Little Bird (The Tangled Series) (31 page)

Savannah laughed hoarsely before abruptly going silent when she felt his cock jerk and heard his distressed grunt. “Oh, I can’t even laugh?”

“Evidently not. I think it’s the way your body shakes when you laugh, it’s sort of like the way you tremble when I…no, no, better not talk about this now.” Lee brushed his lips across the nape of her neck. “Sorry if I’m hurting you, I know I’m heavy, but I can’t fucking move. I hope this is just some kind of temporary paralysis.”

Biting her lip to hold back her giggle, Savannah shook her head. “You’re sort of crushing me but it’s okay. Your apparent paralysis is concerning though at your advanced age. Could be a stroke or something.”

Lee snorted and she smiled, imagining the annoyed look on his face. “When I can move again I’m going to spank you for that. Now go to sleep before we talk ourselves back into trouble.”

True to his word the night before, Todd had gotten up early and taken Jen home. Savannah was sitting at the picnic table chatting with Lee and Mindy, eating a bowl of cereal, when Todd returned.

“Good morning! I’m glad to see you two finally joined the land of the living. Couple of lazy asses.”

Savannah laughed at Todd’s playful teasing but Lee cast a disgruntled scowl at his friend. He was so not a morning person. “I earned the right to sleep late this morning.”

“Oh, I know. I heard.” Todd smirked at them both and Savannah blushed hotly, suddenly finding her bowl of cereal absolutely fascinating.

Lee’s hand was on her knee beneath the table, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. With a sidelong glance at him, she smiled shyly in response. They had been loud last night but she’d forgotten at the time they were in a camp surrounded by other people. Her stomach knotted remembering the things Lee had said and hoping frantically Todd hadn’t heard that, too.

Todd moved to the table and sat on Savannah’s other side. Mindy, who’d been sitting across from Savannah, abruptly got up and excused herself, probably sensing there was something between her brother and Lee and Savannah she didn’t want to hear about. Savannah briefly wondered how awkward it was for Todd and Mindy, a brother and sister involved in this lifestyle with shared friends.

Savannah was jerked from her thoughts when she felt Todd’s hand on her other leg, pushing beneath the hem of her sundress, his fingers flexing against the inside of her knee.

“I think your wife is wondering how much I heard.” Todd spoke to Lee but looked at Savannah, studying her expression. Savannah just continued to stare at the table in front of her, unable to speak around the lump in her throat.

“Probably.” Lee shrugged, clearly conveying it made no difference to him what Todd had heard.

“My tent’s right next to yours, Savannah. I heard everything and I jerked myself listening to you. I could have had Suzie or Kim but I let them sleep because I didn’t want to miss any of those fucking hot noises you were making while he told you everything we could do to you.”

Savannah’s head jerked up, her eyes meeting Todd’s and she gaped at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you men just walking around telling random innocent people about your masturbation habits?”

Both men laughed loudly and Lee grabbed her chin, turning her to look at him. “You should be complimented we’re all so helpless to your charms we can’t help but jack off thinking about you.”

“Complimented? Really?” Savannah looked at Lee skeptically and rolled her eyes.

“Savannah,” Todd drew her attention back, “Why shouldn’t I have gotten off thinking about you? You were getting off thinking about me, after all.”

“No, I was getting off thinking about both of you.” Savannah gestured to each of them with frustration. She didn’t want there to be any confusion about who and what she’d been thinking about.

“Oh, don’t worry, honey, I won’t forget you belong to him and I’m just the accessory to fulfill your nasty little fantasies. But that doesn’t change the fact that you were thinking about me.” As Todd spoke each man started to apply gentle pressure to her knees, spreading her legs beneath the table. Savannah suddenly regretted listening to Lee when she’d dressed that morning and he’d told her not to wear panties.

Savannah closed her eyes as Lee’s hand skimmed over the inside of her thigh until his fingers found the warm wet juncture of her legs. He leaned closer, his voice hoarse. “Savannah, you just need to trust us. Trust me. Nothing’s going to happen for a long time. You have plenty of time to get used to the idea, plenty of time to decide if it’s something you really want to try or something you’d rather leave as a fantasy. But you shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed that it turns you on. There’s nothing wrong with being turned on by it and nothing wrong with you. Own your kink, sweetheart.”

Savannah swallowed hard with a nod. He was right, of course. All of this would be a lot less embarrassing for her if she could get all those prudish voices out of her head that kept telling her she was a freak. “I’ll try but you’ve turned my life upside down, Levon. It’s gonna take me a while to adjust.”

Lee chuckled and smiled at her, clearly pleased by her response.

Todd squeezed her knee before withdrawing and standing up. “Well, if you’ll both excuse me then I think I’ll go wake Suzie and Kim and do my best to distract myself from all the perverse thoughts I’m having about my best friend’s wife.”

It was mid-afternoon and Savannah and Geoff were playing chess again. Lee sat nearby watching with amusement. He knew how to play, too, and had tried to offer Savannah some helpful advice but she’d rejected it, annoyed because he wasn’t as patient with her mistakes as Geoff.

Throughout the day, every time Todd passed within touching distance, his hands were on her. Sometimes it was just a friendly touch on her shoulder or arm, others a more intimate caress on her hip or back, always quick, never lingering. He never said anything about it and never made a big deal about it, but Savannah knew what he was doing, trying to get her used to his hands on her in a casual and relaxed way.

Several times she’d caught Lee watching her, a speculative expression on his face, when Todd touched her, and she wondered if they’d talked about this or if they just knew each other so well they didn’t need to discuss it to formulate a plan. Not that it mattered, because it worked despite the fact she was aware it was happening.

The first few times Todd had touched her in passing, Savannah stiffened, immediately thinking of their conversation that morning and blushing. But it hadn’t taken long before she’d begun to relax and now, when Todd came to stand behind her, his hand cradling the curve of her neck, she sighed and leaned into him before she’d even realized what she was doing.

“Is she a chess whiz yet?” Todd arched his brow at Geoff as his fingers casually stroked Savannah’s neck.

“She’s learning.” Geoff allowed generously with an encouraging smile.

“What I am is hopeless.” Savannah sighed and waved her hand at Geoff when he started to protest. “I can’t remember what piece does what or where they’re supposed to go. This is a horrible stupid game.”

“If I’d known you wanted to learn, we could have played to pass the time while I was in the hospital.” Lee chuckled.

“Oh, no! I’m kicking your ass at gin rummy. You and I will stick with that, thank you very much.” Savannah smirked at Lee, gloating about her superiority at the card game.

Todd had been about to say something when Cara came striding into their camp, a determined look on her face. She went directly to Lee without a word, handing him a folded piece of paper she’d been clutching in her hand.

Lee gave her an annoyed look before unfolding and reading it. When he looked up again, Cara was looking at him expectantly. Lee sighed and handed the paper back to her. “I suppose you want me to go with you?”

Savannah frowned, knowing what this must be about. She tried to keep her voice calm as she asked, “What’s going on?”

Cara passed the paper to Savannah and she unfolded it, carefully reading.

Dear Ms. Dalton,

I’d like to invite you, your ex-husband, and his new little girlfriend up to the Lodge this afternoon. I know what you want and I think we may be able to negotiate a deal.

I would prefer to get this out of the way sooner rather than later so we can all enjoy our weekend. Be here in half an hour or my next invitation won’t be so cordial.

Regards,

Sen. C. Hartwell

Savannah’s hand shook by the time she finished reading and she heard Todd curse under his breath, apparently having read over her shoulder.

“We need to hurry.” Cara finally spoke, looking from Lee to Savannah anxiously.

“I’ll go. Todd, don’t let Savannah out of your sight until I get back.” Lee stood, sharing a meaningful look with Todd.

“No, she has to come.” Cara shook her head adamantly. “He specifically asked for her. He isn’t going to deal if we don’t bring her.”

“Cara, he isn’t going to deal at all.” Lee gave his ex-wife an exasperated look. “Think. He says he knows what you want. What you want is to destroy him. Why would he ever make a deal to help you do that? This is so obviously a trap and you’re so blinded by your need to get the story you can’t even fucking see it. I’m not letting Savannah walk into that.”

Savannah started to tremble, fearful of Hartwell and whatever he intended. Todd had both hands on her shoulders, and she was suddenly thankful for that strong grounding touch. She knew Lee was right, it was a trap, and she started to choke on her panic when she considered what might happen to Lee if he went up there with Cara.

“We have to take her, Lee. Even if it is a trap, she has to come. How much worse is it going to be if we openly defy him from the start?” Cara’s eyes slid to Savannah, pleading with her. She obviously hoped Savannah would speak up on her behalf just as she had that night at the club.

“I’ll go with you, brother. Between the two of us, we can keep her safe.” It was Todd, his hands still comfortably resting on Savannah’s shoulders.

“I’d rather you stay here and keep her safe.” Lee’s voice was low and angry. He didn’t like Todd’s suggestion that perhaps Savannah should go, even if he offered to go with them, too.

“No, he can’t go.” Cara shook her head again. “He won’t like us bringing someone else. We can’t risk pissing him off and ruining any chance at a deal.”

“There is no fucking deal, Cara.” Lee shouted at her, and to Savannah’s surprise Cara did look intimidated by his show of temper. “You have two choices. You and I can go or, against my better judgment, I’ll bring Savannah, but only if Todd comes, too. There is no other option.”

“I’ll go alone then. You can all fuck off if you’re so determined to ruin this for me.” Cara lifted her chin defiantly as she glared at Lee.

“The fuck you will. I may not love you, Cara, and you may have driven me fucking insane for nearly a decade, but I’m not going to let you walk into a trap alone. Make your choice, we’re running out of time.”

“Fine. We’ll all go.” Cara gave a resigned sigh and Savannah felt Todd’s hands clench on her shoulders. It seemed no one was really happy with this decision.