Elegant Seduction (Trinity Masters Book 6)

by Mari Carr

  Elyse nodded. “Yes. But I didn’t realize that until graduation night. I didn’t know Elliot was selling drugs. I suspected he was using them and I’d tried to talk to him about it, but by our last year in school, Elliot had changed so much it felt like I didn’t know him anymore. He’d gotten into some trouble, in classes and in the neighborhood with the law. I’m pretty sure the principal had planned to expel him at least twice. My dad made sizable donations to the school and those issues went away.”

  Grant suddenly started to feel his age and he wondered how all of these problems between Elyse and Sebastian would have played out if they’d been farther away from graduation. Grant was seventeen years away from all the shit associated with school days. So far away, it was a faint memory that held little to no weight in his life now. Elyse and Sebastian were much closer. Seven years hadn’t been enough time away to accumulate different experiences and new perspectives, to calm the emotions. He hadn’t thought the ten-year difference in age between him and his spouses had been a problem. Now it felt like one more hurdle standing in their way.

  “Sebastian and I walked into my hotel room together. We were kissing and I kept thinking it was the most perfect, romantic night of my life. I was so sure I was in love.”

  Grant didn’t doubt for a moment she had been in love with Sebastian. Hell, it was obvious she still was. And that pang of envy he’d been trying to snuff out returned full force.

  “What happened then?” he asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  “I had loaned Elliot the key to my room earlier in the night so he could grab some aspirin for a headache. He’d brought it back to me and I didn’t think of it again. Until… There were drugs on my bed. A lot of them. Way more than someone would buy just for themselves. It was pretty obvious Elliot was selling them.”

  “Why had he put them in your room?” Grant was feeling the urge to beat up a dead man as well. Elyse had spent the majority of her life with some pretty shitty male role models.

  “I asked him that the next day. He said he had seen Seb’s dad hanging out in the hotel lobby. He’d been arrested twice for stupid stuff—petty theft, assault—but he’d been seventeen at the time and my dad’s lawyers had managed to get the charges dropped. We had turned eighteen a few weeks before graduation and there was no way Elliot would avoid jail if Seb’s father found all those drugs in his room.”

  Grant’s temper spiked. “So he stashed ten to twenty years in prison in your room?”

  Elyse nodded and looked down. “Like I said, he’d changed.”

  “What did Sebastian say when he saw the drugs?”

  “He said something about finally finding proof. I realized he’d been tutoring me because he was hoping to gather evidence on Elliot. And like a lovesick idiot, I’d led Seb right to him. We got into a fight. I was certain Seb planned to tell his father and my dad wasn’t going to be able to get Elliot out of that mess. I honestly thought I could help my brother, that I could get him to stop dealing.”

  “And Sebastian agreed to keep quiet?”

  Elyse shrugged. “I knew it went against everything he stood for, but yeah, he promised not to tell.”

  And that was when Grant realized Sebastian had been in love with Elyse as well.

  “He left my room after I flushed all the pills and that was it.”

  “The two of you haven’t seen each other or spoken since then?”

  “Only once, but the conversation was brief. And pretty terrible. We were at the funeral of a friend who had OD’ed. Elliot…Elliot didn’t stop dealing. He just hid it from me. Someone died because I convinced Seb to keep Elliot’s secret. If my brother had been arrested that night…”

  “Don’t say that, Elyse. Don’t even think it. Your friend would have gotten the drugs elsewhere.”

  She lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, I guess. Maybe nothing would have been different. Maybe everything would. Seb was so angry at the funeral.”

  “Most people are angry when someone young dies so senselessly.”

  “Have you ever asked yourself how far you’d go to protect someone you love? What rules you’d break?”

  Grant shook his head. He’d never had to ask himself those questions.

  “I know, from experience, that I’d do almost anything. Even if it’s not the right thing to do.” She looked at him, seeming to dare him to hear what she had to say. “The day after the funeral, after Seb spoke to me, I got Elliot out of the country. Had him check into rehab in Croatia—this beautiful place in the mountains.”

  “Croatia?”

  Elyse smiled grimly. “No extradition.”

  “Oh.”

  “So you see, Seb has reason to hate me. I protected my brother, the drug dealer, even after someone died. I protected him.”

  “Elyse, you’re loyal to the people you love, to your family. In this case, you gave your loyalty to someone who didn’t deserve it.”

  She didn’t reply.

  They had their work cut out for them.

  “Thank you for telling me.”

  She smiled sadly. “It’s kind of a mess, isn’t it?”

  He ran his fingers along her soft cheek. “I don’t think it’s as bad as you think.”

  Elyse was too entrenched in her own feelings of guilt—over her actions that night and her brother’s death—to see the truth. She and Sebastian were still in love with each other. Those feelings were going to come to the surface eventually and at that point, Grant suspected—hoped—all the other crap would fade into the background. The secret was getting the two of them to talk.

  “So here’s the plan. We’re going to finish dinner, and then I’m going to kiss you senseless for no less than ten minutes. Then we’re going to hang out in our rooms, alone. When Sebastian comes back, the two of you are going to talk about all of this. And I’m going to stand guard at the door to make sure the coward doesn’t run again. Deal?”

  Elyse gave him a glimpse at the first genuine happiness he’d seen since he’d met her. “Deal.”

  Chapter Six

  Elyse stood in the hallway outside Sebastian’s closed bedroom door the next night and debated knocking.

  She and Grant had returned to their own rooms before Sebastian came back last night. Despite Grant’s pep talk, she’d been too much of a chicken to leave the room, so she’d spent the second night of her so-called honeymoon sleeping alone.

  This morning, they’d all met around the dining room table, eating the pastries Grant had ordered from room service. Sebastian had returned to his normal, affable self, shocking her when he suggested they take Grant sightseeing.

  Though Grant had been to Boston quite a few times over the last decade or so, he’d merely popped in for Trinity Masters events and hadn’t bothered to explore the city. The three of them had spent the best day Elyse had had in years, walking around, playing tourist in her own hometown. They had wandered around Quincy Market, done a bit of shopping. Grant had talked them into eating lunch at Cheers because he had grown up watching reruns of the show. After lunch, they’d meandered down to the harbor, grabbing giant ice cream cookie sandwiches from the Cookie Monstah truck, and then, because they were close, she’d taken them to her condo and given them a tour of her place. She had liked seeing them in her home. It was the first time she’d gotten a sense that the three of them worked well together.

  Upon returning to the hotel, Elyse had excused herself and gone to her room, terrified of triggering whatever it was that took Sebastian from great guy to cold stranger. The day had been too perfect to ruin.

  However, that fear had evaporated when she’d heard Sebastian and Grant walk down the hall, each of them retiring to their own rooms. That was when her temper sparked and she decided she wasn’t doing this anymore. Wasn’t spending another night in this stupid hotel bed alone without saying what needed to be said.

  She’d known since seeing Sebastian at the altar they were long overdue for a conversation about graduation night, about the drugs he�
��d found and the secret she’d asked him to keep.

  Talking to Grant yesterday had helped strengthen her resolve. She and Sebastian were embarking on a lifetime together. She didn’t want to do that with this dark cloud hovering over their heads.

  She knocked on his door.

  “Yeah?” Sebastian called from inside.

  “Seb. Can I come in? I’d like to talk.”

  The door opened just as she finished her request. Sebastian stood stiffly, his hand still resting on the knob.

  She hesitated before crossing the threshold, her courage starting to desert her. Sebastian’s continued silence didn’t help. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or bored or annoyed. The man was a master at playing the impassive card. She’d been struggling to read his thoughts for three days; trying to adjust as his temperature ran cold to hot then back to freezing. It was exhausting.

  She recalled Grant’s belief that things weren’t as bad as they seemed and she forged on, stepping into the room before she lost her nerve completely.

  “Listen, Seb—”

  Four steps inside, she turned to face him, but he wasn’t at the door. He’d followed her and before she could say another word, he cupped her face and his lips were on hers. Kissing her as if his life depended on it.

  Once again, he had stopped the conversation before it started. It didn’t matter. She was going to let him get away with it.

  The kiss transported her back in time, to that moment before everything went to hell. Her heart raced with the same excitement and anticipation she’d felt that night. She wasn’t a virgin anymore, but whenever she was in Sebastian’s arms, everything felt new. Different. Special.

  For several beautiful minutes, they were content to simply kiss. Elyse’s eyes had closed the moment he pulled her to him and they didn’t open again until Sebastian released her lips and said, “Are you going to just stand there or are you coming in?”

  She smiled, not bothering to look toward the doorway. Like Sebastian, she’d realized the moment Grant had begun watching them. She had sensed his presence even though she hadn’t seen him. It had taken that powerful kiss and sent it rocketing into space.

  Grant stepped behind her, his chest pressed tightly to her back. “Didn’t want to impose.”

  Sebastian murmured a quiet “mmm-hmmm” before resuming their kiss. Grant swept her hair to one side as he drew his lips along the side of her neck. With nimble fingers, he untied the knot of her robe sash, and then slid the silky garment over her shoulders, the material landing on the floor with a light swish.

  She’d chosen her outfit purposely, putting on the sexy negligee she’d purchased the day she received her call to the altar. Elyse had nervously anticipated wearing it for her new spouses their first night together after the binding ceremony. Obviously that plan had been shot to hell.

  Sebastian released her lips, his gaze seducing her as it slid down her body, taking in the pale-pink silk nightgown with spaghetti straps and a low cut V-neck that hugged her curves, ending several inches above her knees.

  “God, Elle,” he whispered.

  Grant’s hands had rested on her waist, but with Sebastian’s eyes locked on her body, their clever lover found yet another way to raise the bar when he lifted his hands, cupped her breasts and squeezed. The silk against her turgid nipples intensified the sensations he was able to provoke with those beautifully rough touches.

  Though she had pretended to be offended by Grant’s heavy-handed words at the dining table yesterday, everything he’d said had sent waves of pussy-pulsing need thumping through Elyse. She’d had very few lovers in her past, all of them inconsequential, meaningless affairs. Elyse had serious trust issues and those had only gotten worse after she realized Sebastian had been using her.

  She looked at him. They’d both hurt each other that night. He’d abused her trust, but she had taken something from him as well. Forced him to turn his back on his conscience, to keep a very dangerous secret from his father. Neither of them had truly asked for forgiveness. She wondered if it was needed.

  She realized she had forgiven Sebastian a long time ago. And when he looked at her now and gave her that same sweet, friendly smile, she suspected the same held true for him.

  “It’s okay, Elle,” he whispered. “We were both assholes.”

  “Yeah. We were.”

  Grant groaned. “That’s it? Two nights wasted sleeping alone and that was all it took to make it right?”

  Elyse gave Grant a guilty smile as she glanced at him over her shoulder. “Sorry.”

  Grant winked at her. “Tonight we make up for lost time.”

  Elyse leaned back against Grant, needing his support to hold her upright as he played with her breasts. Sebastian didn’t seek to begin the kisses again, content, it seemed, to watch for now.

  After several minutes, Grant’s hands slid down her sides. She shivered. God, she wasn’t sure she’d ever been so turned on. Her skin actually seemed alive, sparking like one of those electricity balls whenever he touched her.

  His fingers closed around the hem of her nightie and he slowly slid the silk up and over her head. Elyse caught her breath and resisted the urge to close her eyes. Neither man had seen her naked before. All those feelings of insecurity and not being good enough resurfaced.

  She forced herself to hold Sebastian’s gaze. To watch him as he looked at her.

  “Elle.” Her name fell out on a breath that was reverent, awestruck.

  It didn’t appear that Grant needed his eyes for exploration. He let his fingers see for him, as they skated over her body, stroking her everywhere.

  “Your turn,” Grant said to Sebastian.

  Sebastian didn’t hesitate. He tugged his t-shirt over his head, his jeans and boxers following. Elyse hadn’t questioned Sebastian’s arousal, but seeing the naked, exposed truth of it was overwhelming. Her too-slow brain finally put two plus one together and figured out exactly what that meant for her.

  She had seen Grant by the altar, had noticed with appreciation and the tiniest bit of apprehension how thick his cock was. Sebastian’s was longer, though she considered it might just appear that way because he was fully erect. Grant’s had looked intimidatingly large and he hadn’t been hard in the ceremony room.

  “Shit,” she murmured.

  Grant kissed the side of her neck once more. “It’s going to be fine, Elle.”

  “I should tell you both now it’s been a while for me,” she confessed.

  Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “How long?”

  Since Elliot’s death.

  But Elyse didn’t say that. “Over two years.”

  She could tell Seb liked hearing that, the fact confirmed when he said, “Good. I don’t like thinking about you with other men.” Sebastian would be a possessive lover. It was in his eyes, in the way he held himself.

  Grant nipped at her shoulder, drawing both Elyse’s and Sebastian’s attention to him. “What about me?”

  Sebastian grinned. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

  “Good to know. Get on the bed, Seb. I think it’s time we broke this dry spell our girl is suffering.”

  Sebastian climbed on the mattress, scooting toward the middle and sitting with his back against the headboard. Then he reached out, beckoning her to join him.

  “Go on,” Grant urged.

  She crawled toward Sebastian, planting her knees between his outstretched thighs. She leaned over so that she could kiss him again. The touch was too quick for her liking, but Sebastian had other plans.

  He gripped her hips, twisting her until she sat between his legs, his erection resting along her back.

  Grant had stripped off his shirt and walked toward the foot of the bed. He glanced at her closed legs, and then at Sebastian.

  She wasn’t sure what sort of male telepathy they were using, but Sebastian responded to something that wasn’t spoken. He lifted her legs, placing her knees over his as he opened his thighs even more. The position left her completel
y exposed to Grant, who slowly shucked off his lounge pants.

  She’d been right. Grant at half-mast was nowhere near as intimidating as the fully erect version.

  Elyse was surrounded, outnumbered and in trouble. She’d never been with anyone as large as the two naked men in this room. Her past lovers had been safe, sweet, gentle. Sebastian and Grant didn’t possess those same passive attributes. They were warriors. And they were here to claim.

  Her fear must’ve shown. Grant knelt on the bed, moving toward her. Elyse pressed against Sebastian.

  “We’re not going to hurt you, Elle.” Grant’s voice was deep, powerful, sure.

  There was something about how he spoke that resonated with her in ways she couldn’t understand. One minute she was terrified, the next she was calm.

  Her forehead creased. “What are you? Some kind of horse whisperer?”

  He liked that description, his face lighting with an easygoing smile that was in direct contrast to the intensity of the moment.

  “Maybe. Cup her breasts, Seb.”

  Elyse noticed the easy way Sebastian responded to Grant’s commands. While there was no denying Sebastian was an alpha in his own right, he seemed content to let Grant take the lead in their sexual encounters.

  Sebastian gripped her breasts and all rational thought vanished when he squeezed. He’d been paying attention. Using two fingers, he pinched one of her nipples until she moaned. That sounds morphed into a gasp of surprise midway when Grant’s fingers found her opening. He wasted no time pressing two in to the hilt. They slid in easily. Elyse was almost embarrassed by how wet she was.

  “I stand corrected on that dry-spell comment,” Grant said. “There’s nothing dry about you, Elle.”

  He bent his head lower and just like that, his lips were wrapped around her clit, sucking, nipping, driving her insane. Grant didn’t take anything slow. If he wanted something, he took it, without preamble or warning.

  Elyse’s head flew back, landing on Sebastian’s shoulder.

  “Oh my God.” Elyse lost track of time as Sebastian continued to play with her breasts while Grant worked her clit with his mouth, those two fingers in her pussy thrusting in and out—relentlessly, perfectly.