Silent Desires (Shattered Silence Duet Book 1)
Silent Desires: Chapter 14

“Max, take us home,” Jasper says, his voice tight. I don’t want to go home. But as Max pulls away from the curve in the opposite direction of my house, I realize he must mean their home, and I relax a little into Jasper.

I feel safe with them, and I really don’t want to go to school right now. I’m not sure what their parents will think of them bringing me home when they are supposed to be at school, or if they are anything like my mother. But these boys are too perfect to not have kind parents.

Jasper starts humming a soft melody that helps calm me as my hands grip his shirt and I sniffle, the tears finally starting to ease up. He moves a little, then passes me a tissue, and I use it to blow my nose and wipe my face clean. His arms are wrapped tightly around me, and I try to soak in all his protection while I can. Even though my arm is hurting from where I lean against him, I don’t want him to stop holding me. I think he’s holding me together right now, and if he lets go.. I’ll break apart again. One of his hands rubs soothingly over my back as he helps to warm me up.

Nobody says anything as we drive in silence for about fifteen minutes before pulling to a stop. Neither of them moves, so I slowly lift my head, not really wanting to leave Jasper’s protective hold, but curious about where we are. My eyes widen at the sight of the giant house we’ve parked in front of. It’s situated among massive trees with no other houses in sight. Maybe it should make me nervous to be in a strange place in the middle of nowhere, but I trust them more than anyone else in my life and decide to just go with it.

“Sweetheart?” I look over at Max. “This is our home. We’re gonna take you inside now. We live with our older brothers, so don’t be alarmed if you see some other guys in there, okay? I’ve already texted them to let them know to expect us.” I’m not sure when he got the chance to do that. I give him a small nod, and Jasper’s arm tightens around me as he opens the door and carries me out. Instead of setting me on my feet, like I expect, he continues to march up to the front door carrying me with one arm wrapped around my back and the other under my knees.

Max moves ahead of us, carrying my bag in his hand. I don’t even remember taking it off. I’m glad they were paying attention for me, losing it would have been a disaster, and my mother would have been absolutely furious. He steps onto the huge porch that looks like it wraps around the entire house, and opens the door, entering with us right behind him.

My head lifts and I look around. The ceiling goes all the way to the second floor in this part of the house. I see a huge kitchen on the left with a giant island and a living room on the right with the biggest couch I’ve ever seen, facing a massive television. The house is nicely decorated and looks much bigger and more modern than my home.

Turning my head, I notice a huge man standing in the entry to the hallway. He must be over six-four and wider than any man I’ve ever seen. Tattoos cover the exposed parts of his arms, and a few peek out of the neckline of his tight black t-shirt. His dirty blond hair is pulled back in a bun, and his stunning blue eyes are staring straight at me. He looks upset, is he mad I’m here? Instinctively, I curl into Jasper’s chest. His arms hold me closer, and he kisses the top of my head, surprising me.

Max comes into my line of sight, blocking the huge guy from my view as he looks at me. “Don’t worry, that’s Atlas. He’s like a huge teddy bear when you get to know him.” I hear a grunt from the man in question, and Max smiles. He starts to remove my shoes from my dangling feet. When did I put those on? As he slips them off, the socks I had stuffed in the toes drop out. He and Jasper both look down at the socks, then back at my feet.

“I’ve heard of guys stuffing socks in their pants before, but I didn’t know girls did that with their shoes,” Max says, making Jasper laugh. I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips, and when Max sees it, he beams at me. He holds my shoe up to my foot, and it’s clear how big they are.

“Hmm. Why don’t you have shoes the right size?” he asks me. I just shrug. Even if I could talk, I don’t have an answer for him. He gives me a strange look, then lines up my shoes with the other pairs there. It looks like there could be at least ten more pairs, all much larger than mine, making me wonder how many people actually live here.

I wiggle to try and get Jasper to put me down, but he just holds me closer and says, “no.” My eyebrows raise in surprise and I glance at him. “Just let me hold you right now, okay?” He looks at me like he’s begging me to understand. I don’t, but I give him a nod, anyway. Being held by him is no hardship for me.

He carries me over to the couch and sits down with me in his lap. Max grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and offers it to me. I take it with a smile, then he sits down beside me, pulling my feet into his lap. We sit there quietly as I struggle to open the bottle of water.

I hear Atlas grunt as he stomps over to us. I lean back into Jasper and I stare up at the massive man, my eyes wide with concern. He sits down on the coffee table in front of me and slowly reaches forward to take the water bottle from my trembling hands. I let him take it, watching as he unscrews the cap and passes it back to me without breaking eye contact. I take a sip, then he reaches out his hand. Confused, I pass it back to him and watch him screw the lid back on. It’s only then we finally break eye contact. His eyes are roaming over me as he finally speaks.

“What happened?” He has a deep voice with some sort of accent. Possibly Russian?

“We’re not sure. We were driving when I saw her sitting by a fence, crying,” Jasper says, tightening his grip on me as he speaks the last word through clenched teeth. My cheeks heat in embarrassment. It was bad enough that Jasper and Max saw me like that, but did they have to tell Atlas, too?

“Malishka, tell me what happened.” His Russian accent rolls over my skin and makes me shiver. It’s an entirely distinct sensation compared to the shiver I got from Jeff’s words. That thought brings back memories of what happened and how I ended up sitting by that fence. I drop my eyes and stare at my hands, which are playing with the hem of the hoodie I’m wearing, not sure what to do. Even if I could speak, I wouldn’t want to tell him what happened.

I sense Atlas watching me for a moment before he slowly leans forward and pulls me from Jasper’s lap and into his arms as he stands. I loop my arms around his neck on instinct and he holds both my legs to his left side, turning towards the kitchen. “It’s alright, Malishka, I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear, his hand running over my back as he holds me close. I’m not sure what Malishka means, but his voice is soothing, and though I’m still trembling, I feel some of the tension in my body begin to ease. There’s something about the way he holds me against his massive body, as if nothing in the world can harm me while I’m here.

When my eyes met his earlier, there was a pull I couldn’t explain, something magnetic. I’d never believed in things like soul mates, but the way he looks at me feels different—like he knows me in a way no one else ever could. I barely know him, but there’s a comfort in his presence that I can’t ignore. I also feel that connection with a few other people I’d met recently, confusing me as to what it was.

I’m vaguely aware of the others moving around the kitchen as we enter. “I read that eating your favorite foods can make you feel better,” a new voice says, surprising me, his voice bright as he moves around the kitchen. “They also say listening to certain songs can boost your mood by up to one hundred percent. Other ways to increase your endorphins are to exercise, sing, dance, or do something you love.”

The sound of his chatter is strangely grounding, and slowly, the tension fades from my body. Feeling this at ease around total strangers is confusing, but not totally unwelcome. Atlas rests my butt on the island and my arms, which had been wrapped tightly around Atlas’s neck, loosen. I pull back just slightly, trying to regain some composure. Atlas’s hand, warm and steady, moves from the back of my head to cup my chin. He gently tilts my face up to meet his gaze, and I can see the concern there.

The tight-lipped smile he gives me is small but reassuring. For the first time all day, I feel like I can breathe again, but his intensity makes my cheeks heat, although I’m not entirely sure why.

“Mina, this is our brother, Ben,” Max says, pointing to the new guy. Brother? I look between him and Max, but see no resemblance. Ben has short brown hair and brown eyes, framed by a pair of glasses. He’s thinner than the others, but still incredibly handsome. He’s wearing a dark blue t-shirt with an open blue flannel over top of it, and a pair of blue jeans. Overall his look is very boy next door, especially with the disarming smile he’s giving me right now.

I glance at Atlas, but see no similarities there either. Max must know what I’m thinking because he adds, “we call each other brothers, but only Jasper and I are blood related.” I guess that made sense, except it brought up more questions. Why did they call each other brothers? Why were they all living together?

“Alright, Princess, let’s see what we can do to lift your spirits,” Ben says, rubbing his hands together in obvious excitement.

“Unless you want to tell us what has you so upset? I can get you a pen and paper,” another new voice says, startling me. I turn in his direction and see another stunningly gorgeous man leaning against the other side of the island. When did he get here?

“That’s Dominic, or Dom for short,” Jasper says as the new man, Dom, watches me intently.

I stare, wondering how they could all be so attractive. Was there something in the water here? It’s hard to get past their good looks. Where Atlas was built with muscles upon muscles, this man looked more like a trained fighter, muscular but toned, which was easy to see with the tight gray long-sleeved henley he was wearing. It was paired with a pair of well fitted dark blue jeans that made me worried I was about to start drooling at any moment if I kept staring at him.

There is something about his appearance that screams boss, like he’s in charge here. He’s as tall as Atlas, but he has wavy, jet black, tousled hair and pale blue eyes that continue to stare at me intently as he waits for my answer.

I wouldn’t have a clue how to begin explaining why I was upset, nor do I want to. I don’t know what they could do about it, even if they knew, so I decide it’s best to keep my mouth shut. Literally. I shake my head and bite my lip. Atlas uses his thumb to pull my lip from my teeth and gives me a soft smile that melts my heart a little. Why do I feel so comfortable around him?

“Okay, take a look, Princess. What do you want to eat?” I turn my head and see Ben has laid out a few options. There’s a tub of what looks like ice cream, a box of cookies, a bag of chips, a plastic container with croissants, some bananas and apples, a bottle of orange juice, and a carton of milk. I’ve never seen so many options and I haven’t had most of these in over a decade. I point to a banana, the safe choice.

“And to drink?” Dom asks, and I point to the milk. Ben pours me a glass of milk as Dom grabs a banana and peels it.

He comes to stand beside me, holding the banana out to me. I don’t know what possesses me to do what I do next. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to release my hold on Atlas’s shirt, which I’m still clutching like it’s a lifeline, or maybe I crave his care, or maybe I just want to see what he’ll do. Whatever it is, instead of taking the banana from him, I lean forward and take a bite while he stares at me with fire burning in his eyes.