by Becca Van
“I’ve never really had anyone love me for who I am. I’ve always been told I wasn’t good enough, and even though I tried time and again to be what my parents wanted me to be, I never measured up.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I loved and looked up to them, but they treated me like shit. My sister and my brother walked away without a backward glance.”
“What your brother and sister did isn’t on you, sweetness,” Byron laced his fingers with hers. “They were probably as upset as you are from the abuse your parents dished out. Their decisions weren’t because they didn’t love you.”
Krista nodded, placing a hand over her heart. “Deep down, I know that’s true, but I can’t help waiting for my love to be thrown back in my face, for another kick in the guts each time I don’t live up to other people’s expectations. Am I so lacking that no one can love the real me?”
Beck cupped her cheeks between his hands. “You’re my world, Krista. I love you with my whole fucking heart. Can’t you feel it, darlin’?” He clasped her wrist and placed her hand on his chest over his beating her. “My heart beats for you, only for you.”
“You love me?” she whispered
“So fucking much I want to crawl into you so deeply you’ll never get me out,” Beck said hoarsely.
Tears of joy stung her eyes, but she determinedly shoved them away. She’d already cried and didn’t want to cry again. “I l-love y-you, t-too.”
The smile that curved Beck’s lips up and lit his eyes with joy had her heart stuttering and her breath catching.
“You have made me the happiest man alive, darlin’. You’re so fucking brave.” Beck bent forward and slammed his mouth over hers, kissing her voraciously. When he broke the kiss, she panted for air and turned toward Byron when he squeezed her hand.
“I’ve loved you from the second I met you, sweetness. I felt as if I was struck by fucking lightning and nearly dropped to my knees. I would have told you how I felt then but knew you would have looked at me as if I’d lost my mind or was a creep. You’re everything to me, mate, and I would be lost without you.” Byron lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
She pulled her hand from his, caressed his cheek, then gripped his nape and tugged him closer. “I love you, too, Byron.” She pressed her lips to his and moaned as he took over control. His tongue delved in deep, slid along, and then curled around hers. She was shivering with arousal by the time he let her up for air.
Bas must have been impatient, because she and Byron had barely stopped kissing before he turned her to face him. “You’re the other half to my heart and soul, baby. You’ve completed me in ways I never thought to be. If anything ever happened to you…” Bas held her tighter against his chest and ravished her mouth. She whimpered and wriggled as she tried to get closer. All the fear she’d harbored in her heart dissipated, and her heart soared with joy.
They loved her.
The real her.
Never again would she have to hold herself back as she tried put others before her own needs. Joy and happiness filled her soul until she wanted to laugh with glee.
Instead, she kissed Bas passionately and hoped that her mates still wanted to make love with her. The fiery need, which had waned with her trepidation, was back with a vengeance, and she couldn’t wait for her mates to douse the flames heating her blood.
“I can’t believe you kept me on edge and wouldn’t let me come,” she said breathlessly when he let her gasp for air.
“I needed to get through to you, baby.” He pecked her on the lips, but the kiss quickly got out of control again.
* * * *
Beck plucked Krista from Bas’s lap as soon as he ceased kissing her. His dick, which had gone to half-mast while they’d been trying to find out what was going on with their mate, had filled with blood as soon as he’d kissed her.
His heart was so full now that he knew she loved them, and to his surprise, the bond between them was stronger. He wondered if Krista’s fear of rejection had been the catalyst to keep the emotional link between then from becoming solid.
Now that she knew he and his brothers loved her, hopefully the bond would just get sturdier.
He dropped down onto the sofa cushion with her straddling his lap, lined the head of his cock up with her drenched entrance, and shoved in to the hilt.
“Oh!” Krista moaned.
“Are you ready for me, baby?” Bas asked as he once more moved in behind her.
“Always.” She smiled at Bas over her shoulder. Bas took his lips with his, kissing her passionately as he bent his knees and drove his dick into her ass.
“You both feel so good.” Krista panted shallowly. “So full.”
Byron stepped up onto the sofa, turned, and sank down to his knees beside Krista, facing her side.
Krista grasped Byron’s cock, pumped him and few times, bent down to the side, and took him into her mouth.
There was no slow build up this time.
Beck drew his cock out of her hot cunt to the tip, and as he thrust up hard and fast into her pussy, Bas retreated from her ass.
Krista’s moan was muffled as she bobbed up and down over Byron’s cock, moving faster and taking him deeper each time she enveloped his dick with her mouth.
Beck had never been so excited, aroused, or happy in his life. The faster he and his brothers took her, the more he could feel her emotions until he felt as if he was truly one with her in body and soul.
He rocked his hips rapidly, relishing every ripple of her cunt around his cock. The walls of her pussy grew tauter and tauter, and her breathing got heavier and faster.
Bas growled as he glided his dick into and out of her ass.
Byron groaned when Krista took his dick into the back of her throat all the while caressing the rest of his erection with her hand.
Beck’s hips slapped against hers, and while he savored every frictional slide of her inner walls along his dick, he also kept a close eye on her in case she began to fight them again.
However, this time she seemed to embrace the sensations as he and his brothers made love to their mate.
Heated tingles at his lower back warned him of his impending release, and while he couldn’t wait to fill his woman with his essence, he needed to make sure she orgasmed first.
When the liquid heat invaded his lower belly and his balls firmed just before they drew up closer to his body, Beck reached down between him and Krista and circled his finger over and around her clit.
She groaned and shivered as she got closer and closer to the stars.
Beck rubbed her clit faster and harder. This time when she came, he wanted her to go supernova. He wanted her screaming until she was hoarse from too much pleasure, if there was such a thing.
Cream dripped from his balls, and just as blazing heat licked at his sac, Beck grasped her clit between his finger and thumb and squeezed.
“Mmmph,” she cried out as she tipped over the edge.
Beck gripped her hips, pumped his dick into her spasming cunt twice more, and the third time he surged deep with a yell of completion. “Krista!” He shook and shivered as cum shot up his dick deep into her pussy and womb.
“Fuuck!” Byron shouted as he orgasmed.
A second later, Bas’s roared as he drove into her ass, grinding his hips into her butt cheeks as he climaxed.
Byron eased his cock from Krista’s mouth and cradled her wrist in his hands near his mouth. “Now!” he ordered.
Beck didn’t need to be told twice. He licked her flesh and sank his lengthened fangs into the flesh of her shoulder.
Krista screamed as she tipped over into another orgasm before the last one had ended. Cum gushed from her cunt, covering his dick, trickling from his balls and over his upper thighs.
Sheets of white flashed in front of his eyes as he was catapulted straight back up into the sky. Sweat sheened and rolled down his temples, back, and chest. He quivered and quaked with euphoria, and he felt so fucking hot he was sure he’d touched
the sun.
Her cunt shuddered around his dick with aftershocks, drawing more seed from his balls and making him groan. He’d never come so hard or for so long in his life.
Krista was his mate, his life, and Beck knew that things were only going to get better between them now that she’d opened her heart up to him and his brothers.
It was a startling revelation to realize that she was the only person on earth capable of breaking his heart. If anything happened to her, his world as he knew it would be over.
Chapter Sixteen
Barty stood on the bow of the motor yacht he’d hired and cursed the cold. He was glad that he’d researched the bitch’s location before setting out. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been rugged up to the nines against the minus temperature.
As soon as he and his men had boarded the yacht, they’d scoped things out, watching and counting the crew. He’d waited until they were halfway to their destination before signaling the guys to take control of the boat. They’d been lucky since there was only four crewmen, and since he had nine other men with him, they outnumbered the sailors and had overpowered them without much effort. The yacht’s crew had put their hands up without an argument once they’d had guns pointed at them.
He shivered as the icy wind pierced through the thick layer of clothes and his wool-lined coat. Why that slut had decided to come here was beyond him. Who in their right mind would travel clear across the States into another place that was as desolate as an unpopulated ice-land?
He shrugged, because he didn’t really care. All Barty cared about was avenging his younger brother’s death.
As he stared at the small island, which was getting closer by the minute, he tried to think of a plan to get to his target. He didn’t want to waste time reconnoitering to find her, and he didn’t give a shit about the locals. The fastest way to his goal was for them to go in with guns blazing. He’d kill everyone in the whole fucking town if he had to. He didn’t care how many he murdered as long as he achieved his end goal. This place was so far from anything he didn’t even have to worry about the cops because there weren’t any.
He’d planned to kill her as soon as he saw her but had changed his mind. Barty wanted her to suffer the way his brother had. David hadn’t died instantly. He’d bled out slowly and had probably been in a lot of pain. He didn’t want her getting off too easy and had decided to get her onto the boat so he could rape her.
She deserved to suffer every bit as much as his brother had. The last thing he wanted her seeing before she died was his satisfied face.
Turning away from the front of the boat, he headed to the cabin and the bags of guns he and his men had stashed away in Nome.
It was time to get ready.
Krista Oscar would no longer be breathing by the end of the day.
Maybe, hopefully, David would be able to rest in peace after Barty sought vengeance.
* * * *
Krista had spent the last two days with her men, their friends, and the other women. She couldn’t believe how nice and kind Kiana, Keisha, Kailin, and Kenna were. They were so friendly and accepting, she knew they were going to be friends for life.
Yesterday she’d spent setting up the classroom she’d chosen to teach in, and while she was disappointed that school wouldn’t be starting unless the threat to her was over, she was also glad she wouldn’t have to worry about keeping the kids safe when danger came after her.
She might have been strong enough last time to protect her pupils from gunmen, but she wasn’t sure she would be this time. The thought of picking up and aiming another gun made her feel sick to her stomach.
Krista wasn’t naïve and knew it was only a matter of time before those assholes made their move, but she just wished she knew when.
Right now, her men were in the office discussing a case that had come in, and even though she knew she was being selfish, she hoped that Bas, Beck, and Byron weren’t going to be leaving her. She shook her head. There was no way her mates would leave her all alone when her life was in danger. She also didn’t like the thought of any of the other men leaving the island, either, just in case the Immoral gang decided to make their move and the other guys needed back up.
Kiana, Keisha, and Kenna were working in the office, and Kailin was in her studio working on her music.
She smiled when she remembered the other women explaining to her and then teaching her how to block her mates from her emotions. Krista had been practicing that skill on and off all morning but made sure to connect with her men regularly after Kenna had warned her of the consequences of blocking her guys for too long.
“All you have to do to get some privacy is build up a wall around your heart and in front of your mind,” Kiana had explained.
“Are you sure that will work?” Krista had asked.
“Yeah,” Keisha had replied. “But there’s a drawback to blocking them out for too long.”
“That’s an understatement,” Kenna had muttered. “If they don’t get to feel you on a regular basis, your men are going to become agitated and aggressive.”
“You have to remember, they aren’t totally human,” Kiana had said.
Keisha had nodded. “We’re like a chill pill to them. If they don’t get their fix, they get antsy.”
Krista had accompanied her men to Cam’s house, and she was grateful that Kiana had lent her a book to read. She’d tried helping the other women out with the office work, but she was worried about the imminent danger and hadn’t been able to concentrate. Keisha had seen her concern and gently suggested that Krista go and relax in the living room and to try and not worry over the upcoming danger.
It had taken her over an hour to read a whole chapter, and she’d put the book aside with a sigh. She’d kept herself busy, after seeking Kiana’s permission, of course, and had kept the men and women supplied with tea, coffee, and had made everyone sandwiches for lunch. She’d even shooed the other women back to work and cleaned up, but now she had nothing to do, and since she couldn’t keep her mind on one thing, she was pacing from one end of the living room and back again.
While it was cold outside, the sun was shining, and it was tempting to step out to get some fresh air and get her scattered thoughts under control. Though she could imagine her mates going ballistic at her if she left the house without a guard, she was still tempted.
Krista felt as if the walls were closing in on her, and she wondered if she’d end up going stir crazy.
Ben and Mica were once more spending the day playing at Mica’s house. She had no idea what Abey and Bly did to occupy their time since their mother, Catori, worked at the store with the older native woman.
She bit her lip when she remembered that the lady had told her there was going to be a bloodbath and that a lot of people were going to die.
Fear traversed her body, causing her to tremble.
Guilt assailed her and the knot of anxiety in her gut grew bigger and bigger. She would be devastated if anything happened to the kids or anyone else, for that matter.
What would happen to Mica, Abey, Bly, and Ben if their parents and guardians were mowed down in cold blood? Would the survivors look at her with accusation in their eyes? Would they blame her for putting everyone in jeopardy?
Krista couldn’t live with other peoples’ death on her conscience. There was no way she’d be able to deal with such remorseful culpability.
Right now, she wished she’d never come to Gambell, St. Lawrence Island. Although she wouldn’t have met the loves of her life, the other citizens wouldn’t be in peril of losing their lives.
She walked over to the window and sighed as the stared out at nothing.
When she saw Bly walking along the row between the houses, Krista placed her palm against the window. The little girl had a smile on her face and looked as if she was talking to herself, or maybe she had an imaginary friend. She looked so darn happy, and she was as innocent as a newborn baby.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t let anything
happen to her, her sister, or the two boys.
Krista followed Bly’s path and frowned when she saw a shadow elongated along the ground. It looked as if someone was hiding behind the corner of a house. When the shadow moved, she knew for certain.
Fear for the little girl had her flight or fight instincts kicking in, and without any thought other than getting to Bly, she raced toward the front door and bolted onto the verandah.
“Bly, wait up!” Krista called out, and she hurried down the steps and ran toward the child. Bly turned toward her, but before Krista could yell a warning, the shadow revealed itself as a man surged out from behind the house and ran at the child. Bly was in the bastard’s arms a second later.
Krista skidded to a stop, staring with abject horror at the man who had to be the reason she was in danger. He was older and brawnier than his brother, but there was no way she’d be able to mistake the familial features of the guy she’d accidentally shot and killed.
“Let her go. It’s me you want. She’s just a child and has nothing to do with this.” Horror pierced her heart and soul when a barrage of automatic shots were fired.
Tears burned her eyes and rolled down her cheeks before she could control them. The bastard gave her a malicious smile and took a step toward Krista, and then another one.
She glanced at Bly to see the terror in the little girl’s face and the tears escaping her eyes.
There was no way in hell she could let Bly be used against her.
Without a thought for her own life, Krista dropped to her knees on the ground and put her hands behind her head.
The fucker would need to set Bly back on her feet to deal with her. When he released the girl, she was going to tell her to run. She just hoped that the child was able to escape before the prick shot her in the back.
She shook her head.
Krista would step in front of the bullet to save Bly’s life, even if it meant her own death. Her life wouldn’t be worth living if anyone died because of her.
* * * *