Oliver (2 page)

“In the end, neither could I.” Lucas drained his glass.

Oliver wanted to interrogate, dissect what Lucas meant. He wondered why he cared.

Lucas scrunched up his face in puzzlement. “You didn’t keep tabs on us?”

“I didn’t care enough to
keep tabs on you
.” A semi-lie. Word filtered to Oliver on occasion. Business was business, after all. It was the personal aspects of these two people he didn’t want to give a damn about.

“Fair enough.” Lucas conceded the point with a slight nod. “More ancient history as far as I’m concerned. But that was then, and this is now.” He set the glass down hard and stared at the cubes as if willing them to melt or generate more Scotch. “Merideth needs you.”

“She made it clear—”

“She was hurt, Oliver. Caught in the wrong end of a bad scene.”

The news sliced through him. Razor sharp, knife deep.

“Hurt?”

“I don’t know the specifics. A mutual friend told me. She took care of Merideth afterward. I’ve been out of the country. We haven’t been together for a long time.” Shaking his head, Lucas wandered over to the dresser and fiddled with the wooden bowl of coins Oliver dumped from his pockets each night. “It happened about six months ago. Whispers and rumors came my way. Though I’ve yet to find out who’s responsible. She’s not the same person. She’s…broken inside. Fearful, reclusive.” He swallowed hard. “To hear of a woman of Merideth’s strength and caliber reduced to…”

Oliver had a hard time reconciling that description with the woman he knew, the woman he’d heard about over the years. But something that traumatic would screw with anyone’s head. “She needs help.”

Lucas snapped his gaze up to Oliver’s. Tears filled his eyes. “Why the hell do you think I’m here?” he said through clenched teeth. “Do you think I’d come crawling to you otherwise? She’s breaking my heart!” He slammed his fist into his chest. “Again.”

Oliver bit back the words
Now you know how I felt.

Lucas pulled in a breath. The tension eased from his jaw. “I went to her the minute I heard. She told me she needed you, to get you. I still love her enough to do it. I’m hoping you still love her enough to help her heal.”

A storm of emotions roiled through Oliver. He didn’t think any of them were love. Too much hurt was in the way.

“Where is she?”

“Where do you think?”

Irritation crawled up Oliver’s spine. Lucas had brought her with him. For a couple who needed his help, they were really pushing it.

Lucas stepped into Oliver’s space and touched Oliver’s arm. Oliver glanced at Lucas’s fingers, then at the man. A smoldering look to warn Lucas he’d gone too far.

“I’ll beg if I have to.” Determination edged Lucas’s voice. “Get on my knees before you. Submit. Hell…” He knelt before Oliver, glaring up at him. “I’ll even suck your fucking dick.”

Oliver smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Lucas could squirm a bit on that one. Frankly, there was only one mouth Oliver wanted wrapped around his cock right now. And the owner was apparently downstairs waiting.

Oliver Holbrook was an intimidating son of a bitch. It didn’t matter what he wore. He could pull off
don’t fuck with me
like no one else in the world. Lucas had learned that long ago. It was an attitude he’d aspired to but had never quite managed. God, how he’d missed testing himself against the man. God…how he’d missed the man.

The three of them had been magnificent together, each vying for control yet only one prevailing. The give-and-take, thrust and parry… It’d been like living in the vortex of a fire tornado. Hot and wild. How ironic that what had pulled them together in the first place was what separated them in the end.

Merideth was right to want Oliver’s help in putting herself back together. Everything had been so much better when Oliver was in their lives. Lucas and Merideth played the Dom/sub game. Oliver lived it. It merged with every aspect of his life. Self-confidence and direction oozed from his pores.

The control Lucas thought he wanted was nothing more than a facade. He hated being the one to make the decisions all the time. Hated people constantly looking at him for direction. Hated having to be in charge of himself and others. True, his career had soared, and he loved to feel the adrenaline spike through his body during negotiations. Only one other thing created a rush like that—taught by the man standing before him.

Lucas and Merideth had faltered on their own almost from the start. The fire faded all too soon, leaving them with nothing more than a shell of an existence. A prison both were afraid to admit to. Look what it had gotten them. He’d failed her. Failed himself. The guilt crushed Lucas’s heart. His pride was in ashes. To salvage what remained of their relationship, they’d gone their separate ways. But he’d crawl naked through broken glass on a bed of hot lava to help Merideth.

He glared up at Oliver, hoping the man wouldn’t realize that Lucas was substituting defiance for what little dominance he possessed right now. “Well, are you gonna whip out that bad boy, or do you want me to do it for you?” He dropped his gaze to Oliver’s crotch. The man wasn’t even hard. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or insulted.

“I don’t think I trust you not to try to bite it off,” Oliver replied. “Of course, then I’d have to retaliate with discipline, which I have a feeling has been sorely lacking in your life. Or is that what you want?”

Oliver started to pace around him. “Discipline? Punishment? Something to purge your soul of misdeeds?”

Lucas swallowed. Oliver had Lucas right where he wanted, on his knees, vulnerable. How could Lucas answer when he couldn’t figure it out himself? But this was about Merideth, not him.

“She’s waiting.” His voice didn’t come out as forceful as he’d hoped.

“I gathered as much.” Oliver stopped in front of him. “Stand up. I don’t like your mouth within striking distance of my cock. Although I will say that standing behind you, I found your ass a very tempting target.”

Heat filled Lucas’s cock. That rush he’d craved stirred to life. He counted the ways Oliver meant the comment. Let his imagination run with all the possibilities. And somehow managed to come to his feet with some measure of grace.

He forced himself to meet Oliver’s hard gaze, to stare into eyes whose color he could never quite figure out. A mix of brown and green that changed with his moods, his clothing, his surroundings. Whatever the color, they always matched his dark blond hair to perfection. The gods would decree no less for a man like Oliver.

“Go downstairs and see to her comfort.” Oliver jerked his head toward the bedroom door. “And your own.”

“You’ll help?”

Oliver tucked his hands behind his back, his face impassive. “I haven’t decided. Go.” Another head jerk. “I’ll be down momentarily, at which point I’ll make a determination based on my assessment of…many factors.”

Dismissed. Put in his place like a recalcitrant sub. One part of him resented the treatment; another part relished the structure. He deserved the put-down for failing Merideth.

“Everything will be as you wish when you join us,” he told Oliver.

“Somehow I doubt that.”

* * * *

Merideth huddled in a plush chair made for two. Her heart pounded against the knees she clutched to her chest. Her back to the wall, she had a good view of the staircase and all the exits in the huge open floor. There were a lot of them. One wall was all windows and doors leading to the pool and gardens beyond. The house was dark except for scattered security lights strategically nestled in the palm trees, bougainvillea, rosebushes, and sage surrounding the house.

This was a house built for entertaining, a place legendary for its security and privacy. Security Lucas had breached in less than a minute. Merideth should have known better than to think he’d ring the doorbell. God only knew what he was trying to prove by breaking and entering. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that with that act, he’d destroyed the illusion of safety she’d felt stepping back into Oliver’s world.

Oliver wouldn’t be happy with the invasion either. For all she knew, he had Lucas stripped, hog-tied, and prepped for a taste of the flogger. So much for asking Lucas to help her approach him. Merideth should have found the courage to ask Oliver herself. It would have been a step in the right direction, a move toward healing, toward retaking control over her life. Lucas had shown up at her door exactly when she’d needed him most. It was so much easier to let him take charge. To hold her through the night and keep the demons at bay.

She rested her forehead on her knees. God, she was tired. They’d gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch the flight from New York that took forever to depart and then were stuck in Dallas for eight hours. The trip was a last-ditch, desperate attempt to get her life back, her
self
back. Because Lucas alone sure as hell couldn’t help her recapture what she’d lost. But then, hadn’t that magic faded long ago? Swallowed in record time by the monotony of their lives, professional obligations, and complacency? Their physical and emotional separation had built for months before they’d called it quits.

Still, Lucas had come to her when he’d heard what had happened. Agreed to get Oliver. In fact, he’d taken that ball and run with it so fast that Merideth hadn’t had time to catch her breath. Or change her mind. She didn’t know if that was a show of his devotion to her or his way of assuaging his guilt over…everything. If only he knew how much guilt she carried. Some secrets were best left unshared.

The soft thud of footsteps on the carpeted staircase pulled her head up. He was nothing more than a shadow in the dark, but Merideth recognized Lucas’s lean form. He trotted down the staircase. Lights clicked on when he reached the bottom, chasing all the dark away and the hidden monsters with it. Relief eased into her body. The tension tightening his jaw brought it back.

She put her feet on the floor and scooted to the edge of the chair when he neared. Lucas squatted before her and folded her hands between his. She emotionally latched on to that comfort, surprised at how much she’d missed it.

“Did he say yes?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. When he didn’t answer, Merideth wondered if she’d even spoken.

Finally Lucas shook his head. “He didn’t say no either.”

“You were wrong to approach him this way.” She stared at their hands, at the way he idly traced his thumb over her knuckles. Disconnected, distanced.

“He never would have talked to us otherwise.”

Lucas pulled in a breath, drew back, and rested their hands on her knees. He made eye contact, something so intimate it jolted through Merideth.

“You asked me to do this. Please, trust that I was right.”

His shoulders squared on a sharp breath that flared his nostrils. “Come.” He stood, pulling her with him. “We’re going to raid Oliver’s refrigerator.”

Merideth dug in her heels. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No, but my patience is teetering on the edge. We both need something to eat. Trust me. We’ll feel better for it.” He tugged her gently forward.

She jerked away. He snapped like he’d been slapped. The look in his eyes screamed hurt. Merideth was shocked at how quickly old wounds resurfaced. She really had no room to talk. She’d let Lucas down as much as he had her. Yet he was here now. Didn’t that say something?

Lucas released her hands and took one step, and then another, until two feet separated them. It might as well have been a canyon for all it signified. Nothing had changed. The undercurrents were only temporarily obscured by her dilemma. Well, their eyes were open now, all the ugliness bared like a festering wound.
She’d
done this.
She’d
caused this. She wanted to cling to him and beg his forgiveness.

“If that were my sub, someone would be over my knee by now.”

A voice from above, deep-timbred and no-nonsense. Their heads turned toward the top of the floating staircase. Oliver stood there, his forearms resting on the wooden banister. The darkness above kept her from seeing him clearly. Her imagination filled in the gaps. She’d seen the photos in the news and on the Web. He was a powerful man, in more ways than one.

Oliver walked into the light, looking like he was ready for a round of golf. His legs were tan, calves strong and well-defined. The barest hint of silver flashed in his dark blond hair. Long fingers grazed the banister as he moved closer and closer to them with every footfall down the stairs.

Merideth ordered herself to breathe. Her heart triple-timed; her body came alive. He still looked more delicious than the law should allow. Dread seeped in. Emotion was vacant in his expression. He was a Dom taking care of business. She scolded herself for imagining it would be otherwise. What had she been thinking? Yet this was what she’d asked for.

“Well?” Oliver stood before them, arms crossed, legs astride. He was no taller than Lucas’s six feet, yet he seemed like a giant hovering over them.

Oliver nudged past her and sank into the chair she’d vacated. Her body tingled from where he’d brushed her. Lucas’s body heat bathed her skin with warmth.

“You made an obligation to see to each other.” Oliver parked his elbow on the armrest and slowly traced his finger over his smooth chin. “And failed.”

Shaky breaths quivered through her. She mentally leaned into Lucas for support and focused her gaze downward, not in a show of submission, but because she couldn’t bear the intensity in Oliver’s eyes.

“Have things been so irrevocably lost you couldn’t trust Lucas to help you?” Oliver asked.

“He…he did help,” she managed to say. “He brought me to you.”

He stood as smoothly as he’d sat. Merideth backed up a step and smacked into Lucas. Lucas cupped her hip. That small sign of protection didn’t stop Oliver. He closed the space between them so fast, neither of them had time to move away.

“So he did, and I promise you, I haven’t lost my touch or control.”

He traced his finger along her collar, moved down to the first button of her shirt before idly going back up the other side.

“If anything, age has made me more…methodical.”