They’d shared almost every woman until Ally had come along and started playing her games with Noah.
He wasn’t sharing Hope. James was going to show Hope that he was the man for her, and his brother could go to hell. If Noah wanted to watch his own downfall, then that just made him more of a masochist than James ever dreamed.
James pulled the truck up in front of the guesthouse.
“We’re not going home?” Hope asked.
James put the truck in park, and it shuddered as Noah hopped out of the bed. James unbuckled his seat belt and tried not to think about how much he liked the way she said the word home. “Trev has a room set up.”
Noah opened Hope’s door. “Trev McNamara, the ex-number one pick in the draft, has a playroom?”
“He’s a man of many talents.” James inwardly cursed. He should have been faster. He should have been the one to help Hope out.
Hope took Noah’s hand and let him help her out of the truck. “Trev used to play football? Nate said something about ESPN.”
It took all James had not to groan a little. Hope was going to need an education in way more than BDSM. “Baby, you don’t want much TV, do you? Trev was the quarterback for the San Antonio Bandits. He was considered the best QB in the last decade but…”
“He got involved with drugs.” Hope’s eyes trailed toward the house.
“So you have heard the story?”
Hope’s whole body seemed to sag a little. “More times than you know.”
“We don’t have to play here if you don’t want to.” Why was this so hard? He was smooth as glass with women, but now he felt like an idiot. He had no idea how to handle Hope, not really. He thought she would be submissive when it came to sex, but she damn straight wasn’t out of bed. She was prickly and too smart. He thought she saw straight through him, but she was opaque, something he could almost understand, but her truth was elusive.
She turned her face up, her hand skimming his cheek. “You like Trev, right? It doesn’t bother you that he had a problem?”
James was deeply confused. “No. I think the world of him. And if you want to judge him for his past…”
She put a hand on his lips, stopping him from talking. “I think what he’s managed to do is amazing. I admire him greatly.”
Thank god. For a minute he thought he’d been wrong about her. Hope had always seemed like a woman who wouldn’t judge those around her for their pasts. “I do, too. I trust him. Hell, he’s my partner.”
She went on her tiptoes. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before brushing her lips across his. “I would love to play with you, but you’ll have to be patient. Everything I know comes from eavesdropping on Jen and Rachel and Callie.”
“Hey, I taught you a little something.” Noah had taken a step back, his face closed off.
Hope laughed a little. “Sweetie, you threw me against a wall. I did learn to call you Sir, and that sex can be way more than I thought it was, but I didn’t get a lesson in being a sub. That’s what it’s called, right?”
She was interested. That was all he could ask for. “Yes, baby. There’s a Dominant partner and a submissive partner. The Dominant partner is responsible for the submissive’s safety and pleasure. Noah is way out of the game if he thinks that taking care of you includes screwing you against a wall where everyone in town can hear you.”
“She needed it.” Noah stepped up now, his face flushed. “You weren’t there at the beginning. You don’t know. She was panicking, and I couldn’t get her to talk.”
So Noah thought fucking her would solve all her problems?
Hope stepped between the two of them. “Stop. You two need to stop, or I’ll walk out of here.”
She meant it. It was right there in the stubborn way she held her jaw. She put herself right between him and Noah, her petite, five-foot-three-inch body tiny compared to theirs. She had a hand on both of their chests as though she could actually stop them if they decided to throw down.
“I don’t want to fight.” Noah sighed, and his hand went over hers as though keeping it over his heart.
Fuck. It was obvious that his brother was in deep. But James couldn’t let it go. He knew damn well he should, but the thought of not knowing what it felt like to sink into Hope McLean’s softness, to hear her calling out his name the way she’d called Noah’s, wouldn’t let him go.
“We’re not going to fight,” James promised. “But we are going to have a serious discussion about topping from the bottom.”
Hope’s lips curved up. “See, that sounds like fun.”
“Oh, she’s going to get in so much trouble,” a new voice said.
James looked up and noticed that at some point, Bo had walked out onto the porch. The guesthouse already had a new coat of paint and now boasted a cozy porch swing. James had seen Bo and Trev sitting there in the late afternoon after work was done for the day. They would sit and swing with Beth in between them, each man holding her hand or touching her hair.
“Trev is still dealing with the new guys. He asked me to show you around.” Bo tilted his blond head toward the door. “Unless you’re going to fight first.”
Hope dropped her hands and walked up the steps. “No fighting. But it is weird that we get a guide.”
Bo laughed. “Oh, honey, you haven’t seen weird yet. Look, I love my partner, and I’ve gotten used to play, but these fellas take all this stuff very seriously.”
“Protocol,” Noah said.
Bo pointed. “See, they use all sorts of big words, but it all comes down to the fact that they really like spanking a pretty ass and they’re control freaks. So come on in. The dungeon’s wide open.”
God, he was going to have to talk to Trev about his partner’s sarcasm. James followed Bo up the steps with Noah following behind him.
“Do you even remember how to behave in a dungeon?” James asked. Noah had been vanilla for years. He couldn’t see it any other way. Ally wouldn’t have allowed him to top her. No way.
“I’ve gone to a dungeon at least twice a week for the last three years. I probably know more than you now.”
He stopped his brother before they got to the hall that led to the dungeon. He was completely floored by the admission. “You cheated?”
He shouldn’t be shocked. He knew he shouldn’t. From what little he’d heard, Ally had given Noah hell and had several lovers. Still. He was shocked. His brother had always been adamant. When they were dating a girl, Noah never even looked at another woman. The thought of Noah cheating hurt.
Noah shook his head. “No. I haven’t touched another woman with my cock until earlier today. And I only did that because I care about Hope. Hell, man, I think I’m falling for her. I took vows. Just because Ally didn’t honor hers didn’t give me a free pass to let mine go. About two years in, I knew how fucked up my marriage was. I found a club. I became friends with the owner, and he let me work a couple of nights a week as a Dom. I never got off. I took care of subs. It was the only thing that made me feel needed.”
How hard had it been for Noah? James forced the question away. That wasn’t his problem. Noah had made his bed. But James couldn’t help the fact that his heart hurt a little at the thought of Noah all alone in the city. Noah’s words really penetrated, leaving James with another question. “You knew two years in but it was another three before you came home.”
“Yeah,” Noah admitted, his voice low.
Noah couldn’t have been too lonely if he was willing to spend three years in hell. If he had been willing to stay away until the money had finally dried up. “I’m letting you watch because Hope wants it, but you better obey the rules, brother.”