Swallowing two tablets with some water, she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to put her out of her misery.
* * * * *
After hours of fruitless searching for Rosa, Travis and Trevor had gone back to their apartment to work out a plan B. They hadn't eaten since lunchtime, but neither of them had any appetite.
"Do we have any more beer? No. Brandy. I need a brandy," Travis said, heading to their kitchenette.
Trevor had collapsed across the sofa and was rubbing his face. "I'll have one too, thanks."
"So Rosa isn't back at work yet, and wasn't in the Nursery," Travis went on, putting a tumbler down in front of Trev and taking a large gulp from his own. "Looks like we're not the only ones affected by this auction thing."
"I wish I'd never decided to take part," Trevor groaned. "What a fucking mess."
"You had no way of knowing what would happen, bro. Don't be so hard on yourself. And besides, aside from today, I loved every single minute of it. And don't tell me you don't feel the same way."
"So if you had to do it over, you would? Even knowing that she'd end up leaving us in the lurch?"
"She didn't leave us in the lurch, Trevor. You heard Marshall—she obviously has no idea how we feel about her."
"And she obviously doesn't feel the same way, otherwise she'd have come to us by now. Unlike her, we're easy to find."
"Bullshit. Like the boss said, she's dealing with other stuff too. Probably didn't want to burden us with it." Travis drained his brandy and set the glass down.
"Silver should know by now that she can talk to us about anything. We told her that often enough." Trevor sat up and snatched his own drink from the table.
"Now who's the one who should calm down? Breathe, man. Look, if she thinks she means as little to us as all the other women she knows we've been with out here, of course she's not going to want to pour her heart out—not to us. Surely you can see that?"
"I guess." Trevor sighed. "I just wish I knew where she is. She has to still be here, the next bus doesn't go until tomorrow morning."
"Of course!" Travis leapt to his feet. "She's a guest! She has to have her own room—she'll have been assigned one when she first got here. A thousand bucks says that's where she is."
Trevor clapped a hand to his forehead. "How in the holy fuck has it taken us hours to realize this?"
"Because she's been with us, in our apartment, the entire time she's been here."
"Weird, huh? It felt kinda… right having her here."
"No kidding. Like she'd been with us forever already. But in a good way." Travis began to pace up and down. "Okay. She's been living here, with us, since the day she arrived. When she came off the auction block, she was wearing that silver dress, which she obviously got from Wardrobe... did she have anything else with her?"
"A little bag. And I know where it is." Trevor felt a surge of excitement. "It's in the bathroom. She had a toothbrush in it, some make-up... she said she'd brought it with her because she didn't know where she'd end up staying the night." Jumping off the sofa, he hurried to the bathroom.
"Got it!" he announced, triumphantly, a moment later.
"See whether her room key is in it."
Trevor's hands were trembling as he opened the bag and began to pull things out; tubes of mascara and lip gloss, a comb, a couple of hair ties, an envelope and the room key. "Here it is."
"Fuck, we're a couple of dumbasses," Travis said, the moment his brother brought out the white key card. "It doesn't have the room number on it."
"But this does," Trevor said, opening the envelope and pulling out a piece of paper. "It's her admission form."
Sure enough, the room number was scrawled in the corner. Silver had obviously made a note of it and taken the form with her in case she needed to add something to her tab, or go back to her room, and couldn't remember which guest suite she'd been assigned.
The brothers stared at one another, their eyes bright.
"Ready to go hunting?" Trevor said, his voice catching.
"Let's do it." Travis snatched up the room key and form, and stuffed them into his pocket. The phone rang. "Leave it," he snarled. "We're not here."
"No, wait. It might be her," Trevor said, hurrying across the lounge to pick it up. He returned a minute later. "Marshall wants to see us. Now."
"Tough shit. You want to see Silver, or do you want to go get chewed out again?"
"You know the answer to that question, little brother, but at the end of the day, he's still the boss." Trevor's face softened as he saw the way Trav's jaw was set, his eyes blazing with need. "Look, we'll make it quick, okay?"
* * * * *
Silver was having the most wonderful dream. She was lying in bed with the twins on either side of her, their big, tanned hands creeping softly across her chest and thighs, their teeth nipping her shoulders gently. When one of them savagely pinched her nipple, she awoke with a gasp.
"You've got a helluva lot of explaining to do, Silver girl," said a voice like treacle, and she realised with a jolt that they were really there, beside her on the bed, their eyes glittering in the darkness, like wolves.
"But not here. We're taking you back to our place, which is where you should be."
"I-what?" The sedative had made her groggy, and she thought she might still be dreaming when Trevor picked her up and carried her off, with Travis hot on his heels.
The sudden chill which hit her once they'd left her room, however, left her in no doubt as to whether this was really happening, as goosebumps prickled all over her bare arms and legs. All she was wearing was a baggy blue sleep-shirt with a picture of Snoopy on the front.
Trevor took the stairs to the third floor two at a time, and even though she was still unsure as to what the hell was going on, just the sensation of being in his arms brought tears of relief springing to her eyes.
Travis unlocked the door to their apartment and closed it behind them once Trevor had marched into the lounge and set Silver down on her feet.
For a long moment, they stared at one another. Then his mouth came down on hers so hard she almost tumbled backwards.
A hand gripped her jaw and pulled her away from Trevor, then she felt Travis kiss her with equal fervour. Silver realised with a start that both men were trembling almost as much as she was.
"Now, Silver girl, here's what's going to happen. You're gonna sit your ass down right over there while I make us some coffee and Trav gets a blanket," Trevor said. "And then we're going to have a little chat."
"But—"
"No arguments. We have been out of our minds all fucking day, trying to find you, so unless you want to find yourself over our laps in turn, making what Master Marshall did to you in his office look like love taps, I would suggest you sit your ass down and start thinking about what you're going to say."
His eyes were dark and fierce, and Silver thought she might drown in them. "Yes, Master," she whispered.
Chapter Fifteen
Silver sat on their white leather sofa, squashed between the two men, who each had a possessive hand on one of her thighs. She clutched her mug, grateful for each sip of coffee as it helped clear the fog left over from the Valium. Her heart was pounding, and she was trying frantically to think of something to say.
"Well?" Travis growled impatiently.
"Well what?"
"And you said she didn't have any brat in her," Trevor told his brother, over Silver's head.
"I wasn't being bratty. I was just—"
"You know exactly what we want you to tell us," Trevor went on.
"Actually, no, I don't. I would like to know why you broke into my room and kidnapped me, for a start."
"Unbelievable." Travis tightened his grip on her thigh, and Silver squealed.
"We didn't break in. We had a key. Your key."
"Exactly. My key. To my room."
"Which you left in our apartment, where you've spent the better part of a week, with us, as our girl."
Trevor's voice was hard. "We send you to see Master Marshall for an hour and you never come back, we don't get a call to come get you... how did you think that would make us feel?"
Silver gazed at the floor. "I'm sorry if I worried you both. I was... distracted. And," her voice broke, "I wasn't sure whether you really wanted me to come back."
Travis leaned back, shoving a hand through his shaggy blond hair. "Unbelievable."
"Why on earth would you think that?" Trevor's voice was gentle, probing.
"B-because of... because..." she trailed off, lamely. Because of who you are, and who I am.
"Yes?" Travis sounded impatient, and Silver closed her eyes, trying to find the words.
"Because you both... well, you can—and do—have any girl you want, and I assumed—"
"You assumed what?" Trevor said, gruffly. "That we weren't interested anymore?"
"That... yes," she whispered. "In a nutshell. I mean, I'm nothing special. Whereas you two... you're... you're so wonderful, so handsome, so fucking perfect. Why would you want to keep me around?" A tear escaped her lashes and she swiped it away, angrily, furious that they had made her say it.
"Unbelievable," Travis said again.
"And now? Do you still feel that way, Silver?"
She thought of the look in their glittering eyes when she'd awoken to find them in her bed; of the way they'd both been trembling when they'd returned to their own apartment, and how hungrily they'd kissed her. "Now I'm not so sure."
Trevor slid his fingers across the chain at her throat. "You haven't taken this off."
"I-I couldn't. You had the key." And I didn't want to. I don't ever want to take it off.
"That's the only reason?"
A combination of confusion, longing, emotion and embarrassment lent a shrill edge to Silver's voice. "This isn't fair. You're both interrogating me and making me admit to things I don't necessarily think I need to tell you!"
To her amazement, Trevor sighed. "You're right. Poor little girl, you've had a helluva day too, haven't you?"
"Yes." She started to cry. "I know you've been worried, and I'm really, really sorry, but I didn't know... didn't know—"
"How we feel about you?" Travis ran a hand through her hair and she shivered.
"Yes! Didn't you keep on saying that this is all just for fun?" Her voice rose. "I thought I could handle it, I came here to have fun myself, but then I-I met you, and w-we... but I didn't know how you..." She hiccupped, and, despite the emotional turmoil she was in, wondered how on earth she could have any tears—or snot—left in her. It felt as though she had been weeping for weeks.
"Come here, baby," Trevor gathered her against his chest, holding her tight, while Travis rubbed her back and made soothing noises. "You poor little Silver girl..."
The musky scent of them both overwhelmed her, and their touch was like a healing balm for her soul. She was reminded of something she had read somewhere; 'One day, someone is going to hug you so tight that all your broken pieces will be put back together.'
"We had no idea you were feeling that way," Travis said eventually. "It didn't seem fair to burden you with our thoughts and wants when we knew you'd come here for fun, to get over your divorce."
She sniffled. "That makes sense. I-I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing!"
Silver smiled into Trevor's broad chest despite herself.
"Okay," Travis gave her hair a gentle tug. "First things first. What's your real name, Silver girl?"
"Sylvia. Sylvia Reigns." She realised with a start just how little they knew about her, and with a blinding clarity, understood just how awful it must have been for them both if they'd been feeling the same way she had.
"Pretty name," Trevor said, softly.
"Thank you."
"Now, Sylvia," he went on, "you're going to kneel down right there between us, and listen to what we have to say to you. Can you do that?"
Wordlessly, she slid down to the thick rug and did as she was told, marvelling at how they instinctively seemed to know things; such as how being on her knees always centred and calmed her. It was almost like meditation. Once in position, she gazed up at them as they sat up on the sofa, side by side, each of them taking one of her hands and gripping it tightly, their eyes never leaving her face.
Trevor took a deep breath. "You're absolutely right," he began, "Travis and I have a reputation for being the Castle playboys—and we earned it, because up until, oh, Tuesday afternoon, we were. Then, as you know, we met you."
Silver's heart was slamming against her ribs as she searched their expressions for any sign that they weren't being serious, but there was no trace of humour, just dark eyes filled with sincerity.
"You have no idea how special you are, sweetheart," Travis went on. "You're fucking beautiful—even now, as you are, without any make-up on and with your eyes and nose red from crying, wearing a ridiculous Snoopy shirt."
She felt the corners of her mouth lift.
"But on top of that, you're breathtaking on the inside." Trevor ran a finger down her cheek, slick with tears. "You're smart, witty, sweet as pie, and have the most adorable accent."
"Not to mention you're as kinky as we are," Travis added.
"The complete package," Trevor continued. "You got under our skin, babygirl, and the more time we spent with you, the worse—or rather, the better—it got."
"But we had no way of knowing whether you felt the same way," Travis said. "This is a BDSM resort, sweetheart, a place to live out sexual desires, and then go back home. Usually, anyway." He smiled.
"All we knew about you was that you came here from Oz, had recently gotten divorced, and had a very low opinion of yourself. And whenever we asked you for more information, you clammed up."
"And that's fine," Travis went on, "but it did give us the impression that you didn't want to get too deep with us. Can you see that?"
Silver nodded. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
"Good girl. Now, hear this... we want you. For all the reasons we just listed, and lots more, we want you. Here. With us."
"However," Trevor said, "We need to know what you want. We don't know what you have waiting for you back home... whether you even can stay for a while. As much as Travis and I have come to adore our little Silver girl, if she needs to leave, there's nothing we can do to stop that. So the ball is in your court."
"You-you really mean that? You're asking me to stay?" she asked, incredulously, her hands shaking despite the tight hold they had on them.
"Babygirl, we like to kid around, but not about something as important as this. Do you trust us?"
"You know I do."
"Then trust that we are asking you this sincerely. We really and truly and genuinely want you to stay here."
"For the first time," Travis added, his voice thick with emotion, "we want to keep a girl around. You, Sylvia. We want to spend as long as it takes proving to you that you are special, you are beautiful and you do deserve to be happy."
Silver was smiling so broadly that she feared her face might split open, tears still trickling down her cheeks. "I... I don't know what to say. I worship you both. When I was alone in my room, I wanted nothing more than to run to you. The thought of getting on that bus and leaving here forever made me feel sick. I don't... I don't have anything to go home to. I don't have a home anymore, not really."
Both men pulled her up off her knees, then, and hugged her so tightly between them that she couldn't breathe. "Now you do, Sylvia," Trevor said in her ear. "You have a home here, with us."
"Oh fuck," she said, half-laughing, half-crying, "I don't know which of you to kiss first."
"And I don't know whether I want to kiss you, or bend you over and use every single nasty, stingy implement in my arsenal, to show you what happens when you run away from us," Trevor said, an evil glint appearing in his eye.
"I feel the same way," Travis added. "Which is why you're gonna close your eyes and each of us is going to kiss you. If y
ou guess correctly who's who, we're going to take you to bed and make love to our Silver girl until she can be in no doubt as to how we feel about her. If you guess wrong, however—"
"We'll do the same thing—after we've both punished you for putting us through what you did today."
She giggled. "So it's a win-win situation?"
Trevor tugged her hair. "You're incorrigible. Close your eyes, Sylvia."
"First, I have a request, if I may, Master?"
"Shoot."
"I like being your Silver girl." She shot them both a teasing smile. "I'll only stay if I get to keep on being Silver. Sylvia is the girl I was, not the one I am now."
"Done. Now, close your eyes."
Silver did as she was told, and when the first pair of lips met hers with a fierce, passionate hunger, she was so filled with relief, joy and devotion, that she didn't care who it was... her Master Travis, or her Master Trevor. She adored them both, equally. And, for the first time since she could remember, she felt safe.
* * * * *
"How's your butt, Silver girl?" Trevor pinched it, playfully, and she squealed.
"Ow! Sore, Master."
"Let me have a look." He raised her t-shirt and she danced out of the way, only to be caught and held fast by Travis, who'd been waiting for her.
"Ha, now you can't get away," Trevor said with a chuckle.
"You asked me to get us all a coffee," she said, pouting, "but I can't do that if you keep distracting me. Why do I get the feeling that I'm being set up to fail?"
"Because you're right," Travis told her.
When The Gavel Falls (Masters of the Castle) Page 22