Heather sighed and turned so she was leaning against Marcus again. She watched Kyle a few moments — he was working much too slowly for her, but she resisted jumping in and doing it for him. “Ignoring the facts won’t help anyone, Marcus. Part of me is broken. It’s not good or bad, it’s just the way it is. When someone has a broken arm, you don’t correct them when they say it’s broken. My brain doesn’t do something it’s supposed to do. It got broken when I was little, and it can’t be fixed.”

  “There’s a difference in realizing something doesn’t work right, and in saying you are broken, Heather.”

  She leaned forward to get a better look at her leg. Kyle had removed most of the gravel and was looking at the biggest rock. Since he seemed to have stopped, Heather reached down, plucked it out, and squirted water into the hole. It was going to be a bleeder, so she reached for the gauze in Kyle’s hand, and stuck it into the hole the rock came out of.

  “I need a few pieces of tape, each about three inches long, please.”

  Kyle sighed, tore a piece off, and handed it to her. She used the tape to pull the two sides of the hole together around the gauze, and he said, “I could’ve done that, but I was looking to see if there was a better option.”

  “There isn’t, and you were taking too long. I get that with normal people you’d have to do it the least painful way, but you can treat the area as if it’s been deadened when you work on me.” She applied another piece of tape. “I’ll shower and put some betadine on it when I get home, and we can decide whether it might need a few stitches.” She sat up straight, touched her left shoulder with her right hand, and looked at Eric. “My left shoulder isn’t moving quite right. Can you take a look at it and see if there’s anything obviously wrong?”

  Eric leaned in, and Marcus shifted to the right to give him room.

  “Lift your arm up a few inches, now rotate it. Actually, let’s get your shirt off so I can see how the muscles are moving.”

  Heather was used to being out in only an exercise bra, so she pulled her right arm out of the shirt’s armhole and then lifted it over her head sideways before sliding it off her possibly-injured arm. While it wouldn’t hurt to take it off the normal way, she might exacerbate an injury doing so.

  Eric pulled the shirt the rest of the way off her right arm, and Kyle said, “It looks like ya’ll have done this before.”

  Eric had a hand at the front and back of her shoulder, holding to feel the joint as it moved. “When you do extreme stuff, you learn what you can power through and what you need to back off and allow to heal. We’ve all helped each other out on occasion.” He concentrated for a moment while Heather rotated her arm, “I’m not sensing anything wrong. No heat, no swelling, and the joint’s moving as it’s supposed to. You initially landed on your knees and shins, not sure how you hurt your shoulder, but if I had to guess I’d say you wrenched it while trying to hold onto the handlebars too long.”

  “I think you’re probably right. Something isn’t quite right, but it’s smoother than it was, so maybe it’ll be okay. And yeah, I probably held onto the handlebars too long trying for a save. I’ll know more in an hour or so if it starts to swell. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get back on your bike long enough to do the trick I was doing when I fell.”

  Eric said, “Sure thing,” at the same time Kyle said, “No, you’re not!”

  Heather stood and looked down at Kyle. “I’m pretty sure you don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, Kyle.”

  Her voice came out a bit sharper than she’d intended, and Kyle stood to stand beside her. “You’re hurt — and you want to do what you were doing when you got hurt? You don’t have to prove anything to me. Let’s just go lay down. I’ll even try to crawl out onto the rock with you.”

  What had she done to deserve this man? She leaned into him and let him put his arms around her. “I know I don’t have to prove anything to you, but I messed the trick up, and I need to do it right or it’ll bug me. It was a silly mistake — not seeing the rut that caught the wheel. I just need to do it smoothly once and then I’ll be good. And I’m not hurt. I’ve got a few bumps. Don’t make it into something it isn’t.”

  Eric had brought the bike to her by that time, and she thanked him and climbed on. Her shoulder seemed fine while she maneuvered through a dozen figure eights, so she picked up speed, flew down a hill onto an embankment, and then went airborne, hanging in the air a few seconds before landing, and then picking her way through a rocky area and bouncing the tires over the areas the tires couldn’t roll over.

  When she was satisfied that she was in control, she coasted back to the guys, jumped off the bike as she neared Eric, and made a point of handing it back to him. “Thanks. You want me to adjust it back, or would you rather do it?”

  “I’ve got it. Go have a seat with your guys. Ranger may want to talk to you about taking him up for some jumps. He asked me the other day if I had a pilot I could recommend, and I told him I did, but we hadn’t gotten around to doing more than that yet.”

  Ranger had been sitting on the ground out of the way, leaned against a tree, but he effortlessly rolled up to his feet and walked towards them. “You’re a pilot?”

  Heather nodded. “What kind of jump experience do you have?”

  “Plenty. What do you fly?”

  “I can fly most anything. I have an R44, but if you prefer fixed wing, I have access to rent a few planes. I also have access to rent an Astar, if you want a bigger ’copter.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I trust you have Eric’s email address. Send your hourly piloted helo prices to him and he can get it to me, and then I’ll respond to you and we’ll see what we can work out. What days are you available?”

  “I’m scheduled for most of this week, and I know I’m flying people on Monday and Friday of the following week. I’ll let Eric know what days I’m free in the next couple of weeks when I send him my pricing schedule. What kind of experience do you have?”

  Eric answered for him this time. “He’s been in the military most of my life, and the last twelve years as spec ops.”

  “Alrighty then, you know what you’re doing, and you’re probably going to want to go several times, not just once. Do you have your own equipment?”

  Eric answered for him again. “Yeah, we’re good.”

  Heather nodded, reached for Kyle’s hand, and walked them through the woods back towards the point. Kyle pulled back a little when they stepped from dirt to rock, but she was counting on him not wanting to show his fear in front of Eric, so she kept walking.

  Using his own guidelines, she stopped when they were seven feet from the edge, took both his hands in hers, and encouraged him to sit.

  Finally, she sat in front of him, between his legs, and leaned against him to give him a barrier between his body and the spacious view. She wanted him to relax and see the sight before them as beautiful, rather than as a potential death hazard, but she honestly didn’t know how to make it happen. All she could come up with was to try to make him feel safe, and hope he’d figure out how to appreciate it and take in the beauty of this wonderful, fascinating planet.

  Marcus sat beside Kyle with his legs out straight, and she laid her arm across the other man’s leg, with her hand resting lightly just below his knee. They were also about six feet from the right-side edge, and Marcus had given Kyle another barrier.

  Eric, Ranger, and Jim Bob called their goodbyes as they rode off, and it was just Heather and both men once again.

  Chapter 13

  “Is everyone going to assume I’m submissive if I’m with you?” Heather asked Marcus.

  “Would that be a problem?”

  “I’m not submissive.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being submissive.”

  “I didn’t say there was, but I’m not, and I don’t want people to think I am.”

  “Would you be bothered if people thought you were dominant?”

  “Yeah. I mean, maybe not people in the lifestyle, but if other people thought I was, it would bother me.”

  “No one outside the lifestyle knows what I am, so they’re the only ones who’ll jump to the same conclusion as Eric.” He shrugged. “They won’t have to be around you long to realize you aren’t submissive — though there’s going to be a lot of curiosity about a dominant woman who has my affection.”

  “I have your affection?”

  Kyle answered, his chest rumbling against her back. “Of course you have his affection. He wouldn’t have offered to help us out, otherwise.”

  Heather looked at Marcus, wanting him to answer the question, and he gave her a genuine smile. “I like you. I think you’re great for Kyle, but it’s more than that. If we hadn’t spent the day together today, I’d have been disappointed. I want to see you, do things with you. I enjoy spending time with you, and I’m loving this chance to help you explore your sexuality. I don’t know where this is going, but I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”

  Heather wasn’t prepared to take the conversation farther. Declaring that she was starting to like Marcus felt awkward, so she changed the subject. “Eric didn’t know Kyle.”

  “No. He isn’t involved in the local scene.”

  Heather remembered his girlfriend of the previous year telling him to change clothes before they went out, and she asked, “Kyle, was Margie dominant over you?”

  “Yes. Since Margie and I broke up, I’ve driven to Nashville to have those needs met. I’m not comfortable outing myself locally.”

  “Have you gone to Nashville since—” She broke off and started again. “When’s the last time you went to Nashville?”

  “My last trip was about a month before our first kiss. I had a trip planned for the weekend after, but then you kissed me and agreed to go out on a date with me, so I canceled the trip and haven’t been back.”

  That was the exact question she hadn’t wanted to finish — had he been back since they’d been an item. Kyle had understood, and he hadn’t made her outright ask it to get an answer. She might not fully understand this submissive thing, but she grasped enough to recognize it was important to him. Not a want, but a need.

  “I want to learn how to give you what you need.”

  “We can talk about the things that turn me on, and Marcus can teach you the things you’re interested in learning, but I’m more interested in watching you explore your blossoming sexuality right now.”

  She rolled her eyes and reached for her water bottle. “Nothing is blossoming. Exploding perhaps, but not blossoming. Marcus, you said you had reading material for me? I’ll have the brunt of the day to read tomorrow. I’ll fly my contractor guys to New Orleans and then hang out in the plane for the day while they go off and do their thing.” Sometimes, she rented a car and explored a city she’d never been to before, but she’d been all over New Orleans more times than she could count.

  “I have a few nonfiction books that explain the nuts and bolts, but you might learn more about the power exchange aspects by reading some fiction books. They give a better idea of the emotions behind it, and the need for trust.” He met her gaze. “Trust is huge in what we do. Understanding the emotions and wants and needs is probably more important than the nuts and bolts right now, so it feels right to start you with the romance books.”

  Heather looked over her shoulder at Kyle. “Do you still want me to tie the rope off, so you can walk or crawl to the edge? Or do you need it before you stand up? How are you handling the view?”

  Kyle sighed. “I know you and Marcus think you’re helping by getting between me and the edge, but it just makes me afraid for the two of you.” He took a fortifying breath. “But it’s time I started working on this with an end goal in mind. My original aim was just to be able to fly commercially, but I’m in love with a pilot who has her own helicopter. I know there are a lot of things we could do together if I wasn’t terrified to fly with you. It’s time I started dealing with my shit again, so I can work towards flying with you.”

  She squeezed the top of his leg. “I love that you want to work on it, but you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay where you are?”

  “I’m not close to a panic attack. I’m probably as okay with it as it’s possible for me to be, but I’m not terribly relaxed.”

  Marcus wrapped an arm around Kyle. “I think perhaps you should consider doing one of those indoor climbing walls again. Heather can probably make arrangements for us to get you in before or after normal hours, with the goal being to start out at maybe ten feet, and then to increase some amount every time you go — whether it be a foot, or six inches, or two inches.”

  “We have to work on my claustrophobia and my fear of heights for me to fly with Heather. We mostly worked on my claustrophobia to get me into a commercial airplane, because I could sit in the center and not see how high up we were. I won’t have that luxury in a helicopter.”

  Heather felt Kyle tense, relax, tense again, and he finally changed the subject. “Marcus, I think we need to talk about you and Heather. Something beyond you saying you have affection for her. You called yourself a mentor, but I see you as more than that. I see her developing feelings for you, and I see you starting to treat her as if you care about her. I’ve assured Heather I’m good with it, but maybe if we all talk about it together?” He shrugged and gave Heather a brief squeeze. “It just feels like we need more discussion.”

  Marcus looked from Kyle to Heather, and reached across Kyle to brush his hand over her cheek. “He’s right. I’m starting to care about you enough that I don’t think we can say I’m just a mentor. I don’t know what that means for the three of us, but I do care about you a great deal.”

  “It feels wrong to have feelings for two men, but I’m starting to care for you, too. I’m not really one for talking about feelings, but I’m glad it worked out for the three of us to spend the day together.”

  Kyle chuckled. “My work here is done. Now, are ya’ll getting hungry? Shouldn’t we head back?”

  Heather looked back to see if she could see her pack, and realized Marcus or Eric must’ve brought it back to the point, because it was only a few feet away. “I have a few granola bars in my pack if you need energy now, but if you’re ready to go we can certainly head back towards the car. I want veggies, so maybe we can stop and get Chinese at the bottom of the mountain?”

  “No,” Kyle said. “We need to get you in a shower and properly clean your leg before we worry about food.”

  Marcus stood and offered his hand to Heather. She accepted his help, and they both offered their hands to Kyle. He blanched and asked, “Can ya’ll move away from the edge and help me from the other direction, please?”

  Kyle spun around, they helped him up, and Heather dug her shirt out of her pack. Kyle took her pack from her while she put her shirt on, and she reached to take it back, but he held it away from her.

  “You said you wrenched your shoulder. I didn’t bring a pack — let me carry yours.”

  “It’s a child-sized pack. It won’t fit you.”

  “Won’t the straps let out?”

  While he was looking at it, she took it from him, slung it onto her left shoulder, angled her right arm into it, and shrugged it up. She buckled the chest strap while Kyle pulled the waist strap around and fastened it. She realized she’d hurt his feelings, but she’d brought the pack in and she’d take it out. Still, she needed to say something. “I’m okay. I like that you offered, but I can handle it. If I was hurting, or if I thought there was damage, I’d tell you. I’m not so stubborn I’ll cause injury to myself to be macho.”

  He nodded, kissed her on the forehead, and they headed down the trail. The first couple of hundred yards were hard for Kyle, and they were silent while he navigated his way from tree to tree. She wanted to tell him to stop focusing on the sheer drop, but he knew what to do.

  When they finally reached a section of trail far enough from the edge Kyle was mostly okay, Marcus asked, “Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your adoption?”

  Yeah, she minded, but she wasn’t surprised. Still, she wondered why now. After a short internal debate on the best way to respond, she asked, “Why?”

  “Because it’s an area of your life I don’t know much about, and there are things I want to know. Remember, I’ve helped lots of people deal with adoption issues. I’ve never heard you say anything that would tell me you have any specific issues around it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to check in with you, see where you are.”

  “And pick at it until it bleeds?”

  She could hear the caution in his voice as he said, “No, I don’t want to pick at anything. It sounds like someone else has wanted to do that, though.”

  “Oh yeah. I’ve seen so many specialists about my sensory stuff, and more than one along the way has tried to convince me that I really do have issues around being adopted, even if I don’t think I do. And the fact that I don’t think I do? Well, that just means I’m repressed. Or in denial. How in hell do you argue with something like that?”

  “How old were you when you found out you were adopted?”

  She looked to make sure they were both behind her and doing okay, and turned back to the trail. “I’ve always known I was adopted. My mom told me my story from the very beginning — about how there was a room with babies who needed families, and how there were these people who wanted to be parents, so they wrote a letter asking if they could adopt one of the babies and be their parents and love them forever. As I got older, she added in appropriate adoption language. Once, when we were shopping or something, someone asked her if I missed my “real mom”, and she told them she was my “real mom”. I asked her about it later, because it really bugged me.”

  Heather stopped talking to navigate a steep downhill grade with loose rocks, and picked back up at the bottom. “My mom said that sometimes people who don’t know much about adoption think my biological mother is my real mother, and they don’t understand that I have two real mothers, not just one. And then when I was older and curious about where I came from, she made plans to take me back to Korea that summer, when I was eight years old, and we visited the orphanage I came from. When I was fourteen, we went again, and I got to spend three days volunteering at an orphanage. Not the one I came from, because they didn’t allow that, so my mom found another one that did. She also made arrangements for us to board with a Korean family, in their home, so I’d get an idea of what it was like to live in a home in Korea. The son in that family spoke some English, so we could communicate with them, and I learned so much during our stay. My mom wanted me to be proud of being Korean and to be proud of being an American.