Syren's Pride

by Jennah Thornhill

  “Yeah, it was.” I whisper, as I turn my head back and look up at the ceiling.

  Last night wasn’t just about declaring our love for one another, it showed me that I’m not alone. That if Billie has the strength to stand up to someone like my dad - her attacker after all these years. Then I should be able to stand up for myself and my relationship. No matter what the consequences.

  I have to tell the world that I’m in a three-way relationship and if they don’t like it then they can go fuck themselves.

  The feel of Vin stroking my chest with his fingertips starts to lull me back off to sleep, only to be woken up when Billie starts to stir. Looking down at her, my heart does that thing when it skips a beat when you see the one woman who has done the impossible - she changed me. Made me see that life is far more than just drinking, fucking random women and men.

  “Morning.” Her voice is gravely as she blinks away the sleep from her gorgeous green eyes.

  “Good morning,” both me and Vin say in sync.

  She moves slowly into a sitting position, making her hair fall in a mass of knotted waves around her shoulders. The second she’s freed me, I stretch out and groan loudly.

  “God that feels good.”

  They both chuckle at me as I enjoy the stretch of my coiled and well used muscles.

  “Feel better now do you?” Vin smirks at me.

  “Yeah, I do. I think you two are trying to kill me off.”

  Taking one side of my face, Billie looks at me with mischief in dancing in her eyes.

  “If we wanted to kill you off, we would just take the sex away from you. We know you can’t live without that.”

  “You wouldn’t?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I reckon he could go at least a week before he started sweating.” Vin says, deciding to join in with the lets wind Max up game.

  Fuckers.

  They’re going to regret trying to wind me up.

  Before she knows it, I have Billie on her back and squealing like a hyena as I cage, her in with my arms.

  “Now who’s laughing, Queen Bea?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She puffs out, as I run a hand down the side of her body then start to tickle her on her ribs.

  Vin joins us and silences her cries by attaching his mouth to hers.

  Seeing them together warms my heart, this is where we all belong… together.

  When we’ve all devoured each other again in my shower and finally make it downstairs, we take in the mess in my living room. There’s blood on the floor, the chair, and the walls.

  Jesus, I really did a number on him.

  Just the thought of that evil man breathing the same air as my woman, let alone him touching her when she’s said no, makes me want to rip his head off again.

  Breaking the silence, Billie quietly says, “You go make some coffee, we’ll start in here.” She squeezes my arm and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before turning me around and pushing me in the direction of the kitchen.

  Making the coffee, I wince and groan in pain when I try to use my right hand. It’s getting worse by the minute. It’s a lovely shade of purple and blue now, and my fingers just don’t want to cooperate with my brain.

  They are definitely broken.

  Great.

  Doing the best, I can with my left hand, I get the coffee on the go so they don’t see me struggling. I just hope the pain will go away with some painkillers. Once it’s percolated, I pour myself a cup, take my customary stool and try to think how the fuck I’m going to make it in the studio with my fucked-up fingers.

  Coming into the kitchen a little while later, Billie puts the cleaning cloths that are covered in blood into the bin. Then puts away the bleach before turning to me and declaring, “Get up, we’re taking you to the hospital. So, help me god if you try telling me you’re okay. We could hear you from in there, so don’t try telling me any different.”

  Looking to Vin for some help so I don’t have to go, I silently plead with my eyes for him to stick up for me. Only the traitor shakes his head and holds his hands up.

  “I’m with her on this one, you need to get it checked out. You could have some muscle damage.”

  Well fuck me, they’ve ganged up on me.

  “Come one, we haven’t got all day.” Billie insists at the same time she’s taken me by the arm and guiding me towards the door.

  “I’ll get the car.” Vin pipes up.

  I’m astonished at how easily they just took control, I really am.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Vin

  I hate the Accident and Emergency department with a passion.

  It smells of death.

  If it’s not the stench of death that roams the corridors it’s either crying babies or drunks.

  Being here this time is necessary though. We knew Max was suffering with his hand and fingers, but didn’t want us to know. Billie being the force to reckoned with that she is insisted that he get checked out and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  Luckily Max had a baseball cap in the car and I called ahead to let them know he was coming, so he could have total discretion. All that still didn’t make a blind bit of difference when it came to waiting to see someone. So, four hours later he’s had x-rays galore and been poked at by doctors just to be told what we already knew.

  He’s broken two of his fingers and a couple of knuckles which explains the extreme bruising.

  We’re waiting outside the hospital for the nurse to finish strapping his hand up in a bandage in a private room. It’s only then when Billie knows he can’t see her does she finally let her bravado slip. She’s pacing up and down outside on the concrete pathing as she nibbles her thumbnail.

  “This is all my fault; the guys are going to go spare when they see he can’t play. I knew I should have kept my big trap shut and not said anything. They are all going to blame me for this.”

  She’s rambling now, none of this is her fault. The band were either going to be a bass player down or a bodyguard. The only difference is that I’d be down the local police station and behind bars right now, if Max hadn’t of give the dirty bastard the kicking he did.

  Pushing myself off the wall I’m leaning against, I take purposeful strides towards her and cut off her pacing. She comes to a halt but keeps her head bowed.

  “Look at me.” I’m not asking, I’m demanding. The deep tone of my voice let’s that be known. Yet she still keeps staring at the ground. I love that she’s not scared of me, if I had spoken to anyone else like that then they would have shit themselves and done as they were told immediately.

  Not her.

  Taking her chin between my thumb and first finger, I pull her head up until her neck is craning right back so I can look into her eyes.

  Being six-foot-three isn’t always a good a thing.

  Looking at her is breaking my heart. She has unshed tears in her eyes and the pain I know she’s trying so desperately to hide, is written as clear as day all over beautiful face.

  Bending at my knees a little so I’m at her eye level, I lean forward and place small and tender kisses all over her face, making her instantly relax. When I pull away from her, I see that a couple of tears have escaped her eyes, letting her chin go I wipe them away with the pad of my thumb.

  Wrapping my arms around her I breathe her in, her floral scent makes me feel like I’m home. The place I was always supposed to be.

  Resting my chin on top of her head, I proceed to tell her.

  “It wasn’t your fault, baby. He would have found out sooner or later. It was best coming from you in the long run.”

  Her sniffles and silent sobs vibrate through me. I hate seeing her like this, especially when it wasn’t her fault in the first place. She’s letting the fucker who hurt her win when she’s like this.

  There’s only one thing for it… I’ve got to be rough with her.

  Taking her by her delicate shoulders, I push h
er backwards until we’re out of view and she’s pressed against a concrete pillar that has an awning on it. Her head almost bounces of the pillar I push her that hard. I feel guilty as fuck for doing it, but right now it’s the only thing I can think off that will bring her out of this guilt trip she’s put herself on. Letting go of her shoulders, I roughly thread my fingers in her hair, tugging her head back so she can see just how serious I am this time. That I won’t be taking of her feeling sorry for myself bullshit.

  “You listen to me and you listen good. The guys won’t blame you. The girls won’t hate you and I know for a fact Max doesn’t think anything different of you. If he did then you certainly wouldn’t have crawled out of his bed this morning. Now pack this crap in.”

  My voice has a sharp edge to it, leaving her no room to argue with me on the matter.

  “Now give me that gorgeous smile of yours.”

  This time I ask her a little softer and not so menacingly. Seeing her smile makes me smile.

  “Okay.” Is all the reply I get from her in between her hiccups.

  My phone starts to ring, taking it from my trouser pocket with one hand I keep a tight grip on Billie with the other. I notice private number flashing across my screen, pressing the green button to connect the call greet the caller sternly.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh, hello. Is this Vin, Mr Lymer's personnel security?” The person on the other end asks.

  “This is he, what can I do for you?”

  Curiosity is now getting the better of me and Billie is looking me with confusion marring her features.

  “This is staff nurse Wood, I’m just calling to let you know that you can come back in to collect Mr Lymer. He’s free to go home now.”

  “That’s great, thank you for letting me know. We’ll be there in two minutes.” I tell her. Making sure the call is ended, I slide my phone back in my pocket and take a hold of Billie again with both hands,

  “He’s ready, that was the nurse calling to let me know.” I inform her.

  “Good, I just want to get out of here. I’ve had enough for one day.”

  Her teeth are chattering now, which isn’t surprising. We’re at the end of October and the weather is bitter cold in London at this time of year. To stop the shaking of her jaw, I bring my mouth down to hers, pushing my tongue inside her mouth which she accepts willingly. If it’s even possible, I hold onto her hair even tighter, making her groan into my kiss.

  Before it gets chance to go any further, I rip my lips away leaving her breathless.

  “Come on, let’s go get our man and go home.” Is all that I say, before taking her cold hand and leading her back through the hospital.

  Little did I know, that in just over a few short months we’d be back here and my life would never be the same again.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Billie

  It’s been a week since Max went to the hospital and the incident that required him to be there in the first place. His fingers and knuckles are healing slowly. I still feel guilty on a daily basis. Even after we had everyone around to the house and explained everything to them. Connor and Johnny knew the basics because I told them that night it all went to hell, but being the respectful men, they are they never breathed a word to their wives. When we did tell everyone, they said it was my story to tell and I would share it when I was ready to. As to be expected Allie got upset. She blamed herself for not being there for me, to help me get through it. To which I told her we had only just started at the dance academy when it happened, and that weren’t even proper friends then.

  Liam and Melissa also returned from their honeymoon, both glowing and very happy. The same night I told them all my history, they announced that Melissa was pregnant. They weren’t going to tell anyone until she was past the twelve-week point, but they decided everyone needed cheering up so they told just the band family. Obviously, we were all over the moon at their news. At the same time, it finally dawned on me that if things worked out with the relationship I’m currently residing in, would we have kids? If so, who would be the daddy? We’re clearly not a conventional family.

  In time we’ll work it out I suppose, we’ve just got take each day as it comes for now. Max still isn’t ready for anyone to know about us. They all think that it’s just me and him in a relationship together. It breaks my heart every day when we’re out in public and people say to him how they love his girlfriend and what a wonderful couple we are. Seeing Vin’s face when he’s trying to keep them people at bay, cracks my chest wide open. I just want to hold him and tell him everything will be okay. When in fact I don’t know if it will ever be okay. It’s Max’s choice. We can’t force him to do something that big. I’m just worried that one day the three of us loving each other won’t be enough.

  The guys have still been going into the studio to start laying down some tracks. They’ve said that Max can add his part to them when he’s all healed, which he was grateful for. They all completely understood why he did what he did. They didn’t shout or blame anyone. Which I for one was grateful for.

  He’s been going into the studio with them every day as well, which means Vin has to go with him because he can’t drive himself at the moment. Effectively leaving me to my own devices. I’ve been in the dance studio with Allie quite a bit this week trying put together a new dance sequence for when the guys go back on tour again next year, but my heads just not been in it. I’m always thinking what if and we shouldn’t be doing this, but then I’m back in their arms at the end of the day, and I think I can’t imagine being anywhere else. They are my life.

  “Yo, Billie. Anybody there?” Allie clicks her fingers in front of my face and brings me out of my thoughts. I realise I’ve been sat cross legged on the hardwood floor of the dance studio and staring into the huge mirror. Lost in my own head for god knows how long.

  “Penny for em.”

  Dropping to her arse next me, I turn to look at her and I can instantly see she’s concerned. It hurts me that I have to lie to her. She is my best friend and I would love nothing more than to tell what’s been going on, but I can’t. Max would go crazy, then end up hating me. If that happened, I could never live with myself.

  Taking in a deep breath, I smile and face her.

  “I’m okay, just tired.”

  Laughing at my response, she stares at me thoroughly.

  “That’s bullshit and you know it. I’ve known you for long enough to know when something isn’t right with you, but you know what? I’m not gonna pry, just know that whenever you’re ready I’m here for you, sweet.”

  A couple of minutes pass and she relents, realising she isn’t going to get anything more from me. With a huff, she climbs to her feet and gives my shoulder a squeeze as we look at each other through the mirror and smile. A silent thank you passing between us. When she’s walked away from me and she’s almost out the door, I quickly spin on my arse and shout, “I love you, Al. You’re an amazing friend.”

  “I love you too honey. I’m here for you anytime you want me.”

  With them words she’s out the door and I’m once again left on my own.

  Max and Vin pick me up an hour later. I’m sweaty, tired and all I want to do is have a shower, eat something and flake. Judging by the look in their eyes they have other plans for me. Well it’s going to take a lot of convincing, because right now I can’t move a muscle. Every part of my body hurts. When Allie left, I cranked up the music and continuously dance to the likes of, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and CeeLo Green. Anything just to keep my mind occupied.

  Dragging my weary and aching body from the car, I hear them both snigger behind me as I take small steps and wince when I put weight down onto my legs.

  “It’s not fucking funny.” I snap at them. “I worked my butt off today, hence why I’m in agony. Did you pair do anything energetic today? Apart from sit in a comfy chair and listen to music.”

  Both of them look at me sheepishly, “
No. I didn’t think so. Now could you please let me in before I change my mind and finally go back to my own place.”

  Just like that their whole attitudes change. There's no more laughing. Max rushes up the steps to open the front door and Vin quickly bends, grabbing hold of me behind my knees and throws me over his shoulder.

  “You will do no such thing, young lady.” Vin states, with a slap to my arse as he takes the steps to the house two at a time.

  “Put me down you caveman, this is ridiculous.” I huff, “I can walk, my legs aren’t completely useless.”

  “Well when you threaten to go home, then this is very necessary.”

  Oh, fuck me.

  This isn’t going to end well or could it?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Max

  After the day I’ve had if she thinks she’s going back to her place, then she can think again.

  This week has been pure torture for me.

  Watching the guys jamming, trying to get the music right for the new album has all but killed me. I’d love to pick my bass up and be able to play with them. Only dickhead here had to go and fuck his hand up. It’s not only that, that’s been bothering me. It’s my internal, everyday battle to be truthful with myself that’s weighing me down. I have to come clean to the world soon. They don’t have to say anything to me for me to know that by me hiding our relationship is taking its toll on them, especially Vin.

  Right now, though, I just want to forget all that and lose myself in the two people who love me no matter what. The ones who are sticking with me even though I’m making them keep a secret. They could leave me at any time, I wouldn’t blame them but they’re still here… loving me. Whilst I have them, I’m going to indulge.

  Running up the stairs when I’ve got the door open and with my heart racing with excitement, I can hear Billie squealing behind me. I know Vin’s done something to her to stop her from leaving. My heart swells with the knowledge that he’s on the same page as me. Barrelling into my bedroom, quickly stripping all my clothes off as quick as I can with only one good hand. I lie on my bed with my head propped up on my hand, just in time for Vin to be walking through the bedroom door with Billie over his shoulder. The sight makes me laugh. She’s kicking her legs out, but she’s not getting anywhere fast. Deciding to get a little comfier, I grab a pillow and lean against the headboard just as Vin rounds the bed and stops at the foot of it.