True Perfection [Aspire 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (4 page)

The two of them were standing in the disaster of the kitchen, discussing the progress of the renovation, while sipping coffee. Warren kissed Haley and then poured himself a cup.

“Have you told Haley about our plans?” he asked after a swallow.

Gordon shook his head. “I wanted you to be here. After all, it was a joint effort.” Gordon’s face shone with goodwill, and Warren smiled back.

He quickly outlined what had transpired while Haley had slept soundly the night before and waited for her to react with pleasure and excitement. He was immediately disappointed. It appeared that they had forgotten that their sub might have an opinion in the matter, and she wasn’t pleased at how they had arranged her life outside of the bedroom. Warren could understand his own oversight, but Gordon appeared to have been infected by the same irrational spontaneity and neglected to remember Haley’s edict.

Gordon stroked Haley’s back soothingly, but she wrenched away from him and glared more daggers.

“You didn’t think to check with me?” she fairly shrieked. “You called
my
boss, told him that I wanted a vacation, and expected him to simply shut Enrico’s down, just so that you could take me to some exotic island and fuck me into accepting our threesome status as a long-term thing? Words fail me.”

“You’re making your position fairly clear, Haley,” Warren heard himself answer in that cold, arrogant tone he used to take with people who stood up to him. Haley whirled and clenched both fists, her mouth thinning and setting into an ugly line.

“You’ve influenced Gordon, you jerk,” she snapped.

Gordon was on her before she could say anything further. He gathered her to him and swung her up into his arms, giving Warren a look that spoke volumes. Warren snapped his mouth shut and gave himself a mental slap. They had screwed up, and it was cold comfort that Gordon was in the same deep hole with him. He followed his friend and a struggling Haley to the living room where Gordon sat with her on the couch and just held her until she settled and her breathing calmed.

“Let me go, Gordon.”

Warren watched as Haley slid from Gordon’s lap and went to curl up in a chair, precluding any easy physical contact. Her face was still flushed from her tantrum, but now her bottom lip was trembling. Damn it. How was it that he always managed to make her cry?

“Can we please talk about this, Haley?” Warren tried.

“What’s to talk about? You and Gordon just decided to plan, not just the next two weeks for me, but the rest of my life! And I’m not having it.” He watched as she dashed away the tears and stared at her feet.

Warren looked at Gordon, who shrugged. Impasse. Warren tried again.

“Haley? Both of us noticed how you were pulling away from us. And then you told Gordon we kept you from thinking clearly and that you were scared. Please, honey, we just wanted to take you away from everything for a couple of weeks while the renos were completed and give us a chance to sort this all out.”

Haley visibly calmed her temper, shutting her mouth over some thoughts that Warren figured he really might not want to hear. He waited, the only other sound in the room being Gordon’s shift of position on the couch to sit closer to Haley.

“I’m not going away with either of you, never mind both of you. I’m going to use the two weeks you so conveniently arranged for me to have off to find a place to live.”

At his immediate negative reaction, swiftly echoed by Gordon, Haley rose to her feet. She looked determined and furious, and Warren wanted to drag her down and roll her under him, remind her of their physical connection, seeing as she was determined to establish such distance between them emotionally.

“And don’t think you can use sex to dissuade me either! I need some space, and unless you plan to kidnap me and force me to participate in this plan of yours, there is really no other option.”

Warren watched her storm out of the room.
Déjà vu
. It was like his own personal nightmare. She was leaving him again. He started after her, and Gordon forestalled him.

“Let her go, Warren. We panicked and pushed her. She cares for us both and just needs some time to figure it out. If we try to convince her otherwise, using high-handed tactics again, then we stand a real chance of losing her. I must have lost my head.”

“But we know what’s best for her, you better than me!”

Warren was so frustrated he could have punched right through the wall. He could hear Haley stomping around upstairs, and he knew she was packing. He closed his eyes and wondered how they might kidnap her and get away with it. He, too, was losing his mind. When he opened them, Gordon was gone. Warren ran upstairs and stood with Gordon like a supplicant outside of Haley’s room. He listened to Gordon’s measured tones.

“My offer of a guest room stands, Haley. Please feel free to stay until you are able to find a place to your liking. We won’t bother you and will do our best to keep out of your way. I apologize for trying to run your life. I love you and don’t know what came over me to push you so hard, except I thought you might come to the same conclusion if you were offered the opportunity.”

Warren wanted to protest. He wanted to tell Haley that she was going on vacation with them and that her room would be combined with Gordon’s so that they would all be comfortable in the space and also have enough room for a nursery. He wanted to plead with her to reconsider and stay. In the end, he kept his mouth shut and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gordon. He watched Haley begin to relax under Gordon’s reasonable, calm tone.

“I love you both,” she said quietly. “I won’t deny it. But it’s too soon, too fast, and I need more time to adjust. Look where love got me before. We are all influencing one another, and I’m not convinced this is what I want or if it’s good for me. I’m sorry, but that’s how it feels right now. I’ll stay until I find a place, Gordon, thank you, but it’s going to be awkward.”

Warren thought his heart would stop. Just a few short days ago, he had professed his love for this woman, and she had returned it. What had happened? He fought hard against lashing out and felt Gordon lending him strength. He forced himself to nod and smile and searched for words that would tell her the truth and not push her further away. In the end, he said what was in his heart.

“I love you, too, Haley. You told me you knew it, believed me. I’ll honor your request for space, but I’ll be patient for only so long and then I’ll be pursuing you. I’m not giving up.”

Haley’s eyes glistened, and she stared at him for some time before replying. “I can’t go back to the way things were, Warren.”

“I understand that, Haley. I just think we need more time.”

“And do you think that setting up an artificial environment like a vacation would give us that time?”

Warren shook his head. “We believe we know what is best for you. I know, I know, you think that’s the height of arrogance, but it is what it is. When you come to see it is true, Gordon and I will be waiting.” He turned and made his way to the back door where the construction crew would soon be arriving. He thought he heard Gordon say something else but couldn’t make it out beyond the blood roaring in his ears.

* * * *

Haley plunked down on the bed and shoved a suitcase away with an impatient hand. She knew she was acting like a diva and was ashamed of herself. It was just that she absolutely couldn’t believe that Gordon of all people had gone along with that harebrained plan after she had told him her worries. Haley thought for a while and realized that was exactly why Gordon had gone along with Warren and planned said vacation. They truly didn’t want her to leave or create more distance between them. But this wasn’t about them. This time it was about her, and she wasn’t ready for the commitment. She would find a place to live and get a taste of being on her own. If they wanted to date her or something once she got her head on straight, then she would see where that went. She resolutely ignored the protest from her traitorous erogenous zones and the far more vocal echo from her heart. She needed to keep her sanity, and this morning’s incredible sex was robbing her of that. Haley dug out her recent purchase, a laptop, and booted it up. She started searching for an apartment and began making a list of possibilities. She would borrow Gordon’s car to go and view them, but she wasn’t going to let either man accompany her. Being in such close proximity would undermine her determination. Haley didn’t even stop to consider that she was running from the best things in her life.

* * * *

Nearly two weeks later, Haley was frustrated both sexually and by the lack of finding her own apartment. She had spent hours driving from one end of the city to the other, looking at places within her price range, only to find them either totally unsuitable or already taken. True to their word, Warren and Gordon had left her alone, asking only how her search was going, making sure she had everything she needed, offering her tea when she sat with them in the living room, and asking her to join them for dinner out on the town, seeing as the kitchen wasn’t yet finished. Haley hated being confined to her bedroom with nothing to do other than read or surf the Net, but she couldn’t stand to be near them too much and know what she was missing out on. She missed her guys. She missed talking with them and listening to their conversations, not to mention sleeping with them. Warren kept touching her, little, barely there touches, like whenever he passed her or if he stood back to let her precede him through a door. He’d lay his hand in the small of her back, lightly, but the heat of him warmed her to her toes. Or he would feather his fingers over her arm or hand as he reached around her for something. It was making her crazy with arousal. Gordon was simply there. That presence of his, the one that had spoken to her when she first moved into his house now drew her nearly beyond her control. She walked around in a state of dampened panties and heavy breasts whenever they were home together. Hiding out in her bedroom made things tolerable. Just.

So okay, she missed the sex. She hadn’t forgotten that killer orgasm when they’d taken her together, right before they had unveiled their “plan.” Her pussy still tingled with the memory. But to go to them now would be admitting that she totally needed to be with them, and she really didn’t know if that was true. Surely people could manage without sex. Nuns did it all the time. Except that nuns didn’t have two incredibly sexual, dominant men in their lives who were willing to do anything to bring them the best possible sexual pleasure, not to mention meet their every other need. Haley sighed. She was probably being incredibly dense about this, but she still needed time, and thinking while all alone was surely the best approach. She cracked the laptop and started searching for new listings.

Gordon showed the cleaning crew out the door for what he sincerely hoped would be the last time until the bedroom renovation. And for that one they would definitely be miles away and oblivious to the mess and hassle. He was pleased with the way the kitchen had turned out, although there was a good chance it would be some time before Haley would use it. She was still diligently searching for an apartment, and Gordon had sent intense mental messages into the atmosphere begging any higher power not to reward her search. As long as she was under his roof, he and Warren had a better chance at convincing her that they were her future. Gordon believed in his heart that Haley knew that, but her experience with Warren had left her gun-shy, and he had to respect her ambivalence. They had reacted to her withdrawal in a high-handed fashion, but Warren had coined it when he had told her they knew what was best for her. Haley hadn’t smacked him, so perhaps there was additional hope. The signs of her arousal around them were unmistakable, and Gordon sincerely hoped she was suffering as much as he was. Warren was like a bear with a sore paw when Haley wasn’t around and had taken to muttering about cold showers and hand jobs. He and Warren were sleeping separately, but he was certain that Warren was jerking off as often as he was. He did know that Haley was feeling the strain, too, but he was determined, as was Warren, not to give her any indication that their physical needs surmounted their desire for her. He just hoped she would come to them in the near future, or he was going to go blind before his forty-third birthday next month.

Haley had returned to work that afternoon and would have even less time for apartment searching. Gordon was more concerned that some well-meaning employee would offer her space in their home, although Haley was pretty private and probably wouldn’t share her personal issues. Warren would be home shortly, and Gordon thought they could finalize the plans for the bedroom renovation. Both of them believed in moving ahead, and Haley had brought them even closer together in their thinking and planning. They were functioning as one where she was concerned, although Warren still maintained that he was a bit soft with her. They essentially balanced one another out. Well, Haley held every bit of the power in their relationship. They really didn’t want to do anything to make her angry, although she was so desirable when she was upset. Gordon liked makeup sex as much as the next man, and hoped he didn’t have to wait much longer. The front door opened and then slammed. Gordon winced. Warren was home.

“In here, Warren.”

Warren strode into the kitchen. He looked around and nodded in approval. “Looks really good, man. What does Haley think?”

“She hasn’t seen it totally finished yet, but I think she’ll really like it. She’s at work.”

Warren visibly relaxed and slumped onto a stool in front of the breakfast bar. “Good,” he said. “I’ve been shoring up my defences all day at the thought of laying eyes on her. I want to fuck her so badly that pretending I’m cool with this living in the same house and sleeping separately is making me insane. I’m exhausted with pretending.”

Gordon laughed, but he wasn’t feeling any humour. “I know. Two weeks of being celibate when we’ve had Haley between us totally sucks.”