30. Gilli
Gilli
A iden is the only man with the decency to tell me what they’re planning.
When the others are stone-faced and tight-lipped, he’s the one who pulls me aside to tell me they’re on board with Operation Save Gillian.
Except Gillian doesn’t need three strong men to ride to her rescue, I tell him. Even though the thought of it sends warmth spiraling through me and soothes the ragged edges of my raw nerves.
“Come on, Aiden. It’s not up to you guys to do anything for me. You have no idea where to even start. We should concentrate on getting the police to cooperate,” I say.
They aren’t a part of that life like I am. The boys don’t have the same kind of mindset. Or outlook. They see it as one beast and I see it differently.
There is something about doing online work… It’s not porn, exactly, but there are low days where it feels like it. Where you take a hard look at what you’ve been doing with your life and ask yourself if the money is worth it, because it’s hard to scrabble together your dignity.
It’s impacted me, just like Maxxx8U and his comments impacted me .
Tase gives me the day off. He has to go to a meeting a few hours away, so Kayla and Belle are going to handle things at the clinic. But he’ll need me tomorrow, as long as it’s safe.
“I don’t need you to take pity on me.” I grab Tase by the front of his leather jacket.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Pitying you?”
“I think you’re all treating me like I’m breakable now, and I hate it.”
My fingers curl into the soft leather.
“Ah, I see what the issue is.” I jerk up at the sound of Soren’s voice. “You don’t have any faith in us. You think we’re a bunch of screw-ups who can’t help you with your problem.”
Air scratches my lungs on its way through my clenched teeth. “Soren, I don’t want you to get hurt. Let me handle this. It will be much easier without you trying to boot me out on my sizable ass.”
He growls and his gaze drops to the ass in question. “Stop insulting yourself.”
Tase covers my hands with his.
I roll my eyes. “You think you have it handled but you don’t, you can’t.”
“How do you know?” Soren’s eyes heat. “I get that you don’t have any faith in us,” he continues, his voice a gravely baritone.
“But if you’re not going to help us to help you, then just stay at the cabin and do some research.
Instead of going into town tomorrow, hole up for a few days. That was the original plan, wasn’t it?”
Tase leaves for his meeting, and I’m alone with Soren and Aiden. Between the three of us, the afternoon passes in a blur. They’ve done a great job distracting me and it has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with their company.
It’s a tiny glimpse through a door I never thought existed, and I admit I like what I see. I really like it .
The afternoon is warm and sunny, and we’re outside enjoying the weather and the view of the lake, when Soren glances up sharply at the sound of tires over gravel. Tase’s car bumps over the ruts before he pulls to a stop behind Aiden’s truck.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Soren calls.
Tase unfolds himself from the front seat, fixing us with a look. “Meeting ended early,” he barks out. “Seemed like a damn waste of my time.”
“You’re too anal about your calendar. Life doesn’t always conform to the hour-by-hour plan you have for yourself, dude.” Aiden draws me underneath his arm easily and I curl into his side. It’s automatic.
“You’re telling me.” Tase is less than pleased.
He stalks toward us, eyeing me and Aiden, his nostrils flared.
These three are a cohesive unit molded over years of shared history. They know what works for them and they understand their place with each other. Where do I fit in? I desperately want to, if I’m being honest with myself, because there is a draw here. An allure for a dynamic I’ve never had before.
Things are different with my sisters. We were thrown together by blood and forced by circumstances to make our way because we had no other choice and no one else to lean on outside of each other.
But with Tase, Soren, and Aiden, they chose to maintain a friendship. The first-cousin bond between Aiden and Soren didn’t have to mean anything. Lord knows I have cousins I never speak to.
“Did you pick up any of the shit I texted you about?” Soren barks out to Tase.
Tase holds open his empty hands. “Sorry, no.”
“Christ, man, you were in town .” Soren straightens, the muscles in his arms bulging and shifting the lines of his tattoos. “Now one of us has to go. ”
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m distracted.” Tase looks like he wants to say something else but holds himself back. “This is all a lot for me to think about.”
“I’ll go. I don’t mind,” Aiden offers.
“What shit?” I ask.
“Surveillance equipment. Extra locks. The kind of shit we need in order to make sure this place is on lockdown.” Soren makes the explanation like he’s running through a grocery list.
“No sense in wasting time. I’ll head out now and get the stuff. You don't mind, do you, sugar tits?” Aiden turns to me and grabs me for a deep kiss in front of the others. “You’re not going to miss me too much?”
A little flash of embarrassment clangs through me before it disappears in a swell of lust.
He breaks the kiss and nips at my lower lip. “Try not to. The others will distract you, if necessary.” He finishes with a wink before heading inside to grab his jacket and keys.
Leaving me smack dab between the two towering powerhouses practically dripping with testosterone. It perfumes the air.
Tase swipes a hand through his hair. “This whole situation is kind of insane, you know?” He looks like he wants to say more, but clamps his lips tight.
After a moment Tase heads into the house, looking like a man with the hounds of hell on his heels. A knot forms low in my abdomen and sinks until it drags me down with it.
“Give him a second. It takes him a while to order his thoughts,” Soren explains. “He’s pissed he hasn’t had a taste of you yet, and this situation with your stalker is stressing him out. It’s got us all on edge.”
A stalker is a nice way to put it.
Eventually Tase comes back outside with a bottle of water in his hands. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” Soren asks.
“Gilli has no idea how to defend herself. She almost got killed in her apartment.” Tase is terse and keeps his words snappy, business-like. “She needs to learn some self-defense.”
I scoff. “I’m pretty handy with a baseball bat. I got in some good hits.”
“And what happens when they catch you unawares?” he presses. “You need to know how to be able to break a hold, if someone has their hands around your neck.”
The image he paints is terrifying. It’s a good idea, actually. I’ll feel better knowing some basic tactics.
I hold my arms out to the side. “I’m game. What sort of maneuvers do you want to teach me first?”
Tase jerks his chin to Soren. “He’s the guy who takes martial arts classes. He’d be the one with the most knowledge.”
Martial arts?
Soren snorts, gazing out at the lake.
“What’s your belt color?” I ask, and as an afterthought it hits me that this is the kind of thing one should know about a person one sleeps with.
About a stepbrother. Not what their cum tastes like.
“Black,” he admits. “As if you had any doubt about it.”
Soren beckons me forward with the crook of his index finger and my heart takes a deep dive. I slowly head his way and his hungry gaze takes in my every move.
“I’d rather you be in yoga pants for this,” he says.
“You just want to stare at my ass.”
He shakes his head and his eyes narrow. “If you’re serious, then we have to focus. Besides, I’ve seen your ass, and it’s a goddamn delight.” He licks his lips. “Widen your stance.”
I spread my legs out, keenly aware of Tase watching us.
“The first thing you’re going to want to do if someone comes up from behind you, because I guarantee you won’t be able to see them coming, is to make sure they don’t grab you around the chest. ”
Soren turns me around and stalks behind me, reaching out to wrap both arms around my torso.
I’m a faster learner than I bargained for. The little light of pleasure it ignites inside of me is gratifying. And they’re right. The more I know, the better off I’ll be, because I won’t always have a weapon handy.
Although, as Tase is quick to point out, anything can be used as a weapon.
Halfway through the lesson, Tase grabs a seat to watch us, his eyes a burning sensation along my spine as Soren walks me through the moves.
I catch my breath when Soren sweeps a leg out and I stumble backward, my arms windmilling for purchase. But he’s quick and steps up to catch me before I fall.
“This is why you need to be aware.” His breath tickles my ear. “Not distracted.”
“Sorry, am I bothering you?” Tase doesn’t sound apologetic.
“You have to have situational awareness, Gillian.” Soren takes a beat to swipe his hand across my breast and tweak my nipple before he steps back.
Electricity zaps through me. Damn it. What is it about him that digs under my skin and lodges there, spreading fire in my veins?
Why does it turn me on knowing that Tase is there and gnashing his teeth as he watches us? But he doesn’t step in and he doesn’t try to touch me. He only offers commentary occasionally.
The spell between us snaps when he stands abruptly.
Soren takes the opportunity of my distraction to grab me and haul me to him. His arms band around me and keep me plastered to his chest, squeezing lightly enough for me to feel the pressure and my lungs to hitch.
“You see what happens when you let yourself be distracted?” he asks.
My body goes molten and melts around him. “Then you need to stop distracting me. Or maybe you can’t keep your hands off me.”
He squeezes tighter, simply because of who he is, and then releases me. “I thought you’d be happy for the change. Or maybe you like it when we're at each other’s throats. Does it make you wet when you hate me?”
“It’s…definitely a turn-on,” I admit. Then chuckle when his beard bristles. “Did you want me to lie to you?”
I hurl myself at him, hoping for the element of surprise. But of course Soren anticipates my movements. He’s always a step ahead. He throws me down on the grass and flattens his body over me. He grinds his hips in a stark display of what this does to him.
“It is a change,” I admit, searching his face and making no move to push him off of me. “To have you act this way instead of…”
His expression softens. He balances most of his weight on his palms, on either side of my head, but allows just enough of his body to touch mine and set me on fire.
“Instead of trying to run you out of town,” he clarifies.
“Yeah, because you hated me.”
He drops his forehead to mine and my arms automatically go around his waist, claiming him. Mine .
“I never hated you, Gilli. I was serious when I said it the first time. I hope you know there’s…more…going on than I let you see. One day maybe I’ll explain it better.”
Soren clears his throat and steals a quick, searing kiss before he switches positions and digs his elbow against my ribs.
“You’re terrible at defending yourself, but if all else fails, use your elbow. And knee them in the fucking balls.”
He rears up, surging to his feet in a single graceful maneuver and holding out a hand for me. My skin is tight. My insides have gone soft and the rest of me is lit up like a sparkler in the dead of night.
There’ s fire in my veins.
I’ve never understood the expression until now, until these three turned my way. And maybe Soren is right and the dislike, the prickly interactions, are an aphrodisiac to me.
I’m in way over my head and I’m not sure I want to surface again. Not when the tension is fantastically hot and there is something about this moment that feels poignant.
“Aiden should be back soon,” Soren says. “Who’s hungry?”
My gaze lingers on Tase, on the way the light plays across the strong planes of his face, the way his eyes meet mine.
And a warm reassurance bubbles up when he whispers, “We’ll get our chance.”