Page 36 of Room Seven

“We will be right outside. Please run so I can catch you and fuck you in the wet grass.”

What? Wait. Oh, that’s tempting.

“Gentlemen. Now.” Magnolia enjoys throwing around her dainty one hundred and twenty pounds. Thank God, too. Viper’s offer was way too good to decline.

My eyebrows rise along with a fresh wave of heat to hit my cheeks. “You better listen. I have a feeling she has a black belt or two she hasn’t disclosed.”

Luther tips my chin his way. “This room is on lockdown, baby girl. You’re not getting away from us.” Luther’s lips brush over mine, like a fond memory.

My eyes dip to his chin and then I find Viper’s gaze again. “I wasn’t the one who ran the last time.”

With those slashing words, Viper places a tender kiss on my cheek fused with love. God, I don’t want to think it, but it’s hard to deny. And I think I sense regret, too.

“I know, baby. I know.”

Careful that I don’t lose my balance, the large mountain of a man slowly places me back on my feet and follows his friends out of the room.

Mirsha angles his head and catches my gaze. All that molten steel swirling behind those thick black lashes tells me we are not finished. Not by a long shot.

With the door closed, I brush by Magnolia and swoosh open the heavy curtains. “Thanks for that,” I offer hurriedly. Black peels aside to reveal more black. UGH. The storm. Shit.

Willow branches flutter in the wind and flashes of lightning filter through the night’s sky.

A summer storm is about to release its wrath. I either go now, or get caught in a downpour.

“Why are you running?”

That has my jerky, rushed movements slowing.

With my arms wound tightly around my middle, I face Magnolia and for the first time I want to cry in front of another woman. The water rimming my eyes would devastate my mother. Never let them see you cry, is her motto. But my emotions are just too much to keep locked away.

“It hurts to be close to them.” I pause a minute because I’ve confessed none of this to another soul. She has a genuine kindness about her and something tells me what I say here tonight stays between us.

“For a long time, I have lived under the thumb of another person. My father, my family. Even my godfathers, in a way. Mirsha, Luther and Viper watched over me from birth and sometimes know me better than my parents.” I draw my lip between my teeth knowing how this next part will sound. “Don judge okay, because that is going to make me and them sound fucked up. But years went by, I got older and somewhere around my sixteenth birthday I realized I was in love with my godfathers. A couple of years later, I confessed my feelings right here at this club.”

“Ballsy.”

I nod. “Yeah. I thought so too. But instead of protecting my love, they dropped it, stepped on it and left it where it fell to die. So I can’t trust them with my heart. Not again. They walked, and that pain has never left.”

Magnolia moves to me and the slight touch of her hand on my elbow forms a bridge between the chaos inside me and the calm in her eyes.

“I don’t know a lot. I was sheltered to the point of reckless naivety growing up. For a long time, I thought it was normal for a guardian to beat his wife and adopted children. I didn’t know how to navigate the world alone for a long time. I still don’t, really. Some bad people did some bad things to me and that was after I escaped my guardians.”

Now it’s my turn to comfort her. I move my hand over hers. We sit on the corner of the bed, both letting our pasts permeate our thoughts.

“But that is not the point here. I just wanted you to understand that I know pain too and you can trust me with your story.”

“Thank you for sharing yours with me.” I hold a hand out. I’m Aster, by the way.”

“Aster. Pretty name.”

She takes my hand, and we sit like old friends for a second. “Believe it or not, I have been where you are. I’ve loved, too. I trusted men much like yours. After they showed me what love could look like, I got scared it was just another form of a cage and I ran.”

My heart weeps for her. “What scared you?” Luther, Viper and Mirsha are a lot of things but my jailers are not one of them. Her yearning for her men is so thick I can practically feel the connection with my bare hands. Did she fear them? Did they hurt her? The only thing I fear from my three is the lashes they will leave on my heart.Haveleft on my heart. Something tells me her story isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

“Magnolia? Did they hurt you?”

“The opposite. They loved too hard. My point is, don’t let fear keep you from finding happiness. I wish I had someone to tell me that before I ran. There’s not exactly a club for the morning after this place happens, if you know what I mean. And now they have moved on.”

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