Chapter 5
I wake up just as the sun is starting to come up …
and I am absolutely roasting! I start wiggling, trying to kick the blanket off of me but there is something heavy pinning me down.
Dalton croaks out ‘what’s wrong?’ while he is still mostly asleep.
“We need a better air conditioner! I feel like a twice baked potato.”
I hear soft chuckles from both sides of me, and some of the weight on my back disappears. My best guess is that they each had a hand on my back and a leg on or against my legs. They flip the blanket off of my back and I instantly feel cooler.
“Well, lookie there … she’s sunny side up,” I hear Dalton murmur, followed by him slapping my bare booty cheek. I realize my shirt has ridden up during the night and my full booty is on display now.
“It’s too early for a full moon. And you said no funny business.
” I whine, making a half-hearted attempt to pull my shirt back down.
I feel fingers slide over both cheeks as they pull my shirt down and the blanket back up over my rear, leaving it off of my back.
I hear someone whisper ‘go back to sleep’ but I am already drifting off.
When I wake up again, a few hours have passed, and the guys are no longer in bed. However, I open my eyes to see a pair of green eyes just a few inches away from my face, glaring at me. “Good morning, Snickers. Did no one feed you yet? Poor old girl. Wasting away to nothin’ but fur and bones.”
I reach out and scratch my oldest cat under her chin before I sit up in bed and stretch. The house is quiet as I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. As I waddle back through the bedroom, I glance at the clock to see that it is almost 9 am, around the time I normally get up on a Friday.
My night shirt comes down to just above my knees, so I don’t bother changing before heading to the kitchen to feed the cats.
Sahara is laying on the couch, the bed already folded away, reading another romance book.
Tray is sitting in the recliner again, with Butterfinger in his lap, and he is doing something on his phone.
Snickers and Baby Ruth are sitting by the food bowls, waiting on me. “Don’t believe those girls! They have been fed twice this morning.” Sahara informs me before I can open a can of food. I laugh at the looks the cats give me when I start making my iced coffee instead of giving them more food.
“Yep, that would be my spoiled chunky monkeys.” I say as I walk back into the living room. “When did the guys leave? I know whatever they are doing wasn’t supposed to take long.”
“They have only been gone about 15 minutes. It probably woke you when they left.” Sahara looks at me over her book. “Hey! You are not as tomato-ish this morning.”
I giggle along with her as I curl up on the loveseat to drink my coffee, making sure my shirt is tucked in around my legs, so that I am not flashing anyone. “The aloe burn gel works miracles on my sunburns.”
I am almost done with my coffee when I feel Tray staring at me, so I glance over at him.
“Your pussy is giving me the stink eye.” He says when our eyes meet.
I hear Sahara gasp at his statement as I am looking down to make sure my shirt is still tucked.
We all laugh as I realize he was talking about Baby Ruth, who was sitting on my feet, giving him a dirty look.
“She tends to be grumpy when she doesn’t get her 5th can of food in the morning.
” I say as I move my feet out from under the brat …
I mean cat … who growls at me for moving.
I take my empty cup to the kitchen then walk back through the living room.
“I’m gonna take a quick shower. I feel sticky from all of the aloe. ”
As I am drying off, I check my skin in the mirror.
Still pink but no longer hot to the touch.
I should be back to my usual pale white by the wedding, if I stay out of the sun between now and then.
I walk into the bedroom with just the towel wrapped around me …
to find Tray leaning on the door frame into the living room.
I walk past him and start pulling clothes out of the dresser.
He is still standing in the doorway, watching me, so I turn my back to him and drop the towel.
Normally, I would try to hide my body, but I know he already seen my jelly rolls.
If seeing my stretch marks and jiggly bits in the daylight turns him off, it is better to know that now, before any attempts are made for him joining us in play time.
I try to act natural, not nervous, as I get dressed with my back to him … and with him watching. I start with my panties and shorts, then my sports bra. I hear him clear his throat when I reach for my shirt, so I look over my shoulder at him. “Aloe?” He croaks out before clearing his throat again.
I nod my head, and we both walk over to the side of the bed where the guys put aloe on my burns last night.
He picks up the bottle from the nightstand and I turn my back to him.
I am facing the bedroom doorway into the living room, holding my shirt in front of my chest, but I look down at the floor to give him better access to my neck and shoulders.
He leans forward, kissing my shoulder, and whispers, “Relax. I think you are beautiful. Breathe before you pass out on me.”
I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath.
I relax my shoulders and take a deep breath, let it out slowly, then another deep breath.
“Good girl.” Tray places another soft kiss on my shoulder then starts spreading on the aloe gel.
His movements are slow and gentle as he takes his time with the aloe.
When he is finished with my back, he moves around to do the front. His touch is never inappropriate, staying only on the areas that are pink, but I am still extremely aroused … and possibly breathing a little harder than I should be for standing still.
He tilts my chin up and gently applies the aloe to my face … before placing a glob of aloe on the tip of my nose. I giggle about it as he walks back behind me and starts rubbing the knot in my neck again.
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and see Sahara watching us from the living room. She notices me looking so she fans herself with her book then acts like she is wiping drool off her face.
I chuckle and drop my head forward again, trying not to moan as Tray hits a really sore area. He takes a small step forward, pressing himself against my lower back, letting me silently know exactly how hard he is.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, him rubbing my neck, while also slightly rubbing his erection against me. I can honestly say that we are both enjoying the interaction, slightly lost in the bliss.
“What the hell is going on!” I hear Gunner yell from the living room. I look up to see him and Dalton in the doorway, watching us. Tray’s hands freeze on my neck.
“He is putting aloe on her sunburn, like I asked him to, if she was up before we got back.” Dalton responds in a casual tone, before giving us a wink. “Nothing to see here, move along.”
Dalton nudges Gunner toward the kitchen.
Once they are gone from the doorway, Tray releases the breath he had been holding.
“Fuck! I thought Gunner was going to kick my ass.” He quietly says, moving his hands from my neck to my hips and giving one more slow, hard grind of his hips into my southern cheeks.
“Damn. I am about to cum, hun. I gotta go take care of this.” He releases me and heads straight into the bathroom. I softly giggle to myself as I put my shirt on. I walk into the living room like nothing had happened, although my nipples are throbbing and my panties are probably soaked.
Gunner is still questioning Dalton about what he just witnessed when I join them in the kitchen. Dalton finally yells at his brother, ‘Will you shut the fuck up!’, which has the desired effect of causing Gunner to stop talking for a moment.
“Damn it! Okay, you wanna know the truth? I am trying to protect my girl! Since Tray has been and will be staying with us about half the time, we are trying to make sure that Lyra is comfortable enough with him that she won’t have a panic attack if they are alone.
” Dalton stares at Gunner before continuing.
“We will have to go out of town on business sometimes once we get our company going. I don’t want her here by herself, just in case she has a panic attack.
And we need her to be okay with him helping her if she does have one when I am not here.
” Dalton takes a breath and runs his hand through his hair in frustration.
“I wasn’t going to tell her, but I am probably going to see if Slade or Wyatt would consider helping out as well.
Maybe some of the guys from our crew that we trust since Tray may have to go with us at times.
I don’t want to leave her alone on this mountain!
” The guys go silent, glaring at each other.
Sahara steps up to my left side and hugs me.
“That makes sense to me. I have been here when she had a night terror and woke up in a panic. It was extremely scary for me … and I wasn’t the one having the attack!
” She leans against the counter next to me, grinning, before adding, “I probably shouldn’t mention that it was super HOT watching Tray take care of her.
I wouldn’t mind a neck rub after watching that. ”
Gunner growls at the comment but I interject before he can say anything.
“Chill guys! I have lived on this mountain - by myself - for several years now. Yes, I do have night terrors. Yes, I do have panic attacks occasionally. I am kinda used to it by now … but I do feel safer if someone I trust is here with me.” The guys go quiet as they are thinking about my confession.
Tray walks into the silent kitchen, looks at the four of us, then leans against the counter on my right side, keeping over a foot of space between us.
“So … not to break up the party or anything, but can I ask you a question?” We all turn to look at him, but he nudges my arm with his elbow.
“The sunroom you want to add on … how are you going to get in it?”
I bust out laughing. “I was waiting for one of you to notice that. I wasn’t sure where it would be best to put the door, so it isn’t in my sketches.” That gets a small chuckle out of Dalton and Gunner.
“We can work on better details after the wedding. I was just getting a rough idea of what materials I need to buy. I didn’t expect to get caught that early in my planning stage.”
“Okay, folks. Are we ready to get moving? I want to have everything out of my apartment by this afternoon, so I can turn my keys over to the manager.” Sahara pipes up, eager to get things done. Gunner and Sahara drive the work truck while Dalton and Tray hop in my truck, with me driving.
It is quiet in the truck as we bounce down the mountain, but I can’t hold back my questions once we reach the paved road. “So … how much of what you told Gunner was bull crap and how much was true?”
“Honestly, baby girl … it was all true, I just left out a few details. I do worry about you being alone on the mountain, panic attacks or not. I know you can take care of yourself just fine, but I still worry. And I do want you to be comfortable around the guys for the exact reasons I gave. I plan on having Slade and Wyatt do some landscaping work around the house, which means you might be alone when they are there. I will probably have some of our crew help build the additions to the house. Only the guys that I have absolute trust in, and Tray will be there if I am not.” Dalton puts his hand on my thigh, rubbing small circles.
“I want you to be happy … but, more importantly, I need you to be safe. I didn’t know how bad your attacks were until you had a night terror with me there.
I am not afraid to admit that it scared the hell out of me, baby.
Had I known, I would have moved in with you as soon as you moved into the house.
You would never have been alone up there. ”
“Things happen for a reason. My meds help some with the attacks but … if I take my nighttime meds, it knocks me out in a short period, which you witnessed last night. If I don’t take the nighttime meds, it is easier to wake me up for sex in the middle of the night, but I run the risk of having the night terrors. ”
“Unfortunately, there is no middle ground between the two. And yes, when you are staying the night, I have been skipping that pill. I will take it when you are not here, but I like sex too much to not be awake for it. Considering that it was over 6 months before I had a night terror when you were there, I am willing to risk it. Thinking of sex, what were the details that you didn’t tell Gunner? ”
“Baby girl! You absolutely should not be skipping those pills! Fuck! You should have told me! Damn it. Now I feel bad for all of our nighttime action. What would your parents say about you skipping meds? I should bend you over my knee and spank your bare ass for that.”
Tray groans from the back seat, but I burst out laughing at the threat.
“That’s a hard no. Spanking is not one of my kinks.
And I want to see you walk up to my parents and tell them that I have been skipping some meds so we can be fucking all night long.
Now, quit stalling. I want to know those details. ”
Dalton gives me a horrified look about saying anything like that to my parents.
He opens and closes his mouth several times before he is able to speak.
“Oh hell no. That’s not happening. They do not need to know that we spend so much time …
not sleeping … in your bed. And you already know the basic details that I didn’t tell my brother.
At some point in the future, after we are married and if you are comfortable with it, Tray will start joining some of our nighttime activities.
Now, no more talk about sex until after this weekend. ”
I hear Tray mutter ‘oh fuck’ from the back seat as he tries to adjust the front of his jeans. Our eyes meet in the rearview mirror … and I lick my lips, causing Tray to groan again and Dalton to grin. The future should be … fascinating.