Armored Hearts [The Town of Pearl 7] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine. Fine. I must have dozed off,” she said, sounding startled and her voice appeared shaky.

  He knelt down and kept a hand on her thigh.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” She pushed a strand of her platinum hair behind her ear.

  Just then the trucks pulled up. First Grey’s patrol truck and then Fisher’s.

  “I should head inside. I think I need to take some aspirin.” Fenton reached for her to help her up and their gazes locked.

  “How about some lunch? Maybe some food might help?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered, and so badly he wanted to kiss her.

  “Hey, did you wait to have lunch with us? We brought some homemade jarred pickles from Clyde’s place,” Fisher told her and she smiled softly.

  “You practically ate the entire jar yourself, India. Aren’t you glad we got more?” Grey teased her and then brushed his knuckles down her cheek softly.

  “I didn’t eat them all, Flynn did. He snacks on them during the day while he’s working in his studio out back,” she tattled on him.

  “Oh man he’s so busted,” Fisher replied and took India’s hand to lead her into the house.

  She glanced back over her shoulder at Fenton. He nodded his head, letting her know he was coming. The dogs followed behind. It seemed everyone was able to show India how they felt about her but him. Making a move was a mistake. India would never go for a man like him. She would never give up the life she has in Chicago for the simple life they shared out here. This was only temporary.

  * * * *

  She had a few rough nights. India refused to take the meds and it seemed now that she was on regular over-the-counter pain remedies, she was having nightmares. She would wake up gasping for air and then find it difficult to fall back to sleep. In the darkness of the large bedroom, she felt so exposed. Tonight, she tried gathering around a bunch of pillows and ducking under the covers but it wasn’t working.

  Every time she willed herself to fall asleep and exhaustion overtook her, she woke up worse off than the previous times. She was hot, uncomfortable, and she struggled to remove the button-down shirt she wore over the half tank. At least her ribs were feeling less and less sore. She could actually bend down and move around with little pain.

  She wore a pair of violet-colored pajama shorts that fell over her hips, and still she felt heated. Exhaling in annoyance, she forced herself to lie back down and try to get some rest. Maybe she should take a half a pill to fall asleep? The thought upset her. That was how people became addicted to drugs. They became dependent on sleeping aids or painkillers, and eventually they needed more and more and wouldn’t be able to sleep without them. It was psychological. Just like the effects of her assault and abduction.

  India lay in the big king-size bed. She thought about Chicago, about the design company she had up and running. She thought about the changes she was going to need to make once she returned there. She hoped this situation blew over and she prayed that Aspen was safe.

  She felt her eyelids getting heavier as she adjusted her position on the bed and hugged the pillow. She kicked down the fluffy comforter and sighed again. Her mind drifted off about work, about the country, and about moving somewhere new. Silas was her only family and she hardly ever got to see him. She’d nearly died by the hands of Russian thugs. She had some reorganizing to do with her life. That was for certain.

  She started to relax, her mind wandering over Salvation, where Aspen probably was with Winter, Weston, Storm, and Zin. She thought about how lucky Aspen was to have the love, the support, and the protection of four men who adored her. Then she thought about her own choices in men. About her fantasies and about living each day as if it were her last.

  She gulped. She recalled that night she had turned down an offer from James to stay with him at his ten-thousand-square-foot mansion. She didn’t care for him in that way. Besides the fact that he didn’t fit into her very structured, organized life. Well, his wealth and stature did, but that wasn’t for her. She would be a trophy wife. Something that fit into his world of the best. There wouldn’t be true love, or the passion she longed to feel and had yet to come close to. Was she asking too much? She really didn’t know. Everything had a place, a purpose, and an important value in her life. Certain things, certain people didn’t fit.

  She thought about starting over somewhere new when she dozed off once again.

  * * * *

  The screams combined with the dogs barking loudly awoke Fenton from his sleep.

  He knew it wasn’t a dream and immediately grabbed his Glock and headed out of his room, ordering the dogs to move quickly.

  He ran up the stairs and saw the others, all carrying, all heading to India’s room.

  The dogs pushed the slightly ajar door open and they all entered.

  The moment he saw her, his heart nearly leaped from his chest. Magnum, Charles, and Clint jumped onto the bed. They were whimpering as Ford ordered them to lie down.

  India was tossing and turning, crying out loud in her sleep. Every time she rolled to the right, her abundant breasts pushed further out of the tank top she wore.

  She had long legs and sexy thighs that still showed remnants of bruising on them. Her taut belly, accented by a dangling belly ring and perfect abs, peeked out from beneath the short tank she wore.

  She was fucking gorgeous, but his heart ached for the pain she was obviously going through.

  “India. India, wake up,” Ford told her as they all put down their guns and approached.

  Ford went to touch her cheek and she smacked at his hands.

  “India, wake up,” Grey tried next but nothing. She was lost in a hell of a nightmare.

  “Grab her arms and hold her down so she doesn’t hit you,” Fenton said.

  “I don’t want to hurt her,” Grey replied.

  Fenton moved past him and Ford and right to India. He didn’t want to touch her. He didn’t want to feel what he knew would be the desire to feel more and want something he couldn’t have. She wasn’t right for him, for them, for anything they had wanted. Yet here he was staring at her breasts overflowing from her top and her sexy body and he could touch her even if just to hold her down so she wouldn’t hurt herself.

  “India?” he said her name and she pushed against his hand.

  He raised his voice as he gripped her wrists and she continued to battle him. “India, wake up.”

  He jumped onto the bed, straddling her thighs and holding her hands by her sides.

  “India, wake up now. Wake up or I’m going to spank that ass of yours. Do it now. Do it,” Fenton ordered, raising his voice. She moaned and then her eyes popped open.

  “Help me!” she screamed out and then gasped for air. Her chest heaved up and down and her eyes widened as if she were shocked. She looked at Fenton then at the rest of them.

  “What?” She was all confused.

  “You were screaming and hitting us. You couldn’t wake up from the nightmare,” Fenton told her as he slowly released her hands.

  She seemed to be registering his words and then her hands covered her face and she cried. The whimpering sounds tore at his hardened heart. He glanced at the others, who all looked overwhelmed and at a loss as how to help her get through this.

  Fenton didn’t know what to do, but somehow he figured out what she needed.

  He gave the command for the dogs to get off the bed and he lay down beside India and pulled her into his arms and rocked her until she finally calmed down.

  * * * *

  India was embarrassed but the fear and the lack of control she had over waking up really got to her. The images still raw in her head as she felt the gun against her temple, the hands on her throat, and the strikes to her body over and over again. It was like she was caught in it and couldn’t get free.

  She should be pushing away from Fenton of all people, but instead she inhaled his cologne and wedged deeper against his muscular
chest and took what she needed to get through this. She didn’t want them to leave her. She didn’t want to be alone. She felt panicked, scared, and it was so unlike her.

  “Easy now, just breathe,” Ford said. The others were there and all surrounding her.

  “I think you’re going to be okay now. Why don’t we fix this bed and the pillows,” Fenton told her and she shook her head and made him stay exactly where he was.

  “Stay,” she whispered.

  The bed dipped and she started shivering, being surrounded by five sexy, military men. The bed sure was big enough, but why was she being so clingy? Why did her mind keep telling her that she needed one of them or all of them to stay right here or she wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all?

  When the second set of hands landed on her hip and thigh, she snuggled tighter against Fenton.

  A strong calloused hand began to stroke along her thigh. She clung to Fenton’s bare chest. Her lips pressed against his skin and he tightened up, held her wrist in place against his side, and hissed.

  “India,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

  She tilted her head up to look at him and was shocked to see anger, disinterest, maybe annoyance with her. She lowered her eyes and the bruises, welts, and marks on her arm reminded her of what she looked like. Of course he was turned off and disinterested in even holding her.

  She suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions. She was embarrassed, angry, hurt, and disappointed that they didn’t even want to touch her or hold her and she was wearing hardly anything.

  The deep sob came out of nowhere.

  “India, what’s wrong?” Ford asked her and she pulled from Fenton onto her belly and tucked her arms under her sides and tried desperately to hold in the tears.

  “India, it’s going to be okay,” Grey said from behind her.

  She shook her head.

  “I get it. Just leave me alone. I understand,” she said in such a tortured, insulted tone.

  Fenton caressed her hair from her cheeks.

  “You get what? What in God’s name are you rambling on about, woman?” He’d raised his voice at her and it pissed her off. She lifted up and held his gaze. He looked at her as if she were a nutcase.

  “You don’t even want to hold me or be close to me because of how I look. I’m ugly. I’m bruised everywhere and none of you can even stand it. Just leave me. I’ll get through this.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Flynn asked.

  She rolled to her back and looked at him. He had one knee on the bed and was only wearing boxers. His blue eyes seemed to darken as he zeroed in on her body.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. Your body should be fucking illegal, and you lie here and think that we don’t want to touch you? That we don’t want to explore every inch of you?”

  Her heart hammered in her chest and the feel of Ford’s hand on her belly brought her attention to him.

  His blue eyes held hers. “If we look angry, pissed off, or even disgusted, it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with the thoughts of you sustaining such injuries by the hands of such evil, abusive individuals.”

  “If Ford hadn’t stopped me, I was going to Chicago to hunt those fuckers down and take them out myself,” Fenton admitted.

  She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “I’ve already looked up everything I could on that asshole Iakov. All I have to do is make one phone call and I’ve got an exact location on him even if he’s taking a piss in the back of some local shit-hole bar. So don’t think for one moment that we’re looking at you as if you’re ugly and we’re disgusted. On the contrary, I haven’t been able to sleep since your first night in this house,” Fisher admitted.

  “Why?” she asked.

  He raised one eyebrow and Ford caressed under her tank top.

  “As my friends have explained, you’re the most beautiful woman we’ve ever laid eyes on. All I think about is getting home from work to see you, brush against you, and watch over you.”

  “We’ve never, and I mean never thought about sharing a woman before. But by the way you make each of us feel, I’d say I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Grey told her.

  Fenton touched her chin and held it firmly. He stared down into her eyes. His green eyes sparkled and then appeared darker.

  “Enough talking.” He leaned down and kissed her.

  India was overwhelmed with emotions at this point. She was shocked that they all had been watching her, wanting her despite her battered body.

  Fenton of all people was the last one she expected to cling to and to kiss her. In a matter of weeks she had become so dependent on them and attracted to them.

  He kissed her deeply and despite her swollen lips she kissed him back. He pulled her up and against him so she now lay half over his body. The flimsy tank she wore couldn’t hide the effects of his hard, muscular chest as it pressed against her aroused bosom. She rocked her hips and then she felt the second set of hands gliding back and forth over her hips, her thighs, and then under her shorts.

  It felt so good, so right to have these two men touching her at once. Their caresses seemed to make the aches and pain disappear and cause something stronger to ignite within her body.

  When thick digits collided with her wet pussy, she gasped, pulling from Fenton’s mouth.

  “Easy now, darling. Don’t move around so much or you’ll hurt yourself,” Grey told her and she looked past Fenton to see Grey standing by the bed watching.

  Ford pressed fingers deeper into her cunt and she lifted up, needing more.

  Fenton pushed her tank top up. “Damn, woman,” he said, his green eyes locked on her large breasts as he cupped them best he could. She held onto his sides and lifted up as he lowered his mouth to a breast and licked the nipple. She moaned aloud only for Grey to cup her face between his hands as he bent over by the side of the bed and he kissed her.

  Behind her Ford pulled fingers from her cunt and then pushed her shorts down her thighs.

  Her belly muscles ached in this position but her desire to feel more and to be touched by all five men was more powerful.

  Grey kissed her deeply while Fenton licked and suckled her breasts, pushing them together, massaging them and arousing her pussy.

  Ford lifted her thigh up and against Fenton’s hip, gaining better access to her needy cunt. He pressed his digit up into her and began to stroke her as he licked and kissed along her spine and her ass cheeks.

  The next set of hands massaged her ass.

  “She’s got a great ass. Damn I’m going to be the first one to fuck this ass, baby,” Fisher said.

  She moaned, her body tightened up from the thought, and she exploded.

  “Damn, I think our India likes the sound of that, Fisher,” Flynn said.

  Grey released her lips and Fenton pulled on her nipple.

  “Oh God,” she said and fell to his chest, her lips pressed against Fenton’s skin as Ford pulled his fingers from her pussy.

  They massaged her. All five of them. She felt their warm, gentle hands everywhere. Their lips pressing against her skin, tickling her, arousing her, and sending a deep need through her body.

  Fenton eased her down onto the mattress, removing her tank top as Ford lifted her up. They adjusted her body so she was on her belly. She laid her cheeks against the cool sheets that were in great contrast to her heated skin. And so it began. They took care of her. They massaged her tender skin and muscles with the gentleness of compassionate men who had the hands of warriors.

  Fingertips coasted along her arms, her shoulders, down her thighs and calves to her feet. She felt the heaviness of the bed as it dipped and all five men partook in caring for her.

  “Rest. Try to get some sleep now, India. We’re not going to leave you,” Ford told her then kissed the back of her neck, sending goose bumps down her spine.

  She thought she didn’t want to sleep. She was aroused, excited, thrilled to feel this way with them an
d for each of them to have an attraction to her and want to share her.

  She never would have thought something like this could happen to her. But here she was willing to let five men have their way with her body. Claim her, take her in every hole, and ultimately ruin her for anyone else ever again. She knew if she gave into this attraction, this fantasy, that she would never be the same woman. No men would compare to these five soldiers, her protectors.

  She tried to clear her mind and as she focused on the feel of their hands, their tender words and compassionate touches, she drifted off with no concerns about nightmares. Just dreams of what could possibly be, with men so complicated, headstrong, and powerful as these five American soldiers.

  * * * *

  “I won’t allow any of you to hurt her. She’s been through enough. Isn’t it obvious that the abduction and assault affected her more deeply than Silas and Dmitri had thought?” Ford asked as he stood in the hallway outside the bedroom door with Fisher, Flynn, and Grey. Fenton was holding India in his arms. A glance back into the room and Ford could see her naked body. It was bruised, but she was one sexy, curvy woman.

  “I’m not going to hurt her. I already care for her. She’s different from other women, and not because she’s recovering from an assault, but because she does something to me. I feel it every day. I can’t wait until I can leave work so I can see her. She’s my last thought at night and my first thought every morning. I’d say I’m taking this attraction very seriously. For God’s sake, Ford. We could all have what our friends have,” Fisher told Ford.

  “He’s right. This is how it happens sometimes. Out of nowhere, a woman so perfect, so right for all of us just appears. Look at Dale, Virgo, Matt, and Quaid. Duke, Jay, Sandman? Hell, even Wyatt, Charlie, and Ben met Anna in a similar way and look at all of them. Look how happy, and content they are.” Grey shared his opinion.

  “Ford, just look at fucking Fenton. Now that’s some serious shit. In the twenty fucking years that I’ve know that crazy, mean bastard, I’ve never seen him look and act the way he does around India. Hell, he’s caring, compassionate, and in tune to her emotions. Plus, she’s responsive, despite his attitude and abruptness toward her,” Flynn said.