Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“HOME - LIVE AT ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH” BY FREYA RIDINGS
LUNA
The triplets take care of me for the next week, one or all of them by my side as I go through the dreadful side effects of the chemo.
Being home is a vast improvement compared to being at the hospital, because everything is familiar and comforting here.
We spend the time watching movies or lounging by the pool, me under a shade and covered up, them in swim shorts that leave all of their delicious bodies exposed for my viewing pleasure.
Mom was home when we returned, but only stayed the one night before Richard whisked them away on another business trip. She gave me an apologetic smile as they left, but I can’t deny the sting of being abandoned again.
The only saving grace is it means the triplets and I don’t have to hide our relationship, Blade assuring me the staff won’t tattle.
Which is handy because even though we haven’t had sex since the bathroom at the hospital, there has been no shortage of kisses and soft caresses, driving me insane as they give me time to recover.
Today, we’re outside, the heat wonderful against my always chilled skin. My phone dings, and I pick it up to find a new message from Dr. Harrison. Sitting up a little, I open my patient portal to discover a new prescription, with medication that says it’s made by Banks Pharmaceuticals.
“What’s that?” Chase asks from the lounger beside mine, leaning over because the man has no concept of personal space.
“Just some new medication, one your dad’s company makes actually,” I tell him, shrugging.
“May I?” he asks, which to be honest, is somewhat surprising, because I kind of expected him to take my phone out of my hand, given that’s what they do in regards to my care.
“Sure,” I reply, handing over the phone and leaning back against the pillow that Thorn found for me. I turn to look at Chase, the sun highlighting all the gorgeous muscles of his abs, covered in that stunning ink of his. His brows dip. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure, but last I checked, this medication was still at trial stage, and I don’t remember Harrison discussing it with me back when we spoke about your treatment plan going forward.”
My forehead wrinkles. “Maybe your dad thought it might help?”
“Maybe,” he says, placing my phone next to him, his fingers flying across the keyboard of his laptop that never leaves his side. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, Star. I’ll do some research, maybe get Blade on the case too.”
“Okay.” I turn back, picking up my journal, something Thorn bought for me and has the most beautiful cover of a galaxy with the constellations in shiny silver foil.
“Treatment cycle 2, day 8. White blood count: 1.2. Hemoglobin: 8.4. Platelets: 67. Statistics that define my existence now. Numbers that determine whether I can leave my room, whether I need another transfusion, whether I'm winning or losing this war inside my cells.”
I sigh as I read over my entry from this morning while a thought keeps circling my mind, one that I can’t seem to get rid of, no matter how much I try. Do I embrace the present like I want to, like I crave to? Or should I protect the triplets, the other parts of my soul, from the potential loss?
“What’s got you thinking so hard, Moonbeam?” Thorns asks, and I look up to find him in the pool, his arms crossed on the side, water droplets covering his colorful skin.
“Oh, nothing,” I say, shutting the journal and setting it back on the table next to me.
“Tsk, tsk, pretty stepsis,” Thorn chides, placing his palms on the side and pushing himself up and out of the water.
My breath stills in my chest as I watch the water cascade down his skin, flowing down each and every muscle as he stalks towards me like a jungle cat.
“Now I’m going to have to punish you for lying to me. ”
“Huh?” I ask in a daze as he doesn’t stop when he reaches the lounger, but climbs on it instead, dripping water all over my legs. “Thorn!”
He doesn’t stop, just climbs over me until his wet body is resting between my legs and he’s up on his elbows, dripping all over my white, cotton, long-sleeved cover-up that Chase insisted I wear even though I’m under a massive umbrella too.
“What shall your punishment be, hmm?” Thorn purrs, and my body lights up, all the teasing touches of the past week adding up until I feel like the sun is burning underneath my skin.
My breath catches as his head dips down, uncaring that I’m now soaked with pool water as he licks a line up my neck.
“How about we skip the punishment and you reward me for being such a good sister instead?” I reply in a husky voice, my hand reaching between us and stroking his length, which is rapidly hardening inside his shorts.
“Jesus,” he hisses, his hips flexing into my touch as I continue to stroke him. “You make me wild, Moonbeam.”
“Please, Thorn. I’ve missed you being inside me so much. I need you,” I beg, shameless in how much I want him. Maybe it was thinking about embracing the present fully, or the fact that we may all lose this game of life, but the need is all consuming. “Please.”
He makes a masculine rumble, his fingers making quick work of untying my bikini bottoms. “When you beg me like that…fuck,” he rasps, batting my hand away from him and pushing down his shorts just enough to free his dick.
It’s a matter of seconds before he’s inside me, a deep, satisfied groan falling from his lips against my neck. “Fucking hell, Goldie.”
“Thorn,” I moan, the stretch of him entering me exquisite torture, the piercing on the underside of his shaft lighting me up from the inside. “More, please.”
He keeps our bodies pressed together, but shifts so that we’re staring into each other’s eyes as his hips move, pumping his cock in and out of me.
“This is home, Luna,” he tells me in between thrusts, his eyes emerald fire. “Right here, when I’m buried deep inside you is where I find myself after being lost for so long.”
His confession makes my chest hitch, the pleasure mixing with his words until I’m spiraling out of control, a supernova ready to explode.
“I love you, Thorn,” I tell him, and his movements still, just for a fraction as his eyes fill with an intensity that shatters worlds.
“I love you, Goldie, so fucking much it hurts,” he replies, dropping his lips onto mine and devastating me with his kiss.
It’s a kiss that speaks of everything between us, of the fact that it’s too late not to be all in. We’re already so far past that there is no going back, and as he moves within me, I accept our love for what it is; a blessing.
“Thorn!” I cry out as I climax, my nails digging in deeply to the skin of his back as my world implodes and stars fill my eyes.
His own roar comes seconds later, my name a fervent prayer on his lips as he pulses deep inside me, filling me with his cum, claiming me and owning every fucking inch of me.
Our breaths are synced, our souls merged as we lie there, the sounds of the water and the birds filtering back in as we both relearn our place in the world.
“You are everything, Luna. Fucking everything,” he whispers before kissing me softly and rubbing our noses together in a gesture so sweet it has the back of my eyes pricking.
“I’m scared that I should let you guys go, protect you from what might happen if I don’t make it,” I confess back, and his body stills on top of me.
“That’s not going to happen, Goldie. None of us will let it,” he tells me piercingly, and I sigh, reaching out to cup his damp cheek in my palm. It’s not just pool water that makes it wet, but sweat from our love-making too.
“It might though, and to deny it as a possibility is just as harmful as seeing it as the only outcome,” I tell him, and his eyes, full of sparkling green, soften.
“Okay, then let’s just take it one day at a time. No future, just the here and now.” He begs me to do as he says, and I can’t deny that a part of me agrees with him, because maybe this really is the only way to get through this.
“Okay, only the here and now. Nothing else,” I agree, and the smile he gives me makes the world shine that much brighter.
“Good girl,” he praises, pressing another kiss to my lips before pushing up and out of me. I gasp when he leaves my body, my cheeks heating when he kneels up, staring at the mess he’s left between my legs and I’ve left on the lounger. “Such a fucking beautiful sight. Don’t you think, Chase?”
My skin flushes as I remember that Chase was sitting right beside me, and I peer through my lashes to find him staring at my pussy, his pupils blown, a flush on his cheeks. His laptop is on the table beside him, forgotten.
“I think it needs a little more,” he says, and Thorn laughs, getting off the lounger as Chase climbs on, settling in the space that Thorn just was.
“Chase, I—” he cuts me off with a kiss, and I gasp into his mouth when he fills me in one smooth thrust.
“You just have to take it, sweet stepsister,” he commands against my lips as his hips begin to move, setting a quick pace from the start.
My body gives in, too tired and blissed out to argue, and there is the matter of our free use rule. Fingers find my clit, and I blink my eyes open to see Thorn kneeling on the ground next to me, his arm between Chase as I.
“Just let us take care of you, make you feel good, pretty stepsis,” he coos, and I moan as the first wave of euphoria washes over me. “That’s it, come for him, Moonbeam.”
Chase picks up the pace, and I’m grateful this won’t be drawn-out because as much as I’d love to make love for hours, I’m not sure I can right now.
Pleasure rolls over me like a lightning storm, filling my entire being until I’m crying out my release, one hand gripping Thorn’s forearm, the other raking my nails down Chase’s chest.
“Fuck, Luna!” he shouts, thrusting deep, and I cry and writhe underneath him.
His dick pulses inside me, his cum filling me up alongside his brother’s, and it’s so fucking dirty to have both of them like this that my orgasm keeps going, Thorn strumming my clit until I’m begging him to stop. “Good fucking girl.”
Chase gives me a lingering kiss, then he pulls out, kneeling up just like Thorn did, tucking his dick back into his shorts as they both admire the mess they’ve made of me.
“Happy now?” I ask, my voice all kinds of breathy and my eyes hooded as I gaze at them.
“I mean, it would be better if Blade added his, though he did get his turn in the hospital, so I guess now we’re even,” Thorn comments, and my mouth drops open.
“Triplets,” I huff, not even having the energy to argue about how fucking ridiculous it is to keep a score sheet like that.
“You should see us with a birthday cake.” Chase laughs as he reaches for a towel, cleaning between my thighs. “Thorn is the worst for making sure we get exactly the same size slice. He even has been known to get the scales out and weigh the pieces.”
“Oh my god! You’re joking?” I look at Thorn, who shrugs.
“It needs to be fair, Goldie. These jerks would eat all of it if not. Just you wait and see,” he replies, standing up and holding his hand out for me. “Let’s have a shower before dinner, maybe a nap.”
“But I’m not sleepy,” I argue just as my mouth opens in a wide yawn, and both guys laugh at me.
“Sure,” Chase says sarcastically, grabbing my journal and his laptop as Thorn tucks my arm into his and leads me back inside.
Bastards.
Though I guess, they are my bastards, and Thorn is right. I’m going to try and stop worrying about what might happen and just focus on what I’ve got now.