No, he and Connor weren't bis.e.xual and never would be. But there was an intimacy between them, nonetheless. They were partners, as true in their own particular kind of partnership as Jake and Adam Kendall were in theirs.

If they got what they'd both confessed to the other that they wanted-Emily Anne as their wife-then they would be life partners as well.

Mel remembered a time when he'd been on a stakeout with Caleb Benedict. Caleb had already introduced him to his brother and their wife, and told him a little about his family history.

He'd finally gotten up the nerve to ask the man if things in the bedroom got weird, sometimes. He'd been a young rookie cop trying to learn about the job-and about life-from his older and much more seasoned training partner.

He could still recall what Caleb had said, as if he'd just told him yesterday. He'd said, "Things are never weird, they're just the way they are. It takes a special kind of trust and a special kind of bond between men to share a woman. But when it's right, there is nothing else on G.o.d's earth quite like it for a man."

Mel thought he might have a glimmer of how that might be so. He didn't feel it yet. In fact, he did kind of feel weird. But knowing that others were able to find the sacred in this gave him hope.

He thought again to Caleb's qualifiers. They weren't there yet, but he believed that if he could build that kind of trust with any man, that man would be Connor Talbot. Tonight, especially, he had hope.

He had great hope.

"What if I want one, or both, of you, in the night?" Emily Anne pulled his attention back to the present. She'd turned from the bed and literally stepped into them both. She wrapped her arms around their waists, and looked up at Connor, and then turned her gaze on Mel.

"That would only be fair because one-or both-of us is likely to want you in the night, too."

"There's no right or wrong here, angel eyes. There's just the three of us, finding our way. If it's what we want, then it's right. I figure this bedroom-when we're in it together-is like a special place, a very private place where it's just us."

We really are on the same page.

Emily Anne gave them a slow, s.e.xy smile. "That's what I was feeling, and I thought I maybe I was being fanciful." She stretched up and kissed Connor, then she reached for him. Her body flush with his, he could feel the way her nipples bored tiny indentations in his chest. He returned her kiss, not at all surprised that his c.o.c.k began to harden. He didn't think there would ever come a time when this woman ceased to arouse him.

"Come on, precious. Let's get you tucked into bed between us."

Chapter 12.

Emily Anne stepped across the Victorian front porch and walked through the door of the historical old building that housed Discretion.

Now I understand why their sign out front clearly states that Discretion is adults only!

Soft light filtered in through the heavy white lace curtains that lined the large windows. Besides s.e.xy lingerie, apparel, jewelry, and shoes, the quaint interior was filled with antique gla.s.s counters displaying s.e.x toys and display racks with leather items she couldn't imagine the purpose of...but found she was curious about. Against one wall were several bookcases filled with books.

Rather than feeling like she'd entered a "s.e.x shop," the surroundings were intimate and inviting. Br.i.m.m.i.n.g with beautiful clothes and accessories, her fingers fairly itched to see and touch and buy. Emily Anne knew she'd found her new favorite place to shop. The aromas of new leather and scented candles gave the atmosphere a seductive aura.

"Good morning, Emily Anne. Welcome to Discretion," Summer Webster said as she stepped around the big antique oak counter by the front door. Clad in a dark teal maxi dress with a crisscrossing surplice bodice and bejeweled silver sandals, Summer was the epitome of voluptuous confidence as she clasped Emily Anne's hand.

She'd recognize the shop's owner on sight, of course, and gave her a big grin. "Good morning." She couldn't stop her gaze from tracking from one display to the next.

A gorgeous chemise in lavender vied with a beautiful c.o.c.ktail dress in turquoise for her attention. The cut of the skirt coupled with the wrap-around style of the bodice would look really good on her. She looked at Summer. "I don't know where to start!"

Summer hooked her arm through Emily Anne's. "That's easy. Just tell me what you need." Normally, a sales woman doing that would set her on edge and in fear for her pocketbook but Emily Anne felt like she was talking to a friend.

Emily Anne laughed. "Everything! I need underwear and outer wear and something else." She took stock of her surroundings. There was a pretty Hispanic woman, very obviously pregnant, clearly a colleague of Summer's, at the back of the shop. She seemed focused on setting garments on a hook by one of the change room doors, for an unseen customer. Emily Anne lowered her voice. "I need some ultra intimate items. Do you carry b.u.t.t plugs?"

Stop blushing, newbie!

Summer grinned, leaned closer, and lowered her voice as well. "Yes, and lube, too."

Emily Anne nearly sighed in relief. Considering her experience with Billy J, lube was definitely a "must buy" item. "Yeah, I'm definitely going to need some lube, won't I?"

Summer looked as if she was going to burst out laughing. "You can have just plain lube, or you can have flavored."

"Flavored?" She didn't need a mirror to know her face looked shocked. She was shocked.

"Mmhmm, it comes in strawberry, vanilla, and banana."

"Oh my G.o.d!" Emily Anne started to giggle, and for once she didn't even care that her cheeks had turned bright pink.

"Okay, let's start out easy and then deal with the toys in the end." Summer snickered, and Emily Anne realized she now felt completely at ease with the woman.

"That's funny...and bad."

"I know." Summer sighed. "I should behave and just put a plug in it."

Emily Anne burst out laughing. When she caught her breath again, she said, "I was so nervous about coming in here today. Now I'm not nervous anymore. Thank you."

"You're welcome! Seriously, there's nothing to be nervous or even shy about. We're sisters, aren't we? I mean, we have a lot in common, you and I, when you think about it."

While speaking, Summer used a tape measure and took quick, perfunctory measurements and made notes on a tiny notepad. "Just a side note, Emily Anne. Make sure your men know that I have your measurements and will keep a record of your preferences. So if they ever want to come visit the boutique and shop for you they don't have to worry about guess work. We also have a website if they'd like to shop for you online, instead."

"Do you have many men who shop in here for their women?"

Summer flapped her hand. "Honey, all the time. They're some of my best and most generous customers."

"I have a hard time imagining a man enjoying shopping for me." Emily Anne looked down at herself and placed her hand almost protectively over her soft belly, unconsciously wishing she was smaller.

Summer noticed the gesture and squeezed her shoulders. "Up until recently you probably also never thought you'd fall for two men, either. I've been where you are. Give it some time to let some of those negative messages you've had pounded into you be replaced by the truth. You're gorgeous."

Emily Anne thought of the years of teasing from so-called friends and all her cousins and aunts and even her mother, women who should have been supportive of her but really had never been.

Summer's empathy was both welcome and, Emily Anne could tell, sincere.

"Yes, we do have a lot in common. So I guess that does make us sisters, of a sort."

A mischievous twinkle entered Summer's beautiful hazel eyes. "Well since I'm a few years older than you are, let's just consider that I'm your big sister, and I am about to give you some clothing advice."

"That sounds perfect. Lead on, big sister."

Emily Anne found herself coveting all the beautiful bits of lace and silk that Summer showed her. Set after set of gorgeous bras with matching panties-some bikini, some full brief, and one or two that were thongs, made her mouth water and her credit card quiver.

It shouldn't have amazed her that everything Summer suggested not only fit like a dream but looked very good on her. She had a hard time choosing.

The one set she absolutely couldn't refuse was a shelf bra, deep crimson, made from a pretty luxurious satin. It had scandalous straps that ran up either side of each breast and met around her neck, like a halter. She paired it with a panty that was demure rose lace in the front but in the back was fit together down the center seam by fine crisscrossing ribbons made to look like the lace-up closure of a corset. She thought it would be the perfect outfit for her to wear when she and her men began to experiment with those "toys" she also intended to buy.

She added a couple of very feminine and, in comparison, tame lingerie sets, one in pink and the other in white.

And then she feasted her eyes on a beautiful black basque. It could be worn with or without the straps and the garters, but the garters just begged her to buy a pair of silk stockings to wear with it.

"You'll want a thong to complete the look. Do you have a pair of heels you can wear with the outfit?"

The picture of Emily Anne removing a short and sa.s.sy c.o.c.ktail dress-perhaps the turquoise one that kept calling her back-to reveal this s.e.xy bit of sheer embroidered sin had already formed in her mind and she knew she just had to have it.

She slowly turned her gaze to Summer and blinked, trying to recall the question she'd just asked.

Summer's smile had understanding written all over it.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have shoes to match." Emily Anne had bought them in San Antonio in a fit of pique the day after she left Comanche. "They're beautiful and I bought them in an act of defiance. They're black leather Louboutins with chrome five-and-a-half-inch spike heels." They were the most impractical and shockingly expensive shoes she had ever purchased.

She'd only worn them once, and that was for herself in her own bedroom. She'd seen herself in the mirror and loved the added height even as she realized she would never be able to walk in them-let alone dance in them.

"They sound kick-a.s.s," Summer said.

Emily Anne pictured the shoes with the basque, and then let her personal mental vignette play out. She could see those two men laying her on that humongous bed, her legs spread, wearing nothing but those shoes.

Emily Anne nodded. "I think I just figured out the real reason for a five-and-a-half-inch heel."

"Shoes like that can be at their best when you're not even standing on them," Summer said.

The sound of a gasp made Emily Anne turn and look toward the back of the shop. The customer the other woman had been helping had stepped out of her change room.

With round eyes and a big smile, the pretty Hispanic woman said, "Oh, Lucy! That's...I think words escape me."

"This is going to look fantastic at the ROT Rally."

The sales clerk giggled as she circled the customer looking at her from every angle. Emily Anne couldn't take her eyes off the woman who stood in front of the full-length mirror a.s.sessing her appearance. Statuesque didn't do her justice. Curvy and lush and tall with long black hair that hung nearly to her waist, Emily Anne decided then and there that she'd just seen her very first Amazon.

She knew she stood gawking, eyes wide, but she couldn't help it.

The skirt was stunning black leather, with laces up the sides providing a game of peek-a-boo with the woman's creamy skin. Paired with a haltered corset also of black leather, the outfit made a statement.

Then the Amazon turned and Emily Anne saw how well the corset matched the skirt, as it, too, featured leather laces right up the front. The Amazon had impressive cleavage.

Leather and lace. The words brought to mind an old duet by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. They evoked the image of a motorcycle roaring down the highway at a hundred miles an hour.

Emily Anne could see this woman on that cycle, her hair streaming out behind her as the wind combed her tresses-but this woman would be no biker's b.i.t.c.h.

She was far too spectacular for that.

The sales clerk went behind the Amazon, slung her long hair forward over one shoulder, and took hold of the strings at the back. She jerked firmly and then retied the bows at the waist and said, "There, even better now. You look so hot, Lucy. I'll bet Beck and Patrick drool when they see you in this."

The words the clerk just said hit her and she realized that here was another woman with two men. She'd heard there were several menage groups in Divine, too.

Uncharacteristic for her, Emily Anne spoke up. She said, "If those men of yours don't start to pant with their tongues hanging out when they see you in that, you need to kick them six ways from Sunday."

"Amen." Summer grinned. "Lucy, do Beck and Patrick know that you plan to wear that to the ROT Rally?"

"What's the ROT Rally?" Emily Anne asked.

"Republic of Texas Bike Rally in Austin in June," Summer said to Emily Anne before continuing speaking to Lucy. "I know how territorial those guys have been with you lately and I want to be there when you tell them you're wearing that to a gigantic bike rally filled with hot guys on Harleys."

Lucy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If they don't like it they can kiss every lily-white inch of my a.s.s." A blush filled her cheeks as she spoke but the sparkle in Lucy's eyes said that she welcomed them to try and stop her.

With her hand pressed to her stomach again, Emily Anne admired the confident woman's stance. She wished that she could develop the kind of guts it would take to go to an event like that dressed so boldly. "I think you're very brave."

The Amazon simply looked at her with curiosity on her face.

"Lucy, this is Emily Anne Bancroft. Emily Anne, Lucy Carter, and my a.s.sistant, Teresa Martinez."

"h.e.l.lo, Ms. Martinez." Emily Anne nodded to Teresa. Then she looked at the other woman. "Carter? Are you related to Seth Carter?"

Lucy grinned and nodded. "I'm his sister. Do you know Seth?"

"Only by reputation. I've heard he's an excellent tattoo artist. A friend of mine was a client of his. Rebecca Jessop."

"Oh, yes, I know Rebecca. I brought her in here a couple of months back." Lucy adjusted her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s in the corset.

Emily Anne nodded. Something about Lucy Carter made her want to be almost deferential. She was a formidable woman. It wasn't just that she was tall. It was that she seemed so very self-a.s.sured.

Emily Anne wasn't, yet, but she was getting there.

"And how do you know her? Rebecca Jessop? Are you from the same town?"

"Yes, ma'am. We're both from l.u.s.ty. Actually, I'm from Comanche but Rebecca was born in l.u.s.ty. At least I think she was. We've only just recently met since I moved to l.u.s.ty." Stop chattering, Emily Anne! She wondered if she imagined a frown on Lucy's brow and the far off look in her eyes, or if it was just a trick of the lighting.

Lucy turned to face her, riveting her with her piercing blue eyes, and Emily Anne knew she hadn't imagined the frown or the look. The brunette opened her mouth to speak but then slammed it shut and took a deep breath. Meeting her gaze almost apologetically, Lucy said, "So you think this is drool worthy?"

"I do indeed." Emily Anne nodded just to show that she was serious.

Lucy turned and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. "It is drool worthy. I'm drool worthy and d.a.m.n it, this is perfect!" Lucy gave her reflection a crooked little smile, cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and preened like a peac.o.c.k.

I want confidence like that.

Emily Anne thought she had a pretty-and pretty fierce-smile. Likely those two men she mentioned were about to become the recipients of some very potent female attention.

She didn't know the men in question, but her money was on Lucy...and her lily-white a.s.s.

"Now if only I can talk you into taking the robe, too," Teresa said. "It's you, as well. The softer side of you, I think, and showcases a different side of your beauty. Pair it with a black G-string and it'd be perfect."