He touched her and then shifted so he could sit up to hold her because he considered that the next might not be as easy to hear.
“Angelina …she was different and in order to tell you the difference, I need to go back and tell you of my role at The House. A role that I basically made for myself and one I was content with.”
She nodded again but the frown was back.
Unable to resist, he leaned forward and pulled her down into a long, heated kiss. She melted instantly, so sweet and unresisting. He could honestly spend all day doing nothing more than touching her. The next two weeks were going to be hard because all he wanted to do was lock himself in a room with her and make love to her until neither of them could take anymore.
But what he had to do was show her his life. How her life with him could be. He couldn’t afford a single misstep. Not when his entire future rode on convincing her that he could be the man she needed.
“Now, about Angelina. She belongs to Micah. Completely and utterly belongs to him. He’s so crazy in love with her. He’d do anything and everything to make her happy.”
Ren sighed. “That so wonderful.”
He could hear the wistful note in her voice and he wanted so badly to tell her that she could have that. She could have it and more because if she stayed with him, not a day would go by that he wouldn’t show her how very precious she was to him. Had always been.
“Micah is also …hard. Darker I guess you could say. Angelina fits him well because her desires and needs are every bit as dark as his. He’s fierce and demanding but he loves her so damn much.”
“He likes her to be with other men,” Ren guessed.
“Yes and no. You see, it’s kind of complicated, his and Angelina’s past, which is why he fought her for so long. He was once married to a woman he loved very much but he shared her with Angelina’s brother, his best friend. They both loved her. She was with them both.”
Ren frowned and cocked her head. “Then how?”
“I know. It all sounds like some kind of soap opera, right? Hannah, his wife, and David, his best friend, were killed in a car accident. Only it wasn’t really an accident. They were murdered by a man who was obsessed with Angelina, who at the time was far too young and David was extremely protective of her.”
“Oh my God. That’s horrible!”
Cole nodded. “So Micah leaves Miami, comes here. He’s grief-stricken. It took him a good while to get over what happened. And then comes Angelina who had been in love with him the entire time. So you can imagine all the conflicting emotions that Micah was feeling when confronted by this gorgeous, now grown-up, Latina bombshell.”
“He didn’t take it well, I’m guessing,” Ren murmured.
She leaned forward now, seemingly absorbed by the somewhat twisted story. Okay so it was a lot twisted looking back.
“He pushed her pretty hard,” Cole said. “He didn’t believe that she knew what it was he really needed and wanted. He didn’t believe that she knew what she was getting into.”
Ren snorted. “Typical know-it-all male. Always knows better than the female what she wants or needs.”
He eyed her balefully. “Anyway, if I can continue, I’ll get to my point.”
“Ah yes, what was the point of this conversation? I’ve quite forgotten.”
He smacked the side of her ass. “Disrespectful baggage. I’ll have to punish you for that later.”
The shiver that stole over her body delighted him. And stirred his blood like crazy. He couldn’t wait to have her spread out before him. Helpless. Dependent solely on him and his mercy. Provided he had any.
“Now, the thing is, back to my role at The House, because this kind of ties in. I did a lot of preparing. I touched. But mostly observed. I never had actual intercourse with the women there. I was tempted a few times but it wasn’t the right situation. I liked being at the club. I enjoyed the lifestyle. But mostly I was an outsider looking in. Until Angelina.”
Ren battled her frown. She tried not to allow him to see her reaction. She went still and he could feel the battle she waged with herself. It was obvious she still carried the scars from her previous relationship and it pissed him the fuck off that some bastard had actually cheated on her. Her! Who the hell in their right mind would even look at another woman when they had Ren at their feet. A willing submissive. Eager to do his bidding, to please him. She was so beautiful inside and out and he hated this son of a bitch for making her doubt that inner beauty.
That this asshole had paraded these women in front of Ren—hell he’d probably fucked them in front of her—all the while sending her the message that she wasn’t good enough, that nothing she could do would please him.
If he did nothing else in these two weeks, he’d show her that no other woman existed for him except her. She would know without a doubt that while she may submit to him and give him the most precious gift a woman can give to a man, in reality, she wielded absolute power over him.
“So you had sex with Angelina. Was she your first? I mean, from The House?” Ren asked.
“Well, yes and no. Micah invited me over. He trusted me. There were things he wanted that he didn’t feel comfortable doing himself.”
Ren’s eyebrows raised and he could see the interest gleam in her eyes.
“Hot wax,” Cole explained. “He didn’t want to hurt Angelina and I have experience with the practice. Micah did not. He may have tested her limits and maybe even tried to push her away and to prove that she couldn’t take what he would demand from her, but he would have died before hurting her.”
Ren donned a thoughtful, musing look. “I think I might like this Angelina. Except the part about her having sex with you.”
He chuckled. “There were other men present. Two others, to be exact.”
Her eyes widened again. “So she had sex with all of you?”
Cole studied her reaction closely. She seemed intrigued and he wasn’t sure how to take that. He wasn’t big on sharing. It was one thing he had in common with Damon. Before Angelina, he’d never even participated in a threesome. He was too damn possessive to share a woman he cared about with another man. But he could understand the appeal better now.
He finally nodded. “Yes, it was something that turned her on. We made sure she enjoyed herself. There was one other time, and perhaps I enjoyed this encounter more. It was more …intimate.”
Ren shifted her position so she could lean back against the couch with her feet over his belly and dangling off the couch. “This is a fascinating conversation. I’m so intrigued by all of it. So there was another time. With just you, Micah and Angelina?”
He nodded. “Yes. Micah invited me to The House. At the time he and Angelina were staying there. She had some asshole stalking her and Micah wanted to keep her safe. For the first time, I understood the appeal in sharing a woman with another man. The first encounter, with the other men, was more clinical for me. I was there to perform certain services. This time he wanted to watch. He wanted to watch me dominate his woman. His possession. I’d never considered how arousing it would be.”
“So the other night when Lucas …when he intervened. Did you like it then?”
He grimaced. “Yes and no. I hated that he inserted himself. But then I understood why. And well, if I’m honest, it was fucking hot. I loved seeing you between us. I can’t even begin to explain why. Maybe it’s best if I don’t analyze it. All I know is that it was a hell of a turn on.”
“It’s the first time he’s ever shared me with someone else,” she admitted softly.
“Did it upset you?”
She sighed and pulled her hair behind her head and held it there in a ponytail before letting it go again. He watched her closely because he sensed …It wasn’t disappointment exactly. But he’d seen the curiosity and even perhaps desire that had flashed when he’d spoken of Angelina having had sex with multiple men. If he had to guess, it was a desire that perhaps Ren had entertained but that Lucas had never provided for her.