The Dom's Patience is Rewarded [Unchained Love 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

“First thing in the morning, once all the questions are done and what can be checked for truthfulness has been sorted out. Larry and Omar need to know if he really has been with David ever since he left here. Just because the bug on the truck says that’s where he’s been, that doesn’t mean he didn’t get a ride with someone else to someplace or even catch a bus. We want to be sure he hasn’t hired some other group of bad guys to attack Carnal Connections or something.”

“Can Omar check his bank accounts? From things Dad said to me more recently I got the idea his finances weren’t as healthy as they could have been. I do know for a fact he took a huge hit during the global financial crisis, but he would never hear of me getting a job to help out.”

“Good idea, Leticia. Do you know where he keeps his private papers?”

“Not for sure. But my birth certificate and their marriage certificate used to be in a small metal lockbox that looked rather like a workman’s toolbox or maybe one that a fisherman might carry.”

Oliver bent and dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “I must go. I’ll check it out. Thank you for the idea. Remember what I said. Stay with other people. A group if possible.”

“I can come into the garden with you for an hour before I need to get ready for work, if that’ll help,” said William.

“That would be useful. I’ll get you to clear weeds from an area for me to start work on while I make notes about what else I need to do. And I’ll text Jubilee and see if she’s free this morning, too.”

Leticia collected the things she’d need into a bag, and William carried her crate of gardening tools and helped her get set up in the garden. It was starting to look like a garden again. Most of the debris had been removed from the garden. One entire bed was weeded and cared for, ready for planting come spring. She wanted to get at least another entire bed prepared before the weather grew too cold.

Jubilee phoned Leticia instead of texting her back. “Hi, Leticia. Jill, Diane, and I are rostered to provide meals for the men guarding David and Sam and for those in meetings all day. We’ve already done a lot of the preparation. Diane’s going to stay in the kitchen and I’ll stay with you. Jill will help Diane finish the meals then carry the trays for her and after that she’ll join us. I talked to Autumn, but she needs a large table for the project she’s working on today so she can’t help either the kitchen team or you.”

“Thanks, Jubilee. I think Oliver will be fine as long as someone’s with me. We’ll both have our phones to let other people know if there’s a problem.”

“With so many people watching Sam and David I’d say they’ll keep their heads right down today. Tomorrow, of course, is another story. See you soon.” Jubilee clicked her phone off.

“We need to work on that mental-telepathy thing. Even if you couldn’t reach your phone you could get help simply by thinking what you needed to me and Oliver,” said William.

“Yes. We ought to practice that until we know what we can do. What our range is, as it were.”

“I don’t think your range will be an issue since you got a message from Oliver when he was all the way out with Sam the other day,” said William.

“That’s true, but it was a highly emotional and dramatic moment. It may be different if he was trying to decide whether to buy oranges or apples.”

“Why don’t you send me a message this afternoon? Kind of like a test run,” suggested William.

“That may not be a good idea. You might be busy caring for a patient and it might be a very bad time to distract you. How about you send me a message instead? Then you can choose a time that suits you.”

“Okay. Let’s try that.”

William high-fived her and Leticia laughed as she high-fived him back. Just then Jubilee arrived eating an apple and Leticia broke into giggles.

“What’s the joke?” mumbled Jubilee, her mouth full of apple.

William hurried off to get ready for his shift at the hospital as Leticia explained.

“I’ve been wondering about that mental-telepathy thing myself. There are times when Ramona seems to know what Omar or JB is thinking, too. But likely it’s just because they’re bonded and love each other.”

“I’ve heard about that happening to people who’ve been in a relationship for many years, but not just after a few weeks. I think it’s connected to being shape-shifters. Anyway, I want to weed along here. You can sit and talk to me.”

“I’d like to help. Show me what the good plants look like so I don’t pull them out in error,” said Jubilee.

* * * *

William was a little nervous about meeting Leticia’s brother. He’d seen the man several times, but always in adversarial situations. The story Oliver had sketched of him being rejected by his father and then by his pack because of his birth was enough to hurt anyone, but then not everyone decided to retaliate by kidnapping innocent victims, either.

David was in one of the small private dungeons, a manacle around one ankle attached to a chain long enough for him to walk to and fro but not leave the room. Josh, one of the panthers, was sitting in a corner of the room by the door, playing a game on his cell phone.

Josh stood as they arrived, nodded to Oliver, picked up his chair, and left, shutting the door behind him.

“You’re the one who said he was my brother-in-law. So is this my sister? You don’t look anything like me.”

“Maybe we do in panther form. Are you all black?” asked Leticia.

“No, I’m a Florida panther. Tan with a creamy belly. That’s why either a panther or a cougar would have been perfect for me.”

“What was your mother? Was she a Florida panther, too?”

“Yes, but her coat was almost mottled in places.”

William felt like he’d walked into one of Nicholas’s movie scenes partway into the story. Whatever happened to “Hello. My name is…” before getting to personal questions?

“Who are you? Are you one of them?” asked David.

William jumped, realizing David was talking to him. “I’m William Chapman. I’m human. A nurse. But I’m with them in that we three are mated together.”

“Three? The three of you are mated? Like, as in a ménage a trois?”

“Yes.” William felt it was better to keep his answer simple and factual. David could always ask more questions if he wanted more information. And there was no way on earth he was going to mention it was a three-month trial handfasting that any one of them could opt out of, either. Leticia was taken!

“Three, eh? Well, maybe I will take both the cougars then. They’re twins. They’d probably want to stay together. Likely they’ll be grateful to me for taking them both.”

“It doesn’t work like that, and Verity’s already interested in two other men anyway,” said Leticia.

“Oh well, one’ll do. I’ll take the other one.” David shrugged.

“Why do you want one of our women? Why don’t you want to fall in love and marry the woman you love like everyone else?”

David gestured at Oliver. “He already asked me that and I told him. I’ve got no job, no money, no status. My pack had no female shifters. I had to steal a woman because once they knew I was a pack leader any female shifter would be happy to mate with me and be the leader’s wife.”

“If you steal a woman the mating or marriage isn’t legal. Didn’t you know that?” asked Leticia.

“What? You’re lying.” David glared at Leticia, and William wanted to hold her tight to protect her, but he sensed Oliver telling him to stay still.

“No, David, I’m telling you the truth. Unless all parties in a mating agree of their own free will, the mating is invalid and anyone can leave it at any time.”

“But any female would love to marry the pack leader. That’s why I had to build a pack. And now it’s gone. I’ll have to start all over again.”

“I expect some females would marry a man just because he’s the leader. But is that the kind of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with? Someone so shallow and materialistic all that matters to her is a husband who’s important? What if you get hurt or lose your pack? If she never loved you, do you really think she’d stay around to help you?”

David sat down again, head bowed. William’s heart went out to him. Here was a man who’d been discarded by his own father—both his fathers!—not because of something he’d done wrong but just because of what he was. William hoped his mother had loved him. Everyone needed someone to love them and someone to love. He had Leticia and Oliver. Yes, Oliver, too. The Dom was caring for him and watching out for him. Maybe that’s what David needed. A Dom and a wife. Hey, maybe a Domme.

“My whole life has been turned on its head. My father wasn’t my father and my real father just wants to kill me. I built a pack and the humans turned out to be idiots and the panthers left me. I’m too old to go back to school and I never learned a trade. I’ve only ever lived with the pack or alone, never with humans. I wouldn’t know how to behave in human society. Perhaps jail is the best place for me. At least I could learn a trade there.”

William knew Leticia was going to say something to him about staying here. He turned and shook his head at her just as Oliver’s thoughts burst through his mind.
Don’t promise anything that is not yours to give.
Good advice indeed.

“David, I’m prepared to help you get your life back on track. But you have to want to live as a contributing member of society. I’ll come back and talk to you again if that’s what you want,” said Leticia.

Damn good reply.

* * * *

As soon as they were out of the dungeon and out of earshot of Josh, Leticia turned to Oliver. “We need to talk about this mental telepathy we’ve got. We need to learn how to focus and direct it so we can use it properly. And by the way,” she said, turning to William, “you were thinking about medicinal herbs this afternoon, and I agree we should plant a bed of them in the garden.”

Leticia hid a grin at the stunned look on William’s face and the way Oliver’s face instantly went impassive and blank. Yes, she’d surprised them both, although why they should be shocked when it had happened before and seemed to be occurring more frequently was a question all in itself. Didn’t they believe it would be ongoing and usable?

When they arrived home Oliver shrugged and said, “I spoke to Omar about it today and his memories were the same as mine, that it’s very rare and only among panthers. However, he did say he, Ramona, and JB have had a couple of occasions when they seemed to read each other’s minds, and Ramona has told him Gaynor said it’d happened to her, Tor, and Cameron, too, but again, only a couple of times. Gaynor also told Ramona that those tiny wolf tattoos all three of them have where their neck joins their shoulders simply appeared where they had bitten each other after they mated. They aren’t normal tattoos but magical ones. All of which seems to imply that these triad matings are both special and blessed by the gods.”

“Wow! Boy howdy!”

“You said it, sweetie. I’d just assumed they’d gotten the tattoos the night they mated. But being able to talk in each other’s minds is just as awesome,” said William.

“It’ll be a great way of knowing if one of us ever needs help,” said Oliver.

Leticia nodded. A tattoo would have been fun, but overall, mental telepathy was more her style. Maybe the gifts given were tailored to the triad’s needs and personalities.

“It also proves we’re meant to be a permanent threesome. You are not, and never have been, an afterthought, William. I always knew you loved Leticia and she loved you and I factored that into the equation. You were always wanted and included,” said Oliver.

“That’s true. I never meant to discard you. How could you even imagine I would?” asked Leticia.

William just stood and looked at them, his mouth hanging open until he deliberately closed it with a snap.

Leticia was flooded with warmth and love from William’s mind. She grinned at him and gave him a mental hug back, then gave one to Oliver as well.

Oliver cleared his throat. “I’ve booked one of the small private dungeons for tonight. Shall we prepare ourselves and be ready in half an hour?” asked Oliver.

“Wait, before we do that I just wanted to ask about my father. How is he?”

“He’s doing well. He’ll be in the hospital another day or so while they complete some tests on his ankle. It’s a nasty break, but the doctors don’t think he’ll need the bones to be pinned or anything like that. Unfortunately, he’ll be going back to jail. The judge was really annoyed when he found out not only did your father refuse to cooperate about attending counseling after shooting you, but then he attempted to kill his son as well.”

William snorted and then tried to cover it with a cough. “Oh yes. Intransigent much?”

“Exactly.” Oliver nodded.

Leticia sighed and hurried into the bathroom. She really didn’t know what to think about her father. Was he the man who’d loved and cared for the little motherless girl? Or was he the man who’d shot her for no reason then tried to kill his own son simply for being born?

The bathroom was so tiny it was strictly one at a time in there. She was really looking forward to when the new half of their house would arrive. At least now the CCTV cameras in the high trees were operational. It meant two men weren’t always camping on the north ridge of the property as lookouts, which in turn meant there would be a few more men available to help prepare the building for them. She had a momentary qualm about paying for her share of it then shrugged. Oliver was going to look into her father’s finances. Surely she could use some of that money. Legally, some of it would be hers. Besides, it wasn’t as though he’d be needing it in jail.