Her Forbidden Threeway

“I think that’s more than fair,” Reade said, leaning up on the tips of her toes to kiss both of the men in front of her. “I love you both so much.”

*****

The sound of the door chime at Drakon sounding pulled Reade’s attention away from the book she had her nose buried in. Since she started working there, she had been reading every book in the store. It didn’t hurt to brush up on her facts, though she sometimes felt as if she were studying for an exam.

“Hey, Dad,” Reade said as she watched her hunter father walk directly into the hunter area. Into the store that was owned by the infamous millionaires who happened to be dragons that he hunted. Predators that were hidden beneath skin and smiles. Evil disguised in beauty. “Thanks for coming.”

Clyde Duncan roamed around the store and examined the crystals that hung from the shelves. He rolled them around his calloused fingers and watched them catch the light. The dream catchers that hung from the ceiling were brushing his salt and pepper colored hair and Reade watched as his nose wrinkled from the spices and herbs.

“I can be reasonable sometimes,” her father replied as he stepped up to the cash register and leaned in to press a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. “Do you have the ashes of the book? We can’t have this thing rising up like a Phoenix.”

“I have it,” the sound of Scott’s voice resonated over Reade’s shoulder as he walked out from the back, holding in his hand a bag full of ashes. “It’s yours.”

Reade stiffened and watched Clyde’s reaction. It didn’t take him long to realize she had lied to him and she turned on the best smile that she could muster while Scott set the velvet red bag on the glass countertop.

“Reade? What is this?” Clyde asked, looking towards his daughter as he began backing away slowly, his stance quickly turning to one of defense. “You told me you would be alone.”

“I know, Dad, and I’m sorry,” Reade said as she moved from behind the counter to stand in front of her father, ensuring that a distance was kept between him and Scott. “It’s just that… well, I needed you to be here for something.”

The tension in the air thickened as Clyde’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and his gaze never wavered from Scott’s. Reade’s heart was thrumming in her chest and for a split moment, she wondered if her father would draw a weapon.

“What do you need?” Clyde asked.

“I need your approval, Dad,” Reade whispered as she plucked at the strings on her shirt. “I need your approval of me loving them. Of them loving me. Of us being together.”

Clyde darted his gaze to Scott once more before he bounced it back to Reade with a look of shock written across his face. Reade tried desperately to read the emotions that were shadowing his features but his poker face was strong. She didn’t know what he was thinking, what he was feeling and that scared her. When her father was angry, she could tell. When he was worried, she could tell. It was the first time in all of her life that she watched his face read nothing at all.

“Let’s go, Reade,” Clyde said as he stepped aside to make room for his daughter to pass through. “It’s time to come home. Enough of these games. Enough of whatever you’re trying to do and enough punishing me. I forbid you to see these creatures again.”

“Now hold on a second,” Scott said. “Don’t think that you can come into my home and—“

“Stop,” Reade said as she placed her hand against Scott’s chest, reminding him what everything was about. “I can handle this.”

“He can barely even control himself!”

“Dad, all he did was try to stand up for himself,” Reade said, defending Scott to her father. “I know you love me just like I love you. And I know that you worry about me, but I’m not a little girl anymore. Do you honestly think I would stay somewhere if I wasn’t safe? Come on, Dad. You raised me better than that. My gut instinct is the strongest tool that I have and I know it’s your strongest too. Use it, Dad. Tell me if your gut tells you that I’m in danger here.”

Reade watched as her father’s expressionless face turned to consideration. She could see the wheels turning in his head just like she could hear them when they were on the phone. Reade had a way of speaking logic to her Father. She knew he didn’t react well to disobedience, but she also knew that a part of him would respect the lengths to which she was willing to go.

“You don’t understand, Reade,” her father said, his eyes softening after having listened to his daughter’s pleading words. “You’re all I’ve got. I can’t let these beasts take you from me like they did your mother.”

She blinked. “What?”

“He’s right,” Jackson said, clambering down the stairs with a sack full of everything they had taken from Clyde’s house. “Your mother was killed by a dragon shifter, but it wasn’t us.”

Reade’s face whitened to the color of her father’s shirt at the new information she had received. She had always thought her mother had died in a freak accident and while that remained true, her father never told her any specifics. Her stomach was churning, a thick layer of sweat began forming on her forehead and she held her hand against her stomach.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she said.

“Scott, take Reade to get a glass of water and keep the curtains open where Mr. Duncan here can see you,” Jackson instructed, stepping in front of his brother and Reade. “I need to talk to Reade’s father. Alone.”

There was barely any protest that came from Reade as Scott guided her to the back and helped her with a glass of water. The ice cold liquid felt like heaven as it rushed down her throat and began soothing her of the onslaught of mixed emotions she was currently feeling. Reade inched forward until she sat perfectly on the floor and watched Jackson and Clyde as they talked.

“I know all about your wife,” Jackson said as he lodged the heavy bag onto the counter top that held the register. “I didn’t know at first, but then my brother and I broke into your house and took a lot of your journals and weapons. I’m sorry for that, but I’m sure you can understand why I did it.”

“Did you also need to beat up my face, too?” Clyde asked, his eyes narrowed towards the dragon that had attacked him. “You thinking that I’m just going to let you around my daughter makes you crazier than your beast, boy.”

“I’m not a boy, Mr. Duncan,” Jackson replied flatly. “I’m a man. I’m a man who protects his own, much like you do. I’m a man who celebrates and comforts those that I love, just like you do. I’m a man that is full of pride and stubborn but who is also logical, just like you are. I am a man that knows what I want, much like you, but I am also a man who can admit when I am wrong and what I did to you? It was wrong.”

The corner of Reade’s mouth lifted up into a smile as she rested her elbow on her knee, sipping her water and watched Jackson with her dad. He seemed to be doing well. Scott sat beside her, brushing her hair with his fingers.

“What’s that got to do with my daughter?” Clyde asked.