by Cara Adams
He longed to lead her through a deep and intense dungeon scene but was really worried that after hours and hours of standing and walking she needed to rest her ankle. He also was convinced she was still hurt and upset deep inside over having been attacked for no reason and wanted to soothe her into sleep, to guard her with his life, and to save the talkfest for another day.
Actually he was shocked she’d agreed to come to his and Cam’s home without an argument. It merely proved just how very upset she must be to have acquiesced so easily.
Cam helped her out of the limo while he tipped the driver and then hurried ahead to summon the elevator. He didn’t want Allegra to have to stand around waiting any longer than was absolutely necessary. It was the same when they reached their floor. He hurried ahead of Cam to unlock the door and turn the lights on. Inside, he raced into his bedroom, pulling the comforter off the bed and piling condoms, lube, and massaging oil onto his nightstand.
He spent a moment thinking maybe they should have used Cam’s bed instead of his, but he truly wasn’t trying to stake a prior claim to her or anything like that. He would never treat Cam unfairly. They were a team.
He unzipped her glorious gown while Cam sat at her feet and removed her sandals. Together they slid the dress off and draped it over a chair before unsnapping her bra and pushing her panties down her legs. He put the pretty eternity necklace she was wearing in her purse for safekeeping. He had no idea what the appropriate thing was to do regarding her hair. He supposed it ought to have the pins removed and be brushed or something, but he didn’t feel confident to touch it. He let Cam carry her to the bed and lay her on her back. He handcuffed her wrists to the metal bars, and for the first time since they’d gotten out of the car, she spoke.
“I’m not sure I have enough energy left to play a game.”
“No games. Cam and I are going to massage your body and send you off into a nice refreshing sleep. If you want to visit the dungeon, we can do that tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
It only worried him even more that she wasn’t talking and reacting. Of course, he’d never seen her before when she was exceptionally tired, but she still seemed unusually silent and cooperative. Not at all her usual sharp, inquisitive, questioning self.
Cam settled at her feet with a jar of aromatic massage cream and began working the pale blue cream into her damaged foot. Hammer sat on the edge of the bed and started on her fingers. “Hey, it almost matches your blue fingernail polish,” he teased her. She smiled and then closed her eyes.
That worried him, too. He caught a look from Cam that showed Cam had noticed as well. They’d just have to massage her to sleep and wait until tomorrow to hope she was restored to her usual self.
Hammer had taken off his jacket and kicked off his shoes, but massaging her took more energy than he’d originally thought, and it wasn’t long before he pulled off the rest of his clothing, except for his boxer briefs, as he worked his fingers and the massage cream into every inch of her skin from her fingertips to her neck and all the way down to her hips.
By the time he and Cam met up at her hips, he nodded to Cam and climbed off the bed to unshackle her wrists. Cam buried his face in her cunt as Hammer put away their toys and washed his hands. By the time he was done, Allegra was sighing deeply in release. Cam rolled her gently onto her side, and the two of them climbed into bed with her, bracketing her with their bodies until her deeper breathing slowed even more and she was asleep.
But Hammer lay awake for a long time. There was a hell of a lot they all needed to talk about in the morning. Well, later today. It was almost two already.
* * * *
Cam came awake very slowly. First, he was aware of not being in his own bed then of the fact that someone else was in bed with him, and only after that did he remember exactly how the previous evening had ended. Except that there was a lot of light in the room, and he clearly remembered Hammer turning the lights off. But then it was well after midnight when they’d arrived home, so likely it was eight or even later now. He felt quite rested though.
He just hoped Allegra’s foot wasn’t too painful. Likely they had some Tylenol in the bathroom, but that mightn’t be strong enough for the pain in her foot. Assuming her foot hurt after she jumped around on it last night. He could still recall the sharp fear that had lanced through him when that bloated idiot of an attorney had started threatening her. He’d wanted to punch him in the gut so hard his fist would touch the man’s backbone. Only the sure knowledge that he’d be the one who ended up in jail had stopped him. And then, when Allegra had leaped into the air, he’d nearly thrown up with terror that Hammer wouldn’t be able to catch her or would stumble and fall. All those thoughts had gone through his head in a nanosecond of pure panic.
But they still had work to do. That fat old fart wasn’t going to lie down and be quiet. He had a grudge against Allegra, and she’d need protecting for the foreseeable future. Maybe he and Hammer could work split shifts so one of them was always around to accompany her? But then how would they pay for their apartment and all their expenses? Both of them earned a reasonable wage, but neither of them was rich. Hammer had said all along his grandfather had disinherited him when he’d walked out of his grandfather’s house at age eighteen, and Cam’s parents were just ordinary working people, so they didn’t even have any inheritance they could borrow against.
Well, Allegra’s safety was paramount. They’d just have to figure something out.
He cautiously slid out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom for a shower. Once he was dressed, he headed to the kitchen to make them all breakfast. Not that he had any idea at all what Allegra would like to eat. Although the food last night had been beautifully served and presented, it had been snacks, not a meal, so he was sure she’d want to eat something. Besides, he was starving.
“Allegra’s in the shower. We need to work out how we’re going to protect her,” said Hammer, marching in wearing just his boxer briefs.
“I agree, but you might want to put your jeans on.”
Hammer looked down at himself. “All right.”
Cam smiled as he set out plates and cups and cutlery.
Hammer returned wearing jeans and a T-shirt, followed by Allegra with what appeared to be three towels covering her body. One around her waist, one tied under her armpits, and a third wrapped around her head.
“Oh, sorry. I don’t have a hair dryer,” said Cam.
“I figured that out after I washed it, but it doesn’t really matter. Just don’t expect these towels back any time soon.”
“Would you rather wear a T-shirt?” asked Hammer, smiling at her.
“I’m fine for now. Thanks anyway.”
Cam served the food, and they all ate hungrily even though it was only sausage, bacon, and eggs with whole-wheat toast. Still it was ten already, and they were all hungry. Once they finished, he leaned his elbows on the table and said quietly, “Allegra, we all need to talk about last night. That fucktard isn’t going away. He’ll be out to get you, although I don’t know why.”
She picked up her spoon and rolled it around the fingers of her left hand. He’d seen her do that before, but this time she was thinking as she did it.
“You know, I think he’s the classic case of someone who refused to admit he’d made a mistake very early on in the case. Instead of thinking about what he was doing and changing direction, he just kept following the same path, digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole. He’s dug himself in so deep now he can’t possibly get out, and he still won’t admit it.
“Do you mean by not accepting mediation when he knew he couldn’t win that case?” asked Hammer.
“Yes. It should never have been a case. The company took the direct debit from my client’s account. Everyone knew that, and the bank had all the records. The obvious thing for the power utility to do when they wrongly disconnected her was to say ‘Oopsie, sorry,’ and move on. They’d have reconnected her free of charge, maybe made a small pa
yment of a couple hundred dollars for her trouble, and it would have been all over and done with. Likely she’d have forgotten all about by the time she’d spent the money.”
“Instead they hid the paperwork, ‘lost’ all her records, and tried to tell her she hadn’t paid. They thought she was a woman and helpless and they’d get away with it,” Cam said.
“Exactly. But she refused to be badly treated, and the case was given to me. Again, they could have easily paid her out then. It would have cost them quite a bit more, but it would have all disappeared in a day or two.”
“And just like your client wouldn’t go away, neither would you. It sounds like my grandfather all over again. Thinking women are brainless and belong in their place, which is what that jerk said to you last night.”
“That was his worst mistake yet because, although there are plenty of men who might agree with him in private, none of them is stupid enough to say it at a gathering like that. Mr. Lillington-Hall is going to regret drinking so much last night, and I don’t mean from the hangover he’ll have this morning. People aren’t going to forget what he said. Judge Laughlin was very annoyed with him, too. I don’t think she’ll be soft on any of his cases for a very long time. As for Bridges, if he ends up back in trouble, he’ll be incarcerated for sure, no matter how much he bats his eyelashes at the judge.”
“Which brings us back to the beginning. Lillington-Hall is going to be after you. You won’t be safe anywhere until someone makes him grow a brain. You’re going to be in danger, Allegra.” Cam needed her to understand how vulnerable she was going to be.
“Bailey and Bond has four associates, and we always take one with us to court. One of them is a very big tough-looking young man. I’ll make sure he’s assigned to me for all my court appointments. As long as he’s around, no one will attack me in the parking lot or court hallways, and no one would be stupid enough to try in the courtroom itself.”
“Move in with us, Allegra. One of us will take you to work and bring you home here every night. Then you’ll be safe,” said Hammer.
“I couldn’t sleep knowing you were in danger,” Cam added, watching her face. As always she didn’t give much away, but he could see the tension in her shoulders under the pile of towels and knew she was mentally fighting a battle with herself.
“I sometimes work very late at the office, when I need to use the archives and so on. Often I work at home after hours as well. My career is important to me, and I need to work more than just nine to five.”
“I totally understand that. We can watch TV using ear buds if the noise would bother you. Or we could wait in the reception area at your office until you were ready to come home. We can play computer games pretty much anywhere,” said Cam, wanting her to relax and agree with him.
“It’s an imposition on you though. My only live-in lover, Lester, Les, he found my need to work longer hours just too annoying. It meant I wasn’t available for him the way he wanted me to be.”
Cam knew it’d hurt her to say that and was still trying to frame an answer that would show he understood when Hammer said, “That’s why it’s good there are two of us. We can sit out in the foyer at your office, bemoaning how neglected we are as we play games on our cell phones, and you’ll never know. Seriously, one of us could go shop or do whatever needs to be done while the other one waits to escort you. We love you, Allegra, and we’ll work it out.”
“As soon as Hammer said love, Allegra’s eyes filled with tears. Cam leaned over the table and took her hands in his.
“Yes, love. We both love you so much, Allegra. I was almost ill last night when the fucktard tried to hurt you.”
“I think I’m falling in love with both of you, too. But there’s so much going on right now that I need to deal with. Let’s start with me moving in with you for a week and see how that works out before we say anything more.”
Cam lifted her chin and kissed her lips. She tasted of sausage and bacon and orange juice and coffee. It was the best kiss he’d ever received, and he was damn determined there’d be a hell of a lot more of them in the future.
* * * *
Allegra was shocked at how much them saying they loved her meant to her. Up until that second, she’d relished their company and trusted them in the dungeon and in the bedroom. Until Lillington-Hall had gone feral at the cocktail party, she’d been enjoying it more than any similar event in the past.
When Lillington-Hall had said outright he planned to cripple her, Allegra only had time to act, not to think. But afterward she’d had more than enough time to think, and she knew he blamed her for his own stupidity and incompetence. In some way, simply by doing her job in exactly the same way he’d have done it had he been on her side of the courtroom, she’d antagonized him and he’d slid off the rails and into fantasyland.
Love. She hadn’t taken love into her considerations. Safety, yes. Desire, yes. The need to spend more time in the dungeon with them, yes. But love? Love meant telling them the secret she hadn’t ever needed to tell Les. Oh, she’d planned to explain it to him, on some future day when their relationship seemed deeper, more stable. That day had never come. But this time, with these men, she needed to speak out. Today.
“First we need to go to my apartment so I can get dressed and pack a week’s clothing. Then I have to return the gown to the designer. Will I need my car if you’re both going to be chauffeuring me around town?”
“You won’t need your car.”
“We have to return the tuxedos as well.”
Allegra put her underwear back on, looked at the offered T-shirt and sweat pants, and then decided to wear the gown. At her apartment she changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and then packed a week’s worth of office clothing into her carry-on suitcase and some casual clothing into her gym bag. She tipped the items from her sparkly after-five purse into her regular work purse, except her necklace, which she put back in its padded box. Next she grabbed her iPad and some thumb drives that held her current cases and put them in her purse as well. Finally she picked up her laptop and sat her potted fern in the kitchen sink after filling its tray with water.
By the time they’d unloaded her clothing and returned the gown and the tuxedos, then gone shopping for food and groceries, it was late afternoon.
“Would you like to go to the dungeon now? We could play a game, eat, watch the first show, and come back for an early night before work tomorrow,” said Hammer.
“Yes, I would, but there’s something else I need to tell you first. Something I never talk about. Something I really don’t want people out in the regular world to know about.”
She was pacing the floor as if she was in court and made herself stop and stand still, looking at them.
Hammer was frowning and staring at her. Cam just looked confused.
“We won’t tell anyone your secrets. I mean, if it’s about a court case or why the douche bag hates you or something, you can trust us,” said Hammer.
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s something about me. I told you I grew up in the country among a community where there were a lot of boys, not so many girls.”
“Yes?” Cam’s voice clearly asked, “So what?”
“And you told me you knew Sierra Bond’s two male bodyguards are actually her partners and that she’s in a ménage relationship, like Darcy, your boss, and Jason, from your work.”
“You’re a wolf?” asked Hammer.
“That’s why you’re so lithe and sleek and can jump and somersault so well,” said Cam right after Hammer.
“I jump well because I spent twelve years learning gymnastics. I practiced constantly, and I was damn good at it. However, it’s possible that my enhanced senses give me better coordination and balance, as well as sharper hearing and sight.”
“You are a wolf though?” questioned Hammer.
“Yes. I’m a werewolf shape-shifter.”
“But with so few female wolves compared to males, how did you ever manage not to have half a dozen male wo
lves wanting to mate you?”
Cam led her over to the couch, and all three of them sat down. “I think it’s because the boys always hung out together. Wolves are pack animals, and the boys always did everything together. A pack on a farm is a marvelous place for a boy to grow up. There’s endless space to run around in and kick and throw balls without worrying about hitting them through a window. There are trees to climb, and tractors to ride, and more. We all went on the school bus into town every day, and we few girls tended to make friends with the girls from school, whereas the boys had each other.”
“And then you started learning gymnastics and made friends with those people?” suggested Hammer.
“Exactly. How do you feel about me now that you know I’m not fully human?” This was the kicker. Would they discover they couldn’t love her anymore? Would they still think she was the same person, or would they feel now that she was different from them?
Chapter Eight
Cam gripped her hands. “You are you, and it’s you I love. I love your blue eyes and your thick hair, although I wish you’d unbraid it more often. I love your sexy toes and your slim feet and your delicious lips, cunt, and breasts. I love your smart mind and the way you stand up straight and look at people as if you can see right through their masks and into their soul. Nothing could change the fact that I love you.”
He longed to kiss her right now and take her to bed, but they did need to talk things through first. Besides, he wanted to see her as a wolf. He just knew she’d be lean, lithe, and sleek, just as she was in a bathing suit.
Hammer smiled at her. “Now that you’ve told us, it doesn’t surprise me at all. I wonder if subconsciously I knew. I can tell so many things about you from your body language even when your face is completely neutral. The way you wind things around the fingers of your left hand when you’re thinking or making a space for yourself, distancing yourself from something, is just one of them.”