Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 43102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“We’re here,” I croon to her, running my hand over her head and down her beautiful hair as I kneel in front of them. “Shh, we’re here, Shorty.”
Kissing her cheek, Adam whispers in her ear, but it’s as though she’s not here at all, not hearing us. She’s gone to that place in her head. I don’t know if it’s her safe place or if it’s hell.
And it fucking wrecks me.
Thunder crashes around us, and she jumps, cries out, then buries her face in Adam’s neck and holds on to him so tightly, I’m surprised he can breathe.
“It’s okay,” he says softly as I rub circles over her back. “Nothing’s going to hurt you. Do you hear me? Alex, I need you to listen to me.”
With the next boom of thunder, and her cry of terror, I pull the door closed behind me, and we sit in the dark together.
“God, we missed you,” I say, needing to say anything. To make her hear my voice. “We’ve been really boring without you. I had oatmeal from a packet for breakfast today. It was pretty gross.”
She’s still crying, and we’re still touching her, soothing all of us.
“I saw that you packed your bags, Princess,” Adam says. “Where are you going?”
“Home,” she says, her voice so small, so fucking vulnerable, I just lean in and hold them both.
“That’s right,” I say, kissing her shoulder. “You’re coming home with us, aren’t you, baby?”
I feel her nod, and the muscles that have been in knots for days finally loosen. Adam exhales.
Thank fuck.
“That’s the best news I’ve ever heard in my life,” Adam tells her. “Were you going to surprise us, sweetheart?”
She nods again and sniffles. “Yeah.”
“Breathe, Shorty. Take a deep breath for me, okay?”
She does as I ask and lets out a shaky exhale. But then the hail starts pounding on the roof, and she tenses up again.
“Hey, we’re right here,” Adam tells her. I wish I could see them, but I can picture him cupping her cheek. “You’re not alone. You’ll never sit through another storm alone, Alex. I promise you that.”
“Breathe some more,” I say, and they both inhale deeply. “Good. Do you feel it, Shorty? When we breathe like this together, it’s home. It’s our safe place. Nothing can touch us. Nothing can hurt us.”
She lets out a shaky sob and moves from Adam to me, hugging me close.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“You don’t have to thank us. For right now, we’re going to hold you. When this storm blows over, we’ll take you home and fuck you into next week.”
She lets out a surprised chuckle.
“We haven’t had our hands on you in fucking days,” Adam reminds her, his voice darker, the way it gets when he’s bossing us around in bed.
It makes my cock stir in my jeans.
“Same goes,” she says. “Maybe the worst is over.”
“Want me to check?” I ask her.
“No, I want to get out of this closet.”
“Good girl,” Adam says as I open the door, and I see him kiss her lips softly. “My brave girl.”
“I’m not brave at all.”
I huff out a laugh at that and help her to her feet. “Bravest person I know. Come here.”
I sweep her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her, holding her tight, and then Adam’s there, kissing her neck, sandwiching her between us, and she sighs happily.
“There you are,” she says.
“Can we please take you home now?” Adam asks.
“Yeah, let’s go home.” Alex smiles up at me and then turns so she can face Adam. “I’ve already given my notice here. I belong with the two of you, no matter where that is.”
“Thank Christ.” He crashes his mouth to hers, and then I pick her up and carry her out the front door. “We’ll get your things later.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
ADAM
Ican’t stop touching her.
We got her home, and now all of us are naked and in bed. We’ve been snuggled up for ten minutes, just soaking each other in. I plan to fuck them both, but first, I just want to be.
“This is really nice,” Alex says with a soft little sigh that hits me right in the heart. “I should have called you guys earlier when I knew I was packing up my stuff, but once I decided, I had tunnel vision and just wanted to get it done and get back here, you know?”
Gabe is spooned up behind her, his arm draped over her and his hand on my ass, and I’m pressed to her front.
“What happened that made you decide to pack up today?” My voice is quiet in the stillness around us.
“The girls came over.” She bites her pillowy lower lip. “Made me shower and become human again, rather than a troll that requires you to solve a riddle to pass over the bridge.”
Gabe snorts and kisses her bare shoulder, and I kiss her nose.