“I really don’t understand, Leif,” she said as her thumb began to brush softly against his cheek. Leif slowly brought his other hand to tough the delicate arch of her throat, so that his thumb could measure the rapid tattoo of her pulse.
“The school definitely needed those repairs, Isabella. But you were the reason we kept coming back, baby.” He felt the beat jump under his thumb, her eyes getting wider and infinitely darker. Everything else stilled, just the feel of her blood pumping.
“Breathe, Isabella,” he commanded. Her eyes flitted past him toward Caleb. Leif saw her register Caleb, and then focus back on him. She sucked in a lungful of air.
“You can’t,” she choked out and shook her head. “It makes no sense.” Every muscle in Leif’s body went rigid. There were so many things to work out. She was still so young. He hadn’t forgotten that. He was still pissed as hell at the risks she had taken…but was she saying that it made no sense because he was talking about a triad? It was certainly possible, but where would that leave him? Now it was his turn to take a deep breath. Caleb’s hand came down on his shoulder in a show of solidarity. Leif wanted to look at him, to see what he was thinking, but he could guess. What was important right now was to figure out Isabella’s concerns.
“What makes no sense, baby?” He traced circles around her rapidly beating pulse with his thumb, her honey-colored skin soft as silk.
“It is both of you, correct?” Again her eyes shifted, taking in both him and Caleb. Caleb must have smiled, because she gave a glimmer of a smile back at him. Imperceptibly, Leif tightened his hold on Isabella’s neck, and once again her big brown eyes looked directly into his.
“Yes, it is both of us. We both want you, together.”
“Like what Olivia has with Ian and Joshua,” Isabella said, naming another triad group that they all knew.
“Exactly like that, Isabella. Caleb and I wanted to get to know you, so we stayed longer at the school after our assignment was up.” She shook her head, causing the fine-grained skin of her throat to brush against his callused fingertips, sending shards of sensation up his arm.
“But you don’t know me. Not really.” Her eyes were deep liquid pools of brown. Leif could see her trying to discern the truth of what he was saying. Then she blinked and it was as if all light and life had been extinguished. “Oh, this is for sex.” She gave a decisive nod. “Yes, I can do that. You have done so much for me and the children.”
It took all Leif’s control to keep his grip at the same strength. Caleb squeezed his shoulder in warning. He looked at the woman who sometimes seemed older than time, and other times seemed just out of school, rather than teaching at one. “Do you trade yourself so lightly?”
Her pulse was going crazy under his fingers, and a blush suffused her face, but she fixed her eyes on him. “No, this is not a light decision. You say I am what you have wanted, si?” Leif nodded his head slowly, not liking where this was going at all.
“I do not understand how I could interest men like you, but if I have, I will provide for you.” She wet her dry lips. He wanted to jerk away in disgust, because this certainly wasn’t what either he or Caleb wanted, but his instincts kicked in. There was a lot more going on than this exchange.
“Isabella, are you a virgin?” Good, it was a good question. Caleb was getting to the heart of the matter. Something was definitely going on.
“I’m the furthest thing there is from a virgin. I’m a slut.” Leif watched as her brown eyes filled with tears, and overflowed. She started to use her shirtsleeve to wipe them away, when Leif lifted up the hem of his dress shirt to dab at her tears. Caleb came down to sit near her hip on the sofa, as Leif continued to crouch near her head.
“Bella, you are never to call yourself an ugly name like that again.” Leif knew that Caleb very rarely used a Dom voice when interacting with the women they shared, even the submissives. Caleb was the easygoing one of the two of them. All of the women that they played with recognized it, but Isabella had clearly angered him, because Caleb was definitely in Dom mode.
“It’s true, Mr. Samuels. I’m a slut.” Leif watched as Caleb opened his mouth then heard his teeth click as he closed it once more.
Finally he said, “Explain yourself, Bella, and do it without using that word again.”
Her head rocked between them, looking to see which of them would be more sympathetic, but in this, neither of them had any give. Leif started caressing her throat with his thumb again, and then reached up to run his hand through her glistening black and brown curls. He watched Caleb pick up her yarn-encased hand that she had twisted in the afghan from the back of the couch. He worked on unwrapping and flattening out the hand to stroke it. The touches seemed to calm her enough that she could finally open her mouth again and start providing explanations.
She started by looking at Leif, but soon turned her gaze to Caleb, only to swivel back to Leif again. Each man sat impassively wearing the same stoic expressions they’d worn whenever a soldier in their command had a report to give them.
“I had relations with four men in less than ten days.” This time just one tear escaped, and Leif was surprised that Isabella didn’t even try to stop it. “All of the girls called me a sl—” She stopped short, looking at Caleb. “They called me that word. It was terrible. They were right.” Leif watched as she tried to twist her hands out of Caleb’s grip, but that wasn’t happening.
“When did this happen?” Caleb’s green eyes appeared to have trapped Isabella. Leif had seen it happen with others. She was not going to get away without telling her entire story.
“I was a sophomore. I had just turned nineteen. It was a couple of weeks after my parents had died in the car crash.” Ahh fuck, Leif thought. She’d just been a baby.
“Were you a virgin, Bella?”
“Si. I mean yes, I didn’t like it that much. The men, and me, I mea—I had been drinking too much, and…” Her voice trailed off. Now she lowered her gaze, which was just as well. It made it easier for Caleb and Leif to communicate. All the anger that Leif felt when Isabella had offered herself up to them had faded away with her story.
“Bella, what about the next man, did you like it with him?” Both Leif and Isabella’s eyes focused on Caleb, neither having expected the question. It was a damn good question, Leif realized.
“What next man?” Isabella asked, clearly confused.
“Okay, let’s show you your room so you can nap. Some of the kids will be able to come here. We may have to go visit some of the other children. Before any of that can happen, though, you need to rest first.” Leif stood up, easily shouldering Caleb off the couch. He bent and picked up Isabella, and looked over to Caleb. “What room did you make up?”
Caleb lifted an eyebrow in answer, so Leif took a left off the living room, down a shorter hallway, toward the master suite.
“I need to practice using my crutches. Are we having sex now?” God she was going to be the death of him.
“The doctors said your leg needs to be elevated as much as possible for the next twenty-four hours. Swinging your leg down while you practice with crutches is not elevated. We are not having sex. We will discuss our relationship, and if we are even going to have a relationship after you are feeling better.”
Leif was careful to walk sideways through the door to the master suite so that her foot didn’t hit the doorway. Caleb had gone in before him to pull down the linens on the bed. He looked around the room as he gently lowered Isabella to the bed. He didn’t come into this room often. They had bought this house with the hope that eventually they would find the right woman to share it with. They had dreamed for years of building their family around a woman, the same way his dads had built Leif’s family around his mom.
“I understand,” she said quietly.
“What?” he asked as he positioned a pillow underneath her injured ankle. Leif looked sideways at her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t reply, he asked again. “What do you understand, Isabell
a?”
“I understand that after what I have explained you will not want me. But please know I very much appreciate everything you have done for me and the children.” There wasn’t an ounce of emotion on her face.
Caleb came to stand beside him. He knew they probably looked intimidating staring down at Isabella as she sat propped up near the headboard, but she showed no fear. “You’re right, baby,” Caleb said. “What you told us is going to affect how we see you, but not in a negative way. You’re an innocent.” That caught her attention. She opened her mouth to protest.
“Not one word, Bella. Not one word,” Caleb continued, as Leif deduced that he was still ranting in his rare Dom mode. “I’ve brought your medicine. You will take it now and you will rest. You will visit with the children. Then the three of us will talk. Make no mistake. We admire you, we think highly of you, and if you use ugly words to describe yourself again, you will be going over one of our knees.”
Finally, Leif saw a break in her expression. In all of Caleb’s speech she had maintained an expectant expression, as if she had heard it all before and was waiting to be disappointed. But, that last comment, about being put over one of their knees? That comment seemed to spark just the slightest bit of interest. Oh yeah, he might just be in over his head.
As Leif looked on, Caleb poured a glass of water from the carafe he had placed on the nightstand, and then shook out pills from the three bottles that he had pulled from her backpack. “How bad is the pain, Bella?”
“It’s not bad.”
“Do not lie to me. I saw you wincing when Leif positioned your leg on the pillow. Are you going to be able to sleep with just one tablet, or will you need two?” It wasn’t often that Caleb assumed the “hard-ass” role, but when he did Leif knew that nobody ever disobeyed. Isabella was no exception.
“Two. I need two pills, please, Mr. Samuels.” He handed her the pills and the water. After she had swallowed and handed him back the glass, he set it on the side table and turned back to her.
“One more thing, Bella. My name is Caleb. This is Leif. You are never to call us Mr. Samuels or Mr. Johansen again. Do I make myself clear?” Leif saw her pause and consider his words, and finally she nodded. “Is there anything else you need?” At her slight hesitation, Caleb softened. “Tell me, Bella. What do you need?”
“Can you hand me my sleep shirt out of the backpack?” Both men looked at her, and then at each other. Caleb made his way over to the backpack and computer bag he had put next to the dresser. Leif watched as Caleb handed Isabella her sleep shirt, knowing that her clothes were loose enough that she could easily slip out of them without their assistance. “When will the children be coming?”
“None of them are very far away, baby. We’ll call them after you’ve gotten up, and the families can bring them all over. They’re all anxious to see you,” Leif assured her.
“You’ll also need to talk to the local sheriff. He’s the one who has been coordinating the search for the missing parents.”
“All right.” Leif watched as she gave a big yawn, her eyelids beginning to droop. He took the step and a half over to her, tipping her chin up with his knuckles. He waited until she was looking up at him, her eyes no longer fogged with sleep. Then he bent down, pressing his lips against hers. This time it wasn’t just a mere brush of lips. He slowly let his lips glide against hers, waiting for the moment she began to follow, then he parted his mouth, allowing his tongue to taste the velvety texture of her lower lip. She exhaled a puff of breath, and in that moment he pressed forward so that he could savor the warm depths of her mouth. He had never shared such an intimate kiss. There was such innocence to her, but he felt his passion beginning to stir. He had never tasted anything headier in his life. That final thought drove him to slowly back away from the splendor of kissing Isabella. If he was finding this experience so overwhelming, what was Isabella feeling now? He looked at the stunned young woman, who seemed so small resting against the headboard of the oversized king bed. She brought both of her hands up to her mouth, pressing her fingertips against her lips. Leif could clearly see that she was trembling.
“Isabella,” he began.
“Why did you do that? I told you what I am.” Her voice was small and choked with tears. Then she turned toward Caleb. “Even if you don’t want me to say it, what other kind of woman would I be if I wanted two men?” The fingers against her mouth were no longer trembling, they were shaking. In fact, her whole body was beginning to vibrate with suppressed emotion. Finally, Leif saw those already liquid brown eyes fill with tears and overflow.
Caleb moved with the speed and stealth that had made him a great asset in combat, and from one moment to the next Isabella found herself still seated in the same position, only instead of resting her leg on a pillow, she was resting it on Caleb’s lap. He also managed to hand her the tissues from the nightstand that she was now using to sop up her tears. Leif allowed a small grin toward his partner and sat down next to Isabella near the top of the bed. He waited a few moments. It didn’t take long for her to get herself under control. Leif really wasn’t surprised. The woman he had come to know didn’t spend time wallowing. Isabella was a take-charge woman who dealt with the present head on. This situation was no exception. When she looked down at the wadded up tissue in her grip, he deftly plucked it out of her hand and tossed it onto the bedside table. As one, he and Caleb each grabbed one of her hands. Isabella tried to wrest her hands away.
“Are you offended that we both want you? Does this make us wrong or perverted in your eyes?” With these two questions, she stilled.
“Of course not.” Isabella looked at Leif with a sincerely baffled expression. “I researched this after seeing Olivia with her men. Triads are very satisfying for some people. I know they can be difficult because they are not socially accepted, but Olivia seemed very much in love with Ian and Joshua. I was very happy for her.”
“And us, Isabella? Do you find Caleb and me wrong for wanting that same thing?” Leif watched her closely, but it was the way her hand turned over in his, softening and stroking that told the story.
“No, Leif. If that is what you want, then you must follow your hearts.” She shifted her gaze from Leif to Caleb and gave him a warm, soft smile. “My parents told me that it was important to never let go of your hopes and dreams. You are good men. You deserve happiness.” Leif realized that the tears and now this sentimentality were due to the pain medication in her system, but he never doubted that he was hearing the truth.
“And you, Isabella? Should you not also follow your heart? Do you even know what is in your heart, or have you closed yourself off?” Caleb’s tone was soft and compassionate, and Leif could see the effect that it had on her.
“Caleb, I know what I have done, and therefore what I deserve.” Leif ached at her forlorn tone of voice.
“But, Bella, you also said that wanting us made you feel like a bad person, right? That there was something wrong with you? If there is nothing wrong with us, or Olivia, how could there be something wrong with you?” Leif smiled as she drew in both of their hands toward her breasts and looked from one man to the other.
“I’m very confused in my feelings for each of you. They both start the same way, but they diverge, and then I feel such different ways for each one of you. They are such different paths, but I believe they will end up connecting to one common point.”
Caleb chuckled. “You are such a teacher, Bella. I’m not sure, but I think you just said you’re hot for each of us, but like us both in different ways, and could see yourself having a relationship with both of us. Did I get that right?” He was still laughing. Leif watched the most delightful blush suffuse her face, followed by an answering smile.
“You, Caleb, are a good student.” But then her expression turned somber. “But my past is still my past. I know who I am and what I have done. I am very glad that I shared that with you. You deserve much better than me. I think you should try to find a good woman like Olivia. I thin
k—” A huge yawn interrupted whatever bit of bullshit she was going to spew next, which was just fine as far as Leif was concerned. In fact, it was probably best that she’d stopped speaking, because even though she was sick and injured, he was seconds away from tossing up her denim skirt, pulling down her panties and turning her ass red.
“Isabella,” Caleb started in his commander tone, for which Leif was grateful. She gave another big yawn and turned to Caleb, bringing his hand to her mouth and pressing a kiss to it.
“I’m very tired now. Can you both leave so that I may change and sleep?” Shit, how could they say no to such a request? As Leif began to pull his hand away, she pulled it close and pressed it to her lips as well. How such a small caress could make such a big impact he had no idea.
“Are you going to be okay if we leave you, baby?” he asked as he stood up. “You’ll need to keep your leg elevated even when you sleep.”
“I will. Thank you for your kindness.” She looked like an angel with those deep brown eyes and the mass of black and brown curls.
“I’m coming back in five minutes, to make sure your leg is elevated, Bella.” Caleb’s tone dared her to disagree.
“Yes, Caleb.” She bowed her head in agreement. Seeing her agree to Caleb’s demand to care for her soothed Leif’s inner beast…for the moment. Isabella’s skewed picture of who she was and what she deserved was going to get cleared up by the end of the day.
* * * *
Caleb made sure the door was shut softly and they were well away from Isabella’s room, before he rounded on Leif.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” Though his tone was low, he knew that Leif was aware he was being shouted at.
“What is your problem?”
“You looked like you were ready to spank that girl in there.” Caleb looked at his friend, and didn’t see a single bit of remorse on Leif’s face. He couldn’t believe the level of stupidity that was surrounding him today. First, there was Isabella who couldn’t see that she had been a child wracked with sorrow, reaching out for comfort, and used by predatory scum in college. Now here was Leif, with his inner Dom in full force, planning on showing her the error of her ways because she didn’t think she was worthy.
Isabella's Submission [Fate Harbor 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8
