Chapter 17 Swinging Dicks Around
Swinging Dicks Around
Someone knocked on my door, and Sawyer’s voice filtered through. “Ready to go, Pumpkin?”
Raising my face out of my pillow where I was attempting to smother myself, I yelled, “Two minutes, okay?”
I didn’t know what the hell got into me. The fated mate bond was strong, alluring even, but it didn’t force me to do anything. I’d been the one to grab both men and let them spit-roast me in my living room.
Fuck!
We had bigger problems to worry about.
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I climbed out of my bed and grabbed the duffle I’d tossed a few days’ worth of clothing and toiletries in. My few keepsakes were safely in the zippered side pocket, including the charm bracelet Sawyer gave me for my twenty-first birthday.
Looping my arm through the handle, I walked into the living room. Cole stood by the door, his face a mask of haughty disregard, while Thorne was rinsing dishes in the kitchen.
“I tossed any food that would spoil. Hope you don’t mind,” he said. As he looked up, he smiled, and my stomach turned to goo.
Sawyer closed his own bedroom door, his laptop bag over his shoulder and a matching duffle in his hand. “I can’t believe we’re running like this. I haven’t even seen the guy,” he complained, stopping beside me.
Leaning into him, I smirked. “Let me help you out. He looks exactly like Thorne.”
“So helpful.” Rolling his eyes, he planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll drive,” Thorne announced.
Sawyer’s face scrunched up. “We can drive separately.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Your car is recognizable, and it smells like her. It’s too easy to track.”
“It’ll be okay,” I said, nuzzling against him. “He’s a good driver. I think. I mean he didn’t crash while I was trying to give him a handy.”
His next inhale was a strangled noise, and I bit back a smile.
Thorne smirked. “Come on, then.”
That shook Sawyer out of his stunned paralysis. He narrowed his eyes at Thorne, sizing up the taller man.
Oh shit, here we go again.
“Thorne, you have one chance to take care of this mess. Us going away with you is temporary. You fix this, and then we are going back to our lives.”
Thorne dropped the dish towel in his hands and stalked toward us. Sawyer straightened, his bold stare challenging the bigger werewolf.
Thorne bristled, but conceded. “I’d die for her. Her happiness is the most important thing to me. So if she wants to come back here to you, then so be it.”
“Enough posturing. You guys can swing your dicks around later. We need to get moving,” Cole interjected. “Our window to get away is closing.”
That was enough to get both Thorne and Sawyer moving. With one last look around my apartment, I followed Thorne out, down the stairs, and to his SUV. Sawyer trailed behind, watching our backs as I climbed into the vehicle.
Cole sat in the passenger seat, and Sawyer piled in beside me after tossing our bags in the trunk.
“Keep an eye out,” Thorne said, pulling out onto the street.
Cole scowled, but obeyed.
We left downtown behind, driving through neighborhoods I wasn’t very familiar with.
Last time I’d been in this car, I’d been consumed with the fated mate bond, and my attention had been fully on Thorne.
While that pull was still there as a constant nagging in my gut, I was lucid enough to look around.
Within minutes, we reached the edge of town. Houses were more spread out here, with fields and forest surrounding them. Thorne pulled into a driveway and shut off the SUV.
The house looked picture-perfect with cream siding and little flower bushes along the walkway. It was just missing a picket fence.
“This is the far side of town, further from the pack’s territory, so it should be a little safer. But we still won’t have long before they find us. Cole?”
Eerie gray eyes glanced back at Sawyer and me. “I don’t know. Too many factors, and none of my recent visions deal with this situation directly.”
“Then let’s get inside and strategize.”
We piled out of the car, and both Thorne and Sawyer strode to the back. Sawyer grabbed my duffle before Thorne could, stubbornly carrying both bags inside.
Rolling his eyes, Cole keyed in a code to unlock the door, and we stepped into the air-conditioned space.
“So do I get that small little bedroom you tied me up and stuck me in?” I said, crossing my arms as I turned to Thorne. I wasn’t about to let him forget how badly he’d fucked up.
Wincing, he cupped the back of his neck. “Actually, that’s Cole’s room. There’s only two bedrooms. You can stay in the master with me. Sawyer can sleep on the couch.”
“I don’t think so,” Sawyer said, glowering. “Why don’t you be a gentleman and give her the master, and she can let whoever she wants sleep with her. Then the reject gets the couch.”
“Seriously, guys? If it’s a king-sized mattress, three of us can easily fit. I can be in the middle.”
Sawyer turned, cocking his head as he looked at me. The silent message was clear: Do you really want to sleep with this guy?
“I’m fine with whatever Autumn wants,” Thorne said, walking down the hallway. I caught a flash of a cocky smirk before he turned his way-too-muscly back.
“Damn, I left my backpack,” Sawyer muttered, spinning on his heel and heading back outside.
Hesitantly, I followed Thorne, watching as he checked each window and the back door, securing the building. When he was through, he raked his fingers through his hair and turned to face me.
When those rain cloud eyes met mine, I took a step back. I didn’t know what to say to him, and I wasn’t even sure what my feelings were anymore.
“Are you doing okay?” he said, approaching slowly as if he might spook me. His hands went to my hips, gently pulling me against him, and that buzzing bond in my chest heated into a roaring flame at the touch.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” I admitted.
At his touch, my heart rate picked up, and my skin heated. But there was nothing demanding or sexual about the way he held me against his body, and I melted into him.
It was strange how my body fully believed he was my partner, and every time we got close, happy chemicals pumped into my brain. It didn’t make sense, but I was getting tired of fighting it.
“Let’s get some food. It’ll be easier to think when we’re well fed.” Thorne’s hand rubbed down my back.
Nodding, I allowed him to lead me to the kitchen. It opened to the living room, where Cole and Sawyer seemed to be holding a staring contest.
It was unanimously decided we would make a plan to deal with Hunter after a good meal. I was grateful, feeling brittle after the emotional rollercoaster of the day.
I sat on the counter as Thorne cooked. For a short-term rental, it was well stocked with pantry goods, and I had a feeling they’d ordered groceries before their impromptu trip to visit my apartment.
Pasta boiled on the stove as he pan-seared a steak. Moving it to a cutting board to rest, he poured a cup of wine into the pan and scraped off the brown bits.
Smiling, he handed me a glass of the same wine. It wasn’t so bad sipping a drink and watching him pull together a pasta sauce.
After a while, Sawyer joined us in the kitchen. He peeled the lid off a pudding cup.
“We’re making dinner,” I chided him.
Shrugging, Sawyer scooped out vanilla pudding with his tongue. After he swallowed, he said, “It’s just a snack. They have pudding cups. We should get some.”
Rolling my eyes, I swatted his shoulder. “You’re ridiculous.”
Sawyer licked into the cup again, and I swallowed hard, seeing his tongue swipe against the transparent plastic. I knew what that tongue felt like.
“Hey, you can help or get out of the kitchen,” Thorne said, leveling a pair of tongs at Sawyer.
“Autumn isn’t cooking anything,” he argued.
“She’s my inspiration,” Thorne snapped, chasing Sawyer out of the room with a snap of the tongs.
“Asshole,” Sawyer grumbled, settling on the sofa opposite of Cole, who had a smug grin on his face.
In no time at all, Thorne nestled four portions of steak and creamy pasta into bowls. Everyone settled around the table, this one thankfully bigger than the tiny table in our apartment.
I ate quietly while the men chatted. It turned out that Cole and Sawyer both enjoyed reading sci-fi and dystopian books, and once they started debating about Dune, I tuned them out, having never read the books.
Thorne sipped a glass of wine, a small smile on his face as his other hand squeezed my knee. That simple touch sent flames licking up my skin. It was too warm in this room.
Sawyer shattered the moment. “I’m just saying—if Mistborn was written by a woman, people would consider it a romantasy.”
Cole shook his head, standing to gather up all of our plates. Thorne thanked him and then folded his hands on the table.
“Alright, I know we need to find a solution for Hunter. And I’m really sorry we are in this position.
I know it’s not fair.” He searched my face, checking for my reaction.
I gave him a small nod. “But at the end of the day, he is my family and the alpha of my family’s pack, so I’d prefer if we avoided violence. ”
Dropping back into his seat, Cole pulled his foot up onto the cushion so he could rest his forearm on his knee. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“If they threaten Autumn, don’t they deserve death?” Sawyer said, his lip curling to show sharp teeth.
“Yes,” Thorne said, his jaw tensing like he hadn’t thought of it in those terms. “But I’d prefer to not kill the people I grew up with. So perhaps just injuring them could be sufficient.”
“I don’t want anyone killing anyone,” I interjected. “This is ridiculous. There’s gotta be a way to convince Hunter to leave us alone.”
“Our plan was to run and hide,” Cole said, “until they forgot about us. Find a pack far away from here or start our own.”
He gave Sawyer a pointed look. “But if you insist on returning to your human life, that idea is ruined.”
“I said you’re welcome to leave town. I can take care of Autumn,” Sawyer growled.