Graham’s anguish came at me in full waves and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t crushed by our decision but I was.
I hadn’t wanted to let Sasha go anymore than Graham, no matter how I’d maintained my stoicism.
In my heart, I’d hoped she would come back and when she did, I’d probably never been happier, despite the dire circumstances.
“I feel like we’re at a funeral,” Stevie quipped, trying his best to lighten the mood but no one cracked a smile.
Because that’s exactly how we felt—like we were at a funeral.
26
Sasha
Six Weeks Later
I waved goodbye to Mr. McCally before slipping on my mittens and heading out into the snowy field.
“See ye tomorrow, eh, Blanche?” the old man yelled, his brogue still delightful in my ears.
“You bet,” I called back, trying to mimic his accent without being obvious about it. I adjusted my coat around my scarf and buttoned it up as high as it would go, without taking off my mittens.
It was bitterly cold, the likes of which I’d never felt. Wind whipped against the little bit of exposed skin left on my face and I silently cursed my fair skin again but for a whole new reason.
I now knew the effects of windburn on pale skin. Not pretty.
On the other hand, I was beginning to blend in more with the locals in the quaint little town of Balloch.
I’d been here for almost a month after making my way northeast following my escape from the “drillers” whom I’d thought were my friends.
I thought they were more than my friends. I thought they loved me. What a damned fool I was.
Despite being in the middle of nowhere, Christmas was apparent everywhere in the tiny spot. The townsfolk had taken great pride in decorating fence posts along the endlessly snowy fields with ribbons and wreaths.
Even in my desolation, I had to admit there was an inspiring beauty to everywhere. When I was a child, I think that was exactly how I pictured Santa’s village.
I walked up the icy path leading away from Mr. McCally’s small farm and into the village itself. I’d been very fortunate to have landed there. It wasn’t just because the townsfolk had welcomed Blanche Arbor into their midst with very little question, offering my new persona a job as a housekeeper in their various farms. It was also because Balloch boasted a Western Union.
That was why I’d chosen to stay there.
Blanche Arbor was the ID I’d stolen from a woman who had vaguely resembled me as I escaped Inverness. The only person who knew who I’d become was Alex and that was only because I’d needed her to send me money.
“I’m coming to you,” Alex told me, calling my phone only from her own burner.
“Uh no,” I insisted. “They could be watching you. That’s why you’re calling me on an untraceable phone, remember?”
“I hate this!” Alex wailed. “I need to see you, Sash. You can’t keep living like this!”
“It’ll be over soon,” I promised but of course I was lying to her. If anything, this was just beginning.
At least I didn’t have to ask her for money anymore, not when I was making my own.
From biochemist to housemaid.
In all fairness, I didn’t think of myself as the same person anymore. I was trying my best to assimilate, not only for my own safety but also that I could forget about a life I could never return to.
“What are you telling my mom?” I wanted to know.
“Ariel thinks you’re on a top-secret mission to Russia,” Alex muttered. “Trust me, I don’t think she could be anymore freaked out if I told her the truth.”
“You’re not telling her anything,” I insisted and she sighed.
“I’m not going to say anything to her,” she promised. “But I wish you could come home.”
“This is my home now,” I told her. “Maybe one day you can come visit.”
I was thinking about the tears in Alex’s voice as I ventured into the town through Barn Church Road and then turned left on Culloden.
The primary school was letting out and I couldn’t help but pause to watch the children scampering down Inverness toward the main road, screeching with delight as the plowed into one another.
I realized what they were so happy about—it was the start of Christmas break.
A sad smile touched my lips and I continued toward the Kinney’s who had rented me a room in their attic. It was almost like an apartment, with its own bathroom and I found it insufferably lonely.
The Kinneys traveled a fair bit for work, both of them freelance something or the other from the city who had given up the pain of pavement for the comfort of country. They were happy to have someone to watch their demon cat when they were gone.
I didn’t mind. After living with seven men, I was glad to have the company.
You never lived with seven men, I chided myself. You barely stayed with them.
And yet, they had changed me in ways I could never explain.
I didn’t want to think about them, none of them. Their silence spoke volumes to me. When I’d been on the road for those first two weeks, I’d been looking over my shoulder constantly, not because I expected someone to come chasing after me but because I’d hoped to see one of their faces coming to bring me back.
When they didn’t, I realized that they were probably glad I’d left. I was one less thing for them to worry about now.
Letting myself into the house, I paused to remove my boots and coat before ambling into the living room. The Kinneys were in Jamaica over the holidays but they had given me permission to pull out their old “yule” tree and decorate it. I’d barely gotten started the night before.
I was forcing myself to go through the motions, to be this new woman with a new identity.
I didn’t know who I was bound to become as Blanche but I knew I had to at least pretend to get there.
It’s psychology 101, you see. You can trick your mind into doing anything. If I tell myself I’m Blanche Arbor long enough, I will become Blanche Arbor, Scottish Highlander and housekeeper with an accent et al.
Jinx, the demon cat, appeared, his black head butting against my leg as he walked around, eyeing the glass Christmas decorations with too much interest.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned him. “If you break one of those, I’m throwing you out and the wolves can eat you.”
He stared at me balefully with yellow eyes.
“You think I’m kidding?”
He meowed and hissed at me before showing me his asshole and disappearing into the kitchen.
“Good talk!” I called after him and instantly a stab of loneliness struck me. The melancholy, the longing to be home and with Alex and my Mom over the holidays struck me with a viciousness I hadn’t expected but it was more than that, much, much more than that.
I missed those backstabbing bastards.
Each and every one of them. At night, I replayed the details of their faces, their nuances. I heard their voices in my head, their laughter, their banter.
I played with myself, thinking about their tongues, their fingers, their cocks. They’d taken me to heights I’d never even dreamed imaginable and left me begging for more. And then, they betrayed me like all of that had meant nothing to them.
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed it away quickly. There was no crying. I had no tears left for them.
“It’s just you and me now,” I murmured, looking up at the six-foot tree. I leaned down to grab a garland from the water damaged box on the floor and draped it artfully around the long limbs.
Carefully, I unwrapped the glass ornaments and marveled at their ugliness, a small smile on my face to overshadow the impending gloom forming in my gut.
Slowly, I became aware of a whooshing noise and I turned to look around curiously as it grew louder.
Jinx mewled at me, his eyes wider than usual and I realized the noise was coming from outside.
I hurried to the window to loo
k into the snow-laden lawn and suddenly, my jaw dropped in shock. A helicopter was making its descent from the heavens and it was unmistakably the white and blue logo of Seven Drawers LTD.
“Oh no!” I cried, backing away from the window. They’d found me!
I froze in my spot, unsure of what course of action to take.
If I ran, they’d find me in a heartbeat with the chopper. If I stayed what would they do?
I needed to hide. They wouldn’t burst in the door, would they?
Yet I did nothing. I didn’t run. I didn’t hide. I simply remained in place and waited for the inevitable knock, which came almost ten minutes later.
I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath.
If they had wanted to hurt you, they would have done that by now. They had every opportunity.
The knocking was neither loud nor threatening but it was incessant. They weren’t going away.
And I didn’t want them to.
I’d been dreaming about their faces, after all.
“SASHA!”
That was precisely what I’d needed as inspiration and I bolted toward the door before they could call me by my real name again.
I flung the door open and glared at the team whose faces melted in relief in unison.
“I TOLD YOU!” Stevie squealed, jumping around like he was doing an Irish jig. “I knew it was her!”
“Keep your damned voices down!” I hissed, yanking them inside. “The neighbors will talk.”
A look of contrition fell upon them and I herded them into the living room angrily.
“What do you want?” I snapped but my eyes were racing over all their faces, checking them out for signs of tiredness or upset. They looked drawn, a little worse for wear but still the same handsome septuplets I’d missed with every fiber of my being.
“What do we want?” Graham asked in shock. “Are you really asking us that? We want—no, we need you to come home with us!”
I scoffed, folding my arms over my bosom and stared at him.
“Why? So you can lie to me some more? Did Mirror, Mirror send you here?”
“Sasha, you—” Dan started to say but I cut him off.
“I’m not Sasha, not anymore.”
“Blanche, then,” Stevie said and I looked at him in surprise.
“How did you know that?”
He shrugged and grinned.
“I put a trace on Alex’s financials. When I saw she was sending money to Blanche Arbor in Scotland, I knew it had to be you.”
I didn’t know whether to be furious or awed by his ingenuity.
I chose to be both.
“Well you have no right!” I spat but I didn’t mean it. I was so happy they were there, I wanted to cry.
“We have every right,” Harry replied, stepping toward me. “You’re a part of us now, whether you like it or not.”
I couldn’t step away from his outstretched hand and I nuzzled my face into his hand, inhaling his scent.
No! I warned myself. No, I can’t do this. I can’t trust them.
As he he sensed my reservation, Harry’s hand firmed against my face and he drew my eyes up to meet his blazing irises.
“You’ve got it all wrong. We had no idea what Mirror, Mirror was doing until you told us,” he explained gently.
“We were bound by a confidentiality waiver,” Seth added. “We wanted to tell you who we worked for but we couldn’t.”
“And we never lied to you, Sasha. We are drillers. Mirror, Mirror was just a side job so to speak,” Graham added. “I wanted to tell you but…”
He trailed off under the withering gaze of the others.
I looked at them, taking in their faces one by one and exhaled in a hot breath.
What they were saying certainly made sense but could I believe it?
“Sasha, we’ve never lied to you,” Dan insisted, stepping forward to touch my other cheek.
I lowered my gaze and shook my head.
“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled. “I can’t go with you anyway.”
“If you’re worried about Mirror, Mirror, I promise you that we’ll protect you,” Jim said and I suddenly realized that I was encircled in all of my boys. I’d never felt safer but that didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t go with them.
“I’m not worried about Mirror, Mirror,” I sighed. “I mean, I am but that’s not why.”
They stared at me, waiting.
I bit on my lower lip.
“I’m pregnant.”
The wave of shock was charged with excitement and the men embraced me with kisses and hugs, each one of them patting my stomach as I stared at them, stunned.
“W-what are you doing?” I demanded. “You have a pact about this. You can’t father a child!”
“One of us can’t,” Dan agreed, grinning at me before turning to look at his friends. “But all of us can.”
My lower lip began to quiver and I choked on a sob.
“What do you say, Sasha Snow? Will you be the mother of our child?” Stevie teased. I sniffled back my tears of happiness and nodded.
“I would be honored,” I mewled and allowed myself to be swarmed by their muscled arms.
Epilogue
SASHA
My toes poked out of the end of the blanket we all shared and I admired the manicure job that Bash had done on them. If the contract drilling didn’t work out, he’d certainly have a future in esthetics.
I stretched and turned onto my right look at Jim and kissed his cheek before turning to my left and dropping one on Dan’s cheek. I never really knew which one would be at my side in the morning and I liked it that way. It kept me on my perfectly coiffed toes.
Popping my head up, I looked at the rest of my horde along the emperor mattress we shared and gently tugged the comforter off Seth who was the only one not waking amongst us. I was glad I’d talked the guys into this purchase even though I’d been met with some reluctance by Seth who did enjoy his own bed to sleep in.
“Good morning,” I sang. “It’s Christmas!”
I was met with a chorus of “Merry Christmas” and “Hello beautiful” but my sleepy Seth remained in sound in slumber.
I guess he got used to the bed after all, I thought, grinning to myself.
“Look at him,” Graham grunted. “How does he do that?”
“It’s a talent I wish I had,” I agreed enviously. “Seth?”
There was still no response and I laughed, shrugging as I sat up.
“What time is our flight again?” I asked, letting the blanket fall off my naked breasts. Instantly, two sets of hands reached for them and I giggled as Dan pushed me back onto the bed, his mouth finding my earlobes.
“Not until nine tonight,” he muttered, grinding his morning wood against my leg. “Lots of time.”
“Not really,” I countered, pushing him away reluctantly. “I still need to make the turkey and prepare the stuffing—”
“Oh no,” Jim countered, picking up where Dan had left off. “I’ve got the stuffing prepared right here.”
The men groaned and I howled but I didn’t stop them from resuming their endearing kisses on my body. I would never get tired of their affection.
Even after a year, they still managed to turn me on without effort and sometimes I felt like I was constantly wet for them.
It was a wonder any of us got any work done.
“I, for one, am glad we’re going to be somewhere warm for once over Christmas,” Stevie said, flopping onto his side to grab the remote control. “Not Iceland, not Scotland…”
“It hasn’t been so bad here in Canada,” I protested but even as I said it, I saw snow whipping against the window. I quietly hoped our flight wouldn’t be canceled. We’d all been looking so forward to going somewhere tropical for once and we had certainly earned it.
“I’m just glad I’m not on the run for my life anymore,” I continued. While I didn’t work for Mirror, Mirror anymore, I’d come to learn that Queenie had gone off the d
eep end, trying to kill me. It wasn’t sanctioned by anyone in the company and Andrea Silva had offered me a rather generous settlement so that I wouldn’t press charges—provided Queenie get locked in a psychiatric hospital, pending recovery. I guess I’d always be looking over my shoulder to but I had seven massive protectors who would keep me safe.
I learned that Hunter had stopped her from finishing me that night in Iceland by knocking her unconscious but I was still wary of him, wondering if he’d had some part of abandoning me in the storm.
There were so many unanswered questions about everything that had gone on with Queenie and the company but I’d learned to accept that I might never know everything.
I’m not sure if Silva was aware that I was onto the company’s scheme but if she was, she didn’t mention it to me at all. It seemed to me that Queenie probably told her I had discovered what they were doing but what was she going to say about it, really? Please don’t tell anyone about our plans to poison the environment?
It was far too late for that and I’d made no such promises anyway.
In the meantime, I’d taken my research about Icelandic moss to the competitor, half-daring Mirror, Mirror to come after me for spilling trade secrets. They wouldn’t be so dumb, would they? They had no real use for my work anyway.
As I suspected, they didn’t and I was free to expand on my theory.
Fairest Industries had been happy to offer me my own lab to develop my own prototype with a staff of four, all whom worked beneath me. I was the new Queenie, in a new company. Except, of course, that I was nothing like Queenie. My underlings liked me and I respected them.
But the best part of it all was that I’d learned that Icelandic moss wasn’t the only moss which could be used in my theory. There were hundreds of species which I could use and I intended to go all across the world, finding them. I truly was looking at an innovation which could change the world.
For New Year’s, we’d be in Costa Rica.
Stevie flipped on the TV and I closed my eyes as Dan’s hands started to knead at my ass, his mouth inching lower along my throat.
Snow and the Seven Men: A Reverse Harem Fairy Tale Romance Page 13