Chapter 6
Jacob
“So, Jacob, have you decided what you’re doing after you get your GED?”
Jacob shrugged at Beckett’s question, and hoped the gesture came off as breezily nonchalant rather than sulky. Since the latter was how he felt more often than not lately when the question of what to do with his life came up, he wasn’t convinced he actually pulled it off.
“Not sure. Hannah’s talking about law school.”
“She is.” Grinning like a proud father, Holden raised his whiskey as if toasting Jacob’s sister. “Can’t stop talking about it. I pity the defense attorney who has to go up against her.”
“Yeah. She’s pretty great.” Talking about Hannah or Sarabeth or any of his sisters was much more comfortable than talking about himself. “She aced the last practice test we took. I thought Ivy was going to explode, she was so proud.”
“What about you?” Apparently unwilling to let Beckett’s original question go, Braden cocked his head to the side, those unnervingly pale eyes pinning Jacob in place as he fought the urge to squirm.
“I did okay. I’m not really smart like Hannah, though.”
In a fingersnap, every man in the room changed. They all sat up a bit straighter, their expressions hardening as they glared at him. It took him a moment to realize the change was the same one he saw in Cordelia on a regular basis.
They’d all become more… Daddy.
“I have half a mind to march you upstairs to call Cordelia.” Braden’s voice had taken on the same hard edge as his expression. “How do you think she’d feel about you saying you’re not smart?”
She’d be pissed, there was no doubt about it. But he wasn’t quite ready to give in. One thing Cordelia and Ivy had both impressed upon him from the beginning was just because someone was a Dom didn’t make them his Dom. Which meant Braden couldn’t really make him do anything he didn’t want to do.
“I didn’t say I’m not smart. I said I’m not as smart as Hannah. Which I’m not.”
“Kid’s got a point.” Ice shrugged when three heads swung to glare at him.
“I’m just saying. There’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re not as talented as someone else in whatever way.
Now, if he was gonna say some shit like he’s not as smart as her so he can’t do anything meaningful with his life, we might have a problem. ”
Those same stares swung his way again and it was all Jacob could do not to flee the room. “I didn’t say that,” he mumbled instead, dropping his gaze to the mostly empty bottle in his hand.
“Good.” Conviction rang out in Beckett’s gruff voice. “Because if you tried, we would definitely be making that call to your Daddy.”
He had a feeling his ‘technicality’ wouldn’t go over nearly as well with his women, so he forced his gaze back up to meet Beckett’s. “Yes, Sir. Sorry.”
“No apologies needed. But you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Stop badgering the kid, Bex. He doesn’t have to have his whole life figured out. Give him some time to live a little first.”
Beckett scowled. “You know I hate that damn nickname, Ice.”
“I know.” Not looking the least bit chagrined, Ice grinned and lifted his glass to his lips. “Why do you think I keep using it?”
Thankfully, their bantering took the attention off Jacob and he was able to relax once more.
Truth was, he had no clue what he wanted to do with his life. Ivy had introduced him to so many new and interesting things during their tutoring sessions, how was he supposed to pick just one thing to focus on?
Sometimes he thought about following Hannah’s footsteps. Maybe not law school, which sounded incredibly boring, but something else that would let him work with other cult survivors. He often felt like he owed a debt he could never repay since he’d been rescued.
But the truth was… there were so many other things he wanted to learn about. Like dinosaurs. He’d become fascinated with them ever since learning they’d actually existed and weren’t part of some grand conspiracy planted in the ground by ‘heretics’ determined to lead people astray.
Whenever he went down that road, though, he started to feel guilty.
Like he should want to do something different, something that helped people.
Wanting a career that was just for him seemed wrong.
Which was why he dodged the question as much as he was able whenever it came up in conversation.
He couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the inevitable disappointment in his women’s eyes when they realized how selfish he really was.
He was doing his best not to drown in his own self-pity when his phone buzzed.
Pulling it from his pocket, he grinned at the sight of Ivy’s name on the display.
Being able to reach the people he loved at the touch of a button was just one of about a billion things he enjoyed about living in the ‘real world’.
The picture that popped up on his screen when he tapped the message was another. Ivy, stripped down to nothing but the lace covering her breasts, and grinning up at the camera.
Tilting the phone more toward him so Braden couldn’t glance over and see what was one his screen, he swiped to the next image. Ivy, facing the mirror, her mouth tilted up in a smirk.
And lastly, Ivy, perched on the edge of the sink, her fingers spreading her pussy open so he could see every glorious inch of her glistening lips.
“You okay over there, Jacob?”
Jerking his head up at Holden’s question, he glanced from one man to the next, praying his face wasn’t nearly as red as it felt. “I’m fine.”
But the words came out as a high-pitched squeak and all his friends exchanged knowing grins.
“Ivy or Cordelia?” Ice asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that managed to be both lewd and comical at the same time.
“Neither. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Beckett chuckled. “Well if you need some privacy to look at whatever they definitely didn’t send you to put that look on your face, there’s a bathroom upstairs you’re free to use.”
Over the past few months, he’d come to think of these men as his family. Brothers, or at times more like uncles, especially when they got bossy with him the way they had tonight.
But no matter how close they all were, there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to confess that he didn’t need privacy because his Daddy had locked his cock in a cage. A cage that was currently feeling very, very tight.
Nope. Not telling them any of that.
Pushing up off the couch, he headed for the kitchen. “Need a drink,” he managed to mumble as he hurried away, leaving them laughing behind him.
In the kitchen, he yanked open Beckett’s fridge and grabbed one of ‘his’ drinks from the top shelf. Pressing the cold bottle to his inflamed face, he leaned back against the countertop.
Once his heart stopped trying to beat its way out of his chest, he opened his phone again.
Man, Ivy was beautiful. She always was, but when she got that mischievous look in her eyes it made him want to follow her straight into whatever kind of trouble she was cooking up.
Which he usually did, much to their Daddy’s consternation.
He almost wished he could have seen the look on Cordelia’s face when those pictures came through.
Wanting to give himself a bit more time to settle, he twisted the cap off his drink and took a slow pull from it while he switched between Ivy’s pictures. As he was staring at the third one, where she was on full display, another text came through.
Cordelia
Excuse yourself to the bathroom, turn the volume down on your phone, and watch both of these videos to the very end. I’ll know if you don’t, and you don’t want to disappoint Daddy.
The aforementioned videos came through a few seconds later and he didn’t even hesitate. Setting his drink on the counter, he ducked around the corner to the half bathroom. With his heart once again thundering in his chest, his fingers trembling, he locked the door behind him.
And hit play.