by Chloe Adler
What the fuck am I supposed to grab a tissue with, my tongue? I want to scream fuck you at this nice hottie doctor. Instead, I give in to the tears, letting them have their way.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Back at the mansion, in my room, the men bustle around me for an hour. I want to wave them off but the truth is, I like the attention. They assure Jules they’ll take care of me. Arch even lifted me from the hospital wheelchair into the car. Not that I needed a wheelchair, but apparently it’s protocol.
I have a slight scar right at my hairline, which upsets me only because Mom and Dad will notice it and I’ll have to tell them what happened.
Once the men are convinced I’m not going to instantly combust, they leave Arch to keep me company, promising to return with tea and food.
“You gave us all a good scare.” Arch fluffs my pillows, which kind of cracks me up. Brute and pillow fluffer.
“Would you mind . . .”
He stops and leans down. “Yes?”
“Can you crawl into bed and just hold me?”
Without another word, he clambers onto the bed and carefully wraps his arms around me. I lean into his broad chest, breathing in firelight and forest. “Did you have a campfire?”
He chuckles. “More like a warlock’s fire. We tried our magic.”
“And?”
He sighs. “Nothing.”
I sigh too. “What were you trying to do?”
“Get Candy and Sabin into Tara to help Vasily.”
That’s probably not the best idea but I don’t know what is. “I’ll go back. No one can get through without me anyway and . . .”
“You’re resting now, that’s what you’re doing.”
Great. I’ve lost another day without earning money toward plans A, B or C. I’m basically out of options. Except for Siobhain’s offer.
Arch snuggles me closer. “Does anything hurt?”
“Besides my pride?”
He leans over and nuzzles my nose. The last move I’d expect from the hard-ass hulk. But I nuzzle him back. He bites my lips playfully and I groan. He hasn’t shaved and his face is cropped full of stubbly, course, red facial hair. I rub my lips against his lips, my cheek against his cheek.
“I don’t want to do anything to cause you pain,” he breathes.
“Only pleasure?” I shimmy down further on the bed, Arch’s mouth covering mine but my brain interrupts and I stop.
He shifts his weight off me and stares into my eyes. “Is it too soon?”
I shake my head. That’s not it. I feel so lost, and there’s nowhere to turn. Nowhere to go. It’s time for something different. It’s time to express my feelings. It’s time for honesty. “I’m scared.” I say the words aloud, tasting them in my mouth like a piece of rotten fruit.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He rubs my arm. “You don’t have to but I’m here and I’m all ears.”
That almost makes me smile. It’s a funny thing to picture, all ears. “Thank you but I need some more internal processing first.” What’s there to say anyway? My parents’ house is close to being gone. It’s inevitable, in ten days. I’m painted into a corner. I have two options. I can jump off a very steep cliff and take the job with Siobhain or I can burden the guys, taking their generosity and begging for more. A girl’s got to have some pride.
Both options suck. But what if I forgo my options for now, do what I do best and push the thoughts away?
A knock on the door shoots me bolt upright, my heart pounding.
“You’re wound so tightly, poor thing.” Arch rubs my back and gently pulls me back down. “Can I tell them to come in?”
“Come in,” I call out, my voice shaky.
The door opens and the other three men pour into the room. Bodhi carries a small tray laden with a white bowl full of something steaming hot, another bowl of fruit, a napkin and cutlery. Forrest holds a vase filled with flowers and Cedar carries a cup in one hand and a teapot in the other. He kicks the door closed behind him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Arch moves aside and Bodhi places the tray over me. Forrest puts the vase down on my nightstand and Cedar pours the boiling water into the mug before placing it on the tray. He puts the pot on the nightstand and then climbs onto the bed to sit at my feet.
The steam rises and I inhale deeply, closing my eyes. The soup is thick and white and smells delicious.
“Potato leek,” says Bodhi, “my specialty.”
“Here, let me.” Arch reaches across and dips the spoon in the bowl, stirring it before bringing it out, blowing on it and then holding it in front of my mouth.
Instead of opening though, I giggle. “Who are you right now?”
The men laugh at their brother, who reddens but keeps the spoon aloft. “I’m your knight, my fair lady. Now let me feed you.”
Since he put it that way—I open my mouth and he places the liquid inside, holding it there as I slurp it down. I always imagined being fed would make me feel like an infant, but I was wrong. He twists the spoon so the bowl is facing down against my tongue and then he pulls it out slowly. Oh hell, yes.
Bodhi sits on my other side and Forrest sits next to him. All the men watch me with rapt attention. Forrest reaches into the fruit bowl and pulls out a piece of pineapple. He leans forward and rubs it along the crease of my lips. When my tongue darts out to grab it, he pulls it back.
Cedar reaches for my feet. “May I?”
“Mm-hmm.” I’m still chasing the piece of fruit Forrest taunts me with.
Cedar takes one foot in both his large hands and digs his thumbs into the heel. I groan and Forrest presses the fruit back against my lips. I suck it in along with his fingers and twirl my tongue around them. Now it’s Forrest’s turn to groan. He bites his lip and looks at me with hooded violet eyes.
I swallow and whisper, “Kiss me.” He leans close enough to do so but extends his tongue and follows the path of the pineapple. His tongue darts into the corner of my mouth and I open for him. Someone shifts on the bed and my eyes fly open. Bodhi is getting up but I reach for his arm, gingerly, and pull him back down with zero strength in my pained grip. “Stay, all of you, please.”
Bodhi lifts the tray off my lap and I turn my head to kiss Arch, grabbing his hand and placing it on my breast. He squeezes and kneads while I move Bodhi’s hand to my other one. Bodhi unbuttons my blouse and spreads it open with someone’s help. A hand reaches behind me to unhook and remove my bra and then two mouths are on my chest, one nipple in each.
Arch’s tongue explores my mouth, hot and hungrily. Cedar’s hands move from my feet up my legs in long caresses. I spread my legs wide for him and push my hips up to let him know I want this. Someone unbuttons my jeans and I lift my butt while they’re pulled off. At the touch of something wet and cold moving down my stomach, I shriek and break the kiss with Arch to look down. Cedar is trailing a strawberry down my abdomen, kissing the trail it leaves.
I crook a finger and order him up. As the only man I have yet to kiss, he obeys. I give Arch a parting kiss and a wink. He changes positions with Cedar, who leans down close.
“Hi,” he whispers.
“Hi.” I smile up at him.
“I’m Cedar.”
I bite back a giggle. “I know. Come, let me taste you, Cedar.”
Tongues trail down my body as Cedar’s mouth dips to reach mine. He tastes like spearmint and kisses like an angel. Our tongues swirl, his lips soft and yielding. My mouth opens more and his head turns to the side as we join, melding together. While we kiss, the other men strip and soon their hot skin slides along mine. Someone opens my legs and I help, widening further to let someone slip between them. A hot tongue touches my throbbing bud and I yelp into Cedar’s mouth. Hands caress my body, moving over my breasts, my stomach, waist and legs. The mouth on my pussy grows more insistent, tonguing me hard and fast.
A thick finger pushes inside me, crooking upward to pump in time with the tongue lapping me. Someone lifts my legs and hi
ps up, holding them wide and aloft. A finger presses against my anus. I cry out in surprise but push back into the finger because it feels too damn good. The digit breaches my ass while a mouth sucks on my clit, other fingers pump my pussy and someone sucks my nipples. The sensations are too overwhelming, building to a hard and fast crescendo. My own hands reach out to grasp whatever flesh they can find but with a broken and strained wrist I can’t play well. With my sprained hand I touch a protruding cock which numbs the pain. Oh yes. It’s wet with pre-cum and I gently rub my palm along the shaft. I break the kiss with Cedar to bring my hand up to my mouth and lick it.
Cedar watches me, waiting. Bodhi and Arch, the two I was trying to grab, fist their own dicks since I can’t do it for them. Forrest’s white hair bobs between my legs, his tongue lapping up my juices, his moans vibrating through my core.
I open my mouth and stick my tongue out to Cedar. “Let me taste your cock,” I growl. Cedar’s eyes grow so large I fear they may pop but after a second he complies and leaps to my side, then straddles my chest. His dick is massive, hard and shiny. I open my mouth wider and he guides it inside.
Forrest’s tongue grows pointed and he flicks my clit, inserting yet another finger inside me. I suspect it’s Arch’s finger that’s in my ass and it swirls and pushes just the right amount. I suck greedily on Cedar’s cock while peering from under my lashes to watch the other two pleasure themselves. My bedroom is filled with unabashed groaning and I don’t know whose moans are whose. Does it matter? I add mine to the mix, growling around Cedar’s dick as my climax builds. There are so many hands petting me, so many mouths licking me, so many people tending to my body that all I have is this moment. All thoughts of real-life drama are blotted out and only pure pleasure remains.
My entire body tenses a second before the orgasm and I roar around Cedar as the climax sears through me. The men roar too, all four of them it seems, and hot jism pumps over my tits and down my throat. I swallow repeatedly and buck into Forrest’s mouth. The fingers push deep inside me and when they do, another orgasm rips through my core, my body tingling with every touch.
The bed shakes and Forrest bucks between my legs, crying out into me as he comes too, by his own hand.
Having us all come together in a mass of hot skin and slick body parts is almost too much for my previously overwhelmed mind to comprehend. Emotions pour back over me, drowning out all the fun we just had. I let go of the now soft cocks and the men clean me off with tissues, then lie down next to me and pull the covers over all five of us.
“That was incredible,” Cedar breathes and leans in to kiss me.
The other men kiss whatever area of my body they’re near. “Amazing,” they echo.
That was incredible. It was a fantasy come true, and while I loved every single second of it, but reality returned almost as soon as it ended. I wait until the room resounds with light snoring and then I turn my head into the pillow and cry.
Chapter Thirty
I sleep for two days straight, more wasted time, but my body is still healing. The vampire blood did what they said it would and stopped my bleeding, healing the gash nicely, leaving only a very faint scar. The rest of my bruising and small cuts are all healed as well. My left hand is mostly useable, as long as I keep the brace on. But though the sharp, shooting pain in my right hand is gone, it’s completely useless, especially in the cast.
They had to cut my clothes off me in the ER and thus I don’t have Siobhain’s number but Jules does. I text her to ask.
About stinking time skank! Howya feelin?
Better. I can’t tell her I’m utterly lost and depressed. She’ll worry too much. Not to mention I’m slow as hell at texting with my left hand.
A second later she pings me back with the number. Tell me everything after you talk to her.
With shaking hands, I call the woman, who answers on the second ring. “Siobhain Paice’s office.”
Of course she has a secretary. This woman is the real deal. “H-h-hello.” I clear my throat, which has suddenly contracted a hellish tickle. “This is A-Amaya . . .”
“Reynolds? Yes, of course. One moment, please.”
My hands are so slick the phone slips and lands with a thud on the floor of my room, bouncing once, twice and then coming to a rest. I snatch it back up and almost drop it again. “H-hello?” There’s no one on the line yet. And thank God because this is a stupid idea.
But just as I’m pulling the phone away to hang up, Siobhain’s voice comes through the line. “Amaya?”
Shit, a second too late. I can’t hang up on her. “Hi, I’m sorry, I think I’ve made a mistake—”
“I’m really glad you called,” she interrupts. “The new opera house is looking for understudies.”
“I-I . . .”
“Before you say anything, hear me out. All right?”
I nod, then realize she can’t see me and suck in a stuttering breath of air. “All right.”
“I know you love the opera. The way you sang that aria tells me as much. I know you’re scared but all performers are scared. If you weren’t scared, if you were overly confident instead, I’d be worried. The fact that you’re not is a good thing.”
“It is?”
She laughs, a small tinkling sound, so unlike the person I’ve judged her to be. She is, after all, a serious agent. “Yes, it’s perfect. So here’s what I’m going to say. You have nothing to lose by giving it a chance. Come meet the cast and crew. If you’re comfortable, you can audition. If you’re not, we’ll leave.”
Oh, that sounds a little easier. I blow out a long breath.
“What would the salary be?” I’m uncomfortable asking this but it is the reason I’m even considering it, so . . .
“They have two seasons per year. Every two weeks is a different performance. Leads get paid top dollar but you’d have to work up to that type of offer, put in your time first. Though I do think you have a serious chance with some proper training.”
I hold my breath, waiting to hear the rest.
“Starting salary for leads per season is fifty thousand dollars, which may give you some incentive to work as hard as you’ll need to in order to be considered.”
Oh to dream . . . “And understudies?”
“Understudies earn twenty thousand dollars per season.”
I cough to cover my gasp.
“If you choose to have me represent you as an agent, I take ten percent.”
Even with her cut, that’s a hell of a lot more than I’ve ever earned before. I’d be lucky to make eighteen thousand in six months! “I don’t want this to come out wrong, but what’s the payment schedule?”
“You get paid half as soon as you sign and the other half at the end of the season.”
I nearly drop the phone.
I skip down the stairs so quickly I smash straight into Forrest. He grabs me with one hand and the railing with the other. It keeps me from throwing us both to the ground. Shit, I’ve really got to watch where I’m going as I seem to be on an accident-prone streak. If I had tumbled on top of him, I could have seriously injured my already-injured wrist. I can’t seem to coordinate stepping backward and up a step, plus the thick length of his cock is pressed hard against my pussy, emphasis on hard. Being a stair above him puts our body parts at the same level.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” His breath tickles my ear and the warm fragrance of chocolate tickles my nose. I turn my head and press my lips to his. I do it without thinking, just pure reaction to the way his body feels against mine, the way his silken white hair falls over my shoulder. He kisses me back, tasting like starlight and magic. “Amaya,” he breathes it into my mouth, and I’m swept away just like that.
In a fluid motion, his arms wrap around me and he spins me up and off the stair. For a second I worry he’s going to carry me up to my room, lay me on the bed and screw me. Not that I don’t want that, but timing is everything. He descends the two stairs backward, holding me tight in his grasp. When he r
eaches the bottom he pivots around like a dancer and deposits me, ever so gently, on the marble floor. Then he cups my face in his hands and looks down at me, those violet eyes reaching into the depths of my soul.
I bite the inside of my cheek, holding his gaze. “I . . . I don’t know why I’m in a hurry. My mind was elsewhere.” I’m too excited and flustered about the job offer. I want to tell him but it’s too soon. Like if I open my mouth it’ll up and disappear like a dream.
“Do you want to talk about where your mind is?”
“I’d rather be distracted right now.” I bark out a laugh and he grins, the corners of his violet eyes crinkling, his white brows punctuating his handsome face.
“I can distract you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
I suck in a breath and angle my face toward his, ready and willing to accept another kiss.
But instead of pressing his lips against mine, he murmurs, “I wrote a poem for you. Would you like to hear it?”
“Please.” My knees wobble. A man who spouts poetry, what a dream.
His eyes twinkle with mischief, the broad smile lighting up his pale face.
* * *
Amaya, I will never tire
of looking into your eyes
there is too much to see
* * *
they are deep and magical
ever bringing me back
to the complexities of your soul
* * *
the beauty within
that you cannot hide
in limpid pools of golden stillness
* * *
I could lose myself in them
finding within
the universe of each perfect moment
* * *
I have never before seen
