But he grabbed the impulse and tucked it away before he could act. This was enough. This was perfect.
Blinking, Bel stopped moving and looked at River and Wyatt. Both men had streaks of cum across their stomachs and sated glows on their faces.
“Do you think they heard me?” River asked breathlessly. His voice was rough, and his smile was more than a little crooked.
Bel very carefully withdrew from River’s body and stretched out on top of his lover. “I think all my neighbors heard you.” Their lips met again and again in slow, lazy kisses. He looked over at Wyatt who appeared more than a little smug. “This was not what I had in mind when it came to rest and healing.”
Wyatt arched an eyebrow at him, laughter dancing in his dark eyes. “Are you complaining?”
“Not one bit.”
The wolf smirked, looking more than a little smug. “Good, because that has to be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Bel huffed a laugh as he laid his head against River’s shoulder while River wrapped his arms loosely around Bel. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it sounds like you’re both purring.”
“Now I get why a cat does that. I’m feeling very content and lazy right now,” River said. His fingers slowly moved up and down Bel’s back in random designs, lulling him closer and closer to sleep. But he couldn’t sleep. He needed to get up, get a towel so they could clean up. He also needed to get some work done to protect his wolves.
Reluctantly, Bel pushed onto all fours. “Good. Rest. I’ll get a towel.”
River made a grab for him, but Bel easily slipped away. He escaped to the bathroom on legs that were still feeling way too wobbly. He quickly cleaned off and then wet a washcloth for Wyatt and River before tossing a clean towel over his shoulder. Standing by the side of the bed, Bel wiped off Wyatt while kissing the man. Wyatt’s color was looking better, and some of the bruises had faded as well. He wanted to think that the release had helped speed up the process, but at the very least it had helped him forget about the pain.
When Wyatt was clean and dry, he moved to River and repeated the process. Once they were both settled, Bel got out of the bed again.
“Bel?” Wyatt said. The man had no problem playing the alpha in the bedroom, but Bel loved how he was willing to relinquish that need for control once their play was over.
“I want you and River to rest.”
“But—”
Bel ran his hand through Wyatt’s long hair, smoothing it away from his eyes. “You and River protected me today. Let me do some things to protect you both.” He kissed Wyatt slowly one last time and smiled over at River. “Keep him in bed until those bruises are gone.”
River snuggled up against Wyatt and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. They’d had a nice escape, but they weren’t out of trouble yet. And Bel was in this for the long haul. He was never letting go of his wolves. He just had to figure out how to keep them safe.
16
Wyatt paused outside the closed door of Bel’s office, fighting the urge to try to listen to his phone call. He’d woken the next night completely healed and cuddled in bed with River, but Bel had been missing. The vampire seemed to have spent most of the previous night and a good portion of the day shut up in his office.
Since coming to stay with Bel, he’d used his office very little and he never closed his door. He welcomed them into whatever he was doing. But the shut door seemed foreboding. He was closing them out.
Not that Wyatt could blame him. The encounter with Albert the previous night had been a harsh wake-up call for all of them. Wyatt had been anticipating a direct attack on them, something he could defend against, but killing one of his own pack members? It was horrible and evil. How could he do that? As the alpha, it was his job to protect his pack members from harm.
And the wolf trying to attack Bel?
Wyatt shook his head as he turned away from the door to Bel’s office. He was only grateful that he reacted as quickly as he had. Not once had he imagined bringing these kinds of dangers and threats to Bel’s doorstep. Brett MacPherson had never dealt with any of this nonsense during the time they were tethered to his side. If Albert had threatened Brett over the outcasts, Brett had never mentioned it to them. As far as he could tell, the local wolves ignored him and River because they were with a vampire.
But since Bel had taken them into his home, Albert’s pack had threatened him, and they’d made the Variks an even bigger target for the Ministry. Shame and horror dogged his every breath. Bel was as precious to him as River. He never wanted anything to happen to the vampire.