Lighting a Flame [Sequel to Playing with Fire] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by Serenity Snow

  “Oh fuck!” he cried harshly as her body milked him dry.

  * * * *

  The symphony of harsh breathing filled the air as he pulled from Vinessa’s body. Marika groaned a moment later as Vinessa pulled from her. She turned and glided her hand over Lucas’s hip.

  “Let me take this,” Vinessa said and kissed him, taking him by surprise. She sighed softly, leaning into him as she plundered his mouth with a greed that he eagerly returned after a shocked moment. “I want so much more of you.” She pressed a kiss to his lips before disposing of the condom in the trash beneath the sink where she’d watched Marika toss the paper the flowers had been in.

  “He is a terrific lover,” Marika murmured as Vinessa washed her hands. Lucas looked sated and confused as he watched Vinessa. Marika reached out to touch him, hope dancing in her stomach.

  Lucas pulled Marika from the counter, wrapping her tight in his arms and carrying her to the sofa. He dropped down on it and his lips closed over hers. Vinessa curled onto the cushion next to them and kissed Marika’s shoulder.

  “This is too crazy,” Lucas murmured, looking at Vinessa and then Marika. “We can’t do this.”

  Marika started to speak, but Vinessa gave her a warning look that had her lips clamping together in silence.

  “We can’t do what, Lucas?” Vinessa asked, reaching out to stroke his arm.

  Marika saw hunger flare in his eyes. She knew the look well. He wanted Vinessa again.

  “The three of us aren’t going to have a ménage relationship,” he said with something in his eyes and voice she didn’t recognize.

  “Marika said you didn’t want that,” Vinessa said as Marika reached out to stroke Vinessa’s thigh. “But it could work.”

  He shook his head. “It’s insane. How will we ever manage it without someone getting hurt? And we don’t even really know you, Vinessa. Do you have a job? Are you a serial home-wrecker? I mean, we were fine until you decided to fuck things up! Marika didn’t want to fuck women until you put that idea into her head.”

  Vinessa studied him, her gaze hooded. “But you had fantasies of fucking us both, didn’t you?” Vinessa said, and Marika looked at him.

  “Did you?” she asked curiously.

  “No! I mean, yes, but I didn’t have fantasies of you fucking each other.” He stood and dumped Marika on the couch next to Vinessa.

  “You’ve been so wrapped up in your career that you’ve put our real lives on hold for the last nine months, but you had time to contemplate cheating on me?” Marika demanded accusingly.

  “Is that what this is all about?” he snapped. “I don’t take you out enough?” He turned blazing eyes on Vinessa, who got to her feet and stared him down as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I have a real job, so I don’t have time to call you every five minutes or hang out every night lying between your legs with a fake dick.”

  “You bastard!” Marika shouted. She leaped to her feet.

  “I’m a real man,” he said and sneered at Vinessa.

  “A real man—”

  “Marika,” Vinessa said coolly, but her eyes never left Lucas. “Lucas, it’s time you left.”

  “I agree.” He gave her a cold stare before turning his golden eyes back on Marika. “You’re nothing to her. That’s the reason I asked her to top you. She’s a heartless bitch who plays every sub that dares trust her. Once she’s wrecked their lives, she moves on to the next needy, lonely woman.”

  Marika slapped him so hard his head jerked to one side. “I wouldn’t be so needy if you were doing your job.” She stalked from the living room, tears glistening in her eyes.

  “Bitch,” he muttered.

  Vinessa drew back and punched him in the stomach, and he grunted as he doubled over. “I know you’re hurt and you’re pissed,” she said quietly. “I would be, too. And it’s true, I’ve done a lot of fucked up things in the past, but you came to me. I wanted her, yet I didn’t dare poach. I could see that you loved each other, and for once, I gave a damn.”

  “Then, why don’t you get out and let us work this out?” he demanded. “It won’t be easy for me to trust her knowing she wants you, but we can be happy again.”

  She shook her head. She knew what love was and what love wasn’t. She also realized some people had two soul mates and the world often made them choose. She didn’t think anyone should have to, and she wouldn’t force Marika to if this jackass came to his senses.

  “I don’t want to take her from you, but if you want her back, you have to take me, too,” she said. She liked Lucas. He made her pulse do something funny, and he seemed like a steady man who had the ability to give his heart with true and abiding affection.

  And she wanted to be loved like that.

  “You’re not the kind of woman I need in my life,” he said coldly. “You’re too damned dominant.”

  “You’re obviously not man enough for me or Marika. Now get the hell out.”

  * * * *

  Marika was in the shower when Vinessa stepped into her bedroom seven minutes later. She stood outside the bathroom door listening to Marika crying as she tried to decide if joining her would be a good idea. Marika was obviously wounded, and she had somehow inadvertently caused it by falling for Vinessa during their play sessions.

  She should have refused when Lucas asked her to top Marika. However, part of her had been too blind to see the danger ahead, even with the caution signs of experience flashing in her mind after that first session. And now, she regretted not holding back at Jewel. Vinessa crossed the white vinyl floor with blue floral pattern. She caught sight of herself in the square mirror over the single-sink vanity as she passed and stopped to admire the shadows in her own eyes. She took a deep breath and pulled back the shower curtain. This wasn’t about her guilt. She had to comfort her woman.

  “Vinessa.”

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “No.” Marika leaned back against her and Vinessa’s arms curved around her waist as she kissed Marika’s shoulder. “I don’t care what he said about you. I heard the rumors, too, and the past doesn’t matter. I only care about how you treat me.”

  Vinessa held her tight and a weight lifted from her shoulders. She had been raised by good parents who’d taught right from wrong, but she’d been overindulged and spoiled. As a result, she’d grown into a confident woman who never let many things limit her. She thought she was entitled to whatever she wanted as long as she was willing to ask for it.

  Maybe that was why she hadn’t cared about breaking hearts and wrecking relationships. It was only in the last year that she’d begun to understand the damage she had the power to inflict by being so careless with people’s hearts.

  What a selfish bitch she had been had never really been clear than it was right now as Marika cried in her arms.

  Chapter Eight

  A week later, Marika was still struggling to get over Lucas. She had done some thinking when she and Vinessa weren’t together in order to make sure she wasn’t just using Vinessa out of neediness. She had been lonely, but what she found was a strong ebb-and-flow of feelings for both Vinessa and Lucas that made her head spin.

  She didn’t want to let Lucas go, but there was no way to get him back, she mused as she stepped into the break room to find Dr. Lindsey glowering down at Dallas, who stared up at him, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.

  “I don’t care what crazy ideas you’ve got into your head, you little slut,” he snarled at her. “You stay the hell away from my wife. If I ever catch you at my home again, I’ll make sure you never work in this city again.”

  “I’m not worried about you blacklisting me, you son of a bitch.” She hissed. “If you even think about it, I’ll sue you, and I’ll let slip your little habit.”

  Habit? What habit? The guy wasn’t an addict.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you better stay out of my business,” he snapped back, keeping his voice low, but not low enough.

 
“Then, you better stay out of mine,” Dallas retorted, her voice rising.

  Dr. Lindsey leaned toward Dallas. “I meant what I said. Stay away from my wife. She’s not a freaking—”

  “You don’t know what she is,” she muttered.

  “Neither do you,” he said. “So stay away or I will kill you.” He stalked to the door and glared down at Marika, who stepped aside to let him pass.

  “Dallas,” Marika said as she hurried across the scarred, tiled floor of the florescent-lit room. “What is going on?”

  “He caught us together last night, but we were just sitting on the couch, watching a movie.” She shrugged. “He’s such an ass—” She broke off as her cell phone rang. “It’s Rebecca.”

  “Do not answer that,” Marika ordered. “You have to break it off with her. The man just said he’d kill you if you didn’t stay away from her.”

  “He’s an asshole,” she said as she connected. “Hi, baby…Wait, slow down.” She walked from the room, leaving Marika alone.

  Marika shook her head and blew out a harsh breath. She had known this situation would get messy, and now it had the potential to get even messier. She stared at the vending machine and decided to run out and grab a quick salad from the sub shop down the street.

  Marika stopped short as she found Vinessa leaning against the side of her car in the parking lot. Her lips tilted in a grin and she laughed. Her heart thumped a little erratically at the sight of her woman. She hurried toward her and Vinessa folded her into a hug when Marika reached her.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Vinessa greeted her. “Ready for lunch?”

  “This is a great surprise.”

  “I hoped you’d like it,” Vinessa said. “C’mon. I just brought some takeout for us to eat in my car. I didn’t know how long you had, so I didn’t want to waste time dragging you someplace.”

  “This is great,” Marika said. Lucas had never done anything this spontaneous. He’d plan lunch with her a week in advance, just like their date nights.

  Vinessa led her to her car holding her hand. Lucas wasn’t too big on public displays of affection, except at the club, and even then he kept things limited.

  “I hope you weren’t hoping to keep us in the closet,” Vinessa said as she opened the door of her black Buick for Marika. “I don’t live that way, but I’ll tone it down for you.”

  “Umm, I hadn’t thought about it.” But she did like the idea of not hiding this part of her.

  Marika climbed into the car and Vinessa slammed the door shut, and the aroma of food wafted to her. “So what’d you bring, my Mistress?” Marika asked with a teasing grin.

  Vinessa grinned back. “I brought shrimp fried rice with some egg rolls.”

  “Some of my favorites.” Marika grinned. “Thank you.”

  Vinessa handed her a carton. “You’re welcome.” Vinessa held out a bottle. “Raspberry green tea.”

  “I love egg rolls, by the way,” Marika murmured.

  “Good.” Vinessa smiled as Marika took a bite.

  “Mmm. Good.” She chewed and swallowed. “Vinessa, what do you do for a living?” Vinessa had taken every opportunity in the last week to quiz her about her family, her past. She’d been so busy basking in the attention she hadn’t found out anything about Vinessa beyond her love for using dildos.

  “I design sex toys and co-own Fantasy Brokers.”

  “Are you serious? I’ve bought a few toys from you guys and pretty much all of my lingerie. No shop, online or off, is better than you guys.”

  Vinessa shrugged. “I’ll be sure to tell Dan how much you love her lingerie.”

  Marika gave her a faint smile. “Vinessa, are you serious about me or am I just a fling until someone you want more comes along?” she asked quietly. She turned her gaze to look out the windshield and watched a bird descend on a chip across the parking lot.

  “Marika, I know you’re still in love with Lucas, and you’re still hoping he’ll come around,” Vinessa said. “But I’m not a monster. I have made mistakes and done some flat-out low-down shit that’s made me worse than any man you’ve ever met.”

  “Why were you like that?” Marika asked.

  She shrugged. “I never really made excuses,” she said. “I was wrong, Marika. I was just a son of a bitch. I saw something I wanted and I took it. I’ve tried not to be that way with you.” She sighed.

  “You didn’t make me dump Lucas,” she murmured. “We were drifting apart because in the last nine months he works more than he spends time with me. It’s been getting hard for me not to want someone—I was lonely. The times Lucas took me to the club and I saw you I fantasized you’d come home to me instead of leaving me alone like Lucas did.”

  Vinessa frowned. “I work hard, but I’d put you first ninety percent of the time.”

  Marika leaned her head back against the headrest. “I started falling in love with you three months ago. Lucas let me watch some of your scenes and I just love how you were with the subs after the scene. So gentle. Not just a blanket, but a caress. You talked to them and the look on your face, in your eyes, said you cared if they were okay.”

  “I do care,” she admitted, reaching across the console to stroke Marika’s arm. “I don’t have sex with all my subs, and I care if the scenes were so intense they stirred some emotions they can’t handle.”

  “Then, you’re not as big a bastard as you think you are.” She rolled her head on the seat so their eyes met. “Did you just want me because Lucas had me?”

  “No. I wanted you both in my bed, Marika,” she murmured. “I still do, but I won’t try and force him into something that he can’t handle.”

  She swallowed. “Do you feel anything for me and Lucas?”

  Vinessa smiled and lightly rubbed her finger along Marika’s cheek. “I’ve wanted just you for a long time, but I respected your relationship with Lucas. Then, I got to know him that little bit, and I didn’t want to hurt him either.”

  Marika polished off her egg roll and some of her rice. This was so complicated yet so simple. Her heart beat for two people. One already had a claim on her and the other was just beginning to grow. Why wasn’t love ever simple?

  Vinessa caressed her arm. “How’s Dallas?”

  She sighed. “She’s fine. She’s still wasting her time with that married woman. I worry about her. The woman’s husband is our boss.”

  “Just be careful. Sometimes situations like that turn nasty,” she murmured. “I don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire, so stay away from his home.”

  “I will,” Marika agreed.

  They finished lunch and Vinessa walked Marika back to front door of the dental office.

  “I’ll see you tonight.” Vinessa dropped a kiss on Marika’s lips. “Later, baby.”

  * * * *

  “Lucas, I love these designs,” Colton Taylor commented after going over the designs Lucas had shown him fifteen minutes ago.

  He’d waited all day to hand them over to his older brother because he wasn’t sure how Colton would react. However, Lucas was proud of the curvaceous designs. He thought the designs were a modern take on the Victorian furniture. The furniture would fit into contemporary and modern homes without a problem.

  Colton sat back in the cloth chair in his Spartan office, fixing his brown eyes on him. His blond hair was military short and he was a full head taller than Lucas. “We’ll start production on them immediately,” he said.

  “Are you sure we can afford it?” Lucas asked.

  “I’m positive. Besides, what do we really have to lose? We’re on the verge of losing everything as it is. So, if we have to file for bankruptcy, we may as well go down trying to fight our way out of this.” He grimaced. “That bastard didn’t just leave our mother, he took thousands with him.”

  Lucas shook his head. He was still angry with his father for the way he’d left them. He’d taken nearly every dime they had, leaving their mother to struggle with the financial devastation and heartache.

&
nbsp; “Mom was just asking about you,” Colton said. “She wonders when you and Marika are going to give her some grandchildren.”

  He sighed. His mother had taken the divorce hard. She was just starting to date and trust herself again, and she was more involved with the business than she’d ever been. He knew she’d make the final call, not his brother, but he wouldn’t attempt to sway her.

  “Why aren’t you at least planning a wedding?” Colton demanded. “You love her, right?”

  “It’s complicated,” Lucas answered with a grimace. It was complicated because he loved one woman with all his heart and soul, and he was intensely drawn to the other.

  “Then, simplify it,” Colton said. “Put a ring on her finger.”

  Lucas smiled wanly. “I want to, believe me, but I need to give her time to work out a few things first.” He hadn’t spoken to Marika in a week. He’d been brooding, licking his wounds, and plain old wallowing in self-pity instead of doing something about the situation.

  “Don’t keep allowing her to jerk you around,” Colton said. “You deserve to have a woman who loves you, not one who just wants someone to pay her bills.”

  “Marika pays her own way,” he contradicted coldly. It hurt that she wouldn’t take any financial help from him, even though he was barely keeping his own head above water.

  Colton shook his head. “Anyway, I’ll get the ball rolling and let you know if we’re going to do the entire collection or just a few pieces.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you later. I’m cutting out on time this evening.”

  “Good,” Colton said with a smile. “Maybe you can get your love life back on track, and Marika will finally agree to marry you.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean ‘back on track’?” Lucas demanded. Colton spoke as if he had some kind of intimate knowledge.