Siren in Bloom [Texas Sirens 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (37 page)

Logan looked up, his head still resting on Shelley’s breasts. “How about I hate that fucker who did this to me instead? I’m not stupid. And I may be stubborn, but I’m not an asshole. You wouldn’t have done this if you didn’t care. And it wouldn’t have worked if I wasn’t in trouble.”

“You need to stay here. You need to work this out,” Wolf said, practically pleading.

Logan nodded. “I know I do. I wanted to kill that man. I don’t really know him, but I was going to kill him. I could feel my hands wrapping around his throat. I wanted to watch as I squeezed the life out of him. God, Leo, can you fix me? Can you make the images go away? I can’t not think about it. I can’t meet a new person and not wonder if they would hurt me if they could. I don’t want to live like this. Can you fix me?”

“He fixed me.” A quiet, deeply authoritative voice broke through the quiet. Julian Lodge was still in his business suit. He hadn’t changed for the evening, which told Leo that he’d had a busy Saturday. Julian got to one knee in front of Logan. “I know where you are. I’ve been held down and tortured against my will. I was forced to watch as someone hurt the woman I loved. It was only through my partner’s quick thinking that Danielle and I survived. And for almost a year after, I sat in Leo’s office once a week and we talked. And eventually it went away. I still think about it, but I’m in control now. Leo can help you take back that power if you allow him to. It’s your choice.”

Julian stood back up and held a hand out. Logan couldn’t possibly know how far Julian had come that he would reach out, telling his own story. The deeply guarded man now knew when to open the gates to his soul.

Logan took his hand, and Julian helped him up. “I want to stay, Mr. Lodge.”

“Then you are welcome. Men like you are always welcome at The Club. Shelley, dear, thank you for being the sweet soul you are. Perhaps your Masters will take that into account this evening. Logan, let’s have a drink. One or two should do. We can talk a bit.”

Logan nodded back at Wolf. “I’ll see you later, man. Guess we won’t be headed to New York.”

Julian turned back. “Everything is set for your scene with Shelley. Hurry along, you two. You don’t want to keep that crowd waiting.”

Wolf helped Shelley to her feet. He seemed to be ready to take a step back, but he suddenly hauled her into his arms and wrapped himself around her.

“You were great with him. Thank you.” Wolf breathed her in, seeming to try to lose himself in her scent.

“You’re welcome, but all I did was hold him.” Shelley held Wolf, too. She went on her tiptoes and pressed kisses along his shoulder.

“Sometimes that’s all you need, love.” Wolf stepped back with an audible breath. He calmed himself and looked to Leo. “Shall we begin?”

Leo eyed his brother. He had the worst feeling that Wolf wasn’t done with pulling crazy stunts. “Sure.”

He took Shelley’s hand and followed his brother out of the playroom and down to the dungeon.

* * * *

Shelley took a deep breath as Leo helped her on to the dungeon’s raised stage. She loved the heels. They were gorgeous. They were also torture devices. They were part of her punishment, and just like everything in BDSM, there were good and bad points. Good point—they were stunning and designer and she kind of wanted to kiss them. Bad point—they made her never want to walk again.

She rather thought her men were about to make her never want to sit again.

There was a spanking bench in the center of the stage and a plethora of devices meant to beat on a poor, did-it-all-for-love sub’s ass. All of it would have been perfectly doable, except for one thing.

Wolf had barely looked at her. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but she was starting to feel brutally self-conscious. Leo kept eating her up with his eyes, and the man had his hands on her all the time. It made it easy to forget that she was half naked. But Wolf was making her remember. He wasn’t the same man who had awakened her this morning by rolling her over and fucking into her before her eyes were even opened.

He was distant and that hurt.

“Find your position, baby,” Leo whispered in her ear. “You’ll get through this, and then we’ll figure out what’s got baby brother’s panties in a wad.”

She couldn’t help but smile. There was her Leo. The man she’d fallen in love with was funny and sarcastic and always had a quip. His blue eyes stared down, promising he would take care of it. How much easier this was than her marriage, where she had felt so alone. Even though Wolf seemed far away, Leo was close, promising to bring his brother back to her.

Yes, this was what she wanted, and she was willing to fight for it.

She dropped to her knees and spread her legs wide, her palms up on her thighs. She lowered her head submissively, and suddenly she wasn’t afraid of that spanking bench. Neither man had brought her anything but pleasure. The little bites of pain had merely enhanced her sexual fulfillment. She enjoyed the feel of their hands on her ass, the rope around her flesh. It meant she was performing for her men, bringing them what they needed.

Her pussy got soft and warm at the thought of the spanking that was coming. And the sex. She doubted they would deny her cock, and if they tried, she intended to beg sweetly until they gave in. For the first time in her life, she felt powerful. She made the choices. She decided her fate, and it was to be their woman.

“Sub, do you understand the violation you’re being punished for?” Wolf asked, his voice ringing out.

“Yes, Sir.” She gave him the words Leo had taught her to use.

“And do you cede control here and now to your Masters?” Leo asked.

“I do. I cede control to my Masters.” She kept her head down. They would call for public punishment, and Julian was supposed to agree. She didn’t know who would give the go-ahead now, though she’d seen Chase hauling a happy Kitten with him toward the front of the stage. With Julian out and Leo involved in the scene, it was probably up to Chase to speak for The Club.

“Do you cede control to your true Master?” Wolf asked.

That was off script. And she’d already answered the question. “Yes, Sir. I do.”

Wolf wasn’t done. “I have a gift for this submissive and for her true Master. Leo, will you accept this, in the spirit in which it is given?”

Shelley let her head come up. No one had said anything about gifts, and Wolf’s voice had taken on a grave tone that worried her. He was trying to hand Leo a box. It was a brilliant blue that would typically have her jumping up and down, but now she just wanted to know what the hell was happening.

Leo took the box, his eyes wary. “That depends on what spirit we’re talking about, brother.”

“In a spirit of brotherly consideration,” Wolf replied.

Leo opened the box, pushing aside the white bow and opening the lid. His brows lifted. “It’s a collar. It’s quite nice. There’s only one problem.”

He turned the box to her. In it was a lovely, heart-shaped silver locket. There was a space for a single key. That key lay next to the locket.

“Leo, she’s meant for you,” Wolf said, his voice heavy. “You’ve loved her for years. I would never take her from my brother. I came to Dallas to bring you together. My work here is done. I wish you both all the happiness in the world.”

“I am begging you to rethink this right fucking now, Wolf,” Leo said, but the words seemed really far away.

He’d come to Dallas to bring her together with Leo? He’d written to her for a month, sending her his secret fantasies and making her fall in love with him so she could be with Leo? Her heart started pounding. Vaguely she heard them talking.

“Leo, I did this for you.”

“Well, unfucking do it because she’s about to blow, and you do not want to see that, brother. I have no idea what caused this, but she’s about to make us both look like idiots, and I don’t know how to stop it because if what you’re saying is true, she has every right to be pissed as shit with you.”

Wolf had courted her, made her believe in him, made her love him, and all he’d wanted from her was to pass her off to his brother? No wonder he didn’t want to touch her.

But it didn’t make a lick of sense. When he’d made love to her, he’d been all in. He’d been there with her. Had that been a lie, too? Tears pricked at her eyes. Had she been played? She loved Leo, but damn, she loved Wolf, too. She needed them both, and one of them was either lying to her for god only knew what reason or he’d played her for a fool. Wolf had seemed so surprised when he’d found out about her prior relationship with Leo. Had that been spectacular acting on his part?

She knew what she should do. She should simply nod and take what they gave her and get through the next few moments with the dignity of a lady.

Being a lady had gotten her nothing. It had gotten her a marriage to fucking Bryce drug-dealing son-of-a-bitch Hughes. Being a woman had gotten her Leo. She’d thought it had gotten her Wolf. If she was wrong, then she would go out as she’d begun.

She’d been through one hellacious marriage where she’d been ruled by fear. She wouldn’t live her life like that again. Not for one second.

She pushed herself off the ground, forcing her legs to hold her.

“Shelley?” Wolf sounded utterly shocked. “Find your position!”

But she wasn’t listening to his orders anymore. She wanted answers, and she didn’t care if she had to get them in front of an audience. She grabbed the package out of Leo’s hands. “What does this mean?”

Wolf looked at Leo. “Are you going to control your sub?”

Leo, it seemed, really did have all the brains in the family. He took a step back. “I am going to take cover, brother. Would you like to explain what this is about? Maybe we should go back to my office and talk about this.”

Maybe he wasn’t so damn smart. “I’m not having a session with him. I want to know why there’s only one key. Is he planning on being a brilliant lock picker for the rest of our lives?”

Wolf’s jaw squared. “You know you belong with Leo.”

She did. And she knew she belonged with him, too. “I know that you’re playing with me. You tell me something, Wolf Meyer. Did you sign a contract to top me with the sole purpose of passing me off to someone else?”

He paled a bit. “That makes it sound worse than it is. I know you love Leo.”

“I love you, too. You made me love you. You wrote me letters. You spent hours on the phone with me. You told me you wanted me.”

Wolf’s face fell. “I did this for you.”

What the hell was going on? She felt a sob building in her chest. She knew she should be happy she still had Leo, but damn she wanted more. She wanted it all, and she’d thought for just a moment that she’d had it. She’d thought when Leo had made love to her this afternoon that everything was settled, but now half of her heart was walking away.

She threw the beautiful, gorgeous, would-have-been-perfect-if-it-had-two-keys necklace at Wolf. “You can go to hell. You say you did this for me? For me? I love you.” She hated the fact that she sniffled and that tears were starting to course down her cheeks. “I love you. I wanted a life with you and Leo and you promised me that last night. But it was a fucking lie. You’re just like all the rest. You can say you’re different, but you lie with the best of them, Wolf Meyer.”

“I didn’t lie.” He tried to take a step forward, but she discovered she could move in those heels when she wanted to.

“You did. You made love to me. You shared me with Leo and promised with your body that you would be there. You signed a fucking contract!” That was the worst bit of all. She’d played by his rules, and he’d still burned her. Rage flowed. “You sat down and negotiated that contract with me and I thought you meant it.”

“I did.” The words puffed from his mouth, and his eyes tilted up in horror.

“No. That fucking necklace tells me you didn’t. It tells me you were pimping for your brother. Did you think I would just accept this? Did you think I would shrug and walk away and the next goddamn family reunion you could bring your girlfriend and I would be okay?”

Leo shook his head. “I take no responsibility for this.”

“You stay out of it, Leo. I love you. I’m still talking to you. Keep it that way.” She turned back to Wolf. “I know I’m being a brat. I know I’m being a bad sub, but damn it, you told me that discipline meant getting what I wanted. This is not what I want. I won’t accept less. If you think you can have some fucking happy family after this, you’re wrong. So here’s my advice to you, Wolf Meyer. You better fucking choose again. I don’t know what happened between this morning and tonight, but you better forget it and you better take that fucking necklace back and get something more suitable or the rest of your life is going to be hell. I do not accept this. Gucci, Wolf.”

Her safe word seemed to hit him with the force of a Mack truck. “I haven’t even touched you. How can you say your safe word when I haven’t hurt you?”

“Haven’t hurt me? You hurt my soul, Wolf.” She deflated like a balloon that had lost its air. Her heart ached. She was standing in front of a dungeon full of people who probably thought she was the biggest brat in the world. She’d wanted to belong here, and now she’d more than likely ruined all of her chances.

And Leo. Leo probably thought she was a horrible sub. Tears blurred the whole word. She cried and turned away. Leo caught her.