by Sophie Oak
Or, she could be making way too much of this. She strolled along the path as her brain whirled. Maybe it had been a casual thing for them, and she should take the same tact. Curt couldn’t have meant what he’d said about her belonging to him now. It wasn’t like a crazy three-way or superhot D/s sex automatically equaled some fairy-tale happily ever after. She could be making herself sick over nothing. She should walk back, take a shower, and get back to work. She was a strong, professional woman in charge of her life. She was perfectly capable of having meaningless sex. How could it be anything more? If she couldn’t keep Roger satisfied, she seriously doubted she was woman enough for any one of these men.
But deep inside, she wondered…could she really leave them behind for good? That would be logical. She had a book to get back on track, a plan to execute, and a career to build. There was no time for men in her life. They’d all felt pleasure in the act, but now it was over. No harm, no foul, no punishment. Well, except Curt, who knew exactly what kind of punishment to dish out.
“I’ve got to get a hold of myself.” She closed her eyes and repeated one of her meditation exercises. It was a treatment she’d tried to teach the men, but they’d been terribly disinterested. She focused on her goals. She made a mental picture of where she would be in six months. It worked for a bit to focus her mind. She could see herself on tour, helping clients, doing something good. But then she wasn’t alone. They were there. Their arms surrounded her. Their mouths whispered words of encouragement. They would be her strength when she had none. They would be her reason when she couldn’t find one.
Meaningless sex? She didn’t even know the meaning of the word.
She opened her eyes and gave up. Anytime she closed them from now on and tried to concentrate on what she wanted, they would be there. She sighed and wondered why she couldn’t take her own advice.
She began to walk, her mind a storm of indecision. She thought about what she taught. She taught clients that they shouldn’t listen to people who wanted to drag them down. They were the key to their own success, but more than that, they had to measure their own success by their standards, no one else’s. Hadn’t she been doing that all along?
Tess found herself on a dirt road still on the property. She had no idea how many acres the ranch had, probably several thousand. The spread used to be a working ranch, but now it was more like a gorgeous playground for the ultra-wealthy. There was the main house and several cabins strewn across the property. She was about to turn around and head back when a pretty structure caught her eye. The other cabins that she’d seen closer to the main house were made of logs. This one’s exterior was white rock. She could just imagine some kindly little soothsayer woman living inside, ready to tell her what her next step should be. If only that were true.
When Frank Boyle had taken her on a mini tour of the place, he’d mentioned he kept every cabin well stocked for the many friends and employees he invited out. This looked like the perfect place to hide out, until she could get her mind back in the game. As she approached, she saw a sign with the name on its quaint little door—“Honeymoon Cottage”.
Tess stepped up onto the porch, complete with a swing and two rocking chairs. No one was supposed to be on the ranch but her and the guys, so she grabbed the front door’s handle. Thankfully, it was not locked.
Inside, the cottage had a Western theme, with cowboy hats on hooks on the wall, lamps made from old boots on wooden side tables, a painting of mustangs running through a river above the fireplace’s mantle. The furniture was leather, and there was a large-screen TV that dominated the room. Definitely a man’s version of a honeymoon cottage.
Tess walked to the small fridge and cabinets by the stairs at the back wall. Inside was a bottle of white wine. In one of the cabinets she found a glass and a corkscrew. Yep, she was rapidly becoming a lush. It was barely past noon and she was holed up with a bottle. If only she had some sad country music playing, her cliché would be complete.
Tess poured a glass. She would relax for an hour or so, get her head on straight, and then get back to work.
She glanced around the cottage and decided to see what was up the stairs. The stairs led to a loft with a plush bed and a gorgeous dresser and side tables. There was a small desk with a landline phone on top. She was glad the men hadn’t found this place. She’d taken out all the landlines at the main house, but this one had been forgotten. She laughed a little as she envisioned the men fighting over the phone. Mike and Curt would probably punch each other in an attempt to see who would call first. Kevin would jump into the middle of it if no one thought to distract him with a slice of pizza. As for Marcus and Randy, they would stand off to the side and shake their heads. They were the good ones. The ones she could count on to obey the rules.
Why couldn’t she have fallen for them? Tess sipped her wine and sank onto the bed. No, not Tess. Tess had to fall in love with the hard cases. Now she was past sipping and just took a good long drink. She’d just thought the word love in conjunction with three professional athletes. She’d lost her damn mind.
What had happened with them should be a one-time experience. Right? Her mind whirled wildly. She desired more from Curt, more from Mike and Kevin, more from all of them. Crazy, sexy thoughts. She curled up on the bed and drank her glass of wine while a thousand fantasies played through her head. Time seemed to slow down as she watched the sun filter through the curtains. It was peaceful here. Feeling drowsy, Tess closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
“God, that is so amazing.” A deep voice jolted Tess awake. She sat up suddenly and wiped her eyes to get them to focus. Where was she? That’s right, the Honeymoon Cottage.
“Yes. Right there, baby.”
And she was no longer alone. She could hear a deep, masculine voice. Marcus. Marcus was here. How long had she been out? No idea. The loft was dark, but she could see beyond the half wall that soft light reflected on the ceiling coming from the main room. She looked out the window, worried it was night. Nope. Afternoon. But they had obviously drawn the blinds. Tess felt her breath catch. What was Marcus doing here in the middle of the afternoon with the blinds drawn?
“You like that, don’t you? Yeah, you know you do. You take that.” Randy’s voice was the dominant one now. There was a rough, almost angry edge to it.
Oh, crap. Were they?
“You are going down, motherfucker.” Marcus seemed really certain about that.
“Not unless you make me.”
Tess couldn’t help it. She had to see. If those two were doing what she thought they were doing, she would be forever mortified. And she totally wanted to see it.
It’s too late to come clean and announce I’m here. Tess hesitated. That would embarrass them too much, given how far they must be into their secret session. Tess decided to just wait them out. Once they were done and left, then she would come down. They would be none the wiser. She would keep their secret.
“Go for it, go for it, go for it.” Randy’s voice was a guttural plea.
“Don’t you dare,” Marcus shot back.
Damn, Tess thought, gay sex sounded awfully rough.
If curiosity killed the cat, Tess prayed she had nine lives. She gave in to the guilty urge to get a look at the two hot men making love, inching quietly to the half wall. She hugged close to the wall and looked down at the scene in front of her.
“Fucking A. Six points! Damn, man, Curt plays so much better in this freaking game than he does on the field.”
It took everything Tess had not to laugh out loud. Video games. They were playing video games. Football from the sound of it. They couldn’t get their brains off football even when they were relaxing. Those little weasels had snuck an Xbox in. These were her good boys?
“Pass me a beer, man.”
Randy reached into a cooler they’d also snuck in and pulled out two longnecks.
Marcus sighed as he put the bottle to his lips. “You have to teach me that play. I’m trying, but I can’t get the c
ombo right.”
Randy shrugged, his eyes on the screen. “Damn, I look fine in this game. They did a good job with that avatar thing.”
Marcus made a vomiting sound. “They fucked me up. I am not that much shorter than you. I look like a hobbit. I’m calling my agent to complain.”
“Good luck with that,” Randy shot back. “You know not being able to take a freaking phone call has been kind of nice.”
“Yeah, it’s made it a hell of a lot easier to duck Cindy What’s-her-name. She keeps calling me.”
A long sigh came out of Randy’s chest. “Candy. Her name was Candy. Do I need to slap a name tag on the women we date?”
“Where would you put it? We have them naked too fast for me to memorize anything. Maybe you should carry a Sharpie.”
She heard the thud of fist hitting flesh.
“Damn, man, I don’t know why I’m your friend. You’re an asshole.”
“I am not.” Marcus went silent for a moment. “I remember the important names.”
Tess stood up. It was time to let them know she was here. She wouldn’t even take the Xbox away. Maybe she’d just ask them for a beer.
“I remember Tess’s name.”
And just like that she cowered behind the wall again. What had he said?
“I know, man. I see the way you look at Tess.”
If Tess hadn’t been paying attention before, she sure as hell was now. She leaned forward.
“Yeah, you look at her, too.”
“Can you blame me? She’s gorgeous, and she doesn’t even know it. Tell me you haven’t thought about playing around with her?” Randy asked the question, his voice deepening.
“Oh, I’ve thought about it. I’ve thought about it a whole lot since I found out she slept with Kevin and Mike. I mean, we bring more to the table than those two. They don’t even know how to tie a girl up.”
Her breath hitched. It just went to show, you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. She wouldn’t have expected that was their kink.
“They didn’t learn from a master. Curt can be an asshole at times, but he’s a good teacher.”
Curt had taught them? Damn. She would love to have been the sub they practiced on. She missed the clubs. She knew that now. She missed practicing BDSM more than she’d imagined. There had been no judgment in a club, just the acknowledgment that sexuality was a beautiful, individual thing.
“And Tess is a sweet sub. She would look gorgeous on a St. Andrew’s Cross.” There was a hard quality to Randy’s voice that had her rethinking the wide receiver.
Despite the fact that she’d had more sex in the last twenty-four hours than she’d had in almost a year, she felt herself heating up. What would it be like to submit to all of them? How would she feel in the middle of all those glorious alpha men? Could she please them?
“Well, I think you’ll have to fight Curt. He’s trying to pretend, but he wants her bad. I thought he was going to beat the shit out of Mike this morning,” Randy said. “He was walking down the hall all ready to knock on her door and Mike slips out.”
“And where Mike’s been, Kevin couldn’t be far behind,” Marcus replied. “There goes next season.”
Tess’s heart plunged.
“Yep, Curt will push, and Mike will walk. He’s a great kicker and all, but we can find another. That’s not the problem.”
Marcus sighed. “Kevin will follow him. He’s in the middle of contract negotiations.”
“And we’ll lose the best tight end in the league. See, this is why I didn’t make a move on Tess. It’s too complicated, and honestly, I don’t know that she can handle it. Not everyone can handle ménage.” Randy sounded a little defeated. “We haven’t found anyone who wants us permanently.”
She listened as they talked about the women they had dated and how they always walked away in the end. They were young and not really looking for anything permanent, but they worried about it. It suddenly seemed so silly for Tess to let worry ruin what had been the two most important sexual experiences of her life. She was crazy about those men. They couldn’t work anything out if she pretended not to care. Being vulnerable to them terrified her, but she could either go back to the miserable failure her life had been before them or suck up her courage and pride—and go after what she wanted.
Just as soon as she could sneak out of here. She wondered how long she’d have to wait before Randy and Marcus went back to the main house. Didn’t matter. She would never let them know she’d been there. Besides, she’d have a little extra time to figure out exactly what to say to Curt, Mike, and Kevin. She could hear it now. Hey, guys, you all can share me. And maybe we can invite Marcus and Randy in, too. Yeah, that would go over like gangbusters. She would have to be persuasive, convince them she was worth it.
A small bit of arrogant pride surfaced. She hadn’t felt that in forever, but it was still there. She’d get them because she was Tess Proffit. She was damn good at persuasion. Confidence. That was the key. She would make them see that it could work. Hell, they would make a great team.
Marcus sighed. “I want to go home. I get that this is important. I really do, but it can’t work when the others won’t even try.”
Tess smiled at the thought. They would try now. She was pretty sure those boys would be a little more amenable to her methods.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I can’t believe what they did to Tess.”
Tess froze then turned back to the railing, peering down.
Marcus was wrapping up the controllers. “They’re a bunch of Neanderthals. What else could we expect?”
Randy shook his head. “Tess didn’t deserve to be seduced just so they could try to butter her up to let us all leave. If they would just listen to her, maybe they would learn something. She makes sense, you know? You don’t have to play football to know how to be a team player. Maybe after this is over and those assholes have self-destructed, we can ask her out.”
“If she’ll talk to any of us. Hopefully they aren’t stupid enough to let her know what they did. We might need a kicker, a tight end, and a quarterback if she finds out they decided to fuck her so they could get out of here.”
A silent buzz deafened her for a long moment, which ended when her heart kicked into overdrive. Tess looked down at her hand. It was shaking. She felt sick to her stomach. How stupid was she? Had she really thought for one second that those men wanted her for her? She hadn’t managed to keep dull Roger’s attention. Why would gorgeous professional athletes want her when they could have any woman?
The terrible plan Marcus and Randy discussed made perfect sense. The rest of the guys wanted out of what they considered to be a ridiculous program, and what better way than to take control of the idiot in charge? She’d been a real easy mark, her confidence low, her desperation for affection and approval stupidly high. She hadn’t fought them at all. She’d just smiled and done everything they asked her to.
And now she would pay the price.
“We better get back before someone comes looking for us.”
Tess turned away as they closed the cooler and started to leave. Where was the rage she should feel? She wanted to get mad, but a deep, aching pain drowned out everything else. She bit her lip to hold in the tears stinging her eyes.
There wouldn’t be a triumph out of this assignment. She wouldn’t be able to go home and proudly discuss how she’d gotten this team where they needed to be mentally. Her book would rapidly be forgotten in a sea of other meaningless self-help books.
Tess heard the door to the cabin scrape open then close. There was really only one thing to do. She got up and straightened her skirt. She walked across the room and picked up the phone. Before she could talk herself out of it, she dialed Frank Boyle’s number. He’d trusted her with his team, and she’d screwed it up. All she had left was her integrity. She wasn’t giving it up, no matter what it cost her.
“Hello, Mr. Boyle, it’s Tess Proffit. I think we should talk.”
* * * *
Mike paced back and forth feeling like a caged lion. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Every minute that ticked by was one more minute that Tess was late. It wasn’t like her. She was always on time, but she’d missed two sessions after lunch. Mike had seen her as she walked into the session with Curt and then, nothing.
Mike looked around the room. Kevin had been there for hours, but Marcus and Randy had only joined them an hour before. The others hadn’t seen Tess’s lateness as anything to worry about, but now they all looked as agitated as he felt.
If she didn’t show up in the next twenty minutes, Mike had decided to start an all-out search party. The ranch didn’t have a large staff, but they knew the grounds. He would look through every cabin, every barn, and every inch of property until he found her. A fission of fear kicked him in the gut. What if she was hurt? Needed him?
Curt barged into the room from the hallway to Tess’s room. “Where is Tess?”
Anger welled up inside Mike. Had Curt been in her room? Why? Didn’t the quarterback realize that Tess belonged to him and Kevin? If he didn’t, Mike would be happy to let him know.
“We have no idea where Tess is. Mike has looked all over the house.” Randy shook his head. “Curt, you’re late, too. Where have you been?”
“Looking for her,” Curt snapped back. Then he sat down, placed his head in his hands. That mask of arrogance he wore slipped away, and weariness caused his face to sag. “When was the last time anyone saw her?”
Mike couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d never imagined that stony badass Curt could have a soft spot for anyone, much less Tess Proffit. He’d understood plainly that the man wanted her, but caring about her was different. Caring about Tess meant they had something in common.
“Not since this morning.” Kevin stared out the window as though waiting for her to return. Mike hadn’t been able to get him away from that window for hours. He’d skipped lunch. He just stood by the window.
Marcus frowned. “If she misses this session, that will make three she’s bailed on. It’s not like her.”