She stopped laying the tortillas over a small wire form and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“What if I don’t want to spend Wednesdays or Saturdays with anyone else around?” He could tell by her expression she hadn’t been expecting his demand. She seemed oblivious to the tension between him and the other men. He’d be damned if he’d allow her to turn away from him and back to these two for anything—whether it involved friendship or sex. “I told you yesterday, I don’t share, Lyssa. And I meant it.”
“Now just a minute—”
Mike ignored Vance’s protest as he faced Lyssa. “Rule number one: no other men.”
“Excuse me.” Lyssa set aside the package, slipped the pan with the tortillas hanging over the forms into the oven, and left the kitchen. She avoided looking at any of the men as she moved past them.
“What the hell is your problem, Halsey?” Vance demanded, setting the knife down as if he didn’t trust himself with a weapon.
“You don’t get it, do you, Justiss? She’s mine.”
“So?”
Mike crossed his arms over his chest. “So this little threesome you all have shared is over.”
Ben shook his head. “No, my man, it isn’t. Lyssa is a friend. As long as she wants or needs us, Vance and I are going to be here for her.”
“She has me now.”
Vance shook his head and picked up the grater. Running the chunk of cheese he’d sliced over the ridges, he snorted. “If you’re not careful, Mike,
you
won’t have her for very long.”
Determined to make sure Lyssa understood his expectations, Mike left the kitchen and headed for the master bedroom at the back of the house.
Inside her room, he found Lyssa carefully picking up the various outfits spread over her bed. He was ready for a fight, but the quiet calm of her voice surprised him. “Did I ever tell you that I don’t like pushy men?”
“I told you the rules.” Mike ignored her comment.
She glared over her shoulder at him as she hung her clothes up. “So, what? I’m supposed to isolate myself from my friends to keep you happy?”
“No.”
Heat built in her tone as she snapped, “Then what? I sit around by myself waiting for you to stroll in?” She shoved another outfit into the closet and then turned to face him.
Again he ignored her comment, his focus on removing the other men from her home. “They need to go.”
“Who?”
Down the hall, he could hear the rattle of plates and cutlery as Ben and Vance continued making lunch. “Ben and Vance. They need to leave.”
She drew a deep breath. He could see the resolve forming in her mind. “Knuckling under to a man’s demands isn’t a part of my life. That stopped when I was seventeen. And it won’t start again. Not
ever
again. No matter how much I may be attracted to you, Mike, I’ll decide whom I ask to stay and whom I ask to go.”
“Is that a no?”
Lyssa nodded. “Exactly. No. I won’t ask them to leave. I heard what you said to Ben. You can’t tell me who I’ll keep as friends, Mike.”
“No fuck buddies,” he warned her, moving into the room.
Lyssa laughed, the sound empty of humor. “You can’t be serious, Mike.”
Mike dismissed the loosening of the knot in his chest and pointed out, “You’ve been with them at the Club.”
“Is there some unwritten rule that says I have to have sex with any man accompanying me there?” Lyssa shook her head. “I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“What’s with the sudden jealousy? You haven’t given a damn about what I did or who I went out with before now…”
“Like hell I haven’t.” Mike strode across the room to stand toe-to-toe with her. “They certainly acted like they owned you at the masquerade. Does Ben have a key to your house?”
Lyssa nodded. “And I have a key to his and Vance’s place.” Setting her hands on her hips, she faced Mike calmly. “We’re friends. We take care of each other’s homes when one or the other of us needs to be away for a few days.”
The urge to demand that she open herself to him the way she did with the other two men hovered on the tip of his tongue. Regaining control, he asked the one question he needed answered, “And a comfy spot in their bed as well?”
Not bothering with a response, Lyssa moved to shove the last dress into her closet and groused out loud, “I should have known the second I slept with you again this would happen. I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to get involved with a kid like you. You have the maturity level of a six-month-old puppy. What’s next? Peeing on everything so you can mark your territory?”
“Kid?” Mike demanded. He gripped her arm and swung her around to face him. “What about them?” He gestured to the men down the hall.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, if it’s such a hardship getting involved with a ‘kid like me,’ what the hell is getting involved with Ben or Vance? Robbing the cradle?”
“I don’t…”
“Sweetheart, Vance is two years younger than me. Ben, on the other hand, is two years older than me, but that still puts him four years your junior. If I’m such a kid, then so are they.” Gripping her other arm, he pulled her close, leaving little room for anything to pass between them but air. “And if anyone should have a complaint about immature behavior, it should be me.”
“You? Why?”
“Four years ago, I took you home, and you locked yourself in the bathroom. I knocked on the door and waited for an hour. An hour. But you refused to come out.” He gave her a little shake, wanting to rattle her memory into place. “I returned as soon as I was back in country, and you did the same thing—ran away. After a little wham-bam-thank-you-sir, of course. Then it was back to you playing rabbit for four years. Every time I tried to talk to you, you scurried off like some frightened little bunny and avoided me.”
“If I recall, you couldn’t be bothered to keep the one date I did agree to.”
“I apologized. I told you it was an emergency—”
“And I needed to talk to you, but your job, your career was more important,” Lyssa snapped.
“I came back. I tried to make it up to you.” The damage had been done. He’d accepted that when he’d decided providing backup for his team came before Lyssa. Now, though, nothing would come before his woman’s needs. Nothing and no one.
“You just wanted to gloat,” Lyssa excused.
He didn’t miss the way her body betrayed her, moving closer into his hold rather than pulling away.
“I just wanted you, Lys. In bed or out. Against the wall. Over a chair. I wanted to sink inside you and never leave.”
Mike crushed her mouth beneath his. Pulling her close, he wrapped her in his arms as their kiss grew more heated. Spots appeared behind his closed eyelids due to lack of oxygen. Breathing labored, Mike eased his lips away and gazed down at her. “That’s all I wanted, Lyssa.”
Looking stunned and a little dizzy from his kiss, Lyssa held on to him to try to steady herself. “I-I didn’t know.”
“Well, now you do. What are you going to do about it?”
She shook her head, confused.
“Lunch is served. Come and get it.” Vance’s call from the kitchen offered her an escape.
And she grabbed it. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”
Mike stopped her as she tried to step past him. “You won’t be able to run forever, Lys.”
Without saying anything, she moved around him and headed down the hall. He waited before following her, his mind strategizing his next move to break down the walls the woman he loved kept building between them.
Chapter Eight
Mike leaned against the entrance to the hallway as Lyssa gave Vance and Ben a final hug at the door. At the same time, he noticed how determinedly she ignored the packed bag he’d left in the foyer. Ben glanced over Lyssa’s head at him. The warning was clear in the other man’s cool gray eyes.
Hurt her and you’ll answer to me.
Mike nodded his acknowledgement of the threat and offered a casual salute in farewell.
After she shut and locked the door, Lyssa rested against it, her back to him for several moments.
“Delaying it won’t change anything, pet,” Mike told her as he straightened away from the wall and moved across the room toward her.
“Delaying what?” Lyssa looked at him. The guileless gaze she turned on him would have almost convinced him she had no inkling of what he meant, but the flush in her cheeks gave her away. Even her breathing increased, and her hands tugged and twisted the hem of her oversize sweatshirt as he approached.
Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips before responding, “Your punishment.” He bent to retrieve his bag, all the while watching her reaction.
She gave a small start at his words, then a gusty sigh. “Rule number one?”
Mike nodded, tracing her lips with the forefinger of his empty hand. “Again.”
Lyssa’s hand came up and tugged his fingers away from her mouth. “Why? It was only Ben and Vance.”
He twisted his hand free of her grip, then settled his fingers around her wrist. “What makes them exempt from the rule?”
“They’re just friends. Plus they’re gay,” she reasoned.
“They’re bi. And they’re men. Therefore a violation of rule number one.” Mike watched her face, monitoring her expression.
Although wary, Lyssa appeared neither frightened nor unduly disturbed by his announcement. “I really think we need to establish the where and when of the rules’ application. Are you expecting me to follow the rules at all times? Or only when they pertain to sex? I mean, there are any number of times when I might be in violation of rule number one. Like when I’m at the bank or the grocery store. Does that mean I deserve to be punished?” She remained reasonable as Mike moved down the hall.
Mike stayed just as reasonable. “The rules are in effect at all times during your training.” He walked backward down the hall, facing her the entire time as he drew her with him.
“Why? That’s not how Mattie and Bryce use their rules.”
“I’m not my brother, and you aren’t your sister. Every dominant establishes the rules used with his or her submissive. I choose to keep mine in place at all times during your training.”
“What’s the purpose of assigning rules that are likely to get broken due to circumstances beyond my control?” She followed without hesitation, gesturing with her free hand and making no attempt to pull the one he held away.
“What are the rules?” he asked as they crossed the threshold into her bedroom. He set the bag with the toys and his clothes on the bed.
“No other men; you decide how often and how long; and my body belongs to you.” She listed them, ticking each off on her fingers as she faced him.
He didn’t correct her mistake regarding rule number three. More than her body belonged to him, but Lyssa wasn’t ready to hear it. Instead he tugged her closer and held her gaze as he explained, “If you keep the rules in mind, you become more vigilant of situations.”
Lyssa gave an unladylike snort. “I don’t think—”
The press of his fingers over her lips stopped her words. “Stop and think. If you know an infraction will have a consequence, you’re less likely to simply walk into a room full of men without thinking first. You’ll determine if there’s another way to complete your task without breaking the rule.” He tugged her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I want to keep you safe.”
“Just how do the rules keep me safe? The only one punishing me for breaking them is you,” Lyssa groused, but her hands smoothed over the material of his shirt as she spoke.
“If you keep the rules in mind, you’ll be more aware of your surroundings.” Taking a step back, Mike removed her hands from his chest and lowered them to her waist. “When I first arrived, my intention tonight was to indulge in a little role-play. Maybe, ‘naughty sub earns a spanking’ or something along that line.” The glint in her eyes, the flash of heat at the mention of a spanking deepened Mike’s grin. He shifted her hands behind her back and held them with one hand.
“Role-play?” Lyssa’s voice caught as she blinked up at him. “Spanking?”
Mike moved his lips to the sensitive spot behind her left ear. “But that plan has been changed.”
Lyssa groaned. “Punishment.”
He nodded. “You broke the rule; now you need to receive the consequence.” Mike waited, knowing she would have little tolerance for his dictate, but he wasn’t about to back down.
“I still say they shouldn’t count,” Lyssa argued. She pulled her arms free of his loose hold and pressed both hands against his chest.
“Rules are rules. When you break them, you have to be punished.” He waited, watching her expression as it shifted from irritated to petulant to resentful and finally to resigned.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
Her foot tapped an irritated rhythm as he moved to open the bag. “It’s for your own good, Lys.”
Her eyes narrowed more. “Bullshit. I’m a grown-up, Mike. Don’t try to feed me any of those lines. Even Maggie tells her daddy it’s a crock when he spanks her and says, ‘This hurts me more than it does you.’”
Mike laughed. She was right. Their niece did call them like she saw them, even at three years old. “True. All punishments are supposed to hurt. That’s why so many people avoid receiving them by following the rules.”
“And you don’t think the spanking you gave me last night got the point across?” Lyssa asked.
“If it had, Ben and Vance wouldn’t have been here when I arrived.” He watched her closely, noting the way her lips firmed and her eyes narrowed on him.
Uncrossing her arms and planting her fisted hands on her hips, she chided, “So what’s it going to be? Another spanking? Tell my sister on me? Take away my sewing machine? Or maybe your favorite, ditch me like yesterday’s garbage.”
Mike moved faster than Lyssa expected. The moment her last comment slipped free, she knew it would piss him off.
Warm fingers gripped her chin, tilting her face up to his, forcing her to meet the heated expression in his deep brown eyes. His breath, smelling of mint and sweet tea, brushed her lips. “Only warning, Lyssa: no more lies. We both know who kept whom at arm’s length. Who avoided the truth. Who put the barriers between us. Push me again, and you won’t like what happens.”