Chapter 136 A good man
“Pet,” Mordaine called from behind.
“Mm.”
“Does this remind you of the time I bound your tits?” He tugged on the lace, and my bust tightened. He looked up to meet my gaze in the mirror. “It does me.”
My cheeks reddened, and he seemed to love it because a wicked glint appeared in his eyes. Again, he tugged the lace and I inhaled this time.
“We have been mean.” he said, watching me. “We have been very mean to Hale.” My corset was all laced up, the dress hugging me snugly.
Mordaine leaned in from behind and lowered his head till his lips were by my ear. “I am aware of all the wicked things you want to do to both of them.”
“I…”
“Because I want to do those wicked things to them too. We’re much more similar than you realize, little wife.”
I stared with a slack jaw, uncertain whether there was a subtext here. Were his wicked things my wicked things? Not even at the height of my most intense fury would I have dreamed of tickling a person's feet while commanding them to maintain a partial shift but also to not orgasm.
I swallowed.
“Nevertheless,” he pulled away. “Hale is a good man, a good partner. Won’t you agree?”
My eyes softened then, as my chest tightened. My outburst earlier had been unnecessary and cruel. “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, he is.”
“We should be happy for him. For them. I mean, he is with Finn, not a stranger.” He traced the corset lace idly behind me, held my gaze for a second longer and then walked away.
When I finally emerged from the closet, all three men were in a tuxedo. They all looked up at once from different angles of the suite, and then froze. Hale was on the balcony, holding a glass of whiskey, likely. Finn looked up from where he was fixing his bowtie by the glass-walled fireplace, and Mordaine was sitting on the large bed, slipping his second pair of shoes on.
The cool hunger in their eyes made me flush, and instinct urged me to run and hide. Because, all three of them staring at me like this was overwhelming.
But I gripped my clutch tightly, and forced the sudden barrage of dirty images away from my mind. I cleared my throat noisily.
They unfroze and returned to their initial activities.
“Do you have a date?” Mordaine watched me walk towards one of the armchairs to take a seat. Breathing in this corset was almost a chore. Almost.
“A date?”
“Yes.” He straightened. “I presume that Caroline would be there with Kade, so who would be with you?”
I blinked. How had we missed that tiny but important detail? But did it matter who I went with? Was this an offer?
“I’ll be happy to go with you.”
He flashed me that bright boyish smile for the second time in one evening, and then rose to his feet. “I’ll be happy to go with you too, sweet wife.”
He moved towards my chair, stopped and then held a hand out. “But are you not forgetting something?”
A shiver ran through me as I placed my hand in his.
“The Miller boy still has his eyes set on you.”
Hale made a sound from the balcony at that moment. A mix between bitter laugh and a strangled sound. He had his back completely turned towards the suite now.
I almost bit my lip but stopped when I remembered my makeup. Hale was right to feel bitter emotions. I denied his request to tell Fentone the truth and end our courtship, but then I turned around and blamed him for getting in a relationship with Finn. Who did I think I was?
Mordaine raised my hand then and gave me a spin. He smiled when I stopped, wrapped an arm around my waist and led me to stand before the large mirror in the foyer.
“Mon amour. Finn.” He called out, holding my gaze in the mirror as his finger twirled lazily over the area of my belly button.
Both men appeared, stopping below the archway, broad shoulders blocking off the background behind them.
“This old dragon is feeling quite sentimental. Humor me and take pictures with us. I want a reminder of tonight.”
Hale frowned, those midnight blue eyes becoming even darker as his silver hair winked like the moon under the chandelier. But he reached for Finn's hand and they joined us.
“May I separate the happy couple?” Mordaine grabbed Finn by the hip and pulled him to stand to his right, and then gestured Hale to the left side of him. Because I was watching Finn the whole time, I saw how his cheeks burned red the moment Mordaine touched him.
He caught me watching him, and he blushed harder. I tore my gaze from him, but I shivered to find Hale had been watching me the whole time.
“The way you look right now, I could eat you up,” Mordaine whispered to Hale, a whisper that wasn’t really a whisper. And when Hale turned to him with eyes that burned, I wondered whether they needed privacy.
“Hand her your phone, Mon amour.” His arm was still around me from behind, pinning me in front of him, so I was in the middle of them all.
Our fingers accidentally brushed as Hale handed his phone to me. But this caused a deeper frown on his face.
My heart sank. Hale had never been this mad at me before.