Chapter 16
Phoenix pushes the front door open, heading straight into the kitchen. I follow behind like a little lost puppy, because, well, I mean, the man fucking owns me. Our dynamic isn’t entirely what I pictured when we first met. I thought I’d always be the protector and that he’d always be the one needing protecting.
We aren’t like that at all.
I almost run into his back though as we reach the open plan kitchen. Cole’s big body crouched down on the floor, his huge back to us, there’s a cardboard box on the floor in front of him, one of the rust coloured throws from the back of the sofa thrown over his shoulder.
Phoenix and I both crane our heads to the right, trying to see what the fuck it is he’s doing, when a head of very blonde, very curly hair, pops up on the other side of him. A weird fucking cooing noise coming from her pretty mouth.
God, I wanna stick my cock in there so bad.
“Look at her,” she whispers, sitting back on her haunches as Cole side steps to the left, still in a crouch, his hands inside the box.
Ember’s eyes lift onto Cole’s face, and I can tell he isn’t looking at her because she gets this little divot between her light brows that says she’s disappointed he’s not.
Little does she know, no matter how often she thinks he doesn’t see her, he’s noticing every tiny fucking thing she does.
That’s what he’s good at.
Watching.
Cole’s deep voice rumbles something quietly back to her, and I can tell the second his eyes lift to hers because her lips pull into this sappy, shy smile that makes my blood heat as though the look she gives him is meant for me.
Not that he’ll notice it, he’ll think she’s playing him, trying to get something out of him, because he doesn’t believe he’s worth smiling at, and Ember, Ember doesn’t smile.
Only, she does when she thinks no one’s looking.
And she always smiles for my Nix.
He has that effect on certain people even without his blade.
I quickly lick up the side of Nix’s throat, immediately pushing past him into the kitchen.
“Hello, lovebirds,” I chuckle loudly.
Crossing to the peninsula, I rest my elbows on the cold marble, propping my chin on my fist to look down at them. Phoenix walks behind me, flipping on the tap and washing his hands. I smile, biting down on my bottom lip.
Cole jumps up to his feet, spine ramrod straight like my words shoved a red hot poker up his tight arse. Turning towards me with a scowl, he narrows his eyes, and I can only grin wider.
“Don’t fucking start,” he warns lowly, a sexy grumble in his tone, I think about telling him that, but if I mention my dick he’ll probably punch it.
Maybe I’d like that.
Note to self, ask Nix to try that later.
“Start what?” I sing-song, glancing down at where Ember remains on the floor, resting back on her haunches, a squirming little- “puppy?” I question, my eyes flicking back to Cole’s fiery gaze. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
Cole inhales deeply, his entire upper half seemingly growing as his temper no doubt boils his blood. He doesn’t answer my question, continuing to glare at me. Both brows lift high on my forehead, knowing the reason he’s so pissy is because he’s had to spend the entire night with a woman, he says he can’t stand, but more than likely fucks his fist to in the shower. And we caught him in a moment where he’s not scowling at her. The guy’s a fucking mess.
Phoenix moves to stand beside me, finishing drying his hands on the green chequered tea towel, he drops it to the counter. Then he moves around towards Ember, folding himself down into a crouch at her back, he reaches around one side of her and strokes the little dog’s ginger head. It’s wide jaw snapping at his tickling fingers with razor sharp baby teeth.
“The gym,” Cole finally grunts in answer, glancing over his shoulder with a deep scowl. “You’re here now, you can fucking watch her,” he mumbles, loudly enough for Ember to hear, I slide my gaze onto her as he says it, watching her big blue eyes turn sad, lips turning down in a frown.
“You’re a dick!” I call out, but Cole’s footsteps are already booming down the stairs at the other end of the hall.
“He didn’t mean anything by it, Darling,” Nix reassures her lowly.
“He did,” she replies quietly, sadly, twitching her nose a little, “but it’s okay.”
Reaching up to cradle her cheek, Phoenix turns her head gently over her shoulder, his warm eyes flicking between her cool blue ones. Some days, when I’m lucky enough to be so close to her that I can stare right into them, it feels as if I could deep dive into those wide pools of blue like they’re a warm ocean somewhere tropical.
Nix leans in until their noses brush, her chest rising and falling faster, she doesn’t pull away, trapped in his rich chocolate gaze. He smooths his thumb beneath her eye, dropping his gaze to her parted lips, rolling his eyes back up onto hers.
My heart thumps hard in my chest, my cock kicking in the loose fabric of my joggers, but I don’t move, staying glued to my spot at the counter. I know he’s not nervous, Phoenix doesn’t feel shit like that, not the way we do, he’s just… different. But it’s the little curl of his pretty pink mouth, his fingers flexing tighter against Ember’s cheek, that is warning enough.
I could stop this.
I probably should.
But I won’t.
I don’t.
His lips find hers, his tight blonde ringlets tangling with the ones almost matching on her. A little breathy gasp falling thickly from her throat as he draws back, licking across the parted seam of her mouth with the very tip of his tongue.
I think of only moments ago, his mouth sucking cum from my skin, and I wonder if she can taste the remnants of it on his pout. The thought has me reaching down to adjust the rock hard bulge in my joggers, but I don’t do more than that, bringing my hand back up to the counter, curling it back beneath my chin.
“Phoenix,” Ember whispers, something like need and warning in the low whine of his name.
Her bright gaze flicks to mine without turning her head as he holds her in place. Slowly, with her attention on me, her teeth worrying her bottom lip because she thinks I don’t know how to share, and usually I don’t. But I’ll give Phoenix anything he fucking wants, including her, regardless of how my brother will feel about this, I don’t stop it, smiling wide instead.
“Why don’t you give Phoenix a little kiss, Sugar?” The words slip off of my tongue with an ease I wasn’t expecting, Phoenix has always been mine and I don’t share.
But this is different.
This isn’t a game. There are rules here, lines we shouldn’t cross, but they’re blurred, and I’m not even really sure what they are. Blaze lets her cuddle with Nix, sticks us both on babysitting duty at least once a day and he never asks me what we did. He only ever asks the same thing, ‘did she do as she was told?’. The guy needs to get fucking laid, but then, that’s clearly not helping either because I’m listening to him nightly bust a fucking nut inside her.
Blinking, I look back at the two blonde angels that have somehow both blessed and corrupted my life in dark, twisted, overly possessive ways.
“Go on, Sugar, you know you want to,” I hush, dropping my forearms flat to the counter, I lean further forward, cocking my head. “One little kiss, it’ll be our secret.”
She looks startled at that, curling her fingers into her palms even as she continues to hold onto the short haired puppy chewing on the very ends of her curls in her lap.
Ember looks back at Phoenix, her throat rolling as she swallows, his rich gaze still on her, hand on her cheek. He tilts her chin, angles his head, and keeping his eyes open, he leans into her, taking her bottom lip between his teeth. She sucks in a sharp breath, not moving, breath held, and I watch as Nix laps his tongue over her top lip, curling the tip of it down to her bottom one, and then he plunges it into her mouth.
He’s such a savage little demon.
One of Ember’s hands flies up, her eyes fluttering closed, and surprisingly, her palm gently connects with Nix’s Adam’s apple, her thin fingers spanning along the side of his throat, the tips slowly curling in, holding him to her. Nix digs his fingers into her face, his eyes flicking to mine with a slow wink before finally slipping closed.
I huff a laugh under my breath, dropping my gaze to survey the way in which their bodies twist together. Her tits brushing his upper abdomen. Nix lifts up higher on his knees, dominating their kiss, their tongues tangling together in the gap between their lips, giving me a show, before he’s slowing to nothing more than a careful peck on her swollen mouth.
Ember pants hard, Phoenix’s chest rapidly rises and falls, and my heart pounds so aggressively in my chest it makes my ears ring. I can’t stay away any longer. Moving quickly around the counter, I’m sliding across the marble floor on my knees, tangling my long fingers, the nails painted black, into the back of Ember’s curls. She gasps as I wrench her head back, looking up at me from the angle I hold her head at.
“My turn,” I chuckle, my tongue pushing between her parted lips before she has any time to protest.
My lips take hers with ferocity. I’m not careful. I can’t even start off soft like Nix did, breaking her in gently. Tongue licking over her teeth, she curls her own into my mouth, fumbling, like this entire thing is new to her. Like she’s never been kissed before, and I wonder if that’s true. I’ve seen my older brother fuck tonnes of women, but I’ve never seen him kiss any single one of them.
Fuck.
My dick is granite in my joggers, I want to tear them down, rip my lips from hers and shove her swollen mouth down onto my cock. Let the tip of it tap her tonsils, my cum flood down the tightness of her throat.
I groan as I feel Nix’s breath on my cheek, my fist tightening in Ember’s hair, my other hand finding his head, twisting his tight curls around my free fingers to pull him closer. Opening my eyes, I watch his mouth suction onto the underside of her jaw as she whimpers. His teeth grazing along the length of bone, the sound echoing down my own throat, vibrating my vocal cords.
Panting hard, I break our kiss, sucking on her swollen bottom lip instead so I can glance down and watch Nix’s tongue swirl across her skin.
He’s too tempting though, those deep chocolate eyes lifted onto Ember’s blue, similar to my own in the way that they’re so bright they could be mistaken for actual spots of light in a dark room. I yank Phoenix’s mouth to mine and kiss him with a passion made of darkness and corruption, it bleeds into our kiss, something violent and needy. He whimpers into my mouth, the sound a vibration along my tongue that I gulp down like a delicacy.
“Kiss her,” he breathes out, the words imprinting into my lips. “Kiss her again, and let me taste you both, Baby Boy.”
Ember trembles as my hand relaxes on the crown of her skull, dropping my forehead to hers, I let my lips ghost across her mouth, her breath feathering over my own. This time, it’s her who leans in first. Her hand fisted in the collar of Nix’s t-shirt, fingers having slipped from his throat, pulling him into us, all three of us breathing the same air. Parting her lips with the wet slide of my tongue, I pluck at Ember’s lips with my own. Nix moves in with gentle pressuring from my hands on his nape, my fist in Ember’s hair angling her so we can both get access to her.
And then Phoenix’s tongue is touching mine, sliding across Ember’s upper lip, dipping into her mouth at the same time as mine. Our tongues tangle, teeth clashing, but it’s not rough, the way I massage both of their scalps with my fingers, holding us together. Our lips nibbling on one another”s, three tongues stroking. Languid and passionate.
Breathing hard, orange blossom and crisp, sharp apple flooding my senses, I pull back, still holding their heads together so I can watch their tongues lick. Blood roars in my ears, my dick pounds with my pulse in my joggers, and I want to reach for it, fuck him whilst he fucks her.
I groan, the sound throaty and thick, “Let’s go to our room a-”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Blaze roars at my back, making me growl like an animal in response over my shoulder, baring my teeth, I rise up on my knees, instinctively shielding both my lover and Ember.
“You keep interrupting me, big brother,” I snarl mockingly, my words spitting.
So many fucking meanings to them, it’s like darkness unfurls from within me, curling into a whip that I want to crack over his fucking skull.
Blaze looks as though he attempts to count to three in his head, but before he even gets to one, he’s striding across the room, grabbing hold of Ember’s bicep and tearing her up to her feet. Phoenix grabs the pup from her lap, the little thing yapping as he does, and long blonde strands of hair are snapping from her scalp, curling and snaring around my fingers.
Blaze shakes her, looking about point-two seconds away from exploding, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing,” he seethes, his face drawn down into hers, but it’s not a question, he saw.
“I-’’
“Shut the fuck up, Emberleigh, I don’t wanna fucking hear it,” he snaps, silencing her with another rough shake.
“Bro, no,” I shove up to my feet, towering over the both of them, my hand going to her other arm, gripping her tight.
Two brothers holding her between them.
Perhaps we’ll tear her apart before this night is through.
Blaze laughs darkly, this horror chuckle that can only mean violence, “Get your fucking hand off her,” he orders lowly, deep voice like a crack of thunder.
“No.”
“Flint, I’m not fucking playing with you, that was a fucking order!” Spittle hits my cheek at his bellow, something my brother is not usually known for, the volume of his voice much louder than normal.
He’s always so good about keeping his head, even when he’s losing his temper. Though, it appears, when it comes to Ember, he cannot hold onto himself completely.
Mouth twisted in an ugly snarl, Blaze flicks his ebon gaze down to my tattooed fingers curled around Ember’s bicep, and with a choked, huffing laugh, he grabs her chin with his free hand, yanking her head up to face him.
“You wanted to kiss them, Pretty Girl?” he rasps, dropping his hand from her face, this deceptively, silken spoken question that spears goosebumps up across my flesh.
I’m not afraid of him, but I am nervous about what it is I might suddenly be willing to do to protect her.
“Huh?” he shakes her again, but my hand on her other arm keeps her steady.
“Blaze, I-”
He laughs loudly, cutting her off, “Shut the fuck up.”
I feel Phoenix rise to his feet behind me, Blaze’s eyes tracking the movement without moving his head, but I don’t turn. I don’t look. Because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my brother act like this before.
“Stop shaking her, Blaze,” I tell him firmly, “let her go, and walk it the fuck off.”
He laughs again, the sound somewhat hysterical. Ember flinches, her eyes tight with a concern that’s not for herself, as my own widen. She never takes her eyes from his. Even though it’s clear he’s hurting her, pinching her skin too tight, she doesn’t try to pull away. She doesn’t try to move, lean into me, seek out help. She stays perfectly still between us, jelly-like almost, in the way that she so very clearly submits to him. He’s just too fucking rage-blind to see it.
“It’s okay,” she whispers then, and I think it’s him she’s speaking to, placating, until she turns those pretty blues onto mine. “I’m okay, let me go with him.”
Her words spoken softly, she dips her chin towards my hold on her, a pink blush high in her cheeks, her lips swollen from our kisses. Dark lashes fluttering over her eyes as she flicks her gaze back up.
I feel captivated by her, the way she looks at me, something innocent in the way she folds her bottom lip between her teeth.
“It’s okay, Flint,” she whispers, and just like that, I uncurl my fingers, take a single step back, Phoenix’s scent filling my nose as I find him close behind me, his hand pressing soothingly to my lower spine.
She turns towards my brother, his entire being vibrating with rage. He stares at her like he wants to strangle her, but I know he wouldn’t, won’t. His other hand lifts slowly between them, like they’re the only two in the room. He twists one of her blonde curls loosely around his finger, staring at it with a deep crease between his brows. He rubs the silky strand between his thumb and forefinger, breathing deep as though just her presence can soothe something inside of him.
“Let’s go to our room,” she whispers up at him.
Our.
Blue eyes wholly focussed on him, no fear, no hesitance, she looks at him like-
That’s when I really see it.
Submission, fear, hate. History of some sort that no one else in this world will likely ever be able to understand. It runs deep, harsh and shadowed, poisonous spores infecting it. There is no true happiness there, but there is something more.
It feels like an iron bar hits me in the chest, seeing my brother connect with someone, even if it isn’t in a traditional way. He would never be happy with a typical ‘boy meets girl’ scenario. It just isn’t in him. I know she’s here against her will, we tormented her, and now it’s like, in a matter of short weeks she’s one of us. A member of the family that’s forever been right here, buried so deep in the earth with us, not one of us could rise without her.
Blaze’s hand absently lifts to her face, flame tattooed knuckles grazing her cheek. His nostrils flare as he sucks in a shuddery breath and just as he exhales, Cole appears in the dark mouth of the hallway.
“Why are you shouting?” he asks, his tone loud despite the quietness of his words, he too, never one to raise his voice.
Blaze stiffens, his hand dropping from Ember’s face, his dark eyes narrowing, “Where were you?” he questions in response, never once letting someone else take the lead. “You were supposed to be watching her,” he states coldly, all without looking over his shoulder at his best friend.
Cole doesn’t move into the room, his back to the shadows of the hall which leads to all of our individual bedrooms, “Why are you shouting?” he repeats, making Nix’s fingers curl anxiously into the curve of my spine.
Blaze still doesn’t turn, doesn’t look, keeping his obsidian gaze fixed on Ember.
His body thrums with violence, even as his deep voice stays low, calm, “Because Ember thinks it’s okay to come into my home, disrespect me with my brothers and then attempt to get her way out of it by manipulating me with sex.” The final words are spat from his mouth, Ember flinches, her mouth opening in an attempt to speak, probably to deny his claims, but before she can, Blaze’s lips are curling into a sinister smile. “You think because I’m the only man you’ve fucked, you suddenly know what it is you’re doing in the bedroom?” Ember’s mouth closes, her throat working a swallow, and every man’s eyes in the room go to her. “Enough practice with me the last three fucking weeks to think that you could what? Make me come so hard I’ll do anything you want?” He scoffs a mocking laugh, “You’re delusional, Pretty Girl,” he whispers, cupping her cheek.
“I’m in charge here,” he breathes between them, dropping his face to align with hers. “And no matter how many times I stick my dick inside your pretty little pussy,” he breathes in deep, inhaling her scent. “That is all you are to me,” licking his lips, he kisses her mouth, she doesn’t react, her chest stone-still where she holds her breath against his cutting words. “A tight,” he smiles, “little,” pressing his lips to hers once more before speaking into her mouth, “cunt.”
“That’s enough,” Cole says, Phoenix’s hand now fisting the back of my t-shirt.
Blaze stays bent forward, his mouth still over Ember’s, “You got to him too, huh, Pretty Girl?”
“Blaze, no, I-”
Blaze’s hand settles around her neck, not tight, not squeezing, his fan of rough fingers just resting across the hollow of her throat, but it silences her all the same.
My hands ball into fists, my heart a dull thump in my chest.
“Shhhh, it’s okay,” he soothes, her eyes wide and wet, her bottom lip trembling where it rests against his, but she doesn’t cry. “You wanna act like a little whore, you can fucking be one.” Ember sucks in a sharp breath, and this time, a tear does finally fall as he yanks her into him, twisting towards Cole like a hurricane. “You want her,” he spits as he reaches his best friend, Ember caught tight in his hold, “you can fucking have her.” Blaze releases her with brute force into Cole’s arms, storming straight towards the front door. “Fuck the lot of you,” he mumbles, slamming the door at his back.