Jericho hadn’t felt the burning line across his bicep. Now it hurt like a bitch. Tilting his head, he was glad to see the bullet had barely winged him. Not life threatening, although more painful than a direct hit. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Please, please can we just get out of here?” Suri wrapped her arms around her middle, hugging herself.
Dante took in her outfit. “Princess, medieval wench just doesn’t work for you.”
“Can we discuss this later?” She was practically dancing in place. “That Malachi guy is going to come back, and I don’t want to knock anyone else out.”
Jericho held out his good arm, relieved when she willingly came to him. “Malachi isn’t going to give us any trouble. I promise.” He tucked her into his side and turned to walk out. She was shaking, her slender frame trembling against his body. Dante fell in behind them, staying close.
Malachi waited at the first intersection, arms crossed and legs in a wide stance. “Well?”
“Breathing, although unconscious.” Jericho didn’t bother to offer more. At this point, it had taken a monumental effort to leave the bastard alive at all.
“I know who I won’t be voting for come Thursday,” Malachi quipped.
Dante paused. “Tell Seraph that Flaherty is banned from Asylum. I’ll leave it up to her whether or not she backs my decision, but I’ll be calling the others to let them know what I’ve done.”
“I’ll relay the message.” Malachi’s cheerful tone was grossly out of place. “You all have a nice night.”
“You’re a sick fuck, Malachi.” Jericho had never been so glad to leave a place behind.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Suri wished it were possible to die of embarrassment. Huddling in Dante’s oversized spa tub, she was almost ready to sink beneath the hot water and wait until she drowned.
“Would you hold still?” Dante dabbed iodine wash on a cotton ball. “You’re acting like a baby.”
“It stings!” Jericho yelped. “At least blow on it or something!”
They were standing in front of the mirror with an arsenal of first-aid products spread across the bathroom counter. Dante was trying to wash Jericho’s wound, but Jericho kept trying to watch the reflection to make certain his partner was doing it correctly. For all that the two of them worked as a seamless team, this was not one of their more cooperative moments.
Dante probed the ugly red mark. “It’s just a scratch.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying for the last hour.”
Suri’s stomach lurched. If she lived to be a hundred, she would never forget the feeling in her belly when she’d thought Flaherty would kill Jericho because of her stupidity. Nothing was worth the loss of these two men. Nothing. If she had been honest, things would have turned out much differently.
With her knees pulled up against her chest and her face buried against them, she tried to exorcise the image of Jericho bleeding from her mind. Flaherty could have ended everything in that one moment. He could have shot Jericho, turned, and done the same to Dante. Her whole world would have come crashing down.
The water level changed abruptly, tickling her nose where it rested against her knees and making her sputter.
“Sorry, love. I didn’t intend to drown you.” Jericho let out a deep sigh of satisfaction as the hot water covered his muscular body.
“Maybe you should. I’m starting to think the world would be a better place without me to screw it up.”
Dante slid into the tub behind her. He spread his legs around her body until she could feel his groin pressed against her backside. Despite everything that had happened, a thrill of desire shot straight to her pussy.
Though the tub was massive, it was crowded with all three of them in it. Water sloshed over the sides and dripped onto the tile floor. Both men lounged in opposite corners of the triangular shape, their legs stretched out to accommodate Suri.
“Damn, that feels good.” Jericho let his head rest on the edge of the tub until Dante shifted, and water splashed against his fresh wound. “Ow! It burns, it burns!”
“He’s such a pussy,” Dante teased.
“Screw you. I’ll get my gun later, and we’ll see if you’re any better.”
“You have a gun?” Suri wasn’t really surprised, but she was still trying to reconcile all the pieces that had become the puzzle of her life. After almost watching them die, she knew beyond doubt that she loved both of them more than anyone else in her life. It wasn’t just sex. It was more. It was deep and profound and painful in a way that would hurt like hell if she lost them.
“I have more than one, actually.” Jericho’s calm hazel gaze made even that tense statement sound perfectly reasonable. “And if you ask Dante, I have one or two in particular that I’m overly fond of.”
“Don’t ever touch his stupid Dragunov,” Dante grumbled. “He’ll have a coronary.”
“I’d let Suri shoot it.” Jericho gave her a wink. “Except that I think the recoil might rip her arm off.”
Their lighthearted banter was both soothing and confusing. “I’ll pass.”
“We are what we are, princess.” Dante wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her neck. “Can you accept that?”
Suri thought of Leslie’s certainty that she was embroiling herself with criminals. Her friend had grown up the privileged daughter of a prominent New York business tycoon, but it hadn’t made her life any easier. Leslie had settled down with two men who made their living working on the right side of the legal line.
Suri had never lived a life like that. She’d grown up the daughter of a bartender from Southie. She was the bastard child of a politician who’d never seen fit to claim her. She’d scrounged and fought for everything she’d ever gotten. And honestly, she was tired of catching all the shit that life dumped in her lap.
She gazed at Jericho. Gorgeous, dangerous, and protective to the point of laying his life on the line for her and Dante. And Dante, willing to manipulate the world until it worked in her and Jericho’s favor. How could she not accept them when they had so willingly accepted her—baggage, lies, and all?
“I love you both.” Suri let the words out in one long breath. “I know I have no right to ask forgiveness for putting you in danger like I did. It was stupid and careless, but I can promise I won’t do it again.”
“Just tell us how it happened.” Jericho’s low tone carried no rebuke. “Did he approach you?”
“I gave his bodyguard my business card.”
Dante rubbed her arms. “Why? Are you and your sister having problems paying for your mother’s care? I thought you understood the private exhibition would give you some immediate cash.”
She pressed her damp hands to her cheeks, wishing she could hide beneath the water. “My sister hasn’t chipped in for squat in three years. And yes. I needed the money to pay for my mother’s care. I contacted Flaherty before you told me about the belly dancing. When I tried to back out, he threatened you. I couldn’t let him expose you like that.”
“Princess, Jericho and I can handle ourselves.”
Jericho’s gaze held hers until she wanted to squirm with shame. “No more secrets. None. We could have handled threats from that asshole without you putting yourself in that kind of danger. Nothing is worth your safety, Suri.”
“Just tell us already. We know your mother has financial issues. You keep glossing things over. After everything that’s happened, do you really think it matters? We just want to help.” Dante’s hands smoothed down her arms.
“Usually I have it covered, barely, but we get by.” It hurt to admit the truth about Kim. “My sister stole the money I’d put back to pay Ma’s bills for the next two months.”
Dante said something in what Suri guessed to be Arabic. It didn’t sound complimentary. “How much did she take?”
“About ten grand.”
More curses. Suri was starting to like the way that language sounded on his tongue, even when she knew it wasn’t inten
ded to be nice. Dante switched back to English. “How much are you short now?”
“About three thousand.” Suri cupped water in her palm and let it dribble out through her fingers.
“So how about that exclusive show you were tossing around?” Jericho looked at Dante.
“I can have it put together in twenty-four hours. If I run it the way I’d intended to, it should easily net that much and more.”
She was so overwhelmed she could hardly breathe. “After all of the crap I’ve put you through, you’d really do that for me?”
Dante’s lips brushed against her collarbone. “Princess, when are you going to realize that we’d do anything for you? No matter what.”
A swell of emotion made her desperate to show them how much their approval meant to her. Twisting in Dante’s arms, Suri kissed him hungrily. He thrust his tongue into her mouth. She nipped it lightly, sucking on the tip.
Behind her, Jericho caressed her ass. She thrilled to his touch. Using the warm water as a lubricant, he began fingering her tightly puckered asshole. The contact was electric, and she wanted more. She wanted it all.
Dante continued to kiss her, holding her captive with his spicy taste. She roved his body with her hands. She traced the contours of his rippling abdominal muscles. Lightly scoring his skin with her nails, she found his nipples and plucked at each until they hardened into points. He hissed and grabbed her hands to pull them away.
Jericho’s long index finger slid into her ass. Suri whimpered and arched her back. The sensation was exquisite. Her pussy was slick and damp, but it wasn’t because of the bath. Every movement of the warm water sent tiny waves past her sensitive flesh. Her position in the tub held her body wide open, and she was already poised on the edge of a climax.
“Come, Suri.” Jericho pressed a line of kisses down her spinal column. “Let go. There’s so much more we can give you.”
His words unlocked her orgasm. She cried out as her channel clenched tightly. She ached for penetration, wanting to be fucked.
Dante’s hands cupped her breasts. He thumbed her nipples into tight buds, squeezing hard until she was crying out with the pleasurable pain. He lifted her far enough out of the water to be able to take one in his mouth. The hard sucking only made her want more. She was addicted to them both. It wasn’t hormones or endorphins. She needed them on a cellular level. She was reduced to raw desire. She existed; therefore, she wanted—she needed—them. Only they could give her what her body had to have.
Her ass trembled as Jericho spread her wide with his fingers. “I’m going to take you, Suri. I’m going to put my cock in your ass and make you come again.”
He grabbed her hips, drawing her down onto his lap. His plum-shaped head probed her tight anal entrance. She tensed, but Dante slid his hand down her belly and buried it in her pussy. He flicked her clit until she was relaxed and ready for Jericho.
The full length of Jericho’s cock slipped slowly into her body. She’d closed her eyes, giving herself over to their ministrations, and putting her pleasure in their hands. Jericho eased her down, sinking his shaft into her ass until she was sitting on him with her knees bent and legs wide open.
The wet splash of water hitting the floor punctuated Jericho’s slow thrusts into her ass. Suri threw her head back, letting it rest against his shoulder as he fucked her in a delicious rhythm.
“Watching the two of you is going to make me come.” Dante slid two fingers into her pussy.
“Put your cock inside her cunt, Dante.” Jericho’s rough voice gave Suri a thrill. “I want to feel you beside me.”
She couldn’t speak, though her body longed for the extra penetration. Whimpering instead, she arched her back and encouraged Dante to join them.
She watched Dante get to his knees. He slid closer, his thick cock bobbing in the water. He held her gaze as he took his shaft in his hand and fit the head against her entrance. Anticipation made her tremble. His smooth skin brushed against her, the friction promising fulfillment. She shifted back to give him easier access. The new position sent Jericho’s cock in a new angle. His shaft ground against her, and she melted around him.
“Fuck, you’re tight!” Dante’s hands gripped the edges of the tub as he entered her.
With both cocks in her body, Suri felt as if she were full to bursting. The sensation left her quivering on the edge of release. Jericho stilled and Dante took over. Each of his thrusts sent ripples through her pussy. Jericho moaned each time she clenched around his cock. Dante began to fuck them with increasing momentum.
The muscles in his arms bunched as he fought to remain upright. “I feel you both.”
Water swirled around their joined bodies. A tickle vibrated across her skin and amplified the ecstasy of their joining. Suri had never felt so close to her lovers. Whether it was the sex, the circumstances, or something deeper. Her body slammed into an orgasm that left her breathless.
Jericho groaned, thrusting deep into her ass. “God, Suri! I can’t wait any longer.”
Both her lovers shouted as they came together. The heat of Jericho’s release in her anal passage was matched only when Dante’s cock throbbed as he climaxed in her pussy. The friction built to a crescendo that sent her over the edge one last time. Gasping, she let the orgasm drain the tension from her muscles.
Dante slid his cock from her pussy, lowering his mouth to hers for a gentle kiss. “Princess, every time I think we’ve had the best sex of our lives, you one-up us all.”
Suri shivered as Dante helped her rise. The movement slid Jericho’s long cock from her ass, and he groaned at the sensation. Her knees were shaky, but Dante swept her up into his arms and set her carefully on a thick bath mat.
“I don’t think I can move.” Jericho didn’t even bother to lift his head.
Dante grabbed a towel and lobbed it in his direction. “You’re bleeding again.”
“Shit.”
Suri experienced a brief moment of panic. “Is this going to work?”
“Us?” Jericho looked up from the arm he was dabbing with the towel. “It will if we want it to.”
“Do you want it to?” Dante knelt before Suri, gently rubbing her body dry with a towel.
“More than anything.”
Jericho levered himself up out of the tub. Water streamed from his naked body. “Then it will.”
Suri hoped he was right. There was still so much they had to learn about each other. At some point, wouldn’t the learning curve whap them all in the ass?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Abby bounced into the studio for her afternoon lesson as if she’d been drinking espresso all day long. Suri sat back in her chair to avoid popping the kid’s bubble of enthusiasm. Although, Suri had been walking around in her own haze of happiness for the last several days. It was impossible not to when she’d been waking up every morning snuggled between Dante and Jericho.
“I remembered to bring that piece of music with me, Ms. Robertson!” Abby’s hazel eyes sparkled with excitement.
So much had happened since their last lesson, Suri had to search her memory for what Abby was talking about. “I’m glad you remembered your assignment. You usually do, but it certainly doesn’t require this much excitement. You look like you just stuck your finger in a light socket, kiddo. Got a hot date tonight or something?” She picked up a cake of jade rosin from her music stand and began rubbing it up and down her bowstrings.
“You know, I sort of do.” Abby unsnapped her case and took her cello out. “My brother is coming to pick me up.”
“So you’re going home for the weekend. That’s great!” Suri wondered what it would’ve been like to have a real family to go home to. She had never been this excited about going home for the weekend during her four years as a student at Boston School for the Arts. She’d have rather stayed in the relative peace and quiet of the dormitories in lieu of running herd on her wild-child sister for two days. With their mother sick, Kim’s party-hard mentality had been too much for Suri t
o handle.
A flood of sheet music burst from Abby’s bag, and she scooped it off the floor. “Oh, I go home every weekend. But my brother is a lot older, so he doesn’t live with us anymore. He’s giving me a ride so I don’t have to take my cello on the bus.”
“Let’s get a move on, then, so you have plenty of time to spend with him. Show me the music you brought.”
“It’s the piece I played during my school audition.”
Suri took the music. It was a familiar piece by Bach, not at all difficult. “Which audition did you play this at?”
“I only had one. I missed the scholarship deadline.”
“You missed the deadline?” That was highly unusual. Students moved heaven and earth to make the scholarship audition, for obvious reasons. Abby didn’t strike Suri as a privileged rich kid.
Her exuberance dimmed, her lips pursing together as she settled her instrument between her legs. “It took a lot of convincing on my brother’s part for my mom to allow me to go here. She doesn’t think this is preparing me for a job in the real world.”
Normally, Suri wouldn’t have called bullshit on a parental opinion, but she didn’t like the idea of anyone trampling on Abby’s dreams. “Well, that’s a load of crap. I went to school here, and I’m employed. My friend Talia plays with a chamber group in New York City, and she went to school here. Another graduate, Leslie, formed the trio that I play in. We do events all over the city. And she’s been a guest soloist at Juilliard more than once.”
Abby relaxed, a smile creeping back over her face. “So what do you think of my solo?”
“Did you actually look at it before you brought it in? Or did you just pick it because you remembered it being really hard to learn the first time around?”
“It took me forever to get that smooth enough for my audition.” Abby drew her bow across the strings, testing each one against the electronic tuner Suri kept on her stand.
“Okay.” This little strategy had turned out far better than Suri could’ve hoped. She stuck the suite on the stand in front of Abby. “Play the ‘Prelude.’”
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