She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting into the darkness. Funny, the thought came to her, she never remembered Arthur ever taking care of her Mom when she was sick. But maybe he had, before their relationship had turned into a nightmare.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She woke to see both Gabriel and Constantine sleeping in a chair on either side of her bed. Jonathan was actually in bed with her on top of the covers. She needed to go to the bathroom. She started to get up.
“Melody,” Gabriel said, jumping up from his chair and coming to her side. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m a little better. Thank you. I just have to go the bathroom.”
“Of course.” He lifted her and carried her into the bathroom. He drew the hem of her nightgown up. She stopped him, pushing him gently away.
“I think I can do this myself.”
“Are you sure? Constantine told me he found you sitting in front of the toilet when he came home.”
“I’m feeling a little better now. I can go to the bathroom myself. Please shut the door on your way out.”
He looked torn between doing what she asked and what he thought he should do.
“Gabriel,” she said a bit more emphatically, “I’m fine. Please.”
He nodded. “Okay, but if you’re not out in a reasonable amount of time, I’m coming in.”
She couldn’t get Calla out of her mind—especially what she said about her being like her mother. She wasn’t, or was she? Coldness crept into her heart. She was a novelty to them. If they had loved her, they would have told her. Not once had they opened up to her about their feelings. They had only told her what they thought she needed to know or maybe what they thought she needed to hear to stay and do what they wanted. Would their demands become more painful and would she give in and do anything to keep them? A chill ran up her back, and she shivered.
“Melody! Are you okay?”
Gabriel sounded a bit panicked on the other side of the door. No, she wanted to yell, I’m not okay, but then what? Was forcing his hand what she really wanted? All she wanted was for him to love her. She wanted Constantine and Jonathan to love her the way she loved all of them. Calla was right. The longer she stayed with them, the harder she would try to stay with them and she couldn’t be that woman. She didn’t want to be that woman. Taking a deep breath, she knew what she had to do.
“I’m fine,” she said loud enough for him to hear. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Good,” he said, sounding relieved.
When she finally emerged from the bathroom, Gabriel and Constantine were deep in conversation. They looked up, startled.
“Penny for your thoughts.” She smiled.
“Just business,” Gabriel said quickly. “You must be hungry. Matilda made you a tray. Jonathan went to get it for you.”
“I am a little hungry.” That was no lie. She was starving, having had nothing since breakfast. She hadn’t even ordered when she met Calla for lunch and then she had gone right to her room when she came home. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was eleven o’clock already. She really had slept.
“I’ll go check on Jonathan,” Gabriel said, turning away from both her and Constantine.
She waited until he was out of the room before she said, “Were you two fighting?”
“No.”
“It looked like it.”
“We’re lawyers. We were just negotiating.”
“Okay.”
“So, what can I do for you, Melody, to make you feel better?”
“I do feel better. There’s nothing you can do for me.”
“Is that so.” He crossed the room in record time and hauled her into his arms. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you? I need you, Melody. I need you so much.” He groaned into her hair. “You’ve woven a spell around us. It’s like we could drink from you forever. Tell me you’ve missed us, too.”
She had missed them and desperately. She wanted to just enjoy the feelings that were erupting inside of her. It took so little for them to make her wet and needy. But it was more than that. She wanted them as men, as human beings. She wanted to know everything about them. She wanted them to love her and never leave her.
“Please, Constantine. I’m going to need food. I’m famished.”
“I know,” he said, pouting like a child.
“Then you’re going to have to wait.”
He was still holding her. His hands moved down to her ass and brought her against him. He was hard. Her breath caught in her throat.
Slowly he rubbed her against his hardness while his kissed her neck and lower. She felt the straps of her nighty leaving her shoulders by way of his teeth. The nighty dropped to the floor. She was naked.
“Melody!” Gabriel’s voice brought her back to reason.
However, that was short lived as she heard the tray being dropped on the dresser. When she looked past Constantine’s shoulder, Gabriel was already naked and walking toward them. Jonathan was following suit. Constantine pulled away and gave her a devilish smile. “Did you really think we were going to wait?”
“Are you sure you are okay to do this?” Gabriel hauled her into his arms as his brother began to disrobe.
She nodded. She should stop them, but she couldn’t deny herself what they were offering.
Gabriel’s mouth came down hard on hers, demanding that she respond. Her hands went up to his face and his hair. She brought him closer, feeling his heated skin against hers. His cock was hard against her stomach. She wanted him inside her. She needed him. “I want you,” she whispered.
“I need you, Melody. God help me, but I need you more than I ever thought possible.”
Easing her over to the bed, he laid her on her back before he brought her upwards and impaled her on his cock. Constantine climbed onto the bed behind her. She knew exactly what to expect. He rubbed her thoroughly with lube before the head of his cock was pushed into her anus. She moaned.
Jonathan watched them, holding his cock in his hand. His cock was so hard, his balls heavy with his need. She looked at him and opened her mouth. He was beside her. She leaned her head toward him and began to draw him into her mouth. She felt him stiffen.
Constantine pushed again and entered her, forcing his cock through until he was fully extended inside her. It felt so good. She leaned slightly back into him as he fondled her breasts. Gabriel increased his pace, his cock sliding in and out of her. Jonathan began to fuck her face. All three men were giving her exactly what she wanted. She braced herself for the orgasm that was about to overtake her. They came inside her as one. She screamed out their names as Jonathan’s cum dripped from her lips. Everything around her was spinning and swirling. She was in a vacuum of pure bliss. Their bodies hugged hers, holding her close. She loved their skin on hers, the way they smelled, and how they made her feel. Tears fell down her cheeks. She never wanted to be away from them, but she was going to have to leave before they destroyed her.
Gabriel carried her into the bathroom where he and Constantine bathed her. She felt like a small child that could do nothing for herself. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations without thinking about what was coming next.
“My beautiful, Melody,” Gabriel breathed into her ear. “Did you enjoy that as much as we did?”
“You know my weakness.”
“Weakness?” Gabriel frowned at her.
She just smiled. She didn’t want to get into it now. He didn’t say anything else and then Constantine carried her into her bedroom and dressed her in sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. “We have to cover that sexy body of yours if we’re ever going to let you eat.”
“I’m so hungry, but…”
“But we were hungry for you.” Constantine growled.
“I could tell,” she said.
Gabriel brought her the tray of food and placed it on the desk. She sat down and opened the silver lid. The aroma of a beef pot roast with carrots and potatoes greeted her. She
dug in. Even at this hour, the food was delicious. Matilda had made it perfectly. A buttered roll and applesauce were also on the tray along with a piece of apple cake. She didn’t stop until she had cleaned her plate.
“That was so good, and I was so hungry,” she sighed.
“Matilda will be glad to hear it. She was worried about you.”
“She’s very sweet.”
“She’s good people. We really are lucky to have her with us.”
“She’s like family?” Melody queried as they all began getting dressed.
“Yes. She is. My grandfather cared for her very much and she was very loyal to him.”
“She’s very loyal to you, too.”
“To all of us,” Constantine said.
“She’s a treasure,” Jonathan added.
“Yes, she is,” Gabriel said. “Take my hand,” he told her.
“Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d watch a little television or we could play pool or whatever you want. I just didn’t think you’d be up to too much, but you slept a long time. I don’t want to let you go yet.”
“We could talk.”
“Talk it is,” Gabriel said, kissing her. They walked down the stairs and into the den that had a large, flat-screen television. Constantine and Jonathan followed them. Jonathan switched on the news.
“Melody wants to talk. Anything in particular?” Gabriel asked, leaning back into the sofa and putting his feet up on the coffee table.
“I’m thinking of…ummmm…getting my own apartment.”
“What!” All three men said together in surprise and shock.
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” Constantine asked, coming to sit down beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“I need my space. I can’t live here forever. I shouldn’t have moved in at all. This is your home, and I need my own home.”
They were looking at her like she had two heads. “This is your home,” Constantine said. “Don’t you like it here?”
“Of course. What’s there not to like? I don’t want to be”—she searched for the right words—“dependent on you two. It’s not healthy.”
“Where is this coming from?” Gabriel asked sharply, removing his feet from the coffee table and sitting up. “You didn’t say anything about this at the beginning of the week. Is it because we’ve been busy and you’ve felt neglected?”
“No. I haven’t felt neglected. We’ve all been busy. I just don’t want to end up like my mother!” There, she said it.
Gabriel stared at her, his eyes furious. “Why in hell would you think you’d end up like your mother?”
“Exactly,” Constantine said, his voice low and angry. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I don’t know what kind of relationship Arthur had with my mother before it all went bad. All I know is my mother must have been addicted to him to stay with him the way she did, and I feel like I’m addicted to the three of you. You’re all I can think about most of the time except when I’m involved with my music, and even then you pop into my head all the time. It’s too much, and I’m scared, and I want it to stop.”
“You want it to stop. What just happened between us, you want it to stop?” Gabriel asked, mystified.
“I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t. I know nothing about you three that you couldn’t read in your public profile. I can’t let myself lose who I am and then find myself on the other side of the door when you don’t want me anymore. It’s better to end it now before things get out of hand.”
“You can’t really mean that,” Constantine said, his face going white. “What do you want to know about us? Just ask.”
“And what do you mean, ‘out of hand’?” Jonathan shot at her, his voice just as angry as Gabriel’s and Constantine’s.
“I don’t even know enough about you to know what to ask. I know you’re rich and you have a family, but I don’t even know their names or anything about them. All I know is that we’re compatible in bed and you two work as lawyers at your dad’s law firm, and you were as a stockbroker. The fact is I don’t even have the number to your place of employment. If something happened to any one of you, would I have even been told?”
“What is it you really want, Melody? Are you asking us to commit to you? To meet the parents and family? You want us to give you forever in a pretty package?”
The way Gabriel said it made her feel like she was asking for something he felt was distasteful.
“Is that so terrible?”
“I thought things were going well. Why this sudden change? Something preempted it, what happened?”
“I have to protect myself. And the only way to do that is to get my own place and have my own life. I can’t keep up this pace. It’s all happened too fast.”
“You want to leave us,” Constantine growled. “I don’t want you to go.”
“When?” Gabriel asked.
“Tomorrow. I’ll get a hotel until I get a place. I just have my clothes here.”
Constantine took her hand. His eyes pleaded with hers. “I don’t understand why you can’t just stay and let things be. No one knows the future. Why are you so intent on having all the answers at once?”
She had her answer. They had given her no new information, and they were willing to let her go. Calla had been right. She was their toy, and now that she was going, they would find a new one. She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. Her heart was breaking into a thousand tiny pieces and they were sitting calmly by while she fell apart.
“I have my answers. You’ll find my replacement quickly. None of you are the type to go without sex for long.”
“Is that what you think?” Gabriel hissed at her.
“You think we pick up women at will? Well we don’t. You were different. We all wanted you from the moment we saw you.” Jonathan’s big brown eyes looked into hers sadly.
“There really isn’t anything to say is there? You want a toy and I’m tired of being toyed with. I need to go and pack. I’ll be gone in the morning.”
“Melody.” Gabriel’s eyes looked suddenly haunted, “Don’t leave us like this. We’ll try and work something out. I mean, we care for you deeply. We don’t want to lose you.”
“It’s better this way. You know it and I know it. Don’t make this any harder for me.”
She forced herself to get up. She walked out of the room, not looking behind her. Just like that, she’d said let’s talk, and now it was over. Everything with them had been on fast forward, even leaving them.
They hadn’t said what she wanted to hear. They couldn’t, and she couldn’t make them want something they didn’t. Calla had known she was wired just like her mother and had been about to make the same mistake her mother made. She had to be strong because right now she felt like the mistake she was about to make was not staying. But that, she knew, was exactly what her mother would have done and did do. Staying was not an option.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Melody started to pack as soon as she was back in her room. She would leave tonight. It wouldn’t be hard to get a taxi, and she only had her two suitcases. She had bought a few new things, but she could always call Matilda to send them over to her new place when she found it.
She started to haul the suitcases down the staircase when both Gabriel and Constantine ran up the steps to help her.
“You can’t even stand to spend the night here?” Constantine asked, his eyes unreadable.
“It’s over, and I just think it’s better to leave sooner than later.”
“I thought we had something special. You don’t even want to find out if it could be more lasting. You’re just ready to cut your losses and run.” Gabriel’s eyes were now furious and, she realized, there was hurt within the depths, too.
“You know it’s what would happen eventually anyway. You can’t give me a reason to stay.”
“I could make you promises that I may not be able to keep. Do you want me to l
ie to you? I could, you know, if that’s what would make you happy.”
“I don’t want your lies. What I want, you can’t give me. Constantine and Jonathan can’t either. I’m on my own here. I have to take care of me.”
They were at the bottom of the staircase when Matilda walked into the foyer. “Oh, Miss Melody, she said sadly. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes. I’m so glad I got a chance to say good-bye. I would have called later. You’ve been wonderful to me. Thanks for everything. I’ll never forget all your words of wisdom.”
Matilda walked up to her and held out her arms. Melody went easily into the comfort she offered. “Thank you,” Melody whispered. Finally, she moved back. Matilda had tears in her eyes. “I told them you were a keeper,” she leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Don’t give up on them.”
Melody smiled. She was going to miss Matilda. She had been a good friend.
“I have a few things left upstairs. I’ll call when I have my new address.”
“Of course, dear,” Matilda said softly before she left them.
“Good-bye, Gabriel, Constantine,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. I can’t cry. I just can’t. She looked around for Jonathan.
Gabriel gave her a speculative look. “If you’re looking for Jonathan, he’s in his room. You’ve hurt him deeply just like you have us. It’s like you’re two different people all of a sudden. You’re ours in the most intimate way and then without warning you want to leave us. Maybe I really don’t know you at all.”
Constantine pushed the elevator button and turned back to look at her in confusion. “Didn’t we just have incredible sex not more than a couple hours ago? And now you’re packed. How long have you been planning this?”
“I didn’t plan this.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Gabriel spit out.
“Well, at this point, I don’t really care what you think.”
The elevator door opened as if on cue. She walked into it and turned around. They were both staring at her in disbelief. She waited until the door had closed before she let the tears fall. She was sobbing so hard she could barely tell the doorman what she wanted. When the taxi arrived, he helped her inside.
A Triple Melody (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 16