Surrounded [Running to Love 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (12 page)

She felt her face crease into a huge smile at the adventures ahead of them. They had a house to find and agree upon, and then cope with Jackie’s renos and decorating. Alistair had better like to paint because she wasn’t going to do it all, and Jackie was a hard taskmaster. Someone was going to have to train the dog, and then there was the issue of when to have the first baby. She wondered if Alistair would mind impregnating her as well because she’d just decided that she would want to have a child and raise it with these two awesome people who wouldn’t have abandoned her no matter the pressure. She could just imagine the look on his face when she or Jackie proposed that idea. But it would all work out. She climbed into her side of the bed and let herself fall into the beckoning darkness. Life was good, but she was absolutely done like toast.

* * * *

“Are you ready, darlin’?” Jackie jumped a little at Alistair’s question. She’d been relaxing in the tub, thinking about everything Ash had revealed that evening and how he had just accepted it and been willing to leave everything behind and go with them. How had she gotten so lucky? It seemed more than she ever deserved. And he hadn’t even blinked at the idea of making a baby with her. She had spent some time fantasizing about how many children they should have and if they’d be boys or girls. There were twins on her side, and that felt a tad overwhelming.

“Sure. I’ll get out.”

He helped her stand and patted her dry. She saw where he’d hung his towel, and it made her want to cry a little. It had been a highly emotional day, and it seemed she was still feeling the effects.

“Hush, honey. Let’s get to bed.”

She let him lead her into the bedroom where Ashley was dead to the world, her face pale against the pillow, dark circles prevalent beneath her eyes, and she wanted to cry some more. Poor Ash. What a time she’d had. She picked up her nightgown and managed to smile at Alistair’s dark look. She whispered, “We usually wear something to bed, ’Stair. Don’t you?”

“I wear boxers, but I find I don’t want anything between us, Jackie. And you’ll end up replacing that little scrap of lace.”

“Well, I like wearing sexy nightwear, mister, and you can take it off when you’re so inclined, but I’ll thank you to be careful with it!” It was hard to whisper with indignation, but she managed.

He gave her another dark look but visibly acceded, stripping off his T-shirt and jeans. He looked around and laid them across the only chair. Mr. Tidy. He looked around again, and Jackie quietly asked him what he wanted.

“Ash brought my duffel in here.”

Jackie crossed to the closet and slid one half of the door open. His things hung strategically between hers and Ash’s, although the space was really cramped. She then pulled open a couple of drawers in the dresser and pointed to his socks and underwear. The look on his face was something between surprise and pleasure.

“I’m having the next house with enormous closets, ’Stair. But you live here now, so we’ll make do until then.”

She slipped into bed and curled close to Ashley, who never moved a muscle, while Alistair ran water and generally clattered around in the bathroom. When he got in beside her and flipped off the little bedside light, she could barely keep her eyes open. Her last memory was of him kissing her good night.

Alistair again woke to an empty bed, but he could hear movement in the house. He got up and used the bathroom and brushed his teeth before wandering out to see what was going on. The back door gaped open, and Ashley stood on the stoop, exhorting Beau to do his thing. When he galloped past her and into the mudroom, she stepped back inside and shut the door and locked it. Beau skidded to a stop at Alistair’s feet and tried to jump up. He gently but firmly pushed the puppy down and ordered him to sit. To his astonishment, the animal did just that.

“He’s smart. And, incredibly, he’s starting to be house trained. That asshole didn’t get to make him mean, and it’s a good thing because he’s going to be humongous. Look at the size of those feet!” Ashley leaned down to pat Beau on the head and then made her way over to the coffee after ensuring that he would remain confined in the mudroom. He whined and then appeared to accept his fate. A bowl of water and a polished plate were the only evidence of an earlier breakfast.

“Jackie’s going to have a miserable time of it at work today,” she commented with a tiny smile. “And every time she sees Beau he’ll remind her of what she did. I think between the paddling and little puppy here, she’ll stay in line or at least think twice.”

“She’d better,” Alistair said quietly, “or it won’t go as well for her.”

“Holy crap, ’Stair! What else would you do?”

He didn’t know offhand, but also didn’t want to come across as undecided, so he contented himself with a sage look and a raised eyebrow. Ash looked at him searchingly and then shrugged. “Cross that bridge if we come to it I guess. What’re your plans for today?”

“I have to be at the Club by eight. There are a couple of scenes scheduled. You might want to bring Jackie. Max is going to be claimed tonight. She probably won’t want to miss that.” Even he heard the grate in his voice.

“You’re going to have to let that go, ’Stair. Max had no idea you were interested in Jackie or he wouldn’t have been our third that night. He’s loyal to his friends, and you know it. And Jackie drank about a bottle of wine when we got home, so it wasn’t something she wants to remember, either.”

“I know, Ashley. But if say, Alysha had been invited and you were in my position…”

Ash threw up her hands. “Okay. I hear you. But it can’t be undone, so just know that it meant next to nothing. And there’s been no other man since.”

Alistair didn’t reply. He couldn’t help but occasionally think about Max fucking Jackie, and it made him nuts. He had to see the asshole at the Club because he couldn’t bar him now that the good doctor was a member. “I guess we could talk about the areas in the city that would be conducive to raising kids.”

Ashley laughed. “She won’t have forgotten you said that, either. And I think I’d like to be a mom, too, once Jackie’s well established in the role. Alistair?”

He tried to recover quickly so she wouldn’t think he didn’t see her as an attractive woman, and was relieved to see her laughing. He tried to smile back but knew it didn’t mask his shock.

“I’m sure you and I can find a way to get it done, partner. Jackie will help us. Think of it as a sexual experiment.”

He didn’t really trust his voice, so he just nodded. He forgot all about Max in that moment. His whole world was like one of those snow globes that someone had just given a hard shake. But he had two women who cared about him, albeit in different ways, and he had equally strong, if different, feelings for them. He felt surrounded, outnumbered, but in a good way. At least Bozo was male.

He left Ashley cleaning up after the breakfast they shared. She claimed she was an abysmal cook and that was why she’d chosen Jackie, who cooked and baked like a gourmet chef if she had the chance. Alistair could only imagine Jackie’s response to that comment. He fixed them eggs and made toast, so Ash insisted on doing the dishes. He drove back to the Club using a different route. There was no point in giving that druggie another look at his truck, because the jerk obviously lived in the area. The sooner they moved, the better, and Jackie was not walking to work again, Ashley and her pistol aside. He and Ash had circled some possible listings in the newspaper, rescued from the floor of the makeshift dog pen, and made the appointments for dinner time, right after Jackie got home and before he opened the Club. Somehow they’d figured out how to work around three people’s schedules. Ashley was as organized as he was.

The Club didn’t feel much like home anymore, although he hadn’t missed Jackie’s proprietary eying of his quarters. No doubt she would have it looking as homey as their place. His only requirement would be a really big master bedroom that would accommodate a really big bed, and maybe a spanking bench. The Club would suffice for their other scenes, but sometimes spontaneity was good, too, and he knew Jackie liked the kind of spankings that led to spectacular orgasms and if she needed punishment, he didn’t want to haul her to the Club. A scratching at the door caught his attention, and he immediately checked the security cameras. Someone was trying to break the code lock. He didn’t see any overt sign of weapons on the big figure and couldn’t make out the face as it was at an angle and close to the lock. He strode to the safe behind the bar and opened it with a few quick number entries, and pulled out the little Glock. He clicked off the safety and then walked quietly to the door, easing the handle down and then yanking it open. The man spilled inside and sprawled forward before rolling and springing to his feet in a manner that instantly identified him as military. It wasn’t the asshole from yesterday. Alistair stared and lowered the weapon.

“Dave.”

“Hey, buddy! I talked to Jackie a couple of weeks ago and heard you were getting back in the game. I thought I’d swing by and check things out.”

Alistair heard both the camaraderie in Dave’s voice and the deadly warning that roiled beneath it. He surprised himself by laughing. Loudly. Big brother had come calling to have his sister’s back, pulled from his downward slide into hell, and it was a fine thing.

“What the fuck? I mean, what’s that about?” Dave ducked his head. “I’m not supposed to use foul language, but it’s not so easy.”

“Come in and have a coffee or something, Dave. Good to see you, although you could have knocked or hit the buzzer like most people.”

“I called, but there was no answer, so I came over. I thought I’d surprise you. I guess I should have looked for your truck, but I’m still a little off my game.”

“If you were waiting in here when I arrived, I’d have probably shot you, you asshole. The place is wired, and my security is excellent.”

“I can find my way through most defenses, ’Stair.”

The macho bullshit was well on its way to being established in the conversation, and Alistair motioned Dave into the Club and back to his quarters. He put the coffee on, and they did some catching up. Dave looked much better than he had in a long time, his color good, his eyes clear. He seemed to be in good shape, too. He was vague about where he had been and what he had been doing, but appeared to be more like the Dave he’d grown up with, before they went to war together.

“So what’s the scoop with my sister?”

The abrupt segue bristled with anxiety, and Alistair hastened to put Dave’s mind at ease. “It appears I’m part of a committed threesome, Dave, a ménage, a polyamorous relationship. And we’re buying a bigger house, having escaped moving to Utah by the skin of my teeth, and Jackie and Ashley both want children. With me.”

Dave stared, his eyebrows rising comically to his hairline, eyes bulging. And then he laughed. He laughed until the tears came to his eyes and spilled over, chest heaving with the effort of the guffaws. “Well, knock me down and call me Susan. Holy ever-loving fuck, ’Stair! In the space of what, a week?”

’Stair shrugged. “More like three days, although I had a week to get used to the idea of being with Jackie again. Who, by the way, got her ass whipped yesterday.”

“What’d she do?” That was his buddy, Dave. He knew his sister well enough not to automatically challenge him on behavior other people would question. He gave Dave the crib notes version, and the other man’s face went from jovial to murderous.

“I’ll pay that asshole a visit, and you maybe need to crop her again.”

“Nope. I think she’s learned, and as Ash pointed out, the mutt will serve as a reminder. And we aren’t looking for the asshole. Ashley’s a cop and doesn’t need to have to explain things. It’d get really complicated.”

Dave muttered but appeared to accept it. They talked about historical things, and Dave didn’t get worked up or struggle with overwhelming emotion, so whatever he’d been doing, or whomever he’d been doing it with, he was getting better.

“How long are you staying?”

Dave shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t really have any place to be. I kinda thought you might help me out.”

“Anything.”

“Oh, not money. I’m okay. But apparently I need a job to focus my strong-willed behaviour and learn to control myself. I thought of you and your Dom thing. Can you teach me?”

Alistair hadn’t expected that, and his mind raced ahead. On one hand he didn’t want to think about how much time it might take from his new relationship, but Dave was really now family, too. On the other, if Dave worked out, then he would be a perfect guy to run the Club when ’Stair needed time away. And he would indeed need time away what with baby-making duties and all. He smiled at the thought and caught Dave watching him with a fatuous look on his ugly mug, no longer looking diffident. Was he really becoming that easy to read?

“It might just work, Dave. I’ll give you things to consider, and you’ll need to realize that whatever you’ll learn to do with subs, you’ll have done to you first. So it’s not a light decision. It might be the thing for you, being as you used to be a take-charge kind of guy, but maybe not.”

For a moment, Dave’s brow creased and his eyes filled with a hint of trepidation, but cleared almost immediately. “I doubt there’s anything worse than what I did before, ’Stair, so give me the material and I’ll take a look.”

“In the meantime, why don’t you move your stuff into here and get settled?
J
ackie will probably redecorate around you, but that won’t be so bad.” Alistair gestured to their surroundings. “It’s like barracks all over again!”

“It’s fine, and I don’t have much to bring in. I want to give Jackie a call next, although I suppose she’ll be at work.”

“She is, but she’s coming here tonight with Ashley. Why don’t you wait and surprise her? There’s a claiming scheduled. That’s when…never mind, you’ll just have to see for yourself. It might be like baptism by fire. You into guys at all?”

Dave sputtered in his coffee. “I fuck women, dude. But I don’t care what people do. I just don’t have an interest in guys.”