Page 63 of Fighting Shadows

Dominic rips open the box with his hands since there’s nothing sharp to help him. He pulls out plastic plates with characters on them, followed by matching cutlery.

“Is that what I think it is?” Sebastian asks.

“Yup! Autumn hasThe Lion King, Zander hasCars, Sebastian hasTangled, Atlas hasMoana, Tobias hasCinderella, I haveFrozenbecauseLet It Gois a bop, and I, of course, had to get NoahBravebecause he’s ginger,” he says as he passes the plates to us one by one, ignoring our looks of indignation as he does so.

“Why do we get Princesses, and he gets cars?” Tobias grumbles.

“Look at him!” Dominic points at Zander, “Then look at yourselves. Let this be a lesson. He is themanin this relationship, and we are all his bitches.”

“Who are the other plates for?” Zander asks, pulling out amaleficentone from the cardboard box.

Dominic snatches the plate from Zander’s hand and stuffs it inside the box again. “That is for Sebastian's mother for the family dinner we still haven't told Autumn about,” he says, looking at our girl sheepishly.

“Seriously?” she eyes us all, but her eyes are wide with panic even as she tries to sound mad. Her arms crossed over her chest, pushing her breasts up in the little sundress she decided to wear, and I want nothing more than to push it up around her hips and devour her pussy.

“They are all concerned about you, Sunshine, so we’ve arranged a quick family dinner so we do not have visitors every day for the next two weeks,” Sebastian reasons to her, “Now, how about you go get into your comfy clothes, and we can put a movie on?”

“Okay.” She relents, dropping her plate to the table and leaving the room.

Every single one of us watches her leave, her ass swaying, entrancing us all.

She’s been giving us signals that she’s ready to be intimate again, and all of us wanted her to be sure, never wanting to push her and for her to be comfortable and safe with us, but she’s been adamant about it, especially after her therapy appointment.

She hasn’t shied away from physical touch even after knowing what happened, and I’m glad in a way that she doesn’t remember, not wanting her to have those memories along with the other ones she already has.

We all crowd around her as we watchHouse of Flying Daggers, touching her in any way we can. It’s been like this since she got home, and we need to physically feel her to reassure ourselves that she’s still here.

Zander’s head drops and the lack of sleep catches up with him. Tobias follows suit as the movie continues to play.

Autumn taps my arm, trying to get up, but I tighten my hold on her, not quite ready to let her go yet.

“I need to pee,” she whispers, careful not to disturb the others.

“Hurry back.”

She nods her head, hurrying out of the puppy pile as carefully as possible, and darts to the bathroom.

Zander, who was out cold a moment ago, jerks up the moment she’s no longer in the room, his eyes wide with panic.

“Where is she?” he rasps out between choppy breaths, “I-”

“She’s just gone to the bathroom,” I tell him, “she’s literally just down the hall and will be back any moment.”

“What’s going on?” Tobias murmurs, prying his eyes open groggily.

“Zander’s freaking out because Autumn’s not here,” Dominic mutters.

“What? Where is she?” Tobias panics almost immediately, pushing himself to stand and, without a doubt, going looking for her.

“Sit the fuck down,” Sebastian barks, “she’s using the bathroom, not running away down the street. Give the girl some space.”

Zander holds his breath, his eyes squeezed shut as if he’s in pain, and then blows out his breath slowly. Repeating the process, he misses Autumn joining us again, her eyes scanning over him worriedly.

“Zander?” she says softly, moving towards him.

His eyes snap open, focusing only on her as she stalks across the room to him and climbs into his lap, her arms banding around his neck.

He sinks into her hold, his head burying into her neck as he breathes in deeply. His arms band around her just as tightly, like she’s the lifeline he needs to find his way back.

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