Our girl keeps fighting.
Screaming for help, sobbing and crying, her breathing so irregular she might fucking hyperventilate in her sleep, which is enough to have me going against anything I’ve ever heard a doc say.
I get on the bed behind Leonor and put her in a bear hug, barking orders at the guys to do something similar because she needs it. She needs the pressure and reassurance our presence brings, the tightness of our grip to bring her back and keep her from hurting herself in the process.
True to her nature, even in her sleep, Leo fights us.
She fights against our hold hard, kicking and thrashing, arching her back and trying to get free. And she does it right up until her eyes flip open, wide and terrified cobalt swimming in tears as a strangledNo!spills from her lips.
Then she goes limp.
“We got you, princess,” I whisper as I press a kiss to her hair. “We got you.”
Norm and Luck each take one of her hands and place them over their hearts as I slowly loosen my grip, gently rocking her while Mark softly rubs her shins and calves.
Each of us try to soothe her with our words, with our touch, and our love and while it works, as Leo’s breathing starts to level out and she seemingly leaves the nightmare, I can’t help but focus on the thundering of my goddamn heart.
That felt like losing her all over again.
“I’m sorry,” Leonor whispers after what seems like a fucking eternity. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean, I just…” A sob wracks her body as she exhales roughly, shaking her head against my shoulder.
She doesn’t move, though.
Doesn’t tell us to fuck off, to leave her alone. Leo doesn’t let the embarrassment or intense feelings of fear push us away but I know her better than that. We all do, and it’s a matter of time, probably seconds before those emotions take over and this turns into the battle I’ve been waiting to fight since we got her back.
“I still have them, too,” Lucky says as he scoots closer, leaning down to press his forehead to hers. “Not as often as I used to but I still have them.”
Norm gently pulls Leonor’s hair out of her face as he and Mark nod, as I kiss her head again for what might be the last time. Not forever but for a while because I know this is about to get real messy real quick.
“I am so selfish.” Another sob moves through Leo and she starts shaking her head. “I am so goddamn selfish, and I don’t deserve any of you.”Here we go.“Let go of me.”
I tighten my hold and grunt, “Not unless you promise you’re not going to bolt.”
“Let me go, Peter.”
“Not happening, Leo. Not unless you say those fucking words.”
She snatches her hands from Luck and Norm, kicks Markus off of her legs then she uses every ounce of strength she has to twist around in my arms before shoving me. “Fuck you.”
“Later if you’re lucky,” I grunt as she shoves me again. “But only after we punish you for acting like a bitch right now.”
Leonor shoves me one more time, using her knees for leverage and because I don’t want to hurt her and this is getting tricky as hell, I lose my grip and let her go.
“You are all out of your goddamn minds,” she shouts through her tears. “I’ve been nothing but a selfish piece of shit, thinking of nothing but me and my bullshit since you showed up at my place, and I can’t help but think you’re all fucking crazy, or just a bunch of stupid boys thinking with your dicks.”
Norm flinches as Leo starts looking for clothes, but the rest of us, we’re getting pissed.
I can see it in the way Luck narrows his eyes, the way the muscle in Mark’s jaw ticks, and I feel it pushing up from my gut and begging for an outlet.
“That has to be it.” Leonor lets out a hollow laugh as she pulls on someone’s t-shirt, quickly grabbing a random pair of shorts. She roughly wipes her eyes with the heels of her hands, not looking at any of us while she throws her barbs. “Been so fucking long since any of you got any pussy and the minute mine became fair game.” She looks up briefly, giving us a sarcastic smile. “Why not take turns, right?”
And that fucking does it for me.
She got pissed when she thought we were going to downplay our relationship because we were upset and now she’s doing the same fucking thing.
I hop out of bed and start searching for sweats, occupying myself briefly so I don’t say something I’m going to regret. No, I definitely don’t have any regrets when I pull on the cotton, look Leo right in the eye and say, “Fuck that line of thinking right in the ass with a goddamn two by four, Leonor.”
“What did you say?”
