Love Heals Read online

  “Hey, I never hit on her. I could tell she came to the dojo with a purpose, and I was being friendly to get her comfortable so she would have a friend.”

  “Sure you were. I don’t know how I feel about the fact that you found my brothers’ woman attractive and that you flirted.”

  “I didn’t flirt, and Athena is very attractive.” She raised her eyebrows up at him. “You are stunning, and the only woman that when I look at you, I want, and want some more,” he said and brought her closer and kissed her neck as he hugged her.

  “You, are everything my brothers and I could ever want in a woman and then some.” He pulled back, still held her by her hips. “I don’t think you truly realize how you affect us. How deeply we feel for you, Charlie. That when you left to go overseas how much we missed you, worried about you and prayed that you didn’t wind up in some other men’s arms, or their bed.”

  She swallowed hard. His hold tightened, and he pulled her snugger against him. Charlie pressed her palms to his chest and stared up into his light blue eyes and that serious expression. “Was there someone else?” he asked. She didn’t answer. Instead, she avoided this deep conversation, a bar not exactly the place to be discussing anything.

  “Fuck,” he whispered and looked away, appearing hurt. She reacted. Cupped his cheeks and he turned back to look down at her, and his expression was different, like he was disappointed and hurt that she could have been with another man.

  “Nothing happened.” He narrowed his eyes at her. She couldn’t lie, even though she wondered if he and his brothers slept with other women. She needed to come clean but also remain in control. As she started to speak the guys around them got rowdy, and he stood up straighter.

  “Let's go. I’ll walk you out.” He was so upset but held her hand as they said good night, and he told the guys he would be right back. That he was just walking her to her car. She felt disappointed, sick to her stomach having to leave him. She didn’t want to, and that shocked her. She offended him, and she hadn’t even slept with Donovan like she could have. If she did, she would be feeling so guilty right now, and that bothered her. She really did care for Corey and his brothers, but she was resistant yet almost ready to see what could happen.

  As they got outside and to her car, he was quiet as he stood in front of her and she leaned against her car. “Corey.”

  “Forget it. I know you’re young, you’re gorgeous, sexy, professional, and you were staying on a military base. To hope no guys seduced you into bed, or to think you wouldn’t let loose and just—"

  “Corey.” She pressed her palm against his chest. He stopped talking and stared down at her. She tilted her head all the way back to look up at him, then felt his palm on her hip and waited as he used his other hand to stroke her cheek with his knuckles. “Not that it’s any of your business or your brothers, considering that we weren’t, aren’t dating or a thing, I didn’t sleep with any men.” He looked down into her eyes with such a powerful expression her heart raced. It was like he had the ability to read through her words, into her mind, maybe even knew techniques to find out whether she lied or not. “I won’t lie to you or to your brothers. I was tempted. I came very close to letting go. To giving into my own determined thoughts of staying in control and thinking I could do what I want when I want and that nothing would hurt, would affect me or matter.” She looked away, and he pressed closer, cupped her cheek and jaw and directed her to look back up at him.

  “You were going to have sex with some soldier you just met?”

  “I couldn’t. God, I have a lot of fears, as I’m sure you, Titus, Aleck, and Mavis have figured out by now.”

  “Fears that as soldiers we could get killed, or maybe even hurt you? I told you before that we’re good. That Aleck and Mavis are fine and would never hurt you.”

  “They have PTSD.”

  “What fucking soldier do you know that doesn’t have a touch of it? That wasn’t or isn’t affected by the job they have to do, the dangers they have to face constantly when on a mission?”

  He was right, and she was making excuses, avoiding vulnerability but at what cost? At never feeling loved, protected or held like this? She was so attracted to Corey and to his brothers that they were all she ever thought about.

  “Do you want to know why I didn’t sleep with Donovan?”

  “Donovan? That’s the fucking guy’s name?” he hissed, and she could see the veins by his temples pulsating.

  “Corey, please, I’m stepping out on a limb here.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “I thought of you and your brothers.” His eyes widened and then narrowed again, and he pulled her closer.

  “And?”

  “And I realized that despite the fact that we aren’t dating, that I was keeping a wall up around my heart, hell, my life when it came to you guys, that I felt guilty, like I would be cheating, or hurting you even though that’s stupid because—”

  He kissed her and stopped her from talking. He pulled her from the car and ran his palm along her ass. He squeezed it and then lifted her thigh against his hip while deepening the kiss. She kissed him back. When he finally released her lips so they could breathe, he lowered down, hugging her to him, then picked her up her off the ground and pressed her against the car again.

  “Come home with me tonight. Right now, come home and talk to my brothers. Share with us the reasons you hold back, your fears, and we’ll work it out. I can’t stand not having you in my bed, as my woman, as our woman. It’s killing us, Charlie. We know we’re older, more seasoned and experienced but that experience we have will not only bring you pleasure but also commitment and protection. We know how to handle our problems, our insecurities, and attitudes. No woman has made us feel this way. We can’t take it, Charlie. Please come home with me and start letting down those walls even further.” He pressed his mouth to her neck and suckled against her skin.

  “That’s not exactly going slow,” she said, and she eased back. He lowered her feet to the ground then caressed her ass with his palm. Her pussy clenched and her breasts ached.

  “Slow? It’s been over a fucking year, Charlie. A year of watching you from a distance, seeing other men hit on you, flirt, even touch our woman. I’d say we were patient enough.” He pressed his lips to hers, again sliding his palm from her ass to her hip and then her breast, cupping it. She gasped, parted her lips and remained holding his gaze. “I’ll follow you to our place.” He stroked her nipple with his thumb, and it was like there was an imaginary string from her nipple to her cunt.

  “Okay,” she said, and he nodded, then stepped back. “I’ll follow you,” Corey told her.

  “Right now?” Mavis asked Titus as Titus held his cell phone in his hand.

  “She was at the Horsemen with friends, I guess. Corey is bringing her back here.”

  “What the fuck was she doing at the Horsemen, and who was she with?” Aleck asked.

  “I don’t know. Who cares? She’s coming here with Corey. We’re breaking down those walls a little bit at a time,” Titus replied, and he could tell his brothers were unsure and on alert.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were walking through the door. Charlie looked beautiful, hell, sexy in her tight black skirt, heeled ankle boots, and off-the-shoulder top. She also looked intimidated. “This is a nice surprise,” Titus said and greeted her with a kiss to her cheek. He held her arms. “You look real good in this outfit, baby.”

  “Thank you.” Her eyes went to Aleck and Mavis. Both men approached but didn’t move to kiss her.

  “The Horsemen? Who were you with?” Mavis barked. She stared up at him.

  “Maya, Candice, Leeann, and some others, but I spent most of the time with Corey, talking,” she said and looked up at him. Corey slid his arm around her waist and then cupped her cheek.

  “More than talking, letting go a bit, right?” he asked and seeing his brother with Charlie aroused Titus big time. When Corey pressed his mouth to hers, ran his palm along her ass
and squeezed, Titus’s dick hardened in his pants. Corey released her lips. “We’re letting go tonight. Talking things out.”

  “Talking, yes,” she said and stepped from his hold and looked around the place. “This is nice. I didn’t realize your house was so big, and you’re doing construction on it?” she asked, putting space between them.

  “Want to see?” Aleck asked her.

  “That’s okay.”

  “No, come on. Really, it’s a work in progress. Maybe you can give some insight on the tiles we’re deciding on. Mavis and I are disagreeing,” he said and reached for her hand. Titus looked at Corey and Mavis, Mavis looked on guard as usual, but they followed Aleck and Charlie upstairs.

  “This is beautiful woodwork. You guys did all of this?” she asked, and Titus watched her slide her palm along the custom wood planks on the wall leading to the large bedroom and bathroom. The bed was covered in plastic to not get covered in dust. He stared at her body. The way her tight skirt stretched over her firm, round ass. She was petite compared to them, yet had curves in all the right places, and he knew firsthand that her breasts were large and full, her abs tight, and when she was close, Titus was overwhelmed with protectiveness and possessiveness big time. His brothers shared those emotions and more than likely something occurred to get Corey to convince her to come here tonight. Titus could only hope she would stay, or at minimum begin to accept them as her men.

  “You can walk in. The floors are covered right now until we figure out the tiles and paint,” Aleck told her. She looked at the large walk-in shower.

  “Oh God this is stunning, and sort of European with these deep, earth tones. Reminds me of Tuscany,” she said and ran her hand along the dark brown and beige custom stone tiles.

  “We’re not too sure what we want on the floor yet,” Corey told her, his eyes glued to her body too and as she bent to look at the cabinet handles, the deep cleavage of her breasts was more exposed, and Aleck made a move.

  Aleck was breathing through his nostrils, inhaling the scent of her shampoo, admiring her sexy body and feeling so needy and desperate to claim her. He slid his arm around her waist, and she gasped, gripping onto his forearms as she stared up into his eyes. Her sexy green eyes always drew him in.

  “You like it?” he asked her, and she nodded, stared at his lips and by the way he held her, her top lowered. He looked down. “You wore this outfit to the Horsemen?” he asked. She gulped.

  “Aleck.”

  He shook his head. “Never again, Charlie. Never without one of us to watch over you.”

  “Nothing happened. I was fine.”

  “Technically I stopped those four big dicks from making their moves, and they did touch you,” Corey said, and Aleck saw red.

  “Men touched you?”

  “I was fine, and you guys do know I can defend myself. I can handle being on my own. Hell, I was just overseas and wasn’t I fine?”

  “About that, she almost cheated on us,” Corey said, and her jaw dropped. Aleck felt his heart ache with pain, and he went to ease back, but she gripped him.

  “Corey, I didn’t cheat on you guys, and not for nothing, as we discussed earlier, I don’t belong to you. We aren’t dating or anything, and weren’t when I was overseas.”

  “Who was he?” Titus asked, with his hands on his hips and breathing heavily.

  “That’s fucked up. She's too young. She doesn’t get it or want the commitment,” Mavis said.

  “What?” she asked, looking at him.

  “Who the fuck was he?” Aleck asked, giving her hips a squeeze.

  “Corey, really? We talked about this.”

  “They need to know how you feel. What you said to me at the bar outside. This is the process of letting down those walls and admitting the truth,” Corey said to her, and he stroked her hair, then looked at Aleck. Aleck squinted.

  “A soldier. Donovan was a commanding officer, and we spent time together.” Aleck was breathing heavier. She shocked him as she pressed her palm to his chest. Tears filled her eyes. “I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t let go, feel in control of my emotions, my heart, my body and just let go and have a meaningless fling,” she said.

  “Why?” Aleck whispered. She gulped, and a tear fell.

  “I thought of the four of you. Knew that you’re the only ones who make me feel safe, cared for, and that I was willing to let go and take a chance with when I was ready to have sex again.” He pulled her closer, cupped her hair and head and kissed her. Aleck’s heart soared, and his dick hardened. He wasn’t letting Charlie out of their lives, out of this house tonight. She did want them like they wanted her.

  He pressed her against the wall, and she started kissing him back. He ran his other hand up her skirt, pushed it to her waist and then slid his fingers up into her cunt. She moaned into his mouth. When he released her lips, she cried out.

  “Aleck, oh God your fingers are so big,” she said, shocking him.

  “My cock is, too, and we’re going to fill you up, baby, make you all ours,” he said to her as he lowered down, pushed off her panties, then raised her thigh over his shoulder and latched his mouth onto her cunt.

  Corey joined in. “You’ll stay tonight. Become our woman,” he said.

  “Oh Lord, we should slow down. We should…oh!” she cried out and lifted her hips.

  Aleck released her pussy and stood up. “Titus.”

  “I got it,” he said, and Aleck picked her up into his arms and brought her out of the bathroom. He heard the plastic being removed from the bed and he lowered her feet to the rug.

  “You want us? You’re ready?” he asked, holding her by her hips. She ran her fingers through her hair and then looked toward Mavis and Titus. Aleck saw Mavis standing there, and then he stepped closer. Aleck moved out of the way as Mavis pulled her close.

  “You want this? You’re ready to accept us as your men? No fucking games?”

  “Mavis…I’m…I’m scared. You all scare me.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “How do we scare you?” he asked, as he eased her arms behind her back. He held her wrists with one of his hands then stroked her jaw with the other. Aleck could see how huge his brother’s hand looked against her small, feminine cheek. Was she afraid of their sizes as well as their ages and capabilities?

  “I know there are things for us to work out. I know that you’re young, that your experiences have kept you holding back, resisting, and maybe questioning our integrity. I’m fine with that. We’ll work it out, Charlie. Can you let go and just feel? If you can tonight, then I can, too, and my brothers can, as well, and we’ll see where all this desire, this possessiveness, and care lead us. Will you take the chance?”

  He saw the tear fall from her eye. “Lead me, Mavis. I need you four to lead me and help me to let go.”

  He licked his lower lip then pressed his mouth to hers. That kiss grew deeper, and with his brothers around him, they would make her see how special she was and how much they already adored her. His desire turned to a possessive need, an awakening to the fact that she was within his grasp and ready and willing to let go. He squeezed her wrists, then lowered her off-the-shoulder top so that her breasts were exposed. As he eased his mouth from hers, Corey stepped behind her and began to kiss her shoulder and unclip her bra.

  “Mavis,” she moaned as he licked the tip of her full, luscious breast then tugged on a nipple.

  ‘Oh God,” she moaned again.

  “Sweet Jesus, woman. You are incredible,” Aleck said to her.

  “Are you on the pill, Charlie?” Titus thought to ask as Mavis released her wrists, her bra fell to the rug, and he suckled against her breast while Aleck and Corey pushed her shirt down from her waist because it was a stretchy material and he wasn’t letting her breast go. Then they pushed down her skirt and panties. They were undoing her shoes, lifting one foot at a time as he moved his mouth from one breast to the other. Titus stepped closer, cupped her cheeks. “Do we need condoms?”