The Power of Love

by Serena Akeroyd

  “There’s defending me and breaking up our family.”

  “For fuck’s sake, it’s only for a short time. While the appeal is ongoing. Your CO’s more corrupt than Capone. I have proof he was trying to load his pockets during his time on the job. I also have proof he had a grudge against the woman you’re supposed to have assaulted. And I also have proof that the last thing he needed was for that woman to get married. On top of that, I have more evidence that Harrison is in deep, both over there and here. More than anyone could ever have imagined. He’s about to lose everything. Thanks to my investigation.”

  Luke scowled. “How in the hell do you get that kind of proof?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yeah. It matters. What did you do? Hack into a satellite?” Luke sniggered at his joke, his smile disappearing when Josh failed to react. He blinked, then, nostrils flaring, he grabbed Josh by the collar of his BDU jacket. “Tell me you’re not fucking serious.”

  “I am fucking serious, and it’s okay. General Jarvis was in on it, and the investigation he started on my intelligence has given us the proof we need. The sources are impenetrable.” He hesitated, then corrected, “Well, they are now. I had other sources, but now he has the info he needs to lead his inquiries.”

  “I thought you were trying to defend our family, not put us in more fucking danger. I don’t believe you, Josh. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking about you, you jackass.” Josh mimicked Luke’s pose, grabbing him by the collar, but rather than hold him aggressively, he forced him so close their mouths were inches apart. Josh swiftly removed the distance between them and connected their lips. It wasn’t passionate, it was angry. Dominating. It was to shut Luke up, to keep him quiet, and to make him accept the lengths Josh had gone to for his husband’s sake.

  As Gia watched, awestruck to see the men kiss for the first time in months, she was more astounded to see Luke was kissing Josh back. Actively. He wasn’t passively accepting the tender assault on his mouth. He was there. Right in the middle of the action.

  The lengths Josh had gone to in order to save Luke’s reputation shocked her too, but this came as more of a surprise. They bit at each other’s lips, tugging and pulling with their teeth, exploring each other with their tongues. As she watched, she swallowed down her desire, the needs that arose from seeing them like that with each other.

  It felt like a lifetime since she’d last seen them touch, and maybe it was. Months had passed since their honeymoon, but the time within had been filled with so much heartache and horror, it felt as though a decade had blown by.

  Feeling the low burn in her belly, a sensation she was well acquainted with, she rocked back in her seat and watched the two men she adored as they worshipped each other. Luke knotted his hands in the ungiving fabric of Josh’s BDU jacket, holding him close, so close neither man could move far. They were pressed so tightly together she had a feeling the blurs demarcating two separate entities merged right before her eyes.

  Though she was hesitant to disturb them, she knew Luke’s knee was in no way ready for anything overly gymnastic. He needed a mattress. Stat.

  She was about to open her mouth, about to interrupt, when Josh pulled away. Luke’s lips worked in a silent complaint, but not for long. Josh sank to his knees and immediately went to work on his lover’s fly. The sound of the zipper was inordinately loud. It seemed to echo around the study, and she pressed her legs together in an attempt to stymie the burn gathering there. One flick of his fingers and the button clasp was loose and out popped Luke’s shaft.

  A shudder worked through her at the sight of the ruddy length, and her mouth watered with the need to taste him. Luke speared his hands through Josh’s hair and gently, in spite of there being a determined air to the move, he guided his lover to where he needed him to be.

  Josh’s lips popped open to suckle the tip, and he fluttered his tongue over the sensitive glans before heading down, slurping along the throbbing length, moistening it, preparing it. He gripped Luke’s balls, cupped them and massaged them in his fist. Squeezing them together gently, tugging down as his mouth worked its way back up to the tip. Josh opened his mouth wide and swallowed Luke deep. He rocked his jaw back and forth, taking far more of his cock than Gia could, and all the while, as he ministered to him, Luke’s head was tilted back, his eyes tightly clenched as he reveled in the pleasure his lover was gifting him.

  She couldn’t help it. Need rode her hard, so hard she slipped a hand down her yoga pants and delved underneath her panties to touch herself. As she watched her personal porn show, she rubbed her clit, then speared two fingers deep into her pussy. A gasp escaped her, a moan that had both guys’ attention jerking her way. The instant they looked at her, she flushed with heat as more arousal weighed her down. Their faces had been hard, intent with their own need but now, an inferno arced between them all, uniting them as one.

  Gia continued to fuck herself with her pointer and middle fingers and ground the heel of her wrist against her clit. It wasn’t as good as her lovers’ attention, but it would do. Momentarily.

  Luke continued to stare at her, but Josh went back to his work. Whimpers escaped her as she watched him deep throat their wounded warrior and each time, she could see what that sound did to Luke. His throat worked, his lungs seeming to need more air. She saw the tell that he was about to come: the sinews in his throat flashed white as he tensed them, and the lowest, sexiest grunts filled the room as he flooded Josh’s mouth with his seed.

  The knowledge spurred her on. Within seconds, she was moaning with her release, but it wasn’t thanks to her touch. It was the knowledge that Luke had come in Josh’s mouth. She felt wobbly, the pleasure she’d experienced making her limbs faintly lax, but she strove on, getting to her feet and rounding the desk. She almost fell as she got to her knees beside Josh, but as he started to pull back from Luke’s dick, Gia grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. The instant he did, she attacked, going for his mouth, loving the taste of both men as she explored his lips. Josh let her eat at him, let her taste all she needed. Luke slipped his fingers through her hair as she reveled in his essence.

  By the time she’d finished, her tongue almost aching from fucking Josh’s, she was desperate. It was almost like she hadn’t come at all. “Oh God, oh God,” she muttered frantically against his mouth. “Fuck me, fuck me. Please. I need you. Both of you.”

  Her garbled words had low sounds escaping both of their throats. Josh’s eyes flashed with heat, his skin flushed with arousal as he leaped to his feet and helped her up. “Bedroom, now,” he commanded and practically frog-marched her to their quarters.

  Luke was at their back, managing to keep up with Josh’s admittedly quick tempo. The instant they were inside their room, Josh ordered, “Strip off. Both of you.”

  Well accustomed to his dictates, neither stirred, save from doing as bid. Gia’s yoga pants and sweatshirt, panties and bra were on the floor within the minute, and she slipped her fingers down to her cunt once more, needing to touch herself, to maintain the slow but fiery burn of need. A lust only these two could inspire.

  Josh growled at the sight. He snapped his hand out to grab hold of her wrist and brought her fingers to his lips. Slipping each digit into his mouth, he sucked them clean, then hoarsely commanded, “Get on the bed, Gia.”

  She nodded, eagerly obeying. Knowing what he was about to do, she sat on the edge before lying back and resting her heels on the edge of the mattress. She spread them wide, waiting for him to come to her. It took less than two seconds for him to be there, his attention glued to her cunt. She shuddered at his enraptured gaze and felt herself grow wetter, her body responding to his presence, to his attention. He’d stripped off as well, and seeing his long cock, pearling with precum, she had to lick her lips. He fisted it for a minute, slowly jerking himself off before whispering, “You want this, babe?”

  “God, I do. You know I do. Please, Josh. Please,” she cried out, lifting
her hands to cup her breasts, to tease and torment the nipples. She didn’t care there was a cocky smirk aimed her way, she just wanted him. Badly.

  He strutted forward, like a proud peacock, and bent down to kiss her. His mouth against hers was heaven, and he let their tongues tangle as he pressed his cock to her cunt. He nudged her clit repeatedly. The spongy glans massaged the hard pearl until she was whimpering low in her throat, the slight mewls filling the room with the sounds of her desire. That must have been what he was waiting for, because his dick slipped down, notching into her slit before sinking home.

  Josh went deep. He always did, knew no other way. There was no teasing or taunts where fucking was concerned. He claimed her. Every inch. Filling her to overfull. She clutched his hips with her knees, holding his lower half close even as he moved his upper body away. Resting one hand against the bed for support, with the other he cupped her throat. The motion made her eyelids flutter open so she could stare at him. Using it to ground himself, his supporting arm bulged with muscle as he fucked into her, slow and deep, but the other delicately traced the lines of her neck, up to her jaw, her cheek and the jut of bone under her eye.

  She stared at him, her attention focused entirely on him, watching as blue bled into gray when arousal hit him. It took her a second to realize why. Luke had come up behind him. She could see the mop of hair in need of a cut, see some faint bruises on his upper torso, but that was it. Josh blocked him out. Her eyes lost focus as Josh quickened up, but she heard the telltale slurping sound of the lube and knew what was happening, what was about to happen.

  Her head fell back as Josh tightly clasped her throat with his hand. He squeezed down, enough to make her gasp for air, but what made her cry out was when he moved his torso against hers once more, and he pressed his lips to the skin his fingers didn’t cover. As he took her air from her, he robbed the little she had left when he sucked down against the tender flesh, raking it with his teeth.

  She was blind, could only make out colors, but over Josh’s shoulder, she recognized the blur that was Luke and felt the muffled groans against her throat as Josh’s pleasure made itself known.

  Josh began to rock his hips in quick, jerky motions. It had been a long time since Luke had touched him like this, and he was always notoriously quick when he was on the bottom. Luke had just come, so he’d probably take a bit longer, but not Josh. As she felt the deep throbbing pulse in the tight snug of her cunt that came seconds before Josh clamped his teeth down against her throat, marking her as his, she heard Luke roar his release as well, belying her earlier thoughts about his recovery time.

  Though Josh had come, he continued to rock, knowing that when he softened up a bit, her pussy could accept him more easily. He hit places that made her cry out and rubbed others that made her want to flinch at the sensitivity. But it was only knowing that the three of them were connected, united once more, that she could let herself float away, float to the place only these two had ever let her explore. And she did so safely, securely. Supremely aware that no matter what happened, these men would die to protect her.

  Because that was the depth of their love.

  Chapter Nine

  “This has resolved nothing.”

  Josh could only pant by way of response. At least, at first. When silence still reigned in the bedroom, he realized both of them were waiting for him to answer.

  With a groan, he reared up and with that move, gently nudged Luke aside. He hated being on the bottom, but had known the first time Luke and he came together it would have to happen this way. Maybe for the next few times until their lives were back on track.

  So many things were out of Luke’s control right now and handing it over to him when they had sex was a kindness and a means to bolstering his self-confidence.

  Josh wouldn’t lie. He’d focused on clearing his lover’s name for a few reasons, but mostly, it was selfish. Luke was his strength. Ever since the day they’d met, ever since they’d become partners, Josh had depended on him in ways he never had with another living creature.

  Not his family, and unlike Gia and Luke, he had a great familial base. His parents had been surprised but in the scheme of things, not bothered by his coming out. His sisters didn’t particularly care either.

  In comparison to Robert, his father-in-law, and Luke’s other siblings, his own people’s reactions had been anticlimactic. It was a damn shame it had worked out that way, because had he been exiled from the familial fold, he could have coped because he had Luke. Luke was his base. His foundation. While he wished it was the same for his lover, it wasn’t. Luke cared what other people thought of him, and the instant Josh had heard news of what had befallen his partner in Libya, he’d known he had to act.

  The idea that people believed him to be a rapist would screw with the average man’s mind, but for Luke, it was a deathblow.

  He sighed as he looked over at his other lover. It hurt that he had to put precedence on Luke, but there was no other way. It tore at his conscience, because if Luke held his heart, well, Gia shared that load. He loved her in ways he hadn’t believed he could love anyone other than Luke, and yet, he was having to send her away. It made him feel like a bastard, but he knew he had to prioritize.

  Luke’s soul for Gia’s sense of self-respect.

  The toss-up made his stomach burn, not only figuratively. He knew he had to head to the docs for more ulcer medicine. These last few months had played hell on his health. The stress of trying to keep it together, to clear Luke’s name, to find a solution, all while heading his unit and keeping to his usual, hectic schedule had taken their toll.

  It sucked to admit it, but he was getting too old for this shit. He couldn’t work twenty-hour days anymore and not feel the pinch. He couldn’t go out on a limb without said limb aching like a bitch the day after.

  Getting old sucked.

  He looked down at the woman he loved. Deep in Gia’s still-dreamy eyes, he could see the love she felt for both of them, but there was sorrow and disappointment. And if he wasn’t mistaken, betrayal. It was the latter that knifed him in the gut. He clenched his eyelids closed, swallowing down his self-directed anger, and mumbled, “What would you have me do? Either of you?”

  “Let it drop.” Luke pressed a hand to his back. His palm was cool against the sweaty heat that had settled along his spine. He groaned a little as he moved, then, after settling at Gia’s side, breathed a sigh of relief at being supine before whispering, “Let this whole thing drop.”

  Josh shook his head. “I can’t do that. You’re an innocent man. And this goes further than you and us now. Harrison has broken international laws, and he’s broken the trust given to our Armed Forces. He’s had people break into my office to cover this shit up. How am I supposed to let that go? How can Jarvis let it go?”

  “He’s right, Luke.” Gia’s voice was shaky. “We can’t let this carry on. It’s your duty to see that corruption is blotted out of your battalion. I-I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  Luke gritted his jaw, and at that moment, Josh felt for him. He truly did. More so than he had the last month or so since his partner’s return.

  Justice and the truth meant shunning the woman they loved, the woman they adored and the mother of their child, to some backwater hotel. It meant hiding her away as though they were ashamed of her, and it meant denying her access to her child for however long the appeal ran.

  Bastard.

  He deserved the title. He deserved her hatred for this, but he couldn’t let it go. He…he couldn’t.

  “I’m sorry, Gia,” Josh whispered.

  He clenched his fists, his fingers working as they sought action, anything to make this go away, but it wouldn’t.

  It might not seem a lot what they were asking her to do, but the undertones were there, and they were enormous.

  This past year had shown them all how hard it was to live in a household such as their own in a modern, intrusive society. There were highs and there were lows, and the pitfalls t
hey had to traverse were merely adding up.

  At his words, she nodded, but he spied the tremor in her bottom lip and was scalded with remorse and regret. She’d do what she had to do to protect them all, but would that protection undermine the key foundations of their family?

  Only time would tell.

  * * * *

  “Why’s your mother holding this emergency Sunday lunch?” Gia asked, peering at Josh as he scowled at a driver who had almost sideswiped him. She could sense his need to flip the other driver the bird, but somehow he managed to cage it rather than liberate his middle finger.

  “God knows,” he grumbled. “I wish she’d given me more notice, though—I’d have finagled a way out of it. It’s not often I can get a free Sunday, and I don’t like wasting half of it driving up to see them.”

  “No, you prefer them to waste their time.”

  “That’s what retirement is about. Plus, what’s the use in that death trap of an RV if they never get to use it?”

  She ignored that weak argument to murmur, “It has to be about one of your sisters. That’s the only time these emergency lunches take place.”

  “I’ll bet it’s Janice. She always was a pain in my behind.”

  Gia snorted, amused as she always was at this side of him that always popped out when he was around or was thinking about his madcap, fourth-generation-Italian family.

  In retrospect, knowing how protective Josh was of his famiglia, regardless of his bluster, she guessed she should have expected to be exiled the instant news had broken about Luke’s discharge. Defending the ones he loved was bred into Josh like his adoration for pasta and red sauce. Did that make it easier to cope with? Nope, but these two weren’t the only ones who knew their duty.

  Sucking it up, as she’d been doing for the past few weeks, she retorted, “Like you weren’t a pain in Janice’s ass. In fact, I know you were. She told me you scared off the love of her life.”