She tilted her hips until his thrusts skated along the sensitive muscles at the back of her channel. Every stroke was heaven. Every stroke was hell. She was insatiable, needy for more. Her cries filled the room, punctuated by his grunts as he increased the pace.
Orgasm coiled in her limbs. It flowed through her blood. Everything else slid away. There was only his cock inside her pussy. The feel of him stroking that one spot that felt so good. Heat and desire culminated into one earth-shattering moment when she closed her eyes and let it all go.
Dante shouted when he came. The sensation of his semen spilling into her channel pushed Suri over the edge of oblivion. Her muscles contracted powerfully, the rocking waves of release leaving her weak in their wake.
Her knuckles cracked when she tried to let go of the chaise. The intensity of the air gusting in and out of her lungs was painful. Had Jericho not swept her up into his arms, she would have fallen.
“We’ve got you, Suri,” he murmured. “We’ve always got you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I’m so glad you came!” Abby threw her arms around Suri’s neck. “I was afraid Jericho might do something stupid and screw it up.”
Suri cast a glance over her shoulder at her two men. “Have a little more faith in your brother, Abby. There’s nothing he could do to make me love him less.”
An older version of Abby came downstairs with a toddler in her arms. “Love? I thought you two just met?”
“This is my niece Olivia and my older sister Layne.” Abby rolled her eyes. “She’s the bossy one.”
Layne pushed a strand of curly dark hair behind her ear. “And you’re the busybody.”
Suri could’ve chosen to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activity going on inside the house. Three men lounged in the front room, watching football. Layne was heading into the kitchen, where Suri could see Jericho’s mother, Maggie, at the stove. Kids congregated like dogs underfoot. She could not possibly imagine Jericho being comfortable in this environment.
“If Abby’s a busybody, she gets it honestly,” Dante commented.
Layne shot him a withering glare. “Oh, look, it’s the Latino Leech. Just because you managed to weasel an invitation doesn’t mean you have permission to speak.”
The venom in Layne’s words shocked Suri. Glancing back at Dante, she could see no sign that the nasty comment had struck a chord, but her heart knew better. Dante wasn’t as devil-may-care as he pretended.
“Come in! Abby, don’t trap them in the entryway. So good to see you again, Ms. Robertson!” Maggie appeared, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.
“Please, call me Suri.” Suri accepted a hug and wondered how to proceed. “I would have brought something, but I’m not really much of a cook.” Not like Maggie anyway. Suri had been cooking for her mother and Kim almost her whole life. But she didn’t suppose Maggie would have been impressed with Cheeseburger Mac or hot dog surprise.
“Don’t be silly. There’s plenty!” Maggie dragged Suri toward the kitchen. “And really, cooking is easy once you have the time to settle down and make family meals.”
Now it was easy to see where this was going. Maggie was about to try to make a housewife out of Suri, a devoted husband out of her son, and an unnecessary appendage out of Dante. That might be her plan, but Suri wasn’t going to let it fly.
DANTE WATCHED JERICHO’S mother sweep Suri into the kitchen, into what he’d always viewed as the Woman’s World of Maggie O’Shea. He didn’t like it. The idea of Maggie turning Suri into a housewife was laughable. Their Suri was hellfire and brimstone, not Martha Stewart.
“Come on in, boys. The game just got started.” Mr. O’Shea, his son-in-law Ryan, and Jericho’s half brother Michael were camped out around the flat screen.
Dante followed Jericho’s lead, taking a seat beside his partner on the sofa across from O’Shea’s easy chair. He’d been coming here with Jericho for years, but they still viewed him like an interloper.
Michael glanced away from the television. “How’s business?”
“Good, actually.” Dante didn’t even entertain the idea that Jericho was going to speak. He clammed up almost instantly in this environment, though he’d never actually explained why. Dante had his suspicions and had always picked up the conversational reins. “The holidays are almost always a lucrative time of year. People tend to feel as if they’d like to let off a little more steam than normal. And we host a good number of parties for our bigger clients.”
It amused Dante to no end to watch Michael try to work it all out in his head. None of them actually understood exactly what Asylum offered. They’d all visited from time to time, remaining firmly on Level One. They knew he hosted illegal gambling but couldn’t understand how he got away with it. They knew Asylum employed strippers, provided a place for people to dance and drink and mingle, but they didn’t understand how it was possible for Dante and Jericho to constantly rub elbows with Boston’s elite. Dante had no desire to explain it.
“Have you thought any more about that offer I made you?” O’Shea looked at Jericho. “I have partners interested in investing in a security firm if you’re willing to run it. A few years down the line, you could own it yourself.”
Dante narrowed his gaze. O’Shea was in pharmaceutical sales. He’d been trying unsuccessfully to pry Jericho away from Asylum for nearly a decade. This latest tactic was new. It bothered Dante intensely that Jericho had never mentioned it.
Ryan gave a low whistle. “That’s a great offer. I know you’ve been Dante’s right-hand man for years, but running your own business is a better long-term gig.”
Had they actually practiced this beforehand? It sounded scripted. A knot twisted inside Dante’s belly. Why hadn’t Jericho told him about this? And why would he never tell his family that he wasn’t Dante’s employee? He’d been an equal partner in Asylum since the doors had opened.
JERICHO HATED THESE family gatherings. He always felt like a bug beneath the microscope. Layne and Michael were only a few years younger than he was. He’d come to live in their home at thirteen, and they’d tortured him. They’d poked at his accent, his clothes, his olive skin and wild hair that contrasted with their ruddy Irish roots. Now they lived to rip him away from Dante—had been trying to do it for over a decade.
He wished he could say what had to be said. But one explanation would lead to another and another until they were all yelling like banshees in his face. So instead, he hid behind his stoic silences and Dante’s gift for conversational diversions.
“Jericho already owns his own business.” Suri’s musical voice came from the edge of the room. “As far as I know, he and Dante have owned the club together from the very beginning.”
She strolled in boldly and inserted herself right between him and Dante on the sofa. It didn’t even seem to bother her that her statement had left the room blanketed in a stunned silence.
“Did you say owned?” O’Shea came to the edge of his chair. “You own that club with Dante? As in partners?”
Suri’s hand wound its way into Jericho’s, giving him a jolt that somehow unlocked his jaw. “Yes. Dante and I have been partners since the first night.”
Michael slapped the arm of his chair. “And you never thought to mention that until now?”
“Oh, I know how that is.” Suri met and held his half brother’s gaze. “My mother and sister are so quick to talk that anything I say just gets lost in translation. I’m sure Jericho has mentioned it.”
“What about you, Dante?” O’Shea shot Dante a cool look of disdain. “Did you ever think to mention it?”
Dante didn’t suffer from Jericho’s lack of forthrightness. He followed Suri’s lead with no problem. “It wasn’t my place to mention it. You welcome me into your home occasionally. I don’t expect to monopolize a casual conversation by discussing business.”
“How is it that you seem to know them both so well?” Ryan glanced at his in-laws. “I thought they just met two days ago.”
<
br /> From the corner of his eye, Jericho could see Dante struggling to hold back a laugh. His partner would enjoy the waves Suri was making. Jericho just hoped the house was left standing when she was through.
“I’ve known them both for over a year.” Suri didn’t expand on that little half truth. Instead, she snuggled under Jericho’s arm and reached out to take Dante’s hand and pull it into her lap.
“Wait, are you seeing them both?” Michael’s voice was loud enough to bring his mother, Layne, and Abby out of the kitchen.
Jericho’s stomach clenched. What was she doing?
His mother gave him a hard stare. “Jericho, what is she talking about?”
Suri gazed at him with love and acceptance. Jericho knew what she was waiting for. She was waiting for him to claim them, for him to openly accept her and Dante just as she’d done and as Dante had done. But it was more complex than even that.
She was telling him she’d stand by him while he explained, or she’d do it herself. She was leaving the choice up to him. And Suri was right. He had been depending so heavily on Dante all these years without ever explaining to his family how much his partner meant to him. Now they had added Suri to their relationship. It was past time to make it right.
“I love Dante, Mother. I have for years.” Jericho’s voice grew stronger and more certain with each word. “All that time, you’ve been nagging me to take the traditional route and marry a girl you approved of and have kids. But that isn’t me.”
“Are you gay?” Layne squeaked, looking at Michael. “Is he saying he’s gay?”
“I also love Suri.” Jericho looked down at her, bringing her hand to his lips for a kiss. “So does Dante.”
His mother’s face blanched. “Jericho, this isn’t natural.”
“There’s nothing more natural to the three of us.” He didn’t have the words to make his family understand. Feeling helpless, he looked at his partners.
Suri took a deep breath, squeezing his hand. “I would have said the same thing, Maggie. Although I have a friend who has been in this same sort of relationship for a long time, and I know she isn’t the only one. The world is changing. People are changing. Relationships are changing. And the three of us have so much to offer each other. We fit. It doesn’t matter about gender or number or tradition. This is what works for us. If you love your son”—her tone intensified—“really love him, you might take a minute to look back at all the years he and Dante have been together.”
“Have you two been a couple all this time?” It was Abby who asked, her eyes damp with tears.
“Not like you’re thinking,” Jericho offered. “Dante and I made an unshakable connection the night we met.”
The love in Dante’s gaze was a tangible thing. “He saved my life. Since then, we’ve dreaded the moment one of us committed to some woman who would want to break that bond.”
“But that doesn’t make you lovers,” O’Shea scoffed.
Dante shot Jericho’s stepfather a sarcastic look that immediately shut him up.
“Oh, wow.” Abby gnawed her lower lip. “But Suri is with you now. How does that work?”
“Abigail O’Shea,” his mother growled. “Not another word.”
Ryan seemed to be wrapping his head around their odd announcement. “Is this even legal?”
Jericho thought of the two lawyers who led a similar life. “Yes. Though we can’t go through a traditional wedding ceremony.”
“I’d like to have a commitment ceremony someday, though.” Suri’s shy admission rocked Jericho to the core.
He met Dante’s gaze before cupping her cheek in his hand. “When you’re ready, we’d be honored.”
“You’re already our princess. Queen is the next logical step.” Dante’s tender tone warmed Jericho’s heart.
“Princess, my ass,” Layne muttered.
“You know, I have to give you credit,” Suri snapped at his half sister. “You have this ironclad idea of who Jericho is and who he hangs out with. And you’ve based that on a dozen or so visits when you probably sat around and made snarky comments without knowing anything about him? Seriously, that takes brass.”
His family all wore variations of the same surprised expression. Jericho couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You think he’s too good for Dante,” Suri continued. “Am I right?”
Layne didn’t bother to hide her sneer. “Damn straight.”
“Which is ironic, considering it’s sort of obvious you don’t think much of your brother. I have a half sister of my own who thinks I’m a—let’s see, how did she put it yesterday—a cum stain. That’s what she said.”
Abby slapped her hand to her mouth to cover a giggle, and his mother looked horrified. Jericho couldn’t tell what the rest of them thought. There hadn’t been this much drama in his household since the year he’d arrived.
“You want the truth?”
On Suri’s other side, Dante had gone still as death. He was in exile for a reason. Telling Jericho’s family would blow his cover for sure.
“Jericho is too good for us.” Suri stood up. “But he’s also too good for you. None of you get him. He isn’t like you. At least we understand him. We love him. He loves us.”
“Love can’t make a relationship like this acceptable. Think of the senseless hardships you’re putting each other through.” Jericho had never seen that particular expression on his mother’s face. He wondered if she was waiting for him to give in and agree with her.
Suri had laid the groundwork. It was time for Jericho to step up. “This is what I want. It doesn’t matter if you agree with it or not. The three of us together are a perfect triad. We’re three parts of one whole.”
His family was silent, a miracle considering Layne was never rendered speechless. Jericho looked at them each in turn, wanting them to see that this really was his choice.
Suri gripped his hand. He could feel the strength of her resolve in her grip. She stared his mother down without flinching. “Remember, good things happen in threes, and the third time is the charm.” Suri dragged them up off the sofa and headed for the front door. “I’m flattered you invited me this morning, but I think I’m going to have to pass. You want Jericho to find happiness with a woman? He has. But we’ve both found happiness with another man. And you best accept it, because it’s not going to change.”
Chapter Thirty
“They probably think I’m a shrew.” Suri moaned, trying to feel remorse for her behavior toward Jericho’s family but distracted by his lips on her neck. It was so good to be back on home turf at Asylum. “I shouldn’t have said all that.”
Dante cupped her breasts, brushing the pads of his thumbs across her nipples. “It should have been said years ago.”
“I was dying to rub her snooty nose in your pedigree,” she told Dante. “You’re the product of a freakin’ royal dynasty.”
“And you’re a senator’s daughter,” Jericho murmured as he pulled her into his arms.
“Senator’s bastard,” she corrected, still uncertain how it would be to have a politician for a father figure.
None of that really mattered. The only thing that did was the three of them having the rest of the afternoon to themselves inside their suite. The first snow had started to fall outside, and the club was quiet. Waves of heat shimmered off the fire, and they were all naked in the bed.
Jericho cradled Suri in his arms, her back pressed against his chest and his erection snugged in the crease of her ass. Using his legs, he pulled her knees apart and held her open for Dante’s viewing pleasure.
Dante kissed her belly. “You have the sexiest body, Suri. Your pussy smells like honey and tastes just as sweet.”
To prove his point, he ran his tongue through her slit. She bucked against Jericho’s hold, her channel flexing with the need for more. Dante spread her pussy lips with his fingers and used the tip of his tongue to push into her opening.
Jericho ground his cock against her ass. “I can’t decide h
ow I want to take you, love. Your tight ass or your warm, wet cunt.”
Their words made her hotter. She loved being the center of their attention almost as much as she loved helping them explore each other.
Dante slid two fingers into her pussy and pushed them against her sweet spot. When he began to flick his tongue against her clit, Suri lost control and climaxed. Having her knees splayed wide upped the intensity until she was gasping with the powerful muscle contractions sweeping her body.
“Watching you hold her open for me drives me wild,” Dante told Jericho.
Jericho reached around Suri and cupped the back of Dante’s head. Pressed between their gorgeous bodies, she watched them kiss. The sight made her melt with desire. They were so beautiful. And they were hers.
Jericho broke away first, gazing at them both. “I want you to fuck me, Dante. I want to give myself to you. To both of you.”
Suri’s pussy creamed in anticipation, and she could tell Dante felt the same. His dark eyes gleamed with eagerness.
JERICHO WAS TORN between excitement and apprehension. He wanted this. He remembered what it had been like to sink his cock into Dante’s ass, and he wanted his lover to experience the same closeness. It was an irrevocable sense of connection. In a way, it felt like the final tie to bind them together.
Suri’s arousal was a tangible thing. Jericho could smell the juices flowing from her eager pussy as she waited for Dante to take the lead.
“Get to your knees,” Dante directed. “Suri is going to suck your cock.”
Feeling shaky with nerves, Jericho did as he was told. Braced in the middle of the bed with his knees spread, he watched Suri smile as she lowered her head and took his cock into her mouth.
She felt so good! Her tongue swirled around his head. She nipped the sensitive skin, suckling as her head bobbed up and down. He focused on her mouth caressing his shaft. Moments later, his lover’s arm wrapped around his belly and bent him slightly forward.
Dante’s big hand smoothed down Jericho’s spine and slid down the crack of his ass. Jericho tightened reflexively, but Dante went for his heavy testicles. Dante tugged his sac before pressing against the stretch of skin between Jericho’s asshole and his balls.
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