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“You have to flip the steaks,” Ike snapped at Onyx. He jabbed his index finger against Onyx’s forehead. Onyx curled his fingers into a fist, no doubt ready to punch Ike in the face, but Korain made a tsking noise, still not looking up, and Onyx just growled, forcing his fingers to loosen.

“What are you—stupid?” Ike pressed on.

“Are they always like this?” Rain quietly asked me.

I nodded and stroked my fingers up and down their arm in a rhythmic, soothing pattern I’d come to learn they loved. When Dad had texted demanding our presence at home for a family meal and bonding time—gag—Rain had still been in the midst of subdrop, something they seemed to frequent as of late. I’d tried telling Dad to just reschedule, but Pops demanded our presence.

Hence me now coddling the absolute fuck out of my raindrop.

“Ike…” Merit called. Immediately, Ike stepped back from Onyx and turned to look at his fiancé. “Come sit. Let Onyx handle the steaks. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“They will be,” Korain assured everyone, still not looking up from his book. “He grills for the campers all the time.” Korain worked at a state park, and they lived on site. Didn’t surprise me that Onyx liked to grill for the campers. If he had the opportunity to do anything to show off his skills or abilities, he did it. He was a fucking show off.

I looked down at Rain and grabbed their blanket, tugging it tighter around them before I began to rock us gently on the back porch swing we were sitting on. They were damn near asleep, their eyelids drooping. I’d have never thought my cute little stalker would be a sub, but there was no denying they were. They were eager to please, eager to serve, and eager to obey.

They literally sated every dominant part of me so easily. After meeting Rain, I knew I was a fool to ever think I’d never allow myself to settle down as my brothers had. I never wanted to lose this—to lose them. Rain was mine, and I was never letting them go.

“Do they need anything?” Dad asked quietly, suddenly appearing in front of us.

“Juice, if we have any,” I told Dad, a little grateful for his appearance and his nonchalance at my out-of-the-norm relationship with Rain. “And something sweet to snack on—cookies, chocolate, brownies. Whatever you might have on hand.” I’d come to find out it was extremely important to rehydrate Rain and make sure they ate something after any rough scenes that made them enter subspace. Research showed it was an extremely important part of aftercare.

I might never be able to love Rain in the way they certainly deserved, but I was too selfish to let them go. So, this was the least I could do—be what they needed and take care of them properly.

It was crazy to think that I, Vargas mother fucking Dean, the craziest psychopath out of all my brothers, was soft for someone, but there I was, always softening for the one who belonged to me.

Dad disappeared back inside. Onyx pulled the steaks off the grill and set them on the table before covering them with aluminum foil. Rain didn’t even budge when Onyx accidentally slammed the grill lid back closed, but I shot my brother a glare for his carelessness anyway.

He didn’t care and just rolled his eyes at me.

“Here,” Dad said, handing me what I requested—a bottle of orange juice and a plate containing two chocolate chip cookies and a brownie.

“We’re literally about to eat dinner,” Pops deadpanned as he strode out onto the porch, eyeing the plate I’d been handed with annoyance.

“Don’t care,” I muttered before gently shaking Rain back awake. They moaned in displeasure, shaking their head. “Raindrop, I need you to eat this and drink this juice,” I gently coaxed. “Come on.”

Slowly, Rain opened their eyes, blinking up at me before looking at my lap. They reached forward, grabbing the brownie and lifting it to their lips, closing their eyes once more. Pops sighed but took a seat at the table.

“I assume you two will be late joining us at the table?” he asked.

“I’ll just take our plates home with us,” I told him. “We’re not moving.”

Pops grunted but didn’t say anything else on the matter. I watched as everyone else made their way to the table, and once they were seated, they began to pass around steaks, potato salad, and greens.

“So, why are we here?” Onyx asked after eating a bite of steak.

Rain finished his brownie and tapped the juice. Holding it in place with my thighs, I twisted the cap off, then handed it to them. I knew they wanted to sleep some more, but they were always eager to please me. And nothing pleased me more than taking care of them and having them obey me.

“Sabbath has decided to attend a college away from home,” Dad announced.

I jerked in surprise at the announcement.

“What?” Onyx demanded, looking at our youngest brother. He would be graduating soon, and I knew he’d been looking at schools, but I’d thought he would do what we did and stay close to home.

“That’s a fuck no,” I said, looking at Pops. “Tell me you’re not allowing it.”

Pops sighed, displeasure clear on his face, even as he said, “We’re allowing it.”

“Nah,” Ike said, shaking his head. “Who the hell is going to protect him?”