Chapter 306

The anticipation of Archer’s dark promise keeps me awake while I should be napping. I remember the pleasure pain of last punishment and can’t help but eagerly await what might be coming.

Even if I don’t entirely agree with the need for the punishment.

I will not ever apologize for wanting to protect the people I care about. And it worked! Why can’t we all just be happy about it? We made it through. We survived. This is a time for celebration, not to beat each other up over what might could have been.

Yet, even annoyed as I am, I guess it’s nice to know that the brothers care about whether I live or die. At the very least, they seem to like me alive.

That brings me the comfort I need to finally let my body relax enough to drift off to sleep.

I awake again to the sound of gentle yet insistent knocking on my door. Groaning, I pull myself out of bed. I rub the sleep from my eyes. My nap definitely extended too long. I open the door to find Neil on the other side of it.

As soon as the door is gone from between us, he steps closer to me, cups my cheeks with his palms and kisses me. As I gasp, he sweeps his tongue into my mouth.

It’s a deep, mind-reeling kiss that only lasts the length of a few moments before we both need to pull away for air.

Neil doesn’t go far. He continues to hold my face as he gazes down at me with soft eyes. He rubs his thumbs over my cheeks, tracing along my cheekbones.

The look he is giving me steals my breath away. It’s so… gentle.

Isn’t he still angry with me, like everyone else?

“You gave us all a scare,” Neil says. “In that room, we should have been the ones to protect you, not the other way around.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know that. We all know that. But this is our family drama. It shouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

That shouldn’t hurt me. After all, my last name isn’t Hayes. I truly am not part of their family.

But… I’m close to them. If nothing else, they are dear friends to me. We might not share blood, but they are almost as close as family to me.

It hurts that the feeling might not be mutual. But why would it be? The brothers have made clear from the beginning that I am merely a subordinate. A nanny in their employ.

Even the sex and physical affections aren’t enough to change that.

“I’m sorry we brought you into this mess,” Neil says.

I’m honest as I reply, “I’m not.”

I wouldn’t trade it. Even the harder earlier days when they were more blatant jackasses. Because every moment from then onward helped lead us to the now, where I had five more people in my life to care about – the brothers and Mia.

“Chloe,” Neil whispers and kisses me again.

I lean into him and pray moments like these will last forever.

Eventually, Neil and I part and go downstairs to find the others. Beau and Steven are helping Mom set the table. Archer sits on the living room couch near Isaac and Wyatt. None of them are talking; they are watching an old movie on the television.

Neil and I go into the kitchen to spy on dinner. A delicious-smelling roast cooks in the crock pot. I open the fridge, looking for a drink, and notice three bottles of champagne chilling in there that hadn’t been there before.

Mom and Isaac must be planning some kind of celebration. And why not? We’ve survived the day. That’s surely worth celebrating all on its own.

Twenty minutes later, we all sit around the dining room table when the corks begin to pop and the bubbly pours.

We don’t talk about what happened. Mom has banned that kind of conversation. “Last thing we need is for you all to start barking arguments again. Tonight is only a celebration of life. And a toast to new beginnings.”

New beginnings. I like that.

We still need to decide what to do with the recording, and the anticipation of what could happen after is enough to give me anxiety for days. But if things go well…

If everything goes our way…

Maybe this will be the chance for things to start again.

The brothers will be out from under the thumb of their parents. Who knows what that kind of future might bring?

I lift my glass and say, “Cheers!” The others do the same.

After a few glasses of champagne, the world starts to look a whole lot brighter.

I’m one of the last few to go to bed that night. When I finally crawl up the stairs and open the door, I find that my bed is already occupied.

Beau smirks at me from where he lies atop my blankets. He’s totally naked, casually stroking his dick. It twitches when he sees me – and when I see him.

Even the hallway is empty, I rush in and close the door behind me before anyone else can see.

“What are you doing?” I whisper-yell as I move closer.

“I’m waiting for you,” Beau says. He lifts a brow. “Isn’t that obvious?”

“Beau…” This is a really bad idea, isn’t it? I struggle to be quiet when I’m with Beau, and the champagne might keep me from remembering why I need to be quiet.

I really don’t want to embarrass myself here in my mom’s house. Well, not any more than I already have.

Beau pats the open space on the bed beside him.

Like a moth to the flame, I start walking toward him. I lower myself down to his side.

Any reasons I might have had to not want to do this fly out the window the moment he reaches over and touches me. He places his hand on my breast over my clothes, and pushes me down into the mattress.

His lips cover mine as he rolls on top of me. His thigh slips between my legs. His hard dick presses against my hipbone.

I wrap my arms around his neck. I should have gotten naked before I let it get this far. Gods, I want to feel him against me.

“Beau…” I half-whine, half-sigh.

“Patience, Nanny,” Beau says. “We’re not going anywhere for a long, long time.”

He massages my breast. My nipples peak, pushing out into the lace of my bra.

“You don’t understand what you did to me today,” Beau says. “You took years off of my life, I’m sure. But now, you are going to make it up to me.”

Gods, yes. Whatever he wants, as long as he keeps touching me.

He kisses a path from my ear down the column of my throat to my collarbone where he sucks in a mark. Then, he gently lifts his head and noses at the junction of my neck and shoulder.

He presses hot, open mouth kisses to that spot. Then, ever-so-gently, he opens his mouth wider and presses his teeth into that spot.

He doesn’t bite down hard enough to mark, but my entire body reacts at once.

My heart quickens, my blood pumps. I don’t know what’s happening to me exactly, but I want it all.

It’s as if my entire body has zeroed down to this one connection, this one moment.

My thoughts are fuddled. I realize much too late.

Is this a mating bite?