- -
- 100%
- +
“Work stuff,” Andre said, frowning. “Feels like that’s all we’re doing lately.”
Jace went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy few months for all of us.”
“You’re not kidding. I thought we were all holding it together pretty well with our schedules. But tonight I got a chance to see Evan at work. She’s wearing herself down, man,” Andre said between bites of cereal. “She fell asleep in the car on the way home and said she wasn’t feeling well.”
Jace straightened, that tidbit raising his concern. “Is she sick?”
“Not sure. Maybe. Even if she isn’t, she’s running herself down.” His gaze darted toward the doorway as if to make sure Evan hadn’t appeared. “I want to talk to her about it and suggest she take a break, but I also don’t want to come across like a controlling asshole.”
Jace turned, the worry in Andre’s voice becoming his own. Telling Evan to slow down would be a risky conversation. She liked to stay busy. She’d suffered from depression in her past, and Jace got the feeling that always being on the move and staying occupied were her ways of making sure it never returned. He wasn’t convinced she trusted happiness yet. Every time she’d had a glimmer of it before, it had been yanked away. So he understood that it would take some time for her to fully believe that what she, Jace, and Andre had was real and lasting.
But he also didn’t want her driving herself into the ground in the meantime. Because unlike in the past, she had him and Andre for support now. If any bad feelings tried to claim her again, they would be there for her and help her through it.
But straight up telling her she needed to take a break probably wouldn’t be very effective. Evan did a beautiful job submitting to him and Andre in the bedroom, but God help the man who tried to dictate things outside of it. Jace would have to approach it from a different angle. “Has she taken a weekend off since that Saturday we spent at The Ranch?”
A few weeks ago, they’d all gone to the private BDSM resort they belonged to and had spent the entire day and night indulging in all the kink resort had to offer. He’d even gotten Andre to play submissive alongside Evan, which was a rare occurrence. Andre was a switch and could enjoy both sides of the fence, but usually he had a hard time resisting the fun of topping Evan.
“I don’t think so,” Andre said. “And I didn’t realize how intense doing weddings can be. She’s all over the place, carrying around that equipment, dealing with highly emotional people. I feel drained from just following her around, so I can’t imagine how she must feel doing two or three of those a weekend. And for money we don’t even need.”
Jace swallowed another gulp of water and shook his head. “I swear, sometimes I wonder if she thinks we’re going to up and leave her. It’s like she’s determined to build some nest egg just in case. If I thought it would help, I’d take my damn bank account and sign it over to her.”
Andre grunted in agreement. “I know, but can you blame her? She grew up being bounced around in foster care, and our relationship isn’t exactly the picture of traditional stability. She’s too smart not to prepare for every possible outcome.”
Jace sniffed. “If this isn’t stable, I don’t know what is. We love her. We’ve collared her.”
“I know. But it’s not that simple.” Andre looked pensive, staring down at his cereal bowl. “I ran into Martine tonight.”
Jace blinked, startled for a moment by both the shift in topic and the news. “Your ex?”
“Yeah. She works with the groom,” he said, not looking at all happy by that turn of events. “And she saw me with Evan, so I told her about our relationship, since I’d given Martine the impression that I was gay. But when she heard that I’m also with a guy, I could tell she viewed the whole thing as a whim. That’s what everyone thinks—we’re on some kinky adventure that we’ll get out of our system before we grow up and set up actual lives.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jace groused, even though he knew that was what most outsiders thought. The vanilla world didn’t understand what collared meant. They didn’t understand what to do with people who didn’t match up in neat pairs.
“It is. But regardless, I’m not sure Evan doesn’t still have a little of that doubt in her mind, too. Hell”—he set down his bowl and made a frustrated gesture with his hand—“even I feel insecure about it sometimes.”
“What?” Jace said, the admission punching him flush in the gut. He set down his water bottle.
Andre grimaced at Jace’s tone. “Look, I don’t doubt that we all love each other, or that we aren’t all committed to this. Because God knows, you two are everything to me. But come on, Jace, worry has to cross your mind. I mean, sometimes I look at y’all together, and I wonder if I’m just in the way. You two could be perfectly fine without me, and damn, how much easier would that be on you both? You could get married and no one would ever look at you two sideways.”
“Okay, now you’re just pissing me off,” Jace said, stepping forward, arms crossed. “If you think we’d be fine without you, you’re not paying much attention. You are not the spare tire on this road trip, Dre. And you fucking know it.”
Andre sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just—I don’t know. I want us all to feel secure. I do. But wanting it and having it actually be so are two different things. So don’t think that the same thought hasn’t crossed Evan’s mind. If she comes home and finds the two of us in bed together, you don’t think she wonders if we’d be okay without her in the picture?”
“No, I hope she’s thinking, Hey, I’m here in time to join in.”
Andre smiled at that. “Well, knowing her, she thinks that, too. But we can’t pretend that not having that piece of paper or the law saying we’re married doesn’t play some role. None of us are traditional, but we live in a society that is, and we have all grown up knowing that saying I do is the seal on that deal. And our girl has to see those I dos every weekend. I saw one tonight, and even I, who hasn’t thought about weddings since my engagement, had a little kick of jealousy that I can’t go back home to the church I grew up in and stand in front of God and my family and commit myself to the people I love. There’s something sacred in doing that, the finality of it. And we don’t get that privilege.”
Jace laced his hands behind his neck and blew out a breath, the weight of all that Andre had said making him feel heavier than he had a few minutes before. He hadn’t thought about things like legal papers and church weddings making any kind of difference. Those things weren’t part of his orbit. He’d been in the kink world so long that, frankly, he couldn’t give a shit what the legal system said about his relationship status. And he’d seen firsthand how “sacred” those marriage vows were when his dad had cheated on his mother. And when his ex-wife had cheated on him. Marriage seemed like a sucker’s bet.
But he hadn’t looked at it from Andre’s and Evan’s points of view. Andre had grown up in a strict Catholic household with parents who’d been married since they were young. And Evan had been in foster care, where papers and the legality of relationships meant everything. So Jace could see how their commitment could feel less secure in their eyes.
And, of course, he couldn’t magically make the laws of the land or of the church change. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something to make it better. They’d had their collaring ceremony privately. None of them had wanted an audience that day. But afterward, they’d never celebrated their commitment in a public way. And they didn’t refer to each other as husband and wife. But saying boyfriend and girlfriend did seem empty now that he thought about it. Temporary.
The last thing he wanted was for either of his lovers to feel like their time together was limited. Jace had waited too damn long to find this kind of happiness, and he wasn’t about to let the two people he cared most about in the world feel like anything less than the very center of his universe. It was his fault for not recognizing the insecurity sooner. He needed to fix this.
An idea began to form in his head and he stepped forward into Andre’s space. Andre didn’t protest when Jace moved between Andre’s knees. “I hate to break it to you, Dre, but you’re not getting out of this. You try to bail on us, and I will hunt you down like some psycho stalker.”
Andre smirked. “I’m the cop, remember. I do the hunting. I’m not the hunted.”
“Sorry, Detective, you don’t get to pull rank around here. And Evan would be after you, too. I bet she was ready to take Martine down tonight.”
Andre laughed, his warm breath coasting along Jace’s neck. “She totally was.”
“Good, so don’t go out getting ideas about where you think you do and don’t belong.” Jace wrapped his hand around Andre’s neck and squeezed. “Because you belong to us, you understand?”
Jace’s tight grip on his neck must’ve triggered something in Andre, because that heated look flashed through Andre’s eyes. “Yes, sir.”
Sir. Fuck, that never got old. Jace loved sharing the dominant role with Andre. But he’d be lying if he said that when the tough-assed cop let his submissive side shimmer to the surface, it didn’t make everything inside Jace go hot.
He tugged Andre closer, pressing his chest flush against him, and their mouths collided. Andre braced his hands on the edge of the counter and gave himself over to the kiss—like he needed it more than anything in this moment. Their tongues twined, the taste of Andre’s cinnamon cereal lacing the kiss. Jace’s hold on Andre’s neck moved upward, his fingers sliding into and gripping his dark hair. The tension in both of them melted as the kiss deepened, and Andre’s cock grew hard against Jace’s stomach. Jace’s body responded in kind, and he groaned when Andre reached down between them and wrapped his hand around Jace’s stiffening erection, the pajama pants offering little to dull the electric touch.
Andre broke away from the kiss, both of them breathless, and met Jace’s gaze. “So I’m ready to pay you back for that rule I broke.”
Jace’s hormones were whirring too fast to catch his meaning. “What rule?”
Andre slid off the counter, nudging Jace back then nodding at Jace’s tented pants. “I woke you up.”
Jace’s blood went molten. He’d been teasing about the rule, but he could tell Andre was doing anything but teasing right now. The guy was stressed out. They were both stressed out. And Jace had learned that sometimes the best medicine was to slip into the roles they felt so at home in.
“Yeah, you did,” Jace said, his voice low. He reached for the tie on his pants and loosened it. “And now you’ve gotten me fucking hard. Better fix it.”
Andre’s mouth lifted at the corner, a cocky smile, but one that said he was going to do what Jace asked. He moved closer and put his hands to Jace’s chest, guiding him back against the island, then he reached for the waistband of Jace’s pants. With one smooth motion, Andre lowered Jace’s pants and got onto his knees in front of him.
Fire burned low in Jace’s belly, the sight of one of his lovers kneeling for him never getting any less exciting. Andre tugged off his dress shirt, giving Jace a view of those broad, tanned shoulders and the glinting silver of Andre’s nipple rings. Jace couldn’t resist reaching down and giving the rings a tug. Andre was the one to groan this time, and the outline of his erection jerked in response.
Jace gripped the base of his cock and positioned himself in front of Andre’s mouth. “Take me, Dre. Get me done quick and good and maybe I won’t sent you to bed with that hard-on.”
As Jace expected, Andre took that as a challenge and dipped forward to take Jace in one long slide of his mouth, swallowing him whole—the hot, wet cavern of his mouth sending sensation all the way to Jace’s toes. Jace’s head tipped back, and he made a sound low in his throat. Jesus. Andre never did anything halfway. Jace should’ve known to sit in a chair or something, because his knees were already shaky beneath him.
Andre eased back and ran his tongue around the head of Jace’s cock, taking extra time to press the tip of his tongue into his slit, something Andre and Evan knew made Jace want to explode. Oh, yeah, the guy played dirty. Jace loved that—loved that even though Andre enjoyed submitting, the guy never failed to project anything but absolute confidence in his ability to make his lover lose it. It was sexy as fuck.
Jace sagged back onto his elbows, Andre’s dark head bobbing between his thighs, and sank into the blissful moment. But Andre wasn’t going to let him coast for long. His big hand moved along Jace’s sac, cupping and squeezing, making Jace rock onto his toes from the sensations. Then Andre’s fingers traveled farther back, teasing along the sensitive skin behind Jace’s balls and venturing even farther as he took Jace deeper down his throat. When Andre’s finger circled Jace’s back entrance, Jace almost slid right down to the floor.
“Christ, Dre,” he ground out, the erotic feeling of both his mouth and finger curling up Jace’s spine. The move was a new one for Jace. He didn’t have many boundaries with his lovers, but he exclusively topped, and Andre and Evan had never experimented with anal play on him. He wasn’t necessarily against it, but it’d been an unwritten line between them. Maybe because despite his experience in kink, Jace was still pretty new to being with a guy. Before Andre, there’d only been women. But now he wondered if Andre held some things back for that reason.
As if hearing Jace’s thoughts, Andre pulled back and peered up at Jace. “Okay?”
Jace wet his lips. “I’ll stop you if something isn’t.”
Andre’s lips quirked up. “Yes, sir.”
Then Andre went back to the job of rocking Jace’s fucking world.
***
Evan pulled her robe around her, rubbing the chill from her arms, and walked to the kitchen, hoping to God that they had antacids tucked away somewhere. But when she stepped through the doorway, she froze in place at the sight before her. Jace was leaning back against the counter, shaggy blond hair in his eyes, pants around his ankles, and Andre was kneeling in front of him, sucking him off and stroking him with his fingers.
The sight took the wind right out of her, and she put her hand to the doorframe, steadying herself. Holy hell, were they a picture. She’d lived with these two for almost a year and the sight of them could still take her breath away. Jace with that long, lean swimmer’s body, his tattooed arms straining with the effort of staving off the release Andre was surely about to give him. And Andre with his dark hair, caramel-colored skin, and soulful eyes, somehow looking more alpha than most of the male population even when on his knees for another guy. They were beautiful together.
And maybe she should care that they were doing this without her, but somehow that jealousy never seemed to take hold of her. She knew how long it had taken these two to admit their feelings for each other, knew how deep their love and respect for each other ran. So beyond the mind-melting desire that always went through her when she saw these two get naked together, all she felt was happiness for them and a thrill that she got to be part of this. That they were hers.
Normally, she’d make her presence known because, without a doubt, they would draw her into the tableau. In thirty seconds, she’d be flat on her back on that island with both of them lavishing her with erotic attention. But she was still feeling sick and didn’t think she could handle them at the moment. That did not mean, however, that she wasn’t going to take advantage of the moment and watch.
That chill she’d been fighting off on the walk to the kitchen had definitely disappeared. And even with her nausea, her body was growing very aware, very quickly. She tried to ease back into the shadows of the living room so she wouldn’t inadvertently interrupt, but Andre’s eyes must’ve caught movement. His gaze swung her way and his eyebrow lifted—an invitation.
She put a finger to her lips and shook her head. Without stopping the pleasure he was giving Jace, a smile touched his eyes. She stepped back into the living room then, but he knew she was watching and clearly approved.
Evan clung to the darkness, leaning against the doorjamb, and indulged in the view. Jace hadn’t opened his eyes since she’d arrived, and his belly was pulsing with quick breaths as he made those sexy, gritty sounds he was prone to when riding his edge. Andre was pulling out all the stops, and the wet, sucking noises were one of the most erotic things Evan could imagine hearing. And though she wasn’t close enough to see exactly where Andre’s fingers were rubbing, she had a good idea, and the image had her panties clinging to her. Maybe she hadn’t needed antacids at all. She just needed a distraction. And these two were providing it in spades.
Andre pulled back for a moment, and the broad head of Jace’s cock gleamed in the low glow of the under-cabinet lights. Evan’s tongue pressed to the back of her teeth. But she didn’t have the view for long because Jace reached out and gripped Andre’s hair, pulling him forward. “Don’t fucking tease me, Dre, or I swear to God, I will send you to bed with a raging case of blue balls.”
Andre smiled, an evil edge to his grin, and took Jace into his mouth again. There’d be no going back now. Andre wasn’t going to let up until Jace lost it. Andre increased his fervor, and Jace’s hands gripped Andre’s head, his hips canting forward as he fucked Andre’s mouth.
Evan licked the sweat gathering on her upper lip, her body responding to that flare of dominance in Jace. She loved when he tipped over from the sweet guy she knew into that intense, almost feral dominant space. He could be rough and relentless and sadistic when he went into that zone. And she thrived on it.
So did Andre, from the looks of it. Andre was a passenger on the train now, the control shifting fully to Jace as Jace directed the pace and position. Andre’s fingers curled into his own thighs, as if he was having trouble banking his need, and his erection stood proud against the fabric of his pants. If Evan hadn’t been feeling so shitty, she would’ve crawled over and helped him out with that. But Jace would take care of Andre. Jace could be a sadist when it came to doling out pain, but unless there was a punishment needed, he wasn’t into denying pleasure. Prolonging it? Yes. Making them wait for it to intensify things? Definitely. But outright denial? No. Jace was a hedonist at heart.
Jace’s shout made Evan jump, and she watched, enraptured, as Jace’s knuckles went white against Andre’s head. There it was, that moment when everything faded away. Evan’s body pulsed as if she were a part of it all, and Jace pumped his hips with long, deep thrusts, no doubt giving Andre every bit of his release. Andre’s sweat-slicked throat worked as he swallowed everything Jace gave him, his eyes closed and pleasure on his face. She knew that feeling. Yes, she was submissive, but there was a heady power in knowing you’ve brought such a strong man to the breaking point. A satisfaction.
Andre eased away, his tongue licking over his lips, and his gaze slid over to her for a brief second before returning to Jace. Jace was panting as he tugged his pants back up his hips, then he slid down the side of the island to the floor. He grabbed Andre, pulling him in for a kiss, and his hand deftly unbuttoned Andre’s slacks. Jace freed Andre’s cock from his open fly and smoothed the moisture that had gathered on the tip over Andre’s shaft.
Andre made a choked sound into the kiss and Evan decided she would leave them to it. If she watched for another second, she wasn’t going to be able to resist joining in. And she knew her body wasn’t up to that tonight. Vomiting on your lovers would not be sexy. So she went back to the bedroom and found an Alka-Seltzer in the back of the bathroom cabinet. After downing that in a glass of water, she crawled back into bed.
But she couldn’t fall asleep until both the boys returned to the bed about twenty minutes later. She listened to them strip in the dark, then felt them settle down on each side of her, their big warm bodies brushing against hers. She kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. But when Jace checked her forehead for fever, and Andre kissed the back of her shoulder and whispered an I love you, she snuggled into the contentment and finally drifted off.
Chapter 3
Jace shielded his eyes from the sun as he crossed the open fields on the edge of The Ranch, searching for the horse paddock. He wasn’t overly familiar with this part of the property. Most of what he needed at The Ranch was either at the main house or in the cabin he, Andre, and Evan often rented out. But ahead he could see the stables and the cowboy he was looking for.
Jace headed over that way and heard Grant Waters, owner and operator of The Ranch, explaining the ins and outs of saddling a horse to his girlfriend, Charli, who was standing with her hands on her hips and a frustrated expression on her face. Jace smiled. That seemed to be Charli’s go-to expression when it came to Grant. Jace had watched the two scene together at the main house before, so he knew Charli was a fantastic submissive to Grant, and the love between them was obvious. But when not in those roles, she was a no-nonsense, highly opinionated tomboy who kept the big man on his toes.
The whole thing amused Jace to no end because Grant could be such a stoic, all-knowing bastard sometimes, and it was fun to see the guy get flustered or perplexed by his woman. It reaffirmed Jace’s belief that no man could keep it together all the time when he was in love. It was nice to know even the master of The Ranch wasn’t immune.
“Howdy, partners!” Jace called out, making his accent as countrified as possible.
Grant turned around and tipped his black cowboy hat up. “Well, look what the barn cat dragged in. Jace Austin. Coming to the muck out the stalls for me?”
Jace sniffed. “I’m not even sure I know what mucking stalls means, but I think I’ll pass on anything with the word muck involved.”
“Smart man,” Charli said, giving the pretty brown mare she’d been trying to saddle a pat.
Jace leaned against the low fence. “Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t realize y’all were in the middle of pony play.”
“Now there’s an idea,” Grant said, sending Charli a lazy grin. “Maybe the best way to show you how to saddle a horse is to saddle you.”
She gave Grant the same look Evan had given Jace this morning when he’d asked her to stay home from work and rest. “Just try it, cowboy. See who ends up wearing a saddle and a tail.”
Grant chuckled and adjusted his hat. “Freckles, you know I’d let you ride me anywhere, anytime.”
Charli snorted but Jace didn’t miss the flirty humor in her eyes. She turned back to the horse and rubbed her flank. “Come on, Molly, you’ve suffered enough of my attempts today. Let’s go find some carrots.”
The horse chuffed as if she fully understood and let Charli lead her toward the stables. Grant watched them go with a smile, then turned back to Jace. “So what’s going on? I know you didn’t come out here for riding lessons.”
“Nah, not today. I brought a box of sample items from Wicked for you and the other members to try out. Our newest location has a lot more floor space for inventory, but I don’t want to order new things without getting some feedback first.”
Grant crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t want to test them out with Evan and Andre?”
“Oh, I kept my own box,” he said, laughing. “But there are some things that aren’t really in our wheelhouse. And I like to get multiple opinions. There’s also a flogger from this new artisan I’ve been working with. His stuff seems very high quality, but I want to make sure it’s durable after regular use. So I got one for me and I put one in there for you to test out—deer hide, really thick falls, solid handle. Should give a nice, thuddy feel.”