Chapter Six

Chapter SixSomething was wrong. Really wrong.Double-blinking, I gripped the edge of the stool beneath me, trying and failing to fully focus on the guy sitting beside me at the dome’s bar. He was nattering away, seemingly oblivious to my struggle. It was weird and hard to explain, but it was like my attention just wouldn’t properly fix on him.Thanks to a bout of the flu, I hadn’t been back to the Vault in the last two weeks. I’d arrived with Cat and Danton earlier, who’d gone off to a private room an hour ago, leaving me here with a very talkative dude by the name of Flynn.Everything had been going swimmingly well. At first. The conversation wasn’t bad. The view was pretty good. And although we didn’t have amazing chemistry, I liked him. Liked talking to him. He was funny. Open. Smart. He didn’t seem to take himself too seriously.But right now, I wasn’t feeling so good.I’d been fine up until ten or so minutes ago. But nausea then kicked in, my head started to feel strangely light, and a heavy feeling began to invade my muscles.Flynn’s brow creased in concern. “Hey, you okay?”I nodded. “Just feeling a little off.” I weakly waved my hand, encouraging him to keep talking.He eyed me carefully. “You’re sure?”No. “Absolutely.”Seeming a little reluctant, he nonetheless continued with his story. I tried to listen. I truly did. But it became harder and harder to concentrate as my internal sensations distracted me. My stomach was churning like crazy, my mind felt all fuzzy, and I was seeing two of everything.I’d felt like this once before, I distantly realized. I couldn’t pinpoint when or why, I only knew that this all felt a little familiar.His next words were so muffled and tinny that I couldn’t quite make them out. I gave my head a little shake and said, “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Was it just me or did my voice sound kind of slurry?He gave me a soft yet stern look. “Okay, you’re not fine. I think it’s safe to say that you’ve had a little too much to drink.”Too much? No, that wasn’t right. Or was it?He stood. “Maybe it’s best if we get you into a cab.”I tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, that I truly was fine, but no words came out when I parted my lips.He gently lifted me off the stool, set me on my feet, curled an arm around my waist, and began leading me toward the dome’s ornate doors.I didn’t want to go with him. I didn’t like the sick feeling that slithered through my system and settled in my gut. Which I would have told him if I could have pushed out the words. At this point, it was becoming difficult to hold my head up.Someone slid in front of us. “What in the fuck?” burst out a new voice.My heart jumped, and relief blew through me. Kaleb. He wasn’t alone, I realized. Trace stood behind him—I could just about make him out.“What’s wrong with her?” demanded Trace.Flynn went very still, his muscles bunching with tension. “She’s totaled, that’s all.”“Briar, baby, look at me.” Hands caught my face and lifted my head, and then Kaleb’s eyes were boring into mine. He bit out a harsh curse, his gaze slamming on Flynn. “You fucking drugged her.”Flynn spluttered. “What? Th-that’s bullshit!”Drugged.My gut rolled.Kaleb effortlessly pulled me away from Flynn and gathered me in his arms, his hold protective. God, I hoped I didn’t vomit on him. I really couldn’t promise anything on that score.“She’s just smashed,” Flynn insisted.“From two Cosmos? You seriously expect me to believe that?” Trace’s voice was laced with both disbelief and disgust. “Take her to the car, Kaleb. I’ll deal with this piece of shit. Or, more to the point, Blake will.”“We’ll wait for you outside.” Kaleb lifted me and cradled me against his chest. “It’s all right, Bri, you’re safe with me, you know that.”I would have told him I did know that, but words again failed me. All I could do was go pliant against him, my head swimming, my eyes closed.I floated in a fuzzy, half-conscious state; the occasional sensations or voices tugging at my awareness. But that awareness increasingly faded, taking me deeper and deeper down into a dark mental abyss.Then I was out.***Fuck, my head hurt. Badly. There was a whole lot of throbbing and pounding going on up there, and I seriously needed to dig out some Tylenol.The queasiness in my stomach didn’t help matters. I swallowed around a throat as bone dry as my mouth. I needed water. I just wasn’t sure I could keep it down.I hadn’t been this hungover in … I couldn’t even remember.I sank my head deeper into the pillow, and a frown pulled at my brow. The material was soft and luxurious. But also foreign. I did not have satin pillow cases.My eyelids flipped open. And I hissed, squeezing them shut again as light stabbed my eyes like blunt needles. Not fun.I gave it a few moments and then very carefully began to open my eyes a sliver at a time, allowing them to adjust to the light little by little. As I flicked my gaze around, I was able to confirm my suspicion that I was not in my bedroom. I wasn’t even at my apartment. So where was I?Whoever lived here was clearly a fan of the finer things. Luxury bedding. Expensive-looking furnishings. A seemingly endless rack of suits I could see via the partially open closet door.I searched my memories, trying to piece them together.The Vault. I’d gone to the Vault. I’d sat at the bar in the dome, I’d had a few drinks with … hell, what was his name? Finn. No, Flynn. We’d talked and laughed, but I’d started to feel somewhat off.That was when things got blurry.I remembered walking toward the ornate doors. I remembered Trace, his eyes gleaming with anger. I remembered being held against Kaleb.Someone had carried me, whispering reassurances. I was pretty sure it was Kaleb.A limo. There was a limo at some point. I’d sank into the buttery leather, my stomach rolling and rolling and rolling.A vivid memory of me spewing into a toilet slapped me hard.“That’s it, get it all out,” Kaleb had said. “Good girl.”I cringed, my face flushing. Oh Jesus, I’d hurled like a champ right in front of him. No, in front of him and Trace. I remembered one holding my hair while the other rubbed my back. God, the shame.And now, what, where was I?It seemed likely that one of the guys had taken me to their home. If I had to guess, I would say that this place belonged to Trace. He was very much a man of style.I carefully sat upright and took stock of myself. I was wearing a crisp white shirt that was definitely not mine. Did that mean I’d gotten vomit all over my dress? Or had they just wanted me to be comfortable while I slept?I hoped it was the latter. There was no sign of my dress anywhere, though my shoes and purse were near a fancy chaise lounge at the other side of the room.Yeah, this was definitely Trace’s home. No way could I envision Kaleb buying a chaise lounge.Slipping out of the bed, I walked to the window. My, my, my. Manicured lawn, high security walls, well-pruned trees, long driveway. If the view below was anything to go by, I wasn’t in an apartment building. I was more likely tucked up in one of the expensive, sprawling properties that were located around Redwater.Turning, I noticed an attached bathroom not far from the closet. I headed straight into the very opulent bathroom and did my business. Crossing to the vanity, I stared into the mirror above it and winced. God, I looked a mess.After locating a spare toothbrush in one of the vanity drawers, I went to work on my teeth. I then finger-combed my hair as best I could and washed away my smudged makeup. But there was no getting rid of the dark circles under my eyes, or changing how pale my face was. Not without makeup, anyway—and I was fresh out of that right now.Leaving the bedroom, I made my way across a hallway and down a very grand staircase. I followed the sound of muffled voices into a kitchen that was all black glass, stainless steel, and granite countertops.Trace sat at the island, scrolling down the screen of a tablet.Kaleb was in the process of closing the refrigerator door. Turning away from it, he spotted me, and his mouth tipped up. “Here she is. Morning.”Trace’s gaze snapped to mine and softened. “You’re up earlier than I expected. Get over here.”I looked from one man to the other. Damn, they were so gorgeous. And I’d vomited in front of them.I gave a little wave, my smile sheepish, as I walked further into the room. “I, um, found and used a spare toothbrush. Hope that’s okay.”“Of course it is,” Trace assured me, setting down his tablet on the island’s surface. “How’re you feeling?” he asked, pulling me onto his lap.“Like a bag of shit,” I replied. “Where am I?”“My home.” Trace brushed my hair away from my face. “We would have taken you to your own home, but we weren’t sure you’d be good with us staying the night at your apartment without your say-so.”“Staying the night?”“Yes. We didn’t want you to be alone.”I frowned, my scalp prickling. “Why not?”Trace rubbed my thigh. “You don’t remember what happened last night?”“I remember little bits.” I squinted, trying to pull up more. “The memories are all disjointed.”Kaleb leaned over the island, bracing his weight on his elbows. “That fucker you were talking to at the bar spiked your drink.”I went very still. “He spiked …” I trailed off, anger flooding me. “That son of a bitch.” Oh, I could kill him.Kaleb grunted. “Good description.”“We didn’t take you to the hospital because we weren’t sure you’d want that, given how easy it is for such things to be leaked to the media and twisted into ‘this person is a drug addict’ story,” said Trace. “So we had a doctor come visit you here while you were still half-out of it. He looked you over, took some blood samples, and told us to keep a close eye on you. By that point, you’d purged the drug out of your system.”“Spewed up my guts, you mean?” I mumbled, cringing.His lips twitched. “Yeah. That. If you want to report it, we can make that happen. Although Flynn was dealt with last night. Blake Mercier was in his office. He came right down to the basement and … addressed the situation.”I didn’t ask for elaboration. It was well-known that Blake didn’t have much interest in calling the cops in the case of ‘incidents.’ He liked to deal with things his own way, and it often involved a shitload of hurt—which club members knew and accepted. The thought of Flynn in pain did not bother me one little bit.As for me reporting it … I could easily imagine how that would go. The information would find its way to a reporter for sure, who would twist the whole thing. It had happened to me once before. I’d been dropped from a project even though I’d been able to provide medical documentation to prove that I’d been given what was a common date rape drug.The movie director had believed me, he just hadn’t wanted negative publicity attached to his project. That was in the early days of my career and had been somewhat forgotten. A second report would dredge up the first story, and no fucking way was I letting this shit stain my career a second time round. Besides, Blake would have made Flynn pay a far worse price than any prosecutor could ever do.“How did you guys notice that I’d been drugged?” I asked them.Hesitating, Trace twisted his mouth. “We were watching you. And admittedly not feeling too happy about you talking and laughing with that asshole at the bar. You seemed dizzy and a little out of it. We were planning to go check on you, but then he started trying to drag you out of the dome.”“It was easy to see by how difficult you were finding it to walk on your own steam that something was wrong,” said Kaleb. “So we hauled ass over to you.”My chest felt all warm. They’d been watching me. They’d been annoyed by my talking with Flynn. More, they’d intervened when they sensed I needed help. And then they’d brought me here to recover.I swallowed. “Thank you.” I didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if they hadn’t stepped in. “And thank you for bringing me here so that I wouldn’t be alone.”Kaleb snorted. “Like we’d have left you on your own.” He straightened. “You hungry?”My nose wrinkled. “A little. But my stomach feels all kinds of jittery.”“How about some toast, then?” Kaleb suggested. “It should be easy to keep down.”“That would be great, thanks.”“Coffee? Water? Tea? Juice?”“Just water, please.”Kaleb nodded and then turned to the bread bin.Trace nuzzled my neck, snatching my attention. “You look good in my shirt.”“Thanks for letting me borrow it.” I bit my lip. “I’ll get out of your hair as soon as I’ve eaten. And located my dress. It isn’t covered in puke, is it?”“Not anymore. We washed it for you.” Trace cocked his head, smoothing his hand up my thigh. “Do you have plans for today?”I shook my head. “No.”“Then stay with us,” Trace coaxed.I felt my brows hike up. “Stay?”Kaleb plopped two slices of bread into the toaster. “Sounds like a plan I can get behind.”Trace nipped my earlobe. “Don’t worry, we won’t take advantage.”“I was afraid you’d say that,” I mumbled, disappointed.Kaleb smirked.Trace let out a wicked laugh and then pressed a kiss to my temple. “You need looking after, not to be seduced.”I gave him a sharp look. “Then maybe don’t keep rubbing my thigh.”Mischief flickered in his eyes. “Why not?”Idiot.Once I’d eaten a light breakfast, I pulled on a pair of socks and jogging pants that Trace gave me. The pants were super loose on me, so I was sure I looked ridiculous. But that didn’t stop either of the guys from giving me a rather intense eye-fuck.Trace gave me a tour of the house—it was one hell of a house, all style and lavishness. Kaleb tagged along, rarely moving far from my side. Trace stayed just as close.They touched me often—smooth, casual, anchoring touches that held an edge of entitlement. Maybe it should have felt suffocating. But even as they hovered and watched over me, they made me feel soothed rather than smothered.Once the tour was over, we settled outside on the patio area near the pool. Kaleb was quick to sit on the half-moon rattan sofa beside me, grinning when Trace grumbled about it beneath his breath as he took the sofa opposite.As we set our cold drinks on the table that was situated between the sofas, I was wondering just how I might convince the guys to strip naked and go dive in the pool—the show would be a treat—but then the phone I’d earlier stuffed in my pants’ pocket beeped.I fished out my cell. Cat had sent me a message in our girls’ group chat. Anything interesting happen between you and Flynn last night?I wouldn’t quite call it ‘interesting.’Another message popped up—this one from Inaya: Who’s Flynn?Izzy then chipped in: Yes, who’s Flynn? Enquiring minds want to know.Yeah, well, this wasn’t a story I wanted to relay via a group chat. Nor did I want to discuss it here and now, or even by video call. I wanted to enjoy some time with Trace and Kaleb.Deciding I’d instead relay the story during our girls’ trip to the mall tomorrow, I vaguely texted: Just a guy I spoke to at the club last night. Nothing good to report on my end.Lots of sad emojis appeared on the screen, along with a message from Inaya: I can’t enjoyably live my life vicariously through you if you don’t get laid again, Briar—take things up a notch, will ya.I rolled my eyes and sent her an emoji with its tongue sticking out. Btw, I won’t be coming to the V tonight. Too damn tired. In truth, I wasn’t in the mood after what had happened with Flynn. Plus, I still mentally felt a little shaky.Each of the girls dedicated five minutes to whining and pushing me to change my mind. But I didn’t. At which point they playfully declared me a sad sack and all manner of similar shit.Make sure you still meet us at the mall tomorrow at least, Cat typed.I replied: I’ll be there. Promise. *pinky swear*“Everything all right?” Kaleb asked me.I threw him a quick smile. “Yeah, fine.”His gaze briefly dipped to the phone I was shoving back in my pocket. “Work stuff?”“Nah, it was just my friends checking in,” I replied, sinking into the thick cushion behind me. “They’re going to flip when they find out about the stunt Flynn pulled.”Trace slanted his head. “You haven’t told them yet?”“I’d rather do it in person,” I explained.He gave a slow nod of understanding.“They’ll want to thank you for helping me the way you did, so don’t be surprised if they approach you at the club.” I frowned as a thought occurred to me. “Would you rather I kept to myself the part where you brought me here after getting me away from Flynn?”Kaleb and Trace exchanged a confused look.“Why would we want that?” asked Trace.I shrugged. “People who frequent the Vault’s basement tend to be real big on privacy, and you two seem to be more careful than most to give other members little to talk about—with the exception of your sexual preferences, of course.”“And?” asked Kaleb, as if unable to see what that had to do with anything.“And I can’t change that your names are associated with what happened because you will have been seen carrying me out of the basement. But if you’d like the extent of your involvement to be limited, I would totally understand. I could just tell people that Blake ensured I got home safe.” The club members could be a gossipy bunch after all.Kaleb gently tugged on my hair. “We’re private about many things, yes, and we don’t like anything that happens in the club to bleed onto our outside lives. But I believe that I can speak for both me and Trace when I say that we don’t give a rat’s ass if other members learn that we brought you here and kept watch over you.”Trace nodded in confirmation. “It’s nobody else’s business anyway.”That didn’t mean people wouldn’t talk about it. “All right.” To lighten the moment, I gave them each a teasing look. “But don’t come whining to me if some of your groupies start feigning that they’ve been drugged so you’ll take them home and baby them.”Trace’s lips quirked. “I wouldn’t say we have actual groupies—”“Oh, I would,” I said with a chuckle. “Quite a few members do. Mostly Tops and Sadists. Especially if they also happen to be famous in the outside world. And if they’re also known for avoiding arrangements, it gives them a whole other level of appeal—people want to be the one to change that.“You two aren’t Tops as such, but you’re dominant enough for it to count and you each fuck like a boss. You’re also famous and avoid entanglements. Hence the groupies.”“We aren’t the only ones with admirers waiting in the wings,” Kaleb told me. “You’ve got several. They were fairly salivating when they heard that you and Grover were no longer a thing.”Not for the right reason. “Those admirers are either Doms who view me as a challenge or guys who see me as a substitute for Alondra. They can’t fuck her, but they can fuck her daughter.”Trace’s brow furrowed. “Substitute? I highly doubt it. It’s not as if you’re a ringer for her. You’re such an equal blend of both your parents that it’s not until you’re standing next to one or the other that the resemblance to either of them becomes clear.”Kaleb dipped his chin in agreement. “I had no idea you were her daughter at first.”“Neither did I,” said Trace. “It surprised me. Nothing about you—your mannerisms, your smile, your posture, anything at all—made me think of your mom. So many things about her are artificial, and I’m not referring to her surgical enhancements. None of her responses, bodily or verbal, seem natural for her. She moves as if she believes everyone in the room is watching her.”Yup, that was Alondra all right. She always aimed to impress. Was always careful to say the right thing. Was always acting.“But you, you’re real,” Trace continued. “You walk into a room with not one care as to who is looking or what they might think. As if you’ve dismissed everybody there without even glancing their way. They’re not important. They’re not on your radar. They can go fuck themselves for all you care.” His mouth curled. “That aloof air is enough to turn a man’s head.”I felt my face scrunch up. I really hadn’t realized that I came across that way. “Troy is exactly the same, so I must have subconsciously picked that up from him.”Trace’s smile widened. “Come to think of it, yes, he is. He focuses on Ansel, disregarding everyone else for the most part. He tosses smiles people’s way, but he doesn’t really smile at them.”I nodded, my lips kicking up. Yeah, that was Troy. Knowing my mother, it was what attracted her to him. She would have found his indifference a challenge; would have wanted his focus on her to flatter her ego. Eye roll.“If I’m honest,” began Kaleb, toying with my hair, “it was your ass that first got my attention. It’s one spectacular ass. I found myself wondering just how it would look with my handprints on it.” A wolfish smile split his lips. “I later got to find out. And I have to say, it looked pretty fucking amazing.”I pointed at him. “Don’t talk about sex stuff if you’re resolved on not ‘taking advantage,’ as Trace put it. And before you try pushing me on that, remember how good I am at retaliation.” I’d proven that at the charity ball when I’d whispered some rather filthy comments as we’d danced.His eyes flared. “Yeah, you are pretty good at that. If we’d been on the dome’s dancefloor rather than the makeshift one at the ball, I’d have made you get on your knees and suck me off in front of everyone—I wouldn’t have given a fuck how many people saw.”“You’re still talking about sex stuff.”He lifted his bottle of beer from the table. “I’ll behave.” He took a quick swig. “For now.”“Let’s choose an inane topic,” I proposed.Trace stretched out his legs in front of him. “You pick.”I twisted my mouth, pensive. “Hmm. Okay, I’ve got one. How did you two meet?”“We became friends through the Vault a few years back.” Trace looked at Kaleb as he added, “I would go as far as to call him not-quite-family.”Kaleb snickered. “And here I figured we were a brotherhood of sorts.”Trace only rolled his eyes.“How did having threesomes become a regular thing for you at the club?” I asked. “Or was it a kink you were both into before becoming a member?”Kaleb knocked back more beer. “Neither of us had ever had a threesome until after we met. We’d been friends a few months when it first happened. We’d both had our eye on the same woman. Trace suggested sharing her if she was up for it. She was.” He shrugged. “The rest is history.”I picked up my glass of soda, teasing, “A very eventful history. You’ve played with a whole lot of women at the basement.”“We’re more selective than you seem to think,” Trace claimed.I snorted. “If you say so.” I drank some soda through my straw. “Can I ask you guys a question?”Kaleb’s lips twitched. “You’ve been doing that for the past, what, ten minutes? Why ask permission now?”I sniffed. “I was being polite.”“Ten minutes too late,” Kaleb pointed out.“Better late than never.”“Ask your question,” Trace invited.I fiddled with my straw. “How come you both avoid arrangements like the plague?”“It’s not that we have anything against them,” replied Trace. “We avoid them because we’re not people who commit lightly, even to something as simple as a club arrangement. At this point in our lives, an arrangement wouldn’t be enough for us.”“As I told you,” began Kaleb, “we intend to be part of a triad. We’re now ready to find our third. So an arrangement holds no appeal for us.”“We don’t wish to tie ourselves to someone who we know won’t suit us in the long-run,” Trace elaborated.I gave a slow nod, my skin cooling at the thought of them committing to someone. “Ah, I didn’t realize you were in the market for a third right now. Well, you’ll have no issues finding one.” Women would likely line up for a shot at becoming their third.“It isn’t as easy as you might think.” Trace placed his hands behind his head, interlinking his fingers. “For one thing, it has to be someone who sees both Kaleb and I as equally dominant in the bedroom. Women tend to look more to one of us for direction than the other—they usually don’t even realize they’re doing it.”Kaleb set his bottle down on his coaster. “It also has to be someone who likes both me and Trace equally—no having a ‘soft spot’ for one of us. An additional issue can be that some women find the concept of threesomes fun but aren’t interested in being part of a permanent triad for any number of reasons.”“What kind of reasons?” I asked.It was Trace who explained, “Some aren’t comfortable being open about it to their families and friends. Others interpret that us wishing to share them with each other means we don’t truly care for them. And then there are some who want a relationship with only one of us and to simply use the other as an occasional add-on lover.”Huh. I blew out a breath. “I really didn’t consider how hard it must be for you guys in this area.” There were a lot more factors to consider than I’d guessed. “I have every confidence that you’ll find your third eventually, though.”Kaleb tipped his head to the side. “You do?”“Yup.” I stirred my soda with my straw. “The law of probability says that there’s at least one woman out there who’ll tick all your boxes, right? Personally, I think there’ll be more than one. And if she demands some MM action, I really think you should make the sacrifice. Perhaps even record the activity and send it my way.”Kaleb shook his head, grinning. “Who would have guessed you’re such a delightful little perve?”“I like that about you,” Trace added, giving me a wicked smile.I raised my shoulders. “What’s not to like about it?” I put down my drink. “At least tell me you guys have kissed. It doesn’t have to be true.”They both laughed. We did a lot of laughing over the next few hours. They were both so easy to talk to, to relax around.Kaleb later made us dinner—and damn, the dude could cook. Sometime after that, we all settled on the L-shaped living room sofa to watch TV. They sandwiched me between them, their arms and thighs plastered against mine. And yeah, I liked it. I liked it even more when Kaleb gave me an amazing hand massage.Midway through it, he turned to me and lightly squeezed my hand. “You should stay with us tonight.”I lifted a brow. “I should?”Trace nuzzled my neck. “Yes, you should.”“Really, really should.” Kaleb nipped my earlobe. “I’ll have a hard time fucking your ass if you don’t.”My pulse kicked up, and I stilled. “What?”“Trace had your pussy first, so I get to have your ass first. And I’m having it tonight.”My hormones snapped awake at the sensual half-promise-half-threat. I hadn’t enjoyed anal sex much on either of the two occasions I’d tried it in the past, but I knew that if anyone could make me reevaluate my opinion on it, it would be these two men. They’d proven many times that not only did they know what they were doing in the bedroom, they were more than capable of ensuring I loved every moment. And there was enough curiosity in me to want to test if I was right on that.Still, I teased, “Maybe I don’t want your dick entering through the back door.”Trace flicked my earlobe with his nose. “There won’t be much you can do about it, because I’ll be holding you down while he takes your ass. And then after that, I’ll be fucking your pussy.”My nerve-endings started to sing.“Don’t worry,” began Kaleb, “I’ll make sure you enjoy it. Then tomorrow morning, we’ll address that little fantasy you told us about during your interrogation.”My blood heated that easily. I wasn’t going to turn down on offer like that, so I licked my lips and said, “Okay, I’ll stay.”