Page 95 of Crucible
“Agreed.”
I’m slower to respond as a smile takes over my face, and I shake my head in awe. No one at home would ever believe that I, Khalil Poverly, was settling down. “Fuck it. If you’re not willing to shed a little blood for your woman, is she even yours? Yes. Hell yes. Agreed.”
“So…who’s going to break it to Aurelia?” Thorin muses.
“Not it,” Seth and I say at the same time.
Thorin glowers at us both.
Finding an unopened box of tampons, I toss it inside the now full duffel bag and zip it closed.
“What’s this?” I look up to see Seth holding a blue, flat, round container. When he opens it, there are tiny pills inside—some white and some pink—in a circular pattern with dates under them. He sniffs them and asks, “Candy?”
“It’s birth control.”
“Birth control?”
“Yeah. You remember I told you how it works.” Seth nods slowly. “Well, Aurelia is supposed to take one of those every day so that she doesn’t get pregnant when we come inside her.”
“Leave it,” Thorin orders tightly.
I raise my brows at him, but when he glares over his shoulder at me, I roll my eyes and take the pills from Seth before tossing them back inside the nearly emptied suitcase where we found her toiletries and makeup.
“But if Sunshine’s taking those pills, it means shedoesn’twant to have a baby, right?” Seth asks as we leave the tent with the overstuffed duffel.
It’s going to be tough as hell sneaking out of the camp with Aurelia’s shit without being noticed.
“Yes, but Thorin wants to breed her.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s an idiot.”
“I heard that.”
I shrug as we keep to the edges of the camp, heading for home—for Aurelia. “He thinks she won’t want to leave if she has our baby. And because the perv gets off on it.”
“I can still hear you.”
“Do you think it will work?” Seth asks curiously.
I rock my head from side to side. “It’s not the dumbest idea he’s ever had.”
Thorin sighs loudly.
“But babies complicate shit,” I continue. “I think further dividing the attention of the girl we’re still trying to bond with is a mistake. None of us have ever shared a woman before. We don’t even know if it will work.”
“Well, if you think it’s such a bad idea, why did you leave the pills?” Thorin snaps.
“Because when you fuck up, I get to swoop in and make it better. You know what they say about a shoulder to cry on…” Crudely, I grab my dick. “Also, I’m not helping with late-night feedings and diaper changes. Fuck that. You’ll be one hundred percent on your own.” Winking when Thorin scowls at me, I pick up the pace. All this talk of Aurelia has me eager to get back to her.
Also…the sixth sense that mysteriously materialized with Aurelia’s arrival has been buzzing since we reached the camp. I’m not sure what it means yet—if she’s hurt, upset, or in trouble—but I’m dubbing it the Girlfriend Tingle.
Even though we leave the camp earlier than expected, we still don’t make it home until early evening. The storm Sheriff Kellywarned us about arrived sooner than expected, so flying back to the north side of the valley where we left our Ski-Doos was out of the question. The trek back was hard, but it’s nothing we haven’t done a thousand times.
By the time we reach our clearing, the shitty visibility makes it hard to see even our cabin, a mere three hundred feet away. There’s no glow from the windows to guide us from the fires that should be burning inside, so it’s my second clue that something is wrong.
Aurelia didn’t seem keen on defying us again when we left her this morning, but I wonder if she’s a better actor than I thought as we step inside the cabin and don’t see her waiting for us.
