“She does. She’s just in shock. Juliet, talk to us,” Brick urged.
“Perhaps I should leave,” Xavier said.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Brick told him sharply. “You need to stay here. You’re in this just as much as me. We agreed. If this relationship is going to work, we’re all equal. No one is more important.”
“She is.”
“Well, yeah, obviously,” Brick agreed. “But between you and me. One of us isn’t more. Now, stick to the plan.”
Their conversation started to penetrate. And she . . . she didn’t understand it.
She cleared her throat and tried to move out of Brick’s arms.
“Nope,” he told her. “You’re not going anywhere. At least not until you talk to me. To us.”
She glanced over at Xavier who looked worried. She hated it when he was worried.
“I need an answer, Duchess,” Brick prompted.
“Nobody will get angry at you either way,” Xavier promised.
She looked at each of them. “Is this a dream?”
“No, baby.” Brick pushed her hair off her face. He gave her such a tender look that she stared at him in amazement.
Tender wasn’t exactly a word she would use to describe Brick. Unmoving. Stubborn. Loyal.
“If this relationship is going to work?” she repeated back his earlier words. “You mean a relationship where . . .”
“We share you,” Brick told her. “A permanent ménage.”
“I don’t understand . . . why would the two of you come up with this?”
“Because I think you love Xavier. I’ve seen the way you both look at each other. I know how devastated you were at the idea of him leaving Wishingbone. Do you love him?”
“I love you.”
“I know you do,” Brick told her warmly. “And I’m not upset or mad. I was the one who went to Xavier to propose this. It’s my idea. So don’t think you’re losing me. You couldn’t even if you tried.”
“I . . . I . . .”
“You don’t have to answer now,” Xavier told her gently, but she saw some sadness in his gaze. “If this isn’t something you want, the two of us, then all you have to do is say. Then I’ll go.”
But she didn’t want that. The idea of never seeing him again . . . Brick was right. It would devastate her. But so did the idea of losing Brick. She glanced up at him, studying him. He didn’t look upset or worried. He was calm.
“I love you.”
“Love you too, Duchess.” He kissed her forehead. “Nothing changes that. The amazing thing about you is that I know you have enough love for us both.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he replied firmly. “Do you love Xavier?”
“Nothing happens that you don’t want,” Xavier said before she could answer. “Ever. You have to know that. Yeah, we talked about it. Neither of us knows if it will work. I didn’t even think it was a possibility until Brick brought it up. He didn’t have to. I know that you love him. But if you think it’s possible to love me as well, I’ll never give you a reason to regret it.”
The fear and the hope on his face nearly undid her. She felt those fractured pieces inside her start to slide even tighter together. What Brick had healed was still delicate. But she knew she could become stronger.
If she was brave. If she took what these two men were offering her.
“You’re sure?” she asked Brick.
He nodded. “I’ve had a while to think about this.”
“A while?” she asked, confused by that. “How long?”
He sighed. “It’s fucking Elias’ fault. Him and those reverse harem stories he goes on about.”
“Elias reads reverse harem books?” she asked. This was definitely feeling more than a bit surreal. “Wait, a reverse harem is three or more guys.”
“You’re not adding another guy,” Brick barked.
“No more,” Xavier said with a stern frown.
She held up her hands defensively. “I never said I wanted to. You brought up reverse harems, I’m just pointing out the rules.”
“No more. Just him. That’s more than enough,” Brick said.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why would you do this?” He had her. He didn’t have to share her. “If you’re worried that I would have done something, I swear I wouldn’t. I’m not Linda. I love you. I never want to lose you.”
“I know you’re not her,” Brick told her fiercely. “I couldn’t do this if I didn’t trust you, one hundred percent. And you’re not losing me.”
Her stomach rolled, she felt worried, frightened, and hopeful. She wrapped her hand up in Brick’s T-shirt.
“Baby girl, don’t stress,” Brick soothed. “That’s the last thing we want.”
“If you take off your shirt, that might help her,” Xavier murmured.
“Nah, man, that’s your thing with her. I have something else that helps.”
“Are you going to do that now?”
“Well, figure I should wait a while before I show you my cock,” Brick replied. “Don’t want to give you an inferiority complex.”
Xavier let out a scoffing noise. “I won’t get an inferiority complex from your cock, I can reassure you of that. Wait, what do you do to calm her down that involves your dick?”
Her anxiety was starting to fade as she listened to their conversation.
She leaned back to look up at Brick, who was smirking. “Stick around, I’m sure you’ll find out.” Then he glanced down at her. “I know what I’m doing. I’ve actually been in a ménage relationship before.”
“Not with Linda?” she asked.
“No. When I told Linda that my last relationship had been a ménage, she scoffed. She said she’d never be in a relationship like that. It’s funny because there was a third person in our marriage for years. I just didn’t know. No, this relationship was earlier, when I first joined the marines. And it worked well.”
Brick tucked some hair behind her ear. “I know you’re not Linda. I know you would never cheat on me. You’ve got more loyalty in your little toe than she did in her entire body. I don’t think everyone is like her. And the fact is, while I never cheated, I did neglect her. I put other things first. I never opened myself up to being vulnerable with her. To giving her everything. Not like with you. If you left me, I’d struggle to find my way, to keep going.”
“I’d never leave you,” she said fiercely.
“I know, baby girl. You’re my whole world. I’m putting your needs before everything else. Fact is, you need Xavier.”
What the fuck did she say to that? If she said no, then she hurt Xavier. If she said yes, then Brick wasn’t enough.
Xavier let out a low chuckle that wasn’t exactly amused. “Way to put her in it, man.”
“What?” Brick asked, sounding confused. He was so straightforward, he obviously didn’t see the traps in what he’d said.
“My needs aren’t more important than anyone else’s,” she managed to get out. That was safe enough, right?
Both men gave her incredulous looks.
“Yeah, Twink, they are. They’re the most important.”
She shook her head. “I’m not special.” Fact was, she had no idea why either of them would want her. How Brick could love her. And Xavier . . . well, he hadn’t come out and said exactly how he felt about her.
Brick made a low growling noise.
“I hate that you don’t see how special you are,” Xavier said. He looked to Brick. “Her feelings of self-worth need a lot of work.”
“Yeah, so does self-preservation. She puts herself in dangerous situations without a thought to her safety.”
Xavier nodded.
“Why the hell did you let her use a bike to get around?” Brick blurted out.
Xavier sighed. “It wasn’t my place to do anything about that.”
“It is now.”
Xavier looked up at Brick then at her. “If Juliet agrees. It’s a lot, Twink. You can take time to th
ink about it. Having two men, it might not be easy.”
“But we’ll make it as easy as possible,” Brick interjected. “If there’s any jealousy or issues between the two of us, then that’s where they’ll stay. We’ll talk it out with each other, but we’ll try not to let it affect you.”
She gave him a surprised look.
“Told you I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Because of Elias,” she stated.
“Because I saw the way you stared at Xavier when you thought I wasn’t looking. Because I definitely saw the way he watched you. I know I didn’t have to let him in. Because I know you’d never do anything to betray me. You mean everything to me, and I want to give you everything you desire and need. This sort of relationship means there will always be someone else to watch out for you, take care of you, when I’m not around. There might be times I have to work away, and I don’t want you on your own. If I’m not here, Xavier will be. He’ll watch over you nearly as well as I will. Because he loves you.”
“Thanks for telling her I love her, man,” Xavier said dryly.
“I’m trying to help you both out.”
“You really love me, Xavier?” she whispered.
Xavier ran a finger over the back of her hand, and she noticed his hand shook. “Yeah, Twink. I do. I tried not to, but I couldn’t stop.”
She winced.
Brick sighed. “And people say I stick my foot in my mouth.”
“You didn’t want to love me?”
She found herself being lifted onto Xavier’s lap, her face pressed to his chest as he rocked back and forth.
“Not like that. Not because you weren’t worth loving.”
“I’m messed up. I’m a mess of phobias and fears and anxieties. There’s no way I’d fit into your perfect life.”
“Perfect life? Are you fucking kidding me?” He pulled her face back from his chest. Which was a damn shame because that was one of her happy places. “I don’t have a fucking perfect life.”
* * *
Both Brick and Juliet sent him looks of disbelief.
Is that really what they thought?
Juliet waved her hand at him. “Look at you. You look perfect. Sound perfect. You have an amazing job, you’re smart, you’re well-liked.”
“You’ve probably never failed at anything in your life,” Brick added. “Or lost everything and had to rebuild.”
“Everything he does, he does well,” Juliet confirmed.
Okay, now they were just making him mad.
“If I’m so perfect, then how come I fucked up so spectacularly?”
“Ooh, Xavy just swore,” Juliet said with wide eyes. “Shit just got real.”
He gave her a stern look. “Don’t swear.”
She stuck out her lower lip.
“Yeah, I don’t think so, brat.” Brick leaned over and tapped her lower lip. “Being cute is not a get out of jail free card.”
“Should be,” she muttered.
“Sadly, some people have let you use that cuteness to get your own way.”
“Hey!” Xavier muttered, even if it was true. He brushed her hair back. “I just like seeing her happy.”
“So, do I,” Brick told him. “But she can be happy and not be allowed to get away with murder.”
“Are you saying I’m spoiled?” she asked.
Brick sighed. “I’m having to undo years of being spoiled.”
“Xavy, aren’t you going to defend me? Tell Daddy I’m not spoiled.”
“You’re a hundred percent spoiled,” Xavier told her.
She glared up at him with a huff. Then something came over her face. Something thoughtful. He fell silent, waiting for her to think everything through. Brick must have realized that she needed a moment too.
They’d hit her with a lot.
“If this is something you can’t do, I’ll understand,” Xavier told her. “I’ll walk away. We can go back to being friends.”
He wasn’t sure how, exactly. It was hard to have everything dangled in front of you then walk away. But Brick had shown him that putting her first should be their priority.
Brick just sighed, shaking his head at that.
He didn’t get the other man. Not at all. But then, he also felt this tie to him. Because they both loved her with a passion that hurt.
Was it enough to unite them as a family? He didn’t know. But he wanted to try. He didn’t love Brick. Didn’t know him that well.
But for her, he’d get to know him.
Yeah, it was bizarre. Could two near-strangers love the same girl? Could they become a family for that girl? Could they learn to share?
Last night, he’d gone online to search for those answers. He hadn’t really found them. He’d always asked the two docs and Caley, as well as Brick, but the only way to find answers was to discover them himself.
He’d just have to find out firsthand himself.
“I don’t want anyone to walk away,” she whispered. “I don’t want to lose either of you. That’s why I’m so scared.”
“You’re not going to lose us,” Brick told her. “Not unless you tell us to get lost. Even then, I’m not sure I could ever walk away from you. I’d become some weird stalker, watching your every move.”
“I’d join you,” Xavier told him.
They grinned at each other. Yeah, this situation was weird as fuck. But hey, it was a changing world. Maybe this would become the new norm. Who knew? All he knew was he loved Juliet and was tired of trying to hide it or deny it.
“I want this. God, I want this so much, but it doesn’t feel real. It feels like I’m in some sort of dream.”
“I get it, I felt the same way when the big guy brought it up.”
“I don’t live in a dreamland,” Brick scoffed at them both.
Juliet rolled her eyes up at Xavier. He winked at her.
She started biting her lip. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I couldn’t stand it if that happened.”
“You’re not going to hurt anyone,” Xavier reassured her.
“We’re grown-ass men,” Brick added, reaching out to free her lip. “We can guard our own feelings.”
She stared over at Brick. “I love you.” She looked up at Xavier. “And I love you. Hurting either of you, losing either of you because I . . . because I’m a weirdo who loves two men at the same time, I couldn’t stand that.”
“Nope. Stop that right now,” Brick barked.
Even Xavier jumped. Then he frowned at Brick for talking to her like that. Brick gave him a steady look back. “She’s not going to break, man. She’s tougher than any of you know.”
Juliet sucked in a breath. “You can’t blame him for thinking I might break,” she said to Brick. “I’m the town looney.”
“Nope,” Xavier growled at her. “That’s not happening.”
“You should spank her for that,” Brick told him.
Spank her? Fuck. Could he? She was so much smaller than him.
“Fuck, man, I’ve spanked her. And look at me.” Brick held out his hand. Yeah, he had hands like dinner plates. “She didn’t break. Remember, you’re giving her what she needs.”
Right.
“Brick’s right. You need a spanking for calling yourself a freak and a weirdo. That’s twenty.”
“Twenty!” she squeaked.
“Damn, man. Like your style.” Brick grinned.
“Twenty is a lot,” she told him.
“Calling yourself those things is not going to be tolerated,” he told her in a firm voice. His blood damn near boiled. “You are not looney or a weirdo. You know what you are?”
“What?” she whispered.
“Ours.”
“Fuck, yeah,” Brick agreed. “You know, I wasn’t sure I was gonna like you to begin with. Seemed too prim and proper. But I think your shit really does stink.”
“I don’t know how to answer that.”
She giggled. Actually giggled, and Xavier’s heart lightened. Brick shared a look with him,
letting him know he’d done that on purpose.
“She can take a spanking, man. What she can’t be allowed to do is continue with self-destructive behavior. We work together, we’ll build her up. Show her that she’s a fucking goddess.”
Xavier sucked in a breath. That felt so right. “And it’s going to take two of us to do it.”
Brick let out a huge sigh, shaking his head. “I’m afraid so. She’s a handful, tiny as she is.”
“I am not,” she muttered.
“What you are,” Xavier told her in a warm voice. “Is beautiful and courageous and smart. You are so filled with love, that Brick and I are the lucky ones, because you have enough love for two people. You think either of us would be complete without you? We wouldn’t. So, if you didn’t have enough love for us both, then one of us would forever be lost, without that piece of our soul.”
“Damn, man. That was good.”
He shook his head at Brick, but didn’t take his gaze from Juliet’s beautiful hazel-colored eyes. Tears dripped down her face. “I love you, Juliet. I’ve been a fool for years, but no longer. I’m going to grasp hold of this chance with both hands and never let go. I will do whatever I have to in order to make this work. But whether we try, this all comes down to you.”
She nodded then turned to look at Brick.
“I’m in, Duchess.” Brick slipped onto the floor then reached over to grab her hand in his. “I want to do this. I think it can work. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to make it work. I’ve done it before, I know what the pitfalls are. But I think it’s worth trying. I didn’t just suggest this on a whim. It might not always be easy, but nothing worth having ever is. I love you, and I want you to be the happiest you can be. If that’s with both of us, then that’s what will happen, understand?”
He leaned in and kissed her.
And yeah, Xavier wouldn’t lie to himself. It was weird to hold his girl while another man kissed her.
But she wouldn’t be his girl without this man.
When Brick drew back, Juliet looked up at him. “I want this. I want to try. I want to love you both, and have you both love me.”
Thank God. Thank God.
Brick kissed her until she let out a soft murmur and drew back. “Love you, Brick.”
“Love you, Duchess.”
Her Daddies’ Saving Grace Page 29
