Chapter 44
Eric
" I t's fine. We'll just book a trip. Yeah, that's what we'll do." I gulped when the guys came back to relate Tyler's response.
I wanted to fucking grab Tyler, rip his fucking head off his body and feed it to a swamp full of alligators. The nerve of his nonchalance, and fucking ignoring us. What the fuck was the fucking plan? That's what we needed to know. But he wasn't going to give us that, was he? And I wasn't fucking sticking around and waiting till he fucked up again. We couldn't trust him for shit. I hated that we got involved with the fucking cocky idiot.
"We'll go to Florida and stay close to my parents. We'll be safe there," I said, but hesitated. If I did that, I'd be getting them involved. I couldn't do that. But I could make use of their contacts.
I was freaking out, okay? Was I allowed to fucking do that? I didn't know what we were supposed to do.
"Shh!" Matt silenced me, just as the door to the sauna and indoor pool opened.
It was soundproof here so we figured it would be a great place to talk about this in private. But Lily peeked her head in the doorway and when she saw us, she smiled. She stepped out from behind the door, wearing absolutely nothing. And you know what? The noise in my mind quietened. My worries took a backseat for a moment. That was the effect she had on us. It was like fucking magic. Now my thumping heartbeat skyrocketed for another reason.
"There you are." She strolled over to us. I gulped.
Water glistened on her skin. Had she just worked out, had a shower? Was it the heat in the room?
We should have been formulating a getaway plan, not bricking up at the sight of naked Lily, with a light in her eyes that had been missing for a long time. And a smile so bright, she was melting the shorts I was wearing. I knew I wasn't the only one affected. I could tell by the silence in the room except for their labored breathing.
"What's the matter? Speechless?" She asked, stopping in front of me. "Mom's settled in the guesthouse and we have all this space to ourselves. I thought we could celebrate." She leaned in to steal a kiss, a brush of her lips against mine, and a quick peck that was way too short.
She turned her attention to Ryan and stroked his cheek. "You know, the one good thing about that house? The memories we made in it." She stroked her hand down his chest and his breath hitched.
She turned to Ethan.
"Like falling love with the way you read to my mother. The moment you all confessed you wanted to fuck me." She tipped on her toes and pulled Ethan in, dodging his lips and kissing his neck.
Her ass was facing me and I couldn't help but reach out and touch her. She moaned, but turned to Matt and pulled him toward her.
"Want to start making those new memories you promised?" She pressed her naked body into his chest, and come on, it was Lily. What did you expect us to do?
Yes, we were in the middle of a crisis. Yes, our lives were falling apart and we risked losing everything in the blink of an eye. Losing her. But that was the point. Savoring every second. Forgetting—fuck, forgetting everything. My mind went empty when I got a glance of her sideboob, much less when she flashed her breasts to me. Now everything was on display and I was a fucking sucker for Lily, okay?
And I wasn't the only one.
Matt's lips came crashing down on hers. He groaned with the restraint he knew he should exercise, but couldn't. It wasn't like the police knew where the fuck we lived. If anyone was trailing us, we would have found out by the time we got to the causeway. I doubted they were going to bust our doors down right this second. Panicking could wait.
"What did you have in mind?" Matt growled against her lips.
"Well, I think it's only fair that we claim every room in this house. Every..." She tugged his shorts over his hips. "...single." She took him in her hand and his body folded in on itself. Lily stroked him. "... crevice." Her word was cut off by his desperate kiss.
Ryan dropped to his knees behind her, cupped her ass and let out a breath before sinking his face between her legs.
"Someone's happy." I whispered against her neck when her body spasmed. I needed to hear her say that she was happy he was gone. Happy that we did what we did.
"So happy." She moaned and turned her head to kiss me, still jerking Matt's cock and panting from Ryan's persistent mouth.
Ethan pulled her away from me and onto his lips. She grinned and took his cock into her hand as well. He thrust against it, and she broke the kiss.
Breathless and her eyes hooded over, she looked between us. "One at a time, guys."
It took great effort for her to pull away from Ryan's mouth, but she did and surprised us when she dove into our indoor pool to get away. With the water, she massaged her own breasts, the perfect milky mounds with pink tips floating on top of the water. She kept her eyes on us and slipped her hand lower.
"Lily." Ryan made off toward her, needing her drug to chill him out. But she stopped him with a hand.
"I was also hoping we could recreate a memory?" She looked between him and Matt.
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, but Matt and Ryan already knew.
They stepped off toward each other, and Lily licked her lips.
"You okay?" Matt whispered to Ryan.
"Yeah. I just need to stop thinking. Can you help me do that?" Ryan pulled Matt into him.
"As long as you can do the same for me?" Matt reached into Ryan's shorts, pulled out his cock, and dropped to his knees.
Lily's mouth fell open, and she whimpered, pulling our attention toward her.
"Fuck." I swore.
Beneath the clear water, she stroked herself. With his mouth on Ryan's cock, Matt watched. Ryan threw his head back, groaning when Lily moaned.
Without a word, she locked eyes on me, then Ethan, before crooking her finger at us and calling us over. We swam toward her
By the time we were done fucking, doing our very best to claim every single room in the house and failing, the sun was already coming up to ring in the next morning. The sunrise fell on us through floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on palm trees and lush greenery. Lily writhed against me, her head on my chest, her leg thrown over mine.
"We should get married as soon as possible." She murmured.
"What?" Matt kissed her shoulder, and his eyes jumped to mine.
"Why not? There's nothing holding us back, is there?" She mumbled before falling asleep.
But we couldn't join her in her slumber. Marrying her and lying to her felt like a whole other layer of betrayal. However, it could make it harder for her to leave us. Or make it easier for her to hate us.
"I think you're right. At least until we figure everything out, we should go to Florida." Ryan eased up from next to Matt to add. "The stakes have just gotten even higher."
"Wow, that's a great house. Isn't it, Charles?" My mother called out to my dad.
They were sounding so much better. It gave me hope for us. Even though they weren't murderers, not technically. Their killings happened under duty, and they didn't have to be running from the police in addition to running from their demons. So, I guess there wasn't much for me to hope for there. But it was the closest I'd come to having anything in common with them. How sad was that?
"Yeah. Yeah. It's a great house." My dad's white head of hair popped up at the bottom of the screen.
"How's that lovely lady of yours? I hope they catch those bastards soon." My mom scowled. "She must be having a hell of a time, although I'm sure that house is keeping her busy."
To tell my parents that the police found the kidnappers dead, or not to tell them, that was the question.
"I'm hoping to take her up to Florida to meet you guys soon, maybe spend a few months?" I said, even though I hadn't brought it up to Lily yet.
"Well, of course. But a few months? Didn't you just move in? If I were you, I wouldn't leave that place for a long time. Is it because it's too close to the memories for Lily?" Mom asked.
"No, it's just..." I moved the phone away from my face, in case she picked up on the fact that I was hiding something.
Lucky for me, Lily popped her head in. "Oops, sorry." She began to back away when she saw I was on a call.
"Where are you going?" I mouth. "Come in."
"Eric? Where did you go?" My mom's voice echoed.
I pulled Lily into my lap and held the phone up in front of her, happy to take the attention off me for a bit. "Oh, hi." Lily smiled, flustered.
"Hi, darling! Charles, look! It's Eric's Lily." My mom squealed.
"It's so nice to finally meet you. I can't thank you enough for what you did. You guys saved my life." Lily's eyes welled up at the screen.
"Well, darling. I think I can just about say the same thing. That you saved our lives as well," my dad remarked.
Well, damn, this was sweeter than I expected. My heart swelled at the interaction.
"It's an honor to meet you both. I can't believe it's taken us this long." Lily cleared her throat.
"Well, I can't wait to meet you in person! Eric says you guys are coming up here soon?" My mom let the cat out of the bag.
My face twisted in an uncomfortable smile when Lily turned to look at me with furrowed brows. "I said I was thinking about it, Mom."
"I'd love that," Lily revealed.
"Wait, you would?" I gasped. Thank fuck.
"Yeah, and we can talk about the wedding." Lily's smile was brighter than the sun.
"You're getting married?!" My mom screamed at the phone. "Eric, why wouldn't you tell me?"
"Oh, no. Did I overstep? That wasn't what you were talking about?" Lily put her hand over the phone's speaker to ask.
"I was getting to it," I reassured her and kissed her to remove the confusion from her eyes.
Her cheeks reddened.
"We'll talk about it when we get there!" I took the phone from Lily. "See you Mom, Dad." With that, I hung up.
Everything was set. We'd go to Florida. We'd lay low. If Tyler came looking, we'd have protection. Terry and Carter were gone forever. And I thought Lily, me, Ethan, Ryan, and Matt were going to figure out a way to get married.
"I can't believe I'm going to meet your mom in person. Do you know that she was a hero of mine when I was a kid? A strong woman who could take down any man? It's finally happening! I'm going to be a part of your family!" She spun in my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"You've always been a part of my family. I think I always knew I'd marry you.
Couldn't picture it this way, but I don't hate it." I hugged her close to me, inhaled her sweet scent into my lungs. "I love you, Lily Thornbread. I'll try my best to never let you down."
"You never could." She ground her center against me and I laughed.
"Can't we just have an intimate moment, horny?" I asked, though I kneaded her ass and pulled her deeper against my cock that was already hard.
"I think this is as intimate as it gets." She moaned and lowered her lips to mine, sucking me into a kiss that left me dizzy.
We were both breathless when I got up and started walking her over to the big white bed that Lily had picked out. I dropped her on top of the comforter and started climbing over her when there was a knock on my door.
I groaned, ignoring it and moving to release her from the confines of her clothes.
"Mr. Fletcher. Ms. Thornbread. It's an emergency." The nurse?
Both mine and Lily's eyes went wide. We hopped from the bed and rushed to the door, popping it open.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"Is my mom okay?" Lily fixed her clothes.
"Well, yes and no. She's awake." The nurse smiled and put the word 'awake' in air quotes.
"What?" I didn't think my eyes could go any wider. Lily kicked her heels together, well, as good as.
This was incredible news. Lily was going to meet my parents. I was finally going to meet Mrs. Thornbread, officially. I wondered whether or not she would agree to come on a trip with us. Oh, wait till the rest of the guys heard this. Everything was falling together. I had faith that it would all work out in the end.
"Well, what are we doing standing here? Let's go!" Lily rushes past the nurse.
"There's one problem, though." The nurse pauses her with a gentle hand. "She's freaking out about being in a new environment."
"Okay, well, that's to be expected." Lily nods.
The nurse grimaces. "And she's asking for her husband."