Chapter 9
NINE
SEVEN
I’m in my room with Nacho, dozing, when I hear the front door open.
I immediately startle fully awake, disturbing Nacho from where he was lying pressed up against my chest. I clutch my blanket and listen for sounds, my mind racing with possibilities.
It’s my family, breaking in late at night. It’s a client, and Caleb has decided to sell me.
Both ideas are equally ridiculous, but the fear that creeps up within me is real.
I grab Nacho, who meows in protest, but I hush him before carrying him over on light feet toward the closet. I don’t know why I think it’ll help, because it’s never helped before, but I hurry in and get to the very back. If I’m quiet, no one will find me here.
What are you doing, baby? You should be in bed.
I’m suddenly shivering so hard that my teeth are chattering, and it’s going to give me away. I bite my lip instead, holding the squirming cat so tightly his claws are digging into me in protest. But I can’t let him go. If I let him go, they’ll find us.
The intruders speak in deep, rumbling voices, and their footsteps grow louder .
They stop and say something—three voices, familiar cadences that don’t make my heartbeat slow in the slightest.
My bedroom door opens, and light trails in from underneath the closet door.
“Seven?” one of them says. “Caleb said you were… huh. He’s not here.”
Caleb.
He told them where I am. Whoever this is, they know I’m here somewhere, and the sense of betrayal and fear is so strong that I can barely stand it.
I swallow hard, trying to still my shaking hands. Nacho’s claws finally dig into me so harshly that I have to let him go, and he runs for the closet door. I put my hands over my mouth to cover up the pained sound, looking desperately around for something to shield me. But everything is neatly stacked, and I hadn’t grabbed anything I can use to hide myself from view. If they open the closet door, they’ll see me.
I’m trapped.
Nacho starts pawing at the closet door and meowing loudly.
“Shit, did Nacho get locked in?” a deeper voice says. Heavy footsteps pound their way in my direction.
Don’t see me, don’t see me, don’t see me .
I close my eyes like a child, like if I can’t see them, they won’t be able to see me either.
It doesn’t work.
The door opens. Nacho meows and rushes out.
That deep voice says, “Seven? What are you doing?” It’s familiar, though I can’t place it. I don’t know that I want to place it. The fact that it’s familiar means that Caleb had to have sold me out, which is even worse than my family simply finding me.
Footsteps approach, then there’s someone right outside of my personal space.
“Hey,” the voice whispers. “Seven? It’s just us.”
Just us .
I whimper, trying to turn so I’m not head-on with whoever it is, but there’s nowhere to go.
“Seven. It’s Vortex,” the voice says even more quietly. “C’mon, beautiful. Open up those eyes and look at me.”
Vortex.
It’s only Vortex.
My eyes fly open, and I launch myself into his arms, almost tackling him in my haste to get close. “Vortex,” I croak out.
“Why are you hiding in the closet?” he asks, wrapping his arms tightly around me. It’s almost uncomfortable, but I don’t care because it makes me feel safe, too. “Did something happen?”
He glances over his shoulder, and I follow his gaze to where Havoc and Caleb are standing.
Havoc looks worse for wear, with a large bruise on his cheek and a cut along his forehead. His knuckles are bloodied, too. When I look at Vortex, I see that he’s similarly roughed up, like he and Havoc got into a fight. Caleb is in his sleepwear, contacts already out for the evening, and he gives me an intense stare through his glasses that I shrink away from.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Vortex soothes. “Everything’s fine. Did you have a nightmare?”
I shake my head.
“C’mon. Let’s get you out of there,” he says. “It’ll be more comfortable in bed, or in the living room. Do you want to cuddle?”
“Did the two of you get in a fight?” I whisper.
Vortex blinks at me, then shrugs. “Not with each other. We’re okay.”
Havoc shifts uncomfortably. “Yeah. We’re fine. We just wanted to see you, Seven.” He gives Caleb a suspicious look. “Did you do something to scare him?”
Caleb holds up his hands in mock surrender. “I haven’t touched him all night. Seven wanted to turn in early with Nacho.”
My cheeks burn with embarrassment. Nothing had happened, and I don’t even have nightmares to blame for this .
Vortex lifts me up and carries me to the side of the bed, letting me down with a grunt.
“How hurt are you?” I manage to get out, looking him over through tear-filled eyes.
“Don’t worry about me,” he says dismissively. “It’s barely anything.”
He says that, but his movements are stiff, like there are a lot more bruises underneath his shirt and jeans. Havoc is holding himself unnaturally too.
“These big babies wanted you to comfort them,” Caleb says, deadpan. “Which is why they showed up unannounced when we were both ready for bed.”
Comfort. I can do comfort even though part of me is rebelling at how unfair it is that my mind put me through hell and I’m thinking about making them feel better.
But what else is new?
I reach up for Vortex, pulling him down for a kiss. He obliges me readily, for all that he makes a quiet sound against my lips.
I let go of him, berating myself for my selfish thoughts as shame fills me. I’m not here for others to take care of.
I’m here for them to use.
“Maybe…” I start tentatively, “we should take care of your… injuries.”
I want to ask, so badly, what happened.
You don’t need to know, baby. Shh. Don’t worry your pretty head about it.
A full-bodied shudder runs through me as I hear her voice, and it shuts me up more firmly than anything they could say.
Havoc sits down on my other side and leans in, taking a deep breath against my neck. “Sorry we woke you. Are you tired? We can go.”
I shake my head. “N-no,” I trip over the word, but I force my voice to sound more certain as I say, “I don’t want you to go. ”
Vortex smiles at me, and it makes things a little better. “Only if you’re sure.”
Nodding, I tell him, “You need me.”
And I need them, even if I don’t know how to say it, even if I don’t want to bring the attention back to me.
Because every bit as much as I want to know what happened, I don’t want them to ask more questions about why I was in the closet.
Caleb yawns loudly. “I’ll bring some ointments. And washcloths. You two are filthy. If you’re staying the night, you have to wash Seven’s sheets in the morning.”
“We’ll bathe first,” Vortex says, shrugging. “And sleep naked. I have extra clothes stashed in one of the employee rooms for the morning.”
I don’t want them to abandon me to go shower, and I swallow around the lump in my throat. “It’s… It’s okay if you’re dirty. The sheets are fine,” I say.
Caleb leaves the room, and I shrink down. I feel Havoc’s hand clenching on my back.
“A shower would do us both good,” he says quietly. “I didn’t come for sex. I just needed to see you, Seven.”
I look at him, unsure of what to make of that. He must read the uncertainty in my expression because he leans in to kiss me. It’s gentle, which is surprisingly frustrating, and I insistently deepen it. “I want sex,” I whisper against his lips. “I always want sex.”
I desperately hope he doesn’t clock that for the lie it is.
It isn’t that I don’t want sex right now; it’s familiar. But the familiarity is what has me trembling because it makes me feel like I’m back home.
“Seven…” Vortex says from in front of me. “It doesn’t always have to be about sex.”
I look at him, trying to convey ferocity instead of vulnerability as I say, “I know that. But I want it, and it’ll… It’ll help.”
Won’t it?
Caleb returns with several jars of those eucalyptus ointments, as well as towels and lube. He walks to the bedside table and sets everything down there.
“If that’s all, I’m going to go back to sleep,” he says with a long yawn.
“You aren’t staying?” I ask, my voice going high.
Caleb pauses and stares down at me. Havoc holds me tighter, like he’s trying to shield me from Caleb’s gaze.
“I’m tired. I can watch, but I didn’t think Vortex or Havoc needed my comfort,” Caleb says.
But I do , I want to say, but my mouth has gone dry and I can’t get the words out. Besides, it’s selfish.
“Okay,” I say, hating how small I sound.
“It’s okay, beautiful,” Vortex says, and he brushes his lips against mine. “We’ll keep you thoroughly distracted. Will that be all right?”
No , I think.
I nod anyway.
There’s another long pause, and Caleb finally says, “I’ll watch from the chair.” He pulls the armchair slightly closer to the bed, then sits down on it.
I swallow hard. I don’t want him to stay if he doesn’t want to, but I’m so selfish, and I can’t stand the idea of him leaving.
Havoc scoffs loudly. “Don’t act like it’s a hardship. We all know how much you get off on watching.”
Caleb’s lips curl into the slightest smile. “I like watching Seven, yes.”
“Watching Seven with other men means you have to have other men to watch, too,” Vortex says dryly. He leans down to kiss me again, running his hands down my arms. “You okay?” he asks against my mouth.
I nod again even though it’s a lie. “You’re taking too long,” I say, pretending my voice isn’t wobbly. “Both of you. And you’re wearing too much.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Havoc grumbles. He kisses me, then lets go so he can pull his jacket and shirt off.
I stifle a gasp when I see the bruising underneath his clothes. There are dark spots all over, from his thigh to his chest and stomach. His arms have bruises too, never mind his bloodied knuckles.
He’d only started to recover from when he’d punched the wall, too.
“What—” I start to ask, but I remember the voice in my mind and instantly shut up again. It’s not my business what happened, and asking is only going to upset everyone.
“It’s fine,” Vortex says, and he takes his own shirt off, setting it down on the bed next to me. “We’re both fine.”
He doesn’t look okay either. They both look like they’d been pummeled.
“You didn’t… with each other?” I ask, unable to keep the words back.
Vortex laughs. “No. We’re not that bad, Seven.”
“I only look like this because Vortex wasn’t pulling his weight,” Havoc snarks. “I bet even Caleb would have done better.”
Vortex sneers at him. “It wouldn’t have even been violent if you hadn’t fucking punched—” He looks at me, cutting himself off before gently caressing my face. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Don’t worry your pretty little head about it .
I shudder, shrinking back, and Vortex frowns at me.
I shake my head before he can ask questions. “Still too many clothes,” I remind him. I sound breathless, and I hope they think it’s from desire and not from the very real fear that’s bubbling up within me.
“Seven,” Caleb interrupts, and I startle.
I straighten my back and look at him, my mouth dry. “Yes, Master?”
The glasses obscure Caleb’s eyes. I brace myself for a reprimand, but in the end, all he says is, “Do you want me to help tend to their wounds?”
I nibble on my bottom lip. “Yes, please. ”
“Uh, no, I’d rather do it myself than have your hands on me,” Havoc protests.
“Don’t be such a big baby,” Vortex says, derision dripping from his voice. “It’s not like he’s touching your dick.”
I nudge Vortex to the side so I can get to one of the jars of ointment. “It’s fine. I’ll get Havoc. Caleb can help Vortex.”
Caleb smiles, and the expression eases my earlier discomfort. He gets up and takes the second jar of ointment, then moves to get behind Vortex. “I’ll do your back, but you can handle the rest, right?”
“Yeah,” Vortex says with a grunt. Caleb must’ve put pressure on one of the bruises.
I follow his example, opening the balm I’d grabbed and looking at Havoc. “Do you want me to get your back, too, or…?” I prompt. Feeling useful is helping, sort of, but I really wish I was getting kissed and railed into the mattress to shake this horrible feeling, these horrible memories and thoughts.
Havoc shrugs. “Yeah, sure. It’s mostly bruises. Nobody got really hurt.” He pauses for a second. “Okay, neither of us got really hurt.”
Again, the urge to ask what actually happened threatens to overtake me, but I don’t. Instead, I get behind Havoc and examine his back. It’s not that bad — at least, it’s not as bad as his chest and stomach — but I still carefully rub some of the ointment into the bruises in silence. I wish Caleb would ask what happened so I can find out, but I keep biting my tongue to avoid worrying my pretty little head about it .
“Do I want to know who did get hurt?” Caleb asks. He does something to make Vortex groan loudly. “Never mind. Ignorance is bliss, I’m sure.”
I’m disappointed — and I suspect that they’re going to have a conversation once I’m not around. I should feel bitter and left out, but at the same time…
What if it was my family?
Am I better off not knowing?
“It wasn’t—” I begin, almost asking, but I shake my head. Ignorance probably is bliss in this circumstance.
I finish rubbing the ointment into Havoc’s back and move to stand in front of him so I can keep going.
He flops onto his back—the back I’d just rubbed ointment on—and smiles up at me. “You’ve got a magic touch, Seven,” he says. “My back doesn’t even ache anymore.”
“It’s this stuff,” I say, holding up the jar. I crawl onto the bed next to him, kneeling beside him. “It helps a lot.” I make a face. “Kinda takes the fun away, though. I like the feeling of the bruises…” I trail off.
I like the bruises they leave, anyway.
I lean down, intent on Havoc. Vortex and Caleb are conferring quietly behind me, but I ignore them as I focus on Havoc.
Some things, I don’t need to know.
Havoc draws me down to lie almost on top of him, pulling me into a kiss. I open for him, glad to finally have something that’s more grounded, more real , to focus on.
I lift my hips enticingly, hoping that Vortex or Caleb will take a hint.
“Why are you so good?” Havoc murmurs. His eyes are half closed, and he nips at my lips again. “Seriously, Seven, I’m around you and everything gets better.”
Not everything. I hadn’t been able to make him feel better after the phone call from his mother. I still haven’t been able to reassure him that I’d enjoyed the rough sex, that it hadn’t bothered me at all.
But I can do this.
“I’m not that good,” I say, “but I’ll do the best I can.” I trail kisses from his lips down to his chin, then farther down. “How do you want me?”
Havoc reaches down for his jeans and undoes the fly. “Frot against me. I need you now.”
Disappointment runs through me that he doesn’t want anything more substantial, but I nod and push my pajama pants down. “Lube?” I ask.
He reaches over and grabs the bottle of lube that Caleb had brought, and I squeeze some of it into my hands so I can warm it before slicking up our cocks with it. I lean back down, slowly rubbing my cock against his.
I hear movement behind me, and warm hands settle onto my waist. I don’t have to look up to know it’s Vortex, and I make a soft sound as he leans down to kiss my shoulder blade before nipping it.
The bed shifts as Caleb gets up and goes back to the armchair. I can’t see him anymore, but knowing he’s in the room, knowing all three of them are here, grounds me.
“What if you slide your cock between Seven’s thighs?” Caleb suggests. “Then you might knock against Havoc’s cock too.”
Vortex lets out a huff. “Yeah, because I really want that,” he mutters. But he slots against my legs anyway with a groan, leaning down on me and pushing me harder against Havoc. I moan at the increased friction, then kiss Havoc again with more urgency.
Havoc kisses back, then he huffs out a small laugh. “Careful you don’t crush Seven between us, Vortex.”
“I don’t mind,” I say hoarsely — and I don’t. It’ll feel good, knowing I’m safe between the two of them.
Vortex eases up, though, not pressing against me as firmly, and I whimper against Havoc’s mouth in protest even as Vortex starts to rock against me.
I clench my thighs as best I can to create more friction for Vortex, but it’s hard to coordinate anything. The lube gets everywhere, and I make a soft sound when his cock brushes against my hole.
“More,” I beg.
Havoc shakes his head and gently cards his fingers through my hair. “This is so fucking hot, Seven. Your cock against mine, and Vortex rubbing against both of us…”
I’m surprised he doesn’t mind the latter, but I don’t comment on it. I’d rather have Vortex in my ass, but both of them seem to be getting off on this — and it does feel good. It’s just not as intense as it could be, as intense as I want it to be.
Still, the pleasure builds and builds, and I squirm as I get painfully close to the edge. I don’t want to be the first one to come, but being pressed between them like this feels so good I can barely hold back. It’s all I can do not to come, but the sounds I make are needy and desperate.
“Come for us, Seven,” Vortex coaxes me, sounding every bit as breathless and affected as I feel. “Don’t hold back. I’m… I’m not far behind you.”
Havoc reaches between us and wraps his hand around our cocks. I let out a soft gasp at the sudden sensation, but I push into his hand too, into the extra friction.
Back then, nobody touched my cock.
Why would they? I was a toy, an object, but now…
I feel important.
I feel cherished .
It’s not a familiar feeling, but it’s one I could get used to, even if my heart beats frantically at the thought of feeling it only for it to be taken away.
The thought almost makes the pleasure recede, but Havoc keeps rubbing our cocks together, and I groan as he squeezes. My breath catches, and I kiss him hard as I spill all over his hand and our cocks with a loud whine.
“Fuck, that’s so hot,” Havoc whispers, and he starts jerking our cocks harder. I whine at the sensation against my oversensitive dick, but it isn’t long before his eyes are screwing shut and his body tenses. He groans loudly as he orgasms.
It’s hot in so many ways, physically and emotionally, and I shudder.
I slump onto Havoc, but Vortex grabs my legs and pushes them together as he speeds up. He groans as he joins us in our bliss, and it’s only when he’s thoroughly spent that he leans down to kiss my shoulder again .
“That made this night so much better,” Vortex murmurs against my skin before he rolls off of me, settling next to us on my bed. There isn’t much space for him, not with how Havoc is sprawled out, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
“Yeah?” I ask, peering at him as Havoc’s arms come up around me.
Vortex nods. “Yeah.” He smiles crookedly at me. “But now I’m exhausted.”
Havoc kisses me, then cranes his neck. “You enjoy the show, Boss ?”
There’s no response. I frown and twist around, afraid that Caleb is disappointed, or that he left?—
He’s asleep in the armchair.
I scowl at him. “We weren’t that boring,” I gripe. But at least he stayed.
That means something, right?
“Well, I’m ready to crash, too,” Vortex says. “If the bed hog would move the fuck over, we can get some rest.”
“I’m not hogging anything,” Havoc mutters, but he does scoot over enough that the three of us can semi comfortably lie next to each other with both of them on their sides. It’s a tight squeeze though, and four would be impossible.
After a few seconds, Havoc asks, “So who’s getting the lights?”
“Not me,” I mumble. I’m on my side, facing Havoc, and Vortex lets out a groan.
“All right, fine,” he grumbles, but he gets up and turns the light off. When he returns to bed, he wraps an arm around my waist, staying close to me. “Good night, Seven.”
“Night,” I say, closing my eyes.
I could stay like this forever.