Chapter 16
Perfection, she realized didn’t feel real. It felt like shewas simply floating through the minutes and hours of her life. All of Everly’sworries and problems were alleviated, taken from her and handled by the twocolossal men she once viewed as sentries.
Captured and imprisoned by two strangely obsessed men,Everly never expected it to turn out like this. To have two men utterly devotedto her in every way, to not only tell her how much they loved her but to showit daily. Though their love was dark and overwhelming, Everly couldn’t help butadmit that she was happy.
It had been two months now since they brought her here. Herpregnancy was going along perfectly according to her doctor, at five months herbelly was much more noticeable now—a trait both men were in love with. Everlyread somewhere that some expecting mothers felt uncomfortable with the changein their bodies during pregnancy, thankfully that was not something she had toworry about. Whenever the brothers were near their hungry gazes and searchinghands found her, gently caressing the curvature of her stomach as if “theirbaby girl,” as they referred to her, was already there. The fact that theycould make her feel sexy and desired on top of making her heart ache at theirsweetness was mind-boggling.
Life on their island was surreal but never idle. During theday they all spent the majority of their time in the office. With herheadphones on, Everly balanced taking her online digital art courses andworking on her blog while Zane and Reid worked at their own desks making phonecalls and drawing up plans for future projects. Nights, on the other hand, werewhat Reid called “family time,” everything at that point was done togetherwhether it be watching TV, playing classic video games that Zane insisted shefamiliarize herself with or make love.
Since that day they confronted her about their insecuritiesand jealousy neither male took her solo. Each time she was rendered to completeexhaustion as both men pushed and pulled her greedily between them forcing herto reach multiple shattering climaxes until they were satisfied. And each timethey held her tightly that night in bed one whispering their love to her in oneear and the other whispering their love to her unborn child.
Normally, once the sun started to drop all work stopped nomatter what they were doing, a fact Everly learned the hard way. Once, shetried finishing one of her assignments past the unofficial timeframe, Zane wasonly too happy to grab the back of her office chair and roll her into thekitchen right up to the dining room table. The table she eventually picked outas promised.
The long rectangular kitchen probably would have been bettersuited for one of the popular long wooden farm tables with an accompaniment ofchairs or the one with long picnic-table style benches on either side. Everlydidn’t like any of those options. Just the sight of the long medieval tablesbrought back memories of her father sitting at the head, flanked by his wiveswhile his army of children filled the sides. The memory disgusted her. Everlychose a simple round oak table, where they could all sit as equals never givinganyone the feeling of being left out.
Tonight, they were just finishing cleaning the kitchen fromdinner when Zane announced they should sit in the hot tub afterward.
“How would we all fit?” Just thinking of them all trying tofit in the bathtub seemed painful and comical.
Reid gave her a blank stare while Zane just frowned.
“What do you mean `how would we fit’?” Zanequestioned. “It’s huge, there is room for about six to be honest and it was astraight bitch getting it onto the island because of it.”
Now she was highly confused.
“My love, you do know we are talking about the Jacuzzioutside?” Reid’s teasing smile lit up his dark blue eyes and devastatinglyhandsome face.
Again, and again, she went over her mental map of theisland, and she could not remember ever seeing a hot tub.
“Come on sweetheart, I’ll show you.” Zane turned her gentlyby the shoulders and walked her to the kitchen back door.
“Zane, I don’t have a swimsuit,” she protested, even thoughshe made no effort to stop walking. Everly was very curious to know where thismysterious hot tub was hiding.
The hot tub turned out to be a large square box that sat offto the side of the back porch which she always assumed was some sort of watertank. With the press of a button, the walls around the hot tub extendedupwards, turning the top, which once acted as the lid, into a roof. With foursliding doors all around, the now small building resembled a small Japanese teahouse. Leaving their underwear on, each man took one of her hands and guidedher up the steps and into the bubbling water.
“Remember, not for too long,” Reid grumbled to Zane as shetook a seat on the underwater bench between them.
The bubbling hot water felt like heaven amongst the briskwind and snow-covered island.
“Yes, I know, dammit,” Zane snapped back at Reid. “No morethan twenty minutes in the water at a time.” Turning back to her, Zane leanedin and gave her a quick kiss. “Expecting mothers shouldn’t sit in this waterfor too long, so after while I’m going to help you sit up on the corner ledgeto cool down for a while.”
Everly just nodded and smiled. Sometimes their intensiveknowledge on all things pregnancy related could be annoying, but most of thetime it was sweet.
Reaching up behind him, Reid closed the door they used toget in, enclosing them inside the wooden house. Pressing another button on thecontrol panel next to him Reid opened another panel on the roof, Everly gasped.
Suddenly they had a perfect view of the stars.
“This is beautiful,” she sighed, taking in every glitteringtwinkle.
“I’m glad you like it,” Reid turned her chin until he couldeasily plant his lips across hers for a slow devouring kiss.
Pulling back, Reid stroked a strand of hair behind her earas his other hand rested on the curve of her stomach. “I’m so happy we canshare this with you. If you only knew how many nights we laid under the starsas children and as men, hoping for a woman like you in our lives.”
The moisture of tears stung in her eyes.
“You know, I used to stare up at the sky and wish when I wasyounger too,” Everly began slowly, looking up through the roof opening. “I usedto pray every day for a way out, I would look up and wonder what a differentlife could possibly be like.” Smiling she leaned back against the tub’s wall asshe spoke. “I would never imagine an adventurous life either, I would pray,beg, and even try to make deals with God to just let me live a boring librarianspinster’s life—if it only meant me getting out of that place.”
Zane’s silent kiss of support on her shoulder made herthroat tighten, but she pressed on. For some reason, she really wanted to sharemore of herself with them.
