Baby, Come Back [Clandestine Affairs 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Zara Chase

  “They’ll never be peace in the region with men like him on the loose,” Zeke said, sounding resigned.

  “You were right to tell me not to go,” Cantara said, sharing a glance between them. “I’m sorry I was so stubborn. It was arrogant of me to think I could make a difference. I should have listened to you.”

  “You did what you had to do, babe,” Raoul replied, kissing her. “We both admire the heck out of you for that.”

  “What I don’t understand is who told Salim you and I were married, Raoul? It was kept secret for precisely the reason that the Palestinians might not like it.”

  “Levi was the guilty party,” Zeke said.

  “What, Colonel Hassan’s adjutant?” She frowned. “I don’t believe it. He seemed like such a regular guy.”

  “Well, that just goes to show you never can tell,” Raoul replied. “They found stuff buried on his personal computer. E-mails between him and a woman. He’d been set up and had no choice but to pass on intel or he would lose his job, his liberty, and his family.”

  “He loved his family. I can’t see him cheating on his wife or doing anything to risk his kids’ safety,” Cantara said, shaking her head. “I remember him showing me a picture of his wife and kids once and telling me how much he admired what I was trying to do. He wanted peace in the region, too, for his family’s sake. He was a liberal-minded Israeli who accepted there was room for both sides to live in peace, if there was the will.”

  “Yeah, we thought that way about him, too,” Zeke said. “But it wasn’t our call. We were prepared to tear anyone apart in revenge for your death on the flimsiest of evidence, so we didn’t ask too many questions at the time.”

  “Where is he now?” Cantara asked. “In an Israeli prison, presumably, but we ought to go and talk to him, find out—”

  “He escaped from custody,” Raoul told her.

  “What! You’re kidding me. No one escapes from the Israelis.” She paused. “Unless they want them to.”

  “We’ve been looking for him ever since he absconded,” Zeke said. “And we have some pretty good means at our disposal, thanks to the Agency.”

  “Is that why you started it?” she asked.

  “I guess,” Raoul said. “We’d had it with the army after we thought you were dead. We were fed up with obeying stupid orders, playing by the rules when the scumbags got away with just about anything and everything. We decided to level the playing field and now we get a ton of work from the military, who don’t want to be seen to wash their dirty linen in public,” Raoul expelled a mirthless chuckle. “How’s that for irony?”

  “I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here,” Cantara said. “Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it wasn’t Levi who spilled the beans. Who else knew we were married, Raoul?”

  “Pool,” Raoul and Zeke said together.

  “I never liked the jerk,” Raoul added alone, “and wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  “He was very anxious to talk to Cantara at Andrews,” Zeke said. “And since he’s now riding a desk, I don’t see why he needed to. Unless he was worried that she might have heard his name mentioned while in captivity.”

  “We need to take a closer look at him,” Raoul agreed. “Should have done it before now.”

  “Yeah, well.” Zeke stretched his arms above his head. “Hindsight’s a damned irritating bastard.”

  “They keep ringing, Pool and Parker, to see if they can come and talk to you, Cantara,” Raoul explained. “But I think we’ll hold them off for a while longer yet, until we’ve done more digging of our own and know who to trust.”

  “Whatever you think best,” she replied. “I’m in no hurry to talk to them.”

  “The only other person who could possibly have known about the marriage was Pool’s adjutant, Romney,” Raoul said. “It’s not in writing anywhere but adjutants know everything, even the things they aren’t officially supposed to know. It’s the only way they can perform efficiently.”

  “Someone else to look at, then,” Zeke said. “Or, we could just let it go. We’ve got Cantara back and that’s all that really matters.”

  “No.” Cantara and Raoul spoke together.

  “No,” she repeated alone. “I lost three years of my life and I need to know who to blame for that. And, knowing you two as well as I do, I suspect neither of you will be completely comfortable unless you get some answers, too. Why else would you turn yourselves into vigilantes-cum-detectives?”

  “Gotta hand it to our gal,” Zeke said, swooping in for a kiss. “She knows us pretty damned well.”

  “It’s been eating away at us,” Raoul agreed. “So yeah, if you don’t think it will set your recovery back, let’s do some in depth digging.”

  “How do you feel, darlin’?” Zeke asked. “Now that you remember it all.”

  “Better,” Cantara said, because it was true. The shock, the disgust, even the guilt at what she had led the guys into, had worn off quicker than it should have done. “Talking to you about it, knowing you understand and forgive me, has saved you the cost of a shrink.”

  Raoul and Zeke shot her identically surprised looks. “We didn’t say anything about you needing a shrink.”

  “I heard you talking about it one night when I couldn’t sleep. In your position, I would have been thinking about engaging one as well, but I’m glad you don’t have to. I’d much rather bare everything to you guys. In all respects.” She leaned up to gently kiss Raoul’s lips, then leaned forward so she could repeat the process with Zeke. “Thank you for being so patient with me.”

  “Darlin’, nothing’s too much trouble for you.” Raoul ran the fingers of one hand across her nape. “We love you. Don’t you get that part yet?”

  “We’re nothing without you, babe,” Zeke added, resuming her foot massage. “And as for Washington here, he’s been like a bear with a three-year sore head.”

  “Oh, and you’ve been all peace and goodwill?”

  “Stop it, you two.” Cantara laughed at their banter. “Don’t make me pick sides.”

  “That we would never do,” Raoul replied, his grin fading. “In case you’ve forgotten, and if you have we’d be happy to remind you, that we like to share you.” His eyes smoldered with wicked intent as he raked her body with a slow, sexy gaze. “We like it a lot.”

  Cantara moistened her lips, wondering how they could have gotten so dry without her realizing it. “I have vague recollections,” she mused. “But what with my memory still being so spotty, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go on a refresher course.”

  Zeke roared with laughter. “We’ve got our baby back, bud, no question.”

  “So it seems.” Raoul expelled an exaggerated sigh. “Looks like we’re gonna have our work cut out keeping her in line. No way is she ready to play rough with us again yet. She needs to get her strength back first.”

  “Does she get to have any say in the matter?”

  “No,” Raoul and Zeke replied together.

  Cantara pouted. “Spoil sports!”

  “We ought to get back and start thinking about how we’re gonna nail Levi, or whoever it was who gave away our secret,” Raoul said, chuckling at her disgruntled expression.

  They stood up, and Cantara was treated to full frontal views of her naked decadent gods. All taut flesh over hard muscle, plenty of natural definition, plenty more raw animal vitality that made her salivate with anticipation. Despite what Raoul might think, she knew she wouldn’t have much trouble getting them to resume normal activities of a sexual nature, and that was precisely what she planned to do when they got back to the ranch. Now that she had her memory back, she needed to take control of her life again. If she behaved like a damaged wilting violet then Salim would have won, which was not an option. She needed to be in charge of her own destiny and appreciate this second chance she’d been given.

  “Planning to ride home like that, boys?” she asked, cutting them a wicked grin.

  Raoul swatted her backside as he pulled
on his jeans. “Glad to see you feeling so much better, hon,” he said, blowing her a kiss.

  Once they were dressed, Zeke rounded up the horses and this time she mounted up without needing their help. As they cantered back to the ranch side by side, Cantara reveled in the feel of the wind blowing through her hair, of the simple joy of life, of the even greater joy of having Raoul and Zeke all to herself. She glanced from one of them to the other, aware from their grim expressions that they had vengeance on their minds.

  Cantara, on the other hand, had sex games on hers.

  Chapter Twelve

  Raoul looked up from his laptop and frowned. “Cantara’s been gone a long time. You think she’s all right?”

  They had finished dinner and she’d excused herself for a moment. Wrapped up in reading the latest findings on Levi, supplied thanks to some creative hacking on the part of Mark and Karl, Raoul hadn’t noticed the time passing.

  “I’ll go check on her.”

  Zeke left his own computer and sauntered down to the yellow room. “Hey, babe, you okay?” He paused and Raoul heard his sharp intake of breath. “Holy shit! Raoul, get down here. You need to see this.”

  In a panic, thinking she’d had a bad reaction to her awakened memories, Raoul flew down the corridor in record time. She had been too calm, too casual, about what she had remembered. Raoul, unsurprised by her a delayed reaction, was ready to comfort and console. When he saw what actually awaited him, he screeched to a halt immediately behind Zeke.

  “Fucking hell!”

  “Hey, guys, what kept you?”

  Cantara lay on the bed wearing a black corset trimmed with scarlet lace, held together at the front by a crisscrossed ribbon. Raoul remembered buying it for her just before they left the States for Israel. She hadn’t gotten around to wearing it—until now. It was pulled so tight that Raoul figured he could have spanned her waist with his two hands. Her tits looked disproportionately large and spilled out of the top of the garment. He could see the edges of her raspberry-pink areolas and the outline of her nipples through the satin material. She wore sheer stockings held up by suspenders, leaving a good six inches of bare upper thigh to be kissed and caressed. Her feet were encased in shoes with four-inch spiky heels. Her knees were bent up, her legs spread to give them an up-close view of her freshly shaved pussy. But the most extraordinary part of it all was that she had found their handcuffs and attached one wrist to the headboard.

  “I couldn’t fix the other one myself,” she said, pouting. “I need your help for that.” She giggled. “Well, that and a few other things.”

  “Er, what do you think you’re doing?” Raoul asked, even though it was pretty damned obvious. His cock was standing to attention and taking an active interest in proceedings.

  “Don’t you wanna play?” she asked with a sultry smile that said she knew damned well they did.

  “Do we ever,” Zeke muttered. “But you’re not strong enough for this yet.”

  “Says who?”

  “Fuck it!” Raoul breathed.

  “That’s kinda the idea,” Cantara replied, her unfettered hand drifting to play with her pussy, from which her juices were freely flowing.

  Raoul and Zeke exchanged a loaded glance. How the fuck were they supposed to resist her when she put on such a provocative display? Raoul’s cock pulsated painfully inside his jeans. If he unzipped and gave it the breathing room it needed, he would be lost. Part of him was delirious with joy because Cantara wanted to rough and tumble with them again so soon after her ordeal. The problem was, he and Zeke liked to play hard, and seriously. Pain was an integral part of their pleasure, and Cantara had had way too much pain over the past three years for them to knowingly inflict more.

  “Stop overthinking it, big guy.” Cantara addressed her remark to Raoul. “I remember everything you used to do to me. The spankings, the punishments, both of you fucking me at once.” Her eyes sparkled with a combination of desire and determination. She wouldn’t be easily dissuaded. Whether Raoul actually wanted to dissuade her was open to debate. “I want all that again, and I won’t have you holding back out of some misguided sense of responsibility. I know what I’m asking of you, but you need to understand that it’s real important to me to feel I’m living life to the full again.”

  “I guess we can play, bud,” Zeke said. “Doesn’t mean we have to take her too far.”

  “Oh no!” Cantara aimed a cool gaze at Zeke. “I want it all. Don’t you dare think about short-changing me. You said it yourselves, I’ve been through a lot. We all have, and we deserve to have some fun. We’ve been given a second chance. Let’s not blow it.”

  Raoul shrugged, through with trying to talk himself out of something all three of them wanted pretty damned desperately. “Okay, darlin’, if you’re absolutely sure.”

  “Is there something about this outfit that makes you think I’m not?”

  Raoul laughed. “I hear you, but first off you need to be punished.”

  “At last, they get it,” she replied, rolling her eyes, probably aware that sarcasm would definitely earn her a spanking.

  Raoul and Zeke unzipped in unison. Two large erections sprang free from their flies, jutting halfway up their bellies. Cantara glanced at them, widened her eyes in evident appreciation and then giggled.

  “Doesn’t look as though you needed too much persuading after all.”

  “What do we remember about speaking only when spoken to?” Raoul asked, wagging a finger at her.

  Cantara immediately lowered her eyes and lay passively on the bed, legs demurely closed together. “Sorry, Masters.”

  “That’s better,” Zeke said, reaching over to release the handcuffs.

  Raoul rummaged in the cupboard that housed all the toys they’d never thought they would get to use on Cantara. The cupboard where she’d found the handcuffs. She wanted to be spanked and Raoul was willing to oblige, but they needed to take this gently. Hurt her without hurting her. Bring her to life slowly, explore her limits, her desires, her demands. Never had the responsibility of being Doms hung more heavily on their shoulders. Never had it mattered more that they…well, strike the right balance.

  “Go and crouch in the corner with your back to the room while we decide upon your punishment, Cantara.”

  “Yes, Masters.”

  They both watched the sway of her hips as she sauntered across the room in her tarty shoes and slowly crouched down, deliberately sticking her bare ass in the air, the provocative little witch!

  “She won’t settle for just your hand, bud,” Zeke said, shaking his head in admiration. “She’s up for the complete deal already. It’s our duty not to disappoint her.”

  “But we have a duty of care, also. She’s been through so much. Can she actually take what she’s asking us to dish out?”

  “She’s so damned turned on, I reckon she can take a spanking. Don’t reckon we can both fuck her at the same time quite yet, though.”

  “Me neither, but there is another way.”

  Raoul voiced his suggestion. Zeke grinned and nodded.

  “Works for me,” he said.

  “I figured it might.” Raoul picked up a horsehair warm-up flogger, the gentlest piece of equipment he owned, and tried it across his hand. It caused a pleasant sting. “That’ll do it,” he said, nodding his approval.

  Raoul sat on the edge of the bed with the flogger, while Zeke leaned against the wall, arms folded, ready to watch the show.

  “Come here, Cantara,” Raoul said in his deep Dom’s voice.

  She elegantly rose to her feet, turned slowly and walked across to him, eyes downcast, but not so low that Raoul didn’t catch the glint of anticipation in them. Their little sub was turned on, big time. Still fully clothed, with only his cock hanging out, Raoul indicated the floor in front of him and Cantara dutifully knelt in front of him.

  “Do you have something to say to me?” he asked her.

  “Yes, Sir. I’ve been real bad.”

  “What did yo
u do that was so bad?”

  “I asked you and Master Zeke to fuck me.”

  “And why is that wrong?”

  “I’m not allowed to say what I want. It’s my job to please you, not the other way around.”

  “So it is.” Raoul shared a look with Zeke, glad she remembered her training. “So, what should we do about it?”

  “I need to be punished, Master. Please punish me. Beat the badness out of me.”

  “I guess you do need to be taught a lesson. Get up and lay across my knees.”

  When she had done so, Raoul rested the flogger against her buttocks. “Remember to control your breathing, darlin’. Safe word me if it gets too much.”

  Raoul brought the flogger down gently.

  “I can’t feel it,” she complained from beneath the curtain of hair covering her face.

  Raoul shrugged at Zeke, who shrugged right back. It was apparent Cantara was in no mood to settle for half measures, so Raoul repeated the process with a little more vigor. His efforts were rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from Cantara, then a sigh of contentment. Raoul continued to punish her, at the same time reaching beneath her with the fingers of his other hand and applying them to her swollen clit. She squirmed on his knee, clearly loving what he was doing to her. Raoul’s heart soared at the sight of her cute butt, striped pink from the flogger, and from the enthusiasm of her response.

  When Raoul figured she’d taken enough, he threw the flogger aside and told her to get up. She stood before him in her sexy corset, eyes downcast, biting her lip to suppress a rogue smile.

  “Do you have something to say to me, Cantara?”

  “Yes, Master. Thank you for chastising me. I deserved it.”

  “Yeah, you did. Now get back on the bed, on your hands and knees.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Both men paused to admire a view that a few shorts weeks ago they’d only thought ever to see again in their imaginations, then stripped off their clothes. Zeke slid sideways beneath Cantara and applied his attention to her tits, poking provocatively out of the corset. He helped them the rest of the way out and attached his lips to a solidified nipple. Raoul claimed her ass for his own and ran a finger, slick with lube, down her crack. She flinched, but quickly settled again, distracted by Zeke’s gentle torture.