Sexual Healing for Three (28 page)

“Will you?”

“Until I think she needs otherwise.”

Chance was beginning to realize that being a Dominant was not just a part of Russ’s sexual persona, but a part of what he was, an integral part of his personality. He guessed he’d already known this, though. Russ had always been domineering, a leader in any group and
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a taskmaster when it came to raising Chance. But he had his tender and sensitive side. Chance had seen that too, been the beneficiary of it, especially right after their mother had been killed.

Russ had spent more than his fair share of time trying to convince Chance that their mom’s death had not been his fault and that he shouldn’t blame himself for not being able to save her. But Chance knew the truth. He had failed his mother and Russ.

“I’m hungry. I’m going to go get something to eat,” Chance said.

“You coming?”

“Not yet.”

Chance just shook his head and smiled as he left.

* * * *

As much as she wanted to mingle and immerse herself in the activities, Donna could do nothing but sit on the sidelines and watch, pushing her food around on her Styrofoam plate, barely eating. She had no appetite, not for food or fun.

Again, she asked herself why she had come.

“Hey, Sis.”

Donna grinned as Slany took a seat beside her on the wicker loveseat, fanning her face with a hand. The action reminded Donna of her and Russ’s first sit-down, how he had taken a break from playing volleyball with her family. It seemed like years ago instead of weeks.

“Why over here all by your lonesome?’

Donna shrugged. “Not feeling very sociable right now. Maybe later.”

“You’re missing out.”

“I know.” She grinned to let Slany know her efforts were appreciated.

“You meet Kim and Wes yet?”

“Are those Russ’s kids?”

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“Unless one of your sisters has popped out another couple of kids we don’t know about.”

Donna nudged her sister-in-law in the arm with her own and laughed. It was the first genuine laugh she’d had all afternoon.

“Angela’s pretty fertile, but I think her time has passed. And I think Tabitha’s done for a little while.”

“Not to hear EJ tell it. You know, he’s pretty persuasive. He might be able to talk her into a couple of more and soon.”

Donna followed her gaze to find the couple in question taking a break from the family’s traditional volleyball game—the young’uns against the old fogies—and necking as their team rotated to serve.

After almost five years of marriage and two kids, EJ and Tabitha showed no signs of slowing down, took every opportunity they could to touch, hug, kiss, and just genuinely show affection toward each other.

They set a wonderful example for their two kids, showing them how a mother and father in love were supposed to act, and it choked Donna up to think how Naomi’s kids had been deprived of such an example.

Donna swallowed as Slany nudged her back.

“So what’s got you down?”

If she didn’t pull herself out of her doldrums and pick up her face, Slany wouldn’t be the only one asking, and Donna would have to explain. She wasn’t ready to do that, had done enough explaining already to Angela and Russ without intending to. She couldn’t face another family member with the evidence of her failure.

“Not down. Just stressed. You know how it is with the job.” That should be close enough to the truth without telling to get her over.

Slany seemed to accept it at least, nodding as she grinned.

“You’ve got a couple of stress relievers right here from what I hear.”

Angela’s birdie sure gets around.

Wait a minute. How much did Slany know? For that matter, how much did Donna’s brothers and sisters know? Would Angela have
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told them all the details of her latest matchmaking efforts? Were all her siblings and in-laws as accepting of Angela’s latest plot as Angela and Freddie evidently were?

God, the idea that her brothers and sisters knew what she was doing with Russ and Chance, that she had entertained two men at the same time, sent her temperature skyrocketing.

Slany leaned close and whispered, “Which one’s got you blushing?”

She turned to her sister-in-law, heart pounding. “You know?”

“Of course we do. Angela thought we should all have fair warning.”

“At least
you
guys
had
fair warning,” Donna mumbled.

“Now you know how I felt when I showed up to your family barbecue expecting an apology and truce from your brother only to have him insult and practically throw me out on my ass for crashing the family barbecue uninvited.”

Donna chuckled. Angela was notorious for her ambushes. But so far she’d been on the money with each of her picks, and her plans, though sometimes messy, always netted the desired result. EJ, Nick, Emilia, and Evelyn were all living in wedded bliss with their soul mates.

But still, the idea that her siblings, especially her brothers, knew about the circumstances between her, Russ and, Chance made her more than a little uncomfortable.

Nick and EJ didn’t think any of their sisters were sexual beings, convinced that Angela’s and Emilia’s kids had all been conceived immaculately. This was how overprotective and old-fashioned her brothers were. She was used to it. She didn’t think she could ever get used to them seeing her as some kind of nymphomaniac, though.

“The three of you are all consenting adults and what you do behind closed doors is nobody’s business but yours,” Slany said.

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“Yeah, sure.” Intellectually, she knew Slany was right, but emotionally? And since when had she become so emotional, anyway, and caring what anyone thought of her?

Slany gave her a patient smile. “I know your brothers can be pretty overbearing, but don’t worry about them. We’re talking about you and your happiness. Besides, you’re the older sister. You’re the boss of them, not the other way around.”

Something clicked into place at Slany’s words, flashes of how she and Nick were with each other, they way Slany shamelessly catered to Nick. Then there were the times, rarer, but still there, when Nick catered to Slany, practically licking her feet in his reverence.

There was something in their relationship that touched something deep inside Donna, something in the dynamics between them that was slightly skewed and made her pussy and heart throb with longing.

She’d never made the connection before, that the relationship Slany and Nick shared was just a little darker and kinkier than the relationships that any of her other brother and sisters shared with their spouses.

Maybe she should just ask, since it seemed like all of
her
business was out there for everyone to speculate about. “Whenever we all get together for girls’ night out, you never really talk about yourself and Nick except in the most general terms. You seem satisfied, but you don’t go into details. You sit back and absorb it all with a Cheshire cat smile, like you know a secret.”

“It’s like I said—”

“What goes on behind close doors is nobody’s business. Yes, I got that.”

“Unless, of course, I
want
to share. And in this case, I think it’s warranted.”

“What case?”

“You want to know about me and Nick.”

Donna felt the resultant blush from her throat to her scalp. “You guys just seem like you march to the beat of a different drummer than
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other couples I know. I mean, you’re affectionate and attentive with each other, but there’s a certain discipline to your actions.”

“That’s an interesting term and very perceptive.” Slany raised her bottled water to her lips and took a big gulp before putting the bottle back on the cast iron table beside the loveseat.

When Slany didn’t elaborate after a long moment, Donna lost her patience and threw up her arms in frustration. “Well?”

“Well, which one of your two men is the Dom?”

Donna wanted to say they weren’t her men, but realized it would be a waste of time. Angela had done her job too well. “Dom? You mean as in Dominant?”

Slany tapped her finger with her chin. “I’m thinking it’s Russ.

There’s something about him, the way he carries himself, the way he talks and looks at you…”

Was it that obvious? Was
she
that obvious in how she felt about him?

“It’s something very proprietary.”

“Like he owns me?”

Slany laughed at Donna’s scandalized tone. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I just don’t see the good or healthy in one person controlling or
owning
another. Only bad can come of a situation when one person holds all the cards.”

“A Dominant/submissive relationship isn’t all about one person controlling another, or one person being controlled. It’s about give and take. Most times the sub has as much control as the Dom. It’s just exercised in a different way, at different times.”

Slany had called Russ a Dom. So that meant that Donna was a...Oh God, her heart fluttered in recognition and grudging acceptance.

She was a submissive?

“Take Nick and me, for instance,” Slany was saying, and Donna turned to give her sister-in-law her full attention. “Sometimes we 224

Gracie C. McKeever

switch, though not too often. Your brother…well, let’s just say he’s a Dom’s Dom and isn’t comfortable in the submissive role. Though he’ll treat me once in a while and play out a scene after some negotiating.”

Donna’s eyes widened at the strangely familiar terminology. She felt so much like a naïve tyro around Slany despite being more than a decade older. She tried not to look too traumatized, but realized she was failing miserably when Slany said, “You look shocked.”

“I just never realized.”

“That’s the point. No one does unless we tell them or unless they’re in the Life too.”

Donna followed Slany’s gaze across the yard where Russ and Nick were sharing a beer during a break from one ball game or another. They looked right cozy with each other, like they shared a lot in common. Horrified, she caught Slany’s arm.

“You don’t think—”

“That they’re discussing you?” Slany grinned and patted her hand.

“Probably only in the most general terms, but nothing explicit. Your brother wouldn’t be able to take anything more, and Russ isn’t stupid or crazy, so he would never share what you two do, especially not with one of your brothers.”

“Okay, so I’m being paranoid.”

“Sharing what he’s claimed isn’t high on a Dom’s to-do list.

They’re very territorial.”

Slany didn’t have to tell Donna that, but what surprised her the most, especially after the way Russ had acted with her earlier, was that he was okay sharing her with Chance. Maybe it was the whole sibling dynamic, and if they hadn’t been brothers and already sharing their own close relationship, he wouldn’t have even considered sharing Donna with Chance.

“Is this all a little TMI for you?”

Donna looked at Slany, seeing the younger woman in a different light, not to mention her baby brother. She didn’t know how to
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reconcile the man who was Slany’s Dom and husband to the young boy with whom she had grown up teasing and roughhousing.

“Not too much information at all,” she said, just glad she wasn’t all alone when it came to her appetites, that she wasn’t as weird as she had thought she was. It still didn’t mean she was comfortable with this threesome she had been thrust into, but at least she wasn’t as uninformed about the Life as she had been. And she knew, with a man like Russ, she would need all the information she could get in order to deal with him and the situation.

Slany squeezed her shoulder as she stood. “Just remember the most important thing when you go into this—Safe, Sane, Consensual—and you won’t go wrong.”

“Safe, Sane, Consensual.” Well, hell, that sounded simple enough.

“As long as they treat you with consideration and respect and you’re happy, we’re all happy for you and support you, Donna. Never doubt that.”

“Thanks, Slany. And I’m glad we talked.”

“You know who you really have to thank for this chitchat.”

Donna followed her sister-in-law’s gaze again to see Angela standing several feet away, smiling her all-knowing big sister smile and saluting them with her glass of wine.

She should have known.

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Within an hour after her conversation with Slany, Donna had pulled herself out of her emotional morass enough to join the fun and play some volleyball. Or more accurately, Angela had dragged her off her ass and pulled her into the game, this one a battle of the sexes with Donna, Slany, Emilia, Tabitha, and Russ’s daughter, Kim, on one side and EJ, Nick, Russ, Emilia’s husband, Ramón, and Russ’s son, Wes, on the other.

Angela played lineswoman calling fairs and fouls, while Freddie manned the grill, and Chance kept the rest of the teenagers and kids busy with other activities.

Donna got more of a glimpse of Russ’s competitive nature facing off against him on opposite sides of the volleyball net. Like her brothers, he didn’t pull any punches—or more accurately spikes—just because he was playing against women, nor did he go easier on her just because he had slept with her.

In fact, he seemed to get particular pleasure using his superior weight and height to spike the ball against her. But this was okay because Donna had a few tricks up her sleeve and managed to block several of his shots, negating his size with cunning and good timing.

With these and her competitive sisters backing her up—Emilia, the smallest of them, was particularly cutthroat—the women managed to give the men a serious run for their money, keeping the game close and only losing by one point.

After promises of a rematch, the gang all broke up in search of more sustenance.,

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Russ caught up with Donna as she headed for one of the coolers Angela had strategically placed throughout the backyard.