Runaway Love

Oliver burst through the door a short while after being called. His eyes frantically searched the bar for me. Relief filled his eyes once they realized I was unharmed and alright. Oliver squatted once he reached me and ran his hand down the side of my face, resting to cradle my cheek. I pushed into it, tears starting to fall.

"Don't cry, sugar. It's ok. Sean called his contact back in Illinois and confirmed that Josh is still in custody. He didn't do this." He said as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

Relief fills me knowing that Josh is still being contained a few states away, but it's short lived. If he's there, then who is causing the damage to my car? No one knew where I was besides Gina, my best friend from Illinois.

Guilt passed through my body as I realized I hadn't kept in contact. I knew that Sean was in touch with her husband, but I had been a crappy friend. I made a mental note to call her and check in.

"I'm going to go speak with Sean, and see if they are ready for a statement from you." Oliver said, standing to his full height.

I nodded my understanding, but as he started to walk away I realized I wanted to be with him.

"Wait, can I come? I don't want to leave you." I said standing and stepping toward him.

He smiled softly and nodded at me. I walked quickly to catch up and held his hand as we moved outside. It was much darker outside than it had been when I had first seen my car. I saw Sam and Sean standing and talking with an officer by my

car.

Sam saw us approaching and alerted Sean, who turned and looked at us. I saw him excuse himself and he started walking toward us. He immediately embraced me in a tight hug and kissed the top of my head.

"Are you alright, darling? I was so damn worried during the ride over after Sarah called." He explained.

"I'm ok, a little shaken, but I feel better knowing that Josh is still in custody."

A weird look moved over Sean's face, but it passed too quickly for me to pinpoint what it was.

"What?" I asked, immediately feeling concerned.

"We'll talk about it when we get home." Sean brushed it off. "Right now, Officer Devin wants a statement. A tow truck is already on the way, and Sam said he would ensure it's loaded and taken to the garage for us so we can get you home." I nodded and we made our way to the officer talking with Sam. I smiled at Sam and waved, which he returned. I like Sam, he never looked at me with pity like some did once they learned about Josh, or saw the bruises. He saw me for me and I appreciated that more than anyone would know.

"Good evening, Mrs. Carter. I'm Officer Donald Devin, and I just have a few quick questions. I understand that your husband is currently in custody in Illinois, but that you are separated and he has a history of being violent with you. I doubt he had anything to do with this, but we'll take a look at his visitor and call logs. Is there anyone else you can think of that would do this?"

"No, no one besides my best friend and her husband know where I am. My family doesn't even know." I explained.

"Has anyone threatened you, or been acting strangely?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"I see that there's a report of a purse snatching here, but that the guy didn't appear to have ties with Josh. It's unlikely they are connected, but we will double check to be sure. I don't have any other questions. If you think of anything else, or have any questions, here's my card. Don't hesitate to ask. Try to have a good rest of your evening." He said as he turned and walked to his car.

"Let's get you home, little one." Sean said as he ushered me to his truck, buckling me into the back seat and shutting the door.

Oliver and Sean climbed into the front seats, and we headed home. It was a quiet ride, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally, when we were almost home, I asked the question that was burning the most in my brain. "Sean, what were you going to tell me when we got home?" I wanted to know, but was also nervous about asking.

"I think it's possible that you weren't a random pick for the purse snatching. I think it has something to do with Josh, but we just can't find the connection. There's nothing linking the two people, and no contact with anyone besides his lawyer and his father." His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.

Josh's father was very much like Josh. I never saw any signs that his mother was being abused, but I'd suspected when Josh first hit me. There were little signs that I noticed after I began adapting to hiding the abuse.

"The other line of thinking is still that the events are connected, but it's done by a person outside of the Josh situation. But so few people know where you are, it makes me think that it's a person that's local here that has found interest in you. I don't want to use the word coincidence, because I don't believe in it, but it's the only word that fits."

"I've had similar thoughts related to the second idea. It's the only thing that makes sense." Oliver stated.

I blanched at the thought. I had been brushing off the idea of someone following me and all the creepy feelings I was having as being paranoid and on edge from the dreams I've been having. Maybe it wasn't them at all, but someone truly stalking me. I shuddered at the thought, something that wasn't missed by my always watching men.

"What are you thinking, little one?" Oliver asked, turning in his seat so he could see me better.

I squirmed under his gaze. I knew what I had to tell them would make them angry. I had just been punished for something similar to this. This would break their trust in me.

"I have to confess something. I've been having dreams about Josh and the abuse. Dreams that terrify me about him taking the girls, and leaving me for dead. I get them sometimes, ever since this whole thing started, before I even left Josh." I explained looking at my hands in my lap the entire time.

"That's why you've been jumpy and distracted lately." Oliver said as he sat back against his seat, cursing under his breath.

We pulled into Oliver's driveway, and he got out and opened my door. He undid the seat belt and pulled me into him. I froze, shocked. This was not the reaction I expected from him. He squeezed me tighter, and I wrapped my arms around him, enjoying the warmth and comfort of being in his arms.

He picked me up bridal style and carried me to the house, Sean holding the door and locking it behind us. He sat down with me on his lap, and Sean sat beside him, pulling my feet into his lap. My men looked at each other with an emotion I hadn't seen before.

"We have to beg your forgiveness, little one. We failed you, and we are more sorry than you'll ever know." Sean stated as he rubbed circles on my calf with his thumb while his hand rested on my shin. "I-I don't understand."

"We should have had you speak with someone who deals in trauma therapy. You've been through hell these past years, and we got caught up in us and everything else that we didn't suggest or offer to help. You have signs that I've been trained to watch for, and I missed every damn one. I think you may have PTSD from your marriage with Josh and the abuse. I have the name of a therapist I refer our guys to, and I've spoken with myself. She's very good. I think you would benefit from speaking with her." Oliver explained, his voice thick with emotion and his expression pained.

"There's nothing to forgive, I didn't express that I was struggling, and I brushed everything off, and acted like I was fine. I should be asking for your forgiveness." I felt tears slide down my cheeks.

"We are your doms, your lovers. You are our everything, but we let the signs slide. I can assure you it won't happen again." Sean said, reaching over and brushing my tears away.

I leaned into his hand. His words triggered a thought in me. They were my everything. I could never leave. They had become my support and so much more over the short few months.

"There is another thing we can do to help support your healing. It's something we haven't really talked about, but it's something that I think maybe we should." Sean mentioned looking at Oliver, who met his gaze and gave a small node. "We've been playing with the idea of BDSM in our relationship, we've introduced a few ideas and principles, but we haven't embraced the full concept. Studies have shown that BDSM can help with healing trauma, especially domestic abuse and sexual trauma. I think you and us would benefit from it. It would help us know we aren't missing anything, and it helps give you the control and confidence to heal.

I think maybe we should discuss it, like we would if this was a brand new relationship between a dom and sub. We don't need a signed contract, unless you want one Josie. But I think we should entertain the thought of implementing stricter protocol and more structured scenes." Sean suggested as I watched his thumb still tracing circles, he noted my gaze and tapped his thumb, moving my gaze back to his.

"I agree with Sean, sugar. I think this would be good for all of us. We've been talking about implementing a more structured scene and relationship for us, this just kind of pushed into it faster." Oliver said, turning my gaze to him.

I thought about it. I hadn't disliked anything we'd done so far. I mean punishments weren't my favorite, but I knew why they did them. I was in control, they reminded me of that constantly, and checked in with me regularly about how I was feeling. Afterwards, they made me feel like royalty with their affection and care.

"I'm willing to try it." I said quietly.

Sean stood and grabbed a folder with some papers in it. He flipped through it before settling on a specific sheet. Having found what he was looking for he pulled it out and walked back to the couch.

"This is a list of things we would like you to rate on zero to five on how much you would like, or dislike doing them. A zero would mean no interest and five would be very interested. We have left things off that are hard limits for us." He explained as he handed me the sheet.

"Hard limits?"

"Things we won't do, ever. Soft limits are those which we aren't interested in right now, but may be willing to revisit later. " Oliver clarified.

"You don't have to fill this out right this second, but we'd like it back tomorrow so we can review it and start playing. For now, let's get you to bed. I don't know how you are feeling, but I'm exhausted from all the excitement this afternoon. Now that I know you are safe, I just want to hold you and sleep." Sean said standing and holding his hand to me.

I took his hand and he helped me to my feet. My back protested at the change of position, pulled a stiff groan from me as I stood and stretched. I rested my hands on my lower back and pressed. Oliver saw this and pushed my hands aside, gently massaging the protesting muscles in my lower back. I leaned back against him as he rubbed the stiffness away. I stood as the muscles released and Sean led me to the room. I left the paper on the counter and let my two guys tuck me and hold me as we fell to sleep.