Kaden, a smile on his face, sat near the end of the table. “Just be thankful I didn’t let her talk me into the other one she wanted me to have.”
“I don’t want to know.”
He grinned. “No, you don’t.”
Leah pouted. “It would have looked so neat.”
“Hey, I never made you get your clit pierced, so don’t go playing the pouty card on me, little girl.”
Seth tried not to shudder. “You guys are gonna make me faint. If I don’t puke first.”
Kaden used his foot to nudge the garbage can a little closer to Seth.
Several hours later, he had a design identical to Kaden’s. After getting instructions on how to properly care for it while it healed, he turned to Leah. “I wouldn’t have done this for anyone but you.”
She smiled and stood up on her toes and kissed him. “I know. And I love you for it.”
Well, damn. That was more than enough to make the pain worth it.
“Now I have another request,” she said.
Kaden turned. “What’s that, sweetheart?”
“Can I get my masters’ names added to my design?”
Seth couldn’t read Kaden’s expression. After a long moment, his friend nodded. “It’s all right with me.” He looked at Seth.
Seth shrugged. “Okay.”
She told the tattoo artist what she wanted and lay down on the table while he traced a design on her lower back with a pen. She looked at it in the mirror and nodded. “Perfect.”
Seth closed his eyes and didn’t watch. He sat next to Kaden, each of them holding one of her hands. When it was done, she jumped up to look at it in the mirror. Kaden’s name gracefully curved over the top of the triskelion, and Seth’s below it.
“Thank you!” She kissed Kaden, then Seth. She drew them both close and dropped her voice. “Now there will never be a question who my masters are,” she whispered to them.
Despite his queasy stomach, Seth nodded. “All right. Can we go now? Before I barf all over the place?”
“Wuss,” Kaden chided.
“Yeah, and proud of it.”
After the bandage came off later, Leah was after Seth every couple of hours with the moisturizer lotion recommended by the tattoo parlor.
“Gee, Mom. I’m a big boy now,” he playfully groused.
“Shut up. You don’t want to have problems with it.”
He wouldn’t deny she took damn good care of him. He sat on the end of his bed while she finished applying yet another round. He pulled her into his lap. “I meant it when I said I wouldn’t have done this for anyone but you.”
She put her arms around him. “I know.”
He kissed her, enjoying the feel of her body against him. “So the right woman was under my nose all this time, hmm?”
“Yeah.” She ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing it. “I prayed you’d eventually figure it out.”
He captured her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “Seriously.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t share you with anyone else but Kaden. I mean that. You know that, right?”
Her smile broadened. “I know. And I’m not sharing you with anyone.”
“You’re okay with that?”
“I’m really okay with that.” Her face saddened a little, but he recognized it as a newer expression she’d worn lately, one that meant she was dealing okay with her emotions and didn’t need a trip to the playroom. “I just wish the three of us could have a lot more time together.”
“I’m sorry I was an idiot for so long.”
That brought her back. She smiled again. “But you’re mine now, and I love you.”
Chapter Sixteen
“I hope we don’t get FPL climbing up our asses over this,” Seth groused as he looked over the sketches and worked on his final calculations. “We might need to rent a generator.”
Kaden shrugged. “Whatever we need to do.”
“I think it’s safe to say you’ve outdone yourself this year.”
“That was the plan, man.” Kaden’s satisfied smile couldn’t be denied a reply.
Thanksgiving was in five days. The first of Kaden and Leah’s dinners would be held the evening after next, a small, private dinner for some of Kaden’s closest staff at his office. Seth had thought about going to his brother’s house to leave them alone. Leah nearly burst into tears when he broached the subject.
“You can’t go!”
“Honey, you don’t need me in the way.”
“I need you here!”
He hugged her, calming her. “Okay, I’ll stay. Calm down.” His brother and sister-in-law were coming to the house for Thanksgiving dinner, along with some other family and close friends. The three of them had finally broken the full news to them, as well as Kaden’s brother, about why Seth was living with them. Not in total detail, leaving out the BDSM stuff, of course. Seth was surprised they took it as well as they did.
Helen was especially sympathetic. At one point she pulled Seth aside when they were alone. “Don’t forget that if you need a shoulder, I’m here for you.”
Seth nodded, wiping his eyes. “Yeah, thanks.”
“I know it’s unusual, but in the grand scheme of things, if it brings them both comfort to have you in their lives, then don’t worry what anyone else thinks.”
He’d always liked Helen. Not the way he liked Leah, more like a true sister. “I wish everyone was as understanding as you.”
It was one less stress on Seth’s plate. He didn’t give a shit what people he barely knew thought about him. He did care what his brother thought. He didn’t want them thinking any less of Leah for what would happen…after.
Kaden had told a few people close to him what was going on and what would happen. They were sworn to secrecy and to not shower Leah with well-meaning condolences before his death. Everyone was to go on as normal.
As normally as they could.
Seth walked the entire setup one more time, checking connections and outlet placements. They’d done limited zone tests as each section was set up but not the entire thing at once. As dusk drew close, Seth put away the sketches. “Okay, I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”
Kaden called Leah from the house. They gathered around the breaker box. Seth had wired in separate sub-boxes to handle the new circuits.
“Okay, gang. If I get electrocuted, call 911,” he joked.
He threw the switch.
The entire property lit up. Inflatables started inflating, moveable animals started moving, and the lights drove back the falling dark.
Kaden’s face lit as brightly as the yard. “Wow!” he whispered, awestruck.
Seth hung back as Kaden walked out to the driveway and surveyed the front yard area. “This is amazing!” he exclaimed. “I mean, seeing it all at once like this… You did a great job! It’s fantastic!” He enveloped Seth in a bear hug. Seth didn’t feel at all uncomfortable returning it.
“Thanks, man. It was your design.”
Kaden clapped him on the back and released him, then turned back to the display. He wiped his eyes. “It’s great, man!” He pulled Leah to him and hugged her. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s gorgeous.”
Seth hung back while Leah and Kaden walked the paths through the displays. He felt glad he could do this for them despite the sadness threatening again.
Seth walked back to the house and fired up the grill for Leah, wanting to leave them alone for a while. When they finally made it around to the back side of the house, Kaden laughed and hugged Seth again.
“It’s great, man. This is awesome. Everyone’s going to love it.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
The men relaxed on the lanai while Leah cooked dinner. “I wish we could have been doing this years ago,” Kaden softly said so Leah couldn’t hear.