by April Zyon
“I think there’s a couple we just shouldn’t tell,” James commented. “Personally, I think they damn well deserve a good beatin’ no matter the time of day, ma’am. I’d pay to see you lay a good rolling pin whoopin’ on their asses.”
“Well then, just don’t tell them. I’ll make sure to take the rolling pin to bed with me tonight. Besides, who needs four-a.m. runs when there is a full workout facility in your basement, or so I was told?” She slid a hot look to Gareth. Oh, she had been offered more than that and knew it.
“There is, but there’s nothing like all that fresh country air or the feel of the earth under your boots as you run,” James said. He pushed his chair back from the table and swung his legs up onto another one. “Now, get on with the lot of you. I have me a god to wrangle, and distractions aren’t helpful.”
Camilla snickered and rose from her seat. Looking to the two men that had been flanking her, she asked, “So, will you both come for a walk with me?” They hadn’t answered her, and now she felt a little nervous as to what they would say.
Mikhail just nodded and Gareth grinned as he offered her his arm. “I’m always willing to walk with a pretty lady,” he told her with a wiggle of his eyebrows. He was messing with her; the groans from Mikhail and James told her that.
She snickered and put her hand into his. “I guess that a-walking we will go. Make sure that the dishes get clean, Uncle. And please try not to trick James into doing them for you,” she called as they left the kitchen.
“As if I could,” Ares called after her.
Mikhail held the door open as she and Gareth stepped through. Once they were down on the path, Mikhail moved to her other side, his arms tucked at his back as he walked. Both he and Gareth were watchful of their surroundings as they moved, but given their relaxed posture, obviously they weren’t worried about anything out in the dark.
“So, whose property is this anyway?” Camilla asked finally when they were moving down what looked like might be a path. She liked the sound of the nighttime in full harmony with the Earth. The bugs sending out their mating calls, the animals as they scurried to and fro. It felt quite nice.
“Ours,” Mikhail answered her. “We all purchased the land and Ares did the rest to ensure it was never found again. It took some time to find, as we needed to arrange that no satellite ever traversed close enough to see it.”
“Which, in this day and age, was nearly impossible,” Gareth commented on her other side.
“That’s impressive,” she said with a smile. “Very impressive. I like it. I like that this place is tucked away and a slice of heaven.” She didn’t speak for several moments, and when she did, she asked, “What happens when I leave here? Do I forget you and this place?”
“If you leave here, you’ll have the memories of this place and all of us removed. They’ll be replaced with something else entirely so that there isn’t a blank spot,” Gareth told her. “If you stay…” He shrugged and shot her a look.
“And could I?” Camilla asked in a soft whisper. She couldn’t seem to help herself. “Stay, that is. Could I remain behind, or would the two of you want to strangle me before a week was up?” Not just them, but the other men as well.
“Of course you could stay. And for the record, strangling you isn’t on my list of things to do with and to you,” Gareth added. The look he shot her was heated and full of promises. Dark, hot, and interesting promises.
She licked her lips and watched him watching her. “So, what is on the list of things that you would like to do to me?” She needed to hear them voiced, had to know just what he was implying.
Gareth chuckled and leaned in closer, his lips against her ear. “It’s lengthy, but I’ll give you the highlights. All of it revolves around you being naked. Some involve you on your knees, others on your back, some sitting up, and all of them with my cock somewhere inside of you.”
A shiver raced over her body. “I love the way that you think.” Turning, she looked at Mikhail. “What about you, Mikhail? Do you have a list of things that you would like to do with me? I certainly hope so.”
He shot her a look. “Perhaps,” he said before falling silent again. Hm, apparently not big on sharing his thoughts on the matter. “I’d tell you, but I’ve seen how you get when you’re startled or thrown off balance. Since there’s no one else out here to assist if we’re all taken down, I think I’ll wait until you’re sitting.”
Camilla laughed. “I’m so sorry. I really and truly want to know just what it is that you have in your mind to do to me, with me.” She put a hand to his chest and nodded. “For now, we continue our walk?”
“Probably best.”
Gareth snickered but managed to mostly sober when she looked his way. “What? It’s funny, damn it. Especially since you tried to take him out,” he told her with a grin. “I only wish I’d had a video camera going right then.”
“Well, I’m very glad that you didn’t have one,” Camilla told him. “Because I don’t think I would have survived knowing I had harmed someone and it was caught on video. So no cameras, please.”
“You didn’t do all that much harm. He’s still upright and moving,” Gareth pointed out. “Though how, after that blow to his crotch, I’m still unsure of. I’d have been on the floor crying like a little girl, no offense, and suckling my thumb in misery.”
“I think Mikhail could remain up and moving no matter what. He’s solid as a rock. He’s wonderful like that,” she said with a delighted grin. “However, I think you could, too. Maybe I need to work on hitting you?”
“Uh, no, let’s say you did and I didn’t fall down with tears in my eyes,” Gareth suggested with a hopeful expression. “I really am good with you not clocking me anywhere, honestly.”
“Then don’t pick on Mikhail because of me doing that to him. We both know that’s what you were doing, too.” No heat stained her voice, and she was grinning. “So, we will all get along, right?” Camilla didn’t know why she felt drawn to these two men, but she was. She didn’t know much about them, but she somehow felt closer to them than the others in the team.
“Me? Picking on Mikhail? Never,” he scoffed with a wave.
Mikhail snorted. “Bullshit. You like getting in shots wherever you can. But then you’ve always been lacking and trying to compensate for that. Personally, me and the guys believe it’s Little Man Syndrome. And nothing to do with how tall he is.”
The look on Gareth’s face was priceless: totally stunned, yet horrified.
Camilla laughed. Ares had been right. Mikhail didn’t speak often, but when he did, it was something that you wanted to stop and listen to. The teasing had been delivered perfectly.
Mikhail just gave her and Gareth a mild look and continued walking. Gareth’s lips were moving, but nothing came out. Poor guy was speechless. “Come along, Camilla. We shouldn’t stay out too late. I know you were looking forward to this walk. Leave Stumpy to follow at his own pace if you must.”
Camilla grinned and moved along with Mikhail. “You know he’s stumped right now because those are the most words you’ve said to me since I got here. I enjoyed it. The look on his face was hilarious. Will you teach me how to deliver things like that?”
He shrugged. “It’s more of an art form than anything else. That, and listening for the perfect moment. You have to be quick so you don’t lose the opportunity or deliver too late. I’ll do what I can to instruct you, but you shouldn’t expect immediate results.”
“I think just learning from you will be enough. I might not be quick, but I think eventually I’ll pick it up. It just means many, many long hours alone with me. You teaching me how to deliver and me teaching you how to loosen up. I think we’ll get along famously.” She loved the idea of spending untold amounts of time with him. The opportunity to be alone with him, talking to him and learning from him would be cherished and it was something that she wanted in the most desperate of ways. She wanted to be alone with both men, wanted to take Gareth and Mikhail and lock
the three of them behind doors for a solid month at least so that she could learn everything she possibly could about them and oddly she wanted to let them into her very soul.
That earned her a grunt and another look. This one was slightly suspicious, but he said nothing about her spending more time with him. He did take her hand as they walked, though. A good sign.
Camilla didn’t say anything else. She walked with Mikhail and then Gareth when he caught up with them and slid his hand into hers. She gave his hand a squeeze. Camilla felt a peace that warred with the situation that had brought her here to the farm. She felt—well, she felt as if she had finally come home.
She’d never had any luck in relationships before. Now, being here with Gareth and Mikhail, she felt like she’d been in a holding pattern all her life. She felt like she had been waiting for these two men to come into her life. Camilla felt like she had been born for them, and like they had been waiting for her.
Chapter Eight
When they returned to the house, it was relatively quiet. A few of the men were in watching a movie on a massive screen and barely even glanced up as they passed by the doorway. As to the others, she couldn’t even begin to guess where they might be.
Gareth and Mikhail walked her upstairs to her room but stopped short at her door.
“Breakfast is usually served at eight,” Gareth told her. “But if you feel like sleeping in, do it. There’s always food around this place, so you won’t have to starve.”
Camilla looked to her door. “Whose rooms are close? Sometimes I have nightmares, so you need to warn them that if I’m screaming, it might just be a nightmare.” And with all that she had seen and learned that day, hell, who wouldn’t have one?
“We’re the only two at this end, the others are spread out through the other wings of the house. I’m there.” Gareth pointed a couple of doors down. “And Mikhail is right here.” He nodded to the door closest to hers. “You’re unlikely to wake either of us and the house is soundproofed, so.” He shrugged.
“Great. Thank you.” She let out a relieved breath and closed her eyes. “Rest well, gentlemen.” She stepped half into her room. “Dream of me?” she asked with a smile and then closed the door behind her, leaning against it and sighing. Heaven’s sakes, those men did something to her, for her, and she didn’t know what, or how, to deal with it.
She could hear them talking in the hall, but their voices were too low for her to catch any of the words. After a few minutes and a laugh that was all Gareth, she heard doors shutting and then silence descended over the house.
****
3 A.M.
Camilla woke with a scream. Sweat poured off her body, and she could swear she smelled brimstone in her room. She didn’t even hesitate or stop to think: Camilla jumped from her bed and raced out of the room in a borrowed t-shirt and panties to Mikhail’s room. Without knocking, she let herself in.
“Mikhail?” Camilla moved to the bed once her eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room, the stillness. “Can I sleep with you?” She shook and her voice hitched on a cry. The scent of brimstone still hung in her nostrils. “Please?”
He’d sat up as soon as she’d invaded his space. She’d heard him move, but he hadn’t said anything. He nodded slowly and lifted the blankets a bit. “Come on,” he said in a sleep-roughened voice. “Quickly, before you freeze in what you’re not wearing.”
Camilla slid into the bed and moved in as close to him as she could possibly get. She wrapped her arms around him. Tears were still fresh on her face as she whispered, “I had a nightmare. I could have sworn I smelled sulfur again. I know it’s a dream and it’s a flashback from earlier, but I didn’t want to be alone.” She gulped. “I hate nightmares.”
He stiffened against her for a time before he wrapped an arm around her. Settling down in the bed, he tucked the blankets around her. “You’ve been through a lot,” he said quietly. She could feel his jaw moving against her temple, the slight abrasion from the growth of beard on his face a point to focus on. “It’s natural for you to relive it once you had relaxed enough. They can’t hurt you here, Camilla. Not tonight, not ever. We’re all here to keep you safe.” He began to stroke her hair slowly, soothing her she realized.
She felt the petting all the way to the bottom of her soul. He relaxed and soothed her far more than he would ever know. With another shudder, she yawned again. “Thank you.” Camilla pressed a kiss to his bare chest. With one leg over his and her arm around him tightly, she drifted off into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
****
When morning came, she found herself wrapped up in strong arms. A hot, hard body held her close and curled around her protectively. Daylight was just creeping around the heavy curtains in the window.
“Sleep well?” His voice was a low, throaty rumble next to her ear. She could feel those two words vibrating from him into her body. He shifted just enough to tell her he was one hundred percent naked—something she hadn’t known when she’d dove under the covers with him last night.
“I did, actually,” Camilla said with a smile. “Thank you for letting me come and crash with you.” She had left her bedroom door standing open, the blankets tossed off the bed, and her robe on the floor. “I should likely get up and get back to my room before Gareth sees the door open and thinks something happened to me.”
“He already knows you’re in here,” Mikhail told her. “Remember that four-a.m. run he mentioned?” he asked softly. He loosened his hold on her, but she had no idea why.
“Oh crap.” She didn’t move, though. “You missed your run?” For her? That was, well she didn’t know what to think about that. “Are you okay with missing your run this morning? I didn’t even think when I came to climb into bed with you that you had to be up less than an hour later. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll just have to hit the gym later and do a workout. I didn’t want to leave you in case you had another nightmare. I thought about it for a moment before telling him to go ahead without me. It felt wrong leaving you alone, especially since I didn’t want to wake you to let you know I was leaving.”
“Thank you for that. I did sleep beautifully with you at my side, though. No more nightmares, nothing but happy dreams and warm sleep.” And she had been warm, very warm.
“Good.” He brushed his fingers over her cheek and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “We should get up. Breakfast will already be underway, and you don’t want to miss more of the insanity around here. If you want to grab a shower first, I’d do it quick.” His gaze moved over her face. “Not that you need one.”
“I’ll just grab my robe from my bedroom. I won’t worry about a shower yet.” She smiled. “I’m glad that you don’t think I need one. I’m glad I’m not offensive.”
“Not offensive in the least. Go, get your robe.” As he lifted the covers for her to slide free, she noted he didn’t move an inch. And he managed to keep the covers over everything she wouldn’t mind getting a peek at.
“Darn,” she grumbled, but winked at him. “If I had known that you were naked last night, I might have slipped out of my clothes, too. Too bad I was too scared to actually feel and know,” she teased right before she raced out of his room so she could grab her robe.
There came a low growl behind her but nothing else. By the time she grabbed her robe and raced back to his door, he was there. He had on jeans and a t-shirt but no shoes. He caught her arms to stop her from falling back on her ass. “Ready?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Camilla looked up, her hands on his chest with his arms around her. She licked her lips and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “What is this that’s happening between us? Don’t say you don’t feel it, because I know you do. What’s happening?” She wanted to know his thoughts on this as well.
He tipped his head ever so slightly, like he was studying her. “It’s attraction, physical attraction,” he murmured. “Perhaps something more, but I couldn’t even begin to guess as to what it might be.�
� She felt him spread his fingers and slide them down lower on her back to just above her ass as he leaned his head in closer to her, like he planned to kiss her.
Camilla went up on to her toes, her nose brushing against his. “It’s more than a physical attraction.” She closed that last half inch to kiss him. He pulled her close and lifted her, and she felt it when he gave in to the kiss and began to kiss her back with all of the need and desire she was feeling.
One hand cupped her ass, a finger pressing between her cheeks, and the other was in her hair, pulling her head back to accept his dominance. He growled into her mouth as he flicked his tongue and pressed her against the hard evidence of his desire for her. His mouth grew more demanding the more she responded to him, and he pulled her in even closer, grinding his hips to hers slowly.
Camilla didn’t even think twice about it: she wrapped both legs around him when he lifted her. She needed more than just a kiss and made sure that he knew it. When they parted finally, she panted. “You’re dangerous, and I want more.”
He licked his lips as he squeezed her ass. “At this very moment, I do believe you’re the more dangerous of the two of us.” With a rock of his hips, he ground his cock against her pussy. The look in his eyes was wary. “Camilla, what do you want?” The question was loaded in more ways than one, but the look in his eyes told her he was serious and a little unsure.
“And if I say you?” Camilla asked, never letting her eyes leave his face. “You are someone worth putting my heart on the line for. I don’t understand the feelings, the connection I feel to you, but also Gareth. I need you to know I’m attracted to him also.”
He didn’t say anything for a long, long time. But he also didn’t push her away. He just held her close and watched her. She could almost see him working through it in his head. At that moment, Camilla truly understood he did everything—from what he did to what he said—with meticulous care and thought.