Trust went both ways.
Dinner that night was a more subdued affair. Valery had left a coq au vin in Sam's oven, as he had to be at his restaurant ‘Epicurean’ for the dinner service, and Oz was his designated pair. Ri and Lux had training and then Lux had to go with Ri to work in order to dampen the effects of his Lust juju. I discovered they rarely went anywhere alone, except Eli. Apparently neurosurgeons all had god complexes anyway, so the effects of his sin didn't register too much amongst his peers. He had also negotiated little to no bedside contact with his patients.
That just left Tolliver, Sam and I to drink way too much red wine and eat dinner in Sam's beautifully designer apartment. His Nordic genes really shone through, with white and a pale grey being the primary color scheme, from the walls to the carpet. His cabinets and his table were a pale Norwegian wood. It was like stepping into an interior design magazine. I was petrified I was going to spill red wine on something.
Every time either one of them smiled at me, or flirted (which Sam did a lot, he was an incorrigible flirt) my heart raced and I lost concentration. It was inevitable that I was going to spill something in the plush white carpet.
They made great dinner companions, telling me all the gossip of about the New York Fashion scene, of which there was a lot. I now knew who was suffering from an eating disorder, who got blacklisted from all high end fashion magazines for sleeping with an editor's husband, and who got told they were too fat to be a Victoria's Secret Angel. The fashion scene was a battlefield that I was glad I didn't have to play on.
What really struck me was that Sam and Tolliver seemed so close, like the flip sides of the same coin. They finished each other's sentences, laughed at the same jokes. I wondered if they were a couple.
We all retired to Sam's living room after dinner, and I was so full my belly bloated into a little food baby. They sat either side of me on the couch, the bottle of wine close by on the coffee table.
What I wouldn't give to be the meat in that man sandwich. Ace had been quiet for most of the day, but apparently this was too much. I blushed, and Tolliver quirked a brow. I hoped one of their superpowers wasn't reading minds.
“So tell us about your family? I know your parents are deceased, but there is no one else? ” Sam asked, sipping his third glass of wine. His lips were perfect. Full and shaped like Cupid’s bow. They looked soft and almost feminine in a face that was all male.
“My parents died in a road accident when I was sixteen, and the lawyers tried to find some living relatives, but either there were none or they didn't want to be found and be saddled with a chronically ill teenager. So I petitioned to become an emancipated minor and my trust funds were released. I’ve been on my own ever since.”
“My condolences,” Tolliver said, and I was beginning to think that his accent was part Brazilian, with his golden skin and square cut jaw. But his almond eyes, dark straight brows and dark black hair hinted at Japanese too. Whatever the combination, he was the epitome of male beauty.
I realized they were waiting for me to say something and instead I was staring like a goofball.
“Thanks. It was a long time ago now.”
Tolliver bit his full lower lip, and I physically had to drag my eyes away.
“And you've been alone ever since?”
I shook my head. “I decided to move to New York to be closer to all my specialists. I answered a ‘roommate wanted’ ad for a tiny apartment, the other occupant being the youngest child of a huge Irish family from Boston, who'd run away to become a singer at eighteen. Her name was Clary Mulligan and after twelve failed auditions, and sitting with me through round after round of chemo, she decided to put herself through school and become a nurse instead. Now she's a nurse for Doctors Without Borders.” I couldn't help but smile anytime I thought about eighteen year old Clary. She was something else. She didn't take shit from anybody, which is why she would have hated the entertainment industry but loves being a nurse. When the chemo was bad, she'd sat beside me while I hugged the toilet bowl, gagging every time I puked but refusing to leave me without any support. She’s the best. “I would have been lost without her in those first couple of years.”
They were both giving me soft looks of polite pity. “Well, she has our eternal gratitude,” Tolliver said in his usual stuffy tone. There was something haughty and autocratic about him that made me desperately want to know what his previous life was like, but I held my tongue. They'd tell me when they were ready.
“You should remember that, because she is going to have a shit-fit when she finds out I've moved in with seven hot guys who were basically strangers. Not to mention the fact that you guys are all basically zombies.”
Sam laughed and Tolliver looked indignant.
“I am not a zombie!”
Sam launched himself at me, making chomping motions at my faces. “Brainnnsssss!”
I squealed and scooted back onto Tolliver's lap to escape. Sam squashed me between them, miming snacking on my forehead. I couldn't breathe from laughing. Maybe the wine had gone to my head, but it was nice just playing around.
“Don't worry, I'll save you,” Tolliver whispered against my ear, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin.
I shivered. I wasn't laughing anymore, but I definitely didn't want to move. I looked up at Sam, and saw the heat I felt mirrored in his eyes. He knelt on the floor between my knees. The buzz of excitement ran through my body as Sam lowered his mouth to mine.
“May I?” his voice was just a low rumble, and it went straight to my lady parts.
“Yes,” I breathed back. What was it about these men that sent my hormones into overdrive?
“And me?” Tolliver asked, sweeping my hair from my nape and placing a lips there.
“Yes.”
Then Sam lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me, softly at first, sipping at my lips. Then harder, his tongue running along my lower lip before plunging into my mouth.
I don't think they're gay.
Pleasure blocked out Ace. We'd always had an agreement that she mostly stuck to. She stayed the hell out of my head during sex. It was like having someone watching me otherwise. Not another participant, but a commentator. It was not fun. So we'd come to an agreement after I'd chucked a hissy fit.
The force of Sam's body pressed me back into the hard torso of Tolliver, who was trailing kisses from my ear down the curve of my shoulder. A hand crept up under my shirt and I held my breath as gentle fingers ran up over my ribs to tease the edge of my breasts.
Sam pushed his long lean body between my thighs and I could feel the evidence of his attraction pressing against my leg.
There were hands and lips all over my body, and Tolliver was whispering something to me in another language that I couldn't understand but set my body on fire anyway. Someone was moving my t-shirt up over my stomach, higher until Sam moved his mouth away from mine and trailed his lips down to the swell of my breasts. I felt light headed, my breaths coming in pants.
Sam's front door banged open and we flew apart like guilty teenagers. I jerked away quickly and banged the back of my head into Tolliver's chin, and he let out a yelp of pain.
Oz and Valery stood there, worry etched on their faces. As they took in the scene before them, Oz’s expression morphed into amusement.
“Your health alarm went off. I thought you were about to have a heart attack. I think we are going to have to recalibrate your wristband. I better cancel the alert before the rest of the cavalry arrives.”
Sam swore. “Too late.”
I looked behind Valery and Oz to see a stormy looking Lux. Uh oh.
Chapter Five
“What were you two assholes thinking? Hey, it's our only chance at redemption’s first night in our place, how about we get her naked and have a threesome, I'm sure her weak heart will be fine? Are you completely stupid?”
Lux had been walking back and forth in front of the couch for ten minutes chewing out Sam and Tolliver, only stopping every so often
to unconsciously run a hand over my head, as if he needed to reassure himself again and again that I was okay. Then he'd start up again.
“I had to leave Ri alone at the club and it's probably turned into a massive orgy that'll get the place shut down or at least create a scene that could get us noticed. All because you guys couldn't keep your hands or your dicks to yourselves.”
“Don't be such a prick, Lux. I've seen how you look at her, you want her just as much as we do. It's like a physical ache that I can't get rid of,” Tolliver argued and I whipped my head towards him. They felt the pull too?
“Of course I want to make love to her, she's beautiful and sweet and brave and her soul calls to mine in a way that can only be preordained. But I have something called restraint, maybe you guys should try it sometime? It's not that damn hard!”
Oz laughed, “I bet something is damn hard.”
Lux gave him nasty look and he just smirked back. No fear of Wrath in that one.
I studied Lux’s face, searching for the truth. He couldn't know that I was any of those things in the time we'd known each other, and I wasn't actually very sweet, or beautiful or even brave. But he'd sounded so sure.
“You guys really feel that way? I mean, I am hopelessly attracted to you as well, but I just thought it was my hormones and the fact I haven't gotten laid since I moved to New York. To be honest, I was feeling a little guilty that I was so ready to jump into bed earlier with Oz, and now with Sam and Tolliver. It's not like me. I don't do that kinda thing! This feeling has to be something else, something to do with your Sins.”
Lux swung a dark look at Oz, who put up his hands in a placating gesture. “It was just a little kiss. I didn't think it was a good idea to put moves on her the first day she was here.”
Sam groaned. “Thanks, man.”
Tolliver rolled his eyes at the guys in the room. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight against his body. “Never feel guilty for your desires. They let you know you're alive. Especially not your desire for us. We feel the same need you do, probably worse. Lux is right, we should have had better control. But I'm not sorry about what happened.” He leaned in close and whispered, “I can't wait to get you naked and under me. Or over me.” He pressed a small kiss to the corner of my mouth. “Soon, when the Doc gives his approval, though between you and me, he isn't all that unbiased either. Not that I think he'd risk your health or anything.”
I leaned back against the couch and looked at the men in the room. My gaze stopped on Valery, who'd been quiet since he got back.
“You too?”
He nodded slowly. “Very much so.” Hunger warred with the sadness in his eyes.
What a quandary. You have seven hot guys lusting after your body, who want to turn your life into the porn version of Snow White and the Seven Buff Dwarfs. My heart bleeds for you. Ace could bludgeon you to death with her sarcasm sometimes.
I let out a little frustrated huff. But what if they don't want me, it's just their response to me being the Redeemer or whatever? Some predestined attraction that would happen even if I looked like a swamp troll.
Ace let out a sigh so heavy, it was a wonder the guys couldn't hear it. Who the fuck cares? You like them, you think they are hot, they are all nice guys. They seem to like you, if the bulge in Tolliver's pants is anything to go by. So why the hell not, already? And if you die getting banged against the wall by some ancient fucking warrior, all the better. Geez, you can be such a damn over-thinker sometimes.
I hated it when Ace was right; it made her smug and completely unbearable for a week.
The door to Sam's apartment opened once more, and Ri walked in. He took one look at our faces and cocked his head to the side.
“Did I miss something good?”
“We walked in on Tolli and Sam getting it on with Cady, Lux chewed them out for their poor timing and bad manners. Then Cady found out we are all attracted to her,” Oz summarized, taking a seat on the couch.
“Hell yeah we are attracted to her. I've been walking with a hard on like a steel bar since I touched her cheek on the subway. I've tried to make myself scarce so I don't overwhelm her too early though. I find it hard not to touch her.”
Lux pointed a hand at Ri and glared at Sam and Tolliver. “See, restraint.” He turned back to Ri. “How was the rest of your shift?”
“I don't envy the clean-up guys. Get a black light in there and the whole place would light up like a messed up Rorschach inkblot. But it was no worse than Saturday nights, so I think it'll be fine”
“Saturday nights are S&M night at the club,” Tolliver informed me.
Ri looked at me, his eyes hooded and a slow smile curling his face. “You should come one Saturday. I'll take you. It'll be lots of fun.”
He made fun sound like the dirtiest word in the world and my eyes got even wider.
Lux clapped his hands together so loudly, I jumped in my seat.
“That's enough. I'm escorting Arcadia to bed before you all give her a heart attack. Breakfast meeting in the morning with Eli so we can talk this out like adults instead of horny teenagers.”
Oz snapped a salute, and Sam gave him the finger.
Valery came over and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. “Bonne nuit, Cady. Sweet dreams.”
I don't know how those simple words managed to sound like the promise of pleasure, but they did.
Lux gave a frustrated grunt, took my hand in his and pulled me towards the door, muttering obscenities under his breath. We rode the lift up to my floor in silence, though Lux still held my hand in his. When the elevator groaned to a stop, he walked me to the door.
“Mini-Oz, unlock User: Arcadia’s door,” he said loudly.
“Access denied. You do not have permission to unlock this door.”
Lux grunted. “Good. Those horny bastards won't be able to sneak in here in the middle of the night.”
“Are you really worried that would happen?” I asked, manually unlocking the door with my key. Old habits.
“No, but it makes me feel better anyway.”
I stood in my doorway and looked at Lux in the dim light of the hallway.
“Did you mean what you said or were you just making a point? About wanting me? Do you want Arcadia or the Redeemer?”
He reached out and grabbed my arms, pulling me gently against his chest. He stared down at me, his eyes molten silver with heat.
“It was the truth. I feel an attraction to you as the Redeemer, I'm sure, but you are irresistible to me as Arcadia. It's taking everything in me not to lift you against the wall and worship your body one inch at a time.” His voice was soft, but I could hear the gravelly need in it.
“What if I want that too?”
A groan tore from him and in one swoop, he had his hands under my ass and pressed my back against the wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively and gasped at his hardness pressed against my core.
Then he kissed me, gently but with so much feverish passion that I was breathless. He sucked on my lower lip, biting it gently before flicking his tongue over the tiny hurt. I moaned, my body desperately trying to push closer to his.
He drew away, panting hard. He buried his face in the curve of my neck and I ran my head over the soft spikes of his hair.
“Soon.” He lowered me to the ground and left without another word.
The morning was beautiful, the warm sun biting into the skin that was exposed along my shoulders, my pretty blue sundress not hiding much of them from the sun. We sat at a large glass table on the deck near the pool. A plunger of some kind of fancy coffee sitting in the center of the table, along with pastries from a local bakery and an array of fresh sliced fruit. I felt like I was living the life of a movie star.
Lux and Eli were swimming laps, and I was watching them like a hungry piranha. They were swimming while we waited for Oz to arrive.
Finally, Oz dragged himself up the stairs to the roof, wearing nothing but faded tartan pajama pants that were on
e stiff gust of wind away from falling around his thighs. He scratched his beard and rubbed his eyes with his forearm. His chest had a dusting of strawberry blonde hair that glinted in the sun, trailing down over abs and thickening just above the waistband of his pajamas.
My brain melted. He walked over and kissed the top of my head.
“Mornin' Cady.” Then he reached for my coffee cup and emptied half of it in one swallow.
“Hey!” I punched his abs, which only resulted in me hurting my hand and him laughing.
“I'll make you a fresh one.” He leaned past me and grabbed the pot, and I was momentarily transfixed by the two dimples that sat on his lower back, just above his ass.
He stuck the mug back under my nose, smug satisfaction on every feature when he busted me perving.
“Get over it. You know I think you're hot.”
He laughed and sat down beside me. Lux pulled himself out of the pool, and Eli followed suit.
Jesus. I was gonna go blind.
They sat down at the table and grabbed a pastry.
“How are you settling in, Cady? Your first night sounded… eventful.” Eli sounded far more amused than Lux had. Though he hadn't walked on me about to get busy.
“I'm almost all unpacked. The apartment is beautiful. I can't thank you guys enough for letting me stay here. Are you sure I can't pay you guys rent, or help out in some way?”
Valery returned holding a small silver dish and handed it to me. I lifted it to my nose and breathed in the smell of dark, rich melted chocolate. He passed me a plate of fruit and pastries. “For dipping,” he said with a smile, sitting down the end beside Eli. If Valery kept feeding me this way, I'd be the size of a house by Christmas.
Sam laughed. “You are saving our immortal souls. Pretty sure that's payment enough.”
Lux grunted his agreement.
Eli nodded. “Quite. That brings up my next point. I'm not entirely sure how exactly you are meant to redeem us. Lucifer was a little vague on the details. I assume we have to make amends for the sins of our former lives, but how we are meant to do that and where you come into the equation I do not know.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 4
