Chapter Eight
Ryker
“ R eady, little flame?” I grin at her, bouncing on my toes, more than ready to spar in our gym. After being banned from the gym until I healed fully, I make sure to get down there every day. It feels damn good, and being hurt was just a reminder to not take it for granted.
After our meeting earlier today, where we learned about the website for the Black Night Ball, everyone has been on edge. I’ve done my best to not think too much about the people suffering right now. We will save them, and dwelling on it doesn’t help anyone. I’d prefer to go hunt down the bastards who think trafficking is okay and rip them limb from limb, but that will have to wait.
So for now, Cade, Harley, and yes, Grayson, are downstairs in the gym, getting ready to spar like our lives depend on it while Rage holds church with all the members.
It’s crazy to think that in just a week, I will be a prospect, and a year from now, I will be sitting in that room with Rage and all the other guys. I can’t fucking wait.
Without responding to me, Harley meets me on the mats, her hands wrapped, determination set in her stiff shoulders and serious expression. I know she overanalyzed all those pictures on the website. If I had to guess, she was memorizing every single one, wanting to make sure we save them all.
Cade gets in the boxing ring with a sullen Grayson, who most definitely doesn’t want to be in here right now, while I focus on Harley.
“Come on, babe.” I wiggle my brows at her. “Come at me.”
Without even a twitch of her lips, she comes straight for me, nailing me in the gut. Grunting, I move on my toes to keep her in my line of sight, and we begin to trade blows back and forth. After what feels like seconds, but I’m sure has been much longer, Cade joins in, and we team up against Harley.
Pushing all her rage to the front, she doesn’t give up. Even as sweat drips down her face and neck, she continues to push forward, doing her best to not let either of us get the upper hand.
“Enough,” a booming voice says, and we all pause. Rage stands at the end of the mats, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the three of us. Grayson, who had been watching the whole time, brings us each a water bottle, and we chug them down.
“You know when it’s time to break, Ryker. Don’t push it,” Rage tells me.
I attempt to hide my grimace, but I know he’s right. Cade almost called it once, but I shook my head at him. Our girl has been a silent volcano today, and she needed the extra, but he’s still right. I know when it’s time to break.
Harley, on the other hand, isn’t okay with that and spins around to face him. “ It being me, right? Don’t push me? I can handle myself just fucking fine.”
“I know you can. Doesn’t mean you should push your limits. Take five and then get in the ring,” Rage demands as he walks away from a seething Harley.
I walk up to Harley and wrap a hand around the nape of her neck. “Want to talk?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she snaps.
“Alright, babe. Go kick Rage’s ass,” I say and kiss her forehead before releasing her. Her body softens for a split second as her eyes fall shut, but then she shakes it off and walks away.
“Think she is shutting down again?” Cade asks as he and Grayson come to stand on either side of me.
I shake my head. “No. I think she is frustrated about what we learned today, but also—”
“She isn’t dealing with Atlas,” Grayson finishes.
I nod. “Yeah. I think we are going to just have to force it out of her. Maybe she’ll be tired enough after we finish here that we can talk with her upstairs. But she needs to talk about it. It’s been months now. The longer she holds it all inside, the worse it’ll get.”
Cade wanders back over to the mats to spar with Noah while Grayson and I go to watch Harley and Rage. Normally, I would want to keep going myself, but there’s just something screaming at me to watch Harley, to stay close.
While we wait for them to get ready, I wrap an arm around Grayson’s shoulder and study his face. “How are you doing after this morning?”
Sighing, he leans on me more, and I have to bite back a smirk. “Alright, I guess. I mean, I am really glad I was able to get onto the site with no issues, but seeing how it’s all set up—it was like a reality check. This is all very, very real, and it’s been happening for who knows how long. I mean, even if we take down the ball like we did the warehouse, there's still so much more out there, more than we could ever do anything about.”
“Gray, baby,” I murmur, “don’t go there. What we are doing is enough. What we have done is enough.”
“How do you know that?”
Bringing our foreheads together, I tell him something I have thought a lot about since the warehouse take down. “Because look at us. Noah saved Cade, you, me. Rage took this club and turned it into a haven after his dad died. He’s made it safe for the women who come here. Look at Harley, everything she has been through, and how much she has healed. Look at all the people we saved from the warehouse. Those lives, our lives, are all better because of what we have done. Look at those things instead of everything we can’t do.”
“When did you become so wise?” he whispers.
Grinning, I peck him on the lips. “When I realized the two shits I fell in love with overthink fucking everything.”
Grayson rolls his eyes as we both face forward again. He leans his head on my shoulder as we watch Rage and Harley circle each other in the ring. “Kick his ass, Harley!”
Harley
After boxing with Gabe, my bones feel like liquid. I needed to wear my body out and get rid of all this jittery shit inside me. After seeing all those images of the people up for sale , I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about every look on their faces, the fear in their eyes, the tear stains on their cheeks, the bold smeared makeup, some looked lost, some broken, and some looked like there was no life left in their eyes.
I know those feelings all too well, and I just want to reach through the screen and save them all right now. Telling them it isn’t always like this. But yet it is. The world is as awful as they, as I, have seen. I am one of the lucky ones who found people who would have my back, but a lot of these people don’t have that. The fact that I could’ve, that I should have been one of them, makes me all the more determined to do everything I can to help them.
As unwanted memories of Tammy and the basement come into my mind, I scrub my body harder than necessary, turning my skin red. Taking a breath, I force it down, reminding myself we will save them. We will destroy this stupid, disgusting ball; it just can’t happen today.
After shutting the water off, I step out of the shower and dry off before putting on Cade’s t-shirt I stole before I came in here. Walking back into my bedroom at the club, I am ready to just crash into bed and sleep, but I come to a halt when I find Cade, Grayson, and Ryker all sitting in my bed, clearly waiting for me.
Putting a fake smile on my face, I say, “I thought we all agreed my bed isn’t big enough for all three of you to stay with me.”
“We wanted to talk before going to bed,” Ryker says, straight to the point.
As I let the smile fall from my lips, my shoulders drop, and I find myself tempted to just walk out the door. I don’t know what has been with me lately, but sitting down and talking isn’t something I want to do which is why I’ve thrown myself into finishing my classes the last several months. We are all done now, which means I don’t have that excuse anymore.
Ryker jumps up from the bed and heads straight for me. I open my mouth to say something, but before I can, he picks me up and carries me back to the bed, tossing me down between Cade and Grayson.
He crawls over me and straddles my thighs so I can’t go anywhere. When he smirks down at me, I scowl at him. “What are you doing?”
“Talking. You know, that thing people do when they are in a relationship,” Ryker snarks.
“We talk all the time.”
“Baby girl, we just want you to tell us what’s going on,” Cade says.
“Remember we talked about dealing with things together?” Grayson adds.
My mouth opens and shuts a few times before I huff and tell them the truth. “I don’t know.”
Ryker threads his fingers with mine before pinning them on either side of my head and leaning over me so our faces are inches apart. “I can tell you,” he breathes. “It has nothing to do with today and what we discovered. It has to do with the explosion five months ago. It has to do with Atlas.”
Denial is on the tip of my tongue, but before it can slip out, a hand covers my mouth, and Cade growls, “Don’t lie to us.”
“We’ve let it go on for months, but you aren’t okay. You need to talk about it. You had to see Atlas on his deathbed. That isn’t something anyone should have to see.”
I clench my eyes shut as my body shakes and memories of that day come back to me.
“God, it’s so fucking good to see your annoying ass face,” Lincoln chuckles from the other side of the bed, staring down at Atlas, who has been awake for about an hour now. After the third attempt at taking him out of the coma, things finally went well.
“I knew you’d miss me, fucker,” Atlas rasps. “Where’s Bri?” he asks, glancing between Linc and me.
“She comes once a day for a bit, but it’s been hard, so a lot of the time, she is at the club with someone,” I say gently.
“Yeah, but this is news she needs. I’m going to step out and call her, see if she can get here soon. Stay with him, yeah?” He glances at me, and I nod.
Once Linc walks out the door, I just stare at Atlas. “You're weirding me out, Harls.”
“You scared me,” I tell him honestly. “It’s been a month, Atlas. I thought we were going to lose you.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” He laughs and then coughs. I roll my eyes and stand up to grab his water cup.
Before I can give it to him, the machines start beeping wildly, and there's just one solid sound. A flat line. Atlas’ face becomes pale and blank, like every thought and feeling he had has just been wiped away.
The room becomes chaos as nurses rush in, yelling things like code blue, call the doctor, get her out of here. I stand frozen, backed against a wall as they lay his bed flat and begin CPR. My chest tightens watching them pound against his chest as he lays unmoving.
This can’t be happening. “Clear!” someone yells, and then they are shocking him, his whole body jolting, and the room falls silent for a split second as we wait, but nothing. No pulse. The annoying heartbeat sound doesn’t start again.
I can’t move as I watch them continue to repeat the cycle again and again.
Then, someone shakes their head. The paddles are set down, and the person pounding his chest slowly steps back. No.
“No. No, try again. Try again! He’s not dead. Do you hear me, Atlas? You aren’t fucking dead.” I feel out of my body as I dive forward, wanting to shake him until he responds, but arms wrap around me, holding me back. “No! Try again!” My own voice sounds foreign to me as I scream at the nurses.
Someone nods, and then new arms are around me. Lincoln.
I hear someone say, one more round. And everything starts again but this time the room feels stiff. Silent. Like they are only doing it for the poor broken girl who is screaming and crying.
I hear Lincoln speaking to someone, but I can’t focus on anything except the screen showing his flatline. They try again, then more words are spoken before something else is tried and there. A tiny little beep.
Beep.
Beep.
My legs give out, and I can feel more than hear Lincoln grunt as he holds me up.
Everything after that is a blur. I don’t remember coming home, showering, or sleeping. I only remember waking up from nightmare after nightmare of them pounding onto his chest or his body jolting.
“I think you are suffering silently after having to watch everything go down and then having him disappear a few days later,” Ryker keeps speaking.
“He didn’t disappear,” I say tightly, trying to hold back the tears.
“Maybe not, but for you, he did. Yes, his parents wanted him to go back to Virginia for better care, but then you lost him, Brielle, and Lincoln all in one go after going through something traumatic,” he says.
“And don’t think we haven’t noticed you haven’t spoken to any of them since then. When I’ve talked with Linc, he has asked about you. They are worried about you.”
Clenching my eyes shut, I focus on the pain strangling my heart and let the words out. “I know it’s none of their faults that they left. I know they had to. But I felt–I felt abandoned, and I don’t know how to deal with the feeling. I know Atlas is okay now and on the mend, but they just left so fast, and I felt like I was dying.”
The tears fall, and I can no longer hold in the sob as I finally allow myself to feel the pain I have been shoving down because I felt like it wasn’t my pain to have.
The weight of Ryker leaves me, and my body is moved around until I am leaning back against a solid chest as three sets of hands hold me, anchoring me.
“I thought I would just get over it. I wasn’t the one who almost died, who did die, more than once,” I get out in between sobs.
“Baby girl, look at me,” Cade says, his fingers pinching my chin and turning my face towards him. I open my eyes and meet his. “Your feelings are still valid and will always be valid. Let us help you with it. Don’t just try to shove it away. We both know that shit doesn’t fucking work.”
“Call them,” Ryker murmurs from behind me, his chin on my shoulder. Grayson, who is on the other side of us, reaches over to my night table and grabs my phone.
“You’ve only talked to Brielle once in three months. It’ll help you feel better,” Grayson says.
Taking the phone from him, I bring up Brielle’s contact. After a deep breath, I press the call button and put it on speaker.
She answers almost instantly. “Harley!”
“Hi,” I respond sheepishly.
“How are you? God, I wish we had more time to come visit, but everything is just so insane around here. I miss you. Hang on, let me find the guys.”
I pinch my lips together as guilt settles deep in my gut. I should’ve been calling this whole time she was dealing with so much, but I just—I didn’t know how to handle seeing Atlas die like that. And then they just left so quickly after to go home… It felt like I was being abandoned.
“It’s Harley,” Brielle says as other voices grow louder and all the guys greet me.
A small smile graces my lips, and the guys all hold me as I talk and catch up with how things are going in Virginia. Atlas is finally up and moving. He can’t do hardcore workouts like he had prior, but for the most part, things have gone back to normal for him.
By the time I hang up, I feel lighter than I have in months. “Feel better?” Grayson asks.
“Much,” I say as I let my eyes fall shut. I focus on Ryker’s fingers as he continues to play with my hair before braiding it.
“Oh, by the way, we can go pick up our diplomas next week,” Grayson says. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk for graduation, Harley?”
“No. It just–I don’t know. I don’t feel like I need to. I’m really glad I finished, even if it was annoying as hell, but it feels silly to walk. I’d much rather just move on.” Grayson has been done since fall semester, but Cade, Ry, and I just finished last week. We all passed, thank fuck.
“I need to go back downstairs soon,” Grayson sighs.
“What for?” Cade asks him.
“There’s so much to prepare for taking down the Black Night Ball. It’s much bigger than the warehouse. I want to talk with Oakley more in depth if she is okay with it too.”
“Taking a break is okay too. You can take one night to just breathe and get back to it tomorrow,” I tell him. “It’s a lot of work and a lot to deal with mentally.”
“It really is,” Gray murmurs. “I thought I was going to vomit when we started going through the site.”
“It’s disgusting, and I can’t wait to take out how I feel on the fuckers who run this shit,” Cade growls.
Shivers race down my spine at the venom in Cade’s voice. Why does that turn me on? “You’re being really quiet back there,” I say to Ryker.
I feel him shrug against my back. “We knew it was going to be bad. If I dwell on it too much, I find myself wanting to take off and do something reckless, and we all know that is a bad idea.” Remembering what he told me when I first came here about having snuck off and broken into the Wilson’s house makes me rapidly nod my head in agreement. “Plus, we are going to be spending day and night preparing mentally and physically for this, and it’s going to be chaos, so right now, I think we all could use a distraction.”
Ryker nudges me forward slightly and then reaches next to us to grip the back of Grayson’s neck. “You included. If you leave this room before eight o’clock tomorrow morning, I will turn your ass red.”
Grayson’s jaw drops, and he sputters as his cheeks turn bright red. “Did you—did you just threaten to spank me?” he squeaks.
Cade laughs from our other side, but I can’t help letting that scenario play out in my head… Oh fuck.
I squeeze my thighs together, completely forgetting Cade’s hand was resting there, his laugh turning into a husky chuckle. “You like that idea, baby girl?”
Rolling my eyes, I turn over onto my side so I can bury my reddening face against Ry’s chest as I grumble, “No.”
Heat ignites on my ass cheek as a slap sounds through the room, and I jolt against Ryker before tipping my head back to glare at Cade. “You did not just do that.”
He smirks at me, and I get on my knees in between Ryker’s legs to raise a brow at Cade. “Fair is fair. Roll over, Cayden.” I gesture with my finger for him to flip over, but instead, he glances at Ryker. Before I know it, I find myself face first on the mattress, Ryker bracketing my thighs and running his hands over my ass.
“You have such a pretty butt, babe.” He chuckles when I try to get away but only end up raising my ass in the air. So instead, I push back and try to rub against Ryker’s crotch. His hands tense on my waist, and he pushes me down onto the mattress as he leans over me and whispers in my ear. “Do you need something, Harley?”
“Yes,” I whine. “You.”
“All of us?” Grayson questions, his voice rising slightly.
Ry sits back up and helps me flip back over so I am on my back under him and he can see my face. “Are you sure?”
“I mean—no, not really. I’m just me. And there’s three of you, so that doesn’t really fit together very well, and when I had just two of you, it was a lot. But I’ll admit, I have thought about it.” I feel my face turn bright red at my rambling and admitting what I have thought about.
“Tell us what you thought about,” Cade murmurs softly, running his fingers over my nipples through my shirt.
“Umm,” I hesitate, glancing between the three of them. Grayson looks as uncomfortable yet turned on as I am. Ryker is a cocky fucker like normal, and Cade just seems curious.
“Come on now, little flame. Go ahead and tell us your fantasy. We can make it come true,” Ryker tells me as he traces his fingers over my pussy, never touching me where I want.
Somehow, being horny outweighs my embarrassment, and I spit out, “Two of you held me down and one of you fucked me until you finished, and then the next one went, and you all rotated until you were done. Only then did you let me finish.” Groaning, I toss my arms over my face and hope a hole will open up and swallow me.
“You want to be edged and used for our pleasure, Harley?” Ryker questions as his thumb ghosts over my panties, and I buck against him.
My arms are pulled away from my face, and I am met with Cade’s eyes. “Yes or no, baby girl?”
“Yes,” I say without looking away from him.
He grins and leans down to kiss me. His tongue slowly works around the seam of my lips before he pulls away leaving me to chase his lips without even realizing it.
Cade glances at the other two, and they all have some kind of silent conversation before they all pull away and undress. I bite my lip as my eyes bounce between all three of them, taking in their sculpted bodies.
Ryker moves first, gripping my knees and yanking my legs apart as he grabs my panties and pulls them off. Then, Cade and Grayson climb onto the bed on either side of me. My heart pounds against my chest as I feel my skin flush.
They have always made me feel wanted and desired, but something about all three of them focusing on me naked makes me feel nervous yet like the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Hold her down, and let’s recreate our girl’s fantasy.” I groan as Cade and Grayson each grab a wrist and raise my arms above my head, pinning them to the bed as Ryker fits himself between my legs. He groans as the head of his cock rubs up and down my slit.
Leaning over me, he captures my lips before quickly pulling away and smirking. “You’re soaked, Harley.”
I swear, every rational thought leaves my brain as I try to push up against him and whine, “Please.”
Ry groans and slowly starts to push into me as he grips the backs of my knees and pulls my legs farther apart. “Ry,” I gasp as he pushes all the way.
“Yes, babe?” He pauses and glances down at me, a wicked grin on his stupidly handsome face.
“Fuck me,” I groan.
“With pleasure,” he says right as he thrusts into me, and I feel him everywhere. His thick cock stretches me perfectly as he picks up speed, fucking me into the bed.
“Fuck, you take his cock so well, baby girl,” Cade groans as he uses his free hand to jerk himself. Grayson makes a sound at the back of his throat, I’m assuming in agreement, but he can’t get the words out. I glance over at him and watch as he keeps his eyes glued to Ryker’s cock, his face flushed.
“Your pussy is squeezing the life out of my cock, babe,” Ryker groans as he releases one of my legs and presses his thumb against my clit. I jerk and twist my head to the side, moaning.
“You close?” Cade asks, and I nod. “Perfect.” Ry’s thumb disappears, and he thrusts a few more times before his cock pulses, and I feel him finish in me.
He groans and drops on top of me, pressing his lips to mine. “I love you,” Ry murmurs before pulling away and switching places with Grayson, who stares down at my pussy, biting his lip.
When his eyes finally work their way up my body until they look on mine, he smiles shyly at me. “Seeing Ryker’s cum dripping out of you is really hot.”
Even though this was my idea, I can’t help but feel embarrassed and try to shut my legs, but Grayson stops me as he moves closer, leaning over me. “Are you ready for more?”
I nod, my voice gone as I feel Grayson rub my clit and slowly push into me. My entire body feels like it’s on the cusp of exploding just from his slow, soft thrusts. “Grayson,” I moan, pulling at Ryker’s and Cade’s holds on my arms so I can touch him, but they don’t let me go.
“Oh God, when you clench me like that Harley, I’ll never last,” Grayson moans as he tosses his head back and starts moving faster. Loving the idea of being the one to make him finish so quickly, to give in, I clench harder around him as my legs tighten around his waist.
He whips his head back down to stare at me, his mouth dropping open before he grips my hips and smiles as he starts fucking me hard.
I cry out and arch my back as Grayson literally tries to destroy my pussy. But as soon as I feel close to exploding all over him, he slows down and groans loudly, his hands squeezing my sides as he stares into my eyes and finishes in me. “Holy crap,” he murmurs.
Leaning down, he takes his time kissing me, making me even more desperate as I clench around his cock. My pussy is aching to fucking come already. Gray groans and then pulls back, his cock leaving me soaked and empty.
He glances at Cade, and they swap places. “I don’t know, baby girl. Do you think you can even take more?” Cade cocks a brow at me as he settles between my legs, but he doesn’t touch me.
“Yes. Please. Fuck me and make me come,” I beg, arching to try and get closer to him.
“I love the sound of you desperate,” Cade says as he wastes no time thrusting into me hard, fucking me into the mattress. I cry out and jolt when someone’s finger touches my clit. My eyes squeeze shut as I bask in the slight pain that takes over from having three cocks in me, one right after the other.
Cade bends down and bites my shoulder before whispering in my ear, “Look at me.” My eyes snap open and meet his. “Come for us, baby girl. Feel our cum filling you up, claiming you as ours, and fucking come.”
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Ryker says hoarsely next to me as he claims my lips.
Grayson’s hand moves under my shirt and cups my boob before gently pinching my nipple, and Cade thrusts harder, his finger working in tight circles against my sensitive clit. I scream as my body convulses, and I clench around Cade, the both of us coming at the same time.
“Fuck me,” Cade says as he pulls out and glances down at my used pussy.
Grayson and Ryker both pull back and look as well, and I try to close my legs, but Cade holds them open. “Oh my God, please stop.” I cover my face with my hands and groan.
“So fucking hot,” Ryker groans. I feel fingers run through my soaked lips and then someone moves over me, pulling my hands away. “Taste us, babe.” Ryker smirks at me as he presses two fingers to my lips.
I open, holding his eyes as I suck his fingers into my mouth, moaning at the taste of them on my tongue.
“Fuck, I think I could come again just from that alone,” Ryker groans and pulls his fingers away.
“My pussy is off limits,” I tell him.
They all laugh, and I cross my arms. “I’m serious,” I tell them, trying not to smile at them.
Cade bends down and kisses me quickly. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to having all of us. Eventually, you’ll be begging for all of us every day.”