Was it Good for You Too? (24 page)

She could see how, from Amir's point of view, it may have been … rough, feral. But it was only a slight bit more intense than the way they had always made love.

“He's an animal,” he snarled, stepping away from her. “He doesn't deserve you.”

Tailan closed her eyes against the pain caused by those words and fastened her robe.

“Just because his lovemaking style is different, doesn't mean he's barbaric.”

“And you enjoyed it,” he spat, giving her a look of shock as he paced before her. “So all this time that I have been making love to you, adoring you, treasuring your body for the beautiful temple that it is, all along you just wanted to be
fucked
?” He tossed her an enraged glare. “What were you doing? Humoring me?”

Tailan pulled in a deep breath. His ego was talking nonsense. He knew he was a great lover—just different. “Amir, you're getting dangerously close to pissing me off.” She leaned her hip against the back of the sofa and added, “I won't ever lie to you.” She waited for his eyes to meet hers. “Yes, I enjoyed it. It was raw and untamed and hedonistic, and I experienced a great deal of plea-sure.”

He turned from her, but Tailan would not allow him to hide any more than he would allow her to. “But what you did to me was no less climatic or enjoyable or mind-blowing.” She bravely approached him. “Both of you made my body your temples of pleasure.”

He looked at her and clasped her hand. “I was wrong about him. He actually put you first.”

She knew that going in. Delvin always made sure she was pleased. But now her men had suffered a blow to their respective egos. How could she help them overcome that? Tailan should've never agreed to this. She had been greedy—the temptation too great to pass up. And now she would pay for it—emotionally and with every muscle in her body.

“So what do we do now?” she asked in a voice just above a whisper.

“I do not know, Tailan,” he said before leaving her side to reclaim his place at the window.

Chapter 29

Delvin was overwhelmed. After what he had witnessed Amir do to Tailan, he was beyond dazed. Never in his life had he seen such a feat. Delvin was by no means a lightweight in the bedroom arts—but
damn!
Amir had introduced him to a whole new level of sensual pleasure. And Delvin was—by his own bright idea—forced to take in every single minute of it.

The final humiliation surfaced when Amir peered over his shoulder and saw Delvin's stark interest. It must have been written all over his face, not to mention the king size erection tenting his robe. Amir smirked at him and said, “Was it good for you too?”

Delvin couldn't get the sultry images out of his head. Tailan's cries of ecstasy, her delicate hands straining and fisting in Amir's hair. Her body bowing up and collapsing over and over and over as Amir pleasured Tailan, loved Tailan, devoured Tailan again and again and again!

A gentle touch on his shoulder pulled him viciously from his internal musings. He looked up. Tailan was standing beside him, holding a cup of coffee. He accepted it as she joined him on the stone bench facing Navy Pier across from the hotel.

“What are you doing up this early?” Delvin asked before taking a sip. “Better yet, how can you even move a muscle after last night?”

He glanced over to her and noticed she kept a stoic profile straight ahead but couldn't conceal the blush that fanned her features. She didn't rush to reply. They both sat in somber silence, each taking in the sunrise over the lake. Tailan reached out to touch him. He shrugged her hand off.

“Talk to me.”

Her voice was strained, hoarse. No doubt from the never-ending cries and screams of passion from last night and into this morning.

“What is there to talk about?” he grumbled and sipped on his coffee. Several emotions warred within him that fit together like wrong puzzle pieces.

“Six hours and twenty-three minutes,” he sighed, setting the coffee down next to him.

“What?”

“The man made love to you for six hours and twenty minutes. I thought I counted nine orgasms. And he never even penetrated you! Then I lost count of how many times he made you …” he said, casting her a sideways glance.

Those few I gave you must have felt like an appetizer before his main course
.

The first time Delvin thought they were finished making love, Amir released a throaty chuckle as he said, “Oh, I am not nearly done. I normally allow her small breaks in between orgasms so that I do not overpower her. I will be sure to let you know when we are truly finished. Get comfortable, this is going to take a minute. Or two.”

“Is it like that every time?” Delvin asked, his morbid curiosity taking over.

His searching gaze bore into her, ready to detect a lie. “Sometimes it's only five hours,” she squeaked.

Delvin snatched up his coffee and took a big swallow. “Riiiight,” he taunted. “I guess his little East Indian ass showed me a thing or two.”

Tailan moved closer to him and stroked his hand. He recognized the gesture. It was something she often did when he was agitated. The strategy was not doing the trick this time. He tried to pull away, but Tailan held firm. “Every man makes love differently,” she whispered. “He's incorporated things from his culture.” When Delvin frowned, she explained, “Tantric sex, the Kama Sutra, Energetic Sex practices, things like that. It's more about connecting with your partner on a soul level, spiritual level, and physical too. I won't lie to you any more than I would lie to him. I experienced pleasure with you both. No one was greater than the other.”

Delvin focused on the teal waters of Lake Michigan for a moment, nodding as though he had just come to some understanding. “Now I see why you won't leave him.”

Tailan released his hand and stared at the water.

He turned to her as she replied, “That's where you're wrong.” She rubbed her forehead, as though attempting to form her words carefully. “I won't leave him because he loves me. I won't leave him because we have a family—that's intact. I don't want to destroy that. It wouldn't be fair to the children.”

“What's not fair is that I'll never love any other woman but you,” he countered. “I'm still paying for my mistake. I'll always pay for it. Losing you will haunt me to the grave.”

Tailan placed her arm on his shoulder. Her touch, though gentle, hurt. He couldn't look into her beautiful face and accept the harsh reality buried in her soft eyes. He lifted his cup to his lips and redirected, “I'll have my lawyer contact you regarding visitation. And whenever Devi comes, Neena is always welcome to come. That won't change.”

Her body flinched beside his. Warily she removed her arm and said, “All right.”

Delvin was not sure how much more of her attentiveness he could handle. Between fits of disbelief and shock, her presence had introduced another emotion into the mix.

Embarrassment.

Yes, he knew that had been the feeling that swamped him in those final minutes of watching Amir with Tailan. She was in the throes of a toe-curling climax when Amir turned those light brown eyes to him. The look the men shared was as humiliating to Delvin as it was provocative.

Delvin had been
aroused
seeing another man pleasure
his
woman. He had gotten off on it. It mortified him and compelled him to rush from the bedroom and leave the suite.

He reached out, cupped her face in his hands. It took everything he had—every ounce of control to make this about them and not him. To make this about truth and not excuses.

Delvin brushed his lips to hers and asked, “I can't change the past, so how long are you going to make me pay for my mistake?” He pressed his forehead to hers, listening to her unsteady breathing. “I've gone all these years without you.”

Tailan shook free of his hold. “That wasn't my fault. You had the child you wanted by a woman you chose. You had your career, you had everything—”

“But I didn't have you,” Delvin reminded.

Tears filled Tailan's eyes. “You made me feel less than a woman because I wouldn't give you what you wanted,” she cried. “You had no regard for my body—for what I wanted.”

“And all of it was for nothing,” he countered, reaching up to wipe away her single tear. “Because in the end you did have my child.”

“I had no choice but to have her,” she said. Her look was pure sadness. “I was scared every single day! I had complications with the pregnancy that robbed my body of strength. I was horribly ill. Every day I lived in fear that my body would give out, my child would be born sickly or worse—an orphan because I died giving it life.” She glared at him. “So don't you dare trivialize my experience as an ‘I told you so.' I'm not a violent woman, Delvin. But say something like that again and I'll slap you so hard—”

Delvin reached for her again, and she struggled for a moment, then finally gave in and cried in his arms.

After a long while he said, “Answer one question for me …”

Tailan nodded. She lifted her head from his chest and waited.

“Do you love me?”

Tailan eased out of his arms and confessed, “I can't answer.”

“Can't or won't?” Delvin persisted.

Tailan took in a deep breath and looked back at him. “Same difference.”

“Then I have my answer,” he said and stood then faced her. As she remained sitting, looking up at him, he announced, “I'm going to fight for us, Tai. In my own way. I won't touch you again while you're still married to him, but—”

“Delvin, please don't,” she beseeched.

“Let me finish.” He paced in front of her. “I'm not going to wage an all-out war, but I'm going to put old boy on notice.” Delvin turned intense eyes to Tailan. “He can never,
ever
mess up. He can never give me a sliver of an opening because I will take it all—
everything
.”

Tailan gasped, and he bent down and kissed her lips. “I'm man enough to admit when I have real competition. As much as it pains me to say this … Amir does love you. But so do I. More in fact, because I loved you first. So when he touches you, know that I'm not far from you. When he makes love to you, remember I'm just as capable of pleasing you. When you long for me, remember you're the only one who stands in the way of us being together.”

Delvin straightened to his full height and offered his hand to Tailan to help her stand. As they walked back to the hotel, he added, “So that we're clear, one wrong move and I'm storming the castle and taking back what belongs to me. This is his only warning. Yours too.” He brought her hand to his lips. “You feel me?”

She nodded, suddenly timid and silent.

They walked into the lobby, and he pulled her to the side. Delvin cradled her stunned face in his hands and said, “Don't play this game with me again, Tai. I won't be a party to some poly-whatever the hell you guys are doing.” He breathed hot words into her ear as she trembled in his arms. “If you come to me again, if you open yourself to me again in this way, I promise you'll
never
go back to him.”

She tensed.

“Do you understand me?” he growled.

“Yes!” Tailan panted.

He could practically smell her aroused fever for him. He gave a quiet chuckle and sealed his words with a steamy kiss. When he released her, she looked drunk.

Delvin pushed her to arm's length and finished, “Now get out of here before I forget my promise and make you my breakfast.”

Without a moment's hesitation, she scrambled out of his reach and maneuvered through the lobby to the elevator.

His laughter followed her the entire way.

Chapter 30

Seventy stories up, Amir had witnessed the exchange between Delvin and his wife. They sat like old friends watching the sunrise. A sinking feeling lodged in the pit of his stomach.

Amir loved his wife, but at this very moment, a part of him resented her. She had shown a side of herself to him
and
Delvin that demonstrated to him just how wrong introducing a polyamorous element into their marriage had been.

Tailan needed him, loved him. Of that he had no doubt. But she craved the kind of intimacy that Delvin had offered her. It was something Amir hadn't factored into the equation. He had endured Delvin in Tailan's heart for years. He'd had no problem with that. But now to have the flesh and blood man in their lives was something he wasn't sure he could abide.

Delvin was a possessive predator in Amir's eyes. Yet each man had a hold on Tailan because of their daughters.

The real unknown factor to this entire situation was Tailan. Amir was at a loss to gauge her next move. His wife wouldn't leave him, of that he was certain. Only because Tailan would never allow her daughters to be separated. The very idea went against every instinct in her body. This was an advantage for Amir but a very precarious one.

It was no secret that his very traditional,
very
affluent family held no respect or love for Tailan and Devi. His family could become a major problem if Tailan's tolerance reached a breaking point. With Delvin Germaine in the picture, she suddenly had options she never had before. That made Amir very uneasy.

The honorable thing to do would be to let her go, but the selfish side of him rallied against it. Amir reminded himself that this shouldn't be about his heart, Tailan's heart, or Delvin's wants. This—was about their daughters.

Neena loved Tailan—called her mother. His adorable little princess had blossomed under Tailan's care just as he had. Tailan had healed his bleeding, woeful heart and filled it with so much joy, laughter, and serenity.

Amir experienced being
alive
again with Tailan. She always seemed more sparkling than other women. The way that Tailan put her everything into all that concerned her—the people around her, the children she raised, the dreams she pursued—made her vibrant and beautiful in his eyes. He felt it the first time he saw her, even with the shadows of pain that were evident in her eyes. He wanted her then, and knew he would never have enough of her. Amir only wanted to wash away that pain and love her until she thought of nothing but him and their children. It had worked well enough—until now, until Delvin reappeared after all these years.