Dirge (Devastation Trilogy 1)

by Lesli Richardson

  “Case—”

  “No, shush. I’m talking. You can play with him. Fuck his brains out, let him blow you. Stripe his ass, whatever. Have fun. While you do, remember that he is not yours—he’s mine. And you’d better not forget that in the future. I’m willing to share him because it’s helping you. But never again forget I control and own him.

  “Also, do not ever forget I could easily be making half a mil a year right now at the law firm. Probably a lot more. I took a massive fucking pay cut to work for you. I’m your chief of staff because I love you and I loved her. So pick one, George. Me, or your petty, possessive bullshit games. Right now. Pick.”

  It’s a no-brainer. “You,” I immediately whisper.

  She takes a deep breath, her tone immediately calming, gentling. “We have us an understanding?”

  I’m still…processing. “Yes.” Then I have to ask it. “Why him?”

  I hear the confusion in her voice. “Why him what?”

  “You go through guys all the time. Why him? Why are you dying on this hill with him? How many guys a year do you go out with, and you have to have him, too?”

  She doesn’t answer at first. “That’s a question for another time,” she says, but she sounds…sad. “Why are you willing to be an asshole about him, and risk nuking our friendship, when you’ve never been into guys before now?”

  “Because he makes the screams and the wind go away.” I break down crying. “He’s the first thing since then that makes the sound of the screaming and the wind go away, Case. I actually can fall asleep with him, and stay asleep, and he makes the noises go away. This is the first time in two fucking years I haven’t had the wind screaming in my head all the time.”

  “Shh, honey, calm down. It’s okay.”

  But I’m crying, and now the wind’s back with a vengeance. “I was going to kill myself, Case. I really was. I’ve been trying to figure it out. I thought I’d be stuck hearing that for the rest of my life, and he makes it go away…”

  She finally gets me calmed down a few minutes later. “Honey, it’s okay. Look, I just…” She sighs. “He can spend all weekend with you, okay? Until Monday morning. Just let me have a little fun with him when I stop by tonight after I’m done here. All right? Is that a fair trade? You can even watch us, if you want. Hell, you can join in and play with him while I do my thing with him. Then I’ll go home, and he’s all yours.”

  I hate I feel so fucking…weak right now. “Really?”

  “Really.” She sighs. “If I tell you where the key is, will you please leave him locked up until I get there? Then I’ll unlock him, have my fun, and he’s all yours for the rest of the weekend. Deal?”

  I fumble a tissue out of the box of them on my desk. “Yeah,” I say. “Deal.”

  I hear her talk to someone, the professional, practiced smile in her voice, and to me she says, “Hold on.” The phone is muffled for a moment as she’s talking to someone, then she comes back on the line. “Where are your keys?”

  “My keys?”

  “Your house keys. Where are they?”

  I pat my pockets and pull them out. “In my hand.”

  “Next to your deadbolt key for the front door. See you around eleven.” She hangs up.

  I don’t understand what she means, at first. Finally, as I process what she said, I look and, sure enough, there’s a new key there.

  I have no idea when she put it on my keyring.

  They’re literally in my pocket all day at work.

  She couldn’t have snuck in last night to do it, because I would’ve heard her disarm the alarm and rearm it. Because I didn’t sleep.

  That means sometime this week she must have done it.

  Once again, she’s still about five steps ahead of me.

  Which absolutely is why I have to have her as my chief of staff.

  As I stare at the tiny key, I start laughing, all hints of my previous anger…gone.

  I’m still laughing as I text her.

  I’m sorry. I love you. Thank you for putting up with me.

  She responds with the blowing a kiss emoji, followed by—

  Dumbass. I love you, too.

  And a winking emoji.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  When I finally pull myself together and make it upstairs, I find Declan sitting on the edge of my bed, naked except for the chastity cage, and he looks nervous.

  I immediately walk over to him and lean in to kiss him. Then I kick off my shoes, make him stand, and pull back the covers. I climb into bed, clothes and all, and pat the mattress next to me.

  Now he looks…confused. “Sir?”

  “In.” I remove my glasses and put them on the nightstand, then pick up the remote control for the TV, turn it on, and hand it to him. With that done, I snuggle him in my arms.

  “Is everything all right, Sir?”

  I nuzzle the top of his head. “Everything’s fine.” I don’t want to talk. I just want to bask in having him back in my arms.

  “Aren’t we going to…do something?”

  “Later.”

  “Did she tell you where the key is, Sir?”

  “Yep.”

  He hesitates. “And…you’re not using it?”

  I open my eyes to see him staring up at me. “I literally didn’t sleep at all last night, and barely slept the night before. Case and I are okay. We talked. Everything’s fine now. She’ll stop by on her way home, unlock it, and play with you. She told me we could do anything else we wanted to do until she got here. She requested I leave you locked up until them.”

  He’s staring at me. “And you don’t want to play until then?”

  I lean in and kiss him. I take my time and do a thorough job of it, until he’s softly moaning and squirming and I hear the pained hint in his tone. “I do want to,” I gently say. “I want to fuck you, and make you come, and play with you. But she also said you can stay with me all weekend, until Monday morning. All she’s asking for is to play with you tonight. She even said I could watch or join in, if I want.”

  “She did?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I nuzzle his nose. “But you’re in pain right now, aren’t you?”

  I can tell he doesn’t want to answer me, but he finally does. “It’s uncomfortable when I get hard, Sir. But I don’t mind.”

  “See, I do. Yes, under different circumstances I might want to lock you up for fun. Right now, I want to snuggle with you and take a nap.” I cup his cheek. “I need to sleep. It’s okay. I’m not angry, not the slightest bit upset. After she plays with you, I’m going to feel like playing with you. But for now, I need a nap.”

  I close my eyes. The next thing I know, I’m being kissed.

  Declan.

  Behind him stands Case. She’s still wearing the formal dress she wore to the event. She’s also wearing a playful smile and giving me a soft golf clap.

  “Well-played, George,” she says as she kicks off her heels. “I’m impressed.”

  I sit up, yawning. “What time is it?”

  “10:49, Sir,” Declan tells me.

  She turns her back on us. “Dec.” I realize she’s motioning to her zipper.

  He unzips her and she turns to face us again as she shrugs the dress off. “Thanks.”

  She’s wearing a matched set, black lace bra and panties, different from the ones she wore the other night. “I honestly thought I’d get here to find him cross-eyed from pain and begging me to take that off him. FYI, if you haven’t guessed yet, he’s conditioned to get horny from pain. Kind of a self-perpetuating cycle when I lock him up.”

  I opt to be honest and tell her my reasoning. She stands there listening with her head cocked. When I finish, she nods. “Fair enough.” She smiles. “Little bit soft for a sadist, but I’m not judgy. Since we’re both being magnanimous, and have realized that mutually-assured destruction via Declan won’t help anyone, how about this—I want to get off. I’d like him to eat me out first, get me off like that a few times, then fuck me to get me off one
more time. But in all honesty? I’d like to try something different. How about you fuck him while he fucks me? Do you feel up to that?”

  I’m not sure I’m totally awake. “Did I just hear you correctly?”

  “You did. But it’s your choice. If you don’t like that option, feel free to suggest something else.” She slides her panties down and off. “I’m open to options.”

  I stare, because I’m still processing she’s nearly naked in front of me and proposing a threesome.

  But it’s Declan’s ass to decide. “Is that okay with you, boy?” I ask him.

  He blushes but eagerly nods. “Yes, Sir.”

  “He’s had a variation of this before,” she says. “Just not with another person. I’ve used all sorts of toys on him while he fucks me.”

  I sit up and pull my shirt off. “Sounds good to me.”

  She removes her bra this time and crawls into bed while Declan moves out of the way. I climb out of bed to strip.

  “How about you do the honors and unlock him, George?”

  I fish my keys from my pocket and do it. He moans, his cock immediately going hard when I free him.

  I gently cup his balls in my hand and kiss him as I caress them. Case makes a noise.

  “Damn, that’s fucking hot,” she says.

  My cock’s hard, too. I glance her way. “If you ever want another cock…” I leave my suggestion open-ended.

  For the first time, I realize I can make that offer and not feel fucking guilty as hell for even thinking it, much less saying it.

  She smiles. “Conversation for another night, honey. I love you, but let’s figure out how to not kill each other while sharing the boy first, hmm?” She crooks a finger at Declan, calling him to her. “You know what to do, boy. Show your Sir how an expert eats a pussy.”

  Declan smiles and leans in, on his hands and knees, his ass sticking out nicely.

  Mmmm.

  I grab it and squeeze, digging my fingers into his flesh. It makes him moan and pulls one from her in response.

  “That’s it.” She tangles her fingers in his hair. “That’s my good boy.” Her gaze goes dark and hooded and her toes start curling and uncurling.

  I grab the lube and start having fun loosening his ass. Apparently, she brought a few things of her own, or for us, either one. Because there’s a new bottle of lube and a couple of strips of condoms on the nightstand that weren’t there when I went to sleep.

  I watch her face as I start working a finger into his rim. Every moan he makes vibrates through her pussy and gets a reaction from her.

  Watching it is not only every bit as hot as it was the other night, that it’s happening in my bed makes it infinitely hotter.

  That I know he wants it.

  I take my time playing with him, working a second finger into him, stretching him and lubing him, then eventually a third. He’s already made her come twice in that time and is building her up to a third.

  After wiping my hand on a towel, I grab a condom, roll it on, add more lube, and kneel behind Declan, straddling his legs. He holds still while I slowly work my cock into him. Meanwhile, she lifts her head to watch me.

  “Fuuuck,” she whispers. “That’s hot.” She ruffles Declan’s hair. “Expect to be doing this a lot in the future, my lucky boy.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he mumbles into her pussy.

  Once I’m all the way inside him and my thighs are pressed against his, I lean forward and kiss the back of his neck. That puts me looking up at her. “Now what?”

  Her lower lip is caught under her teeth. “Give me a minute,” she says, gasping as Declan’s eager mouth goes to town on her.

  Damn. That’s hot.

  I kneel there, waiting, watching, not needing to worry about my hard-on, either. Because between the sexy sight I’m witnessing, and the way Declan’s ass keeps clenching around my cock, it’s keeping me stoked.

  Apparently, we all have office-quiet orgasm voices, because the sexy moans Case makes tonight are definitely not quiet.

  At all.

  Finally, she pats him on the head and he sits up, me moving with him. She scoots down the bed as Declan and I shift things around a little as he enters her bare. Her feet end up braced on my thighs, because I’m kneeling with my legs straddling Declan’s.

  Meanwhile, I’m holding my breath as I watch him enter her. I study the way she looks as he kisses her, all of it.

  I reach down and cup my hands around the tops of her feet, nothing more.

  But I want to feel connected to her, too, even in this little way.

  Her eyes open and she meets my gaze for a moment, finally giving me a slow, lazy wink as Declan starts moving.

  Her eyes fall closed again and I shift my position a little. Now he’s fucking himself between me and her, and…

  Daaaamn.

  Now I understand why Ellen loved this kind of fiction. Reading it, I thought it was sometimes a confusing jumble of limbs and nothing but filler for the plot.

  But as I watch Casey’s face, the way Declan seems to shift roles from boy to lover for her, him knowing things about her I don’t even know despite me knowing her for most of Declan’s life…

  I’m learning.

  I’m learning not only am I not nearly as smart as I thought I was, but maybe I need to rethink my whole approach to this.

  Maybe instead of trying to claim Declan as mine and take him from her, maybe I need to think more about how they could both be mine.

  And I could be theirs.

  I think about Susa, how much she loves Carter and Owen. How much the men love each other and her.

  If it’s worked for them…

  Why couldn’t it work for us, too?

  As he’s fucking her, I don’t have to do a lot. I’m rocking my hips in time with him, but mostly I’m observing.

  Processing.

  She fists his hair and starts actively fucking back against him, her toes flexing against my thighs as she does. Then she pulls his face against the side of her neck, those plum-coated lips right next to his ear now.

  But her gaze is focused on me. “Who loves you, sweetheart?”

  “Ma’am loves me.” He sounds like he’s dropped into subspace.

  She nips his ear and I feel something new deep inside me roll over and awaken.

  “Who takes care of her boy?”

  “Ma’am takes care of her boy.”

  “Who’s my good boy?”

  “I’m Ma’am’s good boy.”

  She nips his ear again, her gaze challenging me to defy her.

  I grab his hips, assume control, and take a long, languid stroke into him, forcing him to slow down and move with my rhythm, not his, and not hers.

  My gaze narrows as I watch her.

  “Are you having fun with Sir, boy?” she asks.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  She kisses the shell of his ear, where she just bit it. “Sir needs some TLC this weekend, boy.” Her voice drops, husky, like she’s close to coming. “Feel free to take care of him and have fun, okay? I want you to enjoy your time with him.” She smiles at me. “As much as the sadist will let you enjoy it.”

  Goddammit, I can’t help it—I smile back. “I promise you, he’s going to have more fun than he can handle.”

  She nuzzles his ear. “I know I said we’d spend Sunday night together, but I’ll make time for you one night this week, boy,” she says. “Sir needs the time with you.”

  I hear the way he softly moans in response. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

  “You’re welcome, boy.” Her fingers massage his scalp as she rocks against him, trying to override my rhythm with her body. She goes back to kissing him, her eyes falling closed, and I realize I’m a lot closer to the edge than I thought I was.

  It only takes me a few more hard, deep thrusts to finish, and then I kneel there as Casey quickly comes, and then Declan finally does.

  He lays there, his head cradled on her chest and her arms around him. Her feet are still bra
ced against me, though, and my dick’s still in his ass, even though I’m going soft.

  Her right toes flex against my thigh, like she’s acknowledging me. I caress the top of her right foot and give it a gentle squeeze.

  Our gazes meet for a moment.

  Détente achieved.

  Casey nuzzles her face in his hair. “How was that, boy?” she tenderly asks.

  He nods. “Wonderful, Ma’am. Thank you.” He definitely sounds like he’s not just in subspace, but fricking outer space.

  He’s gone.

  I realize in this moment maybe she truly does love him. That realization makes me feel like shit for my earlier thoughts about trying to take him away from her.

  What right do I have to do that?

  Especially when it sounds like he loves her, too.

  I’m the newcomer to this party, even if I’ve known her a lot longer than he has.

  I pull out and retreat to the bathroom to clean up and lick my emotional wounds in private for a moment.

  Maybe this was a mistake.

  Maybe all of this was a mistake.

  Maybe me still being alive at all is a mistake.

  Once I finish taking care of business, I stand there at the sink that was Ellen’s and brace my hands on the counter, my eyes closed, and try to breathe. Right now, there’s nothing around this sink except a pump bottle of hand soap and a hand towel. My stuff’s all around the other sink, the sink I’ve always used since we bought this house twelve years ago and moved in. Ellen picked this sink, leaving me that one by default. The drawers under her sink used to contain all her other stuff, and now only hold a box of tissues, a couple of hand towels and wash cloths, and extra toilet paper.

  But in my mind, I can still see all her stuff there instead of the bare shelf over the sink that once held her makeup, her lotion, everything she used to use.

  The empty toothbrush holder. I remember the last one she had was green, and she’d brought it on the trip with us instead of a folding travel one because she preferred hers.

  The toothpaste she used, different than the brand I use.

  The special hand soap she preferred.