Processing that took a lot of effort, especially when my brain was still saturated with a really good happy cocktail of the sexorphins.
“But—” I pointed at myself. “—I’m, like, another species. Also, what did we discuss about the uterus, the one I do not have, at all?”
“There are stories about humans and bagua having children. The stories about human fae or elves having children together. Kinnek would be the better person to ask, but as far as I know, there have been no occurrences like that in recent memory, which, to me, suggests that magic would make it more likely. Zeddira will have come to the same conclusion. In his reasoning, it’s worth the effort for the influence alone, you can be quite certain of that.”
“But—wow. You do remember how we talked about not doing the polycule thing your people are so fond of?” I wasn’t even going to touch the procreation talk. I was getting wiser with my age and married status, and I knew I couldn’t handle that.
“I do, but Zeddira doesn’t know that.”
“To that I would like to add: eww. I mean, you and he are brothers. He gets that, right? It’s basically like the cola asshats.”
That seemed to trip Inkiri up, judging by the head tilts I was getting. “Sadir, Zeddira would not suggest I go to bed with him, obviously. I may have opinions about my brother, but he’s not depraved like that, or in fact depraved in any way. We may not agree on some points, but I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of him. He’s upstanding, very competent, and kind to those who work around him. He navigates both House and Raiken politics in a way few are able, and he makes it look easy.”
“Cool, not that I needed a reference. Seriously though. Well, I guess it’s not so weird to date one brother and then the other—although I’m not considering that, to be clear. I’m just mentally working through this. Wow. Won’t ever date him, promise.”
“You said. I remember.”
“But I meant it!”
Which confused him, apparently.
“You mentioned being worried about cheating. Are you trying to reassure me that you won’t be doing that?”
“Well, kind of?”
He bent forward to lick my throat. “Thank you, although it’s not needed. You’re my light in darkness. I trust you, always. You said what you wanted, and I believe it. I don’t need anything else.”
We weren’t done talking, but he made me feel so warm and safe.
Except, someone knocked on the door, and because life sucked sometimes, Kinnek didn’t wait for us to tell him to stay outside, he just came in.
“It sounded like you two were done.” He casually walked into our bedroom and over to the window while my face turned cabbage red. I was naked. Buck-ass naked. I reached for one of the pillows. No one else seemed to care. Kinnek paused and looked at us with his hand on the window. “You’re not going for another round, are you?”
I shook my head. Kinnek closed the window silently and plopped down on the side of the bed. Everything was out and on display. The pillow was sort of stuck under the blanket. With any luck, Inkiri’s knee was hiding the goods, my goods, but I wasn’t sure.
“It might be wise for me to go to Zeddira and see if he wishes to talk,” weirdo husband said, unbothered. So unbothered.
I cleared my throat. Kinnek rolled his eyes but plucked my shirt off the ground and handed me it. I mumbled my thanks and scrambled into it. It was long enough to offer some cover, thank fudge.
Kinnek gestured toward the window. “True. Your brother would like your company. By the way, I told him about our guest in the bunker.”
“You what now?” I struggled with the fruity buttons. I wasn’t all that dexterous under pressure.
Kinnek shrugged. “Well, I didn’t want to put your mate and my son’s sentenmen in an uncomfortable position with the second high counselor of the Raiken. I just wanted to fill you in on what the cola asshole in the bunker said, Rory. He’s been readily telling us everything.”
Kinnek looked at me. I didn’t like that look. The cola asshat had probably talked about me, and not the harmless gossipy kind of talk.
Inkiri heaved a breath. “Maybe he doesn’t need to know, Kinnek.”
And really, if weirdo husband said that, he was probably right, so I nodded.
“I don’t need to know.”
Kinnek fiddled with his bagu clothing, which consisted of a lot more fabric than his usual shorts. He seemed amused. “You two really are quite a match. I’ll be direct.”
“Do you have to?” I asked.
“No, but I want to. The cola asshole in the bunker said that the other cola assholes want you a lot, but so do the humans. The cola assholes thought about stabbing the humans in the back, but then they came to a solution that would benefit the both of them.” The way Kinnek said that made me think I really, really didn’t need to know more. He reached out to take my hand, which was weird considering I was still sitting between Inkiri’s legs and leaning against him, but okay, just another step toward bridging the cultural divide.
