“Because I didn’t just suggest it, did I? I was just going to go ahead and get one whether the two of you wanted it or not. Controlling everything like I always do when I told myself I wasn’t going to do that.”
“You think we don’t want the bed?” She was slightly confused.
He glanced away.
“He thinks we don’t want him,” Sloan told her calmly. “Not the real him. Not the man who is controlling and domineering.”
“Isn’t that who he
is?” she asked.
“Exactly,” Sloan replied.
“I can change,” James told her, looking slightly alarmed. “I told myself I’d be less commanding.”
She sighed. “All right, let’s get some things straight. First off, I love you both the way you are, and no one is changing. Got that?” She held her hand up as James started to speak. “Okay, maybe we haven’t lived together before. But we’ve spent a lot of time together during a stressful period. I saw plenty of your bossy ways then. I wasn’t scared of them then and I’m not now. And, yes, maybe you’ll get a bit overbearing at times. Do you know what I’ll do then?”
“What?” he asked, looking unsure.
“I’ll tell you. Because we don’t just retreat and not talk about stuff. Communication is going to be key in our relationship. So, no assuming you know how we feel about stuff. I happen to be totally in love with the idea of a new bed, and if you want to order it, go ahead.”
James was silent for a moment. “It won’t just stop with a bed.”
“I know, James,” she said softly. “I know who you are, and I love you. Will you piss me off? No doubt. I’m going to do the same to you, though. You going to walk away the first time I do something you disagree with?”
“No.”
“He’ll probably just spank your ass,” Sloan said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. “Not all problems can be solved with a spanking.”
“Yes, they can.”
“Does that mean I get to spank you?” she asked Sloan.
“You can try, darlin’. You can certainly try.”
Something eased inside him at their bantering. They really did want the real him. He’d often wondered if he’d been too damaged as a child to really know how to care for someone else.
But he loved these two. They were home. They were his. Always.
And as Sloan drew Kinley across his lap and started to playfully smack her ass, he found himself laughing and then diving in to help Sloan subdue their naughty, playful, darling sub.
Epilogue
“James Michael March, where the hell are you?”
James looked over at Sloan, who sat in the other armchair. The game they’d been watching was a rerun, and Sloan quickly turned off the television.
“I warned you,” Sloan said. “I told you she’d be pissed. You should have told her.”
The thought of Kinley angry at him didn’t fill him with worry as it once might have. Instead, he turned to greet her with a smile.
“Hello, baby, aren’t you looking beautiful today?”
She stormed into the media room. They’d decided to sell Sloan’s house and move into something a bit bigger and more secure. Something that made it easier for him to protect them all. This house had a large electronic gate, cameras, and a security system. And he slept better at night because of it.
Which is why, Kinley told him later, she and Sloan had agreed to the move. It was still hard to get used to the two of them putting him first when he’d always thought it should be the other way around.