“Keiley,” Mac called out as she spun away and raced from the room. She had to get away from them, she had to escape. If only she could escape her own actions as easily as she was escaping what she knew was Mac’s coming feeling of betrayal.
Mac moved quickly as he saw Keiley turn and run, attempting to push past Jethro to get to her. Unfortunately, it seemed that protective instincts he had only suspected the other man possessed rose to the fore.
“It wasn’t her fault. ” Jethro slammed him back, standing defensively, poised to fight.
“Of course it’s not her damned fault,” Mac snarled. “Son of a bitch, Jethro, do you I think I didn’t know my wife was going to end up loving you?”
He watched as Jethro staggered back.
“Get the hell out of my way,” Mac snapped then. “Let me take care of her, then I’ll take care of you. ”
He hadn’t expected to walk in on the scene between Jethro and Keiley, but he hadn’t been surprised by it. He had been damned turned on by it. There was nothing as arousing as Keiley helpless beneath her own desires.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he moved quickly through the hallway to their bedroom, his jaw clenched tight at the fear, horror, and pain he had seen in her face.
She had, perhaps understandably, jumped to the wrong conclusion, and now he had to fix it. It seemed he was going to have to fix it not just with his wife, but with his best friend as well. Neither, it appeared, seemed to see where this was heading.
As he stepped into the room, he came to a stop, staring at Keiley as she stood before the shaded window. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her shoulders straight and tight.
“I can’t even stare out the damned window,” she said roughly. “I can’t move around my own home. ” Her head lowered as she pushed her fingers roughly through her hair. “And I’m scared. ” The last was whispered in a voice rough with unshed tears.
Mac moved across the room, wrapping his arms around her even as she flinched as though surprised that he would hold her.
“I expected it,” he whispered in her ear then. “Do you think I would bring another man into our bed and place rules on it? That I would chastise you, or punish you for being the warm, passionately exquisite woman you are?”
She tensed in his arms, then jerked away from him, turning to face him furiously.
“What are you saying, Mac?” Incredulous anger filled her voice as her eyes widened and he watched knowledge slowly fill them. “You intended for me to—” She swallowed tightly. “To care for Jethro. ”
He saw the betrayal in her eyes, the fear. Hell, he hadn’t expected to have things become so damned complicated. But they were. She had every damned right to be outraged.
“I knew you would never take another man into your bed without it,” he told her then. “Keiley, you’re not a casual woman, I always knew that. From the first day I met you, I knew you would never be the type of woman to play games like this with a succession of different men. And I knew I could never handle that. ”
“You couldn’t handle that?” she grated out, staring back at him as though he were a stranger. And perhaps he was. He had never shown her the parts of himself that mattered. He had kept them hidden away, kept them tucked carefully in a dark little box until they had grown too hungry to stay put any longer.
“What’s going on here, Mac? Did you suddenly decide you’ve had too much of married life and decide to find a man you approved of for me? Are you ready to leave? Are you missing something I’m not giving you?” Her voice rose with each question, betrayal and pain filling her tone as his eyes narrowed on her.
“Never,” he bit out, reaching out for her, gripping her shoulders with his hands as he gave her a small, firm shake. “Do you hear me, Keiley? I will never let you go. ”
“Stop manhandling me. ” She tore out of his grip, putting distance between them once again before turning back to glare at him. “What did you think you would accomplish here, then? Is there something going on between you and Jethro that I need to know about? What?”
Mac’s head jerked up incredulously. “Are you asking if me and Jethro are bisexual, Keiley?”
“I think that about sums it up, Mac. ” Her arms crossed over her breasts as she threw her hip forward in confrontation.
She had no idea how hot it made him, having her defy him, having her anger meet his dominance head-on.
“Not even a chance in hell. ” He grinned tightly. “The only ass I have a mind to fuck is yours, sweetheart. ”
“Not even in your greatest fantasy. ” Her arm struck out, her finger pointing back at him furiously. “You can shove your dick up your own ass for all I care. If you’re not bisexual, then what the hell did you hope to gain? Is your wife loving you too much pressure? What? What in the hell would possess you to attempt to make me fall in love with another man?”
“I’d like to hear that answer myself. ” Jethro stepped into the room, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression controlled, his eyes glittering with anger.
Mac almost smiled. These were the two people he loved most in the world. Jethro was like a brother to him, and Keiley, hell, she was his soul, but Mac knew himself. Just as he knew his friend.
“How many women have you shared since I got married?” Mac asked him.
“That has nothing to do with this, Mac. ”