I sat on the bed next to Rex, careful not to put pressure on his injuries. “Penny, you’re going to have to help with the meds. Nate can’t be around the kind of shit I’m going to be on—it has to stay locked in the medical room. Under no circumstances do you let Nate have access to that area, are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” I answered to the domineering Rex. I knew, and Nate knew, he shouldn’t be around prescription strength painkillers.
“And do not let him give me a sponge bath!” I giggled as he took my hand in his. “Nate wanted to leave us—let us be a regular couple,” Rex said with a grimace.
“I overheard from the hallway. I worry that he doesn’t know how much I love him. How do I ever show you both that my love is equal, that—”
“Love isn’t a finite quantity, sweetheart,” he interrupted. “Our love, the three of us, is threefold because we share it—multiplied not divided. Our way may not work for everybody, shit it wouldn’t work for most people, but for us, it just is. It’s right and perfect. Nate got off-track in trying to fit us square pegs into round holes, that’s all.”
“I love you both so much,” I said as his hand wrapped around mine.
With a sigh, Rex explained, “He wants us happy—but I need him in the equation to be happy. I don’t feel like I’m sharing either of you. The three of us together, however that shakes out, is what I want. Maybe if I’d met you first, I wouldn’t see it that way. But, honestly—I wouldn’t have let you in if Nate hadn’t already broken down that barrier. Without him, I never would have allowed myself to love you.”
“We just need to get back home, together,” I answered.
The next day, we piled into the large, overly-chilled van, driven by one of the security guards rather than the fired Rodrigo, and took Rex home. He was his old-bossy self, only moving a little slower. “I hope you can cook, Penny, because I’m not allowing staff inside the house ever again. No maid, no cook, no—”
“I don’t know how to cook!” I protested.
“You can Wiki it or something—because I like to eat.”
“You’re sexist. How come Nate doesn’t have to cook?”
“Nate can cook. I just liked the image of you scurrying around the kitchen in a skimpy little apron. Maybe cleaning the house in a tiny French maid outfit…”
“Now we’re talking,” Nate said with a poke to my thigh.
“Fuck you both,” I spat out.
“You will, princess, very soon. And don’t forget I’m still well enough to spank your fine ass if you can’t control your tongue.”
“I control my tongue just fine,” I flirted.
“Well, that I’d like to see again soon,” he winked.
Nate’s arm continued to heal as we cared for Rex. I controlled the meds, which Nate never questioned. We took turns night and day ensuring Rex was taken care of, and yes, I did cook. A week after we brought him home, Rex asked me to cut his meds in half, and then a few days later, to cut them entirely. He had some pain as his body adjusted to being off the heavy opiates, but he fought through it.
One afternoon, a few days after going off the meds, Rex called me into his room. With a pat he motioned for me to sit next to him on the bed. “Hey sweetheart, you asked me about calling your father. My brain has been muddled, but is that something you still want to do?”
“Yes,” I answered eagerly. “I’m sure he’s been a worried wreck…”
“Just realize he doesn’t know anything more than that you ran off with Nathaniel Slater on a getaway. Us taking you, I’d rather you skip that part.”
“I-I hadn’t thought about that. You don’t think he’d understand why you did it? He should know about the—”
He shook his head and placed his hand on my knee. “No, Penny, he wouldn’t understand. Your father would love to use that as an excuse to harm me. We have some history, he and I. That’s one of the reasons I freaked when Nate took you. That’s why they tried to hire me to kill his daughter.”
“History?”
“Princess, I haven’t gone into it because I know you love your father. But…he’s deep into the drug cartels here, laundering their money. I, well I was on the other side of that, trying to bring him down. He wouldn’t know who Roger Renton is, but he sure as hell will go ape shit if you mention Rex in Colombia, get my drift?”
I sat silently. It was hard for me to accept that my father was a criminal, but I knew it was true. “Do you think my mother knew?” I said barely above a whisper.
“I don’t know.” He rubbed my knee, waiting for me to absorb the truth about my father.
“I’ll call him, but leave you out of it.”
“Use the phone in my office—the black one. Dial this code first,” he wrote some numbers on a notepad and handed it to me. “It’ll make the line untraceable.”
I took the paper with the cryptic numbers into Rex’s office and picked up the black phone on his desk. I keyed in the sequence of numbers, and after an odd dial tone, dialed my father’s cell number. He picked up on the fourth ring.
“Dad? It’s Penny.”
“Penelope, where the fuck are you?”
“Oh, I—I’m in…I’m with Nate Slater, do you remember him?”
“Yeah, good luck with that. He’s way out of your league. He’ll dump you faster than a hand of Blackjack.”
Same old Dad. “Well, we’re together now. I plan to stay with him, unless you…”
“No, that’s great. Spend his money instead of mine. It’ll keep you out of my hair until he tires of you and tosses you back. Good luck, I guess.”
“Dad, um, is there any way you can have someone send my passport and stuff to me?”
“I’ll have them pack up all of your shit, Penelope. Hospitality could really use your penthouse to comp whales with. Where do you want your belongings sent?”
“Uh,” I paused. I couldn’t have it sent here. “His father’s house in Wilson, North Carolina. I think I have the address here, can you hang on a sec…”
“We’ll 411 it.” He was quiet for a moment before adding, “I hope you’re happy with him, Penny. I really do.”
“Thanks, Dad, I will be. I love you.”
“Love ya, too. Gotta go, there’s trouble on the floor. Some freaking autistic card counter is cleaning out the house. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Yeah, Dad, sure thing.” The line went dead.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked him.
“Oh, baby, I’m more than ready—I’m about to explode. I need you.”
Rex had been home from the hospital for a while, and he was healing fast. Because the wound was abdominal, he hadn’t had sex other than a few strained blowjobs. Nate and I felt guilty, but not guilty enough not to fuck like rabbits whenever the recovering Rex wasn’t around. While eating dinner, cooked by Nate, Rex called us out on our sneaky sex. As he popped a meatball into his mouth, he asked, “When do I get back in on all the fucking that’s going around?”
“Fucking?” Nate asked, his cheeks blushing in a guilty tell.
“Cut the shit, I get it. But I’m ready to re-join civilization.”
We both smiled wide—we’d missed him. Nate sipped his wine and answered, “Well, King Rex, let’s finish this food and wander over to Threesome Land.”
“Which position? I mean I don’t want to put any pressure on the incision—and the pull from when you—” I was looking at the shirtless Rex, the long cut from his surgery was almost fully healed, but inside there was still some pain.
“Fuck, Penny, cut out the clinical shit! It’s not turning me on. I want to be a man again, not a damn patient!”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice as sultry as I could manage. I slid my hands across his chest and around his broad back. “I want you so badly—I just worry about hurting you.”
“Let me worry about that, okay?” His lips brushed mine—the electric charge igniting from my tongue to my clit as he pulled me closer. “You are so beautiful,” he said into my ear. “I’m not waiting for Nate,” he breathed, slowly undressing me until I stood naked in front of him. My hands reached for his belt, pulling it from his jeans as I grappled for his fly. “It’s been so long… I need you inside me,” I moaned as I freed his hefty erection from the worn jeans. “I love you so much, Penny.” He stepped from the jeans and leaned back on the bed, my eager body following to straddle his wide hips. “This okay?” I asked, still nervous to hurt him. “It’s perfect,” he groaned as I sank onto him, my pussy straining to stretch quickly enough to take his full length. My lips found his as Nate, back from cleaning up dinner, undressed and crept behind me—his silky naked skin brushing against my ass as I was filled by Rex.
“I love you, Penelope,” Nate’s velvety voice said into my ear from behind. I leaned back to kiss him, torturing Rex beneath me with my stillness. “Do you want my cock or my tongue back here?” Nate growled as his cock lurched at the crack of my ass. “I want you to fuck me—I want you both at the same time.” Rex’s teased cock lurched inside of me—I’d never taken them together like that.