cade shook his head as he tsked at them softly. “ladies,” he sighed patiently. “i can see we’ve evidently not been keeping you well occupied.”
heather’s brow snapped into a frown. oh, she really didn’t like that tone of voice.
“and you figured this out all on your own?” she almost winced at marly’s confrontational tone.
cade shot his wife a chiding look. “beloved.” his grin was wolfish. it made all of them nervous. “you are, i’ll assume, the ring leader in this little farce.”
marly snorted. “you know what assume does, babe. makes an ass out of you and me.” the cliché was delivered with more than a little heat.
cade’s gaze flared with lust. hell, marly was going to be screaming louder than the rest of them would be.
“bad move, girlfriend,” sarah muttered from marly’s side.
brock’s brow lifted sardonically. usually not a good sign. his gray/blue eyes were glittering with lust, a hint of anger, and a possessive glitter that should be curling sarah’s toes.
“nothing to say, sweetness?” heather’s attention was caught by sam’s sardonically voiced question.
heather shrugged lightly, fighting the grin that curled her lips.
hell, it wasn’t like he would divorce her. right?
“oh, i have plenty to say, hotshot,” she murmured as she let her gaze heat and drift over his body. he was one damned fine looking man, she thought.
it never failed to amaze her just how she had managed to gain this man’s love.
“i’ve just been practicing patience.”
sam grunted. it seemed he wasn’t buying that one.
“you ladies ready to state your demands yet?” cade asked them, his voice hard, his gaze hot as he watched his wife. “the game is getting old.”
“says who?” marly was definitely fired up now.
sexual tension thickened in the room, making heather shiver with the anticipation of what was to come. they had all settled rather well into married life. the sex was great, but the past year or so had been lacking in some of the kinkier aspects of sexual play between herself and sam. she realized now that it wasn’t just something she had missed; it was something that had begun to fill her with a fear she had refused to acknowledge. the fear that sam was growing bored with her. that he no longer needed her as he had before.
that revelation caused her chest to tighten painfully. they did have, to an extent, exactly what they had been fighting for and they had been too frightened of the changes in their lives to see it.
“says me, marly.” cade moved into the room, advancing slowly on his wife as she became increasingly more nervous. “you should have known the game came with a price, baby.”
heather glanced at the other woman. her eyes had widened in surprise. punishment had normally been the exquisitely sensual torture of the three men driving her insane with pleasure. heather frowned. surely the men didn’t think they were going to resume the sharing to placate their tender feelings? after more than a year of shying away from it, heather wasn’t about to allow it.
she stepped in front of marly, surprising them all.
cade stopped. his brows lowered ominously. he intimidated the hell out of her, but she wasn’t about to let him know it.
“no sharing.” she was tired of the game herself. her gaze went to sam, desperation welling up inside her as she met his hard gaze. “i mean it, sam. no more.”
“are you saying you didn’t enjoy it, heather?” cade asked softly, his voice suspiciously bland.
fear, pain, and not a little regret rose inside her. “you know we all did,” she snapped furiously. “but enough is enough, cade august. it’s finished.”
“it was finished over a year ago. you ladies were just too damned stubborn and determined to have it your way to notice it.” a spark of hurt, of anger, tinged his voice.
“you didn’t say anything,” heather argued forcibly. hell, how were they supposed to know? they were avoiding the men during that time as much as possible.
“say anything?” brock snapped. “damn. why would we? we weren’t trying to f**k you, heather. that should have been enough.” exasperation laced his voice but filled all their expressions.
“well, excuse me for not noticing you weren’t getting hard-ons for all of us.”
heather threw her hands up helplessly at that point. they were men. dammit.
she knew better than to argue with one of them. “it’s not as though you informed us of this bright idea at the time.”
“sam.” cade’s voice was carefully controlled now. “would you come collect your wife so i can drag mine from behind her? might be a good time to prove you don’t need help handling her.”
sam’s throttled laughter had anger surging hard inside her. she clenched her fists, braced her body. she would be damned if she would be treated like a child.
“heather?” cade caught her attention by simply cupping her jaw with his larger hand and turning her head to meet his gaze again. what she saw there had her stilling in surprise. warmth. kindness and caring, but the spark of lust that glowed there for his wife wasn’t there when he gazed at her now. “you will always be my sister. always loved by me. always a part of me, just as sam is. nothing, and i mean nothing, means more to us than your, sarah and marly’s happiness. no matter what you want.
no matter your needs. if it’s ours to give, then it’s yours.”
the vow, made so simply in a voice hoarse with emotion, had tears filling her eyes.
“but sam’s still going to make you think twice about playing games with us again.” his wolfish smile was followed by her gasp as sam moved in from the side, gripped her arm and began to pull her away from marly. brock was behind him. sarah was thrown over a broad shoulder as she gasped in surprise. when she protested, a large calloused palm slapped her vulnerable rear lightly.
heather wasn’t certain what happened to marly. but the other woman was laughing. not that she thought laughter was entirely appropriate under the circumstances.
the look on sam’s face was unnerving. his eyes damned near glowed with lust, with love and an intent determination. heather had a feeling the holidays were definitely beginning to look up.
chapter six
sam dragged heather from the living room. she gave him just enough to appease her sense of pride. she wasn’t going to just lie down and let him have whatever he wanted. that might spoil him. or her.