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“I can’t think of a better way to start a new year.” The oven timer went off. Liam grabbed a pair of oven mitts, pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and set them aside to cool.
She could think of plenty more ways, but she nodded her assent. “Okay. We’ll let it go for the week, but Hunter, that means none of us can walk away from this between now and then. No matter what mistakes we make. Agreed?”
Hunter finally relaxed. “I can live with that.”
“Okay, then. I’m going to go shower and get dressed. I’ll be back down in a while.” Having both Liam and Hunter standing against her as a unified front had sucked the energy right out. She needed a dose of caffeine and sugar, but the tension had turned her stomach sour. Both Liam and Hunter had the right of it, though. Twenty-four hours of frantic fucking wasn’t going to glue them together permanently. Only communication, respect and love would see them through.
Chapter Nine
After Kat left the kitchen, Hunter set his mug in the sink and ran both hands over his head. “Fuck.”
“What’d you expect, that she’d just stand around accepting your barriers without asking you to compromise?” Liam spread white frosting over the tops of the rolls he’d pulled from the oven.
“I thought I’d made myself clear about my public image.”
“You made yourself clear about your military image. A private event with friends is different. Are you going to back out?”
Upstairs, Kat started the shower. His mind’s eye immediately zoomed in on an image of her standing under the water, running her soap-slick hands over her tits. His dick hardened in an instant. Christ. Nobody but Liam and Kat, together and as individuals, had ever challenged the control he had over his body. Some part of him had figured he would regain a measure of that control once he stopped fighting and fed the beast. Instead, he’d roused a bottomless hunger.
“No. I’m going to get dressed, head back to my place for a change of clothes, and show up for dinner.” Backing out had ceased to be an option the minute Hunter answered Liam’s call yesterday. Hell, even before that.
“You made the right choice.” Liam reached past him to drop the empty bowl into the sink. “Kat needs to know you’ll be part of our lives outside the bedroom. She’s not trying to push your limits, she’s trying to find out how much of yourself you’ll give. You should think about that between now and our discussion next week. If all you want is sex, say so. It’ll be easier if we know where we stand.”
“Sex isn’t all I want but you two might be better off if you decide you’d rather keep it at that. You’re signing up for a hard life.”
Liam’s jaw flexed and challenge flashed in his blue eyes. “I’m no stranger to hard lives.”
Hunter studied him, seeing all the sharp edges and haunted corners Liam usually hid behind a relaxed posture and an easy smirk. He didn’t know all the details of Liam’s life but he knew enough to know Liam carried scars that couldn’t be covered and glorified with ink. The skin on Hunter’s back tightened with recognition. He and Liam had taken different paths, but they’d started out the same. For the second time, Hunter was struck by the inevitability of this moment.
He’d never had a fucking chance.
Suddenly, Hunter’s hard-on was eager for more than Kat. Goaded by Liam’s challenge, Hunter seized a fistful of the other man’s shirt and hauled him close. He slanted his mouth across Liam’s firm lips and took without asking or apologizing. Liam didn’t stand there meekly accepting. He gave as good as he got, serving up a measure of aggression that fired Hunter’s blood. Marble bit into his sides as Liam backed him into the corner formed by the L-shaped counter.
They broke apart when Liam’s ringtone erupted between them. Liam swore beneath his breath as he dug his phone from his pocket. And then he cursed again before sending the call to voicemail. “I have to return this call.”
“I need to go anyway.”
“Don’t leave without saying goodbye to Kat.”
“If I go upstairs right now, I’m going to get in that shower with her and see if she’ll finish what we just started.” He watched Liam carefully. Heat flared in the other man’s eyes, but nothing else. Still, he needed confirmation. “That cool with you?”
Liam cocked an eyebrow. “Are you asking me for permission?”
“She’s your wife. You can talk all you want about a three-way relationship but reality is Kat is your wife. Traditional marriage or not, she’s yours. This,” Hunter waved to encompass the house, “is yours. Your home, your wife, your life.”
“Yeah, she’s my wife, but being my wife doesn’t define her. She’s your lover. It’s her body. You want permission, go ask her.”
Hunter pushed harder. He couldn’t wait a week to find out where some lines were drawn. “I’m interested in more than the three of us. I want you and me alone. And I want me and her alone. Sometimes you’re going to want to be alone with your wife. I’m not asking permission to fuck her. I’m asking if it’s going to be a problem with me and you if it’s not always me and you and Kat.”
Liam frowned. “The truth?”
At Hunter’s nod, he continued. “The truth is I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball to tell me how the day to day is going to go for the three of us. Today, right now, if you want to be with Kat and she wants to be with you, then perfect. Enjoy each other. God knows I loved having you to myself this morning.
“If a day comes and that’s not the case, I’ll do my best to let you know. That goes both ways. If you need me or her or, hell, you need something or someone besides us, you have to say so. We’ll eventually be pretty good at picking up on cues, but relationships need communication. Especially the kind of relationship the three of us have.”
“Christ. This isn’t going to be a picnic.”
Liam grinned. “Not one you can enjoy in a family-friendly park, anyway.”
