And on some level it was a relief that she wasn’t my stepmother. She was my father’s business partner in his private security empire. I had been slowly learning more and more about him in the time I spent with her, but a lot of it was still mired in mystery and clouded by her reluctance to divulge anything too revealing.
But most of all, she was a badass woman who loved nothing more than sparring with me and teasing me endlessly to make me laugh. Overall, she was amazing and somebody I could finally look up to. My own mother had been such a half inspired presence in my life, a limp, semi interested parent who barely noticed me most of the time. It was nice to be the center of attention to somebody who cared about my safety and well being.
“I know, I’m just messing with you,” she said, and nudged me with her elbow. “Are you heading up to see Penny after this?”
“I am unless you’re planning on killing me dead with more fighting,” I laughed. We’d just done a couple hours of training and I was exhausted. We were still at Archer’s mansion, Amara was staying in the house with us and the rest of the guards were housed in the mansion next door. My father had rented it to keep them there, but he still hadn’t come to Oakville to see me. Amara told me he’d come when it was his time, that he was wrapping up some things he was working on with the Organization before he could leave them.
“No, you’re free to leave,” Amara grinned and shook her hands out to release the tension. “Your friend needs you, especially after everything she’s gone through. She doesn’t have the same kind of support you have, so you need to be strong for her.”
Penny had gotten much better over the past few days, and she was supposed to be released from the hospital later that day. Her parents believed we’d simply gone on a school trip and she’d been injured during one of the team building exercises. So did mine, at least my Mom did. Reg probably had heard rumors about where I’d been taken, but everybody else in my life believed the lies.
The Organization had been extremely effective in covering up their tracks after they’d taken us, and it still left me with a tight feeling in my chest when I thought about how easily they could have made us disappear forever if they’d wanted to. Their power felt insurmountable at times, when my determination waned, but I always pushed it out of my mind and recommitted to the struggle.
I said goodbye to Amara and walked towards our wing of the mansion. She headed off to hers, and left me alone but I didn’t make it far before I heard Kingston call to me, “Hey Evie, get your sweet little ass in here!”
I smiled to myself at his enthusiasm and sauntered over to where the Kings and Ryker were swimming in the heated pool. The steam rose up into the chilly air, pulling me towards it.
I stood on the grass at the edge of the tiled pool deck and admire the four of them, watching their bodies in the water, knowing they were mine. That I was the queen to their court. It was always such a powerful thrill when it hit me.
Kingston saw me watching them and swam towards me. He was still sore, he said, but the bullet hole in his chest had healed over nicely. In its place was an angry red raised scar, front and back, but on him it added an air of masculine intrigue. It gave him an added level of rough edged strength, and it was pretty fucking sexy.
Then again, everything on Kingston fucking Taylor was sexy, from his thick curled hair to his bulging biceps, those muscled thighs I loved so much, and of course, his cock. The sexiest part of all that had me completely obsessed.
Sex had been difficult since I came back simply because he needed to go slow and I wanted to ravage him every time we were together.
But I’d learned that going slow was good, too. In fact sometimes going slow with Kingston or each of my guys was really,reallygood. A way for us to connect and release emotions. For us to bond and join in our love together.
Then the other three noticed that I was standing there and swam towards me to join Kingston. They were gorgeous, my own group of water gods, lords of the pool and rulers of my heart.
“Are you coming in?” Valen asked, his eyes glowing with lustful admiration when he looked up at me.
“Come on, Ev,” Archer called out. “Dive in, give us a show.”
I looked around, saw a few guards watching but doing it from a distance, so I decided to jump in. I stripped as I walked, and by the time I was at the poolside, I was naked and shivering in the air, while the four of them floated in the water with their eyes locked on me.
And that was the power in this relationship. That was what nourished the fire inside and gave me the strength to keep going and keep learning how to fight. Just the way they looked at me like that, it was enough to drop a nuclear bomb in the center of my self-doubt and explode it into bright, neon bursts of confidence.
I stood straight, stretched and felt my ribs crack and my arm click where I’d been injured. My body still had bruises dotting it, like somebody had splattered paint across the canvas of my flesh. But they were fading, as were the memories of how it felt to be held captive. They wouldn’t ever disappear, I’d have them burrowed inside my head until my last breath, but I wasn’t haunted by them as much as I’d been the first day back.
“Are you ready?” I asked with a giggle. I watched as they all enthusiastically egged me on, so I put my hands together, took a deep breath, and dove into the water with them.
It was warm and soothing to my muscles the moment I surfaced. It felt incredible, after being without clean water in prison, I’d never take it for granted.
“We’re always ready for this,” Kingston said, and pulled me into his arms. His hard cock pressed against me from behind as I languished in the warmth of his affection.
“I think we’re basically just walking hard-ons at this point,” Valen laughed and swam over to kiss me. His hand drifted down through the water and fluttered along my abdomen. I gasped as his finger slipped into my cleft and he played with my clit while our mouths met.
Archer wasn’t ready to be ignored, so he joined in. He edged Valen’s mouth away from mine and kissed me too, adding his finger to my slippery slit under the water.
Ryker floated nearby, watching with a heated smile on his face. He loved to watch, and he was usually the last one to make a move on me for this reason. There was something about me being with other men that excited him, and I loved it.
“I don’t mind the hard-on part of things,” I replied when my mouth was free. We’d drifted into the shallow end and I could feel the bottom of the pool under my toes. Kingston was standing behind me now, giving more support while we had our group make out season. “In fact, that might be most of the reason I’m with any of you.”
“Is that it, princess? Because we have more to give you than our cocks,” Ryker said, sweeping in and gently pushed Valen and Archer away from me. “Like our fingers, our mouth.”
I groaned in agreement and exhaled quietly. “Oh yes, that too.”
I wanted to say something else, something clever about how I loved all of them, and all of their bodies, but Ryker’s hand slipped down the front of me and my mind exited the moment he hit the swell between my thighs. Ryker’s fingers slid across my clit and I gasped against his mouth. I felt Valen and Archer’s fingers pulled away, and I opened an eye to watch them kiss each other, tentatively at first and then with more heat.