by L. E. Bross
And then my stomach growls again. Loudly.
Ry turns and waves the spatula at me. “Baz, stop nibbling on her like she’s a pastry. Ever, sit your ass down and eat.”
I meet Baz’s eyes and I grin. “Bossy, isn’t he?”
Baz winks and pulls out a stool and I slide onto it. There’s a feast waiting on the island. Stacks of pancakes. A plate of crispy bacon. Scrambled eggs and toast and coffee and juice. It’s like an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.
I grab a slice of bacon and nibble at the end. Flavor explodes on my tongue and I make short work of it.
It’s done exactly the way I like it.
Not too crispy, not too floppy.
I grab a few more slices while Baz reaches over and stabs a pancake, putting it on my plate. X dishes out a spoonful of eggs to me and pours a cup of coffee that he doctors before setting it down.
Ry brings the last of the pancakes over and the boys sit, one on each side and Ry across from me. I pick up my fork but freeze when I notice that they’re not doing the same. In fact, they're all watching me.
“I can’t eat with all of you staring at me.”
Baz takes my fork carefully from my fingers and stabs a bite of pancake, then lifts it to my mouth. I’m too stunned to do anything but part my lips.
“We are so fucking sorry,” he whispers hoarsely. “We let you down.”
I chew quickly because I need to get the food out of my mouth so I can tell them none of it is their fault. All three of them have the same look on their faces and it’s killing me.
“Don’t. None of this is any of your fault. This is Peter. It’s always been Peter.”
“Peep, this isn’t just about what happened. There was already something wrong before you were abducted and none of us noticed it. You were hurting and we were so fucking wrapped up in ourselves that we didn’t notice.”
Tears burn my eyes and I swallow against the lump in my throat. I set my fork down.
“You know what I realized while I was in that room? That I let you all down. I made you promise to include me in everything, but I didn’t do that same thing. I didn’t want to burden you while you were chasing your dreams. I felt…lost.”
X makes a distressed sound and I lay my hand over his. His gold-flecked eyes are filled with remorse and it breaks my heart. I slide off the stool and move between his legs so that I can get as close to him as possible.
My arms wind around his neck and I hug him with all my might.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He draws back, torment burning bright in his eyes.
“So am I, sweetheart.” His arms come around me and it’s so much more than just a hug. It’s apology and forgiveness wrapped in one. For both of us.
I move to Baz next. He won’t meet my eyes and I tilt his face up with a finger to his chin. He’s wearing his glasses this morning and behind the lenses, his eyes fill with regret.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“Baby.” His voice cracks and he pulls me into his arms, buries his face in my neck and inhales deeply. I can feel the way his body trembles against me and I hold onto him tighter.
Another crack in my heart heals.
When I pull away, my cheeks are wet, but the burden is much lighter.
Ry shoves away from the island as I make my way around it and backs up until the counter forces him to stop.
“No,” he grinds out. “You don’t apologize to me. I’m the one who fucked up, Peep. I should be on my knees begging you for forgiveness.”
His grey eyes are dark and stormy and his jaw ticks.
I step close enough to lay my hand on his cheek. He tilts his face into my touch, drawing harsh breaths in and out.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
An agonized groan comes from his lips right before he yanks me into his arms. Fingers grip the back of my neck, holding my head against his shoulder, and his other hand wraps around my waist, pinning me against his front.
“You are the most important person in the world. No one else even comes close. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you know that.”
“We all will,” X says, and when I look up, I see him and Baz standing right next to me.
Ry’s lips move over my jaw and he makes a path to my lips.
I open, but all he does is press a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“Eat,” he says as he releases me, spinning me in his arms and walking me back to my seat.
I do, on autopilot, my body buzzing with awareness. When I can’t eat anymore, I sit back. They’ve barely touched the food on their plates, but I know they’re hungry. I can see it in their eyes.
Not for food though.
My nipples harden again under their stares. X and Ry exchange a look, then they stand and clear the island. Baz gets off his stool and takes my hand, easing me off mine. The way he’s looking at me sends heat spiraling down to my core.
He cups my face, strokes his thumb over my cheek.
“You are so fucking beautiful.” He lifts me up and sits me on the edge of the island, moving between my legs.
His eyes never leave mine as he slides his hands down to the bottom of my tank and starts to lift it. With every inch of flesh he exposes, he checks to make sure I’m okay with it. His thumbs make circles against my skin, and when he finally pushes the top over my head, he twists the fabric at my wrists, pinning them together over my head.
Baz gently guides me back until I’m lying down across the island. One of them has put something down over the granite so the cold wouldn't be a shock.
“Do you trust us?” he asks hoarsely, already trailing his finger down between my breasts, reverence in his eyes.
“With everything,” I answer honestly.
He groans and leans over me, closing his lips around one nipple. I arch up at the zing of pure sensation that shoots through me. My top slips off my wrists and then the cloth is used to gently cover my eyes. Once secured, Baz pulls back and I lie motionless.
My pulse hammers in my ears, but I can feel them around me.
A whimper of need creeps from my throat. My skin starts to prickle and come alive. None of them touch me yet, but the just anticipation makes me arch my back.
The faintest whisper of a touch causes me to freeze.
I strain to focus the spot when another touch in a completely different place takes my attention. They continue to torture me with the barest of sensations until my body hums.
“Just feel,” X whispers in my ear.
Lips close over a nipple and teeth graze the overly sensitive peak.
I cry out, arch against the mouth on me, barely cognizant of the fact that my sleep shorts are being slid down my legs. The cool air on my wet, heated center makes me moan louder.
“Oh god,” I burst out when a second mouth covers my other nipple.
Hands rest on my stomach, holding me down as two of them start to tease me. Licks. Sucks. Nips. I gasp and writhe and beg.
One of them cups the back of my knees and raises my legs, spreading me open as he steps closer. Fingers dip down, stroke over my clit, then descend to slip through the wetness at my opening.
I hold my breath, beg silently for him to slide inside, but he continues to tease, drawing the moisture up and over where I ache the most. I start to move my arms, to reach out and touch whoever I can find, but my wrists are imprisoned in a vise, pinned to the kitchen island above my head.
They are working together to keep me immobile.
I have no idea who is where, and the touches change every few seconds. Hands. Mouths. Lips. Tongue.
Oh god.
I lift my hips when I feel a hot tongue sliding over my clit.
Hands drag my thighs apart wider as fingers join back in. They take turns teasing high before sliding lower. The lips at my breasts move too. Nibble at the underside of each breast, tease over the peak just enough to make me choke out a gasp.
Hands are on the insides of my thighs,
moving closer to where a tongue is sending me higher with every stroke. I don’t recognize the noises coming from my throat; they are animalistic. I feel everything with an intensity that steals my breath away.
Fingers penetrate my wet heat, one from each side, sliding in deep, and a mouth closes around my clit. Teeth nip at overly sensitive flesh and my entire body locks up as massive waves of pleasure crash over my head.
I open my mouth to scream and lips collide with mine, just in time to swallow my cries of release. They do so greedily, tongue savoring every sound I make as I spasm around the fingers driving relentlessly inside me, causing another wave to build and crash before I’ve recovered from the first one.
I’m drowning in blinding light and blazing euphoria.
The pleasure doesn’t stop, only re-circles to rush through me over and over again. Tears soak my shirt as I scream out yet another orgasm. My back bows off the island and my muscles shake and writhe until there is nothing else except my boys and me.
Slowly, they bring me back, one soft lick, one gentle touch at a time.
By the time the fingers slip carefully free and the last soft kiss grazes my clit, I’m sobbing. I’m raw. Stripped bare. They’ve shattered me and put me back together.
I’m whole again.
I say the words I thought I might never have the chance to say.
“I love you. All of you.”
∞∞∞
“You can still wait in the car,” Baz tells me. Again.
We’re sitting in the parking lot of Allendale Correctional Facility waiting for the clock to hit ten, when visiting hours start.
After my admission, after the most explosive orgasms of my life, the boys drew me a bath and treated me like a princess. I wanted to take care of them too, but they argued it was all about me.
They were taking care of me this time.
I drew the line when X tried to carry me to the car though.
I could still walk, albeit on shaky legs.
Did I mention the mind-blowing orgasms?
“I want him to see that he failed.”
I thought about it for the entire two-hour drive. Part of me wanted to hide—baiting a bear is never a good idea—but Peter has put me through hell before. This time, he really wanted me dead.
I’m not letting that slide.
Not when he almost ripped me away from the people I love.
And I want to see the look on his face when I walk in. Nate probably told him I was dead already. I like the idea of being a ghost, returned to Ebenezer Scrooge his ass.
“I promised you guys that we’d do shit together. I want to protect you with every fiber of my being, but I can’t be with all of you, all of the time. So,” I pull a deep breath into my lungs because the unknown terrifies me. Something happening to the guys terrifies me. “We need to take care of the threat. Somehow.”
I’m not sure what the guys have planned. Baz said he had a plan but didn’t give me any details. He’s a genius though, so I trust him. Maybe he deleted all of Peter’s tax returns. The thought makes me smile.
“It’s time.”
Silence descends over the car at X’s announcement.
“You can still change your mind, Peep. We can handle this.”
I reach out and take Ry’s hand and give it a squeeze.
“Together, remember?” I’m not letting them face this alone.
I can tell he doesn’t like it, but he nods.
“We need to leave our phones in the car. Bring your IDs but leave everything else. Ry, just the car key, nothing else,” Baz instructs.
We were all told what to wear before we left. Baz made sure there was nothing left to chance. Apparently Peter put all three boys on the visitor list when he first went in. Maybe he was anticipating this meeting.
The walk across the parking lot toward the squat building feels like a mile. The air is heavy and thick and presses against my skin. The peasant blouse Baz chose for me starts to stick to the sweat on my back.
My stomach knots when Baz holds open the door for us to go through. The blast of A/C feels good but doesn't quell the sick feeling in my stomach.
The reception area is nondescript. A man motions to a sign-in sheet. We go through the vetting process, pass through the metal detectors, then are led to a large room with tables spread throughout.
My heart pounds so hard that I can’t hear anything around me. I grip Ry’s hand so tightly I’m probably cutting off the circulation. He lets me. I look around and don’t see Peter at first.
“There,” X says under his breath, nodding to the corner.
Air lodges in my lungs when Peter looks up. He looks washed-out in his orange jumpsuit and his hair is a little longer. Greyer, too. A low growl rumbles in Ry’s chest and this time, he squeezes my fingers hard when Peter swings his narrowed gaze to me.
The only acknowledgment he gives upon seeing me is a tightening of his jaw.
Baz and X lead the way and I trail behind with Ry. My feet grow heavier with each step. His reaction wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be. I sit the furthest away from him, on the end next to Ry.
“This is a surprise,” Peter says.
A smirk teases the corner of his lips and Ry’s fisted knuckles turn white in his lap.
“Is it really though?” X snaps, leaning forward halfway across the table. “You tried to have Ever fucking killed, you bastard.”
Peter lifts an eyebrow then holds his hands up. “I’m locked up. It’s…unfortunate if Miss Darlington found herself in any danger. You never know when something unexpected might happen.”
Ry shoves to his feet and is reaching across the table when a guard steps up.
“You need to sit down, sir, or you’ll be asked to leave.”
Riot’s jaw ticks and I slide my fingers around his forearm. He slowly sits back down, his body pressing against mine. He clenches and unclenches his fist under the table and I lay my hand on his thigh.
Baz exhales loudly. “We want to make a deal.”
Peter sits back and crosses his arms over his chest.
“What makes you think you have anything I want?”
His demeanor comes across as laid-back, calm even, but I can see the calculating gleam in his eyes.
“You’ll have to start from scratch when you get out of here, right? You lost Panchard and everything that goes with it.”
Anger flashes in Peter’s eyes and his jaw goes hard.
“We’re prepared to give it back to you. Everything.”
Peter snorts. “I don’t need a building with a bunch of office supplies.”
“All of it,” Baz says slowly.
Realization dawns and Peter sits forward. His gaze darts to me then back to Baz.
“You’d give up everything for a piece of ass?”
Ry growls in warning and I squeeze his leg. I hate that the guys are giving up their legacy, argued against it until I was blue in the face, but Baz said to trust him.
Panchard wasn’t what any of them wanted anyway.
“If you leave Ever alone. For good,” Baz says to him. “Panchard and all its tech is yours.”
Peter looks at me once again. Hatred burns so deep in his eyes that I sit back, putting more of Ry between us—but not before I see triumph flicker to life.
“I’ll agree, on one condition.”
“What?” X grits out.
“Sebastian comes to work for me.”
∞∞∞
We leave soon after that bombshell; right after Ry gets escorted out and threatened with arrest for almost attacking Peter. He made it across the table before the guard could pull him away.
I’m numb. X wraps his arms around me as we exit the building. Ry is waiting for us by the car.
“No!” he shouts, storming to meet us. He jabs his finger at Baz. “You’re not fucking working for that rat bastard. Not happening.”
“Ry, I said I’d do anything to keep Ever safe. It’s okay.”
“It�
��s not okay. He’s going to take every bit of programming you create and keep it for himself. Take the credit for it. You’ll be giving him your future.”
I catch Baz’s gaze then drop mine. I’m with Ry. I’m not about to let him do this.
“You can’t.” I reach out and take Baz’s hand, slide my fingers between his.
He tugs me close and wraps one arm around my waist.
“Everything’s going to be okay, baby. Trust me.”
His soft kiss does little to alleviate the guilt rising in my chest, but I step closer and let his touch comfort me. Ry is pacing and muttering obscenities while X stands there looking lost.
My boys, my strong heroes. They’re doing exactly what I didn’t want them to do. They are giving up their future—for me.
My gaze strays to the prison complex and I narrow my eyes.
Peter Panchard is not going to win.
We beat him once; we’ll do it again.
X drives us home and I sit in the backseat with Ry. His anger doesn’t diminish; if anything, he gets more furious the longer he thinks about it.
“Maybe we should hire someone to take him the fuck out,” he growls.
“We’re not killers,” Baz says from the passenger seat.
“We’re better than that,” I tell him, squeezing his hand.
He swings his stormy gaze to me. “Maybe we shouldn’t be better if it means putting you in danger or Baz working with that bastard.”
“We could find Nate, convince him to rat Peter out. He’s already proven he can be bought.”
“No one would believe him,” X says. “He’s a gangster with a long record. And you can be sure that the money Peter gave him would never lead back to him. He’s not stupid. This would be a hell of a lot easier if he were. He’s way too fucking smart, that’s the problem. He’s been playing everyone around him for years. A master manipulator.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Baz says.
He meets my gaze and something flashes in his eyes.
I tilt my head, trying to figure out what the look means, but he just gives me a smile.
“You trust me?” he asks softly.
“Always,” I tell him.
“It’s going to be okay.”
He repeats his words, and this time, I believe him.
