Page 27 of Give Me Three

“None of that,” Jaxon said, going back to bathing me. “If I wanted you to stop, I would have told you to. I promised you I wanted it all—the pain you caused included. I don’t mind bleeding for you. I don’t mind hurting for you.” He stood back to his full height, dropping the cloth onto the floor before gripping my hips and dragging me against him, our bodies flush together.“A bit of physical pain for a few days is worth you not being lost in your head and spiraling.” He laced his fingers in my hair and brought our foreheads together. I shut my eyes, my heart slamming hard against my ribcage. “I love you, Zeppelin.”

“Fuck,” I rasped, gripping his waist, digging my fingertips into his skin. “Fuck, Jax.” A tear ran down my cheek, and I sank into his heat, clinging to him. “I love you so fucking much,” I told him honestly, my voice thick with the sadness, trauma, and happiness swelling inside my throat. “I love you.”

He clutched me to him, pressing his lips to my temple and just letting them rest there.

Eros was sitting on the edge of the couch when Jaxon and I emerged into the living room. Immediately, he leaned back and opened his arms. Without a moment’s hesitation, knowing we both needed it, I crawled onto the couch and into his arms, letting Eros hold me.

“Better now?” he asked softly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

“A little,” I quietly told him. I closed my eyes, listening as Jaxon sat down on the other end of the couch. He gripped my ankles and unfolded my legs so my feet were resting on his lap. Silently, he began to massage the sole of my left foot, and a quiet groan slipped from my lips, my body sinking into the cushions.

“Want to watchTransformers?” Eros asked.

I shook my head and began playing with a loose string on his sweatpants. “No… I want to talk about what my therapist uncovered today.”

Eros stilled beneath me, but Jaxon never stopped moving. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. At either of them. Why was Jaxon so calm? How was he not reacting to any of this like Eros was?

“Okay,” Eros finally said. He began to run his fingers through my dark, damp hair. “We’re listening, baby.”

I drew in a deep breath. “Apparently, I still have some repressed memories—even after all this time. Dr. Clancy had a new piece of art hanging on the wall—a blonde woman in a red dress. It’s a damn good piece of art, but it triggered me. Looked too much likeher. And I never remembered her until then.”

“Her?” Eros asked quietly as Jaxon switched to my other foot.

I nodded, still not looking at either of them. Instead, I just stared at Eros’s shirt, running my finger over the soft fabric. “Yeah—her. I never knew her name. She was only ever there that one night, but she was someone powerful. The way the other men listened to her and obeyed her orders…” I trailed off for a moment, trying not to sink back into that memory. Jaxon pinched the skin on my foot, and I jerked, looking down the couch at him, but he was focused on my foot, not even looking at me.

He’d pinched me because he realized I was sinking into my head. My chest tightened. He was too damn good at this.

“She had four of her men hold me down to her expensive bed. Fingered me open with her sharp ass fucking nails, which tore me, and then she…” I swallowed bile. “She fucked herself on mydick while she had another man fuck me in my bleeding, torn ass with no lube.”

More bile rose up my esophagus. Wasn’t that what I’d just done to Jaxon? How was I any better than them?

I was going to be fucking suck.

Jaxon pinched me again. I shot my gaze to his, and this time, our gazes clashed. “Don’t,” he quietly warned me, a dark undertone to his words that made me shiver. “We talked about that in the shower. I’mfine, Zeppelin. You’renothinglike any of them, you hear me?”

“He’s right,” Eros said, drawing my eyes to his. His hands came up to cup my cheeks, and he stroked his thumbs over my cheekbones. “I love you. You’re not a monster. You’re not a rapist. Jaxonconsented. He made that clear to me with the way he wanted me to be connected with you two, even if it was just holding his hand.” His lips twisted with a playful smirk. “There was a lot of cum to clean off the kitchen counters.”

I snorted a laugh, my chest a little lighter after talking to them. I pulled back from Eros and rested my head in his lap, shutting my eyes. I was just so damntired. I wanted to sleep now. I was safe with them. I knew neither of them would allow anyone to hurt me while I rested my exhausted mind.

“Zep?” Jaxon asked.

“Hm?” I hummed, not opening my eyes. Eros was beginning to run his fingers through my hair again, and it was quickly lulling me to sleep.

“Where were you? You said ‘she was only ever there that one night’.”

I snuggled deeper into Eros. “Somewhere in Miami. My parents sold me. I was trafficked.” Jaxon’s hands stilled on my feet. I pushed them into his palms, seeking more of his touch. “Please don’t stop,” I mumbled, my words slurred with sleep. “That was feeling good.”

He began rubbing at my soles again, and I let darkness claim me, slipping into a dream where trafficking wasn’t a thing and only Eros and Jaxon existed.

CHAPTER 19

Jaxon

Zeppelin’s admission left me silently spiraling as he fell asleep. Eros followed him not long after, both of them softly snoring, no doubt exhausted after the evening they’d endured. I was exhausted too, but I couldn’t bring myself to eventryto sleep. Not right now.

Zeppelin was going to fucking crash and burn if he continued handling his therapy appointments like this. He wasn’t coping, and if more memories got uncovered, he wasn’t going to be able to keep using brutal sex to work through his newly uncovered trauma. I knew Eros couldn’t handle it, and I wasn’t sure how many more times I could take it either.

I slowly slipped off the couch, being careful not to wake Zeppelin and Eros before I walked into the bathroom, where I’d left my phone on the counter. I made my way out onto the expansive front porch and settled in one of the rocking chairs before dialing Logan’s number and lifting my phone to my ear.

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