Tempted by her Daddies: Chapter 13

Tamsyn wasn’t sure that she was hearing him correctly.

Their what? And all three of them?

“Evette comes back next week,” Salem said.

The punch of sadness took her by surprise. She’d let herself get attached.

You’re more than attached.

You just don’t want to admit it.

She’d expected to feel worried. She hadn’t made enough headway and nothing but punishment would await her.

But that wasn’t the reason she didn’t want to leave.

She was going to miss them.

“I know. And you won’t need me any longer.”

“But we will,” Roman said. “We need you all the time.”

Tamsyn raised one eyebrow. “To clean your toilets?”

Alexei let out a low growl. “No, brat. Not to clean our toilets. You haven’t been doing that anyway. I’ve been cleaning my bathroom.”

Oh yeah.

“Me too. And doing my own laundry,” Roman said.

“You didn’t wonder why our bathrooms were already clean when you went to clean them?” Salem asked, sounding amused.

Which was a change from his quiet but solid dominance. That side of him scared her.

And excited her.

She wanted to fall into his arms like she was with Alexei right now.

Fuck, Tamsyn, you really shouldn’t be sitting on his lap.

But for some reason, she couldn’t make herself get off.

“Why?”

“Well, I didn’t want you to think I was a slob and it started to feel a bit weird having you clean up after me,” Roman said. “Especially my underwear.”

That just made no sense.

“Also, you’re not very good at cleaning,” Alexei added. “Even I am better.”

“You never clean,” Salem said.

“Except for my girl.”

His girl?

But she wasn’t his girl. So she didn’t understand.

“I’m good at cleaning,” she protested rather than addressing the fact that he’d called her his girl.

Silence greeted her.

A damning silence.

Was she really that bad? A sliver of guilt filled her. She thought she’d been trying, but she had no interest in cleaning. And she’d been distracted.

Not that she could tell them that.

“I told you that I would leave,” she said to Salem. “You guys shouldn’t be paying me for a crappy job!”

“Well, soon we won’t be,” Alexei said. “And I’m pleased about that.”

Right.

“What Alexei means is that we were going to wait until we no longer employed you to talk about this because we didn’t want to blur the lines,” Salem said. “We didn’t want you to feel like you had to say yes to us to keep your job.”

“Yes?” she whispered.

“To being ours,” Roman told her.

“I thought we had already made that clear,” Alexei said. “Let’s stop beating the bush.”

“Um, do you mean beating around the bush?” she asked.

“Yes. We want you. You want us. We all know this. The three of us want you to be our girl.”

“You want to . . . to share me?” she asked. “The three of you? Is that something you’ve done before?”

“Never,” Salem told her. “I haven’t had a relationship in a long time. I’ve gone to the club to play but nothing involving commitment or caring. I just didn’t believe I had the time. My work was my life.”

“And you know about me,” Roman said shyly. “I’ve never really been that attracted to anyone. I don’t always like being touched. I certainly can’t do casual touch with people I don’t know. I’ve never been in a real relationship before. I might be crap at it.”

“You could never be crap at anything,” she told him fiercely. “Don’t speak about yourself like that.”

“But it’s all right for you to speak badly about yourself?” he asked in a stern voice.

She was aware of Salem’s surprised look and the way that Alexei tensed slightly. She was willing to bet that Roman hadn’t shown them this side of himself before.

“That’s different,” she said.

“No it isn’t, darling girl. It is exactly the same,” he told her. “And you are not allowed to do that anymore.”

“Then neither are you.”

“Deal.”

She stared down at him. Shit. What had she just agreed to?

“There will be consequences if you break this deal,” Alexei warned.

“Like what?” Her bottom clenched and he chuckled.

Drat. Of course he could feel that.

“I think I should sit on my own for this conversation,” she said, trying to wriggle off his lap.

He wrapped his thick arm around her waist, pinning her to him. “I think you should stay just where you are. I can get lots of information about what you’re really thinking from your body language.”

Yeah. That was what she was afraid of.

“And you know what sort of consequences,” Alexei added. “I’ve warned you already. Spankings. Forced orgasms. Denied orgasms. Maybe lines and corner time depending on how naughty you’ve been.”

“Forced and denied orgasms?” Roman asked, looking out of his depth.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Salem will be happy to help teach you some tricks,” Alexei told Roman.

All right, Roman looked far too interested for her peace of mind.

Wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . were they serious about the orgasm thing?

“Denied orgasm?” she squeaked.

“You’ve visited clubs,” Salem told her in that low, sexy voice that made her want to lose her mind. “You’ve never been punished that way?”

“Uh. No. Because it sounds barbaric. I’m sure it’s against some sort of sub convention. And if it isn’t, it should be. Perhaps I should start a protest. I’m sure that every sub in that club will sign a petition.”

“They probably would. But they wouldn’t win. And they’d simply earn themselves more punishment. You, most of all,” Salem told her.

Yikes.

“She hasn’t agreed to this yet, though,” Roman said. “Is this something you might like, my darling girl?”

“Yes, Bunny,” Alexei added. “Would you like to belong to the three of us?”

Shit.

Did she want to belong to the three of them?

God yes.

But could she?

Absolutely not.

However, wasn’t this what she’d been working toward? And just for a small while she’d be able to experience happiness.

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Salem said. “There are three of us, which must seem strange to you. We know it’s not a normal relationship, but my sister makes it work. In fact, she’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her. Think about it this way . . . three men to worship you, take care of you, be there for you. Three of us to meet all your needs.”

Wow. When he put it like that it sounded amazing.

“Three of us to keep an eye on you . . . to make sure that you don’t put yourself in danger, to keep you from doing foolish things and discipline you when you’re naughty.”

And of course Alexei had to add in that. She turned to glare at him. “I do not do foolish things.”

“Exhibit a: Your swollen foot from climbing onto a table to catch a bird.”

Well, drat.

Why did he have to have a point? She didn’t like logic.

“Three men to listen to you when you are worried or concerned or happy. To help you and support you and cheer you on,” Roman told her.

Her sweet Roman.

It killed something inside her when she thought about leaving him.

She really didn’t want to.

So maybe you need to make it so you don’t have to leave them. Why should you always sacrifice and lose?

Her breathing grew harsher and she worked on slowing it down.

“Little one?” Salem asked. “It’s all right. Hey, it’s okay.”

“She’s having a panic attack,” Alexei said.

“Here, hand her to me,” Salem said calmly.

She was shifted over onto Salem’s lap and his cedar and sandalwood scent surrounded her. “It’s all right, Little one. You’re fine. You’re not in this alone. We’re right here.”

But she still felt so alone. Because she couldn’t tell them the truth of what was really going on with her.

They could never know. They would never forgive her.

However, perhaps it was time to start thinking about an exit plan.

Her plan had always been to die . . . but that was changing.

“Tamsyn. Look at me,” Roman told her firmly.

She glanced up immediately, staring at Roman. When he used that tone, it was like she had to listen.

“That’s a good girl,” he praised her. “I want you to squeeze my hands. Really tight.”

She shook her head. What was wrong with her? Her head was spinning, and she felt so weird.

“Hey, no. Eyes on me. Squeeze my hands. Tell me five things you can see.”

What? Why would she do that?

“You’re having a panic attack, darling girl. Just listen to me.”

“Make her breathe properly,” Alexei said urgently. “She’s going to pass out. Tamsyn, breathe.”

She was trying. Didn’t he think that she wanted to breathe normally? It just didn’t seem to be happening. Her breaths continued to come in sharp pants. Her heart was racing.

This was awful.

She didn’t have panic attacks.

Pathetic.

Useless.

“She’s hurting herself. Stop that!” Alexei barked.

She glanced down at her hands.

Oh, she must have been digging her fingernails into her palms. She hadn’t even noticed. She had a high pain tolerance.

“Little one, don’t do that,” Salem ordered as Roman grabbed her hands again. “Do not hurt yourself.”

“Doesn’t . . . hurt . . .” she managed to get out.

“It’s still unacceptable,” Roman told her. “Now, listen to me. Five things. Right now.”

Sheesh.

So bossy. He had to be taking lessons from the other two. One, she could handle. Two, was pushing it. But three? She might not survive.

“You,” she said as he lightly squeezed her hands. “Alexei. Bird poo. Sofa. Ugly painting.”

Roman glanced behind him, then turned back with a grin. “You’re right. It is ugly. Four things you can hear.”

“Alexei breathing. Sounds like a train.”

“It does not!” Alexei complained.

“It does when you come up behind me. Or maybe an angry dragon. A bear?”

Her breathing was growing easier.

“Keep going,” Roman urged. “What else can you hear?”

“You. I can hear Salem breathe.”

“Bet his breathing sounds like a constipated badger,” Alexei grumbled.

A giggle escaped her and the tension in the room dropped by several notches.

“I can hear that annoying clock ticking on the wall.” She nodded over at the clock that often drove her insane.

“You don’t like that clock?” Roman asked. “I’ll get rid of it immediately.” He stood, sliding his hands free.

It must have been so hard for him to touch her, and he’d done it to help her.

“No, don’t,” she said, laughing. “You can’t get rid of it.”

“Why not?” he asked. “If you don’t like it, then it’s gone.”

“Just because I don’t like it?” she asked in amazement.

He crouched in front of her. “I want you to be comfortable here. I want you to think of this place as yours too.”

“Mine? No.” She shook her head. This was a lot and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it all.

“We’re not saying you have to move in tomorrow,” Salem told her, turning her in his lap so he could see her. He tilted her head back with his hand under her chin. “We’re just saying that we want you to feel safe here. To be comfortable. With this house and with us.”

“So say yes,” Alexei demanded.

“Alexei,” Salem said with a sigh.

“What?”

“You can’t just demand that she say yes.”

“Sure I can. I just did,” Alexei said.

“Yes, but it has to be her choice,” Roman said. “Perhaps she doesn’t want to be with three men.”

“Do you really think it could work? It’s not . . . people won’t like it.”

“Who cares what other people think?” Alexei said disparagingly. “I do not care. Do you?”

Well, she didn’t really. She glanced at Roman who just smiled, then up to Salem.

“The people I care most about are in this room.” Salem ran a finger down her cheek. “And that’s why I think this could work. Because we all care about each other and want each of us to be happy. Will it always be easy? No. But nothing worth having is. And we just have to lay down some rules and boundaries.”

“For you,” Alexei told her.

“For all of us,” Salem said. “For instance, we might want to have some date nights alone with you and others where we are all together. We need to respect people’s privacy. Like when you want time alone.”

“Why would she want time alone?” Alexei asked.

“Well, believe it or not, sometimes you can be a lot,” Roman told him.

She had to grin at the look on Alexei’s face. He appeared insulted.

“I don’t actually need a lot of alone time,” she said.

She had far too much time on her own.

“There will also be rules around safety, health, and respect,” Salem added. “Especially for you. You know I’m a Dom. I like to be in control and to take care of those around me.”

She nodded. She did know that.

“Roman and Alexei might have rules too. We can work those out. And your limits. If that sort of relationship is one you’re happy with.”

“Where I get bossed around a lot?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Where you can feel safe to submit. To let things go and be yourself. Where you don’t always have to be on your guard and do everything yourself,” Salem said.

He always knew how to put a good spin on things, didn’t he?

“But yeah, also where you get your butt spanked.”

“You have an obsession with spanking me. It’s unhealthy,” she muttered.

Alexei smirked. “I think it’s very healthy.”

“Do you want a full time submissive?” she asked.

“I don’t want a master-slave relationship,” Salem replied. “But I also don’t want to shut off that side of myself once I leave the bedroom. I suppose I’m a lifestyle Dom. Rules will be there all the time. And if they’re broken, there are always consequences no matter where we are or what we’re doing.”

She nodded, thinking about that.

“I don’t change whether I’m in the bedroom or out,” Alexei said.

Yeah. She’d figured that. She glanced at Roman.

“I am just exploring that side of myself. But I think if I was a Dom, I’d like the more nurturing side of things. I’m not so sure I’d want to, uh, be involved in discipline.”

“That’s entirely up to you,” Salem said. “There’s something else we want to ask you before you make up your mind.”

“I really don’t see why we’re giving her a choice. She should just be with us. It’s what’s best for her,” Alexei said.

“Because she’s allowed a choice,” Roman said. “This isn’t a dictatorship.”

“It isn’t?” Alexei asked. “It should be.”

Poor Alexei, he looked like he was about to start sulking.

“What is it?” she asked, feeling like she might be at the end of her endurance.

“Are you a Little?” Salem asked.