Bound by Their Kisses [Knights in Black Leather 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  As if he could tell that she was about to lose it with them, Zander stepped in and directed them on what to do next.

  “Well, she’s with us now, so it’s all in the past. Why don’t you pack up your clothes and things, Tessa, while Tag and I find out what the landlord wants us to do about the furniture? He might want to leave it for the next renter.”

  She nodded without saying anything and, grabbing a box, walked quickly out of the tiny living area. She needed to settle down and regain some control before she said something she’d regret. She knew Tag wasn’t fussing at her for living there, but it hurt to hear the anger and disgust in his voice. The place was as clean as you could get it with how old and layered on everything was. She wasn’t a nasty person, but seeing the tiny apartment through their eyes was almost humiliating.

  She quickly packed her meager belongings into two boxes, one for clothes and the other for toiletries. She folded the one set of sheets she had and left them on the mattress in case they were leaving it for the next resident. The only other things she wanted to take were in the living area. There she had six books she’d been buying from the store every other paycheck. They had helped her make it through the lonely nights and weekends when she wasn’t working.

  It dawned on her that if she did get a car she would be able to take that part-time work at the diner and save more money. Pleased that she’d finally thought of that, Tessa carried the two boxes into the living area only to hear growling noises before the boxes were pulled from her grasp.

  “You should have told us the boxes were ready. There’s no need for you to carry anything with us here. I’ll go get the rest of them when I get back from putting these in the truck. Don’t even think about trying to carry them yourself,” the big man said.

  She smirked at him. “I wouldn’t dream of it since there aren’t any more boxes in there.”

  He blinked then sighed. “Fine. I’ll be right back.”

  She frowned then blew out a breath as soon as he’d walked through the front door.

  “Don’t let him upset you, kitten. You know he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just upset that you’ve been living without any of the things we could have been providing for you,” Zander said. “Like kisses in the morning, and foot rubs at night.”

  She reluctantly smiled up at him. He was always doing that to her, knocking the wind out of her sails so that she couldn’t be upset for long with them. Zander especially didn’t play fair.

  “We’re going shopping Monday after work, Zander,” Tag said.

  Although he hadn’t directed his statement toward her, Tessa knew he meant shopping for her. They weren’t going to start loading her up with things she didn’t need or have any use for. What would she do with them if it didn’t work out between the three of them? If she got used to having unnecessary things again it would kill her to have to leave them behind.

  “Don’t look at me that way,” Tag groused.

  “Like what?” she asked, working hard at not letting him see what she was thinking about.

  “Like you’re about to lay into me about taking you shopping,” he said.

  “I don’t need to go shopping, Tag. You and Zander can go if you want to, but I don’t need anything.” She crossed her arms and stared at him, daring him to say something about her clothes.

  Zander obviously knew his friend well enough to anticipate that he was about to say something that would either piss her off or hurt her feelings because he jumped in between them and urged Tag to carry the boxes to the truck.

  “We’ll be right out, Tag. Go on and load those up.” Zander pushed on his friend’s arm.

  “I’m serious, baby. We’re going shopping tomorrow. You might as well be ready when we come to get you.” Tag picked up the two boxes and stomped out the door, muttering to himself all the way out.

  “Tessa. Don’t get upset and take it wrong. He isn’t judging you or saying you don’t look good like you are. He just wants you to have the best of everything because we happen to think you deserve it,” Zander said, wrapping his arms around her until she was flush against his chest.

  Tessa had no choice except to lay her head against the sculpted flesh. It felt so good to be there—so right. She had to admit that it felt just as good, just as right in Tag’s arms, too. But Tag pushed all her buttons. If they tried to make this, this thing that they had work, she and the other man would be at each other’s throats all the damn time. She knew in her heart that he didn’t mean anything hurtful when he spouted off, but she couldn’t help but take it wrong.

  Sighing, she realized that meant it was mostly her fault when they argued. She pulled back enough to look up at Zander’s concerned face. Because of her stubbornness he was the one getting hurt. He had to mediate between his longtime best friend and the woman they planned to share. He did it so well that half the time she hadn’t really noticed it.

  “I’m sorry, Zander. I know it puts you in a tough spot when he and I argue. I can’t help it sometimes. The man really rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I’ll work harder at ignoring it as much as I can. I’ve never been overly sensitive before, but for some reason I am with the two of you.” Tessa pushed up on tip toe and kissed his chin since it was about all she could reach if he didn’t bend down to meet her.

  “Don’t apologize, kitten. It shows that you care what we think and that means you truly do care for us. If what we thought or said didn’t matter, you wouldn’t get upset and that would hurt.” He did bend down now and kiss her softly on the lips. “Let’s go before he trashes the truck or kicks the tire and breaks his foot.”

  She giggled at that then sobered. It really wasn’t funny. In the mood Tag was in, he very well might do something stupid in a temper. She grabbed her purse and the laundry bag that held her underwear before following Zander and her box of books out to the truck. Once they’d loaded everything and dropped off the key at the manager’s office, Tag drove them back to their place.

  Home. My place now. I’ve got to get used to that. At least I hope to get used to it. Please let this be the right decision.

  She couldn’t stop the worry in her head that it wouldn’t work out. They still hadn’t really tackled the BDSM issue, yet. That had her worried. If she couldn’t handle them tying her up or doing God knows what to her, then a relationship between the three of them would never work. Dominance was in their blood. It defined them. Even if they wanted to, they would never be happy doing without it and she would never be able to handle them working with another woman when they wanted to play. She knew that it wasn’t always about sex, but she was too possessive to allow another woman to be the center of their attentions even if it was only for a few hours and there was nothing between them.

  When she started to climb down from the cab of the truck, Zander stopped her. With a grin, he dipped his shoulder and the next thing she knew, Tessa was upside down looking at the ground. She frantically grabbed hold of the belt at his waist and held on so she wouldn’t bang against his back.

  “What in the hell are you doing? Put me down right now, Zander!” she fumed.

  A resounding smack on her ass had her yelping in surprise, though not pain. He’d spanked her. He’d actually spanked her.

  “Zander! You did not just spank me,” she said in outrage.

  “Nope. I sure didn’t. That was Tag with that lick. You’ll know it when I spank your cute ass.” Zander sounded entirely too cheerful to her.

  “Oh!” she growled out. “Put me down. I’m not playing around, guys. I mean it.”

  “We mean it, too, baby girl,” Tag said in a gruff voice. “You’ve earned your punishment today.”

  “Punishment? What in the hell for?” Tessa struggled but couldn’t do anything with her ass in the air and her thighs held fast with Zander’s arms around them.

  Zander carried her inside the house as soon as Tag had the door open. She watched from her upside-down view as they walked through the kitchen, through the den, and down the hall.
They bypassed the master bedroom to stop in front of the door at the end of the hall. She could hear one of them punching in a series of numbers on the keypad she’d noticed by the door but hadn’t asked about. She’d assumed it was to their office, but deep down she’d wondered if maybe it was to their playroom. It looked like she was about to find out.

  “For being disrespectful,” Tag said. “I let it ride over the car discussion, but you continue to fight us over every little thing that we want to do for you. That’s going to stop.”

  Tessa jerked in Zander’s arms as he opened the door. She couldn’t see anything around his legs beyond the thick darkness. She seethed at Tag’s words even as she worried about what the dark hid.

  “This is why I knew a relationship between us would never work. You’re already trying to tell me what to do and keep me from having my own opinions. Now that I’ve given up my apartment you think you have me where you want me, at your mercy to do whatever you want with. Well, hell no! Now put me down,” she screamed.

  Then the light flipped on and she realized that the door opened to a set of stairs that led downward. They had a basement. Tessa felt as if her chest was going to explode as she fought to gather enough air to scream at them to put her down. Nothing would come out. The men continued to talk as if nothing was wrong.

  “If we want to buy you something sometimes, kitten, we don’t want to have to fight about it every time. Sometimes we’re going to want to surprise you with something new and if you’re going to get upset each time, we’re never going to get anywhere,” Zander was saying.

  He stepped down with her still draped over his shoulder. Tag had gone ahead of them but only kept one step ahead of them as they descended. Each step was like a knife to Tessa’s heart. How could they? They knew about her past. As much as she wanted to scream for them to let her go, she couldn’t make her voice work. Her lungs burned with the need to draw in more air.

  “Tessa? Are you listening to us?” Tag asked.

  Zander had walked into a large room with various different types of play furniture that she couldn’t really make out in the state she was in. Then Zander walked over to what looked like a bed, and bending over, let her slip from his shoulder to the bed. Still Tessa couldn’t breathe. Spots twinkled in front of her eyes and a loud roaring seemed to build in her head.

  “Fuck! Tag. Something’s wrong with her.” Zander’s voice seemed to be come from another room.

  “She’s not breathing. How tight were you holding her, Z?” Tag didn’t sound much closer, and he was pissed.

  Someone rolled her over and pounded on her back then rolled her back and forced air into her mouth while pinching her nose. Everything clicked and she gasped in air, coughing as she did. Her chest burned and her throat hurt as if someone had been holding it in a tight grip. She guessed that someone had been her in a panic.

  “What in the hell just happened?” Tag demanded, staring down at her, his face pale and drawn.

  “Look at her face, Tag. She’s scared to death,” Zander told the other man.

  “Tessa. Tell us what’s wrong,” Tag pleaded.

  “I can’t do this. I t–told you it wouldn’t work.” Tessa turned her head away as hot tears fell from her eyes to roll down her cheeks.

  “Baby, we don’t understand. We haven’t done anything yet. You know we’d never hurt you.” Tag sounded as desperate as Zander had looked.

  “Y–you’ve already s–started taking over. Telling me I can’t say no to you, and then you brought me d–down here. It’s a basement,” she cried, sniffing and hiccupping as she tried to get them to see why she was so upset.

  “Oh fuck, Tag. He kept her in a basement back then,” Zander said in a near whisper.

  Tag took a step back from the bed and pulled on his hair. “We’re not him! We’d never hurt her or lock her up down here.”

  Tessa could hear the disbelief in Tag’s snarling words. She knew she’d hurt both of them by losing it over them carrying her down to the basement, but maybe if they hadn’t surprised her with it…

  “Tessa, honey, look at me.” Zander kneeled next to the bed and ran his fingers lightly over her cheek. “It never dawned on me or Tag that coming down here would upset you. I’m so sorry, but you have to know that we’d never lock you up down here, or anywhere for that matter. We’d never do anything to hurt you like that.”

  She swallowed around the tightness in her throat and looked at him. “But you’ve already started trying to control me. Tag’s mad at me because I don’t want you buying me things. He said I just have to get used to it, like I have no say in anything. I can’t live like that again, Zander. If you take away all of my freedom, I’ll die inside.”

  “Oh, kitten. We aren’t trying to take away your freedom or anything else, but you’ve got to understand that we need the freedom to be ourselves just like you do. If we can’t express how we feel or what we want to do, then we’re just as bound as you feel like you are.” Zander ran his hand over his bare head and sighed.

  “Z, we pushed too much. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have jumped the gun before we’d all had time to get to know each other and talk things out.” Tag didn’t look at her. He kept his head down while he talked. “I don’t think either of us really understood the seriousness of what Tessa went through. We’re upset and righteously pissed about it, but we hadn’t really thought about what it meant to be locked up so she couldn’t go anywhere and separated from having anyone to talk to. Like she said, he’d taken her over. While we both know we don’t plan on doing that, the fact that I just laid into her that she’d have to deal with us taking her shopping whether she liked it or not essentially took away her ability to say no.”

  Tag looked up at Tessa now, his face void of all expression except for the shiny glint in his eyes telling her where his emotions were. He opened his mouth as if to tell her something then closed it again and turned away.

  “I’m going back to the shop and work for a while. I’ll be back later.”

  Tessa heard the sound of his boots crossing the floor before they disappeared up the stairs and the door above closed. She’d hurt him just as much as she was hurting. Why couldn’t she get anything right? Why hadn’t she resisted them and stuck to her plan of not getting involved? Look where it had landed the three of them.

  “Tessa. Don’t cry, honey. I can’t stand to see you like this.” Zander crawled up on the bed and wrapped his big body around her, pulling her into his arms where she cried over how screwed up she was inside.

  * * * *

  The smell of oil, leather, and gasoline soothed him some. Tearing apart the busted up bike that had come in earlier that week soothed him even more. He couldn’t believe they’d been so stupid and jumped right into the fire with their Tessa. Instead of taking things slow and easing her into a relationship with them, they’d insisted that she move in with them right then and then started making demands of her as if they’d never heard how her life had been with her ex.

  He snorted. Mostly it had been him. Zander had a little better handle on women’s emotions than he did. He never would have insisted that she let them take her shopping or started the punishment scenario and carried her down to the basement if he hadn’t initiated it all. How did his friend put up with him? It was always his fault when things blew up. He had a hair-trigger temper and always jumped to conclusions.

  While he would never lose his temper and hurt a woman, he would go off like a rocket and say things he shouldn’t. The thing about it was that at his age, changing wasn’t going to come easy. It was how he was wired, and no amount of wishing it weren’t was going to make a difference. He’d try to change for her sake, but it wasn’t going to be easy and it wouldn’t happen overnight. He just prayed she could ignore it for now.

  Maybe if they’d gone slow with her, she would have adjusted to his gruffness and learned when to pretend to agree with him and when to stand up to him. Now, though, he was afraid she’d refuse to stay with them even if he tr
ied to change.

  Tag roared out his frustration and threw the bolt he’d finally managed to get off across the garage where it bounced off the metal bay door before rolling across the concrete floor. He’d be lucky if he ever found the bastard again.

  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, wishing he could go back to that morning and change the way things had progressed. What would he do without her? If she left them, it would hurt and he’d have a hell of a time dealing with it. But how could he stand it if she left Perkins City. Just disappeared. It was a real possibility.

  Hell. I don’t deserve her. She needs someone more like Zander as the other man in her life. I should just tell Zander that I’m moving out and let him take care of her. Zander would treat her right and wouldn’t fuck things up like Tag had. Then she’d stick around town and he’d know she was safe and happy. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it was better than never seeing her again.

  Tag spent the next hour completely taking apart the pile of junk, discarding what wasn’t salvageable while labeling and cleaning the parts he could use off the junker. The longer he worked, the less tense he grew and the more certain he felt that walking away was the best thing he could do for all of them. The hard part was convincing his heart to let go and his mouth to say the words.

  She’d felt so good in his arms. Everything just seemed to fall into place with her. He could see building a family around her and growing old with her between them. He’d never felt that way about another person in his life. Hell, he’d never even wanted just to shack up with a woman before. They were too much trouble, but he didn’t feel that way about Tessa. She could do no wrong. He, on the other hand, could do plenty wrong and had. That was why he was sitting on his ass in the middle of a pile of junk instead of holding Tessa in his arms.

  What was he going to do? Leave or stay? Tag wished he knew. Right then, he didn’t have the answer. His heart said stay. His head said go before he ran her clear out of the state. He’d never thought of himself as a weak man, but when it came to doing the right thing, Tag was weaker than a brand new foal trying to stand on its feet. He guessed he wouldn’t know what he was going to do until he stood face-to-face with her and it came out of his mouth. After all, that was what had gotten him in this mess in the first place, his uncensored mouth.