Chapter Forty-Three
LILY
The first thing I notice when I wake up is the feeling of being well fucked. My core pulses, reminding me of how much action I’ve had in the past, what? Thirty-six hours? I didn’t expect Tommy to accept my offer, but submitting to him was everything he needed. It also turned me on more than I would have thought. I know I’m inexperienced, and if anything, I thought I’d be quite a vanilla girly, which would be perfectly fine. But something tells me between these men, I’ll be willing to explore. The thought of the others having their wicked way in a similar manner has my skin heating all over again.
But what surprised me even more was that Tommy stayed. He never left me.
I was barely able to keep my eyes open when he untied my wrists and cleaned me up. In fact, I don’t recall much after that.
Waking with my cheek resting against his chest, the last thing I want to do is move, but I need to pee. My hand flexes on Tommy’s lower stomach, the soft light from the lamp on the bedside table highlighting the deep V taunting me to dip my hand lower, but I quickly shake those thoughts away. Maybe one day, but what we’ve already shared is huge. Instead, I slowly sit up, grateful to see he somehow dressed me in his t-shirt last night.
I almost bring it to my nose and smell it, but my breath catches in my throat when I find his sparkling green eyes shining back at me.He has his arm tucked under his head in the most relaxed pose, and hejustlooks content.
“Morning, Sunshine,” he says with a smile.
“You stayed,” I reply, reaching up to try and tame my hair, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
His free hand stills my movements. “Of course. Where else would I be?”
I swallow back the lump in my throat.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Where were you trying to sneak off to anyway,” he says, his tone playful.
I swear he just wants to make me blush, and it’s working. “To use the bathroom, if you must know,” I reply.
His phone begins to ring on the bedside table. He reaches for it, and I look past him to the small digital clock; it’s barely after six in the morning.
“Hello?” Tommy’s eyes stay focused on me. “Yeah, she’s here.”
His eyes widen. “Let me put you on speakerphone.”
If I hadn’t already fallen for him, I think those words alone—and him not keeping me in the dark like some helpless excuse for a human—would do the trick. “Thank you,”I mouth.
“We have her, Duchess. We found Mia.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, hardly believing what I hear. As if sensing my need to soak in his declaration, he waits a few seconds before continuing. “We’re at a hospital, and they want to keep her in for a day or two under observation. River is in her room with her now. She’s sleeping.”
My heart races and my stomach churns. “What? Is she hurt, d-did he hurt her? ”
“He’d been giving her mild sedatives and she has some bruising, but otherwise physically she seems to be okay. But mentally and emotionally, she’s going to need a lot of support.”
“Of course. But I want to see her. I need to see her,”I say, blinking away the tears threatening to fall.I’m alreadytrying to figure out the quickest way to get to Nice.
“Then it’s a good thing there’s a private plane arranged for you and Tommy from Exeter, ready for departure at Ten AM.”
“Jackson, thank you,”I whisper, my words clogging my throat. Tommy reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “And the rest of you, are you all okay?”God, I hate myself for not asking sooner, and that iswhen I get a sinking feeling, one I can’t articulate. It’s almost like a sixth sense, this impending feeling that whatever he’s about to say isn’t good.
“Elliot was shot. He’s in the hospital too.”
I feel the world fall out beneath me. Elliot was shot?
“What?”I ask, my voice rising.
“Duchess, you need to breathe. Are you with me?”he asks, his voice full of concern.
Tommy reaches out, cups my cheeks, holding my stare, and breathes with me.
“I’m okay,”I reply. Now is not the time to lose myself to my emotions. “How bad is it?”I ask, finding my inner strength.
Jackson blows out a breath. “He’s really fucking lucky. He took a hit to the shoulder; it was a through and through. Missed anything vital, hit muscle. They’ll be moving him to a private room soon.”
His words do nothing to ease my concern. I’m sure someone with a military history or medical knowledge would understand what he’s saying, but I’m still stuck on three words. Elliot was shot . I’ve been clay pigeon shooting. I know how to handle a shotgun, but outside of that, guns are something you hear about in the news, see in movies or read about in books.
Tommy stays on the phone wrapping up the conversation with Jackson, but I hear nothing other than white noise as I go to the bathroom to relieve myself. Once I’m done, I flush and strip out of Tommy’s t-shirt and start the shower. I tie my hair into a tight knot on top of my head using one of my hairbands. Holding onto the sink, I lower my head and take deep breaths.
“Sunshine?”Tommy asks, walking up behind me. I look up, seeing his reflection in the mirror, noting that even though I’m naked, he keeps his eyes on my face. “Are you okay?”
I bite my lip and nod but don’t reply, worried if I try to speak, I’ll start crying, and I’m sick of fucking crying.
“Come on, let’s get washed. The sooner we get ready, the sooner we can hit the road.”
He steps back, and I watch as he lowers his boxer briefs and kicks them to the side, but unlike him, my eyes don’t stay fixed on his face. No, they have a mind of their own as they glance down at his thick, semi-hard dick.
I swallow hard, suddenly feeling nervous.
“I just want to help you,”he says, holding out his hand for me to take.
He leads me into the shower and eases my body under the jets. Soft, warm spray begins to cover my body.
I blink up at him, confused.
“Turn,”he says softly. “Trust me.”
Doing as he requests, I face the other way, and then I feel the soft brush of the loofah as he begins to roll it over my shoulders and down my back. My head falls forward, and I watch the suds as they disappear down the plug-hole.
Spinning me back to face him, he repeats the same process, his touch gentle, reverent, andcaring. His emerald eyes hold mine in a way that feels like he’s staring into my soul. He uses the same loofah and quickly cleans himself before reaching for the shower head to rinse us off and then shuts off the water.
“Come, let’s dry off and get dressed.”
I nod and follow him out of the shower. He passes me a large towel that I wrap around my body and tuck in under my armpit. I watch as he wraps a slightly smaller one around his waist.
“Tommy,”I whisper as he opens the bathroom door fully, allowing the fresh steam to escape.
He turns back to face me, and I take a shallow breath. “I love you.”Now more than ever, I feel it’s important things are not left unsaid. No matter how much it scares me. I refuse to hold back anymore.
He smiles, showing off his dimples. “Lily, I love you too,”he replies before making up the distance and kissing me softly.
I don’t know how I managed it, but as soon as we were in the air, I somehow fell asleep—which, in hindsight, was probably a blessing. The thought of sitting there for five hours in a constant state of worry would have made it even worse. Nice is an hour ahead, which meant it was already after Three PM when we arrived.
A friend of theirs named Mason picked us up from the airport. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was something in the water that this friend group were drinking. It should be illegal to be so good looking. I mean, I might have four men I’m currently salivating over and have no desire for another, but even I can’t deny he’s hot. He has a large build, soft brown sandy hair, thick muscles, tattoos, and a scar on his left cheek that cuts through his short beard, which gives him an extra edge.
As soon as we parked at the hospital, he took us straight to Mia’s room.
I freeze in the threshold when I see her sitting up in bed laughing at something Jackson said. They’re playing a game of cards, as if this is normal.
“Lily,”she squeals, looking over Jackson’s shoulder. Her voice has me rushing forward and pulling her into my arms .
Eventually, I reluctantly pull away and scan her face before searching her arms for the bruises I know are there.
“Here, sit down, Duchess.”
I smile at Jackson. “Thank you.”He leans down and surprises the hell out of me when he kisses the top of my head. “You’re welcome. I’m going to leave you to talk, okay? But I’ll just be next door or outside.”
I nod and look over my shoulder as he closes the door.
As soon as we’re alone, I turn back to Mia. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Mia. This is all my fault,”I say in a rush of emotion.
She shakes her head, her lower lip trembling. “No, it’s not,”she replies. “Daddy was horrible to me, Lils. He wouldn’t let me call you, and the more I asked, the angrier he became. Jackson told me that Daddy isn’t well and that sometimes drugs can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do. But if that’s true, then why did he hurt you and talk to you the way he did when he thought I wasn’t listening?”
I blink at her. “What?”
Her eyes move to the cards on the small tray table over her bed. “I know Daddy used to say awful things to you, that he got angry with you,”she says, twisting her hands in her lap. “I should have tried to help. I should have stuck up for you. I’m the one who’s sorry,”she whispers.
I pull the tray out of the way and slip off my trainers.
“Budge over,”I say, climbing beside her and putting my arm across her shoulders. “No, you have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, I’m sorry for not talking to you about what was going on. I thought I was protecting you, Mia. I realise now that I was wrong. I promise not to keep the truth from you ever again.”
She sniffs back tears and nods. “I love you, Lils.”
“I love you too.”