“Everything? I don’t know if anyone but those men know everything.” Tara sighed roughly. “Did you know how their father abused them? He was a very dominant man, and he allowed his sons to be tutored in dominance by a dear friend of his,” she sneered. “And they were forced to like it, Marly. Their very lives hinged on convincing themselves they could endure. That they could accept it. It changed them. Changed their sexuality and their feelings for each other.”
“They aren’t gay,” Marly bit out.
Tara arched a brow curiously.
“Gay is a lifestyle, a choice. Sexuality is something else entirely, Marly. Cade much prefers a woman, dreams of you, lusts after you, but he also enjoyed a special closeness with his brothers when he was younger. A bond that is reaffirmed each time he watches one of them fuck a woman he’s chosen. Each time he shares her, it’s his way of showing his brothers his love for them, and for you. He wouldn’t share you, the woman he loves more than his own life, with any other man except his brothers. But it’s your choice. You can accept him, and what he needs from you, or you can walk away. Cade won’t make you stay.”
Walk away? How was she supposed to walk away from him?
“I don’t know how to handle this,” she whispered. “I don’t like what I see in myself, Tara. It’s not the ‘me’ I’ve always known. And I won’t accept being with another woman. You are not part of this family. It’s not acceptable.”
“You just haven’t accepted it. And he doesn’t expect you to accept it overnight,” Tara assured her. “He needs this, Marly. The four of you, closer than many couples could imagine being with siblings of either side. He needs it, because it’s a part of him. Because it’s also a part of you. And Cade knows it is. He won’t let you hide from it.”
“How do you know them so well?” Marly shook her head in bemusement. “You just came here.”
“Because, in a way, I’m the same,” she told her gently. “Rick is my brother in law, Marly, not my husband. I share his bed every night, and before my husband died, I shared a bed with both of them. I know what they are, and what they need, because it’s the same for Rick and myself.”
Marly swallowed tightly.
“He sent you in here, didn’t he?” she whispered.
“Cade wants you to come into the family room. Sam, Brock, and Rick are there. A bed has been formed in the middle of the room. When we go in, we’ll remove our clothes. You’ll then be called to one of the brothers. He’ll insert the plug into your rear. You and I will go to the bed, and pleasure one another. When we’re finished, Cade, Sam and Brock will bring you into the family, Marly. You’ll belong to all of them then.”
Marly shook her head desperately.
“It’s your choice, Marly,” Tara told her gently. “You can come into the family room with me, or you can go to Cade’s bedroom. If you do that, then he’ll know it’s your choice to find your own life after the danger is gone. He won’t come to you. He won’t take you, unless you do this.”
Marly’s eyes narrowed in anger. An ultimatum? She did not do ultimatums. Cade was pushing her. Pushing her too hard and too fast, and he should be smart enough to know that. If he didn’t, then it was about time she let him in on that little fact.
She rose to her feet. Her hands went flat on the table as she went nose to nose with Tara.
“No man, least of all Cade, will make this choice for me,” she bit out. “Not now, not ever, and not until I choose. And I’ll be damned if I’ll walk away just because he doesn’t like it.”
Tara frowned.
“Marly,” she started warningly.
“Get lost, Tara. You and Rick are supposed to be tracking Jack Jennings, not fucking me. Go do your job, and I’ll take care of Cade however I see fit. I don’t like his high-handedness, nor do I care for his decision making, and he’ll find that little fact out now.”
She rose to her full, and she admitted diminutive, height and stalked through the house. Waiting on her in the family room, was he? She thought furiously. Had it all waiting for her. Had it all planned? She would do this. She would do that. She would kick all their asses first. Dammit, she wasn’t about to let him dictate to her this way.
She stomped into the room, seeing everything laid out for her, just as Tara had said. Cade, Brock and Sam watched her in surprise as she faced them, her hands on her hips.
“The three of you. Don’t even say a word. And you.” She turned to Rick with a frown. “Don’t you have a damned job to do? I’d like to swim in my damned pool sometime this year. So unless you want to personally move it into the house, maybe you should be out there tracking that bastard instead of waiting to get your jollies by seeing me get fucked.”
Rick jumped to his feet, then frowned in surprise as he did so. He glanced at Cade.
“Hey, He-Man.” Marly snapped her fingers at him. “It’s not going to happen. Not tonight, not ever. You do your job, asshole and leave the rest of it to me.”
Rick’s lips quirked as he fought his smile. He stared down at her, fighting his smile, but a measure of respect flared in his eyes.
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded tightly. “I’ll get right on that.”
She turned to the men on the other side of the room as Rick and Tara left. Cade was watching her with a frown, his eyes glittering with dark, suppressed emotion.
“I’m not a robot you can order to perform,” she told him harshly as she walked over to him. “I belong to you, and in some part to Sam and Brock as well, and I can accept that. The rest, you can ease me into, or you can kiss my ass and put up with me hounding you. But I will not be forced into a choice I’m not ready for. It’s my choice, Cade, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be pushed into anything before I’m ready for it. Now, big boys, you strip. Let’s see how you like being ordered around for a change.”
“You’ll be punished for this, Marly.” There was laughter and a spark of desire unlike anything she had ever seen in his eyes.