Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
The four of them were quiet as they processed every detail I’d given them from that night.
While they did, I marveled at the fact that I had not needed a drink. I hadn’t been forced. That night had been what I would consider the worst level of hell and I’d bared it to them on my own. It was sometimes hard to see progress when it came to healing. What I had just done was progress impossible not to see.
Colt took my hand. “I’m proud of you, babe.”
The others voiced that they were as well.
“Do you think the fight for your life was worth it?” Knox asked.
With a small smile, I got to my feet and made my way around the coffee table to him. I leaned down and pressed my lips to his in a soft, sweet kiss. “If I woke up tied to that bed tomorrow, I would fight like hell and endure everything that came after all over again, if it meant I found the four of you.”
When I went to straighten, Knox grabbed me by my arm and pulled me into his lap. “I don’t want us to be the reason. You have to see the value of your life on your own.”
“You misunderstood me.” I got more comfortable in his lap so I could look him right in the eye. “It is hard to see or find value in anything when it’s dark all around you. The four of you gave me light. So I don’t value my life because the four of you are in it. I value my life because the four of you showed me how. Some might find it ridiculous that it took your help to value myself again, but I think it’s all right to get help sometimes.” I gave him another quick kiss and tried to get up from his lap.
His arms came around me. “Where are you going?”
“I’m tired. I figured I’d head to bed,” I said.
“With whom?” Creed asked.
I took them all in and I could see that they all wanted to be with me. “What if we all sleep in the living room by the fire tonight? Falling asleep to that and maybe even a movie sounds really nice.”
Knox kissed my temple. “We can do that.”
The next morning, I woke up somewhat peacefully. My dreams hadn’t been great, but they hadn’t been nightmares. I had dreamt about Logan. He had shown up at the cabin telling me that Mr. X was dead and we could come back to Arizona. It was the type of dream where you knew what was happening wasn’t true, yet you still had no choice but to watch yourself make a terrible decision. I knew Mr. X wasn’t dead and Dream Me was about to go back to Arizona where he’d be waiting. It was a helpless sort of dream. On the upside, I didn’t wake up screaming.
Instead, I woke up between Knox and Creed. Lying on the other side of Creed was Colt and lying on Knox’s other side was Keelan. Last night we had made a giant bed of blankets and pillows and slept in the living room. Despite the uncomfortable floor, I was already looking forward to when we could all sleep together again.
I was currently lying on my side facing Creed. I could hear Knox breathing evenly behind me. Maybe I was still partially asleep, or I was just simply turned on sleeping next to all my guys. Either way, I was feeling brave and bold.
I scooted closer to Creed and put my hand on his lower stomach. His shirt had ridden up in the night and a few inches of his skin were exposed just above the gray sweatpants he loved to torture me with. I ran my fingers along that exposed skin from hipbone to hipbone. He twitched a little before his eyes opened slightly. It took him a few seconds to see me through the fog of sleep, but when he did, his eyes opened wider. He was about to open his mouth to say something, and I quickly put my finger over his lips.
“Shh,” I whispered as I leaned close and kissed him.
He kissed me back right away and that made me braver.
I slid my hand into his gray sweatpants beneath the blankets and wrapped my fingers around his cock, which was already hard. His breath hitched as I began stroking him. “Want to play out my fantasy?” I whispered against his mouth.
He gave me my answer with a tired, loopy smile. I pulled my hand from his pants and shoved off mine, along with my underwear, while still under the blankets. Then I climbed on top of him and straddled his now-bare hips. As I grabbed him and aligned him with my entrance, I noticed that he’d shoved his pants down to his knees. His hands went to my hips as I sank down on him.
“Fuck,” he hissed, making me grin down at him.
I began moving my hips with slow, lazy rocks. His hands pushed up on my shirt until I helped him take it off me. I shoved his shirt up to his neck so I could run my hands up and down his chest as I picked up my pace riding him.
Creed moved his hands up to cup my breasts and play with my nipples. My head lolled back and I let out a low moan.
“Well, this was not how I expected to wake up,” Keelan said.
“Really? I had a pretty good feeling something was going to happen,” Knox said.
Without stopping, I looked their way. Both of them were watching, unabashed. Knox had his hands laced behind his head and Keelan was lying on his side with his head propped up on his elbow.
I glanced over at Colt next, and he was still asleep. Returning my attention to Creed, I leaned down to kiss him. “Didn’t you promise to bend me over and fuck me?”
Keelan blew out a puff of air at the same time Knox let out a curse.
Creed smiled against my mouth. “Get on your hands and knees, Shi.”
I climbed off of him and got into position. Creed pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants the rest of the way. As he knelt behind me, Knox and Keelan both blurted, “Condom!”
Creed let out a curse at the same time I winced. “That was my bad. I was caught up in the moment,” I said.
Keelan rolled and reached toward the end table next to the loveseat. He opened its small drawer that had surely been meant to store the remote for the TV if we’d had one and pulled out a condom. He chucked it at Creed before getting back in the position he had been lounging in. Knox and I stared at him questioningly.
Keelan shrugged. “It was you two that made living-room sex okay. I figured it’d be a good idea to have condoms within reach out here.”
After Creed had the condom on, he grabbed me by my hips and pushed inside me. I let out a sigh.
Keelan chuckled. “Feel good, baby girl?”
“Yes,” I whimpered.
Creed pulled out and thrust back into me. “You’re fucking soaked, Shi.”
“What a naughty little exhibitionist we have,” Keelan said.
I groaned as I fisted the blankets. “Wouldn’t that make you a voyeur?”
Keelan took in my shaking body. “I guess I am.”
“I think all things Shiloh are your kink,” Knox said as he took every inch of me in.
“I think it’s safe to say that’s all our kink,” Colt said, and we all looked in his direction. He was awake and watching Creed and me just like his older brothers.
As Creed continued to rock into me, I lowered my head to the ground, moaning.
“Grab her by her hair,” Keelan said. “I want to see her face when she comes.”
Creed fisted my hair, and I was forced back up on my hands.
“Reach between your legs and rub your clit, Shiloh,” Knox ordered.
I did and began rubbing it just how I liked to when I pleasured myself.
Creed let out a curse and his grip on me tightened.
Keelan and Knox chuckled. “I bet that tight little pussy is squeezing around you,” Keelan said.
“Although she likes to act like she’s appalled, Shi loves the dirty talk,” Creed said.
“We know,” Colt, Keelan, and Knox said at the same time.
“Stop talking and just fuck me please,” I growled and that just made all four of them chuckle.
Creed brought his hand down on my butt cheek with a loud slap and started pounding into me harder.
“Creed!” I whined and I had to drop my hand from my clit to help hold myself up. “Don’t stop!”
Creed chuckled again. “She went from angry to begging real quick.”
Feeling vindictive now, I rocked back against him. “Keep talking and I’ll make myself come instead.”
Creed released my hair to hold me by both my hips. His thrusts never wavered. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Shi. I’d love to watch you spread those legs while you sink those fingers into your pussy.”
His dirty mouth with the dirty visual made me clench around him.
Creed let out a hiss. “With how tight your pussy just got, I know what our next group activity is going to be.”
“What a dirty girl,” Keelan groaned.
Colt reached between my legs and took over rubbing my clit.
I cried out as I reached the edge where I felt like I’d barter anything just to come. With one more hard thrust and the perfect amount of pressure rubbed over my clit, I came. My arms gave out and I lowered my upper body to the ground.
As I contracted around Creed, he found his own release. “Cheese and fucking rice,” he grunted as his thrusts sputtered to a stop. Creed let himself catch his breath for a few heartbeats before he pulled out of me and got up to go dispose of the condom.
I sat up on my knees and looked at my other boyfriends, feeling a tiny bit guilty.
Knox grabbed my clothes and held them out to me. “You’re not ready to take on all of us and I don’t think all of us are ready for it, either.”
He was right. I didn’t think I was ready to have sex with all four of them at once. Maybe one day when we all were, we would, but not today. I still felt bad for leaving them wanting, though.
Keelan got up and kissed the top of my head. “If we didn’t want to watch, we could have left the room.”
“Are you sure you didn’t just stay because you knew I wanted you to?” I asked him.
“We absolutely stayed to play out that dirty fantasy of yours and we enjoyed every minute of it.” Keelan walked away. “Because I enjoyed it so much, I’m going to replay you coming in my head while I go take a shower,” he shot over his shoulder before going into the bathroom.
Colt snorted as he lay back and stretched. Knox shook his head at Keelan’s antics. Feeling more secure, I took my clothes from him and got dressed.
“We need to make a trip back to town. We’re running low on things,” Knox said at breakfast a few days later.
“I noticed that last night when I was cooking dinner,” I said as I set down my fork on my plate.
Knox was standing on the other side of the kitchen island. He had already finished eating and was now focused on finishing off his coffee. “I checked the road this morning. It’s clear of snow and it’s not icy.”
“It’s been warmer the past few days,” Creed said from where he sat next to me. “That’s probably why.”
Knox set down his coffee mug on the island. “It’s a lot colder today. Because we don’t know what the weather is going to be like over the next couple of days, we should probably go today.”
I nodded. We hadn’t been snowed in yet and we might not be. Or if we were, it might only be for a day. It was best to be prepared and it was good to stock up on things so we didn’t have to travel to town as much.
“Can we all go this time?” Colt asked.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. One of you has to stay behind. Hot identical twins are too memorable.”
That made them smile. “It’s such a hardship being this gorgeous sometimes,” Creed said, making Colt snort.
Knox rolled his eyes.
“Cry about it when you stare at yourself in the mirror later, stud muffin,” Keelan said as he carried his empty plate to the sink.
“Jealous you weren’t the one Shi called hot today,” Creed baited him.
Keelan turned around and leaned against the sink with a superior expression.
Before he could say something smart, I said, “Keelan’s ego is big enough. Actually, all four of you know what you got going on and don’t need reminding.” When I was done speaking, I realized what I’d said may have come out a little harsher than I intended. “Sorry. That was rude, but true.”
Creed snorted. “That was a terrible apology.”
“Don’t mind her. She’s upset because she still hasn’t heard from Logan,” Knox said as he scooped up my plate and put it in the sink.
“I’m sure he’ll call soon, babe,” Colt said.
I didn’t believe him, but I forced myself to nod anyway.
Keelan and Colt came with me to town. It was an easier trip and a little less stressful than the last one. I wasn’t exhausted this time and I’d made a physical list of things we’d need to last us another couple of weeks. But the thought of being at the cabin another couple of weeks only added to the stress I was feeling about not hearing from Logan.
“Still thinking about Logan?” Keelan asked as the two of us loaded up my 4Runner with our purchases. Colt was currently in a cute coffee shop next door to the grocery store we’d just finished shopping in, getting us drinks.
“I can’t help but think about Desert Stone and your lives back in Arizona. What if we have to be here for a few more weeks? Or a month?”
“Please don’t stress about that, baby,” Keelan pleaded, looking directly at me. “We got everything taken care of back home. Katrina is taking care of Desert Stone and if we’re not back in a month, we left her everything Micah would need to keep things running at the gym and take care of our house.”
My shoulders sank a little. That did make me feel better.
Just as we finished loading everything, Colt exited the coffee shop with our drinks. Right away, I knew something wasn’t right. His expression was tight and he was walking fast. “Get in the car, babe,” he ordered. The sharpness and slight panic in his tone made me get in the car without question.
Colt didn’t explain until we were pulled out of the parking lot and on the road back toward the cabin. “Your picture was on the news.”
“What?” Keelan asked from the backseat.
“As I was waiting for our order, I watched the TV they had in there. The news was on. I was hoping to hear about the weather forecast and then they started talking about the daughter of an Arizona sheriff and her missing friends. Cassy, Gabe, and Amber’s pictures popped up. And right next to them was your picture, babe. They listed your name, age, height, and what you were last seen wearing. There was also a fifty-thousand-dollar reward to whoever found the four of you.”
Out of all the things he’d told us, I could only focus on one. “Cassy is missing?”
Colt let out a curse as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Before you showed up at Desert Stone to save me, I was in and out of consciousness, but I think I heard the sheriff talking to X or leaving him a message. I think he said X had Cassy and if he didn’t give her back, he would kill you. I think he used me as a trap so he could give you to X in exchange for Cassy.”
“If Mr. X is the reason Cassy is missing, she’s dead. Gabe and Amber are undoubtedly dead, too,” I said.
“Why kill them?” Keelan asked.
“Because he loves me, and they were a threat to me, and he’s crazy.”
That seemed to be a good enough answer, because the conversation moved on.
“So what are we going to do with you being on the news?” Colt asked.
I sighed, at a total loss. “I can’t come back to town.”
Colt reached over to put a comforting hand on my thigh.
Keelan leaned forward between my seat and Colt’s to grab his coffee from the drink carrier Colt was holding in his lap. “Do you think anyone recognized you while we were inside the store?”
“I kept my head down,” I said. That didn’t guarantee anything, though. “I’ll try calling Logan again when we get back.”
After we got home and put away almost everything we had bought, I took what needed to go in my room. I had bought everything to bleach my hair again, among a few other toiletries. I set the bags with my purchases inside on my dresser. I intended to put them away after I made my call to Logan.
Sitting on my bed, I dialed Logan’s number on the burner phone. His phone rang and rang until it went to voicemail. I let out a frustrated growl as I hung up. Logan had told me not to call Ian unless I had no choice, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I clicked on Ian’s contact saved in the phone and put the phone to my ear. It rang and rang until it, too, went to voicemail.
“Ian, it’s me. Call me.” I left a message before hanging up and tossing my phone on the bed.