by Chloe Adler
I unbutton his pants and he lifts his ass so I can slide them down. Bodhi goes commando? It’s the last thing I expected and a pleasant surprise. He wriggles out of his pants, sliding down on the bed. I focus on his long hard shaft, barely paying attention to my parts until he moves the thong aside with a finger and presses his tongue to my wet slit.
“Oh fuck yes,” I groan and grind against his face. No, no, no. Focus, Amaya! On him!
I fist his cock and wrap my mouth around it, sucking hard and long, pulling it deep and forcing my cheeks to hollow.
Bodhi does not stop what he’s doing to my pussy but he does moan and push his ass up. I keep one hand around his shaft and move the other hand down to squeeze his balls.
“That’s it,” he growls into my snatch, inserting one long finger and then two.
How the hell am I supposed to concentrate here? This was supposed to be me showing him appreciation, not the other way around. His mouth closes over my clit and he sucks while flicking it with his talented tongue. All that and his fingers pump inside my pussy, shallow and wet. My breath hitches and I wrap my mouth around his cock as I explode in his mouth, the orgasm shooting out in a torrent of pleasure and lust. His cock stiffens in my mouth as I clamp down and his climax jets down my throat.
Chapter Five
Minutes later, I’m nestled in his arms. The way he holds me feels different. We’ve had sex before but never like that. I don’t know what his motivation was but mine was to supposed to have been a thank-you, and instead he ended up turning it completely around. But we both still got ours and the way he’s holding me, almost purring, it all worked out. For now, at least.
“Can I ask you a question?” I shift in his arms to look up at his beautiful, serene face. His disheveled hair falls over one eye.
“Anything,” he murmurs, looking down at me, a lazy smile playing on his swollen lips.
“You claimed your brothers are in love with me.”
He brushes a lock of hair out of my face, leans down and kisses my nose. “How could they not be?”
“But they don’t even know me.” My head expands, then contracts—like it’s filled with fizzy water.
“Of course they do. We all know you and we’ve all fallen. Hard.”
I shake my head but Bodhi takes it as a nestling gesture and pulls me in even closer, kissing the top of my head. I don’t voice my concerns; it’s not really the time. But what will happen when they all get to really know me? I can’t imagine them loving me then. I’m a nobody, just a poor, dumb girl mooching off these amazing men because I have so little going for me. I can’t even hold down a proper job. Plus I have almost nothing to offer them, nothing to give back, nothing, save my synergist power, to barter with. What happens when they find out I’m a fraud?
Chapter Six
Bodhi’s eyes flicker closed. “Did I succeed in making you feel good?”
“Oh yes. But now that you’ve satisfied me, my brain is screaming at me. Can you shut it up?” I bury my nose in his chest and breath in his musky, post-coital scent.
“Challenge accepted.” He pets my hair and sits up, pulling me up with him. A smile plays at the outer corner of his lips. “I have an idea.”
I hold his gaze, waiting patiently.
He runs his hands over the tops of my bare arms so delicately that I shiver. “Are you open to trying something a little different?”
No. “Yes, of course.”
“Good. Lay down face-up.”
I do as requested, more out of curiosity than anything else.
“Close your eyes and focus on your breath.”
I keep them open, peering up at him. He leans over me and plants a kiss on each cheek, runs his hand over my face, forcing my eyelids closed, and then kisses each one. He pulls the side of the comforter over my naked body and tucks me in like a burrito. “Now focus on my voice and let the imagery guide you.”
He speaks in soft, slow phrases, instructing me to run a cord through my body, grounding me to the earth. I relax each part of my body as he guides me to let go of the tension flooding my cells. At one point I startle awake, unaware I’d fallen asleep, and Bodhi sits beside me, holding my hand and still talking. He continues for about an hour. Emotions come and go. I watch them as though they’re on a movie screen and I’m nothing more than an observer. Instead of attaching myself to anything, I do as he suggests and practice letting go. It’s not easy but with him by my side, instructing me every step of the way, I sink into my body, feeling lighter and more centered than I have since I was a child of ten, hand in hand with my parents.
We were visiting San Diego proper. I was in the center, Mom on my right and Dad on my left, skipping together down the street. It was museum day, a monthly event where we took turns picking, and I’d chosen the Air and Space Museum. Those were the days I like to imagine myself an astronaut, before I understood what that entailed. I remember them looking at each other over my head and smiling. The ease of their laughter, the lightness of their gaits. They never had a choice to become parents, my inception and arrival an accident that derailed their careers at such a young age. They were making the best of the situation they were presented with. Though those smiles were hardly forced . . .
Bodhi stops speaking, letting go of my hand, and I jolt back to the present. Sitting up, the comforter slides down but he doesn’t peek at my bare boobs, his gaze remaining fixed on mine.
“What happened?” he asks.
There’s no point in telling him. I can’t do this without him. I can’t let go without his help. I’m just not capable on my own. Nor, it seems, am I capable of forgiving myself for being born.
Instead of pushing me to talk, Bodhi pulls me into his arms, petting my head with long, sure strokes. I nuzzle into his chest, letting my mind wander to what the other three are doing right now, anything to keep me out of my own head. It’s more fun to think about the three men I have yet to explore. “Did Arch get back from driving Jules?”
“Yup, he’s home.”
A wave of relief crashes through me from head to toe. “And what about Vasily? Does he know you’re here with me?”
“It’s not like we need to check in with him. Vasily will join us if he likes.” Bodhi’s voice is sleepy, dreamy.
He did seem to enjoy our past threesome. Maybe we could go for round two with the king as our third. “Where is he?”
“He needed to drink. He went to Ichor.”
I sit straight up. My man went to the bloodbank-slash-whorehouse to drink from another girl? Oh hell no! I pinch my eyes closed and rub them. Did he go because he knows Jules is working there tonight? This is a nightmare. I don’t want Vasily drinking from anyone else but it’ll be even worse if it’s from Jules. I chew on my thumbnail, fear washing over me. I know I’m being silly, but the images storming into my mind refuse to abate.
Chapter Seven
Arch drives me to Ichor in his Tesla without speaking. Is he waiting for me to break the silence? I’m spitting angry but it’s not Arch’s fault. I look at him sideways. His huge hands grip the steering wheel with white knuckles. His red hair and beard have been trimmed recently but are still a medium length that makes me want to run my fingers through it, tug on it. Thoughts I should not be having on the way to fetch my king. My king! “Sorry to make you drive me, Arch.”
As he looks over at me, his moss-green eyes are calculating. Damn, this guy is pure alpha. I didn’t want to snuff the emotional intimacy I shared with Bodhi less than an hour ago, so I asked Arch to drive me. Or at least, that’s what I told myself. In truth, I was also embarrassed to show Bodhi my jealousy, my insecurity. After sharing such tender moments, I fear it could be a deal breaker, or at the very least, a turnoff.
Arch is so different than Bodhi, almost the opposite, and my mind tumbles down a dark hole of lust as I eye arms as thick as my thighs. When I imagine them wrapped around me, I shiver. With Bodhi, it’s talk and sweetness, with Arch it’s taut silence and—I can only imagine what. I
squeeze my thighs together and slap down the ho in my head. Now is not the time.
“Not a problem.”
I peek at my watch; it’s nine p.m.
“You working tonight?”
“No.” I cross and then uncross my legs. Shit. I didn’t tell him why I needed a ride and now I’m embarrassed. “I need to talk to Vasily.”
His brows draw tight and he looks at me. “It can’t wait? Boss’ll be back in another hour.”
“No, it can’t.” I jut out my chin, pivoting to look out the window. What the hell was I thinking? Yes, Arch is hot, so hot that he practically liquefies my insides, but he’s also rough and gruff and after being with imperial Vasily and down-to-earth Bodhi . . . I just can’t imagine liking someone so callous. Time for a subject change.
“Do you miss having a job?” I watch the ocean twinkle out the window.
“We have jobs,” he snaps. Then after a moment, softer, “We’re all consultants or volunteers.”
Apparently I’ve found a sore spot. Great, Amaya. Antagonize the giant hottie giving you a ride. “You are?”
He grunts. “I’m on the board of several nonprofits. I help them decide what causes to donate to and how much. I also consult for charities that have been run into the ground, donate my own money to pull them out. I help them restructure and put new safeguards in place.”
My vision blurs and I blink rapidly to clear it. Arch has always been . . . terse. But his passion, his intelligence shouldn’t be such a shock to hear in action. There’s no such thing as a stupid Stetler, obviously. “What kinds of charities?”
“My main focus is on the environment. Fighting global warming, minimizing the use of plastics and saving the oceans.”
Wow. He’s like an environmental superhero. I take a quick moment to imagine him wearing a skintight jumpsuit with the letter E plastered across his chest, muscles straining against the thin fabric to get free. I turn to the window, clearing the lovely image. “What about Bodhi?”
“Bodhi teaches high-risk kids and low-income seniors how to meditate. Forrest and Vasily work with special-needs children, giving them riding lessons and teaching them how to groom and care for horses. ”
“And Cedar?” Is there anything these men don’t do?
“Cedar is in charge of growing our finances. He manages our investments.”
“In what?” I have to ask.
Arch chuckles. “In authentic green companies, not green-washed ones. But because of that, he has to keep a close eye on things. Tesla is one of our favorite holdings. We bought it at twenty-two dollars a share and it now fluctuates around three hundred a share.”
“Wow.” No wonder he drives one.
“But there’s more involved than just looking at and worrying about the financials. He has to research their ethics daily. If we’re invested in a large tech company that claims they’re helping impoverished nations but we find out they’re using child labor, we pull out even if we lose a million in doing so.”
This touching information enamors me to each man. And Arch himself is a philanthropist? Did I misjudge! So much for callous.
“Do you want me to drop you off at Ichor or wait for you?”
“You can just drop me off.” There is no way in hell I’m leaving without Vasily.
He pulls up in front of the vectum and I get out. I lean down to thank him but he takes off. I shake my head at the retreating car, not sure what to make of his prickly demeanor.
I walk up the marble steps and past the Corinthian columns, cracking open the heavy wooden door. The atrium is filled to capacity with all the usuals, women and men half naked and posing on the velvet couches or strewn over the laps of vampires who greedily partake. I do a quick sweep for Vasily but I don’t see him. Not that I’m surprised. He told me when we first met that he only drinks upstairs. Another heart pang, this one a searing pain like I’m being stabbed with one of Jules’s blunt fingernails.
Upstairs is where clients go for sex.
Though I know Vasily doesn’t do that, just the idea that he’s up there with someone who thinks he might sets my heart racing. Hard. I take the steps two at a time, fingers skimming the elaborately carved mahogany banister, flying over the bloodred carpet.
The top of the landing is deserted, the doors on either side of the hallway stretching out like that of an elongated carnival funhouse. Behind each door, there are sights to behold, sights I don’t want to see. Sights that could get me fired for witnessing. The crimson rug on the upper floor stretches out like a bloody highway, threatening to make me roadkill. The image is so clear I reach for a breath to steady myself so I’m not engulfed. Slinking down the hallway, I stop before the room where Vasily and I had our first encounter. The door creaks, rusty hinges betraying me. I peek inside, rules be damned. Moans pour out, my interruption unnoticed. Inside the dimly lit room, a man sits on the edge of the bed, his hand fisting a girl’s hair while she sucks him off. My heart plummets and then soars. Not Vasily.
The man turns toward me and we lock eyes. “Choke on it,” he growls to the woman, winking at me.
Next.
The door across the hallway slides open like warmed butter lacing a piece of toast. I’m on top of Jules before I can process anything. Mine! my mind screams loud enough for everyone in Ichor to hear. I drag her out from under my man and am hauling back to punch her in the face when Vasily grabs me from behind.
“Amaya, what the fuck?” Jules winces, her features contorting.
“It’s not enough that you had Arch drive you home,” I yell, “but now you’re whoring yourself to Vasily too? Why can’t you be happy for me? Why are you trying to steal my men?”
She holds her hands up and out. “Dude, chill out. I’m not taking anyone. Vasily—”
“Don’t,” I set my jaw.
“Amaya,” he lets me go, his voice running down my body like warm caramel, “I thought you’d feel more comfortable if I drank from your friend instead of a stranger.”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Why not drink from me? You’ve done it before.”
“As you may recall, there were some adverse side effects.”
Yeah, like me getting so turned on it took two men to satisfy me afterward. Why would that be “adverse” if he’s so cool with sharing me? “We could have tried. You could have tried.”
“You’re right.” He looks between me and Jules. She’s still on the ground and I have my hands on my hips. He reaches down and offers her his hand. She looks at me first. Good. Then she takes it and he helps her up.
“I’ve never known you to act this way,” she says. “In all our years of friendship.”
“Not now, Jules.”
“Whatever, bitch, and this time I mean it.” She turns away from me and the sting is like a slap across the face. She’s my best friend. Why am I acting like a jealous teen? She storms out the door without looking back.
Chapter Eight
The drive back to the Ridge in Vasily’s Lincoln is uncomfortable. I want to explain but I don’t know what to say. When the roads wind and we turn toward home, I realize it’s the first time I’ve ever used that word in relation to Vasily’s giant mansion. I feel like I finally belong here, in the richest neighborhood in the Edge instead of in the poorest. But I won’t belong here for long if I keep acting this way. Don’t screw this up, Amaya.
“I’m so sorry.” I turn to look at him but he’s punching in the code to the gate of his property. When he’s done and the elaborate metal-dragon-festooned gate swings open, he drives through and down the long path that leads up to the house. He parks behind Arch’s car in the circular driveway before finally turning to look at me.
“Amaya.”
I can’t tell if he’s disappointed. I can’t tell anything. “I’m sorry, Vasily. I acted like a jealous bitch, just like Jules said. I don’t know what came over me. When I found out you were at Ichor . . .”
He slid
es a hand up to my cheek. “I’m the one who should apologize, not you.”
“What?”
He caresses my face and leans closer, pressing his lips against mine. I melt into him and his arms circle me, wrapping me up like a precious gift. “You’re my queen and I should have at least spoken to you before I went there. I should have asked if you were comfortable with me drinking from another.”
“It’s pretty damn hypocritical of me when I had an emotionally intimate moment with your friend.”
He leans back and looks at me, one eyebrow raised. “Who?”
“Bodhi.”
He smiles, leans in and kisses me again. “That’s an established relationship. The three of us work well, both separately and together. I hope in the future you’ll consider adding Forrest, Arch and Cedar.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Where I’m from, we were raised to share, and if I get back to Tara, I won’t always be able to be here with you. I want you well taken care of.”
“You’re not jealous?”
He places tiny kisses all over my face. “We don’t have such an emotion where I come from. It’s why I was so remiss in talking to you about Ichor first. In Tara, women usually have multiple husbands and vice versa.”
“Polygamy is the norm?”
He pulls back and looks at me. “Yes, polygamy and polyandry is the norm, especially within the royal family. If lovers and consorts are accepted with respect, we can avoid feuds, complications, crises of succession due to infertility, even civil wars. At first, only men had other lovers, but the women deemed it unfair, and it was. So at the beginning of my parents’ bloodline, the laws were changed.”
“You must have one hell of a family tree.”
