Chapter Fifteen
R & R - Retribution and Reprieve
As soon as I can, I turn the shower on scalding, climb in on still tingling legs, and sit in the built-in seat as gingerly as possible. I detach one of the heads and let the water run over my belly, vagina, and across my ass. Marcus knocks, then opens the door, holding a glass of water and two red ibuprofen tablets. He takes in the scene as I reach, first for the pills, then the water. Eventually, he seems to get up the courage to speak.
“I’m sorry, Lark. It had to be believable, and if I hadn’t gagged you, Robert would have sent one of his men to join in to silence you. Apollo will be hating himself for hurting you, but it got the punishment over with quickly in a manner that kept in line with what his father would expect." I nod and look away, ignoring him, and he eventually closes the door and leaves.
After a while I hear noises in the bathroom, but can’t muster the will to rouse myself to see who it is. Apollo appears, naked, in the shower with Marcus. He goes to pick me up, and I swing my fist and nail him straight in the balls, before grabbing what I can between his legs, giving it a twist. He grabs himself and groans, hunched over.
“Fuck, Nightingale, I think you popped one," he hisses, checking out his parts. "Marcus said you weren’t talking, should have known you were waiting on me.” He's eventually able to straighten up and reaches for me again, warily this time. I let him, although I’m not sure I want him touching me. He settles back down with me in his lap and starts rubbing my hip. It feels good, so I don’t complain. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I panicked when you started yelling and needed a distraction. It could have been so much worse than that. Will you let us make it up to you?” I’m not positive what they mean by make it up to me, but I can guess. I’ll go along until I decide if I like it or not.
“Touch my ass and I’ll castrate you both.” Marcus holds up his hands, and Apollo says ‘of course not’.
He turns me so that my back is to his front, the water is running down my chest. He takes my legs and places them on either side of his and spreads them wide. Taking the showerhead, he turns on the massage setting and begins running it all over my front in hypnotic circles, while Marcus gets on his knees and buries his face in my crotch, licking and sucking gently above the showerhead.
As I warm up and respond to them, he adds his hands to the mix, exposing the underside of my clit to flick it back and forth with the tip of his tongue. It's still overly sensitive from the ginger, as if it got too much sun, but not quite burnt. Marcus' broad shoulders are directly in my view between my thighs. His upper body is extremely well defined, the movement of his arms flexing all those muscles, and I find myself tracing them without thinking about it. He slips a finger in me, testing my readiness. He adds another and begins stroking over the right spot inside.
Apollo puts the showerhead on a higher setting and settles it over my clit while Marcus continues to pump my pussy. With his mouth free, he brings his head up to suck on a nipple. My head is lolling back on Apollo’s shoulder, and soon I’m coming with a quiet moan. I try to close my legs as I finish, but Apollo spreads his knees further, keeping me open. Marcus adds another digit, moving more rapidly now. The other hand comes up to twist and pluck at the nipple not already in his mouth, soothing and igniting the burn all at once.
With an angle adjustment, Apollo has the water pulsing directly inside the hood of my clit eliciting a guttural grunting from my throat as I’m in sensation overload. The orgasm crashes over me, robbing me of sight from the spots dancing in my vision while I gasp and twitch with clenching muscles.
Apollo removes the showerhead, allowing me to relax marginally with Marcus still leaning down, licking and sucking and cleaning me up gently. I was already wrung out from the punishment, and now I can barely sit up by myself.
They get us all out of the shower and me into some comfortable, loose clothing. Marcus had wrapped my hair in a towel, and now he's gently rubbing the excess water out of it. Apollo brings a brush over nudging Marcus out of the way to detangle my hair for me. I can’t help but feel slightly pampered at the treatment. If it wasn’t for the situation and my sore ass and nether regions, I might even be able to relax and enjoy it. Finishing, Apollo scoops me up and carries me into the bedroom, climbing under the blankets that have already been turned down and snuggling my back into his chest with my head on his arm.
I don't mind the comfort he's offering— even if it feels somewhat odd. I figure comfort is comfort, and I'll take what I can get. Marcus comes in to cover us up and let us know he’s going to check on the guys and let them know that we’re back. Apparently they were in the training room working out. Glad that they'd kept busy, yet butthurt that they hadn't been here when I returned, I try to sleep.
I’m lightly dozing when I hear Braeden arguing with Marcus that he’s going to check on me whether Marcus likes it or not. I blink my tired eyes open to find him crouched next to the bed in front of me.
“Hey, baby bird, how are you feeling? Do I need to fuck one of these guys up?” Marcus, of course, immediately gets his hackles up. Gray eyes flashing like lightning, he addresses Braeden.
“Try it, pretty boy.” That’s great, Brade hates being called pretty boy. Even if he is sinfully pretty, he could never be mistaken for anything other than masculine.
“I was talking to Lark, not you, Bondage Barbie. Lark, tell me you’re alright, please.” He must be really concerned since he’s calling me Lark. I stretch a hand out to cup his bristly cheek.
“I’m fine, Brade. These two made sure I was safe. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I’m just worn out right now. Can I take a nap without you killing anyone?” He covers my hand with his own and rubs his cheek against it, nodding his head and leaning in to kiss my forehead. As he’s retreating, Apollo shows that he’s been awake and listening.
“Where’s mine? I’m tired too,” he whines.
What a little petulant child trapped in this man's body. If he wasn’t so spot on when needed, I’d be sure he was nutty as Grandma's almond brittle. And Grandma had loved her brittle. And almonds. Probably how she ended up in a diabetic coma when I was a kid. Fuck, now I'm losing it. Like Grandma before she died.
Brade just chuckles and leans over me, aiming for Apollo’s forehead. Backing up with a ‘hey’, I have a feeling Apollo tipped his head and got one on the mouth instead. Braeden and Marcus step out and close the door behind them.
I think about Braeden not kissing on the mouth unless he’s dating someone, he says it’s too intimate. I guess that should have been a clue as well, as he never had a problem pecking me on the lips. We really need to get out of here and have a talk about this thing that's been exposed between us. This isn't the place to tell him I'd have reciprocated his feelings, had I known.
“You’re a lucky girl, Lark Jones." I snort at that. None of this is 'lucky'. "That man is head over heels and so is that neanderthal in the other room. I wouldn’t be surprised if his partner had some feelings as well, with the way I catch him looking at you.” He snuggles me tighter as I refrain from answering. Surprisingly, I fall asleep and rest well for being in a possibly crazy criminal's arms.
Waking up, I'm hot and sweating and sandwiched between two large bodies. From the light filtering from the bathroom, I see Rex’s relaxed features in front of me. My legs are entwined with his as they have been many times before. I feel a pang of sadness that we’re no longer a couple, but I’m also still upset about how he handled the situation. If he was able to break it off so easily, then he couldn’t have been as serious about our relationship as I was.
Turning my head to look isn't necessary to know that Braeden is the other body behind me. We've cuddled so frequently over the years that I recognize everything about him, sight or not. I try to figure out how to extricate myself without waking him up as my bladder is telling me to get to the toilet asap. I manage to slide out from between them and to the foot of the bed without disturbing them— noticing after I get up they’ve slid into the void I left and are almost snuggling each other. Emmett, Apollo, and Brent are in the bed as well, but Marcus is missing from the room.
I go to the bathroom and use the toilet, examining myself in the mirror while washing my hands. I find a pale face, with shadows under tawny eyes, and dark hair all a mess. I brush it out and replace the tie in it to keep it back and out of my face— not much else to do about the rest.
Stomach grumbling for food and wanting to see what time it is, I brush my teeth before heading out— stifling a giggle at Rex and Braeden as the former has tossed an arm and a leg over the latter. That's going to be a surprise to them both when they wake up.
Going out into the main area, I come upon Marcus on the couch watching an older movie that's one of my favorites. I catch Marcus' attention as I move into the kitchen area, and he pauses the show.
“Hungry, Lark?” I’m surprised, unsure he’s ever called me by my name before.