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“What kind?”
She hesitated. “Apple spice.”
Hammer’s favorite. Of course. That just pissed him off more. “Did you ever once ask what I like? No. Date scones, Raine. Not that it matters.”
“You always ate whatever I put out and I thought…” She closed her mouth and drew in a breath. “You’re right. I didn’t ask. I’m sorry, Liam. I’ll make date scones for you.”
“Don’t bother.” Would she? He hated feeling this vulnerable. And angry. Christ, he was snapping at her for acting on her feelings. Liam closed his mouth. Better to stop now.
“It’s not a bother. I bake Hammer’s favorites because I want to please him. I would gladly do the same for you because I love you.”
Now she was just feeling sorry for him.
He stood. “It doesn’t matter. Just go. I need a shower and—”
“Something to eat, someone to take care of you.” She rose beside him and put her arms around him. “That’s why I’m here. I’ll give you whatever you need.”
Liam couldn’t miss the soft persuasion in her voice.
He broke from her hold and swiped at his face. “It’s Hammer you want. Look at yourself, Raine. Christ, you’re so bloody in heat for him. Do you even care what he does to you?”
“I’m fine,” she assured. “He didn’t hurt—”
“You all but accused me of treating you like a whore earlier. Hammer’s the one who treats you that way. There’s barely an inch of you he hasn’t branded. Next you’ll be telling me you liked it.”
“I did.”
Those two words went off like a bomb inside him. She loved Hammer so much that she’d gladly wear the symbols of his touch. Liam shook his head. He’d treated Raine so gently—like a fucking princess—and he’d held back for so long because she looked delicate. Her feelings were even more fragile. He’d been afraid to hurt her.
What an idiot he’d been.
“I won’t lie.” She’d dropped her chin and said it so quietly he almost didn’t hear it. “I needed it.”
From Hammer. Just not from him. “And you got it.”
“I needed what he gave me, Liam. And he needed to give it to me.” She raised her head to meet his stare. “I’ll take him in any way he chooses—soft, sweet, hard, passionate, rough, dirty—because he touches my soul.”
“Well, then you should go.” He gestured her out the door. “Hammer is more than capable of seeing to your every craving and desire.”
“You do the same for me. I’d be proud to wear your marks, too, Liam.”
He couldn’t bear her mollifying words as he looked at her sadly. “I’ve already given you my whole heart, Raine. It’s obviously not enough.”
“Not enough?” she asked in teary incredulity. “Liam, you’re everything to me. I love you with every beat of my heart. I need you more than my next breath.”
The impact of each word reverberated like a blast through him. God, he needed her, too.
“And you know how hard that is for me to say,” she sobbed.
Liam did. He held back his own tears.
Even when he felt abandoned and betrayed, he feared crushing her heart. He loved her more than he’d ever loved Gwyneth or anyone else. Raine might be the submissive in their relationship, but she wielded so much power. She could annihilate him.
Instead, she smiled tremulously at him. “I love Hammer. I admit it. But I love you, too, Liam—every bit as much.”
He wanted to believe that and didn’t know if he could. And he was too fucking overwrought to deal with it now. “It doesn’t feel that way, Raine.”
“Then let me prove it,” she insisted. “Don’t tell me no because I’ll fight for you, the way you fought for me.”
“Christ… Stop.”
“Punish me if you want to. I’ll take whatever you mete out. But I need you to understand one thing.” She took his face in her hands and melded their gazes. “Any time either you or Hammer wants me, together or alone, I’ll submit to my Masters because I belong to you both. You’re the two halves of my heart.”
He struggled to put distance between them, get away from that insistent stare delving into him, seeing all his bleeding insecurities. Even as he stumbled toward the shower, Liam felt the gut-deep need for Raine to wrap her arms around him and love him the way she did Hammer.
Raine followed him. “Tell me what you need, Liam.”
“I’m fine.” Would she ever give him the same open body, heart, and soul she gave his friend? If he let her in again, could she?
“You’re not, and I won’t leave you when you’re half starved, exhausted, and hurting. You never left me to drown in my own worries, even when you felt as if I’d betrayed you, even when I wasn’t giving my submission to you. Even when you uncollared me, you tried your damnedest to stay by my side. I won’t do less for you. You want to know what you give me? Why I love you? Because you listened, you understood, and you loved me no matter what. I’ve never had that once in my life. No one has ever just held me and accepted me as I am. I’ve learned about love from you. I may not have been good at showing you, but you’ve taught me more about the kind of person I want to be. I’m not leaving. And I’m not letting you go.”
