Page 35 of Hard Ride
“How I feel about you?” I finish. “Yes. He’s always known.”
More shock passes over her face, and with it, a clear expression of guilt. “I’m so sorry,” she says. “I got between you two, and I hate?—”
“No,” I interrupt gently, but firmly. “You don’t have to apologize. And you didn’t get between us, not like that. He trusted me to deal with my feelings for you, to not let them get in the way of our friendship, and so that’s what I did. I dealt with them.” I don’t add that a reckoning is going to come soon, and Tate and I both know it. “I’ve been dealing with them for years.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she says, which makes my heart ache just a little bit.
“It is what it is. He’s like a brother to me, and I couldn’t let anything compromise that. I never had any siblings growing up in the foster system, or at least none that I stayed in touch with. Tate is the only real, lasting connection I have, and it’s important to me.”
Her fingertips graze the line of my jaw. “Will this change things?” she asks. “It will, won’t it?”
Of course it will, and that’s the problem.
It’s going to change everything.
14
Tate
Lucas decided he wanted to talk to Katherine alone, and since I know it’s the fair thing to do, I agreed. I’ve given them a good half an hour, and while I’ve been kicking my heels out in the bar, I’ve been thinking over things.
It was good with Katherine. Far, far too good. And it’s only cemented my initial decision that she has to stay. And not only because of the pleasure I took in her submission and in the way she obeyed, but because I wanther.I’ve missed her bright spirit in my life and the way she would never let me brood over things. She brought joy and laughter into my life, and it’s darker without her. It’s always darker without her.
She’s so fucking brave, too, not batting an eye as Lucas and I took her both at the same time, and loving every second of it. But what sticks in my mind is her weeping, apologizing for leaving, and not telling us she was going.
I already know that there’s more to this than she’s letting on, and the time has come for some real answers. I don’t want this — whatever it is—getting between us again. I need to know the answers and I need them now, because I have some decisions to make. Lucas made his position very clear when I asked him to join Katherine and me in a scene. Once he’s had her, he’s not going to let her go easily, and I know exactly where he’s coming from.
Neither of us wants to give her up. But Lucas is my brother, the only one I ever had, and that connection is as important to me as it is to him. It’s a pity we both prefer women, really, or that he isn’t a sub, because that could work out well.
There’s only one solution to the problem, though, and the more I think about it, the more attractive it becomes. A way I can keep them both. Of course, it’ll be dependent on them, but I’m okay with it.
Strange, considering I’m possessive as fuck. Then again, watching Lucas with Katherine didn’t make me jealous. No, it was the opposite, in fact. Hot as hell. He was good with her, gentle when she needed gentleness, and helped me when she needed a firm hand. The whole scene worked so perfectly, and having her with him at the end…
Perhaps that’s what was missing all those years ago. Katherine and I needed him to work, but back then, we didn’t even know ourselves, let alone each other. Lucas and I both know who we are now and accept it, but Katherine doesn’t. Or at least, not so far. She will with Lucas and my help, though, and I think she needs us. I think she needsbothof us.
After the half hour has passed, I make my way back to my office, opening the door without announcing myself. They’ll both know it’s me, and if they’re doing something they shouldn’t, then all the better for me. I’d love to watch her go down on him, for example. A reversal of her sucking me while Lucas fucked her. This time she can suck him, while I sink into her perfect little pussy.
Sadly, they’re not doing anything they shouldn’t. Lucas is sitting in the armchair, and she’s still in his lap. They look up as I come in, but don’t say anything as I move over to the armchair opposite and sit down.
“You talked?” I ask into the heavy silence.
“Yes,” Lucas says. “We cleared a few things up.”
“Good,” I say. “Come here, Katherine.”
Lucas releases her, and slowly she slides off his lap, crossing the space between the armchairs to come and stand in front of mine. She looks as if she’s standing in front of a firing squad, which does not amuse me.
“I’m not going to yell at you, sweet girl,” I say mildly. “Don’t look as if you’re preparing to be shot.”
A flush creeps through her cheeks. “I-I’m sorry, Tate.”
I hold out my arms to her. “Come here.”
She doesn’t hesitate, coming close so I can pull her onto my lap. She’s warm and soft, and achingly lovely.
“I missed you,” I say, threading my fingers through her lovely red curls. “I’ve missed you for ten years.”
She blinks up at me, her eyes filling with tears. “I was just saying to Lucas that I shouldn’t have left the way I did,” she says thickly. “I should have been braver. I should have had the conversation with you both, but I didn’t. I didn’t know how to even say it.”
