Very Much Alive (10 page)

“Around her, on her, in her…yup, that covers it.” He fell onto the sofa and put his arm over his eyes. Damn he was tired. Despite the fact that Jordan had slept most of the night peacefully next to him, it hadn’t felt quite right. He’d missed having Logan in the bed with them. That would have made it perfect. But they’d been too afraid of jarring her healing shoulder to risk it.

“Pervert.”

He sighed. “I love Jordan. I love Logan. Logan loves me. I’m working on Jordan. If that makes me a pervert, then hand me the flag and teach me the anthem.”

“Kir?”

Jordan’s hesitant voice had him sitting up. “Yes, baby?”

She held up one arm of the shirt she’d been trying to put on. She held her injured arm, in its sling, over her breasts. She’d managed to get the bra on, but not hooked.

He got up and, without thought, helped her finish dressing. “Better?”

“Mm-hmm. Thanks.” Her cheeks were flushed and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. She’d been like this since the first time he’d had to help her get dressed. Having a bullet wound sucked big time. Luckily it had been on the outside of her arm, rather than further in; the bones had been nicked, but not broken.

“You’re welcome.” He planted a soft kiss on those oh-so-tempting lips and left for the bedroom. If he was going to be up, he was going to take a shower. Maybe it would help wake him up.

Normally he would have dragged Logan in with him, but he didn’t for two reasons. One, he was pretty sure Jamie would be weirded all the hell out. And two, they’d decided not to do anything with each other until
after
they’d convinced Jordan she belonged with them. Even if it led to a terminal case of blue balls.

Oh, well. Thank goodness for body wash and a firm grip. He grinned and shut the bathroom door behind him with an audible
click
. It didn’t occur to him until he had the water nice and hot and was about to step in that her sister had been sitting right there, yet Jordan had still asked
him
for help.

Suddenly the day was looking a whole lot brighter.

Jordan sat on the sofa, sipping at the coffee Logan had brought out for her. It was perfect, just like everything the two men had done for her so far was perfect.

Make that almost perfect.

They had hovered over her for the last week, and for the most part, she was grateful for it, especially when she’d been stuck in the hospital for longer than they’d thought she would be. And when they’d brought her home two days ago she’d needed so much help that it hadn’t even been funny. She couldn’t quite dress herself, let alone feed herself. Having the two men pamper her was a heady feeling she could quickly grow addicted to, along with the tiny little touches and kisses they peppered her with. It was like they were slowly seducing her, since none of those little kisses they constantly gave her could be called “brotherly”.

On the flip side, she could live without their bossiness. The one time yesterday she’d tried to sneak into the den to check her email, they’d freaked out and put her to bed like a recalcitrant four-year-old.

Of course, she could admit, at least to herself, that she’d
acted
like a recalcitrant four-year-old. She had the feeling today wasn’t going to be much better.

“Y’know, you’ve got two. Can I have one? Because it’s no fair hoarding the hotties.”

Jordan smirked at Jamie over the rim of her mug. “What do you think Travis would have to say about that?”

Jamie turned beet red. “Absolutely nothing, since he doesn’t know I exist outside of
Hi, this is Guardian Investigations. How may we help you?
” It was her best, perkiest receptionists’ voice, the one that grated on Jordan’s nerves until her third cup of coffee. “What do you think he’s going to say when he finds out you’ve been shot? Hmm?”

Jordan leaned in and whispered, ignoring the twinge of pain in her shoulder. “I’ve already emailed him.”

Jamie nodded, some of the flush receding from her cheeks. “Good. He needs to know, so we can fuss over you.” She jumped. “All of us. I mean, all of us. Jeff, too. You know how he likes to fuss.”

Jordan bit her lip. Jamie’s crush on their boss never failed to lift her day. Too bad Travis had never shown any interest in her. The two of them would be smokin’ hot together. “I can’t lay claim to either Demon Boy
or
Archangel.”

She thought she heard a muffled
bullshit
from the kitchen, but she wasn’t certain. Could have been Logan sneezing. She shrugged and dismissed it.

One of Jamie’s bright red brows rose into her hair. “Really? Because it looked to me like you and Mr.’s DB and AA are having a nice, cosy live-in. Complete with rumpled bedhead and delivered coffee.”

“Line of duty. They feel guilty.” Or, that’s what she kept telling herself, anyway. “They’re worried that the person who shot at them will go after me, and they have better security in their home than I do in mine.” Which was the truth. A brain-dead monkey could probably break into her inexpensive apartment with ease.

Another muffled sound came from the kitchen.
Huh. Who knew?
Gods sneeze. Logan needs to get his allergies checked.
She ignored the little voice that told her that what she’d heard had
not
been a sneeze.

“Really,” Jamie drawled. She perked up, smiling that sunny smile that had landed her the receptionists’ job at Guardian. “Y’know, with Travis away on vacation, I bet he wouldn’t mind if you stayed at his place. The security there is top-notch.”

She opened her mouth to answer when a hand landed on her good shoulder. “She’s perfectly happy right here.”

Jamie glared up at Logan. “
She’s
capable of speech, ape.”

Jordan nearly snorted coffee through her nose trying not to laugh.

Before she could regain her composure Kir stepped out of the bedroom. His cheeks were flushed, his hair hanging wet around his shoulders. He’d put on a muscle shirt, blue to match his eyes, and one of his sinfully tight pairs of jeans. His big feet were bare, braced squarely on the maple floor. A breezy smile graced his face. “I’m starving. Anybody want donuts?”

Logan stared down at Jordan’s sleeping form. He still couldn’t get over the fact that she’d bled for him. Not even Sigyn, who’d claimed to love him and left him when he’d fallen for Kir, had ever bled for him. And Kir
couldn’t
bleed for him, though he’d thrown himself in front of Logan more than once in their long lives.

He never wanted her life endangered ever again. The very thought sent twin snakes of fear down his spine, and was the reason he’d barely slept in the last eight days.

His eyes narrowed as the blade cut into the palm of his hand. Blood bonding with Odin had given the god the power to shift his shape; maybe bonding with Jordan would give her the fast healing Logan enjoyed.

He cut her palm quickly, ignoring her hiss of pain as he slapped their hands together. He closed his eyes and focused on their joined wounds.

“What the hell?”

Jordan’s sleepy, angry voice couldn’t drown out the pounding of their hearts in his ears. He willed the blood to mingle, hers to him and his to her, each flowing into the other’s veins.

Her gasp echoed his as their blood merged for all time.

“Ow, dickhead! What did you do that for?”

He opened his eyes and turned her hand over, eagerly checking to see if the wound had started closing.

It hadn’t.
Fuck.
So much for research.
His own wound was slowly closing before his eyes. “Shit.”

“Wow. How are you doing that?”

“Logan?”

Logan turned to see Kir peering over his shoulder at their bloody hands. “It didn’t work.”

“What didn’t work?” Jordan was looking back and forth between them, obviously confused.

“I was trying to speed up your healing.”

She looked down at the bloody cut on her hand. “You’re right. It didn’t work.”

“I’ll get the medical kit.” Kir headed into the bathroom.

“I’m sorry.” Logan brushed his clean hand through her hair. “I was really hoping this would fix things.”

Her face softened. “You meant well. I think.”

He sighed. “When I became Odin’s blood brother, he gained my ability to shift shape. I gained his immortality. I was hoping the bond would grant you my ability to heal quickly.”

“Would that work on a human?”

He smiled. “You’re not human, remember?”

“
Half
human, then.” She looked down again at her hand, concerned. “If I didn’t get healing, what
did
I get?”

He shrugged. As far as he was concerned she was welcome to all of his powers. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Kir returned with the first-aid kit. “Give me your hand.” He checked her cut, cleansing it with a washcloth. “It looks clean, and I don’t think you need stitches.” He bandaged it quickly, pressing a kiss to her knuckles when he was done. “All better.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

His expression turned wicked. Logan knew that look, and felt his cock harden in his jeans. It was the look Kir used when he was in the mood to play.

“Any other boo-boos you’d like me to kiss?”

Logan grinned as Kir waggled his eyebrows outrageously.

As Jordan giggled, he leaned over and brushed his lips over Kir’s.
Time to see if she can handle the three of us together.
“I have a boo-boo you can kiss.”

“Ugh. Get a room, guys. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

He looked down to see embarrassment written all over her bright red face. She’d screwed her eyes shut tightly, but the curve of her lips let him know she was amused.
No disgust; that’s good. And is that…? Yes! Ah, the sight of an aroused woman.
Her nipples were perky, pushing up against the fabric of her top.

“Tell you what. I’ll kiss your boo-boo and Kir can kiss mine.”

When her eyes popped open his lips were already on hers. He stroked his tongue against her closed lips, silently asking her to let him in.
Please, let me in.
He was dying for a taste of her.

Kir’s mouth began a slow exploration of his neck, his hands pulling the shirt from Logan’s jeans. He lifted from the kiss long enough for Kir to finish pulling the shirt from his body.

“Guys?”

“Hmm?” Logan leaned down and licked a line from her neck to her chin. Her shiver filled him with the need to see what else he could do to make her quiver like that.

Kir’s fingers reached around Logan and began tugging on Jordan’s shirt buttons.

Good idea.
Logan began helping him, ignoring Jordan’s feeble attempts to bat their hands away.

“Guys!”

“What?”

Kir sounded as distracted as he was. They were both busy staring at Jordan’s exposed breasts. They gave identical happy sighs.
Mmm…no bra.
Rosy, hard nipples were exposed to their delighted gazes.

“No.”

Logan blinked.
No?

“No?” Kir sounded shocked.

“
No
.”

Logan stared at Kir. “She said no.”

“Shit.” Kir looked back down at Jordan. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” She pulled her shirt closed, holding the pieces together with one hand.

Logan’s frown was fierce. “We want you. You want us. We plan on keeping you.
I
blood bonded you
. So, yeah. Why no?”

“More importantly, why yes?” Jordan stared at both of them, her brows drawn down in a frown.

It was Logan’s turn to be shocked. “Why
yes
?” Hadn’t they done everything in their power to show her how they felt over the last week? Just dealing with her pint-sized, psychopathic sister should have gotten them brownie points galore!

She sighed. “You two are a couple. You’ve been together for so long I can’t even begin to imagine it. Why on earth would you bring someone else into your bed? Unless you do this kind of thing all the time?” Her frown had become ferocious. Logan could easily read the jealousy she was trying to hide.

Apparently they hadn’t proven to her how they felt. “No!”

“Uh-uh. Don’t be absurd.” Kir sat up, looking offended. “I haven’t slept with anyone other than Logan since that day at the Thing!”

“Ditto. Other than trading ‘Logan’ for ‘Kir’, that is.”

Her jaw worked as the jealousy was replaced by confusion. “Then why would you put me into bed with you two?”

Logan and Kir looked at each other and grinned. “Because we want you.”

“Because we
need
you.”

Kir moved to her left side and stretched out next to her. “Because we have to have you.”

Logan lay down on her right and grinned. “Because we love you.”

She gasped. “That’s not possible. We’ve only known each other, what? Two days?”

“More like a week.”

She glared up at him. “Barring the time I was unconscious. Or drugged.”

“Damn. One of the reasons we fell in love with you was your stunning rendition of
Volare
.”

Logan snickered. “Kir!”

Kir winked at him, then turned back to Jordan. “Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”

“Yes, I have, but both of you at the same time? Aren’t the odds of that just a smidge on the high side of impossible, despite my stunning singing voice?” She held her hand up, thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart.

Logan snorted. “You’re funny, you’re brave, and you’re beautiful. You’re smart. You believed us when no one else did.”

“Look, flame-boy, it’s kinda hard to ignore the Incredible Igniting Man, ya know?”

The South Philly twang was back in her voice. He was coming to love that accent. He felt that wicked grin cross his face as he nestled in closer to her. “Why, thank you, ma’am.” He let his hand rest on her stomach and flexed his fingers experimentally. “What else would you like to see me ignite?”

She rolled her eyes and turned to Kir. “Seriously. How do you put up with him?”

“He’s really, really good in bed.” He had to give Kir credit for saying it with such a straight face. That was one he never would have been able to pull off.