Chapter 285: Hens Night
*I don’t know if it’s a good idea, mom. Just try to keep it mild. – Chance*
Chance could hear the laughter before they reached the common room. He looked around and spotted Rye. She was in the jeans and shirt that his mom had bought her. The jeans and pink Harley Davidson shirt were new and expensive.
Two things that Rye hated.
Werewolf propped himself against the wall next to his youngest brother. “I’m hoping we missed mom’s turn. I don’t need to know the first place that she had sex was.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Chance said just as quietly. "I already know too uch about her sex life." He grumblede and his older brother laughed.
“Come on, Rye.” Sid encouraged. “I would ask Karan where her first time was, but I don’t think she could remember that many people ago.”
Karan flipped her off while smiling. “I remember exactly where I was when I first had sex. It was the same place both times.”
“I can’t.” Rye said quietly.
“Can’t remember?” Siobhan asked. “I remember. And it’s been a long time for me.”
“I can’t tell you.” Rye corrected with a slight tremble in her voice.
Chance was about to put an end to the discussion when Mia spoke.
“Hell, you’ve heard ours.”
Rye shook her head. “I can’t tell you what hasn’t happened yet.”
The room became silent and still as everyone looked at her. Slowly eyes turned towards Chance who was focused on Rye.
“Holy fuck, man!” one brother called from the room and another asked “How did *you* get a virgin?”
Rye looked up and Chance saw the terror in her eyes. He made his way to her as the panic attack took hold.
“Duchess.” He said getting on his knees in front of her. “Look at me, Rye. You’re not in the closet anymore.”
The room got quiet again as tears began to slide down her cheeks.
“You’re not… is it the only reason…”
“No, Duchess.” He sat on his knees on the floor in front of her. Chance was careful not to touch her, she was too close to a complete meltdown. “I don’t care if you’re a virgin. Your mother had no right to try to sell you or any part of you.”
“They did.” She whispered.
“Look at me, Ryanne. Look at me.” He waited for her to focus on him, and he knew that she was back from the memories that haunted her. “I will never make you do anything you don’t want to. I will never force you. I will never make you watch or force you to be watched.”
“She did it to protect me.” Rye whispered. “Leigh Anne is that way because of me.”
“Leigh Anne is sick. She’s treating her illness the only way that she knows. The only way that Donna Leigh treated her own illness. Leigh Anne made the choice to offer her own body to protect you. You were both children. It’s not something that either of you should have been exposed to.”
“You survived. Leigh Anne is surviving. You wanted to get on your feet and help her. You’re doing that. You’re going to help her. Even if it is not getting her off the streets right now. You’re raising her son.”
He offered his hand, and she slid her smaller hand into it.
“We’ll get through this. I promise. We’re going to reach a time when we can both sleep through a night without nightmares. You’ll get out of that closet, and you won’t hide anymore. And we’ll do everything we can to get Leigh Anne off the streets.”
“What if I never reach a point…”
This was a fear that they had skirted around but never addressed head on. It was a double edge fear. The fear from watching her sister being raped and fearing sex in general. On the other side of her fear of her own desires and needs.
“Do you trust me?” he asked adjusting their hands and linking their fingers. She nodded and he grinned at her. “Then trust me when I say, we’ll get there.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Chance sat up on his knees and pulled her to him with his free hand on the back of her neck. He slanted his lips across hers and nibbled on her bottom lip until she sighed and opened her mouth. He teased her until she tightened her grip on his hand. When he felt her hand in his hair, he pulled back and smiled down at her dazed face.
“That, Duchess, is how I know that we’ll get there.” He said softly as he ran his thumb along her bottom lip. He curled his fingers under her chin and gave her a light kiss. “Just trust me, believe in me until you can believe in yourself. I believe in you.”
Nessie took Rye upstairs with Siobhan so that Rye could take a bath in the large soaker tub. When the elevator doors dinged close, Chance turned a very angry glare at his mother.
“I asked you for one thing. Keep it mild.” He said stalking towards her. “If you wouldn’t talk about it in front of your granddaughters, keep your damn mouth shut.”
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled.
Werewolf stepped between them. “Slow your roll, Chance. The ladies didn’t know.”
“Would you like to know? Do you want to know that she was tied to a chair and forced to watch her sister be raped? Or that she thought her whole value was tied up in her virginity?” Chance asked angrily.
“Her mother would try to sell her, but her sister would sacrifice herself. After her dad died, life was hell. A bipolar schizoid mom who refused to take her medicine and ended up a drunk addict. A bipolar sister who tried to protect her. Nine schools in three years and still graduated early and with a scholarship. Earned a four-year degree in three.”
His shoulders slumped and his voice softened. “But she can’t even walk into a closet. She has nightmares and refuses to make a sound. Because when she was locked up in the closet, being quiet is what kept her safe.”
“That’s why you sleep on the couch.” Mia said softly.
“That’s why I sleep on the couch.” He agreed as he walked over and sat on the arm of one of the couches. Sid rubbed his back. “There’s this incredible strong woman inside her. I see it every day. I see it when she gets up in the middle of the night and takes a scalding hot shower to wash away the nightmares and memories. I see it when she doesn’t back down with an angry parent.”
“She’s got one hell of a backbone.” Karan agreed.
“When I have a nightmare from my time in Afghanistan, she comforts me. When Michael goes to the doctor, she knows what to ask, where he should be in development.”
“Yeah. If more parents did as much research and reading as she does, I’d be out of a job.” Mark smirked.
Chance nodded. “Research was her safe place. The high school kids were cruel. Her mother and sister were whores. Rumors fly fast and boys expected her to put out. When she wouldn’t, they would try to take.”
“Her tazer.” Charlotte mumbled.
“It works fine. Trust me.” Chance gave a half smile. “But all she sees, is a scared little girl, huddled in the corner of a closet, trying not to be seen.”
“How often does she see Carly?” Becks asked.
“Seven times a week. Twice a week as a couple, five times on her own.”
“Damn.” Bear said. “Does it help with the nightmares?”
“It does. There’s a veterans’ group that meets Thursday night.” Tank said.
It meant a lot to hear the large man say that. He was silent and scary. No one really knew what he did in the army, but several had seen him effortlessly snap a man’s neck.
