Owned Forever (9 page)

“I love you, Kate.” He tipped her chin up with his index finger, meeting her eyes to ensure she understood him completely. “I love being with you. I love pushing you to those limits. But this can’t be the way we deal with all our problems. You need to talk to your parents. You need to set this right before the resentment builds too high and you lose them entirely.”

“I know. I will.” She blinked up at him, nodding.

Her lips parted slightly, temptingly close. Her scent captivated him, flowery and perfect.

She smiled, noticing his attention. A little flame of heat still lit her bright eyes. “In a minute.”

He chuckled softly before pressing his lips to hers again. They shouldn’t delay any longer, he knew that. But with her lips so close, her small, soft body pressed up against his, he was too weak to say no.

Just before his lips touched hers again, a squeak filled the air again, followed by the telltale rustle of steps across the hay-strewn barn. Two loud gasps filled the air, accompanied by the stomp of feet that were definitely not housed in horseshoes.

They weren’t alone in the barn anymore. And their audience wasn’t happy to see them.

Chapter Seven

“Katherine Elizabeth Baker.”

Kate pulled back from Grant, turning in the direction of her mother’s cry. All the blood drained from her body, freezing her to stone. Just inside the door, her entire family stood staring at her. Their eyes big, their mouths agape. Her mother looked appalled, her father shocked, but it was Daniel’s expression that cut her to the core. The pain in his eyes stabbed her in the heart. He almost looked betrayed, though she had no idea why. Unlike her parents, he knew the relationship she had with Grant. He even participated in it. Why would he be upset with her?

“Mom.” Kate could only imagine what her parents saw in this moment. Her dress hoisted up around her waist, flashing them more of her body than they wanted to see. Definitely more than she wanted to share. She only hoped they didn’t see the bright red welts on her ass from Grant’s loving treatment.

Grant dropped his arms from around her. He stepped in front of her, positioning his body to protect her naked backside from view. Kate reached behind her, pulling the edge of her dress down to her thighs. She might have already flashed the entire room, but there was no reason to do it again.

“What are you doing?”

“Mom, it’s not what you think.”

“Really, Katherine? So I didn’t see you kissing a man who is not your fiancé on the night before your wedding?”

Kate let out a small, relieved sigh, grateful that her mother glazed over everything but the kiss. The kiss was hard enough to explain. She didn’t want to get into what else Grant had been doing to her.

“What is it, Katherine?” Her mother’s accusing tone scraped down her skin like sharp glass.

Kate fought back the urge to shudder.

“If it’s not what I think, Katherine, what is it?”

“Mom…ah…” What did she say? It definitely wasn’t what her mother thought. She wasn’t having an affair with Grant. But she couldn’t exactly tell her the truth. Could any mother handle hearing that her daughter was in a relationship with two men?

“You know what, Katherine…”

Her mother threw her hands up, destroying any hope Kate had of producing a good excuse for what her parents had just walked in on. Not that she had one—at all.

“It doesn’t really matter.”

Kate sucked in a deep breath. Her whole body seized, waiting for her mother’s next insult. Tension vibrated from ever molecule of air in the suddenly too-small space.

“This is not the kind of behavior I taught you. This is not how we raised you.”

Kate’s stomach dropped to her ankles. Her knees quivered, and not in the good way, but like they really didn’t have the strength to keep her body upright anymore.

She’d always known her mother would react this way if she ever told them about her needs. Her need to be spanked. To be tied up. To be fucked by two different men. That’s why she’d always kept it a secret. That’s why she’d always kept this part of herself separate from her family. There was no way they’d understand.

“How would you know the kind of daughter you raised? You haven’t been there for her.” Grant tried to cut in, and Kate’s heart beat a little faster. Always her big, strong protector, she’d never loved him more.

Her mother turned toward him, quickly cutting him off with fierce stare. “This doesn’t involve you. This is between me and my daughter.”

There was a hard turn of hatred in her words, directed at Grant. Kate gritted her teeth, fighting back the urge to lash out at her mother. It wouldn’t solve anything, but her mother certainly deserved that and far worse for attacking one of Kate’s men. But defending them would only keep this argument going long past productive.

Her mother growled at Grant before redirecting her attention back to Kate, her stare so hard Kate shrank beneath the glare.

“How could you do this, Katherine?” Her mother continued, as if she really cared why Kate had committed this crime. But Kate knew better. She only cared about how this made the family look. What her friends would think when her wayward daughter called off her wedding for sleeping with the groom’s brother. “How could you kiss another man the day before your wedding? Not even twenty feet from where you’re supposed to be married?”

Kate opened her mouth, wanting to say something—anything—to defend herself and her men. She wasn’t ashamed of them or the relationship they had. Yet the words wouldn’t come.

How could she explain this to her mother in a way she’d understand? If there was any mother alive that could handle hearing all about her daughter’s sexual escapades—especially those involving two men, handcuffs and occasionally a whip—it wasn’t Margo Baker.

The silence lengthened between them. Kate searched for something to say, anything that would fix what had happened, what they’d seen. Then her mother stepped back, shaking her head, and the moment was gone—if it had ever existed. Any chance she had of talking to her mother about the relationship—and love she had for these two men—vanished.

Her mother turned toward Daniel, pushing the dagger a little farther into Kate’s side. “If you still want to marry her, Daniel, that’s up to you. But I can’t support this wedding.”

Her tone was so cold it almost froze Kate right to the spot. Kate wrapped her arms around her chest, needing the warmth.

“I can’t watch you make this mistake.”

Her mother looked back and forth between Kate and Daniel, as if gauging what emotions still lingered between them. Kate had no idea what sign she searched for, but she didn’t act as if she seen it.

“I won’t attend this wedding. If there even is one anymore.”

Kate couldn’t believe it, but her soul sank even further. Her heart was almost breaking. Of all the issues she’d had with her mother, all the distance and the coldness she’d experienced, she’d never expected this. She’d never thought she’d do anything so horrible her mother wouldn’t attend her wedding. The knowledge made her stomach churn. She must really be worth nothing if her mother could so easily walk away from her at such an important time.

“I can’t watch you ruin your lives. I just can’t.”

With that, her mother headed toward the door. They all watched with wide eyes as she stomped out of the barn and most likely, from the whole ranch. Her steps were still regal and sophisticated as she maneuvered around hay and buckets of oats.

“I’m sorry, Kate,” was all her father said before following after, his own steps much calmer than the clunk of her mother’s heels across the cement.

Silence fell within the barn, only interrupted by the snort of a horse or the soft chomp as they ate their hay, leaving them all stunned and unsure what to do next. No one moved. No one spoke—immobilized by shock.

“I can’t believe you’d do this.”

Kate looked up at Daniel, blinking to clear her watery eyes. Daniel looked back at her, his face contorted in anger, his fists clenched at his sides. Accusation rang through his tone and cut her to the quick.

“You couldn’t stop yourself, could you?” He stepped toward her, almost threateningly.

And Kate’s stomach twisted. She never would have thought there would be a day Daniel would frighten her. That she’d ever be afraid of what he might do. He was always dependable. Always loving. But this wasn’t her Daniel. She didn’t think he would hurt her, but for the first time, she wasn’t completely sure. That scared her more than anything else.

“Not for one damn night. Not just while your parents were here.”

The pain in his voice pierced her like a thousand needles. She’d made such a mess of this. She’d never meant to hurt him, yet somehow she just kept burning him. She’d thought after Christmas, after they’d all decided to enter into this relationship, it would stop. Clearly, she’d been wrong.

“You couldn’t even stop yourself the night before our wedding.”

In all the nightmare scenarios she’d ever had of her parents discovering their relationship—her proclivities—she’d never dreamed it would be this bad. Her parents had left. They wouldn’t be at her wedding. They wouldn’t support her marriage. And she’d hurt Daniel with this desperate need she had. Even Grant had been slandered by the whole situation.

How had everything gone so wrong? Somehow, in one moment of weakness, she’d managed to hurt everyone she loved. All because she couldn’t control the raging beast inside her.

“Daniel, I needed—”

“I know all about your needs,” Daniel cut her off. The anger in his tone pulled her up short. He’d never sounded that angry before, bordering on the edge of disgust.

Kate tightened her arms around herself, feeling so small beneath Daniel’s distain. She’d always known this was coming—the anger, the shame, the disgust. From the moment she’d realized she loved Daniel, she’d seen this moment. Yet somehow, she still felt unprepared for it.

She’d been an idiot to think he’d accept her. That he could understand what she needed. They’d only been delaying the evitable, and now it was here, stabbing her in the chest like a hot poker.

“I’ve heard all about your needs. It’s your needs that got us into this situation. It’s your needs that forced me to share the woman I love with my brother. I’m sick of hearing about your needs.” He stepped closer to her, his stride threatening, and ice shards ripped down her spine.

Grant stepped forward, keeping his big body between them. He held a hand up, as if the mere gesture could stop his brother. “Danny, come on. Give her a break. This is just as hard on her.”

“I don’t care. Why is everything about her? About what she wants?” He turned to her, focusing his angry, piercing eyes on her. “What about my needs, Kate? Do those even matter to you?”

“Of course they do.” Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. She hated that she’d given him that impression. He was her savior, her protector. He’d brought her back to life when she’d had no reason to go on. After Grant had taken her heart and smashed it into a million pieces.

“I would do anything to make you happy, Daniel. Anything I could.” She reached for him, but he pulled back, stepping out of range.

The move was like a slap to the face. Her chest tightened so hard it hurt to breath. Did he really think she didn’t care about his happiness? Over the last six months, she’d been doing everything she could think of to keep both him and Grant happy. But she’d clearly failed. Miserably.

Just like she’d failed to be the daughter her parents wanted. A child they could be proud of. Everywhere she looked, she’d disappointed the people she loved. But by far, Daniel was her most heinous crime.

“You have a funny way of showing it.” He almost spit the words at her feet before stomping out of the barn. Leaving Kate and Grant staring after him, stunned.

Chapter Eight

“You have to go after him.” Grant’s dark voice rumbled in her ear, more remorseful then she’d ever heard him before. This from the same man who’d whipped her so hard on a regular basis she couldn’t sit comfortably for a week. Granted, she’d asked for those beatings—begged and cried for them, actually. Now he felt bad for marring his brother’s pride.

“What? Why?” She stared in the direction Daniel had stormed out, anger billowing up inside her. Why did she have to go after him? He’s the one that walked out on them. He was just upset because her parents had walked in on her and Grant. “We weren’t cheating. We weren’t doing anything wrong.” Maybe if she continued to say it, she’d actually believe it.

“It’s not about that, Kate. Can’t you see he’s hurting?”

“I know.” Her voice sounded almost as rough as she felt. “I’m not blind. But I don’t know how to fix it.”

She pulled in a quick, shuddering breath. Her eyes were watery and her chest tight. She’d thought she could handle this. That she could balance the two of them. She’d let Grant be in charge of dominating her, and Daniel, she’d planned to marry so he’d know how much she loved him. But clearly, she’d failed on both counts.

Maybe it was a good thing this happened tonight? They weren’t married yet. They hadn’t made this permanent. She could still leave. It would kill her to do it. But she could. If that’s what was the best thing for them.

“I’m so sorry about it,” she babbled, her throat thick. “I thought I could make you both happy.” The tears overwhelmed her, blurring her vision. She wasn’t sure if he could understand her blubbering words anymore, but they flowed out of her regardless.

“It was selfish of me to think I could ever keep you both satisfied. I wanted you to feel in control and for Daniel to know I love him.” She paced across the space between them, her whole body trembling. “But I’ve only messed it all up. I’ve ruined it all because I couldn’t control myself.” She sucked in a deep breath, tears clogging her throat. “I love you both, so much, but I… I don’t know how to do this anymore.”

Grant stepped up toward her. He put his arms around her, and she fought back the urge to crumble beneath his touch. She didn’t deserve his comfort. She didn’t deserve his love. “It’s okay, pet. We’ll figure this out.”