I don’t know if it’s smarter to fight my body’s natural reaction to a hand around my dick or to give in and get it over and done with sooner. Licking her lips, she moans as my dick hardens in her palm, and the devilish glint in her eyes tells me what she has planned is going to be way worse than her earlier violation.
Being drugged doesn’t sound so bad now.
ChapterFive
Ashley
Exhaustion wraps around me, and I struggle to keep my eyes open as I snuggle against Jase’s side. I want to know about Lilianna and all the things Hera and Ares were keeping from me. From Dad. But I know now isn’t the time. As I look around the living room, every face wears the same weary expression.
“I think we should head to bed and talk in the morning.” Jase plucks the words out of my head before I can articulate them.
“I agree,” Mom says, fighting her own battle to keep her eyelids open. “There is nothing to gain from having this conversation at two a.m. We all need to sleep on it.”
“I think you should stay here,” I say to Jase and Bree. “I don’t like the idea of any of us being separated right now.” I know what Rhett said, but I don’t trust a word out of his treacherous mouth. I don’t trust he won’t try to hurt more of my loved ones if he thought he could get away with it. It seems like he needs Jase and Bree, but I won’t take any chances. “In fact, I think you should both move in here.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the scowl forming on Ares’s face. Which is something else I need to deal with tomorrow.
Jase nods before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“That’s cool with me. I’ll move my stuff into one of the guest rooms tomorrow,” Bree adds. Her eyes move fleetingly in Ares’s direction, and knots twist in my gut. I do not have the energy or the desire to consider my best friend marrying my…whatever Ares is to me now.
It’s all so fucked up.
No one says anything else as we switch off the lights, set the alarm, and head upstairs. Bree gives me a quick hug as she escapes into one of the guest bedrooms on this level.
I tug on Jase’s arm as he starts to walk up the stairs to the next level. “Wait.”
He stalls on the step above me as Mom and Ares continue to the upper level where Ares’s, Chad’s, and my bedrooms are. “What’s wrong?” he asks, turning to face me.
“You need to sleep down here,” I say, leaning against the banisters as I try not to let the crestfallen look on his face get to me.
“I don’t expect anything, Ash, but I want to stay with you. To make sure you’re okay.”
“I’ll be fine. I have already taken pain meds, and I’ll just set my alarm to wake me every few hours.”
He folds his arms across his broad chest as his emerald eyes peer into mine. “I know I hurt you and I need to make it up to you. I know it’s not as easy as me saying I’m sorry or that I was trying to protect you. But please don’t shut me out. You are injured, and someone should stay with you.”
“I’ll stay with her.” Ares’s gruff voice echoes from above.
I look up, spotting him hanging back on the top step.
I expect Jase to argue. There is little love lost between those two. But he surprises me.
He fixes his gaze on Ares. “Make sure you wake her every four hours. And come get me if there are any issues during the night.”
Ares equally surprises me when he nods agreeably.
Jase pulls me into a tender hug. Pressing his warm lips to my ear, he whispers, “I love you, Temptress. Whatever you need, I will give you.”
Tears stab my eyes at his words. I know what this must be costing him. “I love you too,” I whisper, stretching up to kiss his cheek. “But that doesn’t magically solve all our issues.”
“I know.” The look of adoration on his face as he tucks stray strands of pink hair behind my ears is almost enough to change my mind. “We need to talk about a lot of things.”
I bob my head as I extract myself from his embrace and move around him. “Yeah, we do. Night, Jase. Sleep well.”
“Night, baby.”
I don’t look back as I make my way upstairs, wishing I could snap my fingers and be in my bed already. Ares doesn’t say anything as I brush past him, heading toward my master suite. Light trickles out from under Chad’s room as Mom gets settled for the night, and pain pierces me through the heart. I can’t bear to think about what Chad might be enduring now. If I go there, I will never be able to shut my mind off to sleep.
