Queen of Quarantine

by Caroline Peckham

  Blake barked a laugh, jamming his finger on the dashboard and Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay started playing as he took off down the road, leaving the gawping girls in his dust.

  It was only a five minute drive to the harbour and as Blake drove like he owned the roads, we actually made it with one minute to spare as he parked up outside the boxing studio that overlooked the sea. It was a perfect spring day, the air cool but the sun gleaming down on the boats in the harbour and the water perfectly calm.

  Blake walked me inside and we headed upstairs to the studio where my first class was gathering for their self-defence lesson. It was mostly kids and women, but a couple of guys attended too with their wives. I wasn’t totally convinced that my guys hadn’t warned every frat boy at Yale to keep fifty feet away from me at all times unless I was with one of them, but none of them would confirm it. They sure as shit didn’t deny it though.

  Blake drew me in for a heart-pounding kiss goodbye and I lingered in his hold for ten seconds I didn’t have to spare, dizzy as I finally pulled away.

  “Can I stay to watch?” he asked but I shooed him back toward the stairs.

  “No, go home and relax. Oh and check out Kyan’s new addition to Saint’s music room,” I added with a smirk and Blake grinned, waving as he walked back down the stairs. My gaze stayed on his broad shoulders for a moment. Since he’d joined the football team at Yale, I swear he’d put on another ten pounds of muscle. He was the quarterback, of course. That was probably why cheerleaders kept sniffing around our house like vermin. I found one lurking in the backyard once like a hungry racoon. She damn well didn’t come back again after I was through with her though.

  I stepped into the studio, the sun spilling through the room like molten gold and I smiled at the familiar faces surrounding me. I waved at my new friends Kayla and Dione who’d been attending my classes for the past few weeks and they smiled brightly at me.

  “Hey guys,” I said to grab everyone’s attention. “Who’s ready to become a savage?”

  ***

  The sun was sinking over the sea as I stepped out of the boxing studio and locked up for the night. I only did day classes as I liked to spend my evenings and weekends with the guys, so the gym tended to attract students and moms. I swear the kids showing up with them were making me broody too, which I’d never really given much thought to before. And after I’d seen Emily Shaw’s new baby, I’d legit got a weird feeling in my tummy which I’d never experienced before. Not that I was ready to start planning a family. I was way too young and I didn’t want anything changing what me and my guys had. Not yet anyway.

  Nash and I used the boxing gym whenever we wanted and he trained me for the odd local fight. I’d won my first three so far and there was nothing quite like the thrill of beating my opponent while my four Night Keepers stood beside the ring, roaring my name.

  Kyan was waiting for me in jeans and a leather jacket, leaning against his motorcycle while some college girl in short shorts asked him directions, batting her lashes at him profusely.

  He had a bored expression on his face as he answered her but when his eyes slid over her head to me, he stood upright, is mouth pulling into a slanted grin.

  “Hey, baby,” he called, brushing past the girl and leaving her pouting after him, her face falling as she spotted me.

  Kyan grabbed me by the waist, lifting me up and making a cocky show of laying his claim on me while I laughed into his kisses.

  “Take me home, big man,” I insisted. “I’m gonna die of starvation if I don’t get some pizza in my belly.” Pizza night was still officially in place and I’d been hungering for it all week.

  “Nash already put the order in,” he announced, carrying me to his bike and planting my ass on the back of it.

  “Did Saint see the drawing you made him?” I asked excitedly.

  “Yup. He smashed it and threatened to cut me with the glass if I didn’t tell him what the squid meant.”

  I laughed. “And you didn’t?”

  “No way,” he said, grinning like an asshole.

  “I hope you salvaged that drawing, I loved it,” I said.

  “Sure did, baby. I’ll frame it for you again and you can put it wherever you like.”

  “I’ll protect it from Saint with my life.” I grinned.

  He made a fuss of putting my helmet on and I placed his on his head too, snapping down the visor. He got on the bike in front me and I gripped his waist, locking my thighs around his as he took off down the street away from the harbour.

  “Saint saw me take the bike,” he called back to me as we closed in on home. “He’s gonna be pissed.”

  “I’ll handle it,” I replied.

  “I bet you will.” He dropped his hand to squeeze my knee then turned down our street, passing all the other frat houses on the road and pulling up at the one on the far end.

  Kyan rode into the garage and I jumped off the bike, pulling my helmet off and we were soon heading inside where I followed the delicious scent of cheese and tomato into the dining room. The white curtains were open either side of the window which looked out over our backyard. Monroe was often out there at the weekends mowing the lawn shirtless and looking hot as shit. He was pretty domesticated due to the fact that he’d lived alone for so long and he was fast training up the rest of my boys too. Not Saint, obviously – he just got the new version of Rebecca to do all of his chores. He called her Rebecca too, claiming that it made sense because it had always been a false name and it suited him to keep to it. Fuck knew what the girl thought of that, but I was guessing for the salary he paid, she’d decided not to give a shit.

  Nash rushed at me as I entered the room, picking me up and spinning me around, claiming a kiss that made me heady. Saint grabbed me from him next, drawing me close and gripping my chin hard as he kissed me slow and deliberately like he was trying to mark me more permanently than Nash had.

  “You’re in trouble,” Saint’s voice dipped to a deep, threatening tone that made my heartrate spike.

  “Well how about you take control in the bedroom tonight as a peace offering?” I arched an eyebrow and looked to the others as Kyan entered the room, stripping out of his leather jacket and tossing it on the back of a chair.

  “Seems fair,” Saint decided, his eyes glinting with all the bad things he had in mind already. Since we’d moved here, he’d purchased so many sex toys, whips, floggers and BDSM shit that we’d had to use the spare room to store it. It was definitely becoming something of a sex dungeon, but I wasn’t complaining. Saint was exploring his need for control and I was exploring my need to be spanked like a bad girl in every dirty way he could think up. It was the best kind of adventure and we were all on it together. Kyan had added his own additions to the room too, including a bench he could tie me down on and some handcuffs he made regular use of. I swear Saint had been teaching him how to do all kinds of knots too because the last time Kyan had brought me in there, he’d bound my hands and feet so well he could barely get me out of his own trap when he was done with me.

  Blake and Nash didn’t tend to end up in there with us unless the drink was flowing and we all got pissed enough to be extra experimental. The weirdest night so far was when Blake had let Saint tie him up and used the flogger on his ass while I sucked his dick. Good fun though. I was all for them trying new things. Nash refused to let Saint do shit to him like that very often, but he’d once gotten so drunk he’d agreed to wear a ball gag so long as I wore one too. He’d fucked me so hard the next morning that I got the feeling trying to make him submissive only made him more dominant when he was let loose again. So I was all for encouraging Saint and Kyan to tie him up just to see how explosive he could get later.

  Saint pulled out a chair for me and I dropped into it as Nash took the seat opposite and Kyan sat on his right. Blake and Saint sat down either side of me and I grabbed a box of margarita pizza excitedly, bouncing in my seat.

  I took out a cheesy slice, my mouth
watering but I offered it up to Saint first. He gripped my wrist, turning it forcefully towards my lips instead.

  “You look like a ravenous beast, siren. I won’t eat until you’ve had a least two slices,” he insisted and I wasn’t gonna complain about that.

  I devoured the pizza and we all fell into conversation about our days while I fed Saint and he soon pulled me into his lap.

  Nash fascinated us all with more facts he’d learned in class while Blake acted out a touchdown he’d scored in training which his coach had said was the best one he’d ever seen. With a little probing, Saint told us succinctly about his Classical Music class followed by his complaints about the people on his Political Science course who were constantly licking his ass to try and gain a new powerful friend for their future careers. An effort which was clearly wasted.

  My phone buzzed and I took it out, smiling at the sight of Mila’s name.

  Mila:

  Hey, girl! I’m home in New York for a couple of weeks. Me and Danny thought we could drive down to Connecticut for a few days to see you guys? xx

  I squealed excitedly and Saint frowned in surprise. “What is it?” he asked as everyone’s eyes laid on me.

  “It’s Mila. She wants to come visit with Danny,” I said with a grin.

  “Hell yes!” Blake whooped.

  "We can put them up in a hotel, I suppose,” Saint said with a shrug and I smacked his arm.

  “They’ll stay here, Saint Memphis. They’re our friends. You’d better not forget they saved our asses,” I said and he considered that for a second before nodding.

  “Alright, whatever makes you happy.” He kissed my cheek and warmth spread through me as I replied, telling her to come as soon as she could.

  The light pouring through the window started turning to a deep orange glow and I jumped up from my seat in alarm. “The sun’s setting,” I gasped.

  “We can do it another day if it’s too late?” Nash offered.

  “No,” I said firmly. “I want to do it today. I’ve already left it too long and today just feels…right.” I took a deep breath as I mentally prepared for what I had to do. I knew I’d been avoiding this. But it was time. And it wasn’t fair to leave my dad in that box on the mantelpiece any longer just because this was difficult for me.

  “Then we’re doing it, princess.” Nash got up from his seat, offering me his hand and I took it, letting him guide me from the room as the others followed. We all put our coats and shoes on before I grabbed the box with my dad’s ashes and we headed into the garage, piling into Saint’s mom car. I’d told them all a long time ago where I wanted to do it. Dad and I had stayed in New Haven a couple of years back and we’d taken a walk together in East Rock Park every lunchtime while he was working. It had been our favourite spot and it was such a peaceful place that I knew it was somewhere he would have liked to visit again.

  Saint drove us there in under five minutes and we all spilled outside, hurrying through the gate then I ran ahead toward one of the bridges that crossed the river. I made it to the middle and looked down into the water just as the dying sunlight poured through the sky in huge strokes of pastel colours. The clouds were so still they looked painted onto the colourful canvas of the atmosphere. It was picturesque and painfully perfect.

  My boys moved to stand either side of me as I held onto the box, afraid to open it and let go. But I had to. I couldn’t hold on forever.

  “He won’t ever leave you,” Nash said in a low voice in my ear as tears burned my eyes.

  “I know,” I whispered as my heart began to ache. “It’s still hard though.”

  “When I said goodbye to Michael and then to Mom, I made myself say it out loud so I could process it better, I guess. Do you think that would help?” he asked gently, his arm sliding around me as Blake pressed close to me on my other side.

  I sniffed as I held back my tears, knowing they were inevitable, but Nash was right. I needed to say this out loud. And I didn’t want to do it while I was crying.

  I brushed my fingers over the box, gazing down at it and taking in a shaky breath. “I never pictured my life without you, Dad. You were the only constant I knew. My rock, the man who taught me to be brave and strong and to never back down from a fight. No matter how big the enemy.” Nash laid a kiss in my hair as a razor blade seemed to lodge in my throat. “You said once that the kind of man you wanted me to choose as my own would look at me like he’d kill for me. I just happened to choose four who literally would, and they got the chance to prove it too.” I released a breath of amusement as my guys chuckled.

  I looked to the sky, knowing in my heart that my dad wasn’t really in this box. That it was just what remained of him on Earth. But somewhere, somehow, I felt sure he was watching me with Jess at his side. And they were smiling.

  “Goodbye, Dad,” I breathed to the box, pressing my lips to it as the first tears began to fall.

  I opened the lid, holding it out over the railing as a fierce wind picked up, blowing from behind us. Then I turned the box upside down and released the ashes into the air, an arc of grey dancing away from us through the sky, scattering in the river, the trees, the sky.

  Dad was free. And finally, so was I.

  FOUR YEARS AFTER THAT

  "Well, shit," Blake said, reaching out and flipping the tassel of my graduation cap out of my face. We were headed out of the ceremony and looking for Tatum and Kyan in the crowd of people who had come to watch it. "We actually did it. And you don't even look soooo much older than the rest of us dressed up like this."

  "Fuck off," I said, shoving him so that he stumbled away a step and his own cap fell off.

  Saint caught it before it could hit the ground and turned it over in his hands thoughtfully. "This means everything is going to change again," he said seriously, though he didn't seem as thrown by that as I would have expected.

  "There's a huge party being held tonight on the far side of campus," Blake began, but Saint cut him off.

  "We won't be attending."

  "Why?" I asked as we stalked through the crowd and everyone got out of our way as fast as they could. Even here, everyone knew who the Night Keepers were - including the staff and parents. Maybe I should have felt bad about causing fear wherever we went, but there was something about the power in it that was kind of a rush.

  "Like I said: everything is going to change." Saint placed Blake’s cap back on his head and turned away like that was all he would say on the matter. Fucking power hungry asshole. Not that I minded that so much these days.

  He strode ahead of us and me and Blake exchanged a look which encompassed our feelings towards him pulling that crap before we followed on after him. It wasn't like I was just happy to fall into line with his bullshit, I'd just learned that with Saint it was all about picking your battles. I didn't sweat the small stuff, then if I felt passionately enough to go head-to-head with him over something, I had a better chance at getting him to back me. It wasn't a fool proof method, but it worked often enough to keep us all happy.

  "Where are they?" Blake muttered, looking around the thinning crowd as we still failed to spot Tatum or Kyan.

  His Dad had been there to congratulate us the moment the ceremony ended and we’d spent a few minutes talking with him before he’d headed off to catch his flight, needing to get back for a game tonight.

  "They're here somewhere," I muttered, searching too. "They were cheering me on when I collected my diploma on stage."

  "And Kyan was catcalling during Saint's speech," Blake added with a snort of amusement.

  No doubt Saint already had a punishment lined up for Kyan when he got his hands on him. Saint had been awarded a bunch of accolades and awards and had been asked to speak as one of this year's outstanding graduates. Some of the pomp and posturing had been lost though when Kyan decided to start whooping with excitement and fist pumping at the end of every sentence Saint read from his speech. It had been pretty over the top and I personally found it really fucking funny,
but I was guessing Saint had ideas about spanking him for it which he wanted to play out.

  "Where have they gotten to?" Saint demanded, turning back to face us and I shrugged.

  "They'll be doing what they always do when they go missing," Blake said with a smirk and Saint narrowed his eyes.

  "You're right," he growled, looking around slowly before stalking away towards the far side of the building, cutting a path right across the freshly manicured grass.

  We followed him, letting him do his Sainty senses thing as he rounded a corner, and the soft sound of a moan reached my ears.

  "They'll be looking for us," Tatum gasped, her point very much diminished by the gasp of pleasure that followed her words.

  "Then come for me quick, baby, and we won't have to face the wrath of the Devil," Kyan growled.

  The sounds of heavy breaths and barely stifled moans followed and as we stepped around another corner, we found them in a stone alcove. Kyan had Tatum pinned to the wall, her blue dress hitched up and his pants hanging from his ass as he fucked her like a man possessed.

  Tatum's eyes flew open and she spotted the three of us just as she came for him, her moans mixed with a gasp of, "Oh, shit." As Kyan slammed into her a few more times before finding his own release.

  "What a surprise," Saint drawled, folding his arms. "The drop-out delinquents are around here fucking like rabbits while the scholars accept their diplomas."

  "We watched the ceremony," Kyan argued as he lowered her to the ground and fastened his fly. "At least we did until you three had your shiny little scrolls. Then we got kinda bored and Tatum begged me to give her my dick. You know I'm not going to say no to my wife when she requests cock."

  "Shut up," Tatum hissed at him, slapping his chest as she righted her dress and moved past him to us. "I'm sorry, we meant to get back before it was over," she added to us, looking kinda bashful and there was no way in hell I was going to be mad at her over it.

  "You watched the bit that counted," I shrugged. "But if you really wanna make it up to us-"