Present
We stumbled toward the church, freezing and covered in dirt as Will crawled up a ravine, and I followed with Winter in tow.
Jesus, it was fucking freezing.
There was no telling if my father knew we had Michael and Winter back or if anyone was on our tail, but we had to get inside and get warm.
Our breath clouded in the air as the wet clothes molded to our skin, but I stayed charged.
We were almost there.
Will hung his head, looking ready to collapse, but it was like he was possessed, almost as if he was trying to get away from something as he crawled and scurried.
But instead of running for St. Killian’s, Will veered down what looked almost like a cave.
I peered closely through the dark, seeing an alcove in the earth under a tree. Like a tunnel.
What was that?
Following him, I stopped behind him and held Winter close as she shivered uncontrollably and watched him punch in a code.
The door opened, and we slipped inside.
Will kept going, ripping off his sweatshirt and T-shirt and dropping them along the hallway, and I pulled the door closed again, taking Winter’s hand.
I looked around, taking about two seconds to figure out these were the catacombs underneath the church. I knew there was another entrance, but it looked like Michael and Rika had installed a proper door with security.
Last time I was here, it was all rock and dirt, but I quickly noticed the polished hardwood floors, the rock walls that had been repaired and spruced up, and the sconces lining the hallway on both sides, their lanterns creating a subterranean glow.
I followed Will, all of us rushing into the massive stone shower, Will going for one showerhead and me for the other.
We turned on the rainfall spouts, getting them warm and steam billowing immediately, and then I darted over to Winter, peeling off her sweatshirt as she kicked off her shoes and socks.
I fisted my hands against the cold, ripping off my hoodie and shirt, as well.
“Fuck,” I growled low, putting her under the warm water.
Will hunched over, still shivering but even worse now as the water cascaded over him.
What was wrong with him?
I shot over to him, grabbing him under the arms. “Come on, sit down.”
He tried to rise, but his legs gave out, and he fell into me, both of us crashing down. And I just couldn’t. I gave up, my strength gone.
We sat here against the wall, Will’s back against my chest and his head lying on my collarbone as the water drenched us. My jeans stuck to my skin, but the heat seeped into my bones, and I started to feel better minute by minute.
Will shook, though, his knee bobbing up and down in short spurts.
I wrapped my arms around him, trying to help. “We’re okay,” I told him. “Just breathe.”
But he groaned like he was in pain, and I squeezed his arms, trying get the blood pumping or something. Anything. But he was ice cold and not calming down.
What the hell?
“Will, are you okay?” Winter asked.
“He’s shaking,” I told her. “Come here.”
She came down on the floor, following my voice and crawling, and I took her arm, pulling her on top of him, both of us sandwiching him.
“Get him fucking warmed up,” I told both of us.
“You’re okay,” she said, straddling him and hugging his chest.
“I almost drowned,” he choked out, his breath ragged. “Again.”
“Shhh,” I soothed him, holding him, because that was all I could do.
There was nothing that would erase what I did, only to hate myself more, because I’d done it at all.
I wasn’t sure if Winter knew what he was talking about, but she just held him, not saying anything.
“I feel like something is chasing me, man.” He wouldn’t stop shivering. “Like it’s only a matter of time.”
I cupped Winter’s face with one hand and him with the other, just holding them both.
“I can’t stop shaking,” he said. “Fuck, I’m cold.”
“It’s okay.” I held him tighter, not knowing what to do to bring him down.
He wasn’t okay. He was anything but okay. Rika was right.
He was fucking spiraling.
And I doubted anyone knew the full measure of the mess in his head.
Winter brought her head up. “Close your eyes,” she said, putting her hands on his chest. “Close them for a minute. We’ve got you.”
I peered down at him, seeing his eyes closed.
“We’ve got you,” she whispered again. “We’re yours. We’re all yours. We’re not leaving.”
She put her head back down on him, holding him with one of her hands resting on my thigh.
She inhaled long, deep breaths, soothing him with her soft voice. “Damon at your back,” she said, “and me at your front. Feel us breathing. Feel it.”
I did the same, tipping my head back and closing my eyes, just concentrating on our bodies.
“In.” She drew in a breath. “And out.”
Will’s body shuttered, but he was trying.
In.
And out.
“Slow, Will,” she breathed out. “Go slow.”
Her fingers squeezed my thigh, letting me know she was here, and I rubbed her arm as we all kept our eyes closed, trying to calm the fuck down.
“Do you feel him?” she asked Will. “Feel his body behind you. And feel me.”
The shaking in Will’s body started to subside as his chest rose slower and slower, all of us concentrating on every breath and falling into sync.
“In,” she told us. “And out.”
We all blew out, our bodies melted together and moving like one unit.
In…
And out….
“Slow,” she whispered. “Slow with me.”
His arms came around her, and all of us just sat there intertwined and warm, Rika and Michael probably pacing upstairs and wondering what happened to us.
Will’s and my phones were at the bottom of the river now.
I couldn’t go upstairs, though. I didn’t want to move.
“In and out,” she chanted again.
I ran my hand around her back, finding her T-shirt already pulled up a little and Will’s hand tucked up inside it, not rubbing but clutching at her warmth.
“Whatever is after you is failing,” I told him. “You’re not fucked. You’re the strongest of us all, because you’ve survived the most.”
I failed to destroy him. Miles Anderson failed. Two-and-a-half years in prison failed.
And that bitch who treated him like garbage in high school and still rented space in his head would fail, too.
I rubbed Winter’s back, and he began caressing her with his thumb.
Her voice and the water lulled us into relaxation, everything quiet and warm and feeling so good, I just wanted more of it. We kneaded her skin slowly, but my hand started rubbing her back harder and more demanding as I chased the hunger for contact.
I drifted down to her ass. I needed to feel what was mine. Feel everything that was mine right here.
“We’ve all been through some shit,” Will said.
“Too much shit,” I added.
And nothing felt so good as to hold nearly everything I cared most about in the world right here.
Will and I stroked her skin, more demanding as our breathing grew more labored again, and she pulled her head up—or tried to—but it just hung, dipping into Will’s chest as she arched into our touch.
“You guys,” she begged.
But she didn’t get any more words out.
Will peeled her shirt off over her head, leaving her in her bra, and I cupped her face, caressing it. She laid her head back down, us touching her—her arms, her neck, her back.
She trailed her fingers up Will’s arms, and I felt him let out a sigh and relax into me more as her hand left him and found my arm, her touch drifting down the length.
We became a web of arms and hands, our hands on her and hers on us, returning the affection as Will traded one frenzy for another, and the spray of the water drowned out the world outside.
She arched up, holding Will’s face, but kissing me, long and slow, teasing me with that tongue, and no sound filled the shower except for the breath between us.
Holding her face with one hand, I gripped her ass with the other and nudged her up into me, forgetting Will was there. Instead, she rubbed up on him, and he let out a breathy growl as their groins met and the friction got him turned on.
Winter froze, her lips layered with mine as she seemed shocked at first, but then a whimper escaped.
I watched her, feeling her body in my hands, and then I kissed her, going at each other as my heart pounded and my groin charged, hot and ready.
I had everything right here. Everything. I hadn’t let them go. They were here. I fisted her hair. Mine.
I moved her on him again, sucking and biting her lips as his mouth came down on her neck, and he wrapped his arms around her like she was all he had to hold onto, and all three of us were a mess of lips and hands, biting and grabbing.
Will took her bra-covered breast and sucked it into his mouth through the fabric, while she rolled her hips on him, deep and urgent, fucking him through his jeans.
He gripped her hips, sucking in air through his teeth as he helped her move.
“Don’t make her stop,” he gritted out. “Don’t stop.”
She planted a hand on the wall behind me, held my face with the other as we kissed, and dry-fucked him.
But then she whimpered and pulled away, climbing off him and rising to her feet all of a sudden.
What…
My blood chilled, and Will couldn’t catch his breath, both of us painfully hard and wanting her so badly.
Shit, what did I do? Was she scared?
I closed my eyes, dropping my head back.
“It’s okay,” I told her, looking back up. “I know I’m fucked up. Just go. You can go.”
Jesus Christ. What was I doing?
It just felt so good to have them both here, in my fucking arms, and I knew Will felt it, too. After so long and so much anger…
But she just shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”
Then why did you leave?
God, she was beautiful. With a wet body that could kill.
I wanted her so goddamn bad.
Why wasn’t she here?
But then we watched as she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, sliding them down her legs and stepping out of them.
She reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, moving her wet hair over the front of one shoulder as her tits, full and tight, stared at me. Will and I were so fucking frozen, just looking at her.
Smooth and glowing. Wet and rippling with steam.
My cock swelled, and I stared at her red silk panties with lace trim, knowing how good what was underneath them felt.
I could feel the small smile on my face as I leaned into Will’s ear. “You see that shit?” I growled, both of us zoned in on the triangle of Winter’s panties.
He breathed hard.
“You stay on the outside of it,” I ordered.
He chuckled, his playful tone like his old self again. “And if I don’t?”
“Then you just might die tonight, after all.”
He laughed, and I pushed him off, shooting to my feet.
Stalking over to her, I scooped her up and threw her over my shoulder, smacking her on the ass.
She gasped.
“Turn off the water,” I told Will. “Let’s go to bed.”
