Hearts on Fire 6: Healing Sophia(12)

“He’s gone, and we’ll make sure he never lays a hand on you again.”

The tears rolled down her cheeks.

“But you won’t be able to. He’ll kill you to get to me. He’ll kill anyone who tries to take what belongs to him.” She said it with such fear and emotion that Andreas could tell that she believed that mark was more than skin deep.

“No, you are not his,” Lew said. “You never were, and some mark forced on your skin against your will does not signify an eternal bond and ownership. Unless you stand here and tell us you love him and that you want to belong to him and will be his forever, then that’s different.”

“No. No, I don’t want that. I hate him. I hate what he did to me. I hate feeling like shit, like a nobody that no one will ever love or respect. I don’t, Lew, I swear,” she cried out.

Lew stepped closer and knelt on the bed as Andreas stood up to get out of the way. Lew pressed between her thighs, cupped her face, and tilted it up toward him. He held her gaze, his fingers gentle against her throat and chin in such a deep, sensual manner Andreas felt the sincerity and the connection even as a bystander watching.

“Then you are free to become ours. To let down that wall, the fear, and allow us in. Allow us to care for you and to show you how real men treat their woman. Let us show you, Sophia. We want you, and that branding doesn’t mean a damn thing.”

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her softly. He was gentle, passionate, caring, and slow in his show of desire and affection for her. When he saw her reach up and gently glide her hands along his forearms, Andreas felt relieved, positive, and encouraged that Sophia was their special woman, the one to fill their hearts and connect them in the ultimate way they’d only fantasized about.



* * * *



Sophia was lost in the kiss and in the emotion and powerful proclamation Lew had made to her before he kissed her so tenderly. Never had she felt so aroused and like the center of a man’s complete attention. As he lowered her to the bed, pressed between her thighs and deepened the kiss, she let him. It wasn’t until he released her lips and held himself above her that she remembered the audience and the fact that four, extra large men were in her bedroom, armed, and appearing aroused and hungry.

She took uneasy breaths, her chest rising and falling, his eyes roaming over her cleavage and then back to her lips. Obviously the Valium had calmed her fears and nerves because, otherwise, she would be running for the nearest hideaway and covering her head in embarrassment and fear.

“Easy, baby, just relax. We’re not going to hurt you or overwhelm you,” Lew said, and then Andreas reached out and caressed her chin. He gave a soft smile.

“You’re so sweet, so beautiful, you deserve the world,” he said.

“Are you okay?” Lew asked her, and she looked at him and then at Gideon and Cerdic.

“I think so, thanks to the Valium.”

Lew squinted and stood up. He reached for her and helped her into a sitting position.

“You don’t need to take that stuff. Not in fear of us, of this attraction, it isn’t necessary and could become addictive.”

She heard the intensity in his tone and the expression on his chiseled, muscular face reiterated the fact that he meant business.

“You don’t need that shit to get better and stronger mentally and physically.”

It sounded like he knew first-hand. Had he had a drug addiction at some time and was he assuming she was heading in that direction?

“I’m not addicted. I only take a half a Valium some nights when the nightmares are bad. But you sound like you had a personal bad experience.”

He placed his hands on his hips, and one rested on the butt of the gun on his waist. She swallowed hard. She had four bodyguards that were ready to shoot and kill anyone who tried to break in and take her. It brought realty back mighty fast.

“We’ve all had injuries in the military where we needed narcotics to deal for several days or weeks. We’ve seen friends become addicted, and then it led to other drugs. We don’t want to see the pain in your past make the wrong decisions for your future,” Gideon told her.

She smoothed out her skirt and ran her hand along her jaw.

“Sometimes the nightmares are just too painful, that’s all.”

“You can’t sleep without the pills the doctor gave you?” Cerdic asked and then took a seat next to her on the bed.

She shook her head. “Like you said, I don’t want to become addicted so, instead, I only sleep a few hours maybe a night.”

“That explains why you’re so tired all the time and how exhausted you were today when we were in town,” Cerdic replied.

“But you weren’t going to sleep now. You were supposed to come over to dinner. What happened?” Lew asked.

She was quiet. She didn’t want to explain her fears. They could use them against her. But as quickly as she had that thought, she realized they weren’t like that. At least she didn’t believe them to be.

She clasped her hands on her lap and stared at her fingers. Then Cerdic covered them with his hand.

“Were you thinking about him and what he did to you?”

She nodded.

“What else made you cry and get so upset that you felt the need to take the Valium?” Andreas asked next.

These men were so in tune to her emotions, and it was as if they really cared and wanted to be here for her. She’d let Lew kiss her. He told her they all wanted her to be theirs. She needed to let them know her fears and what she was thinking so that they knew she needed slow.

“Sophia?” Cerdic said.

“I was thinking about the four of you and these feelings I have. I don’t have a right to feel them, to be attracted to you because I could never belong to you.”

“Why not?” Lew asked in that deep, hard tone of his.

“Because of the mark. Because Mateo said I belonged to him and only him and that he would kill anyone who tried to take me from him.”

They hissed in anger.

“That’s not true. It’s a mark. It was forced upon you and means nothing because he no longer means anything,” Gideon told her.

“It may seem so easy to you, to tell me it means nothing and to forget about it and move on, but I can’t.”

“Do you still love him, want to forgive him?” Cerdic asked her. and she shook her head.

“That night, I wanted to leave him. I knew he’d cheated on me, and his behavior toward me was disrespectful. When I told him, he struck me in front of a crowd of people. That night he branded me in front of Jeremy and Deavan, his right-hand man.”

“Bastard,” Cerdic stated firmly.

She thought about the pain and about the drugs Mateo had given her and how she’d woken up being touched by Deavan. She didn’t know if he raped her. How could she allow these men so close?

She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself as she kept her back to them.

“Sophia, what is it? What are you not telling us?” Gideon asked.

She stared out the window and the evening sky over the ocean. The stars were bright, and there was promise out there, but not for her.

“I don’t think I can get involved with the four of you.”

“Why not?” Lew asked.

She didn’t respond, and then she felt the hand on her elbow.

“Why not, Sophia? Tell us now why you can’t give into this attraction and let us in,” Lew demanded to know.

The tears filled her eyes.

“Because that night Mateo branded my skin he drugged me because I was in so much pain. When I woke up, I was naked in bed, and he and Deavan were touching me. I don’t remember anything. I don’t know if they raped me, and when I tried saying no and pushing Deavan’s hands away, he touched me intimately anyway, and there was nothing I could do. Mateo let him,” she told them as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Those fucking pieces of shit,” Cerdic stated loudly, and Lew pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

He shocked her as he caressed her back and held her close. “I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry they did that to you. No wonder you’ve stayed inside and wouldn’t go anywhere. We’re going to take good care of you. None of what they did matters to us. You were a victim. They’re the criminal monsters, and we would never hurt you, ever.”

She wanted to believe Lew. She wanted to feel beautiful and loved, but she just wasn’t sure she could. But then as she hugged him back, and he squeezed her close and kissed the top of her head, and then the others caressed her and kissed her shoulder, her head, she felt overwhelmed with emotion. They kissed her everywhere, and then, someone lifted her shirt and pressed their lips against the scar on her lower back.

She lost it. She sniffled and cried.

“Let go and let us take care of you and show you how beautiful you are and perfect,” Lew said, and she let her arms fall to her sides as all four men continued to scatter kisses against her skin.

Lew stepped to the side, and Cerdic was there to caress her cheeks and tilt her chin up toward him before he kissed her gingerly. Her heart soared with adoration and desire. She’d never felt so aroused and cared for, and then he released her lips and Gideon took his place. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her chin, her nose, her eyelids and then her lips.

“You’re perfect and so sexy. I can’t wait to make you mine. To show you how beautiful and amazing you are.” He kissed her again and then released her to Andreas.