Miss Nobody

Chapter 42

LICK OR ISH

Evening Day 24

Jonny knelt next to the tub and grabbed my chin. "I gave all that up for you. Not Maracella. If I wanted Maracella or any other woman, I would not be hiding out here in the middle of the forest. Six months of snow is not my idea of a good time."

The bath water was getting cold and a chill racked my body.

Jonny reached into the water and pulled out the drain stopper. As the water swirled down he helped me stand and turned the shower on.

"What about the trafficking?" I looked at him seriously. I could overlook everything else, justify it, but trafficking humans was beyond what I was willing to accept.

"Is that what the owners of Papa's Vintage are to you, trafficking victims?"

I rinsed myself under the warm water and contemplated. The ladies seemed to love Jonny, even praising him for his help.

"There will be talk about us and the things we do, we don't deny the worst of it but that isn't always the reality."

I shampooed my hair instead of watching him take off his pants.

"I've done a lot of things to get where I am today. I did what I had to do to protect my family. I'm not ashamed and I will not apologize."

I rinsed my hair and he stepped into the shower, pulling me close to him. "When I saw you step off that train, I knew right there I would do anything for you. I tried to leave, to stay away from you until my deal was over, that didn't work. So I gathered an army, even before we made love. I'll do anything in my power to keep you safe."

My hands reached for Jonny's chest. I could just disappear and take my problems with me. That would keep everyone around me safe. I shook my head and lightly pushed him away. The stakes were too high.

"I'm not asking you to choose," he said lowly, "I'm not giving you up either." He pulled me in close and held me. "I will go to war to protect you." His heart beat softly in my ear. "Even if I have to share you with others."

War? With one of the biggest gangs on the West Coast. "I'm just so overwhelmed," I said to his chest. Can he protect me from Keiran or will everything Keiran experienced come back to me? Now that Keiran and Elenora can no longer be used by my evil mother, who else will she send? Will any of this even matter if I drown in the lake?

He kissed me on the forehead and picked up the conditioner bottle. "I know, we'll just take it one day at a time." He spread the conditioner throughout my hair while I soaped his bruised chest and stomach, carefully. "It's nice when you're around like I can finally take a deep breath."

I nodded as my hands wrapped around his waist. I felt it too. The release of tension, the feeling of safety. The stillness.

"One more thing, Diego is a fucking asshole, don't let him get to you. Just tell him off like you do Keiran." His cock was hard against his stomach and my breasts slippery with the soap lathered onto his chest. His hand gently spread the soap over my breasts and soft stomach.

I sucked in a breath as he gently pulled at my nipples. They hardened under his attention and I moaned softly. My hands gripped his cock up and down, pulling back his foreskin and playing with his sensitive head.

Jonny threw his head back and growled low in his throat.

A knock on the bathroom door interrupted us.

Jonny's growl turned into a chuckle and he kissed me briefly before yelling at the door. "This better be really fucking important."

Bishop pushed the door open and leaned against the door frame. "We need to find Cherry's body."

I looked at Jonny. "This is important." I sighed and stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my hair and a second one around my body. I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed the Sheriff on the lips. They both needed to know what they were getting into if they wanted to move forward with me.

He was surprised but looked at Jonny with a 'fuck you' grin.

"There's another camera in my light. Can you find it?" I asked, unable to keep the quiver out of my voice.

He put his fingers gently on my chin and turned my black and blue eye to his view. "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't thinking...and I...just-"

"It's okay. We all want to punch him." I wiped the tears away and tried to push the anger and frustration down in my gut. I imagined peeling Keirans skin from him in small chunks.

Bishop nodded and removed the glass from my light. He fished out a small black box like the one in my flowers.

I sighed and stepped out of the bathroom. I looked through my makeshift closet, glad the suitcase, still leaning against the wall at Bishop's, was small, leaving me plenty of clothing still hanging up.

I thought of Keiran briefly. Even though a pinprick was small I could still feel him and a quick thought about him made our connection bigger. I hated him for what he put me through but underneath, I could feel his sadness, anger, loneliness. I saw each time he would be forced to punish himself for not following my cunt of a mother's orders.

He tried his best to stay away from me but spell after spell would be done to ensure his loyalty and obedience. Eventually he would break free from the trance, his mind was strong. But they would bring him to heel with progressively stronger Magics, potions, poisons.

Some of those strong Magics might have a way to break the spell done to us. I wanted Keiran out of my head.

Diego watched me from my bed.

I ignored him and dropped the towel, giving everyone a full view. I heard the shower turn off as I pulled a black dress over my head.

Jonny came out of the bathroom, his dirty black jeans slung low on his hips.

Bishop too, just wearing dirty jeans.

I dug through a drawer and pulled out some thick tights. All of my leggings were still in the suitcase. I was left with tights, nylons and stockings, all of the impractical things. No bras or underwear either.

The three men watched me as I dressed in silence.

I tried to ignore them, act like they weren't there, even though my fantasy of being with all three of them wouldn't leave me alone, and by sheer willpower I was able to keep my blushing and hand trembling to a minimum.

I knelt down in front of Diego and dug under my bed for some shoes. My ass was in the air, teasing them. As nervous as I was feeling, I had become brave with their eyes on me. Powerful. I took my time moving the shoes around, none of which made it into my suitcase. I pulled out a well-worn pair of black boots and sat on the floor to put them on. I broke the silence of the room, "we can stop by...wherever you're staying and get you some clothes?" I looked at Jonny.

He nodded slightly, grinning.

***

Which was apparently Chef's rooms, kind of. Tools and piles of wood lay out in front of his chicken coop, next to his porch. "Where are his chickens?" I looked at Jonny.

"We've taken them to our mom's ranch. She'll take good care of them."

"Is this like when we tell little kids their favorite pet has gone to a farm but it really got hit by a car and had to be put to sleep?" I meant it as a joke but it was more morbid than I intended.

The corners of Diego's mouth lifted slightly, an amused glint in his eyes. He pushed the door open and I followed him inside.

Jonny chuckled behind me. "No, they're still alive."

"Ormus?" I hadn't seen the pig in a while.

Jonny shook his head. "We haven't been able to find him. He may have gone into the woods."

I looked into the trees briefly, a worried expression on my face.

"He'll be okay." Jonny tried to reassure me.

They had done some extensive remodeling. The walls, save supporting pillars, had been knocked down. Combining Chef's old bedroom, living room, dining and kitchen into a huge open room. A wall of bookcases lined the far wall. A few leather couches and a couple of desks, strategically placed around the room gave the feel of a study or library.

Ben was nailing some finishing tacks into molding at the top of the bookcases. A large table near the kitchen area was set up with beakers and glass vials, a bunsen burner. Ready for herbal extract making. All of Chef's equipment had been cleaned and set up in an organized and well-thought-out way.

"I'll show you our new rooms while I change." Jonny's fingers intertwined with mine and he pulled me toward the bookcases.

Bishop cleared his throat. "It's best just you and I go, Brother, we really don't have much time."

I pulled my hand from Jonny's and nodded.

"Later then." Jonny winked at me and pulled at a large leather book from a middle shelf. The bookcase turned to the side, revealing a hidden hallway with a door at the very end. Jonny and Bishop disappeared behind the bookcase and I opened one of the books on a nearby table.

Diego came up next to me. "We found Chef's journals." He nodded to the book I was holding.

"Anything interesting?"

"Oh yeah, he liked to write down everything he did, when he brushed his teeth, how many times a day he fucked Jess, what his meals were, the weather. He was thorough."

I raised my eyebrow. "Good for him, was he using anything...you know...to keep it up?" I recalled the various herbs I knew that helped with libido, erectile dysfunctions, wondering if he used something at his advanced age.

Diego chuckled and held up a different book. "His plant experiments are in this one." He walked over to a bookcase. "And this whole case, so far."

I scanned the shelves of journals, neatly dated on the spines. I whispered to Diego, "is Jonny okay?"

"I mean...the other guy died. So, I would say Jonny's doing pretty good." Diego grinned.

Jonny and Bishop came back into the room before I could wonder who Jonny killed this time.

"You guys have been busy." While I was flaunted in front of bidders. A shudder rolled through my body and I tried to shove the memory away. "You did all this when we-" I looked at Bishop. "-were...away?"

"We have help." Jonny shrugged.

"You were right," Diego squinted at me, he didn't like it. "Chef had wards around his books." He didn't elaborate.

I'm guessing they found out the hard way. "Something blew up? So you rebuilt?"

Jonny grinned.

"All the men around here? Your family?"

Diego and Jonny nodded.

I wasn't naive enough to think that they were all literally related, they were probably Jonny's gang members. "How did you guys find us?" They knew I was talking about Elenora's house.

Jonny hesitated, none of us liked talking about these things, "Keiran told us where you were. It took us three days to figure out how to get past all her Magic wards. We went through all of Chef's books." He looked at Diego briefly. "Keiran distracted that crazy bitch while Diego and I broke in, we found Bishop first, in the basement."

Bishop nodded and ran his hand through his thick hair. I thought about all the injuries he had sustained. She tortured him on my behalf.

"Bishop led us the rest of the way to the tower." Jonny shrugged, his jaw tight.

I nodded, he didn't need to continue, I knew what happened after that. Keiran and I were locked into each other's memories and they brought me back to the Lodge. A brief flash of me cutting out Jonny's heart left me breathless and I stood by the open window. Inhaling the fresh, chilly air. "How did you get out of that Magical coma?" The guilt for leaving was overwhelming, at the time I had thought it was to keep everyone safe but I should have stuck around, stood up to Diego, and helped Jonny.

Jonny walked over and put his arms around me, hugging me to him.

I breathed in his clean scent.

"The book you threw at me-" Diego sat on a nearby desk.

"I did not throw a book at you."

He chuckled. "It landed open to the page I needed." He opened the book by his side and flipped to a page, lifting it to me.

I grabbed it from his hands and read, it was a potion. Licorice Root was the main ingredient. I closed the book and looked at the front, this one would be good to read over more, I tucked it under my arm and headed to the island in the kitchen area. "Tell me about the Portal, Jess." I took a deep breath and looked at all the men.

They hesitated.