“I’m going to fuck you until you can’t breathe.”

The words slithered at him in the darkness and he sat up, trying to figure out where he was, why he was wet and cold. James shook his head, scrambled to try and get up, get away, but he couldn’t. Something was in his back. Something was stopping him. Something was inside him.

“I’m going to ruin you and leave you bleeding.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Never.”

He sobbed, sweated, twisted as he tried to run.

He heard his name, someone shouting for him, and a loud banging. “James! James!”

“Leave me alone. Please. Help me! Somebody! He’s got me down here!” And he didn’t know where ‘down here’ was.

The banging continued, got louder, as did the shouting. Then it all went quiet, and he was shaking, something was shaking him.

“Don’t. Don’t. Please. Guard! Damien…”

The dream exploded in a pop, and his eyes flew open. “Oh, my God.”

Guard was right there, hands hard around his arms, shaking him. “James!”

“I. Sorry. Bad dream. Sorry. What are you doing here?” Oh, God.

“Are you kidding me? You’ve been screaming for the last fifteen minutes.” Guard pulled him close, wrapping strong arms around him.

“I’m sorry.”

Guard. His Guard.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, babe.” Guard kissed the top of his head. “You’re safe, you’re all right.”

“I didn’t mean to.” He shouldn’t have gone to sleep.

“Shh. Shh. I have you.” Guard was warm, his chest bare, some crazy-colored flannel jammy pants soft against him.

“You can’t stay here.” But the touches were easing him, gentling him, and he was fading away.

“Shh…” Guard laid him back down, still holding him, touching him like he was the most precious thing.

“I’m sorry.” His cheek landed on Guard’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Jamie, I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

“Never going to be safe again.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Guard could growl when he wanted to.

James’ eyes closed. “I’m tired.”

“Then sleep. Let me guard your dreams, okay?”

“Okay. Just tonight.”

Just one night.

Guard was dreaming. He had to be. It was only in his dreams that he woke up curled around James’ body, their shared heat filling the air with the scent of them. He moaned happily, rubbing his cock against James’ ass. God, this dream felt so good, so real.

“You two look cozy. And I was thinking you missed me…”

Damien.

Guard was going to kill the fucker.

Especially now he knew he wasn’t dreaming. He popped his head up over James’ shoulder and glared. “Anyone ever tell you that you have lousy timing?”

“All the time. Talked to Rosa. He had a bad night. Did you give him a Valium?”

“No, actually, I didn’t.” No, instead a bit of a miracle had happened—James had let Guard soothe and ease him, had fallen asleep in Guard’s arms.

James shifted, frowned, starting to wake up. Guard held on, kissed James’ head. God damn Damien for coming and waking him up anyway.

“I… What’s going on? Why are you in here?”

Guard ignored Damien for now and gave James his full attention. “You had a nightmare.”

“I… I. You should go. Did I wake you? How did I wake you?”

“Don’t you remember?” He’d just stay where he was for now, thank you. His cock had flagged a little, but it was still snug up against James’ body.

“I remember you coming. I told you to go, but you’re warm.”

“You were screaming like someone was killing you.” He wasn’t going to leave James like that.

“I… I’m sorry. It’s been…” Four years. Four years since the incident. Four years since he’d been confined to the chair.

Guard knew. They all knew. “I know, James. I know. I’m here, though. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

“Sweet.” Damien’s voice was dry as dust.

“Dame?” James’ head whipped around. “You’re on the island?”

“Apparently.” Guard glared. Damien knew it was a delicate balance to get James to stop pushing them away.

“Come on, Wheels. You think I’d miss this anniversary?”

James winced, and Guard could see the devastation, the guilt in Damien’s eyes.

“All right. Let’s get some breakfast in us, huh?” Guard said.

If James and Damien could just let the past be the past, they could start looking forward. Together.

“You two go. Ask Carmen for something. I have to get up.”

“We can help you, James.” He was tired of James running him off, pushing him and Damien away.

“No.” The word came out cold, without any embellishment. James had never let him in, let him touch.

“We’re here now. It’ll be easier.” Come on. Come on.

“No. There’s work to do, isn’t there?”

“Of course there is. But we can take five minutes to take care of each other.”

James stared at him, breath coming quick. There was a major panic attack, right there at the surface.

Guard stroked James’ head. “Come on, J. Just breathe. We can do this. All together. Come on.”

“Go away. Go away.”

Damien stepped forward, eyes shimmering.

Guard nodded and held his hand out to Damien. “Help me.”

“Go away…”

Damien came closer. “Jamie…”

“We just want to help, Jamie. Don’t keep pushing us away.”

“I’m not him anymore. I never will be. Ever. I’m broken.”

“Stop that. Stop saying that. I don’t believe it, Damien doesn’t believe it, and somewhere deep inside you don’t believe it, either.”

“It’s true. It’s all true.” James sat up, scooted to the edge of the bed. “Go. Make sure there’s juice. I’ll be out in a little while.”

Guard sighed, torn between pushing it and letting James have a few minutes to pull himself together, to put up his walls. He finally decided on going because James had let him stay in the aftermath of the nightmare. He was taking that as a win and leaving now to ensure James made the same choice next time. If there was a next time.

He kissed James’ shoulder and slid out of bed, grabbing Damien’s hand and throwing a “We’ll be at your breakfast table” over his shoulder.

As soon as the bedroom door closed behind them, he turned to Damien. The man was always away, on the road looking for clients, arranging for tops and other specialists to make the fantasies come true. It wasn’t often that James didn’t know he was coming home—James usually cut the man’s credit cards off when they needed Damien here.

“Perfect timing, as always,” Guard noted.

Damien shrugged, pinked. “It’s the anniversary. I came.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know.” Then he hugged Damien. “He’s never let me in his bed before. We’re wearing him down.”

“He’ll never forgive me.” Damien would never forgive himself.

“He already has. He thinks we only see the chair.”

Arm around Damien’s waist, Guard led the man over to the table. There was breakfast for three, including juice, laid out. Carmen was a treasure, and he would pay her any amount of money to keep her happy.

“Fucking wheels.”

“Better than the alternative.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I should’ve done better work.”

“Would you let it go? You’re as bad as James. Christ.” He pulled out a chair and looked at Damien pointedly.

Damien flipped him off, the motion lazy.

“Sit your ass down, man. We’re going to have breakfast with James and then we’re going to talk about the upcoming guests and then we’re going to try to get into his pants. Again.”

“And when that doesn’t work?” Damien sat.

“Then we try again tomorrow and the day after that and then the day after that.” He’d been at this game for years now. He wasn’t planning on giving up any time soon.

“Good plan.” Damien grabbed a piece of pineapple.

“When did you get in?” Guard found the oatmeal and dished himself up a big bowlful.

“Midnight. I wanted to be here.”

“You should have come over. Helped me with James.”

“I watched.”

His head whipped around. “What?”

“I was outside. I watched. I mean, after the storm and all. I wasn’t around for the nightmare.”

“You should have joined us, man.” He was tired of being close to one or the other but never the two together. At least he got to make love to Damien. Fuck, he missed them.

“I couldn’t. I don’t belong there.”

“Of course you do. We only ever worked right when it was all three of us.”

Damn them, they were the stubbornest assholes he’d ever met. Too bad for them he was just as stubborn and he wasn’t giving up on getting his wonderful life back.

“I’d give anything to have it back.”

“It’ll happen, D. I can feel it.” He believed it. With all his heart. And he should know, he was the one who stayed on the island, who was here day in and day out. Gopher, security, he did all the things James—their computer guru and, frankly, the real brains behind the operation—couldn’t. He met planes and inspected the cabins. He oversaw new construction and accepted deliveries. The guests knew Damien as their main contact off the island. Guard was the man on the island.

“Nonsense. I’m not on the market. Is there coffee?” James wheeled in, face carefully blank.

Guard snorted. “Of course you’re not on the market—you’re already taken. And would Carmen dare serve you a breakfast that didn’t include coffee?”

“Not if she wanted to keep her job.” Like James would fire her. James treated that woman like royalty. Of course, she took care of James like it was her calling in life.

Guard met James’ eyes, really looked at the man. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Ready to get to work.” James poured a cup of coffee and snatched a Danish.

Ah, work. James holed himself up in here behind his computer, using ‘work’ as his shield and hiding behind it. James was damned good at losing himself in it, too. Guard thought sometimes that James forgot that it took all three of them to run this place, to make people’s fantasies come true. No man was an island and all that crap, which was kind of funny, really, in a not very funny way.

He stared at James for a moment and bit back his sigh before pouring himself a cup of coffee as well.

Damien rolled his eyes. “So, we’re working. What do you need me to do?”

“Have we got all the details on the kidnapping squared away?”

A kidnapping. They had to be very careful with this one. He’d put them on the far end of the island—this fantasy required total privacy.

“Ben will arrive on the island, ostensibly to have a vacation. The abduction will occur on the man’s first night here. The Dominant is perfect—a bit coarse, rough, but truly professional.” Damien sounded sure.

James nodded. “Excellent work, by the way, in double dipping on the Swan and Bonart fantasies, Dame.”

Damien’s grin widened. “Thanks, Wheels.”

He nodded, smiled. Getting two men to pay for a fantasy was fabulous. “I’ve put them on the west side of the island.”

James nodded. “Mister Leonides is going to be in the eastern cabin. You even managed to find a top for him.”

It was a giant pain in the ass, to find a Dominant to top a top.

“Of course I did.” Damien looked smug.

Guard couldn’t blame him. Damien was good at his job.

James arched an eyebrow. “Leonides is famous in certain circles, incredibly controlled.”

That smug look got worse.

“Don’t tell me you got one of his associates on board to top him, Damien.”

Damien’s eyes got wide. “Would I do that?”

James shook his head. “This man has a reputation, Dame.”

“I wouldn’t do that!”

Guard let his eyebrow go up. No, he supposed Damien wouldn’t.

James relaxed. “It would be a perfect solution, but both men have to go home, and even if Leonides doesn’t keep a sub or anything…”

“He lives in a different city, I swear.”

“But he does know Leonides?” Guard groaned. “Really? Really?”

“Trust me.”

James glared. “You always say that.”

“Trust me, Wheels.”

Guard watched his lovers’ eyes meet, the air electric.

James nodded. “I always do.”

Damn, but they were sexy together. Why couldn’t they see just how electric they still were? The guys just looked at each other, eyes caught, and Guard knew Damien was hard as a rock. His own cock was firming again, and he swallowed, held his damn breath.

“I…” Damien moaned.

“Kiss him,” Guard muttered. All Damien had to do was lean in…

Damien moved closer, hands landing on James’ wheelchair, and James jerked back.

“James,” murmured Guard. “Please.”

“There’s one more fantasy.”

Damien took a hitching breath. God damn it, there was no reason that couldn’t wait five minutes. Except that James was the most stubborn man on earth.

“Kiss me, and I’ll tell you I did my job.”

Guard nodded. That was it. They couldn’t let James run away from them.

“I know you did your job.” James’ hands were shaking.

Guard shifted and wrapped his hand around James’ wrist. He held on.

“Jamie. Please. One kiss,” Damien begged.

Guard squeezed James’ wrist and added his own quiet plea. “Just one.”

“I can’t. I can’t.”

“You can, J. Dame’ll do all the work. All you have to do is let him.”

Damien scooted forward, almost in James’ lap. “One kiss.”

Guard leaned in close for a better view. He could smell James—so good. James shook his head, but those eyes were on Damien’s mouth. Guard licked his own lips and nudged Damien in the ribs. Damien blinked, but kept leaning until his lips were pressed against James’. Guard felt like all the air in the room had just been pulled out. Whoosh.

James opened, and Damien moaned, the sound almost painful as the kiss deepened. Guard was finally able to breathe again, tiny panting breaths that were just enough to fill his lungs as he watched the most beautiful kiss he’d ever seen unfold in front of him.

Damien’s hips were rocking, fucking the air, desperation in every line of the man’s body. Guard reached out, both hands. One landed in Damien’s lap, rubbing against his lover’s need. The other slid along James’ shoulder, connecting them.

Damien cried out, jerked into his touch, and James broke the kiss. “We can’t.”

“Please,” begged Damien.

Guard wasn’t letting James back out. “We can. We are. Come on, James. Let go.”

“Forgive me, please. God, I want you, Jamie, so bad.” Damien was nearly sobbing.

Guard hadn’t seen Damien so lost in years.

“James. Please, kiss him again. I’ll help him come.” And then James, if the man let him.

“Damien.”

“Jamie…” There were tears, right there at the surface, and when James grabbed Damien’s neck, kissed the man like he meant it, Guard almost died.

He took in a deep, almost sobbing breath, his fingers sliding to wrap around James’ thigh, his other hand giving Damien something to rub against. Damien humped him furiously, cock leaking against his touch.

He pushed his hand into Damien’s shorts, groaning at the heat of it. Rough and desperate, Dame took his hand like a wild man.

“That’s it, babe. He tastes so good, doesn’t he?” Guard was talking to both of them, his whole body tight—he couldn’t quite believe this was happening.

Damien sobbed, hips leaving the chair, cock throbbing in his hand.

“Take it. Take the pleasure. In both hands.” He wasn’t even sure which one of them he was talking to anymore. It didn’t matter.

Damien threw his head back, heat spraying over his fingers.

“Oh, babe. Babe. James?” What did his other lover need?

“Go away. I want you both to go away.” James’ cheeks were streaked with tears.

“No, please, James.” Guard laid his cheek on James’ shoulder. “We love you.”

“Go away!” James rolled back, bumping into the wall. “Get out of my house!”

Damien stood, face white as a sheet.

“James! We’re your lovers.” Guard was tired of constantly being pushed away.

“You were. Not anymore. You’re my business partners!”

“We want more than just business, James. We are more. And you know it.”

James shook his head, wheeling out. “Leave me alone.”

“Damn it.” Guard sighed, letting James go, knowing chasing him down would just make James angrier. He turned to Damien, touched his lover’s arm. “Hey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

There were tears now, and Damien shook his head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up.” He stepped in close and pressed his mouth against Damien’s.

Damien pushed a sound into his lips, but he ignored it. James could walk away, but Guard wasn’t letting Dame go. He held on tight, taking the kiss, making Damien focus on it and not on his pain.

Dame breathed in, gasped into his mouth, then let him in. He kept kissing, loving on Damien. At least Damien let him. Damien loved him. He knew it, like he knew he had to breathe.

He shifted them, moved Damien so his lover was up against the wall, their bodies pressed tight together.

“Please.”

Shut up, Damien.

He humped his hips against Damien, the man’s ass hitting the wall. He could taste James on Damien’s lips, warm and spicy. God, he loved them both so much.

Damien wrapped his hand around Guard’s hip, moving him, rocking them together. He kissed Damien harder, adding more force, banging Damien against the wall.

“Fuck me. Please. Please, Guard. Want you.”

“Turn around.” He growled, grabbing Damien’s shirt and turning him. His glib lover, his shattered man.

He tugged Damien’s shorts down, kneed Damien’s legs apart. Damien’s ass pushed back toward him, begging.

He pushed his fingers into Damien’s mouth. “Suck them.”

Those lips wrapped around his fingers, the suction sudden and strong.

“Fuck.” He humped against Damien’s ass, cursing the material of his sleep shorts for being in the way. Damien nodded, sucking his fingers. Yes.

He took it as long as he could, then pulled his fingers out, groaning at the pop.

“If you don’t fuck me soon, I’m going to beat you.”

He pushed his fingers along Damien’s crack. Dame pushed back against his touch. He found the sweet little hole, pushing his index finger in. Always so tight, so needy, all theirs. He slipped a second finger in with the first, spreading them apart to open Damien up.

“Fuck, yeah. Yeah.”

“Almost there, Dame.” He hoped James could hear them, hoped the man knew what he was missing.

“Good. Need. Now.”

He pulled his fingers out and spat into his other hand, palming himself quickly to slick up his cock. He didn’t even worry about whether Damien was clean. He knew his lover was waiting. He pushed against Damien’s hole, his flesh breaching the tight muscles. Hot, tight, Damien’s body fought him for the briefest minute, then relaxed.

Groaning, he kept pushing in, spreading Damien with his erection. God, Damien’s ass was the sweetest, tightest place on earth. “Yes. Oh, love, yes.” Groaning, he pushed all the way in.

“Love.”

Yeah. Yeah, it always had been. “I know, Dame. Love you. You and James.”

He started sawing his hips back and forth, pushing into Damien over and over.

“Want him back.” Damien was sheer fucking heaven.

“We’ll get him back, babe.” They were wearing James down through sheer willpower and love.

“Promise?”

“I swear it.” They were so close he could taste it. So very close.

“I trust you.” Damien slammed back against him, took him deep.

“Good. Good.” He pushed in, hitting that sweet little gland inside Damien’s body.

“Guard!”

James had to have heard that.

He pumped in again, then again, working Damien’s gland as hard as he could. Damien was wild, humping back, meeting each thrust, crying out for him.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” He kept humping, feeling so damn good. Damien’s hole was like a fist, working his cock.

His and Damien’s moans made beautiful music. He kissed the back of Damien’s neck, the touch gentle compared to the way they slammed together. He loved this man. This man and the one who’d run away from them. They needed to be complete, together. He cried out, hips bucking.

“Come on. Come on, you bastard,” Guard ordered.

Reaching around, he grabbed a hold of Damien’s cock, jacking it furiously. He felt each squeeze around his hard flesh. “Damien.” He jerked his hips twice more and came, pumping into Damien’s body. Heat sprayed over his fingers. He collapsed against Damien’s back, panting, moaning.

“Oh, fuck.” Damien slumped against the wall. He pressed against Damien, holding his lover up. “Still good, us.”

“Yeah. We are.” They’d be even better if James would stop being so damn stubborn.

“We should go. The asshole doesn’t want us here.” There was hurt in Damien’s voice.

“Hush. That’s our lover you’re talking about.”

Damien shook his head. “He doesn’t still love me.”

“He does. He wouldn’t have let you kiss him if he didn’t. It wouldn’t have upset him so much.”

Damien groaned, leaned against him. “So you say, man. I shouldn’t have come back.”

“James waits for you to come back, you know. He cuts off your credit cards so you have to.”

“He’s an asshole.” And Damien loved him.

“But he’s our asshole.” He kissed Damien’s neck and slid out. “Come on. I’ll take you home. We’ve got clients coming in.” He turned Damien around, looked into the man’s eyes. “We’re not letting it end here, though. He let you kiss him. He let you kiss him until you came. We just need to keep at it.”

“Yeah. We’ll see. Whatever. I gotta make sure Mr. Bonart is ready to take care of Mr. Swan.”

“This isn’t over, Dame.” He kissed his lover hard.

He just hoped Damien kept believing.