Mastered: Ten Tales of Sensual Surrender (99 page)

They always knew.

It had been two weeks of coffees, dinners, and the occasional lunch with Rafe and Ian. She had been for coffee with Ian, to dinner with Rafe, and out with both of them, too. She liked that they were learning each other on their own as well as together. Plus, she knew Rafe and Ian would want to be together as well. It was always the three of them, even when they had their individual relationships as well.

She’d loved getting to know who the men were now, though she knew they were going to have to delve into the past again. If this - whatever
this
was - was going to work, they would have to overcome those barriers.

Barriers she’d helped put into place all those years ago.

The knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts and she shook her head. After she smoothed out her dress, she opened her front door.

The zing that shocked her body just from seeing them never failed to amaze her.

They stood side by side, both dark in looks and in temptation. Ian had left his hair down, the sexy black strands brushing against his shoulders and begging for her touch. He shaved because of his job in the high-visibility world of real estate, but tonight, he’d left some scruff that made him look even more dangerously sexy.

Rafe too had a beard, but his was a bit longer. His honey eyes smoldered as he took in her body and she held back a delicious shiver.

Two weeks of casual dates with these two hadn’t been enough.

Today was the end of that time limit she’d given them all. She would hold herself back from jumping them and rubbing all over them like a cat in heat for one more night.

Maybe.

Ian grinned at her and she blinked. Damn it. She loved when he smiled, and he didn’t do it nearly often enough. “Are you going to let us in, Sassy?” Ian asked, his voice a raspy promise. “Or should we stand in your doorway for our date? I don’t know as I’d mind that much considering I love the way you look in that dress. Those long legs of yours look fucking sexy, and I know they’d look even sexier wrapped around my waist. Rafe’s as well.”

The little moan that escaped her lips didn’t surprise her, but the matching one from Rafe’s did. It seemed both men were just as horny as she was.

Two weeks of temptation might have been a good idea for her heart, but her body wanted more.

Now.

She moved back, speechless, and annoyed with herself for being so.

She was
The
Sassy.

She was not an innocent little girl who couldn’t speak around men.

She just happened to be
acting
like one at the moment.

Damn them both.

Rafe and Ian strolled into the room looking like jungle cats with all their sleek muscles. Ian wore a perfectly tailored, obviously custom-made designer suit that probably cost more than she made in six months, while Rafe was considerably more laid back and wore nice, high-end jeans and a button-up shirt. They were so different from each other, but the alphas living beneath the surface—and sometimes right out front—made her want to tilt her head and bare her throat, ready for her men to have her at their will.

And enough of that. “So, what’s the plan today? It’s the first time all three of us have a day off together.”

Both men had taken the entire day off rather than waiting for an evening activity. She’d also taken the day off at Midnight Ink with everyone’s enthusiastic encouragement.

Apparently, she’d been a little more snippy than usual.

It wasn’t her fault she was deprived and moody.

Okay, so maybe it was partially her fault, but a woman never ‘fessed up to that.

Rafe leaned against her couch while Ian stood beside him, his gaze on hers. “Rafe and I didn’t have set plans other than to walk around the historic district. It’s been awhile since either of us lived here.” He winced and Sassy felt bad for him. Referring to their shared past was like walking through a minefield.

She shrugged it off and walked to the kitchen, needing something to drink before they headed out. “I’m up for anything y’all want to do.” And at this point, she might just mean, anything. “I’m getting a glass of water. Want one?”

Rafe shook his head. “If you don’t want to head out, we can stay here and hang. I know we haven’t had much time to spend together just the three of us in private.” He walked toward her, following her into the kitchen area. She had an open space so all three of them could see each other no matter where they stood as long as they didn’t go to the bedroom areas.

“It’s hard to talk about the serious topics in public,” Ian added and Sassy’s hand clenched her glass.

Good. They were going to talk. Get it out in the open.

It was about fucking time.

“I’ve said I was sorry before, Sassy, but damn it, I’m so fucking sorry I walked away when I did.”

Ian’s confession startled her, the blunt words slicing through the lazy morning and bringing her back to the past. They’d already said their apologies but words weren’t enough. They all knew that.

What the hell was she doing?

“This is so weird!” Sassy said as she put the glass down and threw her hands up.

Rafe blinked, but Ian didn’t move.

“Don’t you see that?” she asked. “We’re grown ass people taking things slow like it’s a fucking business deal and we’re not talking about what matters. What the hell are we doing here?”

Rafe stood and strode toward her. “We’re finding each other again,” he said simply.

“We’re forming a relationship,” Ian added.

“Why are we doing this? Why now? Why can’t I just quit you both?” The last part slipped out and she closed her eyes. She hadn’t meant that, not really, though it needed to be said.

Rafe cupped her face in a swift movement, the hard palms and calloused fingers tightening with great care.

“Why are we doing this?” he whispered. “Because we want to. Because we
need
to. We were a damn good thing ten years ago, and I know if things had been different, we would have made something of it. Can’t you feel the chemistry between the three of us? Can’t you feel the heat? We can’t ignore that just because we’re scared. That would make us fucking cowards. And you, Sassy, are not a coward.”

Ian came up from behind her like he used to do all those years ago. His hands rested on her hips while his lips slid against her ear. “I’m scared too, Sassy. I’m so scared that we’ll fuck this up again because we don’t know what we’re doing. But you know what? We’re older now. Maybe even wiser. We’re going to learn from our mistakes and be together again. It’s what I want. It’s what Rafe wants. And I hope to God it’s what you want too.”

Hadn’t she told them this was what she wanted? Because she damn well did. Just because she wanted it, didn’t mean it would be good for her.

She pulled away, needing air. She didn’t like this wishy-washy version of herself and she knew if she didn’t tell them exactly what had happened before, she couldn’t move on.

“When I left you both, I had nowhere else to go,” she started.

“Sassy…” Rafe’s pained voice forced her to shake her head.

“Let me tell you what happened first. I need to get this off my chest. Then we can move on. Because, know this, I wouldn’t be here with the both of you if I didn’t want it. But what I want and my state of mind, it seems, are two different things.”

“Then tell us, Sass,” Ian said.

“I guess I should start earlier. You both know where I came from.” God, she hated this part, but if she didn’t start there, they wouldn’t understand.
She
barely understood. Her men nodded. “I’m the Bordeaux princess. Or at least that’s what my dad told me growing up.” She gave a soft sigh, but it wasn’t because of fond memories. Oh no, there weren’t many good ones when it came to her father.

“I had everything I could have wanted, nice clothes, a nice house, fancy schools. We were
old
money.” She spat the word and risked a glance at Ian. He too came from old money and merely nodded in understanding. “I was supposed to finish high school and go to college so I could have my degree to put on a pretty gold plaque on the wall of my husband’s office like my mother had. I was supposed to marry the man my father chose for me who would have furthered his business and political plans. Then I would have two perfect children who would be raised by nannies, and I would lunch with other women of my ilk and never smile at the wrong person and never entertain an inappropriate thought.”

“That wouldn’t have been our Sassy,” Rafe interrupted and Sassy smiled.

“Damn straight.” She ran a hand through her hair and looked at a particular bright red streak. “Can you see this up in a bun or me wearing pearls?”

Ian cleared his throat. “I can picture the pearls.”

Her pussy throbbed and she held back a moan. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for later then.”

Damn the man.

“Anyway, I didn’t want all of that. I’d known it since I was ten, and yet I stayed there under my father’s thumb for another five years.” She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the memories. “God, I hated him. I don’t know if I do anymore since he doesn’t mean anything to me now, but I hated him then. Don’t get me wrong, he never hit me, but he would have if he thought it would’ve worked.”

“I’d have killed him if he did,” Rafe’s voice held a dangerous edge.

Sassy smiled. “You know I can handle my own battles, sugar.”

Ian ran his finger down her arm but she didn’t pull away, liking the touch too much. “You left when you were fifteen. I remember you saying that and thinking you were too young, but now? You were way too fucking young to have to deal with any of that shit.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. I was stupid. I was this entitled rich kid who wanted to make my own choices, so what did I do? I ran away and had to learn the hard way that my issues weren’t all that much in the grand scheme of things.”

Ian gripped her wrist and tugged her so her body was flush against his. She could feel his half-hard cock against her belly, but it was his eyes that held her. The ice and determination nearly brought her to her knees in submission.

That was something she wasn’t ready for, and she wasn’t sure she would
ever
be ready for it.

“Never say your problems don’t matter. Just because someone might have gone through something much worse than you, doesn’t diminish your own past. It’s not a competition, Sassy. It never had to be.”

She closed her eyes, needing to break the connection from his gaze so she wouldn’t melt at his feet. She rested her head against his chest and inhaled his musky scent.

“I met good people on the street, and they took pity on me. I learned the hard way how to take care of myself.” She pushed away her memories of the cold and hungry nights she couldn’t forget. They were part of what made her
The
Sassy. Without that edge, that pain, she didn’t want to think about who she might have become.

Sassy turned in Ian’s arms to face Rafe. “Then your momma found me,” she said with a smile. “I was only eighteen and living in a commune-type thing doing odd jobs to make a living and your momma took me in.”

Rafe came to her side and cupped her cheek. “I remember. You were all fire and anger and I knew we’d be best friends.”

Sassy rolled her eyes but leaned into his touch, keeping her hands on Ian. “She gave me a job at your father’s shop and I learned how to do something I was good at.”

“You always ran us better than even my mom,” Rafe teased. “She loved that you took up her role as the shop’s receptionist.”

“I loved it too,” she said warmly, remembering how she’d learned to live in a family rather than in the cold mausoleum of her childhood. “I made friends, had a full stomach for the first time in years, and learned to take care of myself without having to fight for it.” She turned to Ian. “Then you showed up at the shop with a flat tire a couple years later and I was lost.”

Ian kissed her brow and leaned back. “It always surprised me that you and Rafe were never together before I showed up.”

“She was too much a part of the family before you were there,” Rafe explained.

“He’s right. I was almost a sister at that point.”

Rafe barked out a laugh. “Oh no, baby, I wouldn’t say that. You were way too sexy, even at eighteen, for me to think of you as anything other than someone who was part of the family that I needed to stay clear away from if I wanted to stay on my mom’s good side.”

Sassy chuckled, already feeling at ease thinking of the good memories rather than dwelling on the painful ones.

Those would come eventually.

“As soon as Ian showed up, I don’t know, it was like I couldn’t hold back the attraction anymore.”

“Thank God you went all in, because those couple years of living in the same house as you but having to act all good and not into you about killed me,” Sassy teased.

Ian snorted and ran his hand down her back, soothing her. His hand brushed against her ass and she had to hold herself back from jumping him. As soon as she finished what she was saying, they could move on. It didn’t make sense to leave everything unsaid where it could fester.

“Then the three of us were…us.” She sighed. “I loved it. I loved you both as a young girl and I wouldn’t have changed that year. It hurts so goddamn much to think about what happened at the end, but I wouldn’t change anything about what led us there.”

“We don’t have to lose what we had,” Rafe put in.

“No, we already lost it,” Sassy countered. “But we can try for something new. Building on the past and whatifs will only hurt us. I’m already liking the men you’ve become, and I sure as hell like who I am now. If we start again where we ended, we’d lose everything we’ve gained since.”

“I was a fucking prick to step away. I’ve said it before and I’d say it again but I think you’re tired of hearing it. I won’t walk away because of fear.” Ian gripped her chin, forcing her gaze to his. “I promise.”

She noticed he’d tacked on the qualifier to his not walking away, and she put that back for later. None of them were talking marriage, babies and commitment. At least she certainly wasn’t.