Chapter 4
Chapter Four
T he earth seems to tilt on its axis the second those mercurial eyes meet mine. It's like she’s staring straight through to my soul, seeing things nobody else ever has. It makes me want to bare it all for her, every ugly, jagged piece.
She’s a vision in a flimsy little sleep set covered in Christmas cookies that makes my mouth go dry. All sunshine curls and smooth, creamy skin begging to be touched. Her scent hits me next. Warm vanilla and cinnamon, wrapping around me like a caress. It takes every ounce of my control not to start sniffing the air like a dog.
I’ve never seen a living angel before. Everything about this girl is soft. Porcelain skin, light blonde hair, tiny yet curved in all the right places. Like she'd break if I held her too tight. But her eyes–those quicksilver eyes–they see right through me.
Nobody says anything for far too long. We weren’t expecting anyone in this cabin, and I’m about to get on Key’s ass for that fuck up when her gaze snags on my forearm. Her large, doe-like eyes widen even further as she takes in the blood trickling all the way to my fingers and onto the floor. Before I can react, she's rushing to my side, her tiny yet warm hands suddenly all over me.
"You're hurt! Here, let me help."
I stare down dumbfounded as she presses a towel to the wound, tutting under her breath about me catching infections as she leads me towards the kitchen. Her boyfriend tries to make a grab at her arm, but she smacks his hand away without even looking.
Why am I not stopping her? And why did I just smirk at her man?
With gentle, determined fingers, she cleans me up and sets about bandaging and wrapping up my wound. Her perfectly innocent face twists up with worry, making me want to smooth out her features and kill anything that tries to make her frown again.
Up close, I can see her eyes are red, glassy, and slightly puffy, as if she’s been crying. My jaw locks, teeth grinding as I subconsciously lean closer to make sure.
“Why were you crying?” My deep voice startles her, her hand moving to cover her heart for a moment as she realizes how close I’ve leaned in.
“For fudge’s sake! You’re going to give me a heart attack!” She chastises, but there’s no heat behind the words. I don’t think anything about this woman could ever be scary or mean. She’s just…fuck, I didn’t know sweetness could make my dick hard.
“I’ve not been crying.”
I don’t believe her.
“What’s your name?”
“Grace.”
Grace. I mouth the name to test how it feels and then grin. It fits her perfectly.
“Atlas.” I decide to give her mine as well. I want to hear her say it. Say my name in her sweet voice, but she doesn’t.
She bites at her bottom lip as she refocuses on my arm. Tracing her features, I narrow my eyes on the side of her neck, the grin dropping from my face instantly. A tiny bruise peeks out at her neckline, and before I can stop myself, I’m pulling her shirt back. Taking in the perfect hand-sized bruises on the back of her neck, my blood boils. It’s like someone held her by the nape too hard.
“Hey! What are you doing?” She squeals, slapping my hand away. I simply let go and sit back in my seat, motioning for her to continue with what she started.
“What happened to your neck?” She hesitates for only a moment, her eyes narrowing adorably as if she’s trying to warn me silently to sit still. I fight the grin that threatens to pull at my lips, staring her down instead. Sighing, she moves closer as she gets back to treating my wounds, only this time, her eyes keep darting back up to my face as if she’s waiting for me to pounce.
"Who hurt you?" I try to keep my voice as steady as possible, but the rapid pulsing of her carotid artery tells me I failed. She finishes bandaging my arm but doesn't move away.
"That's not really your business." Her lips press into a thin line, her eyes darting toward the open archway leading back to the living room. I don't follow her gaze–Key and Teddy are more than capable of handling things in there.
The glance tells me enough, but still…
She bites her lip, clearly fighting not to answer, so I repeat myself, this time with a little more force and a rasp in my voice, my emotions breaking through.
" Who hurt you ?"
Her eyes widen as they meet mine, her entire body freezing.
"Jason," she finally says. It’s clear she wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t pushed. Her tongue flicks out to wet her lips–a nervous tic that only confirms my suspicion.
My eyes laser in on the movement, following its path across her plump bottom lip until it retreats back into her mouth. I cock my head at her as I meet her gaze once more. Out of the corner of my eye, I clock her entire chest expanding with her shaky, uneven breaths.
“Jason?” I jerk my head towards the archway in question and she nods. “Okay.”
I surge to my feet and spin on my heels, my long, determined strides eating up the distance between me and my target.
“What are you doing?” My beautiful, sweet angel squeals as she races after me. Her far shorter stature struggling to catch up.
“Balancing the scales.”
“Balancing the…” Confused for only a moment, she catches on quickly. “No! Stop! Don’t hurt him!”
I’m almost to the man in question, his face turning as white as a ghost at the sight of me coming at him when a sudden weight crashes into my back.
“What the-” I stop and spin in a circle as Grace clambers up my back and wraps her arms around my neck like she’s going for a piggy-back ride.
“I said don’t hurt him!” Her soft voice is panicked.
“He hurt you,” I point out.
“It was during sex. An accident. It just got a bit rough, that’s all!” She rushes out, squeaking as I grip her bicep and pull her over my head and into my arms. Holding her in the air in front of me, I examine her face for any sign of deceit. There’s an ounce there, but…she is using the truth to cover it up.
“Was it consensual?” She nods, once more biting that plump little lip.
“Grace.”
“Jason, it’s probably best that you shut up right about now,” she warns meekly, her eyes not leaving mine.
“Do you know these guys?” He growls. “Have you been fucking around on me?” Her beautiful eyes flash with a hidden steel that makes me rock solid instantly. Fighting my hold, she spins to face Jason as I place her on her feet.
“Excuse me?!” Even angry, her voice is melodic and sweet, but more like the poisonous kind of sweet that someone wouldn’t know they’d ingested until seconds before death.
“ How dare you?! I’ve been nothing but faithful and loving to you from the moment we met. Even when you used me like a sex toy–like I was nothing–” her voice breaks and she pauses to breathe deeply.
“I still loved you, despite it all, right up until you admitted you’d been screwing my best friend for months . And now you’re leaving me ?” Her voice rises, breaking. “You know what, Jason? Maybe you should go. Go f-fuck yourself!”
She screams, her frustration echoing through the room, before whirling around and racing to the front door. She grabs the bag sitting beside it, yanks the door open, and flings it straight out into the snow.
As she spins back to glare at Jason, eyes blazing, I work to wipe the smile off my face–her reluctance to curse is amusing amid all this chaos. She points at the open door making her point crystal clear.
The man in question shoots to his feet, fear etched across his features as his gaze darts between me, Grace, and then each of my brothers in turn–who are suspiciously silent as they stand off to the side.
When their eyes meet mine, Key shrugs and grins, clearly enjoying himself, while Teddy raises an eyebrow, silently questioning what led up to this point. I shake my head at him– we’ll talk later . He gives a slight nod, and we all turn our focus back to Jason. He visibly shrinks under our attention, sensing the danger radiating off each of us. It probably doesn’t help that the bundle at my brothers’ feet is still writhing around, letting out muffled yells.
“Ye-yeah. Maybe I should.” His voice shakes as he inches around me, putting as much distance between us as he can, and starts moving towards the door.
“You can’t be serious.” Key finally speaks up, shaking his head in disgust. “Three strange, obviously dangerous and suspicious men break into you and your girlfriend’s-” he cuts off, shooting an apologetic look at Grace. “Sorry, ex -girlfriend's cabin. And you just decide to leave her here alone with us? You didn’t even try to convince her to go with you?”
“She’s a big girl. She will come if she wants. She’s fine.” Jason continues edging towards the door as Grace stands perfectly still, her mouth hanging open in shock. “Right, Grace?”
He's almost reached her–my entire body coiled, ready to spring–when movement catches my eye. Teddy steps in smoothly, guiding Grace aside before shutting the door and leaning casually against it. He looks relaxed, as if he doesn't have a care in the world, yet there's no mistaking the message: no one is getting past him.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t really think we’d let you leave after everything you witnessed, right?” He looks almost bored as he picks at his nails, not even bothering to look at Jason.
“Uh…yes?” Jason stops in place, his gaze flicking to each of us one after the other without stopping.
Teddy finally narrows his gaze on him. Key starts chuckling as he bounces in place, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on his thigh. I crack my knuckles, stretching my neck as I step closer, blocking his route to the rest of the house.
I love it when they try to run.
Come on, Jason. Let’s have a little fun.
And there he goes.
A grin spreads across my face as I shift my weight, and with perfect timing, snap my arm out to clothesline him. Seeing as he was sprinting full force, when he collides with my arm, his whole body flips back, slamming to the floor head first.
Knocked out cold.
Grace lets out a small scream, but doesn’t move a muscle other than the hand that moves to cover her mouth.
“He’ll be fine,” I assure her before looking at Teddy.
“Sorry, love,” he wraps an arm around her shoulders, leading her away from the front door. She follows his direction in a daze. “There’s a massive blizzard starting and the roads are all closed. He would have gotten himself killed out there.”
She nods numbly. “Oh. Okay then. Thank you?” She questions with uncertainty, her nose scrunching up adorably.
“You’re very welcome. Now, what is that heavenly smell?” She perks up, a brilliant smile overtaking her face.
“I made breakfast! Are you guys hungry?” She claps, bouncing towards the kitchen. “That was a stupid question. Of course you are. Men are always hungry. That’s what my mama always says.”
She keeps chattering to Teddy about what she cooked, and he follows her like a devoted puppy, leaving Key and me to clean up the mess here and case the joint. Jealousy simmers in my chest as I glare down at the asshole at my feet, and then at the one still writhing around in a sack by Key’s.
I know where I’d much rather be right now, and it’s not taking care of dickhead one and two, or doing a tour of the house. Teddy’s one lucky bastard.
Glancing around, something in the corner of the room catches Key’s eye, causing a grin to break out across his face. “Hey, Sugar? Do you happen to have any rope around here?”
There’s a pause before Grace answers, not at all fazed by the nickname he used. “Erm, not that I know of. But there’s Christmas lights in the bins by the tree!”
We both look at the stack of bins in the corner and Key chuckles.
“Well…’tis the season after all!”