Safe Harbor (4 page)

* * * *

Near dawn they heard her moving around. They were still three miles from the head marker. Sully worked in the galley, cooking breakfast. He walked to her cabin and knocked. “Do you want some scrambled eggs and sausage? We’ve got plenty. I made extra.”

After a moment came her tentative reply. “Yes, please. Thanks.

I’ll be out in a minute.”

He hated that when she emerged she warily eyed him, like a child watching a dog that’s bit them before but still has to be around it.

He kept his voice soft, steady. “How do you take your coffee?”

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“Milk and sugar, if you have it. If not, I’ll drink it black.”

He poured her a cup and set it on the table, not so close that she had to approach him to reach it. He left the milk and sugar on the edge of the table after she sat back.

Mac stuck his head through the doorway. “Good morning! Did you sleep okay?”

“Fine, thank you.”

Clarisse watched both men. Last night, when she’d collapsed, they’d both been shirtless. Mac stood a little taller and beefier than Sully, both men obviously in great shape, and Mac had nipple rings.

But this morning, Sully’s neck no longer had a collar locked around it.

She suspected the collar most likely meant Mac ran their weird little relationship. That made her feel safe somehow, even if it was stupid to feel like that about someone she just met. Maybe it was how his sweet brown eyes seemed to pull her in.

She didn’t trust Sully, though. Not a cop. She couldn’t trust a cop.

Mac, however…something about him settled her.

“You come home with us,” Mac said. “Grab a shower and change, and we’ll take you to see Tad.”

She started to tell them no, to resist their help, then realized what an asinine idea that was. She had no place to go and no idea where her uncle lived. If they’d wanted to hurt her, they could have done it in the middle of the Gulf and then disposed of her body, not haul her back to shore just to molest her at their home. Besides that, they were obviously gay from what she witnessed.

“Okay, thanks.” She tried not to flinch when Sully set a plate of food in front of her. “Thank you.”

Mac returned to the wheelhouse. Sully took a plate to Mac, then returned and sat across from her with his breakfast. She stole glances at him. Brown hair, a little grey around the temples. Piercing grey eyes. He didn’t try to coax her to talk, something she felt extremely grateful for.

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After fifteen minutes, he spoke. “So how much did you see last night? Of us on deck?”

She looked up, startled. He wore a smile she could describe as playful.

She blushed and glanced away. “Enough. I’m sorry.”

When he gently touched the back of her hand, she forced herself not to pull away.

“I hope we didn’t scare you. Seeing us like that.”

She shook her head. No, she hadn’t been scared. She tried to fight the sudden throbbing in her nether regions. What a totally inappropriate response to her memory of the sight of the two hunks…

Yowza.

“You didn’t scare me,” she managed. “I mean…” She had to swallow to form spit. “I’m scared, but not of you guys.” She closed her eyes. “I just feel so freaking stupid for not leaving him the first time.”

His fingers slipped around her hand. He gently squeezed before letting go and withdrawing his hand. “We meant it when we said we’ll protect you.” He paused. “We have a very large house, plenty of room. If you don’t mind our relationship, if that doesn’t bother you, we can work something out.”

Before she could reply, he stood and took his empty plate to the sink.

Tempting.
So
tempting. Why did he have to be a damn cop?

“Mac’s sister was murdered,” Sully said from where he stood at the sink. He turned and leaned against the counter. “He might come off as overbearing in some ways. I just wanted to tell you why he’s latched onto you. Her husband murdered her. Mac found her, she hadn’t died yet. The guy beat her to death. They pulled life support after several days.”

He left her chewing that over as he climbed the stairs to the wheelhouse.

She finished her breakfast and washed her dishes. Then she

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hunted down her toothbrush and toothpaste and went to the head. In daylight, she realized how horrible and pitiful she appeared. Her eye wasn’t as swollen, but the awful purple and green bruises looked almost worse. The split lip hurt. Thank God she still had all her teeth.

She peeled down her jeans so she could use the toilet and noticed those bruises also starting to fade although they still looked ugly.

She changed clothes, felt marginally better, and applied copious amounts of deodorant to take care of the worst of her stench. When she returned to the main cabin, the men were still in the wheelhouse.

She remembered to replace the envelope of paperwork, then climbed up to join them.

Both men offered friendly smiles. She noticed they’d passed Anclote Island. At idle speed, it’d take another half-hour to reach the marina.

She edged around the men so she stood on Mac’s far side, with him separating her from Sully. She watched their eyes, how they studied her injuries.

Their pity.

“We want to offer you a deal,” Sully said. Mac stayed silent.

“Please, hear us out. You can stay with us. There’s only a couple of things I’ll require.”

She tensed again. “No, I’ll go somewhere. I’ll—”

“Can I finish?”

She nodded.

He ticked them off on his fingers. “As you’ve seen, Mac and I have an unusual relationship. We only demand respect, not endorsement or participation from you. You will see things that might disturb you, but they are consensual. We don’t expect you to do any of it, just let us live our life. We expect you to respect our privacy and not talk about our private life with others. We’ll protect you, but you can’t have contact with your ex. You’ll have to listen to us and do what we say in regard to handling that situation. You must give us total honesty, because that’s a firm, unbreakable rule in our home.

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Absolutely no lying allowed.”

She waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, she asked,

“That’s it?”

“That’s the important and nonnegotiable stuff. You can pay rent, or you can work for us. You don’t bring people over without letting us know first so we’re not…” He arched an eyebrow at her.

“Obviously so we’re not outed, so to speak. You’re free to come and go as you please, but if you’re going out, you keep in touch so we know you’re okay. It only makes sense for you to stay with us. You should be close to Tad, and we have the room.”

“Work for you?”

“Help Mac on the boat. You already know the ropes.” He smiled.

“No pun intended. Help me at home, too. I could use an assistant.

We’ll pay cash and trade room and board for chores.”

“Chores?” she nervously asked.

Sully smiled. “Yeah, chores. You know, washing dishes, doing errands, vacuuming. Not like blow jobs.”

She finally let out a tired laugh before returning his smile.

“Okay.”

Sully stuck out his hand. “Deal?”

She nodded and hesitantly shook hands with him. “Deal. Thank you.”

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They returned to dock. Clarisse seemed to fall into her old patterns. She climbed onto the port gunwale as Mac eased the Dilly backward into her slip. She kept watch to make sure they didn’t hit, grabbed lines, jumped onto the dock, and deftly wrapped the line around the cleat. Sully grabbed the starboard side.

Sully offered her his hand as she moved to jump down to the deck. He didn’t miss her hesitation before she finally reached out and took it. As soon as she’d regained her footing, she pulled her hand from his.

Still scared.

Beautiful despite her injuries, she had blue eyes and long, black hair halfway down her back that, combined with her sweet rounded curves, made his cock stand up and take notice. He’d never preferred skinny women. Despite his honest reassurances, his ex-wife had struggled with her weight, constantly working out and dieting, usually miserable and grouchy the entire time, never happy with herself.

Clarisse was a beautiful woman. A real woman.

A woman terrified of him.

Mac helped her with her luggage. After securing the boat and connecting the Dilly to shore power, they headed for Mac’s truck.

She had to ride between them. Sully didn’t miss how she tended to stick closer to Mac’s side of the seat while he drove. Sully tried to observe her out of the corner of his eye as they rode toward the house.

They lived in a small, private, gated community. Their waterfront house on Spring Bayou, a large, sprawling one-story stilt home on a huge double lot, sat near the end of a cul-de-sac. Mac parked next to

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Sully’s Jaguar sedan and shut the truck off.

Clarisse stared, stunned. “You guys live
here
?” She knew location alone meant the house had to be expensive.

Mac smiled. “Be it ever so humble and all that crap.”

Clarisse noticed Sully didn’t help Mac with her bags. She started to grab her duffle bag, but Mac waved her off. “I’ve got it, sweetie.

That’s my job. You go on upstairs with him.”

Sully had already climbed halfway up the stairs. A large enclosed room filled the space beneath the house. “Utility room, exercise equipment, and storage,” he explained, pointing at the downstairs room.

She nodded and followed.

Sully unlocked the door and ushered her into the foyer, where he deactivated the alarm. Unpretentious decor, but the furnishings weren’t crap, either. These men lived well, obviously didn’t flaunt it, and the house seemed spotless. A textured Berber carpet, white walls with earth-tone accents, beautiful photographs on the walls. A lot of landscapes, but a few of the men together. A very masculine feel overall.

When Mac walked through the door with her bags, he looked at Sully.

“Take them to the larger guest room,” he told Mac. “The one with the bathroom.” He walked over to a pass-through kitchen counter and laid his keys down. “Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”

She shook her head and slowly walked around the large living room. These men had built a nice life for themselves. Pictures of the two of them showed a happy couple very much in love.

In one, Mac sat on a fence while Sully stood next to him. They looked at each other, blatant love in their gazes…

Clarisse stifled a sob. She’d never felt like that before. Damn sure never felt that way about Bryan.

She tried to rein in her emotions. Exhausted and beat half to death, she felt barely sane and needed a shower.

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Mac returned from wherever he’d taken her bags. Clarisse turned to speak to him, then realized his full attention had focused on Sully.

She glanced at Sully and found him staring at Mac. After a long, nearly awkward moment, Sully spoke in a quiet, firm voice. “Don’t make me tell you.”

When Mac’s gaze nervously flicked her way, a horrible feeling washed through her. Maybe she’d terribly misjudged these men.

Without thinking, she edged a step backward, closer to the front door.

Mac finally spoke. “Please?”

Sully leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “All right, fine. Just remember it has to happen sooner rather than later. Shorts if you insist, but that means you owe me five strokes.”

Mac nodded before disappearing into another room.

Sully smiled. “We warned you, we have a…different lifestyle.”

He walked into the kitchen. She heard him rummaging around, then water running, followed by a coffeepot gurgling a moment later.

She didn’t move. “Different how?” she finally asked. Her voice sounded way too weak for the cavernous cathedral ceiling.

He stared at her from across the counter. “How open-minded are you?”

She felt some of her new anxiety fade. “Consenting human adults.

If you’re not trying to coerce me into it, I probably won’t object.”

He smiled again. While she didn’t trust him, she had to admit that the way his lips curled softened his face and crinkled the corners of his grey eyes in a playful way. “Girl after our own hearts then.” He disappeared into the kitchen where she couldn’t see him.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Mac had returned to the living room. He wore shorts and nothing else.

Almost
nothing else.

Something in her heart fluttered at the sight of his bare chest. Yes, he had nipple rings, gold ones. She also realized his chest was completely bare, shaved. That wasn’t the unusual thing.

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The custom-tooled leather collar around his neck with a small silver lock attached to the buckle caught her attention.

Sully stepped out of the kitchen. “And?”

Clarisse looked at him. “And what?”

“Not you, sweetie.” He looked pointedly at Mac.

Mac knelt on the floor. That’s when the situation hit her.

Whatever their relationship, Sully was in control, not Mac, regardless of what she’d witnessed on the boat.

Sully walked over to Mac and stood beside him, brushed his hand through Mac’s blond hair. “Mac and I have a complex relationship.

I’m his Master, he’s my slave.” Sully’s hand remained on Mac’s head, his fingers twined through his hair. “So we’re partners, lovers, and more than that. It’s consensual. We’ve lived this way for several years.”

As she stared at them, trying to decide what to say, she watched Mac lean in, close his eyes, and rest his head against Sully’s thigh.

She realized both men wore matching bands on their left hands, like wedding bands.

“It’s okay, Clarisse,” Sully assured her. “You can freak out now if you want.”

“That’s not funny, Master,” Mac mumbled.

Clarisse noticed a change in Mac’s voice, like he’d suddenly relaxed.

Sully must have noticed her expression. “Sorry. I don’t want to freak you out, but since you’ll be living here, you need to understand who we are. Usually no one outside the lifestyle sees us like this. As you can see, he enjoys this as much as I do.”

Her mind whirled. She didn’t know what to say.

“What you witnessed on the boat,” Sully continued, “is just one aspect of what we do. I own the boat. Mac is the captain. I decided that as captain, we could play by his rules when I went out with him. I don’t get to go out with him all the time. Sometimes it’s fun for me to sit back and let him have fun. He enjoys topping on occasion. It mixes

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things up.”

Clarisse stared.

Sully gave her a moment, obviously realizing she was still processing information, before he continued. “As I said, we will never expect you to join in this with us. Although if you were curious and wanted to learn more, we would be happy to answer questions or help you out. Hopefully, after a few days, you will be more comfortable with this. Of course, we expect you to not say anything to anyone about this aspect of our relationship.”

She nodded.

“Normally I would have told Mac we’d act vanilla. Under the circumstances, because you’ll be with us for the foreseeable future, I’d rather be up front about this from the start instead of hiding what and who we are.” He patted Mac’s head. “Show her to her room, get her anything she needs. Then you and I need to shower and get dressed so we can take her to visit Tad.”

He stood and flashed her a smile. “I already laid stuff out for you.

Come on, this way.”

He led her down a hallway to a bedroom. At first, she thought maybe they’d walked into the master suite. The house she’d lived in with Bryan hadn’t had a master bedroom this large.

Mac walked over to the bathroom door and flipped the light on. “I got you Epsom salts to put in the water. That’ll help with the soreness.

I put out towels and some shampoo and conditioner for you. I’ll get with you about a shopping list, things you like and want, so I can buy them next time I go. I also put a disposable razor in there, and some shaving cream.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “Don’t have any shaving gel, sorry.”

She felt numb, in a good way. “That’s okay. That’ll be fine.”

Anything to shave and quit feeling like a filthy Sasquatch would be a blessing.

“Just leave your dirty clothes and the towels on the floor for me,”

he said over his shoulder as he walked out.

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“What?”

“I do the laundry,” he said from the bedroom. “And most of the cooking. The cleaning.” He paused. “I need to talk with Sully. He’ll probably want to let you do some of it. Anyway, we can work that out later. Tad’s going to be so glad to see you. He’s really missed you, talks about you all the time.”

With that, he walked out and softly closed the bedroom door behind him, leaving her feeling guilty as hell.

Uncle Tad was her only living relative besides a few distant cousins she didn’t even know. She should have stood up to Bryan, kept in better contact. He never should have had to go through this alone.

Well, bitching and moaning wouldn’t get her there any sooner.

She sorted dirty clothes from clean ones in her bag and dumped them in the bathroom. That didn’t feel right though. She felt guilty again, this time over saddling Mac with her laundry. She tried to tidy the pile a little.

Must be exhaustion.

She gave up, stripped, then turned, and studied herself in the bathroom mirror.

What a mess.

Turning, she saw the huge purplish-green swaths of bruises around her kidneys in addition to all the others.

That dealt the final blow to her psyche. She burst into tears, loudly sobbing. How had she let her life get so out of control as to reach this point? What was that stupid line, relying on the kindness of strangers?

Had she really sunk to that?

A knock sounded on her bedroom door. It opened a crack and Sully softly called to her.

“Clarisse? Are you okay, honey?”

Mac had even hung a robe on the back of the bathroom door. She grabbed it and pulled it on. “Yeah,” she called out as she sniffled. She wiped her face with her hands.

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“Is it safe to come in?”

“Yeah.” She walked out to the bedroom.

He stuck his head in. “Are you really okay?”

She started to say yes, then burst into tears again and crumpled onto the end of the bed. He walked in and sat next to her. Despite her earlier hesitation, she let him put his arm around her as she cried against him. Mac appeared in the bedroom doorway.

“We promise he won’t hurt you again,” Sully quietly said. “I swear.”

“I’m sorry. I…it’s just that…it’s horrible. I look like a punching bag.”

“I’m going to make a suggestion. Please keep in mind I was a cop for over ten years.”

“Okay.”

“Did anyone get pictures of your injuries? Did you go to the hospital?”

“My friend Raquel took some. The cops took some. I don’t remember if the hospital did or not.”

“Do you want me to take another round for backup? Just in case you need them later?”

She didn’t want to, even though she knew it was a good idea. But she feared the file and the evidence getting lost and Bryan getting off, no matter how much they had assured her that wouldn’t happen.

He continued. “I can give you the roll of film to have developed. I don’t even have to see it after I take them.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s probably better someone else has them. In case.”

Mac stepped into the room. When he spoke, his voice dropped in anger. “I’m telling you, if your boyfriend shows up, we’ll fucking kill him, I swear we will. We won’t give him another chance to hurt you.”

Sully flashed him a look that obviously meant
shut up
. “I’ll go put in a fresh roll of film. We can do it right here. Mac will get you a large towel so you can stay covered.”

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She nodded.

He gently patted her thigh before leaving the room.

Mac fetched a large towel from the bathroom and turned on all the room lights. She felt touched that he held the towel and averted his eyes as she slipped the robe off and pulled the towel around her.

When he saw the bruises on her thighs, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Son of a bitch,” he whispered. “That motherfucker.”

She couldn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she kept her eyes on the collar around his neck. “They don’t hurt as much as they did the other day.” Then again, she suspected her exhaustion had masked a lot of her pain.