Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“LOST MY MIND” BY ALICE KRISTIANSEN
IRIS
After Roman has made sure I’ve eaten every last bit of the sandwich and drunk all the iced tea, Hunter washes me with his rosemary body wash, his calloused hands gliding all over my skin.
He touches me in such a reverent way that tears spring to my eyes, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite as worshipped before.
He makes us get out as the water starts to cool, covering me in a huge fluffy towel that is warm from being on the heated towel rail. He doesn’t say anything as he quickly dries himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist and then taking my hand to lead me into his room.
On the bed is one of the twin’s T-shirts and a pair of fluffy bed socks.
“Little shit,” Hunt murmurs, huffing a laugh as he takes the towel from me, tossing it in the bathroom before helping me into the shirt and socks. The shirt is Roman’s, his scent surrounding me, and I can’t help snuggling into it.
“No shorts?” I ask, and Hunt just raises a brow at me that has me swallowing hard at the dark promise in his eyes. Even Evangeline baulks a little at the idea of another round, still sore from my first threesome.
“Get into bed, Peaches,” he commands, and clearly feminism has never heard of Hunter Anderson because I don’t even roll my eyes, just let him lead me around to one side before climbing in. He tucks me in like I’m a child, dipping low to press a gentle kiss to my forehead.
I watch as he takes off his own towel, tossing that into the bathroom too—who knew he’d be such a slob—and then he pulls out some grey sweatpants and a white vest, slipping them on before heading towards the door.
My heart sinks, a lump forming in my throat.
“Y–you’re not staying?” I ask, my voice small and cracking a little as tears threaten to fall. He pauses, then turns to face me, and his brows dip before he’s striding over to me, crouching low so his face is level with mine.
“Fuck, baby, I’d love nothing more than to climb into that bed right now and hold you all night,” he tells me, his hand reaching out and swiping under my eye, at the tear I didn’t even know had fallen.
“But, being the leader of a gang like the Shadows comes with a fucking long to-do list. I’ll send Roman in, and I’ll be back later, okay? ”
Licking my lips, I take a deep inhale, trying to see past my initial hurt at what felt like a rejection.
This is the third time he’s left me after we’ve been intimate, and it brings up feelings of abandonment I’d rather forget.
I’m also not ready to admit, even to myself, that I want him to stay so badly.
“Okay,” I whisper, and he leans closer, pressing his lips against mine as his warm palm cups my cheek.
“Good girl,” he breathes against my lips, and then he straightens up, gazing down at me for a long moment. Heaving a deep sigh, he turns around and walks out, leaving the door open.
Moments later, I hear the rumble of deep voices, then the sounds of footsteps coming towards me. A smile splits my lips as Roman and Rowan enter the room, their gazes fixed on me.
“Heard you needed some sleeping buddies,” Roman teases, his hair damp as he drops his sweats and strides over to the bed completely naked. “Room for two?”
“Always,” I say, that damn lump back in my throat as I shuffle to the middle of the, luckily vast bed, which is definitely bigger than mine, though I still think we could do with bigger if all four of us will share a bed one day.
I’ve not slept alone since I arrived here apart from the couple of days the guys were away, and I hardly slept while they were gone. I just can’t seem to sleep alone anymore, and although that should probably worry me, it doesn’t make it any less true.
He climbs in, pulling me close to his burning-hot body just as the mattress dips behind me and Rowan snuggles up to my back. Like his brother, he’s not wearing anything, and I can’t help wiggling my arse into his crotch, tangling my legs with his.
“Careful, Little Lamb, or I’ll take you up on that invitation, regardless of how sore you might be,” Rowan purrs in my ear, so I still, even as Evangeline throbs.
My exhausted and sated body soon slips into slumber, surrounded by their warmth.
My breath huffs out of me as I run, the dark too thick to see much. Where are they? I’m frantic, looking left and right as I futilely search the pitch black, screaming names, but I just can’t find them.
Suddenly, I burst into a room, the light so bright after the dark that it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. When I can see clearly, a sob tears from my chest and I wish I was back in the pitch black because then I wouldn’t be faced with the horror before me.
Hunter, Roman, and Rowan are all tied to chairs, but Hunt and Rowan are unmoving, blood dripping down their foreheads, their eyes unseeing.
My gaze locks onto Roman, his eyes wide as his mouth opens on a scream, telling me to run just as a dark shadow materialises behind him, the barrel of a gun pressed to his head.
My gaze snags on familiar hands, arms covered in ink that I mapped with my touch not that long ago in my bed. I trace it up, my heart fracturing into a thousand tiny pieces when Nikolai’s face swims before him.
“Hello, Solnishko.”
A scream tears through my throat as the bang on the gun sounds…
“Iris!” A deep shout has me gasping, and I sit bolt upright, my heart pounding as I’m torn from my nightmare into the brightness of morning.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay, you’re safe.” Roman’s low voice has me snapping my head to him, and with a sob, I launch myself into his arms, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“H–he s–shot y–you,” I stutter, his arms coming up around me and pulling me tight to him.
“Who did, baby?” he asks, warmth at my back letting me know Rowan is here too and not in that god-awful room, his eyes unseeing as he bleeds out.
Letting go of Roman, I twist, another sob leaving me as I find Rowan really there, alive and unharmed, my gaze tracing his forehead. I’m not normally so weepy, but it’s been a tough week, so cut a girl some slack.
“It was just a nightmare, Little Lamb,” Rowan assures me, pulling me into him and placing a kiss on my head. I wrap my arms around him, flinching hard when the door is suddenly flung open.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hunt’s gruff voice rings out, and I quickly release Rowan, scrambling over Roman and throwing myself at Hunter, who to his credit, catches me with one arm, the other holding a gun. “Hey, Peaches. What happened, darling?”
“She was having a nightmare, said something about some guy shooting us,” Roman tells him, and I hear the rustle of the bedclothes behind me, then feel the body heat of both twins pressing up against me, my racing heart finally starting to slow.
“Who shot us, Peaches?” Hunter asks softly, and I crane my neck to look up at him, my arms still wrapped tightly around him.
“Nikolai,” I confess in a soft whisper, my stomach twisting as I feel like I’ve betrayed Nik somehow by admitting that.
His jaw works, but then he’s dipping down to press his lips against mine in a gentle, reassuring kiss.
“Petrov won’t be shooting any of us, baby girl. I’m pretty sure that the way he sees it, he owes us a debt for keeping you safe,” he tells me, his lips brushing mine as he speaks.
My brows dip down. “Why do you think that?” I ask. I know that Nik agreed they were the best people to keep me safe, but there was no mention of a debt being owed.
“The night you arrived, I had a text from an unknown number, telling me that a debt was owed and would be paid one day,” he tells me, and my heart twinges at the knowledge that Nikolai risked contacting them and offered them something which would make his father even more furious.
I wonder again what happened after he went back empty-handed the night he was sent here, but I can’t focus on that for too long, dread making nausea swim in my stomach.
“How about Hunt makes us some pancakes and we take a shower?” Roman asks, and I don’t miss the growl that vibrates in Hunter’s chest.
My stomach chooses that moment to give an almighty grumble, and Hunter sighs.
“Fucking fine, but don’t keep her too long,” he huffs, kissing me on my lips once more, forcing his tongue inside my mouth until I’m a panting mess, all thoughts of my nightmare fled before the very much living and breathing man before me.
Evangeline may be sore after all the D last night, but she’s nothing if not an overachiever, so she’s raring to go, horny bitch!
Letting me go, he stalks from the room, the gun still gripped in his hand, and a shiver pebbles goosebumps all over my skin.
I wonder how many times he’s had to use it?
I thought guns were rare in England, but clearly, even though it’s illegal to own them—I very much doubt Hunter has a shotgun licence, and even if he does, he’s holding a handgun—they are still very much present.
“Come on, Little Lamb,” Rowan encourages, taking my hand and pulling me towards Hunt’s vast bathroom. “After breakfast, we can take you to the centre to see those rooms, yeah?”
A smile lifts my lips as warmth suffices my limbs. I’d forgotten about that, and the idea of getting out of the flat makes me giddy.
“BEAUTIFUL THINGS” BY BENSON BOONE
ROWAN
We keep the shower short, Roman and I making quick work of giving Iris an orgasm to chase away the last vestiges of her nightmare.
She was so scared, and I hated seeing her terrified, even in sleep.
With everything that’s happened over the past few days, it’s no wonder she had a bad dream, even if what she dreamed of is highly unlikely to happen given we have a truce of sorts with the Russian Bratva heir.