Page 95 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

She blinks. “You are cleaning me.”

A thrill shoots through me at the observation, her acknowledgement of me. “Yeah,” I grunt.

“Hmm . . .” She doesn’t give any more than that, as if she doesn’t quite know what to make of the situation she’s woken up to. Moving on, she says while readjusting herself in Cooper’s lap, who gains a faint blush as her nails dig into his forearm for support, “You will not be going anywhere or doing anything without me.”

“We weren’t—"

“Do not lie,” Havoc hisses viciously, glaring savagely at Scotty. Tensing, I prepare to bash his skull into the next dimension if my baby asks it of me. Or just if he pisses me off too badly. Then again, Havoc got mad at me when I did that last time . . . But he still deserved it. Brother or not, no one speaks to my girl the way he did, though I’m fully aware that it was necessary to save us all. “I heard your thoughts. You were considering planning something without me.”

“You what?” I seethe, water sloshing as I prepare to jump on him.

Placing a hand on my arm that has me halting at once, Ezla continues, “I am trying to stay calm because I understand why, and it is rather smart, but this has most certainly been added to your ever-growing list of transgressions.”

Scotty sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Love. I just want to keep you safe. I’ve never considered excluding you before, not once, but this situation is fucking complicated. Say we were looking into where to find the energy in Joseph that can hurt you, planning to cut into him, and we told you, he’d sense it coming, wouldn’t he? But if you had no idea when it would happen or exactly what we were planning, you wouldn’t be thinking about it in a way that would warn him, right?”

Havoc’s head tips. “Yes. It is common that I am fantasising about killing him, so he does not usually bat an eye at that. I am not sure in what form he gets the warnings exactly. I am thinking it is some sort of feeling, a sensation that is more prominent the larger my desire to hurt him is and whether or not I am planning to act out those desires, how immediately I would do so. There are many factors affecting the signals he receives, but I am quite certain those signals do not include any words, my thoughts.”

She eyes Scotty carefully, considering, and I try to peek into her brilliant mind to see how it works, but she’s thinking too motherfucking fast to keep up. My cock twitches at her intelligence, and a droll look that only has me smirking is sent my way before she carries on.

“As I said, your thoughts are smart, my sensible one. But I will not be sitting anything out. I will not allow you to dive headfirst into danger. Not to mention, it is entirely hypocritical after what you have asked of me.”

I feel Scotty’s guilt through Havoc in the wide-open bond. “I know, Love,” he says softly, reaching out to smooth an apologetic palm over her hair. “You can punish me all you want for that another time, though—

“I do not need your permission. I will spank the life from you whenever I please.”

“—as long as you understand where I was coming from,” he finishes, the tips of his ears colouring pink even as he manages to keep his voice even. “I only want to protect you, and I honestly just thought that might be the smartest move we could make. Moreover, he wouldn’t expect us to do anything without you, which would be another huge advantage.”

Frowning, Ezla says, “Your intelligence is as attractive as it is irritating.”

The corner of his mouth twitches like he’s fighting a smile.

“And I admit, that is the most logical plan. But again, I will not allow it.”

He sighs, but nods. “I didn’t think you would. That’s why I didn’t immediately mention the idea to these two.” His chin gestures to me, then Cooper. “And the fact I really don’t want to exclude you, Love. You know that, right? I’d just— I’d do anything to keep you safe, but I’m sorry if I made you feel—”

“I have already made it clear that I will be punishing you as well as the fact that your thoughts were not unreasonable in this case.” Ezla’s voice hardens, and he swallows. “In fact, I am quite disgracefully aware it is I who is not making the smartest decision.” Hand moving to the side of the tub, her fingers drum against the taalk as agitation abruptly fills the bond. Her neck rolls, features darkening.

“It’s okay, Love,” Scotty soothes quickly. Mine and Cooper’s grips tighten on Havoc while he brings a hand to her face to gently cup her cheek and force her to meet his gaze. “It’s okay. You have no idea how good it feels for you to be choosing our safety over anything else. That’s natural when you care for someone.”

Her hand balls into a fist, but she doesn’t reject his claim.

Before Scotty can do it himself, it’s actually Cooper who places a hand over hers and unfolds her fist to reveal the deep crescents her nails have dug into her palm. He also places a soft kiss on her shoulder, and it’s honestly a little odd to see him so open with his affection when he’s usually the most reserved of all of us other than Alby. I mean, I wouldn’t say he didn’t share his feelings before, but I think he previously found it harder than he wanted it to be and his emotions didn’t come out in the way he hoped them to, either.

Guess this development will help with me not trying to beat my new brothers up every chance I get anymore.

Linking their fingers together, Cooper murmurs in her ear just loud enough for me and Scotty to pick up on, “Don’t hurt yourself—you’re almost bleeding.”

Huffing, her lips tighten. But again, she doesn’t strangle him to death like she would’ve a few weeks ago.

Scotty adds to his previous words, “Love makes us behave differently than we otherwise would, I’ve learned.”

Mouth snapping open, Ezla glowers when nothing comes out. Then she mutters furiously under her breath, and I have to work to keep the mad grin trying to stretch across my lips in, because fucking hell. Holy fucking fuck, my Havoc isn’t denying it any longer. She might not be verbally admitting it, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s shouting her love from the rooftops. Still, I can’t fucking wait to hear her velvety voice of smoky sin say the words I’ve been waiting to have bless my ears for fucking years. And she’s so goddamn close—I can feel it.

“Ezzy! Wifey!” Tiger’s too-loud voice breaks through the weighted silence.

Her attention snaps through the doorway into the bedroom.

The human sunshine waves vigorously like we can’t all see him perfectly fucking well. “Hello, DN!”