Chapter 8

Jena

What could she do? There was no choice but to stay here. These two men would protect her, she was sure of it.

Just wait until everything dies down, then you’ll be free.

These two men were risking their lives for her, she should have been grateful.

But looking into the dark room, standing beneath a dim, yellow light, she wasn’t sure she had made the right choice.

She was shaking, her jacket was not good enough to protect her from this cold. The walls might as well have been made of ice. Her jaw was locked into place, she tried to open her mouth, but doing so required much more willpower than she had left.

The cold didn’t seem to faze Mills at all. He had his hands in his pocket, looking at the other edge of the giant basement.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

She nodded.

“Oh damn, you’re freezing.”

He opened his coat and spread his arms; she embraced him instinctively. She needed something, anything, to get herself warm.

And this was much better than she expected.

Stop it.

She’d just had a traumatic experience. Was this how normal people reacted?

Mills arms were thick and strong, his torso hard as steel. The warmth of his body really did help, but there was something else.

She could actually feel the ridges of his muscles on him, a freaking sixpack pressing against her.

A noise cracked in the distance. She turned to see what it was and could make out Beast’s outline walking towards them.

Behind him, an old furnace glowed dimly. His steps echoed in the dark, getting louder and louder until she stepped away from Mills.

For some reason, she didn’t want Beast to think badly of her.

“Here’s some fuses I found,” Beast grunted, looking at them, “you want to fix the lights?”

“Sure,” Mills said, snatching them from his hand and going upstairs.

“This isn’t as bad as it may seem,” Beast said and took her hand, “come.”

She followed him into the dark, her eyes took a bit to adjust, but the glowing heater helped her recognize some objects.

“We wanted to make this place a kind of guest’s room, see?”

He pointed to a queen-size bed on the corner, an old lamp sat on a bedside table right next to it.

“I thought you wanted to fix the place.”

“We still want to, but we brought some things down here to show potential buyers what they could do with spaces like this.”

The heater was working fairly well, she was no longer about to die of hypothermia.

She looked at Beast, he towered beside her at least two or three heads taller. His square jaw and cute stubble made him look like a superhero, and at the same time, the heater’s glow reflected in his eyes made him look like a villain.

He had that incredibly-hot-slash-dangerous look that pulled her to him. She knew she had to stay away, and she would have, if his touch wasn’t so tender.

He held her hand tenderly, as if she was made of delicate glass and he was afraid she might break.

The lights went on, suddenly blinding her.

Jena released Beast’s hands to cover her eyes, realizing she’d gotten used to his touch.

When she opened them, the basement was in twilight. Much better lit, yes, but still not actually bright.

“We need to change the light bulbs,” Beast said.

“More like the whole electric installation down here,” Mills replied, coming into the basement again, “this wasn’t built as a living space, after all.”

He was right. Only four bulbs lit a basement, oh God, this is bigger than I thought.

The two thousand square feet basement was almost completely deserted, with the exception of a couch in a corner of the room, the bed and bed table, and on the other corner of the room, near the entrance—

“Is that a showerhead?”

Both men looked to where she pointed.

“Yes,” Mills said, “damn, I forgot about that.”

The half finished shower had no walls, just a big showerhead pointing down at a five-by-five tile floor with a drain at the center.

“We have hot water, too,” Beast said.

“I know it’s not much but—”

“Man,” she blurted out, “this place is better than my apartment.”

Both guys looked at her and started laughing. She’d seen them smile back in the coffee shop, but this was entirely different.

Tension suddenly dissipated, they didn’t look worried anymore, nor stared at her as if she was lost and needed to be found.

“Things will be all right,” she said, unconsciously, setting her eyes in the furnace, “just tell me that.”

Mills and Beast held her hands.

“Just give it some time,” Mills said, “things will get better.”

She took a deep breath, absorbing what he just said. Their touch was soft and caring. She liked it. Jena, get a hold of yourself.

It was easier said than done. She looked down, trying to think of something else, and her eyes fell on Mills groin.

Oh God.

His cock pressed hard against his dress pants, down on his left leg. It was thick and long and fucking hard.

That should have scared her, but it didn’t. She bit her lip, and briefly looked at Beast: he was the same, only even bigger than his friend.

Jena pretended not to see them. She should have ran right then. Why did she feel like this? Was it the adrenaline? She couldn’t blame them. She was so wet her underwear was already damp with her juices.

Maybe she was secretly a pervert.

Maybe the sudden brush with death made her act like this.

Yes, that’s what it is. It has to be.

But deep down she knew she wanted them to take her from the very moment she saw them.

She swallowed and pretended to relax in that quiet moment, trying to push away the urges in her body.

“We’ll sleep in the sofa,” Beast said, “don’t be afraid.”

But she wasn’t afraid of them

She was scared of herself.