Taeja

5. Chapter 5

5

She knew they were too good to be true.

The Stark twins were probably her karma for all the marriages she’d unknowingly made rifts in.

When she tumbled out of their house almost an hour ago, she knew she couldn’t return home. Her father would belittle her, and she already felt bad enough. She was thankful Liyah was only a ten-minute drive away on a date with Mason. They picked her up, and Mason dropped them off at Liyah’s house.

“Men are dogs,” Liyah hissed, watching Taeja dry her tears. “I know what you need, girl.”

“What do I need?” Taeja asked. If it wasn’t a way to forget those handsome twins with their sexy smirks and dirty words that made her feel tingles both inside and out, it wasn’t what she needed.

“You need to find someone new!” Liyah declared. “This is not the Taeja Marley I know. Look how yaa cry like smaddy dead.”

“You’re not helping, Liyah…” Taeja complained before rolling over onto her side on the bed. From this position, she saw her phone turned face down on Liyah’s bedside table.

The notifications on her phone went crazy since she disappeared. Even Zain had called her ten times. For the aloof man, that must’ve been a record.

Their consistency had almost made Taeja give in, but Aaliyah confiscated her phone and silenced it. Taeja was thankful. If Liyah wasn’t being her rock, she would’ve gone crawling back to them.

It wasn’t like her to be this weak for men. She knew better than to get too close because they always ended up hurting her. But she thought things would be different this time. With them. The Stark twins.

It was in the way they spoke to her, with genuine interest lacing their tones while she hung on to their every word. It was in the way they looked at her as if she was a trophy rewarded to them after a tiring race.

They gave her the feeling she searched for in her old flings. A feeling of belonging. A feeling of being someone’s safe space because that was how they made her feel — safe.

Hell, she already met their mother and father. That should’ve counted for something, right?

The foolish part of her didn’t want to believe Andrew’s words. Sure, they were moving extremely fast. But she didn’t mind their pace. It felt right.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Liyah said, then sighed. “I’ve never seen you cry over a man before, so I don’t know what to do.”

“Keep telling me that men are dogs.”

“They’re dogs!” Liyah professed. “Dat’s why mi naa stop give dem bun.”

Taeja chuckled weakly before turning away from her phone to look at Aaliyah. Liyah was sitting on the floor, slouching while glancing at the two nail polishes.

“I like the lavender one,” Taeja suggested.

“Of course, you do. You’ll become lavender one day.”

Chuckling, Taeja rolled her eyes. “How are things with Mason?”

“He took me on the date as an apology for cheating. He kept saying how much he loves me and misses me,” Liyah said. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder— Hey, I know that look. No, you’re not going to ignore the twins tonight, then text them tomorrow as cock put on dem draws.”

“I was thinking about doing it as soon as I leave here,” she joked. Sighing, she rolled over onto her back to look at the mirror Mason installed on Liyah’s ceiling. She frowned at the reflection staring back at her. She was freshly showered and dressed in one of Liyah’s silk shorts set pajamas. “I don’t know how to feel. I mean, we haven’t known each other for very long, so they don’t owe me anything. But when they wanted to introduce me to their parents, I thought I was special. Now I’m finding out that they always share?”

“They’re twins… It shouldn’t be so shocking.”

“True, but still.” Taeja sighed. “It’s whatever… I think I should just go to sleep so I can stop feeling like thi—” Her words were cut off by a loud bang. Taeja looked toward the door while Aaliyah sat more upright.

“Sas Crise! Who a bruk ina mi place?” Aaliyah whispered to Taeja, whose heart was wildly beating.

“We should call the police.” Taeja reached for her phone.

“Police?” Liyah scoffed. She got off the floor and grabbed the metal bat she always kept by her bedside. “By the time the police get here, they’ll be gone with what little I have.”

Did Aaliyah think this was a movie? What were two young women supposed to do with a metal bat if it was an intruder?

“Stay close to me,” Liyah whispered, while Taeja quietly hopped out of bed. “One of America nuff law dem must seh mi have the right fi kill dem.”

They moved toward the ajar door, and Liyah placed a shaking hand on the knob. She cautiously pried it open, peeking her head out before motioning for Taeja to follow her. They tiptoed toward the living room. Another loud pound came on the door, followed by a voice that made Taeja freeze.

“Taeja. We know you’re in there. Open this fucking door or else—”

Aaliyah paused, looking over her shoulder at Taeja. “Is that one of your boyfriends?”

“They’re not my boyfriends,” Taeja whispered, her shoulders dropping. “I’m going to hide. Tell him I’m not—”

A screech tore from Aaliyah’s mouth as the door flew off its hinges. Taeja’s mouth fell from shock. From across the room, she felt the anger rolling off the newcomer in waves.

There stood Zain. A hunk of a man, with his chest heaving, locs wildly framing his face, and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He just kicked a door right off its hinges and wasn’t fazed at all.

Taeja hated to admit it at a time like this… but Zain was hot .

He’d never looked sexier than he did right then.

Her senses melted into a puddle, flooding the seat of her panties and making her feel things she shouldn’t have felt.

She should’ve been angry. Demanding him to leave and take his unwarranted anger with him.

But she stood frozen as he marched over to her. There was nowhere to run and even if she could, she wouldn’t. She’d already ran, and they found her. What was she supposed to do now?

“This bright, bloodclaat bwoy!” Aaliyah exclaimed. “You kicked off my—”

Zain shot her a glare.

Aaliyah gulped and clutched her bat to her chest. “My bad. She’s all yours.”

Taeja’s mouth dropped as Liyah darted into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. A loose screw fell out of the hinge, rolling toward Taeja while she shook her head. Folding her arms beneath her breasts, she met Zain’s fierce glare. “You should leave.”

“ Leave ?” Zain repeated. “You had us worried sick.”

“Me and your other girls?”

Zain’s glare deepened. “There are no other girls.”

“That’s not what your dad said—”

“The dad who hates me?” he asked in a whisper.

Taeja’s eyes widened at his tone. She thought Zain Stark only knew the emotions of anger, annoyance, and occasional amusement.

She knew he was right, but she was too prideful to backtrack on her statement. “You’re not denying it.”

“There are no other girls.”

Taeja huffed, looking away from him. The silence was awkward while she watched from her peripheral as Zain pulled out his phone. He tapped for a few seconds before slipping his phone into his pocket.

“Where’s your phone?” he asked.

Dropping her hands to her sides, she looked at him. “In the room.”

“Don’t ignore our calls again.”

“I will if I want to. ”

Zain smirked. “You want to find out what will happen if you disobey us?”

Her throat dried while her pussy moistened. She hated that her body was betraying her, but like he’d just said, she was theirs. They’d made their mark on her since the moment they met. It was etched into her being like Zain’s eyes trailing over her skin right now.

“W-where’s Damon?” she diverted the topic.

“On his way here,” Zain said, stepping toward her.

His cologne swarmed her being, swaddled her in like a newborn in a mother’s protective embrace. Was she crazy to feel at peace in the presence of a man who tracked her down, then kicked in her best friend’s door?

Maybe. Maybe she was crazy.

Only a crazy woman would fuck two men at the same time within hours of meeting them. And only a crazy woman would feel entitled to all of their attention within a week of knowing them.

She sighed, her eyes flickering to the door before settling on him. Behind his locs, she saw anger storming in his eyes. She was unsure why he was angry when he didn’t have the right to be. “How did you find me?”

“Damon.” He grabbed her wrist. “We’re leaving.”

“What? N—”

“Taeja.”

The finality of his words made her know better than to argue. It held the promising threat of getting fucked into oblivion, and it made the part of her that craved chaos want to press his buttons more.

“Let me tell my friend bye,” she said, and he released her. She ran into the room to see Aaliyah polishing her toenails.

Aaliyah looked at Taeja with her eyebrows raised. “Why are you looking at me like I pissed in your cereal?”

“I thought you’d come to my defense!”

Aaliyah scoffed and looked back at her toes. “Me? Yu nuh see how your skin ketch a fire when yu mad man kick off my door? I’m staying out of people’s relationships.”

Taeja chuckled. “I’m leaving… ”

“As a yamhead,” Aaliyah said, watching her friend move about the room to gather her stuff. “What about my door?”

“He’ll get someone to fix it, Liyah. I promise.”

“Alright, girl. Go get dicked down for the both of us.”

Taeja chuckled before returning to the living room. A maintenance worker and Damon were here now. The brothers stood side-by-side ways off from the worker, speaking amongst themselves.

Perhaps they sensed her presence because they looked away from Aaliyah’s door and in her direction. Damon gave Taeja such a harsh glare that she swallowed. She always thought Zain was the cold one, but at that moment, Damon seemed the scarier twin.

He moved from his brother’s side and, in three long strides, he stood before her with his hand wrapped around her neck. “Taeja,” he said, his voice low and cold.

She licked her bottom lip. “Yes, daddy?”

Damon’s eyes narrowed despite her knowing the title excited him. “Flattery won’t work on me,” he said. “You left us.”

“You hurt me.”

His eyes widened before he took her lips by surprise. Damon kissed her hard, leaving an imprint on the depths of her soul to mend any pain caused.

When he broke away, they were breathless.

“There is no one but you,” he promised. “You are ours. And we belong to you.”

Always the one without a filter in her mouth, Taeja asked, “What about what your father said?”

Damon looked over his shoulder, exchanging a glance with Zain. As he shifted his focus back to her, he slid his hand down from her neck and slipped it into his pocket. “We’ll talk about it at home.”

Home.

Taeja liked the sound of that.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Damon stood in front of her. Zain stood in the threshold, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest.

They were in a different room from the one they had sex in. This was Damon’s bedroom. It felt, smelled, and looked expensive, but Taeja couldn’t focus on all the minor details right now.

There were more pressing issues at hand.

Clearing her throat, she waved a hand. “Get on with it.”

Damon chuckled. “Do you always say whatever comes to your mind?”

“Yes. You know this already.”

Damon hummed before glancing at his brother, then at her. “Like I said earlier, there is no one else but you, baby.”

“And like I said earlier, that’s not what your father said.”

A chill ran through her, and she looked at Zain. His locs weren’t obscuring his face, so she could see him in all his glowering glory. Maybe he wanted to scare her, but all he managed to do was fuel the sexual desire inside her.

On the car ride over, she told them she wouldn’t be having sex with either of them tonight, and they promised to obey her wishes. She truly hoped they had better self-restraint than her because she never could go too long without stripping for them.

“Baby,” Damon said while sitting before her, blocking her view of Zain. “Our father talks a lot. That’s who he is.”

“You always share your women?” Taeja asked, dreading their answer.

Damon looked away, and it made her heart sink. She was starting to regret leaving Aaliyah’s house.

“Most times…”

“Why?” she asked the question she should’ve done long ago.

Damon cleared his throat. “Do you want an answer to that?”

She crossed her arms and glared. “Yes, Damon. If mi neva waa know, mi wudn ask.”

He sighed and looked away again. Damon tapped a finger on his thigh, making Taeja realize he was choosing his words carefully.

Finally, Damon met her eyes again. “It started the summer before we went to college. Zain had a thing for our neighbor, but he never told me, so I didn’t know. I had a thing for her too, and I told him because they were closer than me and her were. I thought he could help me with approaching her. That’s when Zain told me he liked her, and… I think you can fill in the rest.”

“No. I want the full story.”

“You’re something else, you know that?” Damon asked with a hint of a smile that made her heart swell. “Okay. Most times, things weren’t the best at home with—” He paused to shake his head. “She suggested we share her, and Zain and I had a small falling out over it. After we thought about how we’d been sharing everything before we were born, we went along with it. It took some getting used to, but since then, we share our girlfriends most times.”

“And why didn’t any of them work out?” Taeja asked, trying to keep her anger at bay. She hated the thought of another woman being with them. She hated not being their first. Even more so, she hated the thought of unknowingly doing something wrong and pushing them away. They were the first men to show genuine interest in her, and she didn’t want to ruin it.

Damon shrugged. “Different reasons. Sometimes, they end up not being able to handle both of us. Or they love one of us more than the next and try to pit us against each other. Other times, they’re just not what we’re looking for.”

“What are you looking for?” she asked, wondering if their needs were aligned.

“I just told you. Someone to love.”

“And fuck,” Zain added.

Damon spun around to glare at Zain while Taeja bit back a small smile. She always loved how blunt Zain was. He reminded her of herself.

She took a brief moment to ponder their confession. “That’s it?”

Zain’s eyes further narrowed. “I don’t filter my words, Taeja. We want you.”

A weight lifted off her shoulder, and hope blossomed in her chest. All she’d ever wanted was to be wanted, and here were two men who wanted her. Could the night possibly get any better?

“Do you want us?” Damon asked, hesitant to hear her answer.

Glancing between the brothers, she cleared her throat before standing. A chilling tension gathered in the room as she walked to the nearby dresser, leaned on it, then crossed her feet by the ankles. Their eyes raked up her exposed legs until they settled on hers.

Taeja’s heart thrummed wildly. These men always managed to push away some of her boldness and make her feel shy.

“Yes. I want you both,” Taeja said, watching with a small smile as Damon’s tense shoulders slackened and Zain’s narrowed eyes returned to their normal state. Inhaling a deep breath, she asked what was now heavy on her mind. “Why did you choose me?”

Damon stood and walked toward her. With each step closer, her heart paced faster. Stopping before her, he laced a finger beneath her chin, and Taeja dragged her eyes up to meet his. “We didn’t choose you,” Damon said. “You chose us.”

Taeja’s heart almost sprang free from her chest. A wide smile broke out on her face, making Damon smile, too.

“I missed your smile,” he said, leaning in to place a long kiss on her lips. He pulled away slightly to rest his forehead on hers. “Don’t run away from us again, gorgeous.”

“I won’t,” she promised, pulling away from Damon to look at Zain, who was still by the door. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but a long yawn escaped instead. “Sorry,” she blurted, almost dying from embarrassment.

Damon chuckled. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Taeja didn’t move. She kept her focus on Zain and asked quietly, “Can you stay?” Seeing him unmoved, she added, “Please?”

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep.” Zain pushed off the wall and walked toward the right side of the bed.

Taeja smiled and ran to the bed, jumping in the middle of it.

Chuckling, Damon lay by her left side. “I thought you were sleepy, gorgeous?”

“I am,” she said, snuggling her backside more into Damon and smiling at Zain.

“Go to sleep so I can leave,” Zain urged.

Taeja frowned. “Sleep with us.”

Zain sneered. “Why would I sleep in my brother’s bed?”

“The same reason you have me.”

“That’s different.”

“Well, Damon’s house is big. We can use one room for all of us whenever you want to sleep with us… if you ever want to.”

“I won’t.”

Her excitement dwindled. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see him anymore.

Damon laid a hand on her waist. His fingers grazed her midriff. “Don’t be sad, gorgeous. You know you love sleeping with me.”

Taeja scoffed. “Who told you that?”

“The night we met,” Damon said. “Whenever I tried leaving, you kept pulling me closer.”

“I don’t remember that.”

Damon chuckled. “Of course, you wouldn’t.”

She didn’t answer. They all went quiet until she started dozing off.

Movement came from before her, and her eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was Zain staring at her. It surprised her that he was still here.

She broke the stare by looking at the wall. “Damon, your dick’s poking me.”

“Your ass is poking my dick,” Damon said.

Zain snickered, and Taeja rolled her eyes.

Remembering the piercing, she asked, “Damon, which piercing do you have?”

“Apadravya,” he answered, and Taeja made a mental reminder to do some research on it before considering if she’d ever want him to use it on her.

“I don’t want to hear about Damon’s dick when we’re not fucking you.” Zain’s face contorted into disgust, making Damon and Taeja burst out laughing.

Taeja’s smile was uncontrollable. Her heart swelled from the growing adoration for these men.

This was all she’d ever wanted in a partner.

And she finally found it.

Twice.