WITSEC

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

EIGHT MONTHS LATER…

My heart was pounding, my legs were burning, and my breathing was labored as I slowed my running to a jog around the track on the second floor at Desert Stone Fitness. When I made it back to the stairs, I put my hands on my waist and just focused on breathing for a little bit. I was covered with sweat. I’d pushed myself. Not to escape, but to build up my endurance for a marathon I was planning on doing in a month.

Breathing somewhat normally, I made my way downstairs. I headed toward the front of the gym. Derek was manning the front desk today. He smiled as I approached. “How long did you run for?”

I wiped sweat from my brow. “An hour and a half.”

“Nice,” he praised. “Just know that I won’t hold back in practice even though your legs are sore.”

I snorted. Derek had taken over my training a few months ago because every time Keelan and I trained privately, we ended up naked. The only way he and I sparred was in a class setting when I helped him teach. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” I went down the hall behind the front desk and almost ran into Katrina, the assistant manager at Desert Stone, as she came out of her office.

“Hey, girl!” she greeted me as she passed.

“Hi!” I said with a smile and continued down the hall.

Keelan’s office was empty because he was in the middle of teaching a class. Colt and Creed weren’t here today; they were at home setting up for the party we were having tomorrow. Knox was sitting behind his desk in his office and looked up at me as soon as I entered.

“Isn’t it lunchtime?” I asked him.

“I was waiting for you.”

“Oh, good.” I went around his desk and leaned down to kiss him. “My legs hurt. You can hold me in the shower.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Who says?”

I kissed him again. “I do.” I squeezed his biceps. “It’ll be a good workout.”

He snorted. “Lifting you isn’t a workout.” He reached for the phone on his desk and hit the button to call Derek.

The line rang once. “What’s up, boss?”

“I’m taking my lunch.”

“Enjoy your break,” Derek said before hanging up.

I gave room for Knox to go close and lock his office door. “We can make it quick, so you have time to eat,” I said.

He took my hand. “I’ll eat in the shower.”

I couldn’t find it in me to argue as he pulled me into his private bathroom. Right away, Knox turned on the water to get it warmed. We made quick work of removing our clothes. Then Knox lifted me by the backs of my thighs. I wrapped my legs around his waist and I kissed him as he carried me into the shower.

He tried to help me wash. He got really distracted when it came to washing my boobs. Because they were soapy, his fingers and palms slid over them easily and he thoroughly enjoyed the feel of that. I didn’t complain, either.

When I was clean, he bent me over and smacked my butt.

“Knox!” I snapped. For the past eight months, ever since Creed had declared he was going to spank me every time he bent me over as punishment for facing Mr. X on my own, all four of them had done it. Every. Single. Time.

It actually wasn’t that bad. I found it hot, but after three months of that, I’d started to protest to save face.

He chuckled as he knelt behind me. With his big hands he squeezed my butt cheeks before he used his thumbs to spread me open. I felt his warm breath before his tongue lapped over my clit. Then he licked me from one end of my slit to the other.

“Oh, God, Knox!” I moaned and I put my hand on the wall so I didn’t fall over.

His breath puffed against my wet core as he laughed. “There you go calling me a god again.”

“I swear, the ego you Stone boys have?—”

He cut me off when he buried his face in my pussy and did as he’d said he would. He ate me for lunch.

When I came, my already-weak legs gave out and he had to catch me. As if I weighed nothing at all, he had me against the wall with my legs draped over his forearms.

“Put me inside you,” he ordered.

I reached between us to take his heavy, hard cock in my hand. My fingers wrapped around him, and I gave him a few firm strokes I knew felt good before I positioned the head of his cock right where we both wanted him most. I was slick and ready for him thanks to his tongue. He pushed right into me. Needing to hold on to something, I put my hands around the back of his neck.

As he sank into me fully, we both groaned.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” he said in that deep growly voice he got every time we had sex. It was like being inside me made him a little bit feral, and he could be a downright caveman sometimes.

He pulled his hips back, withdrawing his cock until he was almost out of me, and then he thrust back in, making me whimper.

As he began to pound into me, I did my best to keep my volume down. Even though his office door was closed, I still wanted to be careful.

Knox’s mouth found mine and he seemed to enjoy muffling my moans with his tongue stroking against mine.

I couldn’t stop myself from digging my nails into the back of his neck as I felt my orgasm approaching fast. “Don’t stop,” I begged.

“Why would I stop?” he growled. “I know you’re close.” He let out a curse. “When your pussy grips my cock like this, Shiloh…fuck, it’s the closest thing to heaven.”

His words finished me off and he kissed me to muffle my cries. As my orgasm took over my body, I squeezed even tighter around him and that sent him over the edge. I felt him swell just before he spilled himself inside me. I had been back on birth control since we’d returned home, and with Mr. X no longer in our lives, I didn’t get stressed enough to get any more late periods.

Knox rested his head against my shoulder as we recovered.

Panting, I said, “Since it’s heaven between my legs, I think that makes me the god.”

He snorted before he erupted with full-on laughter. Lifting his head off my shoulder, he smiled down at me. “I love you.”

“I know,” I said, making him shake his head at me while smiling. He leaned in to give me a quick kiss before pulling out of me and setting me on my feet. I put my hand on his heart. “I love you, too.”

When we got dressed and left the bathroom, Keelan was sitting behind Knox’s desk while spinning a set of keys on a key ring around his fingers. I assumed the keys opened Knox’s office because I could have sworn he’d locked it. Seeing Keelan in his gi reminded me of the last time I’d taken it off of him. That was the last time we’d sparred, and Knox had walked in on us, not for the first time. Because the classrooms didn’t have locks, Knox had insisted that we spar at home. Which was how I’d ended up training with Derek.

Keelan grinned at us. “Sounds like you two were having a fun shower.”

Knox gestured for Keelan to get out of his chair. I went over to my gym bag I’d left on the long conference table that took up one side of Knox’s office. Next to my gym bag was a large lunch box that held food for both Knox and Keelan. I put the strap of my gym bag on my shoulder and set the lunch box on Knox’s desk. “Here’s lunch for you both.” I leaned down and kissed Knox. “You need to eat more than me for lunch,” I mumbled against his lips, making him smile.

Pulling away, I went to Keelan, who was now sitting in one of the chairs in front of Knox’s desk. I gave him a kiss. “I’m heading to the store before heading home. Let me know if you need anything.”

“You better hurry,” Keelan said. “Don’t you have therapy with Logan in a few hours?”

Logan had thankfully survived his surgery and made a quick recovery. He’d taken more time off of work and moved here to Arizona. He currently lived in my house. Well, my old house. For the first couple months after I’d killed Mr. X, he’d surprised the heck out of me and started therapy. He’d really worked on healing himself and when he’d been ready, he’d asked me if we could do therapy together to help fix what grief had damaged in our relationship. I’d happily agreed and I never missed a session.

“I’ll make it in time,” I said. “I have to pick up last-minute things before the party tomorrow.”

“If you tell me what it is, I can pick it up on the way home,” Knox said. “You shouldn’t have to do so much work for your birthday.”

“I’m not just buying party stuff, I’m buying things for our house that we still need. The guest bathroom doesn’t even have a shower curtain,” I explained as I headed for the door.

“By the way,” Keelan said just as I opened the office door, “I think this hair color is my favorite.”

I looked down at my wet lilac braid. One year ago, I had dyed it this color. Yesterday, while at the salon with Isabelle, I’d decided to dye it back to purple. “I thought you loved my red hair.”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re sexy as hell with red hair. When you came over after you just dyed it red, wearing that little black dress...” Keelan blew air through pursed lips while shaking his head.

“It was torture,” Knox said as he opened the lunch box.

“That’s because you were being a stubborn ass,” Keelan said to him. “I loved you with red hair, but your hair now reminds me of when we first met.”

Well, that made me all gooey on the inside. “Have I told you that I love you today, pretty boy?”

He gave me an adoring smile. “I love you too, baby girl.”

The next morning, I woke up without having a nightmare. I had them less and less often lately. As I glanced around an unfamiliar room that still had boxes in the corner, I had to remind myself where I was. This was our new house. It was our fourth night sleeping here. I was safe between two of my gorgeous boyfriends.

After we’d returned from Maryland, I’d practically moved in with the guys. My house had become tainted by Mr. X and it had been weird having any of my guys spend the night with Logan living with me.

About four months ago, I’d sold my house in Maryland. It had sold quick, despite the murders and dead bodies Mr. X had brought into it. Speaking of dead bodies, Cassy’s body had been found in Shayla’s bed. Mr. X had really believed she and Shayla were alike and him putting Cassy’s body in her bed had been his way of insulting her. The thing was, Shayla hadn’t been around to insult. So it had only insulted me. My sister had had her faults, like all people did, but she hadn’t been like Cassy. Shayla could be catty when pushed and she’d had an attitude, but that attitude was something I’d sometimes admired about her.

After my house had sold in Maryland, Knox had brought up the idea of selling their house, too, and we’d used the money from both to buy something bigger for ourselves, or at least big enough for me to have my own space. The guys’ house had sold right around the time we’d found our new house and we’d moved in all of our stuff less than a week ago.

An arm that was draped over my waist tightened before lips pressed to my neck. “Happy birthday,” Colt whispered in my ear.

I grabbed his hand and snuggled closer. “Thank—” I shot up when reality hit. “What time is it?” I leaned over Creed, who groaned at being woken up, to grab my phone. As soon as I read the time on my phone’s screen, I yelped, “I overslept! I have so much to do before people arrive.” I crawled over Creed, who let out another groan. I scurried out of my room like a wild woman and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Knox and Keelan were already awake and drinking coffee at the kitchen island. They stilled and followed me with their eyes as I came running in. I beelined for the oven and preheated it to the temp I needed it at. Then I rushed to the fridge and began pulling out ingredients.

“Shi, baby,” Keelan said as he got up from where he’d been sitting.

“What?” I said frantically as I rushed to the other side of the kitchen to pull out my mixing bowls.

As I opened the cabinet and pushed up to my tiptoes to reach them, Keelan asked, “Not that we aren’t enjoying the view, but why are you naked?”

I turned to face him with a mixing bowl in each hand. He was standing behind me. I glanced down at myself and sure enough, I was completely naked.

Colt and Creed had woken me up at midnight for what they called birthday sex . It had been a good way to start my birthday and I’d finally cashed in my win from the mud run from last October.

I’d been riding Colt’s cock, high on lust, when I’d begged them to fuck me at the same time. Creed had been all for it. It was no secret that he had been doing his best to make me comfortable with the idea of trying anal. Well, I’d finally let him take that virginity last night. They both had been so patient and gentle. When he’d finally had me ready and worked his way inside me, I’d lost my mind. As they’d both rocked into me, they’d whispered dirty things to me, and I’d nearly blacked out coming. Right after, they’d both taken me into a warm shower, where they’d washed me and kneaded my muscles. I’d been so tired and relaxed afterward, I hadn’t bothered getting dressed and just gone right back to bed.

Just thinking of last night now was making me blush, but I was sure Knox and Keelan thought I was blushing because I was naked.

“She didn’t realize,” Knox said as his eyes trailed down my body.

“I overslept and have so much to prepare before guests start arriving,” I explained.

“You probably overslept because of all the sex you were having last night,” Keelan grumbled.

He sounded left out. I glanced at the time and convinced myself I could spare a few minutes. I set my mixing bowls down and then tried to kneel in front of Keelan.

He quickly grabbed me under my arms, stopping me. “Whoa, baby girl. Today isn’t about me.” He lifted me up and set me on the edge of the island. With a gentle push, he made me lie back. He put my legs over his shoulders and buried his face between my legs until I came screaming. Knox sat there and watched, knowing that it added to the experience for me.

I managed to get everything I needed done before the party. Currently I was finishing up getting ready. I was wearing a cute navy-blue summer dress. Underneath, I had on my favorite Superman bra and panty set, which had not been taken by Mr. X because they had been in Keelan’s laundry basket at the time. The underwear that Mr. X had taken had never been found. For a while, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to replace the ones he’d stolen. I had been worried that if I did, wearing them would be a reminder of him. With the help of Dr. Bolton, I’d overcome that worry, and I’d rebuilt my superhero and villain lingerie collection.

I put my lilac hair in a high ponytail because it was scorching outside and I planned to help Knox grill in our outdoor kitchen. The backyard we had could give the guys’ old backyard a run for its money. That could just be me being biased, though. It was meaningful and special to me that this was our home and I dared to hope that we’d make many wonderful memories in it.

As I was getting ready to leave my room, I saw something in one of the boxes I still needed to unpack. I reached inside and pulled out a framed picture of me, my sister, and our parents. The box was apparently from my old house in Maryland. When I had been in WITSEC, I hadn’t been allowed to have any pictures from my old life. Logan had allowed me to have a few on my phone, but it hadn’t been the same. Staring down at the picture, I debated where I was going to hang it.

“There you are,” Creed said as he and all three of his brothers came into my room.

“People have started to arrive,” Colt announced as he came to stand by me.

Creed went to go sit on the edge of my bed while Keelan lay across it. Knox stayed by the door and leaned against the frame.

“Just Ethan and Isabelle,” Creed said.

Speaking of those two, they knew the truth about me. When we’d returned, the guys had gone with me to the hospital to visit Isabelle. Ethan had been there the day we’d visited. The guys had stayed out in the hall explaining everything to him while I’d gone into Isabelle’s room and told her. Then I’d apologized over and over again. She’d told me right away that what Mr. X had done to her wasn’t my fault. She’d been a little sad that I hadn’t confided in her, but she’d also understood why I hadn’t been able to. Ethan hadn’t been as understanding at first. He’d been mad at me and the guys. His girlfriend had almost died, and we understood why he’d been angry about that. But as Isabelle had physically gotten better, Ethan had eventually forgiven us.

As soon as Isabelle had been released from the hospital, she had gone right into therapy to deal with what she had endured. Mr. X had stabbed her ten times and she now had scars just like me. She was still working through her trauma, even to this day. Scars were not easy to bear. Especially how she’d received them, and because of that, Isabelle and Ethan’s relationship had been a little rocky. I was optimistic their relationship would persevere, though. Either way, it was Isabelle’s story to tell.

I set down the picture of me and my family on my dresser next to my diploma from Copper Mountain High School. Colt seemed to spot the diploma and picked it up to look at it. He was clearly reading my name on it. My real name.

“Did you finish getting everything changed back to McConnell?” he asked as he set the diploma back down.

“Yes. Finally.” Now that I was no longer in WITSEC, it had been extremely time-consuming to un-erase myself and take back my true identity. Logan had called in some more favors with his ex-SEAL buddies to help with the un-erasing part. I’d tackled the mountain of forms I’d had to fill out to change my name back for everything.

“It won’t be as difficult the next time you have to change it,” Knox said.

I turned to look at him. “Next time?”

They all smiled.

Colt sighed. “I guess we could give you a few years to be a McConnell again. That way all the hard work you put into changing it back doesn’t go to waste.”

“We should give her until she finishes culinary school,” Keelan said.

I was about to start culinary school soon while Colt and Creed went to the university nearby for business. One day they wanted to expand Desert Stone and wanted to have the education to do it. They seemed excited about it. Therefore, I, Keelan, and Knox were fully supportive.

“I think we should have her change her name in a year,” Creed grumbled.

I looked from one brother to the other and smiled. “And what will I be changing my name to?” I asked even though I had a feeling I knew the answer.

“Stone,” Knox said.

“Shiloh Stone,” Keelan said as if testing out how it would sound.

“Chef Stone,” Colt said. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“She’ll be Mrs. Stone,” Creed said.

The room fell quiet and they stared at me, waiting for me to react.

I smiled adoringly at all of them. “You can ask me whenever you feel the time is right.”

A throat was cleared. “Where’s the birthday girl?” Isabelle’s voice said from behind Knox. “More guests have showed up. One of them said they were your cousin, Micah. He’s here with his friends and Shi’s uncle is here, too.”

Knox glanced at her over his shoulder. “We’ll be down in a minute.”

Creed and Keelan stood from my bed. “Time to celebrate your birth, Shi,” Creed said as they approached.

I took in all four of them, feeling happy and content. “Have I told you four that I love you today?”

They all said yes. Colt took my hand and the five of us headed downstairs.

“You’re welcome to say it again, baby girl, but then I’d make you late for your party,” Keelan said.

“Didn’t you get enough of Shiloh’s love this morning on the kitchen island?” Creed grumbled.

Keelan sighed dramatically. “It was the best way to start the day.”

I shook my head, smiling. “Dirty Stone boys.”

The End