Jess felt hope warm her heart. No mistaking the firm tone he used to say it, either.
He leaned over so Dillon could hug him.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Dillon said. “I was scared you were dead.”
“Takes more than a conk on the head to kill me, buddy.”
The nurse was called away to help unload a patient who’d been brought in via a private vehicle, leaving Jess alone with Kyle.
Once Marilyn and Dillon walked off, Kyle reached back again, squeezing Jessica’s arm. “Come home with us and spend the night. Please?”
“I need a shower. I’d just got home from work and put my groceries away. And Stanley can’t be alone all night.”
He tugged on her arm so she had to move to the side, where he could look up into her face. “Go get the furry boy and come home with us. Please?” he softly asked again. “I need a shower.” He smiled. “You and Tris can bathe me.” When she didn’t respond at first, his smile faded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can say. She was out of line coming over like that, and I told her she was. I also laid down the law to her about no more unannounced visits, period. We also told her we were both dating you and each other.”
“You…did?”
He arched an eyebrow. “If someone had returned our phone calls and let us talk to them, they would have known that by now.”
Her face heated. “I guess I deserved that.”
“I’ll tell her I’m going no-contact with her, if you tell me to. Say the word. We love you, sweetheart. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make this right between us. Including not seeing Dillon anymore.”
She shook her head. “No. Dillon needs you in his life for as long as he can have you.”
She couldn’t forget the joy and relief in Dillon’s face when he got to see Kyle return to the ER cubicle, that he was alive and all right.
She also couldn’t forget all the countless hours she’d spent at the Weavers’ house growing up.
No telling how fucked up she would have turned out if not for Kel’s family.
“You can see Dillon, and do stuff with him,” she continued. “And he can come over. Not unannounced, unless it’s a legit emergency. And you can stay his emergency contact at school. If we don’t have other plans, I don’t even mind us babysitting him, as long as she doesn’t abuse that. If we have plans, we don’t change them because she needs free babysitting. But no more drop-ins for Marilyn. Period. Maybe I can get there at some point in the future, but for now, it’s a hard no for me. And she damn well better not have a key.”
“Agreed. Plus she never had a key to the house.” He tugged her hand so she’d lean in, and he kissed her.
He cupped her cheek with his hand, brushing his thumb along her freckles. “Go get Stanley, get your shower stuff and clothes, and come home. Please, baby?”
Turning her face so she could kiss his palm, she nodded. “We still have some talking to do.”
“Agreed.”
Tristan pulled up with the SUV dripping rain off it. Jess rolled the wheelchair close to the passenger door and locked the wheels, then with Tristan helped Kyle get his good leg under him and transfer into the vehicle.
“I’ll see you guys in a little while,” she said.
Tristan turned, eyes wide in what she hoped was pleasant surprise. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Hold off on his shower. I want to help. I won’t be far behind you.”
He grinned, pulling her in for another kiss. “Love you, baby.”
“Love you, too.”
“We’re going to stop by the drug store first so I can fill his prescription, then home.”
“Okay. I’ll see you there.”
As she headed back to the apartment, she hoped she hadn’t just fucked up.
Except wouldn’t a fuck-up feel…wrong?
This felt right, like she’d taken a wrong road and had finally gotten turned around and was once again heading in the right direction.
Now all she had to do was keep her head on straight, keep a tight leash on her heart, and pray the guys weren’t playing her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
With every slight bump in the road that Tris ran over, Kyle regretted not asking for a shot of painkillers or something before leaving the ER. “I wish I’d punched that fucker first. He called Dillon a little shit.”
“Is that what started it?”
“No. He was drunk and tried to hassle me about the night I went and jump-started Marilyn’s car. I told him if he was a real man and felt that concerned about it, he should buy her an AAA membership.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Then I made the mistake of turning my back on him.”
“Dillon said he saw Louis pass them in his car when they were almost home. Must have been only minutes after he hit you.”
“Probably. I think he thought he killed me and ran. There was a lot of blood. I remember hearing him saying, ‘Oh, my god! Oh, my god!’ like he was freaking out.”
“So did they find your brain on the CT scan?” He shot Kyle a grin.
“Asshole. I want to give Jess a key to our place.”
“Whoa…what?”
“A key. To our place. Jess? You know, the woman we love?”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Um…how’d we get there in this conversation, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Trust.” Kyle focused on him. “I trust her. I’m guessing you do, too?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then if we show her we trust her, maybe that will help her regain trust in us. If she knows she is free to come and go whenever, and Marilyn is not, it might help her come around faster.” He resisted the urge to rub his forehead, knowing that’d hurt like hell. “Maybe not. I don’t know. I got my damn bell rung. It’s just an idea.”
Tristan fell silent for a long moment. “You could have been killed,” he quietly said.
Kyle wasn’t so out of it he hadn’t already thought that himself several times. “I know.”
“That would have fucking sucked.” Tris poked him in the thigh before settling his hand there. “You dying and me not getting a chance to tell you I love you one more time. Would’ve pissed me off royally, dude.”
Kyle’s hand closed over his and squeezed. “I love you, too.”
“You know, it’s kind of ironic we finally get our shit together between the two of us, and then she comes along, nearly the same time.”
“I know.” He couldn’t even brace his head against the headrest because of the stitched wound at the back of his head. “Fuck, I need to let them know I’m not coming in tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Don’t you mean tomorrow and Friday?”
“I’m not calling off for Friday yet. I can get around with crutches. My truck’s an automatic. I can drive lefty. I just won’t be able to move any trucks around the yard, is all.” He called the plant manager and, fortunately, managed to avoid a lot of unpleasant questions. He’d also gotten a doctor’s note before leaving the ER, just in case he’d need it for work.
At least the rain had eased up by the time Tristan pulled into the parking lot of the Walgreens closest to the house and sat staring at him for a moment.
“What?”
Tris leaned in and kissed him. “Just wanted that out there.”
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“We need to get your shit moved out of her garage. I’ll even chip in and help you rent a workshop somewhere.”
“Right now, I’d just be happy getting it all loaded into a storage bay somewhere. I’m not going to be able to work on it for several weeks with my knee screwed up, anyway. I’ll have to rent or borrow some dollies to move the body. That’s going to be fucking expensive, more than one trip on a rollback to move it all since I can’t do it. This really fucks me up.”
After they finished getting his prescription filled and returned home, Jess pulled into the driveway behind them just as Tristan wa
s trying to help Kyle out of the passenger side.
Stanley bounded over and Tris had to grab him by the collar to keep him from jumping up on Kyle. “Hang on, boy. Don’t knock him over.”
But…she was there.
And she came bearing grocery bags, in addition to a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
“What’s all that?” Tris asked.
Kyle didn’t care what she had. She was there, with them.
“I’d planned on drinking wine with dinner to drown my troubles tonight.” She indicated the bags. “Guess I can share. Wine, and dinner.”
Tristan handed her his keys. “Go on ahead. 2528 is my alarm code. I’ll help Gimpy here.”
With Stanley on her heels, she headed up the walk.
The men watched her.
“Yeah,” Tris quietly said once she was through the door. “I want her to have a key.”
Kyle smirked. “Aren’t you glad we moved my bed into your bedroom?”
“Asshole.” But Tristan smiled when he said it.
* * * *
Jess put the groceries away in their fridge and joined them in the master bedroom, where Kyle had gingerly lowered himself onto the edge of the bed.
“I figure a shower will be easier in here than in the other bathroom,” he said. “Easier for me to get into and out of.”
“We need to get you off that leg and ice your knee,” Jess gently scolded. “They told you that.”
“Yeah, well, I want a shower first.” He crooked a finger at her, beckoning her.
She walked over to his side and he patted the bed next to him, on his left side.
Knowing nothing was going to happen until she humored him, she sat.
Tristan stepped out of the room for a moment, but she found herself mesmerized by Kyle’s blue gaze. She forced herself to keep her focus on his eyes, not let her gaze drift up to the bandage on his head.
He took her right hand in his. “We both love you, sweetheart. I meant what I said—whatever we have to do to convince you of that, we will. You always come first. Even if you change your mind and say I have to cut off contact with Dillon, I will. I’m sorry we hurt you, and I’m damned sorry we made you doubt us. I own every bit of the blame. It’s not even Tristan’s fault, it’s mine.”
She squeezed his hand. “Please don’t cut Dillon off.” He didn’t interrupt her while she tried to figure out how she wanted to say it. “He can’t help it his mother is an idiot. I can only imagine how screwed up I’d be today if it hadn’t been for Kel’s parents. They celebrated my accomplishments and consoled me on my failures. I could be me around them.
“But Marilyn’s a different story. Unless or until she changes her behavior and proves it to me? She’s not allowed around here except to drop Dillon off or pick him up, and even then I’d prefer if one of you handles transporting Dillon. She’d damn well best never set foot inside this house. I’d rather not have her on the property at all, unless it’s unavoidable. And if she tries to take advantage of us as babysitters, I’m going to put my foot down.”
He brought her hand to his lips and feathered them over her knuckles. “Done.”
This was different than with Brad…right? No way he would have ever let her make demands on him like this.
He damn sure never would have apologized to her, or taken responsibility for his actions, especially if he didn’t feel something was his fault.
No accountability.
Tristan appeared in the bedroom doorway. “Are we good, sweetheart?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry I ghosted on you.”
He walked over to her. “Can we discuss that now? I’m not blaming you for it. I just want to understand it.”
“I thought I’d made another crappy life choice. She’s tiny and skinny and that’s what Brad did to me.”
“Ah. So I was right. I had a feeling that was it.”
He sat on her other side and held something out to her in the palm of his hand.
A housekey.
“We want you to have this, sweetheart. I’ll program you an alarm code. You can come and go whenever you want. Anytime, day or night. Whether we’re home or not.”
Just a tiny, shiny piece of metal. “You’re…giving me a key?”
He nuzzled his face against her shoulder. “We love you and we trust you. We’re not asking for more than you’re prepared to give, either. We’re not asking for a key to your place. You can even have the codes to our phones, if you want. Passwords to our e-mail and social media accounts. FetLife. Laptop passwords. Everything. Check them whenever, wherever you want. Whatever it takes to prove to you we have nothing to hide from you and that we only want you.”
She couldn’t stop staring at the key lying in his palm.
“Ditto everything he just said.” She looked at Kyle, who still held her other hand. “I don’t know how much more we can give, but you tell us what you need from us to rebuild your trust in us, and we’ll do our damnedest to do it.”
The key.
Brad never apologized. For anything. That attitude had always been part of the way he approached being a “Master.”
It was another red flag she should have spotted early on, but she’d loved the handsome sonofabitch and thought she was doing the right thing.
Being a good slave.
She missed being a slave but had thought she’d never trust anyone enough again, ever, to give them that kind of control. Hell, she’d doubted she’d ever be able to want to be someone’s submissive again.
Before these two men.
“I really like my job,” she said. “And I’m not nearly ready to move in with you guys. I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to move in with you guys. It could be a month or it could be a year. Or longer. I need to work on myself for a while first. That’s the only thing I am sure of. Especially after this.”
“That’s okay,” Tris assured her. “We’re not asking for more than you can give us. We still want you to have our key. Nothing is off-limits to you in our lives. Other than our jobs, of course, but that goes both ways. And our bank accounts. All we ask is that you don’t lie, don’t cheat, and please don’t ghost again. Talk to us. Even if it’s to tell us to go fuck ourselves.”
“I don’t want to be controlling like that.”
Like Brad had been to her.
“We’re not saying you have to be,” Kyle said. “We’re saying that anything you need from us to rebuild your trust in us, we’ll give it to you.”
She finally reached out and took the key from Tristan. It felt warm from his flesh. She pulled her keyring out of her back pocket and added it, next to her apartment key.
“Now what?”
“Shower,” Kyle said. “Then bed. And before the wine, I need you and Tris to go get my truck, please. I don’t want it left there.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jess thought they’d get Kyle cleaned up, settled in bed with an ice pack for his knee, and then she’d get dinner started.
Except, that’s not what happened.
Kyle, leaning against Tristan, pinned her against the shower wall and teased her, kissing her, fingering her pussy and getting her worked up before pulling away with an evil smile.
“You get the rest of that in bed, baby,” Kyle said.
And once they were in bed, she went down on Kyle, angled sideways to stay away from his knee, giving him a blowjob while Tristan slowly fucked her from behind.
Kyle reached under her with one hand and played with her clit. With his other, he stroked her hair. “Damn, we missed you, baby. Life is perfect with you.
She had to admit she’d missed them, too.
More than she wished.
For tonight, she shoved her fear aside and reveled in the feel of Tris slowly fucking her cunt and taking his time while Kyle built her up to the first of what she suspected would be several orgasms.
Since she hadn’t had any in the time she’d spent apart from her men, she suspected it wouldn’t take them long to get her over
, either.
It didn’t. She didn’t bother holding back when her first orgasm smashed into her like a rogue wave against a seawall.
Tristan groaned. “Oh, dude. That’s amazing.”
Kyle’s fingers tightened on her scalp. “It’s pretty damn amazing when she’s moaning around my cock, too.”
Rocking between them, Jess basked in pleasure, once again remembering how right this felt, with them.
Perfection.
“God, I love watching you fuck her,” Kyle gasped, getting close from the feel of his cock in her mouth. Heat filling it as he grew harder, then his fingers tightening in her hair. She went deep, swallowing, his moans mixing with hers as salty cum filled her mouth, rolling over her tongue when she swallowed it.
His grip relaxed, back to tender stroking. Between her legs, his fingers scissored around where Tristan’s cock was buried inside her pussy and fucking her before playing with her clit again.
“One more,” Kyle said.
She released his spent cock from her mouth and he cradled her head against his abs as he built her up a second time. Between his fingers and the way Tristan’s cock bottomed out inside her cunt with every thrust, it didn’t take long to make her come again.
“That’s it, baby,” Tris gasped. “Give it to us.” His fingers dug into her hips and she could tell he was struggling to hold his orgasm back.
Another surge of pleasure filled her. His cock perfectly filled her, amplifying her pleasure as she met him thrust for thrust, their flesh slapping against each other at the bottom of every stroke.
Her eyes fell closed and the world exploded. Tristan felt her coming and sped up, harder, deeper and intensifying her orgasm before he finally came and fell still.
“That’s better.” He leaned in and kissed her back before she felt him reach between their bodies to hold the condom as he pulled out. “I’ll be right back.”
She rolled onto her side and carefully snuggled against Kyle. “You okay?”
He chuckled. “Oh, baby, even after the ER trip, I am waaaay better right now than I was when I woke up this morning. I love you so damn much.”
Steady Rain [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations) Page 19