by KT Strange
Chelsea and the guys from Glory Rev saved us before we could move any further. A chorus of shrieks went up when Chelsea stepped out in front of us, stealing the spotlight instantly. I wasn’t even mad. I knew what she was doing. Dean and Aaron breezed by us, Dean stopping to clap Darcy on the shoulder.
“You back, short stuff?” he asked affectionately, his teeth white in his face as he smiled. She blinked at him and then smiled back.
“If they’ll have me.”
Dean looked at the way Ace was clinging to her, and he snickered.
“Yeah I don’t think that’s a problem.” He turned away and walked up behind Chelsea, where she was signing autographs and taking selfies.
“C’mon.” Eli motioned to the van. I fell into step with Darcy and Ace, Cash right behind me, and Charlie coming up on Darcy’s other side. Together, surrounding her, we walked to the van. I had questions and I’m sure was going to get answers, but for now, we just needed to make sure she was clean, dry, and safe.
Thirteen
Darcy
Nothing had ever felt so right than being surrounded by the guys. The energy hummed in the air as Charlie opened the door to the van for me. I stepped in, Ace’s fingers wrapped around my hand as he helped me up. I was still dirty from my long trip, first the ride to the airport and then buying a plane ticket when I looked like a disheveled hobo. I’d picked up a sweatshirt at the gift shop and traded it out for my wrecked sweater once I’d gotten my ticket and was through security. There hadn’t been any sweat pants, else I would have swapped out my yoga pants too. My skin had itched throughout the whole flight, but my heart had been glad to be on my way to see the guys.
And now I was with them. They crowded into the tour van, and even with the tall ceiling, it was a little much with them all standing around, staring at me.
There was so much I needed to say.
“I’m sorry.”
That was a good start. Eli cleared his throat. Charlie’s eyes were leveled on my face, although his expression was soft, almost understanding. I didn’t deserve his understanding. Ace moved to take my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. Finn brushed a gentle hand over the side of my face, thumb tucking a wild curl behind my ear.
Behind Eli, Cash stood, his blue eyes dark, lashes low as he didn’t look at me.
“We missed you.” Ace squeezed my fingers in his. “Are you back?”
“You mean am I leaving again?” I shook my head. “No. I’m back.”
Cash nodded his head.
“I’m gonna go talk to Ginny about merch," he said, voice rough. He opened the door and slipped out, leaving it open behind him. I watched him go for a moment when Finn pressed a kiss to my forehead. He was crowding me, but not in a way that I didn’t like. I had him on one side and Ace on the other. Charlie leaned close too and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, hugging me into his chest for a moment before pulling away.
“We gotta talk about social media, cause Chrissy took you off the accounts when you ghosted, but… yeah, don’t feel bad, we’ll sort it out.” Charlie chucked me under the chin and shot a look at Finn. “Glory Rev won’t be back in their bus for a while, if you wanna get clean,” he was speaking to me, but his eyes were on Finn. He left the four of us.
I knew where Ace and Finn stood on things, but Eli was a dark horse. Or dark wolf, I guess. His face was carefully neutral and I felt the weight of his judgement pressing me down. Anger flared in my gut. Who was he, to judge me? Who was he, really? What had he ever done? I’d survived, I’d survived my family, my father who’d tried to kill me. Creston’s assaults, not once, but twice. Them hunting me down like I was an animal. I was a fucking survivor and if he thought for one minute he was going to make me feel bad—
“We’re glad to have you back,” Eli interrupted my raging thoughts. His eyes flickered to the two men on either side of me. “Cash’ll talk to you later, I’m sure, but I want you to know, Miss Llewellyn, that it doesn’t matter what you were, or what we might have hoped you could do for us. We are grateful you returned to us.”
Well shit.
I swallowed my anger, feeling it fizzle out in my belly, thwarted and miserable. Eli inhaled, his chest threatening the tight cotton of his t-shirt. His eyes were dark as he gazed at me. Ace’s fingers were tight on mine, so tight it almost hurt.
“I am grateful you returned to us.” Eli stepped toward me, and for once I felt the shiver of energy from him, an almost painful need in his face as he looked down at me. For so many weeks he’d regarded me with barely veiled dislike, or so I’d thought. Ace let go of me, and Finn stepped away when Eli held out his hand.
Everything in me screamed to take it, that this was right. Cash had been an asshole, but Eli had been inscrutable for most of my time with the band. This felt like a new start. I stepped up and ignored his hand, wrapping my arms around his waist instead. I felt the heave of his chest under my ear when I hugged him. His hands landed on my shoulders and then slid down to the small of my back as he embraced me as well. I let out a slow, calming breath, and basked in his warmth.
Only Finn’s rumble, low, almost growl, made me pull away.
“I’d take that shower in GR’s bus,” Eli said, eyeing my mud-splattered yoga pants, as he stepped out of the van, a rare smile on his face. Before I could make a noise of outrage, Finn grabbed me by the hand.
“I’ll get towels,” Ace said, “meet you in there.” Finn looked down at me and pulled on my fingers. I followed. Glory Rev’s bus was unlocked and empty, the motor still running to power the lights. It was cool inside, and quiet. Finn didn’t say much, just walked back with me into the private area of the tour bus, to where the bathroom was. I kicked my shoes off, and the damp socks that had turned my skin wrinkly and pale over my journey. Finn gently helped me out of my sweatshirt and my yoga pants. His fingers hesitated when he brought them up to the straps of my bra.
I looked up at him, wondering if what had happened between me and the band would affect this, affect us. He let out a shaking breath and his eyes closed.
“Do you…” He seemed to steel himself against my possible answer. “Do you want me to leave you?” I knew he meant to get clean.
“No, Finn,” I whispered. His thumbs tucked under the straps of my bra and he kissed me as the thin fabric tumbled down my shoulders. His mouth was hot, tongue licking between my lips as I almost stumbled backward into the shower. He had me though, his hand at the small of my back, guiding me, not letting me trip. He pulled away, just for a minute, to yank off his t-shirt and shove his jeans down. His shoes hit the ground, bouncing out into the hall.
Finn’s eyes were locked on me, his hands going to my panties as he dragged them down my thighs. He bent, offering me his hand so I could hold it to keep steady as I stepped aside and the thin scrap of fabric was tossed behind him. A feeling of rightness, of perfect satisfaction, melted over me. This was where I was supposed to be. This was my family, the guys, these wolves disguised as men.
Finn turned on the shower, pushing down his boxer-briefs and kicking them out after the rest of our clothes. Hot water hit my skin and I sighed, closing my eyes. Finn stepped close to me, tugging the door shut behind him. Finally, we were alone, completely alone. His hands traced over my shoulders, down my arms, over my hands. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and kissed the palm of one of my hands, avoiding the cut there, then the other. I looked up at him.
Water droplets clung to his eyelashes, navigated the rough blond stubble on his cheeks and jaw. His blue eyes were a mixture of sad and relieved.
“Thought I was dying without you, sweetheart,” he said, kissing the inside of my wrist, before rubbing his cheek there. “Felt like I was dying. Felt like when we’d lost most of our pack, then almost the whole pack, and the heartstone, all at once.”
Guilt ate at me. I’d done that to him? I opened my mouth to speak but he hushed me.
“It’s done. You’re back. You’re back, right, for good? No more running?” His eyes se
arched my face. I couldn’t promise him a future like that though. We had no idea where the next day would take us. If my family came after me, if they found me… a small part of me thought I might run again, to keep the pack safe from discovery. My family hadn’t exactly been thrilled to hear I’d taken up with werewolves. But that’s the only reason I’d run, if it meant them surviving. He sighed, and his shoulders sagged. “Guess I can’t ask you to stick around when the rest of the guys haven’t made their feelings on the matter clear. Suppose I’m gonna have to convince you.”
He reached for me and I stood up on my tip-toes as we kissed again. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to convince me of anything. I loved him, I loved all of them in a way, and I felt like the longer I stayed with him, the more likely it was that I was going to feel for them just as deeply, just as passionately as I felt for him.
I wasn’t scared of that idea anymore. I was aching for it to happen, for that perfect rightness to click into place with the rest of the pack like it did with Finn. I knew, somehow, that he was hurting for that to happen too.
I wanted to tell him all of it, everything, but he backed me up against the wall in the small shower, his hands warm on my curves as he held me. Instead, I let my eyes drink him in, the water droplets everywhere, his tousled half-damp hair, the cut of his muscles… and… my cheeks flushed as my eyes scooped down low to the heavy hang of his cock, hard and firm, between his thighs. He followed my eyes, and his lips turned up.
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding all that apologetic. “It’s… hard, heh, not to lose it around you.” His bad pun startled a laugh out of me and he caught me in a kiss again, tilting my head back so far that I had to cling to him for balance. His body pressed into me, and I sighed against his lips.
This was what I needed. This was where I was meant to be.
“Mind if I…” he reached for the shampoo. My cheeks flushed.
“Um, that’s sweet, but you ever dealt with long curly hair? It’s no picnic.” I asked. His own blond hair was usually a tousled, finger-raked pile of soft curls, but I didn’t want him messing up my already abused locks. I already looked like a rat-nest. He gave me an amused glance.
“I lived through the sixties, sweetheart,” he teased, and I rolled my eyes. Maybe he was old as dirt as he liked to rub it in, but he didn’t act like it most of the time.
Finn poured out shampoo into my hands despite his supposed experience from long before I was born. “But it’s alright. You do the work. I’ll watch.” He took a step back to give me space, leaning against the other wall of the shower, stretching his arms up and behind his neck.
Okay, that wasn’t fair. The light from above us, a skylight, glittered over his wet skin, and the play of his muscles underneath that. I bit my lip and tried not to look, and instead focused on getting all the dirt out and the snarls tamed.
Finn made it more difficult when he wrapped one lazy hand around his cock and gave himself a stroke, root to tip, his tongue sliding along his lower lip at the same time. My breath stopped for a moment, my fingers tangled in my hair.
“Need help, sweetheart?” he asked, his breath not even hitching as he did it again. My cheeks were hot, hotter than they should’ve been from just the shower.
“Ass,” I muttered. His smile turned into a smirk and he passed me the conditioner with his spare hand as if he wasn’t slowly jacking himself off in front of me. It was a lazy intimacy I hadn’t been expecting, and it stole the breath from me. I rinsed off and slicked my curls up with conditioner before deciding to get a little of my own revenge.
Watching him carefully, I slid my hands down the curves of my breasts, before running my hands through my hair to get out the last of the conditioner and rinse off. He grinned and bit his lip, eyes following my movements.
“You gonna tease, then?” he asked, voice rough and raw.
“You started it.” My skin was so sensitive, as the water rushed over me and I let my hands fall so my fingers could tease a slow path down my belly.
“Mmm, sure did.” His eyes tracked my hands and when they reached my hips and one hand slipped between my thighs, he dropped all pretense at leaning back and letting me do the work. He reached for me and I happily went to him. His hands were on me in a second and he was lifting me up. My thighs split for him, legs wrapping around his hips. He kissed me again, hunger in each move of his tongue against mine.
He shuddered against me when I felt his cock graze my inner thigh and press into my entrance. Possessiveness roared up inside me, and I fisted my fingers in the hair at the back of his head. He was mine, all of him, especially these parts of him, these moments with him. His lips parted, and his hands slipped on my skin, letting me slide down onto him. I was so wet, and needed him so badly, that it didn’t even hurt in the slightest, and a whine escaped the back of my throat when he bottomed out in me.
Finn’s breath was shaking in and out between his lips.
“I’m here,” I whispered, knowing he needed to hear it, even as I was against him, and tight around him. He nodded, his eyes screwing shut. “I’m right here.” I kissed him again and moaned when he hitched his hips, pulling out to thrust back in again. Pleasure wound up my spine, sprawled across my skin, sang inside of me with each thrust as he held me in mid-air and took me. The sounds of us making love, having sex, echoed in the small shower, the sound of the rain barely covering it. I didn’t want anything else than to keep feeling him inside of me, reminding us both of where we belonged, with each other, with the pack. Elation, a panicked flutter of pleasure, had me clenching down on him hard as I came so close to the edge.
Finn held me steady, his eyes half-closed.
“Touch yourself, sweetheart,” he urged me. “Don’t have enough hands to make it right for you.” A blush warmed my face and I slid a hand down between us, working it between our pressed bellies until I was shivering and feeling the slick skin where we were joined. It was silly maybe, but I wanted to come with him, when he did. I wanted to feel connected to him as completely as I could. He took a step forward and pressed me into the wall of the shower.
I felt the acrylic wall flex under me, as it gave with the pressure of Finn’s powerful muscles working. He dropped his head to my shoulder and his mouth kissed me there, before he nosed along to the crook of my neck. The spot throbbed in response to his mouth brushing the skin and I cried out when he bit me, the pressure not enough to break the skin, but enough to break me.
My fingers froze on my clit, my muscles tensing as the pleasure I’d been chasing with him for minutes finally let loose, flooding all off my limbs with tremors that wouldn’t stop. My fingers were still in his hair, gripping tighter as his mouth stayed, fast to my neck and he thrust once more, and then growled into my skin. I felt the shudder of his muscles against my belly, and then he groaned. His hips were moving in small, slow rocking motions and he let out one final, low moan of pleasure.
“Shit, Darcy.” He lifted his head back to stare at the ceiling, his breathing coming hard and fast.
His shoulders slumped and his feet slipped on the wet floor, although not enough for us to go anywhere. The room was just too small. Still, it made me cling to him desperately, as I squirmed through the odd discomfort of him slipping out of my body. I wanted him back, close to me, for as long as possible. From the look on his face, he felt the same way.
He set me down with such gentleness, though, his hands skimming the lines of my body, until he cupped my face with his long fingers.
“I love you,” he said, kissing me slowly. “I love you, Darcy. You didn’t forget, did you?”
“How could I?” It felt like my heart was being ripped apart and put back together again and again. I leaned up to chase him for another kiss.
A knock on the door interrupted us. Finn froze for a moment and turned, pushing me fully behind him.
“It’s Ace,” he muttered and turned the knob on the door, letting it swing open.
True to Finn’s word, Ace stood in the
hall, a stunned look on his face. His pupils were blown wide, and if his arms hadn’t been clenched around the towels he’d brought, I thought he might have dropped them. I was half-hidden behind Finn anyway, but Ace found me, his expression a mixture of intent and hesitant.
I should have been ashamed, but I wasn’t. He’d seen me with Finn before, and I knew that, one day, we’d be together too. I smiled at him.
“I brought you some stuff,” he fumbled over the words and Finn chuckled. I punched Finn in the arm, and he had the grace to pretend it hurt. Ace glared at him and then cleared his throat. “I brought you some of my clothes, Darcy, I figured you’d need something clean…”
Finn grabbed a towel and passed it to me as he turned off the water. Cool air was rushing in, prickling my skin. Ace leaned back in the hallway, watching me as I dried off. The desire on his face, in his gaze, made me feel strong and powerful. It wasn’t like the feelings weren’t returned.
“Alright, show’s over,” Finn said as he grabbed his underwear, stepping out of the shower. “Let the lady dress, and we’ll meet her back at the van.” He grinned at me over his shoulder and winked. “If she can walk that is.”
