4-Ever Theirs: Four to Score, Book 1 Read online

  “Sorry!” The guy grinned as he braced her until she was steady.

  “No problem.” She smiled back.

  “Meeting new men already, huh?” Peter returned, swishing the neon-pink umbrella through her drink a few times before handing it over. “I know I won’t be lucky enough to keep you for long.”

  She laughed before taking a sip, then another, of the sweet concoction. “This is delicious. I can’t taste the alcohol with all this stuff in here.”

  “I think that’s the point.” He smiled then tucked her against him as he swayed in time to the beat that began to reverberate through her the more she imbibed.

  By the time her straw sucked pure air, she was already feeling looser. Warmer too, though Peter’s thigh pressed between hers as they settled into the rhythm might have had something to do with that. She was in capable hands with him.

  “Come on, let’s dance for a bit.” He set her empty glass on a tray at the edge of the room along with his own. Then he tugged her onto the floor and showed that his hip action was nearly as good as Simon’s. She might have forgotten to breathe for a bit since the room seemed to spin. Or maybe that was anticipation along with a solid buzz.

  Either way, she couldn’t say she minded the sensation much.

  By the time Peter’s hands began to wander up her thighs, below the hem of her skirt, she had started peeking around for the entrance to the lower level and the temptations she’d heard about. The impressive bulge rubbing her ass when she spun her back to his front and let him lead her through the song didn’t hurt either.

  He dipped his head and took her earlobe between his teeth, making her tremble when he asked, “Ready for more?”

  Without bothering to speak, she nodded.

  “Good girl, Andi,” he crooned before escorting her from the floor.

  The band of his arm around her waist was welcome. It kept her upright and moving toward the experience she’d been hoping to have tonight despite the extra wobble in her knees. Probably from arousal—didn’t all her romance books describe it as causing weak knees?—along with that drink he’d treated her to. It had been a strong motherfucker, that was for sure.

  She was sticking to beer next time.

  Andi shook her head to clear it some as they navigated a set of curving stairs to the level below. When she slipped, Peter caught her, sweeping her into his arms.

  A riot of giggles escaped her parted lips. She clung to his neck, hoping he wouldn’t notice how blitzed she was and turn her away. Willing herself to sober up, she concentrated on the feel of his flexing muscles beneath her cheek.

  Until he ruined the moment by muttering under his breath, “Ah fuck, I might have given you too much…”

  Too much?

  As if he’d plunged her into a pool of ice water, every ounce of her flirty excitement vanished.

  Too much what, exactly?

  Immediately, the chemical formula of a half-dozen date rape drugs sprang to mind. Or at least they would have if her brain cells had functioned properly. Alcohol wasn’t the culprit here, though when mixed with whatever else he’d given her, it could amplify the effects. Oh fuck, she was in trouble.

  “You drugged my drink?” Andi cringed as her accusation slurred. She wished she could slap him. Her hand felt as if it were forged from steel where it dangled by her side. So did her tongue, for that matter.

  Sound assaulted her ears in garbled waves.

  “It’ll help you relax. That’s all, honey. Don’t worry. This is what you want, remember?” Then why was his hand over her mouth, threatening to suffocate her even as it prevented her from shouting out. “You’ll thank me tomorrow.”

  No, she would fucking not!

  Andi fought. He’d crossed every single one of her lines. The entire point of this night was supposed to be about claiming independence. Taking control of her sexuality on her terms. Not on someone else’s or at the whims of some chemical reaction.

  “Shhh…” he warned as he ducked into a private room and bolted the door. Without breaking a sweat, he subdued her revolt. Thrashing brought bile to her throat, weakening her further.

  Slumping in his hold, Andi realized too late that there was nothing she could do to stop what was about to turn her night of discovery into one that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

  Peter dropped her onto a relatively soft surface, maybe a bed. She couldn’t focus enough to tell.

  A tear tracked down her face as he ripped her panties.

  “Don’t cry. I’m still going to make it good for you. I swear.” His promises didn’t reassure her in the least. Because this couldn’t possibly be further from the dreams she’d had of what tonight would be like. “Give it a minute. You’ll be into it again. Calm down.”

  When another tear fell, he shook her, hard. The jostling rattled her teeth and caused her to bite her tongue. The iron tang of blood filled her mouth.

  “Stop being dramatic. You’re going to like this. Let me show you.”

  Did he really believe that bullshit?

  Andi wished she had enough control to hammer him in the balls. Despite repeated attempts, her limbs did nothing more than flop around as he manhandled her. Gathering the last of her willpower, she focused on making her throat work. A scream escaped. Or at least she hoped she hadn’t simply imagined the desperate sound. “Help!”

  Then only flashes passed before her eyes as she struggled to keep them open and failed.

  Peter’s face contorted in rage. His fist zooming toward her.

  A crash in the distance.

  “Andi!”

  Wishful thinking made her imagine she heard her roommates answer her silent prayers. The idea of them nearby brought her a shred of comfort right before she blacked out.

  Chapter Three

  Reed sat at the bar, rattling the remnants of the ice cubes in his glass. Shitty whiskey seared a few layers of cells from the inside of his esophagus. It couldn’t touch the chill in his chest from their near miss with Andi.

  He’d seen the look in Cooper’s eyes as he’d emerged from their bathroom earlier.

  They’d made it this long without fucking up. Making a mistake now, with a single week left until graduation, would be unforgiveable. But damn how he’d wanted to do the wrong thing for once in his life.

  Andi wasn’t theirs. No matter how much they’d wished she could have been over the past four years. Soon she wouldn’t even be their roommate. Their constant torture. Their daily reminder that there might never be a more perfect woman for them to share. One who happened to be completely off-limits too.

  Fuck.

  Simon had been right. They needed to get laid tonight. Badly.

  With finals and work study they hadn’t had time to blow off steam lately. So they’d agreed to treat themselves to a reward of sorts. A night out at Flesh, the one place in town where their reputation was an asset instead of a hindrance.

  Already they’d been approached by no less than a half-dozen women eager to try out their legendary brand of passion. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to appeal to the guys. Hell, he didn’t give a shit who they picked. They would never be the one woman he wanted, so he always went for whatever piqued Cooper and Simon’s interest for a night.

  A couple of nicely stacked women in sparkly g-strings hopped onto the bar to give them a better view of their offering. The only thing he could think of was finding glitter clinging to his dick in the shower later. It would piss him off that he’d settled for someone so vastly different than Andi.

  Again.

  Reed swallowed. It was getting harder to do this.

  What would happen when he couldn’t stick with Cooper and Simon anymore?

  Would they go on without him?

  Would their bond be broken?

  He wasn’t sure he could stand to lose them too.

  Prepared to get his head in the game and perform like they expected him to, he cracked his knuckles.

  “Oh, great. Are you in a shitty mood?”
someone familiar asked as he crashed onto the stool beside him. “Because I don’t need any more drama tonight.”

  Reed smiled despite himself. “Hey, Peter, what’s up?”

  The guy grunted, ordered a couple of doubles then dropped his head in his hands as if trying to keep his brains between his ears while he waited for the alcohol to start flowing. Reed could relate.

  Cooper leaned in from Reed’s other side. He couldn’t resist teasing the guy. “Can’t find anyone to play with or what?”

  “Sort of, I guess. But worse.” He shrugged as Simon got up and walked over to stand behind Reed and Peter for the whole story. “I was supposed to be meeting this chick my sister set me up with. Kind of a pity date thing. Probably for the best we didn’t meet up. It would have been a guaranteed lay, but boring as hell, I’m sure. Still, Veronica is going to be pissed. She really likes this girl and wanted me to kind of look out for her, you know? Nobody can hold a grudge like my sister, and I need to borrow her truck to move out next week. That’s probably not gonna happen now.”

  “Well, did you check with Micah at the door? Or is she a complete no-show?” Reed wondered. “Can’t be held against you if she chickened out.”

  “That’s just it.” He scrunched his eyes closed for a moment then slammed the first drink the bartender set in front of him. “She’s here somewhere. Micah let her in with her goddamned date.”

  “I don’t get it,” Simon interrupted. “I thought that was supposed to be you?”

  “Here’s the part Veronica’s going to have my balls over.” He downed the second shot then cleared his throat. “I was at a friend’s earlier today. We were smoking weed. I was high and bragged to some other dude who was hanging out about coming over here tonight to meet her…”

  Reed groaned. What an idiot! “And he scooped her out from under you.”

  Peter hung his head. “Yeah, I think so. I passed around the picture and note from my sister. They know everything I do about her. Ah, well. Hopefully they’re having a helluva time and my sister will never figure out it wasn’t actually me who boned her. The only thing that’s kinda bugging me—”

  “What?” Reed’s eyes narrowed. If it wasn’t that some young girl was getting fucked by a stranger who was lying to her, what would trip his faulty conscience?

  “Well, the guy we were toking with…” He grimaced then looked over at Reed with dread in his eyes. “I think he sells Mind Erasers sometimes.”

  “Roofies?” Simon nearly lunged over Reed’s back as he snarled. He’d never hurt a woman, or stand for someone else to do it either.

  “You’re a fucking dumbass, Pete.” Cooper cursed. “What’s this girl look like? Maybe we saw her.”

  “She’s kind of natural and sweet. Dark hair past her shoulders, straight. No fake orange tan bullshit either. Nice full lips, curvy…about this tall.” He held his hand at just the spot Andi had looked up at Reed from earlier, after she’d dolled herself up for her bold night out. “I was sort of looking forward to something different. Shit. My sister’s gonna kill me. They’re chemistry lab partners.”

  Warning bells went off in Reed’s head. His stare whipped to Simon’s then Cooper’s. Their faces were downright ghostly.

  “What’s her name?” Simon barked before he could.

  “Andi. With an I even. How cute is that shit?”

  “Jesus. Peter, tell the manager. Put security on it. Now!” Reed stood up fast enough he knocked the stool to the ground, scattering dancers around them. Cooper leapt to his feet. Already standing, Simon had a lead of a few paces on them. He was a fast fucker when he needed to be. And he didn’t hesitate for a moment.

  They would have gone on a seek-and-destroy mission to stop this guy even if they didn’t know the woman he was likely about to abuse, but…Andi. No! They had to find her.

  Fast.

  Waiting for the authorities wasn’t an option.

  Who knew what that asshole would do to her? She didn’t belong in a place like this. Could be taken advantage of so easily. Why hadn’t she told them the truth about what she was doing tonight?

  Because they would have acted like barbarians, of course. Prohibited her from going.

  At least she would have been safe, if furious. Her anger he could handle, the alternative…he could not. Would not.

  “Andi!” he shouted, though no one heard him above the blaring music. He hauled his phone from his jeans and poked her picture in his contact list. It went straight to voicemail.

  They blew through the main floor as if by some unspoken agreement. If she was still up there, dancing, the bouncers could deal with the situation. But if she’d already gone down below…

  Reed ran faster.

  He cleared the three flights of stairs to the underground playrooms with a leap for each one. “Split up!”

  He bolted through a corridor they’d strolled along together on numerous other occasions, much more pleasant ones, while Connor and Simon searched others. He thought of all the things they’d done together in the shadowy corners of the club and couldn’t imagine how someone would enjoy taking instead of giving to their partner here.

  Breaking plenty of rules, which would get him banned from Flesh for life, he interrupted more than one couple in the middle of a delicate situation. The cell phone in his pocket was another violation. He didn’t give a shit. It might be necessary to call for help when he found Andi. When. No matter how many rooms he barged into, they weren’t the right ones.

  Shit! Were they too late?

  Had the creep taken Andi somewhere else instead?

  Behind him, Cooper and Simon were causing just as much of a ruckus as he had.

  With only a few more areas to clear, a shriek rent the air. “Help!”

  His heart stopped.

  “Andi!” Reed skipped ahead to the source of the scream. He bashed the door with his shoulder, ignoring the pain that radiated along his arm when the solid wood shuddered but didn’t cave. He backed up then kicked, this time splintering a section. Another smash of his boot blasted it wide open.

  And there she was, unconscious, at the mercy of some date-raping scum. He called to his roommates, “Over here, guys!”

  Simultaneously, his fingers curled into a fist.

  “Hey, what are you doing? This is a private—”

  The bastard never finished his sentence. It would have been hard to minus the teeth Reed popped from his too-pretty face, knocking him out cold in the process.

  He didn’t waste any effort on pummeling the guy. There’d be plenty of time for punishment later, after they’d made sure Andi was okay.

  She was his first priority.

  Now and always.

  Simon and Cooper raced into the room, shouting curses when they took in the rivulet of blood trickling over her cheek and the ripped underwear dangling from a corner of the bed.

  If this fuckwad had raped her, he wouldn’t live.

  Reed roared, but wouldn’t be distracted from his primary goal.

  Afraid to touch her with so much rage storming through him, he looked to Cooper, who rushed to Andi and gathered her in his arms. He leaned down and allowed her breath to dust his cheek before gently touching the pulse point in her neck. Satisfied, he tried to rouse her. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”

  He shook her softly, trying to bring her around with encouraging nonsense as Simon trotted into the hall to flag down a staff member. The call for medical assistance came shortly after.

  Reed’s heart slammed so hard in his chest, he was afraid it might crack a rib. He’d never been so scared in his entire life as he was at that moment. When he returned, Simon didn’t crowd Andi. Instead, he came to stand by Reed, putting a hand lightly on his forearm.

  “We’ve got her. No one’s going to hurt her anymore.”

  “Damn straight, they’re not,” he rasped, barely reining in the urge to kick the shithead on the floor.

  Whatever it took to keep her safe, they would do it.

  Cooper loo
ked over at them and nodded softly, as though he could hear Reed’s thoughts.

  Then it was chaos. He found himself blocking a crowd from flooding the room, stealing the last of Andi’s privacy. Unmovable, he kept everyone out until the EMTs arrived a few minutes later.

  Reed, Cooper and Simon watched as they worked on Andi, stabilizing her.

  “She’s lucky you got here when you did,” the first responder admitted in a conspiratorial whisper. “It doesn’t look like he’d raped her yet. The drugs will clear out of her system by themselves in twenty-four hours or so. It wasn’t a dangerous dose. Well, other than…”

  “Yeah. Thanks.” It was all he could manage.

  Reed stood by the gurney as they prepared to wheel Andi out to the waiting ambulance. He clasped her hand tight. Maybe too tight since her eyes fluttered open.

  “Hey,” he murmured. “You’re going to be okay.”

  Just then a woman approached. “Reed?”

  He couldn’t remember her name, but he hadn’t forgotten how it felt to be buried in her ass while Cooper fucked her pussy and Simon fed her his cock. Not exactly something he felt comfortable reliving with Andi there, wounded. “I heard what happened. I’m so sorry.”

  “Not now.” He dismissed her without ever looking away from Andi.

  Cooper and Simon flanked him, keeping the woman at a safe distance. But he’d hurt her feelings, something he prided himself on never doing with the women they enjoyed together. It was a personal low for him, and she got caught in the crossfire.

  “Cut him some slack, please?” Cooper tried to reverse the damage Reed had done. “Andi is special to us.”

  “Unlike me, who was just some random lay you three shared? I was wrong about you guys. You’re like all the rest. Total assholes,” she snipped before marching away, justifiably offended by their callous disregard when she’d only been trying to be kind.

  Reed couldn’t find it in him to care. He still stared at Andi.

  Which was how he knew she’d heard exactly what the woman had said. Her eyes grew wide. She sucked in several rapid, ragged breaths through the oxygen mask covering her mouth.