Imaginary Lover [The Doms of Sybaris Cove 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Tara Rose

  “I don’t want to fight with you, Tom. I only want to find a way through this confusion.”

  “That makes two of us. Her happiness is what matters here.”

  Merrick eyed him suspiciously. “I agree. I’m just surprised to hear you say that.”

  “Why? I have as much stake in this as you do. And neither of us has a prior claim on her.”

  He nodded slowly. “Right again. Let’s go.” He followed Merrick upstairs, and when they entered his bedroom, Ivy was dressed in an outfit that screamed dinner date. She must have put on the same clothes she’d worn last night, which gave him one small measure of satisfaction. She hadn’t planned on spending the night.

  “There’s food left,” said Merrick. “You hungry?”

  “No.” Tom glanced around, then sat on the bed because there was no other place to sit. Ivy was in the armchair, looking ready to bolt any second. “I’m sorry I called so early.” He didn’t know what else to say.

  “It’s all right.” Her voice came out small and tentative, and Tom hated that.

  Merrick leaned against his dresser as though they were all outside, having a cozy chat on the patio “So, I guess we have a dilemma here.”

  “I’ve already told Merrick I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I like you both. You’ve been in my fantasies for years. Even…” She stopped, her voice trailing off, and Tom swore she was about to put a hand to her mouth as if she’d just spilled a terrible secret.

  “Even what?” he asked.

  “Even when I was engaged to Scott. I never stopped thinking about you two.”

  He swallowed hard. Scott had never deserved her. “What do you want to do?”

  She glanced toward Merrick and then at him again, but at least some of the fear had gone out of her eyes. “I want to keep seeing you both.”

  “I can do that.” His words surprised him, but as soon as they were out of his mouth, he knew they were true. “I can’t back off. Not after the other night. And not after wanting to be with you all this time.”

  “I feel the same way,” said Merrick.

  He and Merrick eyed each other for long moments. This was fucking crazy. Sure, it was fine for the others, but they were different. Arizona and Dallas had already been friends. Hell, they lived next door to each other. Same with Kade and Elliot. They co-owned the land on which both their homes sat and the acreage where they were now building a club with their sub, Giselle.

  Jeff and Taj were friends and ran a department together, and Nando and Graham had been friends for years. Estevan and Liam had some difficulty at first, but not this much. They didn’t have the fucked up history he and Merrick had with Ivy’s family. Jagger and Ian had worked through a lot of issues. They might be good to talk to. And Brett and Mark had nearly come to blows over Nita.

  “We aren’t the first to have issues,” said Merrick.

  “I know. I was just thinking about that.”

  “So what’s your decision?”

  Tom glanced toward Ivy. “I’ll try this, for your sake. Because I can’t lose you now. Not over something as inconsequential as petty jealousy.”

  “And I’ll try for the same reasons,” said Merrick. “So the only question that remains is, are you sure this is what you want?”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything.” She hadn’t even hesitated.

  “What about tonight?” asked Tom. “What do you want to do about our date?”

  “Can we all go out together?”

  He and Merrick eyed each other again. That was a very sensible idea, and both men should have thought of it first. “I can do that.”

  “Me too,” said Merrick.

  Tom nodded. This was going to be one weird date, but at the same time, he had more hope now that he’d ever had about anything in his life.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ivy was a nervous wreck by the time Merrick and Tom showed up in Tom’s car to pick her up. She’d already talked to Elaine and told her everything. Elaine had high-fived her and told her to have a good time.

  “Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”

  Elaine had laughed. “You are out of your mind if you think I’m going to tell you that having two gorgeous men wanting to date you and fuck you is a bad thing. Their problems aren’t yours. Let them work that shit out among them. Go and have a good time.”

  “If this goes anywhere, their problems will be mine.”

  “Only if you let them be.” Elaine sighed out loud. “I have to tell you this. You need to hear it now. When you were with Scott, I used to watch you get so worked up about his family’s business issues and I’d wonder why. He told you about them, but he never involved you in the solution.”

  “I don’t follow you.”

  “You weren’t part of it. He used you as a sounding board, but when you’d offer suggestions and concrete solutions, he’d shoot them down. Every time. And then he’d give you that look. I used to wonder why you even put up with that shit from him.”

  “What look?” Ivy knew what Elaine meant, but she had no idea until now that anyone else had noticed it.

  “That look that said you’re an idiot and you have no clue what you’re talking about. The look that said he was too macho to take business advice from a girl. Even though the advice you gave him was better than anything he came up with on his own.”

  “Elaine, thank you. I had no idea you noticed that.”

  “We all did. But you were in love. Or at least, we thought you were. We never said anything because we didn’t want to ruin your happiness. But there were times I wanted to smack him upside the head.”

  Ivy laughed. “Yeah, me too.” She’d given Elaine a hug, and then asked for her help in choosing a dress. And now she walked outside and toward Tom and Merrick, who both looked good enough to eat.

  “You look beautiful,” said Tom.

  “Yeah,” said Merrick. “Really great.”

  “Thank you. You both look nice, too.” She slid into the front passenger seat and asked where they were going.

  As Tom pulled out of the complex, he told her they’d decided to take her back to Oceanview. “We thought it would be nice for both of us to take you to the best restaurant on the island.”

  She smiled as they drove south, and admired the clear night sky. “It’s so pretty here when it’s this clear, but this time of year it’s likely to make it cold, too.”

  “We’ll keep you warm,” said Merrick from the back seat.

  Ivy turned to face him. “I have no doubt you will.”

  “I guess we need to talk about that,” said Tom.

  “About what?” asked Merrick. “Sex? Play? What?”

  “All of the above.”

  “Do I get a say in this?” she asked, laughing.

  “Of course.” They both spoke at once, and their tone of voice nearly made her laugh. They were tripping over each other not to say anything wrong.

  “Then may I make a blanket statement so we can all relax and enjoy this dinner?”

  “Please do,” said Tom.

  “I like you both a lot, and I want to play with you each again, and have sex with you. It’s just that simple, and there’s no reason for me to keep that from you. So the only question you each have to settle is whether you can handle that together, at the same time.”

  Tom gave her a sideways grin that made her pussy wet. “I knew there was a reason Nadine always said you were smarter than anyone she’d ever met.”

  Ivy raised her brows. “Your sister said that about me?”

  “She sure did. Right after I told her I wouldn’t condone her sneaking around with Scott, and that you’d find out.”

  “Thank you for telling me that.”

  “I hope you never thought I was behind her on that.”

  She shook her head. “I have no reason to believe you were.”

  “I can barely speak to her these days. I only do if it’s a work-related issue and I’m forced to.”

  “She and Scott d
eserve each other.”

  “I agree.” He placed his hand on her thigh, and his touch sent tiny jolts of electricity racing through her body. “And it’s good to hear you say it.”

  Merrick caressed her shoulder from the back seat. “Scott is an idiot. I always thought so. If we didn’t need his family’s company so much I’d recommend we have nothing to do with them.”

  “But that’s exactly why this is complicated. Both of you have divided loyalties.”

  Merrick snorted. “We all have those, hon. Look at the mess with my immediate family. My brother and his idiot friend are facing arson and manslaughter charges, and before the families of those who were hurt or killed in those fires are through, we still have to face them in civil court. Asa has his hands further into JD Construction now than my father or uncle ever wanted them to be, but if we don’t take his help, we fold.”

  “He won’t try to stop you from building the resort again, will he?”

  Merrick shook his head. “No. He’s past that. Arizona and Dallas finally convinced him the tourist trade alone would bring in more cash for Phoebe’s Playthings.”

  “They’re right. It’ll be good for everyone on this island.”

  When they reached the restaurant, they were shown to a cozy table that overlooked the ocean. “This is nice,” she said.

  “I called ahead this time,” said Merrick. “We both thought you’d appreciate having a bit more privacy so we could talk freely.”

  They ordered drinks, appetizers, and entrees, and then Ivy pointed toward the window. “I love taking packages over to Little Cove. You can only see it from this side of the island unless you’re up high. These hills block the view from most places.”

  A tiny island was visible in the distance. Only two hundred people lived there, and none of them were Durantes or Raleighs since the only way to reach it was by boat. Even by speedboat, the crossing took five to ten minutes in calm water. Ivy had gone there once in a sailboat, but it had taken nearly half an hour, and it had been a scary ride, at best. The winds and currents were too unpredictable.

  Oceanview was built high in the hills on the southern end of the island, and rumor had it that the people who built the restaurant chose this location because two of their children had married and moved to Little Cove. They wanted to be able to see the place their children lived at all times.

  “You mean the no-name rock?” asked Merrick, grinning.

  “It has a name.”

  “Little Cove is an odd name.”

  “I didn’t name it. And it’s a bit larger than a rock. I’ve been on it.”

  “I haven’t, for obvious reasons.”

  “I know you take cargo over there,” said Tom, “but I didn’t realize you also drove a speedboat.”

  “Not very often. I prefer flying planes. And we only move small cargo on and off Little Cove so we can get it to one of our planes. The bulk of it is carried by boat from the mainland. We really don’t even need the second speedboat.”

  “Why does no one on this island own a shipping company? We have the capacity to dock large boats.”

  “That’s a good question. Plenty of your family members have boats, but obviously they only use them on the private lakes.”

  “So does everyone else,” said Merrick. “I rarely see boats in the ocean. And there aren’t that many speedboats. I guess we all like our peaceful, lazy sailboats the best.”

  “Nadine and I can drive a speedboat,” said Tom. “Our father had one and taught us when we were younger. We used to take it out on the lake behind Phoebe’s Playthings, but then he sold it for booze, I think.” Tom took a long sip of his drink. “So, what’s on the little island?”

  “Not much. Mostly houses, a grocery store, and a bar. If they need anything else they have to come here, or wait for someone to come to them.” She asked them if they’d heard anything more about Jan’s work with Shona’s diary.

  “Funny you should bring that up,” said Tom. “I was at Taj’s house earlier, finalizing the setup of the database he, Jeff, and Alaina asked for. While I was there, Alaina was on the phone with Jan, and when she got off, she told us some really exciting news.”

  Tom took a forkful of food, and made them wait until he’d swallowed it before continuing. Ivy cast a glance at Merrick who rolled his eyes. The gesture made her laugh.

  “Making you crazy, isn’t it?” asked Tom, his eyes dancing with delight. “Jan is halfway through the diary, and can definitely confirm the medallions that Jagger and Estevan have contain the names of loa who are sympathetic to demons, not demons themselves.”

  “We already knew that, didn’t we?” asked Ivy. “Jan told me that.”

  “But that’s not all. She found the name of the demon she believes cast the curse. The four names she came across earlier are associated with this demon, but every story in Shona’s diary kept referring to the Xibalba, and a demon named Patan in particular.”

  “What is Xibalba?” asked Merrick.

  “Literally translated, it means place of fear, and is part of Mayan mythology. There is supposedly a cave in Cobán, Guatemala that marks the entrance.”

  “Guatemala is one of the places where the natives allegedly came from,” said Merrick.

  “Not allegedly,” said Ivy. “My mother’s family is from there. And so are most of the people who live on no-name rock, as you call it.”

  They both stared at her for a second before Tom continued. “Well, um, so these four demons, Succorbenoth, Verin, Xic, and Nybras, are part of this Xibalba. But the name Patan kept popping up over and over as the ringleader, so to speak. He’s a demon who causes men to die horrible deaths.”

  “What do the other four do?” asked Merrick.

  “Succorbenoth protects bridges and gateways, Verin is the demon of impatience, Xic also causes sudden death, and Nybras publicizes the pleasures of hell.”

  “Nice friends this Patan hangs out with,” said Ivy.

  The men chuckled. “Yeah,” said Tom. “Nice to have around in a pinch. But Patan seemed to be the one the other four deferred to, and when Jan found the story that Shona’s father told her, she knew she had it right. Patan is the demon who cast the curse. The other four merely help him carry it out.”

  They had to wait to continue because their server came over and tried to get them to order dessert, which they all finally agreed to just so she’d leave. Once she left, Tom leaned close and lowered his voice. “Iago told his daughter a horrible story, and she wrote it down in her diary, making sure to say it was word-for-word, right after he told it to her.”

  “Was he sober?” asked Merrick.

  Tom laughed. “Good question. I don’t know, but just listen. Iago told her he was approached by a group of natives who had concerns about him, Agapito, Robert, and William. They were tired of the way the four men treated everyone on the island. Their spokesperson, whom Iago only called Juan, told Iago that the four had one more chance to made things right with the people whose money and land they’d stolen.”

  “Or what?” asked Merrick. “Did he come out tell Iago they’d be cursed?”

  “Worse than that. He showed Iago what would happen. They sat around a campfire, and Iago swore to Shona that Juan chanted in Taino. Then Iago saw a vision in the flames.”

  Merrick snorted. “And was he smoking peyote buds at the time, by any chance?”

  “Why don’t you believe this?” asked Ivy. “There are dozens of firsthand accounts from people on this island of visions like that. Some still practice it. And Taino is part of the language that Jan said the documents are written in. You know…the clues to the curse that no one until now could read.” She glanced toward Tom. “Has Jan been able to translate those yet?”

  “She’s still working on them.”

  “Okay,” said Merrick. “I’m sorry. Please continue your story.”

  He and Tom exchanged a bemused glance. “Thank you. So anyway, Iago’s vision included five demonic creatures, with one as the obvious leader.
It also contained four men whom Iago recognized as himself, Agapito, Robert, and William. The main demon, whom Juan later told him was called Patan, called down water from the sky, and it washed over the four men.”

  “So all five demons were in the vision?” asked Merrick.

  “Yes. Iago also said he saw a land mass in the distance, just out of reach of the four, and Juan told him the land mass was the mainland. When the vision ended, Juan told Iago once again that if the four didn’t change their ways, they’d never leave the island, and their grandsons and so on would suffer the same fate. But here’s the kicker.”

  Ivy hugged herself as goose bumps broke out along her arms.

  “Juan told Iago that their sons and so on would suffer the same fate until they learned to use their power and wealth for good, and give back to the people of this island.”

  The three stared at each other. “But that means it might be lifted,” said Ivy. “Liam and Estevan were able to walk a considerable length underwater, and nothing happened.”

  “And look what Asa is doing now,” said Merrick. “He’s almost a philanthropist. He’s backed off on the resort, and has promised we won’t go under.”

  “It isn’t only that,” said Tom. “He gives a lot of money to charities. You have no idea, and neither do most people on this island.”

  “But is it enough?” asked Ivy. “Have you all done what was required to break the curse?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” said Merrick.

  This time, Tom snorted. “Right. And who should we volunteer for that?”

  “Owen?” asked Merrick.

  They didn’t laugh.

  “Well there’s a prime example of not doing good with your power and wealth,” said Ivy. “But this is still more than any of you had before, where the curse is concerned. It proves it’s real.”

  “Assuming you believe Iago’s vision, it does,” said Tom. “Alaina said she was going to talk to Asa today and tell him all of this.”

  “What about Nita and Phyllis?” asked Ivy. “Weren’t they helping with the translation of the documents?”