What happened to you? I make a mental note to revisit this conversation.
I feel hands trace up my spine and land on my shoulders, massaging the tension away. I turn and encounter August’s soft smile, fully taking him in. His once smooth skin bearded. “Did you get in a fight with your razor?” I quip, tugging at the fine, coarse, auburn hair on his chin.
He laughs, and some of the worry drains from his posture. I moan when his fingers press into a knot at the base of my neck, causing my head to lull to the side.
“Don’t make those noises when we’re trying to behave, Love,” August grunts as he bends to kiss the same spot his hands just were. Shivers travel my spine, making goosebumps line my skin. I feel the smirk crest his lips before he lifts them from my skin.
“None of that,” he taunts.
Jerk.
Huffing, I accept that no amount of procrastination will deter them from this conversation. Not even sexual ones.
I lay back in his muscled embrace, allowing his body heat to envelope me, grounding me in the present.
I’m not still in that room.
“While I was there, so much happened in such a short amount of time, but it felt like an eternity passed at the same time,” I start, taking a fortifying breath to prepare myself for everything I’m about to divulge.
A hand grabs mine, and I know it’s Karl’s. August’s hands are wrapped firmly around my middle. I close my eyes and nod, reassuring myself that I’m Emma fucking Bishop or Bradford. Whoever the hell I truly am, I take whatever life throws at me and make it my bitch.
“The entire time was a mind fuck. Between some waterboarding-style tactics when I first came to, the horrifying things they did to Samantha in front of me, the asshole who tried to assault me, and finding out my mo- Elise is part of some new world order type of organization, I need more time to process it all,” I verbally vomit, rambling off everything at once.
I feel August stiffen as Karl squeezes my hand almost to the point of pain.
“Did they- did they touch you, Angel?” Karl chokes out. His eyes close and his jaw clenches so tightly that his angular cheekbones are more pronounced, even through his five o’clock shadow.
I’m not ready to have this conversation. What happened to me is nowhere as severe as what I witnessed, but when that man tried to force his disgusting dick in my mouth, only my quick kick to his balls and elbow to his gut saved me long enough for some guard to rush in and drag him out of the room.
The look of retribution in his cold, dead eyes made me refuse to sleep and not for the first time, I wonder what would have happened if my dad and the guys didn’t come in time.
I would’ve been in for the fight of my life.
“You don’t have to tell me exactly what happened if you aren’t ready, but I- no, we need to know if we have to go dig up the asshole’s body and skull fuck it before we defecate on it,” Karl snarls, and I know his anger isn’t toward me but what happened to me.
August finally loosens his grip on me. “Please, Emma, please,” he begs.
Shaking my head, “No, I wasn’t sexually assaulted in any way. There was an attempt, but it wasn’t successful,” I explain.
They both puff out a small sigh of relief. A little reprieve from whatever they were imagining happened to me.
“They still hurt you though, Love, and for that, every single fucking one of them will die,” August commands, reaching around and turning my chin to face him so I can see the fury and seriousness in his words.
“Damn right. They won’t even get to meet any of my fine ladies- they deserve nothing less than a dose of Liam,” Karl adds.
A dose of Liam? What the fuck?
I’m about to ask what they’re talking about when my room door bursts open, and another unannounced visitor makes their entrance.
Seriously? I’m talking to Thomas about security measures.
“
Emma bumboclat Elaine Bishop, where the pussyclat have you been, and why di ras did no one fucking tell mi when yuh reach back?”
My attention shifts in the direction of my rider.
Shay!
I jump from August’s arms and rush my best friend. Her arms open before I reach her.
She embraces me, squeezing me tight before her hold loosens, and she smacks the shit out of my arm.
“Hey,” Karl and August shout, jumping off the bed, but she aims her glare in their direction, and I fan them off, already knowing what the slap was for.
“If you ever in your life go missing again and don’t find some way to let me know where the fuck you are, I’ll kidnap you and lock you in a tower myself. I don’t care if you have to use morse code, carrier pigeon, smoke, or bat signals. Let me know bitch,” she demands, and I burst out in laughter.
Fuck. I needed that. This whole night has been too damn heavy.
“I promise,” I joke, holding up the scouts’ honor salute and then crossing my heart, making her glower even more.
“Tek mi fi joke and see wah happen,” she states, then shifts her focus to the guys. “Time’s up, she’s mine. You assholes had her and didn’t even tell me she was back. Wait til I see Sebastian. I told him to tell me as soon as you found her, and none of you fucks did. I’m not sure when I would’ve known if I didn’t do my nightly sneak-in.”
August chuckles. “You think we didn’t know about your nightly terrible cat burglaresque activities? Then you haven’t been paying attention,” he says back to her as he walks toward me, Karl close behind.
Karl sneaks past August, snatching me in his muscular arms, gliding his nose up the side of my neck, causing me to tip back, allowing him to kiss a trail up my exposed skin before planting his soft mouth against mine. His lips eagerly possess mine, soft but demanding, wild but controlled- everything he is, all at once. I’m lost in the feel of his mouth on mine. His tongue gains access to mine as his hands slide up into my hair. He groans, and I melt into him, feeling the reaction his body is having to my hunger for our connection. Neither of us wants to pull away, but Shay’s protests make me pull back.
“I’m not usually a cockblock, but y’all are on punishment.” She motions her hand, waving it dramatically in our direction and continues. “None of this is happening. Now get the hell out!” she dictates, dragging me from Karl’s hold.
August intercepts me, and before she can protest, he lifts me by my ass, making me wrap my legs around him, fearing I might fall as he nips at my bottom lip.
“I told you already no one can keep you from me, Love. Not even Shay Warren, as formidable as she may be. No one or nothing will separate me from you again,” he murmurs, crashing his lips to mine. His kiss is different from Karl’s, still commanding but more possessive and all-consuming as pulls me into him, squeezing my ass until my pussy is rubbing against his jeans.
This is a recipe for disaster.
“Wy, let’s give the girls their time together,” Karl coaxes, and August begrudgingly releases my mouth and places me back on the ground.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.