STORY EXCERPT

“Here.” Aponte offered the blanket she had refused earlier. She hadn’t even wanted to put on the seatbelt, as if she could escape a plane in the air. She was really on edge, like a soldier with traumatic stress. She was not going to confide in them any time soon. It would take time to build trust and for her to actually feel safe. It bothered him. More than most victims he came across in work. Perhaps it was because of Goose and all of them being so close. They were family, and even he wondered why Goose never mentioned her or even tried to keep in contact. It wasn’t Aponte’s place to judge him or to wonder. Goose was having a difficult time dealing with his own guilt. So much so that he was going to leave his sister once again in order to follow some leads into a potential smuggling operation from Egypt to Iraq.

“Close your eyes and rest, Paulina. We’re all here to protect you now. You’re safe,” her brother told her.

She pulled the blanket up and around her and shook her head. “There’s no such thing as safe.” She stared at Aponte, trying to be tough and maybe show him that she wasn’t intimidated by him or his command.

* * * *

As if she couldn’t get any more intimidated and like her body wasn’t running on fumes, she entered the huge estate and ranch owned by Aponte and his four brothers. It had come as a shock to her because she assumed that her brother, Gordon—who they all called Goose—would remain by her side protecting her. Seemed he had other things going on and was already lying to her.

“You’ll be comfortable here. You’ll have your own room and space upstairs,” Goose said to her.

“So you lied to me?” she asked him as she looked around at the other men in the house. There were nine of them now, including two members of Goose’s team, Reno and Sparks, besides Aponte and Rebel’s team—Bane, Ares, and Grunt, who were all just as big as Aponte.

“I didn’t lie. It’s part of the plan to protect you. We have to go on a mission shortly. If we had found you sooner, then we could have had more time to slowly transition you to stay here with my friends, but that didn’t happen. You did good, Paulina. You’ve been surviving on your own, but now you have all of us. Let's get you settled in.” Goose said.

She stared at each of the men as she held her backpack against her front like a protective shield, as if that would work. She was shivering, and the pain in her ribs burned so badly her teeth were chattering. These men were not only incredibly attractive and seasoned but they also had an air of confidence and maturity that made her think they didn’t waste time on nonsense or emotions. She lifted her chin.

“I would appreciate honesty here, if at all possible,” she said, trying to be tough, but she felt weaker and weaker and her vision began to blur.

“We can bring you to your room with Goose and look over your injuries to ensure that you won’t need medical attention. Ares is our medic, and he can evaluate what’s needed,” Aponte said in that hard, commanding tone of his, and then Goose touched her back and Ares gave her a soft smile.

“Follow me,” he said, and they headed through the open floor plan of the kitchen and living room, passed the floor-to-ceiling fireplace in stone, and then up the flight of stairs, her legs quivering at this point. She had to stop a few times to catch her breath, the pain in her ribs terrible, and Goose placed his hand on her hip.

“You’ll be comfortable and can rest. Ares will make sure you don’t need to see a doctor.”

They got to the top of the stairs, and they brought her to a bedroom between two others. As she entered, she saw how huge the room was. A master suite with a sitting area, king-sized bed, and a huge bathroom, plus a set of large sliding doors that walked out to a balcony and sitting area. Goose placed her bags down, and she dropped the backpack and placed her hand on the bed to balance herself.

“Let’s take a look,” Ares said to her. He stood a foot taller than Goose, or it appeared that way to her. He had to be about six feet five, with dark blond hair, scruff along his cheeks, and a tan complexion. His large muscles, including his forearms, were defined, and when he reached out to help her sit on the bed, she pulled back.

“It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you in any way. Your brother wants to make sure that you don’t need any medical attention,” Ares said, stepping closer.

She shook her head. “I’ve gotten this far without any, so I think I’ll be just fine.”

“Paulina, please let Ares look, just to be sure that you’re okay and don’t need anything. That guy was pounding on your damn body, and he was as big as me.”

“I don’t need anything.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“I need you to promise me something, Paulina. I mean it, baby, promise me.” She gulped and nodded.

He cupped her cheeks and pulled her close. She covered his thick, muscular forearms with her hands, and the significant difference in their sizes both intimidated her and aroused her.

“Never, ever lie to me, to us ever again. No holding back, no being lost in your thoughts alone or in your plans of action. Trust us, as we trusted you fully today. Now I know I was upset and that I made you feel like I don’t care and things we feel aren’t real. They are real. The attraction, the protectiveness we all feel over you is as fucking real as it can get. I don’t want to leave you, but your brother and the team need our help. The less people that know about this operation and about those responsible, the better. Understand me?”

“Yes, Aponte. I promise, and I believe you. I won’t lie, and I won’t hold back from here on out,” she said to him.

He nodded and then slowly pressed his lips to hers and kissed her. She kissed him back and poured her emotions into that kiss, and then he ran his palm along her ass and shoved her pants down. She gripped his forearms tight, shocked at his move but feeling just as desperate as he was acting. He found her pussy and delved fingers right up into her. She came, shocked at how fast he moved but also how much it turned her on and how willing she was.

“My God, look at her ass,” Ares said, and he joined in. He gripped her hips and then smoothed his hands up her sides, pushing her tank top up, and then unclipped her bra. Aponte pulled from her mouth.

“We should take you upstairs. Spread you on the bed like a princess the way you should be made love to.” She shook her head and pulled off her top. She was instantly naked.

“No, like this, right now, no talking, not analyzing, just raw and real. It’s what we feel,” she said to him, and he continued to thrust fingers up into her cunt as he lowered his mouth to breast and feasted. Behind her, Ares licked along her spine, right to her asshole. He licked it, and she moaned and rocked her hips. Ares spread her thighs and slid a finger right into her asshole.

“Ares!” she cried out and came.

“Do we need condoms?” Ares asked.

“No, oh God, I have an IUD,” she said to them.

“I can’t hold back. I want you. We all do, and it isn’t just sex or lust. We learned to care about you before we even found you. I want you to know that. We aren’t him. We aren’t using you or this body or trying to play games. You shocked us,” Aponte said to her.

“Oh God, I know you aren’t him. I want each of you too. It’s crazy, but I didn’t think I could ever feel safe or cared for by anyone, never mind a man, and certainly not five.”

“Well, we do care, and we want you, forever, Paulina. Understand me and what I’m saying?” Aponte asked.

“Yes. I want all of you too,” she said to him.

“Take her, commander. Get this started. She’s going to belong to all of us,” Grunt said, and Rebel and Bane were there, too, with their shirts off and their jeans undone.

Aponte pulled his fingers from her pussy as Ares continued to stroke her asshole. She grabbed onto Aponte’s hips as he stepped from his pants and pulled off his shirt. The second his cock, thick, hard, and long, came into sight, she licked it.

“Oh fuck, baby,” he said and gently grabbed her hair and closed his eyes. She looked up and took him deeply into her mouth.

“Together, right off the bat. Let’s do this.”

“Slow and easy so she feels no pain,” Aponte said, and then Ares pulled his fingers from her asshole and pushed his cock into her cunt from behind. They both moaned.

“Oh, Paulina. Holy God, woman, you feel so good. You’re home, baby. You feel like home,” Ares said.

“Here, use this,” Bane said to him.

“You do it. She’s going to belong to all of us. We’re all taking care of her, claiming her as our woman,” Ares said.

“Fuck yeah,” Bane stated, and then she felt something cool and thick hit her asshole. Thick fingers slid right in, and then she felt Bane’s hand on her hip, his mouth on her shoulder.

“Your ass is incredible. We’re going to fill you up with cock and mark you as our woman forever. Do you want that, baby?” he asked her. She moaned with her mouth over Aponte’s dick.

“I would say that was a yes. Let’s do this,” Aponte said.

She eased her mouth from his cock as Bane removed his fingers from her asshole and Ares pulled his cock from her cunt. Aponte lifted her up and took a seat on the large chair.

“Ride me,” he told her, and she held his gaze and sank down onto his thick, hard cock. It was wild, and she felt so needy and aroused, especially as she tried holding on to Aponte’s thick, wide shoulders as he suckled her breast and tugged on her nipple. Then she felt fingers slide into her asshole.

“Oh God, Ares. Ares.” She moaned.

“I got something for you too,” Bane said, and he was so tall and his dick thick and long as he coaxed her mouth to his cock, and she took him inside of her.