“Fine, sleep on the fucking floor, then. See if I care,” Isaac shrugged with a sneer and started to walk out of the room.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a goddamn prick, I wouldn’t mind sharing a room with you. But since you make a hobby out of being an absolute jackass, I don’t even want to share your same space! Why are you even still here? You aren’t a part of this fucking team!” Michael yelled at him.
“Fuck you, Michael,” Isaac said through clenched teeth before he flung open the door and stalked out.
“Fuck all of this,” Michael said to no one in particular and stormed out of the room after Isaac, then slammed the door behind him.
“And now we wait,” Joshua said with a huge grin.
“Wait for what?” Kimberly asked. Her eyes were wide after the little scene that had just played out before us.
“You’ll see, or rather hear, in just a few moments,” Joshua said and wiggled his eyebrows.
Suddenly the door to the room beside us slammed shut and we heard shouting voices.
“Why do you have to be such a baby?” I heard Isaac yell.
“I’m not being a baby! You’re just a fucking asshole all of the time,” Michael screamed back at him.
We all stared at each other with wide eyes as we listened to the two men fighting in the other room. “This is wrong. We shouldn’t be listening to them,” Kimberly said softly.
“Like hell we shouldn’t! This is the best entertainment I’ve had in years,” Joshua argued.
“I don’t see why you had to make such a big deal about sharing this room! It’s a damn bed. Just shut the fuck up and sleep,” we heard Isaac yell.
“It’s not the fact that we’re sharing this room. It’s because you have been nothing but an absolute twat since I’ve met you, and I don’t take orders from anyone! Especially you!”
Isaac’s voice got deeper and lower, and we all strained to hear the next words he spoke. “Is that so? I think you’d love to take orders from me.”
Suddenly we heard a loud thump against the wall closest to us followed by loud grunts and groans. More thumps against the wall soon followed. And I could have sworn I heard the unmistakable sound of a smack. Once the bed started to squeak I turned my attention back to my friends.
“I hope your boy has stamina,” Joshua laughed and buried his face against Nick’s neck. “That, my friends, is definitely an angry fuck going on.”
“Wh-what?” I asked, my face blushing furiously at what I’d just heard.
“My brother is over four hundred years old and it’s been a while. We might need to stock up on some pain relievers and ice packs for Michael.”
“Let’s not forget earplugs,” I said dryly when the headboard started to slam into the wall.
“Don’t worry about us. Nick and I will keep it down,” Josh promised with a sunny smile.
Kimberly and I looked at each other and groaned. “It’s going to be a long night.”
“Well, considering we might die tomorrow, why not let our boys have some fun before they have to protect us,” Kimberly said with a shrug.
“Bless you,” Josh said dramatically and batted his ridiculously long eyelashes.
The thought was sobering. Kimberly was right. Who knew what was going to happen when we went into that cave? We were fully aware of what was inside the cave, but we didn’t have a clue what we would endure or what would happen to us once we arrived. If I thought about it too hard, I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I pushed the unwelcome thoughts out of my mind.
Chapter 21
“Yes,” Josh’s muffled groan broke through the silence of the room. “Right there, baby.”
My eyes popped open as the realization hit me of what I’d just heard. Surely they weren’t doing what I thought they were doing. The distinct sound of sucking made me realize that they were doing exactly what I thought they were doing. Ugh. Gross. Not again.
“Babe, you have to be quiet,” I heard Nick warn in a hushed voice right before the quiet groans started again.
I rolled my eyes and sent up a quick prayer of thanks that I was lying faced away from them. Kimberly’s still body and even breaths told me that she was sound asleep, completely unaware of what was going on in the bed next to us.
The slurping and moaning continued and I could hear someone’s breathing catch before it increased in tempo. A louder cry of pleasure filled the room before another shushing noise warned Josh to quiet down. And then suddenly the room was quiet again. I was hopeful that they were finished and I’d be able to go to sleep. But, of course, I couldn’t be so lucky.
I heard the bed behind me creak, followed by the sounds of smacking noises and skin hitting against skin. The stifled moans and grunts once again filled the darkened room. I squeezed my eyes shut and silently prayed that it’d be over soon. I cursed the fucking storms outside just as a crack of thunder rattled the hotel window and lightning lit up the room.
For five days we’d been holed up in our hotel while wall-to-wall storms ravaged through Massachusetts. Sixty mile-per-hour winds and the torrential downpours made for almost zero visibility. And had we decided to go in search of the cave, weather be damned, the strong winds made it impossible for the Fae to fly. So that meant I’d had four nights of interrupted sleep thanks to my roommates trying out every damn sex position known to mankind.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” I heard Josh cry out into the room.
“Joshie, you have to shut up,” I heard Nick growl, followed by a loud smack. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Nick was spanking him now? Judging from the guttural moans that Josh let loose, he was clearly enjoying it.
“Harder,” I heard Josh gasp out before the smacking sounds got a little louder and more frequent. Jesus fucking Christ, how was Josh going to be able to walk tomorrow?
Finally, when I didn’t think I’d be able to take it anymore, there were the tell-tale sounds that they were done, and the room fell into silence once again. I heard them using the restroom, followed by the creaking of the bed as they settled in for the night.
“About fucking time,” I snapped. “I didn’t think you two would ever get done.”
I heard the catch of someone’s breath and then peals of Josh’s laughter. “We thought you were asleep,” he gasped out. “I am so sorry!”
“My bad, Courtney,” I heard Nick say with a snicker.
“Whatever, that’s what you say every single time. Just be quiet so I can get some sleep,” I muttered.
Neither one of them responded and I was finally able to settle into sleep. It actually came easier than any other night since we’d hit the road. I didn’t dream, didn’t wake up numerous times.
When I woke, it seemed like I hadn’t even moved. It was as if I’d been comatose, and I felt extremely rested as I stretched out on the bed. But as I moved my body around, I noticed I was alone.
Kimberly wasn’t asleep beside me. I glanced around and didn’t see her, so I figured she was in the bathroom.
I looked over and saw that Nick and Josh were still sound asleep, their bodies cuddled together with Josh playing the part of the little spoon. It was actually pretty damn adorable, and I had a small resentment that Josh was still stunning to look at even while he was asleep. But I was thankful that they hadn’t decided to engage in any more naked acrobatics, or if they did, they did so quietly and didn’t disturb my slumber.
Slowly I climbed out of bed and gathered up some fresh clothes. Our pile was starting to diminish, and I knew that we’d have to find a laundromat eventually. After finding something to wear, I quietly made my way to the bathroom and expected to find Kimberly in there, but was surprised when the bathroom was empty.
Assuming that maybe she trekked downstairs without us to grab some breakfast, I took a quick shower and went back to the room. I was glad to see that Josh and Nick were just starting to stir in their bed, but I was shocked that Kimberly was still nowhere in sight. That’s when I knew something was seriously wrong.
�
��Guys! Wake up!” I yelled and clapped my hands to awaken them fully.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“Kimberly’s gone,” I told them as I started to walk out of the room.
“Wait, what do you mean she’s gone? And where are you going?” Josh asked as he climbed out of the bed.
“She’s not fucking here. I’m going to see if Isaac and Michael have seen her,” I answered on my way out the door.
I took the few steps to the room next to ours and pounded on the door, much in the way Isaac had done to ours. It took only a few seconds for Michael to answer. His hair was mussed, as if it’d been pulled in all directions. His lips were swollen. His chest was covered in bites and scratches. And the bags under his eyes showed that he’d barely gotten any sleep. He looked like complete shit, but also like he had been well and thoroughly fucked. Again.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, not opening the door all the way.
“Get dressed. Kimberly is missing,” I told him.
I didn’t wait for him to say anything else, instead turning and walking back into my room. The room was empty, but the sounds coming from the bathroom alerted me that Josh and Nick were in there cleaning up. I focused on straightening up our room while they finished in the bathroom and prayed that Kimberly would walk back through the door. But by the time Isaac and Michael came over, and Nick and Josh emerged from the bathroom, she still hadn’t returned.
“When was the last time everyone saw her?” Nick asked, easily slipping into alpha mode.
“When we all went to bed,” I answered Nick. “She and I shared one since Nick and Josh used the other one,” I hastened to explain to Michael and Isaac as I wrung my hands together. “I saw her sleeping before I fell asleep, but she was gone when I woke up.”
“Did you have any dreams or visions?” Michael asked as he started to look around the room. I had no clue what he was searching for. Kimberly wasn’t going to magically appear in the middle of the room. Or at least, I didn’t think she could do that. I shook off the strange thought as I noticed that Michael was walking with a slight limp. Like he’d been for days.
“No. I slept soundly. It was like I was comatose. I didn’t move,” I said with a frown, still very confused that I’d slept so peacefully.
“Did you two notice anything before you fell asleep?” Isaac asked from his position behind Michael.
I took time from the interrogation to notice how much closer they stood to each other. They weren’t anywhere near the level of affection that Josh and Nick were showing, but there definitely was some significant intimacy between the two.
Josh shrugged. “Nope. We made sure the girls were asleep before we did anything. And, unlike two people we know who feel the need to incorporate the wall into their every session, we were pretty quiet so we wouldn’t wake them up.”
I rolled my eyes at Josh’s statement about their “session,” as he called it. But I was glad he didn’t mention that I’d been awake and had heard their sexcapades. Honestly, it was something that I would like to forget and never, ever mention again.
“Shut up,” Isaac mumbled, but he didn’t seem at all embarrassed that we’d overheard his many sexual acrobatics with Michael. “Did anything wake you in the middle of the night?”
Josh looked at Nick, who shook his head, then Josh added, “We both passed out right after, and I, for one, slept like a baby.” Nick nodded in agreement.
Everyone fell silent for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts.
“We need to get to the cave,” Joshua announced as he started to put on his shoes.
“Why? We need to find Kimberly first,” I argued with him.
Josh stared at me and I could tell he was trying his hardest to keep the exasperation off his face. “Court, if Cupcake was taken, there is only one place I can think of where she’d be. And the only place they’d take her is where other people like her are being held captive. That is why we need to get to that cave. And it looks like the storm finally passed by.”
“Nick? Are you okay? You haven’t really said much,” Michael said slowly.
I glanced at Nick and blanched. His hands were curled into fists, and I noticed his arms were visibly shaking in anger. The veins in his neck were bulging and his eyes were burning with an intense rage I’d never seen before. He was fucking frightening, and I almost pitied whoever would be on the receiving end of that rage.
“No, I’m not okay. I’m ready for you four to quit fucking talking so we can go find Kimberly,” he spit out through clenched teeth.
“Babe, we’ll find her. But I think you and Mike need to shift,” Josh suggested.
“Why?” Michael asked.
“It’ll be easier for you to sniff her out. And quite honestly, where we’re going, you’ll need to be ready to attack at a moment’s notice,” Josh explained.
Isaac spoke quietly behind Michael. “Where we’re sending you, we’re only allowed to go so far. We won’t be able to help you once you walk past that boundary.”
“What boundary?” I asked suspiciously.
“Can we finish this discussion in the car? I’d feel better once we hit the road and I know we’re on our way to find her. Michael and I can still understand you while we’re in wolf form,” Nick said impatiently. “And I don’t give a flying fuck about boundaries.”
Without waiting for an answer, Michael and Nick stripped off their clothes and handed them to me. It still amazed me to watch my friends transform from men to vicious wolves right before my very eyes. I knew they’d never hurt me, but seeing their lips pull back to reveal their sharp fangs would never look anything less than frightening to me. And they had a feral look in their eyes that almost made me feel sorry for whoever crossed their paths. If I thought Nick was scary in human form, that was nothing compared to how vicious he was as a wolf. He was downright petrifying.
My two-legged friends and I grabbed our belongings and made our way to my car with our four-legged companions. We didn’t even bother to hide the wolves as we walked through the lobby, and I was more than aware of the odd looks I received. I could only imagine how we looked. Me, followed by a gorgeous man with a sunny smile, a giant of a man with a permanent scowl, and two huge wolves walking through a lobby? I’m sure we were a sight to see.
“Excuse me, but dogs are not allowed in the hotel,” a woman behind the desk called to us in a shaky voice.
“Fuck off. We’re aware of the policy,” Isaac said from behind me as we kept walking.
“They have only been dogs for a few minutes, no worries!” Josh replied in his sing-song voice as we pushed our way out the door.
We threw the bags into the trunk and all piled into my car. Isaac climbed into the passenger seat while Josh and the wolves clambered into the back.
“So explain. Why are you two not allowed past the boundary, and furthermore, why do you two seem alone when you said earlier your family is huge?” I asked as I turned the key in the ignition.
“Start driving and I’ll tell you,” Josh demanded, then told me which direction to drive.
“Josh and I are exiled from the Fae community,” Isaac finally announced.
I took a minute to let the words sink in. “Why are you exiled?”
“Our father is pretty high up in the hierarchy. Pretty much like a king. So I guess you could say we’re princes? But we landed ourselves into some trouble and almost brought destruction on one of the Fae communes,” Josh said softly. His entire sunny disposition was gone.
“How did that happen?”
“I dated a Liderc,” Isaac finally said after a moment’s hesitation.
I nearly wrecked the car as I whipped my head around to stare at him in shock.
“It’s true. I didn’t know at the time that’s what he was. We were together for quite a while until it happened.” Isaac sounded ominous.
“Do I even want to know?” I asked dryly.
“Jonathan, the Lidrec, was coming to
our commune regularly. Everyone knew him and loved him. Little did I know that it was all a ploy to get in our good graces and blind us to what he really was. We all let our defenses down around him, and one night, he led others like himself into our commune and they attacked. We lost a lot of family that night, but we were able to fight back. Jonathan died, and we hunted down those who ran and were able to find their caves. The surviving Fae destroyed the ones we found, but eventually the Liderc and Strigoi somehow put up spells that prevented any Fae from setting foot near their caves.”
“We can fly over them, though. So we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves, Isaac and I take turns flying over the caves at night to watch their activities. That’s how we knew about the healers being held captive in there.”
“So you really did know who we were the minute we stepped into the restaurant,” I mused.
“I wasn’t one hundred percent certain until, like I said, I could smell you guys. But once I figured it out, I knew you were part of the Exi and that you’d be the ones to save the healers,” Josh explained.
“So that still doesn’t explain why you were exiled. Isaac made a mistake.”
Isaac laughed humorously. “My father can hold a grudge and couldn’t look past what happened.”
“He didn’t believe Isaac when he insisted he didn’t know what Jonathan really was. He only saw it as Isaac bringing death and destruction to the commune,” Josh added.
“He wouldn’t listen to reason. So I was banished from the community,” Isaac said with a shrug.
“So what did you do?” I asked and looked at Josh in the rearview mirror. I noticed that the wolves were listening to the conversation intently.
Josh sadly said, “My father wouldn’t let me leave the commune. He said Isaac was on his own. He had forbidden that I had any contact with him and he wouldn’t listen to me when I tried talking sense into him. I was really close to following his orders, because he really was a tyrant and I was scared of him. But then, to make a lesson of Isaac to the other Fae, he ordered for Isaac to get a public beating.”
Fated Heroes Page 12
