Love's Entanglement Read online

  And it suddenly clicked what he’d been trying to teach me… Except he was a horrible example of it. “You mean like tearing me down in front of a plane full of people?” I rasped, hating he could upset me like that. “You’re a main part of the reason everyone thinks I’m such an idiot. You call me twit in front of people all the time. Why would I assume a non-pilot would sit in the cockpit? If I had, you probably would have yelled at me, especially after I just got in trouble for being in the chopper.”

  He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again before opening it back up. Then he shook his head and left the tiny cockpit. “Everyone in? Buckle up, I’m closing the door and we’re leaving.”

  I heard what sounded like the outer door shutting and that vacuum sound of the pressure seal. Then he came back into the cockpit and closed that door. Next thing I knew he was showing me how to strap in since the belts were different for us as opposed to just across the lap.

  Philo let out a long breath and then looked up at me from where he was down on one knee. “I heard you, I did. I’m not dismissing you. It takes me a bit to process. I acknowledge what you said and I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. Beyond that, I need a moment to think through that before I have an answer, okay?”

  “Okay,” I agreed, thinking that was the most mature response, showing we were equals, I’d gotten from him.

  “You want to do the checklist? It’s a good learning tool for you to see what everything is.”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Good. I thought we could go over this manual and flight training some while we were away, plus my parents have a crop duster and other fun stuff.”

  I took that as the peace offering he meant it as and smiled. “I would like that.”

  He moved to his seat and started to buckle in. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. For the record. I just don’t. I don’t do idiots. Don’t deal with them. Don’t talk with them. Won’t train them or be around them. So you’re not dumb. Twit’s what my grandpa calls us when he forgets to tell us something but also thought maybe we should have caught on anyways. It’s like an endearment. I didn’t actually realize I’ve been calling you that. I never have called anyone that before.”

  My heart fluttered at the admission. “Okay then. Thanks for explaining.” I left it at that because I saw how hard it was for him to say even that. I read off the first item of the checklist and watched him perform it. Then we moved onto number two, and so on. It was all fascinating to me.

  Liftoff from the cockpit was probably the most thrilling thing of my life, watching the runway come at us faster and faster, seeing the end of it approaching. I actually let a little squeal slip past my lips when only at the last second did the wheels lift off the ground before we ran out of pavement.

  “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” Philo chuckled in our headsets. My gaze snapped over to him, my mouth falling open as I saw his big grin.

  “Dick.”

  “Oh yeah,” he agreed. “But I had someone do it to me the first time I was in the cockpit and now you’ll do it to whomever you’ll teach. You’ll never forget this moment, just like I never forgot mine.”

  “No, no I won’t,” I admitted, slowly taking in a breath and letting it out at the same rate. Once my heart slowed a bit, I glanced back at the sky. “When did you start flying?”

  “One of the first planes. The problem was I supposedly died in one of the Wright Brothers’ early designs as one of their exhibition pilots showing off the plane. Needless to say I had to wait awhile before showing my face around again. Dye my hair, grow it out, that sort of thing. Pain in the ass, but nothing was well-documented back then so it wasn’t that long.”

  “Wow.”

  Philo glanced over at me, doing a double take when he saw I was genuinely interested and nodded before focusing back at what he was doing. “I was one of the few warriors given special permission to fight in both World Wars so that I might receive the training of combat flight along with the newest weapons.”

  I spent the next few hours on the edge of my seat, listening to him tell me story after story about his own training and learning curve, along with what he’d seen fighting so closely with humans in such horrible conditions. As he spoke I realized I was so head over heels into him, no matter how he’d hurt my feelings or didn’t like me. Which sucked because I was totally going to get crushed in the end of it because he might be completely socially inept when dealing with people… But he was just so friggin awesome!

  “You must be thirsty,” I blurted out in the middle of his story about bombing the Germans in the ending days of World War II. “You’ve been talking all this time. You must be thirsty. You want a drink? I want a drink.”

  “Am I talking too much?” he asked, blinking at me as if unsure what to do with my sudden change in disposition.

  “No!” I cleared my throat and hurried to get unstrapped. “No, not at all. Your throat just sounded like it was getting a little scratchy and a good copilot gets the actual pilot a drink.”

  “Oh, thanks. Yeah, it is dry in here. A sparkling water if we have it would be great. The bubbles help my ears with the altitude for some reason, otherwise regular water’s fine.”

  “Okay, sure. I’ll try that with the sparkling water too.” I booked it out of the cockpit and ducked into the small bathroom to pee before seeing what was stocked on the plane.

  “You like him, don’t you?” Gilroy asked quietly from behind me. I jumped and almost dropped one of the bottles of sparkling water. “That’s why you get so upset when he picks on you.”

  I opened my mouth to deny it but then thought about what he was saying. “You think I blow it out of proportion? Make it a bigger deal that it is?”

  “No, because you like him. No one likes being singled out, but I think if Dimitri called you a twit, teasing you like I believe Philo was earlier, you would have stuck your tongue out at him or told him to kiss your ass because you don’t assume things, something like that. Because it’s Philo and you like him, what he said cut you and so you took it harder.”

  “That’s actually a really good perspective,” I muttered, setting down the bottles before reaching in the fridge and pulling out a few sandwiches. I found chips to go with it and nodded to Gilroy. “Thanks. I’ll think about that. With things being rough right now and me blaming him for things that might not be his fault, I might be extra sensitive. Thanks, Gilroy.”

  “Anytime, buddy. You can vent or whatever, I won’t ever make you clean our room. We can just talk, be socially awkward together.” He shot me a real smile and I understood. People were probably being weird with him too, especially since he was used as a Zakasacs experiment and all that crap.

  I hurried back to the cockpit with my score and settled into my seat. When I turned to ask Philo which sandwich he wanted, he was already staring at me with a serious look.

  “What?”

  “You said before I’m a main part of the reason everyone thinks you’re such an idiot. What did you mean by that? I got the feeling you didn’t mean I was picking on you.”

  I set everything down and pulled out the cup holders before opening his water and settling it in the right spot. “No, no, that’s not what I meant.” I took a deep breath as I opened the premade pot roast sandwich the cafeteria had prepared for us and handed it to him. He nodded, flipped something on the controls, and took it from me. “My flub with Matteo and thinking I was inducted to being a post-trans and a warrior by hooking up with him and Nate.”

  “How was that my fault?” he asked, his eyes going wide as he snagged a bag of chips.

  “I heard you say something in the cafeteria when I was a new pre-trans, something about Matteo playing and playing hard, how it was the new standard for everyone coming in. I thought that meant—”

  “All the new warriors,” he groaned.

  “Maybe, but then others were talking, snippets here and there, and yeah, I put two and two together and came up with five.”

 
; “I didn’t mean coming in to being a warrior. I meant coming in to the idea of mating at a camp. It’s not common. I mean, it is at our camp now, but that’s odd and people on the outside call ours the gay camp and not in the cool way. They’re being dicks or at least teasing us. Some guys transferred out because how many of us are gay. So Alexander and Dimitri mating were the first really, then Matteo and Nate, teacher and student, plus they play, it just, wow, what a way to set the standard of this is how warriors mate.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I really blew that one. Shit.” I blew out a big breath and plopped into my seat, shaking my head. Had I ever.

  “No worries, you just proved my point.”

  “Come again?” I chuckled. Philo’s eyes filled with something for a split second that I didn’t recognize but then he looked back at the sky and away from me. “What do you mean?”

  “I shouldn’t have been talking like that in the cafeteria where others could hear me. Look what happened because of it. Fine, you were an eavesdropping pre-trans who should get his ass whooped hard, but that one conversation could have started all the rumors that have been giving Matteo and Nate so much grief if others heard me as well. I shouldn’t have said it there even if it was just a joke or comment about what people are saying about our camp. Not in public space.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Good.” He took a bite of his sandwich and then shot me a quick glance. “I know I’m not the perfect example of any of this. I’m not a do as I say and not as I do guy. We just all mess up. I’m really good at never commenting about a warrior’s professionalism or work in public—which you need to learn fast or you’ll be getting challenged the moment you become one. I rarely talk with people so watching what I say about them personally should be something I work on but I probably won’t.”

  “Because you’re so old?” I teased. He smirked and nodded before taking another bite of his sandwich, letting me have the win. But it felt good to put some cards on the table and have things explained better. Well, I felt good about it. I liked knowing where I stood with people.

  I was too pumped up the whole flight to sleep, never having seen anything like the view from the front of a plane even if it was just a jet. Maybe that made it cooler? Philo even let me take the controls for a while when he was sitting right there, cracking jokes about me being his stick bitch. He did show me what to do in case of an emergency when he went to go to the bathroom and everything was on autopilot.

  It was the most exhilarating few minutes of my life. After that I practically vibrated in my seat for the rest of the trip.

  But then I crashed hard just after we landed on Philo’s family’s private airstrip. All the hours of adrenaline wore off as we reached the house and a stunning woman with Philo’s hazel eyes, but about half his height, came racing out of the doors and into his arms.

  “Hi, Mum,” Philo chuckled as he caught her, picking her up and twirling her around. “I’ve missed you too.”

  “Oh, my youngest, it’s been so long. You look too tired. Have they been being mean to my boy? Who do I have to yell at? I will beat them.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the idea of this spitfire of a woman taking on Helios. That would be a thing to see.

  “Don’t laugh, she would probably kick Helios’s ass,” Philo said as if knowing what we were thinking. “My grandparents are ancient even if they’re not Wyrok like he is.”

  “Wyrok is coming?” she whimpered and I felt bad for the fun. She called out a few names and suddenly many more people were on the porch talking all at once. I’d never heard of the Wyrok before we were all filled in that Helios was one. I guess before they were considered the boogeymen and women of vampires who came in to slaughter bad covens and maybe little vampire children who disrespected their parents.

  Hell if I knew, but since all I knew was Helios and the extras who came to help us when we were under attack, I liked them.

  It took Philo several minutes to calm his family down, kissing his mother’s hair and hugging them tightly. “I promise, no investigation or reason La Salvezza is in trouble. He stayed at our camp because of love and wants us all to get the rest and mental health we need—he needs as well.”

  “Sounds like a smart lad. I will talk with him and make sure he’s not a twit,” a man who I guessed was Philo’s grandpa said. “But only then can he come into our home. We hold privacy of the upmost importance here, Philo. You know this. Wyrok tend to stick their nose into things even when they’re not investigating.”

  “I understand. Do as you must but honestly I think he’s planning on using the time to reset and spa honeymoon for his mating.” Philo’s family looked at each other and started laughing. “Yeah, apparently he was under the impression they all were that it’s like a spa here that people check in and check out of.”

  “Well, we do like to keep everything as big of a secret as the Wyrok,” his grandfather teased. “Let’s get you kids settled. You look beat.”

  “Long flight. My co-pilot is my new trainee.” He glanced at me and waved me over. “Norris Adley, meet my—”

  “There is time for all of that at dinner. You boys need rest,” his mother interrupted, staring intently at me. “You will stay in Philo’s room on the sofa.” I nodded politely before she turned around and led us inside.

  “Take it. My mother spoils me,” Philo whispered, probably having seen my disappointment. “That sofa will definitely be more comfortable than the beds at the guest residences they’re all going to be bunking in. I think she likes you.”

  I smiled then. Okay, guess it wasn’t a slight.

  “He seems very nice,” his mother called over her shoulder. “And I like the idea of you having a trainee and socializing more than just flying and reading. It’s good for you to make friends and be a part of our world, not other fiction worlds only and the sky.”

  “Thanks, Mum,” Philo chuckled, probably having heard it lots of times before.

  “He does share the wonderful books you send him with the other warriors, Mrs. Sutton. They’re in the joint library at our camp,” Xana informed her. Philo shot him a grateful look.

  “Look who learned how to share at such a late age,” Philo’s grandfather teased, elbowing his grandson. “Good boy, now your mum will send tons more books.”

  “I will not. The postage on those things is murder,” she chuckled. We stopped outside a room and Philo leaned in for a kiss. “Would you like refreshments sent?”

  Philo glanced at his watch and shook his head. “It’s only five in the morning here. I know that’s normal for you guys to be up, but we’ll crash a bit and meet up with you for lunch which we’ll just pretend is our brunch. Sound good?”

  “Yeah, we slept on the plane,” Gilroy chuckled. “I’ve never been out of the country before so I asked Sam to knock me out so I could see every minute.”

  “You weren’t the only one,” Sam drawled, shooting his mate a scathing look.

  “I wanted to join the mile high club and I didn’t think it safe on a small jet so if you didn’t knock me out it was all I was going to think about,” Bowie defended. He stuck out his pout lip, and Sam sighed, throwing his arm around his mate’s shoulder.

  “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, you poor, poor abused mate.” He glanced around at Philo’s family when everyone was quiet and then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, we were making you uncomfortable?” He shot a look at Philo, and I realized we could have walked into a homophobic home.

  It took Philo a moment to catch up, his eyes going wide as he snorted. “No, god no. They know I’m gay. They’re fine with it.”

  “Of course we are,” Philo’s mother agreed, looking offended. “Why would we not be?”

  “You got quiet while they were teasing, Mum,” Philo explained.

  “Oh, we’re not used to people coming and being so happy,” his grandfather explained. “Most come after losing a mate, not after they have just mated as you so clearly have. It will be an adjustment.”


  “But a good one,” Philo’s mother quickly said. “Very good. Breathe some life back into the land and houses.”

  “Well you guys have fun doing that, we’re going to crash,” Philo chuckled, kissing his mom’s cheek. He nodded for me to head inside, so I did, barely taking in the huge bedroom with sitting area and attached bathroom. I went straight for the couch next to the window by the bed, closed the curtains, and moved a pillow to sleep on. “Good to know I’m not the only one ready to sleep.”

  “No, the adrenaline and rush are gone from sitting in the cockpit and now I’m just wiped,” I muttered, toeing off my shoes before loosing my shirt and pushing down my pants. I hadn’t been paying attention until Philo cleared his throat. Then I slowly turned around in nothing but my boy shorts to face him.

  “You are tired. That or I’m getting a striptease for letting you take the stick for a bit.”

  “Yup, I’m your stick bitch,” I joked, swallowing loudly. I realized he was getting me a blanket and took it from him. “Thanks. Night, Philo. Just kick me when it’s time to get up.” I practically dove onto the couch to get settled and covered, moaning at how soft and plush the microfiber material was.

  “Did I tell you or what?”

  “Sooo comfortable. I want to marry this couch,” I groaned, snuggling in as I tucked the blanket around me tighter. “Can I take it back home with me? I hate my bed at camp. It’s lumpy and smells like dog piss no matter how many times I’ve cleaned it. I want this couch.”

  “We’re not shipping that all the way back to Wyoming from Bari, Italy, but we’ll see what we can do about getting you a better bed when we get home,” he offered, yawning. It might have been the nicest thing Philo had ever agreed to.

  Besides taking me under his wing so I could fly. I hadn’t really thought of that being a kind thing since I’d seen it more as his way of torturing me… Which had been wrong and childish of me. He was obviously nowhere near as bad of a guy as I made him out to be. He was rather kind of perfect. And god, so hot.