CHAPTER | SIXTEEN
“I’ll take Zoe into the living room,” Brody said. “You get her something to eat.”
Chase raised an eyebrow at Brody’s terse voice. Brody shouldered past Chase and gently gathered Zoe into his arms. He curled her against his body, shielding as much as her as possible as he strode into the living room. Tate followed, zipping his pants on the way.
Dillon met Chase’s gaze and shrugged. The two men went into the kitchen, and Chase pulled out the sandwich fixings from the fridge.
Dillon hovered, hands shoved into his pocket, and then a sigh escaped him. “Look, man, maybe I should leave.”
Chase glanced up at him. “Is there a problem?”
“You tell me. When you approached me about being a part of Zoe’s fantasy, I thought why not. She’s hot. That night in the hotel was fantastic. She’s not the problem here.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the living room. “Big guy in there doesn’t like me being here. I think he’s pissed.”
Chase dropped the ham on the counter and turned to Dillon. “What makes you say that? I admit, my attention was focused on Zoe during the whole thing. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what the rest of you were doing.”
“All I’m saying is that he didn’t want me touching her. Period. You could have broken a rock on his face when Zoe mentioned the whole bar thing. I’m all for great sex, but I’m not going to step into a shit storm.”
Chase frowned. It would certainly explain Brody’s protective-ness of Zoe at the end when he all but shoved Chase out of the way to take Zoe into the living room.
“Yeah, I understand. Sorry, man.”
“Hey, not a problem, though you might want to check on the fact that another guy is going all He-Man on your girl.”
He wasn’t about to tell Dillon that he didn’t mind, nor was he going to get into the dynamics of the relationship—what relationship? He shook his head. Things were getting complicated. He knew Zoe had some issues where Brody and Tate were concerned, and it was likely they did too. But damn.
“I’m going to head out. Kiss Zoe for me and let her know I had a great time. I don’t want her thinking I left because of her, okay?”
“Will do,” Chase said. “Later, man.”
The door shut behind Dillon, and Chase returned to the sandwiches with a frown. He hadn’t imagined that bringing Dillon in would piss Brody off. Maybe he should have planned better. Or maybe it was time to step out of the realm of fantasy for a while.
It was easy to get carried away, that much was obvious. When you had a girl as responsive and open to kink as Zoe was, it was easy to take things too far. Was that what he’d done? Gone too far?
He’d told himself that he was fulfilling a fantasy for Zoe, but what if it was just that? A fantasy. Something sexy to talk about in private and never meant to take into the real world. Or maybe he was living out his own fantasies and rationalizing them by saying he was doing it for Zoe.
Or maybe he just needed a fucking reality check.
He piled the sandwiches on a plate and walked into the living room. Zoe was curled onto Brody’s lap. Brody had wrapped a blanket around her so that no part of her body showed. His arms were wrapped protectively around her, and her face was burrowed into his neck. Brody had one hand in her hair, stroking absently as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.
The knot in Chase’s stomach grew larger.
Tate sat across from the couch, slouched in a chair, his legs sprawled out in front of him. He watched Zoe, his expression indecipherable.
When Chase put the plate down on the coffee table, Brody looked up.
“She’s asleep,” Brody said in a low voice. “She’s tired.”
He said it almost accusingly, and Chase flinched.
“Where’s your friend?” Tate asked.
“He left,” Chase said as he sat down.
“Good,” Brody said bluntly.
Chase sighed. He really didn’t want to get into the whys and wherefores. It was probably a good idea if they dropped it and called it a night.
“Why don’t you take Zoe to her bedroom?” He purposely didn’t say my or our in conjunction with the bedroom even though it was their bedroom. “I think we’ll call it a night.”
Brody nodded and then repositioned Zoe on his lap so he could stand. The blanket started to slip, but Brody caught her closer to his chest so that it didn’t fall completely down.
As soon as he left the living room with Zoe, Tate stood, his eyes shuttered as he glanced toward Chase.
“Listen, I think in the future if you want to do something like this again . . . I’d prefer you leave me out.”
“I’m not planning for there to be a next time,” Chase said.
Relief shadowed Tate’s eyes. He nodded and then turned toward his bedroom.
“I’m going to hit the sack. See you guys in the morning.”
A few moments later, Brody reappeared in the living room. He nodded toward Chase but didn’t say anything as he headed toward his room. Chase stood and stared after Brody for a long time after he disappeared.
Then, blowing out his breath, he went into his bedroom.
Zoe was snuggled into bed, the covers pulled over her shoulders. She was, predictably, on Chase’s pillow, a fact that made him smile as he stripped down to his underwear.
He crawled into bed with her and pulled her warm body into his. She stirred and draped her arm and leg over him and then opened her eyes.
“Everyone go?” she asked sleepily. “I didn’t mean to crap out like that.”
He touched her cheek, letting his fingers glide over the silky skin to her neck. For a long moment he didn’t say anything as he looked down at her.
Some of the sleep faded from her eyes and her brow crinkled.
“Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong. Was just thinking.”
“About?”
“You and me. And our fantasies.”
Her look was still questioning.
“The things we’ve done have been amazing. I’ve enjoyed it all. But maybe it’s time we called a halt. Maybe we’re getting a little too carried away.”
She frowned and pushed up to her elbow. “Did I do something wrong?”
He quickly put a finger over her lips. “Shhh, baby. Let me explain. This is not about anything you’ve done. Quite the contrary. I’m a lucky guy to have such a fantastic girl. I mean you’re so open. I love that you’re so honest about your sexuality, that you’re not ashamed to talk about your kinks and fantasies and even indulge in them with me. I’ve loved every minute of it. I just think once we got started, we tried to cram everything into a short amount of time. Like we tried to one-up ourselves with each ensuing experience. I’m to blame for most of it. Apart from the night at the strip club, I’ve instigated everything else. And I’m not saying we should never play our fantasies out again. I just think for the time being we should slow it down and enjoy each other. I feel like we haven’t had a lot of time lately where it’s just you and me.”
She relaxed and let herself back down onto the pillow. She put her hand on his shoulder and let her palm slide down his arm.
“Were you getting jealous? I mean, did it bother you to see me with other men? Because ...”
There was a thread of anxiety in her voice and once again, he shushed her gently.
“Zoe, honey, there was nothing you did. My feelings haven’t changed. I just think maybe some of the mystery can be taken out of a relationship if we make every erotic thought a reality, you know? Maybe some of the things we whisper about should be kept between you and me.”
She smiled and linked her arm around him to pull him closer. He hugged her to him and stroked the soft skin of her back.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” he said seriously. “Now tell me about tonight. Was it good for you? I mean, was it as exciting as when you fantasized about it?”
She was silent for a moment and then she pulled away, her expression thoughtful. “It was hot. Dillon showing up was a little weird at first. I guess because I hadn’t expected it. I worried . . .”
She broke off and bit her lip, her gaze skating away from his.
He nudged her chin so that she looked at him again. “You worried what?”
“It sounds silly.”
“Try me.”
“I wasn’t worried about you, I mean I knew you were okay with it, but I wasn’t sure about Brody and Tate.” She sighed. “This is difficult for me because I have such conflicting feelings for them. I guess in the same vein as my initial worry over what you’d think watching another man have sex with me, I worried about what they would think about me being with someone other . . . than them.”
“You thought they’d be jealous.”
“Well, yes,” she said anxiously. “Chase, what’s happening here? The only person I should be worried about is you. I don’t know that I like this. I feel like something special was breached tonight, but that’s so messed up. My relationship is with you, not Brody and Tate, but I’d die if I inadvertently did something to hurt them.”
He kissed the lines of her brow, trying to ease some of the worry from her face.
He knew where this was going. It was like watching an inevitable train wreck and he was powerless to stop it. He knew, or he had a damn good idea, of the potential ramifications when he’d asked Brody and Tate to participate. He knew and it hadn’t stopped him. But then he’d only been thinking of what he was open to and what was acceptable to him. He’d never given thought to the three other people involved and how they might struggle to accept the situation.
He felt like the worst sort of ass. And worse, he wasn’t sure he could fix it. Or if it could be fixed.
“You’re tired and right now you’re upset. I think we should both get some sleep and see what tomorrow brings. I don’t want you to worry, Zoe. We’ll fix this. I promise.”
His gut knotted at the zealous declaration. He hoped to hell it wasn’t too late and that things hadn’t gone too far. What the four of them had was very special, and it would kill him to see it damaged in any way. Worse, the worst-case scenario was losing Zoe. And there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen.
She snuggled deeper into his arms, but he could feel her tension. He had a feeling she was going to lie awake tonight. Just like he was.