Needless to say, it blew my ten year old mind out of the water.
I’m roused out of my thoughts by Connor, “Are you okay, Lexi? You should really try to eat something then you can go lay down and take a nap.”
I tried to run my hand through my hair, wincing when it tangled in the bun “Haven’t I been essentially sleeping for like a week? How am I alive anyways? If I was out for a week without food and water I should be dead.”
Thorne chuckled, putting some space between us and dished up the guys plates. “You were right on both counts, Lexi.”
“Huh?” Not very articulate but it was all I could muster at the moment.
“I’m actually both a fireman and an EMT.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. So do you run into the burning buildings?”
He shook his head, as the guys chuckled, “No. I take care of the ones they bring out. Or anyone that needs help. When the fire station gets the call I go as well.”
I hum, picking up my fork, I took a bite of scrambled eggs, swallowing before I spoke, “That still doesn’t answer my question. Why am I still here and not in a hospital and how did I not die of dehydration or starvation? And oh wow, these are fantastic! The best I’ve ever had!” I shoveled more in my mouth as fast as I could like a starving wolf.
“That’s what she said.” Colter snickered, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Connor.
Thorne rolled his eyes and smirked, “Simple. I commandeered supplies at work and had you on an IV of fluids. It also has nutrients and such that the body takes in from food. But it doesn’t help the weight loss I’m afraid. I saw that you were stirring and unhooked you last night. Plus your friend Brittany has come by to help.”
I saw his slight shiver and smirked. Yeah, she could be a real scary bitch when she wanted to be, but I’m glad that she knew I wasn’t dead.
“Why would you steal from work for me?”
Shane sat next to me brushing my arm with his and I inhaled sharply, “Remember when we were talking earlier, Lexi? I told you someone did that to you?”
I nodded and frowned, trying to remember what happened. It had been on the back burner of my mind since he brought it up. I focused back on Shane when he continued, “Well, we didn't want to bring you to the hospital in case whoever attacked you found out and tried again.”
“Makes sense. I just wish I could remember; I only remember falling.” I rubbed my temples, trying to keep the headache that was brewing at bay.
“It may or may not come back to you. You took a nasty blow to the head.” Thorne smiled at me. “Some memory loss is normal after a head injury. Add in the trauma and you may actually never remember what happened.”
I smiled slightly nodding my head, but didn’t say anything else as I finished eating.
“Can I go sit on the couch or something? I really don’t want to get back in bed yet. Oh and maybe have my bag back please? I need to see if my phone is working so I can call Britt and let her know I’m awake.”
“Your phone wasn’t in your bag.” Shane looked apologetic.
“Well shit. I don't know her number by heart. Damn speed dials, ruined people from having to remember any numbers.”
Connor spoke up from the doorway. “You can call her from any one of our phones. She gave it to us the first time she was here, after she yelled at us for not taking you to the hospital and made sure we weren’t going to kidnap you. She calmed down after we assured her we didn’t do this.”
“We may be Marines, but I don’t want to go against Brittany. She’s scary.” Shane shivered.
“Marines huh? Still active?”
“Sweetheart, once a Marine always a Marine.”
“Hoorah!” They all yelled out.
I shook my head, making my way slowly into the living room turning down Shane's help. I needed to see if I could do this on my own. Even if I could barely keep my eyes open at this point, and walking while talking was never my strong suit.
Fourteen
Connor
My heart cracked a little watching her shuffle into the living room. We could all see that she was exhausted, no matter how much she was fighting it. Right now she looked nothing like the fiery woman I met a couple weeks ago. She looked pale, and fragile. Like she might break at any second, but I could still see the spine underneath. The strength and determination in her.
The more I learned about her, the more drawn to her I was. All of us were. I could see my brothers were just as drawn to her as I was, even Shane. He hadn’t touched a woman since he walked in on Amy. He may say that he was relieved to not have to put up with her bullshit, but just the fact that he hadn’t been with a woman since then said volumes. That was a blow to all of us, him and Amy seemed so perfect for each other.
Now though, I could already see the change in him, the way he looked at her when he thought none of us were looking. Like she was the only woman on earth. It was nice to see him look that way but I was worried about him. I knew him, probably better than he knew himself at that point. He was going to push her away and be an asshole. I hoped he proved me wrong, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath on that one.
I turned to my brothers, watching them as they watched her go. Colter looked worried, Thorne was looking at her calculatingly, probably gaging how she really felt, and Shane...well Shane just looked pissed.
Fuck. He may be worse than I thought.
I was just about to say something to him when he stalked out of the kitchen. Going down the hallway and slamming his bedroom door.
“What the fuck is up with him?” Thorne muttered; I knew he wasn’t looking for an answer but I gave him one anyways.
“Lexi. She’s special and is getting under his skin. He hates it, and so is going to be the biggest douche canoe in the world.”
“Well he needs to just get the fuck over it. Amy was three fucking years ago. Besides he’s better off without her.”
“He knows that, but you know how he is. Trusting is not his strong suit. Never has been. Remember when we were kids? He would lash out at every foster home he was in.”
“Yeah, until the Hawkston’s adopted him, even then he put them through the ringer but they never gave up on him.” Colt replied, looking the way Shane had gone.
I changed the subject to the one I really wanted to talk about, well one of them. Leaning up against the fridge I asked, “What are we going to do about Lexi?”
Thorne looked at me confused, “We already talked about this, keep her here until she is a hundred percent better, then give her some hand to hand training. All the while trying to figure out who the fuck wants her dead. Then end him. Simple.”
“Not that,” I shook my head, I already agreed with that part, “I mean what are we going to do about all of us wanting her?”
Colter shrugged, “Whatever she wants to do about it. It’s her call. If she wants all of us I have no problem sharing with you guys. If she only wants one of us, then the others will be happy for them.”
Thorne nodded his agreement, sauntering into the living room, he threw over his shoulder, “I already know she wants me. You boys are on your own.”
Colter and I snickered following after him. Lexi was curled up on the couch, she looked so beautiful. Her full black lashes swept across her cheeks, and her hair had fallen into her face. My fingers itched to brush it back to fully see her beauty.
I was mesmerized by the way the firelight danced over her hair, bringing out the blue-black color, and making her flawless skin look rosy. Her breasts rose and fell steadily with her deep even breaths.
Her ass was pointed right at me and my cock hardened, it looked so fucking good in those leggings that Thorne picked out. All round and firm, just begging for me to spank it, my mouth watered at the thought of biting it and seeing my mark on her.
I may have had a dominant personality in the bedroom but I was all snuggles outside of it. I would never hit a woman just to assert my dominance, I only spanked and nibbled to bring pleasure. No choking
or any of that shit, hell I didn’t even like to see a girl choke on my cock as she’s blowing me. That’s not sexy at all to me.
There was something about her that brought out my more dominant side though. I could imagine how the sex with her would be. All wild and animalistic. None of that flowery shit.
My cock was straining against my jeans, the thought of sliding between Lexi’s legs into her tight, wet pussy was almost too much to bare. With a mumbled excuse I hurried out of the living room beelining for my room. It was time for a shower. An extremely cold one. If that didn’t work, I guess I would have to have Ms. Rosie Palm pay a visit.
Fifteen
Lexi
Waking up groggy from my impromptu nap, I looked around. I had sat on the couch with the intention of waiting for the guys to come in so I could ask them questions. Next thing I knew, I was waking up with a blanket covering me and it was dark outside. I panicked a little thinking I may have slept all day, but as my eyes found the window I could see it was only dark because of cloud cover. It looked like it was going to rain. I loved the rain, hearing it patter against the roof was soothing for me. No matter how much sleep I may have gotten, the rain always made me want to drift off to dreamland again.
I looked around the living room, the fire had gone down some but it was still warm in here, there were two end tables on either side of the couch with lamps on them. They are both turned on but the light was still dim, giving just enough illumination to see the rest of the room.
There were two recliners sitting off to either side of the couch. That way whoever was sitting in them wouldn’t block the T.V. Not that I could see that as a problem, they had the biggest TV I had ever seen. It had to be at least 72 inches.
I rolled my eyes, boys and their toys. I was just about to get up and go searching for the guys I could hear somewhere in the house when Colter strolled into the room. He looked so good and smelled even better. His pants were just the right amount of tight and loose in all the right places; his dark red t-shirt fit him like a glove, showing off his biceps and chest muscles. But what really made my mouth water was the cup of coffee he had in his hands and the BLT sandwich on a plate.
“Mmmm, I think I’m in love,” I said as he handed me both, setting cream and sugar on the coffee table. Where the hell did he keep those?
“I get that a lot.” He winked at me, and my panties got damp again. At this rate I’m going to need new panties every fucking hour with them around.
“I was talking to the coffee and sandwich.” I told him before taking a massive bite out of the sandwich, groaning at how good it tasted.
“Lexi,” Colter groaned with me, “If you keep making those sounds, I’m going to have to have my way with you just to hear them again as my cock is buried deep inside of you.”
I nearly choked on my sandwich, hastily swallowing the bite I just took. “How do you know I make sounds? I could be really quiet in the bedroom.” I took a big gulp of the coffee, cursing in my head as it scalded my mouth.
“If you’re quiet then the guy is doing it wrong. And trust me, baby-- I’m never wrong.” He gave me a salacious look sitting down next to me. I very nearly chucked my plate and coffee to the floor and climbed in his lap. That would be coffee abuse though and I never abused my coffee.
“We’ll just have to see won’t we?” I flirted right back with a wink of my own, I tried to make it sexy but I’m sure it came off as deranged. I had never been a very good winker.
“Oh, we will.” He purred while running a finger down the side of my neck, I’m sure he could feel my fluttering heart and I couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down my spine. I wanted him so bad right then. I started to lean forward and set my empty plate and coffee on the table when my lungs seized up, I coughed so hard that my plate fell out of my hands and bounced on the floor. I was happy it didn’t break, for about half of a second, as it came down a second time and shattered.
Well fuck. Way to be a terrible house guest, Lex. Not only are you lusting after all four men in the house but now you break their dishes.
“What happened? Are you alright, Lexi?” Thorne ran into the room, looking between Colter, me and the shattered plate. I was still coughing and couldn’t answer him.
“She had a coughing fit while trying to put her plate on the table.” Colter answered for me and I shot him a grateful look as my coughing finally subsided.
I fell back against the cushions, once again tired already. I growled at myself for feeling so weak. I never was a very good patient according to Roxy.
Thorne and Colter looked at me like I was crazy; I waved my hand around weakly and told them, “I just hate feeling so fucking weak. I just woke up and yet one coughing fit and I’m ready to fall back asleep. I’ve only been awake for what an hour, less than? It’s ridiculous.” I wasn’t sure if they caught the last part through the big yawn I couldn’t keep at bay.
Suspicion crawled up my spine when Thorne looked down sheepishly, and began to clean up the mess. I glanced at Colter who also had a slightly guilty look on his face.
What the fuck is going on here? It dawned on me that I shouldn’t feel this tired. Earlier I had coughing fits in the bedroom and didn’t feel this tired afterward. It wasn’t until I ate breakfast that I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and now 40 minutes after eating lunch and here I was ready to fall back asleep.
I smelled a rat. A rat named Thorne, with his mouse sidekick Colt.
I narrowed my eyes at them crossing my arms over my chest, “Which one of you fucking drugged me?”
“Now Lexi, It’s--” Thorne started to say but I cut him off with a hard shake of my head.
“Don’t you ‘Now Lexi’ me mister. Why the fuck are you drugging me? Do I need to be worried here?”
“What? NO!” Thorne and Colter both shouted.
“I put a pain pill into your drink, okay. You have to take it with food, and I didn’t think you would take pills from a virtual stranger, so I made the call to hide them from you. They tend to make you sleepy. You don’t cough as much when you’re sleeping, Lexi. Your ribs still need to heal, and coughing isn’t helping. You had to of noticed that you’re not in nearly the amount of pain you should be for what you went through. You’re still sick and need as much rest as you can get.” Thorne at least had the decency to look ashamed.
“But I just fucking woke up! I would have liked to be awake just a little longer before you send me off to lala land again, you ass. You could've just asked Thorne. Just because you’re an EMT doesn’t mean you get to make the calls for me.” I tried to sound stern but my menacing look was interrupted by a loud and long yawn, shaking my head a little at the end, trying to fight my closing eyelids. “Damn, this shit works fast.” I said, but I’m sure it came out mumbled or slurred as I lost the fight and my eyes close again.
My last thought before drifting off to sleep was, I am never taking a drink from them again. Even if they mean well.
Sixteen
I woke up with a strangled scream clogging my throat hours later. My heart was beating wildly in my chest, and I could feel the sweat drying on my skin. I was terrified and didn’t really have an idea why. I just knew my body was in fight or flight mode, and they were warring with each other. On the one hand, after I did a quick scan of the room, I knew I was safe so I didn’t have to flee. The other hand, however, was telling me I was in danger and I needed to fight my way out of here.
A hand lightly landed on my shoulder. Yelping, I grabbed the hand and twisted the wrist, just like I was taught, sliding off the couch and spinning my body away from my attacker. It was so smooth I had just a moment of pride in myself.
“Ouch! Damnit, Lexi it’s me! Stop trying to break my wrist!” Shane was standing behind the couch, well bent over it, looking pissed off, concerned, and proud all at once. I quickly dropped his wrist, watching as he massaged it a little,
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Shane.” I ran my hand through my hair, heaving a frustrated and irritate
d sigh when my hand once again got caught in the knots. I lost the hair tie somewhere.
I rolled my eyes up to give my hair an evil glare. I really needed to brush the tangled mess out.
Thorne, Colter, and Connor ran into the room, they all had knives in their hands and looked ready to kill something--or someone.
I immediately started panicking again, my breathing coming out in gasps, “Why do you have those! I won’t go down easy motherfuckers!” I started to back up, never turning my back to them, my eyes darting around the room wildly as I looked for something to defend myself with. It may not have worked out so well last time, but this time I would be damned if the fucker will succeed in killing me.
Wait. What the fuck? I stopped my search as I was assaulted by memories.
“Lex? Cariño, everything is fine. We weren’t attacking you. We rushed in here to defend you when you screamed.” Thorne’s soothing and calm voice broke me out of my mind. I looked at them again with wide eyes, my heart rate finally slowing down when it registered they weren’t going to hurt me. I had known all along, deep down, that I was finally safe. It’s why I was immediately comfortable around them. But with my memories came my irrational fear.
“I remember.” Was all I said, my voice trembling a little. I explored each of the guys, for what I didn’t know. All I knew was, I felt like my world was crumbling yet again.
Roxy. Brit.
I know I heard both of their voices in those woods. How the hell would Brit’s voice be there? Then that guy with the mask came out of nowhere. Christian--yet it wasn’t him. I knew him inside and out, or at least thought I did. But the guy that attacked me wasn’t quite Christian, he had the same build and eyes but it was the mouth and voice that were off, in my memory. Did I somehow replace the real attacker’s face with one of Christian, because I had been afraid of him when I left Salem? Or was it really him, and he had been able to hide the monster inside for a year?
Lexi's Justice Page 11