A Triple Melody
There is nothing that Melody wants more than a singing career. That is until she meets brothers Gabriel and Constantine Roman and their friend Jonathan. They are handsome, successful, and sexy men who enter her life suddenly and transform her into their own submissive songbird, but the question is how long will they want her? They tell her they aren’t looking for anything more than hot sex that includes spankings and toys that have her dreaming about them even during the day.
Melody’s songs are a window into her past, a childhood that has left scars enough to last a lifetime. When someone she thought was a friend confronts her and threatens to expose those scars in their ugliest form, she knows she has little choice but to either face her demons or leave the men she men she has come to love.
Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 55,687 words
A TRIPLE MELODY
Kalissa Alexander
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
A TRIPLE MELODY
Copyright © 2013 by Kalissa Alexander
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-290-3
First E-book Publication: July 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A TRIPLE MELODY
KALISSA ALEXANDER
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Melody dried herself off from her shower in record time. Running a comb through her long, wet strawberry-blonde hair was never an easy task under the best of circumstances, and today there was no time to try and comb out the tangles. Using a choice expletive, she gave up and just braided her wild mane. Walking quickly through the connecting door to her bedroom, she pulled out a pair of clean jeans and a black T-shirt from an old chest of drawers that she had purchased at a flea market. She was thankful that working at the Angry Dog Tavern meant she wasn’t forced to wear some sexy, eye-popping outfit for the benefit of the customers. Wasting money on something she would never wear again was a luxury she could ill afford, to say nothing of the humiliation of walking around half naked.
Tips at the Angry Dog were pretty good, especially on the weekend. But that alone wouldn’t have been enough to keep her there long term. She had little to no patience when it came to being hit on by drunks that enjoyed talking to her like she couldn’t wait to jump in bed with one of them. Luckily, she’d learned how to smile and skirt around their wandering hands without creating a scene. She needed to keep on the good side of Max. He not only managed the Angry Dog, but also the band that performed there on Friday and Saturday nights.
It had taken some time, but she had finally convinced Max to hear her sing. Although she knew he liked her, he had made it clear that when it came to the band, he would be more than honest with her. She had been nervous as she belted out the Faith Hill song, “Breathe.” The guys from the band had agreed to accompany her, and when she had finished, they had been more than complimentary. Max had stood up and walked toward her with a strange look on his face. However, all he did was shake her hand and tell her he’d start her out singing during the last set on Friday and Saturday nights. She was ecstatic.
Her next move was to talk to Max about allowing her to sing one of her own songs. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she was reluctant to approach him. She had been writing poems ever since she was old enough to know how to read. They had become her private diary, a form of therapy. Now, she was hoping they would be the catalyst for the future she dreamed might be hers.
Then it dawned on her that if he didn’t like her music, it would not only be a devastating blow to her fragile ego, but could be the kiss of death for her songwriting career. If they thought she didn’t have any talent, maybe she really did need to rethink what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Melody was happy to see that Max was on stage when she arrived at the Angry Dog. She ran up to him, smiling and pulling the sheet music from her shoulder bag.
“Ah, Melody, our beautiful songbird arrives bearing gifts,” he said, with a grin that lit up his dark brown eyes that lingered on her breasts just long enough to make her slightly uncomfortable.
She knew if she encouraged him in the slightest, he would be all over her. He had a girlfriend, or maybe a better way to put it was to say he had a series of them. She had little interest in being in a relationship with Max or anyone until she had her career on track and could take care of herself. She never wanted to be dependent on any man. She knew how that worked firsthand.
“Hi, Max. I hope I’m early enough. I would love to sing this tonight. It’s my own song.”
“You look pretty.” He winked. “You smell like lilacs. Is your hair still wet from your shower?” he asked gruffly, taking a step closer to her as if he were going to put his nose in her hair.
Without thinking, she stepped back. “Umm, I guess it is. I
was running a little late.”
His eyes looked searchingly into hers. She felt herself blushing. She hated that she had a tendency to blush when a man looked directly at her, like Max was now. He wasn’t a bad-looking guy. He wasn’t that big, only a few inches taller than her five foot, six inches, and although his hair was thinning, he had big brown eyes that gave him a warm puppy dog kind of look. Unfortunately right now, he was looking at her more like a hungry wolf.
“I wish you’d let me take you out to dinner sometime, Melody.”
“Max, we’ve talked about this and you have too many girls in your life already. You don’t need me. I’m a loner. I told you that.”
“How do you know what I need?” he asked, lowering his voice.
Please don’t start, she pleaded with her eyes.
“Max. My song,” she said, pointing to the pages. “Do you think you and the guys will have time to look it over? I’d love to sing it tonight, if you’d let me.”
“I’ll let you know.”
He was obviously disappointed that she hadn’t said what he wanted to hear. She liked Max, but going out with him would mean he would want to sleep with her, and that wasn’t going to happen. Then he’d get insulted or get his feelings hurt and that would be the end of her singing with the band. No, it was better this way for all concerned.
Pulling her cell phone out from her jeans pocket, she checked it for the time. She only had five minutes to clock in. “Okay, Max. I’ll check with you later.”
She could feel his eyes following her as she walked quickly behind the bar to the Employees Only door and opened it. As soon as it closed behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hated confrontation of any kind. Max didn’t push her, and it hadn’t gotten ugly, but she was afraid he might become more insistent. She prayed that he would just leave things alone and accept that she was not interested in him.
* * * *
It was a busy Friday night. She had made some great tips so far. The last set was scheduled for around eleven o’clock. Max had somewhat begrudgingly told her she could sing her song. He must have really liked it, because he was in no mood to do her a favor. Her insides were screaming with nervous excitement.
Melody was facing the bar, waiting for her drink order and talking with Todd, one of the bartenders, who had always been one of her favorites. He was around forty and had a daughter that he absolutely adored. She loved to listen to him talk about her. She checked her cell phone. It was after ten and there was still no sign of Calla.
She and Calla had grown up together and although they weren’t as close as they used to be, she was the closest thing to a family for Melody. Calla had recently graduated from Drexel University with a degree in marketing and then landed a really good job at an insurance company in Philadelphia. Melody had never doubted that Calla would be successful. She was bright, pretty, and oozed confidence from every pore of her beautiful body.
It was possible she changed her mind or something came up. She had called her at the last minute and left her a voice mail. It was silly to think she would just drop everything to come and see her sing. It was just that she was one of the few people that would understand the lyrics of the song she was singing tonight. She tried to shake off her disappointment. Calla was living in the world that had been her destiny.
When they graduated from high school, Calla was on top of the world. She knew where she was going to college and what she wanted to do with life. Melody, on the other hand, had no hopes for college even though her grades and test scores were enough to get her early admission to most universities. Her mother was totally reliant on her stepfather, and all his money went to paying bills and drinking beer. There was no money for college, and even if there had been, she doubted Arthur, her stepfather, would have parted with one red cent to help her.
Her high school counselor had encouraged her to apply for some grants but was honest with her that most of the money would have to come from family or loans. Before she started going into debt for years to come, she wanted to see if she could make it in the music industry. Writing songs and singing them was a dream she had been holding on to for a very long time. Her father had been in a band before he died. Although he had never made it past the bar scene, he had also written songs that her mother had thrown away.
And here she was four years later, without her college degree and still waiting on tables trying to get discovered or at least gain a little recognition, and not the kind her customers were more than willing to give her. Tonight she had a table of young men who had only turned twenty-one within the last few months. They were a happy but boisterous group and they had found Melody to be exactly the kind of girl they wanted to flirt with. They seemed pretty harmless, but nevertheless, they needed to be cut off before things got too out of hand. She had already alerted the bouncer to give the young men a warning and to make sure they didn’t try and drive home. Luckily in Philadelphia, there were the subway, buses, and trains readily available. There was no reason why they would have to get behind the wheel of a car. The group appeared to have calmed down a little bit and were talking about leaving.
She turned from their table and ran right into Calla, almost falling over her. Righting herself, she cried, “Calla! I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
“Me, too,” her friend said with a slight frown. “I lost track of the time. But I’m here now.”
“And that’s what counts. By the way, you look great. New hair cut?”
“Yeah. You know… new job and all.”
Melody noticed a man standing slightly to Calla’s right. He was tall with dark hair and really blue eyes that were staring right through her. Her jaw fell. He was also drop-dead gorgeous. She dragged her eyes away from the stranger and back to Calla who was looking sideways up at the same man.
“This is Gabriel,” she said. “He’s a friend of mine.”
“Hi, Melody,” the dark-haired man said smoothly, showing even, white teeth as he took her hand in his. “Calla has told me about you, including the fact that you’re singing here tonight.”
“She did?” Melody withdrew her hand from his. She hasn’t told me anything about you.
Calla looked annoyed. “I only told him you were an aspiring singer.”
It wasn’t that she had ever asked Calla to keep her secrets, but then again, she hadn’t thought she had to. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grabbed her tray full of drinks.
Calla looked around the crowded bar. “Do you think you can find us a table?”
“Follow me. I have a table that’s opening up. I’ll see you two are seated before anyone else takes it.”
“Do you have one for four? Gabriel’s brother and a friend are meeting us here. Gabriel asked them to join us. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“The more the merrier. But you and I have to do lunch real soon. Just the two of us.” She said the last sentence quietly. She didn’t want to insult Gabriel.
Luckily the young men at table 23 were just standing up when she approached them with Calla and Gabriel in tow. One of the guys downed the remainder of his beer and handed her a nice tip with a wink before he blew her a kiss good-bye. She turned slightly, and noticed Gabriel watching her interaction with the men. She smiled shyly, wondering why she felt embarrassed, like she had done something wrong. She knew she was being silly.
She directed Calla and Gabriel to sit down at the recently vacated table as she signaled for a busboy.
“I’ll be right back to get your drink order. I just need to deliver these.” She nodded toward her tray.
“It’s okay. I know you’re working. Take your time.” Calla turned back to Gabriel.
“I won’t be long,” she said to Calla’s back.
She delivered her drinks and wished Calla had come by herself. Whenever there was a man involved, Calla was never easy to talk to unless it was about Calla. She knew she shouldn’t feel that way after everything Calla and her family had done for her, but it irked her nevertheless
that they hadn’t seen each other in over a year and Calla was acting like she had no time for her.
She dropped off her drinks and headed back to Calla’s and Gabriel’s table. She could see they had been joined by two men who were now sitting with their backs to her. She remembered Calla said something about Gabriel’s brother and his friend joining them. She slowed her pace with the intention of observing the table unnoticed for a minute. She and Calla had never had the same taste in guys and that had always worked out best for their friendship.
Calla had been pursued by the opposite sex since before junior high school and always had someone waiting in the wings when a relationship went bad, which they seemed to do more times than not. Her friend had never introduced anyone of the opposite sex as a friend before. She wondered what made this man different.
Her first impression of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome still held true. He was an exceptionally good-looking man with thick, black hair and blue eyes that had looked into hers with an intensity that had caught her off guard. He was leaning away from Calla, and his attention remained on the men in front of him.
She was about to look away when, without warning, those intense blue eyes lifted to stare right back at her. Mortified to have been caught watching him, she tried to look away, but his eyes held hers with a mixture of arrogance and amusement. She watched his lips twitch as if he was trying to stifle a laugh.
Embarrassed and flustered, she forced herself to look anywhere but at him. What must he think of her? Spinning around, she made a hasty exit to the restroom to escape the laughter in those eyes that had obviously found her quite amusing.
A Triple Melody (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1