She’s having it
right now.” He put on an extra burst of speed and they crossed the field in
record time.

Theo paced him, just as worried. “I’m
sure she’s fine.” He tried not to think about her going through labor without
them. What if something happened?

“She
is
fine,” Jill said as
they stumbled to a halt in front of her.

“Did she have the baby?” Theo
asked. From the look on Jill’s face, he knew the answer.

“Shit,” Gideon muttered. “We missed
it.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t miss the
dirty diapers and three a.m. feedings,” she said cheerfully, smiling as they
crashed through the sheet hanging from the tent’s ceiling. Bea was propped up
on a cot holding what looked like a bundle of blankets in her arms.

Theo stopped and stared. “Is that—?”

“Come meet your son,” Bea said,
tugging back a corner of the blanket.

Theo crept closer, dragging Gideon
who seemed stuck near the pole. When he saw the baby’s face, he laughed out
loud. “Oh my God, look at that!” He grinned at Gideon. His bond-mate looked
shell-shocked.
Which isn’t surprising considering the insane red of our kid’s
hair.

“Yeah, I think this boy is Gideon’s,”
Bea murmured, smiling. She dropped a kiss on the infant’s head. “It’s kind of
obvious.”

“It’s a boy?” Gideon whispered,
slowly creeping closer.

Bea nodded. “And this one is a
girl.” She uncovered another bundle Theo hadn’t realized was on the cot. The
second baby had a pile of silky brown hair on her head. “When I was born, I was
completely bald,” Bea murmured.

“There are two of them?” Theo
asked. He didn’t feel so well. He grabbed onto Gideon for support, but his
partner wasn’t all that stable either. They both swayed a little.