Chapter 5 #2
Atlas smoothed his thumb over the back of my hand. "She's too tough to get taken out. She's a little banged up and her ego is more damaged than her body, but she's fine. She's at the club waiting for orders." There was an odd note in his voice.
I glanced back at him, but he was looking down and I couldn't get a read on his eyes. "She protected me."
"Not well enough."
"This was extenuating circumstances," I argued. She wasn't to blame. I didn't want to see her lose her job for trying.
"That's what we hired her for. To manage those extenuating circumstances," Lake returned like he was on Atlas' side.
I shook my head. This wasn't a battle I wanted to fight right now.
"What happened? I only remember Storm finding me in the bathroom.
I think I broke his arm and then he...he shot me with some kind of dart.
" I closed my eyes, seeing it like it was happening right now.
The way I'd been wide awake but unable to move.
The terror I'd felt at not being able to fight back.
The voices in the garage. Kim lying next to me, watching me with a tear rolling down his cheek. My eyes watered to match my burning nose.
"From what Kim said, Storm had you. He thinks Gio was there, and the Pescis crashed the party." Lake popped a piece of gum in his mouth. He was still so irritated, he chewed it aggressively. He shot me a pained look. "Anything you can add?"
I thought about it. What I heard, what I felt. But there wasn't anything that stood out to me that Kim hadn't already told them. If anything, the terror had clouded everything except the sight of Kim.
Not for the first time, I felt useless letting my fear get to me like that.
"Hey, we have enough information. We have one of the men in the Gray Room. We'll be questioning him shortly." Atlas tucked a tangled piece of hair behind my ear.
I probably looked like the Beasty I'd been named after as a kid. I hadn't even considered brushing my hair before getting the hell out of that hospital.
"I should have listened. Worked harder to find clues about what was going on. I just...I was afraid and..." I trailed off.
Lake shot me another look. Reaching over, he squeezed my knee and left his hand there. Something inside me relaxed from all the points of touch. I don't know how I functioned without this my whole life.
"It's normal that you were paralyzed by what happened. Normal people aren't able to work through their fear like that. Not without practice. And Beasty, I really fucking hope you never have enough practice to do it." He sucked in a shaky breath.
"Yeah, but being normal isn't going to keep us alive." Not that I actually believed I was normal.
I sounded petulant, even to my own ears. Who was I?
Atlas chuckled, swooping in and planting a kiss on my cheek. "Brat."
We pulled into our driveway. As we rounded the curve and the house came into view, everything looked normal, yet knowing what happened, it didn't feel as though we were the same. It felt like we were suspended on a precipice where one wrong move could plunge us to a bloody death.
Tires squealed, and I jumped as a car gained speed on us from behind. "Who is that!"
"Joaquin, the idiot," Atlas breathed under his breath as Lake parked us.
Joaquin slammed on his brakes beside us and he and Kim both spilled out of the car.
I did the same, needing to see and touch Kim, to make sure he was alive. Another image of his body twisted up on the ground assaulted me. I never wanted to see that again in my life.
He scooped me up in his arms and swung me around. "Beasty," he whispered reverently, placing me back on my feet. He caught my mouth in a fiery kiss, breathing everything he had into me. "Don't do that again. Never again. I need you too much, Beasty."
Most of what he said was gibberish, but everything I did understand, pulled on one heartstring after another until I couldn't tell if this was love or heartache that I felt. Probably both.
Lake cleared his throat and I pulled back, cupping Kim’s face in my hands. He was beautiful. He always had been. But he was even more so now than ever before, if that was possible. Physically he looked the same but…
There was just a confidence about him that he’d never had before.
Joaquin stood barely three feet away. His hair a mess of wavy curls. The dark circles under his eyes concerned me. He wasn’t taking care of himself.
Atlas joined him, dropping a hand on his shoulder. Where Joaquin watched me with an unencumbered pain, Atlas studied Joaquin with a keen eye.
"Beasty—" Joaquin croaked.
I held out my arm, wanting a hug, but he stepped back, shaking his head. "I-I—"
"Give her a hug, you fucking fool," Lake growled.
As if propelled, he stumbled forward, right into my arms. His whole body trembled. It didn't last long. Only a few seconds, and when he pulled back, cold engulfed me.
He shook his head all over again. "I need to go to Snatched. I have something to check on."
"Like hell, you will." Lake stomped closer but Atlas held up a hand.
"I'll go with him." Atlas' words were measured and his attention was solely focused on Joaquin. "Beasty," he turned my way. "Stay with Kim and Lake. We'll be back soon. Don't worry, nothing is going to keep us from coming back to you." He came closer and planted a hard kiss on my lips.
Kim chewed his bottom lip as he stared at me. Clearly, he was warring with something that bothered him. I took a step forward, brushing my hands down his arms, so incredibly happy to see him here, standing, breathing, alert.
“Are you okay?”
He shook his head, pulled in a deep breath, then lifted me up in his arms and carried me to the front door.
"Kim! What are you doing?" Dark tingles spread out from my core as I grabbed his shoulders.
Lake was one step ahead with it already opened. We didn't make it a handful of steps inside before Kim dropped me to my feet and he fell to his knees.
"I can't wait, Beasty. I need to make sure you're alive and still with me. I can't think of a better way to do that than to taste you. To have you come on my tongue." His hands went to the front of my jeans, furiously unfastening and working them over my hips.
Kim wanted to do this now? He had to be traumatized by what happened. I needed to check him over.
"Lake," I rasped, seeking him out to be the voice of reason, except I found no allie there. His eyes were dark and smouldering as he watched me.
"Kim's got the right way of it. We need you. To convince ourselves that you're alive. I can tell you Beasty, I never want to see you unconscious like that again. It fucks with my head." He motioned to his temple without taking his gaze off me.
Kim had me naked from the waist down and he propped me up on the entry table. "Spread," he cooed.
I was lost in the moment like a crazy person.
Because Lake was right. I needed to convince myself Kim was alive and unharmed too.
As my hands searched for something to hold onto, I spread my legs.
Kim's tongue was warm and wet as he licked over and around my clit.
He sucked on that sensitive bundle of nerves like he was made for this.
Made for me.
I cried out. With this amount of sensation, I wouldn't last long.
Lake unbuckled his pants, pulling his long, hard cock out. He stroked it as his lids dropped half-mast. "That's it. Come for Kim. Remind him that you're ours and that you'll only come for us. He needs it, don't you Kim."
Kim hummed and that swell of ecstasy came hurtling toward me. Tangling my fingers in his hair, I threw my head back, my mouth falling open in a silent scream.
I was so close. So fucking close.
"No," Lake snapped. "Watch me. Look at how hard I am for you. How much I need you."
I had to fight to open my eyes. I was glad I did. There was Lake, glorious in his arousal. God-like in the way his lip twisted up in pleasure even as he tugged and stroked himself with so much force he had to be hurting himself.
"I've never needed anything like I need you. I know Kim feels the same." The cords of muscle stood out in his neck as he raised his chin. But he still held eye contact with me, even though he was close to losing it.
Kim thrust two fingers inside as he renewed his efforts on my clit. That was all it took. Imagining Lake's hard cock pumping inside me as my sweet Kim's tongue carried me to new heights.
I cried out as wave after wave of erotic, electric pleasure crashed over me. Kim kept working, although he softened his mouth and now his tongue laved instead of curled.
I brushed the dark locks away from his face as he looked up at me with so much awe and love. "I love you, Kim."
He pressed a kiss to the apex of my thigh. "I love you too, Beasty," he whispered.
"Get her down. I want her on her knees." Lake's voice was harsh and throaty as he stepped closer. Kim listened, pulling me off the table. The pain from my knees hitting the hard floor was fleeting as I tipped my head back to meet Lake's eyes.
"Open."
I obeyed. Using one hand, he gripped my hair, yanking my head back as he erupted on my face. Jet after jet of hot cum painted me across my chin, tongue, and cheeks. His grunts and groans were feral as he shook and pulled my hair even tighter.
He pressed the crown of his throbbing cock to my tongue as another, less powerful burst leaked out. He released a sigh as he swiped it across my tongue. "Perfect. Mine."
"Ours," Kim chimed in, returning to the room with a warm cloth. I hadn't noticed he'd even left.
He cleaned me up and helped me to my feet. "Let's go upstairs and wait for Atlas and Joaquin to get back. You can be the big spoon."
Reeling from what just happened, I found myself nodding. The next thing I knew, I was in my bedroom snuggled between both Lake and Kim. "We can't just—"
Lake placed a finger on my lips. "You might be awake because you just got up from a twenty-four hour nap, but I’m exhausted. I need sleep, and I'll be damned if I do it with you out of arm's reach."
That made perfect sense. Wiggling further down between them, I enjoyed listening to the sound of their breathing all while trying to figure out a way for us to all come out of this alive.