Foundations: The Power of Three Love Series Read online

  “Holy hell, caveman. Fine.” The large exhale of air behind me told me she was pouting. “But I’m staying with Scarlet.”

  “That’s peachy then. You know I wouldn’t have to treat you like a little girl if you didn’t act like one.” I put her back on the sidewalk. When I hailed a cab and we got in out of the cold, I shot my man a text. She crossed her arms, pouting again. I was positive I’d made my point.

  Me: I have Elliot. She’s on shaky ground, but this is a good start. We need to take it slow. Though we fought.

  I pocketed my phone and grabbed Elliot’s hand, and when she didn’t yank it away, my breath hitched. Intertwining our fingers, I felt adrenaline shoot through my body. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but this was a great fucking first step.

  22

  Arden

  The fucking bastard was so persuasive. This I knew firsthand, after he won me over so many years ago. With a glass of cabernet, I couldn’t stop smiling. This was still new to Elliot, and I was not going to come at her like a spider monkey on crack, but fuck, this was the start. As the “glass is half full” kind of guy I was, I believed it.

  Looking at the next text that came in, I saw:

  Daimen: She’s not staying at her house tonight because that prick has a key. She wants to stay with Scarlet.

  It wasn’t what we wanted, but we’d decided not to push. Sending a quick text to Scarlet, I let her know she might have an overnight guest.

  Daimen never inactivated SOPHIE for tonight’s dinner, too preoccupied with the Elliot situation. I was surprised when SOPHIE announced that Andrew was back in the elevator after walking Scarlet downstairs to her new apartment. Without as much as a hello, he began, “Scarlet saw an announcement in the paper today. The man who claimed he never wanted to get married is engaged.”

  Fuck, and this night was about to end on a good note too. He continued, “She’s okay. Drunk off her ass, but okay.”

  So caught up in my own world, I’d missed that Scarlet was falling apart again. “Thanks, man. I must have missed how much she drank. I’ll check on her later.” No wonder she never responded to my text. “Hey, just so you know, Daimen’s on his way back with Elliot. Keith has a key to her loft, and we didn’t think it was safe.”

  “Shit, I told her to change her locks when the motherfucker wouldn’t give her the key back.” He paused, pressing his lips in a fine line. “One piece of advice, Arden?” he offered, and I nodded. I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “This goes against everything Ell has been taught. They’re still not accepting of me. I mean, I couldn’t care two fucks about it, but for her… Just be patient, and if she can’t move forward, accept it. Give her time, but understand—this may not work out the way you and Daimen want.”

  With a shrug, I put it out there for him when I admitted, “I have fallen in love with her.” The words rolled off my tongue with so much ease. His smile told me it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. “Her family? How bad is it?”

  Andrew sighed. “They’re a piece of work. Everyone is just so judgmental except for her twin, Levi. He’s the black sheep of the family and lives very carefree. He’d be the only one to support Ell’s true feelings. But she worries too much about what they’ll think, suppressing her own happiness.”

  I couldn’t say I was surprised. “Her twin and her? Are they close?”

  “Yes, she and Levi are. And I’m telling you—hope this works out, though. Ell has spent too much time worrying about what others think is best for her life.”

  * * *

  I didn’t hear the annoying computer voice of SOPHIE alerting me to the arrival of Elliot and Daimen. The second her wavy blonde hair and green eyes met mine, I wanted to wrap my arms around her. But my feet stayed planted, not doing the one thing I’d like to do. When her gaze locked on mine, my heart fell. I’d been so unfair to this girl. The only thing I could think of was to tell her what was on my mind. Blowing out a breath of air and raking my hands through my hair, I started, “Ell, I’m so fucking sorry for being too pushy about this. I need you in my life, and if this is all I get, then I’ll take it.” She fought her soft lips, but they won when they transformed into the smallest smile. “I know I’ve scared the shit out of you.”

  “That—scaring the shit out of me—mission accomplished.” Through her shy smile, she slid me a curious glance.

  I wanted to go to her, reach for her soft hair, then place a chaste kiss on her cheek, but with Daimen’s ominous look behind her, I stayed planted as I had earlier. “Hot stuff, I’m sorry. Fuck, that was never my intention.” I glanced at her and Daimen and decided now was the best time to joke. “At least you and Daimen aren’t killing one another.” With that, all three of us laughed at my icebreaker, though it was the fucking truth.

  She pivoted, taking in both of us. Her body was stiff when she started, “I guess there’s no reason to deny it anymore. We have chemistry, but …”

  “But what, Ell?” Daimen argued. “We make our own happiness. No one should ever get in the way of it.”

  As she looked away, her breath quickened. “These are not natural feelings I’m having.” She laughed, rubbing her chin. “This is something Levi would do. Not me.”

  “Who decides what is natural? Others? Look at what a messed-up world we live in. Maybe it’s because everyone is worried about another’s happiness but not their own.” Walking toward her, but not touching her, I finished my plea. “I, for one, am only concerned about my own happiness. Well, Daimen’s, yours, and mine.”

  She turned to Daimen, addressing him. “You two have so much love for one another. How can I compete?”

  “See, that’s the problem. It’s not a competition,” he countered, being the calm in the storm, so unlike the normal Daimen Torano I’d come to love over the years. “Will I lie to you and tell you it’ll always be equal? No, but I do feel it will even out eventually. I know this for a fact. Because if you feel even an ounce of what Arden and I feel for you, that’s where we begin to build.”

  “And your family, how would they react?” Her voice became more animated, the closer our own bodies came to one another.

  “I found out a long time ago that I don’t let others dictate my happiness,” Daimen replied while the same words were on the tip of my tongue.

  Elliot sighed, biting her fingernails. “I wish I was that strong.”

  I stepped closer. I could almost reach for her hand, but I didn’t. “Fuck, woman, you are. To have gone toe-to-toe with this asshole,” I pointed back behind us where Daimen was watching, “you don’t give yourself enough credit.” My arm had a mind of its own, wanting to bring her toward me, but I didn’t, and I continued, “But enough talking for tonight, Ell. I know you don’t like being told what to do.” Her brows arched, one a little higher than the other, and in that, she was sexier than I found her even this afternoon. “Daimen and I aren’t going into work tomorrow. We’re taking you out on a date. You should be treasured, hot stuff. So please don’t be stubborn about this, and just let us spend the day with you.”

  “Okay.”

  From across the room, I glanced at Daimen. We both thought this would be harder. “And how hard was that?”

  “Pretty fucking hard,” she admitted, straightening her skirt with nervous strokes.

  I leaned in close to her neck and kissed her soft cheek. “Stop fighting this, Elliot.” Before I knew it, Daimen was on the other side of her, doing the same thing. My hand reached for him around her slender waist, and our touch found one another, like we always did.

  23

  Elliot

  How in the world did I let this happen? What was I thinking? Let’s first work on one question at a time, I silently chided. How in the hell did I let myself become entangled in a situation like this? I was literally in the arms of two men—at least they were the same ones I was falling in love with. I looked down where they had linked their hands together, but both were still caressing my body at the same time.
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br />   It was too much to even think about—the two of them, together, beautifully showing their love for one another and never ashamed. It was more than just the sex that made these two men desirable. I’d read about this in some of my shape shifter books that Andrew teased me about. Those were fantasy, not something I was supposed to aspire to. I wanted a family, and how would my kids fare if I lived with two men.

  How would my business survive? I was in such a non-traditional job for a woman, purposely never putting pictures of myself on my website in order to entice more men to seek me out for jobs. More times than not, I had to pick their jaws off the floor when I walked in for the initial meeting, just as I had with Daimen and Arden.

  With a hand on my ass and lips on my neck, the voice of Daimen droned through my mind. “Stop thinking so loud, little girl. Let yourself feel, beautiful. You could be our everything. We won’t push you, but we will prove to you that we would be good together.”

  Oh, my traitorous body. He was right; it was more than good. A low hum warmed my stomach, shooting pleasure to a part of my body that had taken a hiatus. It did work after all this time.

  My hand reached for the two intertwined on my belly. Arden stopped his assault on my neck to say, “Look down, Ell.” I did as I was told. “This is us. We look good together.” When I watched the three of us connected like this, I couldn’t help but let myself go. As I turned my head to Daimen, his mouth crashed into mine. But as I’d come to expect from Mr. Grumpy, it was all consuming and primal, him claiming me. He pulled away, turning my head to Arden. Moving so quickly from one to the other, my mind was racing a mile a minute until Arden’s soft lips took over. His kiss, completely different. His tongue was playing games with my own, just like the playful guy I’d come to … I didn’t finish that thought. He pulled back, and it was then I realized I was falling in love with these men. It wasn’t lust or pure desire. It was more.

  Both pairs of eyes shifted toward me. I was expecting their lips on me, their hands roving my body, but I was shocked when they pulled back and instantly was lost without their touch.

  “Ell, we want you, but at the risk of kicking my own ass, we won’t push you,” Daimen began, and I nodded. Part of me was thankful, but the part of my body finally coming out of hibernation was not.

  “Well, it’s probably for the best.” My tone was icy.

  Arden’s hand traveled up my arm. “No, it’s not, but we can’t rush into something and have you regret it.”

  “It’s okay. Just direct me to Scarlet’s apartment.” I was finally liberated. Though with as hot and cold as I’d been, I couldn’t be surprised. But horny, that was what I was.

  “No can do, hot stuff,” Arden began. I cocked my head to the side, narrowing my eyes on him as though I was silently questioning him. “Scarlet is a bit incapacitated. She drank too much wine at dinner and wouldn’t be a good host. Our maid has gotten our guest room on the other side of the house ready for you.”

  I pulled my wrist to my face, looking at my watch. “You have a maid this hour of the night?”

  Daimen’s dark smooth voice pulled my attention to him from Arden. “We have two maids, and one is on duty 24/7.” Of course, they did. What the hell was I thinking? They weren’t your normal men, yet their eyes were undressing me. Why the hell would they want me when any woman would be more engaging to their needs?

  I was lost in my own little world of twenty-four hour maids and having so much money they had to come up with extreme ways to spend it. My brain was audibly loud when Daimen pulled me out of it. “Beautiful, your thoughts are deafening. I can hear it all. Get out of your mind and let us take care of you.”

  He pulled out his phone and called a man by the name of Jeb, instructing him to change my locks immediately while Arden removed a plate of spaghetti Bolognese out of their industrial microwave. “Eat, hot stuff.” He placed the plate in front of me, pouring a deep red in a wine glass.

  Arden sat down next to me. “Let us help you, Ell. You’ll stay in our guest room, then we’ll go out for the day. Someone told me you’re ahead of schedule so much that Andrew needs a couple of days to catch up.”

  Now Andrew was the traitor in my life. I’d add him to the list. So far, it was my body and him, but I was sure as this continued, more people would be added.

  24

  Daimen

  “What do you think she’s doing right now?” I probed, pacing the floor after settling Elliot in for the night. This, of course, was after one more sensual kiss that had my dick straining for release.

  “I hope she’s sleeping,” he said casually, as though having the woman we both love under the same roof of ours was a normal occurrence. The smug bastard had his long body pushed against the bedframe, and he was reading. He was so calm, he was fucking reading.

  My hands raked through my thick black hair. “I’ve missed the tenderness of a woman’s touch—never thought I’d want it again.” I was looking into Arden’s eyes with his all-knowing I told you so. The bed dipped with my weight, and I attacked my man, throwing the fucking book to the floor. I straddled him, pushing my growing erection against him.

  His hand found passage to my dick, unzipping my pants as I hissed. “Yes, so what are we going to do tomorrow?” he asked, again amused by how turned on I was.

  “I want to fuck you. Then we can talk about tomorrow afterward.”

  He winked at me, teasing me. “I have an idea,” he said, ignoring me. “Let’s take her to our house on Lake Michigan.”

  He piqued my interest, though he was stroking my cock and my attention might falter at any second. “Will she agree to a couple of days?” Then a thought occurred to me. “Fuck, I have that meeting with Spence, and he’ll shit kidney stones if I cancel.”

  I was almost ready to pack. I’d take up permanent residence at our beautiful lakefront home if it wasn’t for me being needed in Chicago.

  “I have an idea. How about we go up there for the night, and I’ll come back for the meeting with him? Anyway, I’ve had more time with her than you. I’ll get up Thursday morning, make the meeting, and come back Friday by lunchtime.”

  I’d do anything to avoid the monthly meeting with Spence, but I wanted Arden with us too. “You’re too good to me, babe.”

  “I know.” He wrapped his arms around me and then whispered in my ear. “Will you make love to me tonight, just you and me? I want you—I need you. But I want it hard and fast.” His dirty talk ramped my need to fuck him. I held back when I scooted away from him in order to jumpstart that mouth of his. And my plan worked when he began, “I want that piercing pushed so deep inside me …” He didn’t finish his statement; those words normally would bring me to push him down and have my way with my big guy. But I required more, and when I raised my eyebrow, it put him on notice.

  His deep belly laugh hadn’t gone unnoticed. “You need more of my mouth, just not on your cock, huh?” Nodding my head, he continued, “I want you to come so hard that I feel your cock pulsing inside me.” I crawled closer to him, desire written on my face. “Fuck me in the mirror. I want to see you inside me.” I was almost there, almost ready to wear him out, like he was addicted to. “You own my cock, so use me like a fuck toy.”

  I lunged at him, moving him toward the mirror that could be seen from our bed. “Get on your knees.” I slapped his ass, and his moan always reaffirmed to me he liked it rough. For Arden, the rougher the better. “Don’t make a fucking sound, or I will withhold your orgasm. I will cream your ass but no release for you tonight, my naughty little boy.” We weren’t in the playroom, but he understood my dominant persona.

  “Yes, master,” he replied.

  Reaching for the lube, I placed a kiss on his ear. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll ride you all night long.” It took me all of ten seconds to loosen him up and shove my cock so deep inside him. He called out my name so loud, I hoped Elliot could hear it from the other room.

  * * *

  “Let me text her to tell her our plans,�
� Arden suggested after I plowed his ass. Fuck, I would live there. My arms had him enclosed, close to me. Kissing my ear, he continued, “Yes, you and me, we’re forever.”

  Our phones chimed at the same time. Arden began to read the group text, and we both chuckled out loud.

  Elliot: I could hear you.

  My own cheeks heated at the idea of her being turned on by us. Fuck, I was ready to go again at that thought, and I grabbed my own phone.

  Me: Sorry, beautiful, if we woke you. I thought of you as I came in Arden, if that helps.

  “You’re so bad, honey,” Arden teased my way, twisting my nipple. I had a second to place a sloppy kiss on his mouth, and in less than ten seconds, she replied.

  Elliot: I’m so horny.

  With Arden beside me, I responded to that one word that had us ready to go help her out.

  Me: There’s a vibrator in your drawer. It’s brand new and clean. Take care of yourself.

  Elliot: It’s not the same.

  We both moaned at her response. As much as I wanted to lick her little pussy, she needed more time to make sure we were for her. I changed the subject.

  Me: We’d like to take you to our beach house tomorrow. Let us. Please.

  Silently, we waited for her response. Looking at the dots below her name, we held our breath, hoping she’d allow us to care for her.

  Elliot: You’re both used to getting your way, aren’t you? I could use some time away right now. But can you both be gone at the same time?

  Arden grabbed his phone eagerly, responding to our group chat.

  Arden: Hey, hot stuff. I’ll head back to work on Thursday and then meet you at the lake house Friday afternoon.

  Elliot: Just the two of us? Daimen and me?