Siren Unleashed [Texas Sirens 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

Chase poured her a cup of coffee. “I will if he does.”

Ben took the seat next to her. She was perfectly flanked by Dawson brothers. “I’m the good one. Eggs?”

She looked at the plate in front of her. She didn’t normally eat breakfast because she didn’t sleep much and then after she’d finally managed to go to bed, she let herself sleep way too late and had to hurry to get to work. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually forced herself to sit down to a meal because it always brought back bad memories. God, even food caused her grief.

“Sweetness? The eggs won’t bite back. I made sure they’re dead. They’re defeated eggs.” Chase stared at her with too-assessing eyes. She felt like he was prying back all her defenses to get to the woman inside, but she wasn’t sure who was left in there. “Are you a vegan?”

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

Ben leaned forward. “You’re obviously hungry. Is it us? We can get dressed. Natalie, if you’re uncomfortable, we can take you down to the dining room. We can conduct this interview there if you like.”

She didn’t want them to feel bad. They’d been ridiculously sweet and even though Chase was showing off his cock like a peacock preening, he hadn’t tried to touch her or make a move on her.

“Ben, do you remember how Kitten was when we met her?” Chase’s face was grave. A moment passed between the brothers. They knew her friend. They knew practically everything.

“I’m not going to eat until you do,” Ben said, pushing his plate away.

“That’s not fair.” If he’d ordered her to eat she could have thrown a biscuit in his face and walked out.

“Nothing about what happened to you was fair,” Chase said. “Food deprivation was part of the bastard’s training, wasn’t it? I never got the story from Kitten. She never talks about it, but I can certainly put two and two together. Did he simply refuse to feed you? I don’t think so. If he refused to feed you, you would likely gorge yourself when you had the chance. I think it was worse than that.”

Ben sighed, seemingly following his brother’s line of thinking. “He put the food out and when she tried to eat without permission, he hurt her.”

God, why was she so ashamed? She got up to go, but stopped herself.
Damn it
. This wasn’t her fault. This wasn’t something to be ashamed of. She’d survived him. She’d won. She’d taken his ass down, but she still ate standing up as though she needed to fucking run. She took a deep breath. “He kept us in the dark most of the time. He would place food in the cage and then when we would try to eat it, he had one of his servants hit us with a cattle prod. I don’t like cattle prods. Not at all. Or Tasers. But I used to like Danishes. The cheese kind. Could I please have one of those?”

“You can have anything, baby.” Ben had that Danish on her plate before she could blink.

And she had stupid tears in her eyes. She hadn’t cried in years. Not when she’d killed Hawk. Not when the police had taken her in. Not when her parents came. But since Chase had spanked her, it seemed to always be right there.

Chase leaned over, a lazy look on his face. He touched her nose.

“What?” she asked. Was there something wrong?

“I like your nose. It’s cute. Like a little button on your face.”

God, he was so weird. How could anyone that hot be so weird? But it worked. She laughed and took that stupid Danish and had a bite. Warm, buttery, sugary, and rich. The taste spread over her tongue like a wave of pleasure. “It’s really good.”

“I would love to try some.” Chase scooted his chair toward her.

“Me, too.” Ben got even closer.

“Seriously?” But she felt the smile cross her face. This was stupid. They would leave. They would go back to their obviously wealthy world in a few days after her fate was decided and she would be alone again. She would have to leave the penthouse suite and go back to the employee quarters and deal with her lonely life. If she wasn’t in jail. So it wasn’t smart to think about feeding them. It was stupid. They were grown, naked men, who should get their own damn Danishes.

She tore off two pieces. If she fed one first, the other would grouse. She had to treat them equally or she would have one grumpalicious hottie on her hands. She held out the equally large pieces of Danish, and they moved as one, both gorgeous heads leaning in to snatch the treat from her hands. Ben’s mouth closed over her fingers, his tongue coming out and licking to get all the sweetness from her hand. And Chase was a sexy bastard. He nipped her, the little bite going straight to her pussy.

Fuck
. She was in so much trouble.

“What else do you want to try?” Ben asked.

“I bet she likes cinnamon,” Chase said, picking up a heavenly-looking roll.

“Or muffins.” Ben winked her way.

It didn’t matter that they would leave. It mattered that they were here, and she suddenly felt lighter than she had in years. “Both. Definitely.”

“That’s what we want to hear.” Stereo. They said it at the same time.

The door came open, and Nat heard a little sigh.

“My Nat is with my Masters. Oh, and we’re having a party!” Kitten flew across the room, launching herself at Natalie.

Natalie found herself in possession of a hundred pounds of Kitten. “Hey. It’s so good to see you.”

Kitten threw her arms around Natalie’s neck, squeezing her tight. “I’m so happy to see you, too. I missed you, Nat.”

Kitten. Subby, victimized Kitten who had held Nat’s hand and stroked her hair the night when Hawk had nearly killed her. Kitten had held her together even in the gloom. When she was sure she would die, Kitten had begged her to live. Now the tears really pooled in her eyes. Fuck. Kitten was just a girl in the same cage. That was all she was supposed to be. Goddamn it. Nat loved Kitten. Four years later and it hit her squarely in the chest. She loved Kitten.

Her arms tightened. This wasn’t just someone who’d survived the same thing. This was her friend. “I missed you, too, sweetie.” She pulled back. “Holy shit. Say it again, Kitten.”

Kitten sat in her lap, not a self-conscious thing about her. She grinned. “I’ve missed you, Nat.”

“You used pronouns.” Holy hell. The last time she’d seen Kitten, Kitten was still referring to herself in the third person. And when she would write, she never capitalized her name.

“I am getting better.” Kitten sat up, a smile on her gamine face. “Masters Ben and Chase helped me so much.”

Ben and Chase? Masters? Fuck. “They’re your Masters?”

Kitten nodded. “And now we’re one big family. And everyone is naked. I love naked.”

Kitten hopped off and started tossing her clothes to the ground.

“You’re my best friend’s Doms and you still slept with me?” She hissed the question their directions.

“No,” Ben said, his eyes going wide.

Chase pointed toward his lap. “No sex with the Kitten. None. Little Chase never touched her.”

“And yet she seems so comfortable,” Nat observed. Kitten was down to her undies and she happily chucked them.

“Master Logan is coming in soon. He has your police report.” Kitten frowned. “The police here are very rude, and I don’t think they are tolerant of alternative lifestyles.”

But Kitten was tolerant of everything. She simply smiled and asked for a muffin, which Ben handed her.

“Seriously, Natalie, we were her therapy,” Ben explained. “Neither one of us fucked her.”

Kitten pouted. “Master Julian wrote it into my contracts. Not even Master Logan can have sex with me. But he gave me the most delicious spanking this morning. It was a wonderful way to wake up.” She frowned, looking to Ben. “Your sister is very unreasonable. First she argued with the Master over where to sleep. She seemed to think that the Master should be on the floor. Is she defective?”

Only Kitten would think that way. But neither Ben nor Chase seemed aware of her in anything but a passing fashion. They weren’t acting like lovers who had gotten caught with a piece on the side.

“She is a brat of the highest order and good luck to Logan with her.” Ben got up and pulled out a chair for Kitten.

And Nat really watched them. They were Doms. Like real Doms. The ones she’d grown up around. The ones who rarely gave up control. The night before had been an aberration. With Ben, not Chase. Chase had been exactly what he purported himself to be. He’d been dark and brooding, and he’d given her what she needed.

But Ben had been another side of the man. Giving and tolerant. He’d allowed her the dominant position, but he wouldn’t forever. He was a Dom and he would want a sub, and she couldn’t really be a sub again. She could think about it. Get her ass spanked from time to time.

But she couldn’t be a submissive again. That part of her had been burned away, never to really return again.

“Kitten, sit down.” Chase pointed at the fourth chair, and Kitten immediately sat, her satisfaction evident.

She did love Kitten, but it was obvious Kitten could handle things Nat couldn’t.

“Got the police report. Kitten, clothes?” A tall, broadly built young man strode in the room like he owned it. How many keys had Ben and Chase given out?

Kitten sat up straight. “Please, Master? Everyone else is practically naked. Master Chase is altogether naked.”

A little smile crossed his face. “Sure. Reminds me of home. Now, here’s the report, but it’s damn sloppy. If I turned this in, Nate would have my ass in a sling. And there’s nothing back on the prints. There was a full ounce of China White found in one of the drawers, though that’s surprisingly inexpensive these days. I need to see what they cut it with. It would tell me a lot about where it came from. When I asked him about splitting the drug and giving me a breakdown percentage, he looked at me like I was an idiot. This police force doesn’t understand a thing.”

Did no one care that people kept walking in and Chase was naked and Kitten was naked and she only had a shirt on and Ben was in his undies?

“Thanks, Logan.” Ben pointed at Nat. “Logan, Natalie. Natalie, Logan. He was a deputy in his small town before he got his ass kicked by the Russian mob and needed an attitude adjustment.”

Logan nodded her way. “Bliss, Colorado. Home of nudists, aliens, and the murder capital of the USA. There are two towns in Colombia that beat us per capita or we would hold the world title. Someday.”

A blonde woman walked in wearing the most ridiculous pair of heels. “Benny, I need to talk to you. Logan is an asshole. He needs to go.”

Chase actually jumped, his big body careening toward the side of the bed where he pulled the sheet down, covering his nudity. “Fuck, Georgie, give a man a goddamn chance.”

Ben hid behind Nat, using her as a shield. “Georgia, go away. For god’s sake. This is our freaking bedroom. We have a girl in here.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Surprise. Surprise. And what’s up with all the naked people? Chase, you need some clothes. You have enough money for clothes, right? Ben, put on a shirt. What’s wrong with you guys? And Logan is a beyotch. He thinks I’m going to stay in the room and like clean shit. I don’t know what’s up with him.”

Chase practically crawled under the bed. Ben tried to disappear under the table.

It was obvious their little interrogation was over.

Maybe they weren’t so scary after all.

* * * *

Chase was ready to kill his siblings. Ben. Georgia. It didn’t matter. Ben had brought Georgia along, and Georgia was killing his soul by walking in when he was perfectly comfortable with his own nakedness.

“Go away, Georgie.”

He heard a long sigh. “Fine, but you’re all weird. And you should wear clothes. Why is the Kitten chick naked? She was like all dressed when we went to the hick-cop place. Fine, I’ll go, but there’s another chick waiting out in the living area and she’s all kinds of freaked out.”

Damn it. He should have put on pants. He’d just kind of hoped that Nat would end up falling on his erection and then he would have a hold on her. It still rankled that Ben had slept with her and he hadn’t. And dear god, the last thing he needed was another freaked-out chick.

“Ben? Could you handle the freaked-out chick, please? I need to put on pants. Kitten, clothes. Now.”

Kitten sighed and started putting her clothes back on. “It’s a lifestyle resort. I don’t understand what’s with all the restrictions.”

Nat started picking up Kitten’s clothes. “So that was your sister. Wow. She’s so not in the lifestyle. Are you and Ben the black sheep of the family?”

Ben had jeans on and tugged a T-shirt out of his suitcase. “Nope. We have three other brothers. Who do you think took us to our first club? I’ll be back. And I’ll take a look at this while I’m at it.”

Ben walked out, carrying the police report.

And he needed to move this little investigation along so he could settle Georgia down somewhere and perhaps take a nice long vacation right here. Stanley. The victim. He’d come on to her almost immediately and he’d backed down. “How long ago did Stanley first become a client?”

There was a long pause and then an almost incredulous answer. “Over a year. I don’t know. I would have to look at my records.”