“We’ve been friends for much longer than we’ve been enemies.”
“And we’ve shared before.” Hammer let out a tight breath. “We know some of the warning signs to watch for.”
“True. If we’re at all serious about this, we have to negotiate a few things.”
“We’ll definitely talk to Raine about our intentions, ask her for her hard limits and whatnot. But I don’t want to give her too much up front. The less she knows, the less she can prepare ways to sidestep us.”
“Can’t argue with that. And I already know Raine’s hard limits. I asked her before I collared her. But that’s not what I meant. You and I need to negotiate our behavior.”
“For instance?” Hammer’s voice turned chilly.
Liam refused to let the man’s tone change his agenda. “First off, we can’t help Raine if we start fighting in the middle of a scene.”
“At this point, I think that would be the worst thing for her.”
“Right. I also think you and I should have a word or phrase that will pause everything so we can discuss whatever’s happening.”
“A safe word?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Liam nodded. “I still find Raine’s hidden triggers now and again. We have to be mindful.”
Hammer relaxed, seeming to see the train of his thoughts. “Yes. She’s probably a damn landmine. The night I spent with her, I thought about doing so many things that I didn’t because I worried I might step on some hot spot.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’ve known Raine for so long, but I don’t know this side of her. How does she do with restraints?”
“She loves them.” As Hammer reared back, Liam shrugged. “After seeing what her father did to her, I’m a bit blown over too. But she hates gags.”
“Does that surprise you?” Hammer laughed.
Liam joined in. “Not much. If you let her, she’ll try to tell you what she wants in a scene. Of course she sometimes talks herself out of a panic, too. You don’t always know what you’ll get with Raine. She’s seemed leery of whips, so I haven’t given that a go. I think riding crops are a big ‘no’ for her, which is fine with me. She loves a good spanking.”
“Does she ever reach subspace?”
He nodded. “Surprisingly well, given her trust issues. It wasn’t easy at first, but over time, she’s become more comfortable.”
All this talk about Hammer partaking in her submission was making his guts churn. But if he was going to give Raine what she needed, he would have to grit his teeth and stifle his jealousy.
“Good to know.” Macen swallowed down more coffee. “How about if either of us says it’s time for a breath of fresh air, that will be our signal to pause and find another solution to the scene?”
“That will work.”
Hammer hesitated for a long moment. “You know, I think that’s a good idea. When we were with Juliet, I sometimes took her further than you thought I should have, right?” At Liam’s nod, he went on. “I wish like hell I’d asked your opinion and listened. She and I probably would have wound up divorced, but maybe she’d be alive.”
“You’ve got a hard head, Hammer. I don’t know that you’ll listen now, either.”
The man blew out a rough breath. “I’ve grown since then, but you’re right. I’ll do my best. Sometimes that dark side of me wants to take over. Having you to reel me in when that happens might be best. I don’t want to scare Raine or damage our progress with her.”
Since his old friend often seemed to think he knew best, that was a big admission for Hammer. It shocked the hell out of Liam—and made him look inward as well.
“I’ve been a bit too guilty of letting Raine have her way more than I should. I enjoy coddling her sometimes, and god knows she could use the tenderness. But she also needs firm guidance.”
“So I won’t let you shirk that. Got it.” Hammer smirked. “Look at us getting along and shit.”
“Don’t jinx it,” Liam scolded.
“What else?”
He paced the length of the room again. “We don’t know how long her progress will take.”
“It sure as hell won’t be overnight, but I’m willing to stick it out. What about you? If you had any intention of going back to New York after the winter, and she’s not ready…”
“I’m not leaving L.A. without Raine. I’d decided I was staying indefinitely, so I bought a house here. I’d planned to give her the key wrapped in a box the morning the shit hit the fan.”
Hammer stared, blinking. “You were planning to move her to this house?”
Liam squared his shoulders. “I was.”
“Holy shit.” Hammer sounded floored.
“Raine needs a steady home.”
Guilt flashed across Hammer’s face, and he raked a hand through his hair. “Goddamn it, I know.”
“You did the best you could at the time. Let’s not get off track. Raine won’t be moving on with her life at all if we can’t help her.”
“True,” Hammer agreed.
Another thought occurred to Liam, and he winced. “I also think it would be best if you were discreet with your other subs. I’m not suggesting you give them up, but it would help her if you hid them better than you did Marlie.”
Hammer cringed at her name. “Actually, I already gave them up.”
“Did that plastic whore give you a disease I don’t know about?” Liam sent him a sideways glance.
“No.” Hammer scoffed. “I haven’t scened with anyone in weeks. I haven’t fucked anyone since Raine. I don’t want to.”
That took Liam totally aback. Hammer loved sex, and he’d never imagined his friend would give it up, even temporarily.
“That’s bloody near a month, mate—a record for you. Your balls must be blue.”
“Yep, and my hand is damn tired of getting a workout. But no one else is Raine.”
As much as Liam wanted to, he couldn’t argue with that.
Hammer cocked his head and sent him a questioning glance. “Are we agreeing to do this? For her?”
Liam hated it, but saw almost no way around it. “I think it makes sense, but…” He scrubbed at his face. “Making it work is going to be…complicated.”
Because one topic could turn this truce back into a war.
Raine wasn’t his anymore—at least not technically. That meant Hammer was free to say or do anything to her, as long as she consented. Macen had already vowed to get her into bed the moment he could. Liam had few illusions. Raine loved the man. If she said “no” to him, it wouldn’t be for long.
“You mean, figuring out who gets to fuck her will be complicated,” Hammer drawled.
“Yes.” Liam spit the word. “But hell, after her speech today, maybe she won’t want either of us.”
“Don’t kid yourself, O’Neill. If she cares about us both, she’s going to want us. Maybe together…maybe apart. If she needs us, how can we refuse?”
Liam bit his tongue hard enough to taste copper as he fought to dial down a sudden red rage. The memories of Raine’s scent in his nose and her cries in his ears as he sank into the hot, soft depths of her body clawed need through him. But Hammer was right. If they wanted Raine to grow and be happy, they both had to do the right thing for her, even if it bloody killed them.
“All right,” he managed to choke out the words.
They stared at one another for a month of Sundays before Hammer cocked a brow at him and finally broke the silence. “Anything else?”
“To be clear, once we’re in a session, we have to be dedicated to it.”
“Yep. Whatever it takes.”
“No arguing.”
Hammer nodded. “No bullshit.”
“No putting your pride first.”
“No doing the same with your jealousy.”
Hell, Liam wanted to punch Hammer, but what was the point when he was right? “Fine. We present a united front to Raine. Whatever’s happened prior doesn’t make a damn bit of difference once we enter a room and begin to work with her. If we disagree, we do it calmly, rationally, and out of her earshot. Raine comes first.”
Hammer nodded. “We’ll make it work. We have to.”
“If we don’t want to leave her growth to someone else, yes. We come at her together. Strong. Focused.”
“Willing and able to give her what she needs—no matter what that is. United in coaxing her into giving us what we need.”
“Agreed.” Liam hoped to hold Raine again, happier and more whole—and eventually all his. But after this conversation, he wasn’t so sure. If Hammer helped shape her today, where did that leave their tomorrow?
Hammer held out his hand. “I’m in.”
Liam could do nothing but shake it.
As much as the man inside Hammer disliked this idea, the Dom in him saw the logic. He’d utterly failed Raine for years. He couldn’t put his guilt above her needs and fail her again—even if sharing her with Liam would chafe him raw.
Getting his wife between him and his best friend used to make Hammer’s dick as hard as steel. The power of their bodies claiming her as one and driving her to screaming orgasms and exhaustion had been the headiest rush he’d ever experienced. Maybe he and Liam had too much animosity between them now for that. But any chance to fuck Raine again was a chance Hammer intended to take.
Still, one concern kept gnawing away at him.
“I’m not sure Raine understands how much work is ahead of her.”
Liam shrugged. “I’m not sure, either. I want to reach her more than I want to breathe. But neither of us can force her to grow faster than she’s ready to.”
“If she hasn’t thought this through and isn’t serious, we’ll find out real fast. But she’s strong enough.”
“And stubborn enough, that’s for damn sure.”
“That she is.” Hammer chuckled. “We’ll need to praise her for every speck of progress. Once she tastes success, we’ll have to hope it motivates her to keep growing.”
“She’ll need more than praise,” Liam said. “She’ll need reassurance, too.”
“Naturally.” Hammer nodded. “But the one thing in our favor is that she aches to please. We’ve both seen it.”
“Her submission can be bloody amazing. But she can shut it down so quickly, you get damn near dizzy.”
Hammer grunted in understanding. Drawing out the submissive inside Raine wouldn’t be simple. He was a demanding Master—and he knew it. Pushing a sub to her boundaries and beyond under his hand—and his body—had always given him a thrilling sense of control. If Raine were truly willing to cast aside her cloak of security, the freedom and beauty she found would blow her mind.
But taking a sub that far fed something dark in him. He always wanted more and more. The need to believe that he’d owned every part of Juliet and to make her prove it every way he could conceive had been their downfall. Maybe it was a blessing, after all, that he’d have Liam there to balance him. His old friend hadn’t loved Juliet, and he hadn’t thought of her as his responsibility, so he’d seen no reason to curb any of Hammer’s more extreme demands. But Liam would watch over Raine and protect her with every cell in his body.
With Liam added to the equation, however, the expectations on her would double. They’d have to remain vigilant, delving deep and bolstering her often, to keep Raine from crumbling beneath the strain.
“I’m worried that Raine’s lack of experience in sharing her feelings could leave her overwhelmed and frightened,” Hammer said finally.
“I think that’s why communication is so critical. It’s the first point we have to drive home with her. If she’ll just share, we can erase some of her fear.”
Yes, and Hammer knew that if he expected her to trust him, to communicate openly and honestly, he would need to do the same…no matter how uncomfortable it made him.
“Replacing old patterns with new ones will take time.” And he hated that for a million reasons, too. His own impatience. His concern that he and Liam couldn’t get along indefinitely. Mostly, he hated to see her so miserable and lost. Nor could he risk losing her. Granted, she wouldn’t take Juliet’s way out, but she’d proven that she would pick up and leave if driven to flee.
“It will,” Liam agreed. “One of the first patterns I want to break is her bloody bad habit of trying to misdirect with sex.”
Hammer heard Liam’s words, but he better fucking not have heard them right. “What did you say?”
“When I’m displeased with Raine, her first instinct is to lose her clothes and rub against me. I hate to admit how often I let her distract me before I realized what she’d done.” He rubbed at the back of his neck with a wry grin. “She’s really damn good at it, too.”
