by Zoey Marcel
“Justin, you’re a fine lad. Settling will only make you miserable. It’s better to be alone than trapped in a relationship with someone who makes you feel alone.” Aiden snapped his finger so Justin made eye contact with him. “The trick to being content alone is to never let y’rself feel anything for anyone. That way, if you leave or they leave, you don’t feel anything. You go off on your own or fuck someone else and never get hurt.”
“That sounds like a defense mechanism.”
“It is.”
“No, I mean, it sounds like something somebody does when they’ve been hurt really bad before and are afraid to trust or get too close to anyone again. It doesn’t sound healthy.”
“And you think suffering is?”
“No, but if you hold back you never get to experience the best things in life.”
Aiden smirked. “Justin, the best things in life are good scotch, earth-shaking sex with someone who knows their place, financial security, and makin’ your enemies pay. End of.”
“In that order?”
The man cocked a half smile. “Reverse the first two.”
“You’ve never been in love, have you?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“You didn’t have love in that list.”
Aiden became defensive. “And you fancied y’rself in love with your ex?”
“No. I’ve never been in love before.”
“Then how do you even know what it feels like?”
Justin stared right back at him for a moment in silence. “I guess I would feel complete.”
“Complete.” Aiden let out a derisive snicker. “Life isn’t a fairytale. Relationships aren’t magic.”
“I know. They take effort, but I think that’s the point. Maybe it feels like a fairytale at first. The person has you under their spell so you can’t walk away from them without wanting to die. Then you stay with them and when things get tough, you fight for them and compromise to make each other happy. I think maybe sometimes love is magic and other times it’s hard work. I guess you just have to decide who’s worth fighting for after the clock strikes midnight and the magic wears off. You got attracted to the footman, but later you realize he’s a dog, but it doesn’t matter because he’s your dog and he’s just so freakin’ cute you can’t help but love him.”
Aiden looked entertained. “Why do you fancy the footman? Shouldn’t you favor Cinderella?”
Justin blushed and let his eyes slide from Aiden’s. “That’s not what I meant. It was either that or I tell you that the carriage you’re attracted to turned out to be a pumpkin, but that didn’t make sense. I’m young. So what if I bang Kendall and then move on? She won’t care when she’s got other men.”
“What happens if you meet someone later? Don’t you think it would be awkward at Christmas for your partner knowin’ that you fucked your sister-in-law?”
“Well, I’m not gonna tell her.”
“You’re foolin’ y’rself if you think you’re ready to commit. What happens if Kendall has children? Do you know how to take care of them when they’re little? Your social life will go hell, the sex will wane. You’ll be a shadow of y’rself.”
“The kid would have multiple parents. I think we could handle it.”
“Do you want to be a parent?”
“I don’t know.”
“Justin, you’re not doing this for you. There’s an age gap between you and your brothers. You want acceptance, to be viewed as a man. It’s not about Kendall. You’re usin’ tradition to mask your insecurities.” Aiden widened his eyes, rolling them. “Jaysus, what feminine shite is this?”
“I don’t have insecurities.”
“Your problem is you don’t know how to pursue. You were made to be conquered. Stop fighting it.”
“Have you been listening? Most women don’t want betas. How the hell is letting a girl pursue me being alpha?”
“Women, right.”
“Yeah, we’re talking about women. Like, what, did you think my pumpkin analogy was serious? I like squash, but it’s no substitute for a pretty girl.”
Aiden seemed annoyed and gave him his back, going for his jacket. “This has been lovely, but I’m off for the night.”
“Sorry I kept you.”
“You know bein’ with her means you could never fuck anyone else again? She’s probably the jealous type. Most women are. But you know y’rself. If you’ve had your fun and are sure you’ll never be more attracted to anyone else than her, then it might not be a bad idea.”
Well, damn. Kendall was beautiful, but his other online puma was a brunette. The ones with dark brown hair were so his type.
Speaking of dark brown hair, Aiden had his black leather jacket on. The man looked jaw-dropping in it. He’d lunge for Aiden’s face if that wasn’t a little bit weird.
“Or if there are fantasies you haven’t tried yet that she can’t give you,” Aiden said, grabbing his things. “But then, maybe a four-way is your greatest fantasy.”
“It’s not.” Justin went weak in the knees when Aiden approached him. “I just—”
He went breathless when he felt Aiden’s hand on his fly. Slowly, the man zipped his jeans up for him. God, he was starting to get hard. What if his boss felt it? A heat wave blew through him, making his belly clench.
“Your fly was open,” Aiden murmured.
That hushed pitch made his balls achy.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“My pleasure.”
That lowered timbre jacked his cock up. The hardness in Aiden’s Rs whenever he spoke always reduced Justin’s brains and hormones to a 1950s girl at an Elvis concert.
“You know what you hafta do?” Aiden asked.
Jack off?
Justin licked his lips, growing warm when Aiden’s eyes went there. A natural reaction. Eyes were attracted to movement.
“I don’t know,” he whispered.
A slow smile crawled up Aiden’s face. “Justin, a minute ago you were so certain you wanted to be with this girl and chance bein’ compared to other men shaggin’ her. Now you’re not sure?”
“I don’t know.” Justin shook his head, bowing it to escape Aiden’s penetrating gaze. “I’m just really confused right now.”
“I’d hate to think I had something to do with it. You know I was just tryin’ to help you figure out what you want. I hope to God it’s Kendall. It takes courage to share a woman with men who are stronger than you and probably more endowed.” Aiden shook his head once. “That’s where you’re better than me. You don’t care about bein’ compared and just a number to some girl. Hell, you don’t even mind raisin’ another man’s babies while your brother fucks your wife. You never stop to ask y’rself if their experience makes them better in bed, or if, deep down, she likes their personality better. You rise above it, never imaginin’ what it would be like to go to bed with someone better equipped to please you, or wonder what it’s like to have someone obsess over you so much they’d easily consider you the best-looking man they’ve ever seen. I admire you, Justin. Bein’ with her wouldn’t be settling. It’s comfortable. Passion is overrated, anyway.”
Holy shit, the guy was making a good point. It sounded like Aiden was trying to support him and talk him into being with Kendall, but it was having the opposite effect on him. Too bad his boss wasn’t being as smooth with words as he’d meant to be.
“I’ll see you around. Suit up. Lord knows where she or they have been.” Aiden walked out. “Cheers.”
“Bye.”
What did Jasmine look like? She’d described herself to him, but he’d never seen a picture of her.
Could he love somebody else’s baby like his own? He didn’t even know if he wanted kids.
Would he be okay with never sleeping with a man?
Why did his dick hurt so badly? He couldn’t remember being so hot and stiff down there before.
* * * *
“What did you want to talk to me about, sweetie?” Kendall
asked.
Justin sat near her on the couch at an angle so he faced her. He really hoped he didn’t hurt her feelings. She had enough men to her name. Why should losing him be unbearable?
“I don’t really know how to say this.”
“Just say it. I won’t be offended.”
Women often said that…and then they blew the hell up after hearing what wasn’t supposed to set them off. He wasn’t exactly a poet with words, so he couldn’t blame them.
“I really like you, and I’ll support you whether you choose to move away with René or stay here with him and Quentin.” Justin twiddled his thumbs, gaze falling to his lap. “I’m different than them. To me, threesomes are about sex. If I was gonna take myself off the market and commit to someone forever…I’d want them to do the same for me.”
Kendall took his hand, but there was no yanking him to the floor and tackling him in a diva rage while choking him. She smiled at him sincerely. She was mature.
Oh my god.
“I understand, Justin. I used to feel that way, too. I get it. Thank you for telling me.”
He took her other hand in his. “It’s not that I don’t like you. You’re great and beautiful. It’s just…you’re like a big sister to me—a really hot one. I feel like I can talk to you about anything, and I don’t get jealous when I see you with them. I’m happy for you guys.”
“I feel the same way. When we talked online, I liked you.”
“I did, too, but it was more friendship with kind of a crush.”
“Yes.” She pointed at him, grinning like he was.
“I mean, I would totally blow your mind in bed.”
“Oh, of course.”
“But I don’t want to ruin what we have. I think you’re the first girl—woman that I actually respect.”
She gave him a hug. “That’s so sweet. I never had a brother. You’re just like one.”
He hugged her back. “Don’t hate me, but I was kind of talking to another woman online at the same time as you.”
She pulled back and waved him off. “That’s okay. We weren’t official. I was talking to Quentin at the same time. Hey, that means you figured out which girl to be with.”
He forced a smile. “Yeah, Jasmine.”
Jasmine was a great girl. He’d always liked her a little more than Kendall, but he’d been torn since he and Kendall had more of a friendship, whereas what he had with Jasmine was more sexual. Maybe it wasn’t possible to have both in one relationship.
And then there was Aiden. That left him even more conflicted.
Chapter Fourteen
Kendall stood with her arms fettered in chains above her head. In retrospect, she was glad she had shaved under her arms last night and trimmed her bush. A spreader bar ensured her legs were kept apart and her ankles were secured in cuffs that were built into the rod.
Quentin examined every part of her naked body with those big, dark eyes of his. She’d never been under such close scrutiny before while in the buff. His big, powerful hands journeyed over her body with a pleasing combination of grace and strength. The roughness of his palms and callused fingers reinforced the irrefutable point of his supreme masculinity.
He’d brushed her hair himself and had it pulled back in a high ponytail. A golden band held the thick cascade of curls in place, and he’d adorned her body with gold jewelry. A gold choker served as a feminine training collar while the golden metal encircling her arm and the shimmery gold anklet around her ankle made her feel like she was completely owned by him.
He was shirtless, and as much as it pleased her to ogle the hard planes and bulging muscles of his arms and torso, she almost wished he would cover up so her soaked pussy wouldn’t be such a giveaway to her crazed yearning for him. Wanting someone was one thing, but her body seemed hypersensitive to every lustful look and each addictive touch on a level that was almost embarrassing.
He had on white karate pants and was barefoot like she was. But hell, he could have been wearing a pink tutu and she’d bet he would still find a way for his overwhelming maleness to shine through.
“Tell me why you and Charlie broke up years ago,” he ordered with a tranquility that said there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she would give him what he wanted.
The question threw a wrench in her composure.
He adjusted the pin on the golden nipple clamps, tightening the possessive hold they had on her. Now it wasn’t discomfort. It was pain, but somehow it was pleasure, too. The gold chain attached to the nipping clips looked sexy against the soft paleness of her belly. What served as the snake in her Eden was the clamp attached to the bottom of the chain—the one that eyed her clitoris with sadistic intent.
“Why do you want to know that, Sir?”
Quentin grasped the clit clamp, holding her nervous gaze with a look of challenge on his face. “Answer me, Kendall.”
She honestly didn’t know which would be worse, to hold his brass-hard stare or to avert her eyes when her submissive act only fueled his power.
“It didn’t work out.” She hoped and doubted with equal measure that he would be satisfied with such a vague answer.
She knew without even peeking down at her mound what he would do for her evasiveness. Sure enough, penalty ensued and her clit was introduced to the clamp. The scant touch of synthetic materials against her soft nub was foreign to her, but then the clip closed in on her sensitive flesh with a vigorous squeeze that shocked a gasp from her.
“For what reason did it not work out between you and him?”
She wasn’t sure why he wanted to know so badly when René was the one who was in love with her. True, Quentin liked her, but he had to know this was only temporary, though the knowledge brought her down when she thought about it for too long.
“He was an ass,” she replied.
A slow smile turned up his lips. “He can be. If you spent several years with him, you must have noticed his good qualities as well.”
Okay, he definitely wasn’t jealous if he was pointing out Charlie’s good points to her.
“Yeah, I did.”
“The two of you were in love. What happened?”
She swallowed, wanting to hide. “Why do you—aahh!”
His nonchalant tug on the chain pulled on her nipples and stretched her breast tissue while the clamp below bit down harder on her throbbing clit. God, it hurt, but strangely it felt kind of good, too. Her nerve endings tingled with sensation she both liked and abhorred. The tight grip on her nubbin made her clit hurt and conceived pre-orgasmic aches she was dying to relieve.
“Was it because he asked you to marry him?” The thunder rolling in his deep vocals got a shade darker, like there was a negative emotion behind the dark storm clouds that hovered in his eyes.
Kendall shook her head. “No, Sir. I wanted to marry him, but he was adamant that I be shared with his brothers and one of his friends.”
Quentin turned introspective for a moment, during which the unspoken “What the fucks” being screamed out by her tortured clit was the only disturbance.
“Do you recall the name of this friend he mentioned?”
“No, Sir. It was a long time ago. It might have been you, though.”
His lips cocked upward briefly before his expression became serious again. “The idea of being shared bothered you back then?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Why doesn’t it now?”
“Charlie wanted to share me permanently. René is only sharing me for a little while.” A bout of sadness overtook her and she cast her attention downward when displeasure hardened Quentin’s features.
“Is that the only reason?”
“No, Sir. I thought Charlie was secretly gay or bisexual.”
“I see.”
Quentin walked behind her and her anus clutched itself in an “Ah, hell no” attempt at retreat. There were about a million fucking nerves in her puckered hole. She didn’t know the actual number, but she always went ballistic with delighted insanity
whenever her asshole was played with. She just hoped that anus clamps weren’t a real thing. She was pretty sure sensation play of that magnitude would probably kill her.
His thumbs dipped boldly into her butt crack, making her jump. Her anus had been under the impression that it was safely camouflaged from him in there.
“You take offense to those things?” he asked.
“No, Sir, not at all. I just worried that he would like the men better than me.”
“They are two different types of sex.”
“I know. I just get jealous and possessive, I guess.” She yipped when he brought his hand down hard on her ass, making it jiggle in response.
“Show me respect.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m sorry. I respect you.”
“Much better. You will take this plug in your ass now.”
She felt a slight chill trickle through her when a lube-coated butt plug made contact with her there. Pushing out against the advancing pressure bearing down on her, she breathed through the incremental stuffing, blowing out a victorious breath when the tapered toy filled her.
“Tell me about your past boyfriends.”
“There were two others after Charlie. He was the first.”
An electric jolt inside her ass shocked a gasp from her. The plug vibrated, apparently, and the steady palpitations humming in a low rhythm in her snug passage had the nerves in her anal walls going crazy. The strong dose of bliss-inducing stimulation had reached a euphoric level she wasn’t sure she could take. She struggled against her binds, trying to escape the pleasure, fighting to let it take her to the fringe of release before throwing her completely over.
“Oh god, Sir, I can’t bear it.”
“You will, because it pleases me,” he said with smug confidence and no small amount of conceit. “The number of exes in your past does not matter to me. You are mine now.”
A boisterous sigh blew out of her when his long, broad finger skimmed through her damp folds.
“You like being owned and helpless, don’t you?”
“Yes, Sir. Please, can I come?”