Three Men and a Woman: Liberty (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)
Page 20
“I need to—” Ry’s head fell to his chest, and Tag could see how worn the man was. A couple weeks ago, he’d been the next thing to dead. “I need to go home.”
Keegan’s gaze had met Tag’s, and both men had nodded. They’d cleaned up the mess from their meal, and Ry had silently packed up the clothing he had scattered in Lib’s spare room. He and Keeg had hobbled out to the truck Tag had left in the driveway.
Before he left the house, Tag went to Lib’s room. He stood outside that closed door and didn’t know what he could do to open it. To have her open it. All he knew was his brother was hurting, and that seemed like the most important thing at the moment. So he’d turned away, walked out of the house, and took his family home.
Most of his family.
He’d thought of Lib every day. Many minutes, many hours of every day. But he was damn busy, dawn to well past dusk, with Keeg still laid up on crutches and Ry barely back from the dead. Almost all of the work of the ranch fell on his shoulders.
He thought Lib would understand. He thought she knew him well enough, trusted him enough, to know he was doing his best.
And the truth was, Ry had him worried.
Once Ry realized his feelings for Lib, as Tag had been so confident he would, the solution would follow. Tag had been firmly convinced of it. The three brothers could love Lib, and share her, and she would love them back. He’d been certain it would work. That it would be great. It would be…epic.
But Ry had balked. Had continued to balk. Even though his feelings for Liberty were clear, the man refused to see the inevitable answer. The only, the obvious solution.
Even as he suffered.
So Tag had begun to doubt himself. Ry was bright, brilliant, even, and a born strategist. Tag had always trusted him to solve any problem the brothers faced. To see the right solution.
Only, Ry wasn’t seeing this, and Tag had begun to wonder if he was the one who was crazy.
As the week dragged on, he was feeling further and further from right.
About anything.
Wednesday evening, Keegan finally fixed things. Like a wrecking ball. Which, Tag knew, was sometimes what it took.
The brothers were having one more silent, glum meal. Ry had been lethargically working at the exercises his therapists had assigned him. Tag was endlessly busy outdoors, managing the ranch chores. So Keeg had taken over kitchen duty, and he wasn’t putting the least effort into it. He’d scorched a pot of chicken chili, and all the fixings in the world couldn’t disguise the burnt taste.
After a few bites, Ry slapped his bowl away. “This is shit.”
Keeg shoved to his feet, wobbling because he’d forgotten about his crutches. “Well, fuck it. You cook, then.”
“Forget it,” Ry said. “Not hungry, anyway.” He pushed back from the table and started to walk away.
“Yeah,” Keeg yelled after him. “Not hungry. Not working your rehab. Not happy. We’re all not happy, and it’s your damn fault!”
Ry turned back. “Shut the fuck up. We weren’t ever going to be happy. Not all three of us with…with Libby.”
Keeg didn’t back down from Ry’s temper. “I was,” he said. “I was damn happy. Tag, too. And you took it away. Because you’re fucking scared.”
Ry stepped closer, and Tag wondered if he was going to have to move between them, breaking up a fight for the first time in more than a decade. But Ry’s gaze fell to the floor. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“The hell I don’t,” Keeg said. He wasn’t yelling anymore. He spoke with understanding. With sympathy. “Lib isn’t Kira. Haven’t you noticed? Lib’s got heart. She’s got strength. She’s loyal. She won’t give up on us. She won’t give up on you. You don’t have to be scared.”
Tag could see the way Ry’s jaw worked. He had a little suspicion the man was fighting tears. Not knowing what better to do, he walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Keeg’s right, you know.”
Ry still looked at the floor. “She can’t love us that much, can she? All of us?”
“Yeah. I think she can. I’m betting on it.”
Keeg was sitting again, his right foot up on Ry’s chair. “He doesn’t think she can love him that much,” he said, showing that the littlest brother wasn’t exactly stupid, either.
“Did she tell you she loves you?” Tag asked.
Ry shook his head. “Not in so many words.”
Keeg snorted quietly. “Three. That’s all it takes.”
Tag ignored that. “She told me.”
Ry looked up. “She told you…she said that about me?”
Tag nodded.
“I was…I was kind of cranky when I was with her.”
That brought another, louder snort from the youngling.
“Well, if you’re not sure, I guess we ought to go ask her.”
After a minute, Ry nodded. Keeg pumped his fist. “Yes! Finally.”
Somehow, Tag had thought it would be okay, when they made use of the key Ry had and walked into her house with a plan. Then he saw the ring on her dresser and knew he’d gotten it wrong.
So he was down on one knee now, in a parking lot, with a lot of interested folks going out of their way to shamelessly gawk, and wondering if he was going to be able to make it right.
He held the ring up with one hand and lifted the other one, too. Waiting. Probably not quite begging, but not far short of it, either.
Okay, maybe all the way there. “Lib? Please?”
* * * *
Liberty felt the pressure, that surge of hopeful gladness for her from the folks around her. The best of her friends had heard about Tag back in January, had known her heart had been quickly, quietly stolen. She’d even shared with a few of them that she was considering moving to the ranch.
But they didn’t know it all. They didn’t know that Tag wasn’t on his knee for just himself, but for his two brothers, too.
She wondered what they would think if they knew.
It was a good question, and she knew the answer would matter to her in this life. If she chose this life. So she stayed where she was and looked around.
She saw Coloradans. Most of them were transplants, but she knew some of them had descended from the earliest settlers. Those folks who’d traveled in harsh circumstances to make a life in a harsh environment, all to pursue what they wanted in life. That independence of spirit imbued even those who’d lived there for only a handful of years.
A good portion of them grew their own marijuana, she knew. Almost all of them were rugged outdoors people. Probably without exception, they believed a person ought to live the way that person thought best, regardless of what others or their government thought about it.
Liberty had parked next to her friend Fran, and that one watched with great interest over the top of her car.
And so Liberty said it to Fran. “He wants me to be with his brothers, too. All three of them.”
Fran’s brow shot up. Almost without missing a beat, she tilted her head toward Tag. “They all look like him?”
Liberty nodded.
“Do you love all of them?”
She nodded again.
“Will you invite me to the wedding?”
“No.”
That wasn’t Lib’s answer, but Tag’s. Both women looked to him. He’d gotten to his feet and come a few steps closer.
“Well, come if you want,” Tag corrected. “But it’s happening right now. We’re going for a license, and then we’re going to Lib’s house and making it happen.”
“Ah, well…”
Liberty smiled. Fran had her dancing clothes on, and men to conquer. Single men.
“We’ll have a party later.” Tag had a noticeable sparkle in his eyes. “On the ranch. Make a weekend of it. We know a lot of cowboys. And we’ve got a barn with a hay loft.”
“I’m invited,” she said, not a question but an order.
“First on the list,” Tag promised.
“All
righty, then. See ya, babe,” she said with a wink to Liberty. Giving a general wave around the lot, she spoke up loudly. “Come on, people. Those margaritas aren’t going to drink themselves.” She got into her car and blew Liberty a little kiss before she backed out and drove off.
There might have been some reluctance, but gradually folks got it in gear and the parking lot emptied.
Liberty was alone with Tag then. She looked at him with a little regret. “I kind of liked you on your knees.”
“I like that position, too,” he said. “Especially when you give my hair a good yank and throw your head back and scream.”
Liberty looked away, not quite ready to play.
Tag took the final steps and cupped his hands around her face. Then he waited until her eyes came to his.
“I love you, Lib,” he said. “I can’t promise how this will work. All we can do is try it. But I can say my heart won’t be whole until you’re with me. So, please, let’s give it a try.”
She took a long breath.
“I’m not the only one who wants you to say yes, you know.”
Of course, he wasn’t, but—
“Fran wants it, too.”
He was smiling, and she couldn’t help smiling back. “Her two brothers are cops, you know.”
“We probably shouldn’t invite them to the party.”
“It sounds like a good one, though. The party.”
He was still smiling when he leaned in to kiss her. “The best.”
* * * *
Earlier in the day, Keegan had shopped while Tag had taken Ry to his follow-up rehab appointments. Tag waited now while Liberty disappeared into the no-man zone of the dressing rooms in the back of the bridal shop in downtown Denver that Keeg had sent them to. The clerks bustled around, carting in a couple different shoe boxes and some bags that Tag liked to speculate held some interesting lingerie. They shot him coy looks as they performed the historically correct functions of bride’s maids.
Liberty had objected when he’d driven her there first thing. She already wore a dress, she told him.
“And it’s a fine one,” he’d said. “Mighty fine.” For about the tenth time, he reminded himself he’d been delinquent—he really needed to take his girl dancing again. “Just…not for today.”
Because Keegan would claim he could do better, and the fact was he had.
When she walked out of the dressing room, Tag was sorry there wasn’t the whole, long aisle of a cathedral-sized church for her to walk to him. Because he wasn’t going to get his tongue back inside his mouth during these few, short steps.
She wore a slim, lovely thing in ivory lace. From the bands of embroidery that caressed her shoulders to midway down her hips, the delicate fabric clung to her curves. It plunged deeply between her breasts but was kept reasonably modest by tabs of lace worked into embroidered whorls that met in the middle and left only hints of flesh. At her hips, layers of the skirt flared out, falling softly to just above her knees in front and a little longer in back.
Her legs were covered with the barest wisps of silk, and he’d bet the ranch the silk ended in lace at her thighs.
She wore heels, also in ivory, also with lace, and spiked.
He owed Keeg big-time.
Tag was on his feet without remembering how he got there. He had both his hands out, and, when he had hers in them, he leaned in for a soft kiss.
The girls had helped with makeup and hair, too. Her lips were natural but glistening, somehow, suggestive of…well, suggestive. And her hair was bundled up mostly on top of her head, with a poufy fall of curls at her left shoulder. There was a little lace in it, too—nothing like a veil, but enough to suggest one.
She was a knock-out.
“You’re beautiful, Lib.” He’d had to swallow before he could speak, and even then it wasn’t a sure thing.
She smiled, and he understood Keeg had helped her feel like a bride.
Like she damn well should.
He nodded a thanks to the store ladies, making a promise to himself that they’d be receiving a good tip.
Then he held her hand and walked her out.
He realized he should have arranged for a limo, not just washed his truck. But the woman seemed perfectly happy to climb up in it. More like, be lifted up into it, because that was what happened.
Tag had gotten most of their marriage license paperwork done online, so it didn’t take long at the courthouse. He had the prettiest woman on earth on his arm, so they were met with smiles throughout the process.
When that was done, he took her home. They had a marriage certificate with them, a form they could fill out themselves and submit later for the legalities.
A couple could self-solemnize a marriage in Colorado. A minister or a judge to perform the ceremony was optional. So were witnesses, but there were two lines on the certificate for that purpose, and Tag knew whose names were going there.
Both Keegan and Orion were on Liberty’s front steps when Tag pulled into the drive. Even to his eye, they looked pretty handsome in their suits and definitely eager to see Lib. Tag circled around the truck to lift her out, then set her down at the walk. He held her hand for a moment, but let her walk to the porch on her own.
Keeg was two steps lower down. She got to him first, and he lifted her hand to kiss it. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hi, Keeg,” she said. “Good shopping.” The two of them shared a sweet smile.
Then she looked up to the top of the stairs where Ry was watching intently. She reached a hand up, held it there until Ry grabbed hold, and took those two steps.
* * * *
She was so damn beautiful, Orion’s heart hurt. She was almost too beautiful to touch.
But she was Liberty, and that meant she wouldn’t hold back. She came right up to him, put her free hand on his cheek, and gazed into his eyes like she should be the one who was worried.
Without speaking, he lifted the hand he held onto his shoulder and gently set both of his at her waist. Over that delicate lace that made her the sexiest bride ever. He dropped his forehead to hers.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I know I hurt you.”
“You were hurting,” she said, much more forgiving than he deserved. She brushed her thumb over his cheek until he lifted his gaze to hers. “Is this what you want? Are you sure?”
He took in her sweet face, those blue eyes as loving as could be. “Are you kidding? You in my life forever? What could I possibly want more than that?”
She smiled, and he did the only thing he could do. He leaned in and kissed her. “Come inside,” he said when he was done. Or, not exactly done, but all too aware that both Keeg and Tag stood beside them now, looking all impatient.
While Tag had been out fetching their girl, Keeg had pulled Orion into action setting up the house. There’d been food and flower deliveries, and bags that contained candles, crystal, and champagne. They’d cleared Lib’s dining room table of its usual piles of sheet music, keyboard, and computer. It was covered now with lace, topped with flowers, lit by candles, and set for dinner.
Orion was pretty sure the containers being warmed in the kitchen were filled with lobster tails and drawn butter. He’d noted quite a selection of desserts, also.
They’d filled the living room, too, with candles and flowers, enough that they got a pretty good “aw,” now from Lib. “Who did this?” she asked, from where she’d halted just inside the door.
“Keeg and Ry,” Tag answered. “I was busy convincing you to join us.”
“I was just the grunt,” Orion admitted. “Keeg made it happen.”
“It’s beautiful,” Lib said. “Thank you.”
“We should have asked,” Orion went on, feeling a bit nervous. “Is there anyone you want to have here with you? Family? Friends?”
She smiled, exchanged a brief look with Tag, but shook her head. “No,” she said. “This is perfect, isn’t it? Just the four of us? This is exactly what we want, don’t you think?”
He nodded. They all did.
Then Tag had some pretty things to say. They stood there in the living room in a kind of circle. Keeg and Orion took Lib’s either side, each holding a hand. Tag stood in front of her, his hands set at her waist.
He promised love and faithfulness and his every effort to make her happy, to his dying breath. She got a little leaky and used the handkerchief Keeg handed her for that delicate mopping up deal few women could make look so sweet.
Keeg told her he loved her and always would. That she was making him and his brothers very happy men.
Then she looked at Orion, and he took a breath that he realized wasn’t scared at all.
“I wasn’t sure I deserved to be happy. But you’re making it happen whether I deserve it or not. I’m so glad Tag found you for us, and I’ll do everything I can to make certain you never regret taking a chance on us.”
Tears were spilling over again, so she did another little cleanup before she spoke. She looked at Tag first, but turned to Keeg and then Orion, too. “I love you all. I want to be with you three, and only you three, forever. I promise.”
She kissed each one of them. Tag had commissioned three more rings—circles of emeralds and gold—and each brother placed one on her finger. Apparently, there’d been an unplanned shopping stop, because Liberty had a gold band for each of them, too. Watching her pretty eyes, still a little shimmery with tears, as she slipped Orion’s onto his finger made for a hell of a moment.
They toasted with laughter and champagne, and Tag had them sign the paperwork. She could make a legal marriage with only one of them, and that was Tag. But it felt good to Orion to sign his name, loud and clear like a big John Hancock, on the certificate. Keeg seemed satisfied with that, too.
More celebratory kissing followed and took a fairly serious turn. Orion figured dinner was going to wait. He should have had a snack earlier, but he wasn’t about to complain.
Keeg surprised him, though—and Tag, too, it looked like—by putting on some music. It was a woman’s voice that Orion didn’t recognize, deep and rich and slow. They spent a good, long time dancing, Lib in one man’s arms and then another. Kissing and dancing, and then…touching and kissing and dancing.