Page 48 of Gilded Lies

Danika’s lips press to my cheeks, and he kisses each of my tears away.

Warm lips wrap around my clit, pulling my attention downward. Rune presses tender kisses over my throbbing nub, my swollen folds, and he has a glow of pleasure on his face that is more than just my juices covering his chin.

Candlelight casts him in deep shadows, but I see the love in his eyes when he looks up at me.

“What do you want from me? I think you made it pretty obvious you were through with me. I tried calling you until you deletedme and blocked my number. I tried going to your building. Again. Blocked from entering.”

I see pain cross their faces and they all share the same look like they are having a conversation. “Fuck all three of you and your silent conversations. Let me go now. I’m not a toy you can play with. I’m tired of men using me and hurting me for their own gain.”

They all take a step back, their expressions hard as stone.

“Men?”

“Who else hurt you, petals?”

“Don’t call me petals. And you don’t get to care now,” I hiss.

“Magnolia. Please.”

That is Oliver. He draws lazy circles over my abdomen.

I’m tired of secrets. “If you must know, my guardian. I grew up in foster care. I thought I might have landed in a suitable home shortly after my sixteenth birthday. I was quiet and shy back then. I had a hard time letting people see the real me. Anyway, it turns out the man and wife duo who adopted me liked to drug and rape the girls they took in.”

Murder settles over their expressions. It’s so raw and powerful it stains their aura. It’s like rippling of black smoke around their bodies.

I swallow the tight knot forming in my throat. All three close in and I’m cocooned in their embraces. Lips, hands, and arms soothe me. I don’t realize I’m crying until Danika brushes the tears away with the pad of his thumb.

“Give us a name.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver answers Rune. “We will find out on our own. Get Harlon on the phone.”

Harlon? I run through my database of names but that one is not in it.

“Tell us what happened. Please.” Danika never says please. But the way he presses his forehead against mine has words falling from my lips.

“He would pull me from my bed at night after dinner. It took me a while to realize it was the food they were drugging. He put me in bed with him. He never touched me, but he always made me watch what he did to others. He made us call him Daddy while his wife recorded everything from another room.”

Danika’s anger is so powerful he is physically shaking.

“I was his special girl. He saw me as his doll and never touched or sullied me. Those were his words. He told me I would be the mother of his kids and I had to watch and learn how to pleasure him.”

Oliver pulls out his phone and shoots off a message to someone. Probably an assassin these three keep on standby? I wouldn’t know. They never shared more than their bed with me.

I sigh, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“It’s okay. Don’t be worried for me or my past self. I caught on to the drugging and finally turned him in. He and his wife did time for their crimes. He’s out now and it will only be a matter of time before he fucks up bad enough to land in jail or prison again.”

“He didn’t pay for them like he should have. Only death is the suitable punishment.”

Rune pulls me into his arms. I try to give him a hug back, but my arms are still tied.

“Can you untie me now?”

Rune peers down at me, his rueful grin back in place.

“No. We are tired of you running.”

A pang of grief hits me. “Me? You are the ones who pulled a Houdini act.” My ire reignites and I blast him with a narrowed-eye glare. “I’ve never been so happy to…” Whoa. I stop myself. They don’t deserve what I was going to say. I change directions. “You can’t keep me tied up forever.”

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