“They call it bride stealing,” Aleki said cheerfully.
“B-bride stealing?”
“In Escana, harems are normal. Encouraged even,” Caleb told her.
“H-harems? Like one man and multiple wives?”
“Actually, it’s the reverse,” Aleki informed her. “In Escana men form the harem. Then they go searching for a woman to be the center.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re serious? That really happens? It’s legal?”
“It’s not just legal, it’s a sacred part of their culture,” Caleb told her. “Escanaian men are very protective of their women. They figured out hundreds of years ago that keeping their women safe was their job, and it was made easier if they shared the responsibility. They cherish them. Adore them.”
“Discipline them when they’re naughty,” Aleki added.
Her heart raced.
“When the harem finds a woman they want as theirs, they can approach her guardian,” Caleb told her. “Or they can call on the ancient law of bride stealing.”
“They just take her?” What sort of place was this?
“Yes, but it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Aleki said.
“Right. Really? Because right now it sounds pretty barbaric.” And kind of intriguing.
“Like I said, women are cherished,” Caleb said. “There is no abuse tolerated. When a woman is stolen, she’s taken back to the harem’s house where she is, well, how do I describe it . . .”
“Wooed,” Aleki said with a grin.
“Wooed? Seriously?” She glared at him.
“You don’t want to be wooed?” Aleki asked.
“What do you mean by wooed? Do you even know what wooed is?”
“Sure, it means we do romantic shit,” Aleki said cheerfully. “We prove to you that we can take care of you, protect you, cherish you.”
“Are you saying that . . . that you want a relationship with me? All of you?”
Aleki cupped the side of her face, turning her head towards him. “Baby girl, I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t want to see you again. I didn’t want to know that you’d been happy these past years without me because I’ve never been whole.”
“Aleki,” she whispered. She wished she could get free of the blanket to hold him. Tears raced down her cheeks. She hated that she’d caused him such pain. “I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault,” he said fiercely. “We would have figured that shit out together. But it’s my fault too. I let you go. I should have known something was wrong, but I let my own insecurities get to me. I should have fought for you.”
“You want me?”
“With every fucking breath I take.”
“But . . .” She looked to Caleb. “You said that you planned on sharing a woman. The three of you.”
“That’s right,” Caleb told her. “It might have been eight years, but it felt like yesterday that you left and took our hearts with you.”
“Your hearts? Are you saying . . .”
“I think I loved you almost from the minute Aleki introduced you to us.”
“I got drunk and sang terrible karaoke for half the night before puking in your toilet,” she said doubtfully.
“Yep.” Caleb grinned. “It was love at first sight.”
She snorted. He was so full of it.
“I wanted you. But you were my best friend’s girl, so you were off-limits. But I’ve never stopped thinking about you. I’ve never even been in a proper relationship. Because all I ever wanted was you.”
“And Wolfe? He doesn’t even like me.”
Aleki snorted. “You’re not letting that act fool you, are you? Wolfe is more of an action man than a words man. But do you remember how he shows affection for those he cares about?”
She frowned. “Yeah, he becomes a total mother hen.”
“Hmm, and I’d say he’s been fussing over you almost from the moment we found you. If he didn’t care, do you really think he’d be carrying around that list of food the doc gave him like it was a bible?”
It was hard to wrap her head around.
“Kale soup,” Aleki said with a snort. “Better you than me.”
“Jelly bean, it was Wolfe’s idea to steal you,” Caleb told her.
“Really?” she whispered.
“Really,” he confirmed.
“But what about the rest of it? What you told me before about being Daddy Doms and wanting a Little.”
“When I talked to you about being a Little, what did you think?” Caleb asked her. “Did it feel wrong? Or like something you might like to try?”
“I . . . I . . . don’t know. I don’t know if I can let go like that. I’ve spent so long doing it all myself. How do I relax enough not to worry? I’m tired of making all the decisions. I always seem to make the wrong ones.”
“Then let us make the decisions for a while,” Caleb said gently. “In Little space, you can just be. You can play, have fun, and be yourself knowing that Daddy is always there to catch you if you fall. And will make the hard decisions when you can’t.”
“Doesn’t that make me weak?” she asked. “To rely on you like that? Shouldn’t I be able to do it myself?”
“People make the mistake of thinking of subs as weak, but they’re the strongest of all us,” Aleki countered. “Putting your trust in someone like that isn’t easy. Showing your vulnerable side, being who you want to be, that’s hard shit. Submissives are not weak. You are not weak.”
“What if I’m not a Little, will you not want me then?”
Aleki grasped her chin. “Not the way it works. Yes, being a Daddy Dom is part of who we are, but you’re a bigger part.”
“Besides, we’re pretty sure you’re a Little,” Caleb told her. “So we’re not worried.”
Well, she was a bit.
“So men just steal a woman and keep her?”
“No,” Aleki replied. “Like I said, they have a period where they woo her. Twenty-one days. They spend that time with each other. Food is brought to them and their jobs are covered. The only people who are usually allowed in to see them are the elders and if necessary, a physician, to make sure that the bride is well.”
“B-bride.”
“Yep, bride. But at the end of twenty-one days, the bride has a choice whether she wants to officially marry the harem. It’s like a courtship period. But on steroids.”
“I . . .I . . .” Marry? They didn’t mean they wanted to marry her, right?
“Nothing happens that you don’t agree to,” Caleb told her. “We’ll have a chat about limits and rules. And when we reach the end of the twenty-one days, we’ll figure out what will happen. But this will give us time to get to know each other again. And you’ll be safe with us. I promise. Nobody will even know you’re with us. Let us help you, jelly bean. You won’t be putting anyone at risk.”
“If there wasn’t all this shit going down with your old man, would you come with us?” Aleki asked.
Would she?
Of course, she would.
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all the answer we need,” Caleb said with satisfaction. He turned and started the car.
Oh God. What was she doing?
Aleki ran his hand over her hair. “Just relax, baby. We’re in charge right now. All you have to do is obey us. That’s it. No thinking. No worrying. Give it all to us. We’ve got big shoulders. We can take care of it. Of you. Fact is, I think that’s what I was put on this Earth to do. Look after you.”
And her fate was sealed.
Shit.
15
“Took you long enough,” Wolfe snapped as he opened the backdoor to the car. He glared down at her, as though it was her fault. The sky was beginning to lighten, it must be getting close to dawn.
“Sorry my kidnapping inconvenienced you,” she snapped up at him.
She was tired, her arm was throbbing and she was feeling more than a bit irritated. Sure, she’d made the decision to come with them. But it all felt like
some bizarre dream. And she wasn’t just having second thoughts. She was having fifth and sixth thoughts. Turning off her brain and letting them take control sounded ideal in theory. In reality, she didn’t know how it was even possible to begin doing that.
“Kidnapping? What is she talking about?” Wolfe snapped.
“He didn’t agree to this?” They’d lied to her?
“Relax, the two of you,” Caleb replied calmly. “She thinks we’re trying to kidnap her.”
“You are kidnapping me,” she insisted.
“No, we’re stealing you. Completely different,” Aleki told her.
They were lunatics. All of them.
Wolfe leaned in and undid her seatbelt then lifted her into his arms.
“Wolfe, I don’t know if this is a good idea. What if I put you all in danger?”
He glared down at her. “Don’t give me any of that shit, Genevieve. I’ve had enough. From now on, every time you mention putting us in danger or protecting us, I’m gonna put you over my knee and redden that ass, you got me?”
She gaped at him.
“Well?” he snapped.
“I understand.”
He grunted in satisfaction. Jeez Louise.
“We’ve been pre-cleared but we still have to show our passports and get ticked off the manifest. I told them that she’s hurt her ankle and they offered us a wheelchair, but I declined. You gonna give us any trouble in there, Genevieve?” Wolfe asked.
She sighed. “No.”
Satisfaction filled his face. “Good.”
The process was extremely quick and it wasn’t long until she found herself in the most luxurious plane she’d ever seen in her life. There were ten chairs done in white leather. Four faced each other with a table in the middle. And the remaining six were on the other side, in a row like in a normal plane. But these chairs were enormous. Like a recliner.
“There’s a bed out the back,” Wolfe explained as he placed her in a chair. They’d loosened the blanket for her in the airport so she could move her arms. “You’ll lie down there once we’ve taken off.”
“You don’t seriously think I’ll be able to sleep,” she said.
“You need sleep. It will help you heal.” He drew the blanket away carefully. “How is your arm? Is it hurting? Damn it, Aleki, you could have ripped her stitches when you bundled her up.”
“I was careful,” Aleki protested.
Wolfe grumbled as he inspected her arm and foot.
“Your feet are freezing.” Wolfe stood and moved to the back of the plane. Okay, that was abrupt and weird, even for him.
Caleb was up front, talking to the pilot. Aleki came over, carrying a bottle of water which he set in the cup rest on the arm of her chair. “I didn’t really hurt your arm, did I?”
“No,” she lied. “I’m fine.”
“She’s not fine. She’s in pain,” Wolfe countered. What was he carrying in his hand? Were those . . .
“Are those wolf slippers?” she asked him.
He just grunted. Then he shocked her by getting down on his knees in front of her and gently putting the slippers on her feet. Maybe Caleb and Aleki were right, maybe Wolfe didn’t despise her.
Maybe he cared.
“You bought her slippers, man?” Aleki asked. “We’re going to the desert.”
“Her feet are always cold. We’ve got a fourteen-hour flight plus a layover for refueling. She needs to keep her feet warm. And they’re soft enough not to hurt her injured foot.”
She didn’t point out that a pair of socks would have done. Not that she had a spare pair with her.
Her stuff!
“Piggles! We have to go back for Piggles.” She tried to stand but Wolfe grabbed hold of her hips.
“Stay there,” he growled at her.
“But Piggles!”
“I’ve got him. Aleki, he’s on the bed. Go grab him.”
Aleki disappeared. She blinked down at Wolfe in shock as he pulled a bottle from his pocket and read the label silently. Then he shook out two pills.
“You really remembered Piggles?”
“Of course I did. I packed up all your shit while you were sleeping. Also bought you some other clothes and things.”
How did he manage to get all that done in a few hours?
Hello, it was Wolfe. What couldn’t he do in a few hours?
“Open.”
She couldn’t help the shiver of arousal that went through her at that word. The image of him ordering her to open her mouth while she was on her knees in front of him . . . yeah, that was freaking hot.
Jeez Louise, get your mind off sex.
“What’s wrong? You’re flushed. Do you feel ill? Damn it, we should have waited longer to move you.”
A big, wide palm was placed over her forehead. “You don’t feel hot. I need to take your temperature. Do you have any pain elsewhere? Any other symptoms? Do you feel light-headed?”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Aleki asked. He walked in carrying Piggles. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God.
“She’s flushed,” Wolfe replied. “She could be running a temperature. Maybe she’s caught something. I need to do some research. Can you get the First-Aid kit I bought? It’s in the back room. It’s got a rectal thermometer. Actually, better I do that in there. Don’t want anyone else catching sight of her ass.”
“No one is going to see my ass,” she squeaked. “Including you.”
Wolfe raised an eyebrow. “Can’t take your temperature unless I bare your ass.”
“Yes, you can. You use one of those thermometers that go in your ear.”
Something wicked lit up Wolfe’s face. “Ahh, but I didn’t buy one of those. Too bad. Gonna have to use the rectal one.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “What sort of First-Aid kit comes with a rectal thermometer?”
“The kind that I had made up,” Wolfe replied.
“You did it on purpose? You rat! Well, you’re not taking my temperature.”
“I am. I’m in charge of your health. If I think you have a fever, you bet your naughty ass I’m taking your temperature.”
She growled. “You’re an ass.”
“Nah, I just have an obsession with yours.”
“What’s going on?” Caleb asked.
She breathed out a sigh of relief. She knew Caleb wouldn’t let Wolfe get away with his shit.
“He thinks he gets to stick things up my bottom!” she said to Caleb.
Okay. That didn’t come out quite the way she meant.
Caleb raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, you don’t even know the half of what I want to do to your lush bottom,” Wolfe drawled.
“Wolfe!” she exclaimed as Aleki started to laugh. She glared at him. Traitor.
Caleb ran a hand over his hair. “Someone want to explain to me what’s going on?” His voice was serious, but she swore she saw his lips twitch.
“She’s flushed,” Wolfe explained. “I need to check her temperature. She seems to have some objection to having it taken.”
“Because you want to use a rectal thermometer and I’m not comfortable with you sticking something up my bottom.”
“Well, you should start getting used to the idea since it’s going to happen often. And with things far bigger than a rectal thermometer.”
Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at Wolfe. What was up with him right now?
“All right, let me check on her first. We’re still waiting on the air hostess to get here and the pilot is doing his pre-flight check. But then we’ll be leaving.” Caleb reached out and placed his hand over her forehead.
Then he tilted her chin, gazing down into her eyes. “She doesn’t feel hot to me.”
“Then why is she flushed?” Wolfe asked.
“Hmm, there could be a few reasons for that, couldn’t there, jelly bean? Do you think you’re running a temperature?” Caleb asked.
She shook her head.
“No? So why were you flushed, hmm? Were
you thinking about something dirty?”
Her eyes widened. How did he know that?
Caleb’s eyes filled with heat. “Want to know what I think? I think something turned you on, didn’t it? Now, what was it? Did Wolfe give you an order to do something? Do you like being ordered around in the bedroom, Vivi?”
“I didn’t order her to do anything,” Wolfe grumbled. “Just to open her mouth so I could give her the pain pills.”
“That so?” Caleb asked.
He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “Open.”
Shit. Fuck. Her nipples hardened at that word. There was something wrong with her, wasn’t there? That being commanded to open her mouth like that just did it for her.
Lord help her if they ordered her to do anything more.
Her mouth opened and she heard Aleki groan as Caleb pressed his thumb into her mouth. “Suck.”
She sucked.
He smiled. “That’s my good girl.”
“Fuck,” Wolfe muttered.
“Yeah, our girl definitely has a submissive side,” Caleb murmured. “We’re going to help her find Little space. And once she’s feeling better, we can explore her needs in the bedroom.”
“Hell, yes,” Aleki muttered, adjusting himself.
Wolfe stared down at her intently. Caleb removed his thumb so she could speak.
“This is what you want, too? You’re no longer angry at me?” she asked Wolfe.
Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “I’m angry that you didn’t trust us enough to take care of you eight years ago. That you were still trying to protect us. That’s why I suggested we steal you. You’re ours for twenty-one days. And I’m going to use that time to show you that you can trust us to protect you.”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you,” she whispered.
“No?” He raised an eyebrow. “We’re well-trained. We’re deadly. We were Navy SEALs and we now guard some of the richest men in the world and still, you thought you had to protect us.”
“Because I care about you!” she cried out. “All of you! I’ve never stopped.”
Satisfaction filled their faces. Wolfe crouched down and took her chin in his hand. “I’m not good with emotional intimacy. A therapist once told me that I have abandonment issues. I just call it being messed up. But I will protect you. From any and all threats. In Escana, you’ll be under our command. You’ll be treasured, likely spoiled, but you will not be allowed to make decisions that put you at risk. That satisfies the beast inside me that says we need to keep you tied to our bed to ensure you never leave again. Make no mistake, I’m not the forgiving sort. It will take a lot to earn my trust. But knowing that you are ours, that’s what I want more than anything.”
Ruled by her Daddies Page 13