Tricked and traded, p.14
Tricked and Traded, page 14
A ripple of arousal caused Olivia’s nipples to harden at the dark warning, but she honestly didn’t know whether she could handle more. If that was a light whipping, a harsh whipping might be more than she could stand.
Olivia felt both Brody and Evan studying her, which made her feel more naked. “Bath?”
“Bath,” Brody said, and took her hand and guided her to the tub, helping her balance as she stepped into the perfectly warm water that smelled of lavender.
Olivia leaned back, giving credit to whomever installed a tub that was so perfect for resting.
“Close your eyes, Livie,” Brody said. “Let us take care of you.”
“Yes, please,” she said, her words slurred as her body gave up trying to function.
She kept her eyes closed as the two men worked together to scrub her body, wash her hair, keep her from drowning. At some point, she fell asleep and only woke when she felt cream being rubbed into her back and her butt. She found that she was lying on the manly bed, with its stark, oppressive dark wood headboard, complete with ornaments clearly made for tying someone up. But that was the last of her worries just now, and with a sigh, she closed her eyes and began to fade.
Olivia felt Evan kiss her between her shoulder blades. “Sleep, Olivia, you have a big day tomorrow.”
Olivia let out an even bigger sigh and drifted off, until something woke her. This time, she didn’t open her eyes, but her mind worked to process what the sound was.
Ice cubes in glasses.
The scent of whiskey reached her, which made her mull over the fact that in all that she’d done with these men, not one had been drunk or even tipsy. And these men knew how to drink, and yet they were sober for everything they’d done with her. Evan must have made that a rule. No playing while not in complete control. He was so good.
“Brody, are you okay?” Evan asked, his voice a low rumble.
Brody didn’t answer right away, and Evan let him find his own words. “I don’t know what I am right now.”
“Look, I’m not going to tell you your business, but that woman right there isn’t the one you described. She came back—she didn’t have to do that.”
Brody sighed. “Yeah, I don’t get it. Maybe Gramps offered her money.”
“He told me he didn’t, that it was her idea.”
“Exactly what did he tell you?”
Evan chuckled. “If you think I’m betraying the Judge’s orders, you need to set down that drink and get a grip.”
“But why would she come back? Why would she let us… trust us to…?”
The clink of ice proceeded Evan saying, “Tell me something. You wanted to see her defiled. Is that what you see when you look at her, letting us do all these things to her?”
Brody didn’t answer and Olivia didn’t breathe.
Finally, Brody said, “No, I don’t see that at all. She’s the most beautiful… I’ve never seen anyone commit to something in the way she did with all of this. She didn’t want to be at the lake house, but she took it, all of it. She wasn’t shrill and awful. She didn’t try to make us feel ugly for what we needed. I don’t understand her at all. What do you see when you look at her? I mean, it’s clear you care for her, which really bothered me before, but it doesn’t now.”
Evan took a drink and then said, “For me, everything changed when I took her into the water and did something unconscionably stupid, risking her life to drag her into my nightmare. And the thing is, she went there, so far that I almost got lost in her nightmare. I don’t think her life has been easy—I think she’s more one of us, the broken, than someone who would ever be intentionally cruel to us.”
Brody’s voice sounded so dark as he said, “I’m sitting here, realizing that I’m not sure I have the courage to let go of my hatred, the blame. I mean, if I’m wrong about her and all of this—if I’ve judged her and been wrong… what does that make me? And what has she been through, that makes her understand the kind of pain we’re in? But then, my anger comes back because if she was in trouble, why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she let me help her?”
“One step at a time, Brody. Don’t go right to the deep end, like I did. I think you should just try to see her, really see her, and then go from there.”
“She’s helped you,” Brody said, a statement not a question.
“Unbelievably. My name is her safe word—I am her safe word. After what Caroline did… the way she taught my daughter to fear me. The way she told me I was a monster, told all the neighbors, her friends, her family, her coworkers—all of fucking social media—that I’d beat her up in some PTSD rage fest. After that, I never thought anyone would look at me as a protector, or anything other than a monster. But Olivia does. She’s allowed me to see myself the way I used to, and I will be grateful for that for the rest of my life. And whatever brought her back here, I’m just grateful. Tonight was…”
“Fucking amazing,” Brody said instantly. “And she wouldn’t be doing it—any of this—if you weren’t here. You know that, right? I mean, when she got scared in there, she said your name and you took care of her. You made her strong enough to see it through. And she clearly enjoyed herself.”
“She’s… extraordinary.”
Olivia felt tears in her eyes, but knew she couldn’t cry, couldn’t express the sorrow she felt for these men. Evan’s wife… he had a daughter somewhere—no wonder he knew how to braid hair. And his daughter was without the protection of this amazing man because of a woman.
Olivia’s heart squeezed in her chest as she ached for him. She already knew she was one of the broken, just like these men, and maybe that’s why she could see them. And Brody thought she was beautiful, but more than that, cracks had formed in his perfect faith in an absolute lie. That was something.
“You mind if I stay in here tonight?” Brody asked.
“Not at all,” Evan said, standing up, “but I’m going to bed.”
“Are you going to have your way with her?” Brody asked, with no judgment.
“No—she’s had enough for today, but tomorrow, oh, I’m going to do plenty to her then.”
Brody’s chair creaked as he stood. “But tomorrow is lady’s choice, so be prepared for her to push us as far as we’ve pushed her.”
“I can’t wait,” Evan said.
A moment later, Olivia felt the bed move as Evan crawled in and moved next to her, wrapping her in his arms and tugging her toward him. Then she felt the other side of the bed move as Brody lay beside her.
Her heart danced, thinking that she was between Evan and Brody. But she couldn’t risk being found listening, so she forced herself to breathe through her excitement, and sorrow, and the heightened sense of possibility pulsing inside her, and eventually found a way to fall back to sleep.
25
When Olivia woke, she opened her eyes and sat up.
Evan smiled at her from where he sat in the chair, watching her. “How do you feel?”
“Like I ran a marathon, while a better runner chased me with a spanking machine.”
Evan’s face glowed with mirth, making him look even sexier. He seemed so at ease today. “Are you too worn out to participate in today’s planned activities? I mean, we could hold off for a day and you could stay in bed… alone.”
She quickly moved to the edge of the bed. “Nope—today is my day. I get to do what I want with whomever I want, and you all have to obey me.”
“You do realize that you only negotiated for today, not tomorrow or the day after. So you better be very careful what you do today, since we all get to punish you tomorrow.”
Olivia flushed. “That really isn’t a good deterrent—you get that, right?”
Evan laughed, sounding so free. “All right, let’s get you ready for the day.”
Olivia stood and started toward the bathroom, but stopped. “I do get to wear clothes for the hike, right?”
“They are hanging inside the bathroom.”
“I really hope it’s nothing with laces—that dress…”
“Was gorgeous and you were gorgeous in it.” His eyes grew a little hazy. “If you were mine, you’d only wear corsets—nothing else, just corsets.”
Oh, that pulsing need again, that flush in her cheeks and her chest, her heart pattering around like a bunch of penguins on speed.
Evan groaned. “Olivia, if you don’t want me to bend you over that bed and fuck you, just walk toward the bathroom, please. I’m seriously struggling right now.”
To that, Olivia just smiled, everything in her body tingling with anticipation. “If you want me, Evan, you can have me—you do know that, right? You know I wouldn’t say no to you.”
“I know,” he said, clearly in some serious discomfort. “But this is your day and I will have you about ten different ways tonight, no matter what my friends have done with you all day. Are we clear about that?”
Olivia swallowed roughly at the promise in his strained voice. “I’ll go get ready.”
“Yes, do that. Please.”
Olivia hurried to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She instantly checked to see whether she would be wearing ass-less hiking shorts and a white tank top with no bra, but was happily surprised to see actual hiking shorts, a bra, a tank top, and a cute blue checkered shirt to wear over the tank. The only laces were in the hiking boots.
She didn’t even want to know who knew she needed these things or how they got here so fast. All of that was a little too much information for her, so she decided to believe that benevolent fairies had delivered them—that made about as much sense as anything else.
Olivia got dressed and then returned to Evan, who stood, admired her hike-iness, and reached for her hand. She loved the feeling of her hand in his very much larger hand, as he guided her through the mansion that would only ever be a maze to her.
Down a hall, through a massive room of an undefined purpose, past some knights’ armor replicas, then down a somewhat hidden circular staircase, and suddenly they were near massive windows that streamed light into the hallway and showed what lived beyond. Olivia stopped and gaped at the glass-covered courtyard garden that was like everything else in this place—freaking huge.
“Come on,” Evan said, tugging her with him as he walked through the opening, out into the garden.
In the middle, Brody, Sean, and Isaak were seated at one of the patio tables. Evan and Olivia approached the table, and Evan gestured for her to sit on one of the chairs, while he took the one beside her.
At their arrival, two women appeared and served them breakfast. Eggs. Bacon. Biscuits. Pancakes. The food just kept on coming. Olivia ate lightly, regardless of how much was offered, which Evan noticed and gave her a questioning raised eyebrow.
She leaned toward him. “I will eat more later… hiking and lunch and a bath and stargazing—it’s going to be a big day.”
He kissed her head. “Okay.”
When it seemed as though everything was winding down, Olivia looked to Isaak. “Are you ready?”
He beamed at her. “I am.”
Olivia rested her hand on Evan as she stood, giving him a squeeze. She wasn’t sure that he understood that she was thanking him for being him, but the look in his eyes told her the gesture was appreciated.
“Right this way,” Isaak said, heading toward the far side of the garden, grabbing a backpack along the way.
Olivia followed, enjoying the colorful sights within the glassed-in garden, and then the sights outside the garden, the fields, trees, and a big blue sky with a few clouds wandering across it. She sighed as she paused to feel the sun’s heat on her body, something that wasn’t an everyday occurrence in Oregon.
Isaak reached into the pack and withdrew a baseball cap, handing it to her.
She took it from him. “You guys think of everything.”
“We think of you.”
“Are you ready for all of my questions?”
He looked a little murky but nodded.
“How long have you known the other guys?”
“Three years.”
Three years—the way he said it showed that it really meant something to him. Olivia already assumed that they had all been injured. The way they stared at that hospital bed told her they’d all been alone, all been betrayed in one way or another when they were at their most vulnerable. Now she wanted to know where they’d met, but given Isaak’s sudden glower, that seemed less important than just having a good day.
“What was the name of the first girl you kissed?”
Isaak blurted a laugh. “Oh, wow… her name was Mindy. She was blonde and smelled of candy. We were four. I thought it was love, but she was a real player.”
“First girl who broke your heart?”
“Middle school. Sarah… something—I can’t remember her last name. She shamelessly flirted with me, but later, I found out that she just wanted to get close to my best friend.”
“These women,” Olivia said, leaning and bumping her shoulder against Isaak’s.
“I know, right? Well, at least the Mindys and the Sarahs… everyone can’t be Olivia, right?”
“Would you call me Livie?”
“If you want me to.”
“I do.”
They reached the end of the garden and began their walk in the woods. Olivia kept the questions light and funny for most of the hike, but when they entered a darker part of the woods, she pulled Isaak to a stop near a particularly interesting tree. It had a branch that grew horizontal to the ground at just the right height for sitting.
“Sit with me,” she said and she moved to the branch, straddling it.
Isaak did the same, setting his pack on the ground beside the tree.
She stared at him and then scooted forward so that she could touch him, but she didn’t, not yet. “Tell me something. The woman who hurt you… do you think she meant to?”
The darkness of the woods suddenly reflected in his expression. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Perspective. For me, in the state of mind I was in when everything happened, everything felt like it happened to me. Her perspective didn’t even register. I got sick. I was alone. And she was just gone.”
“How long had you been together?”
“About a year.”
“And she left after you got sick?”
He nodded.
“Are you okay now?” she asked.
“I am.”
“Then why are you letting that event—that person—poison today? Was she really all that, worth giving up the chance to find someone better? Worth living with hurt and never letting yourself heal?”
“You know, I’ve been thinking all that too. I sometimes think that my friendship with the guys was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. I mean, we were a support system for each other—we met in an actual support group. But at the same time, being around each other gave us license to live in the blame and the hurt and the anger. And it’s possible it would’ve always been like that, if not for you.”
“Me?”
“Think about it… we were in such a dark place that we actually thought it was okay to take out our pain and our rage on you. Four grown men having their way with one woman. You never deserved that, no matter what you did to Brody.”
Olivia raised her hand and set it on Isaak’s cheek, feeling just how soft his beard was. “Thanks for that, but I do see something different than you do in all of this.”
“What’s that?”
“You guys could have hurt me. You could have been cruel.”
“I’m pretty sure we were.”
“Some, but nothing like what you could have done, and I think what you were really seeking was connection. You’re afraid to try again in the real world, so you created a way that you wouldn’t be rejected. You could connect with me, touch me, be with me, all on your own terms.”
“But you could have rejected us. You could have made things ugly enough that we would have backed away.”
“Don’t you see, Isaak? I wanted—I needed—connection too. Yeah, being forced into it isn’t right, but I wouldn’t change it. And I’m sorry that you were hurt, but dude, you need to get over it. Let it all go. Live your life. You are alive and healthy, and hot and really good at sex.” Her face flushed as she remembered the moment he came inside her and she passed out from her big O. “You are too damn good at that. You are like All Pro or Major Leagues or some sports reference I will never understand.”
Isaak blushed, though with his beard, she just saw the hints on his upper cheeks. “Thanks, Livie.”
“How do you want me?”
“There is something I want from you, if you are okay with it.”
“What?”
“Will you kiss me?”
Olivia’s heart pattered a little at the sweetness of his request. “Absolutely.”
She moved a little closer and leaned toward him, kissing him gently at first and then long and slow, deep and all-encompassing. His hands gripped her shoulders, holding her in place, his need growing stronger.
Finally, she said, “You can have me.”
“I want you, Livie, but I’ve had my turn and I want you to still have enough energy for the rest of your day. Without Evan, none of this would have happened. And he… um, well, I would never have the restraint he had last night.”
“He’s pretty incredible.”
“He’s a good man,” Isaak said, and then helped her off the branch and stood beside her.
Olivia leaned into Isaak, wrapping her arm around his waist as they walked back toward the mansion. She enjoyed the feeling of his arm around her, the simple connection that wasn’t simple at all.
Maybe they could heal—all of them.
Isaak led Olivia to the side of some wing in the ginormous estate, where Sean waited on a blanket, the picnic already prepared. Isaak kissed her head and then walked away, leaving her staring at Sean, whose gaze was downright feral.
