I wake up in Dorian's arms and snuggle into his chest. His breathing is even and his heart is slow. I think he's asleep. I can feel Nate's fingers in my hair and I try to let the movement of the car lull me back to sleep, but then I remember my little panic attack in the woods and my eyes fly open.
Nate's lips curl into a smile when he sees that I'm awake and he leans down to kiss me.
"How are you feeling, gorgeous?" He murmurs in my ear.
"Embarrassed."
His eyes narrow in confusion and I chuckle. "Thank you, Nate."
"For what?"
"Just... everything." I can't get into how much he means to me and how much they all mean to me right now, I'll start bawling my eyes out. They way he talked me down back in the woods, and stopped me from freaking out completely just by breathing with me. He's so good at calming me down. They all are, but Nate and Deacon really seem to have a knack for it.
I hate that I can't seem to get past everything. It all comes back at the worst times and I feel paralyzed by it. My guys make it better. The way they love me makes everything better and I know that it's real, but sometimes my mind just tries to convince me that it's not.
Nate strokes my face, but doesn't say anything and I lean into his touch.
Seeing Tony with Nat was... fucking terrifying. He's a real asshole. All he cares about is getting his dick wet, and I know he'll fuck her. He probably already has. Especially if he's been with her for the last two days. I can't even begin to imagine what that would do to Nat. She's such a badass and so strong, I hope it doesn't break her.
"Where's Justin?" I ask, realizing the passenger's seat is empty.
"We dropped him off at his compound so he can get started on looking into those permits," Jensen informs me.
"Permits?"
"Apparently someone requested building permits for a property on the upper north side. It was for some kind of underground bunker."
I nod, that could definitely be something.
"You should wake him up," Nate says, motioning to Dorian. "We're almost home."
I look up at Dorian; his head is half resting on the back of the seat, half on Nate's shoulder, and I smile at the sight of him. He always looks so peaceful when he's asleep. He usually has this permanent crease between his eyes but his face is so relaxed right now, I hate waking him up and disturbing his peace.
I turn around in his lap so I can straddle his legs, and I trail my lips up the side of his neck until I reach his jaw. I suck on his skin lightly and he starts to stir. His grip on me tightens and he groans in my ear, "Mmm, I love waking up to you, Elena."
My heart skips a beat at his words and my lips find his. I'm very aware of Nate next to me, his hand resting on my thigh while Dorians explore my body. I feel myself heating up. It doesn't take much for me to want them. Just the way they look at me turns me on.
Our kiss gets a little more intense and Jensen clears his throat loudly, "We're home."
I glance up to see that we're pulling into the compound and my stomach flutters wildly at the thought of seeing the twins and Deacon. I look back down at Dorian and caress his face. He just looks so exhausted. "Baby, you need to get at least a couple hours of sleep in an actual bed."
He shakes his head, "I have to go check in with Noah."
"Nate and I can do that," I say, and Nate grunts but doesn't disagree.
Dorian looks like he's going to argue so I kiss him before he can. The man tries to take care of everything except himself, but I'm going to make sure he sleeps. Him and Lucas. Neither of them slept at all last night.
We pull into the garage and the car door is opened before we even come to a complete stop. I'm yanked away from Dorian and into Deacon's arms. He tilts my face up to look at him while the twins kiss my cheeks eagerly.
I remember what Nate said, and I stare into Deacon's eyes; they really are lit up with happiness just to see me.
"Hi Deacon," I say sweetly.
"Hi babygirl," he murmurs, his lips colliding with mine in such a fiery kiss, I feel my body heating up again.
All three of them hold me so tightly and I glance up to see Nate and Dorian smiling at us. It's crazy that none of them are jealous. Deacon has my lips and the twins are content to just hold me until he's ready to let me go.
As soon as he pulls back I'm locked in another fiery kiss with Logan. "Oh, babydoll," he groans against my lips. "Fuck, I missed you."
I run my fingers through his dark blonde hair, "I missed you too, Logan." I search his eyes and watch his pupils dilate as he looks down at me. All I can feel is how much he fucking loves me. "I hate being away from you, baby," I tell him, caressing his beautiful face.
Lucas comes up behind me, his arms sliding around my waist and his lips make their way up the side of my neck, sending goosebumps flaring across my skin.
Some of our men are here but they're all used to how attached the guys are to me, some of them smirk at us, some of them advert their eyes, and they all make their way out of the garage.
Dorian and Nate come over and as soon as they join us, I feel perfectly whole. My freak out in the woods seems stupid now with them surrounding me. Of course it's all real. My mind used to conjure up someone else with Deacon in my fantasies because I felt so inadequate. It would never let me dream up something as amazing as all of them loving me.
I glance up at Nate who smiles at me, "Do you feel better now, gorgeous?"
"Yes," I say, leaning into his fingers trailing down the side of my face.
Lucas's grip on me tightens, "The doll wasn't feeling good?"
"I was just having a moment," I say, a little awkwardly.
"It was the video of Frank's men with Nat and Cole," Dorian says and I feel Lucas nod behind me.
"They'll never touch you again, little doll," he says in my ear. "I'll cut off all their hands before they even get the chance."
"We love you, babygirl." Deacon brushes some hair out of my face and my heart pounds in my chest as they all hold me.
I relax into them and just let myself enjoy it for a moment. But then I clear my throat and turn around to face Lucas, "You and Dorian are going to go upstairs and sleep for a little bit."
"Little doll, there's no fucking way I'm walking away from you right now."
"You need to sleep, Lucas." I press my lips to his and he shoves his tongue into my mouth. His nails dig into my arms and he keeps me in his hold as he dominates my mouth. I kiss him back fiercely, loving how forceful he always is, and moaning into him. Fuck, I want to go up with them and let them both have their way with me. Lucas and Dorian are an interesting pair and sex with just the two of them is always pretty intense.
But I want to start taking charge. I've spent the last three months doing nothing. It's supposed to be my city, I can't just let Mathias and his men have Nat and Cole. I need to get them back.
I pull away slightly and Lucas pouts at me. "Please baby, go get some sleep?" I say to him, fisting his hair the way I know he likes and leaning forward to bite down on his cheek. "And when you wake up you can come find me and do anything you want to me."
A shudder goes through his body and Dorian grabs a hold of my jaw, forcing me to look at him, "If they find anything, you wake us up. If anything happens, you come get us."
"I promise, Dorian." He nods and claims my lips briefly before dragging Lucas out of the garage, who winks at me on the way out.
They all listen to me. I never boss them around but they would do whatever I tell them to. Even if they don't agree with it or like it. They might try to argue at first, but they always give in to me.
I turn to face Nate, Deacon, and Logan, "Let's go."
They all follow me and we head to the comms room on the fourth floor. Jensen and the rest of the team leads are already here, him and Noah are bent over a computer watching traffic cam footage. There's a few other guys doing the same, and everyone looks up when we enter the room.
I'm about to ask for an update when I notice Trevor sitting between Noah and Jensen, staring at the screen with wide eyes. I walk over to them and he glances up at me and then does a double take.
"Holy shit," he mutters. He stands up, his cheeks turning red as he stares at me, and he holds out his hand, "Hi Elena, it's nice to meet you."
I feel myself smile at him, he looks so nervous, "Hi Trevor," I say, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you."
His blush deepens and he chuckles awkwardly, "You're just as pretty as my mom."
"That's a really weird thing to say, Trevor," Logan grunts, his hand resting on my lower back.
Trevor opens his mouth to say something but then he notices Nate standing behind us. "Nate!"
He throws his arms around Nate who looks surprised but gives him a little pat on the back. "Hey Trev."
None of us have really interacted with Trevor, except Nate who has video called with him a few times and they text a bit. Nate seems to like him, way more than he likes Cole anyway.
"They told me about the video," Trevor says, his eyes narrowing in anger. "It's all bullshit. No one is going to be able to keep Nat and Cole apart."
"They fought hard to stay together," I tell him and he nods proudly.
"They'll keep fighting. We just need to find them before they have to fight to the death." He sighs heavily, "They'd kill themselves out of pure spite just so no one else can."
My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket to see Justin's name flashing across the screen. I answer it and put it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Elena, it was an Edward Gordon who requested the permits. They were approved over a week ago and construction started right away. It's supposed to be so-"
"Wait." Nate's deep voice interrupts Justin. "Did you say Gordon?"
"Yes," Justin says.
Nate stares at me, "Gordon was Nat's last name when she was in hiding."
"Jesus," Deacon scoffs. "It's like he's rubbing it in our faces."
"That's gotta be where they are, Justin."
"Yeah, I'm already on my way with a group of my men."
"Don't go in there, wait for backup," I tell him.
"We're just checking it out, don't worry."
"Send me the address."
"I already texted it to you," he says. "We're pulling up now, but we're keeping our distance."
"We should get Dorian and Lucas," I say to the guys and Deacon nods, leaving immediately. Jesus, it's barely been fifteen minutes, they're probably not even asleep yet.
Trevor starts pacing frantically, muttering something under his breath, and I feel bad for him. He just got a family and now they're fighting for their lives.
"Oh shit," I hear Justin say quietly. "Did you hear that?"
"No, what's going on?"
"I don't know. I think someone's yelling something. Hang on." He must lower the phone because all we can hear is the rustle of him walking through bushes.
We all wait, staring at my phone in silence until we hear his low voice giving his men orders to stay hidden.
"I think something's going down in there, we're gonna have to go in."
I feel my heart speed up in my chest, "No, Justin. You'll probably be outnumbered, wait for us."
He just lets out a grunt, "Get here." He ends the call but not before I hear what definitely sounds like distant gunfire in the background.
Fuck. Everyone in the room looks at me and I suddenly understand all of Dorian's stress. Jesus Christ, I feel put on the spot right now.
"Ok," I clear my throat and glance at Logan who gives me a reassuring nod, and Nate's intimidating presence behind me gives me a boost of confidence. "Jensen, Marshal, and Kane, you will take your teams and come with us. Nikolas and Oliver, you will set up a perimeter around the property and pick off anyone that tries to run." I look around at them all, "Load up the vehicles. We leave in five minutes."
The entire room springs into action. No one questions me, they all follow my direction without hesitation.
Logan tugs me into his arms, "I love watching you take control babydoll. It's so fucking hot."
I smirk at him, trailing my fingers down the side of his neck and enjoying the way his body shivers under my touch.
"Stay here Trevor," I say as Nate takes my hand and Logan takes the other.
"Yeah yeah," he grumbles, sitting back down and hanging his head.
Nate looks down at him and passes him a blunt. "Chill the fuck out. We'll be back with them soon."
That's... probably not the best way to comfort him, but it seems to work because he perks up and smiles at Nate as he takes the blunt.
"Thanks, Nate."
"Mhm," Nate grunts, grabbing my hand again and leading me out of the room. I drag Logan behind me and we meet up with Lucas, Dorian, and Deacon in the garage. They all take turns pressing their lips to mine while Logan explains what just happened with Justin.
They don't get much time to process everything because I rush them into one of the SUVs. Lucas gets behind the wheel and I put the location Justin gave me into the GPS.
We speed out of the garage and about a dozen vehicles follow us through the city. The sun is starting to set. It's been a long fucking day. I'm exhausted, but adrenaline is coursing through my veins, and I caress my fingers over the head of my hammer while I puff on the blunt Nate lit.
I'm eager to find Nat and Cole, but I can't pretend like I'm not itching for a chance to make those men scream and fucking piss themselves as I smash their heads in.
"You ready to make it rain blood again, little doll?" Lucas asks, smirking at me in the rearview mirror.
"Fuck yes!" I smirk back at him, "You know I'm always ready to make it rain blood, Lucas baby."
His entire body shudders, "I'm going to fuck you so fucking hard tonight, little doll."
Logan pinches at my waist and nips at my ear, "We all are."
I gulp as they all stare at me. Even on the brink of another battle, they still manage to make me want to beg for their cocks. But now is not the fucking time.
"Eyes on the road, Lucas," I say and he groans but focuses his attention on the road. I pass Nate the blunt and lean into him. I have no fucking idea what we're getting into here. But I have a gut feeling that we're going to the right place.
"Justin came through. But I'm pretty sure he ran in there without backup," I tell Dorian who sighs heavily.
"Hopefully he's not an idiot about it. Speed up Lucas."
Lucas nods and presses the gas pedal to the floor. We fly through the city and I stare out the window watching it pass by in a blur. My fingers find my hammer again and my heart rate speeds up as they dance across it. Oh, I'm just dying to get it all bloody.