Tease Me Please Me by wizardtho
Chapter 14:
I dug back into my dinner. When it was 3/4 gone, Char excused herself and I groaned, "God. I can't eat another bite, or I'll explode. That was too good. I swear everyone cooking and doing things for me is going to make me gain weight. I'm going to have to start exercising just to keep my weight level, so I don’t blow up like a balloon. I'll end up the first being fat vampire in history if I gain too much before you turn me." My mates chuckled along with Stefan, who was coming back in for my tray, and he said, "Impossible, Ma Chérie. The venom burns away anything not pleasing to the eye, while enhancing everything that is. You could gain 100 pounds before your change, yet every bit of it would be melted back away by the venom."
I sent Major a wave of mischievousness, then smirked, "Now Stefan, are you saying that I'm pleasing to the eye as is?" His eyes widened as he visibly choked on his words, "I... well, umm... it's just... I didn't, uh... but, Jesus..." All three of us started to chuckle at Stefan's floundering, but after a minute, he ran his fingers through his hair and chuckled too. I smiled as I calmed down, "You're not in trouble, Stefan. Lighten up a bit. I just wanted to see your reaction, since you left that door wide open. Just out of curiosity... if you had stopped floundering, what would you have actually said?" He ducked his head, then ran his fingers through his hair again, saying almost too soft for me to hear it, "I'd say that Major and Captain are the two luckiest fuckin' bastards in the world. I'd give anything to be yours... if you weren't already happy with these two."
Major sent me sincerity, awe, devotion, worship, as well as an ache to belong, so I whispered softly, "Thank you for being honest with me, Stefan. Your honesty means more to me than you know." He nodded just as Major asked, "Kitten, would you like to go see the furniture now?" I smiled widely, "Oh, yes. I can't wait to see how everyone's been doing with the designs." I saw all three of their faces light up, so I knew something was going on.
We all headed out to the workshop. I gasped as I walked in the door, only to see every one of them working on a piece of furniture. It didn't look like they were working on the dining room, though. Every hand stopped its task, while every face turned toward my gasp. Coop smiled widely, saying, "Miss Bella, so nice to see you. Would you like to see what's done so far?" I nodded, so he gestured his hand to three cloth-draped sections. I was getting excited while Nate and Damon took places along side Coop. They all lifted their cloths at the same time, causing me to gasp and cover my mouth with my hand as I took in the completely finished dining room set. The table and the wall curio were under one cloth, the chairs under another, then the lighted china hutch was under the last one. I beamed as I whispered, "Incredible... astonishing... I... don't even have words."
I had unknowingly been walking forward to the chairs, but my mates were right with me the whole time. I ghosted my fingers inches above the detailed carvings on the chairs, noting in awe, "It's perfect. Thank you all for the work you put into this. Is it... is everything ready to be placed in the house? Shit, I didn't even think about the room not being painted yet." Major smiled, "It is painted, Kitten. Kota ran to the local hardware store, to get all the paints needed for the rooms you sketched so far. A few of them painted while you slept. The room is ready for the dinin' room set. From what I understand, the whole set is just waitin' for the fabric for the chairs. Once the chairs are completed, the set can be placed in the room."
I beamed, practically bouncing in my excitement, "Really? No kidding? Char, did you give the final choices to the designer friend of yours?" She nodded, "Sure did, Sug. She's getting the order ready as we speak. It'll be put on the private jet as soon as it lands and refuels. You don't have to worry about the cost of the jet, because Stefan owns it. He had it sent from his Tuscany home to Milan, where Mischka is. It will be used for the sole purpose of gathering everything we need for the house, then bringing it to the airport in Rapid City. Not only are the fabrics for the furniture coming in the morning, but also the curtain fabrics, as well as all of the fabrics for your room."
I pounced her, hugging her tightly. She gasped in response, but didn't let me go. "Thank you so much for everything, Char. I was afraid our room would be the last one done." She patted my back, then smiled as she released me. I immediately went over to Stefan, standing a foot away from him. He had his head down again, so I said softly, "Stefan, look at me, please." When his eyes caught mine, I swear I could sense every emotion in him... but I didn't know how to process what I saw in them. Instead, I said as I looked into his eyes, "You didn't have to volunteer your jet. I'm very thankful you did, though. I want you to know that I truly appreciate it." He gave me a genuine smile, saying, "It was nothing, Ma Douce. That jet never gets the flight time it should. Plus my pilots are overpaid, since they sit on their butts just waiting for a call from me. It's about time that they earned their paychecks, and I could think of no better task for them. I'm just glad I could help." I smiled, "It was a big help, Stefan, so thank you." He nodded, so I returned to Major and Peter's sides, wrapping an arm around each of them.
I couldn't just forget about what I saw in Stefan's eyes, though, and knew I'd need to talk to Peter and Major about it... soon. I put it to the back of my mind, knowing what was coming soon, just as Major called out, "Alright, crew. Everyone gather in the main entry. so we can take ya on a tour of the house. There will be places that ya won't be permitted. Respect that, and we won't have any problems... don't respect it, and you'll have hell to pay. Isabella, Captain and I will meetcha in the main entry in a few minutes."
They all filed out of the workshop. After a few minutes of them surrounding me, Major breathed against my neck, "Do ya wanna talk about what ya saw a few minutes ago, Isabella?" I nodded, but said, "I do. I just want to get my thoughts in order first, to see if I saw what I think I did. Can you give me just a little time, please?" He nodded, "Ya can have all the time ya need, Kitten. Just know that Captain and I aren't upset." I nodded, then they led me into the house. For some reason, I felt less tense when I spotted Stefan in the main entry. Major, Peter, and Stefan all noticed, too.
I felt calm and love flow into me from Major, then both he and Captain kissed my shoulders. Major then called out, "You've all been in the kitchen, gatherin' room and breakfast area. Just off the breakfast area is a laundry and an office. Between the breakfast and kitchen is a doorway that leads to a split hall. That contains a half bath, closet, the kitchen pantry, two exit doors, as well as a stairway. You are never to use those stairs. I better not catch any of your scents on those stairs, or that person will be ash." I saw all of them nod in recognition of how serious Major was, then he said, "Now that we've taken care of that, the stairs down from the breakfast area are fine to use, and will end up leading directly to the bunk room when the downstairs is finished. Let's go see the dinin' room now, to get this tour under way."
We toured the dining room, conservatory, and library. When we made it to the doors to our wing, Major said, "Without strict permission from myself, Peter, or Isabella, no one is to enter this wing unless it's an emergency. This is our private wing. We'll be tourin’ it, so that ya know the layout and can quickly get to Isabella, should she be in danger." As we toured our wing, I said to Major, "Major, since we have an office in our wing, can we use that one for the house bills and personal paperwork, then use the larger one off of the breakfast area for a sewing room? All of the fabric is going to have to be sewn into draperies and linens, but this office is just too small. Plus it would help keep our wing private if we used the other one for the sewing." He smiled happily, "Of course, Kitten. It does make sense, especially havin' the laundry and sewin' rooms close together." I smiled as he kissed my temple and said, "We'll take care of that tomorrow mornin'."
We walked up the stairs to my studio, then took a tour of the full second floor... until we came to the playroom door. Major immediately said, "The same warnin' goes for these doors. They'll stay locked, and none of ya are to even think about tryin' to open them. This is a private area. Since Isabella will not be in here without me, there's no need for ya to know the layout." Major picked me up bridal-style, then we all went down the main stairs to the basement. There wasn't really much to see down here, but Major said, "You've all seen the plans Isabella's drawn up for this floor. We'll be gettin' the supplies needed when a couple of ya take the trip to the printin' company. This will be the next thing done as soon as the supplies are on hand." They all nodded, then Major ended the tour.
I had noticed, throughout the tour, that Stefan had stayed within a certain range of me. If he strayed out of that range, I started to feel tense. As soon as he was back within the range, I quickly calmed down. I really needed to think, to sort through what was happening. Captain's voice was almost non-existent as I felt his breath against my neck, "You know, Beautiful... you're almost there. Ya gotta figure this out on your own, though. I just know it has to be you that pieces it together on your own. When ya do, know that Major and I already sense it, and we aren't upset." Jesus, why do they keep saying that? Maybe I needed to analyze more than I thought. God, all of this is making me tired. Maybe I'll take a nap after I tell my story.... yeah, that sounds perfect.
Once we settled in the gathering room again, Major looked at me. I nodded, so he hugged me a little closer as he said, "Settle in, crew. Isabella has promised a few of ya that she'd tell y'all her story, once ya were all here. Well, now's that time. I'm askin' y'all to keep your comments to a bare minimum, and only ask questions after she's completely done. This isn't an easy story for her to tell, or for us to hear and remember."
They all nodded, so I started my story. I told them of my mother leaving my father and taking me with her... of living in the care of my flighty mother, Renee, and of how I felt like I had a personal angel at the age of 4. I told them about almost getting hit by the car that came out of nowhere, as well as the angel that swooped me up, carrying me to safety before the car could hurt me. I told them of the angel saving me again when I was looking at a toy in the mall, then turned around to find Renee gone... of how I cried as tried to find her in the store, but she wasn't there, no matter how hard I cried for her. He had found me and taken me to find her, giving me an ice cream cone, which I ended up dripping all over him. He never fussed, though, only chided Renee for leaving me behind in a store when we found her.
I told them of the angel's menacing growl as I was pinned to the alley with ripped clothing ten feet from my house when I was 12. He had begged me to close my eyes so that the bad men could be taken away. I remembered that he had called me Beautiful then, too, and Peter beamed at me. I told them of having to be Renee's mother figure from the time I could balance a checkbook, but how even though Phil was younger than her, he helped her calm down considerably.
I told them of moving to Forks. Every detail that went with it, including my other angel… how he had saved me in Phoenix from James... how he had torn James apart and set the whole damn ballet studio alight. I told them of his soft touch to my cheek, but kept his words to me for myself. He smiled knowingly, but I continued to tell them of the fiasco that happened from the time we got back from Phoenix, to the time we arrived here.
It was a myriad of ups, downs, growls, hisses, laughs at Renee's hair-brained ideas, and sad looks at the pain I had gone through to get here. "That is where you all came in. I'm so thankful that Major and Captain had so many people they could count on. Looking at all of you, I can see why they do. You are an amazing group, from what I’ve been able to tell, and I hope to get to know each of you a bit more while you're here. Please don't hesitate to talk to me if you have any questions about anything, or even if you just want to chat for a bit."
I let out a breath, then I noticed Stefan looked like he would be crying, if only he could produce tears. I got the sudden urge to go to him, to comfort him and tell him I was alright, but I fought it while shakily excusing myself to the restroom.
Where the hell had that urge come from. You're fucking mated, Isabella! Not only to one, but two highly feared and respected vampires. So now you want to go adding more to the pile? OH... SHIT... NO!
It clicked then. The stirring of emotions I had felt several times while he was near, the erotic tone to his scent, the looks, the urge to place my hand on his back, and the tug at my heart to go to him. I thought of how much this would hurt Captain and Major, which had me involuntarily whimpering, "What's wrong with me? How could this happen?"
I was instantly picked up and rushed to the privacy of our room. Surrounded on the bed by Major and Captain, they cooed to me. Major whispered fervently, "There is absolutely nothin' wrong with you, Isabella." His voice lost it's edge, then he said softly, "Now tell us what you've been thinkin' about." I nodded as I felt Major wipe my cheeks, but fresh tears fell from my eyes when I choked out, "I never meant for this to happen. I don't want to hurt you. I love you both so much, and..." I heard them both gasp, then Captain begged, "Say it again, Isabella... please, Beautiful..."
I furrowed my eyebrows, then recognition dawned on me. I laid on my back so they could both curl around me, "I love you... both of you. I didn't plan on telling you this way, but I won't take it back. I don't want to hurt either of you. I swear I don't... I just don't know how this couldn't." They both cooed to me, encouraging me to talk to them. I let out a shaky breath, then whispered brokenly, "I think I... have another mate... besides both of you. I don't know... what to do, and I'm... I'm scared... so scared you'll... want to leave me now."
Fresh tears fell again, but Major said, "Isabella, we already told ya we weren't upset. We know he's your mate... and ours too. For some reason, though, we didn't know until you touched him to take in his scent. Then it clicked, and I started noticin' you gettin' the emotional stir when he got in range, right along with us. His behavior has been nothin' but respectful, but he's got an undercurrent of hopelessness. He's just about given up on the thought of being with ya... with us. Ya need to talk to him, Isabella. He needs to know that it's not a lost hope. Ya don't have to rush into anythin' with him, but we all need him. Now that we know, we won't be able to live without him in our lives."
I nodded, then whispered, "Are you sure? I mean... that you want this? You want him with us?" They both nodded, then I asked slowly, "How do we explain any of this to all of them? How do I have three mates?" Peter whispered, "They'll be fine with it, Beautiful. Trust me." I nodded, knowing he must have gotten a feeling about this, then suddenly I felt the tell tale stir of emotions telling me Stefan was near. I automatically relaxed a small amount, to which Major raised an eyebrow. I nodded, "Bring him in, please." Major smiled widely, then said, "Stefan, join us for a minute."