Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“I CAN’T HEAR IT NOW (FROM THE SERIES ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS)” BY FREYA RIDINGS
LUNA
The guys are quiet as we drive to The Cottage, which is only forty minutes away from Greenwich.
There’s been tension in the air since Chase and Thorn returned from the meeting with Richard, and I suspect it’s more than just the fact they told him I’d be stopping his treatment and we’d be moving out.
The tension coils in my stomach, making the food that Jerry made me settle uncomfortably. I’ve tried to ask several times, but Chase just insists that they’ll tell me everything when we get to The Cottage.
The sound of the ocean hits me first. I opened the window to let in some fresh air, and now it’s tinged with salt as we drive through a small set of metal gates that quickly leads to a modest but charming little house.
“It’s only got three bedrooms, but the master is big, and we’ll put the beds together so we can all stay in there until our new large bed arrives,” Thorn tells me, catching my gaze in the rearview mirror. There’s a smile on his face that’s been missing since his talk with his dad.
The Cottage is pretty, made from warm-colored stone and with what looks like a cedar shingle roof.
There are lots of windows, and they’re painted a sweet light blue, but the best bit is that I can see the private beach as we pull up outside the front.
The house is basically built into the side of the stone outcrop, which the waves lap against, with a sandy beach curving out from it.
“It’s stunning,” I whisper, waiting for the car to stop before I unbuckle myself and reach for the door handle. Thorn is driving, Blade next to him, and Chase beside me, but I don’t wait for them as I get out, slipping my sneakers off and walking barefoot onto the sand, straight into the water.
It’s a little warm, and quite refreshing as it laps at my ankles, and I don’t give a shit if my leggings are getting wet. It’s as if, for just this moment, all the stress leaves my body and I just breathe in the sights, smells, and feel of the sea.
Strong arms wrap around me from behind, the scent of warm cinnamon letting me know that it’s Chase who’s holding me.
“I’m scared that what I need to tell you will hurt you,” he confesses quietly, and some of the anxiety returns to my body as I stiffen in his arms.
“As long as it’s not you guys leaving me, I can handle it,” I answer, my pulse rushing in my ears as I wait for his next words.
“That’s never going to be an option, Star, and this…” He sighs, pulling me closer as the water keeps lapping at our legs. “This may make you want to leave us.”
“Never,” I reply without hesitation. I know that maybe it’s unfair of me to continue with them, especially as they have already lost one person to cancer and I can’t stand the idea of my death hurting them. “I won’t leave you by choice, Chase.”
“You won’t leave us at all,” he growls, his embrace tightening around me.
I love how possessive they are of me. It makes me feel invincible, like I really will beat this.
Then he lets out a rough exhale. “Dad targeted your mom because of the likelihood of your cancer returning. He wanted to use you as a test subject for his new drug, which hasn’t been properly tested.
It was all planned, Star. He had a treatment plan including his new drug before the wedding was even finalized, and got your mom to sign medical authorization papers as part of the marriage paperwork.
” I’m frozen, his words hitting my ears but not sinking in properly. “Say something, baby, please.”
It’s his begging that breaks me from my stupor. “So the drug may not be safe?”
“Correct,” he answers, pulling me even closer into him. The warmth of his body leeches into mine, which suddenly feels cold, and I realize I’m shivering. “I’m so fucking sorry, Luna. I should have checked more thoroughly, I should have—”
“This is not on you, Chase,” I tell him, looking away from the water and turning in his arms so I can gaze into his tortured green eyes. The gold in them is dull, the skin around them tight. “His sins are not yours, love.”
He hangs his head like he’s ashamed. “I didn’t look after you properly.”
“Hey…” I reach up and cup his cheek in my hand, tilting his face so he’s looking at me again.
His eyes are sparkling now, but not with happiness, instead, with unshed tears that rips my soul apart.
“You’ve looked after me better than anyone ever has, Chase Banks.
You’ve given me something to fight for, made me feel invincible and sexy and like I can really beat this.
Don’t let your father’s actions sully that. ”
His lips tremble as he swallows hard. “I feel like I’ve failed you, so fucking badly, and it’ll be my fault if we lose you, and I can’t lose you, Luna. I just can’t.”
The first tear drips down his cheek, and I pull him into me, my own eyes stinging as he holds me so tightly I can barely breathe.
Rough sobs fall into my neck as he lets go, and I hold him, my own tears making a hot path down my cheeks as he gives up the careful control on his emotions he always has.
The sounds of the water lapping the shore provides a calming backdrop, soothing both of us as all the uncertainty of dealing with this horrible fucking disease washes over us. But we won’t drown under it, because we have each other.
Footsteps splashing through the water have my eyes looking up to find Blade and Thorn coming towards us. They don’t say a word, just encircle Chase and I in their arms, the sunset casting its stunning orange rays over us.
“I’m still here,” I whisper as Chase’s cries quieten, my neck damp from his tears. “And I don’t intend on leaving anytime soon. I made you a promise, and I’m going to try my best to keep it.”
He places his lips on my neck before pulling back slightly, the others dropping their arms but keeping close. “You better, or I’ll have to punish you.”
His voice is gruff, his eyes red and puffy, but a small chuckle falls from my lips at his words. “I would hope so.”
Going up on my tiptoes, I place my lips against his, my eyes closing as I kiss him. His fingers tangle in my hair, his tongue demanding entry, which I give him, desperate to reconnect. Then I flinch, hissing in pain as he strokes one of the sore patches in my mouth.
He immediately stops, pulling back, his brows lowered. “Did I hurt you?”
“It’s the fucking sores. They’ve gotten worse,” I tell him, my lips pressed tightly together as frustration fills me. Is this fucking disease going to steal everything from me?
He leans closer, pressing a sweet kiss on my lips. “Then I guess I’ll have to kiss your other lips until they’re better.” My mouth drops open as he falls to his knees in the shallow water, uncaring that his linen shorts are now soaked. “Hold her up.”
Blade moves to my back, his arms sliding around me as his lips drop to my neck, peppering kisses along it.
I moan at how it sends tingles racing down my spine, goosebumps pebbling my skin when Chase grabs the waistband of my leggings and panties and pulls them down, exposing me to the early evening air.
“Fuck, I love seeing your bare cunt dripping for me,” he murmurs, and I look down to find him staring at my pussy, his tongue darting out to lick his plush lips.
“Let me improve the view for you, brother,” Thorn says from my side, his hand trailing down my stomach to my lower lips. Using his fingers, he parts them, Chase giving a satisfied rumble.
“Teamwork makes the dream work,” he comments, a sexy smile on his face, and I shiver at the raw intensity in his eyes. The naked admiration. “Now be a good girl for me, Star, and come all over my face so that all I can taste, all I can fucking breathe is you.”
He gives me no time to answer, his hand gripping my thigh and slinging it over his shoulder as his lips find my core and he begins to devour me.
“Fuck! Chase!” I gasp, my head tipping back onto Blade’s chest, my eyes closing as his brother eats me like he’s never going to see food again.
One hand goes to Chase’s head, feeling the soft stubble that he and the others have maintained since we cut my hair off.
The other hand clings to Blade’s thick forearms, his hot skin puckering underneath my nails as I dig them into his arm.
“That’s it, baby, feel every swipe of your brother’s tongue, the way he nibbles and sucks your pretty little clit,” Blade rasps in my ear, and I groan, his dirty talk making fire race through me.
“She’s already soaking my fingers,” Thorn muses, his hand still between my legs, his digits holding me open for Chase. “Such a good little sister for your brothers.”
Oh. My. Good. Fucking. Lord.
They know what mentioning the taboo nature of our relationship does to me, and I swear the sun may have set, but it’s inside me right now, pushing to burst free again as Chase keeps licking and sucking, his teeth even scraping against my tight bud as he forces me towards an orgasm.
“Thorn, play with her needy clit,” he orders before going lower and spearing his tongue inside me with a deep, masculine growl that has my pussy walls fluttering.
“Yes, sir,” Thorn teases, moving his fingers to play with my clit. My hips buck, a cry falling from my lips as they push me higher.
Blade releases one arm from around me, his hand snaking up underneath my sweatshirt and vest to find my bare breast underneath. I stopped wearing a bra a while back because life is too fucking short for those torture devices.
“Come for us, Goldilocks. Come for your brothers like the good little sister you are,” he commands, pinching my nipple between his fingers, and I detonate.
The sun truly bursts from my skin, rearranging my very atoms as pleasure renders me speechless.
My body is not my own; it’s full of celestial light, and I cry out to the heavens as wave upon wave of exquisite agony fills me.
They hold me through it, Chase and Thorn not easing up or slowing down until tears fall down my cheeks and I’m pleading with them for mercy.
“Only because you beg so prettily,” Thorn whispers, kissing my sweaty temple as he removes his fingers.
I slump in Blade’s arms when Chase finally pulls back, managing to crack my eyes open to find him sitting on his heels, the water running over him. He catches my gaze, his lips puffy and swollen, his chin glistening with my release.
“Good girl,” he praises simply, but it’s no less devastating than the pleasure he just gave me, my tired body lighting up. “Now let’s get you inside, showered and fed, then sleep.”
He gets to his feet as Blade sweeps me into his arms—bloody caveman—and my eyes dart to the very obvious hard-on pushing against his wet linen shorts.
He notices where my gaze has landed, giving me a stern look.
“Shower, food, then sleep, but if you’re a good girl and follow my orders, we’ll wake you up with our dicks inside you and give you our cum in the morning.
” My brain stalls out, the others chuckling as he leans in, pressing a light kiss on my lips and allowing me to briefly taste myself. “Okay?”
“Yes, sir,” I reply, snuggling into Blade’s neck as he carries me out of the sea.
“That’s my perfect, precious girl,” Chase says from beside us, and I’m filled with all the warm and fuzzies while the first few stars twinkle above us as we make our way to the house that I’ve yet to explore.
But that’s okay, because we have time, and I’m starting to believe, with these three at my side, that we may have all the time in the world.