Punishing Petra [Locks and Chains 3] (8 page)

“Let me guess, you boys have never shared a bath before?”

“No.”

“Never had a naked bath with another man?”

“No.”

“Well, a new experience for all of us. I’ve never had a naked bath with two men either.”

“Yes, but for you there are different, let’s say, feelings.”

“Okay, boys, just focus on me and ignore each other.”

“Done,” they both said in unison, and they all chuckled, which released some of the tension.

Petra lay back against Caleb’s chest but stretched out her hand, threading her fingers through Kyle’s, locking the three of them together. For the first time in a very long time, he felt at peace. He felt content for the first time in his life and lay back against the rim of the tub and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling.

* * * *

Caleb had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation, and he wasn’t even sure he was glad he had. He knew he could most likely get up and leave and let Kyle deal with Petra. But something was stopping him. He just couldn’t leave. He needed to be here. They all lay silently in the warm water of the bath, letting it melt the soreness from their muscles and the stress of the past couple of hours, letting them all come down off the high of what they had experienced tonight. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift.

He drove into the garage and parked his car, excited about the day finally being over. He walked through the back kitchen door and into the house, and the smell of a roast beef dinner cooking assaulted his nose, and his mouth salivated. He watched as a very pregnant Petra walked around the corner.

“You’re home early,” she said with a huge smile just for him.

She walked up to him, and then standing on tippy toes she kissed him deeply on the mouth. He took her in his arms and held her tight, feeling the solid swell of her pregnant belly against him. Turning her around so his hands could splay over her stomach, he gently rubbed and caressed the large bump, and leaning down to nuzzle her neck, he whispered, “And how is our little boy doing today?”

“I swear he’s going to be a soccer champion.”

“Kicking that much, hey?” He chuckled.

“Tell me about it,” she said with a sigh.

The sound of little feet coming fast around the corner and into the kitchen made him smile, and he reluctantly let go of Petra and bent down as a little girl came running as fast as her tiny legs would carry her. “Buttons.”

“Daddy,” she called out and ran right into his arms.

Kyle emerged from the playroom around the corner just as he took the little girl in his arms.

“You’re too quick for me, Buttons. You can run way too fast these days,” Kyle said with a huge grin on his face.

“You’re just too slow, Dad,” she answered, still cuddled in his arms.

He looked up at Kyle and saw the reality. They were both her father.

Caleb’s eyes flew open, and he was back in the bath with a naked Petra curled up in his lap and a naked Kyle relaxing next to him. His daydream frightened him like no other ever had before. What the hell had brought that on? Why, oh no, no, he just couldn’t deal with it. He wasn’t prepared to even think that that kind of life was even possible. He knew other people in ménage relationships, but no, no, he didn’t share. He didn’t do the forever after, and he didn’t do the marriage thing. He didn’t do the baby thing either. He wasn’t father material. No. No, he needed to get out of here. He could feel the panic rising, and his mouth was going dry. He needed to get away from the both of them and right now. Petra moved in his arms snuggling in closer, and he could feel his heart galloping in his chest.

“Kyle, can you take Petra,” he gulped out.

He handed Petra over to Kyle and stood up, the water sliding and sloshing over the rim of the tub and running in a stream down and off his body. He then stepped carefully from the tub, grabbing a towel from the rack and hastily rubbing it over his body as he moved toward the bedroom. He walked toward the bed as light-headedness and fatigue claimed him. He needed to sit down just for a moment, he needed to gather himself together, and then he would leave and never look back. He would lie down just for a moment and then…He felt the bed shift behind him. He knew it was Petra, and it was confirmed when she curled her arm over his hip and hugged him, spooning from behind. As much as he wanted to throw her hand off him and run, he also wanted to hold her closer. He took her hand in his and let his mind drift. As a passing thought he knew that Kyle was most likely in the bed with them spooning her from behind, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Kyle pulled himself closer to Petra’s warm body. He knew Caleb was on the other side of her, but somehow it wasn’t bothering him as much as it had before. Although he still didn’t want to live with it on a permanent basis. But he could live with Petra. Wait a minute, he really had no idea who the hell the woman in his bed was. She was an absolute unknown to him. She could be an axe murderer for all he knew, and here he was allowing her in his house with his son. What the fuck was he doing? He must have lost him mind. Fuck! He needed to get out of this, and now.

No, wait, Craig knew Petra. Craig had tried to get him to bid on her. She had been his slave, and he had even offered her a second contract which she had rejected. No, she couldn’t be that bad. Besides, they would just sleep for a few hours, maybe have a repeat of the earlier performance, and then she and Caleb would go on their way and he would be alone again with his son. Maybe if things went really well, he could start dating Petra. What would happen if she liked Caleb more? No, that couldn’t happen, Caleb and Petra had been in the club mixing for a long time and nothing had happened. No, it was his turn now, and besides Caleb didn’t do the relationship thing, and Petra deserved a chance at forever, not just one night. With his mind made up, he allowed sleep to claim him. The three figures wrapped in each other’s arms and blanketed in only the heat from their bodies slowly, silently breathed together deep in sleep. They all drifted off to a place in their dreams where their hidden desires and needs played out. None of them realized that in sleep, their bodies only further entangled and connected.

Chapter Eight

Petra slowly awakened, allowing her conscious mind to adjust to her current situation. She remembered she was in the bed of Kyle, her mystery lover from last night. She also knew he was a friend of Caleb’s, and that was the sum of what she knew about this man. She felt Caleb’s chest rise rhythmically in front of her and wondered at the fact that he hadn’t snuck off in the middle of the night. He had stayed with her, actually them, allowing her arms to hold him tight. Nature’s call demanded she get up, and not wanting to wake either man, she carefully slipped out from between them and moved toward the bathroom. She sighed when the pressure on her bladder was relieved. What was she to do now? She had never actually been in this situation before. In all her years and in all her adventures in the lifestyle, she had never actually gotten herself into such a predicament. A sound coming from the other side of the bedroom door made her curious. She grabbed one of the guy’s shirts off the floor. It was so large it fell to her knees. She opened the door and found a little boy standing there in his Angry Birds PJs. He looked up at her with inquisitive eyes and then smiled a gap-toothed smile.

“Hi, my name’s Joel,” he said, still grinning.

The little boy had the mirror-image eyes of the man snoring in the big bed behind her. This must be Kyle’s son. What the hell was a father doing, bringing his one-night stand and another man home with him where his little boy could wander in any time? Knowing she couldn’t do anything to hurt this sweet little boy, She needed to call on every maternal instinct she had.

“Hi, Joel, my name’s Petra.”

“Petra, do you know how to make pancakes?”

Trust kids to be so self-interested that all they thought about was their stomachs. Not ‘why are you in my dad’s room’ or anything like that. She chuckled to herself at the irony of the situation.

“Actually, I do.”

“Will you make me pancakes?”

She didn’t know if this was stepping over some boundary, but she did know that this little boy didn’t deserve to be ignored, and it wasn’t like she could just disappear now.

“Hmm, sure, okay.”

He grabbed her hand and led her through the house toward the kitchen. He climbed up onto the stool at the island bench, resting his head in both hands, waiting expectantly for her to make the pancakes. He really was a cute little boy.

“Okay, mister, let’s make you some breakfast.” She opened the cupboards, finding all the supplies she would need. With a sharp intake of breath, a sudden thought popped into her mind. What if Kyle had a wife? How would she feel about her being there? There didn’t seem to be any signs of a wife in the kitchen. There was no hand cream on the counter and no feminine touches anywhere. Looking around, she noticed the kitchen was clean and tidy, but it seemed to lack that certain something. She shook her head then, trying to concentrate on the here and now.

It was a surprise when she asked Joel if he knew were the frying pan was and he promptly got off the stool and raced to the correct cabinet, proudly holding it above his head for her, again with a huge gap-toothed grin. As they cooked and chatted, she discovered that Kyle had been a single dad for a long time. Many birthdays had passed with just Joel and his dad, and she was the first girl to be in his dad’s room. It broke her heart to discover that Joel’s mom had died. No wonder Kyle was so sad, he must miss his wife.

“Would you like some more juice?” she asked him with the pitcher poised over his glass.

“No, thanks. So are you going to be my new mom now?” he asked with a mouthful of pancake.

The question shocked her, and she looked into his little face, trying to see the emotions behind the words. Was he curious, angry, or did he harbor a true desire for a new mom?

“Honey, that isn’t how it works.” She didn’t want to shatter this little boy’s dreams, but she refused to lead him on and lie to him about a future that may not happen.

“But you could be if you wanted to. You could be my new mom, and you cook really well. I’m sure you know how to make brownies and cake and heaps of stuff,” he said, and now she could see the light of hope shining in his eyes.

“Honey, not everything is that simple. Your dad and I are friends, but nothing more, sweetie,” she whispered gently and took his hand in hers when he dropped his head to the counter in disappointment.

“Would you like me to make you some brownies now?”

“Could you?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the quick turnaround. From disappointment to excitement in five seconds flat.

“Sure, they’re quick to make as long as you help me.”

“I will.”

The interaction reminded Petra of how much she wanted children and how fast her biological clock was ticking now. Maybe she needed to stop waiting for Mr. Right and instead get herself a Popsicle daddy. She chuckled at the term, who came up with calling a sperm donor a Popsicle daddy? Look at Kyle, he was a single dad of a young son. She had options. No longer did women of her age have to miss out on the opportunity to have children. She could get artificial insemination. She could adopt if that wasn’t an option or maybe even consider surrogacy. So many options were available to her. She could support a child. Her books were selling well, and she had a secure financial foundation. This could be a typical morning in her house. Waking up and cooking pancakes for her son. The both of them laughing and chatting over the meal. Yes, there would be sleepless nights and mountains of work, but she couldn’t put it off much longer. She was no spring chicken anymore. In her twelve years of dating, she hadn’t met the one. Maybe there was no such thing, maybe it was a myth. Not everyone could be lucky right? Why wait? Why sit back and be alone and lonely when she could have an adorable child like this to wake up to each morning? She resolved to make an appointment with her doctor this week and start gathering all the information she needed. It was time.

“Okay, let’s get these in the oven.”

“They smell so yummy.”

“Well, my little buddy, we now have the job of cleaning up while they cook.” They both worked as a team to return the kitchen to its previous state.

* * * *

Kyle woke up in a cold panic. They had all slept through the night and it was already seven o’clock. Joel! He should have already come into his room by now and crawled into his bed like he did every Sunday morning. He looked around the room and saw Petra had left. Damn it, he really wanted to talk to her and ask her out on a date. He walked out of the room, leaving Caleb sleeping in his bed. God! He really didn’t want to have therapy about the fact that he had bathed and then slept with another man last night, but he knew he should.

He walked toward the kitchen shaking his head with a wry smile on his face when he heard two voices. One was Joel’s and the other he was guessing was Petra’s. Shit, his son had found a woman in their house and a one-night stand at that. God! What was he thinking? He never brought women home for this very reason. He moved quietly toward the kitchen so as not to disturb them. He also wanted to gather as much information as possible on what he would be dealing with. What he saw shook him. His son sat at the island breakfast bar, madly eating the pancakes that Petra was cooking him and they were talking and laughing. She was doing such a good job with his little boy. He leaned against the wall, hidden by the arch, enjoying the domestic sight. When he heard his son ask Petra to be his new mom, he started to lift away from the wall. It was time for him to step in. When she tried to calm him and not get his hopes up, he knew Petra was a better woman than any he had dated in the past three years. All of them, if given the chance, would have used his son to gain an advantage in his life. They would have jumped at the chance to cement themselves in his son’s life. But Petra didn’t, she distracted him with the offer of brownies.