Tempted by her Daddies: Chapter 12

Um.

Okay.

Salem stared down at Tamsyn in shock. Then his gaze moved to the veritable pharmacy worth of drugs on the coffee table, then over to Roman and Alexei.

Roman seemed flushed and worried while Alexei was scowling.

Right.

So nothing new there, really.

But Salem was starting to think he was missing a few things from this story. Like how she’d come to be lying on the couch with her foot elevated and an ice pack on it.

And why Alexei had sent out an urgent message for them to get home and bring liquid painkiller with them.

He set his single bottle of painkiller on the coffee table next to all of Roman’s stuff. Did he buy every brand of liquid painkiller that the pharmacy had in stock? He shot the other man a look.

Roman flushed, having the grace to at least look a bit ashamed. When Salem looked at Alexei, he raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Does someone want to explain how Tamsyn came to hurt herself?”

“It was all the bird’s fault,” she muttered. “Last time I’m nice to a bird.”

“The bird. What bird?”

“The one that pooped everywhere!” She waved a hand around. Then she sat up.

“Lie down,” barked Alexei.

Roman even reached for her, his hands hovering over her.

“I’m not sick.”

“Let her sit up,” Salem ordered quietly. He walked around and sat facing her on the coffee table after pushing the medication to the side.

“She should keep her foot elevated. It was swollen,” Alexei said.

Salem grabbed the cushion she’d been using and pointed at her foot. “May I?”

“I, um, I guess.”

Salem lifted her foot onto the cushion on his lap. He examined her foot carefully, watching for signs that she was in pain. She did her best to hide them, but they were there. And it did look slightly swollen.

But probably not enough to warrant the worry police standing behind him.

“I’m so sorry, Roman. You can take the money out of my pay.”

“What money?” Roman asked, sounding startled.

“He won’t be taking anything from your paycheck. Will you, Roman?” Alexei boomed in a threatening voice.

“You can’t tell Roman what to do,” Tamsyn countered, glaring at Alexei.

Hmm. She was getting far braver.

Most people would cower away from Alexei’s scowl. They’d been known to run when they saw him coming.

But she just huffed and . . . and . . .

“Did you just stick your tongue out at me, Malyshka?” Alexei asked.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean to,” Roman said hastily, moving closer to Tamsyn.

He didn’t believe that Alexei would harm her, did he?

“I did mean to,” she countered. She glanced up at Roman. “Um, you’re not worried about Alexei hurting me, are you? Because he wouldn’t, you know.”

“Of course I wouldn’t,” Alexei grouched. “Although, you should be careful what you do with that tongue, or I might take it as an invitation.”

For God’s sake.

Had Alexei really just said that?

Wait . . . what had he called her? He didn’t know a lot of Russian but he was fairly certain that he’d basically just called her baby girl or little one in Russian.

A glance at Roman, who was far better at languages, confirmed his suspicions.

Did that mean that Alexei was interested in having an age play relationship?

It was hard to know. It could just be a term of endearment.

Then he watched as the other man picked up a juice box from the floor. He sat next to Tamsyn on the couch and placed the straw by her lips.

“Drink your juice,” Alexei bossed.

“Is this what you meant by doing things with my tongue?” she asked him suspiciously.

“Oh, you wish it was. Now, be a good girl and drink your juice. Then you can have some medicine.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want it.”

Salem’s eyebrows rose in shock, and he glanced over at Roman again to see how the other man was taking all of this.

Roman appeared surprisingly thoughtful as he took them in.

“Well, you need to have it. You’re in pain and I won’t have you in pain,” Alexei said firmly.

“What is happening here?” Roman whispered to him. Thankfully, neither Alexei nor Tamsyn seemed to hear him.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back. “But I’m hoping it’s a move in the right direction.”

He also thought it might mean that they were going to have to move faster and explain to Tamsyn what they wanted. And how they really felt.

Because she had a very confused look on her face.

Alexei started picking up bottles of liquid painkiller. Didn’t they have painkillers here that he could have given her? Why liquid?

“Roman, did they tell you which painkiller was the best kind?” Alexei asked.

“Uh, no. They didn’t.”

Alexei started muttering. “You should research it. Have you got any allergies? We don’t want to give her some inferior product.”

“I’m sure they’re all fine,” Salem said.

Alexei shot him a look as Roman grabbed his phone to do the research.

Dear Lord.

No wonder Tamsyn looked like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to strangle Alexei or herself.

“Are you happy for Tamsyn to just have whatever is fine?” Alexei snapped. “Because I’m not. Are you, Roman?”

“N-no, absolutely not. I can’t believe Salem is.”

He sighed and pinched the top of his nose.

“Now, I understand why you often wear a pinched look on your face,” Tamsyn said to him.

He what?

“What?” he asked, dropping his hand from his face as Alexei snickered.

“Because of these two. I get it.”

“Pinched look?” he asked. “I don’t have a pinched look.”

“You really do,” Alexei said. “All the time. It’s what’s creating all the wrinkles.”

“I don’t have wrinkles,” Salem protested.

“Maybe just a couple,” Tamsyn said. “I think they make you look distinguished. Along with the gray hair.”

“I do not have gray hair!” He touched his head. Or did he? Had they crept in without him noticing? And wrinkles?

A pinched look?

What the fuck?

“I don’t have wrinkles, a pinched look, or gray hair. Do I?” He glanced over at Roman who gave him a panicked look.

“I. Um. I . . . well, I have some reviews here for some very good wrinkle cream if you want to try it. But I think Tamsyn is right. You look very distinguished.”

“When you don’t look like you’ve been sucking on a lemon, that is,” Alexei added.

Jesus Christ.

They all thought he was some old fart with wrinkles and gray hair and a pinched face.

Was this what he’d become? Did he not know how to have fun?

He moved her foot off his lap and then reached for his blazer and drew it off. Next, he started to undo the buttons of his shirt.

“Uh, Salem?” Tamsyn asked hesitantly. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to show you all that I can be spontaneous. I’m not the fun police.” He whipped off his shirt and Tamsyn gaped up at him.

“Right . . . well . . . I’m not complaining or anything,” she said. “Just, um, asking for . . . reasons.”

He reached for his shoe, hopping about as he tried to tug it off.

“He’s finally lost it. Figured it was only a matter of time,” Alexei said. “You can only be sexually repressed for so long.”

“I am not sexually repressed!” Salem snapped as he managed to get his second shoe off. “I am not repressed at all.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why you’re stripping in the living room in front of the housekeeper and your friends.”

Wait . . . fuck. That’s what he was doing. He was stripping in front of three people who didn’t really want or need to see him naked.

Was he losing it? Was this where he lost his mind?

With a groan, he sat on the coffee table once more and stared down at his feet.

Fuck. There was no call for what he’d just done. They were talking about Tamsyn . . . focused on her and whatever had happened to her, and he’d just started to . . . to unravel.

“Salem?” Tamsyn queried quietly.

He felt her hands over his, then her hand on his chin, just briefly. He raised his head, staring at her. Damn, she was so beautiful. And he’d just made a complete fool of himself.

He never did that.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

Salem let out a soft laugh, shaking his head at her querying look. “I’m not losing my mind.”

Tamsyn gave him a small smile. “Of course you aren’t. You’re Salem. You’re a rock. The person that everyone else looks to for help, for guidance, for sanity.”

“How can you say that after this?”

“This what? A strip show? I’m not going to complain about a strip show.” She grinned.

So sassy.

“Are you not, Little one?” he murmured.

“No. In fact, shall we all join in? It can be strip show Thursday,” she joked.

At least, he thought she was.

“That sure sounds like a good time to me!” Alexei said. “Roman, start to strip.”

“She was joking.” Salem stood and glared at Alexei. “Do not strip. Keep your clothes on.”

“Seems like a double standard since you’re the one standing there half-naked.”

Shit. He was.

Salem grabbed his shirt and hastily drew it on. As he did, he felt more like himself again.

Perhaps he was the fun police. But one of them needed to be the sane one in this household.

“Aww, you don’t need to put your clothes back on.”

“I do,” he said. “And you need to tell me what is going on and how you hurt your ankle.”

She sighed. “It’s really not an interesting story.”

“A bird flew into the window and she heard the noise and went to investigate,” Alexei said. “Which she should not have done until she had come and got me.”

“Why not?” Roman asked. “Why did she need to come and get you?”

“Because she didn’t know what made that noise. It could have been anything,” Alexei stated. “She didn’t know if it was an intruder or a gunshot.”

“A gunshot? Seriously?” Salem asked. “I think there is a bit of a difference between a gunshot and a bird flying into a window.”

“Perhaps. But still . . . “

Alexei seemed to be clutching at straws, but Salem moved on.

“So you brought the bird inside?” he asked.

“Yes, and it started flying around and pooped everywhere. I’m going to clean it all up, Roman. I promise. I’m just not sure about getting it off the paintings. I don’t want to ruin them.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Roman told her. “All that matters is your safety. What happened to your foot? Why do you need these painkillers?”

“Uh, well . . . that doesn’t seem so important anymore,” she said.

She was obviously trying to deflect away from having to tell him. He raised an eyebrow at her sternly. He might have lost Dominant points with his small break from reality, but he could earn them back.

And she sighed at his look, knowing he wasn’t going to let her get away with that.

“She climbed up on a flimsy table to try and get the bird and slipped off it and hurt her foot,” Alexei said.

“Tattletale,” she muttered.

“Brat,” he fired back, but without any heat.

Salem sighed. “Tamsyn, you know that you shouldn’t have done that, right? You could have seriously hurt yourself.”

“She did hurt herself,” Alexei protested.

“Yes, you did hurt yourself,” Salem agreed. “You must be more careful, understand? We don’t care about the paintings or other things. What we do care about is you.”

To his shock, tears filled her eyes for a moment. Then she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were gone. And it made him question whether he’d seen them in the first place.

“Me?” she whispered.

“You,” Salem told her. “We care about you, Tamsyn. All three of us.”

She cleared her throat. “Right. Of course. I care about the three of you as well. You’ve all been so kind to me. Giving me a job and looking after me. But you know I’m just your housekeeper, right? No one special. You don’t have to take care of me like this.”

Salem’s gaze narrowed. “Just a housekeeper?”

Alexei whistled. “You’re in trouble now. Remember what I said about not pushing it with Salem.”

Salem snuck a look at Alexei half-expecting to find him smirking. As though he thought this was a game.

But the bigger man had his arms crossed over his chest and was giving Tamsyn a firm look.

Interesting.

More and more he was seeing that Alexei was taking his feelings for Tamsyn seriously. That reckless, don’t-give-a-care attitude wasn’t there where she was concerned.

Moving his gaze back to Tamsyn, he found her watching him closely. This was important. Was she testing him?

Even unconsciously?

He’d have thought she would know how he would react given their interaction at the club. Then again, he’d been holding back since then. Not wanting to cross any lines between them. To take any sort of advantage of her.

He turned to look at Roman. Did the other man understand how important this moment was?

Roman was studying Tamsyn as though she was some interesting sort of specimen. The man was obsessed and Salem had only ever seen him get like this over his work.

“Not anything special?” Salem added in a deliberately quiet voice.

Her eyes widened. He picked up her foot and reached over to grab the ice pack. He wanted her to know that caring for her wouldn’t stop. Even when he wasn’t particularly happy with her.

“Is that really what you just said?” he asked. “Have we not had a conversation about putting yourself down and how I feel about that?”

“Well . . . yes. I don’t see it as putting myself down when it’s the truth, though.”

“The truth? Interesting,” Alexei said.

She was trying to hide her pain, but he had seen her wince when he grabbed her foot and raised it.

“I, um, what?”

“Have you taken any of these painkillers before?” he asked, picking them up.

“I don’t think so.”

Alexei moved to sit next to her on the sofa. He looked like he was itching to touch her and Salem was shocked that he was holding himself back.

“This brand has very good reviews,” Roman said, grabbing a bottle. “I believe we should try this one.”

“Good. Let’s do that,” Salem said, watching her closely. He didn’t want to completely railroad her to the point that she was overwhelmed. But if she couldn’t make the decision, he was more than happy to make it for her. He ran his hand up and down her calf.

“I’ll do it. I got a measuring syringe. Here it is.” Roman undid the syringe and then measured out the dosage. “Let me recheck that’s right. Yep. Got it.” He held it out to Tamsyn.

She stared at it for a long moment.

“Why don’t you help her take it?” Salem suggested.

Would Roman be okay with that? Would Tamsyn?

He slid over slightly to make room for Roman who kneeled in front of Tamsyn. Was she feeling crowded?

While her eyes were wide, she didn’t appear frightened.

“Here you are. Just open up slightly. Good. You’re doing so well,” Roman murmured as he placed the syringe into her mouth and started to depress it.

“Swallow, Little one,” Salem urged in a soft voice.

He often found that speaking quietly and calmly could yield better results than being forceful. And then when he did have to put more firmness into his voice, it became more effective.

Tamsyn was seemingly entranced as Roman fed her the medicine. When he drew the syringe away, there was a small dot left on her lips. Reaching up, Alexei brushed it away and put his finger into his mouth.

“Doesn’t taste too bad. A bit fake. Like strawberries. I’ll see if I can find something that tastes nicer.”

“Tamsyn,” Salem urged.

Her gaze went to his.

“How are you feeling?”

“I . . . I don’t understand what’s happening right now,” she said.

“If you feel too upset or overwhelmed, you need to say. Okay? You can use the red light system, like in the club.”

“This isn’t . . . we’re not in a scene.” She frowned.

“No. We’re not. But I know we’re coming on quite strong. However, it’s important you know that you’re not just a housekeeper. There is no such thing as just a housekeeper. Evette isn’t just a housekeeper to us. She’s our friend.”

A flush of shame entered her face, and he could sense Alexei and Roman glaring at him. But it didn’t deter him.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, clenching her fingers together.

To his surprise, it was Roman who reached out to touch her. Roman, who wasn’t big on touching others, who didn’t always read body language that well, placed his hands gently over hers and separated them.

Salem watched as he managed to calm her. Roman leaned closer, whispering to her, and her shoulders visibly relaxed as she nodded at him.

“You’re special, darling girl,” Roman told her. “You’re special to us.”

“I don’t know what that means.” She looked to Salem, then over to Alexei.

The bigger man seemed to have been waiting for that as he suddenly lifted her onto his lap.

She froze for a moment, her breathing growing faster. Then to Salem’s shock, she melted into Alexei. Salem adjusted her leg so it wasn’t at a crazy angle.

“It means that we all want you,” Alexei told her.

“You . . . you want me? All three of you?” There was a slight blush to her cheeks. “Want me for what?”

Salem knew he had to just lay it out there. It was now or never. There was likely no waiting for the right time.

“To be ours.”