Leah Braemel - Private Property

“Te amo,” he whispered. Had he said that earlier? He’d been thinking it. And had she said she loved him too? Not wanting to take the chance that she might not have understood, he repeated it in English. “I love you, Jodi.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks, and a vow that he’d never again allow another man to touch her the way Sam had. The way he’d invited Sam to.

Desperate to remove any trace of the other man from her skin, Mark touched everywhere Sam had touched. Everywhere Sam had tasted, Mark tasted. The memory of watching Sam’s fingers on her soft flesh, of his cock stretching her pussy, and knowing he’d actually been the one to suggest it would be something he’d never forgive himself for.

Jodi tried to lift her hips but failed to move him. No way was he going to let her go until he’d made things right between them.

A flicker of pain crossed her face and she squirmed beneath him again.

“Aw, baby, did I hurt you?” He lifted his weight from her, but kept his arms stabbed into the mattress on either side of her, trapping her.

Her eyes fluttered open, a dazed and exhausted look filling them. “I think I’m lying on the nipple clamps.”

Damn things. Mark reached beneath her. With a flick of his wrist, he withdrew the offending clamps and tossed them across the floor.

Mark rolled over and pulled her beside him, wrapping his arms around her in an iron grip. “Sam, this is en-”

He trailed off when he realized they were alone in the room, Sam nowhere in sight. Another stream of curses directed at both Sam and himself echoed off the walls.

“Mark?” Jodi said quietly, her eyes veiled as she glanced down at his chest. “Did you want me to tell Sam no when he asked? Did I screw things up between us?”

He cursed himself again, softer this time, when he realized she thought he would blame her, that he might be angry that she’d agreed to Sam’s suggestion. “I know it was my idea originally, but I couldn’t…”

He averted his gaze, glancing at the mountain of pillows surrounding them. “When Sam and I discussed tonight’s…entertainment…I thought I’d have no problem watching you with Sam. You know how I love to watch you play with yourself. And he wasn’t lying about what we used to do back in college.”

He took a deep breath and forced himself to look at her. Damn it, she still wasn’t looking at him. Was she angry with him? Or had she found more pleasure with Sam?

“When it came down to it, to actually sharing you…” Words that usually flowed easily for him lodged in his chest. What if she thought about what he’d asked of her? What if she realized how he’d violated her trust by failing to protect her? “When Sam talked about penetrating your ass, when he touched you, this wave of anger started burning in my gut.”

No shit, he’d felt like a caveman who wanted to grab her by the hair and carry her back to his cave. To beat Sam until his best friend lay bloodied and unmoving at his feet.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she turned her head away from him. “You are angry that I agreed.”

He could have lost her tonight. He could still lose her.

He stroked the side of her face until her eyes opened and she slowly turned her head back to look at him. “No, babe. I’m not angry that you agreed. I could never be angry about that. It was my stupid idea, remember?”

“Not stupid,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for tonight and what I put you through.”

She pushed away from him, shaking her head. “Sorry? For what? Because I have to tell you, I’m not.”

“I behaved like a jerk. I should have asked you if you really wanted a threesome. I should have asked if there was anyone you wanted more. I should never have pressured you. I should… I…” His Adam’s apple jerked as he swallowed, remembering the anger that had engulfed him when Sam had tied him to the bed, when he’d been forced to watch. “I was insane thinking I could share you.”

“Ssshhh.” She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. Her touch was soothing, as if she could sense his fear, his feelings of inadequacy. “You did give me a choice, remember? So did Sam. It’s not like he hurt me or anything. We had a safe word-I could have used it any time.”

He didn’t want to remind her that a safe word was only good if the other person backed off. But Sam would have stopped-or he never would have trusted the bastard in the first place. Some of his anger bled away. And he had the rest of his life to make it up to her. For now, it was enough she forgave him.

For someone who had seen the worst life could throw at a person, she was so forgiving, so open. He was going to buy her the biggest diamond ring he could find. A diamond that would tell every other guy in the world “hands off, she’s mine!”

If she’d wear it.

His stomach grumbling, Mark eased his arm from under Jodi and pulled the silk sheet over her. She squirmed, tugging her pillow closer beneath her but stayed asleep.

He picked up the remote Sam had used earlier and turned off the big screens one by one. Finding his blue jeans was more of a challenge-he ended up unearthing them from under the comforter they’d kicked off the bed. And his underwear was nowhere to be seen. Hell, he’d just go commando.

“Be right back, babe.” A soft mewl escaped Jodi’s lips when he bent down to brush a kiss across her forehead.

Barefoot, he padded from the room and climbed the stairs to the main level. A green-tinged light spilled from the office into the hallway. The creak of the leather chair, and a snap and hiss of a can opening told him where Sam had disappeared.

Time to settle that account.

His feet on the desk, ankles crossed, Sam leaned back in the chair, staring at the flat- screen television on the far wall, a Heineken in his hand. His leather pants had been traded in for a pair of grey fleece track pants, and, like Mark, he wore no shirt.

Muttering, Sam lifted the glass in a salute to the screen. The screen with an image of Jodi sleeping.

Mark cursed under his breath. Sam had been watching them this whole time?

With a snort of disgust, Mark walked into the room and flicked off the television. “And you accused me of being a voyeur.”

Sam scratched idly at the scar on his chest. “Considering the glass house you live in, you shouldn’t be tossing stones at me. ’Sides, I didn’t have the sound turned up.”

As if that made a difference.

Mark stared down at his friend. “Do you want to tell me why the fuck you thought it necessary to tie me up, old buddy?”

Sam placed the can on the desk, turned it until a dark circle of moisture imprinted on the blotter. Lifted it and placed it beside where it had been. Turned it again, making another circle.

“I did what I had to,” he said finally.

Mark folded his arms across his chest. “You want to explain that?”

Another circle joined the others on the blotter. Then a fifth and a sixth. Sam finally lifted his gaze and met Mark’s. “I didn’t want to see you toss away a sure thing playing the games we played in college. You’re not cut out for that lifestyle, Mark. And from what I’ve seen of her, neither’s Jodi.”

“If you thought it was wrong, you could have walked away. You could have not agreed in the first place.”

Sam met his gaze evenly. “You said if I didn’t help you, you’d find someone else. Couldn’t take that chance.”

“So you took control by tying me up.”

Sam lifted the glass halfway to his lips then stopped. “Only way I could think of to prove my point.”

“That having a mйnage is a college game? Just how did tying me up prove that?”