Page 18 of Purgatory
Oh my God, oh my God what the hell do I do? Do I go out there and talk to him? Do I go back to my room? Should I run? Jeez, I haven’t been more scared in the past few months than I am right now.
My sudden terror takes a tiny detour to lust when he takes a slow swipe of his tongue to his lips and flexes the arm holding the axe. His gaze travels down the length of my body, to my feet then back up to my face. Shivers climb the length of my spine at his assessment, all the while I'm paralyzed to his scrutiny.
Thankfully, he must take pity on my ‘deer in the headlights’ look because he slams his axe into the giant log he was working on and stalks away from the house in the direction of the garden, allowing me to release the biggest breath of anxiety from my lungs.
With self-preservation in mind, I end up steering clearof the garden for the remainder of the day, choosing, instead, to explore the rest of the house and the bit of land in the complete opposite direction of the garden. The property is huge. They weren’t kidding. I even managed to find a few running trails along the edge of the property going through the trees that eventually lead to a gorgeous lake. It's by that lake at the end of the day, that I find myself sitting tucked in the trees, admiring the beauty around me. A flock of geese fly overhead. Pinks, purples and oranges color the evening sky as the sun makes its decent to the horizon and here I am, snuggled up on a boulder, basking in nature’s simple magnificence.
“Wow, these guys are so lucky. I’d never want to leave if I lived here.”
You, sort of, do now...
Pondering that a little, I realize the statement was actually pretty accurate. Hawk seemed pretty adamant about me staying. Even Cole, to a point. I’d eventually have to take my lady balls by the hand and talk to the big, bad wolf if I wanted to make it a reality though. This is his house after all.
Going back to what I knew, just a few days ago, as my own reality would crush me after this. Sure, I could handle it. I would make it work and survive as I had been. But there’s something to be said for human interaction. I’ve always thought of myself as an introvert. My friends would go out to clubs and be the life of the parties but not me. I’d find my enjoyment out of staying home, reading a book and keeping to myself. Nowadays, I realize just how much I took for granted. All that time, I was able to see, talk, be with other people. Have connections both platonically and intimately whenever I wanted. And in the amount of time it takes to snap one’s fingers, it all went away. Trust, friendship, even love was replaced with emptiness, judgement and fear. Friends? Gone. Family? Deceased. Lovers? Vanished into thin air. Like dust inthe wind, they scattered in the breeze never to be found again.
Tired isn’t even the word for it. I’m fucking exhausted. Just done with it all. Done with the emptiness. Done with the fear. Done with wandering aimlessly for days on end to a destination that may not even exist anymore. Months of enduring all of this and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. More emptiness. That is... until them. My nearly comatose soul, revived with life simply by learning of their existence and the knowledge that I’m no longer alone in the world. I smile at the thought. My stress dissolving with the wavering sunlight.
I’m about to make my way back up the trail when the sound of masculine voices ring through further down the beach, closer to the house. After a few seconds, I see Hawk, Cole and Jax all running towards the water, then abruptly stop to ditch their clothes and saunter into the lake.
“Holy dick parade...”
Did I mention they’re all naked? Let me say it again for those in the back. Buck-assed freaking naked in all their birthday-suit glory for my unknown viewing pleasure. Damn, do they look good. And now they’re all wet from the lake. Tiny droplets of water decorate their gorgeous skin, highlighting their muscular forms. At varying times, each of their arms come up to swipe at their wet hair, making their muscles contract and bulge with the movement. Those gorgeous V-cuts in their hips, like arrows pointing to the treasure on a map. Holy shit my libido can’t take this. I’m not even near the water but I guarantee I’m soaked. My voyeuristic mind having a field day. I need to get a grip on my breathing or else I’m going to pass out right where I am from hyperventilation.
“Oh my fuck, I’ll take that cold shower now...”
I make my way back to the house, luckily before the three musketeers, and their impressive swords, and head straight to the bathroom at the end of the hall upstairs.There’s no need to wait for the water to warm up as I leap headstrong into the freezing cold water to drown out some of my endorphins before they take over and have me humping a door frame.
Unfortunately, however, the frigid water does nothing as I find myself picturing the guys, in all their naked glory, and my hands start wandering my soaked body. It’s not until my fingers brush my aching core that I realize I’m doomed. Instantly, my body starts shaking and convulsing with the need and urge to combust. I can’t control my hands as one continues rubbing at my clit while the other squeezes and teases my nipple. Trying to stifle the whimpering sounds coming out of me, I bite my lip. It’s futile, though, because as I come, I let out a loud, embarrassing groan of satisfaction. I stand there, leaning up against the shower wall, coming down from the orgasmic high I'd given myself when I hear the sink turn off. My eyes could have just jumped out of my skull right then and there.
Did I leave the sink on? I don’t remember turning it on. But that was someone turning it off... Oh shit fuckity fuck fuck! Did they hear me? Who is they????
“The others are back too. Just wanted to let you know, before you made any more noises that would keep everyone up tonight.” A new, deeper voice, smooth and dark like melted chocolate, with a slight southern accent, rumbles on the other side of the curtain.
“Shit. Sorry. I... uh... I thought it was just me here...” I giggle awkwardly.
A throaty chuckle resounds, “When you’re here, baby doll, you’re never alone... food for thought.”My jaw practically hits the floor as I hear the bathroom door open and close softly with his exit. My core suddenly springing to life like I didn’t just get myself off seconds ago.
SERIOUSLY? What was it that got me all hot and bothered NOW? The deep resounding god-like voice? The quasi threat? The ‘babydoll’? The hat-trick of all three? Holy shit, I'm fucked. I’m going to be living in a perpetual state of horny from now on if I don’t get my head straight. It's totally happening. I’m turning into a toad. Big, old horny toad.
I hurriedly dry off, wrap the towel around me and practically run to my room to avoid the eyes of the other guys since I forgot to bring any new clothes in with me. I almost make itwhen I see Hawk casually standing in his room opposite mine. His large body leans on the door frame as he takes his time looking me up and down and flashes me a wink and a panty dropping smile.
Fuck, did he hear me too?
I blush and closed the door behind me. I need to get a grip before I spontaneously combust from all of the testosterone surrounding me now.
∞∞∞
After the shower incident, I got dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt I found in the room, fully believing I was going to hide in my room for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, during my daytime activities, I had forgotten to eat anything besides those cookies for breakfast. So, when the luring scents of mouthwatering goodness wafted through the house, my grouchy stomach yelled at me. Loudly. Thankfully, I was alone forthatembarrassing moment.
I decide to give up on my seclusion in favor of sustenance, ego be damned. I tip toe out of my room and down the hallway, listening for the sounds of the others. It’s not until I get to the landing that I finally hear them, laughing andcarrying on about nothing in particular. I take that as my cue to saunter down and join them.
Now’s as good a time as any...
When I finally reach the edge of the kitchen, I see them all. Cole and Hawk are standing at the island, while Jax is stationed on the other side, working at the stove. Cole is busy cutting up vegetables for what looks to be a salad, Hawk is slicing up bread and Jax is stirring some kind of soup. I realize, now, that the scent that traveled upstairs and drew me down here, was that bread. It looks freshly baked and delicious and my mouth waters at the thought of sinking my teeth into a piece of it.
“Would the princess like to come out of her tower and join us for some chow?”
I jolt at the sound of Hawk’s voice and realize I've been lingering in the hallway like a creep.
