Chapter 29
Silas
"Come on Lu, I'll buy you a treat…" I kiss up her bare stomach, trying to coax Lucy out of bed. It's early and we want to get to the police station first thing, just to get all this at shit over with.
I'm glad she spent the night with Noah but right now, he's in the shower and when I came into my room to change, I found my little Lucy all snuggled up and alone, naked under the covers, sound asleep.
I watched her sleep but when I realized even my charm couldn't rouse her, I ripped the covers off and began kissing up her legs. I've made it as far as her stomach, but what started as a way to wake her up turned into a fun game of foreplay.
"Sex first, yeah? Then police station? Then treats?"
I laugh against her stomach, crawling higher, sucking her nipple into my mouth.
Lucy moans and squirms, legs spreading wider, her heels digging into my back. "Just fuck me Silas, then we can go."
I mean, I can't say no. That would just be impolite. I just got dressed but there's no reason I can't strip down again. Just as I undo my buckle, ready to thrust in for a nice quick morning fuck, Noah ruins our fun.
He swats my ass, but all it does is spur me on.
"We're going to be late, you two. No sex."
Lucy whines. "Sex. Then treats. Then police."
I chuff against her skin then get up, pulling her with me. Her tits look so nice this morning, like every other morning, but I'm especially ravenous. I lean in again to taste, but Noah smacks my shoulder.
Groaning, I climb out of bed and turn to Lucy. "Wrong order. Police, treats, then sex."
She grumbles and gets up, walking to the door fully naked, yelling back at me over her shoulder, "These treats better be worth it!" She disappears into her bedroom a moment later and I can only hope she and Mateo alone don't fall into the same sex trap we almost did. Because then I'd have to join them and then we'd be really behind.
"Ow," I groan, rubbing the back of my head after Noah smacks me for the second time in five minutes. "I like giving, not receiving, baby."
"I'm not trying to turn you on. We're late."
"We're not late, we don't have an appointment."
"I know but the earlier we go, hopefully the less busy it will be and we can get the hell out of there," Noah says while he hops into a pair of pants. I watch his body disappear beneath layers of clothes with longing.
We've come a long way since we've known each other. Best friends, family, lifelong partners, lovers. I finally understand why he'd stare so much over the years, like his subconscious was trying to tell him something he and I hadn't yet figured out.
As if he can sense my train of thoughts, his large, warm hands clasp together at the back of my neck. His hair is down but pushed back, the sides so short, the strands fall loosely around his face. I run my fingers over the sides of his head, pushing his hair back, tucking it behind his ears. I love this haircut on him. I always thought it looked so punk rock. About the only hard thing about him.
Well, that and the beautiful monster he's packing between his thighs.
"I'm glad it's not just me anymore," Noah muses.
"What's that?"
"The staring."
"I'm not staring."
He smirks, his hazel eyes lighting up. He's so beautiful. I like that he's a little taller than me. A little broader in the shoulders. Makes me feel hella strong when I dominate him.
"I've been thinking about something…"
His brows lift in question.
"Remember Chase? From the club?"
"Atrium? Yeah…"
I can't help it, there's a twinge of jealousy in his voice and it makes my chest swell in pride. But I don't give him shit for it because we can hear Lucy and Mateo making their way into the kitchen.
"Anyway, he uhh, he's got this property. It's about an hour north of Port City. In the woods…" I let the words trail off, and Noah doesn't disappoint. He's not just a pretty face, he picks up where I'm going with this.
"For Lucy? Hmm. We haven't talked to her too much about it. That night with the spreader, though, the way she ran from us…"
"Yeah, that was… fuck, Matty's said it before and I agree. I've never been much of a primal dom, but with Lucy…"
Noah nods, chewing on his lip, releasing me to grab a pair of socks. He sits at the edge of the bed to put them on.
"You don't think she'd enjoy it?"
She shakes his head, still looking away in contemplation. "No, it's not that. I think she would. But umm… I think I would too…"
It takes a second for his words to register. When they do, I look at Noah in surprise, but he's still fiddling around the bedroom not making eye contact. I stalk across the room and grab his shoulder, turning him to face me.
"Don't tease me like this," I rasp, gripping his face, pulling him in for a kiss. It's hard and passionate and a little bit terrifying. Like each moment with him couldn't possibly get any better and I fear losing how insanely perfect he is.
He kisses me back, his hard length pressing against mine. "I'm not teasing, you know I wouldn't joke about this."
"Fuuuuck. Okay. Goddamn this is good. I'll text Chase, see if we can get up there this week."
Noah barks a laugh, playfully shoving at my chest. "Eager much?"
"To chase you and Lucy through the fucking woods? Jesus, even just saying that makes me want to bust a nut. Goddamn. Okay, we gotta get out of this room before I bend you over the dresser and have my way with you."
"Like you told Lucy. Police. Treats. Then sex. What treats are you getting her, anyway?"
"Shit, I hadn't thought that far ahead. I was thinking I'd eat her ass, then make her come all over your face—"
"My face? Not yours?"
"Are you complaining?"
"Not even a little." He gestures with his hand, "Continue."
"See, I'd be balls deep in your ass after eating hers, so you'd be eating her pussy. It's a real round robin situation."
"I see."
"But now I'm realizing that treats and sex are the same thing in my brain."
Noah clears his throat, clearly doing his best not to laugh at me. "Maybe we could stop at that vegan gelato place on 5th on the way home."
I snap my fingers. "You're a genius. That's perfect." Noah chuckles, but when his hand grabs the door knob to exit our bedroom, I wrap my hand over his, stilling him.
"How was she last night?"
"She was okay. She'll be fine. I think she was more scared than anything."
"Noah… I can't… ah, fuck. We can't let anything happen to her."
"I know, man—"
"No, I mean we can't . Like the very idea of her getting hurt makes me fucking—" I suck in a breath and let it out slow. Noah grips my shoulder.
"She will be okay. We won't let anything happen to her."
"We just found her. We just got Matty back. Everything is so good with us."
"Nothing's going to happen. We'll protect each other. You need to calm down."
Fuck. I know I do. He gives me a minute to cool down. It was easy to slip into my usual chill mode when I saw her snuggled and cute in bed this morning. But the reality of finding that picture, the stress of all the pictures that've been accumulating, it's just been a lot. As much as I want to stay in this room, in the apartment, play video games and shut out the world today, we have to go make some progress and get Lucy some protection.
I follow Noah down the hall and we find Lucy and Mateo arguing in the kitchen over her insistence that she no longer go for runs or run errands alone.
"You're not locking me up in this apartment Mateo. Been there, done that, and it sucked. I was miserable that week I barely moved and I've made a lot of progress since then. You can't just expect me to go backwards, to hide from my problems."
"I'm not saying you should stay in the apartment and not move. We'll buy you a treadmill."
"A treadmill? You motherfu—"
"Okay!" I clap my hands together once, then aggressively swing my arm around Mateo's stiff shoulder. "How about we worry about tying Lucy up later."
"You can tie me up, Silas. Mateo has lost his privileges."
I grin wide but when I turn to look at Matty, he's glaring at me.
"Alright, we should go." Ever the diplomat, Noah takes Lucy's hand and guides her toward the front door. He doesn't make it far before his and my phone beep at the same time, Mateo's right after.
Lucy frowns. I dig my phone out of my pocket, but when I see the alert, dread drops in my gut, and I swear. Glancing at Lucy, she eyes me cautiously.
"Is that the alert you set up?"
"Yeah." After all the times Delaney posted lies about Lucy online, we decided it would be smart to set up google alerts on our phones when she was tagged in certain posts.
That hollowed out feeling in my gut worsens, and I try to block my phone from Lucy's view but it's pointless. I don't want to blindside her, either, so together we read through the post. It's an anonymous account of course, but we all know who's responsible.
Lucy stiffens beside me, but she doesn't fall apart.
ZenInTheCity not so wholesome? Southern girl from Port City who's made a living selling healthy tips and tricks to the public has been outed as being a part of an underground sex ring. Seen here with several different men, sources close to the influencer say she's selling lies. In front of the camera, her followers are treated to big smiles and positive affirmations. Behind the scenes she's apparently known to frequent sex clubs and engage in group sex. After months of scandal, is this the thing that finally puts ZenInTheCity in her place? Comment below!
Lucy doesn't say anything at first. Matty swears, and Noah attempts to wrap Lucy in a hug but she waves him off, scrunching her face in frustration. Though the whole underground sex ring part is a lie, the rest of it is kind of true. And the pictures of her kissing all of us, the comment about group sex… definitely true.
So, she can't rely on her friends to support her by exposing Delaney like all the previous times this happened. She can confirm or ignore, denial no longer possible.
"Can't I just catch a break?" She whispers. But she doesn't cry. She's angry, and that's what makes Lucy whirl her finger in the air like a helicopter blade and growl, "Let's take this bitch down."
Noah and I trail after her. She rushes through the hall into the elevator and downstairs, outside into the sun with the fury of a scorned woman.
"Lucy, we need to talk about this."
"Talk about what?"
"Lucy. Lucy!" I sneak in front of her, forcing her steps to slow.
"We need to talk about the fact that our relationship was just outed." There were too many shots of the four of us not to have some speculation of the truth.
She shrugs one shoulder. "I'm not ashamed."
"Glad to hear it. We still need to talk about what we're going to do."
She sidesteps me and Noah and keeps walking before rushing up to the curb and throwing her hand in the air. A yellow cab pulls over almost immediately.
Lucy opens one door before turning to face us. "I wasn't ready for the world to know. I don't know if I ever would have admitted it. But it's out there, with pictures. I'm not denying who I am anymore and I'm certainly not denying what you three mean to me. So, if this is the hill I die on—if this is her last battle with me, then fine. I'm fucking embracing it."
Noah and I stare, stunned, then scramble into the can after her. When we're shut in and the cab starts moving toward the precinct, she turns to me. "I probably should have confirmed if that was okay with y'all first."
Rolling my eyes, I reply, "We're just waiting on you, baby. We're not ashamed, and we've never tried to hide who we are."
Lucy nods once, then turns away, like that settles it. She's taking all this remarkably well.