Breathless (The Game Series Book 3)

by Cara Dee

  I wanted to stay here forever.

  I wanted my body to be sore like this forever too. Marks from my Sadists and a peaceful mind—was there anything better?

  As the cherry on a sundae, River had choked me out and fucked me in the shower until black spots had filled my vision, his come had filled my ass, and my own come had filled the drain.

  To say I was spent right now would be the biggest understatement of the year.

  Not that it would stop me from craving more in, like, five freaking minutes or something.

  The biggest revelation for me these past weeks was how addicted I’d become to their mindfucking ways. How Daddy found my buttons and pushed me into my Little space, and how River plucked at the strings within me to degrade, humiliate, and control me. To have my adulthood and all its responsibilities and worries ripped away from me was indescribable.

  Losing to Daddy tonight had elevated that relief to new heights. An uncertainty was gone, but the memory of my dad wasn’t. Losing didn’t mean anything. It’d been a strange mental block of mine I still didn’t fully understand.

  I thought, in a way, that mentality of refusing to lose had made me feel untouchable and detached. The opposite of how I felt, and wanted to feel, with Daddy and River.

  “Do you know, um, any sweet songs?” I asked Daddy.

  He looked up from the strings, and his tinkering slowed down some. “A sweet song, huh?”

  Yes. A lovey-dovey one.

  “You know what I mean.” I sat up and reached for my Coke.

  River took the opportunity to sit up too, and he lit up a smoke.

  Daddy smiled a little. “Where I come from, they’re called love songs.”

  I smiled back and shrugged. “If you insist.”

  He chuckled.

  Then his skilled fingers fell down the strings, and he eased into a new melody. When it came to playing music, Reese Tenley was a country boy through and through. For some weird reason, since I wasn’t a huge fan of the genre, I found it hella charming and sexy.

  And fuck me, his voice…

  I leaned over to River and puckered my lips at his cigarette, to which he let me take a drag from it. When he asked if I wanted my own, I shook my head and crawled over him to reach the bowl of chips instead. I was kind of hungry. Tonight had been draining in so many ways, no matter how amazing. Part of me couldn’t believe there was a party going on just on the other side of those patio doors. Well, I guess if you didn’t participate in the Game, a party afterward was a given. Still.

  Daddy’s low, warm singing voice drew me back in, and I sighed contentedly and threw a couple chips into my mouth. Thunder roared not too far away as he sang of all the things a man had gone through, with the chorus always ending with “On my way to you.”

  Someone pinch me.

  How had this happened? I was only supposed to play with them a single time. They were going to punish me.

  Now…? Now they owned me.

  Without having ever been here before, I knew I was falling in love with the fuckers.

  I set the bowl aside and sucked the salt off my fingers, realizing something else too. It wasn’t just about River and Daddy. It was about me. I hadn’t felt this carefree and thirsty for life in over two years. I was waking up and finally recognizing myself in the mirror.

  “That’s gonna bruise,” River murmured and pressed his finger over a spot on my thigh.

  I hissed and hugged my knees to my body. “So, maybe you don’t push it?”

  He smiled. “Why not?”

  I pressed my lips together to hide my grin.

  Freaking Sadist.

  “Ouch.” I winced as I sat down in the booth and hit a weird angle.

  Daddy slid in across from me, not looking too relaxed himself. He’d complained about his bruised ribcage all the way to the waffle place in Mclean where we were having breakfast this cloudy morning.

  We placed our orders and were served coffee, which River seemed the most interested in. He sat next to me and had been extra affectionate since the minute we’d woken up, even now with a hand on my leg, but he still wasn’t a talker before he’d had at least one cup of coffee.

  I yawned and glanced out the window. We were near the waterfront in town, and we were far from the only ones who wanted to have breakfast out. Several restaurants had outdoor seating areas across the road, and they were packed.

  I took a sip of my coffee, then grimaced and stirred in some creamer. It was too strong. “By the way, don’t forget y’all have to take me out on a date soon. That was the deal.”

  Daddy smiled into his cup and took a slow sip. “I’ve been pretending to be patient since last night. Whenever you’re ready, sweetheart.”

  I grinned sleepily. “So, we can lock this down? Like, we’re in a proper relationship now?”

  River chuckled and hugged me to him.

  “Definitely locked down—and throw away the key,” Daddy confirmed. “You’re stuck with us now.”

  I could think of worse things.

  I turned to River and kissed his cheek. “I haven’t thanked you guys for everything you’ve done. I feel like…” I swallowed hard, the tension changing to something much heavier. Maybe this was a bad place for that, but I had to get it out. “Just…thank you. You’ve kind of brought me back to life.”

  River hugged me a little harder and kissed my neck.

  “You’ve given us more than you might believe, sweetheart.” Daddy locked his feet with mine under the table. “I’d like to think we saved one another in a way.”

  I mustered a wobbly smile, out of words. I couldn’t even describe to myself what I was feeling. It was all a rush of emotions and overwhelming relief. Happiness—it was happiness.

  “My aunt wants to meet you,” I admitted.

  And I wanted them to meet my brothers.

  River cocked his head and peered down at me with a curious expression. “You’ve told your family about us?”

  I nodded. “Was that not okay?”

  “Of course it is,” Daddy was quick to say. “It actually means a lot, considering…”

  Considering they didn’t lead a very normal lifestyle. Whatever. It went without saying that there’d be no details shared, and I knew Daddy and River wouldn’t want that either. Hell, they didn’t even tell their dearest friends how close they were. But the fact that we were in a relationship? I wanted to tell everyone.

  “I don’t care about what strangers say, and my family is accepting,” I said.

  “Then we’ll take your aunt and brothers out to dinner sometime soon,” River replied with a nod. “I hear that’s what you do in vanilla relationships.”

  I snickered.

  “It’ll be our first one,” Daddy mused. “This should be interesting.”

  I shook my head in amusement. “I don’t think we can do anything strictly vanilla, even the vanilla parts.”

  “I’m glad you’re prepared,” River laughed and released me. Our breakfast was here, and my stomach snarled.

  Fuck yes. A big plate with waffles was set in front of me, and I unwrapped my utensils from the napkin. Daddy and River preferred the Belgian variety. I loved the thin ones the most. With whipped cream and strawberry compote, of course.

  “Those look crispy and buttery.” River eyed my plate with interest.

  I cut a piece for him and dragged it through the whipped cream and compote, then held up the fork for him.

  He hummed around the fork and nodded in approval. “For next time. Damn, that was good.”

  Daddy dug into his own waffles, topped with Nutella and whipped cream, and spoke with his mouth full. “Let me just see if I’ve got this straight. Now I can finally relax, knowing that you belong to us. We’ll go on dates, we’ll meet your family, we’ll go balls to the wall with our kink, we’ll eventually—hopefully soon—declare our insane love for one another, and then we can tackle your silly little wish to live in an apartment complex with a pool in DC. Correct?”

 
; I coughed around a piece of waffle and stared at him incredulously.

  River’s shoulders were shaking with the laughter he didn’t let slip out.

  I had no words for this either. My Daddy, a strong, savage Sadist with a creative mind out of this world. But he was also cute as fuck, and sometimes he fumbled.

  I couldn’t contain my grin. “I don’t know what apartment complex you’re talking about, but fuck yes to everything else.”

  Especially the declaration of “insane love.”

  “And we can save that topic for another time,” River told Daddy pointedly. “Seriously, Reese. We have all the time in the world.”

  Well, I was kind of curious…

  I mean, I remembered sending a text to River about an apartment with a pool, but did Daddy think that meant I had to stay in the DC area? Because that wasn’t the case at all. Everything had changed as my relationship with the Tenley twins had formed.

  Did that mean they wanted me closer to them in the future? Because I was game!

  Half an hour outside of the city was nothing anyway.

  It was a little soon to discuss living arrangements and whether or not we’d live together one day—though the prospect made me sickeningly giddy about the future—but I knew one thing for certain. I wouldn’t mind leaving the city as long as I remained fairly close to it. And…well, since I was letting my thoughts stray there…maybe we should live permanently in a small cabin next to a kink mansion.

  I was open-minded and honest, even with my brothers, but that didn’t mean I wanted them right there, seeing things they shouldn’t before they were old enough to make those types of choices themselves.

  I filled my mouth with more delicious waffle and noticed Daddy and River’s stare-down.

  It was entertaining.

  Daddy intensified his stare and raised his brows. “What about our plan? We can’t even mention—”

  “Reese. I swear to Christ.”

  What plan? There was a plan? I wanted to hear the plan.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I would’ve left it there until breakfast was over if I hadn’t been expecting a text from TJ. I’d asked him to let me know if there was anything else they needed before school started.

  Instead, it was a message from Ivy. She was confirming our plan to meet up for a late lunch next week. Kit and Cam were coming along too, and I had invited Isela. I was still a little irritated with her, but as my Owners had pointed out, she’d only wanted to help me. Just like they had. She deserved the chance to say her piece—and she probably deserved my forgiveness too.

  “Fine,” I heard Daddy say in a bitchy tone.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle, and I glanced up from my phone. “So, we’re not going to discuss your grand plan?”

  “Apparently we’re going to wait,” Daddy muttered. He cut into his waffle with a bit too much force.

  River smirked and wiped his mouth on a napkin. “Nothing wrong with enjoying the moment, brother.”

  He had a point.

  Daddy merely sighed, and then he dug out his phone and cocked a brow. He must’ve received a message too.

  I took a sip of my coffee.

  “KC spells his last name H-A-Y-L-E-S, right?”

  River furrowed his brow. “Yeah. Why?”

  Daddy slid the phone across the table to him. “Unless there’s another Noa Hayles, KC’s stepson just requested to become a member through an invitation from Cam.”

  My eyebrows flew up, and I stuck another forkful of waffles into my mouth. River had told me about KC. He’d been there last night.

  River kept his eyes on the screen as he spoke. “You know how we’ve always hated drama? Starting a community worked out really great for us.”

  I laughed and licked some whipped cream off the corner of my mouth.

  This was too funny. I had to text Cam about it right away.

  Cam…? Are you starting drama in the community by inviting KC’s stepson? :-D

  Daddy took back his phone with a shake of his head. “Thing is, I can’t discuss this with KC beforehand. It would violate our policy on privacy.”

  And who could forget how quickly they’d assured me that, when they were researching my background, they hadn’t used any of the information I’d submitted for my membership.

  Wait. Fuck. My stomach dropped. “Um, Daddy, I just texted Cam about it. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

  I felt queasy all of a sudden.

  When he asked to see the message, I showed him my phone, coincidentally at the same time as I could see Cam typing his response.

  Daddy hummed. “Don’t do it again, sweetheart, but…I don’t know. Just this once, I kinda hope the news reaches KC. I want them to work this out on their own.”

  The relief hit me hard enough that I felt giddy—and I couldn’t help but crack a joke. “I know how they can work things out.” I waggled my brows.

  River snorted, only to cough quite violently. This was the day I’d made my Owner choke on a waffle.

  Daddy chuckled and returned my phone. “And you call us filthy.”

  I shrugged as I—oh, Cam had responded.

  I don’t know what you’re talking about. ;) I’ll have you know that Noa and I are very close. Very, very close, if you know what I mean. And if we happened to have a plan together, that would be a pure coincidence.

  I immediately shut down my phone and stuck it into my pocket. Welp. Being more active in this community was going to get…entertaining.

  To be honest, I couldn’t fucking wait.

  I had a sense of purpose again.

  “What did Cam say, pup?” River asked.

  “That he didn’t wanna talk about it,” I lied. “He also asked what the next Game is going to be.”

  Daddy finished his coffee before responding. “We can give you a hint, but you’re not allowed to share it with anyone. Understood?”

  “Yes, Sir.” I nodded quickly.

  His mouth curved up into a dark little smirk. “The entire estate will be a funhouse for a weekend. It’s going to be a sleepover event.”

  Oh hell.

  My mind exploded with possibilities.

  More from Cara Dee

  Shay, River, and Reese will return later in the series with a short, kinky, fluffy sequel, in which you’ll get a glimpse of their future and how they’ll tackle Shay’s destiny as a cage fighter. Oh, and those pesky living arrangements.

  In addition, there will be a novella with taboo themes that takes you back to when River and Reese were younger.

  Stay tuned and make sure you subscribe to Cara’s newsletter! You can find it on her website at www.caradeewrites.com.

  Next up in the Game Series

  Cam/Lucian & KC/Noa

  About Cara

  I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.

  There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly. Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.

  Additionally, I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.

  Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.

  I'm a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and cupcakes, too. But mostly, I just love to write.

  ~Cara.

  less (The Game Series Book 3)