Cardinal's Rule

Chapter Twenty

Her agitation returned as she counted down the hours until Cris’ return. For the past couple of months she had tamped her jealousy back and held it securely in check. Landry spent every night with her, although it wasn’t uncommon for him to spend private time with Cris before he came to bed, or even get up in the middle of the night to go to him for a little while.

That she didn’t mind. If he did it with anyone else, she’d have castrated him with her bare hands, but for some reason, she could deal with it.

Usually.

Landry had casually asked her before Cris’ return if she minded if he spent the entire night with Cris—in Cris’ room, of course—upon his return. To make up for Cris missing his birthday.

“Why would I mind?” Unfortunately, she realized she did mind. He’s my husband, dammit.

Sharing him for an hour or two, no problem.

All night?

Landry carefully watched her. She knew from the way he tipped his head that he studied her reaction. “Love?”

She turned away and wouldn’t look at him. “Seriously, it’s okay. I don’t mind. I had private time with you for your birthday. It’s all right.”

“I promise I won’t discuss any of that with him. That’s between you and me.”

“I know.” She’d suspected, but to hear his reassurance comforted her.

When Landry left for the airport to pick up Cris after giving her a soul-melting kiss, she called Loren.

“Hey, chica. How’s hunky hubby?”

“He’s fine. Not looking forward to the next round of chemo, but it’s probably the last round, so he’s feeling good about that.”

“Good. What’s on your mind?”

“You guys going to the club tonight?”

Wrong approach. Tilly picked up Loren’s caution tone. “Yeah? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Cris had to go out of town and I got to spend Landry’s birthday alone with him, so I thought I’d be magnanimous and let Cris have the evening alone with him. Landry’s picking him up now.”

Loren’s tone marginally relaxed. “Oh. You’re right, that is pretty adult of you. Dammit, that means you’re not making him sleep in the garage, are you?”

Tilly laughed. “You know damn well I’m not.”

She sighed. “Well, a girl can dream, can’t she? Sure, you want to come with?”

“Dinner first?”

“Abso-friggin-lutely.”

She glanced at the clock, it was nearly four. She knew Landry would take Cris out to eat before bringing him home. “I’ll just come over to your place and bring my stuff with me. I’ll ride to dinner with you and then change at your place.”

Aaaaand cautious tone returned. “Til, are you sure everything’s okay?”

“Yeah, I just don’t feel like hearing a slave get beat tonight.”

Loren roared with laughter. “So you want to go to a BDSM club? Um, logical much?”

“I meant the slave I live with. I’ll see you in a little while.”

“You’re coming right now?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind, but the Marquis de Sade’s been playful today. Give me enough time to get a little less uncomfortable.”

Tilly could only imagine what Ross had done to her. “No visuals, please. Let’s say I’ll be there around five-thirty.”

“That would work perfectly.”

Tilly hung up and quickly gathered what she’d need to take with her. She was about to walk out the door when she realized something.

She needed to leave a note for Landry so he’d know not to worry.

Leaving her stuff by the front door, she sat at the counter and tried to work up something in her mind that wouldn’t come out looking petulant and jealous on paper.

Have fun fucking your slave tonight, I’ll be fine…

Don’t worry about me, enjoy yourself…

I made plans…

“Fuck!” She stared at the blank sheet of paper.

She finally wrote something. Going to dinner with L&R, then to the club for the evening. Will probably be back very late.

She hesitated.

Love, T.

To kill time before Loren’s, she headed to the bookstore and bought herself a hi-test coffee. It’d been two months since she’d gone to the club and she wasn’t used to the late nights.

Being a happily married couple had tamed her.

She sat in a corner of the bookstore and paged through a magazine someone else had left on a nearby table, but she didn’t do more than look at the pictures. She couldn’t concentrate anyway. In the back of her mind she couldn’t escape the mental image of Landry sleeping curled around Cris.

Why now? She could watch him torture and humiliate and fuck Cris, but the thought of him sleeping with the man roiled her jealousy?

But he’s my husband.

Was this a result of their new dynamic? Realizing she trusted him more in a few short months than she’d trusted Cris in their years together? Not much more, but then again, she also had the comfort that he wouldn’t simply up and disappear on her the way Cris had.

Maybe that had been her mistake. Getting her fucking hopes up.

Hope was for chumps, and she never should have forgotten that.

Loren opened the door as Tilly carried her bags up the walk. Loren wore a bathrobe Tilly suspected covered whatever remained of Ross’ kinky diversion for the day.

“What’s wrong?” Loren asked.

“Nothing’s wrong!” She dropped her bags in the doorway to the guest room. “Why are you so convinced something’s wrong?”

“You’re frowning, and you’re biting my head off.” She scowled. “What the fuck did Cris do?

Can I castrate him?”

“Jesus! Enough with the castration fantasies, all right?” She took a deep breath and, after sitting at Loren’s counter, admitted a little of what bothered her.

Not what she’d done with Landry. That was something she wouldn’t even talk to her best friend about.

Loren’s face softened. “Tell Landry you’re not okay with it and fuck Cris and his feelings.

Landry’s your husband. You said he told you he’d give Cris up altogether if you asked.”

“I don’t want to ask that. Normally it doesn’t bother me.”

“Because normally you’re there.”

Tilly nodded.

“Then tell him you’re not okay with him spending the night with Cris.”

“You just want Cris’ feelings hurt.”

“No, I don’t want your feelings hurt, girlie. Him getting his feelings hurt is just a nice bonus, in my book.”

Tilly leaned back and laced her fingers behind her head. “My feelings aren’t hurt. I’m not sure what my feelings are or why I’m having them.”

Loren smacked her shoulder. “Duh. You’re in love with your husband. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, Einstein.”

Kim and Kylee joined them for dinner. Later, Tilly rode back to Ross and Loren’s house with them to change clothes and head to the club. She tried not to look at her phone, to check the time and see if there were messages or missed calls from Landry. She rode to the club with her friends, knowing they were usually one of the last to leave.

No excuse for her to duck out early and go home.

Less chance of listening to sounds of the men making love behind a closed door she didn’t feel right about opening.

She immediately regretted her decision to ride with Ross and Loren five minutes after arriving.

Bob walked in, alone.

Oh, fuck me.

Loren apparently picked up on her apprehension and followed her gaze. She leaned in. “Yeah, as much as I hate to tell you this, I feel sorry for him. He misses you.”

Bob spotted her and the smile that lit his face filled her with more guilt. He walked over and she mustered the courage to deal with him.

“Hi, Tilly.” She didn’t miss the way he glanced around, as if looking for someone.

“I’m here alone,” she told him. “Well, I came with Ross and Loren, but just me.” He relaxed. So she’d picked up on that correctly. “So what are you doing here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I come here sometimes.” His gaze flicked down to his feet. “You know. Just… hanging out.” She realized he wore the collar she’d bought for him.

If Landry could be fucking Cris’ brains out tonight, then dammit, she could do something to take her mind off it. “Are you meeting anyone tonight?”

He pulled his gaze back up to her face. “No. Just thought I’d cruise in and hang out.”

Part of her brain warned her this might be a very bad idea. “Would you like to play? As friends,” she added with a smile. “Tilly and Bob.”

The sweet smile on his face made her want to cry. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”

When she tried to grab her gear bag, he beat her to it and carried it for her.

She led him to the far corner of the dungeon where few people were playing yet and staked out a bench.

This was wrong on many levels. She shouldn’t be playing with him just to take her mind off

Landry.

Then again, even Landry had said he didn’t have a problem with her playing. Not like she’d be sleeping with him.

She tried to ignore the wistful pang that elicited.

He waited for her instructions like the good boy she remembered. Tonight, she could be more than just Mistress Cardinal.

“Get undressed,” she softly told him. He smiled and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Digging through her bag, she found a pair of wrist cuffs and when he stood before her she fastened them to him.

He did have a nice body. Every bit as nice as Landry’s.

And Cris’.

Won’t think about that.

She hooked him to the bench and started massaging him with her hands, something she’d never done before with him. He relaxed under her touch and she immediately recognized when he’d started tipping into subspace.

Tilly allowed her heart into the scene. She took her time, stepping him up and back time and again, sensual sadism instead of her usually vicious way with him. Her anger at Cris, and Landry, broke through. Leaning in, she whispered in Bob’s ear.

“Do you want to be my good boy?”

“Yes, Mistress!”

She didn’t correct him. Deep in subspace, he’d probably do anything she asked of him.

“You want to come for me?”

“Yes, Mistress!”

She’d never been able to give him this before. Dammit, he deserved it. At least one of them could end the evening feeling better than when it started. She reached under him with her left hand and grabbed his stiff cock. With her right, she spanked him bare handed.

“Come for me, boy.”

His hips frantically worked in time with her motions, until he let out a cry and she felt his hot juices coating her hand, slicking his cock even more. But she didn’t stop, spanking him with more force, milking him, forcing his cock to stay rigid until a few minutes later he was begging her to stop even as she pulled another, smaller orgasm from him.

Only then did she stop. She wiped her hands on a towel and unhooked his wrists. Grabbing a few antiseptic wipes from the canister by the bench, she cleaned herself and him up, then helped him sit up.

His body still trembled. She closed her eyes and held him, remembering the brief interlude in her life where she’d allowed herself to hope maybe he would be a part of her future.

Without realizing it at first, she stroked his back, his hair, as he clung to her.

She kissed the top of his head. “You’re a good boy,” she softly told him. “Thank you for letting me play with you tonight.”

“Thank you,” he said back.

When he recovered enough to get dressed, she let him get up and wiped down the bench to make it ready for the next players. A quick trip into the bathroom to wash her hands, and when she returned, Bob still stood by her gear bag, waiting for her. They staked out a small corner sofa and sat, talking, for hours. Not much had changed in his life.

“Thank you for this, Tilly. I appreciate it.”

She offered him a smile. “I’m glad you came tonight. No pun intended.”

He rested his arm on the back of the couch. His fingers brushed her arm. “Are you doing okay?

He treating you well?”

“Yeah. Still abusing my ex.”

That made him grin. “Good. I’m glad.” His smile faded. “You happy?”

Buzzkill. “Landry’s a good man. I love him. The doctors are pretty confident he’s going to beat the cancer.”

His fingers didn’t leave her arm. “He’s not jealous of you being here?” He met her gaze. “I can’t say I’d be happy about my wife being with another guy like this.”

“He’s not a jealous man like that.” She smirked. “He probably would have enjoyed watching me do that to you. Landry and I have something in common, you know.”

“What?”

“We both enjoy naked men.” When he looked at her in confusion, she explained a little more of the story.

He laughed. “So if I run into you here with him I shouldn’t be surprised if he offers to play with me, too?”

She grinned, a sudden thought filling her with heat. “Maybe I could get you a twofer if you wanted.”

His eyes widened a little. “Holy fuck,” he muttered. “I’m not gay, but I have to admit the thought of that made me hard.”

Before she stopped herself, she leaned in and brushed a kiss across his lips. Not long enough to be passionate, but a little longer than just friends. “I’ll talk to him about it.”

Tilly sat in her car in the driveway for almost twenty minutes and stared at the darkened house.

She’d sat and talked with Bob most of the night. Not quite four a.m. now, she could easily go to a hotel and wait to come home until later that afternoon.

But that would mean sending Landry a text or calling him to let him know she wouldn’t be home so he wouldn’t worry.

She slammed her fist against the steering wheel. This was her house, dammit. Not Cris’ house.

Her husband, not his.

Never mind she now felt guilty about what she’d done, even though truthfully, Landry probably would be more than happy to help her top Bob. He also probably would have enjoyed watching her top him tonight. She knew enough about Landry to know not only would he not consider that inappropriate considering the context, but he’d probably think Bob was hot.

She grabbed her bags and let herself in the front door. She thought about taking the toy bag down to the playroom, then decided against it. The door to Cris’ room was shut and she’d have to walk past it.

She dropped her bags in her closet. They could wait until tomorrow. She turned and surveyed the room, the bed exactly as she’d left it, made, with the corset she’d decided not to wear still laying on the coverlet.

The unexpected lump in her throat was hard to swallow down. Except for his times in the hospital, this was the first night since their wedding they hadn’t spent together, at least in part.

Logic tried to break in. Landry belonged to Cris first, not you. Cris spent the past several months unable to sleep with him at all.

How’s it feel?

She shoved that line of thought out of her brain and grabbed the corset before she yanked the sheets down. She dumped her clothes in the closet then slipped between the sheets. By four-thirty, she knew sleep wasn’t coming.

She got up, found her robe, and yanked it on. Then she quietly opened her room door and walked down the hall.

Silently, she held her breath and listened at Cris’ door.

Nothing.

Well, duh. They’re asleep. Which you should be, too.

She didn’t like the ache in her heart. Part of her was tempted to open the door, walk in, and lay down next to Landry. He’d welcome her, no doubt.

It wouldn’t be the mature or fair thing to do, but who said anything about fairness or maturity, dammit?

She returned to her room. As she closed the bedroom door, she locked it behind her.

Daylight streamed through the skylight, into the bathroom and reflected off the sink faucet, bouncing into her eyes. She’d forgotten to push the bathroom door closed.

“Shit.”

She rolled over. After nine-thirty, but she didn’t hear anything going on in the house. Both men should be up.

She used the bathroom and decided to go ahead and take her shower now. It would mean not making an excuse to Landry about why she didn’t want to shower with him this morning.

Not that she didn’t want to, but she couldn’t face him yet. She admitted it—she was avoiding him.

I’m sure Cris slept like a rock.

Okay, clear those thoughts out right now.

I wonder how Bob slept last night.

She stood under the water, hot as she could stand it, and let it soak into her. Bob had looked so happy last night when she offered to play with him. Even happier the way she played with him. And when she left the door open to future playtime with him?

It nearly broke her heart how hopeful he looked.

If there was a victim in all this, it was him, even if she’d never slept with him. By all rights she should be happily dating him, falling in love with him. What the hell had she done?

It’s not like Landry fell in love with her because he knew her and wanted to be with her. He wanted someone to help take care of him.

Whereas she’d spent three years working with Bob. Okay, so only a day here and there, and total time together, she’d spent a lot more with Landry, but still.

Who said you couldn’t buy love?

Landry had bought hers.

She dressed and walked out to the kitchen to make herself something to eat. Landry sat at the table in the kitchen with his laptop. He looked up at her approach. At first he smiled, then it faded.

“What’s wrong, love?”

“Nothing.” She popped a bagel into the toaster oven and waited for it without walking over to give him a good morning kiss.

He pushed back from the table and went to her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” When he wrapped his arms around her from behind, she let him kiss her cheek but she didn’t turn around to reciprocate like she normally might.

“I tried to come in this morning. You locked the door.”

“Oh, did I? Sorry. It was really late when I came in.”

He finally released her. She heard Cris down the hall, in the office probably, talking on the phone. Landry didn’t leave her alone, however. He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms and watched her slather way more cream cheese than she usually used over the toasted bagel.

He dropped his voice. “Are you going to talk to me?”

She headed for the lanai and hoped he wouldn’t follow her. “There’s nothing to talk about. I just want to eat breakfast. Is that a crime?”

He didn’t follow and she felt even worse for giving him the brush-off.

Eventually she returned to the bedroom, and that’s when he followed her and pursued the topic.

“Love, did something happen at the club last night?”

She refused to meet his gaze. “No. I’m fine.”

“Did you play?”

She thought about lying to him and decided not to. “Yes.”

“Who did you play with?”

“Does it matter?” He sighed, but he didn’t force her. She finally admitted, “Bob.”

“I see.”

She wheeled around, immediately on the defensive. “What? I’m not allowed to play? You said as long as I didn’t have sex with someone else that you didn’t care.”

He slowly nodded. “That’s correct. I did. However, you’ve never been this upset before. I’d like to know why.”

She so didn’t want to go there, but it spilled out and she knew if she didn’t say it, it would continue to fester. She stalked over to him and lowered her voice so Cris couldn’t hear. “You told me when you found out what Cris did to me that you felt like a pity fuck, right?”

He nodded, eying her, but didn’t speak.

“Well, I guess it finally slammed home for me that it’s about the same way I feel. Like you married me because you felt sorry for me because of what he did to me. Let’s face it, you’re gay.

Straight for me notwithstanding, normally I wouldn’t have even crossed your radar.” When she tried to turn away, he grabbed her arm and wouldn’t let go.

“Love, that’s not how I feel about you! Yes, in the beginning it was a transaction, one designed to punish Cris, but I have never lied when I’ve told you how I feel. I love you. You are my wife, and I plan on doing my damnedest to convince you of how I feel no matter how long it takes.”

She jerked her arm away and pulled back. “Yeah. So I don’t leave with your money.”

He shook his head. “No! Jesus Christ, I love you. What do I have to do to convince you of that?

What caused this?”

“When the three years are up,” she said, “we’ll go back to your attorney and change the pre-nup so everything’s yours again. I don’t want anything, only the salary you promised.” She wouldn’t look at him. “I want to be fair.”

He crossed the bedroom and grabbed her arms, shaking her. “You promised you wouldn’t leave me! You can’t leave me!”

“I can, and I don’t have to leave you. This is my house, remember?”

“Dammit, Tilly, please talk to me!”

She thrashed against him, but he held on tighter until she finally gave in and collapsed against him. He pulled her into his arms and sat with her on the bed. “Talk to me, baby girl, please. Don’t do this to me. Don’t kill me like this, I can’t take it. I can’t lose you.”

“You belong with Cris,” she admitted. “You’re his Master, and he loves you.”

“You said you loved me,” he hoarsely asked. “Didn’t you mean it?”

“Yeah. I mean it. That’s why I can let you go be with him.” How ironic, the two men who could break her heart getting to ride off into the sunset together without her.

“No. I won’t lose you. I’ll send him away.”

“You can’t do that to him.”

“I told you from the beginning that I would do it if you told me to.”

“But you love him.”

“And I love you and you’re my wife. If you think I’m leaving you without a fight, think again.”

He made her look at him. “This has nothing to do with the money. We can go down there today and redo the pre-nup if it’ll make you feel better. If I lose you, I lose my fucking heart, and I can’t go through that again.”

“You love Cris. I know you do. It’s not fair to him to do this. I’d moved on after he left. It took a while, sure, but I did it. I can do it again. You need him and he needs you. He can’t find someone else to be what you are to him. You, on the other hand, are proof that given enough time, I can find someone else.” She tried to climb out of his lap and he wouldn’t let her go.

He shook his head. “Stop it. I won’t leave. I can’t lose you.” Then she spotted the tears in his eyes and it froze her in place. “I can’t lose you,” he repeated, his voice hoarse and choked. “Please, Tilly, reconsider! Talk to me. Just…dammit, tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it! I need you!”

She reached up and gently brushed his tears away with her thumb, fascinated by the feel of them on her fingertips. This wasn’t the strong and angry Master, or her playful husband, or even gentle and loving Daddy.

This was a desperate man in a lot of pain.

“If it tells you anything,” he said, “I didn’t cry when Cris left me until much later. You’re killing me, baby girl. You’re my life and I can’t lose you. I need you. I don’t want to live without you. Please!”

She threw her arms around him and tried to deal with the crush of emotions swamping her. No, she couldn’t leave him. He loved her.

As much as she loved him.

He needed her.

He muttered into her hair, “Please, I love you. I can’t lose you. Don’t leave me.”

“How can you say you’d get rid of him and keep me? You’ve loved him longer than you’ve loved me.”

He lifted his head and touched his forehead to hers. “As you yourself said, I’ve lost him before and I survived. To lose you would kill me.”

“You almost killed yourself.”

“That was my stupid choice. I didn’t have to make it. Thank god I didn’t succeed or I’d never have met you.” He kissed her. “I’ll admit it. I’m a selfish man. I want both of you. I love both of you. If forced to choose, however, I will always choose you.”

What was she doing? Why get upset over this? Why be an immature brat over this?

“Would you rather be free to take a chance with Bob?” he quietly asked. “Is that what brought this on? That you want to see where things might lead with him?”

“No!” It hit her—that absolutely was the truth. She did not want to be free. She felt sorry for Bob, but she didn’t want to lose Landry. “Okay. I won’t leave. I’m sorry. I’m… I just really got broadsided by all this.”

He hugged her tightly, desperately. “Jesus you scared twenty years off my life, baby girl. Please don’t frighten me like that again.”

Tilly closed her eyes and let him hold her. No, she didn’t want to be anywhere but here.

“I think I need some time to reconsider the Cris issue,” she admitted. “It’s not fair to him to keep him like that, not able to spend time with you, but I don’t know how to get over my jealousy.”

“Is that what upset you?”

He waited for her answer even though it took her a long moment to finally admit it. “Yes. I don’t know why it doesn’t bother me seeing you use him or play with him, but when I’m not allowed to at least watch… Yeah, it’s a double standard. I admit it.”

He stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry it upset you. If I’d known, I never would have done it.”

“See, that’s the point. I didn’t know it would upset me that much and in all fairness, I should man up and deal with it.”

He grinned. “I would prefer you don’t get manly.”

“Ugh. Pain in the ass, that’s what you are.”

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. “Whatever I have to do to make you happy, I will. If you want, we’ll go to the lawyer today and change things. I can’t lose you, sweetheart.

Please.”

She thought about it for a while. “No, that’s okay.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I’m not as big a person as I thought I was. You’re my husband and sharing you with him isn’t as easy as I thought it might be.”

Landry squeezed his eyes shut and held her tightly, afraid to let her go. He could not lose her.

Would not lose her.

If she would just open up and let Cris back into her heart, no way she’d leave the two of them.

He had to bridge that gap before something else happened and he risked losing her forever.

He didn’t need to lie to her about how he felt. Losing her would rip his heart and soul apart.

And he did need her, every bit as much as he needed Cris.

He just needed to make her admit how much she still loved Cris and find a way to bring them together again for good.

Tilly’s way of working through her issues was to make Cris’ life miserable over the next few days. Landry didn’t miss her harsh tone, sarcastic comments, and less than charitable treatment.

In one way, Landry was glad to see it. It meant she felt something, anything. Her avoidance of the issue over the past several months had frustrated him. While sick he didn’t have the energy to devote to changing the situation. Barring any unforeseen complications, his own future looked exceedingly bright.

Meaning he could now focus on the problem at hand.

Landry stayed out of it for the most part, other than watching. He ignored Cristo’s frustrated glances his way whenever Tilly yet again berated him for something. Landry opted not to enlighten him. He suspected Cris would object on conscientious grounds, and if Tilly thought they were working together, it could, in fact, drive her away.

Losing her was not an acceptable option.

Even if it meant Cris would have to suffer the slings and arrows of Tilly’s jealous rage, they would soldier on.

Certainly, Cris had suffered far worse at his own hands over the years.

Not to mention, the sadist in Landry took great pleasure over his slave’s discomfort, especially when Cris tripped all over himself, even when Cris knew Tilly’s attacks were unwarranted, to try to mollify her.

Over the next week, her anger bubbled up, seething, until the littlest thing could set her off.

Landry sat at the kitchen table, working on his laptop, when Cris came in from grocery shopping and started putting things away. Tilly had gone out for lunch with Loren and arrived home just as Cris finished unpacking everything.

Landry sat back, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for the show to begin. He knew it would, too, because Cris had already violated one of Cardinal’s rules.

She didn’t disappoint. She grabbed the wad of plastic bags off the counter and shook it in Cris’ face. “What the fuck is this?”

Cris immediately took a deep breath and Landry watched his struggle to keep his voice calm.

“I’m sorry, Tilly. The reusable bags were in your car and I forgot to get them out before you left.”

She threw them on the floor. “They’re fucking ninety-nine cents each!” She pointed at Landry.

“How many millions is he worth, and you can’t fucking spring for ten bucks worth of reusable grocery bags? Did you fucking lose your ability to think for yourself, asshole?”

Landry smirked. Oh, she was definitely pissed. At least four fucks in just a few breaths. He watched Cris take another deep breath to maintain control.

“You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

She yanked the refrigerator door open. “Where’s my fucking cola?” Tilly didn’t drink much in the way of sodas. Only one specific brand—Boylan—and only the ginger ale and cane cola flavors. She didn’t drink it all the time, either, but when she wanted it, it’d better be there.

“They were out.” He had to hand it to Cris, he was doing his best to keep his tone calm. Landry recognized the effort from when he’d let loose on Cris during his sick periods. “They said they should be getting more tomorrow—”

She slammed the fridge door shut and advanced on him. “You mean to tell me there are at least five Publixes in a ten mile radius of this house, and all of them were out of Boylan cola? You are fucking worthless!”

Landry sensed the situation reaching critical mass. She’d never gone after him so directly before, and for such an extended time. Usually she preferred a hit and run attack, a snarky comment here, an insult there, and let it drop. She looked like she was deliberately trying to egg him into a major confrontation.

Maybe this was the opportunity he’d waited for, the chance for Cristo’s impeccable control to take enough of a beating he would react emotionally.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go out and find you some. Normally you don’t drink it every day, so I didn’t think—”

“Nice job, asshole. You think. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You think too much. Your job, slave, isn’t to think, it’s to follow fucking orders. Maybe he hasn’t beaten that into your pea brain. Maybe I need to give you a session of my own to fucking beat some sense into you and remind you that you aren’t here to think, you goddamned asshole!”

The last three words were delivered at something akin to a scream. Landry smiled to himself as he watched the last of Cris’ control dissolve in frustration. Here we go. This is my chance.

Landry sat laughing at the table as Tilly stormed off and slammed the bedroom door behind her.

“What’s so fucking funny?” Cris asked, temporarily forgetting who he was speaking to in his anger.

“Why the hell do you let her treat you like that?”

He frowned. “What?”

Landry rolled his eyes. “Have you gone simple, slave? Why do you let her treat you like garbage?”

He stared at his Master, certain he’d misheard him. “You told me I had to do what she said when you married her.”

“I said you had to obey her. I never said you had to let her treat you like shit, asshole.” He grinned, amused.

“Okay, now I’m confused.”

Landry stood with his coffee mug in hand and headed for the work-out room. “Go after her. You love her, she loves you. I never said you had to let her treat you like trash. It’s time you show her how much you still love her.” He turned to Cris. “But if she takes your nuts off in the process, it’s your own damn fault.”

“I can…” He couldn’t finish, not sure he’d heard him right.

Landry rolled his eyes again. “Go. Fuck. Her. Brains. Out.” He pointed toward the master bedroom. That said, he stepped into the work-out room and closed the door.

Cris stared at the closed door for a moment, then rushed out of the kitchen and across the house to the master bedroom.

He didn’t bother knocking. When he threw the door open, she turned, startled, from where she’d been changing clothes. The sight of her standing there in her bra and jeans hardened his cock immediately.

“What the fuck are you doing in here? Get out!”

Without a word he crossed the distance, grabbed her, and kissed her, hard. He fisted his hand in her hair and held her until her struggles weakened and he felt her respond. Only then did he lift his head.

His voice choked. “I love you, Redbird. Always and forever, and I meant it. This isn’t about your fucking soda, and you know it. I’m going to show you how much I still love you and want you.”

She started struggling again as he scooped her up and dumped her onto the bed. She sprang up, coming at him, murderous rage in her eyes.

He caught her and pushed her back onto the bed, then straddled her, her arms pinned over her head. “Get it out of your system now, right now, baby girl. Scream at me, yell at me all you want. I love you, and you still love me, and I’m tired of trying to pretend seeing him fuck you and not being able to touch you myself doesn’t kill me.”

“Good!” she screamed, tears welling in her eyes. “Good, because I hope it fucking eats you up from the inside out!”

He kissed her again, until she gave up struggling. When he lifted his head she said, “He’s going to tear a strip out of your hide for this. Get the fuck off of me!”

“He told me to come after you.”

“Bullshit!”

“I did,” Landry said from the bedroom doorway. His sudden appearance startled both Cris and

Tilly.

She went limp again, this time in apparent shock. “What?”

Landry smiled and walked over to the bed. “I didn’t think he’d have the balls to do it. I’m glad to see I was wrong.” He stretched out next to her and kissed her. “You still love him. He still loves you.

I would love to see the two of you finally kiss and make up. Literally. Not just getting along for my sake, but back together.”

“You son of a bitch! I knew it!”

“No, love, I didn’t mean it like that. I can see the way you watch him, the look in your eyes when I use him. The longing you still have for him, as much as he has for you.”

“He’s not my fucking Master!” She struggled again. “Get the fuck off of me!”

“Stay right there, Cris,” Landry said. “I didn’t say become his slave again. I mean forge a new dynamic with him.”

“I thought you didn’t want to share me. Another lie?”

“No. I don’t consider this sharing. I told you from the start that if your feelings for him ever changed I would welcome it. He still loves you, you still love him. I love both of you, and, well, before this moment I think you really loved me. N’est-ce pas?”

“I love you,” she softly said. “I do love you. You know that.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “You don’t hate me now for ordering him in here?”

After a long moment, she finally shook her head. Just a little, but enough.

“Let her go,” Landry commanded.

Cris sat back on his knees and released her hands, but she didn’t move.

Landry kissed her again. “I will order him out if you really want me to. Otherwise, why don’t we see what happens?” He softened his voice. “Aren’t you tired of trying to find reasons to be angry with him, love?”

Cris leaned forward and gently nipped at the base of her throat. Landry didn’t move.

Her eyes dropped closed as she softly moaned.

Cris worked his way lower, down her chest, between her breasts until he freed the left one and sucked her nipple between his lips. She gasped. Her hand gripped his hair, not pulling him away but holding him tightly to her. He didn’t want to allow hope into his heart, but he couldn’t help it.

Landry freed her other breast and licked her nipple. “Tell us to stop if you wish, love, but you would miss out on the delicious experience of two men catering to your every sexual whim. From today on, we are totally under your control.”

Cris closed his eyes, her scent filling his lungs. He never dreamed this day would come, even after she forgave him. Never thought Landry would ever let him be anything other than a cuckolded toy for them both.

He would’ve happily settled for that too, just to stay with Landry and see her every day.

“Please don’t stop,” she whispered.

“There’s my sweet baby girl,” Landry muttered around her breast.

Cris relinquished the breast in his mouth and worked his way further south, unfastening her jeans and tugging them down her body. Her panties soon followed.

He pushed her legs apart and bent his head to her mound. His tongue licked her, swirling around her clit, along her already damp folds, plunging into her hot pussy. Her moans sounded like absolute heaven to him.

“Let him show you how much he still loves you,” Landry told her. “Let him back into your heart. Quit fighting what you know you still feel. It’s only making you miserable.”

She moaned again, her hips gyrating against Cris’ mouth. He wrapped his hands around her thighs and licked, sucked, memories of many nights spent just like this flooding back to him with nearly overwhelming strength.

“Come for him, love,” Landry whispered to her. “Let go, it’s all right. I’m right here. I promise I won’t leave you. I want you to come for him.”

Tilly’s entire body trembled as Cris brought her close to the brink. Her hands fisted his hair, almost painfully, and he welcomed it. She held on tightly as he slowly licked her clit, her body vibrating beneath him.

Landry softly murmured encouragement to her. It suddenly struck Cris this had been his plan all along.

I’m a fucking dumbass.

He’d deal with Landry later. For now, he wanted every second he spent between her legs spent focused on her and her pleasure. She moaned and writhed beneath him as he drove her toward release.

Landry kissed her. “Come for me, baby girl. Let it happen.”

She cried out as her grip tightened on his hair. He wondered if he’d have bald spots by the time they finished and realized he didn’t care. He stayed with her, wringing every last drop of pleasure out of her until she lay trembling on the bed. Her fingers eventually loosened and fell away.

When she rolled toward Landry, who gathered her into his arms, he climbed up the bed to lie behind her. Finally meeting Landry’s gaze, he didn’t miss the satisfied smirk his lover wore. He glared at Landry, to let him know he figured out his game. Landry’s smile brightened, beaming, and Landry blew him a kiss.

Cris closed his eyes and shook his head, struggling not to laugh.

Damn Doms anyway.

Tilly lay there in Landry’s arms with her eyes closed, trying to process what happened. She felt Cris change position and fought the urge to snuggle into his body.

What did this mean?

So many years spent in pain, hating him, loving him.

She chose to remain in Landry’s arms, letting him hold her.

He stroked her cheek. “Love?” he softly said. “Are you all right?”

“Let me get back to you on that.”

She felt him kiss her forehead. “You’re so beautiful. I love you so much.”

When she felt strong enough to deal, she opened her eyes and looked at him. Beautiful green eyes. She read worry there. Maybe he wondered if he’d finally pushed her too far.

She rolled in his arms, her back securely pressed against Landry’s chest, and stared at Cris without speaking. He also looked worried. “Was this your plan?” she asked him.

Landry answered first. “No, love. He was as shocked by my suggestion as you were.” He nipped the back of her neck, sending a shudder of pleasure through her and making her gasp. “You were growing increasingly angry. I worried things were reaching critical mass, as it were. I needed to find a way to break through your pain. I’m sorry. If you’re angry at anyone, be angry with me, not Cris.”

She hugged his arms tighter around her. “You said his name.”

“In this case, I think the three of us need to talk as equals, no?”

“Yeah.”

Cris silently watched.

She stared at Cris for a few minutes. “What am I supposed to do with all this emotional garbage rolling around inside me? Tell me that.”

Cris caught her hand and kissed her fingers. “I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make it up to you.”

Part of her wanted to let go of her pain and rage. Part of her didn’t know how to.

She didn’t pull her hand away. That was a start, in her book. Using him as a cuckold for sexual pleasure while making love with Landry, and allowing herself to enjoy Cris the man were two separate things.

Although using him as a cuckold still left her with a sour taste in her mouth.

“Do you want me to send him out?” Landry asked.

“No.” She stared into Cris’ eyes. “I want to watch you fuck Cris,” she told Landry.

She didn’t have to ask twice. In one smooth movement, Landry left the bed and quickly stripped. Cris also stood and removed his clothes before he silently climbed into bed, where he lay on his stomach.

Landry grabbed the bottle of lube from their bedside table and slicked himself before drizzling some over the seam of Cris’ ass. Her eyes never left Cris’ as she lay beside him, close but not touching.

She didn’t know why she asked this. All she knew was she wanted to see it.

Be a part of it.

Landry slid home, making both men gasp. He gave Cris a moment to adjust before he started thrusting. “How would you have me fuck him, love?” he asked her. “Hard and fast, or should I make it last a while?”

Cris didn’t break eye contact with her. “Make it last a while,” she told him. “I want to see how you make love to the man, not the slave.”

She moved closer, her face inches from his. He struggled to maintain control, his breath tight and shallow as he tried to hang on and not come.

“Don’t come,” she whispered to him.

His eyes widened a little, but he didn’t look away.

Tilly kissed him, tentatively at first, before she let herself go just a little. He eagerly kissed her back, his tongue thrusting between her lips, finding hers, stroking it.

Landry caressed his back, his thrusts long and slow, hesitating at the bottom of each stroke before withdrawing to leisurely plunge inside him again.

She reached under Cris and found his cock, hard and already leaking pre-come. “You want to come for me?” she whispered in his ear.

“Please!”

She made him sit up without letting Landry withdraw. Climbing under Cris, she grabbed his cock and placed it at her slick entrance. Cris looked happily shocked.

She didn’t miss that Landry looked pleased.

“You want to come, you do it inside me.”

He kissed her as he sank his cock inside her, holding still as he dropped his head to her shoulder and moaned. “Oh, Tilly, Jesus I love you, baby.”

She wrapped her arms around Cris and looked at Landry over his shoulder. “Fuck his brains out,” she ordered.

Landry grinned. “Your wish is my command, love.” He grabbed Cris’ hips and started pounding into him, a punishing, brutal fuck, the sound of his balls slapping against Cris’ ass at the bottom of every stroke filling the room. The entire bed shook.

Tilly grabbed Cris’ hair again. “Do you like feeling his cock in your ass?”

“Yes!”

“Then come for me and show me.”

He cried out, his hips barely thrusting again before she felt him throbbing inside her. Landry felt it too as his ass muscles clamped down on his cock, and he finally let go and climaxed.

As they all fell still, Tilly didn’t release her grip on Cris’ hair. “If you ever come home without my cola again when I’ve put it on the list, I’ll take a cane to your ass myself,” she muttered before biting his ear.

Even as he yelped in pain, he laughed, Landry joining him. She finally released his hair and he lifted his head to meet her gaze.

“I love you, Til.”

She stroked his cheek and felt tears in her eyes. “I love you too, Cris.” She pulled him back down to her, this time to kiss him, tenderly. Her pain dissolved in a rain of tears as she clung to him and sobbed.

At some point Landry left the bed to clean up, and Cris rolled to his side with her in his arms.

“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Anything to make it up to you, I swear it. I only want to make you happy, baby.”

Eventually she settled down and lay there. It struck her Landry hadn’t returned to the bed. “I don’t know what I need from you right now. I’m probably going to swing between loving and hating you for a while yet.”

He kissed her. “Whatever you dish out, I’ll take it. Anything. Whatever you need.”

She stared at him. “I need time.”

Cris’ demeanor changed. Landry let protocols drop for the day as Tilly took her first tenuous steps toward their new life. Landry offered nothing but his love and support, knowing that with this first connection made, only good could follow if he remained patient.

At bedtime, he prayed she would reach out to Cris, and she didn’t disappoint. They’d watched a movie on the couch together, Tilly laying with her head in his lap and her feet in Cris’. When she sat up and announced she was heading to bed, she turned to Cris and softly said, “There’s room for three, if you want.”

Landry resisted the urge—barely—to cheer.

He also resisted the urge to tackle her on the bed despite his screaming cock. She pleasantly surprised both men by undressing before kissing Landry, then Cris, and laying back on the bed, waiting for them.

They made love half the night, straight vanilla sex without any dominance dynamic of any kind.

By the time they exhausted themselves, Tilly quickly fell asleep between the men, her back tightly pressed to Landry’s chest and Cris’ hands clasped in hers.

Landry looked at Cris and smiled. “Happy?” he softly asked.

Cris still looked stunned, shocked. “Yeah.” He smiled. “You’re not jealous?”

“The two loves of my life have finally reconciled. Why would I be jealous?”

Cris smirked. “You finally get to be poly, you sneaky bastard. It’s what you always wanted anyway.”

“Are you complaining, love?”

Cris stared down into her peaceful, content face. “No. I’m definitely not complaining.”