Their Terrified Mate

Chapter Sixteen

Seth's hot breath lands on my neck and I shake as he moves toward my lips.

"Fuck," he says, reaching a hand in between my legs. "You're so hot." He kisses me, lips rough and careless, at the same times as he pushes two fingers into my ass.

It hurts and I open my mouth to scream at the same time as he bites my lip and fucks me on his fingers.

"Stop," I beg, "oh, God. Please stop."

He just laughs against me, hot breath fanning my face and I feel disgusting, like I want to scrape my skin off, every inch where he's touched me.

I squirm against him, trying to free my arms from against his strong hand. I almost make it, too. I'm so close to freedom, my arms almost out of his grasp when he takes his fingers out of me. For one stupid second I hope that he's done, that I've given him too much trouble and he's going to give up.

That hope is shattered when he takes that hand and slaps me across the face, hard. It jars my head, knocking it to the other side and I whimper.

"You fucking bitch," he says, "shut the fuck up."

I shake my head. "Please just let me go," I beg, "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

He just laughs. "I'm not letting you go that easy," he says, positioning himself in between my legs.

I'm crying, snot and tears running down my face. "Please," I say, "stop, just stop. I don't want this."

"I don't care," Seth says and then he enters me and I scream. It feels like my skin is pulling apart, and he moves too fast, it burns.

I keep screaming, and I scream and I scream and—

"Noel," I hear my name being shouted and I hand on my shoulder. I scream louder and the hand goes away. I need him off of me. Oh god. I can feel his skin on mine.

"Noel," someone says again, and I can still feel Seth atop me, but when I open my eyes, he's not there. Instead, the lights are on and I'm in the room in James and Dennis' house, with the two alphas standing at the side of the bed.

I bolt upright, breathing heavily, throat hoarse.

"Do you want to tell us what that was about, love?" James asks.

I shake my head, but answer him regardless. "It was Seth," I say, "he was on me, and I couldn't get him off."

"Oh baby," Dennis whispers. "He's not here, he can't hurt you anymore."

I'm crying, cheeks wet and I gasp for air. "Maybe," I say, "but what about everyone else?" I ask. "What happens when the next person decides that they want to hurt me?" I'm sobbing, can't get the feel of Seth's lips away from mine. "I can't do this anymore."

"No one else is going to hurt you," Dennis says. "I promise."

"You can't promise that," I say. "You couldn't stop Seth, you can't stop anyone else."

Dennis shakes his head but doesn't say anything. He knows I'm right.

"No," James says, "we can't promise that. But we can promise that we will be here, that we will care for you and protect you as much as we can."

I feel disgusting. I still feel Seth on me and I need to get him off. I get out of bed and stand in between James and Dennis. I don't say anything as I wrap my arms around James.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"You have nothing to apologize for, love," he says. But I still feel bad for my outburst. They're only trying their best. It's not their fault I'm so easy to hurt. That all it seems I'm good for is being raped.

"Do you want to try to go back to sleep?" James asks and I shake my head.

"I don't think I can sleep again even if I want to," I say. And I can still feel Seth's slap. But right now, in James' arms, it's lessened. I feel safe even though my body is trembling.

Dennis comes behind me and puts his arms around me and James, sandwiching me between the two of them. I tense for a moment, but then relax. The fear of Seth slowly leaves my body, and I feel calmer.

I still can't get the feeling of Seth's lips away from mine and I look up at James. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss someone willingly. I look away, blushing. I can picture reaching up and taking his face in my hands, his lips in my own.

"What's wrong, love?" James asks and I can feel Dennis hug tighter, almost as if to reassure me.

"Nothing," I say, "I was just wondering," I cut myself off.

"Wondering what?" James asks.

"Just that," I pause, anxiety in my belly, "can I kiss you?"

Alpha James looks at me in shock, but quickly recovers.

"Do you want to kiss me?" he asks.

I blush and nod. "I want to know what it's like."

"To kiss me?"

"To kiss someone without being forced."

Dennis lets out a sound, like a heartbroken whine and I look at him. He smiles at me.

I look back at James, stare into his dark eyes filled with concern, but also desire.

"You can kiss me anytime you like, love," he says.

I raise onto my tiptoes, and as soon as I do, he lowers himself down to me and our lips meet. It's sweet, not going too far, but I feel a fluttering heat inside my belly, and when he pulls away, I move closer to him, and kiss him again.

He moves his lips gently and I try to follow along, but I'm not very experienced when it comes to kissing and I worry that I'm doing it wrong.

I can feel Dennis from behind me, holding me up as I melt into James.

Eventually, however, James pulls away and an embarrassing whine comes out of my throat.

He smiles down at me and chuckles lightly.

"You're so beautiful, love," he says and I blush, putting my head down.

"No no," he says, tilting my chin back up, "let me see that beautiful face."

I'm sure I could compare to a tomato by now, but I can't look away, James' hand under my chin and I get lost in his dark eyes. I wonder what Dennis' eyes look like.

When Alpha James lets my face go, I turn around to look at Dennis, and I'm surprised to see that his eyes are a gray blue, like a sky before a storm. They're beautiful.

He smiles at me while I stare at him and his soft face. "Hello baby boy," he says, and I want more.

"Can I kiss you?" I ask.

"Please," he breathes and I do, pressing my lips to his warm, slightly chapped ones. I could stay like this forever, sandwiched between my mates, where I can forget everything bad that's ever happened to me and just focus on their breaths covering mine.