Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)(44)

Nolan didn’t miss that Kenny didn’t call it a collar.

She nodded, looking down at it, touching the shark’s tooth with her finger.

“We can’t make you a lot of promises right now,” Kenny said. “But these two promises, we can make and we will keep. We won’t punish you, and we will protect you.”

She looked up and met Nolan’s gaze.

He remembered exactly how he’d felt the first time he’d looked into Kenny’s eyes and knew he loved the man. The visceral shot of adrenaline, the warmth spreading through him, the soul-deep certainty.

Fuck.

Falling in love with her was dangerous. She had a long road ahead of her, and she might not even want them like that when she got to the end of it.

Unfortunately, he knew.

He also knew he’d keep those two promises, too.

“Here’s our only other rule right now,” Kenny continued. “Never lie to us. We’ll never lie to you, and you never lie to us. Okay? No punishments, and no lying.”

“Yes, Sir,” she answered, still staring into Nolan’s eyes, and he wasn’t sure if she even realized what she’d said, what she’d added to the end of her response.

She leaned in and hugged him. Nolan looked into Kenny’s brown gaze and saw the mix of love and murder boiling there, too.

They were screwed. So, so f*cking screwed. She didn’t even know it.

She was living with two men who absolutely would, right or wrong, kill or die for her, who were falling headlong in love for her…

And who couldn’t dare admit it to her unless she made it to a healthier point in her healing and told them first.





After dinner, they let her help them do the dishes. Nolan noticed how after she’d recovered from the episode, she seemed lighter, happier.

And she frequently reached up and touched the necklace.

After dinner, they settled in on the couch to watch TV, Betsy snuggled between them, chatting, and talking, and then…

Then she went quiet. When Nolan looked, he realized she’d fallen asleep.

His gaze met Kenny’s.

Wow, Nolan silently mouthed.

Kenny sadly nodded.

He’d meant all of it, from her breakdown to how she’d literally passed out sitting there. Exhaustion, most likely.

Neither man had the heart to move and disturb her, but finally, around eleven, Nolan gently spoke. “Bets, sweetie, it’s bed time.”

She didn’t stir at first. He didn’t want to startle her by moving, but he and Kenny couldn’t spend the night on the couch with her, either. They had to work in the morning.

Kenny grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. “Sweetie, it’s time to go to bed,” he said.

She finally stirred, looking out of it.

“Bed time,” Nolan said.

She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

He wasn’t even sure if she was really awake.

Moving carefully, the men extricated themselves and stood, both holding a hand out to her.

She stared at them for a minute as if disoriented. For a moment, Nolan wondered if her concussion was having a sudden delayed effect on her.

“Did you both mean it?” she asked.

“Mean what?” Kenny asked.

“That the only rule is no lying?”

The men nodded.

“And no punishments?”

“No punishments,” Nolan said. “Maybe one day in the future if you ask nicely there might be funishment play, but never, ever any real punishments. Not from us. We don’t get off on that. If it’s not consensual, it completely kills the chubby,” he added, trying to lighten the mood.

That earned him a sleepy smile. She took their hands and let them help her up, then they escorted her to her bedroom door, but didn’t go any farther.

“Try to get some sleep tonight,” Nolan said.

“Thanks. You, too.” She reached up to the necklace. “Thank you for this. Both of you. It means a lot to me.”

They waited until she’d closed the door behind her before going to their own room. Inside, Nolan fell back onto their bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Holy. Fucking. Crap.”

Kenny collapsed next to him. “You can say that again. Who’d have thought a damn five-dollar necklace would bring her out of that?”

“You know we basically collared her tonight, right?”

“I didn’t call it a collar.”

“I know that and you know that, but I think for all intents and purposes, we just collared her. At least we did in her mind.”

Kenny rolled on top of him. “Would that be the worst thing in the world?”

Nolan couldn’t stop what he said next. “It is if she leaves us in the future even though we’re both in love with her already.”

Kenny stared down into his eyes, looking ready to refute that statement when he winced and sat up, straddling him. “Fuck,” he whispered. “I am in love with her. When the f*ck did that happen?”

Nolan propped himself up on his elbows. “I don’t know, but it did. Now we’re screwed.”

“Shit.” Kenny slumped back on his heels. “Tilly’s gonna f*cking kill us.”

“No, Tilly’s not going to kill us,” Nolan said. “We might feel like killing ourselves if we f*ck this up and either hurt Betsy or drive her away before she’s stable enough to even think about something like that with us, though. We have to be even more careful with her. Walk that line of friends and protectors without trying to nudge her into a relationship yet. Not now, anyways.”