“So stand beside me for the rest of our lives. Now hurry up. We mustn’t leave our wife waiting.”
This was one of those life-changing moments he knew would either make his life or be a mistake he would take to his grave. He needed to make this choice right now and accept his decision for eternity. Everything within him stilled and neither a sound nor a movement intruded on his total focus. Time had stopped. Could he live the rest of his life without her? Or could her live the rest of his life sharing her with Kyle, a man so giving he didn’t even question sharing? Together the three of them would sit down to dinner, talking about their days. Together they would take Joel to soccer, and they might even have more children. Together they would sleep in their bed. Together they would take their wife and love her and comfort her until death parted them. He would make her fly under his whip with Kyle by his side.
He thought back to the last three months, to the emptiness and loneliness but most of all the pain. The days had been endless. Was his need to not share her so important that it was worth a life without her? He also missed Kyle more than he would admit to anyone. He’d come to depend on his friendship with him. He looked forward to seeing him every day. They shared a soul-deep bond. They were bros. With a partner, they could share the responsibility and the work load as husbands and fathers, and one of them would always be able to be with her and their children. They would never have to sacrifice their careers for their family. There would always be someone to discuss problems with. He would have a wife and a best friend forever with him. Reality snapped back in place and time began in an instant.
“Let’s get ready,” he nearly shouted in his excitement.
“I thought so.”
As they hurried out of the church and toward Kyle’s car, he knew he needed to say something to Kyle. He needed to ask for his forgiveness. “Thank you, Kyle. I can never repay you, even if I tried for the rest of my life.”
“Is this one of those chick moments when you hug me or something?”
Caleb couldn’t hold back his laugh. This was what he’d missed so much, and now he was going to be the lucky bastard to live the rest of his life with it.
“You’re such a dick.” He chuckled.
“Damn straight, how else would I have been able to fuck our wife so well since you’ve been gone?”
“You bastard.”
“Tell me about it. Damn, but her pussy has been so tight lately. Not to mention the new nipple rings. I even got her clit hood pierced and ringed to match the new nipple rings. The rings are much better to put weights on them and keep her constantly on edge and constantly thinking of it.”
He knew Kyle was trying to punish him with jealousy for what he’d done to them all for the past three months.
“Fuck off.”
“Snappy, snappy.”
They rushed back into the church in search of a bathroom to change. It struck him then that they may have resolved their issues, but what about Petra? Could she possibly forgive him? Would she even want him to be there and would she be willing to marry him as well? So much time had passed and so much pain had been created by him. A sudden surge of dread passed through his entire body. Here he was thinking it was all about him. Here he was wondering whether he could accept sharing. Wondering whether he could live with a ménage family for the rest of his life, instead of even questioning whether that option was acceptable to Petra. Did she still love him and could she forgive him? How egotistical he had been to think just because he decided he couldn’t live without her that she still felt the same way about him.
“I need to speak to Petra. I need to ask her if she’ll have me.”
“I agree. But first we need to get you dressed just in case.”
Kyle hadn’t flinched, and the smile was still on his face. It was as though he knew the answer before the question had even been asked. “You think she’s going to automatically forgive me, don’t you?”
“There’s no guarantee. However, I’m a believer that love prevails, and if not, I’m also a believer that persuasion and sexual torment can make Petra agree to anything when we know that’s what she wants.”
“Remind me never to be on the wrong side of you, Kyle,” he said as they headed toward the bathroom where within five minutes Caleb was dressed in a tuxedo identical to Kyle’s and ready.
“Don’t you think the families are going to question the fact that our suits are identical?”
“Our friends will understand, and I don’t believe her family will notice. Though, ultimately they’ll find out, and so why not begin as we mean to go on?”
Kyle led him down the hall to a closed door.
“She’s in there waiting.”
Caleb took a deep breath. These were the last seconds of the ball game. He would either win or lose based on what she said. He took another deep breath and opened the door.
* * * *
Petra turned at the sound of the door, expecting to see her father. She never expected to see Caleb standing there in a tuxedo, looking charming, suave, and most of all sexy as hell. James Bond was nothing compared to the man standing before her. Her body pulsed, and her blood began to warm from her desire for him.
Damn my traitorous body.
She wanted to melt, and she wanted to throw herself in his arms as a tiny spark of hope lit inside her heart. Then logic prevailed. This was the man who left her. She understood why, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t love her enough to stay and give it a try. It also didn’t stop her feelings of rejection, disappointment, heartbreak.
“What are you doing here, Caleb?”
“My God, Petra, you look so beautiful.”
As much as she knew she shouldn’t, she felt joy at his compliment. What girl didn’t want to feel she was beautiful on her wedding day? And the compliment from Caleb meant the world to her. He hadn’t often given compliments during their time together, but when he did she knew it was heartfelt.
“Caleb, why have you come?”
“I’ve come for you,” he replied. How could he possibly say that?
“What do you mean, you’ve come for me? Have you come to stop the wedding?”
“No, I’ve come to be in the wedding.”
“So you’re going to be Kyle’s best man after all? Or are you just one of the guests?”
“No, Petra, I’ve come to be one of the grooms if you’ll have me.”
He couldn’t possibly be serious? It had to be some kind of cruel joke.
“Caleb, I don’t find that funny. Please leave so I can get married.”
“Are you telling me you’re unwilling to marry Kyle and me as your two husbands?”
“Are you asking me to marry you as well?”
“Yes.”
Such a simple word, but it held so much power. “Does Kyle know you’re here?”
“Who do you think gave me the suit and helped me to dress in record time?”
“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of this. It can’t be real.” She could feel her breathing begin to quicken and a tingling in her fingers, which was travelling up her arms.
“Kyle, I think we need you in here,” he called and the door opened and Kyle walked in.
“I know, darling, it may be bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. But I think maybe it’s even worse luck if the wedding doesn’t happen at all,” Kyle stated as he entered the room, scanning her face.
“My God, darling, you look so beautiful! My own little princess.”
“Do you understand why Caleb’s here?”
She looked into his eyes trying to see how he really felt about this, wondering what he was thinking and whether he was really accepting of Caleb also being her husband.
“My darling, we both know you love him, and we both know you haven’t felt whole without him.” He took her hands in his. “I know you love me with all your heart, and I also know you would happily marry me without him.”
“Kyle, I’d be happy with just the two of us, you know that,” she pleaded.
“I know that, but it doesn’t have to be. I know having a triad or a permanent ménage or whatever you call it is going to be hard on us all and we’re all going to have to work damn hard to make it work. But I also know it’s meant to be.”
“Why, Caleb? Why now? Why have you suddenly decided to accept the three of us being together?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Because sometimes it takes a kick in the head to see what’s right in front of your face,” Caleb said on a frustrated breath. “Look, Petra, I don’t know how to explain it. I just…I loved you and I couldn’t see how it would work. I was jealous. I was angry and frustrated. I just couldn’t deal with it. I went to my sister’s, and you know Sara, she poked and prodded and made me realize some things about myself,” he explained.
“So you’ve come to please your sister then?” The little spark of hope that had been ignited by his arrival began to sputter and die. He wasn’t here for her, he was here to satisfy others.
“No, of course not. Look, I’m not good at explaining things. I’m messing this all up.”
As much she wanted to iron out the crinkles that had formed between his eyes from his frustration, she also needed him to tell her.
“I can’t let you go. I won’t let you go. You’re mine.” He growled in the deep Dom voice that never failed to excite her.
“So you think you can just walk in here and I’ll marry you and we’ll all live happily ever after?”
“Yes, Petra, you know you belong to us both.”
If only that were true. All those times she’d been frustrated when reading a romantic story where the heroine just accepted the hero back after he’d left her or done something disastrous. She’d ranted about how stupid the heroine was, and she used to wonder if anybody would really do that in real life. How could they? Didn’t they have any respect for themselves? And now here she was, standing in those very shoes and having to make the very same decision. Should she do what she’d thought the heroine should have done so many times before? Should she say no? Should she hit him or laugh in his face and tell him to go to hell? But where would that leave her? She’d be without him for the rest of her life. For the first time she understood why you should forgive sometimes. It wasn’t a case of being weak and pathetic. It was a case of being brave enough to let go of your ego for a moment for the sake of your future. But she wasn’t selfless enough to give in to him without him paying for it somehow.
“What are you willing to give? What are you willing to suffer to make amends?”
She could see the surprise on his face. He hadn’t expected her to want retribution and that in itself made her feel braver. She thought back to the time nearly two years ago when Grace had walked into the club with Michael and Jason, both her Doms, as her submissives. It was their punishment for pushing her away. Of course it hadn’t lasted very long, but it was the talk of the club for the next month. Could she do that? Her inner bitch screamed,
Yes.
“Be my submissive for a weekend,” she demanded.
“Petra, honey, I can’t do that,” he replied quietly, a forlorn look in his eyes.
She felt the smack of disappointment that he wasn’t willing to do something she asked as retribution. He was asking her to forgive him for deserting her for the past three months, and he couldn’t apologize to her by doing something she asked for just one weekend. “What do you mean you can’t?”
If he wanted to tie me to a rack and whip me in order for him to feel I’d done enough to be forgiven then I’d do it in a heartbeat. Submission doesn’t come naturally. It’s not a part of who I am. It’s something I gift to someone.
The bitch inside her wanted to make him do it, make him suffer. But she knew she couldn’t do it. She also had to admit that it may actually change how she saw him. In her eyes he was a Dom, and she his sub. If he knelt at her feet she didn’t think she would see him the same way.
“Okay. I reserve the right at any point in the future to tie you to the rack and whip you. In return I will forgive you. Do you agree?”
* * * *
Caleb rubbed his hands over his chin, looking as though he was deep in thought. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten off so easily. All he had to do was allow himself to be whipped at some point in the future, which he was betting she’d forget about. If not it wouldn’t be the first time in his life he’d felt the lick of the whip. She was willing to forgive him and put it all behind her. He looked down at her and she looked so beautiful in her wedding dress. Her corset top pushed her breasts up as if in offering. Her waist looked so tiny he felt like he could span his hands right around it and have his fingers overlap. And the flared skirt looked large enough for someone to hide underneath. A thought popped into his head about pleasuring her sometime tonight with nobody the wiser. Never had he thought that a bride could look so sexy, but Petra pulled it off. All he wanted to do was ravage her out of that beautiful gown. He wanted to throw her down on the floor right this minute. They were all standing staring at each other, waiting for him to answer, and he couldn’t make them wait any longer.
“If you promise to be my wife, my best friend, and my lover for the rest of our lives, I will gladly agree to your demand,” he said with the hint of a crack in his voice.