After leaving Thorn's realm, Spike returned to his cabin. He had thought about returning to his own, home, realm, but he didn't really want to have to deal with anyone else from his family or pantheon, so his cabin away from all of them seemed like the best place to go.
When he first got back there, he tried to distract himself from his memories and thoughts of Parker by chopping some wood. In the end that just caused him to think about her even more because of the funny incidents that had happened out there with the human. Even though he had continuously told Parker that she didn't have to bother with doing any of the hard, manual labor, he would still find her outside trying to help. The first couple of times he found her outside, he assumed he had caught her in the act of trying to sneak away. It didn't take long for him to realize that she was sincere in her pleas of just wanting to be of assistance and to make herself useful, so he had actually started to let her do a few odd jobs with him.
He lifted up his ax so that the memory playing through his mind's eye would be more vivid. He had found Parker outside quietly cursing at a piece of wood that she was trying to chop. She was sure that it was under some sort of enchantment because practically every time she raised the axe over her head, the piece of wood would tumble to one side or the other. He had startled her with his boisterous chuckling and had the most beautiful pout when she nearly whined that it wasn't nice to laugh at her pain like that.
The look on her face still made him smile, only this time it was with a hint of sadness. She wasn't going to come back here and she would never make him laugh like that again. Those were sobering thoughts that still didn't feel like they were the truth just yet.
Spike hastily dropped the axe in the hopes that that would help to stop the flow of memories, but he was wrong. Now everywhere he looked it seemed to remind him of her. Because she had been so insistent on being a partner to him, there wasn't on area of his life here that she hadn't touched. Now there wasn't a place that he could look at without hearing her laughter or feeling her presence.
Spike let out a loud, guttural cry of frustration as he picked up the closest object to his hand, a large chunk of tree trunk, and threw it at his shed. For centuries this place had been his sanctuary, his only refuge from everyone and everything that was wrong in his world, in his life. It had become his pride and joy, which had been the primary motivation for him wanting to share it with his Primrose, but now that was all ruined.
Parker wasn't that woman and he had been forbidden to ever see her again. Normally he wouldn't lend any credence to his brother's threats, but this time there had been something different about Thorn's tone. He hadn't just threatened Spike, his older brother had actually sounded like he was pleading with him to stay away from the human. Hearing that tone of voice from Thorn had actually caused Spike to take a moment of pause, which ultimately led to him agreeing to Thorn's terms.
Spike then decided to return to his refuge in order to 'lick his wounds', so to speak. But this place would never be that kind of place for him ever again. He had brought Parker here to make his place like his own Heaven, but now he realized that by doing that all he had done was make it his own personal Hell.
That thought caused a feeling of unmitigated rage that he had never experienced before to course through his veins and ultimately boil over. He was glaring at the shed as if it was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in his life and suddenly it burst into flames. That sight actually caused his lips to curl up slightly into a sinister sneer as another thought came to him. If he could no longer come here for the solace he used to find here, then he would make sure that he was never tempted to visit here ever again.
He moved his incensed glare towards his garden and it too erupted into waist high flames. Spike thought he would feel saddened or pained if anything happened to this place, but as he watched the flames spread towards his orchard, he instead felt a sense of relief. Thorn had warned him when he was younger that he should never allow himself to give into any negative emotions and now he finally understood why he had received those words of caution. The rage he felt was intoxicating and he couldn't wait to feed this new appetite for destruction. Everywhere that he turned his hate-filled gaze burst into a beautiful orange and yellow glow of the all-consuming flames. Once he was sure that the shed, garden and orchard had been turned into a raging inferno, Spike finally turned towards his cabin. As soon as it came into view, he felt a minute stab of pain in his heart. That caused him to pause for a breath, but not even that brief moment of tenderness could quell the rage that had been threatening to overtake him.
He then narrowed his eyes and kept his gaze fixed on the cabin door until it too started to smolder as he whispered, "Mar sin leat, me Primrose."
With those final words of goodbye to a woman he could no longer see or contact in any way, Spike flashed himself to his home realm. For now, it was the only place he could go to until he secured himself a new place to call his own when he needed some time away from his family or anyone else that might cause him to give into his feelings of rage like he had back at his cabin.
"IT WOULD MEAN THAT we would bond our life forces together," Remi answered with his eyes tightly closed.
Parker had tried to give her whole self over to her feelings of gratification so she too had her eyes closed, but they promptly flew open at that reply. Remi's eyes didn't slip open until Parker froze completely in her place. Given their current situation, Parker wasn't prepared for him to have such a worried look in his eye. She knew that he thought that she had stopped because what he had said had scared her. In reality, she had stopped because she wanted to be able to think clearly and there was no way she would be able to do that if he kept clouding her mind with such intense feelings of euphoria.
To try to ease his mind, Parker leaned in to give him a lingering kiss before she said, "Relax Honey. I just... does 'bonded' mean what I think it means?"
Remi gave her a playful smile answering, "Baby, I have a lot of magical powers, but mind reading isn't one of them. Tell me what you think it means and I'll do my best to fill in the blanks."
"Well..." Parker started slowly as she started to rock her hips in a circular motion once again. (It was just too difficult to stay still and that had started to distract her thoughts as well.) "It's like with your Maman and Papa... our lives will literally be bonded... connected to each other."
"Yeah... that's... right..."
Parker hugged her arms tightly around his neck and quietly asked with an audible hitch in her voice, "So that means that I'll never have to live without you again?"
Remi raised one hand to rub the back of her head and the other to her back to try to comfort her. After rubbing her back for a couple of breaths, Remi tried to push out of their embrace so that he could see her face, but that just resulted in her clinging to him more tightly. He relented quickly and wrapped his arms around her torso and let her cling to him as much as she needed to right then.
He turned his head so that his lips were closer to her ear as he quietly answered, "That's exactly right."
She shuddered and he couldn't tell if it was caused by pleasure or something else. She seemed content to just keep their bodies connected and pressed together for now, so he tried his best not to move. Although he really wanted to reach his climax, he didn't want to spook Parker, especially if she needed some time to think and to digest everything she had just learned about being mated to a Were-Hunter.
After a couple of silent, agonizing moments, Remi jumped slightly in his spot when he felt Parker's lips press against the skin of his neck. She then kissed her way up to his lips and gave him a rather forceful kiss. He flinched back slightly because he felt her fangs nearly slice into his bottom lip.
Parker leaned back with her hands on his cheeks so that she could make very direct eye contact with him when she finally answered, "Let's do it."
"Parker? Are you...?"
Remi's eyes widened in surprise and he fell completely silent when he felt Parker's fangs pierce his skin. For a moment he was too shocked to do anything, but to try to settle his breathing.
Once his shock had worn off a bit, he stroked the length of her hair gently and asked, "Are you sure?"
Since she couldn't reply verbally because her mouth was kind of full of... well... him and she couldn't nod lest she tear something like an artery or his flesh, Parker raised her hand to the base of his skull. When he didn't make any attempts to move, Parker pressed on his neck to force him forward. Remi quickly took the hint and started to lean forward of his own accord, but she didn't remove her hand just in case he needed any further prompting.
He placed a soft kiss against her neck before he too sank his fangs into her flesh. Parker let out a surprised squeak at the foreign sensation of being bitten, but that was completely muffled by Remi's flesh that was in her mouth. Once she felt him start to feed from her, Parker nearly felt like she was going to pass out because it felt so good.
Her mind could barely keep up with all of the thoughts and feelings that were swirling around in it and before she knew it she had to unlatch her fangs so that she could let out a cry of ecstasy. At the same time Remi let out a strangled moan. They both then let out another happy sound as they finally reached their climax together.
When they finished, Parker lunged forward and hugged his neck tightly, saying, "I love you, Remi."
He heard her stifle a sob into his shoulder, so he hugged her to himself and replied, "Je t'aime aussi, Parker."
Her near sob quickly turned into a chuckle as she pulled back to look at him. The smirk on his face caused her to laugh softly and swat at his chest playfully as she retorted, "Show off."
He actually allowed himself to let out a more boisterous laugh and pulled her into his arms and against his chest once again. He then laid back against the mattress and Parker had no choice but to follow. It took a little bit of maneuvering, but soon enough they were both laying down comfortably under the covers with their heads on the pillows.
Parker picked up his left arm so that she could wrap it around her. Once she was snuggled into his left side, she raised her right hand and then picked up his left with her other hand so that she could look at their palms side by side.
"So? We're actually mated, eh?" She as with her eyes glued to their matching brands.
Remi clasped their hands together so that their mating marks were touching as he answered, "And bonded too. Do you regret it?"
Parker tried to elbow him in his side, but he was holding her too tightly to accomplish that, as she let out an annoyed huff. "You keep talking like that and I might. Why? Do you?"
"Never," he retorted without hesitation. He squeezed her marked hand with his own and added, "And I never will."
"Good answer."
Parker once again snuggled into his side and he wrapped his arms fully around her. She threw her left arm over his torso which allowed him to start to run his fingertips gently up and down her now exposed ribs.
Her breathing started to even out across his chest, so Remi assumed that she had fallen asleep. He continued to almost pet her side while he stared at the ceiling and let his thoughts start to wander.
"Remi?" He more felt the word float across his skin than he actually heard it.
Not wanting to wake Parker in case she was talking in her sleep, he whispered, "Oui, mon ourson?"
Parker huffed out a laugh before she used her left hand on his chest to carefully push herself up so that she was now sitting up on the mattress. She remained seated with her back facing him for so long that he raised his hand up to comb his fingers through the ends of her hair. She actually arched her back slightly trying to press more of her flesh against his hand. He then flattened his palm against her back and started to run it up and down her spine.
She twisted at the waist and placed her chin on her shoulder so that she could see him when she asked, "Remi...? Could I...? Would you...?"
She bit her lip demurely and then shook her head to hide her face with her hair. Remi thought he heard her say "forget it" under her breath, so he sat up as well. After he shuffled his body closer to her back, he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his chin on her right shoulder.
"Parker, you can ask me anything," he replied quietly against her ear.
She hugged his arms that were tightly wound around her waist and let out a heavy sigh. "It's just that... well now that I'm your mate... I mean bonded mate and all, I... I just figure that I should... I mean can I...? You know since we're like married and all...?"
Remi squeezed her torso almost uncomfortably tight to try to help her to focus as he asked, "Can you what, Parker?"
She squirmed in his embrace until he loosened it enough for her to move almost freely. She then turned around to face him and forced herself to say, "I really want to see your natural form. Now that we're mated, we don't have to hide our relationship anymore... which means we can share a room... uhh... y'know, if you want to that is... but I mean we can sleep together now... like actually sleep, not..."
Remi placed his hand against the back of her neck to pull her to him to silence her with a kiss. "Parker, I know what you mean and..." He paused there to try to think of a way to say the next bit so that he wouldn't upset her. "First off, I do want to share a room with you. But I think we'll have to move to another part of the house so we can have a bigger room that will be more comfortable for both of us. Second... we have already slept... well napped together."
"But you've always been human with me. Uhh... I mean I've never felt bear fur when I've been sleeping."
"That's because this IS my natural form."
"No, you and your family are Katagaria."
"Some of us are..."
"No, all of you are," Parker argued over top of the rest of his sentence and looking like she was getting truly upset with him.
Remi gave her a gentle smile and pet one of her cheeks saying, "That's what Maman wanted everyone to think, but Papa was Arcadian, so when we reached puberty, some of us shifted, so to speak, from being Katagaria to Arcadian."
"Really?" She asked sounding much calmer. "So... well now that I'm family, can you tell me who?"
Parker batted her eyes as she turned her head to kiss his hand that was still stroking her cheek. "Well..." He drew out the word like he was seriously contemplating not answering her, when in reality he was just trying to tease her, since she it was so seldom that she gave him such an easy opening to do so.
She didn't hear any of the playfulness he meant to have in his voice, so she glared at him and said, "Fine. If you can't tell me everything about our family, then I guess that means that you don't get to share my body."
It didn't take him long to realize what she meant and he was quick to clarify his mistake. "No! Parker I swear I was just teasing! Of course I'll tell you. I don't ever want there to be secrets between us." One corner of her mouth pulled back as she raised an eyebrow as if to say "Go on". Remi let out an audible sigh and then whispered, "Thank the gods" before he hastily added, "Well you already know about Dev and Aimée..."
He paused when he saw her mouth fall open and her arms fall limply at her sides.
"Shit! You really don't know the truth about any of us?"
"No," Parker answered as she sniffed back some angry tears and crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess the totally open and honest thing only went one way."
She then covered her face with her hands and finally did let out a quiet sob. Remi quickly scrambled across the bed so that he could gather her up into his lap. Much to his relief she immediately snuggled into his chest once she was in his lap and pressed her nose into his neck.
"I told him everything, even... even... oh gods! Every stupid, embarrassing thought," she whispered against his neck. "Gods, I'm such an idiot."
"No, you aren't," Remi gently countered as he rocked her in his lap. "You trusted your friend and believe me when I say that he has kept his word to you and hasn't told a soul any of your secrets."
That got Parker's attention. She sat up with her back ram-rod straight as she gave him a mildly suspicious look and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"After your first night back, I overheard Aimée bugging Dev more than once about whatever it was that you had told him. All I could catch was that it was something about him making a big deal that he had never told anyone and you still didn't want him to because it was stupid and juvenile." Remi shrugged then added, "Anyway. Personally I don't think you're an idiot for trusting your friend. I hear that that's what they are actually for."
Parker leaned in and rewarded his kind words with a kiss. "Thanks Remi. Now you were saying about your family secret?"
She had moved off his lap so that she could see him better while they talked and let her hands run down the length of his arms until she could slip her fingers against his and lace them together. He gave her hand a soft squeeze and then said, "Okay, so now you know about me, Aimée and Dev... so there's also Quinn, Zar, Cody and Kyle... and... well Papa had been as well."
"Wow. So out of the quads, only Cherif isn't. But I thought that you all were identical. Doesn't that technically mean that you all have the same DNA? So, shouldn't you all have the same natural form or whatever?"
Remi shrugged then replied, "Well since our abilities to shift our forms from animal to human and vice versa are born out of magic, I don't think that scientific reasoning applies in this case."
"Oh, right. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay so if I've heard you right, that means that only Cherif, Etienne, Griffe and Serre are actually Katagaria? Wow. How could you keep it such a secret when the majority of your family are Arcadian?"
Again Remi shrugged and looked the picture of nonchalance while answering, "Would you want to argue with Maman?"
Parker paled unconsciously and shivered slightly before she flashed him a cheeky grin replying, "Good point."
She then crawled towards him so that she could sit in his lap again. Once she had her head on his shoulder, she ran her hand across his bare chest in soft circles and asked, "So does that mean that you don't like spending time in your animal form?"
"If you mean 'you' as in Arcadians in general, I honestly can't answer that. But if you mean 'you' as in me personally, then I'd have to answer no. When we were young, the four of us truly were identical. Even in bear form our parents had a hard time telling us apart. But once the three of us changed at puberty, we still practiced keeping our bear form during the day to try to keep our secret. I personally really enjoy spending time in my bear form, especially when we're in the wilderness. It makes me feel... free."
"That must have been hard on you. I mean having to lie to everyone, including your parents. I... I don't doubt your magical abilities at all."
Her head bounced softly against his chest as he chuckled. "Thanks Parker, I'm glad you believe in me. But yeah there were times that it was tough for us. Heck, Cherif even had to jump in once when Dev got hurt because he couldn't keep himself from turning human. It really sucked having to cut him on purpose like that."
"Wow," she whispered in a reverent tone. "It's no wonder that all of you bears are so close and fiercely loyal to each other knowing how scary the secrets are that you all have had to keep."
He squeezed her in his embrace as he answered, "And now you are officially part of the family, so we will protect you and keep your secrets too."
"That's good because I'd really hate to have to call a blood hunt on any of you after everything we've been through lately." Parker felt Remi stiffen in his place so she sat up and started kissing him all over his face saying, "Sorry... sorry... bad... squire... humor." She finished by kissing him on the lips and she sighed into his mouth when she felt him reciprocate the embrace. "I would never threaten anyone in your... our family. Well not in earnest. I can't be held responsible if you ever hear me tell Etienne that I'll have fun feeding him his heart."
Remi let out a loud chuckle then said, "Oh I won't! Hell, I'll be happy to hold him down while you carve it out."
Parker lunged forward to kiss him again. "I knew I loved you for a reason. You are delightfully twisted, Remi Peltier."
"And I am all your, Parker Wallace."
THEY SPENT THE REST of the night at Talon's cabin 'getting reacquainted. Initially Remi had suggested that they return to Peltier House to sleep, but Parker quickly argued that if they were needed for anything everyone knew where to find them. She also added that she was sure that Aimée and Dev would understand that the two of them would want some alone time after everything that had happened. She also reminded him that going home would also mean being grilled by his family about her abduction which she wasn't really ready to talk about, at least not in great depth just yet.
"Again I concede to your logic," Remi replied as he settled against the pillows on the bed.
Parker draped her left arm over his chest and she made herself comfortable at his side. Once again he started to pet her side, she lifted his left hand and said, "You know this doesn't get you off the hook, right?"
"What?" Remi replied sounding like he was half asleep. "What did I do wrong?"
Parker laughed then answered, "Nothing's wrong. But the whole mating marks are traditions from your people. I don't want you to think that means that we don't have to follow any of my people's traditions."
All of the tension she had felt in his body was released as she spoke. He then resumed running his fingertips over her flesh as he said, "And what traditions might those be?"
"Well..." She started slowly. "Now that we're mated... umm... thinks can happen and well... I sort of lied before because... uhh... I always told myself that I wanted to be married before any of those other things could happen."
"Things?" Remi replied trying not to laugh. "Things like us having children?"
He could feel Parker's cheeks heat up against his chest as she meekly replied, "Yeah, mostly that." She quickly sat up and looked pretty frantic as she added, "Not that I'm saying that we have to have kids or start a family or... you know, it's just... well that's an option now, so... I... I just wanted..."
Remi grabbed both of her hands and then pulled her down for a kiss to quiet her ramblings. She melted into the embrace and offered no resistance to him tucking her against his side once again.
"Parker, I would finally consider myself blessed by the gods and the Fates themselves if you would do me the honor of bearing my children," Remi quietly stated against her head.
Parker's heart swelled at hearing him say that and she tried to sniffle back her tears, but she didn't succeed. Instead he felt a couple of moist droplets hit his chest before she sat up to look down at where he remained relaxed against their pillows.
She didn't bother wiping away her tears, so they continued to slowly drip off her chin when she asked, "You really mean that, don't you?"
"Of course I do." He continued to smile up at her and suddenly a box appeared in his hand. He sat up slowly to keep from spooking her any more than he already had while saying, "I don't really know how you want me to do this but..." He lifted the lid of the box to reveal a white gold ring with a large alexandrite, princess cut stone inside. "But... Parker Wallace, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"
Now Parker's tears fell so fast and hard that she could barely see straight and she almost wasn't able to answer, "Yes! Absolutely yes!"
Remi quickly gathered her up into his arms and started to rock her gently from side to side. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. Her tears continued to flow freely, but her breathing had calmed down considerably. Remi decided to take a chance and carefully lowered the two of them back down on the mattress.
After they settled into their places once again, Parker quietly said, "I think you might need to pinch me because I seriously can't believe this is all real."
Remi reached over but instead of pinching her side, he tickled her ribs. Parker howled out in laughter and tried to squirm her way out of his hold. As she rolled away from him, Remi easy followed her until she was on her back and he was straddling her waist and holding both of her wrists above her head.
"Okay, I believe it's real," she stated through a series of chuckles.
Remi just smirked down at her as he lowered his face to hers to kiss her again. At first she struggled against his hold, but the feel of his lips quickly made her forget all about that. Once he felt her go completely passive under him he rolled over onto his back and pulled her over to blanket his body with hers.
She was laughing so hard that she had to unlatch her lips from his so that she could catch her breath. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears as his smile started to wilt at the edges slightly. Parker gently ran two fingers of her right hand against his forehead trying to iron out the frown lines that were forming there.
Before she could question him, Remi quietly said, "I thought I was never going to see you or hold you ever again. I can't really remember a time when I've felt that scared or lost."
"I know Remi," Parker replied before she started to place soft kisses all over his face. "I know. I felt the same way. But you found me and I'm back... forever."
Her lips easily found his and he let her suck his tongue into her mouth and dominate their embrace. Just before her disappearance, she had started to become more comfortable with being the aggressor in the bedroom so he was actually relieved when she so quickly fell back into that roll. He had no idea who had taken her away from him or why. So he was still worried about what they, he, had done to her. After his last visit to her in the Dream Realm, he had worried that she had endured something that would cause her to be almost repulsed by his touch. Now he knew that wasn't true because they had completed the mating ritual, but questions were still running through his mind and dominated his every thought right then.
Parker shuddered and then he felt her tighten around him. Her whole body started to convulse along with her orgasm which helped him to find his own completion. She started kissing him again and Remi nearly started to laugh because he couldn't believe that he had gotten so lost in his own thoughts that he had barely participated in their latest round of love making. He then quickly reminded himself that he would have to make it up to her whenever he got the first chance to do so.
Once their bodies had disconnected again, Parker fell down towards the mattress and pulled Remi down with her. He was more than happy to follow so that he could wrap himself around her like a protective cocoon. She was his mate and now no one could say anything harsh or critical about him wanting to be over protective of her.
Parker rolled over onto her left side so that she could press her back into his chest. Since this was her favorite position in which to fall asleep, he easily wrapped himself around her so that they were both comfortable. She laced the fingers of their right hands together then pressed the large ball of fists against her chest between her breasts and just over her heart. Remi had to stifle a laugh into her hair because this was usually when she cracked a joke about having to hold her Teddy Bear close to her heart so that she could fall asleep soundly. He always told her that he was her good 'Teddy Bear', but this was the first time that he had wanted to shift forms to prove to her that it was true. But he didn't want her to experience him in bear form that way. Even though he knew that she wanted to know him in his other form, he didn't want to show it to her that way. She was always sleepy after multiple orgasms, so him shifting now would only succeed in shocking her, which wouldn't turn out well for him.
Instead he settled against her back before he quietly called out, "Parker? Parker?"
She let out a grumble and a growl that any bearswan could easily rival, which told him she was well on her way to falling into a deep sleep. He wanted to let her do just that, but he had too many nagging questions running through her mind to let himself relax enough to do the same thing.
"Parker," he said with a little more volume. "Baby, I know you don't want to get into any of the heavy topics tonight but I really need to know just one thing that's been eating at me for days now."
She had no qualms of letting him hear her let out an unhappy noise before she answered with a slight hint of a whine in her tone, "And what is that Remi?"
Shit! He thought when she didn't reply with her own pet name for him. Okay, let's not make her any angrier than we need to. "The only thing I really need to know, mon ourson, is... why did he take you away from me?'
He felt her take in a shaky breath and he almost worried that she was going to start to cry again. He hated to hear her when she was in tears, but he would always be by her side to comfort her no matter the reason behind her unhappiness. Now if he thought that he was the reason for her tears, he would never be able to forgive himself until he eased her mind and kissed her tears away.
Thinking he had said the wrong thing, Remi squeezed Parker tightly in his arms. He was ready to tell her to forget that he had asked such a stupid question and to pretend that he hadn't said anything at all when he hear her quietly say, "Teddy Bear." She then started to pet his arms to try to help him to relax so that she could roll over to look at him.
They both had tears glistening in their eyes by the time she settled onto her right side. She ran her left hand across his cheek can swiped her thumb under his eye to catch a stray tear.
"Oh Teddy Bear," she replied with a watery smile. "The easiest answer is that it was the worst case of mistaken identity ever known on the planet."
PARKER TUGGED GENTLY ON Remi's hand to force him to stop just before he opened the front entrance door to Peltier House. She stuck out her bottom lip and had a pout so cute that he wanted to kiss it off her face when she asked, "Do we really have to go back?"
Remi smiled replying, "Offer still stands for us to run away together."
With a heavy sigh, Parker shook her head dejectedly and said, "Don't tempt me, but we can't do that to Aimée. After we tell her we're mated and that we're... well I'm fine, maybe then we can because if we do it now you know she'll hunt us down."
"So true," Remi agreed before kissing her and pulling her through the door.
They had barely made it to the stairs near the front entrance before they heard, "You guys finally made it back. And you both can actually walk!"
Remi let out a growl so fierce it caused Park to grab his arm in both of her hands and pull him back behind her. She made sure to keep one hand on his arm as she replied, "Yes Dev we are and... well I'm not even going to comment on the other... anyway. You need to be nicer to my fiancé or you'll have this Cub to deal with... nous comprenons nous?"
She accentuated each work in French by poking her left index and middle fingers into the taller man's chest. Remi watched in amusement as his petite, raven haired beauty backed his brother up a couple of steps. He actually had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud at the shocked look on Dev's face because he didn't want to do anything to undermine Parker right now. She was on a roll and he felt himself becoming even more attracted to his mate, not that he knew that that was even possible.
Dev felt himself about to take yet another step back when he realized what he was doing and who he was cowering away from, he forced himself not to move. This was HIS little cub who was trying to intimidate him. He was the one she had run to when something had scared her and now she was trying to put the fear of the gods into him? When had that turn of fate happened?
He looked her over and saw the same bright blue eyes that always lit up whenever she had a million questions running through her mind. She still looked like his "little cub", only older and now her porcelain features were framed by hair so black it had to have come from a bottle. And don't start hi on the blue streaks in her hair because when did she become Simi? And...
"Wait!" He nearly shouted as he snatched her left hand up to look at the ring with the sizeable stone that now found a home there. "You said... Holy shit! Aimée! Aims...! Where are you?"
Although her aggravated sigh was too quiet for the three of them to hear they all knew it happened before she replied, "Like I can move that fast! I'm still..."
The rest of her statement was cut off when Dev appeared in the downstairs salon with Parker's hand still engulfed in his own. Aimée startled slightly at their entrance because she knew that he had been close enough to the room to have walked back when he needed to talk to her. To further prove that point, Remi joined the three of them by running into the room to find out what was happening to his mate.
Parker tried in vain to free her hand from his hold, so she balled up her right hand and thumped him on his chest protesting, "What in...! Let me go Dev!"
He ignored her angry words and unsteadiness from teleporting as he pulled her towards where his sister was still seated. Parker tried again to yank her hand out of his ironclad hold as she stumbled a couple of steps and nearly fell over. Even though Dev seemed oblivious to Parker's distress, his siblings were more than acutely aware of her unease. Aimée couldn't do much more than to lean forward to offer a hand to try to steady the human.
Remi, however, moved to Dev's back and was poised to rip him violently away from his mate when he heard his brother say, "Damn it Aims! How much do I owe you now? Because you were totally right!"
Aimée glared at Dev because she had no idea what he was talking about or why it could justify him hurting HER cub. Of course most of Parker's distress was due to her confusion and not actually being in physical pain. But that didn't mean that she didn't practically jump for joy when she felt Dev relinquish his claim on her hand to pass it off to his sister.
As Parker moved to sit on the arm of the chair where Aimée was seated, the bearswan inadvertently yanked on her left hand which caused Parker to stumble again as she exclaimed, "Cub! I didn't..."
Seeing Parker being manhandled by not only Dev, but Aimée too, Remi quickly jumped into action. He used his preternatural speed to rush to Parker's side and scooped her up into his arms. He hadn't counted on his sister not letting go of Parker's hand, so he actually had to take a step closer to Aimée's chair to keep the human from becoming a figurative and literal rope in their accidental game of tug-o-war.
"Remi... Parker..." Aimée nearly whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. "You two... you..."
Parker leaned over and kissed Remi's cheek. He understood that it was her way of telling him that she loved him, but she was uncomfortable with the way the two of them were holding her. He then placed her on her feet so that Aimée wouldn't have to tug as hard on her left arm, but he kept his arms encircled around her waist, loosely but possessively.
"Remi?" Aimée choked out around the tear-filled lump that was forming in her throat. "Did you...?"
"You told me it was her favorite stone, so I asked around until I found a jeweler that could make a ring that suited her," Remi answered so quietly that even Aimée had to strain to her him.
Aimée was beaming with tears streaming down her cheeks as she asked "So you are going to get married on top of being mated?"
Parker slipped her hand out of the bearswan's now slack grip so that she could hug both of her arms around Remi's waist. He shifted his hold on her so that she could tuck herself into his side as she said, "I sort of insisted on it Aims."
Aimée gave her a curt nod then said, "Oh, so it sounds like you have everything all figured out then."
The tone in Aimée's voice made the other three freeze in their spots. The two brothers shared a worried look over Parker's head while she tried to think of a way to fix this situation. When an answer hit her, Parker leaned up to whisper into Remi's ear. For a split second he looked like he didn't trust what she said, but then he nodded and kissed her cheek before he too whispered something into her ear.
Parker nodded then moved towards Aimée's side. She perched on the arm of the antique armchair where Aimée had made her post and said, "All that I've planned out is that I want the reception to be held at Sanctuary. Remi said something about having an in with the owners... Everything else... To be honest Aims, I'm totally lost, so I would really love if you could maybe help me with all of it."
"Really?" The other woman replied without trying to hide her shock.
"Really," Parker nearly exclaimed as she hugged Aimée's neck. "You're my Momma Bear, so how could you ever think that I'd leave you out of it?"
"Well Cub," she started as she hugged her soon to be sister in law back just as fiercely as the human held her. "I'll have to blame it all on the baby hormones, okay?"
"Absolutely more than okay."
The two brothers let the two women embrace as they chattered back and forth about wedding ideas. They seemed to settle into their conversation and seemed to be happy to ignore the males in the room.
Dev slowly moved to his brother's side and gently elbowed him in the ribs. When Remi moved his gaze away from Parker, Dev rolled his eyes as if to say "women, right?", but Remi wouldn't rise to the bait. He just glared at his brother before he quickly turned his eyes back to Parker and they instantly softened.
Dev was slightly annoyed at the scene before him because they were all supposed to be happy that Parker was home. They were supposed to be elated that Remi had found his mate and completed the ritual and yet here they were all on the verge of tears. And they didn't necessarily appear to be happy tears to Dev, so he wanted to remedy that as soon as possible.
"So Remi?" He asked loud enough to get the women's attention. "I guess this means that you'll have to have that sit down with Talon sooner than later, huh?"
That comment earned Dev another glare from his brother. It also piqued Parker's interest and the look on Remi's face made her even more curious. She tried to catch Remi's eye, but he was too focused on glaring at his brother to take notice of his mate.
She then stood up and took a step closer to the brothers asking, "What did he say to you Remi?"
He then finally turned his attention to his mate and answered, "We had a bit of a pow wow with a group of our friends and allies to brainstorm about how to find you. Of course Aimée asked Talon to come and he's decided that since both of your parents have passed away that he'll take on the role of your surrogate father when it comes to matters of marriage and stuff."
Parker gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a groan. "What did he say to you? He... he wasn't like... was he really mean? I can talk to him about that if you want."
Remi wrapped Parker in a tight hug and kiss her head before replying against her hair, "Don't worry yourself about it, mon ourson. I'm not afraid of the Celt at all. Plus, he was just looking out for you because he loves you. That's definitely something he and I actually agree on, so I'll let him have his little sit down with me... just this once."
"Okay, so long as he wasn't mean to you," she replied. Parker then went up on her tip toes and whispered into his ear, "And that you behave yourself with him, Teddy Bear."
"You two are just so cute it hurts!" Aimée exclaimed from behind them. "I'm so glad that you two were mated because you're kind of perfect together!"
Parker's cheeks rouged as she tucked herself even further into Remi's side. He squeezed her torso into his hip to help to comfort her. He didn't have to look at her to know that Aimée's comment had embarrassed her and caused her to blush profusely. He could also see that his comforting his mate had caused his sister's smile to grow which he was sure was making Parker's blush to darken.
"Well on that note, I think Parker and I are going to turn in for the day," Remi finally commented after a couple of uncomfortably silent minutes.
"Didn't you two just spend the whole night..."
"DEV!" Aimée and Parker shouted to cut him off.
Aimée glared at him while he covered his mouth to try to muffle his laughter. Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him, she turned her attention back to the happy couple and said, "Faites de beaux rêves, you two."
Parker walked over to Aimée and kissed her on the cheek before replying, "Toi aussi. And I'll make sure to be up in time to help with the dinner rush, okay?"
Aimée held her cheeks answering, "Only if you're feeling up for it, Cub. We all know that you've been through a lot, so don't push it on our account, okay?"
"Okay."
"And..." Dev added with a chuckle. "Make sure you can still walk before you start making promises like that."
Remi let out a menacing growl, but Dev disappeared before he could reach him. Parker rushed over to Remi's side and hugged him tightly. She let out a relieved sigh when she felt all of the tension release from his body. She knew Remi hated to be teased which she also knew was the reason that Dev continued to do it so incessantly.
"Babe, you know he only says stuff like that to yank your chain," she whispered against his chest. "If he didn't get a rise out of you then he'd stop doing it."
"I don't care what he says about me, but when he says shit like that about you…"
Parker kissed him to cut him off then said, "I don't care either because I know he's just being a goof and doesn't mean it. Now, Teddy Bear, let's go get some sleep okay?"
"Your wish is my command," he replied with a smile before he teleported them to her bedroom (because she had the bigger bed between the two of them after all).