Liability Read online

  It was Mason’s bladder that awakened him some time later Friday morning. He didn’t even bother looking at the time on the cable box, or trying to figure out what the hell he’d done with his phone. He stood there in the bathroom, staring at the wall over the toilet while he peed, trying to remember the nightmare he’d awakened from.

  Freddie.

  Fucking Freddie, chasing him with a goddamned chainsaw or some bullshit, dressed like a groom and wanting to marry him or kill him, he apparently wasn’t picky which one.

  Fuck.

  Then his eyes widened as he remembered his encounter with the guy last night when he got home.

  That drove some sleep out of his system. He finished, shook, flushed, washed his hands, and grabbed a pair of running shorts from the hamper in the bathroom.

  It was a little after ten in the morning. He found his phone on the couch. He had good-morning texts from Cole and Kim, but no missed calls from work and no texts from work—cool.

  Several missed calls and no voice mails from Freddie, as well as a couple of dozen texts, the last one in the chain reading Sorry I bortered U. Talk L8R aftR U sleep.

  Between the horrendous typos and the text speak, Mason wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the guy.

  Mason grabbed his keys and headed out the front door. His car sat parked there, and it didn’t look like it’d been keyed or scratched. All four tires were inflated, both mirrors in place.

  Walking around behind it, he saw the taillights were still intact and unbroken, nothing amiss with his shiny new Florida manatee plate that he’d opted for when he’d registered his car.

  Nothing apparently wrong with it. He had a locking gas cap, so he knew that unless Freddie had fucked with his brake lines or something, he couldn’t have dumped anything in his gas tank.

  Looking around, he didn’t see anything out of place, no sign of Freddie’s car, or what he’d been driving in Nebraska, at least. An old Chevy something or other that had seen better days.

  But it wasn’t parked anywhere around that Mason saw.

  He couldn’t remember seeing it there the night before, either, but he’d been so exhausted and out of it that Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster could have been performing fellatio on each other on top of a UFO in the next parking space with Elvis running crowd control and he wouldn’t have noticed it.

  Making his way back inside—remembering to lock the front door behind him—he found his work cell and checked it. A few routine morning status reports in addition to the paperwork tornado triggered by the problems with the downtime, but nothing he couldn’t let sit until he’d gotten another couple hours of sleep.

  He quickly texted Kim and Cole in a group text so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. Fortunately, they’d both already understood that things were a disaster at work and that he’d be out of contact for a while.

  And neither had sent him snippy texts, either.

  God, I love those two.

  On his way back to bed, he scrolled through Freddie’s other texts. Since he’d put the guy on mute status on his phone, he hadn’t even noticed any of the texts the night before. It’d been so nice to have several days of absolutely no texts from Freddie.

  Several of the texts were asking where he was, what he was doing, that kind of thing. Hints that, since Mason now knew Freddie was in Florida, he could tell exactly what they meant.

  Fuck.

  He was beginning to get seriously creeped out now. Unfortunately, he was also still too exhausted to try to ponder the full implications.

  He put both phones on their chargers on the bedside table and had just gotten to sleep when his work phone buzzed.

  Fuckity fuckballs.

  Blindly reaching for it, he snagged it without knocking his personal cell off the table, dragged it to his ear, and somehow answered it.

  “Mason Lange.”

  “Sorry to bother you, Mason, but we have a problem.”

  It was one of his weekend supervisors, a guy who’d been scheduled to come in today to cover for the downtime crew getting the day off. Except it looked like none of them would get the day off. A new process added during the downtime had suddenly halted, and restarting it hadn’t fixed the problem.

  Worse, it had triggered another cascade effect they were having trouble getting in front of. There was already a page out to the team responsible for the software, but it was serious enough that it was starting to affect web customers and meant that Mason had to be involved in the callout.

  Rolling onto his back, Mason stared up at the ceiling. “Okay. Give me about twenty minutes to get vertical and caffeinated and out the door, and I’ll join the conference bridge on my way in to work.”

  So much for more sleep.

  He started the coffee and jumped into the shower while it was brewing. By the time it was finished, he was dressed and ready to go. No shave this morning, they’d have to put up with the rugged look from him as he managed to not dump his travel mug of coffee all over himself getting into the car and pulling out.

  A brief second of panic hit him before he glanced over and realized he’d clipped his ID badge for work to the passenger side visor the night before. He unclipped it at the first stoplight and attached it to his belt loop, where he usually wore the retractable holder. He preferred it to a lanyard, because he’d had a nasty habit of almost accidentally strangling himself with those before for some reason.

  As he sipped his coffee and drove to work, his work phone in speaker mode on the conference bridge call, the furthest thing from his mind was Freddie’s bullshit.

  It was nearly four o’clock that afternoon by the time they had that new problem solved, and Mason hadn’t even begun to dig into handling the reports and writing the overview of what had happened during the downtime.

  And it was supposed to be his movie night with Kim and Cole.

  Aw, dammit.

  The last thing he wanted to do was cancel on them. The second last thing he wanted to do was cancel on them via text message. He couldn’t make it another late night and be able to drive home, and at this point, his Saturday night plans with Kim and Cole were looking dicey as well, if they kept having problems like this at work. Tonight he planned on leaving work by six, taking his laptop home, working on the planned conference bridge call while trying to hammer out reports on his laptop, and then collapsing at some point.

  He stepped into a private conference room where he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing him and closed the door behind him before he called Cole.

  “Hey, you,” Cole said. “Knew you’d pop your head up eventually. Everything okay?”

  He slumped into a chair. “No, buddy, it’s not.” He gave the man a quick overview of the electronic excrement that had hit the ventilation device—not even getting into the Freddie part of the equation—and ended with, “I’m really sorry, but I’m too tired to go out tonight, and I have too much to do. If I don’t do this, it’ll mess up tomorrow night for us.”

  “It’s okay, seriously. Work has to come first.” Mason loved that Cole’s voice sounded completely sincere, not a hint of whiny tone or passive-aggression. “I’ll tell Kim for you. You sound like you were run through a woodchipper.”

  “I feel like it. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember when I ate last. I think it was last night. You don’t have to do the dirty work for me, though. I’ll call her and break the news to her. I owe her that much.”

  Especially since, the more he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually talked to her on the phone that week, or if he had even talked to her since Sunday.

  Shit. Bad Dom, no cookie.

  “I’m not far from your place,” Cole said. “Can I at least pick you up something for dinner on my way home and bring it over to you and drop it off? I’m worried about you. You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t eat.”

  Mason started to say no before he paused. He hadn’t seen either of them since Sunday, and
it was already Friday.

  And he might have to cancel Saturday on them at this rate.

  Dammit.

  He’d admit it. He was selfish. He didn’t want to cancel on them tonight, even though he had to get some work done or else he would have to cancel Saturday night.

  The easiest solution hit him. “Would you two mind coming over to my place tonight and just spending the night there? I might not be able to do more than sit on the couch and stare at my work laptop, but maybe Kim could cook us dinner.”

  Cole chuckled. “That sounds like a great plan. She would jump at that.” His tone changed. “And so will I. She’s been trying to do stuff for me all week. I’ve tried to take up the slack for her, but it’s not working out well for either of us without you in the mix. I know you’re not going to be in Dom mode tonight, but I think even just sitting there next to you with her head on your feet would make her feel better. Getting to cook and serve you dinner would probably make her over-the-moon happy.” He hesitated. “And I miss you, too.”

  More unintended guilt. No, with the prep time for this whole shitstain of a downtime, Mason had been barely able to think that week, much less do more with Kim than their ritual texts, or trade texts with Cole.

  “Okay, then that’s our plan,” he told Cole. “You guys come over at eight tonight. Let her cook us whatever she wants, plan to stay the night, both of you, and we’ll go out for breakfast in the morning at some point.”

  “Thanks.” Another pause. “And if you want a neck rub before you collapse later, I’d be happy to do that.”

  Mason’s eyes closed as he imagined the feel of the man’s firm hands on his flesh.

  Cole’s mouth around his cock.

  Yeah, this was not a permutation he’d ever imagined. He hadn’t had time lately to think, but with the situation brought into bright, clear focus…he did love both of them.

  Was in love with both of them. With Cole as a partner and a lover, and with Kim as his kinky little masochistic slave pet. Differently, but just as deeply in various ways.

  “Hey,” Mason said. “Thanks for being so patient with me this week.” He jumped without looking. “Love you. Sorry it’s taken me so long to say that, but I love you.”

  He heard Cole’s soft sigh escape over the line. “Love you, too, Mase. I’ll tell her about tonight for you.” A smile entered the man’s voice again. “And you know she’s going to ask me what she should cook. I have no preference what we have.”

  “Then please tell her to make my favorite.”

  “You’ve got it. See you in a few hours.”

  “Yeah.” When they ended the call, Mason sat back in the chair and set the phone facedown on the conference table. He didn’t want to look and see Freddie’s texts from the night before, and he hadn’t deleted them yet.

  He didn’t want to see if there were more texts and voicemails today. Right now, he just wanted to process that little bit of heaven wrapped up in a very simple phone conversation with Cole.

  No, he absolutely did love Cole and Kim. With so many of their friends being poly, it wasn’t like it was unheard of. Once he could get past this whole stupid downtime and its problems, he’d sit both of them down, tell them how he felt, and see what they wanted the next step to be.

  Answers my question.

  He’d fished in the right pond and reeled in the catch of a lifetime. He could marry either one of them. Or they could marry each other and he’d collar her permanently.

  That’d have to be a joint decision.

  I love them.

  A quiet, easy peace settled over him.

  I. Love. Them.

  Not just loved them as friends, or as lovers, but was in love with them. Both of them. Something deeper than he’d ever felt before. He’d loved before, been in love before, been infatuated and lustful and all sorts of emotions in between tepid like and fiery passion.

  But nothing had ever felt like this. Like the path had finally led him to his true destination.

  Like he’d finally found his true home.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cole stared at his phone. He thought Mason sounded like shit, and that worried him. He suspected his man was on the verge of collapsing, as hard and much as he’d been working.

  If it wasn’t for the fact that he selfishly wanted to see Mason, and knew Kim wanted to see him, he would have made sure Mason went home, got some sleep, and maybe even cancelled Saturday night’s plans so Mason would rest.

  And then Mason crossed “the line.”

  Said the words.

  It was both the same and different, at the same time, the level of love Cole felt for Kim. Just as deeply.

  He called her, wanting to catch her before she left work so she’d have time to go by the grocery store on her way home.

  “Good news or bad news?” he asked after she answered.

  He almost giggled at her sad tone of voice. “Bad news.”

  Maybe I do have a little sadistic streak in me after all. “Mason’s had a really rough couple of days at work and needs to cancel going out tonight if he wants any hope of being able to go tomorrow night.”

  “Oh.” He heard her sigh. “Well, what’s the good news?”

  “Mason said we can come over and spend the night with him tonight, and you can cook us dinner. Before you even ask, he said make his favorite. I’m assuming he meant your meat loaf. But he has to actually work while we’re there.”

  She was already squeeing, though. “You ass. I thought this was bad news!”

  He chuckled. “Did you just call me an ass, pet?”

  “Sorry,” she quickly said. “I didn’t mean that!”

  “Uh-huh. That’s okay,” he said, definitely warming up to his inner junior sadist. “I’ll tell him you said that and let him deal with it.”

  She let out another squeak. “Sorry. Love you.”

  He fought the urge to giggle out loud. “Love you, too, sweetheart. I’ll be at your place at seven thirty to pick you up. Shop on the way home and be packed and ready to go to Mason’s when I get there.”

  “Yes, s—” She caught herself. “Okay.”

  “If you want to call me sir, especially after the week we’ve had, it’s okay. I just don’t want you to think I’m farther along in this than I am.”

  “I know. It’s okay.” Another hesitation. “Are you really okay with this?”

  He thought about the way Mase had said I love you earlier. Kim might have gotten to fuck the man first, but Cole was happy to be first in this way, even if it was just a technicality. “Sweetie, I’m really okay with this.”

  “You’re not jealous?”

  “Are you?”

  Her voice went even softer, kind of what she sounded like close to subspace. “Is it okay for me to say I think it’s fun watching you two together?”

  He chuckled. “Well, it’s usually fun for me watching you two together, too. I won’t lie and say that I like watching the heavier play you two do, but I’m getting more used to it. I like reaping the benefits of the aftermath from both of you. That part’s a lot of fun for me.”

  “And we’re both horny then,” she added.

  “Well, there is that. That’s a good bonus for me.” Hell, his cock was already at half mast just thinking about it. Maybe Mase would enjoy a show between the two of them tonight.

  I can only hope.

  * * * *

  Mason finally shut down his laptop a little after eleven. He still had to sit in on a conference bridge call, where the vendor’s tech department was feverishly trying to figure out why their equipment was suddenly flipping out on them. It had been narrowed down to a firmware problem, but just what, no one could tell them yet. The vendor’s tech department was trying to replicate the problem on their end.

  First making sure his phone was on mute, Mason pulled Cole in for a long, lingering kiss. Staring into Cole’s gorgeous blue eyes, he knew he was head over heels into the man. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Mase.”


  Then Mason reached down and hooked a finger through the front D-ring on Kim’s collar and tugged, making her sit up and look up at him.

  “I love you, too, pet,” he said, enjoying the way her eyes widened in surprise.

  “I love you, too, Sir.”

  “I want to have some talks this weekend. The start of some serious talks. All three of us. Together.” He looked up at Cole. “We’ve only officially been together-together for a month, and I’m not saying we should all move in together tomorrow. But I love both of you. I’ve never felt more sure about anything. I’d like to start talking about where we’d like to go from here in the future.”

  He made a point of focusing on Kim’s brown eyes. “For starters, I want our little group to be it. Just the three of us, and no one else. Except maybe if it’s a case of a play technique I don’t know and we talk about it first. But no sex, no sexy play, and no regular play partners outside our pack.”

  She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

  He looked back to Cole for confirmation. “Hey, no complaints from me,” Cole said with a gorgeous smile. “Between the two of you, I’m exhausted in the happy way.”

  Mason leaned in and kissed Kim. “Pet, go get the little red acrylic paddle from my bag. That one you don’t like.” He released her collar and she went to do it without complaint or question.

  Mason reached up and palmed Cole’s bulge, which hardened under his hand. “If I signal to be quiet because I have to take the mute off, be quiet.” He smiled. “But I think our girl needs a few marks on her before we collapse tonight.”

  She returned, knelt in front of him, and held up the paddle.

  “Good girl.” He took it from her and laid it on the couch next to him before sitting forward and sliding off his shorts. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. “Hands and knees. Get to work on my cock.”

  She practically dove for his member, which was already starting to harden. After kissing Cole again, he said, “Well, get naked and fuck her, buddy.”

  Cole grinned. “Don’t want me to save it for you?”

  “Maybe I’ll fuck one out of you in the morning while you’re fucking her,” he said.