Forbidden Awakenings (Awakenings Series Book 1) Read online

  “What happened next?” Derek asked.

  Opening her eyes, Elle brought her free hand up to her face, wiping away her tears. “I’d had a job interview with Mackenzie Designs, but it hadn’t gone well. They were looking for someone to be their secretary, and I wanted more than to just fetch them coffee and make copies, you know?”

  Derek and Callum nodded.

  “I was walking through the parking garage when I saw Leo leaning against the back of my car. When he looked up at me, I knew that he was going to hurt me. There was this look in his eyes …” Elle shuddered. “I turned to run, but I was wearing heels, and he was faster than me. He tackled me to the ground, pinning my wrists down with one of his hands. I screamed for him to get off, for someone to help me, but Leo punched me in the face. The sound of my nose breaking seemed to echo off the cement pillars, and I could taste the blood as it seeped into my throat. He hit me again, this time on the left side of my face. Ripping my blouse open, he said since I was a whore, he’d treat me like one. I was sobbing, telling him that I wasn’t a whore, but he laughed and said the only reason Professor Stevens would select my project in the competition was because I’d fucked him. I couldn’t believe what he was saying because I had worked my ass off.

  “Leo had just started to push my skirt up when a man came rushing up to us, pulling him off of me. I scrambled away from them both. Leo tried to hit him, but the other man was bigger and stronger. One punch was all it took for Leo to fall to the ground. The man came over to me and introduced himself as Aaron. He stayed with me until the police showed up and arrested Leo. Aaron told them that he’d heard me screaming for help and came running from the level above where I was. The security cameras caught Leo’s attack on me. He pleaded guilty of assault and attempted rape. He got seven-to-ten years in prison.”

  “That fucking bastard,” Callum swore, shaking his head. He reached out and placed his hand over Elle and Sadie’s. “I am so sorry you had to go through that, honey. No man has the right to put his hands on a woman like that.”

  Elle shrugged her shoulders. “I never loved him. The sex was good, but I knew he and I would never last. I just never expected him to accuse me of fucking my way anywhere. I’ve slept with a handful of boys, and Sadie. That doesn’t make me a whore.”

  “He didn’t deserve you. Never did.” Sadie smiled. “And he can’t hurt you again. Not ever.”

  Nodding, Elle released a deep breath. “I know.”

  “Is he the reason why you were reluctant to start dating us?” Derek asked.

  “A little bit,” she admitted. “You’re the first men I’ve been with since him.”

  Callum gasped. “Are you serious?”

  “I didn’t want to put myself out there again just to be hurt. Sadie and I started our company soon after and I focused my attention on building a portfolio.” She smiled. “And we had each other, which was almost enough.”

  “Almost?” Derek shifted his eyes up to Elle. “You said she was almost enough.”

  Elle smiled. “We needed you and Callum.”

  “You know we’re not going to hurt you, don’t you?” His tone was pleading. “Neither of us will ever put our hands on you in a way that isn’t to show how much we care for you.”

  “I know.” Elle felt her skin warm from her blush. “I won’t lie and say that I’m still not terrified about all of this blowing up in our faces, but being with you, Callum, and Sadie feels right to me. That guy tonight just … he wouldn’t move, and I got scared.”

  Callum reached out and gripped her hips, pulling her into his arms. With Derek on one side of him and Sadie on the other, the four of them cuddled together. “I can’t speak for them, honey, but I know that I care about you — a lot. The three of you make me feel, I don’t know, normal.”

  “I’ve never been happier than I have been in the last few weeks,” Sadie added, leaning her head on Callum’s shoulder. The radiant smile on her face told Elle that she was being truthful.

  “Me, either,” Elle whispered. “I feel safe for the first time in two years.”

  “Good,” Derek said, causing her to look over at him. “Because we’re not going to let anyone hurt you, Elle. Not Leo, not Mac, not anyone. Let us take care of you.”

  “I am,” she whimpered.

  Derek stood up and held his hand out to her. Elle knew the moment she wrapped her fingers around his there would be no turning back, not that she wanted to. Allowing him to lead her toward the stairs, Elle shivered in anticipation. Tonight, she wanted to relish in the feel of her lovers.

  Once they’d reached the top of the stairs, Derek led her to the bedroom on the left side of the hallway, which she knew to be Callum’s room. It wouldn’t be the first time the four of them had been inside that room together, but tonight — in this moment — they were putting themselves on the line and reconfirming their feeling for each other.

  Was Elle falling in love with them? That wasn’t a question she could answer, not right then at least. She loved Sadie, wanted her in ways that defied all sense of logic, but the red-headed woman wasn’t enough for Elle. It wasn’t just a matter of want, but need. Elle needed Callum and Derek, too. They, along with Sadie, made Elle feel beautiful and desired.

  Derek led Elle to the bed, turning to face her. He brought his hands up to her face, cupped her tender skin, and brought his lips down onto hers. Elle moaned; the feel of his kiss ignited a fire inside of her. Moving up behind her, she felt Callum press his body against hers. His lips found purchase against the curve of her neck, and Elle struggled to keep her knees from buckling. The two men holding and caressing her were driving her wild.

  Ending their kiss, Derek pulled his lips from Elle’s, but before she could take as much as a breath, Derek and Callum leaned toward each other. Their lips collided together, causing Elle and Sadie to gasp. Elle stepped out from between them. Callum closed the distance between him and Derek, sliding his arms around the man’s body and holding him tight. Elle had never seen two men kiss before, outside of the occasional porno she and Sadie would find on the Internet.

  “So sexy,” Sadie murmured, sliding her arms around Elle’s waist. Her fingers slipped under her hot pink tank top and traveled up her stomach until they came in contact with her hard nipples. Elle had decided not to wear a bra, which seemed to make Sadie happy.

  “They are, aren’t they?” Elle turned in Sadie’s arms and pressed her lips against her lovers, moaning when Sadie pinched her hardened peaks between her fingers. “Lover, please!”

  “Please what?” She ran her lips along Elle’s jaw. “What does my girl want?”

  “You,” Ell pleaded, the single word filled with longing.

  “I’m already yours.” Sadie peeled her tank off, tossing it onto the floor before lowering her mouth to Elle’s nipples. She swirled her tongue around the peak before biting down, causing Elle to cry out again.

  Releasing Elle, Sadie pushed her onto the bed and grabbed the front of her jeans, unbuttoning them and lowering the zipper. She lifted her hips off the bed, allowing Sadie to shimmy them down her legs. Raking her eyes over Elle’s nude body, a throaty moan reverberated from inside of her.

  “You’re not wearing any panties,” Sadie stated.

  Elle smirked and leaned up on her elbows. “Didn’t see the point. Knew sooner or later you’d have your face buried between my legs.”

  “You did, huh?” Sadie began stripping off her clothes, while Derek and Callum climbed onto the bed next to Elle. They had already shed their shirts and pants, leaving them naked.

  “Yes,” Elle replied. “You can’t keep your tongue out of me.”

  Sadie grinned as she climbed onto the bed and pushed Elle’s knees apart. “No, I can’t.”

  Leaning down, she snaked her tongue out, licking the outside of her pussy before delving in deeper. Elle arched off the bed, the feelings of pure ecstasy soaring through her.

  “Damn that’s so fucking hot,” Callum murmured, moving on the bed so that
he was kneeling behind Sadie. Shifting his eyes down to Elle, he smiled as he caressed Sadie’s ass.

  “Taste me!” Sadie begged, looking over her shoulder at him. Her lips were coated in Elle’s arousal. “Please, use your tongue on me, baby.”

  Callum shifted so that he was lying on the bed beneath her. Grabbing Sadie’s hips, he lowered her pussy down to his mouth and she moaned.

  The bed shifted as she returned her mouth to Elle. Bringing her hand up and grabbing the back of Sadie’s head, Elle looked to her right and saw Derek kneeling next to her, hard cock in his hand. She shifted her eyes up to his as she twisted her upper body around and took him in her mouth.

  “Oh, Jesus fuck!” he growled, sliding his fingers into her hair. Little by little, he rocked his hips back and forth, fucking her mouth and sliding deeper into her throat. “So fucking good, beautiful.”

  Elle hummed in agreement and felt him harden more in her mouth. With her hand tangled in Sadie’s red hair, and Derek’s twisted in her own, they set an easy pace, shifting and thrusting in perfect synchronization. Elle could feel her climax already beginning to build, and she lifted her hips against Sadie’s mouth, desperate for more.

  Sadie wrapped her arms around Elle’s thighs, sliding her tongue deeper into her pussy. Elle lost control, allowing her orgasm to wash over her and flood her lover’s eager mouth.

  Derek pulled his cock out of Elle’s mouth and turned her so that she was laid out before him. The look in his eyes had her skin pebbling with desire for him to touch her. Nestling himself between her open legs, Derek reached over to the bedside table and pulled out a couple of condoms, tossing one toward Callum, who had moved Sadie so that she was on her hands and knees, with her head positioned above Elle’s.

  “You’re okay with this, right, beautiful?” Derek asked, stroking the inside of her thigh.

  “What? Having you fuck me?” Elle lifted an eyebrow.

  He nodded, his fingers sliding closer to her pussy.

  Smiling, Elle ripped the foil package out of his hand and tore it open with her teeth. Rolling the latex down his hard shaft, Elle gave him a gentle squeeze. “I want you, Derek; in every way I can have you.”

  His responding smile almost took her breath away. He brushed her hand off and leaned over her. The tip of his cock brushed against her sensitive skin, causing her to bite her lip to keep from begging him to fill her already.

  “You have me, Elle.” The sincerity in his words was mind-blowing. Derek shifted his hips forward, thrusting himself inside of her.

  “Oh, fuck!” She gasped, shocked by how incredible he felt inside of her. She had expected to feel different with him than she had with Callum, but while the two men were different in size and girth, they both felt perfect.

  “You feel better than I ever imagined!” Derek groaned, sliding one hand to her hip while balancing himself over her with the other.

  He set a slow pace, giving her time to adjust to him. Next to them, Callum was thrusting himself in and out of Sadie. The sounds fluttering from her mouth spurred Elle into meeting Derek as he moved inside of her. Reaching up, she grabbed the back of Sadie’s head, bringing her lips down against hers. Derek and Callum moaned.

  “So fucking hot,” Callum growled. The force of his thrusts into Sadie propelled her forward, causing the women to break their kiss.

  “So close,” Sadie whimpered, resting her head on Elle’s chest.

  “Come for me, baby,” Callum ordered and Elle watched as he slid his hand up her back, grabbing her shoulder. His eyes met hers, and he thrust even harder.

  “I — I … Fuck!” Sadie cried out. Her body trembled as her release washed over her.

  Callum thrust a half dozen more times before stilling his hips against Sadie, letting his head fall back as a look of pure euphoria crept over his face. The look was enough to send Elle over the edge and her orgasm hit her hard. Derek swore under his breath, before he followed her, and together, they found their climaxes.

  Derek and Callum slipped into the bathroom to dispose of their protection. A moment later, they climbed into the bed. Callum nestled himself up against Elle, who snuggled in his warm embrace, while Sadie did the same with Derek. Letting her exhaustion take her into a peaceful slumber, Elle sighed.

  Ten

  Elle awoke the next morning when she felt a pair of warm lips traveling up the length of her spine. Arching toward the person behind her, she sighed in content. The previous night had been the most exhausting, yet amazing evening she’d ever experienced. She had opened a part of her soul that she’d worked hard to keep hidden. Not one to allow anyone else to see her weakness, she normally would be cowering away behind her shame, but with Derek, Callum, and Sadie, she felt relieved to have shared that part of herself.

  “Are you going to open your eyes, beautiful?” Derek asked.

  Elle smiled. “No.”

  “Why not?” He hummed against her skin, causing her to shiver.

  “Because I like this dream.”

  Derek leaned up, pressing his nude body against hers. “And what makes you think this is a dream?”

  Elle laughed, still refusing to open her eyes. “Nothing that feels as amazing as you pressed against me could be real.”

  “Open your eyes,” he murmured.

  The desire lacing his words caught her off guard, and her eyes fluttered open. Turning her head just a little, Elle found her lips just millimeters away from his. “Good morning.”

  “It’s more than good.” Derek smirked. His hands slipped over her hip, sliding around to her stomach. Right on cue, a loud gurgling filled the air, causing him to laugh. “Are you hungry, beautiful?”

  “Starving,” she snickered. “All I had to eat last night was a strawberry, remember? Well, except for your cock.”

  His gaze drifted down to her lips as he moaned. “Oh, yeah, I remember. Best strawberry I’ve ever eaten, and I can’t even describe how incredible that blow job felt.”

  “Me, too.” Elle’s stomach growled again, and she buried her face in her pillow to hide her embarrassment.

  Derek laughed. “I’m going to go get us some breakfast. Don’t move that sexy ass.”

  He climbed off the bed, grabbed his boxer briefs off the floor, and slipped them on before strolling out of the room, leaving Elle alone. Sighing, she rolled onto her back and pushed herself up against the headboard, wrapping the sheet around her nude body. Elle tucked her knees up to her chest, letting the events from the night before replay in her mind. She felt her cheeks warm at the memory of Derek’s hands on her body, the feel of Sadie’s mouth feasting on her pussy, and the sight of Callum fucking Sadie while Derek took her with need.

  There was no doubt in her mind that her lovers cared for her, and she for them — enough for Elle to bare her painful past and allow them to ease away the shadows that haunted her fragile soul. Make no mistake, her soul was brittle. Other than Sadie, Elle had never allowed anyone to close enough to be one-hundred percent honest about her feelings, but Derek and Callum were different than the other men Elle had ever been with. They wanted all of her: heart, soul, and body.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to move?”

  Elle laughed as Derek strolled back into the room with a wooden tray in his hands. He placed it on the bed before sliding his boxers off and climbing up next to her. When she lifted an eyebrow in question, he smirked and said, “More comfortable like this.”

  “Oh, okay.” Elle smiled as she turned and looked at the tray in front of her.

  Derek had filled two plates with cheese and mushroom omelets, half a dozen strawberries, and two slices of toast each. Along with two cups of hot coffee, one of which she could tell had been made to her specifications, it appeared that Derek had created quite a feast for them.

  “Wow, this looks good.”

  “You sound surprised,” Derek scoffed, reaching out and plucking one of the berries off the plate and holding it up to her lips. “Open.”

  “I can feed myself, yo
u know.” Elle laughed but parted her lips and allowed him to slide the fruit in. She moaned as she bit off a chunk.

  “I know, but I love the way you suck on your food before you take a bite. It’s very erotic.” He smirked as he offered Elle another nibble.

  She could feel her cheeks redden, but gave into temptation and ate the rest of the strawberry, gliding her tongue across Derek’s finger. His eyes darkened, and he inhaled a sharp breath. Elle couldn’t deny the satisfaction she felt knowing that her teasing was getting to him.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t feed you by hand,” he grumbled, picking up his coffee cup and taking a sip.

  “Gee, ya think?” Elle snickered as she picked up her plate and cut off a piece of her omelet. “Where are Sadie and Callum?”

  “I don’t know.” Derek shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his plate of food. “I heard them whispering to each other about an hour before you woke up, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was a little distracted.”

  “By what?” Elle asked, taking a drink of her coffee. “Damn, this is perfect!”

  “Again you sound surprised!” Derek sighed. “By you.”

  “By me, what?”

  He smiled. “You were distracting me.”

  “How?” Elle wondered.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Derek scoffed, and when she shook her head, he smiled. “Beautiful, you pressed that gorgeous body against me, and it took every bit of my self-control not to take you.”

  “Oh,” she murmured. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  Elle nodded. “I love the way you feel inside me, Derek.”

  “Good to know, because I quite like being in you, too.”

  Winking at her, he picked up a piece of his toast and started eating it. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes. It wasn’t until Derek’s cell phone chimed that the quiet was interrupted. He scrambled off the bed and dug through his pants from the night before, pulling out the handheld device and sliding his finger over the screen. Whatever he saw on his screen caused him to frown before he began tapping his fingers on the screen as he replied. A moment later, he put the phone on the nightstand and climbed back onto the bed.