by Rose, Callie
Without even discussing it, Theo leads us into the living room. He, Ryland, and I often gather in the kitchen, but I know he chose this room because these chairs are more comfortable than the barstools that line the kitchen island. It’ll be easier for Marcus to sit in here.
The thoughtfulness of that small gesture makes something in my chest ache a little.
These men love each other.
Unreservedly and unabashedly.
Fiercely.
They love each other in a way that makes me want to be a part of that bond. In a way that makes me think there might be hope for humanity after all.
Marcus takes a seat in a large easy chair, and I linger close by for a second, wanting to make sure he’s okay without making it look like I’m hovering. When I turn to go sit on the couch, though, he catches my hand, tugging me back toward him and settling me on his lap.
My immediate thought is fear that I’ll hurt him, and I try to get up quickly. But he wraps his arms around my waist with a low growl, trapping me against him.
Ryland chuckles, settling onto another chair nearby while Theo takes a seat on the couch. “Give it up, Ayla. He could be bleeding out all over again, and he still wouldn’t let you go. In case you haven’t noticed, he can be a little fucking stubborn.”
Marcus chuckles, a deep, warm sound, and I feel the vibrations of it in my own body.
Ryland’s right. And the truth is, I don’t want to get up. I want to stay right here for as long as possible, absorbing every bit of Marcus that I can.
I tug against his hold just a little though, craning my neck to look at his face. “How’s your back? Am I hurting you?”
Marcus smiles, releasing his hold on me with one arm to reach up and run his fingers through my hair. “Never, angel. You couldn’t fucking hurt me if you tried. Not as long as you let me hold you like this.”
He sounds so sincere, so content, that I can’t help myself. I lean forward to press my lips to his, stealing a soft kiss.
He’s back.
How many more times will I have to repeat that to myself before I actually believe it? Before the knot of tension that’s lived in my stomach since the day he was shot finally disappears?
And now that he’s back… what does it mean?
In the two weeks since Marcus went missing, as Theo, Ryland, and I tried to hold on to hope that he was still alive and searched for clues to his whereabouts, things changed between the three of us. Emotions that had existed under the surface already spilled out into the light, and my feelings for both men deepened and grew into something… real.
When the three of us were focused on avenging Marcus, it was easy enough not to question what was going on between us, not to try to make our unconventional relationship fit into any kind of box.
But now that Marcus is back and our little group is whole again, it’s impossible not to look at the complete picture and wonder what the fuck it all means.
As if he can pick up on the thoughts spinning inside my head, Marcus tucks me a little closer to him, brushing his fingertips over my damaged arm. I’m sitting sideways on his lap, and I can feel his steady heartbeat in his chest.
“Carson double-crossed Dominic, Victoria double-crossed Carson, and Dom would’ve killed either one of them if he’d gotten the chance,” he tells me in a low voice. “This game makes it impossible to trust anyone. Families that used to get along, that used to be true allies, look at each other with suspicion now. That’s what Luca’s done to us.”
He wraps a few strands of my hair around his fingers, tugging lightly on the strands as he turns his head to gaze at me.
“It’s not like that with the three of us, angel.” He tilts his head toward Ryland and Theo, indicating the two other men. “We were brothers long before this fucking game started, and we’ll be brothers long after it ends. We won’t use each other or turn on each other or betray each other. We’ll always have each other’s backs. Do you understand?”
I nod.
Because I do understand. I’ve seen the truth of what he’s saying too many times to doubt it for even a second.
“That’s why I’m glad as fuck that you had Theo and Ry here with you when I couldn’t be.” His eyes burn with intensity. “There is no one else in the world I would trust you with besides the two of them. No one else I trust to take care of you.”
My breath catches in my throat. I can’t look away from him—from the serious, knowing expression on his face. I can feel Theo and Ryland watching us too, and something seems to hover in the air between all of us, making my heart beat a little harder.
“Angel.” Marcus’s fingers release my hair, trailing down the side of my cheek as he watches my face carefully. “Do you care about them?”
I can’t lie.
No one would believe it anyway. Not even me.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Do you want them?”
My pussy clenches at his words, and I nod, swallowing hard.
“Have you fucked them?”
My heart is slamming against my ribs now, heat and cold seeming to flood through me at the same time. Despite everything that’s happened between the four of us, I have a moment of pure terror that I’ve gotten this all wrong.
That I’ve misread every sign, every signal.
That Marcus would never even consider sharing me.
That when I answer his question, he’ll throw me off his lap and go after the other two men the same way he went after Greg Pruitt that night outside the bar. With single-minded determination and only one goal—to end them.
But I can’t lie about this either.
“Yes.”
The word slips from my lips and seems to hang suspended in the space between me and Marcus. I watch him as intently as he’s watching me, desperate to get inside his head, to know what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling.
He nods, and I let out a shaky breath.
The light blue and rich brown of his eyes seem peaceful and calm for once, the colors clear and bright. He tugs his full bottom lip between his teeth slowly, seeming to consider something. Then he grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, a smile curving the corners of his lips.
“Show me.”
I blink at him, my eyebrows shooting up. “What?”
His smile widens a little, and now I see something else in his expression. Something almost like a challenge.
“Show me, angel.”
He brushes his thumb over my bottom lip, then slips the thick digit into my mouth. Unconsciously, my tongue darts forward to taste it, and he makes a noise low in his throat as my lips close around his thumb. His gaze flicks up to meet mine, loaded with more emotions than I can identify.
“Show me how you feel about my brothers,” he repeats quietly. “Because I already know how they feel about you.”
Chapter 16
I can’t look away from Marcus’s heated stare. My tongue is still tasting the pad of his thumb, my chest rising and falling fast as my breath picks up.
A ripple of shock washes through me at his words, but it’s followed closely by a swell of desire.
My fears were unfounded. Marcus isn’t pissed off at the idea of me being with his two closest friends, the two men who are his brothers in everything but blood.
No.
He’s turned on by it.
The desire burning in his striking blue and brown eyes turns me on too, and I bite down hard on the tip of his thumb, wrapping my lips around it and sucking.
He growls, then yanks his thumb out of my mouth and palms the back of my head, dragging my face to his for a bruising kiss. His tongue delves between my lips, tangling with mine as our mouths clash.
Everything I need to know is in this kiss, and it lights my blood on fire.
I fist the front of his white shirt, pulling him closer to me as I angle my body toward his, forgetting to be gentle as need surges through me like a madness.
If I hurt him, Marcus doesn’t even seem to notice or
care. He nips at my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth as he groans softly. I can feel him stiffening against me, but he catches me with a hand around my throat, squeezing just hard enough to make me break our heated kiss.
My lips are tingling, and I gaze at him with a slightly dazed look, almost tempted to risk cutting off my air supply completely just for the chance to kiss him again.
Marcus smiles as if he can tell what I’m thinking, but then he jerks his chin to indicate the other two men in the room. “Show me, angel. I want to see.”
I nod, trying to catch my breath. He helps me slide off his lap, depositing me on my feet beside his chair, his hands hungry and possessive on my waist and hips. He gropes one of my ass cheeks and then gives it a sharp slap, making my entire body react as slick arousal gathers in my core.
Forcing my feet into motion, I step toward the chair where Ryland is sitting. The broad-shouldered man has taken off his bowtie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. His jacket is draped over the side of the chair, and his sleeves have been rolled up his forearms, showing off the colorful ink that covers his skin. He looks casual and confident, raw masculinity barely contained by his tuxedo.
He stares at me as I approach, his chin dropped slightly and his hazel eyes smoldering.
Once, the dark look in his eyes would’ve intimidated me. Once, it would’ve made me give him a wide berth.
But not anymore.
Not now that I know what it means.
Instead, the hard expression on his face draws me in, heat spiking in my veins as I come to stand before him. He’s watching me like a predator, like a lion who’s somehow made the gazelle come to him, and I can feel Theo and Marcus watching both of us.
Leaning over, I rest my hand on his chest. A smile pulls at my lips as I feel the quick cadence of his heart—the only thing that contradicts his outward appearance of calm.
I’m still smiling when I drop my head and press my lips to his.
It’s exploratory at first, a kiss to test the waters. To make sure this is really happening and that I’m not just dreaming.
We’ve only kissed a few times, but Ryland’s lips are familiar already. They’re full and firm, and as the connection between us deepens, I feel the exact moment when he gives up control.
The strokes of his tongue become fierce and insistent as it probes into my mouth, and he wraps an arm around me, tugging me down onto his lap. My dress restricts the movement of my legs a little, so I end up half straddling him and half draped over him, but he doesn’t seem to mind one bit. He arches his hips up to grind against me, his large hands skating over my bare back as if he’s been waiting to do this ever since the moment he first saw me in this dress.
Maybe he has.
Maybe Theo has too.
Holy fuck.
I’m not dreaming.
This is really happening.
The thought brings with it a tiny thrill of fear, but riding fast on the heels of that is… relief.
This is happening.
It’s strange and terrifying and exhilarating, but so was the way these men found their way into my life. Nothing about our relationship is normal, which means we get to define what “normal” is.
And right now, kissing Ryland like my life depends on it while Marcus and Theo make low, appreciative sounds as they watch us?
It feels like the most normal thing there is.
It feels like everything I’ll ever fucking need.
Ryland’s hands move to my hair, and he cradles my head between his large palms as he changes the angle of our kiss. I’m panting into his mouth, trying to crawl up his body to get closer to him, my clit throbbing as need builds deep inside me.
When he pulls away a moment later, I gasp for breath, trying to regain my equilibrium.
“Theo’s turn, sweetheart.” He grins at me, making his strong features look almost boyish, then drops a small kiss to the tip of my nose.
It’s a small, sweet gesture, nowhere near as heated as the way he was just devouring my mouth. But the meaning behind it—the tenderness behind it—makes my body ache for him anyway.
Fuck. How can I want all three of these men so much at the same damn time?
I never want to leave Ryland’s arms. But at the same time, I’m dying to kiss Theo, desperate to feel his hands and mouth on me, to feed the connection that sparks between us.
Crawling off Ryland’s lap is a little awkward, especially since I’ve only got one hand to use for balance, but he keeps a firm grip on me to steady me until I’m back on my feet.
My skirt settles back around my legs, and I flick a glance in Marcus’s direction to find him watching me with smoldering eyes.
His cock is hard, a straining bulge trapped by the confines of his clothes, and as he meets my gaze, he reaches down and palms his dick through the fabric of his pants, running his hand up and down his length.
His eyelids droop as his nostrils flare, and liquid heat gathers in my core.
Marcus destroyed my panties back at Luca’s party, so there’s nothing to catch the slick arousal that seeps from me as my pussy clenches. I can feel it sticking to my thighs as I turn to face Theo.
The man with laughing blue-green eyes and sandy blond hair is watching me just as closely as Marcus is. He’s hard too, and I remember the feel of his thick cock pressing against my clit, driving away the sadness and pain until there was nothing but pleasure. Nothing but him.
I wanted him so fucking badly that morning. Wanted to feel him inside me. Wanted to wrap myself in his warmth and strength and goodness until I could find those things in my own soul again.
But I was scared.
I was terrified of what it would mean to admit I was falling for all three of the men whose lives had collided violently with mine. I was certain it couldn’t possibly be real.
As I watch him, Theo reaches down and grips his cock too, quirking a lopsided smile as he jacks himself off through his pants. He bites his lower lip, his body shuddering slightly as his hips thrust up into his hand, and I stalk toward him quickly. Something almost like jealousy tears through me as I grab his hand, pulling it away from the thick bulge in his pants.
He chuckles as I release my grip on him to gather the fabric of my dress, keeping it from trapping my legs as I climb onto his lap. The skirt of my dress drapes around my upper thighs as I straddle Theo’s sculpted hips. The hardness he was stroking a second ago presses against my bare clit, and I let out a soft groan as I rub against him, kissing him hungrily.
I’m completely soaked by now. My body has been on edge ever since Marcus fucked me in the laundry room—sated but still hungry for more—and after the way he and Ryland kissed me, I feel like I’m channeling an electric current.
“Fuck, Rose,” Theo grunts into my mouth. “You’re getting me wet. I can fucking feel you soaking through my pants.”
It doesn’t sound like a complaint, and as if to prove that fact, he grips my hips and grinds me down even harder against his cock, smearing my cream all over himself. It’s filthy and possessive… and I fucking love it.
He breaks our kiss to trail his lips down over my chin and jaw, and I tilt my head back, letting him continue his path all the way down my throat as I lean backward slightly. He growls against my skin and delves one hand beneath the fabric of my dress, readjusting my position on his lap slightly as he slides a thick finger inside me.
“Oh, god…”
The words are a half-choked whisper as my pussy walls clamp around the intrusion. I thought his cock against my clit felt good, but this is even better. My walls ripple around him as he adds a second finger, and I start to ride his hand, working my hips against his palm as I try to take more of him inside me.
“Angel.” Marcus’s voice is gruff and commanding. I crane my neck to look over at him as Theo drags his tongue across my collarbone. He’s unzipping his pants, delving his hand inside to fist his cock, and his eyes gleam with intensity as he catches my gaze. “Show me. Show us.�
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I know what he wants, and the thought of giving it to him makes a wave of arousal pulse through me.
He wants to see.
Everything.
Forcing my unwilling muscles to work, I tug on Theo’s hair to bring his face back up to mine. I kiss him deeply, moving against his hand in the same rhythm as my lips as I chase my pleasure hard for a second. Then I slide off his lap, nearly groaning aloud at the feel of his fingers dragging out of my pussy. I miss them immediately, miss the feeling of fullness and the sweet pressure on my g-spot.
When I’m standing in front of Theo again, I reach up with my hand to push first one strap of my dress then the other off my shoulders. The fabric slides down over my breasts and torso, gathering at my waist for a moment before I shimmy it down over my hips.
Then it drops to the floor, pooling around my feet.
I’m not wearing a bra, and my shredded panties are still in the laundry room in Luca D’Addario’s house. So all that’s left on my body is the pair of heels Ryland bought me to go with the dress.
Acutely aware of the three gazes tracking my every move, I step out of my heels and kick both them and the dress to the side.
When my gaze meets Theo’s again, something has changed in his expression. Usually, there’s a hint of humor that gleams behind his blue-green eyes. It’s been mostly absent for the past two weeks, but I noticed it spark to life again when he realized Marcus had come back to us—as if color had been returned to the world again.
But right now, he doesn’t look like he finds any of this amusing. He looks serious.
Intense.
And hungry as fuck.
I can hear the sounds of Marcus and Ryland stroking themselves behind me, but I don’t turn around to look, as tempting as it is. Instead, I hold Theo’s gaze, letting the chemistry that’s simmered between us for weeks charge the air.
This is about all of us, about the four of us. But right now, this moment? It’s only me and Theo.
I let my gaze travel slowly down his body, soaking up the way his tux accentuates his lean, muscled form. There’s a dark spot over the bulge of his cock, and my clit pulses as I see the evidence of my own arousal smeared over his pants. My breath picks up as I drop to my knees in front of him, and Theo makes a strangled noise as I reach for the waistband of his pants.
