Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
The cool night air bit at my cheeks as I followed them out of the tavern, the world feeling strangely suspended. Tom and Bess's voices still echoed in my ears, but it was the silence of the two men at my side that gnawed at me. I don't know if I was walking to safety... or to my own undoing.
We didn't speak as we moved through the streets.
The carriage rattled against the cobblestone road, and after the loud tavern, the quiet city night was a shocking contrast. I could even hear the distant sounds coming from the harbor drifting by.
It would be so tempting to let myself sink into the calmness, and pretend nothing was happening then.
But I couldn't.
There was an itch under my skin... an unnamed ache in my chest.
Why were they here? What were they doing in the city? Did they happen upon me by accident, or seek me out?
Most importantly... what was I planning on doing with the information once I had it? No matter why they were there, it didn't change the reason I was there.
When the carriage stopped in front of a gracious white-walled home with shuttered windows and ivy curling up its sides, I faltered. It wasn't some inn or rented flat. This was a home.
Just another reminder of the wealth and pedigree hidden from me since the beginning.
Leighton seemed to sense my turmoiled thoughts. He offered the faintest smile, weary at the edges. "One of mine," he said softly. "For when we're required to spend any amount of time in the city."
My throat tightened. I wasn't surprised by the confirmation, but it still cut deep.
The front door opened before either man could lift a hand, a liveried footman stepping into the light of the lantern.
He bowed his head, expression carefully neutral, though I caught the flicker of curiosity in his eyes when they landed on me.
"My lords," he murmured, and stood aside to let us pass.
Inside, the hush was absolute. No clatter of servants, no echo of voices down the halls. The only sound was the muffled thuds of our footsteps over the stunning floors and the faint ticking of a clock somewhere deeper in the house.
They led me to a study tucked at the back. The fire burned low in the grate, shadows dancing along the paneled walls and the rows of books lined them. I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warmth.
I perched on the edge of one of the leather chairs, my pulse thundering, my palms damp. I couldn't stop glancing between them, searching their faces for answers they were not giving me.
"What is this?" My voice came out thinner than I intended, shaky with nerves. "Why are you here? Why did you bring me here?"
Magnus closed the study door with deliberate finality.
The sound clicked through me like a lock snapping shut.
"Well, little filly, that is a multifaceted question with multiple answers.
Where shall we start?" He asked as he slowly took off his jacket and threw it over an armchair.
My heart started racing as he took out his cufflinks, placed them on the large oak desk, and then rolled up his shirt sleeves even more carefully.
"Let's start with what this is, shall we? "
He took a step closer to me and held out his hand.
I didn't want to take it.
I physically couldn't reach out to take it because I felt an incredible amount of angst building in me at the look on his face.
He gave me no choice. When it became clear I wasn't going to take his hand voluntarily, he reached down, grabbed my sweaty palm and pulled me up from the chair.
"This, my dear girl, is your first punishment."
"Excuse me?" I breathed out.
He shook his head at me. "It will be some time before you'll be excused, Lisa.
First there will be a thorough punishment.
Then we'll take a moment to remind you why running from us was a bad idea, and then we'll decide if you've learned anything at all," Magnus finished, his tone deceptively calm even though his eyes burned with something that made my knees weak.
"I don't—" My voice cracked, my throat dry. "You can't just..."
Leighton stepped in then, quiet as ever but no less imposing. He moved to stand behind me, his presence a wall of heat against my back. "He can. We both can." His finger came up to touch the silk at my neck. "When I put this on you, we told you it was to remind you who you belonged to."
The mention of it, and his touch on my neck, made me instinctively lift my hand to my throat, fingertips brushing the delicate band. I should have torn it off and thrown it away days ago, flung it into the gutter. Instead, I still wore it.
He leaned closer to my ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. "You're still wearing it, love. That means you want our ownership."
My head fell back and rested on Leighton's shoulder as I berated myself for not having a stronger will.
"You might have forgotten how much you enjoyed belonging to us, how much you thrived under our tutelage, but we'll remind you. Thoroughly."
My pulse stuttered so violently I thought I might faint. Part of me wanted to shove them both away, to demand my freedom. But another, traitorous part of me ached at the command in their voices, the certainty in their eyes.
Leighton's lips brushed the shell of my ear. "We missed you, love. More than words can describe. Now will you let us prove to you how much you belong with us. To us?"
I shook my head against his shoulder. "No." I pushed the word out, sounding quiet and weak. "No. There were reasons I ran. Reasons I couldn't stay with you."
Magnus's grip tightened around my hand, his thumb brushing over my knuckles. "I'm so glad you brought that up, little filly. Why did you run from us?"
My throat worked, but no sound came. The words clawed inside me, demanding to be free, yet every instinct screamed that speaking them aloud would shatter that fragile something inside of me.
Leighton's arms bracketed me, his voice achingly gentle. "Tell us, love. Why did you break our hearts and leave us behind without so much as a note?"
I squeezed my eyes shut. "You lied. You kept so many secrets.
About yourselves, and what you expect from me.
Every time I thought I had my footing, the ground shifted and you threw another revelation my way.
And then I found out why you really wanted me.
Or should I say, wanted the cover I provided. "
The last word cracked, broken by the lump in my throat.
Magnus made a low sound, more growl than anything else, and his hand lifted to tilt my chin toward him. "What are you talking about, little filly? What cover?"
I pulled my chin from his hand and tried to pull from their embrace, but they wouldn't let me. "I saw you. The two of you together in the study. I heard you. You're so happy I'm here, so you could finally be together."
Leighton stiffened behind me, his body hot, tight and unmoving. Magnus froze too, his eyes narrowing as though he'd just been struck.
By me.
"You think..." Leighton's voice broke, uncharacteristically rough. He shifted, forcing me to face him, his hands tight on my shoulders. "You think we brought you here to serve as a mask for us?"
The words, spoken aloud, sounded ridiculous. Yet the memory of Magnus's hand on Leightons' body, their kiss like sin and salvation, roared through me.
My silence betrayed me.
Magnus swore under his breath, sharp and ugly.
"Bloody hell, Lisa." He dragged a hand through his hair, pacing a tight circle before pinning me with a look that burned hotter than fire.
"Do you truly think so little of us? So little of yourself?
Were we not clear in all our interactions with you how much we wanted you? "
My heart thundered painfully. "What else was I supposed to think? What I saw... what I heard... It was... What else was I supposed to think?" I was shouting by the end, overwhelmed by everything.
But most of all, by the fact that I might have made a mistake.
Leighton caught my face between his hands, lowering his forehead to mine.
His face was unfocused, and I realized it was because of the tears in my own eyes.
"Then hear this now, sweet girl. We didn't bring you here to hide us.
We need you because you are ours. You belong with us.
Because the three of us together are more than Magnus and I could ever be alone. "
Magnus stepped in close again, his large hand settling possessively on the back of my neck.
His voice was a low growl, but there was something raw beneath it.
"I'm sorry that my actions weren't clear enough, little filly.
I apologize that anything we did ever made you doubt us.
" He pressed a tender kiss against my forehead.
An action so unlike the rough, dominant man I'd grown to know that it undid me even more.
"But now, now that we have this mess cleared up between us, I'll leave you with no doubt how much we care about you. "
His thumb brushed along my nape, deceptively gentle, before his tone dropped darker still. "But first, I'll have you over my knee so you'll never think of leaving us again."