Dante slid out of bed and crossed the short distance in three strides. The air in the room was still cool, something his bare skin took seriously. “Are you going to share your blanket?”
She held up a corner. He snagged what she offered and pulled the whole thing loose. She squeaked, but he climbed up and settled at her back. Once the blanket was repositioned to cover them both, she sighed. Her bare bottom was pressed against his groin. It was pleasure and torture all at once.
“How long have you been up?” Dante wrapped his arms around her, loving the way she felt against him.
“I don’t know. A while. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything.”
Considering the vast array of items that could be included in a vague term like “everything,” Dante wondered what she’d picked to focus on. He still felt as if she was hiding something. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She paused long enough that he figured her answer was no. “I didn’t understand what you meant when you said that you and Jericho couldn’t exist as a couple.”
“It isn’t quite that simple.” Dante struggled to find the words that would convey exactly what he’d meant. “Plenty of people exist in relationships that only involve two people. Two women, two men, a man and a woman—those are all viable options. It just isn’t enough for me. And it isn’t enough for Jericho, though I suppose I can’t speak for him.”
“No.” Jericho’s voice drifted out of the darkness at the edge of the firelight. “That sounds about right.”
The sheets rustled as he climbed out of the bed. When he appeared in the flickering light, half his body was wreathed in shadow. The beauty of his naked form made Dante catch his breath.
“Relationships aren’t my strong point.” Jericho crossed his arms, taking a defensive pose. “It’s one thing to sleep with a woman, give her pleasure, and never have to deal with the everyday shit that just baffles me.”
“I hear a but in there somewhere,” Suri gently prompted.
JERICHO STRUGGLED WITH the courage to lay himself bare. Crossing the physical boundary of adding a carnal aspect to his relationship with Dante was easier than giving up information on his emotions. But he wanted—needed—to explain himself.
“I lost my virginity at fourteen to a girl I met at school. She was two years older. I don’t even remember her name, but I remember knowing at that moment that I loved women. I appreciated everything about their bodies. I spent hours staring shamelessly at one girl or another, trying to memorize every curve.” Jericho paused to collect himself, thinking back to the first time he’d seen Dante. “Then I met Dante.”
“You saved my life,” Dante murmured. “I’d never been so instantly willing to trust someone.”
“We had a connection,” Jericho acknowledged. “But I didn’t take one look at you and say, ‘I want to have sex with him.’”
Suri held out her hand. “Come and sit down. I’m breaking my neck trying to see your face.”
Jericho contemplated their position on the chaise. Dante sat with his back against the arm and his legs stretched lengthwise. Suri had nestled in his lap. As if to reinforce her invitation, she lifted the blanket to welcome Jericho underneath. He scooped up Dante’s legs and placed them across his lap. Taking a seat on the chaise, he rested his arm across the back so he could face both of them as he spoke.
“Much better.” Suri tossed the edge of the blanket over his lap. “Now, you were talking about meeting Dante.”
She was such a walking contradiction. So timid one second, so bold the next. “I’ve always enjoyed being with Dante. I can see past all the bullshit.” He gazed at Dante’s shadowed face. “You’re a manipulative bastard sometimes, but I think you’ve always needed to be that way to survive. There’s more to you, more than you give yourself credit for. I’ve seen it.” Jericho recalled the softening of Dante’s body as his friend welcomed Jericho inside. “And I’ve felt it. I don’t know when it started for me. But I’ve been attracted to you far longer than I’ve ever admitted to myself.”
Suri leaned in and laid her palm on his shoulder. “Because you were afraid it made you less of a man?”
It stung to hear it out loud. But she was right. “Yes, because of that. And because since the moment you walked on stage downstairs, I’ve thought you were the most incredible woman I’ve ever seen, and I never had the sense to tell you.”
Dante stirred from his silence. “We’ve never dated employees. Clientele? Yes. Employees? No. It’s just too complicated.”
“That was nothing but an excuse.” Jericho thought back to the helpless fear of rejection, to the instant fascination with the fiery blonde who always seemed so much more than most of her vapid coworkers. “I was too much of a coward to step out on a limb and make it work. First with you, Dante, and then with her.”
It felt so right to lay it all on the table before these two incredible people. The same way it had felt to make love with them. Because it wasn’t just sex. It was more. “Magnetism shouldn’t be ignored, no matter what the gender is of the person on the opposite end. Not when it can wind up like this.” Jericho gestured to the three of them on the chaise.
“Dante said something similar to me the other day.” Suri’s tone was soft, as if she were contemplating an earth-shattering truth. “But you can’t give yourself crap for not jumping at the first sign of attachment. It doesn’t make you less of a man to wait. It just means you won’t overturn your convictions without deliberating it long and hard first. That’s integrity, not cowardice. That’s what makes me trust you. Made me trust you from the beginning. And it’s what makes me so willing to believe that you’ll be there even when nobody else in my life ever has been.”
Her words made his heart swell until Jericho felt as if he could’ve taken on the entire world. Reaching out, he dragged her close enough to take her soft lips in a hot kiss.
She made a tiny noise of pleasure, her mouth opening to welcome his tongue. He slid inside, teasing as he kissed her, enticing her to explore on her own. She responded with enthusiasm, and Jericho was rewarded with the sensation of her tongue gliding into his mouth. Tentative at first, she became bolder with every motion until she controlled the rhythm of their kiss.
Suri was on her hands and knees, straddling Dante’s lower body as she all but crawled up Jericho’s chest. The blanket slipped to the floor, forgotten in the heated exchange. Jericho cupped her face, letting his hands slide down her shoulders to her breasts. Their weight in his palms was perfect. Her nipples beaded into hard points. He lightly traced the puckered areolas, and she whimpered before nipping his tongue in response.
Jericho chuckled. Her breasts were delightfully sensitive. He rolled her nipples between thumbs and forefingers until she broke away from their kiss and threw her head back in surrender.
Glancing over her shoulder, Jericho realized Dante was fondling the rounded contours of her pretty ass. He watched his partner’s hands disappear lower and Suri’s responsive shiver when Dante touched her slit.
Wanting to experience Suri’s pleasure as Dante was, Jericho slid his hand away from her breast and down her belly until he reached her mound. He and Dante locked gazes when their hands brushed. Using two fingers, Jericho spread Suri’s pussy to give Dante better access to her slick folds.
It aroused him to the point of pain to feel how wet she became at Dante’s touch. His fingers slid through her hot cream in quick movements that had her trembling with desire.
“Take her clit.” Dante’s voice was rough with arousal. “I’m going inside her pussy.”
Jericho’s cock had been hard since he’d first kissed Suri. The slick spot of precum on his belly was becoming larger as his desire spiraled out of control. But this was for Suri. Suri, who had put her own needs aside to help Jericho experience the ecstasy of anal sex with Dante.
Dante’s fingers slid inside her opening. She arched her back. Jericho used the pads of two fingers to spin tiny circles on her clit. He matched Dante’s rhythm, e
ach stroke making Suri quiver. He felt her bear down on Dante’s fingers as she drew closer to climax.
She was lying against Jericho’s chest now, her body balanced on the arm he had stretched down her midline. She began to moan—short, high-pitched noises that told them she was nearly ready.
Jericho used his free hand to tilt her chin before giving her a gentle kiss. “Let go, love. Come for us.”
She climaxed in a molten gush. Her hips jerked reflexively. Jericho could feel her pussy flex with each wave of release. Dante groaned and pressed a kiss to her nether cheek.
“That was amazing.” Dante’s frank appreciation was in his tone. “I’m going to come all over myself just from watching you, princess.”
Jericho had a sudden idea. “Put your legs on the floor and sit straight, Dante.”
Plucking Suri off the chaise so that Dante could move, Jericho gazed into her sweet face. “I’m going to put you on his lap. His cock is going to go straight into your pussy. Are you ready for that?”
“God, yes!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily.
Still kissing her, Jericho lowered her onto Dante. His partner helped her slide her bent legs into a reverse cowgirl position. Jericho could tell when Dante’s cock penetrated her pussy. She inhaled, breaking the kiss and giving a long sigh of pleasure.
Jericho knelt before her. “Does it feel good to have him inside you?”
“Yes.”
Dante grabbed her hips and helped her ride in a long, slow rhythm. She braced her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. Jericho’s cock was like an iron rod between his legs. He wanted so badly to sink his shaft inside one or both of his lovers. The only thing he wanted more was to bring them the kind of pleasure they’d given him.
Jericho spread Dante’s legs and leaned forward until he could reach the place where Dante’s body joined with Suri’s. Using his tongue, Jericho delved into her slit. He spread her open with his fingers. Her wet cunt quivered as she ground down on Dante’s cock. Jericho tasted her cream, laved his tongue through her pussy, and suckled until she burst into orgasm.
Her hands wound into Jericho’s hair to pull him closer. He sucked harder, flicking his tongue across her clit. She cried out, her nails scraping his scalp. Leaving her sensitive center, he went lower.
Curling his tongue around the base of Dante’s cock, Jericho licked and sucked his lover’s erection until Dante’s balls clenched tight as he prepared to release. Still Jericho pressed. The taste of them together was exquisite. The intensity grew, their flavor becoming increasingly erotic. He knew what was coming. He wanted it.
Dante’s cock pulsed beneath Jericho’s tongue when he came. An answering pull below his belly made him groan. Suri’s pussy clamped down hard as she climaxed for the third time. He brushed his fingertips tenderly across her responsive flesh and slid Dante’s cock from her cunt. White semen spilled forth, mingling with Suri’s juices. Jericho lapped at the combination, tasting her sweetness, Dante’s maleness, and the remnants of the passion they’d all shared.
“Your turn, Jericho.” Suri touched his head. “Make me come one more time.”
Her words unleashed the intense need that had been thrumming away in the background. Jericho reached up and slid her farther off the chaise until her lower body was kneeling just below the level of the cushion and Dante was holding her in place, suspended between his knees.
Fitting the head of his cock to her pussy, Jericho slid inside her body in one thrust. She was wet with her own juices and Dante’s cum. Now Jericho added his own essence. Her straddling Dante, Jericho between Dante’s legs, and the three of them making love until Jericho’s sac tightened and his cock released a stream of hot semen.
Dante reached around Suri’s body to caress Jericho. With her still between them, their mouths tangled together in a sensual kiss. Jericho wondered how he’d ever thought this could be a bad thing. There was something so masculine, so raw, in the act that his cock actually began to twitch again.
Between them, Suri brushed her lips over Dante’s throat and then Jericho’s. “I think I might be able to sleep now.”
Their kiss ended as both men laughed at her admission. Great sex could make you tired, but confidences shared between lovers provided a sense of relaxation and comfort that made you want to curl up around those you loved and sleep the night away.
“To bed, princess.” Dante agreed.
Jericho stood up on shaky limbs and swept Suri into his arms. He was never letting either of them go again. No matter what other shit fate threw in their direction.
Chapter Seventeen
Dante contemplated the Level Three lounge from the Level Four mezzanine. The perch was one of Jericho’s favorite haunts, but his friend was handling a client’s acceptance to Level Three and had been tied up for nearly an hour making certain the newcomer understood every facet of the rules.
The rules were something you had to take very seriously if you wanted to enjoy Asylum’s offerings, especially on the upper levels. Over the years, Dante had been credited with creating the entire system. In reality, most of it had been based on Jericho’s ideas. He’d even been the one to come up with the concept of keeping Level Three and Four customers until 5:00 a.m. in the morning. It cut down on drunk driving incidents and forced people to work out their differences instead of leaving in a huff to go elsewhere.
When you were dealing with high-maintenance clientele involved in the pursuit of sexual satisfaction, this became a large reason for Asylum’s successful track record. That and the bizarre claiming rules the two of them had brainstormed together. There was nothing people with no sense and tons of money liked to do better than gamble for sex.
Dante fiddled with his cuff link, tired of wearing his suit. He had them custom made with imported fabrics by a local tailor. But that wasn’t because he liked to wear them; it was so he could ghost in and out of elite society without drawing censure or undue notice. At the moment, he was too preoccupied to care whether or not he fit in. His brain kept replaying everything Suri had said about her sister’s leaving town. None of it made sense.
She had been ready to downplay their entire relationship and go back to an employee/employer relationship. Considering everything the three of them had shared, that said something. Yet when she spoke of her sister’s poor choice to leave town with her latest boyfriend, Suri didn’t seem all that bothered. Either Suri didn’t think the budding relationship with Dante and Jericho was a big deal, or she was hiding something else. Dante suspected the latter.
“I think Ryker will settle in nicely.” Jericho joined him on silent feet. “He’s intelligent, in control of his ego, and he respects women.”
“If I didn’t know you better, I might be jealous.”
Jericho’s snort left no question how he felt about that. “I’d be more likely to set the guy up with my sister.”
“How is your sister, by the way?”
“Scheming to set me up with her music teacher. My mother agrees that this woman is apparently tailor-made for me.” Jericho crossed his arms, refusing to turn his head and meet Dante’s gaze.
Dante had spent plenty of Saturdays at Jericho’s mother’s in order to keep his friend from suffering through family brunch all by himself. Jericho’s family was large and opinionated, nothing like Dante’s introspective partner. Dante had always expected his partner to fold at some point and agree to date and get married like a good son.
More like I dreaded it.
Marriage had never seemed to fit into Dante’s lifestyle. Not with the shit in his background. Any son of his would be born with a target on his back. So he’d always depended upon Jericho to provide companionship. The only dark spot on the horizon had been the possibility of Jericho being leg-shackled to some woman who would then attempt to amputate Dante from their life. Which was essentially what Jericho’s mother had been trying to do since the day Jericho had taken up Dante on his offer of partnership in Asylum.
�
�Would you relax?” Jericho finally turned toward Dante. “I’m not going to settle down and marry some music teacher. She’s probably a forty-year-old virgin spinster with a hundred cats.”
“Suri plays the cello. You should have her teach Abby.”
“Suri plays the cello?” Jericho frowned. “Exactly how much did I miss yesterday?”
Dante had to admit there was a lot he had never gotten around to mentioning. With Suri’s dance, the attempt at a brush-off, and the tremendous amount of satisfying sex and deep conversation, he’d been a bit distracted. “Suri was playing with a string trio at Senator O’Callaghan’s fund-raiser.”
“She must’ve been thrilled to see you.”
Dante couldn’t decide if Jericho was being facetious or not, so he matched his blasé tone. “Actually, it turned out to be a good thing. Apparently, she’s O’Callaghan’s illegitimate daughter. They met for the first time, and it was a little tense.”
“O’Callaghan,” Jericho mused. “Damn, I thought the name choice was random. Didn’t even suspect it actually belonged to her.”
“Wait. You knew she had another name?”
“Jen Robertson? Sure. I had to dig around for that a bit. Her sister’s last name is Robertson. I just wondered how the family connection worked.”
Dante ground his teeth together in agitation. That was why Jericho was so valuable as the eyes and ears of the operation. Dante had noted the name difference too, but he’d assumed the sister had married at one point and changed her name. Why else would they be living together in a tiny apartment?
“Missed that, did you?” Jericho nudged his shoulder. “You need to think with the head on top of your shoulders instead of the one between your legs.”
“Real classy.” But Dante would have been lying if he hadn’t admitted there was some truth to the accusation. “Since you’re the smart one, have you figured out what else Suri is hiding from us?”
Jericho’s body settled into a rigid stance. “So I’m not the only one who didn’t buy the story that she’s upset about her sister leaving town?”
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