Two Doms For Angel (18 page)

She seemed beyond the sound of his
voice as she continued to thrash out of control. From the corner of
his eye, he saw the door open to reveal Monroe.

“
Here, tie her hands and
secure them over her head. Then get her legs.”

Monroe handed over two skeins of rope,
then levered his chest across hers, compressing the air from her
lungs as she was secured. Her terrified screams didn’t let up even
when Zach knew she was having difficulty breathing.

“
Hold her tight, Zach.”
Monroe covered her nose and mouth with his hand, cutting off her
incoming supply of air.

She fought harder. Her eyes were
crazed, and reminded Zach of nothing so much as a panicked,
captured animal.

“
What the fuck are you
doing?” Zach demanded.

Monroe ignored him. He let his hand
slip off her nose at the same time as he pinched her nostrils
closed with his other hand. He grasped her jaw hard, covering her
mouth with his. He forced air into her lungs, then covered her
mouth again with his hand.

His lips went close to her
ear.

“
Love, it’s me,” he said, in
a low but firm voice. “I’m going to breathe for you.”

He uncovered her mouth and Zach could
see the strain of muscles on Monroe’s back when he pressed down on
her chest again, allowing the previous air to leave her lungs. Then
his mouth covered hers and her chest expanded once more.

He repeated the process several times.
Her arms relaxed, but Zach wasn’t sure if it was a lack of oxygen
or if she was coming back to them.

“
It’s both,” Monroe said,
never taking his eyes off of Angel as he answered the question Zach
didn’t even realize he’d spoken aloud.

“
Has it been this bad
before?”

“
Yes. When she first came
here, but once she began sleeping in my bed, the dreams came less
often, and less severe.”

“
Did you even think about
warning me?”

“
Obviously, this didn’t
happen while I was away.”

Monroe’s mouth covered hers again,
breathing into her lungs. The crystal-blue eyes peering back at
them went dreamy, but Zach could tell she was finally aware of
them. Her eyes blinked, and tears began traveling down her
face.

“
Shhh, love,” Monroe
whispered. “We’re here.”

Her head nodded slightly up and down.
The hands holding her mouth and nose released, and Monroe’s head
lowered. This time his mouth met hers in one of the most sensual
kisses Zach had ever seen.

Zack began removing the ropes from her
legs, and then moved up the bed to her hands while Monroe placed
light kisses to her face and neck, his hands caressed her body,
stroking her gently.

“
Just breathe, love,” Monroe
said, smiling down at her as he stroked her face. “I’m going to
take you to my bed—”

But the stricken look on Angel’s face
brought Monroe up short, and he glanced at Zach
anxiously.

“
Zach can come with us,”
Monroe said. “My bed is big enough for all of us.”

Zach couldn’t help his scowl; he wasn’t
sure what Monroe had in mind, but the idea of sharing a bed with
him, even to comfort Angel, made him anxious. Then he saw the way
her whole body relaxed at Monroe’s suggestion, and he pushed his
own misgivings aside. She needed them both, and he would do
anything for her right now.

“
Can you carry her,
Zach?”

Monroe stood and moved out of the way.
Zach came around and picked her up, pulling her face against his
chest, and carried her out of the room to Monroe’s bed.

Placing her gently on the sheets, Zach
wondered what in the hell he was doing. He should just turn and go.
But the sight and sound of her terror had shaken him badly, and he
couldn’t bear the idea of leaving her.

Monroe walked into the bathroom and
then came back with a damp hand towel.

“
Close your eyes, love. I
need to wash the scratch on your face.”

Zack watched, marveling that the hands
that were lethal in a fight and amazing with rope, could be so
incredibly gentle as they cared for the woman both men
loved.

Zach didn’t want to be here. He had to
get out of the room. He actually took a step toward the door but
Monroe’s voice stopped him.

“
Zach, don’t be an ass. I
need sleep, and she needs the security of having us both here. With
Angel between us, and being exhausted in the bargain, I think I can
keep my hands to myself.”

Zach detected a slight sense of warning
in Monroe’s words. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and
crawled in beside Angel. Now he could get a better look at the
puffy, ragged line running down her face. She did not open her
eyes, only breathed softly and steadily.

Zach placed his hand on her stomach and
ignored Monroe’s low grunt. He needed to touch her, and Monroe
needed to back off.

“
I never said
I
would keep my hands to
myself.” Zach’s words lightened the thick tension in the
room.

Monroe finished up and returned the rag
to the bathroom. He crawled into the bed, pulling the sheet up and
over them. His arm went under Angel’s head and he smoothed away the
tangled hair from her face. “What was your dream about,
love?”

“
It was the same.” Her eyes
remained closed, and her voice was soft and sleepy.

“
Go to sleep. Zachery and I
will keep you safe.”

Zach adjusted the pillow beneath his
head, keeping his hand over her stomach. He wondered about the
nightmare. He’d experienced a small part of the horror she’d lived,
but he had no idea of the true extent of her suffering. Obviously,
Monroe knew.

It took a while for his thoughts to
stop racing and sleep to finally grab hold. His last thoughts were
of Monroe’s mouth on Angel’s. If Zach removed the image of Angel’s
terrified eyes when Monroe began breathing for her, it was one of
the most erotic things Zach ever witnessed.

He fell asleep with a stiff
cock.

Chapter Thirty-two

It was early and Angel lay curled up on
her side, spooned into his body. The other side of the bed was
empty. Zach disentangled himself and went to find
Monroe.

It was time to talk.

When the usual places failed, he went
into the den. Monroe sat in his large overstuffed chair drinking
from a half-filled tumbler. He didn’t acknowledge Zach, just
brought the glass to his slightly swollen lip, and took a deep
drink, draining the glass.

“
I know it’s five o’clock
somewhere, but even for you, this is a little
excessive.”

“
I will agree with
you.”

“
Are you in
pain?”

That laugh, the one that vibrated
throughout Zach’s body, was his answer.

“
Do you mind if I ask how
much you’ve had?”

“
Not enough.”

This was not the Monroe Zach knew. The
man was birthed from an alien life form, maybe the combination of
Mr. and Mrs. Spock.

Zach sat in the other chair and decided
to keep quiet. He rested his head back against the plush material
and let his eyelids fall shut. Through the years he’d realized
being close to Monroe was an exercise in patience.

“
She loves you,” Monroe said
finally.

“
You knew how I felt about
her.”

“
That’s why I kept tabs on
her. Did she tell you about her friend?”

“
You mean the one who killed
herself? Yes, she told me.”

“
In her culture, it’s the
honorable thing to do.”

“
Do we need to worry about
Angel’s family doing the honorable thing for her?”

“
No, that’s been taken care
of. Hooriya Amin Kassis died of a drug overdose. Angel Philips has
lived around the world. Her mother was American, and her father,
Spanish. She is educated and holds a degree in English
Literature.”

“
I take it you pulled
strings?”

“
Yes.”

“
So explain why Angel
Philips is your slave?”

The silence stretched on while Monroe
poured himself another helping of amber liquid, then took a long
slow pull.

“
She was terrified when she
came here. She thought I meant to kill her. I remember the look in
her eyes. She was so afraid, but I think she actually yearned for
me to take her life.”

The tumbler traveled back to his lips
and tipped. Zach watched Monroe’s Adam’s apple move as the liquid
traveled down his throat. He so often found himself mesmerized by
this man.

“
Even after I told her about
you, it was obvious she didn’t want to live. I had no intention of
teaching her the finer points of BDSM when I found her. I actually
hadn’t planned to bring her here, either.

“
You just happen to carry
sleeping medication with you wherever you go?” Zach couldn’t keep
the disdain from his tone but Monroe ignored it and
continued.

“
The first week she was
here, she existed in an almost ghost-like state. I’d seen it
before, overseas: shock, self-loathing, and shame. She didn’t cry
and barely noticed what happened around her. I received a slight
change of behavior when I talked about you, but it was short lived.
Her nightmares became worse and I finally moved her into the room
connected to mine. I surrounded her with your pictures. It
helped.”

Zach wasn’t ready to talk about the
pictures.

“
So you figured if you beat
her a little bit, she might come around more?”

Zach watched as Monroe’s hand tightened
on the glass. It was the first reaction that Zach had seen since
entering the room and he held his hands up in apology when Monroe’s
eyes found his. Zach wondered if Monroe’s look really could
kill.

“
She asked about the ropes;
she was fascinated. So, actually, it started with Shibari. When I
bound her, she talked. It was almost as if binding her, set her
free. I realized I used the rope in the same way. They’ve always
set me free.”

“
Rope work and slavery are
fairly far apart.”

“
I’m not so sure. When I
create, I hold my model’s life in my hands. It’s the ultimate power
exchange. It even worked with you.”

The last of the alcohol left the glass
but this time Zach didn’t watch. The words tore from his throat.
“I’m not your slave.”

“
No, you are not. How simple
this situation would be if you were.” The tumbler hit the table. “I
remember you at twenty-five.”

“
We’re not that far apart in
age.” Zach had to do something to change the subject.

“
Oh, we are decades apart in
age. We are also miles apart in our feelings for each
other.”

Zach let out the breath he held. “I
told you many years ago that I wasn’t gay.”

The laugh was back but this time it had
an undercurrent of anger.

“
My feelings go past sexual,
Zach. They always have. You’re the one who insists on putting love
in a box. I rescued Angel for you, but then she rescued me. I have
no plans to give her up.”

“
Then I should
leave.”

“
And that’s always been your
answer. You run.”

“
What exactly do you want
from me?”

“
That’s easy.” Monroe’s
brown eyes came back up and pierced into Zach’s. “I want it
all.”

Zach couldn’t stay still.
Standing up, he paced the room. He wanted so badly to run, but
Monroe was right; running
was
always his answer.

But he was older now, he told himself,
more mature. That made him laugh; maturity had nothing to do with
it. He was scared shitless. His hand went through his
hair.

“
When you say these things,
Monroe, all I can think about is sex and it’s not my thing. I’m a
kinkster for Christ’s sake. I admitted it years ago. I have no
problem with homosexuality or any of the other shit involved in
this lifestyle, but being with a man doesn’t do it for
me.”

“
What about a woman and a
man?”

“
Is there a
difference?”

“
I think there could be. She
needs us both and we need her. I’ve touched you, Zach, and you got
over it many years ago.”

“
I never got over
it.”

Those damned eyebrows rose. “No, I
guess you didn’t but neither did I.”

“
I can’t believe we’re
having this conversation.”

“
I can’t believe it’s taken
this long.”

“
You actually think a
threesome will work for us?” The anger he felt came through loud
and clear.

“
No, I don’t think a
threesome
will work. It’s
more than that. I want you to marry her.”

Now it was Zach’s turn to
laugh.

“
So now you’re picking my
bride. Is there any facet of my life you could manage not to
control?”