Owned Forever (11 page)

She looked to Grant. He nodded.

“Okay, we won’t play in public by ourselves.”

He looked up at her in disbelief. She made it sound so simple, so easy, like he wasn’t depriving her of something she loved. “That’s it?”

Kate nodded. “If it makes you uncomfortable, we won’t do it. It’s your hardline. We’ll respect that.” Her bright blue eyes blinked up at him. “Whatever you need to be happy—to feel secure—we want to give you.”

Behind her, Grant nodded. “We want to make this work, Danny. And we’re willing to do whatever is needed so we can stay together.”

Daniel looked over at his brother. He wasn’t surprised Kate had said all this. He knew she wanted him to stay. But he was amazed to hear his brother agree. Daniel wasn’t sure he’d be so generous if the roles were reversed.

Maybe he hadn’t been giving his brother—or Kate—the benefit of the doubt. It didn’t sound like they wanted to push him aside—just the opposite, in fact.

She brushed her fingers down his chest and everything inside him tensed. She blinked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers, and he was hooked. “We can still play in the barn all together, right?”

His cock hardened at the thought. Damn, he might not want to walk in on her with his brother again, but he wasn’t stupid enough to shoot himself in the foot too. “Of course.”

She glanced toward Grant, then her gaze turned back to Daniel, a big smile on her face. “Then I think we can live with that. Is there anything else that bothers you?”

Daniel stared down at their clasped hands on the bedspread. This probably wasn’t the last opportunity he’d have to express his needs, but he didn’t want to change the rules on them all the time either. Just like Grant said, it was his responsibility to tell them what he wanted. No matter how hard it was.

“I don’t like it when you two get too rough on your own. It still scares me. That he’ll do something to hurt you somehow, and I won’t be there to stop him.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. “It bothers me.” No matter how much Kate tried to convince him, he’d never believe her. Accidents happened all the time. Hell, he’d accidentally knocked her head against a handle one time when they’d got too enthusiastic in the stockroom. He hadn’t noticed the shovel until it was too late. He had nightmares about what might happen if Grant made such a mistake with a whip or a crop.

“Okay.” Kate nodded and he couldn’t have been more startled if she’d announced she was giving up sex for horseback riding. “We won’t do any impact play without you there. No paddles, no whips or crops. Does that sound okay?” She glanced up at him for reassurance.

He nodded. She’d left out bondage, but he could live with that. Grant was always safe about how he tied her up. The chances he’d seriously injure her with his ropes was slim.

He looked to his brother, who nodded as well. “That’s fair.”

“And I want some alone time with you. I want some time where I won’t be runner up.”

She opened her mouth as if to argue—no doubt to tell him he was never runner up in her mind—but after twenty odd years of living in Grant’s shadow, there was nothing she could say to convince him otherwise. So he continued on, not giving her the chance to interrupt, “Where we can do whatever we want.” And going down on her until she came was high on his list.

Kate nodded. “I think we can handle that.” She squeezed his fingers a little harder. “But I have one rule.”

Daniel focused on Kate, startled by her serious tone. She stared back at him, hard, reminding him a little too much of his mother. They’d been spending way too much time together. After the wedding, he and Grant would have to change that. A tiny smile hitched up the corner of his mouth. He was sure he and his brother could find a way to keep her busy.

“You have to tell us how you’re feeling.” She motioned between herself and Grant. “You have to speak up if you feel neglected or uncomfortable. You can’t hold it in or blow up. No matter if you think we’ll like what you have to say or not. If this is going to work…for the long haul…we need to be able to talk about anything.”

Daniel nodded. He owed her that much.

“This is new to all of us. We”—she looked over at Grant and he nodded—“want to make this work. But if you don’t talk to us, there’s no chance that will happen.”

Daniel squeezed her hand, staring up into her big bright eyes that looked at him with so much love that his heart beat faster. “You’re right. I promise I’ll tell you everything. The good, the bad, the ugly.”

“The sexy?” She smiled up at him, that wicked grin he loved so much, the glint of devilishness in her eyes. Daniel groaned. Damn, how he’d like to follow through on that idea. His balls tightened harder than walnuts.

“Of course those. Especially those.” He pulled her mouth to his. Her lips molded against his own. Her arms slid around his neck, playing with the hairs at the very base of his nape. He groaned, yanking her closer. He loved when she did that. And she knew it.

When they both were panting, he broke away from the kiss. Casting a glance to the side, he noticed Grant smiling down at them. He didn’t seem upset to watch them together. He actually looked happy. Happy they’d made up. Happy they were together.

She leaned down on his chest. Her heartbeat pounded against his, and a calm settled upon him. A calm only Kate could provide.

“So here’s your first test,” she mumbled into his shirt before picking her head up to look into his eyes. “You need to tell me what you want. Don’t worry about how it will make me, Grant or anyone else feel.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Do you want to marry me tomorrow?”

He looked down at the woman he loved so much. Her lips were slightly swollen from his kisses. Little lines creased her brow. Her arms shook a bit. She was beautiful, even in her fear.

He placed a quick kiss on her temple, then across her cheek. “Of course, I want to marry you. I never stopped wanting to be with you.” He cast a quick glance to his brother, then back down to the little hellion in his arms. “We just have to keep working on this, keep talking.”

Kate nodded, leaning her head on him. Her soft flower smell surrounded him. Her head tucked gently beneath his chin. “We will. For the rest of our lives.”

Chapter Nine

“Mom, open the door.” Kate stood outside her parents’ hotel room. Both Grant and Daniel had wanted to come with her, to help her convince her parents to come back to the ranch tomorrow for the wedding, but Kate had to do this on her own. She loved both her men, but her issues with her mother extended far beyond this weekend. She needed to end them, once and for all.

“Mom…Dad…open up. I need to talk to you.” Kate knocked again, not caring if she woke up the rest of the hotel. They needed to have this out. She needed to tell them the truth—like Gale had encouraged her to do from the very beginning. If Kate wanted her family to be close, the way Gale and her boys were, they needed to be honest with each other, so they could move past this.

She banged louder. “I’m not leaving until you open up.”

The door slid open. Her mother stood in the doorway in her robe. Her hair was mussed and she’d taken off her makeup. Kate hadn’t seen her mother look so human since she was a little girl. A thick gold necklace with a big diamond hung from her neck. Even at night, she couldn’t live without her baubles.

“Katherine Elizabeth, quiet down.”

“I will, if you talk to me.”

Her mother turned around, walking back into her room, leaving the door open behind her. It wasn’t exactly an invitation, but it was probably the closest Kate would get.

She followed her mother into the hotel room and closed the door. The only light in the room was the flashing of the Late Show on the TV screen. The sheets were tangled across the bed. But overall, the hotel room looked nice, which gave Kate some confidence. Her mother had good reason to be upset about a lot that had happened during this visit, but her hotel room didn’t appear to be one of them.

“Your father went to the airport to get us on the next flight home. This damn hotel doesn’t have Wi-Fi.”

Kate shook her head. “I really wish you wouldn’t. I want you to be at my wedding.”

“So you still plan to marry that boy? Even after everything?” Her mother raised an eyebrow at her.

The disbelief smacked her, knocking Kate back a few notches. The sense she wasn’t good enough for Daniel, for her relationship, battled through her. But no matter what her mother thought, Kate knew the truth. She was good enough for her two men. And they did love her. No matter what.

“Yes, Daniel and I talked. We’re still getting married tomorrow. And we’d really like you to be there to celebrate with us.”

Her mother sank down onto the foot of the bed, wrapping her robe tighter around her body. She rolled her eyes. “What celebration? Katherine—”

Kate tightened her hands into fists, steeling against her mother’s next words. She knew what was coming, but she wasn’t about to rob her of the opportunity to say it.

“How can you do that, Katherine? How could you cheat on your fiancé with his brother? During the rehearsal dinner? That’s not the daughter I raised.”

“I didn’t cheat on Daniel,” Kate spoke, using a calm tone to fight through her mother’s criticism.

It must have worked. Her mother looked up at her, surprised and silent. She opened her mouth as if to argue with Kate, but before she could, Kate interrupted, “I’m in a relationship with Daniel
and
Grant.”

Her mother’s mouth hung open like a fish out of water. Kate fought back the urge to laugh.

“What are you talking about?”

“Daniel, Grant and I are all in a relationship. We all live together. We run the farm together.”

“What do you mean relationship?”

Kate blew out a deep breath. Was her mother trying to make this as hard as possible? “A sexual relationship, Mother. I have sex with both of them.” Kate swallowed to stop the anxious ramble biting the back of her throat. That was way more than any mother needed to know already. Kate didn’t need to say any more.

It took a second of silence until her mother digested Kate’s words and the implications behind them. Then her face fell. Her mouth gaped and her eyes widened. “Does Gale know about this?”

Kate smiled, holding back her laughter. Gale knew far more than any mother should know. With the tight quarters they lived in, it was impossible to prevent. “Yes, Gale knows. She supports us. She knows we all make each other happy.”

“Oh.” A little sadness filled her mother’s eyes, along with a flare of jealousy Kate had never seen before, almost as if she wished she’d found out before Gale, though given their living arrangements, that was practically impossible.

Maybe she wasn’t the only one that wanted to be closer. Her mother wanted it too. She just didn’t know how to get there any more than Kate did.

“Well, maybe that’s what they do in these backwater, hick country towns. But it’s not what civilized people do.”

The words stung, but Kate ignored them. They held pain, not truth.

“Being with Daniel and Grant makes me happy, Mom. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Desperation burned down Kate’s throat, collecting unsettlingly in her stomach.

Her mother shook her head, her face softened in a way Kate had never seen before. It surprised her, not in a bad way.

“Of course it matters. I love you.” Her mother grabbed her hand, and Kate’s heart beat a little faster. “I want you to be happy. I just see this situation hurting you in the end.”

Kate smiled, blinking back happy tears. Though she’d always thought her mother loved her and wanted her to happy, her mother had never confirmed it before. “You might be right, Mom. This might end badly, but I have to try. I love both these men, so much. I can’t imagine my life without both of them.”

Her mother looked away into the darkness of the room, as if debating what Kate had told her. A thick knot formed in Kate’s throat, waiting for a response.

Kate had tried to convince herself it didn’t matter. What her mother thought was just details. What mattered were her men. But she failed miserably. She wanted her mother’s approval. She wanted her parents to come to her wedding. The longer the silence stretched out, the harder it was for Kate to breathe. The air around her was too thin. Her senses spun. Her desperate heart pounded in her ears.

Yes, if her parents decided not to accept her choices, she’d still have her men. And she would be thankful for them every day. But she didn’t want this to be the end of her relationship with her family. They weren’t perfect, but they were parents. And she wanted them to be a part of her life—now and in the future.

“Are you sure about this?”

Kate almost flinched beneath her mother’s serious look. Her gaze was penetrating, trying to see down deep into her for the truth, but it didn’t scare Kate. Her mother could stare Kate down all she wanted. There was no truth to find but her love for these two men.

“I am.” Kate met her mother’s gaze head-on. “I know it’s a chance. But if I don’t at least try, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

Her mother nodded, placing her hand on Kate’s knee. The comforting touch was so unlike her mother, which made it all the more precious.

“I won’t lie to you, Kate. I don’t understand this. I don’t even think I want to.”

Kate smiled. Her mother definitely didn’t need to know the finer points. “You don’t have to understand it, Mom. You don’t even have to condone it. I just hope you’ll find a way to support me. I want you to come to my wedding. It wouldn’t be right without you there.”

Her mother grabbed her hand, and Kate blinked back tears. Her heart warmed with the simple gesture. “I want you to be happy, Kate. If being with both of them is what you want, I want to celebrate that with you. If you’ll still have me.”

Kate smiled, fighting to breathe instead of sobbing like a little girl. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s shoulders, pulling her into a big hug. Shyly, her mother returned the embrace.

“Just promise me one thing.”

Kate pulled back, nodding. If Kate had the ability to give it to her mother, she would. Kate understood how far outside of her comfort zone her mother was. If she could make it easier for her in any way, Kate would.