Alex felt a rush of throbbing warmth between her legs. She hadn’t come last night. In fact, she hadn’t come in ages. Marianne had teased her, but she hadn’t been permitted to come then either. Now she pressed her thighs together, wondering if she dared to ask them when she could come again.
She decided against it and smiled to herself. Maybe she was finally learning some self-control and patience. “Yes, Sir. If it pleases you, Sir,” she said in answer to his question. Liam glanced at Daniel and smiled. Daniel met his eye and smiled back. Alex, relieved the obviously sensitive topic of Daniel’s caning scene had been dropped, smiled too.
They ate for a while in silence. Liam poured himself a fresh cup of coffee from the carafe on the table and turned to Daniel. “So, you have a job tomorrow with Spencer Landscaping, right?” This was the first Alex was hearing of it.
“Yeah. A Mrs. Carson over on the waterfront. Sounds like she has way more money than imagination and needs someone to figure out how to spend it for her. She has several acres of beautiful land. I plan on touring it with her, scoping it out and getting a feel for what she wants. It’ll be fun to do a big project with no money limitations. It’s been a while since I worked on something substantial.”
“That’s great. I hope you have fun. I’ve decided to take tomorrow off by the way.”
“What?” Daniel frowned. “How come? I won’t even be here most of the day.”
“I didn’t realize that when I made the plans, but it’ll work out fine. I’m thinking of taking more time off going forward. Especially during these summer months. A lot of my clients are on vacation. I’ve been working too many hours and for what? We don’t need the money. I want to be here more with you and Alex. Especially during these early months of her training.”
“Oh.” Daniel didn’t sound especially happy.
Alex looked at both men. Liam was regarding Daniel with a curious expression on his face. Alex felt a sense of disquiet slip over the room and wished they were still talking about all the characters at the party and laughing as they had been before.
She had to admit she too was surprised to hear Liam wanted to be more a part of her training. While she felt submissive toward him, she had come to regard Daniel more as her trainer with her efforts to be shown to Liam only after they were reasonably perfected. It was obvious Daniel felt the same way. The realization he felt proprietary toward her gave her a warm, secure feeling, though this was offset by the strange vibe now going on between the two guys.
“If you don’t want me around more—” Liam began.
“No! No, please. I’m sorry. Not at all. This is your home. Alex belongs to both of us. Of course I want you around. I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting it, is all. And me having to be gone Monday and all… I mean, I’m sure I could reschedule…”
“No. Keep your appointment. This won’t be the only day I take off, don’t worry. I think I’ll enjoy putting Alex through her paces. She can show me how she does her chores and maybe between us we can even whip up some dinner. I can make a mean macaroni and cheese.”
He laughed and put his hand on Daniel’s arm. “It’s okay, Daniel. We’ll talk some more later.” They looked at each other and the love Alex saw exchanged between them nearly made her heart break with longing.
Love me like that. Love me.
She had been fooling herself all the times she told herself she wasn’t looking for love. From the moment she’d laid eyes on these two guys, love had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into its relentless embrace. She’d denied it to anyone who questioned her, most especially herself, but she could deny it no longer. She wanted them to love her more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
Anthony’s words came back to her like a death knell. You can never be more than a toy to them. A diversion of which they will eventually tire.
Liam yawned and stretched. “Let’s make it a lazy day. What do you say? We’ll just snuggle into bed and maybe order a pizza later or something. Sound good?”
“Yes, Sir,” Daniel and Alex said in unison.
They all laughed and Alex felt happy. Maybe they would come to love her in time. Either way, for that moment at least, there was nowhere she’d rather be.
Chapter 11
Daniel entered Alex’s room to find her standing with her fingers laced behind her neck, eyes straight ahead, ready for inspection. No doubt she was expecting Liam instead of him. Her eyes flickered slightly when he entered but she didn’t otherwise react, which was good.