SHE DREAMED OF THEM. They came to her on the heels of a nightmare. A sweet balm to her battered senses. They replaced images of the devil and hell. Their hands soothed away the hurt.
Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin, their touch gentle, yet demanding, their lips worshipping her body.
Jennie awoke dripping with sweat, need and a healthy dose of embarrassment. Maybe she wasn’t any better than a whore. Maybe kai was right.
She shivered as a chill settled over her damp skin. She looked at the window to see darkness beyond. How long had she slept? Her gaze settled on the bedside clock. Four-thirty. In the morning? It must be.
Chances were the brothers weren’t even awake. It would be a perfect opportunity for her to steal away. She endangered them by staying here.
Kai would find her, and he would kill anyone in his way. And the idea of her three saviors being harmed because of her hurt in a way she couldn’t explain.
She slid her legs from the covers, careful not to make a sound when her feet hit the floor. Her shoes, a simple pair of sneakers, lay by the door, her socks stuffed inside.
She quickly pulled on her socks then laced up her shoes. She had no coat to wear over her thin sweater so she retrieved the flannel shirt she had worn yesterday. It would have to do.
With extreme care, she opened the bedroom door and peered out into the hallway. The other bedroom doors were slightly ajar, much to her chagrin. She’d have to sneak past them the best she could.
She tiptoed down the hall and breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the living room. That is until she saw Taehyung lying on the couch. He must have slept there last night since she’d taken over his room.
A low fire burned in the fireplace, and she longed to go stand in front of it, anything to infuse as much warmth as she could before she stepped into the cold.
Taking in a deep breath, she took small measured steps toward the door. If she could just reach the door.
She glanced over at taehyung who didn’t stir. She reached out a hand for the door and held her breath as she turned the handle.
She opened it a crack and slipped out before a rush of cold air could blow in. She eased the door shut behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d made it.
The icy cold air made quick work of her inadequate clothing and infused an uncomfortable chill into her body.
The Land Rover stood parked in the drive, and for a moment she contemplated taking it, but she wouldn’t steal from the men who had been nothing but kind to her.
She’d walk until she found another means of transportation.
“Going somewhere, princess?”
She whirled in the direction of the voice to see jungkook and jimin standing a few feet away, their arms loaded with firewood.
Her jaw worked up and down, and she struggled to say something, to respond. But nothing would come out. So she did the only thing she could think of. She ran.
Behind her, a set of curses rang out as she sped as quickly as she could across the snow. She had no idea where she was going. She only knew she had to get away.
She hadn’t gotten far when arms plucked her off her feet. She met with a hard chest and found herself staring up into Jungkook’s face.
“Damn it, don’t look at me like that,” he ground out. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’d kill anyone who hurt you.”
She looked at him in complete bewilderment at the possessiveness in his tone.
“Let me go,” she begged. “I can’t stay here.”
“And where would you go?” Jimin demanded beside them. “You wouldn’t survive an hour out here.”
She knew he had a point, but she couldn’t stay here. She didn’t understand the attraction she felt for the brothers, why she shivered if one of them so much as looked at her. One she could understand, but all three of them? What kind of freak did that make her?
“Give me your coat,” Jungkook said to Jimin. “She’s freezing already.”
A moment later, she was bathed in warmth as Jimin’s body heat bled into her. His coat smelled like him, felt like him, as if he held her instead of Jungkook.
“I can’t stay here,” she whispered, dangerously close to tears.
Jungkook stared down at her for a long moment. Then to her complete surprise, he bent his lips to hers and caught her in a long, intense kiss.
He caught her gasp of shock and swallowed it up as his tongue danced over hers. She forgot all resistance as she melted like hot butter into his chest.
Hot tears flooded her eyes, and she let out a moan of distress.
“You’re scaring her, Jungkook,” Jimin growled beside them.
“I’m a whore,” she whispered. “Just like he said.”
Jungkook went rigid, his arms like bands of steel around her body. “Who called you a whore?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet.
She struggled in his arms until he was forced to put her down, but he still kept a firm grip around her wrist.
“Does it matter? He was obviously right,” she said in a tortured voice. “All any of you have to do is look at me and I go up in flames. What kind of woman am I?” she demanded.
“Our woman,” Jimin answered. “That’s the kind it makes you.”
Her mouth rounded in shock at his announcement. She looked back and forth between the two men, looking for an avenue of escape.
“Come on, princess,” Jungkook said gently. “Let’s get you back to the house. You’re freezing. Taehyung ’s not going to be happy about you running.”
She tensed and Jimin spit out another curse. “Quit scaring her, kook.”
“We’d never hurt you, Jennie. You’re going to find out very quickly, that we’d do anything to save you hurt,” Jungkook said, as he bent to swing her back into his arms.
She lay still in his arms as he strode back to the house. Her mind fought to comprehend the bizarre conversation she’d just had with the brothers.
Jimin opened the door, and Jungkook walked into the house with Jennie still in his arms. Taehyung stood a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression formidable.
Despite Jungkook ’s assurances, she began to tremble in his arms. She turned her face into his chest, trying to hide from Taehyung ’s scrutiny. His power terrified her. Kai was nothing next to this man, and yet he’d done so much to hurt her. Taehyung could do much more.
Jungkook’s arms tightened around her. “Don’t be scared, doll,” he whispered in her ear.
He walked her over to the fire and set her down. She quickly arranged herself behind him so he stood as a barrier between her and Taehyung.
To her surprise, Tae laughed. “So is this going to be the way it is? You hide behind Jungkook every time you do something to piss me off?”
She frowned and stuck her head out from behind Jungkook. Taehyung was smiling, and Jimin looked at her with quiet intensity.
For a moment, she saw something in Jimin’s eyes she recognized, could relate to.
“I-I don’t understand,” she began lamely. “I don’t understand any of this.”