The Escape

by Kristabel Reed

  They had refused to leave Paris without finding her. Or, if it came to that, without knowing she was truly lost to them. The Club planned to completely exit Paris by year’s end, and already plans were in the making to get all Club members out of France in small caravans. But without Gabrielle, neither Eric nor André wanted a new life.

  Eric loved André, wouldn’t leave him. These last years had proven that love, but it had also stretched it. Without Gabrielle to bind them, Eric didn’t know how much longer he and André would have lasted. Still, he’d never leave without either of them.

  André lifted Gabrielle onto the bed, naked and aroused, and Eric knew it no longer mattered. No matter what they had to do, the three of them would get out of Paris and France, and start anew.

  He moved behind André and kissed up his back, feeling an added spark of arousal knowing that Gabrielle watched them. Eric climbed onto the bed and urged her to kneel. Her skin tasted as he remembered, soft and fragrant with lavender. He kissed down the side of her neck, nipping at the sensitive areas.

  Gabrielle shivered in his arms, tilted her head further to the side. Her hands gripped André’s shoulders as she rocked against him. Eric cupped her breasts, lifting her higher to settle on his cock. She gasped, shuddered, and he knew she teetered on the edge of orgasm.

  André looked up at him, and Eric knew his lover hadn’t finished. They’d both waited so long for this night, wanted to build Gabrielle up until she could no longer think only to do it again. On the other hand, Eric realized as she moved against him, he didn’t know how long he’d be able hold onto his control.

  But then André flashed such a wicked grin that Eric wondered what the other man had planned. André always had been willing to experiment. Apparently rescuing Gabrielle had reignited his sense of sexual excitement.

  But not tonight.

  Eric reluctantly moved from Gabrielle to grab the jar of oil they kept in the nightstand. She looked over her shoulder at him, hands on her own breasts as she tugged on her nipples. André had moved from between her legs and now kissed up her body, holding her steady as she continued to kneel in the center of the bed, legs spread, body quaking with arousal.

  When he touched her, she jerked and moaned his name. Cobalt blue eyes, heavy with need looked at him and Eric snapped. His hand tangled in her hair and he kissed her, taking with a ferocity he hadn’t fully understood he needed.

  He felt André move, looked to his other lover only long enough to know that their reunion with Gabrielle would truly be the three of them.

  Fingers slick with scented oil, Eric eased one into her puckered entrance. Gabrielle cried out, clenching around his finger. But he wasn’t finished. He saw André lay down, guiding Gabrielle over him. Her body shuddered, and Eric knew the moment the other man entered her she’d climax.

  But the look in André’s eyes told him all he needed to know, and Eric waited, waited as they positioned Gabrielle between them. She looked from André to him, face flushed, lips parted as she struggled to breathe. One hand slipped between her legs, but André caught it before she could give herself an orgasm.

  “Ah, ahh,” he whispered, voice husky as he tasted the fingers that just brushed her core. “Not yet, my love.”

  Gabrielle whimpered, a plea, a moan, begging for them. It was the sweetest sound Eric had heard in two years.

  André held her hips, his cock just brushing her glistening core. Positioned behind her, Eric kissed her shoulder and nodded at André. When they entered her, when she screamed her climax, it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

  There was more he wanted to do to her, with her, but for now Eric moved swiftly, thrusting into her backside as André built her up again. Gabrielle cried out, but they weren’t nearly finished. They found their rhythm easily enough, despite the passage of time.

  His control, already close to snapping, released and he emptied himself in her. A moment later, he heard André’s cry of release as well.

  Utterly spent, though his body ached for her again, Eric drew her close and kissed her. She kissed him back, a hard demanding kiss that belied the sated look she gave him a moment later. Gabrielle turned to André and gave him the same hard kiss, murmuring her love to him as he pulled her tight against his body.

  Eric guided her head to his chest and wrapped an arm around her. Kissing the top of her head he wondered how they had survived the last two years.

  Chapter Six

  Gabrielle woke to the very comforting feel of Eric holding her as he slept. She knew it was Eric, knew his touch no matter how much time had passed since their last night together. One strong arm rested across her waist, her back snug to his side. Slowly turning her head so as not to wake him, her gaze traced the curve of his jaw, his naked chest she longed to kiss, down to where the sheet hid him from further view.

  An irresistible smile curled her lips as she smoothed her fingers through his hair. André wasn’t in their bed, and she knew he had most likely gone before she’d awakened. He never slept long, seeming to be able to survive on little to no sleep and often woke before her and Eric. Today she knew he had gone to either find breakfast for all them or secure a small gift for her as was his habit.

  But she knew she had the gift she wanted, the only thing she did. She had her lovers with her again. They’d always been drawn to each other, the three of them. Even now, Gabrielle barely believed it; for so long she grieved over her loss. With the memory of the previous night still with her, she knew she’d fight to keep them together, no matter what she had to do.

  Gently trailing her fingers over Eric’s chest, she reconciled memory with reality. His skin felt the same, the warmth and masculinity of it. She touched a scar on his left arm and wondered where he’d got it; she couldn’t remember seeing it before. And she knew every inch of both his and André’s body.

  She’d enjoy rediscovering everything about them.

  The door opened, bringing with it the sounds of the Hellfire Club. Music drifted in behind André, the scents of rich food and wine, laughter and passion. Paris may have changed, but the people who inhabited the Club had not.

  “I’ve managed to secure us positions on the next caravan from the city.” André crossed the room and sat on the bed, leaning over to kiss her.

  Gabrielle hummed with the touch, shifting from Eric’s embrace to greet André. His hand caressed her cheek, cool against her warm skin. Where had he needed to go secure their escape? She knew so little of the happenings here now.

  “Good.” Behind her, Eric sat up, fully awake. He’d been awake the whole time she realized with a faint blush of embarrassment at having studied him so thoroughly. “Now we can finally leave this wretched city behind us.”

  “When are we to leave?” Gabrielle asked. Unable to resist, she gave Eric a tender kiss on the neck. His scent hadn’t changed and she breathed deeply.

  Rising from the bed, she self-consciously held the bed linens to her breast. She didn’t meet either man’s gaze, though she could feel them hungrily watching her. Gabrielle swallowed against a rush of arousal and moved toward her vanity.

  Now that arrangements had been made, much faster than she anticipated, she needed to finish things here. She couldn’t leave, and would not, until she’d said goodbye to Margaux and Annette. She owed them more than a final farewell, she owed them her life this last year, but she refused to endanger Eric and André with more than a brief—if heartfelt—goodbye.

  “Tomorrow.” André moved toward Gabrielle, intent in his every step. Her breath hitched and she foolishly clutched at the sheets. “In the evening, though Bernard didn’t have a specific time as yet. We’ll be disguised as merchants leaving the city.”

  Tomorrow? Gabrielle shook her head, mind racing with what she wanted to accomplish before then.

  “Tomorrow is so soon,” she managed in a soft tone. “Everything has changed so quickly.”

  “Are you having second thoughts about leaving Paris?” Eric’s voice wasn’t harsh or dema
nding, but he suddenly stood before her, gaze intent on hers. He didn’t look at all bothered by his nudity, and once upon a time Gabrielle wouldn’t have either, but now she felt awkward despite the pleasure of last night.

  Eric’s hand cupped her face, his tall frame blocking the candlelight. Beside him she could sense André, but he didn’t move. “Second thoughts about leaving your General Fortier?”

  “No.” Gabrielle quickly shook her head. Her gaze held Eric’s then sought out André’s so they both knew she meant everything she said. “No, not at all it’s just…I feel strange, leaving without a word; it doesn’t feel right. Theodore will be in danger once I’m gone—the protection Fortier offered will be no more.”

  She paused and knew that no matter how her brother treated her, she couldn’t leave him to the mercies of this new Paris.

  “The general’s daughters,” she said quickly though neither man made to interrupt her. “They’ve been very kind to me this last year.”

  She looked at Eric and saw the flash of annoyance in his eyes. But he said nothing, his hand still gentle on her face. When she looked to André, he didn’t hide his displeasure as well as Eric.

  “They’ll be fine here,” André assured her. “They already have the protection of the revolution and we can start our new life in London.”

  Gabrielle stiffened with his words. It wasn’t that she didn’t want that, the safety of London, to begin anew with André and Eric, but she had new responsibilities here. Obligations they may not agree with but that she felt nonetheless.

  André took a step closer and she saw his irritation had dissipated. He smiled down at her, that same sexy half-smile she’d often dreamed of seeing again. “We’ve already secured contact with the Hellfire Club there and Mistress Henrietta. We’ve procured a new townhouse in London, unobtrusive servants, and filled the house with whatever we might need.”

  He stepped closer, not cutting Eric out but including him in their threesome. It was how it always had been, and some of her nerves left Gabrielle, settling her in the comfort of shared need and memory.

  “We were just waiting to find you,” André confessed quietly. His intense eyes focused on her until Gabrielle saw only him. “Now that we’ve finally found you, there’s no reason to stay in Paris a moment longer.”

  Gabrielle nodded. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what they tried to impress upon her, but it didn’t alleviate what she felt.

  “I believe I owe them,” she insisted. “A small kindness in return for the great kindness they’ve shown me.” She caught both their gazes, resolute in this. “I love you. I love you both so very much.” Gabrielle touched André’s chest, caught Eric’s hand and squeezed. “I love you, but I must at least say goodbye to them.”

  “Do you have any intention of warning Theodore?” André demanded.

  His dislike for her brother rang clearly in their room. His eyes narrowed, not in threat to her, she felt no menace directed toward her, but knew her next words would make André, indeed both of them, explode.

  Gabrielle hesitated at the question, but then nodded. She wouldn’t lie to them.

  “Yes. Yes, I do. But I won’t see him,” she promised. “I shall have a note delivered instead. After the general returns to find me gone, Theodore will no longer have his protection. He could wind up on the guillotine. I must at least warn him.”

  “You give that man too much consideration,” Eric snapped. His hand tightened around hers, but then he controlled himself and loosened his grip. Still, his anger remained palpable in the room, matching André’s until she thought both of them would storm from here and find Theodore themselves.

  “He used you,” Eric added in a slightly calmer tone. “Your beauty, to save his own hide. Leave him to the razor.”

  Gabrielle’s eyes went wide but she understood Eric’s anger. Both their anger. However, she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t at least try. Couldn’t escape to safety if she didn’t give Theodore even this distant warning.

  “It’s only a warning,” she reasoned, still touching them, more comfortable now in their presence. “And he is the last of my blood living. I must at least give him a chance.”

  She saw the change in them. Neither André nor Eric had family left; they’d all died in the first months of the Terror. They had only survived by staying well hidden in the Club. She never did learn why their families had not, why they chose to continue on with their lives outside these catacombs, but could only be grateful her lovers had survived.

  André took a step back and shook his head. Gabrielle’s hand floated in midair for a heartbeat before she dropped it to her side. Pleating the sheet, she wondered what he thought. Once that knowledge would have been easier to discern than her own thoughts.

  Now, she wasn’t sure.

  “What chance did he give you when he dragged you from here two years ago?” Eric argued. He still held her hand, but his control teetered.

  “He took you from the safety of our arms to see you imprisoned and bartered with like some common whore.” André’s words drifted harshly between them.

  “He thinks me a common whore because of this club.” Gabrielle snapped back. She’d had quite enough of others telling her what she could and couldn’t do, who she could see and who she could not.

  Annoyed with their lack of understanding, she turned from them and slipped her chemise over her head. Flimsy as the cover may have been, Gabrielle felt stronger with it. She needed more than a single night to erase the years of distance between the three of them, no matter how she may have wished to do so with a single kiss.

  Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle added, “He never embraced this…place and all it offered.”

  “No,” André added. He took an aborted step forward but must have sensed Gabrielle needed space, for he stopped. His gaze looked from Eric to her, and she saw him visibly struggling with her choice.

  “He never embraced it for you,” André continued. “I still believe his leaving the Club wasn’t because he suddenly found the pious morals of the clergy, but to cover up an impending dismissal.”

  He stopped, as if unwilling to say more. Then he nodded, and for a heartbeat Gabrielle didn’t know if it was to reveal more about Theodore, or to sequester her in their rooms. As foolish as that sounded, given what happened two years ago, she wouldn’t have been surprised if they had locked her in here.

  But then she noticed the resigned look on André’s face, how he squared his shoulders as if to brace himself for a rather unpleasant duty.

  “However,” André grudgingly said, “if you’re determined to warn him then write your note and we shall see it delivered.”

  “Thank you,” Gabrielle murmured. Unbearably touched, she caressed touched André’s face. “But I ask to see the general’s daughter’s before I go. A brief visit, nothing more.”

  “Gabrielle.” Eric slipped his arm around her waist from behind. He held her tight to him, and she could feel his cock press against her backside. A shudder of need rocked her, moisture pooling between her thighs. He knew what he did to her; he had to, but didn’t push her.

  “You don’t owe them,” Eric continued, though he now stroked the underside of her breasts. “You give them more credit than they deserve.”

  “Eric.” She turned in his arms, blood heated as André bracketed her. Gabrielle swallowed but refused to give in to temptation. This wasn’t the time.

  “When you met them they were protective. They want me as part of their family, and have never once expressed anything but welcome and kindness to me directly.” She smiled up at him, reached behind her to touch André as well. “They kept you at a distance because they were jealous for their father.”

  “Leave them a note as well,” André offered. He kissed the side of her throat, hands settling on her hips. “Why must you see them?”

  “Because I want them to know, truly know,” Gabrielle insisted, “how grateful I’ve been for them.”

  She wanted to
say more, confess to André and Eric how the Fortier sisters had helped her survive. True, she should leave with a note, without a word to them, but couldn’t. She owed more to them than her own brother, and Gabrielle would not leave Paris until she settled things between her and the sisters.

  “Alright,” Eric agreed. “Yes, alright. But I’ll be directly outside.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mouth dry, Gabrielle swallowed as she stood before the door. It wasn’t grand or ornate, but the entire street was well situated and maintained. She’d been here before, more times than she could count, and had never felt such dread.

  Not even that first time, after Theodore had told her what he’d done, all but instructing her to visit the Fortier’s and befriend them.

  With a slight toss of her head, Gabrielle took a deep breath, savored the rich aromas of the Parisian street, and let the knocker fall against the door. She refused to cower to Theodore no matter how her brother treated her, and wouldn’t let fear over discovery paralyze her now.

  The door almost instantly opened, the genial butler offering a half-bow when he recognized her. Ushering her into the front parlor, he promised to fetch Margaux and Antoinette as well as a pot of tea.

  Stomach rebelling at the thought of any refreshment, Gabrielle forced herself to remain calm on the settee. Her hands twisted together in her skirts, a gown she’d left at the Club two years ago. It hurt to breathe, but she had to do this.

  It didn’t matter what arguments her lovers offered, it didn’t matter how accurate those arguments might be, Gabrielle needed to see the Fortier sisters one last time.

  As she waited, bare moments only, it surprised her how much she’d miss them. For a brief moment she contemplated offering to bring them to England, but knew that was foolish. They’d never go, and to offer would put her in more danger than this visit already did.

  She heard them in the foyer and resisted looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows in search of Eric. André had stayed in the Club to finalize their escape, gathering clothing, making sure all their valuables were well hidden in her cloak and the hems of her gowns. He’d said something about searching out le Comte de Courville, but Gabrielle hadn’t asked why.