by Nicole Casey
“He’s right, Maya. Come inside,” Slade said quietly, seizing me by the shoulders and turned me around. My initial reaction was to shake him off too until he spoke again, and I could hear the concern in his tone.
“He could still be out here,” Slade said. “If he’s unhinged enough to do this…”
Cold shivers slipped through me and I allowed him to guide the way, but we stopped again when we read the garish red words on the house.
“WHORE” screamed out at us from the face of the house and this time I couldn’t stop the tears from slipping down my cheeks.
“Oh Mal,” I murmured, horrified that I had brought such vandalism to his house. “I am so sorry.”
“Stop it!” Mal commanded as we ventured back into the house. “You had nothing to do with this.”
“I’m calling the cops,” Chase said, hurrying away for the phone in the kitchen.
Numbly, I fell onto the sofa in the living room, unsure of what to do next.
I looked from Mal to Slade, hoping they could read the sadness in my eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled again, burying my face in my hands. “I should have called the cops before. I didn’t think he was this bad.”
But I had my suspicions, of course I had.
The night he had shown up in the house, I could read his naked longing even though his date was right there.
How could I have been so naïve?
I stole a look at Slade in my peripheral vision and I wondered the same thing about him.
“We’ll figure out your car,” I babbled. “And find you a way home. Mal, can you take him home?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Slade said flatly, and I gazed at him in surprise. He met my look and shook his head.
“You think I’m going to leave you here when there’s a psychopath running around with a bat? How long was I in here before he did anything? Twenty minutes? He’s watching and waiting. I’m not leaving you alone to deal with that.”
My heart swelled with affection and I lowered my eyes as guilt seized me.
“It’s okay,” I breathed. “Mal is here. The police are coming. You don’t have to stay.”
Slade grabbed me by the shoulders, his eyes flashing with something I didn’t understand.
“Do you think I want to leave you?” he demanded, confusion flooding his expression. “I don’t! I just can’t bear the thought of sharing you with anyone.”
I gulped back the lump in my throat and nodded, hastily wiping the damp corners of my eyes.
“I tried to be as honest as I could with you,” I told him, my heart unsettled as I said the words. “I warned you that I didn’t date, that there could never be anything serious between us.”
Slade nodded, shooting Malcolm a look I couldn’t decipher before turning his attention back to me.
“You did warn me,” he agreed. “I just didn’t want to hear it. It’s not your fault. It’s mine for not hearing you when you tried so hard to explain.”
There was such melancholy in his tone and I wondered why my heart was cracking.
Maybe because I knew that while I had tried to be honest with Slade, I had not been honest with myself.
I was falling in love with the man, despite everything I had ever known about myself.
Could I be the woman who falls for one man? Could this Type A, investment banker be my soulmate?
The idea seemed so far fetched but it was the only explanation I had for whatever was happening inside me.
Malcolm looked away, but something told me he knew how I felt.
What did that mean for him?
No! I told myself firmly. No, let Slade go. He doesn’t need to be a part of this lifestyle. Loving you will only cause him heartache. He cannot adapt to this life and you can’t adjust to his. It is better that he just goes before this gets any more complicated for him.
“The cops are here,” Chase announced, the cordless landline still in his hand.
Slowly, the three of us rose to deal with the aftermath of what Troy Caspian had done.
I wondered how we would deal with the aftermath of what I had done.
Nothing was resolved, of course.
There was no proof that Troy had done anything.
A bouquet of flowers and a questionable invitation to our house did not make for a stalker but I knew it was him and so did Malcolm.
The police promised to speak with him and ask him to stay away as a courtesy but that didn’t mean anything to any of us.
Troy would strike again.
And next time it would be worse.
Slade decided to stay the night despite Mal’s offer to drive him home.
In some way I was relieved that he wanted to stay but on the other hand, I was unnerved having him so close.
Mal set Slade up in one of the empty bedrooms and I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering how everything had gotten so messy in such a short time.
Weeks ago I was happy-go-lucky Maya without a care in the world, living life the way I wanted.
Suddenly I was thrust into a place of uncertainty and doubt as my soul yearned to run to Slade and press myself up against him for comfort.
I drifted off at some moment, but I was wakened by the feeling of hot breath on my cheek.
I bolted upright but Slade put his hand on me to steady my nerves.
“It’s only me,” he murmured. “It’s okay.”
“What are you doing in here?” I gasped. “Is everything okay?”
He nodded, and I settled back, my pulse still racing.
“I can’t let you go,” he told me quietly and instantly a lump formed in my throat.
I opened my mouth to protest but he put his lips against mine.
“I won’t let you go,” he whispered as we parted.
He was saying everything I wanted to hear; yet it filled me with dread simultaneously.
How could I make him understand that I wanted him but feared the future?
Slade didn’t want to talk, and his mouth found its way to my shoulder as he drew me against his warm, naked frame into the spooning position.
“Close your eyes,” he breathed. “Just let me be with you.”
I could hardly resist his command when I was already becoming a quivering mass beneath his touch and I let out a small sigh as his hand slipped around the front of my legs to rub my clef slowly.
The blankets were stripped away from our bodies as he rocked himself behind me but suddenly there were another set of hands on me and my eyes flew open as I gaped at Malcolm who slid upward to sandwich me between them.
Mal’s face was dreamy, his mouth finding the curve of my neck as Slade continued to nuzzle my shoulders with his.
Mal’s arrival inspired Slade’s fingers to work faster as Mal continued his journey across the front of my body, capturing my nipple in his mouth, his hands against my breasts.
A shock of wetness escaped my center as I tried to understand how Slade was permitting this to happen, but the pleasure was overwhelming my senses and Slade grew harder behind me, his shaft seeking an entry point.
I moaned as he finally placed himself inside me, jutting my hip against him to feel his huge cock at such an intense angle.
My breath caught as Mal’s hand took over the manipulation of my throbbing clit, his mouth still firmly suckling on my breast and Slade grunted in my ear.
I was having sensory overload, suddenly losing track of whose hands were where as Slade filled me harder and longer, his strokes amassing vigor with each cry I released.
I orgasmed one after the other, writhing between my two lovers.
Mal’s teeth nipped at the tender skin and I yelped, sending Slade into his release, hot juices spilling down my legs and up my core in unison.
Slade withdrew from me and I turned to look into his face, wanting to read his expression so badly.
He smiled at me and then nodded at Mal.
Malcolm looked at me and our eyes locked as we communicated sil
ently.
“No,” Mal said, pulling himself off me. He tucked the sheet in around my body and I felt a warmth grow inside me.
“Mal,” Slade said, looking at me desperately. “We talked about this. I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep Maya. I – I’m okay with this. If this is how she is happiest, I can accommodate her. I just want to be with her.”
Mal grinned and shook his dark head, standing.
“You’re a terrible liar because you’re not okay with this but even if you were, Maya isn’t, are you?”
I shook my head and turned to Slade, tears clouding my vision.
“You would be willing to share me just to be with me?” I choked, and he nodded.
“I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without you, Maya. You have already improved the quality of my existence in days. If this is what you want –”
“It’s not what she wants,” Mal assured him. “She wants you. Right, Maya?”
I nodded, wishing I didn’t feel so conflicted about telling Malcolm the truth but when I looked into his dark eyes, I saw nothing but understanding and love.
“I’m sorry Mal,” I told him, shaking my head. “I have never felt this way about anyone in my life. I have to pursue it.”
Malcolm grinned and shook his head.
“You deserve nothing but good things, Maya,” he assured me. “And I prefer him to Troy.”
Slade and I groaned simultaneously and Mal took that as his cue to bow out, chuckling lightly.
I turned to Slade.
“I don’t know if I can promise you –”
“I don’t want you to promise me anything but that you’ll continue to be honest,” he interjected. “I can handle anything you throw at me after this, I’m sure.”
I laughed and fell back into his arms, pressing my ear against his chest and savoring the sound of his heartbeat.
He kissed the top of my head lovingly and in that moment, I felt safe, secure.
“So do you think I can see you this weekend?” he asked, and I giggled.
“Maybe,” I teased. “But you’re going to have to stand in line.”
“Again?”
“This time the competition is fierce,” I replied. “It will be my family.”
“You family?”
I nodded.
“It’s my birthday this weekend. Did I mention I’m a triplet?”
9
Troy
There was a fury mounting in me and even I was surprised at the ferocity at which it struck.
I could not understand how my infatuation with Maya had gone so disgustingly unreciprocated.
She’s a liar, I thought furiously. She pretends to be someone she’s not.
It had started so beautifully.
I skipped work to attend her yoga classes and she still paid special attention to me like I mattered but then I saw her talking to other men.
I tried to brush it off, telling myself that she was just a tease but when I started hearing the rumors, how she would give it up to anyone, I had to know if they were true.
I refused to believe it. After all, Maya was perfect. She was my angel.
It took me a day to learn her routine, her jobs and her comings and goings. She really was a creature of habit more or less and easy to track down.
I enlisted Cara who was an unsuspecting accomplice in what I was doing.
In my heart I knew it wasn’t really wrong, but I didn’t want others to misconstrue my crush for anything more than it was.
People are so judgmental these days.
All I wanted was to see Maya and make her see me too.
Cara blew everything the night we showed up at Malcolm Trainor’s house and I could feel that Maya just wasn’t happy to see me.
She couldn’t even be bothered to stay and have a drink with us even though I begged her.
She brushed me off without a second thought, leaving me feeling like a loser who had broken into her house or something.
Is she sleeping with Malcolm? I wondered. Is that why Malcolm told me I didn’t have a shot?
To make matters worse, Cara had begun hurling accusations at me, threatening to tell Maya and Malcolm that I was acting strangely if I didn’t stop it.
I hadn’t seen Cara since that night, but she was not forgotten.
After I dealt with Maya, I would tend to Cara too.
They are all such betraying bitches. Maya, Cara, Regan. They don’t deserve a man like me. They don’t deserve goodness at all.
A dozen unhealthy thoughts coursed through me after that night and I found myself consumed with vile thoughts, ideas I shouldn’t have had about the sweet-faced redhead who had stolen my heart all those months ago.
When I spent all that money on those baby roses and she couldn’t be bothered to thank me, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
She needed to pay for her rudeness, for leading me on.
We could have had something special if she had only given us a shot, but she was too busy spreading her legs for everyone else.
I knew where she lived at least and the night I had sent the roses, I went back to the farmhouse.
I waited in the shadows, wanting to ensure that I had my chance to get her alone.
I wasn’t going to do anything; I just wanted to talk to her, to make her see she was being an unreasonable whore.
In the shrubs I kept an eye on her bedroom light, waiting for it to turn on and indicate she was finally alone.
I had learned the layout of the house while Sterling and Luke were wrapped up in one another and I had feigned a trip to the bathroom.
She looked so peaceful in her bed, half curled on her side with her dark red hair fanned over her pillow that night.
It had taken every ounce of my willpower not to crawl in bed beside her and whisper sweet nothings in her ear, but I couldn’t risk getting caught.
It had been clear then that Malcolm didn’t like the competition.
But that night I would fulfill all the fantasies I had been holding onto since first laying eyes on Maya.
Regan had called it an obsession, but Regan was boring and vanilla. That was why it hadn’t lasted between us.
I may have liked Regan before she got the police involved but I feel completely different about Maya. Maya and I have a much stronger bond than Regan and I ever did.
At that moment, Maya was so close I could almost taste her.
That was what I was thinking about that night as I focused on Maya’s bedroom window, waiting for the light to flick on, for her to give me the signal to join her as I knew she wanted me to do.
Soon, sweet angel, I thought, shifting my weight from one foot to the other in anticipation. Soon we will be together.
Instead I received a slap in the face when the shiny BMW raced up the drive and squealed to a stop outside the house.
I recognized the man who had come to pick up my angel from the yoga studio the night I was building up the courage to ask her out.
Maya met him at the door and I saw that she kept looking in my direction but pretended not to see me.
She was putting on a show for me! She knew I was there, watching and she didn’t care!
She ushered him inside and I felt as if my head was going to explode at the disrespect she was showing.
My hand clenched around the baseball bat I had brought.
I can’t remember why I brought it. Probably for protection against Malcolm. Obviously, I was not going to hurt Maya.
I loved her.
But my vision went blurry as hurt and anger bubbled through me.
I wasn’t in control of myself anymore as I came to terms with the fact that Maya was a whore.
There was no denying it now, no saving our relationship.
I stepped forward but as I did, Luke and Sterling sauntered from the front door arm-in-arm.
Inexplicably, I wanted to attack them for being so in love and so oblivious to how cruel the world could be.
Yet I hung back and did not move until they got into their own car and drove away.
I strode forward then, bat in hand and without another thought, I crashed into the blonde man’s car.
Every hurt feeling, every iota of betrayal I felt, I administered into the vehicle until it seemed to be nothing but a pile of glass.
But it still wasn’t enough, and I scrounged around, looking for something to set it on fire.
All I could find was a can of red spray paint and as I held it in my hand, I wondered why he should be the only one to suffer.
It was all Maya’s fault after all.
She was the whore.
So I spelt my feelings actively on the farmhouse wall and after I stood back to look at the garish crimson words, I was suddenly consumed by regret.
And guilt.
I knew I didn’t have much time before I was caught literally red handed with the can of spray paint and batt in my hand.
I flew off down the country road to where I had parked my car, off the visible line of the local traffic.
By the time I got home to Minnesott Beach, I was much calmer.
It had been cathartic after all.
Maya deserved it.
Her boyfriend deserved it.
I was just balancing the scales and there was no way they could pin it on me.
When the police arrived, I was once again shocked that Maya could turn on me like that.
How dare she accuse me? I thought furiously. She loves me, and this is how she treats me?
I, of course, pleaded ignorance to the police and they went away with little evidence except the suspicions of a slut and her boyfriend.
But I was enraged.
It seemed that the insults would not stop with her.
She cheated on me.
She accused me of terrible things.
And she wouldn’t even talk to me.
Just like Regan.
They were all the same.
Someone had to stop her before she did more damage to more people.
How many men’s lives had she ruined before mine? How many more would she continue to ruin if someone didn’t stop her?