Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
“ W hat names?” Emily’s frustration turned to confusion in the blink of an eye.
“Short, fat, boring,” Dane counted off his fingers as he listed the insults Emily had levelled at herself.
“I never said fat.”
“It was strongly implied,” Eric said, frowning at her. “Do you really think so little of yourself? So little of us? Do you honestly think we would toy with you like that? That we lied when we told you how much we adore you.”
“Did you think we faked our hard-ons when we touched you?” Dane added, and grabbed the front of his jeans, showing off another obvious erection.
“Or that we took advantage of you when we stole your kisses?” Eric added.
“We love every luscious curve of your body, baby. Every soft inch.”
“And we have missed your softness, your warmth.” Eric’s gaze bored into hers. “We’ve missed your kisses and your eagerness for our touch.”
Dane lifted his fingers to his nose and inhaled, the fingers he’d had deep inside her. “And we’ve missed your sweet scent.” His tongue flicked out and wrapped around his fingers and his eyelids fluttered closed. “Missed your intoxicating taste.”
Feeling her cheeks heat again, Emily ducked her head in an attempt to hide her reaction from them. The last thing she needed was to add fuel to their fire. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this,” she grumbled.
“On the contrary,” Dane said. “ You’re not supposed to be enjoying this. We’re going to enjoy every fucking second of it.”
Eric stepped in front of her, hooked a knuckle under her chin and lifted her face to his.
His usual stoic expression greeted her, but even she couldn’t miss the warmth in his eyes as he stared down at her, or the concern in his deep voice when he spoke.
“We’ve left you alone for too long, kitten, let you get in your own head for too long.
” He stroked his fingertips along the edge of her jaw, the gentleness of his touch making her shiver with need.
“You’ve been lying to yourself and you don’t even know it. But that stops here and now.”
“It does?” Even Emily couldn’t miss the hint of hope in her voice.
“Do you trust us?” Eric asked.
Staring into his eyes, she saw the determination and the quiet strength that always radiated from him. Then she looked to Dane and his smiling face, and saw the warmth and adoration he had never concealed from her.
Her insides shook with a jumble of emotions until she couldn’t tell one apart from another. Hope, desperation, loneliness, love.
None of it made sense.
Emily had always projected the aura of a strong and capable woman, but in reality her confidence was a facade, one that was easily dented.
But the longer she stood there, debating her answer to Eric’s question, the more she realised…
they already knew this about her. Had probably always known.
And here she’d always thought herself clever enough to hide it from them. Apparently she was wrong.
Her men had known all along that she was a fraud… and they loved her anyway.
And she loved them. She had for ages. That’s why it had hurt so much when they had just disappeared, why she’d written them off so quickly. Better that than succumb to her heartache and let everyone see how weak she truly was.
As much as it sucked to admit, if there was a way to get past it, a way to push through all the resentment she had built up around herself, she knew this was it.
She would take her punishment.
She would cry and scream and curse blue bloody murder if it meant they could go back to the way they were before, when they stole kisses and whispered sweet words and made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world.
“Yes. I trust you.”
“Then let us take care of you, kitten,” Eric said. “Not because you think it’s our job to do so, but because you are important to us.” He slid his hand around her throat and held her steady, would not let her look away from him. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Eric’s hand flexed around her neck. “Yes, Sir ,” he said, his voice taking on a sharper tone.
Emily’s thighs involuntarily clenched together as a jolt of sensation lit up her clit.
She moistened her lips and tried to duck her head, to give herself a moment to compose herself, but Eric wouldn’t let her.
Her throat rolled against his palm as she swallowed and tried again.
“Yes, Sir,” she said, her voice little more than a breathy whisper.
Eric’s mouth softened and one corner lifted in the slightest of smiles. “Good girl.”
And there was that sensation again, making her thighs come together in an attempt to stem the electric zing that was somehow focussing all of her attention on her pussy.
She’d felt it before, to a lesser extent, when Dane had caught her alone amongst the shelves in Novelteas bookshop and whispered dirty nothings in her ear before licking her throat and kissing her breathless.
And when Eric had followed her into the walk-in-pantry at their last family barbeque, where he’d slipped his hand inside her bra and pinched her nipples between his rough fingertips.
But those zings had been minor blips on her radar. This sensation was stronger, more compelling, made her want to do… things .
Things she probably should be ashamed of, would have been ashamed of if she’d been with anyone other than Eric and Dane.
Releasing her throat, Eric moved to the bed and sat on the edge of it, placed his belt beside him, then grinned and patted his knee. “Lie across my lap and get comfy. You’re going to be here a while.”
An image formed in her head of her doing as Eric wanted, and even though her mind stalled and pushed back against the idea, her feet seemed to move of their own accord and took her directly to him.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, and chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to work out the logistics of the situation.
Eric was tall, and while not exactly skinny, he was slim.
His body was strong, she knew that. She’d felt his lean muscles when he’d pinned her against various walls over the past year and stolen kisses, and had seen his sinewy strength on full display when they’d come over to use the pool.
But looking at the expanse of his thighs and comparing them to the width of her own, not to mention her soft belly, wide hips and flabby arse, gave Emily reason enough to pause.
“Do you need help getting into position?” Eric asked, one brow arching as he stared at her.
“No, Sir,” she replied, running her hands over her hips, comparing their width with that of Eric’s lap. “I’m just not sure I’ll fit.”
“There you go doing it again,” Dane said with a sigh. “Putting yourself down.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” Eric said, the command in his voice silencing her. “Do you think we haven’t thought of that already? That we haven’t imagined what it would be like to see you over my knees with your head down and your arse up as I discipline you?”
“You better believe we’ve prepped for this,” Dane added, then very deliberately ran his gaze over her nakedness and licked his lips. “The chance to see your pretty pussy dripping wet for us, peeking out between your sexy thighs. Mmm… I can’t wait.”
Emily inched a little closer to the bed. “I’m heavier than I look,” she muttered, still frowning at Eric’s lap.
“And I’m stronger than I look,” he replied, then proved it by grabbing her around her waist and throwing her over his knees.