by Becca Van
“It’s not broken, but you have a bad sprain. Once you’ve cleaned up I’ll put some ice on it. You are going to need to stay off of it for a few days.”
“Thank you,” Sara breathed out as he slowly lowered her foot, and then she squeaked out in surprise when Whit lifted her from the bed into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m carrying you to the bathroom,” he replied and did just that.
“Where is Nicole? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. The others would have called for Dalton if she were hurt.” Whit placed her on the counter and then turned the faucets to the shower on. Once he had set the temperature he stripped off his T-shirt and was reaching for the belt on his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to help you in the shower. I don’t want you falling and hurting yourself since you can only put weight on one leg. Is that okay?”
Sara eyed the hand which had stopped on his belt buckle. She knew he was right, but she really didn’t want to be naked in front of him. Her eyes lifted up over his body. The man had a six-pack she could have bounced a penny off of, and his pecs bulged and rippled as did his biceps while he waited for her to reply. She couldn’t find her voice in that moment. Scared to speak and give away her body’s reaction to the magnificent display of male anatomy and flesh before her, she gave a slight nod.
She looked up into his eyes and never once looked away while he discarded his jeans. Sara was relieved that he kept his underwear on. He moved a couple of steps and scooped her up off the vanity and without any hesitation stepped into the shower. When he lowered her to the floor his hands shifted to her waist to keep her steady, and then he kept his gaze connected with hers as she unclipped her bra, removed it, and with his help her panties came off next.
By the time Sara had finished bathing she was a mass of nervous desire. Her pussy ached and throbbed and her nipples had pebbled into tight points, but still his eyes remained fixed on hers, even when he lifted her out onto the bathmat. She released a sigh of relief when he wrapped a large towel around her body and then seated her on the counter once more. He handed her a towel so she could dry her hair, and then he walked toward the bathroom door.
“I’ll be back in a minute. I need to find you something to wear.”
Chapter Four
Whit released the tension gripping his body with a big sigh as he closed the bathroom door behind him. It had taken all of his control to keep his eyes on hers while he was helping her in the shower. He was drawn to Sara-Jane like no other woman before her and wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“How is she?” Hay asked as he finished drying off, removed his wet underwear, and began to pull on some clean clothes.
“She’s exhausted. Sara needs to sleep.”
“I’ve ordered takeout to be delivered. I thought she might be hungry,” Dalt said without looking away from the TV.
“Good.” Whit removed a T-shirt and a pair of boxers from his bag and headed back to the bathroom.
Sara was standing on her good leg when he entered. Without speaking he helped her into his T-shirt and then he pulled the towel out from beneath. He picked her up and placed her back on the counter and pulled the boxers over her feet, being careful to avoid touching her injured ankle and up to her knees. And then he helped her to stand once more and waited while she pulled the boxers up beneath the T-shirt. He was about to lift her into his arms again, but her hand on his arm waylaid him.
“Do you have a spare toothbrush and some toothpaste?”
Whit glanced over to the basket on the counter near the wall and snagged a packaged toothbrush and toothpaste. He waited while she finished up.
“Okay, I’m done.”
Whit slid an arm beneath her knees and the other across her back and carried her back into the bedroom. Dalt and Hay looked up from the table where they were setting out the food which had just been delivered. Dalton grabbed an ice pack from the medical kit and broke it so it froze quickly. Then he pulled over another chair, placed a pillow on it, and gently lifted Sara’s leg so that it was resting and carefully wrapped the pack around her ankle.
“Thank you.”
“Are you hungry, Sara?” Hay asked.
“Yes.”
“Take your pick, sugar.” Dalt swept his hand toward the table as Whit lowered into one of the seats.
“I’d like the chicken if no one else wants it?”
Hay passed her the plate of chicken and avocado, which was accompanied by vegetables, and Sara began to eat. The little moans and sounds Sara made while she ate went straight to Whit’s cock. He shifted uncomfortably and then glanced at his brothers. From the pained expressions on their faces and the way they twitched in their seats, they were in the same predicament he was. When she had finished eating he sighed in relief and sat back in his chair. She was looking from him to his brothers with a frown on her face.
“How did you know where to find Nicole and I?”
Whit looked at his brothers, and each of them gave him an almost imperceptible nod. He cleared his throat and began to explain. Whit detailed his and his brothers’ involvement in the government experiments. After looking to his brothers for reassurance once more, he revealed the extent of their empathetic abilities as well.
“What do you mean by that?” Sara asked as she reached for her coffee. “Does that mean you can read my mind?”
“Not usually,” Hay answered. “We’re usually only able to feel emotions such as sadness, pain, love, et cetera.”
“Why do you say ‘usually’?”
Dalton leaned forward in his chair. He told her about the earring Hay found, and how the stray strand of her blonde hair had sparked the connection between them and ultimately led them to find Sara and her captors.
“So are you allowed to be telling me all this?”
“We don’t want there to be any secrets between us,” Hay said and looked at his brothers. Whit noticed Sara watching them as a look passed between him and his brothers. Was she trying to figure out if they could communicate telepathically? “We trust you enough to know you wouldn’t tell anyone of our abilities. And no, we can’t speak to each other with our minds.”
“Wow,” Sara breathed out and looked at each of them again as she processed the information and the trust they had just given her. She reached over and grasped Hay’s hand. “Thank you so much. I don’t think we’d be alive if you hadn’t found us. Thanks to all of you Nicole and I are safe again.”
Whit wasn’t so sure about that but didn’t voice his concerns. He must have given his caution away somehow because Sara released Hay’s hand and then looked at him intently.
“You don’t believe we are safe, do you?”
“No,” Whit replied and then sighed. “Do you know anything about the people who took you?”
“Other than they were Asian and never spoke English, no.”
“We’ll talk about it more in the morning,” Dalt interrupted when Sara-Jane yawned again. “You need to rest. I’ll give you some painkillers so you can sleep more comfortably.”
Dalton handed Sara two pills and a bottle of water. When she was finished she nodded her thanks and then covered another yawn. Whit picked her up and carried her over to the bed. “I hope you don’t mind sharing, honey, because there is no way I’m sleeping with one of my brothers.”
“No, I don’t mind. I’m too tired to care.”
Whit helped settle Sara into bed as his brothers cleaned up the trash from their meal and placed it into the bin. By the time he had the covers pulled up Sara’s breathing had evened out. She was already fast asleep. With another last look at the sleeping beauty in his bed, he headed back to the table where his brothers were sitting waiting for him while they watched the sleeping angel.
“I don’t think this is over,” Whit informed his brothers.
“We don’t either,” Dalton and Hay said in unison.
“God knows if these guys were from t
he Japanese underworld, but if they are as we suspect there could be more of them here or on their way. We’ll know more when the others get back.”
“We can’t leave Sara and Nicole here without any protection,” Hay said.
“We aren’t going to.” Whit ran a hand over his face. “We’re going to take them back home with us.”
“You’d better check in with Coulter before you do that. That last thing he and his men are going to want is to put their women and children in danger,” Dalton stated.
“Yeah, I know.” Whit rose to his feet when a light knock sounded on their door as well as one on his mental shield. He lowered his wall and felt Ty pushing at him to open up. He let him and his brothers into the room and was surprised to see Nicole with them. Whit placed his finger over his lips, indicating they should all keep the noise down so they wouldn’t disturb Sara.
“What have you got?” Whit asked Ty.
“The sheriff contacted the Japanese authorities. It seems that you and your brothers were right. The perps were from the Japanese underworld and are renowned sex slave traders. We’ve alerted all the airports and authorities to be on the lookout for any known Japanese criminals coming into the country, but you and I know that these assholes could have already established a network of criminal contacts here in the US.”
“Shit. This is not good. I need to contact Coulter.” Whit pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialed, and hit send.
“Coulter, we have a problem.” Whit explained to Coulter what the situation was and told him that they wanted to bring the women back to the ranch and was relieved when his training officer gave him the go-ahead. He turned to his men when he finished the call. “Tomorrow morning we are heading back to the ranch and we are taking the women with us. We can keep them safer there. Coulter and his men have offered help if we need it but I think it would be best if we kept him and his comrades out of this. They’ve served their time and deserve to spend time with their families and I don’t want to put them or their wives or kids in danger.”
Whit turned when Nicole sank into a chair near the table. Rand placed his hands on her shoulders and began to massage her tight muscles. Whit could see her tension and the pallor of her face. She shivered intermittently as though she was frightened.
“Are you all right, Nicole?”
She nodded and took a deep breath and then looked over to where Sara was sleeping. Her eyes filled with tears and ran down her face. “How is Sara doing?”
“She’s going to be fine, Nicole. Dalton is taking good care of her. He is our team medic. Do you have any injuries?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks. Sara is such a brave person. If it hadn’t been for her I would have fallen apart. She was captured a long time before I was but she didn’t stop looking for a way out. If it hadn’t been for her I don’t think I would be alive.”
Whit was surprised when Ty scooped Nicole up into his arms and sat where she had been seated, placed her in his lap, and then cuddled her as she cried quietly. When he looked at Rand and Bromley he could see that they weren’t impervious to Nicole either. It seemed his teammates were attracted to the strawberry-blonde-haired woman. Just as he and his brothers were to Sara.
“Okay, let’s get some sleep and we’ll head out first thing in the morning. I want to be on the road by 0600 hours.”
“We’ll let the others know,” Brom said as he walked toward the door. Ty didn’t bother to put Nicole down. He stood and carried her out of the room.
“We have to protect them, Whit. I’m thankful Coulter didn’t have a problem with us bringing the women back to the ranch. I want to get to know Sara-Jane as much as possible,” Dalt said as he turned the main lights off and headed to bed.
“Me, too, brother. Me, too.” Whit removed his clothes but kept his boxers on in deference to Sara and then slid into bed beside her. He moved around, trying to get comfortable, but made sure not to jostle the bed too much. He didn’t want to wake Sara. His cock was pulsing and twitching and all he wanted to do was wrap his body and arms around Sara and hold her through the night. But he lay staring at the ceiling and tried to relax. It took a long time before he felt himself sliding into sleep, and his last thought brought a smile to his face. Sara-Jane was coming home with them.
* * * *
Sara was so warm and comfortable she didn’t want to move, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. As much as she wanted to stay in bed, her bladder was making its presence known. When she opened her eyes she became aware of the large, hard body behind her and the arm slung over her torso and the hand cupping her breast. She was about to scream but then she remembered where she was and that she was safe. Being careful not to move too much and wake the man sleeping beside her, she lifted her head and turned slightly so she could see Whitmoor.
He was a very handsome man, as were his brothers and now that she was safe she took the time to appreciate his gorgeous features. He looked relaxed as he slept and she didn’t want to disturb him. Whether she had alerted him that she was awake somehow she wasn’t sure, but all of a sudden his eyes popped open and he was looking at her. Sara expected him to quickly remove his hand and apologize, but he didn’t. His hand twitched against her breast, and then his thumb began stroking over her nipple.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she held it, not wanting to break the trance Whit seemed to be in. It took every ounce of her control to not arch up into his touch and beg for more. When her lungs began to scream she released her breath and inhaled raggedly.
Whitmoor jerked his hand away and sat up on the side of the bed. “I’m sorry Sara. I–I was dreaming.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she replied nonchalantly even though, deep down, she was anything but. Sara had wanted to lean over and place her mouth on his and run her hands all over his delectably hard body and that puzzled her. She wasn’t the type of woman to jump into bed with just anyone. She’d only ever had two lovers in her life and never had she been attracted to more than one man. Until now. She was attracted to three men and she didn’t know what to do about it.
“Why don’t you use the bathroom first?” Whit suggested as he pulled his jeans on over his boxers and then rummaged through a large bag on the floor. “While you’re getting cleaned up we’ll order breakfast. We want to be out of here by 0600 hours.”
Whit came back over and passed over a pair of sweatpants and another T-shirt. Sara sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and took the proffered clothes. “Thanks. I’ll be ready. Can you drop me off at my place on your way?”
Sara felt an ache in the region of her heart at the thought of never seeing the three men again and hoped Whitmoor couldn’t tell she didn’t want them to leave.
“Uh—” Whit hesitated and then dropped the clothes on the bed. “We decided last night that you and Nicole would come home with us. It’s not safe to go to your place or for you to be alone, Sara. Your life could still be in danger.”
Whit went on to explain the situation and then how he, his brothers, and the rest of their team thought it was imperative that they stay with them.
“Can I call my employer and my friends?” Sara asked.
“No, baby. I’m sorry but we don’t know if these assholes have tapped phones or are looking for you. Until we take these fuckers out you have to stay missing. Only the sheriff and his deputies are aware you have been rescued. It’s not safe to let anyone else know.”
Sara sighed with resignation, because in her heart she knew they were right. But that didn’t make it any easier. Knowing her friends would grieve her caused an ache in her heart. She picked up the clothes Whit had left for her on the bed and limped toward the bathroom. Her ankle was feeling much better after Dalton had placed the ice pack on it and the swelling had gone down. At least she didn’t have to rely on Whit or his brothers to get around anymore even if it was slower than she normally moved. She didn’t think she would be able to hide her attraction to them if they kept putting their arms around her.
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After eating breakfast she followed her men out to their truck. Life as she knew it was about to change.
Whether in a good or bad way was yet to be determined.
Chapter Five
Dalton studied Sara-Jane as she slept. Nearly ten hours later and they were almost home. He couldn’t wait to show Sara around their ranch and to have her in their house. He was thankful that he and his brothers didn’t share the main house with their other teammates. They each had houses of their own, but the main house was used for all meals as well as convening with the team for planning. He was looking forward to eating May’s cooking again. The woman certainly knew her way around a kitchen.
“How is our woman?” Whit asked quietly as he looked in the rearview mirror trying to see Sara.
“She’s asleep. Has been for the last hour.”
“Do you think she’s going to accept us?” Hay shifted in his seat and turned to look at Sara.
“We will have to give her time to get used to us. I don’t know how she is going to take three of us wanting a relationship with her.”
“She’s as attracted to us as we are to her,” Dalton said. “I saw the way her body reacted when she looked at each of us but she’s trying to hide it.”
“Yeah.” Whit slowed the truck and turned into the drive leading to the ranch. “We’ll have to take things slow. One day at a time.”
“She accepted our enhanced abilities really well,” Hay said quietly.
“Yes, she did, didn’t she?” Dalton ran his fingers through his hair. “Maybe there’s hope for us yet.”
Whit parked the truck, and Dalt was out with the back door open before Hay could release his seat belt. He wanted to hold Sara in his arms, and if the only way he could do that was to carry her inside while she slept, then he would take anything he could get. She stirred when he opened the door but then she settled down once more, her breathing even and deep. With care he released her seat belt and lifted her into his arms. He looked down at her beautiful face and his heart clenched with longing. Sara-Jane was perfect for him and his brothers. Now all they had to do was convince her of that.
