Page 30 of Tainted Saints

“Forest,” Landon snaps out, and I wonder why he’s warning him for a brief moment, but then the flavours of the dish bursts on my tongue and a loud moan falls from my lips.

“Oh my god, Landon,” I gush after chewing and swallowing, glancing over at him to find his fork halfway to his mouth, his jaw clenched tightly and heat making his dark eyes shine as he licks his lips. “Um, this is really good.”

“Fuck, sugar. You can’t make noises like that at dinner. You’ll have us all panting like dogs before we’ve even taken a bite,” Forest groans, adjusting himself in his sweats. I didn’t notice him getting dressed, but like Blaine and Landon, he’s forgone the T-shirt, and all of his glorious muscles are on display.

I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s only fair and serves you all right, sitting at dinner half naked like that. It’s enough to make my poor kitty kat roll over and beg.” I snap my mouth shut, blaming my utter fucking lack of filter on everything that has happened tonight.

Stunned silence fills the room, and then Bolt rests his head on my thigh, looking up at me with soulful blue eyes.

“I am here to stroke your kitty kat anytime. You just say the word and I’ll be there, sho’ nuff,” Forest murmurs into my ear, and I look away from Bolt to see them all studying me with heat and amusement in their eyes.

“Eat your dinner, Duchess,” Landon commands after a few moments, and I do as he says, taking another mouthwatering bite full of deliciousness. I don’t bother to keep my noises of appreciation down, tit for tat after all.

ChapterFourteen

“All Mine” by PLAZA

FOREST

Her presence in our home,at our table, just feels fucking right, and I know by the soft glances that the other two give her they feel the same way. She’s ours. She belongs to us, just like we belong to each other. I learnt long ago to trust my instincts, and they are screamingmineat me whenever I look at her.

When she told us what her family does, that her parents starve her on purpose, I wanted to head on over there and give them exactly what they deserve. We’re not called the Tainted Saints for nothing. We have a great many tools in our arsenal, learnt over many years, and I can think of a few choice ones to use on the British Ambassador and his wife.

My parents were shitty, beyond shitty, and it pains me that she has the same thing; a house that is no home. A place that feels more like a prison and a punishment than a retreat. I didn’t truly feel safe until I came to live with my aunt and uncle when I was seven, and even then, it wasn’t until I met Lan and Blaine that I knew what it meant to belong.

Her head rests on my shoulder, her soft breaths fanning against my chest. Her plate is still half full but we’re not pushing it, knowing that her poor stomach can’t eat too much after the way food has been withheld recently.

Lan catches my eye, his jaw set in a grim line as he looks at the sleeping beauty, then he flashes his phone screen at me. Midnight. The time for coaches to turn back into pumpkins, and my stomach sinks with the knowledge that we have to take her back.

We spoke earlier about her, about the power that her father seems to hold already in our small part of the world, and I know that he wouldn’t want her anywhere near us. If he finds out…fuck, I can’t even think about how long her punishment will be.

“Hey, Little Lady,” I whisper gently, stroking her cheek. She huffs out a breath, her dark lashes fluttering open as she gazes sleepily up at me.

“Hmmmm?” she mumbles, blinking and then lifting her head to stretch her arms above her head. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more beautiful, even sleep-mussed and drowning in our clothes. “What’s the time?” Her voice is thick with sleep, and my dick perks up at the sound but that boy will have to wait.

“Midnight, beautiful,” I tell her, standing from the dining chair and stretching my back. It’s not the most comfortable place to sit for a long time, but I’d be damned if I was going to move her once she’d drifted off.

“Oh.” There’s a world of heartbreak in her voice, her face a mask of desolation that makes me want to burn the fucking world down to stop that look from ever coming across her features again. “I should go.” She nibbles her lower lip, her delicate fingers toying with a paper napkin that was left from dinner.

“I can take you, sugar,” I offer, and she gives me a sad smile.

“If anyone sees…” she trails off, begging with her sorrow-filled eyes for me to understand, and a part of me does, but it still stings, the rejection of her not wanting to be seen with any of us in her rich neighbourhood. “He would hurt you too,” she adds in a cracking voice, her eyes filling with tears as her lips tremble. “He has so much power, Forest, and none of it is used for good.”

Leaning towards her, I take her face in my palms, my soul soothed by her worry, not rejection. “He’s not the only one with power, baby,” I tell her, looking between her eyes, then at the tears that trails down her cheeks. Fuck, she’s pretty when she cries. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“Not against him,” she breathes out, her chest stuttering with her ragged inhales as her hands drop the shredded napkin and clench into fists. “No one can.”

I hate that I know what she’s feeling. I’ve been there, thinking that this is it. That all the shit and pain and terror is all there is to life. But I got out, and I’ll be damned if I don’t get her out too. Kneeling down so my face is more level with hers, I hold her gaze.

“I will take you where he can’t reach you, even if the whole of Fairview has to burn to the fucking ground. I will get you away from him,” I swear, not letting her look away for a moment, my hands tightening on her face when she tries to pull away. I don’t give a shit that I’ve known her for such a short time or that Lan’s uncle wants us to use her for whatever shit he’s got going on.

She. Is. Mine. She's ours, and Iwillbring her home.

“You’ll have to kill him first, he’ll never let me go, Forest. I’m his property, to do with as he wills, just a pawn in his fucked up game, but one he will never let go,” she tells me, her body tense as her hands come up to try and prise mine away, but I refuse to let her go.

“Then we’ll kill him too,” Lan states, and her eyes widen, her lips parting, and I allow my grip to loosen so she can twist her head to stare at him. “We’ve killed for less, Duchess, and you don’t belong to him anymore. You are ours, and we take care of our own.”

“Y–you don’t know me,” she stutters out, leaping to her feet, the chair clattering to the floor and forcing me to let her go as she strides around the table to get right up into Lan’s space, her small body trembling. Bolt whines and my hand goes to the top of his head to reassure him. “You can’t say shit like that!” She smacks his chest with both palms, but the pain in her voice has my eyes stinging, my soul raging at the knowledge that no one has ever shown her what she’s worth.

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