by Lilly Hale
Rad opened the wine and poured Elise a full glass. “Radcliffe Kingston, you aren’t trying to get me drunk, are you?” Elise teased, eyeing the generous amount of wine.
“Never hurts to grease the wheel,” Rad replied with a wink and Trey chuckled.
Elise took a sip then gave them both a look. “Seriously, you two. I need a little more recovery time. Last night was, well, intense, to put it mildly.”
Trey rubbed her back. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We understand.”
Rad handed Trey a glass of wine, then leaned forward and kissed Elise tenderly. “Are you sore?”
“Mm hm. Just a little,” Elise admitted.
“I could kiss it and make it all better,” Rad offered in a sultry tone. When Elise laughed softly, he added, “I’m not teasin’, darlin’. That’s a bona fide offer.” He took the glass from her hand and gave it to Trey. “Hold onto this for a few moments, will you?” Then he pressed Elise down back down to the blanket.
“Rad,” she protested half-heartedly. “I mean it, I can’t-” But he was already raising her skirts and settling on his belly between her thighs.
“Shh, you don’t have to do anything, but let me make your poor little tender parts feel better.” The first satin brush of his tongue on her swollen flesh drove all thoughts of resisting from her mind and she relaxed back in the sunshine, let her legs fall open and surrendered to his gentle ministrations.
Elise looked up at Trey, who was holding both glasses of wine, and saw his frustration. “Damn it, Rad. There’s no place for me to set these without spilling them.”
Rad raised his head and grinned. “Ain’t that a shame. Guess you’ll have to wait until I’m done.” Then he made another slow, languid pass up the length of Elise’s tender cleft. Elise sighed.
Trey growled, then determinedly downed one of the glasses of wine in three quick gulps and tossed the glass aside. He stretched out on his side next to her and leaned over to attend to her affection-deprived mouth. Elise melted into the experience, reveling in the bliss of being loved so tenderly by the two men she adored. When Trey lifted the wine glass up and dribbled some of the tart liquid on the top of her cleft, Rad groaned, lapping it up hungrily. Her climax spiraled up then fluttered through her like the gold and red maple leaves drifting down around them.
"After that, my little gift seems somewhat insufficient," Trey remarked a bit later as they lay together on the blanket, Elise sated and happy between them. "I hope you're not disappointed."
“Gift?” Surprised, Elise rose up on her elbows and accepted the small, silken bundle tied with a pink ribbon. "Oh, Trey, I won't be. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's from you."
She sat up and opened the packet then her eyes lit with pleasure as she held up the shiny gold treasure she'd uncovered. "A locket," she exclaimed softly, examining the dainty filigree work on the cover. "It's beautiful."
"Open it."
She did, and gasped.
For a long moment, Elise couldn't speak, could only stare at the locket's contents. It was a tiny portrait of a woman, her dark hair parted in the middle then falling in a cascade of ringlets on either side of her face, eyes the deep blue-green color of her own and a smile that spoke of patience and infinite gentleness. So familiar, so like the face she'd grown accustomed to seeing in the mirror over that last month, yet softer, not as startling or intimidating in its beauty.
It was then she noticed what was in the other side of the locket, and she felt a sudden tug deep within her at the sight.
A fragile, pressed violet.
An image, shimmery and fleeting, passed through her mind: a little girl's outstretched arm - her arm - chubby hand nestled securely in the gentle grasp of a woman's fingers. Then the woman was kneeling before her, plucking something from the grass at their feet. Smiling that gentle smile, she lifted a tiny flower for Elise to see. “It’s as beautiful and precious as you, my dear little one.” It was a fragile spring violet, and the woman was the same one who smiled at her from the locket.
Shaken, Elise barely heard Trey when he said, "It's your mother."
Hands trembling, confused by the feelings and images his gift had invoked, she looked up, her lips parted to speak, but unable to utter the words.
"With Jemma's help, I saved a few items from the auction block, things I thought you might like to keep. Do you like it?”
"Elise?” Rad asked, “Sweetheart, are you all right?”
"Elise?" Trey's hand was now cradling her cheek as he scrutinized her face with a worried gaze.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "It was strange. When I opened the locket, I had some kind of vision. Or memory... I'm not sure."
How could she explain when she didn't understand it herself? The violet, so like the violets she’d pressed as a child, the hobby she’d embraced into adulthood. Was it a clue to why she was here, or merely a coincidence?
And the woman.... She'd seen Hannah McBride in her mind, heard the lovingly spoken words as clearly as she could hear Trey and Rad now. ...my darling little one... They struck a plaintive chord in her memory.
“Oh, my God, it was her,” Elise breathed. Frantically, staring hard at the tiny portrait, she tried to pin down the memories of the accident, the tunnel, but it was like trying to capture a shimmering droplet of mercury.
“Who?” Trey pressed.
Elise looked up at him, her eyes wide with wonder. “The angel. The woman that came to me after the accident.” Seeing his confusion, she tried to explain. “After the car accident, but before I woke up here, I… I remember it was dark and there was a tunnel with a bright light at the end of it. Then this, this beautiful, angelic figure came to me out of the light and told me I had to go back. It was her. Hannah McBride, Elizabeth’s mother.”
Trey looked somewhat shaken, like he’d just opened Pandora’s box, and Rad reached for her hand. Elise shook her head. “Guys, please, don’t be worried. This is good. It’s one more piece of the puzzle for me to work with. I know there’s some connection between my life and Elizabeth's. The coincidences are just too uncanny for it to be otherwise. But what is it?”
Trey seemed to calm somewhat. “You both nearly died when you were five-year-olds.”
“Yes,” Elise agreed, “then again last month, I was in the car crash and she had a buggy accident. And we both went through a distinct personality change after the first experience. Jemma told me how Elizabeth turned into a mean little monster after she survived that illness, and my mother, Margaret, always claimed I was so sullen and withdrawn after my childhood swimming accident. She said I refused to leave my room for weeks afterwards and refused to recognize her and Dad as my parents.” Elise had no way of knowing if her mother's claims were accurate or exaggerated. Her memory of that time was fuzzy at best. She did know it was an extremely sad period in her life, so much so that her parents had taken her to a child psychologist for treatment of depression.
Snapping out of her reverie, Elise slipped a hand behind Trey’s neck and pulled him forward for a kiss. “Thank you for this, and please don’t worry. We’re going to figure this thing out soon, I know it.” She squeezed Rad’s hand. “I want us to be able to be together without worrying about Elizabeth. I want to make a life with you both, be a family, have children someday.”
“We want that too, Elise.” Rad kissed her palm.
Trey sighed and his expression became tormented again. “We have other problems besides Elizabeth that will make it difficult for us to have what we all want. I didn’t say anything earlier, because I’m not certain, but I think Rachael saw Rad and I leave your room this morning.”
“What?” Elise and Rad’s exclamation was simultaneous.
“You’re not sure?” Rad asked. “Did you talk to her today?”
“No. By the time I got cleaned up and went downstairs, she had left to go to church with her friend Honora and they weren’t back by the time we left for our ride.”
“Well then, we really don’t know for
certain there’s a problem,” Rad stated, “so let’s not jump to any conclusions.”
Trey nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I only heard her door shut while we were in the hallway. I don’t know that she saw anything, but I just have a bad feeling about it.”
Elise finally spoke up. “If she did see, we’re going to have to talk to her, try to explain.” At Trey’s groan, she pressed, “What else can we do? If she knows, she knows, and I think it would be better if she heard the whole truth from us. I mean, come on, guys, you really don’t believe that we can go on like this for our whole lives without the people closest to us finding out. What about the servants? They’re bound to figure it out sometime.” She turned to Trey. “Jemma’s already getting suspicious about the time I spend with Rad when she knows you and I are interested in each other. I think she believes that I’m toying with you two again, like Elizabeth did.”
“She’s right, Trey,” Rad agreed. “We can’t keep this secret from Rachael and the servants for long.”
“If the servants know, it won’t be long before everyone knows. Servants gossip, Rad. You know that. We’ll be ruined socially.”
“Well, goddamn it, I refuse to spend the rest of my life hiding my feelings for my wife from the hired help.” Rad’s expression was dark as he sat up angrily. “You’ll get to be Elise’s husband in name, you’re the oldest. I’m willing to make that concession. But I’ll be hanged if I’m going to pretend in my own home that Elise is just my sister-in-law. Either she’s my wife in every way that counts, equally, or…” He broke off in frustration.
Elise threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to her. “Oh, Rad. Baby, I feel the same way.” She planted several soft kisses to his face, then one to his angrily set lips. “I don’t want to pretend you’re not my husband, that I don’t love you, don’t want you. And I don’t want you to have to sneak to and from our bed.” She turned to Trey. “We have to figure out a way for us to live openly, at least in our own home.”
“Well, we won’t be able to do it here in New York,” Trey answered grimly. “Rumors spread like wildfire here.”
“Maybe we don’t have to live in the city,” Elise suggested. “I wouldn’t mind having a home in the country. A smaller home so we wouldn’t have to have such a large staff of servants. At least then we’d have privacy.”
Trey sighed. “Maybe.”
“You’d be willing to give up all the parties, the shopping?” Rad asked.
“In a heartbeat. Nothing means more to me than the three of us being together.”
Trey pulled her to him and kissed her. “I guess the three of us have some planning to do. And you’re right. We’ll have to talk to Rachael.”
****
“You wanted to see me, Trey?” Rachael’s gaze flitted from Trey to Elise, then to Rad where he stood by the library fireplace. Her manner was stiff, her lips pinched, and at that moment Trey knew he’d been right earlier. His gut clenched as he prepared himself for the inevitable.
“Yes, Rachael. Come in and have a seat, will you?”
“I prefer to stand, thank you.”
Trey ground his teeth, but kept his tone level. “Very well. Elise and Rad and I have made some important decisions recently and, well, they will affect you indirectly, so we felt you had a right to be informed.”
Rachael’s lips trembled. “Of what? That the three of you have been… carrying on in a shameful manner right under my very nose?” She leveled a tearful glare at Trey. “You needn’t deny it. I’ve heard you. It’s obvious that you and Elise have become… intimate, but I assumed you were in love and would be marrying soon.”
Trey could see Elise’s face turn fiery red at Rachael’s emotional accusation. “We are, Rachael,” Trey assured her. “And we do plan to marry, hopefully soon.”
“Really?” Rachael’s eyes narrowed, her expression shifting from hurt to anger. “Was Rad helping the two of you make wedding plans last night then? I’m sure that must be it. What else would the three of you be doing together in Elise’s bedroom?” Her nose wrinkled in disgust.
Elise got up from her chair and started toward Rachael. “Please, Rachael, don’t be angry. Let us explain.”
Rachael backed away from Elise, holding out her hand to ward her off. “Don’t speak to me, Elise. I trusted you, treated you as a sister and you repay me by behaving like a, like a common harlot, in my own home! And with Rad of all people!”
“All right,” Rad protested. “That’s enough Rachael. Say what you want about me, but don’t attack Elise like this.” He moved over to Elise and wound a protective arm around her waist.
“Spare me the gallantry, Radcliffe,” Rachael exclaimed. “We both know you’re only enjoying her charms until you tire of her. I’d expect this of you. But Trey…” She turned back to face him and the disillusionment in her tear-filled eyes was like a knife in Trey’s heart. “How could you let yourself become involved in something so sordid. I’ve always looked up to you, you were always so strong and dependable. I trusted you to look out for me, for our family… How could you do this to me?”
His heart breaking, Trey moved to take his sister in his arms. “Please, Rachael. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
“Then why?” Rachael pulled away from Trey’s touch. “Why would you do this? Why would you subject me to this kind of disgrace? If anyone finds out about this we’ll be ruined, I’ll be ruined!”
“I know,” Trey answered quietly. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ll be more discreet from now on, we’ll-”
“You mean you’re still planning on carrying on with this? Despite everything I’ve just said?” Rachael gaped disbelievingly.
“I love Elise, Rachael. And Rad loves her as well,” Trey answered. “The three of us plan to spend our lives together.”
“You mean to share her permanently? Both of you?” Rachael looked ready to swoon, her hands fluttered on either side of her face like butterflies and the tears streamed down her flushed cheeks.
Elise pulled away from Rad and rushed to Rachael, taking her hands despite the younger woman’s resistance. Trey could see that Elise’s eyes were bright with tears as well. “Oh, Rachael, I’m so sorry! You’re right. We weren’t thinking of you through all of this, and we should have been. It was thoughtless of us, but we…we’ve been so caught up in each other. Rachael, I love your brothers, both of them, very much. I’d never do anything to hurt them, or you. I just wasn’t thinking clearly about how this would affect you.” Elise looked up at Trey as she said the next words. “We can’t continue this way. I’ll leave, find a place of my own.”
Trey heard Rad’s low growl over his own harsh intake of breath. “Elise, no,” Trey argued.
She was adamant. “I can’t stay here anymore, Trey. Rachael has her whole future ahead of her and it could be ruined if society finds out about us. We can’t continue to live together like this, it’s too risky.” She pulled Rachael into a hug. “Please forgive me, Rachael. I know I’ve shocked and disappointed you. I didn’t mean for this to happen, honestly. I just fell in love.”
Rachael stiffened slightly, but returned the embrace. “Thank you, Elise. I appreciate your sacrificial gesture. I cannot condone your recent actions, but I do wish you the best.” She sniffled and her voice wavered a bit. “I’m sorry, but, but you do understand why I cannot see you again?” At Elise’s tearful nod, Rachael pulled away, her expression heavy with sadness. “Good bye, Elise.”
Trey watched his sister turn and leave the room, then gathered Elise in his arms.
Rad came over, swearing under his breath and laid a comforting hand on the back of her neck. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I have to.” Her answer was barely more than a whisper, but it echoed like thunder in both their hearts.
Chapter Twenty
Elise sat brushing her hair before the mirror in her bedroom at the Greenwich Village boarding house in which she and Jemma h
ad taken temporary lodging. She stared at her reflection with tired eyes. She was doing the right thing, she told herself once again. Despite their initial reluctance, Trey and Rad finally had to agree it was for the best and helped her locate a decent place to stay until more permanent arrangements could be made.
She’d settled on a small, but nice, two-room suite in an older brick home, set back from the street and surrounded by a picket fence. It wasn’t fancy, by any means, but it would be comfortable enough for the time being, though personal privacy would be an issue. There was only the sitting room and a bedroom, which she shared with Jemma. Elise couldn’t refuse when Jemma insisted on moving out with her, and she was grateful for the company, but it did make it difficult to arrange for any intimate time with her men.
Elise sighed with longing. It had only been a few days since they’d made love, but she’d grown accustomed to the frequent and steamy sex, and now her body yearned for the release it was being denied. She had to stop thinking about it. Good grief, she got along fine without so much sex before and she could do it again. It wouldn’t be so awful. They could still see each other, and here in the Village they would have some amount of anonymity, away from the prying eyes of the upper social circles.
A knock sounded at the sitting room door, and Mrs. Johnson, the owner of the building, poked her plump face inside. "Miss McBride, there's some men downstairs claimin' they're deliverin' some of your belongins. Should I send them up?"
"Yes, but give me a few minutes first to fix my hair."
Elise quickly twisted her hair into a knot and pinned it up, then went into the sitting room and watched the Kingstons’ carriage driver and another man bring in her two steamer trunks, plus another wooden crate she didn't recognize. She was staring at the trunks, trying to figure out where she was going to put everything, when a welcome voice came from the doorway.