Siren in Bloom [Texas Sirens 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (35 page)

“You said it,” Shelley said on a breathy little sigh. He’d said it.

Those frequently chilly eyes were warm on her now. “I said it. I meant it. And I mean it when I promise you that Wolf and I will work something out. When I get overly possessive or obnoxious, he can just try to hit me. He’s bigger anyway.”

She laughed at the thought of having to play referee to her men. “I’m not going to let him hit you.”

A superior look crossed Leo’s face. “I said he could try. He’s bigger, but I’m way more flexible, and despite allowing him to do the majority of the running today, I’m actually faster than him. Remember that the next time you try to run.”

No more running for her. Leo set her gently down on his sofa.

“I’m not going to run again.” She stared up at one half of her world. He was so beautiful, and he was finally hers. “I promise the next time someone tries to kill me to let you or Wolf take the bullet.”

“Damn straight,” Leo replied, winking. “And again, Wolf is really half metal. He’s like the bionic man. We should let him take the bullets.” He kissed her lightly. “Let me go clean up, baby. Actually, we should both clean up. Come on. There’s a shower in the bathroom.”

“You need a shower in your office?” Shelley asked, getting back on her feet. She knew she should be self-conscious, but that seemed to have fled with those three little words from his lips. He loved her. He loved her. That meant he had to love her cellulite, too.

Leo shrugged. “I’ve had to listen to some weird shit. Just listening to some of Kitten’s fantasies made me want to take a shower. There’s a reason I shipped her over to my ex-wife.”

Shelley laughed. She had the feeling she was going to have to get used to the oddities of her boyfriend’s secretary.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get washed up. I haven’t even kissed you properly.”

Leo opened the door to the bathroom, and Shelley walked through with a serenity in her heart that had been missing for years.

* * * *

Wolf stared down at the delicate choker he’d ordered the day before. It was lovely, something Shelley could wear all day and no one in the vanilla world would see it for what it was—a commitment, a promise, a future.

Of course, none of those things belonged to him. Not when it came to Shelley.

His mind leapt back to an hour before. Standing outside the door to his brother’s office. He’d opened it a crack, and then he’d heard Shelley’s passionate words.

I’ll love you for the rest of my life and through whatever comes after. That’s the only sure thing here. It’s either enough for you or it isn’t.

Wolf had stopped. Shelley had made her play for Leo. He’d known it would happen. He’d wanted it to happen, and still, hearing those words struck through him a little. She hadn’t said them to him. She hadn’t said them in front of him. She’d said them from the comfort of Leo’s arms. He’d been able to see her gorgeous face shining up at his brother, her love for him plain for anyone to see. She loved Leo.

That was okay. He wanted her to love Leo. The whole ménage thing wouldn’t work if she didn’t love them both. He’d stood there and forced himself to concede that Leo had known her longer. He could have the first I love you.

He’d been just about to walk in when he’d heard Leo’s response.

I don’t know if I can share you long term. What are we going to do about Wolf?

With those low words, Wolf had felt everything fall apart like a house of cards imploding under the smallest of winds.

He’d shut the door and walked from the office, his feet feeling leaden.

“Sir? Is it what you wanted?” the immaculately dressed clerk asked.

“Dude? Are we going to stand in Tiffany’s all day?” Logan asked, giving him a little punch. Logan looked at the clerk as though just realizing something was wrong. “Could you give us a minute? I think he’s figuring out if it’s the right one.”

The well-trained clerk nodded. “Of course. Sometimes these things look different in person than they did on the website. Please let me know if you would like to look at something different.”

The clerk walked away.

“Wolf, what the hell is going on? Don’t shrug me off again. I’m not stupid. You were fine and then you turned into a morose ball of goo. What the hell happened when you went to tell Leo how long you would be?”

Wolf tried to focus on the small necklace. There was a circlet of white gold and through it came two tails, each with another circlet. Three circles connected. Wolf had seen it and thought about how he and Leo wouldn’t be getting close again without Shelley. Three circles, the two lower ones flowing from the one in the middle. Shelley was the sun, and he and Leo were the planets that worshipped and orbited around her.

He sighed and placed it back on the velvet display case. He couldn’t waste that much money on something that wouldn’t mean a thing after tonight.

“She’s in love with Leo.”

Logan’s brows came together. “Okay. I thought we knew that. I don’t see the problem.”

Of course Logan didn’t see the problem. In Bliss, it would be a simple thing. Wolf would just go after her until she loved him, too. Hell, it was practically expected in Bliss. If someone told a Bliss woman she had to pick between two men she wanted, she just might start shooting. But he wasn’t in Bliss.

“Leo won’t share.”

Logan gasped. “Shit. Wow. Does your mom know?”

Crap
. He missed Jamie sometimes. James was the more mature of Wolf’s best friends. “I’m not calling my mom in. Shelley loves him. Leo loves her. There’s no place for me. I’m going to do the only thing I can do. I’m going to hand her over to my brother and wish them well.”

It made his heart ache. He’d fallen for her completely. She was the sunshine he’d been missing for most of his life. He even loved the bratty way she tried to manipulate him. He didn’t want perfection from her. He wanted her beautiful body and the sassy, loving soul that went with it.

But those belonged to his brother, and he owed Leo a lot, too. He couldn’t take away a woman his brother loved. He’d made his play, and he’d lost.

“Fuck, man. I don’t like the sound of that.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “Shouldn’t you, like, beat the shit out of him until he sees things your way?”

“That wouldn’t work with Leo. He’s smaller than me, but he’s mean in a fight. And he’s a stubborn asshole. And he’s my brother. I don’t think he’s ever really been in love before. I can’t take it away from him. I love her. I really do, but it can’t work like this. If I press my claim, it’s only going to make her miserable. And in the end, she’ll pick him and then I won’t have a relationship with either of them. I need to bow out gracefully. I need to make a good show.”

“That sucks, man.”

Yep. Logan was succinct. Wolf raised a hand, and the clerk came over quickly. “I need to see something different. Do you have something more like a lock with one key?”

“Absolutely, sir. I’ll bring you several to choose from.” He swept away the necklace Wolf had chosen. It was gone like the future he’d briefly had.

“You’re going to hand her over tonight, aren’t you?” Logan asked.

Wolf nodded. “I’m going to pretend like it was my plan all along. Like this was my gift.”

Logan looked at the tags on the jewelry surrounding them. “It’s a pretty fucking expensive gift.”

Yes, it was. In more terms than just money. It was going to cost him a piece of his soul. And he would pay it. He would pay it because his brother had never faltered. Leo had been the one to make sure he’d eaten breakfast and gotten to school. Leo had sat up with him explaining homework and reading to him when their mother had to work late. It was a debt Wolf could never really repay.

He selected a pretty lock with a small key. It was gold and would look lovely against Shelley’s skin. Leo would hold the key. Wolf would be the kinky brother who had once played into his sister-in-law’s fantasy. After a while, they wouldn’t think about him at all. He would just be part of the family. Neither one would know that he would love her until the day he died.

“I’ll take this one,” Wolf said.

“You’re a better man than me,” Logan said as the clerk placed his selection in its blue box and got it ready to go.

“I don’t know about that. I’m just doing what I have to do.”

Logan looked at him seriously. “Come to New York with me. I have a friend I’m going to see. He’s kind of a crazy billionaire. You know that search engine everyone uses? Yeah, he invented that. His granddad kept a summer cabin in Bliss, and he came up every year from June to late August. We called ourselves summer brothers. Come with me, man. His place is incredible from what I hear.”

“You’re leaving The Club?” He handed his bank card to the clerk. “Logan, you’ve had two sessions with Leo.”

Logan shrugged. “He’s good. I’m totally fixed. I haven’t tried to kill anyone in like a week. Haven’t even wanted to. I just needed to be away from Bliss. I’m staying for another day or two and then I’m headed to Manhattan. Seth can get me a job. He can get you a job, too. Come on, man. Let’s try the city out.”

Wolf was pretty sure that was a bad idea. No matter how calm Logan seemed now, it was still there, simmering under the surface. But he hadn’t shown a single crack last night during the scenes. Wolf knew Leo had been watching Logan for a reaction.

But no one had set up a scene that played on Logan’s trauma.

It was a horrible thing to do, but if Logan was really fine, then what Wolf had in mind wouldn’t faze him.

“I’ll think about it,” Wolf told Logan. “Hell, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

But if he had his way, Logan wasn’t going to New York. He would stay and let Leo help him. All Wolf needed was a little help from some new friends. When he had a chance, he called Jack Barnes and gave the cowboy the game plan.

Tonight he would help all the people he cared about.

And then he could walk away with a clear conscience and a heavy heart.

Leo looked out over the dungeon. A sense of peace had settled over him. He could do it. He could share Shelley with his brother because it was what she needed.

And also because she’d threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t. It totally made his decision easier.

“Is he here yet?” Shelley asked, her eyes trailing around the large space.

“I don’t see him. Don’t worry, baby, he’ll be here. He’s not going to miss a chance to beat your ass after the stunt you pulled today.” He felt unreasonably cheerful. He still had a whole fuckload of problems to deal with. Someone was trying to kill his girl. Holder was hiding something. Logan was going to walk. Yeah, his life was complicated, but he was getting some tonight.

“That is so comforting, Leo.” Shelley frowned up at him. She was dressed in exactly what Wolf had left for her—very little. Her breasts were pressed together in a black leather corset that offered them up like a tempting fruit. Her hot ass was covered in a barely there thong, and those curvy legs flowed down into a pair of four-inch stilettos she hadn’t stopped complaining about since the minute she’d forced her feet into them.

Yes. Despite the shit storm they were in, his world felt pretty fucking perfect. Even his sense of humor was coming back. “It wasn’t meant to be comforting, baby. It was meant to let you know just how much trouble that hot ass is in. Damn, you look fine tonight. Did I mention how fine you look?”

She bit back a smile and went up on her tiptoes. Those ridiculously high heels put her closer to his height. “You might have mentioned it a time or two.” She pouted a little and batted those lashes at him. “Do we really have to do this public punishment thing? Wouldn’t it be more intimate to just go back to our place and make love? I can make both my Masters very happy. I can prove what a sweet sub I can be.”

Brat thought she could get out of her punishment?
He brushed his lips to hers, reveling in the fact that he could fucking kiss her all he wanted. “Oh, baby, that sounds perfect. You can prove to me what a sweet sub you are right after you prove to me how red your ass can get.”

She pulled back, but there was a laugh on her lips. “Fine. I suppose I deserve it.”

“Richly,” Leo replied. His brother walked through the doors, his massive shoulders barely clearing the frame. California-king bed. That was what he was going to have to order.

Shelley’s face lit up as she noticed Wolf. She waved a hand. “Wolf!”

His brother looked up, but the grim expression on his face didn’t change. Logan walked behind him. Both men had changed into leathers, but neither looked particularly happy to be in the dungeon. Shelley tottered over to Wolf and tried to throw herself into his arms. Wolf caught her, but there wasn’t passion in his hold.

What the fuck was going on?

If Shelley noticed, she didn’t give it away. She was chattering happily about the fact that she’d forced Leo to sit through two hours of HGTV while Wolf had been gone.

Wolf’s eyes grew round as he looked at Leo. “Dude, why were you getting punished?”

“Next time it’s your turn,” Leo said with a shake of his head.

Shelley’s nose wrinkled sweetly. “It wasn’t so bad. And I’m going to completely redo the condo. I have swatches coming on Monday.”