Whispers of Salvation (updated), page 23
part #1 of Whispers of Salvation Series
“Exactly! What if we go on this date, and he realizes that he doesn’t like me at all? People change; what if he’s just built me up in his head, and I can’t meet those expectations? I can’t lose him, Brenn. It’ll kill me.”
Before I can continue with my rant, a voice appears at the doorway.
“Can I have a moment with my girlfriend?” Atlas asks, his voice hard.
Brenn nods and starts to leave, pressing a quick kiss on my forehead. Atlas closes the door the moment Brenn leaves the room before marching over to where I’m standing, my arms wrapped around my middle.
Stopping before me, he puts his hands on my shoulders and leads me over to the bed, making me sit on the edge.
He gets down on his knees and scoots forward, my legs naturally parting for him to fit between. He cups my face, making me look him in the eyes.
“You think I want anything more from you than what you can give me?” Atlas asks me, his tone stern.
“Well, no, but I’m just so scared to lose you.”
“You never will, Autumn, ever. I have no expectations for you; apart from that, you just be who you are. I love you because you are you.”
“But…” I trail off, looking away from him.
“But?”
“What if I’m not enough?”
“You are more than enough, Pumpkin. I don’t know how to make it clearer that I will only ever want you. If you told me today that we were done, I’d stalk you from the shadows so that I could still be in your presence."
“You’re crazy.”
“Crazy about you. Now, how about I show you how crazy I am about you, then you let me take you out on that date I promised.”
“Okay?”
I expect him to pull me in for a kiss, something we haven’t really moved past since the night I ground on him.
But Atlas is full of surprises tonight because he lays me back on the bed and pushes the skirt of my dress up my thighs until it’s around my waist.
He kisses up my parted thighs as he does, gently grazing the skin with his teeth. He’s teasing me, and I think I’m going crazy from the anticipation, but I know we both need this as much as the other.
To make me feel desired and wanted. Atlas’s teeth grazing over my panties brings me out of my thoughts.
“Can I touch you, baby?” he asks me.
“Please,” I whine.
His fingers dip into the hem of my panties and pull them down my legs before letting them fall to the floor. His palms cover the inside of my thighs before he pushes my legs open wider, then inches his hand up towards my shaved pussy. His thumb parts my folds, lightly grazing over my swollen clit from how turned on I am right now.
He continues to slowly move it up and down my folds before circling over my clit.
He teases my entrance with his middle finger before sliding it into my heat, working in tandem with his thumb circling my nub.
“I want to touch you, too,” I beg.
Pulling back from where he was watching his finger fuck me, he searches my face.
“You don’t have to. This is about you.”
“I want to. Please.” I whine. I need to touch him, to feel his cock in my hand, too, as he makes me feel good.
He withdraws his finger and sucks it into his mouth, his eyes rolling back into his head.
“You taste like heaven, Pumpkin. Fuck.”
He stands from his spot between my legs and undoes his belt.
“Take my cock out baby.” He tells me.
Reaching out with shaky fingers, I undo the button on his jeans before pulling down the zipper.
Shucking them down around his thick thighs, I stroke over the outline of his hard cock in his boxers.
He shudders.
Feeling empowered to continue, I don’t pull him out just yet. I keep running my fingers over his cloth-covered cock, gently grazing my nails over it too. His hand comes to wrap around my hand, making me squeeze his cock. It’s thick and long.
“I don’t think that’s ever going to fit in me,” I tell him with a gulp.
“We’ll make it fit, baby. Now pull down my boxers and wrap your hand around my cock, while I make you feel good too.”
I do as I’m told and pull down his boxers. His cock springs out; it’s hard and angry-looking right now, precum leaking at the tip.
“You see what you do to me, Autumn? No one other than you has ever made me this hard. No one other than you has ever touched this cock. It’s yours, baby. Whatever you want to do to it, it’s all for you.” He tells me before he pushes me to lie back down.
He comes to kneel at my side, his cock within the grasp of my hand, while he begins to run his hand over my pussy again before dipping his finger back in between my folds.
“Fuck, you are so fucking wet Autumn.” He groans.
I wrap my hand around his bare length and gently start to stroke it.
It’s soft and velvety feeling, and suddenly, I have the urge to know what it’ll feel like inside my mouth. So, I prop myself up on my arm, using my other hand to keep stroking him.
Atlas inserts a second finger and crooks them inside me, making me gasp.
“Fuck.” I breathe out.
I lean forward as far as I can and take the head of his cock into my mouth, sucking on it while using my hand to stroke near the base.
Atlas bucks into my mouth.
“Fuck baby, you don’t have to do that.”
Pulling back, I continue with my strokes.
“I want to. I want to know what you taste like.” I tell him before taking his cock back into my mouth before he can say anything else.
I can feel my orgasm building, so I start to suck faster, matching his strokes as he fucks my pussy with his fingers, his thumb circling my clit.
I can feel my pussy fluttering around his fingers, my orgasm nearly there.
“Come for me, Autumn. Come all over my fingers.” He demands.
So, I do.
I scream out my release around his cock, muffling my moans.
He continues to pump his fingers in and out of me slowly, prolonging my orgasm.
Swirling my tongue around the head of his cock, I can taste the saltiness of his precum, and I know he’s close.
He tries to pull away.
“I’m going to cum baby.” He says, but I tap him on the thigh once and continue my ministrations. He withdraws his fingers from inside of me and uses my juices to circle my clit, working his fingers in a circle, moving faster until I can feel another orgasm building inside of me.
I shatter again, but this time, he follows me over the edge.
His salty cum fills my mouth, and I swallow.
Pulling my mouth from his cock with a pop, I look up at him, but he’s smiling down at me with a heated expression.
Before I can protest, he’s pulling me up into his arms, kissing me wildly even though I’ve just swallowed his cum.
“I love you, Pumpkin.”
“I love you, Atty.”
“Always have, always will.” He tells me.
I repeat the same before snuggling my head into the crook of his neck, feeling sleepy.
“Come on, Pumpkin, we still have a date to get to.”
He stands with me, placing me on the ground before putting his flaccid cock back into his boxers and pants.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Atlas tells me before he walks out of my room after quickly kissing me again.
I quickly right my dress before rushing into the bathroom to pee and then brush my teeth. Replacing the panties, he took off me with a clean pair; I check my hair and make-up in the mirror.
Deciding I look good, I make my way downstairs and come face to face with all my boyfriends.
“What are you all doing here?” I ask them.
“We’ve come to have a game night with Brenn. But now I want to crash your date. You look so fucking beautiful, Babygirl.” Tobias strides towards me, takes my hand, and makes me give him a twirl. “Perfection.” He says before he dips me for a kiss.
“Thank you.” I blush.
Thank god for make-up - otherwise, they’d all see how red I feel right now.
“Fuckkk me, Cupcake. How about you ditch Golden Boy here and let me show you how hot I think you are right now.” Dominic bounds over to me, twirling me in his arms until my back is pressed against his front; he nips my neck with his teeth, causing me to groan.
Matching groans surround us, breaking me out of the little bubble Dominic created around us.
“Paws off. She’s mine tonight.” Atlas growls out, causing my already damp panties to get wetter.
“But - sharing is caring.” Dominic pouts, then grunts when I elbow him in the ribs.
“No,” I tell him, removing myself from his arms and move towards Atlas.
Before I even get a few steps away, I’m being pulled into Zander's embrace, and I breathe him in. He smells like freshly baked bread and rosemary, which means he’s making focaccia.
“Save me some bread, Muffin-man.”
“Anything for you, Princess.” His voice rumbles, causing shivers to travel down my spine.
His head tips down, so I go on my tiptoes to meet him halfway.
He pulls me in for a kiss, deeper than usual but still not enough. This time, I can’t help but pout.
“Soon, Princess, I promise.” He tells me, kissing me on the forehead, then pushes me into the arms of Sebastian with a pat on my bum.
“Well, hello there, Sunshine. Are you looking forward to your date?”
“Yup,” I tell him with a bright smile.
“Have fun!” He tells us both, kissing me on the lips before letting me go.
My dad walks in, coming over to me and pulling me into a side hug, “You look gorgeous, Little Monster,” he tells me before turning to Atlas, “Be good to my little girl.” He growls before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.
“Shiver. Actual shivers.” Dominic says, showing his arm that has goosebumps.
Raising a brow at him in response, he shrugs before saying, “Your dad is a scary guy, Cupcake. You can’t blame me.”
“My dad is not scary.” I protest, causing the guys to laugh.
Rolling my eyes, I finally manage to make my way over to Atlas and link my arm through his.
“Ready, Pumpkin?”
“Yup. Get me out of here before Dominic tries to steal me again.” I laugh.
“Got it,” he says before he lifts me in his arms bridal style and runs out of the backdoor towards the lake.
Chapter 27
Autumn
Halfway there, he tells me to close my eyes, and I happily oblige.
"Open," Atlas’s voice rumbles in my ear, and I gasp at the sight in front of me.
There’s a blanket by the lake, filled with pillows and little tealight candles in mason jars. There’s a basket, which I’m hoping contains food, and some Coca-Cola cans next to it in a box of ice.
The tree that’s next to the picnic blanket has string lights wrapped around it and hanging from the branches with a warm glow.
Tears spring to my eyes when I realize how much effort he’s put into it.
“You did all this?”
“I had some help. Dominic managed to spider monkey his way up the tree to hang the lights, and Zander cooked the food because I apparently can’t be trusted to feed his Princess right. His words, not mine.”
“Thank you, Atty. This is amazing.”
“Come on, let’s get you some food before Zander comes out and force-feeds you.”
He leads me over to the beautifully lit blanket and helps me lower to the ground before placing a brown blanket over my legs.
Sitting down next to me, our thighs touching, he drags the blanket so it’s covering us both.
We decide to play twenty questions while we eat.
“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” I ask.
“Does the world already have heroes, or would I be the only one?” Atlas counters.
“Hmm…” I think, tapping my chin with my finger like a villain, “There are other heroes.”
“Then I’d want to have regeneration like Deadpool.”
“Lameee.” I drag the word out.
“Ok, miss smarty pants. What would your power be?”
“I would be a borrower. One touch and I store that person’s powers, that I can use whenever I like, and that person will never even know that I did it.”
“Wow! I didn’t know that my girlfriend was a super-villain.” He mock gasps.
“I am not a villain!” I protest, throwing a chocolate-covered strawberry at his head.
“That’s villain behavior, baby.” He plucks the strawberry from his lap and pops it into his mouth.
We finish off the food from the basket.
Zander put so much thought into it, considering it wasn’t even his date.
A spread of chocolate-covered strawberries, roast chicken and pepper subs, and his homemade macaroni cheese topped with breadcrumbs, bacon bits, and tomatoes. It was warm, too, so the cheese was perfectly gooey.
Remembering to thank him later for being so thoughtful, I turn my thoughts back to the man sitting next to me.
“You have one last question to ask.” I remind him, turning my body to face him instead of the lake; reaching over, I link our hands together, his dwarfing mine.
“What do you want your future to look like?” he asks me.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. Atlas’s eyes fill with hurt. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just before my future was going to be raising Chloe. Then, that was ripped away from me. I nearly died; I did die. Now, I’m just trying to survive. I love you, and I’m falling in love with the others, but I’m still trying to figure out what my life looks like without Chloe.”
“I understand.” And I know he does, but I can still see the lingering hurt in his eyes, so I continue.
“I know you do. I need you to know that the future I see has all of you in it. We might not be happy all the time, but we would be happy.”
The hurt fades from his eyes, replaced by fierce determination.
“You know, I will do everything in my power to make you happy every single day of our lives.”
“And I appreciate that, but it’s not logical. We’ll have fights.” he opens his mouth to protest, but I raise my finger to stop him, “We’ll have fights, and god do I want us to, because it’s normal. I want normal with you, Atlas. I want normal with you all.”
Atlas doesn’t say anything, but he reaches over and drags me into his lap.
His hand curls in my hair before he pulls me into a heated kiss that makes my toes curl.
“I want normal with you too, Pumpkin.”
Stroking my fingers over the tattoo that he got for me, I can’t help but hope that we’ll get that one day.
I’m not delusional enough to think that it will happen right away, and maybe not ever, but I can hope that we get to have what we consider normal since our relationship dynamic is unique. I want them all to come home to me every night.
I want children with them all.
I want everything with them.
Slowly, over the last five months, these men have wormed their way into my patchworked heart. It will never be whole, not without Chloe, but it’s close since they have all filled it with so much love since they met me.
Yawning, I lean into Atlas further, his arms flexing around my waist.
“I love you, Autumn. Always have, always will.”
“I love you too. Always have, always will.”
“Let’s get you home to your bed. You’re beat, and I don’t want my ass kicked because I kept you out all night.”
“Ok,” I say around another yawn.
I help Atlas pack up the picnic; he left the lights around the tree when I asked.
I want it to become a place that I can come to when I want to be alone.
We head back to the house, laughing and joking on the way.
Atlas opens the backdoor for me and gestures for me to go ahead; as I step through, I hear the others laughing in the games room.
Dropping the blanket, I was carrying onto the dining room table, I take off into a sprint to the room.
“Autumn! Slow down before you slip!” Atlas bellows after me.
Refusing to listen, I run straight into the room, beelining for Zander. I dropped myself into his lap, dislodging the controller he was holding, and wrap my arms around his middle.
“Thank you for preparing all that food for our date. I loved it.” I tell him, planting a wet kiss on his cheek.
Zander’s ears turn pink, so unlike the gentle giant I’m used to.
“You’re welcome, Princess.” He kisses my cheek back, then pulls me further into his embrace, stroking his hand over my thigh.
Resting my head on his shoulder, I get a front-row seat to a huffing Atlas storming through the doorway.
“I told you to slow down.” He huffs out.
“Uh oh. What did you do?” Zander whispers into my ear.
Looking up at him, I try my best to make myself look as innocent as possible.
“Me?” I say, pointing at myself, “I did nothing; I may or may not have lightly jogged here so I could say thank you.”
“Uh-huh.” He says disbelievingly.
“Liar. You sprinted here. You still need to be careful. You could have slipped.” Atlas admonishes.
“If I say sorry, will you come cuddle instead of being mad?”
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry?”
“That’s not even a proper apology! It was more of a question.”
“What did you expect from a super-villain babe?”
“You are so lucky. I love you.” He tells me before he storms over, throwing himself into the seat next to Zander. He grabs my feet and pulls them into his lap.
Quickly leaning over, I kiss his cheek, too.
“Yes, I am.”
Waking up in my bed is so disorientating since the last thing I remember is being in the games room with everyone.
Realizing I must have fallen asleep, I turn over, expecting to bump into a hard body, but come up empty.
Reaching for my phone, knowing the guys always put it on my nightstand when I do this, I open it up to a text from Zander.
