Black as Midnight

by Mary Martel

  "Only semi?" I questioned in a mock, outraged voice. "I'm heartbroken." I pulled the sheet back and took a peek down at my bare breasts. "You girls are seriously not working right if we can't even get a full-on chubby out of him. Maybe I should come up with a spell to make you babies a whole cup size bigger."

  Quinton's mouth dropped open in shock before throwing his head back and bursting out in laughter. He wrapped his arms around his middle as his entire body shook with laughter.

  I smiled proudly at him, ecstatic at being the reason he was laughing so hard. It must have been therapeutic of a sort, because I could see the stress and worry visibly melt off of him every second his laughter filled the room.

  Playfully, I shoved him in the shoulder and must have put more strength behind it than I had planned, because it caught him completely off guard and he fell off the bed. His laughter died a sudden death as he very ungracefully crashed to the floor.

  My mouth popped open as my eyes rounded in shock. I covered my mouth with the hand not clutching the sheet to my chest. I didn’t want him to see me laughing at him despite the fact he'd just laughed his butt off at me.

  Quinton stared up at me from his place on the floor looking as wide-eyed and innocent as I had ever seen him. The look on his face is what did it for me, and my shoulders shook with silent laughter.

  "Christ," he muttered under his breath as he ran his hand over his short, brown hair in agitation. "Everything with you is fucking out of control."

  I snorted. This couldn't be blamed entirely on me, I wasn't interested in taking all the blame here. If he hadn't laughed at me in the first place he wouldn't be on the floor sulking like a baby right now.

  "Don't put this on me," I said through my laughter. "You're the pervert who started this by talking about my boobies."

  "Boobies," he repeats on an angry sounding huff. "Fucking unbelievable."

  I giggled hysterically into my hand. That word didn’t sound right coming out of his mouth. It hadn't even sounded right coming out of my own stupid mouth the first time around.

  He pushed himself to his feet, stormed around the bed, and stalked toward the door.

  "I'm going to bed," he snapped at me. "I honestly cannot handle anymore of your outrageous bullshit right now. Don't leave the house without someone being with you, eat something, and put on some damn clothes so you aren't tempting everyone who crosses your path that isn't your goddamned father."

  I watched his ass in his tight pair of blue jeans as he stomped toward the door. It wasn't nearly as round or plump as the twins, but it wasn't exactly lacking in the handful department either. And it looked firm.

  "Stop staring at my ass, baby," he purred without looking back to see if that's what I really was doing or not.

  Instead of being embarrassed, I went with amused. This whole episode since waking up had been far, far too weird, even for me.

  "Just so you know," I called out in a perky voice as he made it to the door, "it's not going to bother me in the slightest if you have sex with Julian tonight. Next time, though, I want to watch."

  His steps faltered. He turned back to glare at me while reaching for the doorknob. He slammed the door shut behind him without a reply.

  I didn't need a reply. His reaction alone told me he wasn't having sex with Julian.

  I groaned as I flopped back onto the bed. I was still just as confused as ever and didn't understand what the whole thing between Damien and Julian even meant.

  "He better not be even thinking about having sex with Julian," Damien grumbled from the opposite side of the bed. "Outside of you and me, Julian's got no business getting physical with anyone else. Not unless he asks for permission first."

  Slowly, my head turned in his direction, my eyes felt as wide as saucers.

  Dash's eyes were wide open and staring at me. He had a small, secret smile on his lips, like he knew exactly what was going on here and how'd I'd react to it. He was enjoying this far too much for me, just like Quinton had before I'd shoved his ass off the bed.

  Dash winked at me and I rolled my eyes at him.

  "Uh, Damien," I muttered. "I thought you were a bit of a player. I had assumed that meant you dated a lot of, um, girls."

  I scowled at Dash, remembering he used to be more than just a bit of a man-whore himself before I came along. I had no business judging him but, this one time, I'd overheard a conversation between most of them where very unkind things had been said about me and they'd talked about the so called girlfriends they'd once had. I knew there had been others before me, I just didn't want to ever have to hear about them.

  "Yeah," Damien immediately shot back. "I am into girls. I thought girls were all there would ever be for me, but then this thing with Jules just sort of happened and now here we are. He's the only male I've ever been attracted to and I know in my heart that there will never be another one for me. But, he's needy, so damn needy. I know, I know, one would think it would be me who was the needy one out of the two of us, but Julian craves that connection between two people who love each other. He needs someone to love him almost as much as he needs air to breathe, and he absolutely hates sleeping alone. He's terrified of all the things that could potentially come out at night and eat him."

  Lord.

  This was all way too much for a girl to handle after just waking up out of a protective, healing sleep. Or coma, or whatever.

  "I... had no idea," I mumbled. "Just how long have you two been awake and faking being asleep for?"

  They both laughed at me.

  Brilliant.

  That seemed to be the theme for the night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The bed shifted and I opened my eyes. Over Dash's shoulder I watched as Damien turned onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow in the mattress.

  He wasn't laughing anymore. He looked worried, almost scared even. Scared of... me?

  "Does that bother you?" he asked me in a quiet voice. Gone was the haughty brat I'd fallen for. In his place was a very different man. One who'd only opened himself up to me this way a handful of times. I was surprised to see him do so now in front of Dash.

  My heart hurt at the thought of Damien thinking I would ever judge him or try to deny him his relationship with Julian. Honestly—also something I wasn't entirely comfortable with him or anyone else knowing—I didn't think there was much I would be able to deny Damien or anyone of them, even if I was against it.

  But this? Him having a relationship with someone else that I, too, had a relationship with? How could I ever have a problem with that? I was actually happy for the two of them that they had that between them. Love was love and, so long as it was consensual and both parties were good with it, I was all for it. I also had a really big heart and was capable of being intimate with more than one person, I would never be anything but happy for the both of them. Yeah, I freely admitted to being a hypocrite earlier, but never with something as important as this.

  I mimicked Damien's movements and rolled over on my side to face him. I put my elbow in the mattress and propped my head up on my fist.

  The fact that Dash was on the bed between the two of us, and now laying on his back with his hands behind his head, didn't seem awkward to me in the slightest. Six months ago I would have found this the most awkward and absurd situation I had ever found myself in, and I would have been blushing like the mostly inexperienced virgin I was. Now, awkward and absurd were my new normal and I just needed to roll with it.

  Dash didn't seem to care, so why should I on his behalf?

  "No," I answered honestly. "It absolutely doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I just wish one of you would have been open with me about it from the start and told me sooner. I feel like I'm always the outsider here with our group, always the one trying to play catch up and, at the same time, working my butt off not to hurt anyone's feelings..."

  I trail off when I realize it's my feelings that are hurt this time, because they kept something so vitally important from me
. Something I knew every single one of my guys was aware of. They didn't ever keep those kinds of secrets from each other. They only ever kept secrets from me.

  The sheets rustled as Dash moved. He slid his hands from out from under his head and turned onto his side, facing me.

  "Come here, sweetheart," he said, before reaching for me.

  I went to him willingly, and laid my head down on his shoulder after he pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. His arms held me tightly as he turned onto his back, dragging me along with him.

  I ended up on top of him, naked, and sprawled shamelessly over him with my legs on each side of his. He was just as naked as I was. I sucked in a sharp breath as his erection pressed up against my thigh.

  He ran his hands up and down my back soothingly. Ignoring his hardness pressed up against me and the fact my bare breasts were firmly pressed to his chest, I relaxed into him. This was Dash and I could never not feel anything but safe with him.

  Dash's hands stilled when Damien used my hair to turn my face toward his. The fear in his eyes had me tensing up again, and Dash's hands picked back up on their soothing movements, up and down my back. He really didn’t seem to like the thought of me being uncomfortable with him.

  "You hid it from me, the both of you went out of your way to hide it," I whispered to Damien in a voice full of hurt. I closed my eyes tightly. "All of you hid it from me."

  "Quinton was right," Dash muttered. "Not anybody else's story to tell and not our business. Wasn't my place to tell you, so I kept my mouth shut knowing eventually those two boneheads would get around to sharing with you. Unlike the prick beside us, I knew you'd hold no judgment and wouldn't have a problem with their relationship. Your heart is so big you would never be anything but happy for them. They were stupid for ever even questioning you."

  My body completely melted against his. Out of all of them, Dash always understood me the most.

  Damien's face took on a pained expression before he scrunched his eyes closed. He opened them and the pleading expression there took my breath away.

  "I love you," he disclosed hoarsely. "So does Julian. We all do. But that doesn't mean we know you the same way we know each other. Those bonds can only grow stronger over time. Trust is built over time, and isn't something that can be forced or faked. Julian and myself, we wanted to give you time to settle into your new life and for there to be a great deal of trust in us before we sprang this on you. We never, ever wanted to make things uncomfortable or harder on you. We only wanted to love you. Please don't let me have messed this all up."

  I sucked in a shocked breath at hearing him tell me he loved me so openly, and in front of Dash. Then again, he'd just been forced into sharing his deepest, darkest secret with me, it's not like he had anything else to hide here.

  I sighed as I melted into Dash's hold, my body going limp against his. His hand moved up my back, up my neck, and his fingers tangled into the messy hair at the back of my head. His other hand dropped to my hip where he squeezed gently, encouraging me.

  "It's alright, Damien," I whispered. "I understand why you guys kept it from me and you're right about pretty much everything you said. But that doesn't mean it's okay for you to keep anymore secrets from me from here on out. At least not big ones that are as important as that."

  "I promise," he quickly assured me. "No more big secrets. I can't promise no secrets in general because, well, that would make me a liar." I glared at him. "But they won't be big ones like that. Not anything that could damage our relationship."

  Great. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear from him.

  He looked at the door, his face scrunched up in concern. I thought I knew what he wanted but didn't want to hurt my feelings by asking.

  "Go," I quietly urged. "Go and rescue Quinton from having to share a bed with Julian. We both know he'll do it too, no matter how uncomfortable it makes him because that's what Julian needs and Quinton is all about everyone else's needs above his own. And I can see it in your eyes that you want to go to him. So go. I'm here with Dash and we’re doing just fine."

  He closed his eyes as if in pain before opening them again. They roamed over Dash and I, not missing anything and seeing things I wasn't sure I was comfortable with others seeing just yet. But I didn't have much of a choice at this point and I really needed to get over my hang-ups.

  "I won't leave if you want me to stay," Damien murmured fiercely. "I would never do that to you and Julian wouldn't expect me to. You come first, you'll always come first, it's just the way we're wired."

  Instead of filling me up with reassurance, the way I'm sure he'd meant for his words to, they filled me with sadness. They were all about putting me first, every single one of them. That didn't seem fair to me sometimes.

  "I think I got this covered, Dame," Dash rumbled in a voice that shook with silent laughter. "You don't have anything to worry about here."

  "Yeah," Damien grumbled sarcastically. "You sure look like you have everything covered here."

  I closed my eyes as I snuggled deeper into Dash, my face going to his neck, my hands gliding up his sides. His skin was hot to the touch, burning in the most brilliant of ways. It was addictive, the feel of his bare skin against mine, and I couldn't get enough of it.

  "Go," I murmured. "Go find Julian before he spoons Quinton in his sleep, not that anybody would blame him for spooning him because it's obvious the guy could use more hugs in his life, but I think it might actually make him grumpier and harder to deal with. And it'll be me who has to deal with it because he's going to blame the entire thing on me."

  They both chuckled.

  "Well," Damien drawled, "it kinda is your fault. I mean, I did tell you to stay downstairs, then you didn't listen to me. I told you to stay in the Rover. Again, you didn't listen to me. Hell, I tried to get you to leave before we even got to the damn cottage, and did you listen to me then? Absolutely not. If you'd have listened to me like a good girl and done what I'd told you to do instead of taking control of the situation and started bossing me around, then things might have turned out differently."

  My body stiffened minutely. I knew he was joking with me, but I didn't like them telling me to be a good girl. The teenage girl in me always felt the need to rebel against it and I ended up doing the opposite of what they wanted me to. And, despite my actions being rash and harmful to myself, I'd done good. I managed to put the fire out and maybe Dash's cottage wasn't entirely unsalvageable now. It was our home and I couldn't just stand by with my thumb up my butt while I watched it being destroyed and do nothing.

  Just what did these people think of me? Of course I had to do something, and of course it had to have been the opposite of what some of them would have had me do.

  I sighed again. No wonder some of them thought I was a pain in their asses.

  Damien leaned down, his face close to mine. His hand came up, his fingers pulling my hair back and out of my face. Something bright and glassy shined in his eyes, looking a lot like unshed tears.

  "Thank you, sweet girl," he whispered hoarsely, before his lips brushed against my forehead.

  Before I could respond, he was up and out of the bed. The shock of seeing him naked and standing beside the bed didn't hit me as hard as it usually would have. I was getting more comfortable around them and their bodies.

  He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, all without bothering to put on clothes, and I stifled a giggle. Quinton was going to kill him and I really hoped he didn't run into Rain while walking around in his birthday suit. My father would be a whole lot less amused than Quinton and I had a feeling he wouldn't hesitate to rip Damien a new one.

  "People in this house are crazy," I muttered under my breath when my laughter finally settled down.

  Dash's hand fisted in my hair. He used it to turn my head to the side and my eyes snapped open. The move surprised me.

  I stared down at him as I chewed on my lip ring nervously.

  "You're crazy too," he
whispered in a hushed voice that was filled with heat. "You're one of the craziest people I've ever met before."

  Huh. That didn't sound good.

  "I'm not crazy." At least I thought I wasn't crazy... most of the time.

  Using his hold on my hair, he pulled my head down until we were inches apart. He tipped his face up, his lips brushing against mine.

  "Crazy beautiful," he muttered distractedly, before his mouth crashed into mine.

  I moaned into his mouth as my tongue caressed his, kissing him back feverishly. My hands slid up along his ribs before spanning out, my fingers splayed wide across his chest. I swiped my thumbs across his nipples, causing him to make a pained sound in the back of his throat.

  Hmm... I'd have to remember that he liked that. I'd only tried it out because I knew I liked it when it was done to me. I wondered if everything would be that way for him and decided to give it a try.

  Turning my head to the side, I broke the kiss. We both panted breathlessly. I kissed along his jaw, moving toward his neck. My teeth grazed his ear lobe, making him groan.

  His loosened hand in my hair let go, both his hands now gliding slowly down my back. I kissed my way down his neck as his hands roamed over my hips, only stopping when he cupped the round, fullness of my ass cheeks. His fingers dug into my flesh and he squeezed roughly.

  Heat bloomed between my legs, a restless, needy ache that I wanted filled immediately.

  "Fuck," Dash hissed, as I ground myself against him. "We should stop," he groaned, "before things go any further and I hit the point of no return."

  I disagreed, stopping sounded like the worst idea I'd ever heard.

  "I don't want to stop," I told him honestly, "and neither do you. Unless you're telling me you don't want to have sex with me? Seriously, Dash, we both know that's a lie."

  His erection was pressed up hard against me, there was no hiding how much he wanted me. Sitting on top of him with my legs spread, my knees pressed into the bed on each side of him, there was no way for him to mistake just how much I wanted him too, when my wetness was leaking all over him.