by Piper Rayne
When he was done, he moved off me, but not far away. Pulling me into his arms, he moved me until we were pressed against each other. Not saying a word, we cuddled in with his head resting on my shoulder and his lips kissing the back of my neck and my ears. I groaned with pleasure and rubbed the top of his arm he had wrapped around my chest.
His naked body next to mine and the way he was holding on to me like I was his life raft as much as he was mine, made me feel safer than I ever had. We hadn’t said it and I didn’t know him for very long, but I was falling hard for Zane. That night, making love to him for my first time ever, was like a dream and I never wanted to wake up from it. He didn’t care where I came from or what made me who I was, all he cared about was what was in front of him. The person I was in that moment and the person he thought I could be. That was what he looked at and that was what he liked. I didn’t have to be anyone else or act different for him to accept me. For the first time since my stepmom moved into my dad’s house, I was allowed to be me and somebody liked that part of me.
22
For the first time in years, I slept hard and through the whole night. Waking up and seeing the sun streaming through my window made me jump. The guys would be expecting breakfast and I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I hadn’t slept until the sun came up in years.
“Good morning,” I heard next to me when I shot up. “It’s fine. Come lay back down. Do you hear that?” he asked.
I listened hard for what it was he was hearing and then I heard it. The crack of thunder out in the distance. The sun was shining down on us and light filled the room. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky from what I could see, but that thunder was getting closer as another broke the silence of the morning.
“Yes, I hear it.”
“They will be sleeping in today. We can’t work on the outside of a house when it’s storming out. You have time and I will help you. Come lay back down with me. I want to hold you for a few more minutes.”
He smiled at me and, in the daylight, I suddenly felt self-conscious about being in bed and naked with him. All I could see was his chest, but I knew there wasn’t anything on under those covers. I pulled the blanket up a little higher on my own naked body and hoped the night before wasn’t a mistake I would regret.
My mom always told me to save myself for someone special like she had with my dad. She tried to tell me that in the heat of the moment, I would be weak to a man’s touch. I wasn’t sure what she meant as a child, but after the night I had with Zane, I understood what she meant. I knew how I felt about him, but I wasn’t sure how he felt about me. I wasn’t sure if I was his first or if he would even want me around after the night we had. He seemed so sure of himself where I was stumbling my way through what we shared. The fact he had stayed next to me the whole night and held me made me feel a little better, but I needed to know where we stood, and I needed to not let that happen again until we talked.
“Sno?” he asked. His eyebrows wrinkled and a frown came across his face leaving his smile retreating. “Are you alright?”
“I think so. That was…I mean…I’ve never done that before,” I finally managed to get out.
“Neither have I. I wanted my first time to be with someone special, as corny as that sounds. I’m not like every other man out there. I couldn’t be with someone I didn’t care about and you’re the first person I’ve cared about enough to even think about that. I was scared too last night, but I knew I wanted to be with you. If I went too far or too fast, tell me and I will never do it again. I would rather have you forever than to lose you over that.”
“I wanted it too, but it’s all new to me.”
“It’s scary to be that vulnerable. I get it. Look at me though, please.”
I moved my face to see his. He propped himself up on his elbow and moved so I was looking him in the eyes. There wasn’t anything in them but good and I knew I hadn’t made a mistake.
“The feelings I have for you aren’t like any I’ve ever had before. Even without this, but I hope we do it again, I would still want to be with you. This will sound dumb, but I’ve had this dream for years. There is a girl who looks a lot like you, but I could never place her. All I know is when I wake up, I had this ache in my chest that wouldn’t go away. Couldn’t explain it or tell my dream to anyone, but once in a while, I would be in a foul mood and they couldn’t understand why. Last night, when I was looking down at you, I realized I was living out my dream. Sno, you’re the one I’ve been dreaming about this whole time. I will never do anything to hurt you. I think I’ve loved you for years and now that you’re here, I don’t feel the ache anymore.”
His hand touched the side of my face and he brought his lips closer to me again. Without as much hesitation as the night before, his lips touched mine and I parted them to let our tongues dance.
We laid there for a few minutes in silence after making love again. Neither of us had to say a word. We knew that being together was what was meant to be. It was destiny that we found each other at all coming from two totally different worlds. It was because of the circumstances of the past few years that I ended up in the woods, in the path of his way home.
“Sno,” he started breaking into the silence.
“Yeah?”
“That flower you said you saw; did it do anything to you when you touched it?”
“Yes. My arm started to tingle the second it was in my hand.”
“What color was it?”
“Purple. Why?” I asked. Sitting up a little to see him better, I couldn’t figure out where he was going with it.
“Was it clustered together or single petals?”
“Clustered together at the top of the stem.”
“I think I know what plant that is. Get dressed,” he said and was out of the bed before I could argue with him.
He grabbed his clothes off the floor, tossed them carelessly on and left my room. Leaving me sitting there with nothing but the blanket on and an empty bed, I did what he asked through the confusion. When I was dressed and had washed my face, I left my room to go find him. He was pacing the living room with his shoes and a raincoat on. He held another coat in his hands and when he saw me, he handed it to me.
“Come on,” he said and grabbed my hand as soon as I had my shoes and the raincoat on.
I followed him as he raced through the woods that surrounded the cottage. Zigzagging off the path and farther into the thicker brush, he stopped short. I almost toppled into him because I was running to keep up with his long strides.
“Did it look like this?” he asked and pointed to a patch of purple flowers.
“Yes,” I whispered looking at the purple flower again for the first time since I found them in her room.
“Are you sure?”
“I would never forget what it looks like.”
“That’s wolfsbane. No wonder they got so sick. Touching it can make you ill. If she put it in food and they ate it, it would take days to kill them and it wouldn’t be fast or pain free.”
As soon as he said the name I remembered seeing it on a piece of paper in her drawer. Big, bold letters staring me right in the face. The name of the plant she used to kill them was written down and I had read it, touched it then dismissed it.
“I know. I watched what they went through. That is something I will never get out of my mind. To watch two people I love die the same way, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
“If she gave that to them, there wouldn’t be any way to prove it now after all these years, but she definitely killed them and knew what she was doing. You have to handle this stuff carefully or you could poison yourself before you knew it. If I had to guess, it wasn’t her first time using it. Come on,” he said and took my hand. His walk wasn’t as fast as it had been getting there, but I still had to practically run to keep from having my arm ripped from the socket.
“I have to tell Akio and the others. He’ll know what to do.”
“But it’s my word against hers and you j
ust said there would be no way to prove it.”
“I know, but Akio will know right away you’re telling the truth. He’s like a human lie detector. I need you to trust me on this, okay?”
He stopped moving and had my face in his hands. Holding it up to look at him, I had to blink away the water that was flowing into them. The storm he said would come was there and the rain started to fall heavier.
“I trust you,” I said loud enough for him to hear me over the storm. Lightning filled the sky and thunder cracked; shaking the ground below our feet as we ran back to the cottage.
23
We sat down with the others and Zane helped me tell them what I needed to. I didn’t go into the detail with them that I had with Zane, but they got enough of the story to understand what I had been through. They also knew that if my stepmom was that good, my family wasn’t the first one she had done that to. There would be others out there that had suffered at the hands of the evil woman who took advantage of a grieving man after she had taken away the one person he loved.
I wondered more than once if she had killed all the help instead of letting them go. They would have known something was wrong with her too and what was stopping them from talking to anyone about it? She was sneaky and she wouldn’t have let anyone go who would have known.
It had been months since I fled from her and without anyone sighting me, she would think I was dead for sure. That meant I had the advantage according to Akio. He was coming up with a plan with the others to get her out of my parent’s house and to make sure she never did that to anyone else. She was pure evil, and we would be the ones to stop her.
“Here’s what I think we should do. There’s no way she will admit what she did to anyone but you, Sno. She will also not know what to say when she sees you again. Catching her completely off guard like that will leave her stumbling to come up with an excuse for what she did. We will be right there with you but out of her sight. Once you get her to talk,” Akio went on.
“Or if she tries anything with you,” Zane interrupted.
“Yes. Or if she tries anything with you, then we will show ourselves. She will have two choices then. Turn herself in or leave forever. Either way, we will get you your house back and make sure she never hurts you again.”
“But what about you guys?” I asked. Having my parent’s house back meant nothing to me if I didn’t have my new family with me. And I didn’t want to leave Zane. For the first time in my life, I felt real love from someone that hadn’t raised me. I didn’t want to let that go.
“What about us?” Bran asked.
“What will happen with us?” I said barely above a whisper. Hanging my head, I didn’t want to see their reactions.
“Sno,” Thijs said as he reached for my arm. “Family doesn’t walk away from each other. It doesn’t matter if we are under the same roof or not.”
“Yeah. You can still live here, or we can go with you,” Jett added.
“But this is your home. Akio, you built it.”
“It’s a house. Our home is where we all go. When will you get that material things mean nothing to us? What we have is more than most people have and it isn’t something you can buy,” Akio answered.
They looked at each other, then at me. I knew their bond was strong, but to give up everything for me, a girl they had only met a short time ago, seemed so foreign to me. I looked back at them and wondered if what they were saying was true. I hated to even think that way, but I’d seen how money changed people over and over. Once they saw where I lived and how I grew up, would they treat me differently?
Part of me, a big part, wanted to forget the whole thing and stay hidden in the cottage forever. Another part of me knew it had to be done. She had to be called out and held accountable for her actions. Facing her again terrified me. She was a monster and one who controlled my life for far too long. I had given her all the power she needed to destroy my life from the inside. I should have fought harder when my dad brought her in and not sat back and been the good child. Always obeying him, trying to make him happy, had cost me everything. She wasn’t going to take that from me again. Not with my new family.
“Okay. If you promise you won’t leave me too. How do we do this?” I asked. It was a huge risk trusting anyone, but I had to start somewhere. So far they hadn’t given me a reason not to trust them. They had done everything they said they would, but I’ve been fooled before.
There were children when I was growing up that acted like they were my friends, but it was only to get close to my family and see what we really had. The help my parents hired were also on the list of ones we had to be careful with. The staff we had when my father passed were the ones who proved over and over what loyalty looked like. They were no longer help but family to us and they saw us the same way.
“Sno, why are you crying?” Lars asked.
Zane, who was sitting right next to me, gently squeezed my hand and wiped away the stray tear with the other hand not holding me.
“I was thinking about all the people I’ve lost in my life and praying you wouldn’t be one of them,” I said and looked the sweet man in the eyes. He was as vulnerable as I was, but he wasn’t as afraid to show that side of him. The child-like mannerism wouldn’t allow him to be false. He was a walking lie detector and as I watched him, I realized that he would have told me if they weren’t being truthful. They wouldn’t be able to keep things from him forever and once he knew, he would come to me and tell me even if he wasn’t supposed to because lying wasn’t built into who he was.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” Rasmus chimed in.
Looks from around the table flew in his direction. One who hardly ever spoke, it was as firm of a statement as saying the sky was blue. He didn’t want me to leave either and that gave me a newfound strength.
“Okay. So, what’s the full plan?” I asked and gave them my best smile.
“It won’t be easy, Sno. You will have to face her and not back down. Being she was your stepmom and in control of your life for so long, she could easily break you without you even knowing it until it was too late. When you get there, you will have to go to a place in your mind where you feel in control and powerful. Stay in that mindset the whole time she is in front of you and don’t waver from it. Tell her what you know and how you know it. Make her feel the pressure until she gives in and admits what she’s done.
We will be in the house with you, but out of sight. As soon as you get a confession, Thijs and I will take care of her. The others will stay there with you. You will need the support when all of this is done, and I will make sure you get it.
After that, we will decide what we do. You will always have a place here with us. This is your home too. Besides, I think Zane would kill us if we all didn’t end up in the same spot after this,” Akio said and then winked at Zane.
Zane pretended to be upset, but the fiery red that engulfed his face told them all they needed to know. It wasn’t a surprise or shock to them that Zane and I magnetized together. We both had hard backgrounds, his a little worse than mine, and we were about the same age. He was the one who found me, so our bond was stronger than the others. He was the first person I’d trusted since Jasmine and the one I had given myself completely to for the first time in my life.
“She can do what she wants,” Zane said but there wasn’t much force to back up his words.
“I want to be with you guys,” I said and squeezed his hand under the table. “I feel like you are my family now and nothing, not even getting my home back, will change that. I would rather be here, in the middle of the woods, with you than to be in that big, empty, lonely house filled with horrible memories.”
“Not all of them can be bad, Sno,” Bran said.
“No, but there aren’t a lot of good. Most of my good memories are with Jasmine and I don’t know where she is anymore.”
“Who’s Jasmine?” Lars asked in a high, squeaky voice. It was the one he used when he was excited about something. Meeting someo
ne new would do that to him I’ve learned.
“Jasmine was my friend and my stepmom made sure she was one of the first to leave right after she killed my father. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her.”
“I’m sorry she did all of this to you, Sno. We will do what we can to help fix a little of it,” Akio said.
“Thank you, but you guys already have.”
24
One week later
* * *
Standing in the back of the house I grew up in had me so nervous. I was fighting back the vomit that begged to come out. Stomach in knots and hands shaking, I turned to look at the seven unlikely men who became my family who were standing behind me like a human wall. They gave me the strength I needed to open that door and walk in.
It creaked so loud that I was sure my presence had been announced through the whole house. When I didn’t see anyone come into the back kitchen area, I moved farther into the house. Walking past the stove and around the corner to the door that led to the dining room, a new wave of feelings washed over me. The last time I had eaten in there was the night my stepmom tried to sell me to the nasty man, Daan. That was the night I learned how horrible she really could be and that was the night I ran for my life.
It felt like forever ago and like it was yesterday all at the same time. I could still hear her voice laughing as he carted me away to see if I was still pure or not. I could smell him and feel his grubby hands on the small of my back as he led me into the small study room off the living room. The hopelessness and dread that washed over me in waves, trying to drown me that night came flooding back and I had to shake my head to keep in the moment. If I was off even a little, she would overpower me again. I couldn’t do that to Akio and the others. Not when they had as much on the line as I had then. If she caught me and defeated me, she would for sure take them down too and that wasn’t going to work for me.
