“Tally.” Terrie sighed deeply. “You always feel so strongly about things, and fight so hard to hide it, to appear uncaring, cool and aloof. It was bound to catch up with you someday. You’ve denied the very heart of who you are because you were afraid those you loved would look down on you for it, shame you for it. Hon, haven’t you realized yet? You’ve gravitated to a group of friends who are marrying the Trojans, for pity’s sake. That should tell you something.”
“It should,” Tally drawled in amusement. “But I won’t be participating in a single ménage or even a few with Luc and Dev,” she said, her voice growing softer. “I want them both, Terrie. Forever. And that terrifies me. No one has ever wanted me forever. Besides, after I get back at them for what they did last night, they might not want me anymore, period.” She sighed regretfully.
Terrie shook her head in confusion. “But I thought you enjoyed it.”
Tally leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing. “I did. But it gives them the upper hand. You know I can’t allow that.”
A hint of worry entered her friend’s expression. “You’re plotting. Oh hell. Tally, Lucian and Dev are not men you can just mess with at will. They’re more dominant than even Jesse is.”
Tally frowned over at her friend. “Marriage is making you soft,” she accused her archly.
An incredulous laugh burst from Terrie. “Tally, I rather enjoy keeping Jesse comfortably happy. The benefits are incredible. I’m not getting mixed up in one of your schemes.”
Tally smiled over at her confidently. Terrie so loved to play hard-to-get when it came to getting in trouble. “He might spank you harder next time.”
Terrie’s eyes sparked with reluctant interest.
“I bet he’s let up on the punishment side of the benefits.” Tally sighed regretfully. “Men do get so confident after a few months of marital bliss. Why, I bet he thinks you’re so well trained now that he doesn’t have to do more than give you a sweet little love tap here and there, instead of a nice spanking, to remind you of the pleasure.”
Terrie’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “That’s not nice.”
Tally shrugged. “But true. Yes?”
Terrie leaned back in her chair. “You’ve never been married,” she stated. “How do you know?”
Tally arched her brow mockingly. “I’m not exactly a virgin, sweetie. Just because I have an orgasm issue doesn’t mean I don’t know how men work.”
“Orgasm issue, huh?” Terrie said drolly as she played with her coffee cup. She stared down at it for a second and Tally knew she had her.
“So.” Terrie raised her head, anticipation lighting her eyes. “What did you have in mind?”
Tally smiled slowly, confidently. “It’s really a very simple plan,” she assured her. “All I need you to do is help me sneak into The Club tonight.” She ignored the incredulous horror that filled her friend’s eyes. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Oh man, Tally.” Terrie shook her head as amusement suddenly overcame her. “We’re going to go to hell, aren’t we?”
A satisfied grin shaped Tally’s lips in reply. “Well, if we do, we’ll definitely be roommates. Wonder how hard it would be to sneak in the ventilation system?”
Their laughter echoed through the kitchen, a reminder of the nights spent laughing and crying, philosophizing and generally creating mayhem before Terrie’s marriage. Mayhem is in the eye of the beholder, though, Tally thought in satisfaction. Tonight, she would remind Lucian and Devril Conover of just that fact.
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you sure you want to do this, Tally?” Terrie paused at the closet, her hand reaching inside as she looked over her shoulder and met Tally’s gaze.
Tally refused to fidget or to chicken out. This was the rest of her life. It wasn’t a scheme, it wasn’t a game, it wasn’t a titillating little adventure. It was the final break with a past that should have never affected her the way it had.
“I’m sure.” She nodded firmly. She was. Certain.
Until Terrie pulled the clothes from the closet.
Clear plastic protected the garments and hid nothing from the eyes. They were innocent. A simple red plaid skirt that would have ended at Tally’s knees when she was much younger but would rise to mid thigh now. A short sleeved white cotton shirt. A very proper Catholic girl’s school uniform. It struck a chord of fear in her chest so strong that she nearly trembled in the face of it.
It was just clothes, she told herself realistically, but she knew her subconscious saw it as so much more.
Terrie laid the outfit out on the bed. It was over ten years old and should fit in the manner that Tally required. She needed to exorcize the ghosts the good sisters of the academy had placed within her, and what better way to do it than to take this first step into a new life, dressed as the person she had been so long ago?
“It will be shorter,” Terrie warned. “And snugger. But it should fit you okay.”
Tally swallowed tightly. “It will work perfectly.”
She stared at the clothing laid out as though it were a snake, coiled and ready to strike. In many ways it was.
“Tally, you don’t have to do this,” Terrie said. “You know Lucian and Dev love you…”
“This isn’t about Lucian and Dev.” She shook her head slowly, still staring at the innocent articles of clothing. “This is about me. I need white stockings. The ones that go just over the knee,” she told her friend faintly. “Do you have shoes that will work? I don’t dare return to the apartment yet.”
“I have everything you need.” Terrie nodded as she smoothed her hand over the plastic. “I wish we had schooled together, Tally. Perhaps I could have made things easier.”
Tally shook her head shortly. Nothing could have made it easier; nothing could change the parents who never knew how to love the wild little girl they had given birth to.
“It’s really shouldn’t be that big a deal,” Tally said softly. “I’m a grown woman, Terrie. Not a child. I should have faced this a long time ago. I don’t know why I’ve fought as I have.”
“Perhaps because nothing was worth the risk until now,” Terrie suggested gently. “You’ve changed since going to Lucian’s office, Tally. You’re like this bright flame; where before you once glowed, now you sparkle. Love changes you. I told you that before. Perhaps, Lucian and Dev merely gave you the strength you needed to face it.”
Tally smiled rather mockingly. Was that true? At this moment, she had no idea. All she knew was that suddenly nothing mattered more than changing the course her life had taken.
The empty, cold apartment. The loveless life. The chill she felt when darkness fell and she realized how empty her bed was. When she realized she could only envision two men within that bed with her. Lucian and Dev.
“They’ll be there tonight?” she asked Terrie quickly rather than replying to her previous statement.
Terrie nodded, a smile of conspiracy crossing her lips.
“I just talked to Jesse a few minutes ago. He’s meeting them for drinks this evening after work. He’s been doing that a lot lately.” She frowned. “What the hell do they do there anyway?”
“Fuck each other’s wives?” Tally asked her with an amused grin. “As I understand it, the married Trojans can only fuck their own women there, never anyone else’s. House rules.” She rolled her eyes at the thought.
Not that she wanted Lucian and Dev to ever touch another woman. She would have to commit murder if that ever occurred, but the rule seemed designed to keep the married members in a constant state of lust while within the hallowed halls of their cherished Club.
Terrie snorted at that thought. “Jesse better never suggest such a thing. I don’t think he could stand it himself.”
“He doesn’t share you any longer?” Tally knew she was desperately delaying the moment she would have to uncover that damned uniform.
Terrie frowned. “Not in a while. He threatens to.” She shrugged. “He seems to enjoy it. But he’s been busy I guess…” Her voice trailed off.
“Men get complacent, I told you,” Tally warned her distantly.
“Hmm. We’ll see about that,” Terrie said thoughtfully, though her eyes were glittering with the light of battle.
Score another for Tally against Jesse, she snickered silently. So far, she was still ahead and Jesse was far, far behind her.
“Tally?” Terrie’s quiet voice drew her gaze from the uniform and back to her friend.
Terrie watched her with an edge of compassion, of concern. Tally could see the worry in her eyes now, the knowledge that Tally had to gather her courage to even touch the clothes, let alone put them on.
“I must really love them,” Tally mused with a self-deprecating little smile. “Because only love could get me in those clothes.” She looked up at Terrie, arching her brow mockingly. “What do we do if the clothes get ripped off me?”
Terrie shrugged in unconcern. “I would consider it a worthy sacrifice then,” she laughed. “The uniform has no meaning to me, Tally. Burn it when you’re done if you need to. Consider it a wedding present.”
Wedding present. Tally swallowed tightly. “One step at a time here,” she breathed in deep and hard. “One slow step at a time here.”
Chapter Seventeen
“You’re so fucked!” Jesse took a seat at the small table on the far end of The Club’s main room and stared at Lucian and Dev in sublime amusement. “You know, I would feel sorry for you if I didn’t think you had brought it all on yourselves. Didn’t I warn you about her?”
Lucian finished the drink he had ordered earlier and shot his friend a brooding look. Beside him, Dev grunted in obvious ill temper. Tally hadn’t shown up at work and hadn’t answered the message they left on her machine or the one they left with the cell phone’s messaging service later that day. Neither man was in the mood for Jesse’s mocking laughter.
“Don’t you have better things to do than harass us?” Dev asked him. “I thought you had a wife to keep fucked. Go home and do your job.”
Jesse laughed softly at that. “I’ve had mine today, have you had yours?”
Lucian gave him a look filled with the promise of retribution.
“What the hell are you doing here anyway?” Dev growled. “Marriage suddenly staling on you?”
Jesse laughed again as he shook his head. “You two are like bears with a sore paw. I have it on the highest authority she’s going to be home later tonight. You should go back and teach her a lesson. The right lesson this time. She won’t be so eager to make trouble then.”
He was clearly delighting in tormenting them, Lucian thought. Jesse was no more a hard ass than any of them were. Though, sexually, they were all well aware of his hold on Terrie, and hers on him.
Lucian stared morosely around the room. Was it their sexuality that had caused Tally to run? It wouldn’t be an occasional ménage; it was a lifetime commitment to two dominant males. Two men who were, defined by society, sexually depraved. Their every sexual desire hinged on their woman’s ultimate fulfillment, whatever that may be. They encouraged their women to relax all their inhibitions, to give in to even the most exacting pleasures.
“Jesse, you’re getting on my nerves tonight,” Lucian finally said with the barest hint of a smile. “Your marital bliss offends me.”
“Well, having your woman threaten my life this morning didn’t do a whole hell of a lot for me,” Jesse informed him with a disgruntled frown. “And I was trying to be nice to her, too.”