Masterful Truth

by Mari Carr

  Isaiah stepped behind her, sandwiching her between him and Caden. Tess wanted to come on the spot.

  They were both so freaking hot.

  “You have permission to touch me,” Isaiah said, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. “In fact, there’s this little spot between my legs…” He paused, pressing closer so she could feel his erection against her back.

  She glanced over her shoulder flirtatiously. “You call that little?”

  Isaiah let out something between a chuckle and a groan. “God, Tess. You take my breath away, baby.”

  “Good. And for the record, I definitely plan on touching you there. You know, as luck would have it, I’ve got this spot between my legs…”

  Caden was still holding her wrists, though his grip had slackened. Tess used that against him, quickly reversing the hold so she clasped one of his wrists in her hand. She pulled it lower, running it along the front of her pants.

  Part of her expected him to tug his hand loose. He didn’t.

  Instead, he took charge, pressing harder against her covered pussy, running his fingers along the seam of her dress slacks.

  Her thighs parted to allow him room to deepen the touch, but he didn’t take the bait, pulling his hand away instead.

  “Hey,” she protested.

  Caden reached out and took a huge handful of her hair in his fist, pulling it until her face was upturned, her gaze captured by his.

  “You’re out of your league here, Tess.”

  She would have shaken her head no, but Caden’s grip was too tight, so she simply said, “No, I’m not.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  The words seemed to be ripped from some dark place inside him, and Tess began to suspect the demons Caden fought didn’t all stem from his parents’ abuse.

  “You won’t hurt me,” she said, trying to reassure him.

  “I can’t give you anything but pain. That’s what I’m trying to say. I’ve never…”

  Tess paused and let the words sink in for just a moment. He’d never made love to a woman. “So it’s the first time for both of us.”

  Isaiah’s hands tightened where they were resting on her waist. “I think the three of us should take this into the bedroom.”

  Tess moved in an instant. She knew what she wanted, and it was them. Both of them. With her.

  Isaiah stepped next to her, one hand sliding into place at the base of her back. Tess reached out to Caden, waiting for him to take her outstretched hand.

  His hesitance was shorter this time.

  Progress.

  The three of them walked down the corridor to the largest bedroom in the suite. It was clear this one had been designed for threesomes. She recalled hearing at one of the Winter Galas that the Trinity Masters had permanent possession of the Boston Park Plaza penthouse. Given the layout, the comfortable living room, the kitchenette area, the three bedrooms—the other two were much smaller—it was apparent it had been set up perfectly for newly bound trinities. The large, cozy space was inviting, allowing three strangers an ideal escape from their everyday lives as they worked to build a relationship.

  Caden dropped her hand just inside the bedroom, and Isaiah’s hand disappeared from her back as well. She kept walking until she stood next to the bed, then she turned to face them.

  “Take off your clothes,” Caden demanded.

  She laughed. “I will if you will.”

  The dominant man returned, his expression dark, as Caden took one menacing step toward her.

  He was halted when Isaiah put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you should follow my lead.”

  Tess tried to hold in her mirth at Isaiah’s suggestion, until she saw Caden’s response. She’d figured her outright laughter would only make the situation worse if Caden was offended. She didn’t have to wait long.

  Caden was the first to laugh.

  “That’s probably not a bad idea.” He gestured for Isaiah to proceed.

  Tess felt the urge to ask one of them to pinch her. Everything felt surreal.

  Isaiah walked over to her and gave her a longer, harder kiss than the one in the living room. His tongue touched hers and she tasted the wine they’d shared. She marveled over how his movements were gentle, yet strong. He oozed confidence, but not in an overly arrogant way.

  For a brief second, it occurred to her that he reminded her a lot of his detective character—intelligent with a wry sense of humor and a no-nonsense way of dealing with the world. Her mother had teased her once about how she had fallen in love with a fictional character. Wait until she told Mom she’d been partnered up with the living embodiment of Joel Hemings.

  While Tess was one hundred percent in on the kiss, she didn’t forget that Caden was there, watching—knowing him, studying—everything Isaiah did.

  Isaiah had given her permission to touch him, so she took him up on it. Her hands slid from around his neck and down his chest. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man. Isaiah Jefferson was pure muscle, and her pussy clenched at the thought.

  Isaiah broke the kiss, but he only pulled back a couple of inches. “Maybe you should give us more of an understanding of this virginity thing. How far have you gone?”

  She blushed, and this time the response wasn’t an unconscious one. It was driven by a twinge of embarrassment.

  Her silence in the face of his question had Isaiah backing farther away. Which allowed her to see that Caden had crossed the room while they were kissing and was standing closer to them than she’d realized.

  “As far as you can,” she whispered.

  “What does that mean?” Isaiah asked. At the same time, Caden said, “Blowjobs?”

  She nodded, oddly relieved when Caden continued to fire off a list of sexual activities that precluded penetration.

  “Breast play?”

  “Yes.”

  “You had a guy go down on you?”

  She grinned. “A few.”

  “Anal play?”

  She lifted one shoulder. “Just by myself. With toys.”

  Tess was pleasantly surprised when her confessions seemed to help Caden loosen up. So much so, he tugged his shirt over his head and started to unfasten his jeans.

  “I can work with that,” he said.

  Isaiah reared back. “Did you just make a joke?”

  Caden winked at him as he pushed his jeans down.

  Tess’ mouth fell open. Caden went commando. Her curiosity only gave her a moment to take in the view before she lifted her eyes and saw the scar on his chest. He’d been shot. Given the placement, she wasn’t sure how he’d survived, how the bullet hadn’t pierced some vital organ. Then she recalled how much he’d suffered at the hands of his parents.

  He’d been very careful not to go into details about his training. Tess began to think they should have pressed for more information. Part of her was terrified of doing something that might trigger a painful memory for him.

  Tomorrow she’d look up BDSM, try to sort out what kinds of things they might have encouraged him to do…as a teenager. The thought of that level of abuse, of suffering, broke her heart.

  Before she could consider her actions, she moved forward, leaning toward his chest, placing a kiss on the puckered red scar.

  Chapter Ten

  Caden jerked when Tess kissed his chest, her soft lips gently caressing his scar. He lifted his hands, intent on gripping her head, pulling her mouth away.

  Tess was quicker. She moved closer to him, her cheek resting on his chest as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

  She was hugging him, embracing him as a friend more than a lover, the hug packed with true caring.

  She had kissed his scar. For a moment, he was reminded of a nanny he’d had as a young boy. Caden’s mother had always been relatively cold, making it clear her social schedule took precedence over the rearing of her children. She seemed to feel that her duty had been served simply by giving birth.

  Nanny Roberts probably hadn’t b
een much older than her mother, but she didn’t resist aging—letting the salt mix with the pepper in her black hair and not bothering to cover any imperfections with thick makeup or plastic surgery. She had been very kind to him, reading stories to him at bedtime, singing him songs to distract him during storms, and kissing away the pain of booboos.

  Tess’ kiss reminded him of that.

  Love given freely to comfort without the expectation of something in return.

  His mother had fired Nanny Roberts the morning of Caden’s fifth birthday, declaring him old enough that he didn’t need a nanny coddling him and making him weak.

  From that point on, crying over scraped knees was forbidden, fear of thunderstorms was the sign of a coward and earned a spanking, and if he wanted a bedtime story, it was his older brother Weston who read it, though he had to sneak into Caden’s room so their parents wouldn’t find out.

  Caden lifted his arms, wrapping them tightly around Tess, soaking up the warmth of her.

  It wasn’t until Isaiah cupped his cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear, that Caden realized he was crying.

  He moved away quickly, tucking the emotion deep.

  Emotion is the ultimate sign of weakness.

  Caden shook his head slightly, trying to get Elroy’s voice out of his head.

  “I’m sorry, Caden,” Tess said.

  “I can’t…”

  What? He couldn’t what? Feel? It wasn’t like he could look at Tess, with her trusting, bright green eyes, and tell her tonight had to be strictly sex or he was leaving.

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked, her arms out. She was offering herself to him, plain and simple.

  If he were a better man, he’d walk away. But he was the devil incarnate and he wanted her too badly.

  “Take off your clothes.” He tried to soften the command by adding a “please.”

  She smiled, reaching to slip the first button on her blouse free. Isaiah was there before she touched the second.

  “Here, Tess. Let me.” Tess turned to face Isaiah, allowing Caden to watch them in profile.

  Once all the buttons were undone, Isaiah bent to kiss her as he slipped the blouse from her shoulders.

  Caden couldn’t hold back his grin. Tess’ blush crept down her neck and colored the tops of her breasts.

  The grin slid away when Isaiah reached around and unhooked her bra with experienced fingers. He drew the lace away—and it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.

  None of them breathed as Isaiah stepped away, allowing both him and Caden an obstructed view of their future wife.

  “Jesus, Tess,” Isaiah murmured.

  Caden expected her to cover herself, but her hands remained down. He moved toward them, standing next to Isaiah.

  Her gaze traveled between them, Caden completely naked, Isaiah fully dressed.

  “I’m scared to death, but at the same time, I’m so excited I can barely breathe. Does that make sense?” she asked.

  Caden nodded. “I feel exactly the same way, angel.”

  She smiled at his admission. “And you said you can’t do romantic.”

  He considered her sweet jest and the truth behind it. Caden felt different with these two. No one had ever expected him to be anything other than a strict, cold, demanding Dom, so he hadn’t tried to dig deeper, to bring out a man they didn’t want.

  With Tess and Isaiah, they saw a better version of him. It wasn’t one he was fully certain existed, but he sure as hell wanted it to.

  It was as if they’d thrown open the door to his jail cell in hell and given him his first glimpse of heaven.

  Tess started to move, unzipping her pants and sliding them off, along with her panties.

  He hadn’t given her an order to do so. It had been on the tip of his tongue to reprimand her—the reaction instinct rather than impulse—then he realized he didn’t want to. Caden didn’t feel the compulsion to command her.

  Watching her guide their course was more interesting. And freeing.

  He didn’t have to be on guard, constantly considering the next act. Tonight, everything would just happen naturally.

  His dick thickened and he reached down to grip it in his hand, his palm sliding along the hard length slowly as Tess and Isaiah watched.

  “Isaiah,” he said after a few seconds.

  “Yeah?” Isaiah’s gaze was still locked on Caden’s slow hand job.

  “Get undressed or we’re starting without you.”

  Isaiah laughed, but Caden noticed he wasted no time disrobing.

  That thought would have amused him if Tess hadn’t distracted him by placing her hand on top of his, following the motion as he stroked himself.

  Once again, he felt a brief flash that told him he needed to punish her for touching without permission, but it vanished just as quickly. He hadn’t expected the instincts that had been drilled into him over and over to be so easy to suppress.

  It was these two people. It had to be.

  Then Tess peeled his hand away, taking over for him, and he feared he was a goner. Control had never—never—been an issue for him, but Tess was testing his.

  “I could watch the two of you all night.”

  Tess and Caden both stopped, turning to look at Isaiah, his thick erection pointing upwards, ready for action.

  Tess waved at him as her other hand kept a tight grip on Caden’s dick. “I have two hands.”

  Isaiah didn’t hesitate, stepping closer, forming a tight circle of three. Tess took him into her other hand.

  As she drew her fingers along their hard cocks, they took advantage of the close proximity to enjoy her as well.

  Isaiah reached behind her with one hand, gripping her bare ass firmly, as the other played with her breast, plumping the flesh, pinching her nipple.

  Meanwhile, Caden was more interested in driving her to the same cliff she was shoving him toward. He ran his fingers along her wet slit, soaking in her hard intake of breath. Her eyes drifted shut.

  “Open your eyes, angel. Look at us.”

  She blinked a few times, struggling to obey as he applied firmer pressure to her clit. Her breath came out in short, fast pants.

  “Caden.”

  “First orgasm is going to be here. Just like this. So we can watch you come undone.”

  Her cheeks flushed and Caden understood this time the color had nothing to do with embarrassment. It was all arousal.

  Caden stroked her clit faster and Tess followed suit, squeezing their dicks tighter, her hand jobs picking up speed.

  Isaiah took a step back and she lost her grip.

  “Isaiah,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Not yet, baby. Tonight is going to be all about you.”

  “No. It’s about us. Always.”

  Her words touched something inside Caden…something that had never seen the light of day. “Us?” he whispered.

  She looked at him and smiled. “Us,” she repeated.

  Isaiah bent forward, taking one of her nipples into his mouth and sucking for just a moment before releasing it. “Fine.” Isaiah’s voice was a rich, deep baritone, but even so, there was no mistaking the amusement in it when he added, “Tonight is about us. But this time—this orgasm—is going to be all about you.”

  Before she could lodge another complaint, he took her nipple back into his mouth. Caden added fuel to the fire, pressing two fingers inside her. He didn’t feel a hymen, but considering her comment about sex toys, he wasn’t surprised. She was tight, wet, and hot. So fucking hot.

  Her eyes started to drift shut again. Caden cleared his throat and they flew open as she recalled his demand.

  Isaiah continued to use his mouth and hands on her breasts, sucking, squeezing, pinching. Caden added his thumb to the game, rubbing her clit as he added a third to her pussy. It took only a few minutes to get her there.

  As with everything else, Tess didn’t hold back, didn’t offer them half. She gave it all. She fell forward into Caden’s arm
s as her body shook with the impact of her orgasm. She cried out loudly—his name and Isaiah’s—against his chest, then sank her teeth into his pec.

  It hurt a little, but Caden didn’t register the pain. He cupped the back of her head, pushing her against him harder. “That’s right, angel. Bite me. Leave your mark on me.”

  His words had the opposite effect as her mouth fell open. The climax started to wane, and he realized she hadn’t even known she was biting him.

  “Caden,” she said, still struggling to catch her breath. “I didn’t mean…” Her fingers caressed the deep indents and red mark she’d left on him.

  “It didn’t hurt, Tess. And before the night is over, I hope you’ll leave a few more of these on me. One for every orgasm.”

  “Every…” Her forehead crinkled, and he understood her confusion in an instant.

  “How many times have you come in one night, angel?”

  “Once.”

  Isaiah laughed. “Oh yeah. We can definitely beat that record.”

  Caden smiled, wondering if he was ever going to be able to wipe the thing off his face. He’d never felt this much… Damn. He struggled to put a word to it—and then it came to him.

  Happiness.

  He was happy.

  Deliriously so.

  He backed Tess toward the bed. She might have had the chance to relieve some pressure, but he and Isaiah were still hurting.

  She scooted to the center of the mattress, lying on her back. He followed her down, covering her as Isaiah lay next to them.

  He glanced over at Isaiah, trying to consider whether or not he should follow his heart.

  Isaiah seemed to understand what he wanted, that he was hesitating, so he took the decision away.

  He moved closer and kissed Caden.

  It was the first time he’d ever kissed a man. While he’d played with them as part of his training, kissing hadn’t been included in that. It had been strictly about control and, if needed, punishment, with Caden always on top.

  It was a hard kiss, with tongues and teeth, both of them exploring and—God help him—fighting for dominance.

  Isaiah might not be in the lifestyle, but there was no denying in that moment if he were, he would be a Dom.