The Lion’s Mail Order Menage

Chapter 10

“What about you, babe?  Where’s your drink?”

“Didn’t I tell you?  I want you to make it for me.  Sometimes I like to be served as well.”

The look on Tyler’s face was priceless and Meena busted out laughing, settling in next to Caleb on his plush couch after handing off the two men’ drinks.  She had definitely gotten to a point where she really, genuinely liked these men and it still surprised her every time she thought about it. 

That wasn’t how things like this were supposed to work, was it?  She hadn’t chosen these men for herself.  She hadn’t met one of them in a bar and got to talking, coming to the realization that they were people she would like to get to know better.  She was just the same as a dog, just the same as livestock being sold to the highest bidder. 

She had come to live with Tyler and Caleb without having any idea what they would be like and how they would treat her and it didn’t matter one bit.  Nobody cared what she wanted or how she felt about who she wound up with.  Nobody gave a good goddamn.  Kyra had told her that leaving Moscow would be worth it no matter what they walked into, and she had probably been right, but this was better than she could have hoped for. 

Four and a half months, almost five, and she felt like she belonged here in Caleb’s apartment.  Even Tyler, who she had seen as little more than a thug with a big ego when she first met him, was someone she found strangely endearing these days.  She didn’t mind being with him at all, whether it was just him or him and Caleb together, which was something she really hadn’t expected to happen.

But Caleb.  Caleb was the one she was drawn to.  He was the one who made her skin tingle with even the briefest look, the slightest touch.  Just sitting beside him the way she was now made her entire body feel like it was on fire.  She found it difficult to concentrate on anything else except for the hand he had laid casually beside her on the sofa, almost touching her thigh but not quite.  Did he know?  Could he see the way her face flushed with his proximity and the memories of sweaty nights and salty skin it carried with it? 

Surely he could.  He was an unusually perceptive man, especially when it came to her (she had a secret belief that he had studied her like a book), and he was currently looking anywhere but at her with a devious little smile playing across his perfect face.

“Rose?  What the fu*k is this, Caleb?  Since when did you start drinking pink wine?”

“It’s mine, Tyler, don’t worry.  I haven’t turned your friend into a total disaster just yet.”

 “Whatever,” Caleb called out defiantly. “Don’t knock it until you try it.  And don’t let the fact that it’s pink fool you, either.  It’s actually pretty damn good.”

“I’ll take your word for it.  As for me, I think I’ll stick to my bourbon if it’s all the same to you.  What about you, Meena?  You feeling like dipping into the pink crap?”

“Not tonight, I don’t think.”

“Well then, what can I get for you?  Your wish is my command.”

“Vodka.”

“Straight?”

“On the rocks.”

“Coming right up.  That’s another thing I like about you.  A woman who knows how to drink.  Maybe it’s the Russian thing.”

“Jesus, Tyler, are you just trying to be racist?”

“Nope, just lucky I guess.”

The three of them laughed again and then the room grew quiet as Tyler handed Meena her glass and they all began to sip their drinks.  The room grew still and silent, aside from the noise of the city drifting up to them from the street.  Meena knew that Caleb had worried it was something she would quickly grow tired of but in reality it had been exactly the opposite.

The sounds of New York were like her lullabies and they soothed her regardless of whatever it was that might be causing her stress.  It reminded her that no matter what else was going on, she was not in the same place she had once been.  She wasn’t stuck anymore.  It was an odd thing to say, but for Meena, being sold was the thing that set her free and the sometimes violent sounds of the city helped to remind her of that.

“Whatcha thinking about, Meena?  Your face looks far away.”

Caleb had his head resting against the back of the couch, his eyes shining with booze and something she believed might be close to love (don’t, she thought, don’t hope for too much from him), looking at her intently.  He had a laser point focus and it was all dedicated to only her.  Her heart fluttered in her chest, her inner thighs beginning to quiver at the thought of where this night might lead.  It was part of the game, this look.  It was the start, where he let her know that he was up for it if she was.

And it would be a game tonight, with Tyler being there as well.  When it was the two of them, lately at least, things were starting to get blurry.  There were feelings there that hadn’t been there at the start and probably shouldn’t be there at all if she wanted to protect her heart.  But when Tyler was there it was all play which was exactly the way Meena liked it.  It seemed like the only way to be in something like this threesome without things getting strange or unappealing.  It was important not to take things too damned seriously. 

“Just thinking about the city.  About the noise.”

“Sick of it yet?”

“Never.  I told you, I like it.  I’m a stubborn girl, you know.  It takes a lot to change my mind.”

“Well, if you ask me, which I realize nobody did, but if you ask me, it’s too damn quiet in here.  Caleb!  Let me pick a record, OK?  I never get to pick what we listen to.”

“Jesus, you sound pitiful.  Sure, Tyler, you pick the music.”

Tyler jumped up out of his chair with the excitement of a child on his face.  Meena had noticed that he got like that sometimes when he had been drinking.  With Tyler, this was the way she liked him best.  Making the decision to drink with Tyler was sort of like gambling.  It was like deciding the fate of your evening with the roll of the dice instead of using careful planning.