by Logan Fox
I’m so shocked at what he’s insinuating. I don’t move when he brushes his fingertips down my jaw. “I wouldn’t do that,” I whisper.
“We’re not exactly trusting of strangers. Nothing personal, pretty thing.”
We.
All those years they spent together in that basement. I can’t even imagine the bond that created between them. I’m guessing it goes far beyond hatching a plan of revenge. They’re not just buddies—they’re brothers.
“Please, you have to believe me.” I widen my eyes as I turn to face him.
There’s uncertainty in his eyes. But there’s something else there too. I can’t be sure, but I’m hoping against all hope that he wants to believe me.
“It’s not me you have to convince,” he says, his lips curling into a smile as he takes another drag of his cigarette.
His fingers trail down my throat. He traces the outline of my collarbone, sending a flurry of shivers through me. Toying with the top button of my dress, his smile hitches up. “Lunchtime, a day like this?” He tilts back his head and looks up at the patch of sky. “Everyone’s gonna picnic in the field.” He stands and goes to kill his cigarette in the pot plant. “No one will miss you until tonight.” He walks over to the kitchen door, pausing with his hand flat on the steel.
“We’ll fetch you in an hour. Wear something pretty,” he says around a smirk.
“Wait!” I call out before he can disappear inside.
He steps back, waiting.
I scrounge up every ounce of courage to ask, “Do you guys have a private bathroom?”
Chapter Three
Trinity
If anyone ever wanted to conduct a study on the effects of blushing, I’d be the perfect candidate. In the past half an hour I don’t think I’ve stopped blushing even once.
I’m in a room in the east wing. It’s nothing like the one I have to share with Jasper. It’s three times the size, and it has its own en-suite bathroom where I’m currently standing buck naked and terrified that someone’s going to walk in on me.
Reuben, to be precise. Since it’s his room, he accompanied me up here. I think he’s in the small study-cum-dining area of his apartment, but his carpets are too thick for me to hear if he did move about.
Steam fills up the shower cubicle, turning the frosted glass white. I slip inside that heavenly cloud, and the water draws a deep sigh from me as it cascades down my body.
There was no way I was going to have lunch with Zac’s boys while I still had traces of sticky alcohol over my breasts and crazy person hair. So I brought my clothes up here and slipped into Reuben’s room while Cassius watched the hallway to make sure no one spotted me.
Apparently, I could get into a lot of trouble being on this floor. More so if I’m discovered inside someone’s room.
Lathering rosemary-scented shampoo into my hair I try and squeeze every last drop of indulgence from the most blissful moment I’ve had in the past month.
For a few minutes, there’s nothing but me, the warm water, and that delicious scent. It should smell like Reuben, but on me it smells different.
I’m glad it’s his bathroom I get to use. I’d have refused if it was Cass’s, and it would have felt really weird to use Apollo’s. Strangely, despite how big and scary he is, Reuben feels…safe.
It must be amazing having someone like that in your life. Someone who can knock the teeth out of anyone who dares look at you funny. I’d never be scared again. Not wrapped in his strong arms.
My hand slides down my hip, and I hesitate, biting down on my bottom lip for a second. I peek behind me, but I can’t see the bathroom door through the glass and steam.
Skimming lower, my fingers brush against my clit. A thrill flutters through me as my eyes slide closed. It should have been Reuben’s black eyes that appear, but instead all I can see is Zachary. His solemn expression, that almost permanent crease between his brows.
I took it for severity, but now I know it’s some kind of anger. Anger hardened into a diamond over time. But diamonds aren’t pretty when they first come out of the ground. They’re rough and murky looking. To sparkle, they have to be polished.
I doubt Zachary will ever let anyone close enough for that to happen. He or any of his brothers.
Sinful bliss flashes through me. I haven’t done this in ages, and the guilty pleasure of it makes me bite down even harder on my lip. What do they do in that lair of theirs? Drinking and smoking like they own the place. Do any of them ever slip behind that curtain to do what I’m doing?
Alone.
Together?
Fuck.
A tiny moan escapes my lips. I’m so close I can almost—
There’s a knock on the bathroom door.
“Trinity?”
I gasp and flinch away from my throbbing clit. Reuben’s deep voice sends a tremble through me that congregates deep in my belly.
“I’m done!” I call out in a cracked voice. “Be out in a sec.”
He says nothing, but I can imagine him frowning at the door, perhaps considering coming in to make sure I’m okay.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I’ve never considered what type of guy I would like—honestly, I’ve never met enough for that to ever have been a consideration, but out of all Zach’s brothers, Reuben strikes me as the sanest. Sure, he’s a bit hot and heavy with his bible, but on him that kind of zealous fervor seems pure and right.
Maybe because that’s the only kind of crazy I understand.
I rinse, turn off the faucet, and dart out of the shower to grab a towel and wrap it around me.
After I’ve dried off and draped Reuben’s rosary around my neck, I slip into one of my own dresses. Mom would have thrown this one out a long time ago, but I’d kept it because it was the prettiest thing she’d ever bought me.
Father wasn’t always a priest. They married young, and tried for years to have a child. Father eventually turned to religion, expecting answers from God for why Mom kept having miscarriages. I guess they ultimately found their answer, because a year or two after my father joined the clergy, Mom became pregnant with me and carried to full term.
She bought this for my sixteenth birthday, but I never got to wear it. The moment my father saw it on me, he sent me back to my room to change.
They had a huge fight that night, and Father left without bothering to stay around for cake.
The cream-colored dress has lace at the bosom and on the hem, and because she always bought everything at least a size too big, I’d grown into it since I last wore it. I’d put it on when they were sleeping and twirl around in front of the mirror, pretending I was just like all the other girls I saw in church, or walking down the street. Girls whose parents let them wear makeup and jewelry and high heels.
I don’t have heels, but this dress doesn’t need them. It comes mid-thigh and clings to me like a second skin. I saunter out of the bathroom all casual like, pretending to focus on untangling my hair as if I wear stuff like this every day, even when my heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest.
Reuben is busy texting on his phone. He glances up at me as I walk across the room. My stomach somersaults at his double take.
“Ready?” he asks. I nod, keeping my eyes away from him in an attempt to cool down my cheeks.
It doesn’t help, of course, but I have no right to complain. I know this dress is trouble—that’s why I chose it.
While I’d been rifling around in my closet wondering what clothing best suited a date with the devil—or four of them, in this case—I’d realized something.
They’ve been controlling me like a puppet. They wanted me gone so they bullied me. And if I’d had a choice, I’d have left. They want to turn me against Father Gabriel, and expect me to prove that he’s not a pedophile.
I guess alcohol does put hair on your chest, because I’m done being their marionette doll.
I’m wearing this dress because that means Zach’s brothers—and hopefully Zacha
ry himself—will be so distracted that, for once, I’ll have the upper hand.
It’s not the best plan, but it’s a plan.
What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Four
Trinity
When the Brotherhood had invited me over, I’d expected to meet them somewhere inside the dorms. I get that they can’t be seen together or it would blow their cover, but I didn’t realize we’d be going back to their man cave.
I’m sitting in Zachary’s wooden chair. It’s hard and too high—my feet dangle unless I point and touch my toes to the carpet. The guys are sitting on the big sofa staring at me like they can’t decide whether to kill me or fuck me.
Apollo just makes Reuben look even brawnier by comparison, especially since Reuben’s biceps are almost bulging out of his t-shirt.
“Where’s Cass?” I ask, shifting in my seat.
“He’ll be here soon.”
“And Zachary?”
“Gone to town,” Reuben says. Apollo immediately elbows him in the side. “Shut it!”
“What?”
“She doesn’t need to know that.”
“Why not?”
Apollo frowns at him in reply before they turn their gazes back to me. I lick my lips and shift uncomfortably.
“Do you want a drink?” Reuben asks, standing before I have a chance to reply. He pours one for each of us and hands them out before sitting down again.
My nose wrinkles when I catch a whiff of the eye-watering booze in my glass. “What is this?” I ask, swirling it around.
“Whiskey,” Apollo answers. “Not the greatest, but this far away from civilization it’s this or moonshine.”
“What’s moonshine?”
Reuben chuckles wryly. Apollo snickers. Then both their faces go blank. “Fuck, you’re serious,” Apollo murmurs. He shakes his head as he lifts his glass to his lips. “God help us.”
I frown at him, about to ask just what the hell that was supposed to mean when there’s a snap of fabric behind me. I twist in my seat, facing Cass as he storms into the lair.
“We’ve got company,” he says, and then his eyes fall on me. A smug smile replaces his frown. “Welcome back, my little slut.” His eyes rove over me like a physical touch. “Damn. You look good enough to eat.”
I drop my eyes and try to hide behind my glass as he strides deeper into the sitting area. I’m starting to regret wearing the dress.
“Guess who’s back?” he says, stabbing a thumb over his shoulder.
“Not Zachary,” Reuben says. “Not unless he left early.”
“No, not Zachary,” Cass says, deepening his voice as if trying to imitate Reuben. “Those other two fucks.”
“Again?” Apollo sits forward in a rush, dragging his hair out of his face. “Christ, you’d think they’d have better things to do.”
“You going to stop them?” Reuben asks, putting his empty glass on the ground.
“They’re already headed down here.” Cass grabs his hips, twisting to face me. “We should gag her.”
Reuben’s already on his feet. I throw up my hands, miraculously still holding onto my tumbler. “No. No gagging. I’ll be quiet.”
“Can’t take a chance,” Cass says, shaking his head as he goes over to the bookshelf and rifles through a pile of clothing. He whips out a bandanna and twists it into a thick rope like he’s done this a thousand times before.
I’m on my feet a second later, my glass tumbling out of my hand and landing silently on the carpet. “No, please, Cass.”
“Grab her,” he says through his teeth.
I make a dash for the exit, but a thick arm slings around my throat and drags me back. “They won’t be long,” Reuben says, almost kindly, as he turns me around for Cass. “But they can’t hear you.”
“I wasn’t going to—”
Cass shoves the bandanna between my lips and ties it off behind my head. Then he pats my cheek and draws me out of Reuben’s grip.
I’d been willing to hear them out.
But this?
It’s obvious they’ll never trust me, so what’s the point in trying to change our fucked up dynamic? I’ve gotten myself enmeshed in their plans, and the only way out is along the path they’ve chosen for me. I hate them for not letting me choose. But why did I expect any different of the big bad world my parents kept warning me about?
“Put her in there.” Cass points to the bedroom. Apollo grabs my wrists and starts dragging me across the room.
I shake my head and dig in my heels.
“Relax, Trin,” Cass says.
I’m one-hundred percent focused on Apollo, but I can practically hear Cassius rolling his eyes at me. “Your virginity is safe.” He lets out a dark chuckle. “For now.”
My enraged shriek comes out as a manic moan.
“Shh,” Apollo says, hauling me the rest of the way. Reuben holds the curtain back as Apollo pulls and Cass pushes. I end up tripping the last yard and falling on hands and knees inside their soft, dark sleeping pit. I scramble up in a rush, my fingers tugging at the gag.
Reuben’s hand closes over mine. He’s just a shape in the dark, if a massive shape, but his presence calms me. He doesn’t try and shush me, or drag me, or do anything. He just gently guides my hands away from the knot at the back of my head until they’re in my lap.
Two more shadows slip inside and merge with the darkness.
Despite the blood singing in my veins, I can hear them breathing.
And then the muted sound of fabric rustling. I sit up straighter, and Reuben’s hands tighten around mine. It should have calmed me, but now I can feel his pulse, and it’s racing.
Who the hell is coming?
“Here?”
“Further back.”
“But this is where we—”
“Want someone to find us again like last time?”
I sit up straight, my lips going slack around the gag. What the hell are Jasper and Perry doing down here? Did they follow Reuben and me when we slipped into the crypt? Do they suspect something?
It’s only when Reuben starts stroking my knuckle with the pad of his thumb that I realize I’m gripping him hard as I can. I try to ease up, but my fingers refuse.
If they discover me down here, it will put an end to everything. Is that why Cass gagged me? He can’t honestly think I’d make a noise and attract their attention—I could have done that any time in the past few hours I’ve been alone in the dorm. But since I’m past the point of complaining about their treatment, I sit and bear it.
At least until this fucking gag is loose. Then they’ll get a mouthful.
A thump rattles a bookshelf a few yards away, back in the sitting area. Crap, what was that? Are they fighting? Fabric rustles, this time not nearly as muted as before.
If my eyes were to go any wider, I swear they’d pop out of my head.
They can’t be doing what I think they’re doing.
Can they?
Reuben peels open my fist and laces his fingers through mine. Something brushes my leg, and I turn my stricken gaze on Apollo who managed to move right up beside me without making a noise. Then again, I hadn’t been focusing on them, had I? Apollo takes my other hand, mimicking Reuben.
Do they think I’ll try scratching my way out of here or something? I shift on the layers of blankets and mattress beneath me, and squint in the darkness, looking for Cassius.
Maybe he thinks Apollo and Reuben have me taken care of, because I can’t spot him in the shadows even though my eyes have adjusted to the dark.
Outside, Jasper and Perry start kissing. From those desperate sounds, it seems this tryst of theirs is long overdue.
More rustling.
A stifled moan.
Mother of God, I can’t stand this. My brain seems very eager to fill in the blanks of what’s happening. In my mind, those two boys are doing some very, very naughty things to each other.
I shift again, and then freeze.
No, this can’t be
happening.
Are those sounds turning me on? It can’t be. It’s more likely the fact that Zach’s brothers have my hands clasped like kids on a first date.
The weirdest first date imaginable.
But there’s definitely something happening between my legs. I’m starting to feel slick and tingly. Even my underwear’s becoming damp.
There’s another thump, a harsh indrawn breath, and then a deep moan.
Guess Jasper and Perry couldn’t care less about keeping quiet—they think they’re all alone in the abandoned library.
Oh my God! Jasper and I went through a whole lesson with him knowing he’d done this very thing just a few yards away? The pervert! Is that why he couldn’t concentrate?
I flinch when a hand slides around the front of my throat.
Damn it. When did Cass move behind me?
Outside the lair, Jasper and Perry break into a furious, grunting rhythm. I can’t make out if they’re in pain or ecstasy. Probably a little of both.
Cass’s other hand glances over my knee and up the inside of my thigh. I twist my shoulders, trying to get away from him. Reuben and Apollo tighten their grip on my hands.
I freeze.
No.
Bastards!
They weren’t holding my hands because they were damn well sweet on me. They’re keeping me still for Cass.
I grunt at them through the gag. Definitely not loud enough for Jasper and Perry to hear—although I doubt they’d notice a bomb going off—but I still end up with Cass’s fingertips digging into my throat.
His hand starts moving again, inching toward my center.
Outside, books rattle on the shelf as the boys’ pounding grows slower, but harder. I hear a muffled, “Fuck!” but I have no idea who said it because right now I have problems of my own.
Cass’s fingertips slide under my dress and skate over my hipbone. He hooks a finger over the elastic of my underwear and tugs it down an inch. The hand around my throat travels up until he’s cupping my jaw. He tilts back my head until I’m staring up at the silhouette of his head and shoulders.