Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
GRACE
The first thing I felt was warmth—solid and steady, wrapped around me like a second skin.
I blinked against the soft light bleeding through the curtains, golden and slow, casting long shadows across the bed. For a second, I didn’t move. I just breathed, letting the moment stretch around me, quiet and unfamiliar in its comfort.
Legend’s arm was slung across my waist, his body pressed tight against my back. He was heat and muscle, all steady breath and sleeping weight, like he’d anchored himself to me sometime in the night and refused to let go.
I didn’t realize I was smiling until I felt it—something softer than warmth, cooler than breath. Fingers. A thumb brushing the line of my cheekbone with the kind of gentleness I wasn’t used to. Not anymore.
I opened my eyes, turning just enough to see Voodoo sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes met mine—dark, unreadable, but softened by something quiet. Something real. He was tracing my face like it was sacred, like the smallest part of me deserved to be memorized.
“Morning, Grace,” he murmured, voice low and rough with sleep. “You dreaming, or just pretending to ignore me?”
I tried to speak, but the words caught somewhere behind my breath. Maybe it was the way his touch didn’t ask for anything. Or maybe it was Legend still wrapped around me like I was something worth protecting.
Reality caught up to me, Bones was still missing and the guys had been working on O’Rourke’s info when Legend and I slipped away to head up here.
Voodoo being here offered me bittersweet comfort.
The comfort of waking up between him and Legend—I didn’t know how much I needed to just be with them—but the bittersweet part came knowing that it meant Bones was still a prisoner somewhere.
As much as I hated the idea of him being a captive, I refused to contemplate the idea that Bones wouldn’t survive.
No, I absolutely refused to accept that idea.
Period.
The man was too damn onery to die.
Voodoo’s fingers trailed down to my jaw, lingering just beneath my chin. His touch was still gentle, but there was a spark behind it now—mischief creeping in behind that quiet calm.
“You gonna keep pretending to sleep,” he said, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth, “or are you gonna get up and shower with me before he realizes we’re missing?”
I huffed a breath, not quite a laugh. “You’re the one waking me up like a dream, and now you want me vertical?”
“Didn’t say anything about staying vertical,” he murmured, voice dipping lower.
My cheeks warmed before the rest of me caught up. His grin widened, lazy and crooked, like he already knew what I was thinking. Like he’d planted the thought there himself.
Legend shifted behind me, letting out a low, content sound as he burrowed closer. His arm tightened around my waist instinctively, and for a second, I hesitated. Legend needing me like he had the night before was something I didn’t want to disrupt. Something rare.
Voodoo must’ve seen it in my eyes because he leaned in, pressing a slow kiss to my temple. “He’ll still be here when we get back. You need a minute for yourself. We both do.”
I let the silence stretch for a beat before nodding. “Alright,” I said, my voice a little rough from sleep, a little too honest. “But if the water’s cold, I’m walking out.”
Voodoo laughed, low and smooth. “You think I’d pull you out of bed just to freeze you? Firecracker, baby—when I convince you to get wet, I make it worth it.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was already reaching for the sheet, peeling myself away from Legend’s hold as carefully as I could. He barely stirred, just mumbled something that sounded like my name and let me go. Voodoo helped me slide out, easing the sheet up.
As he rose, he offered his hand and I slid my palm across his. The lightness of his touch belied the inherent strength he housed. They were all so much bigger and stronger and they were all so damn careful with me.
And just like that, I let him lead me—bare feet across cool floors, heart ticking a little faster than it should—as if walking into the shower with him was just another way of waking up.
Another way of letting go.
He wasn’t wrong, I liked showering with Voodoo even more now than our very first time when I’d been such a mess. Then, he’d been all gentleness and sensuality—two things I’d needed so badly. Once in the bathroom, he closed the door then stripped out of his clothes with an economy of motion.
Once he was naked, he turned on the water, his movements unhurried, practiced. He didn’t look at me right away, just stood there with one hand under the stream, waiting for the temperature to settle. The muscles in his back shifted beneath his tattoos, the ink catching light when he moved.
I watched him—watched the way his jaw tightened like he was holding something in. Something he didn’t trust with words yet.
When he finally looked at me, his expression had softened. “Come here,” he said, and it wasn’t a command—it was a request. Quiet. Needing.
I stepped into his space without hesitation.
His hands came to my hips, slow and warm, and he guided me into the shower with him like he was afraid I’d vanish if he moved too fast. The water hit my skin in a soft cascade, and I let out a slow breath savoring both the warmth of the water sliding over me and the weight of his hands on me.
He didn’t pounce. Didn’t press me against the wall or reach for more than I was ready to give. Voodoo just… held me. One hand at the back of my neck, the other splayed low on my spine, and his forehead resting against mine while the water poured down around us.
“I didn’t pull you in here just to feel you naked,” he murmured after a beat, voice quiet against the sound of the water. “Though, don’t get me wrong—it’s a hell of a bonus.”
I smiled, small but real. “You’re stalling.”
His lips curved, but his eyes stayed serious. “Maybe. Or maybe I needed a minute with you before the noise starts again.” He pulled back just enough to meet my gaze. “Everyone’s looking at me for answers, Grace. For decisions. And I’m not gonna make them when my head’s full of static.”
His thumb brushed a strand of wet hair from my cheek. “But with you… it goes quiet. Just for a little while.”
I leaned into his touch, chest tightening. “You don’t have to carry it all alone.”
“I know,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth. “But I need to figure out how to carry it at all. And right now, I just need this.”
He kissed me then—slow and deliberate, like he was choosing to be here in this exact second with no one else pulling on him. His hands never moved lower, never demanded more than I gave. He wasn’t asking for my body.
He was asking for peace.
Understanding his desire and needing to fill it, I gave it to him. I pressed my hands to his chest, steady and open, and kissed him back like I understood.
Because I did.
We stayed there in the water, lips brushing, foreheads pressed together, the rest of the world shut out.
And for a little while, it was enough.
I pulled back slowly, my eyes searching his. The water beaded on his skin, tracing the lines of his tattoos and highlighting the sharp planes of his face. There was something in his eyes—an intensity that made my heart race.
“Voodoo,” I whispered, “you don’t have to do this alone. You have me. You have Legend and AB. We have Bones too. We’re in this together.” I refused to think of it any other way.
He nodded, a small, almost imperceptible movement. “I know,” he murmured. “But sometimes, I just need to feel you. To know you’re real.”
His hands tightened on my hips, pulling me closer. I could feel the heat of his body, the solid strength of him, and it made me ache in a way that was both familiar and new. I reached up, cupping his face, my thumbs brushing his cheekbones. “I’m real,” I said softly. “And I’m here.”
He closed his eyes, leaning into my touch. When he opened them again, there was a fire burning in their depths. “I want you, Grace,” he said, his voice rough with need. “I want to feel you wrapped around me, to lose myself in you.”
I shivered, the words sending a thrill through me. “Then take me,” I whispered. “I’m yours.”
He growled low in his throat, a sound that was pure possession. His hands moved to my ass, lifting me effortlessly. I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling the hard length of him press against me. He turned, pinning me against the shower wall, and I gasped at the sudden contact.
“You feel that?” he murmured, his lips brushing my ear. “That’s how much I want you. How much I need you.”
I nodded, my breath coming in short gasps. “I feel it,” I managed to say. “I feel you.”
He kissed me then, hard and demanding, his tongue exploring my mouth with a ferocity that left me breathless. I clung to him, my nails digging into his shoulders as he ground against me, the friction sending sparks of pleasure through my body.
He broke the kiss, his breath ragged. “I need to be inside you,” he growled. “I need to feel you come apart around me.”
“Yes,” I gasped. “Please, Voodoo. I need you too.”
He reached between us, positioning himself at my entrance. I was already wet, my body aching for him, and he slid in with a single, smooth thrust. I cried out, the sensation of being filled so completely overwhelming.
As slick and ready as I was, it was still a hard stretch to accommodate him. I could spend every single night in one of their beds and I’d never be totally ready for how they felt when they filled me.
I hoped I never would. I craved the pain of the stretch as much as the pleasure of the way they glided against me. Voodoo’s clever fingers and silken voice were as devastating to my senses as his focused attention.
He started to move, his hips thrusting against mine in a rhythm that was both urgent and slow. Each stroke was deliberate, designed to build the pleasure until it was almost unbearable. I clung to him, my body meeting his thrusts, the water cascading down around us.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his eyes locked on mine. “So perfect. So mine.”
I whimpered, the words sending a wave of pleasure through me. “Yours,” I agreed. “Always yours.”
He kissed me again, his tongue mimicking the movements of his hips. I could feel the pressure building, the pleasure coiling tight in my core. I was close, so close, and I knew he was too.
“Come for me, Firecracker,” he commanded, his voice a low growl. “Let me feel you fall apart.”
Coming on command wasn’t always in my wheelhouse, but when he paired the order with sensuous caresses, and bold thrusts, I shattered.
My body convulsed around him as waves of pleasure washed through me.
He followed soon after, his own release triggering another round of spasms in my sensitive flesh.
We stayed like that for a moment, our bodies entwined, our breaths mingling. The water continued to fall around us, but it was distant, unimportant. All that mattered was this—us, together, in this perfect moment of connection.
Voodoo finally pulled back, his eyes soft as he looked at me. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “For being here. For being you.”
I smiled, my heart full. “Always,” I promised. “I’ll always be here for you.” Committed as fuck, I didn’t avoid the words that would have turned me inside out upon a time. I adored these men. Was adored by them. The words didn’t matter as much as the actions.
They felt things so damn deeply and I was one of those things that slipped under their guard. Being there for them was not so impossible, even in my darkest moments, this was where I wanted to be.
He kissed me one last time, a soft, lingering press of lips. Then, with a sigh, he set me down, his hands lingering on my hips for a moment longer than necessary.
“Ready to face the world again?” he asked, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Yes,” I said as I worked to get my breathing under control. “I need to wash my hair.”
A light knock on the door pulled my attention and even Voodoo shot a look over his shoulder at the very naked, and aroused Legend stood there palming his dick.
“Can we make you filthier first?” The question sent a wild quiver through my system and Voodoo shut off the water abruptly. His cock stirred at my thigh, growing harder by the moment.
Dark eyes dipping to lock onto mine, Voodoo said, “Say yes.” It was as much a request as a command and a shiver raced through me. My cunt clenched and even my ass went tight as anticipation raced through me.
“Do we have time?”
Voodoo had come in here for a reason.
“Not as much as I’d like,” AB said from the other room and another shudder went through me. “But we can make it work if you’re willing, Gracie.”
Running a tongue over my lower lip, I wrapped my hand around Voodoo’s nape and dragged him down. His mouth collided with mine in a kiss that was all tongue, teeth, and hot possession. His cock was hard as stone where it poked at my belly.
“Where and how?”
Even with the slickness of his release still sticky on my thighs and water dripping down my breasts. I wanted more.
I wanted them.
Legend moved, pulling the curtain back and lifting me away from Voodoo. The handoff was so smooth, I barely realized he was moving. The cold air was a rush against my skin but Legend carried me right out to the bed where AB sat, waiting. He wasn’t naked… not yet.
But the raw want in his blue eyes set me on my fire. Bones’ absence was a bruise that expanded when Voodoo followed us out. Before I could say a word though, Legend kissed me. His tongue sweeping in to duel mine as fingers cupped my cunt from behind and three fingers pressed inside.
Then AB must have risen because his lips were on my shoulder and when Legend lifted his head, it was AB who slid his hand into my wet hair and dragged my mouth to his. Fire kindled in my blood and my body went up in flames.
“I need you,” I whispered, longing punctuating every breath in between AB’s demanding kisses. “All of you.”