Page 86 of Fighting Shadows

“I-”

“Whatever you want, Autumn, remember? I’ll do anything to chase the shadows in your eyes away.”

“He chained me to the bed-” Zander stiffens in front of me, his shoulders turning to rock, but I push on, needing this, and he’s the only one I trust to push my limits, “I don’t remember, I still don’t, but I have the marks on my wrists as proof. I need you to tie me up and replace the thoughts that are trying to push at the edge of my mind.Please,Zander.”

He takes a deep breath, then another, until the tension in his body disappears. “If I do this, I need you to trust me—more than you ever have.”

“I trust you, Sir.”

“No. None of that tonight. Tonight, I’m your boyfriend, the one who’s going to replace every thought in your head of what he’s done to you with my touch,” he says, leaning forward and trailing wet kisses up my thigh, “I want you only to be able to think of us, whatever you need, Autumn, I will do. Still, I need you to tell me if it becomes too much. I refuse to cause you any pain.”

“Not even a little bit?” I tease,

“Maybe if you ask nicely,” he smirks, his lip kicking up in a sexy half-smile, “I’ll be back in a moment.” He gets up from where he was kneeling and leaves the room, leaving me wanting.

Chapter 43

Zander

‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You – Tommee Profit & brooke’

Ileave her room wanting nothing more than to turn back around and give her pleasure until she passes out, but I don’t.

She needs me to do this for her, to wipe any trace of him from her thoughts when she looks at the new scars that now mar her wrists from what he did to her.

Anger like I’ve never felt before burns through me when I think about how she was found, and I want nothing more than to rip Charlie apart piece by piece. We all have our own plans for him, wanting to prolong his suffering for as long as possible. Dominic is laying claim to the final part, claiming he has the perfect idea for him.

We just need to capture him. Hopefully, the plan we’ve all put together, thanks to Noah's help, works, and we can put an end to this all by the end of the month.

The others are still outside, all the parents have left, and Brenn and Aidan have sneaked off to Aidan's place. Brenn still struggles to be around his dad after everything that’s happened, and I can’t blame him, but Autumn wants him around, and we won’t ever deny her what she wants. Not even Aidan can after proclaiming her as his little sis, threatening bodily harm to all of us if we hurt her.

Usually, I would want to rip someone's heart out for suggesting the idea of it, but after she was ripped from us and the feeling that we all somehow failed her by allowing her to be taken, I welcomed the promise of pain if it ever happened again.

Noah smiles at me as I come back, nodding his head at me in greeting, and offers me a beer.

“No thanks, man, I need to get back to our girl,” I say, holding back my laughter when his eyes widen comically. He thinks we haven’t noticed how his eyes track her every moment, the longing in them as he watches her cuddle into our sides. He's become part of our group, fitting in easily like he’s been a part of us forever. It also helps his case that Dominic has claimed him as his best friend.

“Sebastian?” I call out, gaining his attention away from a very heated debate aboutLord of the Ringswith Tobias, “Where’s your rope?”

Sebastian narrows his eyes at me, “Is she ready for that, y’know, after everything?”

Pursing my lips, I debate, telling him to shove it before I sigh, “She’s asked me too. She needs this, and I’m not going to tell her no.”

“There’s a canvas bag under my bed; the black rope should be gentle enough on her skin,” he tells me, turning back to Tobias to continue his rant.

Walking past the others, Noah stares at me, his eyes filled with envy, and I can’t help myself when I wink at him.

We’ve talked about him and her, agreeing that if she wants him, we’re okay with it as long as he never hurts her, but I can’t say that I don’t feel some jealousy at the idea of him starting a relationship with her without the others pursuing her at the same time.

He gets to take his time and get to know one another without the pressure of feeling like we’re in competition with the others. I love the men I call my brothers, and I love sharing my girl with them, but there’s a reason I held myself back from her for so long to begin with.

She had Atlas, who had loved her his entire life. Dominic, who practically licked her to lay claim to being hers. Tobias, who had bonded to her with their shared trauma, and Sebastian, who held himself back like I did. We felt like we shared nothing with her but the stories we were told. She was thin and frail, and while I wanted to protect her from the moment I saw her, I didn’t fall for her until she was healthy and rolling her eyes at me when I forced extra food onto her plate when I thought she wasn’t looking. The sassy side of her, the one who joked around, that’s who I fell for, and while it wasn’t long after she came home, I still envied that Noah had gotten this time with her to become her friend first.

Grabbing the rope from under Sebastian's bed, I make my way back to her room, expecting her to be asleep from how tired she was.

Instead, when I swing open her door, kicking it shut behind me, I stop in my tracks at the sight of her laid out before me.

She’s ethereal when she’s like this, the rosy pink blush that covers her entire body when she’s turned on for one us, and how she practically shivers from how my eyes track over her naked body.

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