by Ivy Fox
“What the fuck are you guys thinking?” Drew yells now, knowing our voices won’t travel to the second floor.
“I don’t follow,” Tyler arrogantly states.
“Cut the crap. You guys slept with Freya last night, didn’t you?”
Both Tyler and I can’t erase the big ass smiles on our faces, which to Drew is confirmation enough. I mean, what did he expect? The twins were bragging about how fucking hot she looked coming, and Drew couldn’t keep his mouth shut about how good she tasted. Of course, we were going to run home at the first opportunity and try our luck. This is Freya we’re talking about. The one girl who has haunted our every thought and dream for years. Having her under our roof was one thing, but her willingly letting us enjoy her, was a whole other twisted temptation.
“You fucking assholes, you didn’t even think this through, did you?” Drew spits, raking his fingers through his dirty blond hair.
“Let me paint a picture for you impatient jerks. Freya is going to wake up in a couple of hours. She’s going to feel great for about two seconds. Then she is going to dissect everything she’s done with all five of us and will freak the fuck out.”
“No, she won’t,” I tell him, even though I’m not entirely convinced that Drew might not be on to something.
“Dude, yes she will! Freya blew us off for a reason. I don’t know what it was, but it was enough of a good one for her to ditch our asses and leave us hollow. How do you think she will react when the idea of having been intimate with all five of us finally sinks in? She’s going to feel like shit and, worst of all, she’s going to run away all over again. We were just starting to get her back and you two dickheads had to get greedy.”
The thing about my brother Drew was the asshole always had a point. Worse, he was the bloody conscience to all of us. Whether we wanted it or not, he was always there to shed the spotlight on our mistakes when it came to Freya.
“You think she’ll leave?” Tyler asks, crossing his arms over his chest, concern etched on his face.
“She might,” Drew lets out defeated.
“Okay, let’s just take a minute. She didn’t leave after the twins’ little stunt, nor after you let her fuck your face, so why would she leave after last night? I mean, Tyler, you saw how she was with us. She felt like home, didn’t she? We gave her that too, didn’t we?”
Ty’s lower lip quivers and quickly turns his back on us facing the counter, so we don’t see the vulnerability in his hard eyes.
“She is our home. We just have to remind her of that. She should have never left. Yesterday was just confirmation of what we were missing,” Tyler replies, willing his uncertainty away. Drew stares at the floor and I look at Tyler’s broad back. My brother couldn’t be more right. Freya is our home. And there is no way I’m going to let her slip through our fingers again. There is just one little issue we have to clear up. Something that none of us have said out in the open before, but it’s clear as day it needs to be discussed.
“What if she only wants one of us?” I pull the trigger.
“That’s not an option,” Ty responds, still not facing Drew or me.
“Maybe not for us, but how many girls do you know are eager to date five brothers all at once?” Drew adds on.
“It wouldn’t be like that,” Tyler affirms, even though he’s lying through his teeth just to hold onto some hope.
“No it wouldn’t. But it’s still a lot to ask of anyone, let alone the girl who is still scared of her own shadow,” Drew states.
“We’ll give her the strength she needs, and a reason why she needs to be brave. We’ll just have to show it to her,” Tyler mumbles under his breath.
“Agreed,” I answer back, not wanting Drew’s apprehension to cloud my mind any longer.” She isn’t going anywhere, not for another two weeks. We just have to convince her to give us a chance. We give her what we always dreamed about, and when the time is up, she’ll make the right decision.”
“But what if she doesn’t? What if she turns her back on us?” Drew asks the one question we dread thinking about.
“Then we turn our backs on her. This time, for good,” Tyler grunts out, silencing once and for all the most significant doubt we have. It will hurt like a mother, but he’s right. This is our second chance. We can’t blow it. And if we do and she doesn’t want anything to do with us, then we’ll back off and try to forget her. We did it once, we can do it again. Of course, now that I know just how soft my princess is, just how good she feels, I don’t know if any time is sufficient to erase her memory from my mind. But if she walks out on us again, then there won’t be a third chance in our future. It would hurt too much handing her our hearts, just to be trampled on yet again. The first time she did it I was able to forgive her faulty reasoning, but now…If Freya abandons us again, none of us will recover from it.
Our little princess holds our fate in her hands. For better or for worse, she’s the one who will decide what that fate is.
Chapter 15
Freya
I’m playing pool with Drew and the twins when Tyler and Mason enter the room. I hadn’t seen them since last night, and when I asked Drew where they were, he told me they had gone surfing.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that they continued to do their usual routine, but I was a bit sad when I woke up alone in my bed without their bodies pressed against mine. Even Drew didn’t come to wake me up like he had in the previous mornings. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was in a pissy mood the rest of the day.
When the twins suggested a game of pool, I thought, why not. Maybe it would take my mind off the things the two men before me had done to my body. Perhaps it would distract me enough from wanting to be ravished yet again by the pair, or Drew’s mouth.
I recall everything each boy has done with me this past week, and it astounds me how I’m still able to look myself in the mirror. I’m a twisted, depraved young woman for being in such a foul mood because none of them have even mentioned such dirty events.
“Who’s winning?” Tyler asks nonchalantly, grabbing a cue of his own. He gently applies chalk to its tip, and the image I summon was how much I wanted to do the same to his engorged length. I turn my head to the game, hoping my redden state doesn’t give me away.
“Me and Princess right here,” Drew says, throwing a wink my way, and the blush that refuses to go away only deepens.
“Any stakes?” Mason asks, with a glaze overpowering his own stare at his realization of why I’m blushing madly.
“Not yet, but I’m good with giving this game a little action to it,” Carter answers.
“What do you say, Princess? Feeling adventurous?” Tyler winks flirtatiously.
“That all depends on what you want to put on the table?” I tease back, gaining my equilibrium. But then Mason steals the wind in my sails with what he and Tyler have in mind.
“I was just thinking how I would like nothing more than to spread you wide on this table as our prize.” Mason deadpans.
“Guess great minds think alike. I was thinking the same thing.” Tyler grins, placing his cue back on the wall.
“Well, that’s not what I was thinking.” I stutter, embarrassed that Mason would be so bold in front of all his brothers.
“Actually, I’m starting to like this high stakes game,” Carter confesses, leaning onto to the pool table while looking at me, probably the way a lion looks at a gazelle.
“I vote whoever wins the next game calls dibs on your sweet cherry,” Chaz chimes in, biting his lower lip with his eyes roaming over my body appreciatively.
“Sorry, bro. Came a little late for that one. That was already taken.” Tyler goads, placing both hands on the pool table, his eyes locked with mine.
“Son of a bitch. You guys are here less than a day, what the fuck? You couldn’t have waited for us?” Chaz growls, poking Tyler in his gut, with Carter and Mason beside them chuckling into their chests.
“You’re damn fault for leaving her innocent. I’m
not that contained.” Tyler shrugs, acting apologetic but failing miserably at convincing his younger brother.
“Tell me, at least, your fine ass is still up for the taking, Princess?” Chaz asks, honestly looking concerned he got too late.
“Sorry, bro. Called dibs on that last night, too,” Mason answers, offering a provocative wink. My eyes go wide at the blatant lie he’s feeding his brother, but my skin prickles in delight of how Mason is coveting every body part I have to offer.
“What the fuck? What do we get?” Chaz chimes like a small infant whose toy has just been taken away from him.
“Stop being a spoiled baby. You and Carter started this in the first place. It isn’t our fault you work at a snails’ pace,” Tyler says rolling his eyes.
My mind is in such shock, I can’t even believe these boys are having this conversation in front of me. I’m a little annoyed for them to think they can get anything they want from me, no holds barred. Although the idea turns me on, I don’t want them to believe this is a free for all.
“You guys are such assholes. What the hell is the matter with you?” Drew exhales, slapping his hand on his forehead. “Hello, dipshits? Princess is right here listening to the two of you. One gloating, and the other whining like a baby. Not exactly sexy for a girl, or courting material either.”
“Shit, Princess. He’s right. It’s okay if Carter and I didn’t take your virginity, it’s just a bummer we didn’t get to watch, that’s all,” Chaz says sullenly, with an evident glimmer of disappointment on his face.
“You wanted to watch Tyler and me in bed together?” I ask, shocked and a little curious now.
“Fuck yeah! Do you know how many times I’ve beaten my junk raw thinking about the faces you make when you cum? Fucking beautiful, that shit. With a hard cock in you, you must look like a goddess.” Chaz exhales.
“Always the romantic!” Carter goads, and Chaz just gives him the middle finger as his reply.
“But he’s your brother?” I continue on, not believing what I’m hearing.
“And?” Chaz shrugs, clearly not understanding my point.
“And…” I stutter at a loss for words. They’re coming at me a mile a minute, buts still I can’t grasp a one to utter.
“Princess, you seem to forget I was there to, and I sure as fuck didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, it made me hard all night,” Mason explains.
“It doesn’t bother you to watch?” Both my brows up in the air, looking into all five brothers’ faces for their reaction.
“We’ll watch whatever you decide to show us Princess, but we all prefer to play.” Drew gives his two cents, his savage grin already in place.
“Together?” I ask, as my heart starts racing at what I’m hearing. Each boy nods around me, and I see their blue eyes darken amidst an emotion I’ve become acquainted with — lust and hunger.
“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I mean…This is all so new. Just a month ago, you all hated me,” I whisper.
“I told you, we never hated you, Princess.” Tyler moves closer to me.
I wring my sweaty palms together and focus my sight on the floor. I want to believe their words, but their past actions have spoken volumes. No pretty words can erase what my heart feels to be true.
“Show her.” I hear Drew order.
My head is brought back up by my chin with a carefully placed finger from Carter.
“I’ll show her,” he says, as he whisks me up in the air, and seats me on the pool table. My back stiffens by his uncharacteristically aggressive move.
“I told you. I’m not ready,” I pronounce, making my current mood clear.
“I know, Freya, but I need to show you something, so you know we’re not bullshitting you when we say there was never room for hate where you were concerned,” Carter says, brushing the back of his hand along my cheek.
“Just look at me,” he pleads. He starts to unbutton his shirt, one small stud at a time. His tanned chest starts to make an appearance, and I don’t understand how Carter getting naked will erase the idea of their resentment.
Once all the buttons are taken away from their confinement, he takes off the rest of his shirt. This is when I notice the tattoo on his chest for the first time. As my eyes fix on the image, the boys, one by one, discard their shirts to the floor.
My breath catches in my throat, from seeing that each brother has the same tattoo on their left pec, proudly placed right next to their heart. Five swords all laced together in front of one majestic tower, on top of which is a crown of thorns and roses weaved into each hard edge.
Since Carter is the one who is closest to me, my trembling hand seeks his chest. My eyes water as I witness how detailed each element is — the swords promise protection and devotion to the crown, which offers suffering with its prickly thorns from the roses, as much as it provides passion and beauty amidst each delicate petal.
“It’s stunning,” I say softly, with silent tears flowing freely down my cheeks.
“Not as stunning as its muse,” Drew answers, closing the gap between us.
“Hate was never an option, Freya.” Tyler chokes at my side, his voice heightening the vulnerability of their declaration. I close my eyes, and press my lips to all five swords on Carter’s chest, making him shudder.
“No. Hate was never an option,” I confess.
Chapter 16
Freya
“Freya?” Chaz calls me out from his love seat.
“Yeah?” I ask, continuing to rake my fingers through Tyler’s hair.
We’re all watching a Japanese game show that the boys are addicted to. I don’t understand any of the rules. All I see are a lot of people doing crazy acrobatics to get from point A to point B, but the boys seem to enjoy it. As for me, I just like being beside them, listening to their banter and laughter. It feels normal. It feels like this is the way it should always be.
“I need to ask you a question, and I’m not sure how to put it right so you won’t freak or something,” he says apprehensively.
A smile is playing on my lips when I witness Chaz’s shyness taking the better of him, which is usually every once in a blue moon since the boy is as blunt as a hammer across the skull.
“You can ask me anything, Chaz. You know that,” I softly reply, hoping my tone eases him somewhat.
“You promise?”
“Yes. Out with it,” I tease with my full-blown smile on display now.
“Why did you leave us? I mean…Why did you turn your back on us?” he asks, looking like he’s going to be sick. Or maybe I’m the one projecting it since his question is making me slightly queasy.
“I didn’t turn my back on you,” I hush, desperate for us to not to have this conversation.
“You did, Freya. One day we were all best friends and the next you would run the other way every time you saw any of us. Why? I tried to think of one good reason why you would pull away like that, but you were always the brains of this group,” he shrugs sullenly.
“Don’t sell yourself short. You are smarter than you give yourself credit for.”
“Stop changing the subject, Princess, and answer him,” Tyler says, turning his face towards me. I look down at him and see in his deep-ocean-like eyes the same determination in getting some answers out of me.
I look around the room and notice that neither Drew nor Carter is paying attention to the TV, awaiting my reply with stilled breaths. I then look at the floor with the one boy, who is as contained as me, gently stroking my bare leg up and down. Well, this was going to get out sooner or later. I open my mouth still searching for the right words to use, when Mason finally looks up at me, suffering fastened in his majestic blue eyes.
“It was because of me. I’m the reason Freya disappeared on us,” he blurts out, never straying from our locked stare. I feel Tyler tense in my embrace, and there is no ignoring the anger that seeps through him.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Mason?” He demands.
; “Tyler,” I warn, not thrilled with the tone he’s using on his eldest brother.
“Mason, it’s okay. That was ages ago.” I add, hopefully simmering the curiosity Mason’s words brought on.
“No, Freya. Don’t defend him. He said he’s the reason why you left, and I want to hear him out.” Tyler continues, raising his head from my lap and staring at his brother beneath his feet.
Feeling that Mason will need me more than the other boys at this moment, I slump to the floor beside him and take his hand placing it on my heart.
“You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do, Mason,” I say.
He puts his hand on the nape of my neck, bringing me closer to him and leaving one tender peck on the center of my forehead.
“You always were too good to me, but I know it was me that scared you off that day.”
“What are you talking about, Mase?” I hear Carter ask, behind me now, moving closer to his brother wanting the same question answered. Mason releases his grip on me and slumps his shoulders. He leans his head back on the couch and starts his confession.
“A few years back I came home from an amazing day of surfing. You know those days that seem like every wave has your name on it? So you grab those suckers like your life depends on it, and the swell just opens itself up for you to enjoy the moment to its fullest.”
I don’t have to see the look on the rest of the boy’s faces to know they understand exactly what Mason means.
“Well, I was coming off that high, that adrenaline, when I got home and caught you, Chaz, and Drew in the living room playing some lame-ass game of twister with Freya. A game all of you were too old to be playing but did it anyway just for shits and giggles. You guys didn’t see me, but I observed from the foyer all four of you twisted up in a knot, with sweet Freya’s butt in the air, shrieking like she was feeling the same high as me. She lost her balance somehow and fell on top of you. Her laughter only increased with all your limbs and body parts touching in places, that a naïve and innocent girl like Freya wouldn’t think twice about, but a sexually aroused teenage boy would. I saw it clear as day, the four of you making her moan instead of laugh.