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the other end of the phone, Matthew wondered when, exactly, he d started thinking of
Shannon as theirs. He thought he might have staked his claim the first time they d made
love, when she d seduced him so tenderly. He knew that was the moment he came to
belong to her. He wondered if Daniel felt it, too. This pride of ownership. This thrill of
belonging. He somehow couldn t imagine Daniel willingly surrendering his soul to
another the way Matt himself had given over to him and to Shannon. And when, exactly,
had Daniel gone from being a pleasurable experiment to being nearly as necessary to him
as oxygen?
Finally managing to end the endless phone call, Matt turned to Shannon, gathering
her into his arms to hold and be held with a warmth and tenderness he d never found
anywhere else. In her arms he felt his insecurity over doing Marcus job melt away, much
as it did when he spoke with Daniel about the business. In her arms, he found his worry
for Marcus and for Meredith, who seemed even more like the walking wounded than
usual, muted, comforted.
They were still wrapped around each other when Daniel entered the office. Shannon
reached out an arm to him and, after a brief hesitation, Daniel allowed her to draw him
into their hug. After a moment, he even brushed a soft kiss over the top of Shannon s
head and ran a gentle hand down Matthew s bound hair.
 Have I told you, her voice was almost a whisper, like she didn t want to shatter the
moment.  How happy the two of you make me? Giving each man a tight squeeze around
the waist, one that matched the squeeze she d given around Matthew s heart, she stepped
back. To Matthew s surprise, Daniel let him hold him for a moment before slowly
extricating himself from the embrace.
Hands in his pockets, Matt stood with his back to the window. He was unaware of
the picture he made: the sun shining through the tinted glass lit a burgundy fire around his
dark hair, and cast a golden glow around his body. He looked formidable, imposing and
impossibly sexy, something his companions didn t fail to notice.
No, Matthew s eyes were for Shannon as she spread a butter-soft blanket over the
floor, and gathered cushions from the couch to create a nest for three. And for Daniel as
he stepped forward to lift the heavy basket to the ground near the blanket, extract
champagne flutes and pour the bubbly beverage for each of them.
He didn t realize how long he d been standing, staring, until Shannon approached
him to take his hand.
 Babe, her musical voice was soft.  Are you okay?
He felt his smile bloom.  When I m with you, he flicked Daniel a look. The older
man was silently observing their interaction with an odd look on his face.  When I m
with both of you, he corrected,  I m better than okay.
Willingly he allowed her to lead him to the picnic area she d made on the floor. With
an impatient little tug, she drew Daniel down beside them, and then sat facing the two
men.
*
Daniel watched Shannon put together their intimate little lunch with an odd, tight
feeling in his chest. Her tender treatment of Matthew, and to some extent of himself,
touched him more deeply than he ever could have imagined. He knew both he and Matt
had become increasingly distracted by their worry for Marcus, who still wasn t answering
his phone and who hadn t been home in almost a week. What amazed him was the way
Shannon seemed to sense their worry.
She constantly found little ways to break their tension, to make them smile. He d
never been taken care of like this, and wouldn t have expected to like it. And still, in the
dark hours of the morning, when Matt bundled her into his car to take her home for a
couple more hours of sleep, Daniel found himself missing the weight of Matthew s head
on his shoulder, the slow stroke of Shannon s hand over any bit of him she could reach.
Now, he found himself almost mesmerized as she sat before them. Her skirt belled
around her like an exotic red, orange and yellow bloom, and the orange of her camisole
top made her tan glow. Her eyes, when they met his, were like melted chocolate. So
sweet and warm they made his heart ache for things he knew he could never have.
This, he realized, was why he rarely allowed himself to meet Shannon s eyes, hers or
Matthew s. When he looked into their eyes he didn t see demands or pleas, he saw pure,
generous giving. And it scared the shit out of him, because he wanted them to demand.
To force him to give them everything all that he was. And he wanted to make demands
of his own. Definitely not safe.
Fuck, he was petrified one day he would see a different look in their eyes. One he put
there when he inevitably fucked up.
Faithful. It wasn t a word in his lexicon. Mommy-Dearest had taught him at a very
tender age that grownups, even those who claimed to love each other, were still unfaithful
to one another.
Her betrayal of his father had led to the kind of emotional prison no child should
ever have to bear. The dangerous yearnings stirred up by Daniel s lovers brought back
vivid memories of his mother s desertion& A six-year-old Daniel, clinging to her leg and
begging her not to leave him. His father, pulling him roughly away from his mother,
forcing the young boy back into the house. The neighbors who had gathered outside,
shaking their heads in pity at the scene of a family being torn in two. Why hadn t his
mother been able to love him enough to stay with him and out of the bars?
Dan hated feeling this way, this helpless, this vulnerable. It sucked, and the pain
gnawed at him. Why now, when he was as happy as he d ever been in his life, did the
memories of his mom and pop creep in and cast doubt on who he was as a man? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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