Sang Unleashed

Chapter Eight

We doze for several hours before waking up for a snack. We move our lazy lounging to the couch, after we’ve put on some semblance of clothing, of course. Before long, the guys start trailing in a few at time and before long, we’re just waiting on Mr. Blackbourne.

“So, Trouble,” Gabriel asks cheekily, “what kind of trouble did you get into last night?”

“I think the question you should ask, Mr. Coleman,” I hear Mr. Blackbourne say from the doorway, “is whether I got into Trouble last night.”

“Owen!” I admonish, blushing furiously, while Dr. Green and Luke hoot their laughter beside me.

“Miss Sorenson,” Mr. Blackbourne greets me, walking over to place a kiss on my lips. I return the kiss without thinking, but pull back to glare at him.

“I would have liked for that particular announcement to be a bit less crass, Owen.” I say, emphasizing his name as if it were a curse. Where was the buttoned-up, cultured Mr. Blackbourne I met six months ago? He’s acting as if he’s a completely different person, though I can see that he’s anxious about the fallout from his family. Our family. Still, it isn’t like him to use humor as a shield.

“Aw, cut him some slack, Cupcake.” Luke pipes up. “We can’t help it that you make us want to shout it from the rooftops. Also, Gabe’s nickname for you does open things up for delicious innuendo.”

“Don’t climb up on the roof.” North says chopping Luke on the head. “Everyone’s here, let’s eat dinner.”

I scurry into the kitchen before anyone else so that I can talk to North for a moment.

“Are you okay?” I whisper.

“He was the best choice for your first.” North responds. “Most restraint, most likely to be gentle.”

The last was said as a statement, but his eyes begged me to answer. “He was very gentle. It didn’t hurt at all.”

“Good,” North responds. “I can’t promise to be gentle.”

That sounded like a promise and it made me shiver. These guys were going to turn me into a sex fiend.

Dinner is quiet, but all of the boys seem lost in thought. No one was outwardly angry. Silas even winks at me when our eyes meet. I didn’t realize how nervous I was about their reaction to the news that I was no longer innocent, naive Sang. Would they lose interest now that the appeal of my innocence was gone? I didn’t think so. I know how I feel about each of them and if they feel even half of what I feel, we’ll be okay.

I’m smiling while I clean up after dinner. I can hear them moving things around in the living room and I know they’re preparing for a game. Probably Truth or Dare. I would be in for a night of dares. No way am I giving anyone the opportunity to ask me about last night with Mr. Blackbourne. I sigh, knowing Mr. Blackbourne will go for Truth.

“Cupcake, tell North we’re playing Truth or Dare.” Luke yells from the living room, probably putting me in the middle of a sibling squabble.

“That depends, Luke,” I say, walking into the room. “What’s my other option?”

“A movie,” Gabriel deadpans. “A boring movie. You don’t want to watch a movie, do you?”

“Oh, I don’t know” I say, “I’ve never made out during a movie, could be fun. But you’re right, we should play a game.” I tease.

“See, gentlemen?” Mr. Blackbourne says, “this is why you ask the lady what she wants to do. She might surprise you.”

“I think most of us have been surprised by what comes out of her mouth here lately” Nathan adds.

“Or goes in it” I hear Luke giggle, which earns him a punch in the arm from Silas and a chop on the head from North.

I roll my eyes as I walk into the room, settling on the floor between Kota and Victor’s feet. I lean my head on Kota’s knee and Victor strokes my hair. I sigh and close my eyes. Heaven. This is my heaven.

“So, Sang” Gabriel starts, “Truth or Dare?”

Deciding to get it out of the way now, I say “Truth.”

“Spill” Gabriel says.

“That isn’t even a question” Kota argues.

“It’s fine” I tell Kota. “What do you want to know, exactly?” I direct at Gabriel.

“You don’t have to give up details, I just want to know how you convinced Mr. Blackbourne to pop your cherry” he says.

I glance at Mr. Blackbourne who just raises one eyebrow at me in challenge. Well, if he doesn’t care. And then I think back to what he said to Dr. Green when he caught us on the couch, a plan forming in my mind.

I smile brilliantly at Mr. Blackbourne, “he started it.”

Dr. Green laughs and everyone else looks confused. Mr. Blackbourne quirks his lips into a real smile and shakes his head. “You better tell the whole story or North will remove all of my appendages, including that one.”

That makes everyone laugh, including North. I sigh, darn. Now I have two stories to tell. I start the story with mine and Mr. Blackbourne’s kiss, which led to Dr. Green catching us in such a compromising position. I can’t help but blush and look at my hands when I think of how quickly things had escalated on his couch.

“Wait” Gabriel interrupts my story, laughing. “You mean to tell me that you went from a first kiss with Mr. B to an Australian kiss in a matter of minutes?”

“That’s two questions” Kota interjects.

“What’s an Australian kiss?” I ask at the same time.

Before North can clamp his hand over his mouth, Luke jumps from the couch and scurries out of his reach and answers me while giggling, “it’s like a regular kiss, only down under!”

All of the boys groan at the awful joke except Luke and Gabriel, and of course me. The three of us are giggling together on the floor. Strong arms lift me up and place me in their lap and I smell Kota’s spice scent and know I have to behave.

“You don’t have to finish the story if you don’t want” Kota murmurs into my hair.

I turn and meet his eyes, hoping that he isn’t upset. I don’t see any anger or jealousy there, just annoyance with Luke and Gabriel and their shenanigans.

“I don’t have to finish my story if you don’t want me to” I reply. “And in the future, if you don’t mind telling them for me, I would like intimate things to stay private. I don’t mind if you guys need to talk to each other about things, but I don’t always know how to tell you things without hurting your feelings.”

Kota leans forward and presses his lips to my brow before answering quietly, “I don’t care about hearing about it, but I don’t want us to start spending all our time talking about naked time with Sang. Tell them all now about last night so they stop worrying and I’ll let them know about not asking you questions about intimate times.”

“I love you, Kota” is my only reply before turning back to the rest of the group, who are still trying to wrangle Luke and Gabriel back from their giggling fit.

“Oh no” I say as loud as my voice will allow. “Dr. Green, you’re going to have to administer the giggle cure to Meanie. And Luke, too.”

My words cause the rest of the boys to laugh while Luke and Gabriel immediately stop and straighten themselves out. Once the laughter dies down, I tell them about Gabriel’s failure as my stylist and my lack of clothing options for bed and then meekly recount the rest of the night without any details.

By the time I’ve finished my story, everyone looks very uncomfortable in their pants. I blush and look down at my hands. Gabriel clears his throat and I meet his eyes. He smiles reassuringly and winks.

“Your turn, Trouble” he says.

“Okay” I say, “Silas, Truth or Dare.”

“Truth, Aggele Mou” Silas responds.

Hmm, a truth. What do I want to know? It seems all I can think about is sex lately. But I guess no one here would care if I asked a sex question. Right? Gabriel started it.

“Is it true that you think about me when you touch yourself?” I ask.

Silas smiles and chuckles, “every single time, Aggele. Truth or Dare?”

“Dare” I respond, smiling. Silas’ dares are easy. It’s always a hug or I sit on his lap for a few rounds.

“I dare you to take off your shirt” he says.

“Silas” North warns, “too far.”

Blushing, I know I have to do this or North will actually hit Silas. And I feel bad because I haven’t been able to see Silas since I started touching penises and he’s been so patient with me. I know it’s been killing him.

Standing up, I quickly remove my shirt and toss it at North’s face.

“Be quiet, North” I say, “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare” North growls, his eyes staying level with mine. He’s got strong willpower, because his eyes are the only ones not glued to my chest. Thankfully I learned my lesson last night and I’m wearing a bra today.

“I dare you to give me your shirt” I say, smiling. Hoping this earns me a smile back. Which it does.

He tosses his shirt at me and I put it on, inhaling his musk and closing my eyes. Heaven.

“Truth or Dare, Sang Baby” he says on a sigh.

“Dare” I say, happily. Now I know this one will be easy. North always takes it easy on me.

“I dare you to spend 7 minutes in the bedroom with me, alone” he says.

“Oy, North” Gabriel sputters, “you can’t steal Sang in the middle of our game!”

I meet North’s eyes and see the raw need and pain. When was the last time he held me, really had a chance to kiss me? A week? Maybe two? I need to make sure I’m spending more time with each of my boyfriends. I can’t keep getting so sidetracked with life.

“It’s okay, Meanie” I answer before North can argue. “You guys can play a video game or something. It’s only 7 minutes, right?” I look into Gabriel’s blue eyes and convey how much this obviously means to North. He nods in response.

“Fine, fine. Mortal Combat, anyone?” he asks the rest of the room.

“Miss Sorenson” Mr. Blackbourne starts to argue.

“Owen, he needs me” I murmur, looking at North’s retreating back. I brush my hand over Mr. Blackbourne’s arm as I make my way passed.

Once inside Nathan’s room, I find North sitting on the bed with his arms on his knees, face in his hands. He looks up and into my eyes. I see love and longing in his, but I don’t see desire. He really does just want a few moments alone with me.

I make my way to the bed and stand so that his head is nestled between my breasts. I stroke up and down his back, waiting for him to decide what we’re doing. His hands move up my outer thighs, brushing past my ass and rest at my waist. He pulls me in closer and nuzzles my chest. I push him onto his back on the bed and follow him down, me still trapped between his legs.

“North?” I ask.

“What it is it, Sang Baby?” he responds.

“Have I told you today that I love you?” I say, leaning up on my arms so that I’m looking down into his eyes which widen in surprise at my question.

“You haven’t, as a matter of fact” he says quietly, looking at me curiously. The fact that I haven’t ever said those words to him out loud evident by the question in his eyes.

“That is an awful oversight on my part” I continue, “you should hear those words from me every single day.”

Understanding dawns on his face when he realizes that I’m trying to tell him that I’ve loved him for awhile, I just didn’t know how to tell him. Not only with my actions, but with my words, because love isn’t just about sex. Love is something deeper and more powerful.

“I love you too, Sang Baby” North replies, pulling me down for a sensual kiss.

We’re still lying there, hugging and kissing each other, when Gabriel pounds on the door. “7 minutes is up! Cover yourselves, I’m coming in!”

“We’re decent” North responds, not making a move to get up from our position on the bed.

Gabriel walks into the room and his face falls in disappointment at not catching us in a compromising position. Shaking his head, he shuts the door and walks over to the bed and pulls me from North’s grasp.

“Get back out there, big guy” Gabriel says. “Trouble has to change into her new pajamas.”

With a surprising lack of argument, North gets up from the bed and places a kiss to my mouth before exiting the bedroom. I turn to Gabriel with raised eyebrows.

“Why didn’t he argue with you?” I ask suspiciously.

Gabriel smiles and drags me over to several small garment bags hanging from the back of the door that I failed to notice previously. Opening the first bag, he says “because every man in that room knows what Victor and I did this afternoon and they’re excited to see what we bought.”

“You bought me pajamas?” I ask bewildered. “But why would that make them excited?”

Gabriel just cocks an eyebrow and looks at me with a blank expression.

“What is it, Meanie?” I ask.

“Still so innocent” he replies.

He pulls the zipper on the first garment bag and I see an array of silky colors, all trimmed in different shades of pink lace. He pulls the first down and shows me a white silk dress, accented in pink lace around the bottom and top. The dress looks obscenely short before I remember this must be part of my pajama piece.

“Where’s the rest of it?” I whisper.

“Oh, Trouble, just try it on” he replies instead of answering.

I shake my head. No way can I wear that in front of the entire group. Especially with everyone so on edge as they have been.

“These pieces are for private moments only, Trouble” he reassures, sensing my hesitation. “But I need to see them on you to make sure they all fit. At least one of them.”

“Okay” I say, appeased knowing that I’m only expected to wear these when I’m alone with one of the guys.

I try the piece of silk and lace on and it’s every bit as short as I thought it would be, falling just below my butt cheeks in the back. The top is cut in a deep v-neck to eliminate the possibility of wearing a bra with it. I take a deep breath and remind myself again that this is for intimate settings only. With that thought, I look at the garment again. It sits on me in the perfect way to accent all of my assets. Each of these will make their intended audience a captive one.

“It fits pretty well” Gabriel says, running his hands over the hemlines and causing me to shiver at his touch. He smirks when he notices and kisses me soundly on the mouth.

He pulls back too soon and shows me the rest of the items. There’s one in each of the guy’s favorite colors. Surprisingly, the orange silk and pink lace look quite adorable together.

“I love them” I exclaim, once I’ve seen all but one. “What’s that one?” I ask.

“In this bag, you will find 10 pairs of silk and lace underwear to match each of the nighties” Gabriel replies.

“Ten?” I ask.

“Yes, Trouble. Ten” he confirms.

He pulls out the final garment bag and shows me a pastel pink nightie much like the others, but noticeably longer, with hot pink lace accents.

“I’m confused” I say. “Is this one so I can turn myself on?”

Gabriel laughs and shakes his head, “no Trouble, this one is for comfort. You’ll notice the underwear that go with it are all silk and far less racey than the others. You would look fucking amazing in a potato sack, but this is just for you, not us.”

I smile and nod, taking the pink nightie and underwear from him. I quickly change, ignoring his curses at my nakedness. When I’m done, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him deeply in thanks.

“Meanie, boss of my anatomy, I fucking love you” I say with a smile. Knowing that I never curse, I just felt that would make my words more powerful.

Gabriel smiles back, tears forming in his eyes, “and I fucking love you back.”

We stand like that for several minutes, just hugging and occasionally meeting our lips, basking in our mutual admittance of love for each other. Eventually, there’s a knock at the door. I don’t recognize the cadence, so I glance at Gabriel in question. He just shrugs his shoulders and turns us so that we’re still hugging but can both see the door when it opens.

“Miss Soresenson” Mr. Blackbourne says, taking in both my new pajamas and my arms still wrapped around Gabriel’s neck. “Your nightwear is stunning, and I appreciate your need to thank Mr. Coleman, but the others are getting restless. Will you join us or are you retiring for the night?”

Wordlessly, I extricate myself from Gabriel and walk to Mr. Blackbourne, pressing my chest against his. I look up into his molten grey eyes, quirking my lips into a poor attempt to copy his millimeter smile.

“Mr. Blackbourne” I say, “the party’s just beginning.”

I hear Gabriel chuckling behind me and whisper, “wrapped around your little finger” to Mr. Blackbourne. I smile, knowing the opposite is true. I would do whatever that man told me to do in an instant. Sometimes, I wish I knew what he wanted from me without my having to ask.

I pad over to Victor’s place on the couch and make myself comfortable between him and Kota.

“You’re welcome, Princess” he says.

I smile when I meet his eyes, the fire in them smoldering. I press a kiss to his cheek and whisper, “truth or dare?”

He laughs and says “truth.”

“Is it true you spent too much money on me today?” I ask, knowing he’ll try to deny it.

“It’s never enough when I’m spoiling my Princess” he replies. “Truth or Dare?” he asks me.

“Dare” I say, now nervous because the ones I can usually trust to be tame are surprising me tonight.

“I dare you to sit in Silas’ lap for two rounds” he says, “but, you have to remain completely still the entire time.”

“That means no wiggling” Silas says, scooping me up and placing me in his lap by Victor’s feet.

I know what they’re doing to me the moment I settle. I can feel Silas’ erection pressed against me and the way that Silas is sitting, presses him right against my core. I lock all of my muscles in place and don’t dare to even breathe.

“Dr. Sean, truth or dare?” I manage to mumble.

Mirth in his eyes, Dr. Green responds “dare.”

“I dare you to clap your hands” I say on a gasp when Silas’ hands start roaming my stomach. I want these two rounds finished fast.

Laughing, Dr. Green claps his hands. “Pookie” he starts.

“Truth” I moan, fighting back the urge to move further into Silas.

“Is that difficult?” he asks.

“Extremely” I respond. “Nathan, truth or dare?”

“Dare” Nathan answers laughingly.

“I dare you to tickle Silas’ feet” I say, hoping this will make Silas move the way I desperately need him to. Which it doesn’t, Silas just laughs behind me and continues his hands’ exploration of my stomach.

“Peanut” Nathan starts.

“Oh God, dare” I say, thankful that this will be over in a minute.

“I dare you to kiss Kota” he responds.

“Gladly” I say, truly thankful to finally move. Before I get up, though, I twist and wiggle my hips several times in Silas’ lap earning me groans and several Greek words that I presume are curses.

I crawl into Kota’s lap sideways, placing my feet on Victor’s knees, and lean in to press a sweet kiss to Kota’s lips. I pull back and meet Kota’s eyes, but he’s got his closed and his mouth is moving. I smile, knowing that he’s been affected by tonight’s activities and is trying to stay strong.

“Kota, truth or dare?” I ask him when he finally meets my eyes.

“Dare” he says.

“I dare you to give Silas a lap dance” I say, knowing it’ll be torture for both of them, but Silas deserves it.

He smiles, relieved to be doing something funny instead of sexual. I make a note to myself that any and all intimacy with Kota will need to be private unless he initiates it. I never want to make him uncomfortable.

I watch, laughing, as Luke turns on the music and Kota awkwardly shakes his rear-end in Silas’ face. The rest of the game is much more relaxed and no one else asks me to do anything sexual.

The guys all take turns changing into pajamas and we roll out sleeping bags in the living room floor. I listen to everyone debate on where I will sleep and just giggle at their points.

“Trouble likes to be sandwiched with Luke and me” Gabriel says.

“Peanut and I haven’t cuddled in a week” Nathan complains.

“I have to be close by in case she has a nightmare” North says.

“Aggele Mou gets cold, she likes my heat” Silas says.

“All these things are true, guys” I interject before they start really fighting. “But Kota isn’t afraid to lock my hands and feet down if I start getting wiggly and we really need to get to sleep.”

Everyone grumbles, but gets into their sleeping bags. I meet Mr. Blackbourne’s eyes and see that he’s gesturing for me to follow him and Dr. Green into the bedroom where they’ll be sleeping. Alone. I hope he doesn’t think I’m abandoning the rest of the guys just to sleep in a comfortable bed.

“Don't worry, we’re not keeping you” Dr. Green says, reading my mind.

“You handled that argument well” Mr. Blackbourne compliments.

“I sometimes have to” I reply, “otherwise they’ll bicker about where I’ll sleep until I just fall asleep.”

We all chuckle quietly at that.

“I wanted to discuss the plan for this week” Mr. Blackbourne says.

“I thought we were preparing for the assignment tomorrow night at Dr. Green’s?” I ask.

“Oh, not that plan” Dr. Green says, “he was talking about where you’ll be staying throughout the week.”

“What Sean means, Miss Sorenson” Mr. Blackbourne clarifies, “is that you’ll be away from school all week and it would be unfair to expect any of the team to be away from you in the evening as well. To avoid any ill feelings, we’ve devised a schedule of sorts.”

“So you mean I’ll be staying with a different guy each night?” I ask, quickly doing the math. “There aren’t enough days in the week” I say.

“Right, well” Mr. Blackbourne clears his throat, “some of the team has agreed to share a night. For instance, Victor has requested Silas be present for your night with him. Gabriel and Luke have expressed that they don’t mind sharing their night with you.”

I flush when I remember what happened the last time I was alone with Gabriel and Luke. I wonder why Victor would want Silas there for our time together?

“Okay” I say, happy to go along with whatever is needed to please my family. “What’s the schedule? Does everyone know already?”

“Yes, Pookie” Dr. Green responds. “Seven minutes was plenty of time to come up with a schedule.”

I frown, not liking that North didn’t have a say on when he got a chance to spend the night with me.

“Don’t worry, Miss Sorenson, we also took into account attitudes about the proposed schedule” Mr. Blackbourne reassures me. “The schedule is Sunday with Sean, Monday with Victor and Silas, Tuesday with North, Wednesday with Nathan, Thursday with Kota and Friday with Gabriel and Luke. You will then spend Saturday with me.”

I take a step back at all the information I’m just given. That’s seven nights that I will spend with a different one of my boyfriends. Now that most of them have experimented with me in one way or another, and I’ve lost my virginity, I know that these evenings with them will not entail much sleeping. I just hope that I can keep up.

“Okay” I say, eager to get some sleep while I can. “Thanks for taking care of all that for me.”

I retreat into the living room and take my place between North and Kota. I know that North probably strong-armed his way into the position close to me. I settle into the blankets and immediately start wiggling and shifting. I’m not doing it to start something with anyone, I’m genuinely nervous now. I hadn’t ever thought before about what our life would be like with all 9 of them sharing my affection, but hearing it laid out like that in a schedule, made it all the more real. There aren’t even enough days in the week for each of them, forcing some of them to share their nights with me. How unfair is this relationship, truly?

I turn and bury my face in the crook of Kota’s neck and sigh. Breathing in his spice scent and the reassurance it brings. I can discuss my apprehension with him on our night together this coming week. If only I could remember what night that was.

“I love you too, Sang” Kota quietly whispers into my hair, saying exactly what I needed to hear at that moment, extinguishing all my worries and fears. This is about love, and family, the sex is just a bonus.

For the second morning in a row, I’m woken by the sound of low voices. This time, the voices mostly hold mirth and joy.

“Oh yeah, Kota” I could hear Luke say, “it really looks like you’re suffering.”

“She’s too cute to move, buddy” North adds.

“Easy for all of you to say” I hear Kota whisper back, but his voice is coming from underneath me, “she’s not straddling your lap first thing in the morning.”

I smile into Kota’s neck and realize that at some point during the night, I had crawled on top of him. This is quite a lovely way to wake up in the morning, though. I arch my back and push my chest off of Kota’s to wish him good morning, but I’m stopped when my movements cause our pelvises to brush against one another and I can feel his morning wood. I bite my lip and move against him a few more times before finally meeting his eyes.

“Sang, please” Kota gasps.

“Are you asking me to stop or are you asking for something else?” I whisper into his ear, placing a lingering kiss where I know he’s most sensitive.

“Please” he says again, not answering my question but lifting his hips up to rub against mine again.

I reach my hand down between us and slide my fingers into the waistband of his pajama pants. I glance around and see that most everyone is either in the kitchen or showering. Only Luke is still in the living room, and he sits on the couch quietly watching. I see approval in his eyes, so I continue my hand’s exploration. When I hear the beginnings of a moan coming from Kota, I seal my lips over his in a kiss to swallow the sound. I work my fingers over him faster, making sure to copy the motions he showed me the day before for the few minutes we were able to do this together before I ruined it with my tongue.

“Should I use my mouth, Kota?” I whisper in his ear, which earns the reaction I was hoping for and his release is instant.

I kiss him languidly now, making sure he knows that I enjoyed taking his pleasure and making it my own.

“Every chance you get” he whispers to me, “wake me up just like that.”

Before I can respond, he adjust his pants the best he can and scurries into the bathroom, cutting the line and knocking Nathan out of the way.

“Hey!” Nathan shouts, but just shakes his head and turns away.

“Your turn?” Luke asks in my ear.

I turn and give him a welcoming kiss in answer, but I honestly don’t need any kind of physical pleasure this morning. My goal is to please each of them as often as I can. Since my epiphany about our uneven relationship balance last night, I have decided to just be with each of them as much as I possibly can and let each of them decide if my love and affection is enough. That’s truly all I can do.

“Can you just hold me?” I ask Luke when he pulls back from our kiss. “I feel like I’m going to be getting inundated with orgasms all week and right now, I just want to cuddle. Maybe kiss a little.”

“Always, Cupcake” he responds.

We curl up together under the blankets and stare into each other’s eyes for a total of 5 seconds before we both start giggling. It was a nice thought, at least.

Settling down, Luke runs his fingers over the hair around my face. “Do you want to do something fun this morning?” he asks.

“Is it something that everyone will find fun or is it something that will make a couple of the guys laugh and make North angry and yell at you?” I reply skeptically. You never really know if Luke is going to want to prank someone or play a fun game the whole family can enjoy.

Luke laughs, “North might yell, but it isn’t a prank. It’s fun, we used to play it all the time.”

“What is it?” I ask curiously.

“Extreme staring contest” Luke says to me seriously.

I can’t tell if he’s being funny or not, “explain” I request.

“We have a staring contest, only we’re hanging from a tree branch and the first one to let go, loses” he explains. “We can blink, unlike a typical staring contest, but that’s just so that we can make funny faces at each other.”

“Yeah, North is going to hate this” I say, still considering. It sounds pretty fun, if I’m being honest. And we hardly ever do silly, fun things anymore. “Okay, let’s do it. But, just so that North doesn’t yell and scare me into breaking my arm, we should have Silas stand under me to catch me.”

We both jump from the pile of blankets still on the floor and quickly fold and put them all away. I run into the bedroom to slip some shorts on under my nightie while Luke grabs Silas. We meet by the pool in the back with Gabriel and Dr. Green trailing Luke, curious expressions on their faces. Obviously Luke didn’t tell them what we were doing.

“Tree by the gate is the easiest to climb, but that would leave us dangling over the fence” Luke says, more to himself than the rest of us as we all follow him around the pool and out the back gate. “I think our best bet is to use that tree that’s over there by the little foot-bridge.”

“Oy, what do the fuck do you mean climb?” Gabriel asks. “Sang isn’t climbing anything in that, it’s silk!”

I turn to him, guilty expression on my face. I really hadn’t thought about it. I just wanted to go play. I stick my lip out in a pout, “sorry, Meanie. I’ll go change.”

Before I can turn around and walk back toward the house, Gabriel is grumbling and pulling off his own shirt to give to me. “Buy the girl silk and what does she want to do in it? Climb a fucking tree.”

“Thanks, Meanie!” I beam, stripping off the silk nightie and throwing his plain white sleep shirt over my head. The dark pink color of my bra is obvious through the shirt, but it doesn’t matter since no one but the boys will see it.

I hand the nightie over to Gabriel before looking at the tree Luke and I are going to climb. It’s a good-sized oak tree with plenty of sturdy limbs. I pay close attention as Luke points to the limb we’re both going to dangle from. It isn’t far off the ground and Silas would be able to easily catch me if I fall.

“You climb up first since you’re smaller than me” Luke explains. “You’ll have to be farther out on the limb than me.”

“Got it” I nod my understanding.

I turn to the tree and easily climb the ten or so feet to the first branch and crawl out until Luke tells me I can stop. Sitting here, straddling the tree like I am, I remember my dream last night and blush. But the memory gives me a great idea for cheating at this game. Well, a second great idea.

I wait for Luke to get into place and see he’s doing exactly as I thought he would, hanging from the tree by his arms. I swing one of my legs over the limb and grab onto it as I slowly fall backward, using my legs to hold onto the limb.

“You said hang, right?” I grin at him when I meet his eyes.

“Cheater” he replies, his eyes dancing with mischief. “How am I supposed to tickle you from here?”

“You’re not” I giggle back. “But since we’ll be here for awhile, wanna hear about a dream I had a couple nights ago?”

“Sure” Luke responds skeptically, much like I responded when he asked if I wanted to do something fun.

Before I can start telling him about my dream, we hear heavy footfalls and loud crunching of leaves. I grab my ankles as a safety net in case North’s shout scares me and I fall.

“What the fuck is Sang Baby doing in a tree?” North shouts.

“Just hanging out” I reply, grinning at Luke. “I was just about to tell Luke about a dream I had the other night. Want to hear it?”

“Was it a nightmare? Why didn’t you call me?” North answers.

“Not a nightmare. Actually, it was a pretty good dream” I reply back to him.

“Okay, the suspense is killing me” Luke says. “Tell me about this dream.”

“Well, I was straddling a large tree limb” I begin, knowing that my face is showing laughter but also knowing there’s no way I can hold it back. “And all of you were on the ground, telling me to jump. I kept scooting further out on the limb to make it easier to jump, but the limb just kept growing. After awhile, my hands and my thighs started sweating. The tree limb just kept getting bigger and then it was all wet and really hard for me to wrap my hands around. And that’s when I woke up.”

Blinking, Luke just stared at me. “That was a good dream, how?” he asks.

“Miss Sorenson, when did you have this dream?” Mr. Blackbourne asks from somewhere below me. I had a feeling all the guys were down there now, but I couldn’t break eye contact with Luke or I would lose the game.

“Night before last” I respond, laughter dancing on the tip of my tongue.

“Pookie” Dr. Green laughs, “did you just compare Owen’s penis to a tree limb?”

“I do believe she did, Sean” Mr. Blackbourne says, and I can almost hear that millimeter smile on his lips.

Luke laughs along with everyone on the ground. “And what does my penis remind you of, Cupcake?” he asks.

Seeing my opening for a win, I smile broadly. “Chocolate. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.”

I saw it the minute the words struck him and his arms twitched. Without a word, he dropped to the ground.

“Luke? Did I…” I start to say, worried that I upset him saying such intimate things in front of everyone and see him look up at me. His eyes are light and happy.

“Way with words” is all he says before turning to make his way back to the house causing everyone to laugh.

“Who’s next?” I say, happily.

“No one” North says, still chuckling. “It’s time for breakfast and you should get a bath.”

“Don’t wash your hair, actually, wait until everyone heads out for the day” Gabriel instructs me when I land in Silas’ arms after flipping out of the tree. “You need some pampering today.”

I wrap my arms around Gabriel’s neck and give him a loud kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Meanie” I whisper in his ear.