“Let him go,” I said.
Trevor didn't immediately let him go, but a voice from the stairwell caused us all to turn around.
“Listen to Chase,” Elise said softly.
She walked down to the bottom of the stairway, and Trevor still held Brad by the shoulders. She repeated herself, her voice a little firmer and more resolute.
“Trevor, let him go,” she said. “I have something I need to say to him.”
Trevor reluctantly dropped Brad back down to his feet, and backed off a few steps, but stayed near. Elise walked over to Brad, a defiant look on her face as she held her chin up high. She walked closer than I was comfortable with, but Trevor was right there and so was I. If Brad tried anything, he'd have to contend with us, and I wouldn't stop Trevor from turning his face into raw meat if it meant keeping Elise out of harm's way. Hell, I'd help him. I may have been the calm one of the groups, but that didn't mean I didn't want an excuse to bloody the guy up, or that I was incapable of delivering a beating. Especially after seeing the bruise on Elise's arm. All I wanted was an excuse.
Elise stared into Brad's eyes, and there was nothing there. If she'd loved him at one time, that love was gone. As she looked at him, I saw nothing but a cold vacancy in her eyes. There was nothing but contempt in her face for him.
“Brad, I need you to listen to me,” she said. “You need help. Your drinking is out of control, so is your anger.”
“Elle –”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Let me finish, please. You really need to get yourself together. You're a disappointment to not only yourself and me, but also to your family. Do you think your dad would appreciate you laying hands on a woman?”
Brad's face twisted into a look of hatred. “Don't bring my dad into this.”
“Why not? He's a good man. A man who tried to raise his children right and did the best he could. Your dad would never have tolerated you putting hands on a woman. I know that as surely as I know my own name,” she said. “And that is not something I could say about you, if you were to be a father right now.”
Those words were like a gut punch, but I was proud of her. She was standing her ground, speaking her mind, but I feared where the conversation might be headed. Placing my hand on her arm, I tried to pull her attention to me. She side-eyed me, and I mouthed the words, “Careful, Elise.”
“No, he needs to know. I appreciate your offer, Chase, but I can't live a lie,” she said, her voice trembling a bit as she turned back to her ex. Brad scoffed, rolling his eyes and stumbling a bit before catching himself against the wall. He was swaying on his feet, barely able to stand. When he looked at her though, it was with the most baleful, hateful expression I'd ever seen.
He said, “You want to fucking shame me?” he sneered. “You keep comparing me to my dad. Hell, you keep comparing me to your fucking dead brother.”
“Don't you dare bring Aaron into this,” Elise said. “You're not even half the man he was.”
“Oh yeah? A man that couldn't even control his drug problem? A man who killed himself because he couldn't handle the pain any longer?” he spat. “What a great role model to have, Elle. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were fucking your own –”
That was it. Bringing Aaron into this was too much for me. Before I could stop myself, my fist connected with the side of his face, the crack of flesh meeting flesh as loud as a gunshot. The calm, always in control Chase had lost it. This time, it was Nolan who grabbed me, pulling me back from Brad who was now cursing at me. I hadn't hit him hard. It could have been a lot worse. I knew my own strength – I'd once broken a man's jaw in self-defense once. But I pulled my punch with Brad just a bit. I shouldn't have. But I did. His jaw wasn't broken, and he was going to live, so he was lucky.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I said.
“This is my parent's fucking property, asshole. Or did you forget,” Brad slurred.
He lunged toward me, but Sean grabbed ahold of him, preparing to toss him outside when Elise stopped him.
“I might be having your baby, Brad,” she said. “But, do you think you're the type of man who should be raising a child?”
Sean stopped. So did Trevor. The room went utterly quiet, and a sudden tension infused the air around us. Nolan muttered, “Jesus Christ” as he let me go.
“You might be? Sure it's not one of these guys’?” he slurred at her. “I mean, given that you're fucking them all, and that you're obviously a whore, why should I trust you?”
Trevor lunged forward again, grabbing Brad by the neck and slammed him against the wall, holding him there. He stepped closer so that their faces were just two inches apart. Brad was so drunk, he didn't even have the common sense to look afraid.
“Get the fuck out of here, now. Before I do something that will ruin both of our lives,” Trevor spat.
Internally, I cheered Trevor on. He held himself back and didn't beat the shit out of Brad. Had it not been for Nolan grabbing my arm and holding me back, I might have done something stupid. Something that would have ended with me in jail. My vision was going dark, and I narrowed my gaze like a hunter seeking out his prey. My blood boiled inside of me, running hot through my veins. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to fucking kill him for what he'd said about Elise.
As I continued to stand there and glower at the man, Elise stepped up, gently pulling Trevor's hands away from Brad's throat. There were tears in her eyes, but she spoke with a clarity that I had to admire.
“You know what? Keep thinking that, Brad,” she said. “Keep thinking that I'm a whore, and that this child isn't yours. Because there's no way in hell I'm ever letting you near any child of mine. So, go do what you want. I don't give a fuck anymore.”
With that, Trevor shoved Brad out the door so hard, the guy stumbled backward down the stairs. He fell on his ass, hard, letting out a cursed yell as Trevor slammed the door shut, locking it tight.
Once we were alone, Elise broke down. Her knees buckled, and she crumpled, falling to the floor, her body wracked with massive, heaving sobs. I rushed toward her, but I wasn't alone. All of us fell down around her, holding her in the middle of us. Protecting her. Shielding her. We all had a hand on her – shoulders, arms, back – we tried to infuse our strength into her with our touch. Tried to remind her that everything would be okay.
She had us, and there was no doubt in my mind that any one of us would step up to father her child. No question about it – and as long as she had us, she had no reason to ever see Brad again.
7
Elise
I didn't even recall getting myself upstairs. I'd somehow ended up crumpled up on the floor, hurt and terrified, before managing to drag myself up and onto the bed. For some reason, despite all I knew to the contrary, I had still stupidly expected Brad to be a better man than he was. I’d thought maybe, just maybe, knowing that I was carrying his child might convince him to stop drinking and get his shit together. Boy, had I been wrong to think that.
I still wasn't one hundred percent sure I was pregnant. My period was late, but the test was still in my purse. I hadn't had the guts to take it just yet to confirm the feeling of dread in my heart. After what had happened with Brad just now, I wasn't sure I'd ever get the nerve to do it. I suddenly had no desire to confirm that I was, in fact, pregnant with his child. I didn't want to know with absolute certainty that I was carrying the seed of a monster inside of me.
I laid in bed with Sean and Trevor, suddenly wide awake, staring up at the ceiling and reveled in the knowledge and the warmth that I was surrounded by my brother's best friends. The shock of the situation had worn off a bit and I felt safe and warm there. Memories of the kiss I'd shared with Sean a little earlier came rushing back to me as I felt the familiar comfort of him being so near to me. I looked over at him and smiled. Trevor ran his hand through my hair and I leaned into his touch, reveling in his gentle strength. I wanted them to touch me, to comfort me. All of them. I wanted to bask in their life affirming energy and
let it consume me. Chase's genuine offer to help me, if I was pregnant, and Nolan's sweetness that morning had me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
These men cared for me more than Brad ever had. They cared about me probably more than any other man would too. To Brad, I was a possession, a thing he owned. To them, I was a beautiful woman, independent of mind and spirit, and they cared for me as such. They encouraged me to simply be me, and never failed to make me feel like I was truly enough. I was blessed to have these gorgeous, sweet, perfect men in my life, and as I laid there, I realized that my body yearned for them to be closer than they were.
No one asked me about the possible pregnancy. None of them, not even Trevor, chastised me for not telling them about it, or judged me for possibly carrying Brad's child in the first place. They simply held me. The bed was large but was hardly big enough for all of us to lay comfortably, so the guys were crammed together in awkward angles, sitting upright while I laid curled amongst them. I was touching all of them in some way. Trevor's hand was in my hair. Sean rubbed my shoulder and left arm. Nolan and Chase were down by my legs, one on each side, my legs brushing against them, their big strong hands stroking them gently. Chase had his hand on my knee, while Nolan ran his fingers down my calf in a soothing, gentle way.
Closing my eyes, the desire inside of me grew stronger and stronger with each touch of their hands upon my body. It wasn't the right time to admit my feelings for these men. Like there was ever going to be a right time, but, at that moment, I was still in shock about everything that happened. My body was a live wire of raw energy, and confused, conflicted thought and emotion.
Despite that though, I knew that my feelings for them wasn't just an adrenaline rush, or a product of my confusion. I'd had feelings for them all at one point or another, and none of those feelings ever withered and died – not even when I became interested in another. I loved them, all of them. I loved them for their differences, the things that made each of them unique. They were all good men. Great men. Taken as one whole unit, they were the absolute perfect man for me, with each contributing one special trait after another.
Chase had a normally down-to-Earth and laid-back nature that I admired. Though, when he stood up for someone he cared about, he could be downright fierce. I stared down at him near the foot of the bed, feeling my heart swell at his boyish good looks, his sweet smile, and those blue eyes. His short cropped reddish blonde hair was growing out, just a bit, and was a bit shaggier than normal for the boy-next-door look, as was the scruff growing along his chin. It added to his sexiness. I turned toward Nolan, the quiet, thoughtful one of the group. He was an introvert at heart but was smarter than anyone I'd ever met. Long conversations about philosophy didn't scare him away, and in fact, seemed to energize him. Intellectual discussions lit him up in ways little else did. We'd spent many nights up late, while my brother slept, drinking beer and talking about the stars, the universe, and what it all meant. He'd removed his glasses to lay comfortably beside us, and I missed them on his face, strangely enough. They made his eyes look larger and sweeter than they already were. With his big, brown eyes and nearly black hair, Nolan was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.
Then there was Sean, of course. There was no denying the tatted up bad boy was a hottie, with his shaggy brown hair that fell almost to his shoulders, and those vivid green eyes of his that promised a little mischief, and a little something more. His skin was a light brown, dotted with colorful works of art that I could stare at all day. Sean liked to act big and bad, but I'd seen sides of him that others didn't get to see. I'd seen the softer side of my bad boy. I'd seen the side that cared deeply about the people in his life. He didn't let people in easily, but when he did, when he gave somebody his heart and trust, I knew he'd fight to the death for them. Just like he'd done for my brother.
In many ways, Trevor was similar to Sean. It was hard to imagine a born and bred Texas country boy having a lot in common with a city boy who grew up on the streets, but they were both tough on the outside, and little more than gooey on the inside. At least, they were if you ever made it past that hard outer shell, something very few people did. They could both be tremendously guarded and quick to fight to keep anybody from getting past their own defenses.
Trevor was even maybe a little softer and gooier on the inside than Sean, truth be told. His hazel eyes stared at me, and I found myself getting lost in them. Much like the time we'd hooked up – or rather, the time we'd almost hooked up. With his military short haircut and his ripped farmer's body, he was a true alpha male. He was strong, and so willing to fight for those things he believed in, and those people he loved. He'd proven to me, on more than one occasion, that he was willing to fight for me.
I loved them all, and not like brothers or friends. I loved them in ways that led to fantasies as I laid in bed at night, all alone, dreaming of feeling their hands all over my body like they were now. I bit my lip, closed my eyes and relished the sensations their touches awakened within me. I savored their musky, manly scents, and wished that we could be together, like one, big happy family.
I imagined Chase's hand moving up my thigh, spreading my legs with Nolan's help. Both of their fingers ran along the seam of my yoga pants, sending goosebumps marching along my skin. My body responded to the fantasy flitting through my head, a fantasy that ignited the fires of desire flourishing inside of me. I was growing wetter at the thought of them touching me, of doing more with all of them. In my head, I took turns kissing Sean and Trevor. In my fantasy, one of them would kiss my lips, while the other kissed my neck, nibbling gently.
Without meaning to, as my fantasy played out through my mind, like some erotic film, I let out a small groan. My eyes popped open and I felt my cheeks flush when I saw that all four men were staring at me, a look of confusion on their faces. All of their eyes were on me, searching mine, trying to read my mind. God, I was so glad they couldn't. My cheeks burned and grew warmer from embarrassment, and all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and disappear.
“Everything okay?” Sean asked me, leaning close enough for me to feel the warmth of his breath on my ear.
I shuddered, gasping at the sensation it sent rushing through. Turning to look at him, I stared at his luscious lips, remembering the way they felt against mine, desiring to feel it once more. I shuddered slightly at the memory of the way he'd tasted. I licked my lips, trying to push the thought from my head as I stared into those beautiful green eyes. I couldn't afford to let myself get lost in those fantasies again. Or those memories. He smiled back at me, giving me that sweet smile that not many people got to see from him. It softened his otherwise chiseled, hardened features, and for a second, I forgot there were others with us in the bed.
I closed the distance and kissed him, but not on the lips. I pressed my lips to his cheek, inhaling his rugged, manly scent as our faces touched. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing in the scent of him. It was a nice musk, his natural scent. No cologne in the world could smell as good as a man you were in love with.
And yes, I had to admit if only to myself, that I was in love with him.
My mouth hesitated against his cheek, my lips still pressed to his flesh, but I yearned to move closer to his actual lips, to kiss him for real, again. I suddenly became aware of the fingertips on my back, and at first, I assumed they were Sean's. At least, until he took my face in his massively large hands and stroked my cheeks gently; more tenderly than hands that size should have been able to.
No, the hands on my back belonged to Trevor. He rubbed and kneaded my back, massaging me gently, as I laid there between the two of them. My insides ached to be closer to both of them. I yearned to feel them inside of me. I never got to experience that with Trevor, even though we had come so close, and I'd often wondered what it would have been like. I'd had the same thoughts about all the guys at one point or another though and being between both Sean and Trevor in that moment, feeling their bodies pressed so close to mine, only heightened my arousal, fe
eding into my most taboo fantasies. Yet I couldn't deny the power they held over me, or how badly I wanted to make those fantasies a reality, taboo or not.
Arching my back, I pressed my ass into Trevor and gasped at the sensation, feeling my body suddenly tingling. He wasn't expecting it, obviously, and his erection brushed against me. Feeling the hardness of his length brought out another moan from me. My body felt like it was aflame, as Trevor's hand moved down the length of my body and the aching need within me only grew stronger, until it settled on my hips. He held me in place, as if trying to prevent us from touching again – except I still felt him against me, and I reveled in how amazing it felt to have his long, thick cock pushing up against my ass.
He adjusted himself, and I slid my legs open. His erection was now resting between my thighs, even though we were both fully clothed, and my body burned with desire and need. I ached for him in ways I didn't think were natural or right, in ways I didn't yearn for anybody else. It was probably because we'd come so close once, only to deny ourselves that ecstasy. It had always remained a question mark in my mind, simply because of the mystery.
Trevor moaned, thrusting forward involuntarily and trembling in pleasure.
I'd closed my eyes, reveling in the fantasy, and when I re-opened them, I was staring into Sean's green eyes again. His hands no longer held my face, they'd already moved down lower, and he was gently cupping my breasts in his hands. His fingertips brushed across the fabric of my shirt, teasing my nipples until I whimpered as they grew stiff with my excitement.
This was wrong. Entertaining the fantasies in my head, let alone starting to act them out with these four men was so very wrong. Yet, at the same time, it felt so good. The feelings and sensations coursing through me were growing stronger by the second, and I couldn't stop myself. Neither could the two guys who were touching me, and for that I was glad.
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