Chapter 15 Sly #2
“Oh shit!” Pete laughs as I try to pry Jagger’s hands off me. It takes me a few seconds of struggling to realize I can still breathe, he’s not trying to kill me, it’s a warning.
I’ll fucking show him who he’s messing with. I am not the kind of man who enjoys being taught lessons, especially by one of my former cellmates.
I lift my legs and hook my feet in front of his shoulders, pulling him back as I sit up in one swift move. His hands are still at my throat, but now I’ve got more leverage. I pull a hand back and punch him in the side. He releases my neck as a puff of air escapes him from the impact.
“Dog pile!” Dex yells right before I see his massive body flying toward us, arms outstretched. My eyes widen as I try to roll away, but he lands on top of both of us, knocking the wind from my lungs as he howls with laughter like this is the funniest thing in the world.
I grunt when someone elbows me in the back. “Whose side are you on?” I wheeze out when I realize he’s somehow pinning Jagger and me at the same time.
“Side? I’m just joining in on the fun!” He laughs, and I’m not sure if he’s really that oblivious or just that crazy.
I manage to roll myself to my back as I try to push him off. Jagger does the same, and when Dex’s feet hit the ground with a heavy thud, and only his upper body is on Jagger, Pete pops up out of fucking nowhere and slaps me across the face.
“What the hell?” I ask as he bounces on his feet, fists up like he’s ready to go a round in the ring, with a huge psychotic grin covering his face. He must have taken notes from Dex on how to be creepy as fuck.
“Come on! I’ve been dying for a good fight for ages!”
Jagger shoves Dex off him and stumbles back, his elbow clipping Pete’s shoulder. He uses that as a reason to attack and jumps on Dex’s back, pushing him back on top of us.
“I’m the king of the mountain!” Pete hollers from somewhere above.
“I swear to God, if you two don’t get your fucking asses off me right now, I’m going to start cutting.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Sylvester.”
Hearing the name my father called me fuels my rage. “I should have slit your throat as soon as we escaped that place.”
“You wouldn’t kill me.”
“Don’t tempt me, farm boy! Now get off!”
“I will if you admit you love me!”
“Never!”
“What about me?” Dex asks, his face moving into view with a raised eyebrow and amusement shining in his eyes. Could he not take anything seriously?
“No,” I grit out, feeling crushed beneath their combined weight.
“Come on!” Pete calls from above. “After spending nine months together, you really can’t admit you like us?”
“Oh!” Dex says, his eyebrows raising with a rare thought. “He’s jealous!”
“Of what? Hairy knuckles and the combined intelligence of a gnat?” I fire back.
“You asked for it now,” Dex says as I watch him prepare to dangle spit down into my face.
I grunt, half angry and half completely grossed out, as I start pushing them back. Jagger joins my effort, and I realize we’re no longer fighting against each other; we’re fighting together. I don’t know if this was Dex’s plan or just a coincidence, but the thought calms me… just a fraction.
“Dex, get your knee off of my nuts!” I grunt when I feel him move a little too close for comfort.
“Don’t pretend you don’t like it,” Pete hollers as I feel his hand try to slap at my side.
“You little piece of—”
“What’s going on?” Her voice cuts through my anger, instantly softening me as I glance up to see her staring at us from where she stands at the end of the bed, her wet hair hanging down, soaking the dark T-shirt she’s wearing.
Even though I know she’s wearing panties under it, seeing her bare legs makes my cock twitch, and I quickly shove Dex away before I accidentally touch him with it.
“We’re playing dog pile, wanna join?” Pete asks, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he moves to her side.
“Uh…” Her eyes bounce to me in confusion. “How do you play?”
“He’s just kidding, Wren,” I tell her as I push to my feet.
“Says who?” Pete asks. Jagger shoves him backward onto his own bed, making him laugh as he bounces on the mattress.
“Says Jagger, apparently,” Dex says with a chuckle as he sits down on his own bed with Pete, both their eyes on her.
“Come on, let’s get your hair dried.” I reach out a hand, and she takes it easily. I lead her back into the bathroom and close the door. “Do you have a brush?” I ask, remembering having seen one somewhere last night.
She pulls it from a little ledge I hadn’t noticed, and I take it from her as I position her in front of the vanity. I take a few minutes to brush through her long, beautiful black hair, making sure it doesn’t have any knots.
“Sly?”
“Yes?”
“You know I can dry my own hair, right?”
I place the brush down and pull the corded dryer off the wall mount as I nod.
“Would you prefer to do it yourself?” She doesn’t answer straight away, and I place my free hand on her shoulder and squeeze it.
“Really, Wren, I won’t be upset if you’d prefer to do it yourself. But I would like to take care of you.”
“Do you… Do you mind? Drying it, I mean?”
I try not to grin at her as I clarify, “You want me to do it?”
She nods. “I’ve done my own hair since I was five. I’m curious what it’s like.”
“Well, let me enlighten you. Then you can decide which way you prefer.”
I grab the brush and turn the dryer on. Slowly, I work through her hair, drying it, strand by strand, until it lies in a glossy curtain around her shoulders.
“There. How was that?” I ask, turning her to face me.
“If I tell you I loved it, would you do it every time I wash my hair?" she asks, seeming half serious.
“Consider it done.” I open the door and press my hand to her back, guiding her into the room.
Pete and Dex are already lying in bed with a Wren-sized space between them, and that Bachelorette show she loves playing on the TV.
I try not to bristle as she moves toward Dex. I get it. They’re the fun ones. They make things lighthearted and easy for her. She needs them to bring light to her fucked-up life.
I hear her whispering to Dex and Pete as I pull off my shirt and pants.
We’d managed to make one stop today, deciding we didn’t want to wait another day for clean boxers.
I’ll be happy when all the clothes we ordered online arrive over the next two days.
I much prefer a neatly pressed dress shirt and crisp dress pants to a T-shirt and joggers.
Switching off the reading light, I settle in under the blanket, Jagger already having done the same beside me. I watch as Wren walks around them, then moves up between the beds, eyeing me nervously. She stops right beside me, her fingers twisting together nervously as she looks down at them.
“Is something wrong?” I ask, as I move to sit up. Her eyes catch on my bare chest, and her mouth parts, her eyes growing wide. I try not to puff my chest out in approval of her perusal. Her eyes travel the route of my tattoos from my right hand all the way up to my neck.
“Wren?” I ask again when she doesn’t speak.
She shakes her head, as if coming out of a daze, and part of me settles, knowing she likes what she sees.
“I was wondering, do you think it’d be okay if I slept with you two tonight?” As she speaks, her eyes bounce from mine to Jagger’s over my shoulder.
Instead of responding verbally, I grab her waist and hoist her over me as Jagger yanks the blanket down between us.
We agree on something after all.
She lets out a small squeak of surprise, but quickly settles between us as we pull up the blanket over her lap. She beams up at Jagger, then turns her dazzling smile on me.
“You don’t mind?” she asks.
“If it were up to me, you’d sleep beside me every night,” I tell her. Jagger squeezes her hand and nods, as if to agree.
“Okay, good. Because I spent last night with them, plus all day in the car.”
“Tired of us already, angel?” Pete calls teasingly from the other bed.
“Of course not!” she says, sounding a little horrified, before adding on quieter just for us, “I just missed you two.”
Long ago, I thought my heart was dead, that I might actually be a psychopath, as I cared for nobody and killed without mercy.
But having Wren in my life has taught me that that isn’t true.
She lights a fire in me that I never knew could exist. And hearing her say she missed me, even though I’ve been in the exact vehicle as her all day, makes my heart start to beat a little faster.
I lie back, and she follows. Grabbing her hand over the blanket, I stare up at the ceiling. The TV plays quietly, keeping the room from total silence, and when I glance over at her, I see her biting her lip.
Why is she nervous?
“Wren?” I ask quietly.
She looks at me in question, so I remind her, “Remember, you need to try to say more of what you’re thinking out loud, so we can help you.” She nods slowly but doesn’t say anything, so I add, “Is there something you want to ask, but you’re nervous or scared?”
“A little,” she whispers back.
I wiggle a little closer and turn my ear to her and tap it. “You can tell me. Right here. Go on.”
Her warm breath skates over my skin right before she whispers, “Do you like to cuddle?”
It’s as if she just cut me open, reached inside, and stole my heart right out of my chest. I already knew she was mine, but hearing those words on her enticing lips just cemented me as hers.
“Come here.” I help rearrange her, and she snuggles in close, her lower leg hooking over mine as she lets out a small sigh of contentment.
“Better?” I ask, before kissing the top of her head and gently running my fingers through her hair.
The bed shakes as Jagger turns toward us and moves closer, spooning her back, his hand splayed across her hip. A small spike of jealousy hits me until I remind myself that she’s snuggling me, too.
“Much,” she whispers, rubbing her face against my chest like a cat. This woman is way too cute for a man like me—a man who kills without remorse. A man with no family, no friends, and nothing to offer her but my devotion and protection. I’ve never needed anyone.
Not until I met her.
Now I want my whole life to revolve around her, if she’ll let me.