Syren's Pride

by Jennah Thornhill

  Looking up at him where I stand-if you can call it standing, it's more like swaying, just inside the lounge area, I notice sweat starts to gather on his brow. What I think could be panic, starts to creep in, his facial features giving him away.

  “Well… what have you got to say for yourself or are you just going to stand there silent the whole time? Am I going to have to go into that room and drag the tramp out by her hair myself?”

  At the same time, I point and take a step in the direction of the closed bedroom door. My movement snaps him into motion.

  “No. Don’t. Please Bea, it’s not at all what you think.”

  He comes to stand directly in front of me, leaving no space between us. I know he’s hiding something, or rather someone. Taking my shoulders in his hands, he holds me still with a firm grip.

  “I’m sorry for what I did downstairs, I shouldn’t have treated you that way it’s just….” he trails off, going mute on me again. Words seem to be a problem for him tonight.

  “It’s just what Max? What’s so bad that all of a sudden you can’t talk to me? You’ve never had an issue with expressing yourself to me before.”

  I’m beyond pissed-off now. I will get to the bottom of this even if it kills me.

  “You either want me or you don’t? No more messing me around.”

  Just as I finish spouting my verbal attack at him and he goes to speak, the bedroom door creaks open. Max’s whole body stiffens and starts to shake. Tears slowly start to trickle down his cheeks and his grip on my arms loosens. I can’t see who’s standing in the doorway because Max is blocking me.

  “I’m so sorry Billie,” he whispers “I never meant to hurt you.”

  Just like that, my whole world changes.

  “He does want you Billie, we… both do.” A male voice says softly.

  Max lets go of me completely. His shoulders dropping like he’s finally admitting defeat, before taking a small side step to my left, allowing me to have a visual of who has just spoken to me.

  Standing there in just his boxers is Vin.

  I feel the room start to spin around me. At first, I think it’s just the alcohol that’s swimming through my body. Then before I know it, I’m crashing to the floor, my eyes roll to the back of my head right before I pass out.

  “She had to find out at some point Max, you couldn’t keep lying to her, stringing her and me along. It’s not fair on either of us. I’ve seen the way that woman looks at you and I’m telling you now, she isn’t going be running to any newspaper or magazine. You need to learn that not everyone is out to hurt you.”

  My eyes are still closed and I’m lying on something soft. My guess would be that one of the men in the room picked me up off the floor and placed me on the sofa that’s under the windowsill. Hearing that voice again, makes me stay where I am, not letting on to either one of them that I’m awake. If they know, they’ll stop talking. I have to hear what they are saying so I can understand the total mind fuck that I had, before I passed out like a complete idiot.

  Max and Vin.

  Vin and Max.

  Both half arsed naked in the same bed.

  Together?

  I just can’t wrap my head around it all. None of it makes sense. Max isn’t gay, he wouldn’t sleep with me if he was, surely?

  I’m so fucking confused right now.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust her or that I was stringing either one of you along. It’s just if one person finds out, then chances are I’m going to lose all control and everyone will find out. I can’t let that happen. Don’t you see Vin? It’s not just me, all this could tear apart you and Billie. The guys, the girls even their kids will be fucking terrorized by them bastards. That can’t happen, I owe my life to them three guys.”

  Max’s voice breaks with his last few words and my heart breaks for him.

  It hits me then, he’s not gay.

  He’s bi-sexual and he’s been keeping this to himself for god knows how long, just for the sake of appearances. Just because he’s scared of what the public will think of him. What the people who he thinks of as his family will also think.

  Deciding I’ve heard enough, it’s time to sort this mess out and see where we all stand with one another. I start to do a fake stretch on the sofa, making a soft moan as I go.

  “Shit. She’s waking up.”

  The sound of worry in Max’s voice tells me that I’ve scared him.

  Feeling a thud on the floor behind me, I start to peel my eyes open and as I do, I see Max on his knees beside me.

  “Hey Queen Bea. You fucking scared me, I thought I was going have to phone an ambulance.”

  I smile at his over the top dramatics.

  “I’m okay you daft sod, it was just the shock, and the Vodka I guzzled before I came up here probably didn’t help the situation.”

  To add extra reassurance, I lift my hand and gesture for him to take it. Just as he does, I see Vin come up next to him with a small smile on his face. Yet I can tell he’s also worried that I’m going to flip my shit on him.

  “You okay, Bea? You took a pretty nasty fall before.” His tone is wary, yet concern is thrown in there at the same time. Letting Max’s hand fall from mine, I gingerly try to push myself up to a sitting position before I answer him.

  Once seated upright, I look at him from under my lashes, because now that I’ve heard what’s been said between the two of them, I feel awful for barging in here and demanding answers.

  “Yeah, I’m okay Vin. I’ll just have a sore head for a day or two, thank you for asking.”

  With that said, I bring my hand up to a sore spot on the side of my head where I must have banged it when I hit the floor. Diving straight in with the issue at hand and not one to pussy foot around, I come straight out with the elephant that’s clearly in the room with us.

  “So, you two are fucking then?”

  The look on their faces is priceless. They clearly didn’t just expect me to come out with it like that. Max looks up at Vin, at the same time Vin looks down to Max and they both burst out laughing. It’s nervous laughing but still… at least I’ve broken the ice between us all.

  “You never fail to make me laugh, Queen Bea.”

  “Maybe so, Maxwell, but don’t you think we need to talk about this?” I use his full name so he knows I’m serious.

  Standing from his spot on the floor he returns to his full height. It’s then I notice he’s put a pair of snug fitting jeans on and straight away my eyes zoom in on the tight material that wraps around his thighs.

  Fuck this shit, I’m going full throttle.

  Talking can wait… for now.

  My mind and body clearly aren't thinking straight at the minute, but I know I want to do what it is that I’m about to offer him, offer them both.

  Chapter Eight

  Vin

  This whole night couldn’t have get anymore messed up even if we tried.

  First, I had to stand there and watch the man I’ve allowed to keep me a secret and use my body for his own gain, to finger fuck the woman who I’m pretty sure is in love with him. Then being the dickhead, I am, I followed him to his room and allowed him to take what he always does… me. The final topping on this fucked-up cake is that the woman in question came banging on the door demanding answers from him. Only to pass out from shock when she discovers it’s not another woman, he’s had in his bed but me, a man.

  Hearing her curse, him out the way she was all but tore me in two. I had to do something, hiding in his bedroom wasn’t going to help anyone. It was either I came out or she was going to come in.

  The moment the words, ‘You either want me or you don’t? No more messing me around.’ left her mouth that was my cue to step in. Consequences be damned.

  I also knew I was admitting the truth, to myself and to Max when I told her that we both wanted her. Not once did I lie to her and he couldn’t even deny my statement. I spoke out loud what he’s wan
ted for a long time, yet he wouldn’t allow it because of his fears.

  I’ve watched Billie as well as the rest of the women for god knows how long. I’m also a pretty good judge of character and I know she is a woman who can be trusted. She’s not a bitch, she’s not spiteful. She loves all her friends deeply and would go to war for them if it required her too.

  Hearing her stir on the sofa that I helped Max put her on when she hit the deck almost an hour ago, we both rush over to check on her. Only I hang back a little, I’m pretty sure after what she’s just discovered I’m the last person she would want to see. Letting them exchange a few words first, I finally test the water by stepping forward so she can see me over Max’s shoulder.

  “You okay, Bea? You took a pretty nasty fall before.”

  Hopefully if she sees that I was just as worried about her as Max is, then maybe she won’t want to punch me in the throat. She looks at me as if she should trust me. That she can’t quite figure out if I’m showing genuine concern for her or just blowing smoke up her arse - which I’m not.

  Sensing that I’m not being a twat she answers, “Yeah, I’m okay Vin. I’ll just have a sore head for a day or two, thank you for asking.”

  She rubs what I presume is a sore area on her head. I can feel the tension in the room growing. Billie knows what we were doing before she arrived, she’s not stupid and it doesn’t really take a genius to work it out. Especially when Max answers the door stark buck naked and I open the bedroom door in just my Calvin’s.

  “So, you two are fucking then?”

  Just when I think nothing could shock me, she just comes right out with it.

  I knew there was a reason I liked this woman.

  Just like that, any tense atmosphere that was floating about disappears. Both myself and Max laugh. We’re still a little nervous as to how she’s going to handle all of this and we all have to sit and talk. It’s then I get this heart wrenching feeling that he will choose her over me. Watching them laugh and talk makes me think he’s just going to cast me aside now, that I’m no longer going to be required. The way he looks at her and vice versa, you can see the love between them, but both of them are scared shitless to admit it to each other. If he wants her and her alone, then I won’t stand in their way. I’ll get over him, I have to if I want to keep the best job I’ve ever had.

  “How long has this been going on between you two?” She asks, whilst gesturing between me and Max with a waving hand for emphasis as to who she’s on about.

  As if we didn’t already know.

  I suck in a deep baited breath, knowing full well we started sleeping together after he had already been sleeping with her. Max lifts his head turning to face me again, and straight away I can tell he’s scared to tell her the truth. That he’s asking me to tell her without actually saying the words. Gut instinct tells me that I have to be the one she ends up hating if this all turns sour, so being the man, I am I tell her the truth.

  “It started on the last European tour, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, wow. Okay then.”

  Her voice is a whisper and her face has a mixture of shock and devastation on it, but something tells me she isn’t as upset about it as she seems.

  “So, when you came out of that bedroom when I got here and said that you both wanted me, was that just a ploy to keep me quiet or did you actually mean it?”

  Her glare goes from me to Max and so forth until Max finally decides he has to say something.

  “He was telling you the truth Queen Bea, he’s been wanting me to tell you for a while now. I just couldn’t risk it.”

  “You mean you didn’t trust me, that’s what you’re really saying isn’t it?”

  Disbelief mars her beautiful features and neither one of us can answer her.

  “You know what, fuck this bollocks. I was going to say you both could have had me if you wanted, but now I know you didn’t trust me. Well that just hurts. It hurts more than I care to admit, but there you have it, shit happens.”

  She stands from the sofa and we both look at her, this time it’s us men who are in disbelief.

  She was going to let us both have her?

  Surely, I heard her wrong?

  No woman in her right mind would want to take us pair on.

  Would she?

  Chapter Nine

  Max

  I’m either hearing things or I’m losing my marbles.

  I swear I just heard Billie say she was willing for us both to take her, but now she’s pissed, I don’t blame her. I would be if I had just learnt everything, she has in the last few hours. In fact, I’d be more than pissed. I’d be breaking someone's teeth in a rage. You see that’s the thing with Billie, she’s a lot more forgiving and understanding than I give her credit for. For that I take the full blame.

  Landing on my arse when she gets up from the sofa in a rush to leave, something inside me snaps.

  I can’t let her walk out that door, not now.

  That thought alone has me getting to my feet in a flash, which surprises me. When she first rocked up here with her shoes in her hand and her mouth giving me an ear bashing, I couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Only now the games changed. She wants to be involved, she isn’t running a hundred miles in the opposite direction and to the press. More importantly she doesn’t think I’m disgusting for wanting to fuck men as well as her.

  In my haste to get her to stop, to not walk out that door, I turn too quickly and catch my foot on the fucking rug they have on the floor in my suite which causes me to trip and faceplant on said rug.

  Fucking thing is a death trap.

  “Holy fucking shit, Max are you okay?” I hear Vin ask.

  Apart from my pride and dignity I’m just fucking peachy. Grumbling into the furry thing beneath my face, I groan even louder when I hear Vin start to laugh. I’m not talking just a light chuckle either. He’s full on belly laughing at me.

  “Oh my god, Bea. You can’t leave yet girl, get your arse back here and see this… now.”

  The fucker just about manages to get his words out, he’s still laughing that much.

  Well if he thinks I’m sucking his dick anytime soon, he can fucking think again....

  “What the fuck Vin? He clearly doesn’t….” Her words come to a sudden halt. That’s when I know she’s walked back over to the sofa and seen me still with my face embedded in the shit thing that caused me to fall in the first place. Then just like I knew she would, she starts with the laughter.

  “Oh Jesus, what happened? This is just too funny, I can’t breathe. My ribs hurt.”

  Fuck my life.

  Lifting my head so I’m no longer eating fluff, I plant my chin in the rug and glare at the pair of hysterical hyenas standing above me.

  “You pair have five seconds to pack that shit in and run, because when I get up off this damn floor you two are going to pay for all that laughing you’ve just done at my expense.” I warn, with my voice taking on a threatening edge which soon shuts them both up.

  “I don’t think he’s messing around, Bea. He has that glint in his eye, he means business this time.”

  You don’t fucking say Vin.

  He isn’t the one who’s been suffocated by a bloody rug, whilst those two idiots have just stood there and laughed at me.

  Pressing my hands into the floor, I push my body up slowly giving them time to do as I say, which they very wisely do.

  “Oh fuck, he’s moving.” Billie screeches.

  They both run in different directions, but it’s a hotel suite there’s only so many places you can hide. As I get to my feet, I hear a door quietly click shut from in the bedroom so I head there first.

  Entering the bedroom, I can’t see any immediate hiding places but then my eyes zoom in on the wardrobe. That’s the door I heard click shut. I just know it is and I’d bet every penny I have that it’s Billie who's tucked herself in there because Vin is way too big to fit in there. Instead of goin
g in for the kill straight away, I let her think that I don’t know where she’s hiding.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are Billie.” I call out, trying to contain the laughter that I can feel building up in my throat. For extra effect, I even drop to my knees with a loud thud between the wardrobe and bed to make her think I’m looking under there for her. A small snigger comes from behind the closed wardrobe door, which just confirms I was right and it is her in there. Getting back to my feet, I make a show of stretching, because when I stand at full height my body automatically tells me that Vin is no longer hiding, he’s watching me from behind. Which means he’s in the bathroom.

  He’s curious as to what I’m going to do when I get my hands on my Queen Bea and I’m going to give him what he wants. Taking slow steps towards the wardrobe, I tap my knuckles on the door giving a rat a tat, tat beat as I go.

  “I know you’re in there sweetheart, so I suggest you come out on your own accord. Or I’m going to come in after you which will make it ten times worse for you.” I warn.

  When there is no answer, I don’t give her another warning, instead I swing the door open almost pulling it off its hinges. There huddled up in a tiny ball in the corner is my woman.

  That’s right, she’s mine even if she doesn’t know it yet.

  She looks so tiny and fragile, but I know she’s anything but those things.

  With her arms folded on her bare knees and her head tucked down, she very slowly raises her head just so I can see her eyes. I know she’s smiling as well because her face muscles rise when she looks at me. My heart starts racing in my chest. My stomach starts to have the worst case of butterflies the longer I look at her huddled in this damn wardrobe. So, to mask the feelings that have decided to rear their ugly head, I dive straight in and grab a hold of her. I throw her over my shoulder before standing back upright and marching over to the bed with her. I then throw her down and her back bounces back up slightly. Before I fall forward, I stop my weight from crushing her with my hands landing either side of her head, caging her in.