Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
RORY
Steam wafted throughout the gigantic bathroom as Aiden and Casey gingerly peeled me out of my soiled, cut t-shirt and bra. They were already naked themselves, quickly shedding their sweatpants, and my eyes roamed over the both of them firmly and appreciatively.
I didn’t know for a fact where we were going to end up.
We could all decide this was a simple one-night stand and move on with our lives.
And it was because of that thought that I allowed myself free rein to appreciate the scary, yet gentle, men before me. The men who could kill someone in a heartbeat and yet continued to treat me as though I was the most delicate flower to exist.
I loved it.
Aiden leaned down and kissed my shoulder affectionately. “Are you okay?”
I nodded my head without a second’s hesitation. “I’m good.”
And for once, it wasn’t a lie.
I was good.
Casey kissed my other shoulder before leaning down and digging through their bathroom vanity.
Seconds later, he stood up tall with a green first aid kit in his hands.
I watched as he laid it down on the vanity, opened it up, and reached for the peroxide and waterproof bandages.
He dropped down to his knees and inspected the cut on my abdomen from earlier as Aiden walked behind me and wrapped his arms around my chest sweetly.
He rested his chin against my shoulder, and I leaned back to enjoy his warmth.
Casey’s face pinched as he drizzled the peroxide on the cut, forcing a whimper out of me. It was the same effect as he tended to the cut on my throat, and then the multiple scrapes along my legs. “I’m sorry, darlin’. Need to make sure you’re good, though.”
“It’s okay.” I smiled down at him, trying to hide my wince. “Comes with the territory, right?”
He placed a kiss on my stomach in response. Butterflies filled me at the action. “They won’t scar. I didn’t think they would, but just so you know.”
I snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first scar I’ve gotten.”
Aiden’s arms tightened around me instantly, and Casey’s eyes shot up to me. While I held humor in my tone, they held…anger. “Is that son of a bitch dead?”
I immediately sombered. “Yes.”
Aiden relaxed against me as Casey nodded. “Good. He would have been within the week if he wasn’t.”
I blinked. “You shouldn’t say things like that. You guys don’t know me.”
Aiden spoke directly in my ear, and I shivered as his warm breath spread against my flesh. “We don’t have to know someone inside and out to know that they don’t deserve to be treated like dog shit. But even still—you’re already special to us. So, yes. I agree with him.”
A sense of wonder flitted through me at their words.
Had I really been the subject of the worst kind of love, all while men like this existed?
Casey stood again and placed a quick kiss on both mine and Aiden’s mouths. No other words needed to be spoken. And as Aiden nudged me through the opened glass doors of the shower, making both of their intentions clear, the wonder in my mind simply shifted to peace.
“Tell us about him?” Aiden asked as we all lay in their bed.
The shower was quick, all of us opting to just wash the sweat and dirt away from our bodies.
My hair laid damp against his chest while Casey rested on his other peck.
I wore one of their t-shirts, and I could have sworn they were genuine giants once I put it on and realized it came down to my knees.
I picked my head up slightly to look at them both with a raised brow. “My husband?”
Casey hummed in response.
My head plopped back down. I know it was an innocent question, considering their reactions from earlier. And of course, they were well within their rights to ask, considering I had requested dark scenes and kinks for nothing but my own benefit.
Because of him.
“What do you want to know?”
Casey was the first to speak. “Would you have stayed if he didn’t die?”
I blinked. That wasn’t the question I was expecting.
“I don’t know. I’ve talked to my therapist a lot about that hypothetical since his car accident.
Maybe? I didn’t know any better. In fact, some days, I thought all women went through the exact same thing I did.
I thought it was normal to be more of a servant than a partner.
But ultimately…I was still just a girl in love with a boy who had once treated her like she was his entire world. ”
“Why did he stop?”
My heart squeezed in anguish at the truth.
I laid out all of the words clearly. “We were pregnant. And I miscarried. He wanted to try again immediately, since the doctors said it was just an unfortunate case of ectopic pregnancy rather than anything we could have potentially done, but it was just so painful. I didn’t want to.
At one point, I didn’t want to have sex at all.
Then he started wearing cologne and going out more at night…
and I just knew what was happening, you know? I’m not stupid.”
I paused, looking over at them both, only to find them giving me their complete and utter attention.
Casey reached for my hand and squeezed it gently.
A shudder went through me as I continued.
“Then the drinking began. Then the name calling. And it just spiraled until there was no going back. And eventually…all of my noes fell on deaf ears. Except on the days that my denials turned into punishments.”
Aiden’s voice was heavy. “And your punishments were what we did tonight?”
I sniffled as tears lined my vision, and nodded. “Yeah. Cat and mouse. He would wear scary masks, since I hated horror movies. Or initiate sex only for it to turn into a way to gag me so I couldn’t tell him to stop when it became too rough. I’m sure there are more examples, too.”
Casey spoke as he squeezed my hand again. “I’m so sorry, darlin’. You didn’t deserve that.”
A sad laugh escaped me. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but it is. He can’t hurt me anymore. I just think I'll forever mourn that he did what he wanted to. Turned me into the victim he wanted. I crave what he forced me to go through. And I struggle with knowing if that makes me powerful or weak.”
Aiden shifted. I felt his hand cup my jaw, and my eyes flew up to meet his.
“I promise you, pretty girl. I have met some very weak men and women in my life. My own father was extremely abusive to me and my siblings, and that was the definition of a weak man. You are the polar opposite of that definition. And we will prove that to you every damn day for the rest of our lives if you let us.”
I swallowed roughly. “I have a question.”
Casey answered. “Yes?”
“What would happen if I decided I still wasn’t ready to have kids? After the excitement of tonight dies, I mean. Would you both kick me to the curb next?”
Aiden’s smile was sad, but his words were firm and patient.
“We wouldn’t actually trap you with a child, pretty girl.
Sure, we do want children. We’ve never lied about that.
Frankly, we’ve been obsessed with you since we saw your first profile picture and bio on that damn app.
But it is still your body and mind that will have to go through a pregnancy, and we understand that you have trauma. It is always your choice.”
Casey added to Aiden’s response. “We will support you no matter what.”
My heart melted at the honesty they both shared.
My words were heavy. “It was hard for us to get pregnant the first time. Before the miscarriage. I don’t know if it’ll be easy. Or if I’ll miscarry again.”
Aiden pressed a kiss to my temple before laying a hand on my stomach. Casey followed his movements exactly. “We’re not here for easy.”
“And if it takes time, then it takes time. We still want to try this with you,” Casey added.
I smirked up at them. “For such scary, important men, you sure do have lots of big feelings.”
The sound of the smack on my ass echoed throughout the room before the stinging pain even registered.
I yelped and rubbed at it with a pout. “Rude.”
Aiden snorted before slapping my hand away and rubbing at the mark himself. “Brat.”
Silence floated around us for a small amount of time. Exhaustion had all of us in a tight hold, but I don’t think any of us wanted to fall into the depths of sleep just yet. Though, I only nestled into Aiden’s warmth even more.
I felt safe.
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt that.
Finally, I spoke the question that weighed on me the most. “What happens now?”
Casey turned to look at me. “What do you mean?”
I avoided his gaze. “Is this friends with benefits until I wind up pregnant with two baby daddies? Do we continue talking on that app? Do we try to do…this? What happens when we wake up tomorrow and have to go back to the reality of life, jobs, and everything else?”
Aiden made a noise of understanding. “What do you want to happen?”
Casey smiled. “Yeah, darlin’. I think we’ve made ourselves pretty clear on what we want. But what do you want?”
I didn’t even need to think about my answer.
I knew what I wanted.
I wouldn’t have agreed to this night if I didn’t want it.
I smiled at Casey before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss to his mouth, then craned my neck up to kiss Aiden next. Both of them had their hands on me in some accord, and as though it was that easy, fire licked at my veins.
An insatiable fire that only they could cure.
I broke the kiss with Casey as I began crawling down Aiden’s body.
He sat up immediately, with Casey in his wake.
My smile was downright evil. “I want to try. You both tried with me. It’s only fair I return the favor, and I’ve been comfortable with everything so far. But first…I want to say thank you.”