Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“WISHBONE” BY FREYA RIDINGS
LUNA
My eyelids flutter open, the soft snores of the triplets filling the room.
Heat surrounds me, and I can barely move, but my body is filled with a warmth so real it’s almost as if the sun is caressing my skin.
I first see Chase, his lashes dark against his golden cheeks, his usually neat hair a ruffled mess as he sleeps on the pillow next to mine.
My pinkie finger twitches, and I glance down to find Thorn’s still wrapped around mine, like he didn’t want to let go, even as we slept. I give my finger a wiggle, and his grip tightens, bringing a small smile to my face. I’ve never felt so wanted, so needed like I do right in this moment.
Movement at my back has me wanting to arch into Blade, especially as his hard, morning wood presses against my ass.
My body may feel like it’s been hollowed out and filled with lead, but there’s a flicker of heat, a star about to be born, that tells me not everything inside me has been destroyed in the past two days.
The previous days have merged into a hazy montage of beeping machines, the brothers’ voices keeping me anchored, and the slow drip of poison that’s supposed to save me.
The irony of cancer treatment isn’t lost on me—feeling like you’re dying to have a chance at living, but what’s different this time is I’m not facing it alone, and that realization is both comforting and terrifying.
I quietly smack my dry lips together, the metallic taste in my mouth making my nose crinkle. My fatigue is bone deep, so I’m not sure I can do more than twitch my little finger, as much as I’d like to take Blade up on the offer that’s pressing into me.
And that pisses me off to no end. I want to be a normal person, able to fuck my stepbrother, or stepbrothers, whenever I fucking like. I snort as my anger is mollified by the amusement at my last thought.
“What’s funny, Goldilocks?” Blade rumbles in my ear, his deep voice not helping the situation as I shiver with want.
“I’m not sure my explanation would make sense,” I mumble, and his arms around me tighten as he nuzzles into my neck.
“Try me,” he whispers, and I shudder again. Fuck him and his sexy morning voice.
“Well, I was just thinking about how I’m too tired to take up your morning wood offer, and that pissed me off, which got me thinking I should be able to fuck my stepbrothers when I damn well please, and that made me laugh, because, well, I mean…
” I trail off as deep chuckles replace the soft snoring from moments before.
“I agree, Goldilocks,” Blade purrs as his hips flex, pushing his hard-on into me.
“And we don’t need you to have any energy, Moonbeam,” Thorn adds, his voice sleep-roughened too as he pushes up onto one elbow, reaching over Chase and taking my hand with his as he places it on my breast and gives it a squeeze. I moan, my eyelids fluttering.
“As much as I also agree and would like to remind you that you did give us free reign, even when you are too tired to take an active role,” Chase adds, his lips ghosting over my arched neck.
“Patty will be walking into the room in approximately thirty seconds and I’m not sure she wants to see that. ”
My eyes open wide just as the door swings open, and just like Chase says, Patty walks in. She blinks as she takes note of all three guys on the bed with me, a small chuckle falling from her lips. “I see we may need to invest in some bigger beds.”
“That would be appreciated, and if you let us know the cost, we can call it a donation from Banks Industries,” Chase replies, pressing a light kiss on my cheek before sitting up, making Thorn pull back his hand from my tit, which I’d kind of forgotten was there.
“Much appreciated, Mr. Banks,” Patty says with a wide smile. “I shall pass that on, and I’m sure someone will be in touch.” She turns to look at me, her eyes soft. “How are you feeling this morning, Luna?”
I sigh, Thorn and Chase getting off the bed, though I don’t miss the way they try to discreetly adjust themselves. “Like shit warmed up, to be honest.”
Blade doesn’t move, just pulls me closer, which I’m grateful for, because although I know I need to get up—to use the toilet, if nothing else—I’m not ready to face the final day of treatment yet.
Patty’s face softens further. “Well, at least this is the last day, then you’ll get to go home for a while.
” She wheels the trolley over, and Blade finally relents, getting out of bed and helping me to sit up by propping pillows at my back.
I miss his warmth immediately, my lips turning into a frown, but then Thorn is by my side on the bed, practically wrapping himself around me like a koala bear.
“Let’s get these bloods taken, then you can get ready for the day and have some breakfast, okay? ”
“I asked my hen to count her eggs,” Thorn says, and I can already feel my lips tugging up as I prepare for the terrible joke. “Now she’s a mathmachicken!”
“Oh my god!” I laugh, Patty joining in. “That was… I have no words.”
“All done. I’ll be back with the results in a bit,” Patty says, and I’m surprised I barely felt it, too distracted by Thorn’s awful joke.
“Come on, Goldilocks, let’s get you showered,” Blade tells me, helping me out of bed once Thorn has unwrapped himself.
I swallow down the nausea that leaves me feeling dizzy when I stand up, and catch Chase’s concerned gaze.
“Are you okay, Star?” he asks, Blade’s hand tightening over mine where I’m gripping his muscular arm.
“I’m fine,” I say automatically, breathing through my nose as the nausea passes.
Chase studies my face. “Of course you are.” Four words that acknowledge my lie while respecting my need to tell it, and I think I fall for him harder for allowing me it. “I’ve got breakfast on the way, it should be here by the time you finish getting ready.”
“Thank you,” I reply, my chest tight with just how much I’m grateful for when it comes to these guys.
Blade leads me into the bathroom, turning his back and starting the shower as I go to the toilet.
I tried to tell him on the first day I could manage without interference, that I could piss alone, but he just raised his brow, crossed those gorgeous arms of his, and leaned against the counter. Fucking caveman.
Finishing up, I head to the sink to wash my hands and pull up short when I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror.
The girl staring back at me looks half dead already with sunken cheeks and dark circles under her eyes, which are a dull, washed-out blue. Her blonde curls are like a bird’s nest, brittle as twigs and definitely thinner.
Strong arms wrap themselves around me from behind, Blade locking eyes with me in the mirror. He’s such a contrast, full of life and so fucking alive compared to my one foot in the grave.
“Don’t,” he orders in a sharp tone. “Don’t think you are anything but exquisite.”
“How can you say that?” I ask, my voice choked as I push the words past the lump in my throat. “Look at me, Blade.”
“I am fucking looking,” he snarls, anger lacing his tone as one arm unwinds and grabs my chin, forcing me to look at myself.
“All I do is look at you, Princess.” I open my mouth to say something back, but then his hips flex, and I feel his hard-on pressing against my lower back.
“I think you need a reminder of how fucking gorgeous you are.”
“I’m too tired, Blade,” I murmur, tears stinging my eyes, but he turns me, careful of my IV drip as he backs me towards the counter.
“Don’t fucking care,” he rumbles, pushing my sleep shorts down, then dipping down to pick me up under my thighs.
I hiss when my skin makes contact with the cold countertop, but before I can call him out, he’s sinking inside me, his cock stretching and burning me where I’m not quite ready for him.
“You make me fucking wild for you, Goldilocks. I’m like a fucking animal, and need inside you more than I need to breathe. ”
A deep moan falls from my lips as he punches his hips deep, then pulls out and repeats the move, leaving me clinging to him and gasping.
“Blade…” I groan, my head falling to his wide shoulder as he keeps up his punishing pace. I wasn’t lying, I’m too tired to take an active part in this, regardless of how much I want to.
“That’s it, Princess. Just take my big cock in that sweet pussy. Let Daddy all the way in.”
Fuck. His words set me alight, more than the chemo has in the past two days, and even though I’m bone-weary and wrung out, my body gives him what he wants. In a matter of moments, I’m coming with a low moan of ecstasy.
“Good. Fucking. Girl,” he pants, each word accompanying a deep thrust before he stills while he’s buried inside me, filling me with his cum. “Never doubt how much I fucking want you, regardless of what you see in the mirror.”
He holds me close, the sound of the shower falling in the background as I give in to the tears that were pricking my eyes as soon as I saw my reflection. I needed this, for him to show me that he still finds me attractive in the most primal way.
It doesn’t surprise me that Blade knew that even before I did and wasn’t afraid to show me, to not treat me like something breakable, but something he desires with a ferocious need.
“Let’s get you cleaned up. Chase will have my balls if he doesn’t feed you soon,” Blade tells me, pulling out with a manly groan.
His cum seeps from me, and I fucking love it because of what it represents. That I’m wanted. That I’m desired even though I look like death warmed up, which is something I’ve not felt before and something else to be grateful to my stepbrothers for.
We’ve just finished another delicious breakfast that Chase had our chef, Bernard, make and send when Patty returns.
“Results all good and we’re ready for your pre-treatment fluids if you are?”
“Absolutely,” I tell her, wiping my mouth on the cloth napkin—yep, Chase went to that extreme—Thorn’s hand is already there to help me get up and back into bed.
I can’t help the smile on my lips. It’s so different this time than my previous treatments where I felt so alone. Often Mom had to work, having to pay for the chemo, and even when she was with me, she was usually so tired she’d sleep most of the time.
At least one of them is always awake when I am, talking to me, watching the TV with me, or just sitting in silence with me.
Thorn keeps me entertained with jokes, stories, and funny cat videos.
Chase talks to me about the treatment plan and makes sure I understand everything and that he’s taking care of it all so I don’t have to worry.
Blade explains what the medication does, the side effects, and how we can counter them.
He tells me the science, and though some of it goes over my head, I appreciate the time he takes to explain it so that, between them, I feel like I’m more informed than ever before.
Once the drip is set up, Patty leaves, and Thorn grabs what looks like a book before settling back on the bed.
“What’s that?” I ask, looking at the cover. It’s got a beautiful couple on it, and is in shades of black and brown. “Lords of Pain?”
“I thought you might like it,” Thorn says, opening the book but being careful not to crack the spine. “It’s a dark, bully, whychoose romance. These guys are real assholes to her, and one is her stepbrother.”
He waggles his brows at me and I giggle. “Are they as bad as you guys were?” I tease, sucking my lips in to stop smiling at his frown.
“They’re much worse, Moonbeam,” he tells me, one brow arched. “Maybe it’ll make you grateful that we weren’t?”
My mouth drops open. “You did not just say that to me, Thorn Banks!”
He cringes, his cheeks flushing. “Yeah, not my finest moment.”
I crook my finger at him, and he leans down. Pressing my lips against his in a quick kiss, we both sigh at the contact. “I am beyond grateful for you, Thorn. All of you. Even if you were assholes.” I kiss his lips again, then give him a push. “Now read me the damn book.”
He chuckles. “Yes, ma’am.”