Unwrapped

“So, what, then you can carry me around?”

“Sure. Works for me.” He moved closer and drew the end of the rope along her jaw, studying the way her lips parted as she took in more air.

This past week had been horrible. The chasm between the two of them had grown until he’d been certain his impromptu plan wasn’t just one possible solution, it was the only one. If he didn’t get her away from the so-called real world and force her to confront her true feelings for them, it would never happen. She’d never come to them on her own.

He’d hoped that kiss with Tristan might’ve been a start to something. Instead she’d thrown herself into work with a vengeance. Hell, she’d barely even helped him decorate the tree he’d gotten for the office, and Christmas was her favorite holiday.

The rest of the week, she’d avoided them as much as possible. She hadn’t teased him and Tris about what they were buying her for her birthday as she did every year. Nor had she discussed spending her birthday with them, which was standing tradition.

If tonight didn’t go the way he’d planned, he didn’t know how they’d survive it. All he knew was they couldn’t lose her. Tris was just as miserable as he was, sterling proof of what he’d always known deep down.

If there was no Cait, there could be no them. She was the glue that held them together. Without her, the pieces simply didn’t fit.

She took the rope from him and pulled it through her fingers. “Where’d you get this? The hardware store?”

“No,” he said, lips curving. Showing her everything she’d missed would be amazing. If she ever decided to trust him. “It’s real bondage rope. From a sex shop,” he added when she gawked.

“You buy supplies at a sex shop?”

“There are two I use, actually. Not all the time. But when I have a reason to, yeah.”

“You’re into bondage.” A tremor shook her voice. Whether it was from the cold or excitement, he didn’t know.

“I experiment,” he said lightly. “Now and then.”

“In the apartment?”

“Of course not. With you and Tris a couple of feet away? No, thanks.”

“Especially now that he’s your…lover.”

“As I said, we still sleep with other people. Women,” he clarified.

He heard her swallow. “Do you share other women?”

Other women. As if she’d finally consented to maybe, possibly thinking of them sharing her.

Matt’s cock hardened so fast he had to brace a hand on his truck to keep from reaching for her. Easy. He couldn’t fuck this up. Not again.

“No. You’re the only one we want.”

She turned her head away, her long hair blowing in the wind. A strand caught against her mouth, and she tugged it free as she faced him once more. “I don’t know much. Sexually, I mean. Standard stuff, sure. I’m good at blowjobs.”

Laughing, he placed a finger over her lips. “This isn’t an audition. We’d want you even if you only wanted straight sex, nothing kinky required. Or even no sex. That’d be harder to handle, granted, but it’s true. If all you did was let us make you feel good without giving us anything in return, we’d die happy. Seriously.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she said, again stroking the rope. “Where you’re taking me,” she said after a moment. “Tristan will be there too?”

“Of course.”

“I’m just not sure, Matt.”

“So let us give you the fantasy. And if it gets to be too much, tell us. We’ll stop. You know that.” He closed his fingers around hers on the rope. “Trust us, Cait.”

She looked up into his eyes, her bravery and innocence an unbeatable combination. Silently, she held out her wrists.

“Cait?” he asked, afraid to hope. Unable to breathe.

“I trust you,” she murmured.