“This is how we felt, sweetheart, when you left the note,” I said. “When we knew you went alone. We were so frustrated.”
“We needed you and you weren’t there,” Parker added.
“We were out of control. Helpless. Desperate.”
She slumped onto the bed then, crying. “I’m sorry.”
I sat beside her, the bed dipping, and pulled her onto my lap. She gasped as her reddened bottom pressed against my thighs, but she wrapped her arms about me and cried.
Parker sat next to us, stroked her hair.
“I was left out. Separate.” Her words were difficult to discern through her tears, so I just held her and ran my hand up and down her back until she calmed some.
“Tell us,” Parker prodded.
“We went to the brothel on my suggestion and you trusted my destination. We weren’t married then, but I felt like I was included in the decision making. About us. But with Mr. Benson’s men, you just left me behind.”
“It was dangerous,” I said. “You’ll not be placed in danger, ever. We will not sway on that.”
“Yes, but I’d liked to have been involved. While those men needed to be handled, the solution was a simple one. One that I could have accomplished with you.”
Mary’s concerns were valid. While we would never compromise her safety, she was smart and should be included in any problems that we encountered. Together.
Parker glanced at me. He could read my thoughts, it seemed, for he said, “Then we must communicate better. We must include you in conversations about activities that may be dangerous.”
“That doesn’t mean you will participate in the activities,” I clarified.
“In return,” Parker added, tilting her chin up so she met his eyes. “You will never go off on your own like that again. As we said, you left a note, but the journey was not one even the men here at Bridgewater would take alone, and never without a gun.”
“All right,” Mary replied. “I’m sorry. I really am. I see why you were upset, why I was punished.”
I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of roses. “Later, you will apologize to Kane as well.”
She nodded, her head bumping against my lips.
Parker stood and I leaned forward, pushing Mary onto her back and leaned over her.
I observed her tear-stained face, her eyes that were so clear, so pale. Her skin was still flushed, her arousal only diminished, not dampened. “Now, you said you needed something from us?”
Heat flared in her eyes and a brilliant smile spread across her face. She shook her head, which made me frown.
“I don’t need something from you. I just need you.” She lifted a hand in the air toward Parker. “And you.”
“You have all the money in the world and yet you want something that has no value and is freely given,” I murmured. “You amaze me.”
She lifted her hand and stroked over my hair and cupped my neck. “No value? I think what we have, what we share together, is priceless.” She turned her head and looked up at Parker. “I’m ready.”
Parker squatted beside the bed. “Yes, you are. You’re ready for your men.”
“You’re ours, Mary,” I added. “It’s time to claim you. Together.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MARY
My body tingled all over. My ass was scalding hot and throbbed from Parker’s spanking. He hadn’t gone easy on me, for he was not doing it as play. It was punishment, pure and simple. Regardless, my body still reacted, still ached for more, still hungered. I liked it when they were rough. I liked it when they spanked me. I liked it when they put their fingers inside of me. I did not like being unable to come. I’d been so close, but they’d somehow known, sensed that I was on the brink, and stopped. Again and again I was taunted with the brilliant pleasure, but denied.
I’d felt frantic, desperate, out of control and so damn frustrated. I understood how they felt when I’d left a note and gone to Butte. Yes, they were overprotective and domineering, but I’d been reckless. I didn’t want to feel that way again, didn’t want them to feel that way again.