Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
I wait until Aurelia’s dead gaze rises to meet mine, and then I hesitate a moment longer because I’m about to violate her all over again. This time for her own good.
“What you’re feeling right now is understandable, all of it. I won’t make excuses for what we did when the truth is simple. We hurt you. We hurt you because we could. We’re bigger and stronger, and we hold all the cards. I want you to remember that when the shock wears off and you have only anger to numb you. You’ll tell yourself that you can live with what happened if you strike back at us, but I wouldn’t advise it.”
“We’re not very forgiving, Goldilocks.”
“What a coincidence,” she retorts and drops the cloth on the floor next to her. “Neither am I.”
It’s meant to be cold and cautionary, but it just comes out despondent and delusional. She has no power here.
Khalil raises his brows, but I nod. I can’t help but respect someone who fights to the bitter, tragic end.
“I understand. We don’t expect you to forgive us, but you better get used to us. One chance, Aurelia. Prove to us even once that you’re not worth the trouble, and we’ll make you wish you perished in that plane crash.”
Aurelia doesn’t respond for the longest time, and then she gives the tiniest nod.
Khalil exhales heavily.
Out of the three of us, he’s the only one hell-bent on keeping her. Seth is too, but his attention span is shit.
Tossing Aurelia out would be as good as killing her, which would be the point.
And such a waste of a good piece of ass.
Aurelia sucked our cocks as if it gave her meaning, and she doesn’t even know us, despises us even. Imagine what a few months with nothing else to do but wait for the snow to melt will do. Imagine if she fell for us.
Seth helps her stand and then takes her face in his hands, bending a little to peer into her empty eyes—Aurelia’s here, but no one’s home. “Don’t let them scare you, Sunshine. They’re not so bad,” he tells her like he hadn’t used her to get off too. “Thorin and Khalil are just grumpy because we’re stuck up here, and it’s my fault.”
“Quiet, Seth,” Khalil snaps from Aurelia’s other side. They’re flanking her again, barely a few inches of space between them.
It’s unnecessary. Aurelia isn’t going to run, and she’s damn sure not going to ask questions. I doubt she cares what drove us to do what we did. What matters is that it happened.
Still, she doesn’t reject Seth’s touch as she did mine, and that acidic feeling from earlier burns a hole in my chest as I wonder if she likes him better.
It’s a fucking ridiculous thought.
Why should I care who Aurelia likes better? She belongs to all of us. She’ll sleep under my roof, warm my bed, and ride my dick when I tell her to, and that’s all that matters.
Aurelia is still staring at the floor, but there’s a furrow in her brow now, like she’s wrestling with something. It’s a far cry from the quiet desolation that seemed so deafening before.
I nod toward the bowl resting on the table. “Eat your stew, Aurelia. You’re safe here.”
I can see the question in her eyes, though—the uncertainty—when she does what I tell her.
Safe, but for how long?
Instead of asking or giving us the third degree, Aurelia exhales, her shoulders slumping, then picks up the food and starts to eat.
None of us speak, content with watching her slowly consume her second helping of stew. I don’t know if it’s the horrible taste or if we stole her appetite, but she eats like she’s on autopilot.
When she’s done, I take the empty bowl from her and set it aside before giving her two of the painkillers and making her down the entire glass of water.
“Take off your dress.” Her gaze shutters immediately at my command, and it’s all I can do not to roll mine. “Relax. No one’s fucking you tonight. Your dress is filthy, and so are you,” I remind her. “You’ll sleep better after you shower. One of us can loan you some clean clothes until your dress is sorted.”
Aurelia still doesn’t move from the spot she’s in, and Seth waves his hand in front of her face. When he starts snapping his fingers, her eyes shift up and to the side to glare at him in irritation.
She’s heard every word. She doesn’t want to undress in front of us.
Tough shit.
We’ll be committing far worse atrocities to her body soon enough. Staring will be the least of our sins.
Since I don’t want to break our new toy before we’re done taking it out of the box, I exhale loudly and say, “There’s a bathroom by the stairs.”