“Right now, I’m just trying to keep her alive,” Sean hedged. “If you want to go your separate way once the danger is done, I’ll help you find the door.”
He had mixed feelings about making that offer. Thorpe walking out on Callie would crush her. But if that happened, he’d just have to find some way to help her deal. Regardless, that was another problem for another day. He had enough to juggle now. He just had to trust that once Thorpe got close to her, he wouldn’t be able to walk away.
“But I want you to think about this. The only place where your age difference means a thing is in your head. And your worry about giving her enough tenderness? It’s bullshit.”
Even if it wasn’t, Sean would be happy to supply Callie plenty of affection. After all, if he couldn’t give her something, Thorpe might well edge him out of her heart. Or maybe that was his own fear talking because then he closed his eyes and remembered her trembling surrender, her cries that she loved him. He might have started out with Callie as a substitute for the needs Thorpe wasn’t fulfilling, but their relationship had progressed into something far deeper than he’d ever imagined when she’d been just a name on a file folder and a picture of a pretty girl.
“Cut to the chase and tell me what you’re saying,” Thorpe chomped impatiently. “Spell it out. I don’t want any gray between us.”
“We share her one hundred percent—at least for as long as she’s in danger. Everything we do for her, we do together. But you can’t half-ass this. You have to give her your all.”
Thorpe stilled. “So . . . you want me to discipline her?”
“When she needs it, yes.”
A deep breath. A pensive stare. A gulp. “Are you me giving a green light to sex?”
There was the question he’d known would surface sooner or later. How much of Callie was he willing to grant the other man . . .
Now it was Sean’s turn to hesitate. Honestly, he didn’t know how he was going to feel seeing Thorpe’s hands on her, his cock tunneling inside her. He might feel like slashing the Dom’s throat. But he also might take comfort in doing the right thing for Callie and watching her bloom. Either way, he had to put her first. If they didn’t force pertinent information about the past out of her, she might not live through this ordeal. His jealousy would be awfully moot then.
“Tell me something,” Sean finally said. “Would you top another pretty submissive and dismiss the possibility of sex before you’ve even started the relationship? Would Callie believe you were committed to her if you refused to give yourself in return?”
“Shit.” Thorpe took several long drags from the bottle, looking floored. “So that’s a yes to sex.”
Despite the gravity of the conversation, Sean was almost amused by the man’s tension. “Is that a problem?”
“Oh, fuck no. Not at all.” Thorpe shot him a dirty glare. “But you knew that.”
“Just checking.” He grinned.
“She may think she’s taken her collar off, but I respect the fact that she’s still owned.”
And Thorpe sounded like he’d rather spit nails than admit that.
“So what are my limits?” the other man asked.
With a shrug, Sean rolled through the possibilities. “Only one: Everything we do with Callie, we do as a team. No Lone Ranger acts.”
Thorpe paused, frowned for a moment, then nodded. “I’m in. We need to make Callie feel safe enough to open up to us. It’s important that we establish our control and get whatever information she’s got in her head out soon. You’re absolutely right about that. It’s our only chance of her listening to us if danger follows her here. Beyond that . . . I’ve been hungry for her for years.”
So it was settled. They would share in Callie’s care. They would both Dominate her. They would both partake of her. And they would do it all together.
“You ever had a ménage?”
“Sure. Just for fun.” Thorpe tapped his thumb against the bottle. “This is different.”
Sean was glad he saw the distinction. “Completely. I don’t know how complicated it will be. But we’ll figure it out.”
“For her, we have to.”
“Exactly. The sun’s coming up.” Sean gestured to the graying sky outside the bedroom window as a mixed cocktail of relief and anxiety flowed through his veins. “First, we need some sleep before Hurricane Callie wakes and figures out where she is.”
“Sure. Yeah.” Thorpe braced himself on the mattress and pushed upright. “Do you want me to get out of your way and let you bunk down with your girl?”
Sean shook his head. Apparently, it was going to take Thorpe more than a few seconds to adjust to the idea of sharing her completely. “We both take care of her. This is our bed now. You need to stay with Callie in case she wakes up. She’ll be disoriented at best and furious at worst. Get her under the sheets, make sure she’s comfortable. Now that I’ve got some sunlight and I won’t run this boat into the shore, I need to anchor it someplace as secluded as possible.” He grabbed his shoes and thrust them on. “Back in ten.”
Sean didn’t wait for Thorpe to reply before he darted out the bedroom door. He picked up anchor and cruised the lake until he found a wide inlet with tall, craggy rocks on either side. He navigated to the middle, still away from shore, then dropped anchor again. It wouldn’t hide them from someone in a helicopter, but anyone else on the lake would be hard-pressed to find them.
Nearly forty minutes had passed. Exhaustion weighed his every limb, and nothing sounded better than tumbling into the bed with Callie and sleeping for long, uninterrupted hours before waking to make love to her.
When he hit the bedroom again, he stopped short in the doorway. Thorpe had fallen asleep on the right side of the bed with Callie spooned against his chest. They both looked peaceful, exhaling together in harmony.
The worry Sean had been trying to restrain jabbed at him. Naturally, he had concerns about letting Thorpe too close to his woman. Would she ultimately choose the other man instead? Or would Callie always need them both? Nearly three sleepless days hadn’t equipped him to answer that question now.
With a weary sigh, he shut the drapes, then shed everything except his boxer-briefs. He slid under the sheets, rolling over to kiss Callie’s forehead. She moaned quietly, then scooted closer to him as if seeking warmth . . . while Thorpe’s arm remained snug around her, his legs tangled in hers, his breath ruffling her long, loose hair. Sean drifted in the peace and slept.
COCOONED in warmth, Callie woke and squinted against the filtered light making its way through the curtains. The little bit she could see around her didn’t look at all familiar. It certainly wasn’t Dominion. No, wait. She’d left there and she wouldn’t rehash all the reasons that had been necessary. It damn well wasn’t her skuzzy dump of a Vegas motel either. And why did the ground seem like it was swaying slightly?
She forced one eye open—and the sights just kept getting weirder. A shirtless Sean slept on one side of her, his hard chest pressed to her own. His powerful torso rose above a soft, faded blanket. He looked damn good for a liar.
Behind her, hot breath spread unexpectedly across her neck. With a little jerk, she stared over her shoulder. Thorpe. Asleep in a rumpled white dress shirt and dark trousers. The five-o’clock shadow darkened his sharp jaw more than usual.
The men she loved surrounded her. It was like a fantasy. It had to be a dream. They hated one another . . . or they had back at Dominion. The time since her departure from the club rushed back to her, her memories lingering on the ride in the silver Jeep last night, on Thorpe smacking her ass and Sean approving every gesture with his stare in the rearview mirror.