“Bossing-around attitude? Listen, we were worried about you all day. Before we knew that you were at Bryant’s, we thought you left town.”
She could tell Blake was truly upset. She touched his cheek.
“There’s no other place for me to go right now. Not without money, anyway,” she added. He stood up and pulled her against him.
“You can’t leave us. We won’t let you go, Lena,” Blake stated. His hold was firm around her waist, and her heart rejoiced in hope that he really wanted her but she still had that feeling of foreboding inside.
“You feel the attraction we all share, Lena. You came in our arms remember?” he whispered then lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her deeply, and instantly she was under Blake’s spell. The feel of his hands caressing her lower back whil
e he explored her mouth with his tongue was pure pleasure. When she felt Quinn’s hands on her shoulders massaging the tight muscles, she relaxed even more. Blake released her lips but continued to kiss along her neck as Quinn tilted her head sideways so he could kiss her next.
It was overwhelming.
Quinn nibbled on her bottom lip before he released her lips and caressed his thumb over her lower lip. Blake stared down at her.
“So sweet and beautiful. Give this a chance, Lena, we promise we won’t hurt you.”
“What exactly are you asking for?” she asked them.
“Invite us inside, Lena, and we’ll show you how amazing this can be between us,” Blake whispered as he rubbed his thumbs back and forth across her hip bones.
She took a deep breath. As much as her body craved more of their touch, she just wasn’t ready for such a move. She took both Blake’s hand and Quinn’s hand up to her lips. She held them there and gently kissed Blake’s hand on the knuckle and then Quinn’s hand while they stepped closer to her. The feel of two large, masculine bodies so close to her gave her a feeling of safety and security.
“You make me want so much. I’m just not ready for that move yet. Please understand. This is all new to me. Everything I’ve done since arriving here has been a step toward a new life. A better life than what I had.”
Blake reached up and touched her cheek as she released their other hands. She felt Quinn wrap his arms around her midsection from behind and lay his head on her shoulder.
“We’ll wait for you, Lena. You are meant for us,” Blake stated.
Chapter 7
Lena blew off working at Rocky’s this week and told him she would be there to work next Friday for a bachelor party. He promised her that Derrick and his buddies weren’t allowed in there when she was working. She was fine with that. They were drunk anyway when the incident happened. Working there two nights a week on Fridays and Saturdays would be easy to handle along with her new responsibilities with soldier boy.
The Cornish hens were cooking in the oven and the sweet potatoes, too, as she swept out the kitchen and re-mopped the floor. The back door was wide open, and soldier boy was sitting in a chair watching her and trying to make her uncomfortable. It wasn’t working except when he zoned out or had to stand up quickly because of a cramp in his leg.
“You should be doing those exercises that your father taught you. The sheets are in the cabinet drawer under the TV,” she told him.
“Why bother? They don’t help.”
“Maybe you’re doing them wrong.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “What the fuck do you know? Did you even go to school or were you living on the streets all your life?” She felt the twinge of pain from the insult, but she held her ground. She was used to him insulting her to get her off his case. She was trying to help him with that, too.
She continued to mop the floor.
“You can learn a lot living on the streets, soldier boy.”
“Soldier boy? Are you insulting me by calling me that? What are you, one of those anti-Americans who feels that the government owes you free shit for being alive? How the fuck did you wind up on the streets anyway?”
“First of all, I am not anti-American. I don’t feel that anyone owes me anything just because I’m alive. I know damn well that you get out of life what you put into it.”
“Don’t you mean how much you put out?” He looked her body over from head to toe. She was trying her damn hardest not to knock his lights out. She had to remind herself for the hundredth time that this was his MO. He was purposely pushing people away.
“Cut it out, Bryant. It’s not going to work. All the insults, the curses and nastiness. You think you’re tough, but you’re not. You’re acting like a damn baby.” She made her way toward the back door. That was when she saw the long, thick snake making his way inside.
She turned to soldier boy just as he was about to verbally attack her again, and he must have followed her line of sight.
“Don’t move, Lena.”