She shrugged. "I am not sure," she said softly. "I don't mean to hurt you." She looked up at him and smiled. "I've never really had a family, I really haven't, so knowing that you guys will be mine, knowing that you accept me and all that I am. You have no idea how very much that means to me."
"I have a feeling I might just at that," he said before looking past her to Ansell. "But he sure knows it." Pressing a kiss to her lips Zhubin wiped her tears gently. "I love you, sweetheart, but no more tears please. It drives the Luhpyne insane to see my mate in tears."
"Then kiss me," she suggested. "Kiss me and then we will go and do what we need to do so that I can get my mind off meeting your family. Kiss me and assure me with that simple touch of your lips that everything will be okay."
"Oh darling, nothing is ever simple." He smiled. "Especially with a woman such as you in our lives." She couldn't reply to that, not then anyway. His lips were on hers again, taking her deeper into a full-out kiss with tongue, teeth and heat.
She kissed him back and her only thoughts were, damn this is so far from simple that it's in another galaxy, and then she stopped thinking and only felt. Lacey moved her body against his, she let him mold her form closer and closer to his and opened fully for him, not just her mouth but her heart and soul she opened to him.
His growl vibrated through her entire form before he broke the kiss. "Son of a bitch," Zhubin hissed out with a shudder racing through his body. He licked his lips as he drew back further. "We really shouldn't be starting something like this here, little mate."
"I know we shouldn't but tell me that it didn't feel good. Tell me that it didn't feel as amazing and right to you as it did me. If you can tell me that then I will leave it, but it rocked my whole body, that kiss. And you are right. We are anything but simple."
"Babe, it was a fucking explosion going off," he told her bluntly. "My entire body is one live wire. Every single cell of my being is focused on you and only you. If I didn't know for a fact you're still weighing everything in your head I'd have stripped you naked and fucked you right here, in front of everyone without care."
"The only thing really weighing on me is how long until the three of us are alone. I've known you boys for years, Zhu. No, I don't understand Ansell's views on not wanting to be a father but I will respect them. I love him far too much to try to push anything on him." Which had her worried. "Do you really think that he would be all right if we had children or should we go from the start knowing we would never birth a child?"
"That is your call to make but you spoke to him, he told you what he felt, you have all the answers Lacey," he said quietly. His hands slid down her body before falling away as he stepped back further. "Whatever you decide is forever though so be sure you have made the choice that you, not Ansell nor I, can live with. We made our choices clear, it's only your own heart and worries that are making you question it all again."
"Believe me, I know," she said with a sigh. "And that's what is pissing me off all over again." She watched him stepping back from her, felt him pulling away and hurt shadowed her mind. Hell she didn't know if he even wanted her. "And what about you, Zhubin? Do you want this? Do you want me? If you had to, would you want children with a human?"
The snap of his teeth coming together was loud, and his growl even more so. Then he was in her face, so fast she hadn't seen him move. His hand buried in her hair, head tipped back and staring up into his eyes, eyes more Luhpyne than she'd yet seen. "I love you Lacey. I don't care if you are human or one of the races, all I see is the woman who is mine. Why do you constantly doubt that? Doubt me?"
"I had to know." Lacey growled right back at him. Leaning in closer she bared her neck to him and lowered her eyes in a subconscious submissive move. One that she would never give to anyone except the two men that would be hers. "And now I know. Now I want," she confessed.
He growled again, but it was different, warmer sounding. His tongue was on her throat, a slow, hot swipe before his teeth clamped down. Right where shoulder met neck he held her for a moment. It didn't hurt, not at all, just the slightest pressure that was soon gone. "You are ours, never doubt that again female," he rumbled next to her ear.
"Good, then the sooner that you boys finally claim me the better." She was up on tiptoes, her cheek to his and demanding more. "You should talk to Ansell one final time and ensure that he is happy with the decision and then we should go to the other side of the Veil. I want to have my men. I need my mates."
"Ansell can hear you just fine," Ansell said. "Not like you two are being quiet or anything," he muttered. "Even without Luhpyne hearing I'd have caught all of that. Sheesh," he shook his head. "Have his babies, Lacey, I'll be there happy just to have you but I'm not having any of my own kids, ever. There, settled, can we deal with the dead guy left by your stalker now?"
"Well?" Lacey turned to face Ansell. "You don't want to be a dad but do you want me, too? I want you, a great deal, Ansell. I happen to have fallen in love hard with both you and Zhu, but I've never asked you that question. Do you want me, too?"
He growled at her. "Woman." He looked to the heavens and let out a breath. "She really has issues with listening, doesn't she?" he asked no one in particular before he walked toward her. "I want to be with you, just as much as you want us if not more, likely more. So get it through your head. I'm not going anywhere, Lacey. Not today, not tomorrow and not ever. You are mine," he snarled, a lot of teeth showing during that display. A lot of very sharp teeth.
She smiled and nodded. "All right, I think I heard you that time. You should kiss me though to make sure that you understand that I want you just as much." She had a toe-curling, mind-blowing kiss from Zhubin and now she wanted one from Ansell as well.
His growl raised the hair on her arms before he pulled her in close and kissed her. Hard, hot and off the charts of mind blowing. His hands cupped her ass, hauling her up against his erection. Yeah, he definitely wanted her.
Lacey's kiss melted right along into his. She kissed him back with everything she had in her and then when she pulled back she licked her lips. "Damn, how long until we can do this whole mating thing?" She wasn't sure how long she would be able to survive without attacking her men.
"Any time after dinner with Zhubin's parents," he said. "After that we can pretty much do whatever you want darling." He pressed another kiss to her lips and let her ass go. Letting out a sigh, he stepped back slightly, "Right now we have other things to worry about."
"Yeah, like trying to figure out who keeps trying to blow us up, or rather finding the asshole. Then I have to worry about surviving the dinner with Zhubin's parents." She grinned. "Does he have two dads as well or are they one and one?"
"He has three, only one is his birth father as you know. His father was already Regent when he found his mate and their bonding mates. His mother knew one of their bonding mates from her childhood, the third was a soldier in the Regent's army. Though his mother could have chosen any of the three to be the one that would give her children the story goes she fell in love with the Regent the moment she laid eyes on him. She loves them all but he holds a special place in her heart that made her choice easier I suppose. At least that's the tale she tells, though I know there's more to it. So, too, does Zhubin but we've never pried."
"You mean like the story that I will tell our children one day?" she asked softly. "Because I love you both." She truly did, she didn't think she would ever fall in love once so finding that she did twice, well it was stunning to her. "As long as you are certain that we will do all right we should get this done as soon as possible because I want. I need. No I have to have you both, and soon."
"We'll be fine, Lacey." He touched her cheek with gentle fingers. "I'm not going to run off when you and Zhubin have children, little mate. I will always want you and need you. I'll even change the occasional diaper if you ask nicely enough." He smiled.