by Janie Marie
Jane leaned her head against his shoulder, but she spoke to his dad. “Mom hasn’t come looking for me at all.”
Kingston sighed, unloading the tray of food. “She had slept through the calls last night. I told her you needed to be with your boys and asked her to keep her distance. If you’d like to see her, she has a shift later.”
It was a miracle that his father was accepting them, but he had a feeling Sarah wasn’t going to back down. Having it revealed she knew about his and Jane’s feelings for each other to his father had shamed her, and she was at risk of losing everything. He didn’t think his dad would divorce her because of this, but he honestly didn’t know what his dad was thinking.
“Okay.” Jane frowned at her food.
“Eat up, baby.” David took one of her fries, dipping it in ketchup before holding it to her lips. “Open.”
Her face pinked as Kingston chuckled and dug into his meal, but she complied, chewing the fry. He didn’t even think as he leaned down to kiss and lick the ketchup on her lip until his dad cleared his throat.
Instead of shoving Jane away when her eyes widened, he placed a hand behind her head to hold her in place, kissing her sweeter. Only when he felt the stress leave her body did he release her and send his dad a challenging stare.
Blue eyes, a shade colder than his own, narrowed on him. “I’m trying, son, but you have to tone down your affection around me. Tone it down publicly.”
“We’re sorry,” Jane murmured before taking a bite of her chicken sandwich.
“No, we’re not,” he said over her as he pinned his dad with a fierce stare. “I’m kissing her when I feel like it. I’m holding her hand, telling her I love her . . . whatever she needs from me. I’m done hiding, Dad.”
Red flush painted his father’s cheeks, but he sighed, nodding. “Just be respectful with her.”
“I will.” He grinned, kissing her head as she nervously darted her eyes between them. “But, baby, if you want to limit who you’re seen with publicly, I understand.”
Completely surprising him, Jane exuded complete confidence as she raised her chin and met Kingston’s stare. “I have three boyfriends . . . Dad.” She gave his father a gorgeous smile as her eyes shimmered with tears. “It should be four, but I guess I pissed one of them off. I won’t make the mistake of letting my other guys feel unworthy to be at my side. Because they damn well don’t make me feel that way.”
David grinned, kissing her temple as his dad gave her a teary smile.
“My darling girl,” Kingston said, “I think you will always be able to call yourself Luc Godson’s queen. Maybe when he sees how brave, great, and you glowing for the others, he’ll realize his mistake.”
Jane laughed, wiping the tear that slipped free as Kingston reached across the table to hold her free hand.
“You make them take care of you, baby,” his dad told her. “I know your father trusted them, but you keep them in line.”
“I will.” Jane leaned across the table, meeting his father and kissing his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Always, sweet girl.” Kingston kissed her head before motioning for her to sit. “Eat before the immature one returns.”
“I’m sure he’s giving the fastest statement ever,” David muttered.
“Good,” Kingston said. “Sooner he’s done, the sooner she can spend a bit more time with Tercero and then head home for a proper bath and rest.”
David’s smile slipped; he wouldn’t get to see Jane again for who knows how long.
His dad watched him with a smirk. “You owe your gran a visit. Mind driving Jane home later and sticking around until I return?”
“As her boyfriend?” David wasn’t sure why he even asked; he’d already said he was her boyfriend.
“Isn’t that what you’re trying to shout to the world?” Kingston asked before he groaned as his gaze shifted behind Jane.
“Pipe down, old man.” Ryder plopped down on Jane’s other side, immediately checking her over and then kissing her. “He acts like he hasn’t been rooting for me for years.”
“Only because Eric told me about you,” Kingston muttered.
David watched Jane glow under Ryder’s attention. He teased her, touched her, made sure she was eating. She really didn’t need another man. She didn’t need him.
He turned, catching his dad’s knowing gaze as his heart squeezed. Was this his plan? Let him see just how little he was needed for Jane? How perfect Ryder was for her? His stomach turned upside down. Even Tercero did more for her than he did.
Yeah, the quiet Godson had messed up, but he made Jane feel good and loved. What did David ever do for her besides hurt her?
A warm hand slid over his. He lifted his gaze to hers, smiling softly as she mouthed ‘I love you’ to him.
Fuck everything he just thought. She was his baby, and he was hers.
Grinning, he leaned down and kissed her sweetly. “Love you, too.”
Damn, she even sparkled when she beamed up at him. He didn’t even care that she glowed a bit more when Ryder growled.
“And what the fuck about me?” Ryder asked, taking a kiss as Jane giggled.
David chuckled, leaning away so she could soothe the whiny bastard.
“And I really love you,” she told Ryder but still squeezed David’s hand.
Ryder smirked at her. “Let’s hurry up so we can go make babies.”
Kingston, who’d already been holding his head with one hand sat straighter and pointed at Ryder. “Boy, you’re asking for a whooping.”
David shook his head; the Ryder and Jane combo was as deadly as it was hilarious, and he couldn’t imagine his baby without the fucker anymore. He couldn’t even go back to a world where Ryder didn’t have his Sweet Jane.
“We can box, old man,” Ryder told Kingston as he frowned at the chicken sandwich he’d been given.
“You’re not fighting my dad,” Jane said.
Ryder didn’t even look surprised at her use of dad. He merely winked. “Only if he refuses to walk you down the aisle, hun.”
Her blush was too pretty. “Hush.”
David chuckled even as the sting in his heart remained. Ryder would be a perfect husband for her, and he wanted her to have the world. He squeezed her hand before letting go so he could eat faster. Because that meant he’d get more time with her. Even if he knew Ryder would be there. After all, they promised her she had them both.
Jane felt numb as she stood in front of Ryder’s bathroom mirror, brushing her wet hair. They’d brought her here instead of following Kingston’s orders to go straight to David’s grandmother’s, but she wasn’t arguing with her boys. They were stressed, and she was too.
What surprised her was that neither Ryder nor David had followed her into the shower. She was filthy and obviously wanted to clean up, but she wanted the reassurance she wasn’t dirty or damaged. But they’d told her to go shower as if she was a dirty child they couldn’t bear to be around.
Her chest ached as she stared at her reflection. She was still only wrapped in a towel, so she could see the bruises and scrapes. It was proof she’d been taken, been violated. Dylan might not have fully penetrated her, but she felt as if he had. Was it going to feel this wrong when she was finally with Ryder again? Would she feel disgusted and terrified if David turned her to take her from behind like he had before? Just as Dylan had been about to?
She almost threw up. He’d almost pushed in. He might as well have. She’d never stop feeling him. She’d scrubbed her skin raw, but she felt his hands on her hips, his . . .
The room started to spin. Ryder wouldn’t want her. David was going to be disgusted and angry with her for thinking of being raped as he touched her. And Tercero. He didn’t see what the others had, but she knew he’d see their hands on her. He probably already did. They all did. They were only staying out of obligation. Nothing more.
“Whatever you’re thinking,” came Ryder’s voice from the doorway, “if that sad look on your pretty face is
reflecting your feelings, I guarantee it’s wrong.”
She glanced over at his reflection, surprised to see David right beside him. It seemed David had showered while she did. His hair was wet, and he was wearing clean clothes. Ryder was shirtless and wearing a pair of sweatpants. But she had a feeling he had waited for her to finish and had not gone to clean himself up yet.
“Talk to us, baby,” David said softly while still slipping in that dominant tone of his. It reminded her of home, how he’d be serious but still so caring.
She wanted to talk to them. She wanted to tell them she felt wrong. She wanted to tell them to leave her to get someone better but at the same instant, she wanted to beg them to stay even though she was dirty.
Ryder crossed his arms, watching her with narrowed eyes. He was too beautiful. How could he want someone so tainted? They were all so perfect, and she wasn’t.
“Jane,” David said more firmly this time. His gorgeous blue eyes darkened, and he shifted as though he would approach but then thought better of it, confirming for Jane that he didn’t want to be with her. David shook his head at her. “Get out of your head. I see your mind thinking everything wrong.”
It wasn’t wrong. They’d seen her getting used. They knew she was too much work. David had held back because he knew they would have too much against them. Now, he was sacrificing his happiness for a broken girl who couldn’t love just him. And poor Tercero nearly died because of her. He’d starved himself because he knew Luc was going to break up with her, and then she practically handed him poison.
Luc . . . he had the right idea. She was a stupid girl who would never understand how to love the way she fantasized. She wasn’t going to be enough for him, so he left. No way could she be enough for the others, especially Ryder.
“Enough,” Ryder said, uncrossing his arms and quickly closing the distance between them. When she backed up, he shook his head, crowding her until she couldn’t escape. “Easy,” he said, cupping her cheeks so she’d have to look up at him. “You’ve been so brave, babe.” His strong hands caressed her skin so carefully, sending those tingles throughout her being so that she couldn’t move. He lowered his face, peering into her eyes. “Don’t give up on yourself. Not for what happened, and sure as fuck not for any of us.”
She finally let out a little whimper. She hadn’t cried at all since they’d found her. She wanted to be brave and strong as they were, but it hurt.
“Cry,” he ordered, not losing that intimidating stare that scared the shit out of everyone around him. When she shook her head, trying to hold her tears back, he pressed the sweetest kiss to her lips and repeated, “Cry. Even the strongest and bravest have to cry. Be braver than me, because I want to weep for not having been there for you after I promised I would be.” Then he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist as he turned, pushing her back against David’s chest.
She gasped as Ryder kissed her the moment David’s lips touched her neck.
“Let it out, baby,” David murmured, nuzzling her neck. “We, personally, think it’s weak not to cry when you have to.”
Ryder grinned, nuzzling her cheek. “Our girl isn’t weak.”
“She’s a feisty kitten,” David said with a featherlight kiss behind her ear. “She might cry, but she will claw and bite for what is hers.”
“For me, babe, you’re a warrior goddess,” Ryder said without sounding like he was trying to show-up David. He just wanted her to know how he saw her. “You’re even prettier when you roar at your monsters with tears falling from your eyes.”
Now, she sobbed, her whole body shaking as Ryder hugged her between him and David.
“That’s my girl.” Ryder kissed her hair. “Don’t be afraid to cry.”
David smiled against her neck, his heat engulfing the numbing feeling to let those tingles kiss every inch of her skin. “Especially not in front of your boys.”
She smiled, reaching back for him as Ryder kissed her neck now.
“Kiss him,” he encouraged, his lips still on her skin. Ryder slid his hand to her ass and squeezed. “Don’t you dare let that fucker change who you are with us.”
Jane tightened her hand in David’s hair, shaking as he turned her face so she could see his gorgeous one.
“Hi, baby.” He smiled even though she tightened her fingers in his hair. “Tell me what you need from me.”
“Us,” Ryder amended, sliding his hand along her thigh. She was tense, unsure, and he made a disapproving noise as he massaged her tight muscles. “It’s us, Sweet Jane. Not them. Not him.”
A hot hand left a scorching trail of fire down her spine, and David pulled free from her hold, nearly baring his teeth at her. “Do you want to be in control, or do you need us to take it from you?”
Ryder lifted his head, the fire to argue with David burning in his eyes until he saw her face.
Jane sniffed, her chest heaving as she remembered last night. She’d fought and lost against Stephen and his friends, and they’d still captured her, still tied her up and stripped her bare. Against her will. They took when she had refused. “He took me. Don’t touch me.” She didn’t even know she’d spoken, that she’d ordered them not to touch her, until Ryder growled.
Though he pressed a kiss to her forehead, he spoke to her in the darkest voice she’d heard from him, “You’re ours, Jane, and I sure as fuck am not going to stop touching what’s mine. Do you understand me?”
She flinched, shoving away from him, but he held her tight.
His tone darkened even more. “You’re mine. You’re David’s. You’re even fucking Tercero’s. They took you but that changes nothing about us. My touch doesn’t become theirs. Those fuckers don’t get to take you from me.”
She whimpered, pushing him harder. She’d been taken against her will. All this time she’d been trying to make her own choices, fucking up everything, losing her best friend, her mother, Luc had tossed her, and now she was going to lose them because . . . because . . . She didn’t even know. All she knew was that she'd never please them again. There was no way she could erase the images and feelings clinging to her body and soul. And her boys would leave. They’d leave a broken, dirty girl.
David rubbed her back, but he was just as fierce. “Get out of your head, Jane.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Let me go.”
They shook their heads.
Again, David said roughly, “Do you think we don’t know what you’re going to do if we do?”
Ryder turned her face toward his, fury etched into each line of his handsome face. “You got taken, babe. It’s our fault, not yours. You fought. You screamed for help, and you didn’t give up. And we’re not letting you give up on us. Now take yourself back.”
She stopped fighting, staring at him as tears pooled in her eyes.
He narrowed his gaze at her, nodding. “You’re lost, baby girl. You put on a brave face for us this whole time, now you can’t hide it. I’ve been waiting for it to hit you, but you’re forgetting that I found you. You’re home now.” He nodded toward David. “You’re between us. We are yours, and you are ours. They don’t get to take that from us.”
“But I don’t feel right,” she cried. “I won’t be able to . . . to . . .” She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut because she didn’t want to see their reactions. “I won’t be able to satisfy you because I can’t have you touching me anymore.”
David’s touch vanished but it returned almost instantly. He held her waist as he kissed the back of her head and, finally, his tone was gentle. “If you really don’t want us touching you, say so.”
“No,” Ryder protested.
David cut him a fierce glare. “If she says no, we stop.” They held each other’s stares before David softened his gaze and focused on her. “But I promise, Jane, no matter what you choose to give to us, even if it’s just your smile, we’ll be satisfied.”
Ryder didn’t say anything, and he gave no warning as he lowered her to her feet and walked around he
r. It hurt. If she wasn’t lost before, she was trapped inside a dark chasm of nothingness now.
“Take her to the room,” he said in a detached tone. “I’m showering.”
“Ryder,” she croaked as a hole in her heart grew.
He cast her an empty stare as he turned on the water. “Go with him, Jane. You don’t want me touching you, fine. I don’t want to fuck shit up and say something that’s going to hurt you. So, go with him.”
David sighed and ever so carefully guided her out of the bathroom. “Let’s get you dressed.”
She pressed her hand over Ryder’s spot as she peered over her shoulder at him. He wasn’t looking in her direction, only stripping and getting into the shower. No tingles. His spot was empty.
“Jane,” David said, shutting the door, and even he withdrew his hands. He took a step back, pushing them into his pockets as he nodded toward the bed. “He got you some clothes to wear.”
She whimpered, lifting what she knew was one of David’s shirts and then a pair of sweatpants that seemed more like the type she’d sometimes see Tercero wear.
“He said you’d want to have something from Tercero, so those are his pants.” David chuckled weakly. “He wouldn’t say how he had them, but he produced a pair of your panties.”
Jane slumped down on Ryder’s bed as she found a pair of her Superman panties that Ryder had confiscated earlier in the week.
David smiled sadly. “Baby, you know I love you, but I’m not going to deny that Ryder’s your match.”
Panic seized her heart as she looked up at him, her breaths quickening. She was already losing them.
He sighed, glancing at the door to the bathroom. “I’ll walk away if you need me to, but I beg you to let him help you. He’s the one for you, Jane. Don’t push him away. He completes you.”
Her breath hitched, and she darted her gaze between David and the door. “Don’t leave me.” She sucked in air, hiccupping. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but don’t leave me.”