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Well, hell. And Liam’s gaze drilling into him left him no doubt that the fucker was looking for an excuse—any excuse—to make good on his threat.
Shit. All right. He was prepared to say or do whatever necessary to keep her here. If Liam took her away for good...the last interminable hours had proven that he’d go crazy without her.
As if feeling her approach behind him, Liam turned to look over his shoulder. Most submissives would stare at the floor in silence when two angry Doms turned this much intent focus on her. Not Raine. She sidled around Liam and stepped between them. She put a palm to the Irish bastard’s chest first. Hammer didn’t have more than a second to let jealousy eat at him before she put her hand on him, too. Her touch seared him all the way to his balls, then eased him down to his soul. Liam could say what he wanted; she was still his.
“I know I’m speaking out of turn, and you can punish me later if you want,” she said to Liam. “But I was thinking on the drive down the mountain... A lot has happened lately. Things have occurred, insults have been traded. But guys...you were friends long before me. This disagreement is just a momentary blip. I don’t want to fight with my boss or my Sir. And I certainly don’t want you two fighting with one another. It’s the kind of toxic thing that can only hurt all of us and the club as a whole. And I know tempers are running high now. Just...think about it. For me.”
Hammer feared that she was asking the impossible, but he remained silent when she faced Liam.
“I’m going to start tidying up and getting to work. It’s my day to check supplies and complete the liquor inventory. You two should talk.” She stood on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss over the man’s lips before shooting him a little smile and walking toward the stairs.
“That’s fine by me, but we should make a few things crystal clear, right here and now.” Liam’s voice filled the silence.
She turned back to them both, lashes blinking over her wary eyes.
“If you want to continue working here, then fine, but working is all you’ll be doing, love. Hammer is capable of taking care of himself. Not only that, you know he has other submissives at his beck and call, should he require...extras.”
Hammer smirked, barely resisting the urge to shake his head. Liam must be slipping to play Raine’s insecurity card right off the top of the deck. That was fine by Hammer. The pompous prick only managed to remind Raine of her jealousy when he spent time with other subs. That’s it, asshole…keep that red-hot longing bubbling up inside her. In fact, Hammer was willing to give Liam all the rope he needed to hang himself.
“You’ll not be his maid, fuss after him, change his sheets, make his coffee, or bake him treats,” Liam insisted. “You will stop all the other hundred and one things you’ve done quietly with such grace through the years, Raine. He’ll not have the right to lay hands on you again. None of this is negotiable.” He stared at Raine, brow raised. “Are we clear?”
Hammer watched Raine flinch, then swallow slowly. His blood boiled.
“Yes, Sir.” She said the words, but no mistaking the sad note in her voice.
Apparently Liam didn’t understand Raine at all. The asshole was ordering her to deny a huge chunk of her submissive nature. Liam had crossed the line from losing it to fucking idiocy. And in that mental state, what would he do to Raine? Without conscious thought, Hammer’s fist curled into a ball and he lifted his arm.
Raine pinned a pleading stare on him and she shook her head. Oh, fuck. His violent urge goaded him to whisk her to safety and pound the hell out of his “friend.”
I’m not worth this, she mouthed for him alone.
She couldn’t be more wrong. But her beseeching blue eyes... Hell, he couldn’t make matters worse for her.
Hammer sent her a fierce gaze that told Raine she was damn wrong. Then without sparing Liam a glance, he spun away, taking in deep breaths to get his rage under control.
At least Raine was safe and home. It was far more than he’d woken up expecting today. But she was still Liam’s...at least for now. His calculating friend had been thinking with his head most every step of the way. He’d studied the girl, waited for a vulnerable moment, crafting a plan to convince Raine that he could give her what she needed. Liam had likely made himself the balm that eased her wounded soul. And Hammer had no one to blame but himself. He’d been thinking with nothing but his heart and his dick.
