by Katee Robert
Sweet Jesus, I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing, but I’m suddenly sure that two weeks is nowhere near enough time.
Chapter 10
Isabelle
I’m still recovering from what we just did when Gaeton crawls up the bed to flop onto his back next to me. “Come here, Isabelle.” There’s a depth of so many things in his voice, but I focus on the lust because it hurts the least.
I put my hand in his and let him pull me up to straddle his chest. He’s so big, I’m spread wide just to maintain my perch. Gaeton drags his thumb over my clit and I shiver in response. “Sore?”
I’m already shaking my head. “No.”
“You will be.” His grin widens, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. He gives my clit another lazy stroke. “We’re going to play a game.”
Alarm bells peal through my head, but I’m too busy trying not to rock my pussy against his chest like a wanton creature to listen. “Okay.”
“You’re a dirty little slut who’s sharing two men.” His voice is warm, devoid of anything but need.
I still jerk back. “Don’t.”
“A game, Isabelle.” This from Beast, who’s propped himself up on the pillows next to us. Close enough to touch if he wanted, but he makes no move to do so. “Your pussy still aches to be filled up, doesn’t it?”
Honesty. I promised honesty. I close my eyes, but it somehow makes it worse so I open them again. “Yes.”
Beast’s lips curve the tiniest bit, though his eyes stay cold and watchful. “Imagine you just left my bed. My come is dripping down your thighs, but it’s not enough. You want to feel a little bad, don’t you? A little wrong. A little dirty.”
How does he do this to me? He keeps drawing for the dark parts of me that I’ve done my best to hide. Gaeton touches my chin and I’m helpless to do anything but open my eyes. He’s not smiling now. “You want to come on my cock while you’re still flushed with what he did to you.” He pinches my clit between the fingers of his other hand, making me jump. “And then when you’re done with me, you want him to bend you over the nearest piece of furniture and fuck you again. Hell, I bet you’d get off on his fucking you right in front of me. Of rubbing it in my face that I wasn’t enough for you. And then as soon as he’s finished, you come straddle me and do the same to him.” He brushes my bottom lip with his thumb. “All day, Isabelle. His cock then mine then his again. And when you ache too much for more, we’ll take turns tasting that pussy.”
My mind has gone terrifyingly blank. “But—”
“Today we’re passing you back and forth just like you deserve.” He gives my clit another squeeze. “Do you want to be our little slut today?”
There’s only one answer. There was only ever one answer. I don’t even have to stop to remind myself to be honest this time. “Yes. I want all that. Everything you said.”
Gaeton looks up at me. There was a time when I could read every thought it as it passed through his mind. He never bothered to hide them from me, trusted me enough to be an open book for me to read at my leisure. Or at least that’s what I used to think. Now I know better. Gaeton may have been an open book, but he was in a language I only vaguely understood. He traces his hands down my body to land on my hips and gives them a squeeze. “No.”
Shock makes me flinch. “What?”
“No. We’re not playing that game. We shouldn’t be playing any fucking game.” He lifts me off him and is already moving before I land on the mattress, climbing to his feet and stalking into the bathroom. The door slams behind him and the shower turns on a few seconds later.
I feel like he turned my world upside and then gave it a shake for good measure. I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “Did he do it on purpose to hurt me?” I don’t really expect an answer. Gaeton may have been the touchy-feely type, but Beast never was. It’s part of what I loved about him, that he had depths I knew I could spend years swimming through and never reach the bottom. Beast is a mystery in so many ways; a year apart has only increased the mysteries he keeps from me.
He touches my chin exactly where Gaeton did, guiding me to look at him. For once, he’s not an icy wall. He’s furious and … hurt? Beast drops his hand. “Time might heal all wounds, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing when the specter from your past comes bursting through all the progress you’ve made. What do you want from him, Isabelle?” He inhales slowly, and I can actually see him tucking away his anger. “He agreed to this, but he doesn’t like it. Cut him some fucking slack.”
Finally.
Finally, I have something to cling to beyond confusion and what little pride I have left. I embrace the anger that rises within me wholeheartedly. “I didn’t set the terms for this, either. You did. You both demand honesty and then make me pay for giving it to you. Don’t act like I came back into your lives because I wanted to play with your cocks and your hearts at the same time. That was your decision.”
“Yes, it was.” He moves off the bed and stands. “Which is why I’m taking responsibility for it.”
“That’s a first.” Why can’t I stop talking? It’s never been a problem before, but I feel like these men have ripped me open and stripped me of everything I thought I knew. Even when I was cursing their names last night, I enjoyed every moment. Even when Beast put me on display for a stranger and humiliated me with his words, I soaked up that feeling like a love-starved creature. And this morning? I still haven’t processed what we did this morning.
It didn’t feel the same as last night. When Beast began moving at my back, both of us still mostly asleep … When Gaeton slipped down the bed and started sucking Beast’s cock … When he licked my clit while Beast fucked me … None of that felt like a carefully directed scene. It just felt like us.
I don’t know what that means. I’m not sure it means anything at all.
I glare up at Beast, hating how tormented I feel. “Is the purpose of this to punish me for being a dirty little slut or some kind of temptress that entangled you in my web of seduction? That’s what you both think, isn’t it? That I’m the sole responsible party for how things went so wrong.” I am responsible for so much of it, but it’s not like I tied them up and forced them to agree to anything. They pursued me for months before I admitted I couldn’t pick one of them over the other, and they told me that I didn’t have to. My only sin is loving them both and refusing to choose. They are the ones who decided that dating me at the same time was a good idea, but everyone conveniently forgets that when we talk about the past.
Beast looks at me long enough that I have to fight not to squirm. “Are you done throwing your fit?”
“My fit? I’m not a child and I’m not throwing a fit, you asshole.” I cover my face in my hands and fight down a shriek of frustration. I barely manage it. “Go talk to Gaeton, please. That’s what you were going to do. There’s nothing left to say here.”
“Wrong, Isabelle.” Every time he says my name instead of princess, it feels like another nail in the coffin of our past relationship. Another reminder of how lengthy the distance between us is.
I drop my hands and, to my horror, my throat feels tight. “Is it wrong, Samson? Is it really?”
He jerks back as if I’ve struck him with the use of his real name. The one he shared with me the first time he told me he loved me. The one he gave up at the same time that he gave up hope that his past lover was alive. He’s been Beast for as long as he’s been in Carver City, and his given name was one of the few secrets Beast ever divulged to me.
Maybe I’m a bitch to use it now, but I don’t care. I have no power here, and if they’re determined to make me pay for every sin of the past, I’ll force them to choke on the experience. That hurt goes both ways. It’s always gone both ways.
“Yes, Isabelle. Wrong. There is a fuck-ton of things left to say.” With one last long look at me, he turns around and walks to the bathroom door. He doesn’t slam it, but the quiet click as he closes it behind him feels a thousand times more damni
ng.
Gods, I’m going to cry.
I press my hands hard to my eyes, as if the dull ache it causes will be enough to stem the burning. I knew this would be hard. I knew it down to my very soul and I still agreed. I have no one to blame but myself. My role in this is to let them work out their anger on me until the time is up and they come home. A sacrificial lamb of sorts. That’s it.
Only thirteen days left.
The thought has a hysterical laugh bubbling up. Why did I think this would work?
A buzzing cuts through my spiral, and I reluctantly drop my hands and open my eyes. That’s my phone. No matter what Beast and Gaeton think, my sisters are more than capable of finding this place and busting down the door in an attempt to save me. The only thing up for debate is whether they’ll send in a squad of trained killers or my sister-in-law, Muriel. Personally, I’d prefer the team before taking on Muriel. She has a way of making the people who piss off Cordelia disappear. Maybe the men are trusting me to manage Cordelia and Sienna to ensure that doesn’t happen.
If that’s the case, they have more faith in me than I expect.
There’s no time to fix my face. I’m left to scramble for my purse and dig my phone out. Sienna’s name flashes over the screen. I shoot a look at the bathroom door and then swipe my thumb to answer. “You have to stop calling.”
“Sure.” My sister sounds entirely too reasonable. “But the second we stop calling, we’re coming to kill those fuckers and save you, so which would you really prefer?” Only Sienna could talk about murder with this kind of ease. She categorizes the world into two bins—people she cares about and people she doesn’t—and I can probably count the people in the first bin on one hand.
“Sienna.” My voice doesn’t sound quite right, but there’s not much I can do about it.
“Hold please.”
My phone trills as she initiates a video call. I glare at my screen. Sienna is a big proponent of talking face to face, and she’s one hell of a human lie detector as a result. But if I ignore her, it’s entirely likely she’ll follow through on her threats. I sigh and accept the video call.
She’s wearing her favorite “working” clothing, which is a graphic T-shirt that appears to depict some kind of cutesy pentagram, her blond hair pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail. She never wears makeup, and a tiny petty part of me can’t help resenting her flawless beauty. No one will look at her face and tell her she’s tired or ask if she’s been sick because she forgot to put on mascara and lipstick today.
Sienna narrows her eyes at me. “You’re still in bed.”
I try to stop the heat spreading beneath my skin, but it’s no use. Instead, I ignore the question beneath the question. “I have things under control.”
I should know better by now. My sister leans in and squints. “Not just in bed. You’ve been fucking.” She gives a delighted little laugh. “Which one did you land on? That burly beast of a man or the one actually called Beast?”
My blush gets hotter, and I don’t need to look in the little square depicting my face to know that I’ve gone crimson. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Too bad.” She leans back and tilts her head to the side. “Isabelle…”
I already know I’m not going to like whatever she says next, just like I know there’s no way to avoid it. “Yes?”
“You fucked both of them, didn’t you?”
“Not technically.”
Sienna rolls her eyes. “You know damn well that penis-in-vagina isn’t the only thing that qualifies as sex, so don’t play technicalities with me.” She gives me a downright chilling smile. “Unless you would like to see the sex education presentation I put together for when you and Cordelia invariably breed and I need to educate my future niblings.”
I blink. “Niblings.”
“Gender-neutral term for children of my siblings. One must never make assumptions, don’t you agree?”
I love my sister very much, but the fact that she’s apparently made a presentation to educate any future children that may or may not ever exist? I shake my head and let it go. This is pure Sienna, and asking too many questions is going to result in a headache and no further understanding. “I don’t think niblings are something you’re going to have to worry about for some time in the future.” If ever. I want children, in theory, but I don’t know if reality can hold up to that desire. Either way, I’m nowhere near ready to take that step.
“I like to be prepared.” She waves that away and refocuses on me. “It’s rather brilliant of you to use sex to get both of them back in line. For such intelligent men, your pussy makes them into fools.”
Is it possible to die from mortification? I have a feeling I’m about to find out. “Sienna, that’s not what I’m doing.”
“How would I know what you’re doing when you won’t tell me?” She gives me a sly smile. “If you want to insist on playing coy, then I suppose I’ll have to keep projecting theories. My next one is—”
“Okay!” I glance at the bathroom door and lower my voice. The shower is still running, but I don’t want to tempt fate. “Okay. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to calm Cordelia down and make her wait until this is over.”
“I promise nothing.”
“Sienna.”
She huffs out a sigh. “Fine. Tell me. I will calm down Cordelia. Though if I’m not satisfied with the answer, I make no promises about my actions.”
It’s as good a promise as I’m going to get. “I’m in Gaeton’s apartment with both of them. I promised them two weeks of submission in exchange for their return. And, uh, I have to pick one of them at the end of it and stick with that decision.”
“Two weeks of submission.” She says it in a musing kind of way and I can already see the wheels in her impressive brain turning. She brightens. “So, what you’re saying is that you agreed to a sex pact.”
“No, that is not what I’m saying.” That’s exactly what I’m saying.
She shakes her head. “Oh, Izzy, it might sound like a dream to have them both right now, but it’s just going to make the choice harder when it comes down to it. If you couldn’t choose before, how are you going to now?”
I don’t know. That’s one thing I very pointedly haven’t thought about. “I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
“Would you like me to make an algorithm based on their strengths and attributes?” She’s speaking faster, her mind already twelve steps ahead of this conversation. “I’ll need some key data from you in order to make it accurate. You have your phone on you, good, good, I’ll email you the questions. Get them back to me as quickly as possible and I’ll have a logical answer by the end of the week.”
“Sienna, no.”
“You say ‘Sienna, no,’ but all I’m hearing is ‘Sienna, yes.’ Trust me, Izzy. The heart might lie, but empirical evidence doesn’t.”
She’s going to do this, and if I don’t fill out the damn forms immediately, she’s going to pester me until I do. Desperate, I grab onto the only thing I can. “But you married David without any empirical evidence.”
She gives me a look like she pities me. “If you think I didn’t do a full ancestry DNA history in case I change my mind about procreating, a background check to rival what the FBI can come up with, and give him a three-night sex trial to ensure our sexual tastes line up—Izzy, do you even know me?”
There’s nothing else to say. I try and fail to paste a smile on my face. “Thank you, Sienna. An algorithm would be extremely helpful.”
“You’re just humoring me, but wait until you see it. It will help. I promise.” She glances over her shoulder. “I have to go. I’ll hold Cordelia off, but if you change your mind and need us to ride to the rescue, text or call. We’ll be there.”
“Thank you.” My throat is doing that horrible closing thing again. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” She hangs up, leaving me alone once again with all the things that have gone wrong. I wish I could say they start
ed last night, but the truth is that they started a long time ago, maybe back as far as the first time I met Gaeton and Beast.
My father kept his people separate from us, and for good reason. We were always protected in our family home, always had special security whenever we left the grounds, but they were carefully curated individuals. As such, I didn’t meet either Gaeton or Beast until they were promoted to generals five years ago. I still remember that ceremony my father insisted on, how proud of them he was. He looked at those two like they were the sons he never had. Not better than his daughters; simply different.
They were both on their best behavior, as shiny as new pennies, but there was an element of danger that drew me. And the way they looked at me … Beast like he wanted to eat me whole. Gaeton like he wanted to fall to his knees and worship me in the most sinful way possible.
I couldn’t have known then how that moment would turn into my attempting to date both of them for two agonizingly long years before it all went up in flames. I couldn’t have known that smiling at them, that flirting the tiniest amount, would set us on a path that ended with me here, alone in Gaeton’s bed while Beast and he do whatever they’re doing in his bathroom. Talking? Planning? Fucking?
The thought leaves me both icy cold and agonizingly hot. I have to know. I can’t let them lock me out, not if this is really about me making a choice and not simply a form of penance.
I don’t allow myself the chance to brace. I simply gather the tattered remains of my courage and pad to the door and place my hand on the knob. That’s where my strength and anger fail me.
I can’t do it. I don’t know why I thought I could do it.
I turn from the door and walk out of the room.
Chapter 11
Gaeton
