Chapter 34 Pandora
PANDORA
“We’ll be down the hall,” I tell Samantha.
She fidgets nervously, her hand clutching the door to River’s bedroom. “Are you sure it’s safe here?” she asks, and her voice is more fragile than I think I’ve ever heard it.
It doesn’t sound like her.
“Safer than anywhere else,” I say confidently. “I mean, I could drive you to my parents’ house? But that’s two hours away.”
I don’t really want to see my parents right now. They’ll ask why I’m bruised up, what the hell happened, why I didn’t call them… ugh.
But if it keeps Samantha safe, I’ll do it.
“Your parents? The ones who run the sleazy strip clubs?” she replies. “How are they supposed to help if those people come after me?”
I grin widely. “Well, if you’re with their sleazy strip club, nobody would…” I trail off when Samantha pales. “Sorry. Bad joke. No, my parents have great security because of their business. And my mom would take good care of you. Or I could call my aunt in Benton—”
“No!” she says. “I don’t—” She pauses, then takes a deep breath. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I really do, but I don’t think the solution to all of this is for you to foist me off on your family.”
“I’d suggest witness protection, but then they’d probably want you to testify, and who knows how long that is…” I shake my head. “We’ll figure it out in the morning, okay? For now, get some rest.”
“Rest,” she repeats with a quiet, derisive huff that sounds much more familiar. “Fine.” She marches into the room and closes the door behind her.
I take a moment to steady myself, too.
I have no idea how I’m going to keep her safe. I’m not delusional enough to think nobody is going to come after her. Daddy would have ideas, but I still don’t want to draw the Bouchards down on all of us.
And I definitely don’t want anyone but me to kill Ezio.
He didn’t even care about Samantha. None of it mattered as long as he could get his revenge on me and my family.
I walk down the hall and to the primary bedroom, the same room Asch and I had used when we’d tied Blaze down.
Every step feels heavier than the last, and I wonder if my bones are shattered and collecting in my feet.
Not literally, duh. I think if I was completely boneless, I’d be flopping around in a gruesome mess, not walking relatively bloodless.
Blaze is sitting on the bed, with Asch on the desk chair and River standing near the door.
“She’s all tucked in for the night,” I say with a smile.
River nods, and he pulls me into his arms. “Time to tuck you in for the night,” he murmurs, his lips ghosting over my ear. He nudges me so my back is pressed against the wall, boxing me in.
Does he see the holes all over my skin?
Can he tell how I’ve been sliced apart and barely stitched together?
I need to stop mixing my metaphors. Hallucinations. Same difference.
“Is tucking me in all you’ll be doing?” I ask as I bring my arms up around him.
“Of course not,” River replies, kissing from my ear to my cheek, then to my lips. He kisses me hard, urgently, then murmurs quietly, “I thought I was going to lose you.”
I trace the length of his jaw. “I’m indestructible. You know that.”
“I don’t think you actually are,” Blaze says. He’s freshly showered, his hair still damp, and you’d think that would have made him relax, but he’s actively glaring at me.
“I so am. Remember that time I got kidnapped as a baby? If my baby self survived, then adult me will have no problem!” I smile again, and it hurts like my cheeks are being cut open.
River’s arms tighten around me. “You need to be careful, especially until this boils over.”
“If we get through that in one piece,” Asch mutters.
“Don’t be so pessimistic,” River retorts, glancing over his shoulder at Asch.
“It’s not pessimistic. It’s realistic,” Asch replies with a shrug. He spins around in the desk chair once, then sighs. “All right. So we’ll figure it out. Blaze?”
“I have a few ideas.” Blaze runs a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. “But they can wait. River, stop hogging Pandora.” He extends his hand to me.
River mutters, but after kissing me again, he releases me and steps to the side so I can walk past him to Blaze.
I sit down on Blaze’s lap and wrap one arm around his shoulder. He settles one hand on my hip and uses the other to stroke my hair.
“Fuck, Pandora. When Asch and River came out without you…” Blaze kisses me briefly. “I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.”
I kiss him again before answering, “I’m sure you were. What about when I had you tied down and had my knife against your ribs? Way scarier.”
Blaze shakes his head. “No. No, it wasn’t.”
Oh.
Well.
I cling to Blaze so no other pieces of me can fall off.
“Good thing your fancy sports car can keep up with a nondescript white work van,” I joke.
Asch gets up from the chair so he can get on the bed behind me. “We’re lucky he didn’t get too far ahead of us,” he says. He kisses the side of my throat. “And that he didn’t realize Samantha was wearing her earpiece.”
“Good thinking with that, Blaze,” I say. I tilt my head so I can get Asch’s lips in a proper kiss.
Asch kisses me hard, urgent, and he runs his hand up and down my back. “How are you doing?” he asks when he pulls away.
Does he know about the bits of me that are coming apart?
“I’m doing better than Samantha,” I say. “And probably better than River, and you.” I push down on the bruise on Asch’s jaw.
He hisses in a breath. “Yeah, well. I’d love to say we’re just that good, but I think we got lucky that they underestimated us for too long.”
Blaze pulls me away from Asch to kiss me again. “I wish I’d managed to shoot Ezio. I’ll do it next time.”
I let the cuts on the corners of my mouth split wider. “No way. I’m the one who gets to eviscerate him. I’m already planning the art installation. Joie de vivre, featuring Ezio’s entrails.”
River takes Asch’s seat in the office chair. “Sounds like a winning show to me,” he remarks. “But then we’d have more people to disembowel.”
I want to answer, but Blaze gets his lips on me again, and I forget all my words as he breathes into me, filling me up with a warmth, a blaze.
I’m so corny. I roll with it though, kissing him back and hoping he can consume me and burn away the parts that are falling off anyway.
Asch tugs at the bottom hem of my shirt, pulling it up so he can get it over my head. “Off,” he murmurs.
I lift my arms so he can pull the shirt off.
“A boring bra,” Blaze complains when he sees the simple white sports bra I’m wearing.
I stick my tongue out at him. “We were doing a whole sneaking mission! I wanted my breasts firmly secure and not bouncing around all over the place.”
“You didn’t have to put it back on after you showered,” River points out.
Asch helps me out of the bra, too, but his hands trail down my back once my upper half is bared. He starts to kiss down my spine. “Pandora, Pandora,” he murmurs. “You worried us so much.”
I lean back into Asch’s touch. “How was I supposed to know what we’d be doing after my shower? Maybe I was going to get carted back to my dorm room—”
Blaze’s hands tighten on my thighs. “Absolutely not. I’m not letting you out of my sight anymore. You’re a fucking menace.”
I giggle. “I am. If you let me out of your sight, I might start lighting fires.”
Asch’s hands slide around to my front, slowly running them down from my upper chest down to my breasts. “We’ll just have to keep you distracted.”
“How do you want me?” I ask, nuzzling against Blaze’s neck. “How many of my holes do you three want to stuff?”
“Yes,” River deadpans.
Asch snorts, kissing the top of my spine. “More like, how full do we want to stuff them,” he corrects me.
Blaze grips the underside of my thighs, then starts shimmying us up the bed. It’s beyond awkward, but I end up giggling while he moves backwards with my legs wrapped around his waist.
“Is this giving you trouble? Maybe you need to lift more, like Asch and River,” I joke to him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Blaze mutters. He lies back and pulls on top of him, drawing me into another kiss.
I can already feel his cock tenting his pajama pants.
Asch has followed, and he gets right behind me. “Don’t move her too far,” he complains.
“It’s not like you aren’t still right there,” River points out. “Whining isn’t attractive.”
“Yep. Don’t cry me a river, Asch,” I say as I lift my ass up higher.
“Funny,” River says. He gets up to join us, standing right beside the bed. His fingers run through my hair, and he urges me to lean in so I can kiss him. “You’re just hilarious.”
Asch kisses and licks his way down my spine, his hands going back to my breasts to tease my nipples as he does. “Make sure you keep it down,” he says. “Wouldn’t want to scare your roommate.”
“Keep what down?” I ask, genuinely confused. “Your cum?”
Blaze starts chortling, because unlike the others, he understands a good joke.
“Yes,” Asch says. “That’s exactly what I meant.” Then he squeezes my nipple and twists slightly, enough to give me an edge of pain that feels like bliss.
River shakes his head. “Your voice, Pandora. Keep it down so Samantha doesn’t hear.”
I’m about to joke that she already knows I’m a slut, but I remember how she’d looked on the bed in that hotel.
Sad. Scared. Pitiful.
She doesn’t need reminders of the hotel.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll be very, very quiet. But you have to manage as well.” I stretch out a hand to give River’s cock a quick stroke.
River bites his lip to swallow a moan that was definitely louder than my whisper.
“I’m taking her cunt,” Blaze mutters while he kisses my shoulder. “But you two can duke out who joins me in there.”
My breath stops.
“Oh.” I meet Blaze’s eyes, beautiful blue, and I see the utter seriousness in them. “You’re going to finally put your money where your mouth is, Blaze?” I ask. Will I be able to stay quiet throughout that?
I don’t know, but I want it, want them.
“Me,” Asch says immediately. “River can take your mouth, but I’m in your pussy with Blaze.”