by Jessie G.
“I...I’ve seen them. They are beautiful together.” More importantly, Kyle knew them outside this setting and knew what a loving, committed relationship they had. Like Chase’s, it was one he was often jealous of.
“Yes they are.” Saul stroked a hand up his back. Comfort? Maybe. Did he seem like he needed comforting again? “You know them, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know Tory and Evan both trust that Clay will meet all their needs. Yes, they have their own lives, businesses and friendships, but their first priority will always be Clay because his first priority will always be them.”
“That’s contradictory. They can’t both be his first priority. If they both need him, he can only take care of one at a time, so someone will have to come first.” Kyle knew that somehow Clay managed it because he’d seen it. He didn’t know the how of it and he didn’t know if Saul was capable of it.
Saul’s expression softened in understanding. “I imagine it’s a balance they all have to work at together.”
“You said teasing leads to punishment. Are you saying you and Javier have agreed that he can’t tease you?” Why would anyone agree to that? Teasing was half the fun!
Saul’s expression closed, cutting him off completely. Did he expect that Kyle wouldn’t ask about their relationship? Even if this was nothing more than a hot night together, didn’t he need to know what their agreement was so he wasn’t impeding on it?
Javier tugged on his shirt until Kyle was looking at him. “I do belong to Saul, but not like that. There is no pain play, no discipline or punishment. I simply know what he wants, what he expects, and I trust that he will take care of everything I need. It would be different with you…it’s complicated.”
Complicated? It sounded impossible! He understood that it worked for Clay’s family because they were all on the same page. What Javier was saying is that Saul would treat him differently? How was he to take that when it was Saul’s care with Javier that first drew him to the couple?
“You don’t understand, Kyle.” Javier cut through his thoughts. “It’s not a bad thing! In a lot of ways you’ll have more of each other than I will have of either of you.”
Just when he thought it couldn’t get more complicated, Javier had to go and say shit like that. They were the couple, he was the...the side piece! “I can’t do this.”
Saul held firm when he tried to separate himself, the hand on his ass now bordering on painful. “What is it you think you can’t do?”
“Come between you! I thought you were doing this together, that you both wanted me, that...that…”
“You’re right, Kyle, you can’t come between us,” Javier whispered, pressing a quick kiss to his rambling mouth. “We do both want you and we are doing this together, because there is room for the right person to be with us.”
Kyle scoffed at that. “That doesn’t make any sense...”
Again Javier cut him off. “It does, Kyle. The right person would want Saul’s aggression just as much as he’d want my tenderness, and would understand that we’d love each other more by loving him together. The right person could not only stand to be caged between us, but love it so much he nearly comes in his skinny jeans, and then he’d understand why I cannot be similarly caged.”
Kyle looked between them, surprised by the logic and sheer honesty of Javier’s statement. For most couples Kyle knew, if either partner wasn’t getting what they needed, that would be the end. It’s been fun, move along. Yet these gorgeous men were prepared to open their relationship to another to ensure that each had everything they needed, while staying together. “You’re asking a lot from one person.”
“We’re willing to give a lot in return.” Javier’s smile was full of eager promise and Kyle could feel himself responding to it. There was absolutely nothing to base his response on, but it didn’t stop every cell in his body from believing he could do this. Could he be what they both needed?
They both looked up at Saul, but those dangerous eyes remained focused on Kyle. In them was something much darker than Saul had let him see before, something that excluded Javier. Their intimacy was intimidating, but that promise had been just for him. There was no doubt Saul owned Javier, that the smaller man took all his cues from his big, bad lover. But the darkness would be all Kyle’s and the thrill of it was beyond words.
The darkness receded and Saul gestured to the public room. “Giving pain is not what I crave and I don’t believe receiving it is what you crave.”
Kyle looked at Tory, at the total bliss on his handsome face, and sighed. The pain…no, he didn’t crave it. What he craved was the total bond he knew Chase had, the bond Tory was currently displaying. “I tried a few times…and no, it’s not what I crave.”
Instead of being turned off by his answer, Saul seemed pleased. “I’m not sure why you think that’s a bad thing. Knowing what you don’t want is just as important as knowing what you do want.”
“And if I’m not exactly sure?”
“We can find out together.” It was a promise. Not a contract or an agreement, a promise. “But this isn’t a decision anyone should make after one evening together.”
“Not for any of us.” Kyle pointed out. They were all reacting in the heat of the moment. The attraction had been instant. Toss in a little alcohol to let down the defenses, some intensely erotic dancing...yeah, they were all reacting. In the bright light of day, would they all be so eager? “On Monday I’m leaving and I’m on the road for the next month. When I return you’ll have my answer and I’ll expect to have your answer as well. On one condition.”
“What’s the condition?” Javier asked when Saul remained silent.
“You take me home tonight. You’ll give me tonight and the next two days to know what it’s like to be your third in every way.”
Saul sighed. “Why aren’t you running, Kyle?”
“I’m not running because, as ridiculous as it sounds, I think we need each other.” Kyle looked between them, saw the pleased surprise and wanted to preen for them. “Do we have a deal?”
Again they looked at each other and Kyle saw Javier’s lower lip tremble. This time it was Saul who nodded slowly. “Yes, I believe we have a deal.”
CHAPTER 13
Saul
“Holy shit, make it stop.” The unfamiliar voice grumbled as a warm body burrowed deeper against his right side as if that would somehow dull the noise. Saul looked down at the shock of blond hair tucked into his armpit and almost smiled. The knocking continued and the body burrowed in tighter. Covering almost his entire left side, Javier was dead to the world.
Saul carefully untangled himself and eased to the end of the bed. Clothes were scattered everywhere, but he finally found his black slacks, pulling them on without fastening them. Another knock had him reaching back to flip the blanket up to cover the two men who were already slithering their way toward one another. Just watching them come together made him want to kill whoever was on the other side of his door.
Saul cracked the bedroom door, his scowl firmly in place, and came face to face with a sheepish Billy. “Sorry to wake you…”
“Is someone dead or dying?” On what he was figuring was about three hours of sleep, if someone wasn’t already dead or dying, they would be once he was done with them.
“No. I was in the kitchen making coffee and someone rattled the front door.” Poor, badass Billy looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. It defied every assault on his record, but the man was just a big giant teddy bear who occasionally went from cowering to deadly faster than a Lambo on the Autobahn.
“The alarm hasn’t gone off,” Saul pointed out. That quick trigger made Billy overqualified to handle what was probably just kids causing trouble and he knew it. It was a testament to how far he’d come that he sought Saul out instead of just letting that grizzly bear free. Probably rankled more than a little if that uncomfortable look was any indication.
“They didn’t break in. Just rattl
ed the knob and pushed against it a couple of times. Then they tried the side gate. I hadn’t turned on the overhead light in the kitchen, so if they were trying to see in the window they wouldn’t have seen me.”
“Wait here.” Saul closed the door and went in search of a shirt. Kyle shifted on the bed, cautiously adjusting Javier who’d draped himself over the smaller man, and peered at the clock. “I’ll be right back.”
“Everything okay?” Did that sleepy voice have to be so damn sexy? Whoever was outside causing trouble was going to get a beat down for pulling him away.
“Yeah.” Kyle continued to look at him as if judging the truth of his response. He must have found what he was looking for because he finally snuggled back down with Javier and closed his eyes.
Out in the hall Saul gave Billy a once over. “Why are you up and dressed so early on a Saturday?”
“Liam said we were heading to the crisis center at seven. I didn’t want to be late.” The accompanying blush looked ridiculous. Men who looked like Billy should never look that bashful. Saul could have pointed out that it was only five and that the crisis center was only ten minutes away, but if Billy felt he needed a two hour head start who was he to argue? Billy was a contradiction in every way. No doubt his bad ass reputation was earned and Saul knew for a fact his record was extensive. But for that boy Liam he was more compliant than Javier had ever been submissive.
Deciding it was a waste of the few functioning brain cells he had to figure Billy out, he focused on the reason he was awake. “Did they jump the fence?”
“No, those twists of barbed wire did their job.”
On the way down the stairs, Saul reached into one of the many cubbies he kept throughout the house and pulled out a gun. Billy knew where they were, all the men did, but unless absolutely necessary none of them would risk going back to jail for holding one. All of them were registered under an alias and if they ever got raided Saul would take full responsibility for having them. Still, every man knew the danger that hung over his head, so every man had to be prepared to defend themselves if that danger ever appeared on their doorstep.
“Where’s Lola. Why wasn’t she barking?” His perfectly trained Rottie should have been pacing the entranceway and barking loud enough to wake the dead.
“I think she’s up in Jacky’s room.” Billy grinned, knowing exactly what Saul would think of that.
“Some fucking guard dog she is.” Months of dedicated training had been shot to hell when their resident explosives expert taught their guard dog how to cuddle. It was fucking embarrassing.
“He spoils her.” Billy had the nerve to say that as if Jacky were the only one, but they were all guilty of feeding her from the table and snuggling up with her on the couch. They’d even taught her how to ‘pretend to be good’ when he was around.
“It’s got to stop.” Saul glanced over as Billy handed him a clip from another cubby.
“We were talking about getting a second dog.” All this house needed was another spoiled guard dog. How had he gone from being a killer to the babysitter of fucked up ex-cons and the dogs who loved them?
“For protection, not so Jacky could turn my killer Rottie into a lap dog.”
“She is pretty fucking cute.”
In that moment Billy was lucky Saul liked him. “Honestly, it’s too early for this shit.”
“Want some coffee?” At the bottom of the stairs, Billy went down to one knee and pulled a fixed blade Magnum from a sheath strapped to his ankle. Anyone who witnessed Billy with his precious knives usually developed an instant and understandable fear of the man. It was love, sweet love. Unless you were in a house full of criminals and killers, then it was just another sick perversion.
“No, I want to go back to the two warm bodies I left in my bed.” When Billy huffed he grinned. “Let that boy take you to bed already, it will do wonders for your attitude.”
“Honestly, it’s too early for this shit,” Billy parroted as he followed him out the front door to examine the deadbolts. “Doesn’t look like they tried to pick them.”
Saul nodded and walked around to the fence, comforted to see it was still locked. Even so, he left Billy standing guard as he checked the driveway and the garages. Coming back to the sidewalk, he looked up and down the street, noting each car. “I don’t see anyone around and all the cars belong here, so whoever it was is gone.”
“Maybe stupid kids.”
“Maybe.” Back inside, Saul locked up and engaged the alarm. The bars on the windows and doors were usually retracted, but if the alarm went off they would automatically engage. Billy followed him into the office where Saul pulled up the security footage and rolled it back. What looked like two older teens stopped in front of the house and while one kept lookout the other jumped up the steps and pushed against the door several times. Anyone could see there were three deadbolts, so either the point was to be troublemakers or to get their attention. Finally he gave up and skulked around the side of the house to rattle the gate, but never tried to go over.
“Stupid kids,” Billy said, breathing a sigh of relief.
It would be nice to think so, but Saul’s suspicious nature was ingrained. In his world the simplest answer was never the right one. Even if Billy hadn’t been awake he would have looked at the security footage when he woke up, just like he did every day. Someone wanted him to see the attempt. It was a scare tactic, a warning volley meant to put him on edge.
“You don’t think so?” Billy asked when he didn’t respond.
“Be extra vigilant and we’ll tell the others when they wake up. Lola has to be down here every night. I don’t want any more surprises.” Saul shut the computer and tucked the gun in the waistband of his slacks.
“You want me to look for another dog?”
“Can’t hurt.” Probably wouldn’t help either, but he couldn’t deny that Jacky was calmer with Lola. It was something he’d have to think about when he was more awake.
“All right.” Billy looked at him seriously and in that look he saw the criminal Billy had once been. “You know we’ll fight with you.”
“I know and appreciate it. I just hope you don’t have to.” As Billy walked back to the kitchen, he went up to the third floor and tapped on Jacky’s door. The man opened it, not bothering to hide his nudity or the annoyed glare. He didn’t care. “Someone’s been snooping around the property. Lola needs to be downstairs.”
Jacky’s eyes narrowed. “You need me down there?”
“No, I already walked around. They’re gone.” Jacky opened the door wider and Lola came out with her head hanging low. His ninety pound powerhouse was doing the damned walk of shame. Saul wanted to admonish her, but it wasn’t her fault Jacky was spoiling her. She took off when he pointed toward the stairs and he knew she would take the position at the front door until he told her to stand down...or Jacky snuck her away for a snuggle. “Let her do her job. None of us wants to be taken off guard.”
“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Jacky grumbled. Saul knew he was having a hard time and was trying to find a way to help him. He just wouldn’t risk the safety of the whole house to do it.
“Oh, yeah, before I forget, when you see the blond in the morning, don’t hit on him. I’d hate to have to hurt you.” Saul didn’t stick around for a response. As he jogged down to the second floor he looked over the banister to make sure Lola was in place. She lifted her head and even in the dark he could see the soulful stare she treated him to. Great, even his dog’s feelings were hurt. Hopefully the reception waiting in his bedroom would be better.
Back in his room, he set the safety on the gun and put it on the nightstand. In the dark he could see Kyle look at it, then up at him as Saul shed his clothes. But when Kyle tried to ease away from Javier so he could get between them, Saul stopped him.
“Did he wake at all?” Saul whispered as he slipped in behind Kyle and curved around him. Saul always slept on his back when Javier sought comfort in his bed. That position allowed Javier to drape
himself in whatever way made him feel most secure. Every move he made gave Javier the feeling of being in control of how they touched. Now, with Javier secure against Kyle, Saul was going to take the position he most enjoyed. Front to back with the weight of his cock nestled in the crease of Kyle’s ass and his arms wrapped around that tight body. Javier would wake up feeling trapped by such an embrace, but he had a feeling Kyle wouldn’t find it trapping enough.
“He mumbled when you got up, but settled when I encouraged him close.” Despite reasons to the contrary, Kyle’s body was relaxed and immediately conformed to his embrace, seeking out Saul’s warmth while maintaining his connection to Javier.
“Good.” Saul could have left it at that, but that gun would be the elephant in the room unless he addressed it. “Does the gun bother you?”
“No, I’m a southern boy. We learn to shoot right after we learn to walk, sometimes before.” Kyle moaned softly when he slung a leg over his.
“That’s good.” It was good that Kyle knew one end of a gun from another and even better that Kyle wanted to be pinned down. Had they been alone he’d have just tucked the boy beneath him and settled in for the best sleep of his life.
“What was the problem?” Kyle reached back between them, pulled one cheek to the side and pressed Saul’s cock firmly against his hole. With a little squirm he pulled his hand away so there was nothing between them. Nothing but Saul’s ability to control the urge to just slip inside that beckoning heat. “Oh yeah, that’s better.”
It was hard to argue with that. Rocking into that warm, welcoming valley, Saul wondered how far he could go without waking Javier. It wouldn’t be fair, not for the first time, but damned if he wasn’t tempted. “Stupid kids.”
