Zurlo, Michele - Two Masters for Samantha [Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (41 page)

Alexei found his way around her tiny kitchen with ease. In no time, Samantha was shoveling a savory satay into her mouth. Sam’s opportunities to focus on her art were few and far between. When she had the chance, she didn’t take the time to do other things, like eat or shower. While she moaned over vegetables dipped in peanut sauce, Alexei picked up one of the threads of their conversation.

“Stef told you that our dad is controlling.”

Sam nodded. She remembered having that conversation. “Why didn’t she leave him?”

Lex’s smile wasn’t a smile. “I asked her that once. She told me she knew who he was when she married him. She said she didn’t go into her marriage with blinders on. She said she needed him.”

Sam closed her hand over his, wanting to make his pain go away. “It sounds like she loved him. Did he love her?”

“He didn’t cheat on her.” Alexei frowned. “He didn’t beat her or talk down to her or verbally abuse her. But when he didn’t like what she was wearing, he told her to change her clothes and she changed her clothes. I think that’s wrong.”

“And he treats his girlfriend like that?”

Alexei shrugged. “Stef is with them now. For some reason, he’s okay with the way that bastard treated Mom. We’re supposed to have cocktails with them tomorrow. Want to come?”

Samantha flinched. Did he mean to introduce her to his father as revenge? If Alexei called his father’s girlfriend a whore, Sam could well imagine the opinion Lex’s father would have of her, a woman who was falling in love with both of his sons. Falling? No, she was already there.

She threw out a feeler. “Is your father aware of me or of the fact that you and Stefano have decided to share a girlfriend?”

This time, his grin was real and cocky. “You never said you wanted to be our girlfriend. Does that mean you’ll go on the Pill and we all get tested so we don’t have to use condoms anymore?”

“I’ll have to think about that second part,” she said. They were both finished eating. She stowed the leftover takeout boxes in the refrigerator. “You said you talked to Stefano.”

Alexei loaded plates and forks into her dishwasher. She liked that he wasn’t helpless in the kitchen and that he didn’t expect her to wait on him.

He pressed the door closed and started the cleaning cycle. “We’re both crazy about you, Sam. We both told you that. The question becomes what do you want to do about it?”

This was the part of the discussion she dreaded. “I don’t know.” She ran her fingertip over the outline of the handle to her fridge. “How will your father react to the idea of both of you with me?”

Lex leaned his backside against the counter and folded his hands over his chest. “The only people who get to have a say in all of this are you, Stef, and me. I don’t care what my father has to say about it.”

She couldn’t turn to face him. “I care. I care that your father would call me a whore and throw me out of his house. I care that my father would never look at me the same way again. I care that my mother will be furious and hurt. I care that my brother won’t speak to me again. I care that my sister won’t let me near my niece and nephew anymore.”

The skin on the back of her neck prickled in the silence.

Finally, Alexei exhaled. “I can guarantee that my father won’t call you a whore. However, springing you on him maybe isn’t the best idea. It isn’t fair to either of you and it casts doubt on how serious Stef and I are about you. The other things, though...Have you told your family about us?”

Samantha shook her head. Her ponytail skated a sad dance across her shoulders.

“Then how can you know how they’ll react? I met your brother and I think I met your parents. They didn’t seem like the kind of people who would judge you so harshly. Samantha, people like you. There’s something about you that’s open and friendly. People are drawn to you. I can’t imagine you coming from people who would reject you just because you fell for two of the most handsome men in existence.”

That made her laugh. “And modest, too.”

“If the three of us are happy together, why do you care what other people think?”

“Because I do.” She sighed and looked out the lone window on the far wall that overlooked the parking lot. The darkening sky made her sad. The sunset was on the other side of the building, hidden from her eyes. “This is who I am, Lex. I always care about what people think of me, especially people I care about.”

More than that, she cared what her family and friends would think about the men she knew she couldn’t live without. She could deal with the fact that they would say she moved too fast. She could deal with upsetting her parents because this would eventually mean moving far away. But she wouldn’t be able to handle the recriminations and the rejection.

“Ellen would understand.”

Samantha turned to face him. Ellen hadn’t endeared herself to the family when she introduced Jonas to the world of BDSM. However, she had redeemed herself when Jonas turned his life around because of her influence. She had influence with Sam’s parents. She would be an ally when Sam most needed one.

“Yeah, she would.”

Alexei wrapped his hands around her wrists and drew her closer until she bumped against his chest. “Samantha, I’m in love with you. I think it happened with the very first thing you ever said to me. It turned out to be prophetic.”

She tilted her head to one side, trying to tamp down the trills of excitement running through her at his admission and to remember the first thing she said to him. “What was the first thing I said to you?”

“‘There you are.’”

The way he said the words gave them a poetry she hadn’t intended when she saved him from the intoxicated woman at the wedding. He infused them with meaning and heavy promise.

Her body shook, and she didn’t know why. Yes, she did. It was stark fear, but she couldn’t let that keep her from facing facts. She had fallen head over heels for both of them over the weekend, and now she had to do something about it. “I’m in love with you, too, Lex, and I’m in love with Stef. This is a lot for me to deal with. I’m not sure how this can work.”

His arms slid around her. He traced a calming path up and down her spine. “Stef and I are used to sharing, Samantha. Maybe it’s a little more work than a traditional relationship, but I think the benefits outweigh the problems. Stef and I both work a lot. With two husbands, you’d have someone available far more often than if you just had one. As long as the three of us are always honest and always open, this can work.”

She rested her face against his shoulder and inhaled his scent. “This is a lot to think about, Lex.” She wasn’t afraid of making a rash decision. Samantha already knew what she wanted. Now she had to accept it, and get herself ready to deal with the emotional consequences.

He tugged at her ponytail until she looked up at him. “You’re right. Take your time. Neither of us is going anywhere.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Now I get to confess why I really came.”

Sam looked up at him through her lashes, affecting the sexiest coy look she could. She wasn’t pressed against his cock, but she was sure the wetness in her panties was echoed in something weeping and ready in his pants. “Why is that?”

“Your website sucks.

She pushed away from him and rubbed her palms on her jeans, bristling at his criticism. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”

He chuckled. “I know you’re used to me being a little more diplomatic, but we don’t have time to ease into this. We only have tonight and tomorrow night to work on this. I have meetings all day tomorrow and Friday. After that, Stef and I are going to do our best to convince you to pack your things and move in with us this weekend.”

Sam drew back. Moving in together was a little fast. She needed to know how it would change her life. “I have plans this weekend.”

Though he didn’t say anything, his look communicated a firm belief that he could alter her plans with very little effort.

That wasn’t so. Saturday was her birthday. Though they usually took care of birthday stuff during their annual family vacation at the end of August, they always got together for dinner on the actual date of her birth. Samantha bit her lip. She’d already hurt Lex’s feelings by not revealing her art to him. She couldn’t compound that mistake by not informing him of her birthday.

“My parents are having a cookout on Saturday for my birthday.”

“Great.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Stef and I will clear the afternoon. That’ll be more fun than golfing with the Galens in another vain attempt to talk some sense into Steve. I swear, he wasn’t this much of a tool growing up.”

Without further discussion, he pulled out his laptop and set it on the warped wooden coffee table that sat in front of her couch. Sam pushed aside her paints and brushes.

Alexei eyed the mess. “If you were to move in with us, we could convert the boat house into a studio. There’s plenty of light and room for your canvases. I think you’re going to need a computer, a printer…”

When he trailed off, still mumbling to himself, Samantha pounced. She didn’t require her lover to supply the tools of her trade. “I have my own equipment. The computer is in the bedroom.”

Lex delivered a swat to her ass. “We’ll get to the bedroom later, Sam. Right now, you need to make some serious decisions about what kind of artist you want to be, because your webpage is seriously lacking in focus. You can’t throw all your work on here and see what sticks. People who visit your site want something easy to navigate and they want it set up in a way that makes sense.”

Despite the pleasant tingle in her bottom, Samantha sat still and listened to Alexei. As he spoke, he deleted most of the pictures in her website’s gallery. As she listened, she realized why his company was so successful. His focus amazed her, and his knowledge about marketing was incredible.

By the time Samantha yawned, her website looked completely different. She had pages and subpages, each organized according to Alexei’s logic. His method made complete sense to Samantha. It just wasn’t something that would have ever occurred to her.

Alexei stood and stretched. Sam admired the way his pants draped over his tight ass and the way his shirt stretched across his shoulders. “You’re very good at this.”

He grinned down at her. “You’re very good at what you do, Samantha, but you suffer from your gift. Artists aren’t known for being good at the business side of things. That’s okay. You concentrate on making your art. Stef and I will help you with everything else.”

Sam studied a spot of paint on the carpet. There was no way she was going to ever get her security deposit back. She took a deep breath and said what was on her mind. “Lex, I don’t want you to think I’m with you because you can help with my career.”

“Good,” he said. “I don’t want you to think that helping with your career is the reason I’m with you.”

Her head snapped up. He must have read her confusion.

“You’re very talented, Sam. I’m not saying this because I love you or because I want to fuck you. I’m saying this because it’s true. If you didn’t have talent, I wouldn’t have wasted time redesigning your website. I would have spanked your ass for keeping secrets and you’d probably be passed out right now from all the physical activity. Stef and I would have supported you in this as a hobby. However, you do have talent. That changes things a bit.”

She blinked at him, banishing the image of him dressed as her white knight. Her mother had a habit of shaking her head, sighing, and telling Sam to get her head out of the clouds. So she was a dreamer. Alexei and Stefano seemed to like that about her. “A bit?”

“Yeah. As I said before, you’ll need a real studio and you’ll need to meet some of our contacts in the art community.” He held his hand out to her. “We’ll finish working on your site tomorrow. By the time I pick you up after work, I want you to have selected your flagship pieces to take to Treva’s gallery. Right now, it’s time for that spanking.”

Her pussy clenched and her ass tingled in anticipation. “You said you weren’t mad at me for not telling you.”