“Don’t be jealous, Llir,” Tarek said. “You know how I feel about you.” She also knew how Tarek felt about Llir. As soon as he showed up at the apartment last week, he announced that he was still in love with Llir. He staked his claim and she couldn’t blame him. If she was given the chance, she’d do the same.
“I’m not jealous,” Llir grumbled. “I just thought we were going to take our time and you were going to get to know her better.” Elira looked between them, wondering what Llir meant by that. What were they taking their time with?
“I’m just playing around, man,” Tarek defended. “Lighten up.”
Llir sighed and stood, stretching by his seat. “I’m going to use the restroom,” he announced. “You two try not to act up while I’m gone.”
Tarek gave him a mock salute, “Yes sir,” he teased.
“What was that all about?” Elira breathed. “What are you supposed to be taking your time about?”
Tarek shot her an apologetic look followed up by his sexy as sin smile that usually melted her defenses. Both men were classically handsome—with their dark hair and eyes. Llir was clean-shaven whereas Tarek had a full beard. But there was something about the way Tar carried himself, with an air of confidence, that was a complete turn on. She would have expected that from Llir, as the first son of the Tirana family, he was destined to take his father’s place someday. Men like that usually had an heir of confidence that was stifling, but Llir was different. At least, that wasn’t the side of him that she saw. He was gentle and sweet, always patient with her even when he didn’t have to be. She belonged to him but not in the way he believed. He might have paid for her to be his sex slave but he was starting to own a piece of her heart, whether she liked that fact or not.
“You promise not to get mad or upset if I tell you?” Tarek asked. He looked at the lavatory door that was still shut as if checking for Llir to come back. She nodded her head and even crossed her heart for good measure, making him chuckle.
“You know how I feel about Llir, right?” he asked. She nodded again and waited for him to continue. “I won’t apologize for loving or wanting him, but we didn’t work last time we tried the whole relationship thing. Something always seemed to be missing between the two of us—or in our case, someone was missing. I think that someone was you, Elira.” She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. How would the three of them be together in a relationship? Maybe she was old fashioned but she didn’t know too many people in a threesome relationship. How would that even work?
He held up his hands, as if in defense. “Hear me out, Elira,” he begged. “Llir and I like both men and women,” he said.
“I’m naive,” she whispered, “but, I do know what bisexual means.” Elira quickly looked around, checking to make sure that no one else was listening to their conversation. He smiled again and nodded.
“Of course you do,” he agreed. “And for the record, I don’t think you’re naïve at all. When Llir and I were together, he had a problem with coming out to his family. The Tirana’s are real—um, manly men.” She looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Yeah—I know how stupid that sounds, but his father is old school. He couldn’t tell him that he was with me, let alone in love with me. His father would have put a hit on me, just to get me out of the picture. Llir ended our relationship when I told him that I didn’t want to be his secret anymore. At the time, I thought he was just being a coward but then, I realized he did it to save me. He knew how his father would have reacted. I’m sure it would have gone down the same way that it has since Llir took you. His father’s used to having his way.”
“So I’ve gathered,” Elira grumbled. “But what does any of this have to do with me?”
“Llir and I have talked and well, our feelings about each other haven’t changed,” he whispered.
“Oh—I see,” she spat. “So, this is your way of telling me that I’m out of the picture? I think that is Llir’s job, don’t you?” She was pissed that the moment Llir took off for the restroom, Tarek was giving her the bad news. “Was he just going to take me to America and dump me there? Was that the plan?”
“No,” Tarek almost shouted. “Shit, I’m fucking this all up. He’s falling for you, Elira. Llir won’t tell you this because he’s worried you aren’t ready to hear it, but he has feelings for you.”
“That can’t be,” Elira whispered.
“It’s true,” Llir said. He stood next to his seat and Elira looked up at him, not hiding the tears that were now streaming down her face.
“How can that be, Llir? We’ve only known each other for a few short months,” she said.
Llir shrugged, “Not sure how it happened, but it has.” He shot Tarek a look, “I was going to tell you when I thought you were ready to hear it, but I guess Tar thought that time was now.”
“Sorry, man. She asked what our conversation was all about and well, I won’t lie to Elira,” he promised. She looked over at Tarek and smiled.
“I appreciate that, Tar,” she breathed. Llir sat back down next to her and she wasn’t sure how to respond to him telling her that he had feelings for her. If she was going to be the person she wanted to be and not the person her captors made her, she was going to have to be brave and give him her truth.
She took his hand into her own and smiled at him through her tears. “I have feelings for you too, Llir. I denied them for weeks now, but I won’t lie to you. I won’t lie to either of you. I owe you both my life. I’m braver than I should be and with you both by my side, I’m stronger too. Thank you for being honest with me.” Llir pulled her up against his body, so she was practically sitting on his lap, and crushed his mouth to hers. When he was finished kissing her, he turned her to face Tarek.
“My turn,” Tarek whispered. “This is what we were supposed to be taking our time on,” he said. “We both want you, Elira. Let us prove to you that we’re worth it and give us a chance—please,” he begged. Tarek pulled her onto his lap and gently ran his lips over hers. His kiss wasn’t as forceful and aggressive as Llir’s had just been. He was gentle and sweet with her, taking his time to thoroughly kiss her. By the time he put her back on her seat, she was panting and needy. She wanted them both and if that was truly what they were offering, she’d say yes to them, in a heartbeat.
“How about it, Honey?” Llir asked. “Will you give this a try?”
“The three of us?” she squeaked. “Together,” she quickly added.
“Yes,” Tarek whispered. “That’s what I was trying to get at while Llir was gone. We both want you to be ours. Will you give us a shot?”
She pretended to think about it and Llir groaned. “You know your answer already—why are you torturing us?” he asked.
“Because you make it so easy,” she teased, giving him a quick peck on the lips.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I’d like to try.”
Elira spent the rest of the long flight cuddled up between the two alpha men and she had to admit, she never felt so safe in her life. They deplaned and got through customs and when they gathered their luggage, she turned to find Llir having a heated discussion with a man who looked a lot like him.