Finding Happiness
Page 7
“Told you you need looking after. Next time you don’t come out alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. I was with Leann and her friends.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re too sweet, too sexy, baby.” He eyed over her breasts, and she felt it. Her nipples hardened, and then hands landed on her shoulders. She looked up and away from him, and Flex kissed her lips as he massaged her shoulders then down her bare arms.
When he released them, he licked his lower lip. “You look real good, baby,” he told her. She took in the sight of him. The dark button-down shirt, the scent of cologne, and then Hill was right there.
He reached out as Manderine released her, and he cupped her cheeks, then looked over her body. “Stunning as usual.” He pressed his lips to hers. It was too much, and she stepped back, her ass hitting Manderine’s thick hard thigh. She felt his palm on her hip and ass again. “Easy now. You okay? Looks like you had a little trouble.”
“No trouble, Hill. I took care of it real fast,” Manderine said and then took a sip from his beer. The bartender—they called him Ade—placed down beers.
“What are you having to drink, doll?” Flex asked. They were surrounding her, and then Aldreck was there.
He looked her over, and then pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
“I’m okay. I was handling it, and then Manderine helped.”
He squeezed her hip bone, and she was lost in his embrace. “I’m fine, Aldreck, really,” she said and he eased back, kissed her tenderly on the lips, and then smiled.
“No more problems from here on out. We got your back,” he said, and then Hill passed him a beer and Manderine gave her ass a tap. “Try this. It’s a tropical drink. Rum and cranberry with a splash of orange juice.” He handed her the drink, they clinked glasses, and she remained right there between them for quite some time.
At first it was overwhelming, the way they each touched her, caressed her skin, stared into her eyes as she spoke. Then when she was discussing where she grew up and about her parents, Aldreck reached out and moved her necklace from between her breasts. He let it slide through his fingers but then bumped the button. “This is a sexy outfit you have on,” he told her.
“You think so? I don’t know, I think it’s conservative,” she said and slid her hands along her hips.
Manderine moved his palm from her back to her ass and gave it a squeeze. “Not with this body. You can make a potato sack look sexy, woman,” he said and she chuckled.
She stuck out her leg, showing her boot. “You like my new boots? First pair of cowgirl boots. Leeann said I needed them now that I live in Texas,” she said, smiling.
She hadn’t expected Flex to maneuver his palm along her thigh right under the dress as he leaned down and kissed her neck. “They’re really nice. Make your legs look delicious.” He kissed her neck.
She grabbed onto his hand and held his gaze as he pulled back. “Flex.”
“I can’t resist, baby. You look and smell so good. What is that you’re wearing?” he asked and then kissed her neck and tickled her. She laughed and then swatted his shoulder and turned only for Manderine to pull her between his legs again with a hand on her lower back. As she felt giddy and aroused, she wished he would move that hand lower over her ass. Shocking herself she lowered her forehead to his chest.
Aldreck caressed her hair. “What are you thinking right now, baby?” he asked and she looked up and stepped back. She put her back to the bar again, but both Manderine and Flex had a hand on her back and hip. Hill was right in front of her with Aldreck, blocking anyone from invading their little gathering.
“Tell me about you guys and what you do for a living,” she said to Hill and Flex.
“We both work security details, high-profile ones that sometimes are hours long or weekends long,” Hill told her.
“Well, we used to do even longer ones, but they grew old fast. Now we pick and choose depending on the danger level,” Flex said to her.
“Is it dangerous?” she asked then took a sip from her drink.
“It can be, but we’re well trained,” Hill said to her, looking her over like he couldn’t get enough of looking at her.
They heard the laughter, and then Leeann and some friends were coming over. “Come on, guys, you can’t occupy her time all night. We came here to dance and to introduce Autumn to new friends.”
“I’m going to mingle a little,” she said and put her drink down and stepped forward.
Aldreck wrapped his arm around her waist. “Come back soon.” He kissed the corner of her mouth.
She smiled up at him. “I will,” she said and Leeann grabbed her arm and started pulling her with her friends and toward the dance floor.
With each step away from them she took, she felt not only the loss, but the feeling of protection and safety. It was like she was on her own again, and danger was everywhere. As she tried to socialize and smile, learning about the other women, and that they were all single and who liked what guys and who hoped to meet someone soon, she kept glancing back toward the bar where the Forester men were. Sure enough they all had eyes on her, and she gave a smile before turning around.
“Girl, you got them wrapped around your finger. They haven’t turned away once,” Leeann said to her.
“I can feel it, and the funny thing is, I don’t like being away from them. That scares me.”
Leeann squinted her eyes at her. “Scares you? No, honey, that shouldn’t scare you. That should make you happy, and know that you obviously feel protected by them. Follow your gut. You’ll know if they’re right for you,” she said to her, and when she turned to look back at them, two older women, closer to their age maybe and dressed pretty skimpily, were striking up a conversation with them. In her mind she thought about Connor. How he pretended to not flirt when really he did. How he wound up in bed with two women—that she knew of, and it could have been more.
“Those vultures,” Leeann said, as if knowing the women.
As Aldreck shook his head and said something, Autumn couldn’t stand to watch. “I need to use the ladies’ room.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need to. Stay here and have fun. I’ll be back.”
“Hey, don’t worry about those women moving in on your territory. The Forester brothers blew them off. Their eyes are on you,” she said. Autumn nodded but walked away and through the crowd toward the ladies’ room.
“I think I’m going to go out to the back for some fresh air. There are some tables out there and the sliders leading to the patio. Just a break for the music,” she heard some woman say to her two friends.
“Okay, not too long though. I want to keep dancing,” another one said.
Autumn looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t dress too sexily, was more conservative. When she was with Connor he would undo a button or two when they were out and he was with his friends. He wanted them drooling over her, and her breasts. She remembered the one time he held her wrists behind her back and kissed her neck, causing her shirt to lower and reveal way more cleavage than she ever would. She was embarrassed, but she couldn’t do a thing. His hold hurt. She complained about it one night when they got back to the apartment, and he struck her, made her undress slowly in front of him, and then ordered her around, making her do things to him and service him.
She closed her eyes as the tears filled her eyes, and she felt a bit claustrophobic. She thought about the way the Forester men’s large hands felt caressing her body, squeezing her ass possessively. She liked it, but was it right? Was she making a mistake trusting four men? Four older men? She thought about the women who approached them. They were experienced, sexy, maybe more their speed because of their ages. Autumn wasn’t like that. Conner was her one and only lover ever, and he instilled punishment, pain, defeat into her system. He had her to the point of living on the edge of losing her mind. She shook constantly around him. Afraid that something would be wrong, out of place,
Aldreck was there. She locked gazes with him. “I need air,” she said and pushed the door open. She could see people to the right of the building where the patio was, but right here no one was around. She grabbed onto the railing and breathed in the fresh air.
He slid his thick arm gently around her waist and pressed up against her back. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” he asked and then kissed her neck and squeezed her to him.
“I’m okay. Just need some air.”
“You disappeared. We were worried. They’re looking for you.”
“I’m okay. I’m with friends, too, and there isn’t a need to worry,” she said and he eased back. She turned around to face him.
“Something is wrong,” He said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. She stared up into his blue eyes, the crew cut military hair, all those muscles budging from his arms and chest, his narrow waist, tight jeans against iron-clad thighs, and she gulped.
“Are you upset because of those women that approached us? We got rid of them. They live in Central Valley.”
“I don’t care. You don’t need to explain. We aren’t dating or anything.”
He pressed closer, and she stared up at him as he caged her in against the railing, his hands on either side of her, his face almost level with hers as he bent slightly. He held her gaze. “They mean nothing. We’ve never been interested in them.”
“You don’t need to explain.”
“I think I do because you looked over from the dance floor as they came over talking to us, and one of them touched Manderine and then you vanished.”
“Listen, we should head back in and mingle with everyone. There’s no reason to get so serious. We’re friends. It’s okay.”
“We aren’t just friends. We want more. We want you, and we’re trying to take our time here. What happened? Something set you off.” With his hands still on the railing, he stroked her side with his thumbs.
“I don’t want you to get mad. I just don’t think this is going to work out,” she said to him.
“Hey, there you are.” She didn’t turn to look away from Aldreck as he held her gaze and remained in front of her as Hill, Manderine, and Flex joined them.
“Something happened,” he said.
“What happened?” Flex asked, taking position on her side. Hill was on her other side, and Manderine was right next to Aldreck with his hands on his hips.
They looked concerned, but were they really concerned or was this an act? She didn’t know, and she felt confused like she couldn’t think, couldn’t feel or sense her gut suddenly. She covered her face with her hands.
I’m scared. I’m just scared because the only relationship I ever had was an abusive one. Conner cheated on me, abused me. These men aren’t Connor. It feels good to be with them.
Aldreck pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “Those women mean nothing to us. We got rid of them right away. Sweetie, is that what happened in your abusive relationship? Did your ex cheat on you?” he asked her, and she could hear his brothers mumble things. And then she felt the hands caressing her back.
“We didn’t flirt with them. Cheating is for dicks and boys, not real men,” Flex said in a firm tone.
She pulled back, held his gaze and then the others. “I know. Deep down I know. It was just watching from the dance floor, seeing them scantily dressed, them touching you, it brought back something that happened, and then from there my thoughts got worse. I tried pushing them away, tried breathing through them in the bathroom, but it was too difficult.” She took a deep breath and released it. “I’ll get a hold of them. Don’t worry, I’m fine. We can go back inside.” She started to push down on Aldreck’s hands, but he didn’t release her.
Flex moved behind her and placed his hands on her hips. “What else brought this on besides those tramps coming over to flirt?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. Were they for real or what? “It’s me, Flex. Sometimes certain things just kind of trigger a reaction, a memory. I was thinking how weak I am.”
He squeezed her shoulders. “You’re not weak, you’re strong. You got away and out of that environment and out from under his control,” he said to her.
She turned to look up at him. “Then why does he still have control over me if I’m so strong? Why do I remember his touch, the pain he caused, the things he said to me to break me down and make me submit? Why, when I saw those women talking to you guys, did it hurt and make me not trust you? Why do I look at your hands, so big, so capable, and think what damage you could do to my body?”
“Damn,” Hill mumbled.
“Because that’s what batterers do, baby. They break a woman down mentally, physically, and put blame on you then caress and pretend to care. They apologize, and it’s a vicious cycle,” Flex told her.
“I want to forget. I was forgetting until—”
She covered her mouth, and Flex pulled her into his arms, cupped her cheek with one hand, and held her gaze, eyes squinted. “Until what?” he asked.
“Until I was away from you guys, and then felt unprotected, exposed, and that isn’t right or normal, and then those women came over and the flashbacks started and it showed me how weak I am. How easily manipulated.”
“Not by us. Your gut tells you we actually care and would protect you. That’s what you were feeling. Do you think we liked you walking away with your friends and staying at a distance? We fucking hated it. Felt antsy and uptight,” Flex confessed, shocking her.
“What?” she asked.
“Yes. We felt it, too. The distance, the uneasiness, and the worry that if someone tried something we couldn’t get to you in time,” Flex confessed.
“Oh God, please don’t lie to me. Please be real,” she said and tears fell.
“Oh we’re real, and we want to be your guardians. We want to make a full commitment to you, Autumn,” Manderine said to her.
“All you need to do is say yes,” Aldreck said.
“It’s for real,” Hill added.
She lifted up closer, and Flex did too and kissed her. The fear, the anxiety felt as if it left her body and was replaced with some sort of powerful emotion. She let go and put her all into that kiss, and nothing else mattered.
Flex held Autumn in his arms on his lap, with her head on his shoulder as they listened to the country music band. His brothers were around them, leaning over to caress her thigh, or to take her hand and kiss her knuckles, and friends gathered nearby, enjoying the music. A few were holding on to their women, and quietly slipping away to take them home. So badly he would love nothing more than to take Autumn home with them, but he knew it was too soon. Tonight she let down her guard a bit and exposed more of her pain, of the scars she carried along with her from being in an abusive relationship. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave her, but it would take time to gain her full trust and eventually to get her to let them claim her officially. As the song ended people were clapping and cheering, and the band went into another tune. She lifted up.
“I’m so tired. Do you mind dropping me off at home? I’ll let Leeann and them know. They’re having such a good time.” She looked toward the dance floor, seeing her friends all enjoying themselves. She slid off his lap, and he held her by her thighs when she turned and looked down at him.
“We’ll bring you home, baby,” he said and caressed her skin right to the hem of her dress and a little further up. He could feel her shaking, and he knew she felt what he did. What his brothers did.
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