Page 46 of Unwrapping Chase

However, as I looked at Tam and Nyx, I felt oddly guilty. This was about so much more than the money. I had to admit that this all-consuming feeling that radiated through me was more than care or like or any other mild word. It was one thing—love. I was in love with them, and I’d known it yesterday. But that word was dangerous, because it would forever hurt me. When they left me behind, I’d never be able to get over it.

Nyx smoothed my hair back and pressed a kiss on my cheek. “Are you well, baby?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright?” he asked again.

Tam was staring at me with a furrowed brow, their tentacles curling around my waist.

“Of course I am,” I lied through my teeth, forcing a smile to my lips.

They were paying me to be their companion for the trip, not to hear another one of my sob stories. It didn’t matter. Once I got the rest of the money from Nyx and Tam at the end of this, that whole portion of my life would be over. And it would be nothing but wounds that would scab over, then scar. In time, I would be perfectly alright.

Well, I’d be fine about my past with Elijah. Nyx and Tam… I didn’t think I had enough years in my life to get over them.

“You do not seem well,” Daddy said, settling me back against his chest. I heard his hearts pounding in an even rhythm. I moaned, lifting my head. Nyx pressed a kiss to my forehead, his hand wrapping around my throat in a claiming, yet soothing move. He said, “You didn’t answer Tam.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching for Tam. They came closer and placed a kiss on my lips before pulling Nyx down for a kiss. All three of us remained pressed against each other, and I sighed, nuzzling Tam’s neck. He smelled like the sea, salty, musky brine, and like the peace of home.

Tam asked, “Would you like to get a Christmas tree with us?”

“Yes, that sounds wonderful.” Why wouldn’t I go with them?

Tam frowned again, and Daddy tightened his embrace.

“No,” Tam said, shaking their head as their eyes narrowed, “something’s wrong.” They grabbed my cheeks and held me tight so that I couldn’t look away from their pensive gaze. “Something is very wrong. I can feel it in the space between my hearts. What’s troubling you, Chase?”

My chin trembled.

Tam made a distressed cry, and Nyx growled, kissing my neck and grazing my skin with his pointed teeth. Smoothing hands and tentacles down my arms and legs, Tam demanded, “Tell us. Now.”

“I don’t want to dampen the mood,” I said. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not,” Nyx growled. “You’re upset. That’s not alright. You belong to us.”

My heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Why were they so damn perfect for me? I didn’t understand. They both fit like missing pieces of my soul. I had no idea how I had lived without either of them, and I’d known them both for less than forty-eight hours.

Tears poured down my cheeks as the story slipped out. “I had a partner less than a year ago.”

“What happened?” Tam asked, voice soft, but they and Daddy held me so tight, like they were afraid I would vanish right before their eyes.

“He liked me to call him Daddy too,” I whispered, wiping the tears from my cheeks. Nyx kissed the top of my head, and Tam brought my hand to their mouth to pepper kisses on my palm and wrist.

Why were they so nice?

I continued, “I thought he cared. I thought he…” I swallowed, but pressed on. “Loved me. But he didn’t. He hurt me in so manydifferent ways. He used to share me with other people and liked to see them fuck me, which I didn’t mind. He controlled who fucked me, saying he was my Daddy and he knew best. But he ignored my safeword more than once.”

Nyx snarled. “I’m going to murder him.”

“I’ll vaporize his fucking corpse,” Tam added, voice just as rough.

How protective they were warmed me. I hauled Tam closer and leaned back into Daddy, who held both of us. Tam pressed countless kisses to my temple while Nyx rubbed his forehead on the top of my head. I didn’t understand why they both cared so much, but they, by some miracle, did.

I swallowed and continued, “He would, then, punish me when it felt good or I orgasmed.”

“What?” Tam asked, breathless.

“He said I only came because I wasn’t loyal to him, that I was easy. He would punish me. At the time, I thought it was discipline… but it wasn’t. It was abuse. He called me all sorts of names, telling me I was too stupid to manage anything. I gave him three years of my life, buying into his shit. During that time, he racked up millions of credits in debt all under my name. He left me in this mess when I found out,” I said.