by Mari Carr
None of them was in a hurry right now, taking a few moments to just relax and savor the quiet time. However, he suspected his lovers were beginning to feel the same pull toward the bedroom as he. That suspicion was confirmed when Cecilia glanced toward the door to the hallway that led to the stairs.
He grinned, forcing himself to be patient. Last week, she had taken the reins, dragged him and Mateo upstairs in an attempt to make peace between them…with sex.
It had worked.
“Strategically, this place would be a logistical nightmare to defend,” he mused, pretending his thoughts weren’t solely on getting his lovers upstairs and undressed.
Mateo appeared surprised by his unexpected comment and glanced around the room. “I don’t know about that. Obviously you would have to replace the windows with bulletproof glass, but there are also shades that could be purchased that would shield the occupants of the room. I had some installed at Triskelion Castle.”
Dimitri shook his head, merely to be contrary. “No. You’re wrong. There’s absolutely no way this place could be made safe.”
Mateo stood up and walked the perimeter of the room, clearly gearing up to strengthen his case. “I disagree. The fleet admiral’s main rooms had a lot of windows, and we found some very successful ways to fortify them.”
“Clearly I have more expertise in this area,” Dimitri added, working hard to school his face, determined to project the unmistakable arrogance that had rubbed Mateo wrong at their first meeting.
Cecilia shot Dimitri an amused grin that she followed up with a quick roll of her eyes. His clever woman knew what he was up to.
Dimitri decided to up the ante. “This is the difference between a spy and a mere guard. There are intricacies to protection that you simply don’t understand.”
Mateo scowled, his fists clenching in an antagonistic manner. “Excuse me?”
Dimitri managed to maintain his superior expression for the count of three before turning away to hide his grin.
Cecilia stepped in. “That’s it. It’s clear the two of you are never going to agree on anything, and I’m not about to spend the rest of my life watching these pissing contests.”
“Cecilia,” Mateo said, still not in tune with their game.
Until she pointed upstairs. “So there’s only one way to settle this. Sex.”
She winked at Mateo as Dimitri chuckled.
Mateo snorted. “You got me.”
Dimitri walked over and wrapped a strong arm around his husband’s shoulders. “The two of you looked entirely too comfortable on that couch. I needed a way to get things moving in the right direction. Cece has made an excellent suggestion, and I think we should take her up on her generous offer of sex.”
“For once, we agree on something.”
Cecilia laughed when Mateo walked over and swung her up into his arms.
“I believe there’s a tradition that involves the groom carrying his bride?”
“Over the threshold to their home,” she corrected as he headed toward the stairs.
Mateo continued upstairs, Cecilia’s hands clinging to his shoulders as Dimitri followed. “There’s a threshold to the bedroom. I suspect that’s the more important one.”
The three of them headed toward “their room” in the inn, the one they’d shared the previous week.
Dimitri struggled to believe such a short time had elapsed. He had come to this room with distrust and reservations the first time. Tonight, he felt only joy and love.
Both emotions were foreign to him, yet they came so naturally, so easily when he was with Cecilia and Mateo.
Mateo carried Cecilia directly to the bed, setting her down on the mattress. He wasted no time unbuttoning her blouse.
Dimitri leaned on the doorframe, watching his husband strip the clothing from their beautiful wife. A man of action, he was surprised to discover the pleasure to be found in merely observing.
Cecilia, never one to remain idle, was working to get Mateo out of his clothes as well. The two of them spent a great deal of time touching and kissing as they disrobed. Both snuck surreptitious glances his way, but he dismissed their unspoken invitations with a smile that said he was very happy where he was at the moment.
Dimitri considered their trip to Red, and Cecilia’s obvious interest in the things she’d seen there. Walking across the room, he stopped at the foot of the bed, his hand gripping one of the posts of the footboard.
Cecilia and Mateo were now naked and standing next to the bed.
“Turn around, Cece. Face the bed,” Dimitri said, his voice thick with desire. He was aware it deepened the tone, made his words sound more like a command than a request. In this instance, that worked in his favor.
Cecilia sucked in a quiet breath, even as she did as he said.
“Bend over. Keep your upper body on the bed, your legs hanging over the edge. Mateo and I are going to test some limits tonight. See how strong your desire to submit is.”
She shivered, but again, did as he directed without comment or argument.
Mateo lost no time running his hand over the bare skin of her ass, his eyes gleaming with appreciation. Their wife was truly beautiful, sexy, and the thick erection Cecilia had set loose from Mateo’s pants proved his husband was more than ready for what came next.
Dimitri had set the night’s adventures in motion, but Mateo didn’t seek guidance or wait for instructions. Instead, he lifted his hand and brought it down firmly on Cecilia’s backside.
She jerked, then sighed.
Mateo shared Dimitri’s need to learn more about their inexperienced lover. While Cecilia had clearly had other lovers in the past—men whose names he’d never ask for lest he be tempted to hunt them down in some irrational jealous rage—their wife was new to BDSM, to the role she would play in their bedroom.
Because of that, they needed to take care, to initiate her slowly. Mateo continued to spank her, each slap varying in intensity and placement.
Cecilia remained as still as she could, but there was no missing the sexual need growing inside as she clenched her thighs together, her hips twisting in such a way that said her pussy needed stimulation. It was clenching, empty, hungry.
Dimitri was still fully dressed, something he didn’t intend to rectify. Keeping Cecilia naked while his clothing remained would only heighten her feelings of being possessed, claimed by her Master.
Mateo broke up his spanking with gentle strokes on her now pink ass cheeks. Dimitri didn’t need to touch her to know how warm—no, hot—the skin would feel.
“Please,” she gasped, parting her thighs in invitation. “Please, Mateo. Touch me.”
Dimitri placed one knee on the mattress next to her, slapping her ass sharply. “You haven’t been given permission to speak.”
She snorted. “Yeah. That’s probably going to be a hard limit for me.”
Dimitri laughed, despite his desire to appear stern. Her humor, her frankness, always caught him off guard, delighted him.
“Mateo can spank your ass until it’s glowing red, but you balk at a demand for silence.”
She looked at him over her shoulder, her brows raised, feigning disappointment. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Dimitri dug deep, needing to draw them back into the scene, so he unfastened his belt, sliding it from the loops in one quick motion, before bending the leather in half and slapping it against his palm in a menacing manner.
Cecilia never blinked an eye. More than that, he wasn’t certain if he saw or merely imagined that she’d lifted her ass slightly in invitation. Dimitri’s hand twitched, debating whether or not to move forward.
Mateo took the decision away from him, his large hand clasping Dimitri’s wrist. “Perhaps we should move a little bit slower. We have an entire lifetime to expand on our repertoire.”
He appreciated Mateo’s patience. Dimitri felt his grip on control slipping. There was too much he wanted from her.
God, he wanted everything.
He dropped the belt on the floor, then reached for Cecilia, drawing his hand through her hair before clenching his fingers around it. He used that grip to direct her, moving her from the bed to her knees in front of him.
“Unfasten my pants and pull out my dick. I want it in your mouth in ten seconds, or not even Mateo will save you from my belt.”
She hesitated for a split second, long enough to prove to Dimitri that the belt was something she definitely wanted to try. He catalogued that information, tucking it away for future use.
Cecilia lost no time freeing him from his jeans, the base of his cock firmly encased in her small hand as she guided the head to her mouth.
Dimitri sucked in, deeply, filling his lungs with air as she took him deeper, increasing the suction until he saw stars.
Mateo stepped up next to him, his thick erection a mirror image to Dimitri’s. They were both hard, hurting.
Cecilia accepted Mateo’s unspoken invitation, gripping his dick in her other hand, her lips moving from the head of one cock to the other, treating them both to a mind-blowing blow job.
Dimitri’s hand remained in her hair, tugging it every now and again, enjoying the way the sting in her scalp had her eyes drifting closed in bliss, hot breath escaping in a sigh, tickling his cock.
Mateo cupped her neck, his thumb stroking her jaw, as she took him even farther into her mouth.
“Open your throat,” Mateo murmured. “I want to come in your mouth.”
Cecilia did as he asked, moving faster along their husband’s dick.
“I’m close, Cece,” Mateo said, the words sounding more like a grunt. “God. I’m coming, tesora.”
Dimitri released Cecilia’s hair, allowing Mateo to step more fully in front of her, holding her face with both his hands, adding his own forward thrust to her blow job. Cecilia never balked, never pulled away, even as Mateo took her mouth roughly.
Dimitri placed his arm around Mateo’s lower back, unable to watch his lovers without touching them. There was something incredibly moving about watching his wife bring his husband to climax.
They were his.
He couldn’t stop marveling over that fact.
His. They were his.
It took Mateo a couple of moments to recover enough to be able to move. He stepped back and Cecilia turned her attention toward Dimitri once more, clearly ready to offer him the same gift she’d just given Mateo.
Dimitri shook his head, reaching down to help her to her feet.
“On the bed,” he murmured.
Cecilia looked toward the mattress, then back to him for more instructions.
He’d thought they would have to guide her through her submission. He was wrong. Cecilia was a quick study, their perfect counterpoint. Neither he nor Mateo was true Dom material, both of them more alpha than Dominant. The same was true of Cecilia. She would give them her obedience, but she would question things and test them.
“On your back, koxaha. I want to make love to you.”
Cecilia smiled, then complied, claiming the center of the large bed, reaching up to him. “I want you,” she whispered.
He recognized her wording. He could see from her flushed face, her tight nipples, the sheen of arousal on her inner thighs that she needed him. That was evident and wonderful, but nowhere near as special as the realization that she wanted him.
Dimitri climbed on the bed, coming over her, caging her beneath him even as he lowered his head for a kiss.
Her tongue darted out, meeting his halfway. They kissed for hours, maybe years, but Dimitri didn’t seek more. Didn’t need more than her breath mingling with his, her taste on his lips, her arms clinging to his shoulders in a way that said she’d never let him go.
Mateo had joined them on the bed, lying next to them, idly stroking Cecilia’s breast, then running the same hand along Dimitri’s side. Mateo appeared to feel that same need to touch.
Finally, Dimitri pulled away, the words he was thinking slipping out unbidden. “I want to make babies with you, Cece.”
Ever practical, she laughed softly. “Perhaps we should deal with the issue of where to live first. Singapore? Spain? Ukraine?”
“I don’t want to return to the Ukraine. My life there is done. I’m not going back.”
“There’s nothing for me in Spain. My family is gone, and I haven’t lived there in many years. In truth, I think I’d like to return to school, to study medicine. I can do that practically anywhere.”
Cecilia smiled. “Dr. Bernard. That sounds good to me.”
“So…Singapore?” Dimitri asked. He’d visited there a couple of times, and while he liked the city, he wasn’t sure how he felt about living there. Of course, wherever Mateo and Cecilia were would be home. The country mattered very little.
He was surprised when Cecilia shook her head. “No. I don’t think I want to go back. If the two of you are making fresh starts, I’d like to do the same.”
“Well then, I vote we stay here,” Mateo murmured. “Right here.”
Cecilia started to laugh again until she realized Mateo was being serious. “The Lake District?”
He nodded, then looked around. “You said your family owns this B&B.”
“Yes. I have two aunts and an uncle who’ve split up the duties to keep it running, however, they’re all getting older and have begun to ask me to take over more of the tasks. I was actually here, not in Singapore, when Arthur called me last week.”
Dimitri looked around the room, considered all the improvements they could make to the inn. “My father was a carpenter. He taught me everything about building, wiring, plumbing when I was growing up. This place has a great deal of potential.” His mind began to whirl with plans of ways they could improve and expand the B&B.
“Are you both being serious?” Cecilia asked, excitement sparkling in her eyes.
Dimitri considered the unrest in his homeland. “Our children could grow up in this beautiful, wild country. Safe. Happy.”
“I’ll call my aunt in the morning. Ask her if we could take over the inn now. I’m certain she will be relieved by the request. And in truth, James and I are in line to inherit it. When that day comes, I’ll simply ask to buy his half.”
Dimitri kissed her once more. “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to repeat my previous statement. I want babies.”
Cecilia laughed, then rolled her eyes when she glanced in Mateo’s direction and saw the same earnest desire on his face.
“Fine. Children. But not tonight. Tonight is just for us.”
Dimitri gripped his cock, guiding it to Cecilia’s pussy, slowly pushing inside.
“Us,” he repeated, once he was fully encapsulated in her wet heat.
“Us,” Mateo added, kissing Dimitri’s shoulder, his hand stroking his ass.
Dimitri did exactly what he’d wanted. He made love to Cecilia, taking her slowly, gently, as he took turns kissing her and Mateo.
They came together, clinging tightly, declaring their love.
Dimitri had come to this room last week seeking a villain, suspicious, prepared to kill if need be.
Instead, he’d found a family. A future.
Forever.
Epilogue
Antonio Starabba murmured his goodbyes to the security minister and ended the call. It was nearly midnight, and his official duties as a security officer for Rome were done for the day.
Now it was time to think about the dead.
The torture, murder, and mutilation of Nazario, Christina and Lorena had been attributed to the Domino. It was the first in a series of crimes that resulted in the death of the fleet admiral and two territory admirals, among many others. Tradition said the Domino always had an apprentice. That meant two people were responsible for the rash of crimes and murders that had rocked the Masters’ Admiralty to the core.
&nbs
p; Two people.
Yet they had caught, cornered, and killed more suspects than that. And none of the people tied to the crimes had conclusively been identified as the Domino.
And at the end of the day, Antonio’s job, his duty, was to protect the people of Rome.
He wouldn’t rest until he found proof as to who had killed three members of his territory. He wouldn’t let Nazario’s, Christina’s and Lorena’s deaths become lost amid the chaos the Domino had wrought.
Antonio walked from his home office to his bedroom, pulling off the black shirt he’d been wearing since waking at six a.m. and exchanging it for an identical clean shirt. Then he went back to his office, grabbed his laptop, and carried it to his couch. The concession he would make to working on this off-duty investigation was that he would sit on the couch rather than at a desk.
It was only after he sat that he thought about making himself a coffee, but then decided against it. Not that it was too late to drink coffee. There was no such thing as a wrong time to drink coffee.
He was just too tired to get up.
Antonio opened the custom-built database search software he had and started scrolling through that day’s matches. He’d cross-referenced the methods of torture, tools, and exact causes of death for the three members of his territory with other crimes in Europe, using Interpol’s databases. In addition to that, he had a standing request with the security offices of the other territories for information on missing persons and violent crimes committed against members. Before the death of the fleet admiral, people may not have been so forthcoming with information. Now, they were under siege, and most territories were acting accordingly.
He had information drops from everyone but Kalmar. He sent a reminder request to M. Virtanen, who had been his point of contact.
When he opened the message from Germany, his mouth tightened.
It was confirmed that Karl Klimek had gone missing. The knights in Germany had checked his residences and offices.
Just to be thorough, Antonio ran a facial recognition scan for Karl. He could only access high-quality video from airports and train stations in his territory—including Italy, Greece, and the areas bordering the Adriatic Sea. While that ran, he went through the other reports. Nothing stood out, so, for the one-hundredth time, he turned to the crime scene photos.
