Wicked Game

by Romy Lockhart

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Asher

  “Well, that was thoroughly awful,” I tell Nick as we’re leaving. I’m louder when I’m drunk, and I know Sasha hadn’t even shut the door yet before I started talking. I don’t care. She made a token effort, but it was obvious she’d never understand. What did I expect really? “Our business will be spread all over town by this time tomorrow.”

  Nick shrugs. He still has a half bottle of wine in his hand that he snatched off the table when I told him we were leaving. He takes a sip as we get off my sister’s property. “Que sera.”

  I turn and take the bottle from his hand, downing a hefty gulp before passing it back.

  He smiles slyly. “Guess where there’s more alcohol, Asher?”

  I frown at him. “I’m not in the mood for guessing games, Nick.”

  He takes a drink and reaches into his pocket. He brings out a set of keys he twirls in his fingers.

  “I make a mean long island iced tea.”

  He’s talking about going to his nightclub. If it were open, I’d take a hard pass. Closed? “Lead the way.”

  “They weren’t so bad,” he starts, but can’t seem to finish his thought.

  “Are you serious?”

  Alan had tried to change the conversation to sports, and beer and the weather, hell only knew how many times, while Sasha asked question after question about Eden, insinuating things I wanted to wring her neck for.

  “Okay, okay. Sasha seems to be a bit of a gossip, but I don’t think she meant that much harm.”

  I scowl at him as I remove my glasses to rub at my temples. “I think I’m getting a tension headache.”

  “You seriously need to relax. Did I tell you Eden’s flying home tomorrow?”

  “She is?” When did that happen? I get my phone out and frown at it. I didn’t miss a call from her.

  “She called when I was in the bathroom at Sasha’s. She thought you might still be at work. I told her where we were and I told her I’d tell you.” He shrugs.

  I put my glasses back on and follow him toward the club. “Did she say what happened?”

  “Just that she was fine and they would be bringing Skyler back.”

  I breathe out a sigh. I’m glad they found Sky, but I wasn’t going to be in the mood to take another grilling from her. I hoped she wasn’t going to be staying with Eden, but that was probably wishful thinking. Where else would she stay?

  “She sounded a little flat,” he tells me. “I think the whole thing drained her.”

  “I wish I’d spoken to her.” It was on the late side now, and she didn’t need to know about Logan and Diana’s god-awful mother right at this minute. If I could help Logan with it before she got back, she’d never need to find out. “What time is she coming back?”

  “Late afternoon.”

  I’d have the morning to locate Diana’s mother and help Logan with her then. I’d decided to give him an ultimatum. Leave town once it’s done, and I’ll help you. Don’t come back here.

  Don’t come near Eden ever again. It sounds like a fair trade to me. Especially considering that bitch of a woman might kill me. I’m sure she’ll know Logan’s looking to find her. I’m sure she has a trick or three up her sleeve just for him.

  Nick stops at the door to the bar and I find my gaze fixating on his tattoos. I’d never been interested in permanently marking my skin like that. The designs seem intricate and I’m sure each piece has some sort of meaning to him.

  “What made you get those?”

  He realizes what I’m talking about as he lets us inside. “I wanted to go to art school when I was younger. Ended up in business classes instead. I guess it had to come out somewhere.”

  As good as reason as any, I suppose. I come inside while he turns on the lights. He locks the door behind us and motions to the stairway ahead. The room is lavishly decorated, slightly gothic looking, and contains a huge framed image of Eden that makes me gasp in a breath.

  “What I would have given to be the photographer that day,” Nick tells me as he moves past the image and darts behind the well lit bar.

  “This was the picture that made me realise how much she’d grown up since she left.” I remembered it well. Two years, almost to the day she left town. The sultry pose was iconic now. To me it had been like catching a glimpse through her bedroom window, dialled up to eleven and pushed out there for the whole world to see. “I don’t know how this isn’t considered pornographic.”

  Nick laughs. “Yeah. Every man I know would have sold his soul to be that microphone stand.”

  “I remember knocking someone out for saying something like that.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me. “You?”

  “I can go a little overboard when I’m mad.”

  “I noticed that when Eden was leaving.” He hesitates before he adds in, “She was upset that you were so angry. Like you didn’t trust her judgement.”

  I sigh and walk over to the bar. “Eden knows I trust her. I can’t help it when I get like that. She was putting herself in danger on the word of someone she barely knows. It was instinctive to tell her not to go. It didn’t feel safe.”

  “Well, I think there’s something you could do to make it up to her.”

  I just knew he had an angle. I’m curious enough to bite. “Oh, yeah?”

  He nods slowly as he finishes pouring the ingredients into the mixer and starts to shake it up.

  “She loved it when you took her in front of me.”

  I feel my skin warm at the reminder. It had been thrilling at the time, and I hadn’t cared that Nick was watching us. I hadn’t cared that Eden had been with him right before she slid onto my cock either. It had been a turn on. Still...

  “I hadn’t expected that to become a regular occurrence.” That move had its purpose. To show Eden I accepted our arrangement. What would the purpose be of continuing down that path?

  He shrugs as he puts the mixer down and puts glasses on the bar. “She wants more than that, Asher. You have to know that. She loves you and she’d never ask you to do something you’re not comfortable with. So if it’s not your thing, I’m sure it won’t matter. But she wants to have us both at once. Sometime.”

  “She does?” It rings true when I think about it. She’s capable of loving us both. Why wouldn’t she want to be with us at the same time? The thought of it makes me nervous. I slam down half the cocktail at once.

  “There are a ton of things we could do to work up to it. To find out if you’re into it.”

  I raise an eyebrow at him and he laughs.

  “I’m not talking about sticking my hand down your pants.”

  “Then what?”

  I watch him take a sip of his drink before he leans on the bar and smiles at me. “For starters, you could watch me with Eden. Hell, you could tell us what you want us to do.”

  Fuck, I must be drunk, because it sounds kind of sexy, in an extremely voyeuristic kind of way.

  “Tell you what to do?”

  He shrugs. “It puts you in control, so if you decide you don’t want to see me put my dick in her you can go with whatever you’re comfortable with. It would be a start.”

  I know immediately that I’d want to see the full show. See how he touches her, how different it is, what she likes that I don’t even know about. I’d want to watch him take her. I’d want to watch Eden come for him.

  “You’re into it.” Nick grins slowly.

  “Maybe.” I’m not quite willing to admit it. As thrilling as it might sound, I need time to wrap my head around the idea.

  “So maybe, we watch each other a few times, and then...” He trails off, the devilish grin returning.

  I have to wonder how far Eden wants to go with this. If she could have anything she wanted, what would she ask? She must have told him if he’s pressing this hard. He probably coaxed it out of her. He doesn’t seem to have any inhibitions. I can fully imagine him sweet talking her into letting her filthiest fantasies spill from t
hose precious lips.

  “What exactly does she want?” I’m curious now on the technicalities of it. I don’t know how it would work. How Eden would want us to take her. Nick seems like he’d be better versed in planning that out.

  “Have you fucked her ass yet?”

  I’m stunned into silence as his question sinks in. I wonder for a second if he’s taken her like that. Then I wonder why I’m being an idiot. He clearly has. “I didn’t know she was into that.”

  “Have you ever fucked a woman’s ass?” He waits patiently and I wonder what the least embarrassing answer is.

  “No.” Truth be told, I didn’t think it was an option outside of a porn flick. Do women actually enjoy it? I remember girls in high school talking about doing it to stay virgins. They made it sound entirely unpleasant, but I supposed that was because they were caving to pressure from their awful boyfriends. They hadn’t wanted to do it. That had left an impression. I hadn’t been the slightest bit curious about trying it with the women I’d dated, and they’d never offered it. My dick starts to twitch in my pants and I tell it to settle the hell down. Too late, it’s waking up. Obsessing over a new experience I might get to have with Eden. “She likes that?”

  He nods slowly. “Maybe you should watch us do that.”

  “I don’t think I want to just watch.” It would feel like a tease. Watching her give him something she’s never given me. Oh, fuck. I want it. I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about it until I have her in that way now.

  “I don’t think you’re ready for a full on threesome, Asher.”

  He was probably right. I wasn’t sure how comfortable I’d be about getting naked with another man, even if Eden was in the room. Even if she was the sole focus. I wonder what I could do to get comfortable with it.

  I sink the rest of my cocktail and lock gazes with him. “You’ve had one before?”

  “Once, with another guy.” He nods like it was no big deal.

  “What do I need to know?”

  “You want me to teach you?” He sounds surprised.

  I push my glass across the bar. “I want to give Eden exactly what she wants.”

  “Now, we’re on the same page.” He starts making another cocktail, dragging the shaker across the bar to him. “Okay, so getting into position is the key to getting off on the fight foot with this. It can take some careful manoeuvring and it all depends on the setting too. A bed can work. Sometimes a couch is better.”

  Makes sense. I watch him pick up the mixer.

  “Once you’ve got the position worked out, you can get ready. That means lubricant. Regardless of whether you’re going double vaginal or one of you is taking her ass. It doesn’t work without lube.”

  He pours in the mixer and puts it down. “Now you’re ready to start. It’s not going to be quick. Other than getting her ready to take two dicks at once, you need to make sure you get into position and that it’s comfortable enough to sustain for a while. Decide who’s going on top, and that’s the position that drives the whole thing, Asher. Whoever’s doing the thrusting is doing it for all three. He’s the one in control.” He picks up vodka and rum and pours them in at the same time.

  Holy hell. I swallow as his words sink in. It sounds intense.

  “I’m not gonna lie. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.” He starts to shake up the cocktail.

  “How do you decide who’s the one in control?” I think it’s the only way I could agree to it. The only way I’d be into it completely.

  Nick looks at me for a few quiet seconds before he speaks. “If you’re willing, and you’re sure about this, I’ll submit.”

  He has more experience. It would make more sense for him to take charge. My heart doesn’t care what my head is telling me. I need to be in control. The situation wouldn’t be comfortable if I had to relinquish the control to Nick. I couldn’t do it.

  “I’m willing. I’m sure.” I know the moment the words come out of my mouth that the promise has been made. I’m committing to giving Eden what she wants. I’m admitting I want a full on threesome with my Goddess and this deviant in front of me.

  Desire swells inside me at the thought of giving her this. It’s what she wants. It’s what Nick wants. Damn it, it’s what I want too.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Eden

  Skyler is on the couch when I get up. I go sit next to her and check her over. She looks exhausted, and she’s a little cold, but she’s awake and she’s alive. I pull her into a hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  She smiles weakly as I pull away. “Thanks for the leftover Chinese food. I was starving.”

  “I’ll get you something else, what do you need?”

  She laughs. “Calm down. I’m fine.”

  “We have a flight to catch in a few hours, back to Rapture.”

  “Oh,” she says with a nod. “I’ll call the agency for a new guy. Todd had to take leave.”

  “Sky, I’m not leaving you here.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  What does she remember? “You were abducted.”

  She frowns. “What? No. Shut up, Eden. That didn’t happen.”

  “It did. You were out of it. Drugged.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “I think you’re the one who’s off her head around here.”

  “I know about the cult, Sky. The one you grew up in.”

  She stares at me, her face falling. “No.”

  “We came here to get you out and...”

  “Where’s Lawson? I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch.”

  Oh shit. Sky gets up and stomps into her room. She comes back out with her phone in her hand, hitting dial and putting it to her ear.

  “Pick up the phone, dickhead.”

  “Sky, Lawson’s the one who brought us here.”

  “Us?” she asks, still waiting for Lawson.

  Eli comes out of the spare room, dressed. He has dark shadows under his eyes but otherwise he looks pretty damn good for a guy who didn’t sleep all night.

  Sky stares at him, her mouth drops open as she lets the phone fall from her ear. “I dreamt about him.”

  “This is Eli. He’s... with me.”

  “We were in a hotel room and I couldn’t move. He kept saying he’d get us out.”

  “That’s what happened. You honestly don’t remember?”

  She pales. “No. No. Oh Jesus Fucking Christ and all his Goddamned Disciples No!”

  Her phone is lying on the floor, lit and dialling Lawson’s number. He’s never going to pick up. I don’t think I can tell her. It’s going to shatter the remaining pieces of her broken heart.

  “Where is he?” Her gaze locks on me.

  My stomach churns. “We don’t know.”

  “He double-crossed Eden. He tried to trade her for you.” Eli is trying to make it better, but all he’s really confirming is that there’s no way Lawson’s still alive right now.

  He was already a damaged God. The remaining destructive forces back there would have torn him to shreds by now. If he was no longer immortal, he was as good as dead.

  “You left him behind,” she tells us, a strangled sob getting stuck in her throat.

  “We don’t know where they took him, Sky. We barely got out alive.”

  She lets me take her into my arms. I stare at Eli as I hold her. She can’t stop crying. She’s devastated. I send my light into her and I’m gifted with her encounter with Lawson.

  She stayed with him after she left the club. She felt safe there, knowing he’d been through the same things she had. He’d relaxed her with his light, though she didn’t know what that was. She only knew she felt safe around him, loved.

  I think Cupid only makes an entrance now because he knows I’m considering doing something crazy. I see him before I hear him for once. It makes a nice change.

  “You can’t go back there,” he warns.

  I don’t need to wonder if Eli can see him. His gaze is on my infuriating g
uide already. Apparently he can just see Cupid now like I can. Makes sense. Things have changed between us. He’s mine now. That’s permanent. Why shouldn’t he still be able to see the asshole who’s supposed to be helping to guide me on my journey as a Goddess? However, Sky has no idea so I can’t just talk to him while she’s in the room.

  I don’t know what choice I have. I stroke Sky’s back as she continues to sob. I chose to help Sky and she loves him. I don’t want to think about what might happen if he dies, if he’s already dead. I don’t think she could handle losing two men she gave her heart to. Not this soon. It would crush her.

  “You’re right. She won’t be able to take it.” Cupid’s tone is completely flat. “That doesn’t mean you should take on two Gods of Destruction.”

  Eli seems frozen, as if he’s waiting for me to make this decision before he reacts. Maybe he’s not sure if Sky can see or hear Cupid. She didn’t look up when he spoke. I’m sure only my chosen lovers can see my guide. So I can’t just answer him out loud.

  Is Lawson alive right now? I stare at Cupid and he blows out a breath.

  “Yes, he’s alive.”

  You made that sound like he might as well be dead.

  “He’s as good as buried, Eden. They’re trying to get the location of his kid out of him. As soon as they do that, or when they get bored of his refusals, it’s over.”

  That’s horrible. Is he still a God?

  “He’s holding strong for now. Eden, you can’t risk yourself for this guy. He tried to screw you over already. You won’t survive the other two Gods. It’s not possible.”

  What happens if they find the kid? If I wouldn’t survive them what chance does a child have? The decision is made. I can’t leave the man Sky loves in the hands of those evil immortals. There’s more at stake than his life. Sky’s heart wouldn’t survive this, and I’d never forgive myself if a little kid got hurt because I chose to walk away from a dangerous situation. I would have realised that once the fog cleared anyway. The cult shouldn’t exist. Sky and Lawson are only two of the people they’ve hurt. There are others, more than I can probably imagine.