by Bree Rivers
“Thank you, Kane. That helps.”
“He never planned on meeting all of us in that army and finding out what family really could be,” Martinez called down to them.
“The family he made is clearly superior,” Violet winked at the soldier.
“Damn straight, gorgeous.”
“Come,” Ivy called. “It’s time for dinner.”
SOMEHOW VIOLET GOT roped into eating dinner seated between Kane and Davis. Usually, this wouldn’t be a bad thing, but when she decided she was done, they kept trying to continue to feed her from their plates as well. “Enough you two,” she pushed the potato-laden spoon Davis was trying to shove between her lips. “Give me Maria’s smoothie, that’s all I have space for.”
“Violet—”
“No, Kane. It won’t do me any good if I start to vomit the food you’ve already gotten me to eat.” He grumbled but handed her the frosted glass. “Now,” Violet settled back against the cushions, “what are we doing?”
“You’re recovering,” Shane said. “And that’s more than enough.”
“I know you guys are going after the Senator.”
Silence gripped the room. Ivy smiled at her from across the table. “Violet ... I was talking to Daisy, and if you’re feeling up to it, I think you should work on finishing your collection. Fashion Week is just a few weeks away, and she got them to keep your slot in the new designer showcase. Why don’t we move your equipment from the lake house—”
“We already have.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Gray in surprise. “I figured she’d want something to do while Shane, Davis, and Kane were going all over-protective.”
“And if it were your woman?”
Gray pulled Ivy who was filling everyone’s coffee cups onto his lap and squeezed her. “Good point.”
“That’s a good idea. Sewing can’t be too taxing,” Shane said.
“You’ve never seen her sew.” Kane groaned when he saw the eager gleam in Violet’s eyes.
“I love that idea!”
Bear shook his head. “Violet, you don’t have to do anything. We’re all happy to take care of you.”
“You’re one of us,” Lara added.
Maria smiled and squeezed Violet’s shoulder.
“I need something to—” Violet’s words cut off when she yawned.
“You need to rest.” Kane scooped her up in his arms and took wide strides out of the room. Violet hid her face when she heard the others chuckling. Bear winked at her when she peeked over Kane’s shoulder. When they got to the guest house, Kane deposited her next to the bed and pointed. “Sleep.”
Her heart started to race, her skin grew cold and clammy, and she saw dark spots filling her vision. Violet looked around desperately for something to hold onto ... walls ... ceiling. The darkness was coming to take her, and she couldn’t escape. The shadows began to snap out at her as if they were waiting to consume her, leaving her alone is a place made up of despair and heartache. She was wrenched from the bed, and her lips were covered by a hungry mouth that breathed her in as if she were sweeter than air. Hot males surrounded her, their hard bodies are so easy to melt into as her softness responded to the safety and passion they provided.
When they stepped back all of their breathing was sawing in and out so loud it sounded as if they were in a materials shop.
“Tell us what you need.” Davis ran his hands down her arms.
Kane’s eyes moved over her face so slowly it felt like a caress. “Whatever you want.”
“I can’t sleep in here.” When their faces grew tight, she held out her palms. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I just ... it’s too confined. The nightmares. I’m scared the nightmares are going to come, and I just—”
“Hush, sweeting.” Kane rested his head against the top of her hair.
“We could use the camping equipment. The tent David got Lara has a freaking skylight.”
“Enough blankets and quilts.” Kane’s eyes bored into hers. “It’ll have to work.”
“You want me to sleep outside?”
Davis turned her so he could nestle her against his chest. “You’re exhausted, Precious. We need to make you comfortable enough to sleep.”
“Just because you’re outside doesn’t mean it has to feel like it.”
Violet watched in awe as Davis and Kane put together the couple’s tent and created a toasty haven for her to sleep in. When she crawled inside, it was so warm she stripped off her sweatshirt. The plain t-shirt and yoga pants were more than enough. “Move over, Precious.”
“Really?” Violet giggled. “I’m not sure there’s room.”
“Then you can sleep on top of me,” Davis grunted as he sprawled in the middle of the blankets. “No way am I letting you sleep alone.”
“You two set?” Kane knelt in the entrance and winked at Violet.
“Aren’t you squeezing in as well?”
“Nah, I’ll help the bozos on the wall keep watch.”
When the flap shut, Violet looked at Davis with concern. “This is going to have to be baby steps, Precious until we’re sure you’re okay.”
She curled on her side and smiled when Davis’s arm went around her stomach, and she felt a wall of substantial heat on her back. His smell filled her lungs, and she relaxed in his hold. Somehow, she prayed, please don’t let the nightmares come.
KANE WAS BRINGING CUPS of coffee to the guys on watch when he heard it. Whimpers of pain. Restlessness. It was Violet. He went tearing to the tent, the tray of mugs dropped in the bushes. This was how his night went, every night, for the past ten days. He dove into the tent to meet Davis’ agonized eyes. “Can you wake her?”
“You heard what Shane said same as me.”
Violet continued to thrash, fighting against some horrific memory from which Kane couldn’t save her. It was killing him.
When she started to make gurgling noises, he took a deep breath.
“Screw this,” Davis muttered. He reached out a hand to grab her shoulder.
“Wait.” Kane pulled Violet up into a seated position and moved behind her. He held her head against his shoulder. “Breathe, sweeting.” He kept his breaths long and measured, hoping her body would feel him and respond. His other hand pressed against her stomach, keeping her flush against him, as he continued to breathe for them both. “Help me,” he ordered Davis. When his best friend hesitated he shrugged. “What the hell do we have to lose at this point?”
Davis leaned his forehead against Violet’s. “We’re here, Precious.” He started to blow gentle puffs of air across her face. “The air is all around you.”
Her eyelids fluttered open, and for once she came out of the terror gently rather than catapulting out as if she were on fire. She shuddered as she shed the lingering tendrils of it. Her hands tightened on Kane’s as she leaned forward to brush her lips against Davis. “Really wish this would stop.”
“Shane said it isn’t from the drugs they gave you. Do you have any idea what it’s about?”
“No.” Violet crawled out from the tent and staggered over to the bench. She wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her head against them. Davis and Kane stood before her. Kane looked up and gestured the guys on the walls back. They needed to do this without their friends help. “Why?”
“Why what, Precious?”
“Why are you guys here?”
Kane shook his head as he joined Violet on the bench. “You know why, Violet.”
“I’m going to go and work.”
The two of them stood there helpless as Violet walked quickly to the house where Gray had set up the atelier for her. “At least she’s still working on the collection.” Davis ran his hand over his face. “That’s something, right?”
“We have an idea,” Martinez said.
Looking up at Conroy and Martinez, Kane scowled. The other guys had become huge fans of his girl, and he was beginning to feel territorial as hell. Until Violet agreed to the arrangement Davis and he wanted,
he didn’t have the right to say much, and he knew it. “I’ll try anything at this point,” Davis muttered.
“What do you have in mind?”
VIOLET STRETCHED HER lower back as she rose from hand sewing the lace. Now she knew why wedding dresses were so hard, there was little you could do on the machine if you want them to be truly spectacular. “Done for the day?”
She turned and smiled when she saw Conroy hovering on the threshold. “For now.” She thought it was sweet. These giant warriors, no one under six feet, all found her sewing room to be terrifying. Not one would walk in without her acknowledgment first, and most of them would refuse to leave the doorway.
“Feel like trying something new?”
“What do you have in mind?” She smiled as she thought about the threadbare toy he slept with. She’d never sewn a stuffed animal before, but for these guys who took her safety so seriously she would try. “Feel like switching to Mothra?”
“Nah, Godzilla’s my man. I’m a ride or die kind of guy.”
Violet chuckled. “Didn’t mean to insult your boy. So what did you want?”
“Come with me.”
He led her through the house to an area she hadn’t seen before. For the most part, Violet had stayed in the guest house and the sewing room. Davis and Kane kept talking about this house being theirs, they purchased it for them to live in. She didn’t know about that, yet. She needed more time. At some point, the guys protecting them had transformed what she guessed was meant to be the family room into a gym. There were all kinds of machines around the perimeter, but in the middle was a pile of pads. “Uhm ... Conroy, what are we doing?”
“We thought you’d like to learn some moves.”
“Moves?”
Violet shuffled her feet when she saw Martinez come in. “We want to teach you some self-defense moves.”
“No way we’re letting anyone mess with you again,” Conroy explained.
“But we thought if you felt you could protect yourself ...”
“Maybe my nightmares will stop?”
Violet felt her face heat with the shame that everyone knew what she felt was her private hell. She’d never shared what happened when she slept. She didn’t really understand more of it and refused to make herself relive it when she was awake as she explained it to the men who truly loved her. Not that she understood why they did. Conroy gently removed her hands from her face. Conroy and Martinez glanced at each other and then stared at her hard. “Not one guy here thinks less of you. Don’t ever get that twisted.”
“You aren’t the only one who has nightmares,” Conroy confessed.
“Or PTSD,” Martinez added.
“Thanks,” she shrugged. “That helps.”
“So will this,” Martinez said.
“We promise.”
“He’ll even put his Godzilla on the line.”
Violet chuckled. “Well, if Conroy is willing to bet his Godzilla, I know this is going to be effective.”
KANE AND DAVIS HEARD Shane come in before they saw him. The doctor was having a bad day. Good. So were they. If Violet wasn’t in her sewing room working with a focus that shut everyone and everything out she was in the gym with two of the most notorious womanizers in their entire division. “Don’t even start,” he told Shane before the other man could open his mouth.
“They make sure she eats,” Davis added.
“She’s supposed to be resting,” Shane yelled.
“We know.” Kane rested his head in his hands. “We’ve told her. We’ve told them. It doesn’t matter, they never pay attention to us.”
Shane poured them each some bourbon and slid the glasses across the table. “Or me. Her blood tests are better at least. Whatever the bastard did to her seems to be working its way out of her system.”
“So my Precious will remember me?”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t already.”
Kane lifted his head to stare at Shane. “Is there anything you aren’t telling us?”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to know ... my fath—I mean the Senator. Where would he get this kind of drug? Why would he use it on her? He was already preoccupied with Violet, but this is some kind of weird ass obsession bullshit. I love Violet with all my heart, but my father doesn’t love anyone or anything. Why would he go this far for her?”
“You really think with everything we’ve gone through in the sandbox that we’d ever understand what a sociopath will do?”
“All I care about right now is that my Precious is coming back to me.”
Kane sighed as Davis went slamming out of David and Lara’s house. “This is hardest on him.”
“She really doesn’t remember—”
“No, damn it. Violet says her body responds to his smell and she trusts that. She’ll sleep with him. She avoids saying his name, though, and I think it’s because she doesn’t know what it is. He does though. It’s killing him.”
“And the nightmares?”
“They’re still there.”
“Same? I mean as before, are they the same as what you saw when you guys were in the lake house?”
“No. Wait. How’d you know?”
“I conferred with a dozen different psychiatrists before coming out today. You do realize that she’s sparring with Martinez and Conroy, right?”
“What about it?”
“Shouldn’t you be supervising?”
Kane sighed. “She doesn’t like us in there.”
“Since when do you give her a choice?”
Kane tossed back the amber liquid and then did the same with the glass meant for Davis. “I’ll give her anything she needs to heal, even if it means her leaving me. Conroy and Martinez believe if she feels powerful when she’s awake, she’ll feel less out of control when she’s asleep.”
“Is it working?”
Kane went to the bar and refilled his glass. “I don’t know. The nightmares still come, but she seems to recover faster from them. We’ve started to do something else, use our bodies to make hers feel us. Not sure if I can explain.”
“What made you decide to do that?”
“Sounded like she was drowning. I just ... we wanted her body to know there was air ... that she could breathe ... even if her mind doesn’t.”
“Okay,” Shane leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
“You disagree?”
“No,” Shane shrugged. “If it seems to help it’s got to be better than nothing.”
“Yeah.” Kane ran his hand over his face. “That’s what it feels like I’ve got though ... nothing.” He left the doctor in the living room and wandered over to the house he and Davis had just purchased. Not that it felt like theirs yet. Violet continued to insist on sleeping outside every night, the guys on guard detail were sleeping in every room on the second floor, and the first was taken over by what they needed. He slid open the pocket door to the formal dining room which was currently a gym.
Where the love of his life was being flipped onto her back by a guy, who convinced him to do his first foursome.
“That was amazing!” Violet popped up from the matt with the widest smile Kane had ever seen her wear. “How do you get the leverage, though? And what if the other guy has a weapon, how do you secure his hand?”
“I told you when we started ... one step at a time.”
“Yeah, but come on. You took a whole week to teach me to fall, I want to put the hurt on someone.” She jumped with every word, the joy bursting out of her in so many different ways.
“No, Violet. I let you push yourself too hard I’ve got Shane to deal with.”
“Shane? What about Kane?”
“No one scares us more than the doc,” Kane explained. “Conroy knows I’ll just put a beating on him—”
“You’d try,” Conroy snorted.
“—if he hurt you. The doc, though, the doc would torture and maim.”
Violet went running at Kane and threw herself into his arms. “Did you see? I
did the fall perfectly! I didn’t get hurt at all, and I popped back up to take him down. Conroy said he never saw anyone take to the training so fast. He thinks I can learn everything you and Davis know.”
Kane knew she was talking to him. It was hard to hear the words over the rushing of the blood in his veins. Her body was pressed against him. Her voice was light, and her eyes were bright.
She was his Violet again.
“What’s the big celebration about?” Davis came in with a smile.
“Violet’s proceeding quickly with her training.”
“I see. I would expect no less from my Precious.” Without warning, Violet slipped from his arms and ran straight at Davis. She wrapped herself around him and snuggled her face into his neck. “Someone’s feeling proud.”
“That’s not all I’m feeling.” Violet cupped Davis’s face in her hands and kissed him. It shocked Davis so much he froze. She tugged at his hair and gave a sweet small growl in the back of her throat. “Kiss me.”
“Whatever my Precious commands,” Davis said. His lips covered hers and Kane smiled as Violet’s entire body seemed to exhale.
“I command you two to fuck me,” she nodded at them for good measure.
“You don’t get to command with me, sweeting. Take off your clothes.”
Violet froze her eyes flying between Kane and Davis as her hands fisted. Kane was terrified that she wouldn’t do it when she reached up and pulled her t-shirt over her head. This was what he needed the most. This was what his dreams were tortured by and what his conscience screamed he did not deserve. He stayed where he was, Davis by his side as she shed her clothing with quick fingers. When she was naked from head to toe, he pointed to the cushioned matt. “Hands and knees.”
She slid down, and Davis moved closer to help her reach the position. “Arch up, Precious. Show us your pussy.”
Kane knelt before her, opening his pants as he did. Davis was already behind her, his cock waiting. He growled as Davis ran his hands over her back and ass murmuring his approval, she arched herself higher making her pussy even more available to them. Looking down, Kane tilted her face up, so her glazed eyes met his. Her lips trembled but were open, screaming their invitation.