Sharing Is Caring

Despite the freshness of the mark on my shoulder, it weirdly didn’t sting.

It did, however, have an odd tingling sensation.

Had I really been so drunk last night that I’d forgotten about getting a freaking tattoo? Was that even possible?

And had I really picked to permanently mark myself with dragons?

My only consolation was that I didn’t get it on my lower back. A tramp stamp was the only thing that could have made this tattoo worse.

I was actually beginning to suspect that the Dobrzycka brothers tattooed me against my will, but why the hell would they do that?

Either way, I needed to reel in my drinking. These crazy nights were really taking a toll on me.

“Ah, you’re awake. How do you feel?” Hael approached me, seemingly out of nowhere, as I was checking my tattoo in the mirror.

How did he just appear like that?

I took in what Hael was wearing, and my face flushed bright red.

He was completely shirtless, his abs glistening from the sweat on his torso, and he had on tight black leather pants.

Loch walked up behind him, wearing the exact same thing.

This was too much, even for me.

“Are you shooting a music video or something?” I asked uncomfortably.

“No, what are you talking about, mouse?” Loch replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

~Mouse?~ I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but at least it was better than ~street rat~.

And said in a purr that reverberated through my body… Well, I didn’t mind it.

“Never mind,” I said quickly. “Can either of you explain this eyesore?”

I showed them both the tattoo on my exposed shoulder, and they grinned at each other.

“That was fast,” Loch mused. “It’s happening already.”

“Yes, well, you know my views on the situation, brother. Not that you’ll listen,” Hael said, sounding annoyed.

“Please tell me you two weirdos had nothing to do with this.” I sighed.

“On the contrary—this was all you.” Loch smirked, fingering the mark lightly.

As soon as he touched it, the soft tingling sensation became a full-blown party in my panties.

I’d never felt so horny in my life. What the hell was going on? Why was I reacting to them like this?

I backed away, removing Loch’s touch from my skin.

Loch looked at me with amusement, a soft, almost gentle smile on his lips. “Maybe she’ll be easier than we thought,” he droned.

“Look, I’ll admit I’m probably sending mixed signals by continually getting drunk and sleeping over, but honestly, I’m not that type of girl,” I said, taking another step back.

But, if I wasn’t that type of girl, why did my body want it so badly?

“Keep telling yourself that.” Loch laughed, reading my mind once again.

“Ever since I met you two, the weirdest shit has been happening to me,” I said, my voice unsteady and my body shivering. “I just want things to go back to normal.”

“I told you she wasn’t ready,” Hael said smugly. “It’s too soon. We should have waited.”

I tried to take another step away from them, but there was nowhere for me to go. ~Where is the damned elevator already?~

Loch leaned in close to me, and I felt his hot breath linger on my lips as he spoke.

“Is that what you really want, Madeline? Do you remember what normal is? Life as a street rat. Thieving to survive. No one looking after you. Do you really want things to return to normal?”

~Is that what I really want?~

~I honestly can’t answer him right now.~

“I…I should leave,” I said, inching my hand toward the elevator button and pressing it repeatedly, doing anything I could to get it to arrive faster.

“Madeline, even though I disagree with Loch—”

“You know I’m right,” Loch mumbled under his breath.

Hael shot him a dirty look and continued. “Even though I don’t think you’re ready, you’re welcome to move in with us.”

~What?~

~Move in? With them?~

I was just a little horny. I wasn’t trying to rent a U-Haul.

This situation had become completely overwhelming, and it was time for me to make my exit.

“That’s a nice offer but—no, what am I saying?—that’s a ~crazy~ offer, and I’m going to have to decline,” I said, trying to wrench the elevator doors open with my fingers.

“If it helps, just think of it as a benefit of the job,” Loch offered.

“I don’t even know what the ~job~ is,” I shouted, jumping into the elevator as the doors finally opened.

Loch only smiled, looking unconcerned.

“You’ll be back.”

***

An hour later, I slipped into Greensward feeling like I’d just gotten off a roller coaster.

~I might actually throw up.~

Why did two billionaire brothers want me to move in with them?

And why was I strangely compelled to take them up on it?

Was it this stupid tattoo on my back? Was it a brand of some kind?

Literally nothing made sense anymore.

I needed to talk to my friends about this.

Would they even believe me? This all sounded like something out of a fairytale, and my life, as had been established many times, was no fucking fairytale.

When I opened the door to my room, I saw the last person I wanted to see—Elle.

And she looked ~way~ too happy to see me.

“Have you ever heard of privacy?” I grunted as I pushed past her.

“I’m afraid privileges like that only apply to residents,” she said, her lips curled in an evil smile.

“What are you talking about, Elle? I’ve lived here for over a decade.”

“Not anymore.”

My heart suddenly sank. I knew what was coming.

“I told you, Madeline—three strikes and you’re out. You missed school again today. Twice in a row. Who would’ve thought I’d be so lucky?” she said, smirking.

“Elle…you can’t just kick me out. This is my home,” I pleaded.

Two burly men appeared in my doorway. She must’ve hired help.

Since this was Elle we were talking about, I wasn’t going to grovel, but I had to at least see my friends.

“Can I say goodbye to Harry and Darshan before I go?”

Elle let out a muffled giggle behind her hand and looked at her bouncers.

“Escort her out. Drag her if you have to.”

***

As I stood in the middle of the street with nothing but a backpack, I realized I was truly alone.

What was sad was that, when I turned eighteen in a little over a year, this was probably where I’d have ended up anyway—living on the street, forced to continue thieving to survive.

Life as a street rat.

Wasn’t that what Loch had said?

It was as if that bastard knew this would happen.

But when he asked me if this was really the life I wanted…

I knew the answer now.

It wasn’t.

I wanted to do something with my life. I wanted to find my purpose, whatever that was.

There had to be more to life than picking pockets, but so far, that was all I’d known.

Maybe Elle did me a favor by throwing me out. Now I’d actually have to apply myself and figure out a new plan, or I’d be sleeping in a gutter somewhere.

I wasn’t satisfied with the dregs anymore. I was moving up, and ~only~ up.

I fished my phone out of my pocket so I could text Harry and see if he had any bright ideas, but I found it empty.

~Crap~, I must’ve left it at the penthouse. I was so distracted by that damn tattoo.

~Here we go again.~

***

I paused at the security desk of Req Enterprise, unsure how I was to get up to the penthouse. There was no way I could talk my way up there; Loch and Hael were too smart to let just anyone into their private space.

Without saying a word, the gate to the elevator bank opened, and the security guard nodded to the doors at the far end.

“That will take you up,” he said.

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re on the approved list,” he said in a bored voice. “We were instructed to give you immediate access whenever you showed up.”

“Huh.” I tightened my grip on my backpack and made my way to the doors as instructed.

As the elevator sped toward the one hundredth floor, I swallowed the bitter irony of the situation.

This was ~not~ what I’d meant when I said I was going to be moving up.

The elevator dinged as it arrived, and I stepped into the massive penthouse again, this time of my own accord.

Loch and Hael were sitting in the living room with a bottle of wine and glasses—three glasses to be exact.

They were expecting me.

“I told you she’d be back,” Loch sneered.

“I left my phone. That’s all I’m here for,” I retorted.

Loch tossed me my phone, and I caught it, placing it in my pocket. I took a deep breath as they continued to observe me.

“Well?” Loch smirked. “You got what you came for, yet…curiously, you’re still here.”

I blushed as his gaze lingered on me.

He was right…

What was I still doing here? I was rooted to the spot.

“Sit,” Hael said gently. “Have a glass of wine.”

I debated with myself. Last night’s wine proved to be my downfall, but…

~I guess one glass can’t hurt.~

I sat across from the brothers as Hael handed me a merlot. Before I could even take a sip, Loch started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, annoyed.

“Out on the streets for all of five minutes and already you’re back here, thinking of accepting our offer,” he said, snorting, a thin puff of smoke escaping his nostrils.

“How did you know about—”

“Please, we know everything,” he said.

“Madeline, you have nowhere else to go. And this is where you belong,” Hael said as if he was talking to a client.

~Belong? What does he mean ~belong~?~

“Why? Why do I ~belong~ here?” I demanded. “You keep saying weird shit like that, and I don’t understand it. Every time I’m around the two of you, I feel like I’m the punch line to a joke that I’m not in on.”

“We’re pushing her too fast,” Hael said to Loch, a concerned look on his face.

“See, shit like that! What does that even mean?” I shouted, getting more aggravated by the second.

“Fucking hell,” Loch said, rolling his eyes. “All right, mouse, let me put this in terms you can understand. We’re into you. As in attracted. Intrigued. Spellbound. Whatever. We don’t have a choice, really. And neither do you. I know you feel it too.”

“I…uh…what?”

I was dumbfounded. I had no words. He really just came out and said it.

Though, I had been thinking it for days.

“So, because we’re all in this mess together, we probably ought to get to know each other, yeah? So how ’bout a date tonight—the three of us. And maybe Adara and her boy toy can join.”

I didn’t know what to say. Loch was being super blunt, and I was totally unprepared to respond.

But one thing he said struck a nerve, and I was almost scared to ask…

“You said…the ~three~ of us?” I squeaked.

“That’s right,” he said with a devilish smirk. “Hael and I like to share.”