Gale, Avery - Katarina's Return [The ShadowDance Club 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

“Hello there, beautiful. Welcome back to the land of the conscious. We’ve been waiting for you to open those gorgeous blue eyes.” Alex spoke softly, and Kat knew too well it wasn’t his usual tone; this version of Alex was comforting and sweet, but it wasn’t the run-to-the-roar Alex she’d fallen in love with as a child and had never been able to put out of her mind. That Alex was well used to giving orders and having them followed immediately. Yes, that Alex was a Dom through and through. Alex spoke again, bringing her mind back into focus. “Zach will be here in just a minute. I sent him a text when I felt you starting to stir.”

“How long have I been sleeping? Can I get a drink of water?” Kat’s throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper. Hoping the water would help clear the cobwebs in her mind, she sipped at the cool water from the cup Alex held up to her parched lips. Groaning inwardly, Kat could only imagine how she must look. “I’m sorry I’ve been so much trouble. I promise to be out of your way just as soon as I can get some clothes and get back to my car.”

Alex just watched her, and if she hadn’t known him so well, she might have missed the slight tightening of his jaw before it relaxed again. He wasn’t happy with what she’d said, she knew he wouldn’t be, but that was just too bad. It wouldn’t be safe for her to be here, and they’d had their chance seven years ago; and if they didn’t want her, she wasn’t going to stick around and give them another shot at destroying what little pride she’d been able to salvage the last time. Damn and double damn, the huge target she’d managed to paint on her back would keep her on the move for years if not forever. She was just so tired and sad. How had her life spiraled out of control again after years of piecing together her heart and building a new life for herself? It would be so nice to just let go and let someone else take care of things, but she would never ask them to risk the trouble she was sure to have following her.

Alex’s steady gaze was starting to unnerve her, but she wasn’t going to let him know it…much. Alex and Zach both favored their father, and owing to Daniel Lamont’s Native American heritage, their eyes were so dark it was often difficult to discern the slight shift in the depth of the color depending on their mood. They had hair the color of coal that was always so shiny, Kat had often wondered if it was as soft as it looked. After what seemed like several long minutes, Alex said, “You have been sleeping for a little over twenty-four hours. I don’t even want to think about how exhausted you had to have been; we’ll be discussing the importance of taking proper care of yourself, among other things, when you’re feeling better. For now, let’s concentrate on getting you freshened up and then getting you something to eat. How’s that sound?” The answering growl of Kat’s stomach kept her from denying how hungry she was. Frowning, Alex asked her, “When did you last eat?”

Oh boy, that sounded a lot more like the Alex she remembered. He seemed to be trying to hold Master Alex on a tight rein, so this probably wouldn’t be a good time to push him by dodging his question.

“Well, um, today’s Friday, right?” Kat inquired, then winched at Alex’s expression.

Alex’s brows knitted together, and he was growling under his breath. The only thing she heard was a snarly “Jesus” before Zach came through the door, saving Kat from having to deal with the decidedly crankier Alex.

* * * *

“Kitten, you’re awake! How are you feeling, darlin’? God, we’ve been so worried about you.” Zach sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand and running the backs of his knuckles softly down the side of her cheek, and without meaning to, Kat leaned in to his touch, taking comfort in it when she knew she should try to keep some distance between them. “You ready to get up out of that bed and take a shower? We tried to get as much of the pond water off of you as we could, but Doc Woods didn’t really want to share you so much.” Zach grinned at her, his eyes alight with mischief.

“Doc Woods?” Kat groaned. “He won’t tell anybody about me, will he? God, if he lets anyone know he’s seen me…Damn, I gotta get out of here. He’ll come here. You don’t know how dangerous he is. It won’t be safe for you. I can’t stay. Where are my clothes?” Kat was near panic mode, trying very hard to not hyperventilate. By the time she stopped for a breath, frantically looking around for something to wear and trying to throw the sheet off until she realized she was naked beneath it. Damn, how had that happened? She didn’t even want to consider all those possibilities.

“Whoa, kitten, slow down and take a breath. Christ, you are going to pull out all the stitches Doc worked so hard on. You know nobody’s going to be able to pry information out of that old fart, hell, he didn’t want to even talk to us about your condition.” Zach had both his large hands on either side of her face and was nearly nose to nose with her. “Breathe with me, kitten.” Zach’s entire focus was centered on her eyes. “That’s it, in slowly, now out. In, now out. No, stop…Focus…That’s it. In, now out. Stay with me, it’ll be okay. You know you’ll always be safe here.”

She tried, she really did; she didn’t want to cry, but once the first tears broke over the rim of her eyes and rolled down her face, she broke into gut-wrenching sobs and just let herself fall in to the arms of the man who had always been her safety net. Zach pulled Kat close and just held her, letting her release all that pent-up anxiety. He knew that they wouldn’t be able to get any information or begin mending their relationship until she was able to purge all the fear she was obviously guarding so closely.

Chapter 4

Alex leaned against the doorframe, trying to look much more casual than he felt.
Just give me a name, Katarina, and I’ll destroy the bastard that has done this to you. There won’t be a hole deep enough for him to hide in, I promise you that.
He didn’t speak, he didn’t blink, he just watched. Everything about her drew him to her. There was something almost mystical about the way she looked at him, as if she could see right to the depths of his soul. It should have been unnerving, hell, it had been damned unnerving when he was younger. But the years have a way of making people more comfortable in their own skin, and he and his twin were very comfortable in theirs. It always came down to one simple word,
trust
. They had to gain Katarina’s trust before they could help her recognize the fact that they didn’t plan to let her slip away again. But her immediate safety was going to have to be a priority for now. They needed to get her healthy and out of danger, then begin the long process of rebuilding what he’d so carelessly destroyed years ago.

As her sobs slowed, finally becoming little hiccups, Alex pushed away from the doorway and moved toward the bed saying, “Let’s get you up and into a nice warm shower. We’ll get you cleaned up and fed, and then we’ll sit down and talk.”

“Okay, if you could just point me to the bathroom and leave me something to wear, I’ll join you when I’m finished,” Kat said as she began trying to back away from Zach, attempting to cover her breasts with the sheet that had slipped to her waist during her meltdown. Zach gently moved her hand to the side, slowly shaking his head at her efforts.

“Don’t ever hide your body from us, kitten. We love seeing how beautiful you are, we’ll always want to enjoy what belongs to us.” Putting a finger to her lips when she would have protested, Zach continued. “No, whether you want to recognize it now or not, you are ours. We’ll work it all out, don’t worry. Now, let’s get you up and into the shower.”

Alex was already starting to unbutton his shirt and kicking off his shoes on the other side of the room, capturing Kat’s attention. She could feel her breathing speed up, her breaths becoming much shallower, and she also knew the sheet under her pussy was most certainly becoming damp. Damn, her body was going to betray her if she didn’t get them out of here quickly.

“I can take my own shower; you two surely have other things to do besides play nursemaid to me.” Kat knew the squeak in her voice betrayed her nervousness at thinking about being in the shower with Alex and Zach. Holy shit, she had to focus on figuring out how to keep the two of them from stealing her heart. But being naked with them, watching bubbles trail down broad, bronze, toned chests was deliciously distracting.
Oh yeah, Kat, those thoughts are going to be real helpful.
Geez, what had she been thinking coming back to Climax? They were just too much for her to deal with, hell, they always had been. What had ever made her think she’d be able to resist the sin on a stick times two that was the Lamont twins was a mystery for sure. “Is Jenna around? She could help me.” Kat knew her words sounded lame, they sounded thin even to her own ears.

Alex smiled down at her. “I don’t think so, Katarina. You know the way it will be with us, don’t even think that anyone else is going to be taking care of you. Now be a good girl and let’s get on your feet and see how you do standing up.” Alex stood at the edge of the bed, his bare chest mesmerizing her. God, he was even hotter now than he’d been when she was just a teenager who hadn’t really seen any boy besides Alex and Zach. They’d always been so gorgeous it should have almost been illegal. “Give me your hand, baby, let me help you stand.”

While Alex helped Kat slowly stand up from the edge of the bed, Zach moved to the side of the large room and began undressing. Sighing, Kat closed her eyes trying to block out the fantasy that was playing through her mind. Her imagination was working overtime, flashing pictures of the two of them sandwiching her between them, naked, wet, touching her everywhere…
Damn it, Kat, get a fucking grip and focus.
Trying not to wince as she straightened, she had to take a couple of deep breaths to ward off the dizziness and pain, finally she was able to get her shaky legs to cooperate and her lead feet to start moving.

Alex watched the expressions chase across Katarina’s face; resignation, fear, lust, it was all there and gone in the blink of an eye. He watched her pulse speed up at the base of her neck and watched as, yet again her breathing became faster and shallower. Her eyes had dilated until they showed but a small ring of the clear blue that had always reminded him of the crystalline waters of the Caribbean Sea.

Wrapping his arm around her waist and keeping ahold of her arm, Alex watched her try to fight back the pain that was showing itself in the strain around her eyes and the thinning of her lush lips. God, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, even with all the marks another man had left marring her perfect skin, he couldn’t see anything but a glow that had always shone from within her. It didn’t burn as bright as it once had, but it would be his life’s mission to bring it back and make sure it was never dimmed again.

Zach moved around them into the en suite bathroom that had been specially built for the woman they planned to share their lives with. Both he and Alex had always dreamed it would be Kat, but as the years had gone by without them being able to find even a trace of her whereabouts, they’d simply kept the door closed at this end of the hall and tried to block out that tattered dream. Selita, their housekeep and cook, always kept fresh linens and flowers in the suite, ever the romantic optimist, she had always sworn to them that “Miss Kat would come home.” Groaning inwardly at that thought, Zach knew there would be simply no living with Selita now; she was never going to let them forget that she’d been right.

* * * *

They’d given Kat a few minutes of privacy, but didn’t stay out long, fearing she wasn’t as stable as she wanted to believe. “Geez, can’t you give a girl a chance to at least use the bathroom alone? This is embarrassing,” Kat said as she reached over to flush the toilet.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Katarina. We don’t want you to lose your balance and fall. It would be easy to become light-headed after lying down for so long. You already have plenty of injuries; let’s not add a concussion to that list, shall we?” Alex’s voice was a mixture of mellow caretaker and bossy Dom that had Kat grinning inwardly despite her annoyance with their intrusion; sure hadn’t taken Master Alex long to reappear.

The shower was huge; it was basically a room with warm brown tile covering the floor and a small bench. The walls were covered with natural stone, and there was water pouring out of showerheads disguised to look like miniwaterfalls everywhere. The entire front of the shower was glass, ensuring anyone in the bathroom had a front-row seat to any “water sports” taking place in the shower, oh yeah, this shower had definitely been designed for group activities.

Stepping under the spray, Kat leaned her head back and sighed, just enjoying the feel of the warm water caressing her breasts and stomach. Yes, the Lamonts had always known how to live right; their parents had been wealthy beyond her imagination, and from all accounts, Alex and Zach had managed to increase that fortune many times over. Even though she and her mom had always lived on her mom’s meager earnings as a waitress at the local diner, Kat had never felt she’d truly suffered because of being poor. And even though her mom had always had very poor taste in men, Kat had grown up knowing her mother loved her unconditionally. Kat had never felt money was all that important, and her mom had always emphasized the importance of a good education, the value in helping others, and she’d always managed to fill their time together with laughter. Those were the lessons Kat had considered her mother’s legacy, and those gifts had left little time for Kat to notice what they didn’t have.