Chapter 16
SIXTEEN | COLTEN
It’s been over a minute, and nobody has said a goddamn word—just heavy breaths, eyes darting back and forth, and the voice of a crow outside somewhere on the patio roof.
Taryn stands rigid at the foyer’s threshold, where it turns into the living room.
She’s dressed in tight black yoga pants that mold to her curves and a tan Nirvana tank top, her eyes wide.
I don’t think she’s blinked. If I focus hard enough, I can feel her rapid heartbeat vibrating the floor, the soles of my shoes soaking up the brisk drumming.
I enjoy it far too much.
She huffs out a frustrated breath. “What the fu—”
I shoot her a judgmental glare, her lips slamming together quickly. Her large chestnut eyes roll with her irritation.
“Taryn, this is Tristan and Elena,” Cameron introduces, gesturing to Tristan, immersed in his game in the corner on the chair, and Elena, who is on my lap, shyly gripping my T-shirt in her fists.
They don’t get introduced to many people. Sure, they attend school and have activities, but we primarily keep to ourselves up on the hill. This is the first time anyone else has been living in this house.
It may take an adjustment period. For all of us.
Taryn knits her arms together, her bare foot tapping on the floor lit with a ray of sunlight from the windows. She’s spewing with anger, unable to contain it as her eyes dart back and forth between them.
It might be a long adjustment period.
“Cameron, can I talk to you outside?” she grits through her teeth.
Fuck no.
“You can talk here,” I say flatly, pulling a growl from her throat. I almost smile.
“Okay. Fine. So, you kid—”
I cock my head, pinning her with a stare. “Watch it,” I seethe.
Elena stirs on my chest at my angered tone, strands of her soft, naturally curly hair tickling my neck. Her eyes haven’t left Taryn’s once. Tristan, on the other hand, couldn’t care less.
Taryn purses her full pink lips, lips I watched wrap around Cameron’s and Brennan’s cocks a few nights ago like a good little whore taking her punishment.
I swear I could smell her arousal wafting through the trees, the scent turning me around and rooting me in the shadows with Rossco while I watched them.
Watched her.
And I shouldn’t have.
I’m not a voyeur. I don’t find any amount of pleasure in observing. I would rather be the one touching. Fucking. Owning their body because I crave that control, and that’s what gets me off.
The other night was an abnormality.
The way she took their dicks to the back of her throat on her knees with her thighs spread apart had me growing painfully hard. She may have resisted at first, but she clenched her thighs at the end, telling me she wanted to be filled. It made me want her.
Which is problematic because she’s off limits.
So, after the twins came all over her tits and poured down her throat, I walked back to the cabin and immediately called Britt, ordering her to get her ass to my place.
I found that pink rabbit in my little ghost’s underwear drawer at the rental that afternoon before she escaped. It’s currently burning a hole in my bedside table.
When I brought it back to my place, I wondered how she touched herself with it. What she thought about. Finding that toy was like a bomb straight to the wall I built, convincing myself I’d never touch her because she’s here for Elena and Tristan.
Not for me.
Not for Cam and Bren.
She’s here for them.
I called Brennan and Cameron and told them I saw her bolt with Rossco.
I followed her while they found us using the tracker they implanted under her skin the night they brought her home.
After they were finished with her, I knew they were returning her to the tower.
Visions flickered behind my eyes of Taryn touching herself in the dark after my brothers used her like that, maybe desiring her pink toy to get her to the precipice.
If it weren’t for Britt coming over that night, I wouldn’t have trusted myself not to barge in and validate that Taryn was wet and craving more, even if she was reluctant to admit it.
If I keep myself satiated and dive into a hot piece of ass every night, it will lessen the craving to touch her.
I prefer sex long and hard, but that night with Britt took much longer than usual. It wasn’t until the image of my little ghost writhing under me appeared instead.
That’s all it took for me.
God, I am so fucked.
“We are here to answer your questions,” Brennan tells Taryn, dragging me out of my thoughts. Jessica sits next to him, her legs crossed and foot bouncing. I know she hates this and hates to leave, but she needs to. “But think about your questions first before they leave your mouth,” he forewarns.
Taryn scowls at him and swipes her hair behind her shoulder. “Why am I here?” she probes, her gaze darting to each of us.
Cameron walks into the living room, lowering himself to the arm of the couch Elena and I are on. “We needed someone more permanent when Jess leaves for college in a month. After all this family has been through, we can’t have another person leave us.”
Her eyes flash to mine, shimmering with a blend of pity and concern.
She causes the pulse in my neck to pound harder.
Sure, we could’ve asked her to be our live-in nanny—or even hired one.
We had plenty of chances to be up-front and honest with her about our situation once Jess leaves for college.
But my brothers and I don’t trust easily.
And the truth is, nannies and babysitters are temporary.
We weren’t looking for someone who would bail when we needed them the most. When you’ve experienced loss, even the people who barely touch your life can leave a gaping hole when they’re gone.
A void you never knew could cut so deeply.
Taryn is different. She’s an independent and kind spirit who seems to have no ties to anything or anyone, from what I learned from our few interviews for the teaching position, making her an easy target compared to other women we considered.
The likelihood of anyone even realizing she’s missing, or that we took her, is slim.
By abducting her and keeping her here, we are protecting ourselves.
Shielding our vulnerable family from someone we could’ve easily hired just for them to leave us as quickly.
We didn’t have time to convince Taryn and give her the chance to say no. It’s not ideal, but I’d do anything to protect my siblings, even if it means bending morals and taking an unconventional approach to ensure she doesn’t leave us.
Taryn considers Cameron’s words. It’s only been a few days, and I can already tell she has a soft spot for him. It awakens a pang of jealousy that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
“Oh. Uh— So I’m like a nanny then?” She thinks harder. “An enslaved nanny.”
“An enslaved nanny getting paid way more than any second-grade teacher ever would,” I clarify.
Elena sits up, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She turns her head to peer up at me. “What does enslaved mean?”
I assume Tristan looks up for the first time, wondering the same thing. But he doesn’t say a word. He never has much to say; he listens. A lot.
“See, young ears pick up everything, Taryn,” Brennan retells her, crossing his arms and slouching into the back of the couch. “Remember the rules.”
I tighten my arms around Elena’s small frame. “It means she’s not going anywhere.”
Elena nods and pushes herself off me to stand. She wearily approaches Taryn in her purple fluffy slippers and pajamas that she usually doesn’t get out of until around eleven. Which, looking at the watch on my wrist, is thirty minutes from now. A reminder that I have shit I need to get back to.
But this family matter needed my full attention.
Elena gazes up at her, the first hint of a genuine smile flickering across Taryn’s face, but then her lips twist to the side, and it falters. It’s like one of those indecisive neon signs when it can’t decide if it wants to be on or off and just flickers.
Taryn shifts her focus to Tristan, and his head immediately drops back to his game, avoiding her. “How old are they?”
“Tristan is seven, and Elena is five,” Jess speaks up for the first time since Taryn came downstairs.
“Am I—” She swallows. “Teaching them? Homeschooling?”
Jessica shakes her head. “In a few weeks, you’ll take them to school.
I’ll go with you, of course, up until I leave.
You’ll take them to after-school activities and sports on weekends and hang out with them when Cam, Bren, and Colt are out in the orchard or doing business things—pretty much anything a nanny would do. ”
She huffs out a laugh. “You’ll trust me to leave? What if I tell someone what the Lindenvale children are actually up to on the hill besides avoiding everyone?”
“You can try to leave, but we’ll always be able to find you,” Cameron informs her.
Her eyes transform into little slits as she glares at him.
“Also, if you run or decide to tell someone, I can access all your bank accounts,” I enlighten. Her head whips toward me so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t get whiplash. I nod. “Pretty good savings account for a teacher that moves constantly and eats out all the time.”
She shifts her weight, uncomfortable in her skin under my stare.
I know she eats out regularly from studying her bank statements.
You can learn a lot about someone by their spending habits.
Now, I have a sneaking suspicion she lied about her cooking abilities in her interview.
If so, she should get disciplined for that.
Blood rushes to my cock at the thought. I move to distract myself, placing an arm across the back of the couch.
She releases a shallow breath. “How did you…”