Keeley's Fight (The Protectors Series)

by Donn, KL

  *******

  Walking inside the house Keeley realized she had no idea where the kitchen was. Stopping dead in the doorway, she got ran into from behind. “Oops, sorry darlin’.” Tyler tried for remorse, but she could hear the smirk in his voice, plus his hands that he’d wrapped around her to land on her stomach.

  Smiling, she turned her head to look up at him. “You don’t sound very sorry, Tyler.”

  “You got me, I’m not. But that’s only because you feel so good in my arms.” Leaning down he brought his face closer to hers. So close, she could feel every puff of breath and practically feel his lips on hers. If she just stood up on her tip toes, she would surely lock lips with him.

  Seeing his eyes widen in surprise, she didn’t realize what was happening until her lips touched his and she was doing exactly what she had just thought. Closing her eyes she decided to enjoy the moment and his kiss. Opening her mouth, she touched her tongue to his lips and he opened his mouth and met her tongue with his own. Sighing, she let him explore her mouth the way she secretly hoped he would one day explore her body. Lifting her uninjured arm up and around to the back of his neck, she pulled his head down farther into hers. Hearing him moan she started to pull away, but he reached up and put his hand on her throat, just below her jaw holding her in place, which she enjoyed immensely. Seeing a flash go off behind her eyes, she thought nothing of it until Tyler pulled his head up and smiled at her, but it was the look in his eyes that left her wondering what was going on.

  Breathless she asked, “What’s with the look?”

  Glancing towards Nathaniel, she saw he had a camera in his hands and an amused expression on his face. “Sorry Butterfly, I couldn’t resist,” he responded smiling.

  Blushing, but secretly thrilled to see it she asked, “Where’s the kitchen?”

  Nathaniel turned to show her the way, so she followed. Entering the kitchen she was immediately in love with it. Everything matched: the fridge, stove, dishwasher, and what she assumed was a wine cooler were all stainless steel. “Geez, it all looks brand new!” She exclaimed.

  The stove was a double range, the fridge had double doors with an ice dispenser on one side and the freezer in the bottom. The wine cooler was glass, so you could see inside to know how much and what was in there.

  Then there was the rest of the kitchen. The cupboards on the bottom were a gleaming white with black marble tops, while the upper cupboards were the same white but had glass doors so you could see inside. It was absolutely stunning. There was a breakfast nook separating the kitchen and dining room that held the coffee maker and a hanging rack for the coffee cups. The dining room was just as stunning, yet elegantly simple. There was a matching dining table in a gorgeous cherry finish that could seat at least eight people, with a buffet and hutch to hold some very nice looking china.

  “This is stunning you guys,” Keeley enthused as she turned back to them, only to find they were watching her take it all in. Smiling shyly she asked where the coffee was, and got to work, as best she could with her sore arm, making it and getting everything on the breakfast bar for them. Clearing her throat she inquired, “What do you guys normally do on your days off?”

  “I guess it depends on what we feel like, or what’s going on around the city. Sometimes we’ll go down to Dallas to catch a Cowboys or Stars game. Or hang out with the folks or Kenny. This time though we were just gonna hang out at home and do some work around here,” Nathaniel told her.

  Taking that in while she poured them all coffee, she thought about the job she was going to be starting soon. She was excited about this new adventure in her life. The idea that they provided security meant that they helped people, right? Lost in thought she didn’t hear Tyler calling her name.

  “Keeley, are you ok?” He asked.

  “Oh yes, yes, I’m fine.” She smiled weakly.

  “What are you thinking about, Butterfly?” Nathaniel asked.

  “Umm… Everything and nothing.” She laughed. “I’m excited about working for you and starting fresh, but I’m really nervous about it because I’ve got no experience in well… anything. I didn’t even finish high school, let alone be able to learn to use a computer. The only thing I’ve done in the last five years is waitress and clean houses. I hardly think that qualifies me for what you want me to do.”

  “I told you, we’ll teach you and you’ll have help from Julia before she retires, which won’t be for a few more months. Plus, if you’d like, you can enroll in a computer course to help you learn the ins and outs of them,” Tyler reminded her.

  Taking a deep breath, she smiled at their generosity and asked the next question plaguing her at the moment. “You said yesterday at the restaurant that you were attracted to me, what does that mean exactly, and what do you want from me?”

  Clearing his throat Nathaniel told her, “Well Butterfly, it means we like you, we feel like there could be something here for us to explore. All three of us. Ty and I both want you; and not as just some fling either. We want it all with you, do you understand?”

  “I..I..I think so. You want to share me? Together?”

  “Yes, baby doll. But we will never, and I mean never, make you do anything you don’t want to do. We will cherish you like the princess you are. We want to take care of you,” Tyler professed with the biggest smile she’d seen from him yet.

  Ducking her head to take a drink of her coffee, she was equally thrilled and scared spit less at this. They were the first people to ever be kind to her, let alone want to take care of her. Tread carefully here, they could still hurt and use you. Her inner voice kept trying to interfere with what her heart wanted so badly… To be loved. It’s the only thing she ever wanted and never got. Not from the parents she was forced to slave for, not from the friends she thought she had until she was forced to drop out of school, and never once from any of the seedy employers that hired her for barely minimum wage and made her do the most filthy jobs.

  Deciding she wanted to get to know them better was easier said than done. She had serious trust issues, especially with men. “Would it be ok if I asked you guys some questions?”

  “Anything,” they both replied smiling at her.

  “Ummm, gosh, I don’t know where to start.” Smiling sheepishly over her coffee. “How old are you both?”

  “Well, I’m 32 and Ty here turned 30 not long ago,” Nate responded, shocking her at their age. It didn’t bother her, the age difference. She just didn’t think they looked quite that old.

  “Is Kennedy your only sibling?”

  “You bet, thank fuck! The girl has been a pain in our asses since the day she was born! Spoilt little princess,” Tyler chimed in with a smile, so she knew that while it may be true, they both still loved her very much.

  “And you’re Marines, right? I’ve heard, once a Marine always a Marine,” she said it in such a gruff voice, mimicking a masculine tone that Nathaniel and Tyler both burst out laughing. “Yeah baby, that’s right. Marine for life!” Tyler told her.

  “How does your arm feel, Butterfly?”

  “It’s fine, Nathaniel. Just a little sore.” She smiled at him.

  Struggling with how to ask her next question, and maybe the most important one, Keeley just had to know if she was the first woman they’d shared together? Thinking about what her room looked like, she had the feeling that no she wasn’t, but had they used that room with someone else? Or was she just special? Clearing her throat she mumbled out, “Have you shared women before?” Looking down and holding her breath, she waited for their answer.

  “Darlin’, look at me,” Tyler coaxed her. Looking up, she saw their serious faces and waited. “We’ve shared before a few times, we like it. It makes us feel complete. But never, and I mean never, have we found a woman that we’ve wanted to bring home or spend more than a few nights with.”

  Interrupting him Nathaniel continued, “It takes a special kind of woman to be able to have this type of relationship Butterfly, and honestly, we have yet t
o find a woman who has wanted more than the thrill of saying she’s been with two men. With you, we want it all. Everything. You understand?” He asked.

  At her nod, Nathaniel went on to tell her that when they bought the house and renovated it, they knew that no woman would enter their domain until they brought home the one that would complete them. That they would marry. That even though her room was built for three, she was the only one who had ever slept in that bed. Essentially, the room was hers for as long as she was with them. It helped ease some of Keeley’s anxiety, but she was still nervous. Still had doubts that they wouldn’t want her once they learnt of her past. Deciding not to dwell on it anymore for now, she just enjoyed the quiet moment they were having, not prepared for their next question. She knew it was coming sooner rather than later, so she should have expected it. She just wasn’t ready to trust them with those answers yet, though. Because in all honesty, who would want her when even her own parents didn’t?

  “Do you want to tell us what happened yesterday, before you came to the restaurant? You can trust us,” Tyler implored, looking her in the eye. She saw the warmth, the concern, but she just wasn’t ready. Shaking her head, she stood up and went back out the front door to sit on the swing she noticed on the porch earlier.

  Chapter 8

  She shut down. He could see it happening as soon as the words left his mouth. Her face was devoid of emotion, and her eyes went sad before they went dead, completely. “What do we do, Nate?” He asked, not really expecting an answer, but hopeful for one none the less.

  “She needs time to trust us, Ty. She’ll open up when she’s ready. We just need to be prepared for everything that’s going to come with her story. If I had to guess, it was pure hell,” Nate answered him solemnly before getting up and going to their home gym in the basement.

  Ty sat there thinking for what felt like hours, but in reality was probably only twenty minutes or so, when he heard his cell phone ringing from the counter. Picking it up, he said, “Go for Maxwell.”

  “That crazy psycho thing you and your brother called a girlfriend, at one time, is here again Tyler Maxwell. I told you the next time she showed up I was going to sick Cooper on her. You have five minutes.” Their secretary, Julia, didn’t even give him a chance to reply before she hung up on him. Sighing he got up, thinking over their very, very short encounter with that viper. They should have known better than to get involved with her, she was too forward with her pursuit of them for their usual tastes. They had sex with her one time, over a year ago, and they have been avoiding her like the plague ever since. He was pretty sure she was like Lyme disease, only in human form. Once you’ve got it, it never leaves!

  Sending a quick text to Nate that he was heading to the office to deal with something, because you don’t interrupt him when he’s working out, or you risk being tossed around like a sack of potatoes. He grabbed his keys and walked out the front door. Stopping in front of Keeley, he bent down and told her, “I’ve gotta head to the office for about an hour. Nate’s downstairs in the gym, but help yourself to anything while I’m gone, alright?”

  Nodding her head she finally looked at him. “Will you be gone long?”

  “No baby doll, maybe an hour or so.”

  “Ok,” she whispered back. Kissing her cheek and heading for his truck, he starts the short drive to work. Pulling up outside of their building, which is basically just an old warehouse that they had renovated to fit their security firm’s needs, he saw Julia kept her word about calling in Cooper. Coop was an old Marine buddy they hired about two years ago, when he and his best friend Dane left the service. Closer than brothers, those two always stuck together.

  Chuckling at the scene before him, Cooper with scratches down his face, and the viper, Tawnya, in a headlock, he couldn’t help but be slightly amused. “What’s going on, Coop?” He asked, like this was an everyday occurrence, which lately it’s been happening frequently enough that it almost could be.

  “Same old, same old, man. Just taking out your trash.” And let the screeching commence in 3…2… “Ahhhhhhh, I am not trash, you… you oversized ape!!! Let me go this instant, or I’m calling the police and pressing charges for assault!!!”

  “Do it, you slick little viperous leech! They’re on their way now to arrest YOU for trespassing and assault on poor Cooper,” was Julia’s smooth reply. It only knocked the wind out of her sails for about ten seconds before she started spewing her crap again.

  “Cooper, you best let me go before I scream rape! And Ty, baby, how could you do this to me, to us? You, Nate, and I are soul mates. We’re meant for each other!” She practically whined, only embarrassing herself further.

  Getting sick of her shit, and tired of always playing nice, Ty exploded on her. “We fucked you one time Tawnya, one miserable fucking time, and honestly it wasn’t even that memorable. You need to get over yourself. Accept the fact that Nate and I were done with you as soon as the condoms were off. Move the fuck on, we sure as hell have!”

  “What?” She whispered venomously. Shit, he thought. “What do you mean you’ve moved on? You’re fucking somebody else? Who the hell is she? I’ll…” Cutting off her words as the police arrived, she managed to get out of Cooper’s hold and was walking towards her car when the cops stopped her.

  “Miss, you’re going to have to come with us, please.” The first officer said, while his partner was talking to Coop. “I don’t think so, Officer… Adams,” she purred while running her finger up and down his shirt. Thankfully the officer obviously wasn’t falling for her slutty act. Slapping a cuff on one wrist while grabbing the other hand, he had her turned, cuffed, and in the back of the car in a matter of seconds. Shaking his head, the officer climbed into a very noisy car as Tawnya won’t stop cussing up a storm.

  With a twinge of regret for how truly fucked up that woman is, Ty walked over to Cooper and the other officer, just catching the tail end of their conversation. “…Nah man, I’m fine, just get the psycho viper out of here.”

  Chuckling, the officer started walking away and said, “You got it, guys.”

  *******

  Frustration ate at him as Nate was running his eighth mile on the treadmill. He wasn’t sure what to do about Keeley and her fears. He knew things were bad, but the way she just turned her emotions off scared him. He worried that maybe she couldn’t open up to them, tell them what has her so skittish and sad. He truly worried for her piece of mind. Twenty years old and she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He hoped one day she would trust them enough to open up about her past.

  Hearing footsteps on the stairs, he started to slow the treadmill to a steady walk. Looking up, he gave Keeley a welcoming smile and motioned her the rest of the way down with a wave of his hand. “Hey, sweet Butterfly, how are you feeling?”

  Shrugging her shoulder she stepped up to the treadmill next to him, and asked with her eyes if she could go on. “Go ahead, do you know how to work it?” Shaking her head no, he stopped his and hopped off to help her turn it on to a nice steady walk. Getting back on his, they just walked, side by side, listening to the pound of their feet on the belts.

  Damn, did Nate sure wish he knew what she was thinking?

  A little while later, Nate could hear Ty open the front door. Keeley had to be into some deep thoughts, because she didn’t move when he walked in and started coming down the stairs. It wasn’t until Ty was at the bottom, and moved into her field of vision that she startled and jumped and nearly fell. Nate’s quick reflexes and grabbing her upper arm is all that stopped her.

  “Deep thoughts?” Ty asked her, noticing her preoccupation until she had jumped.

  Shrugging again, she just said, “Not really, just thinking about what I’m going to do.”

  Getting an idea of where her head was at now, Nate asked her, “What do you mean? You’re staying here and coming to work with us in a couple of weeks. We talked about this yesterday, Butterfly.”

  “I know, but I don’t want to be a
burden or take advantage of your kindness. I’m just…” Cutting her thoughts off, they waited to see what else she was going to say, but she just stopped.

  “You just what, darlin’?” Ty tried getting her to open up.

  “You guys are you; kind, open, and come from what I assume is a nice family. And I’m just… well… me… There’s nothing to me. I’m nobody. I can’t even remember the last time someone has been so kind to me.” She whispered that last part with a huge amount of shame in her voice. “What if I fail you? Or you finally realize I’m just not worth all the effort you’re trying to put into me? I’ll be more broken than I am now.”

  Never in his life had Nate felt as hopeless as he did in that moment.

  *******

  Hearing those words from her mouth nearly gutted Ty; he didn’t know what to say. So he did what any red-blooded Texan would do—pulled her off that treadmill she hadn’t stopped walking on since he startled her, and slammed his mouth down on hers. Slipping his tongue in her mouth at her gasp of surprise, he took it easy and did a slow sweep of her mouth. Leaving no crevice untouched. When she melted against him and grabbed his biceps, he knew he could finally plunder the way he wanted. She tasted like the richest chocolate, and her coffee from this morning. Putting one hand under her hair at the back of her neck and one in the small of her back, he pulled her body up and closer. Feeling her soft curves against his hard body just made his cock harder, but when she moaned and whimpered, he felt like a king.

  Feeling her tense slightly, he was going to slow down and pull away until he heard Nate whisper in her ear, “You look perfect moaning into my brother’s mouth Butterfly, now turn around and give me some of that sweet surrender.” She didn’t even hesitate, just turned and did Nate’s bidding. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she whimpered and started gyrating on his brother. Pressing himself closer to her, Ty buried his face in the side of her neck and just breathed her in. She was intoxicating. When she started pulling away from Nate they let her, not wanting to overwhelm her by forcing her to do something she wasn’t ready for.