Tymber Dalton - Love Slave for Two

“Yes.” He dropped his voice and she struggled to listen. “But just you, Nevvie—not Alex. Only you. We’ll pay you whatever salary you think is fair, we’ll provide full room and board, a car, medical and auto insurance, everything. You decide what days off you want, you come and go as you please. You’d become a full-time member of our family.”

She couldn’t breathe. “ Move in? ”

“Yes.” Tyler’s eyes held hers, drawing her in. God, she wanted to lean over and kiss him, kiss both of them!

Thomas squeezed her hand. “Nevvie, we’ll help you move if you want.”

If she didn’t get air into her lungs she’d pass out. She took a gasping, hitching breath. “Just me?”

Thomas nodded. “Just you.”

She could be free of Alex! This was too good to be true. “Are you teasing me?”

“No, Nevvie,” Tyler assured her, “this is a serious offer. We feel after six months that we’ve spent enough time with you that we’re comfortable making this offer. I know it’s overwhelming, and I understand you will want some time. Please, think about it. Give us your answer on Thursday.”

Tyler, then Thomas, leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

She could live with her two sweet love gods, be free of Alex, and get paid!

Tyler studied her. “Are you afraid of Alex?”

She dropped her gaze. “Yeah.”

Thomas’ hand tightened around hers. “He won’t hurt you, Nevvie. We won’t let him or anyone else hurt you as long as you’re with us, we promise. And think, sugar, all the back rubs you can handle.” He winked.

Tyler sighed. “I suppose I need to run you back to the apartment. Think about our offer, and let us know on Thursday, right? If you say no, nothing changes. If you say yes, it would make the two of us very happy.”

Make that three, Tyler—I’d be thrilled. “Okay.”

Tyler drove her home and she hesitated before getting out. No Escort, Alex was probably out drinking.

“You guys are serious?”

“I’ll come help you pack right now, if you wish.”

She wanted to say yes. “I’ve got the Pattersons tomorrow, I clean a half-day there. Then on Tuesday, the Leopolds. I need to tell them, it wouldn’t be fair to cancel on them.” She paused. “If I say yes, can I move in on Thursday?”

“Absolutely. Do you need help?”

She shook her head. Alex would be pissed enough. “I don’t have much, just clothes.” She studied his face. “You’re not joking?”

“Thomas and I already view you as part of our family. You aren’t our employee, not in our hearts.” He touched her cheek and lowered his voice. “I’ll be honest with you—we miss you when you’re not around. It feels right having you with us. Please say yes. It’ll break our hearts if you don’t.”

She studied his eyes for a long moment. “Okay. Yes, I’ll do it.”

Tyler leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Thomas will be as pleased as I am.” Then he smiled, and it melted her heart.

She had it bad for both men. How about that? Not only was she a dumbass, she was a dumbass times two, falling for not one, but two cute guys she could never have.

She’d never had these feelings for the guy she did have. Or any other guy, not that she’d been with that many guys. Alex was her fourth boyfriend, and the first time…

She didn’t like to think about that. It made her skin crawl, made her want to throw up.

“I’ll see you Thursday at eight,” she said. “I’ll need to get the car back to Alex without him following me. He doesn’t know where you live.”

“Thomas and I will take care of that, don’t worry. What about your mail?”

“I have a P.O. box he doesn’t know about.”

“Excellent. We can change that over. Are you sure you don’t want to leave sooner?”

“Thursday will be fine.”

“Do you want my cell phone, in case there’s an emergency?”

“No, that’s okay, but thank you.” She didn’t want to get out of the truck, and knew the longer she sat there the more the neighbors would talk—most likely to Alex.

“May I walk you to your door?”

Tyler even smelled good. She didn’t know if that was his deodorant or body wash or what.

Screw the neighbors. “Yes, please.”

Tyler walked around the truck to open her door. The perfect gentleman. Alex never held a door for her. Tyler walked her to 111 and she fished out her keys.

Tyler waited until she stepped inside. Then he smiled and, apparently well aware of the nosey neighbors, mouthed, “ Thursday .”

She smiled and nodded. “ Thursday ,” she silently mouthed back. She locked the door and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. Looking around the apartment she tried to think of anything she’d want so she wasn’t scrambling at the last minute. She didn’t have much in the way of clothes, maybe three suitcases, if that. She didn’t want any of the furniture. The kitchen stuff was cheap dollar store crap. She’d rather smash Alex’s Xbox than take it.

Nothing. There was nothing she wanted except her purse and clothes. Learning a valuable lesson after Katrina, she kept important paperwork in a safe deposit box Alex didn’t know about.

Thursday.

Freedom.

She sank to the floor, closed her eyes, and cried.

Nevvie took a shower, wanting to finish before Alex returned. He usually stayed out late on Sunday nights and hopefully would tonight. She relived the day, the way Tyler held her hand at the bakery, how both men looked at her when asking her to move in.

So they weren’t interested in her body. Who cared? They wanted her.

They wanted her to be part of their family .

Mentally she planned what to take, how to pack. Maybe she should have left today. Away from them, standing in the rat-hole apartment and dreading Alex’s return, Nevvie felt more alone than she had in years.

With the boys she felt like a part of a family. That was an alien feeling, but one she had quickly grown to love.

Growing up she’d never felt like she belonged. When she found out she’d been adopted, it made sense. The man she thought of as her father died when she was eight. When her mom remarried two years later, “Preacher Jim” wasn’t her favorite person in the world.

A strict and unyielding man, Nevvie proved to be anything but compliant. He never tried to molest her but she’d be damned—literally—if she’d spend all her free time doing nothing but reading the Bible as he insisted.

A voracious reader, Nevvie’s favorite Nancy Drew and other books were taken away, deemed too immoral. He permitted only school texts and her Bible. He forbid any music except the Christian radio station. No TV allowed. Or movies.

Preacher Jim insisted the Earth was only a few thousand years old despite what scientists said. Even at ten Nevvie knew that was pretty damn stupid. While all her friends wore jeans or shorts, Preacher Jim forced her to wear long-sleeved, ankle-length dresses.

At twelve she ran away for the first time, which puzzled everyone except Nevvie, because she earned straight-A grades. She ran away at least once a month to her second cousin’s house for sanity and sympathy, riding the school bus with her the next morning. Finally, Preacher Jim deemed her a child of the Devil and encouraged Nevvie’s mother to reveal the truth about her parentage and give her cousin’s mother custody of the unruly girl.

Nevvie flourished once free of her stepfather’s restrictive tethers. Even her teachers noted with confusion that while most children should be failing by that point, if anything, her already impressive grades improved. She graduated with honors and an academic scholarship to the University of South Florida. Her mother and Preacher Jim and two younger half-brothers moved to Utah or some godforsaken place when she was sixteen, and she hadn’t heard from them since.