by Roxy Harte
I swallow hard, dreading the favor she is going to ask. A million scenarios circle through my brain as I consider the wildly fluctuating state of US-foreign affairs. The one post I don’t consider is the one she gives me.
“Starting Monday morning you will be my personal assistant. I’ll be announcing my bid for president.”
My jaw drops. I never saw that coming.
“Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In return, after your service to me and your country, you too will have your freedom.”
I am astonished but not left entirely speechless. “You have bodyguards.”
“I want you.”
I don’t miss her meaning.
“Is a few years service really asking too much when it guarantees both you and your brother retirement?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good. You have the weekend to get your affairs in order. Report to my Washington office Monday morning at seven a.m.”
“Washington? DC?”
“That is where the job is.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Military haircut. Clean shaven.”
I stand, trying hard to not show any reaction. Too late I realize my hands are fists. She meets me beside the door, giving me that look. She lusts me, pure and simple. I force myself to relax my hand before reaching to stroke her face. I whisper, “Glorianna,” and my voice cracks with emotion I wouldn’t even begin to be able to express. Fuck, fuck, fuck. There is no way out of this assignment without perilous consequences. Of course, I could kill her…but she knows and I know…I won’t. We’ve shared a strange relationship for longer than I can remember. More than a decade. I aided her rise to a place of power and when I needed rescuing, she rescued me. She never asked for payment. She gave me a cushy cover story and few assignments.
“I’m not getting any younger, my sweet prince.”
I take her face in my hands, hugging her cheeks with my palms as I gaze deeply in her eyes. Why are you doing this?
“She’ll wait for you. I’ve seen in her eyes how deeply she loves you.”
I go completely still, feeling threatened.
“She carries your twins.”
I’m barely breathing.
“Of course your sons will go to all the right schools, become skilled just as you and Nikos became skilled.”
My heart lodges high in my throat, choking me. I never believed she’d ever ask so much. I have Hektor and Nikkos, neither of which have been demanded into service.
“Twins have been and always will be a most valuable asset,” she says with great exaggeration. “Congratulations, Aristotle.”
I release her face to keep myself from breaking her neck. Without a word, I leave the office. There is a part of me that I never allow to react and that part is screaming in my brain so loudly that no other thought registers except that I must flee and take everyone I hold dear with me. The saner, less primal, part of me knows that there is no safe place on the planet I can run to.
My head is spinning as I am led down a long corridor to a very public lobby. My brother is being guarded by a Marine but is allowed to stand and exit the building with me. A taxi is waiting at the curb. Nikos waits until we are safely ensconced in the back seat before asking, “What did she say?”
In Greek I lay out the bottom line.
“You aren’t going,” he insists.
“There isn’t any other option.”
“I can think of a few.”
I look at him not believing his naïveté. “And have it never end? This is our way out of a profession from which no one retires.” I don’t mention her insinuation regarding my unborn children. The answer to that conundrum is best saved for another day. I stare out at the passing scenery, trying to figure out how in the hell I break the news of this latest disaster to Garrett and Sophia.
“You trust her to keep her word?” he asks.
“Yes.” I don’t look at him.
“And what do I do while you play secretary games?”
For a second the ocean comes into view and I am filled with melancholy for Greece. I want to pack up everyone I love and hideout in one of the rural towns of my youth. The taxi turns and I am again left with buildings to look at. I turn to face my brother. “You’ll take over my assignment here. I’ll get you settled in at Lewd Larry’s, bartender not Dominant. Trust me, it’s a fairly cushy place to work.”
He shakes his head and crosses his arms. “No way. I want out. I’m not like you, I can’t be a sleeper, waiting for months, maybe years for a job. I’ll die of boredom. A bullet between my eyes would be better.”
“No. It wouldn’t. Damn it, Nikos, you survived Cobra, you can survive Lewd Larry’s.”
The taxi pulls up to the entrance of Garrett’s building and I climb out. I wait for Nikos to join me but he makes no move to do so. I duck my head back in. “What are you doing?”
“You want me to go in with you?”
I shrug. “They’re going to have to meet you. You’re going to be working for them.”
He shakes his head. “This is a horrible idea. Have you considered what you’re going to do if they refuse to hire me?”
“I’ll take your ass back to Glorianna and she can find you a job. So you better go in and make them fall head over heels in love with you.”
With a heavy sigh he begrudgingly climbs out of the taxi and follows me through the opulent lobby. As we enter the elevator he demands, “I’ve been living in a dump and you come home to this every night?”
I roll my eyes. “You blew the roof off the tallest building in Shanghai and you think I would even dream of setting you up here? I don’t think so.”
He bobbles his head and repeats what I say mockingly, insisting, “Shanghai wasn’t my fault.”
The door is answered by Enrique whose eyes go wide when he sees Nikos. We push by him, leaving him gaping. Entering the living room, I see Sophia stretched out on one of the sofas, asleep. Garrett is staring out over the city, watching a glorious sunset.
“Gar?” I say softly, getting his attention.
He pivots on his heel and his expression goes from jubilant to angry in seconds, but he doesn’t say a word.
I leave my brother standing between foyer and living room to embrace my lover. Hugging him, I whisper, “We need to talk.”
He eyes Nikos over my shoulder.
Releasing him, I say, “May I introduce my brother?”
Nikos steps forward with his hand outstretched, a wide smile on his face. “I’m so glad to finally meet you. I want to thank you in person for saving my life.”
Garrett shakes his hand, though by the look on his face he would have preferred to not have.
“I’ve heard so much about you…from Thomas and George. I think my brother is very blessed to have you as a friend, Mr. Lawrence.”
Garrett takes a deep breath and releases Nikos’s hand. “What do I call you?”
“Joshua. Joshua Lambert.”
I hear Sophia gasp, though I can’t see her through Garrett and my brother. When Garrett goes to her and joins her on the couch the blood has drained from her face. She is staring at Nikos like she’s seen a ghost…or maybe a monster. In her mind I imagine that is exactly what she’s conjured, a monster capable of ripping the ménage apart. My job will be to convince her to not take her anger and disappointment out on him after I leave.
“Enrique?” I call, and he steps into sight.
“Sir?”
“Could you show Joshua to the guest room and make sure he has fresh towels? I promised him he could freshen up before dinner.”
Garrett and Sophia share a look and both of them are on the same page for the first time in a long time. Neither of them want Nikos under their roof a moment longer than necessary. Thankfully, Enrique doesn’t question, he does what he is told, leading Nikos from the room.
“I can’t believe you brought him here!”
I am shocked by the vehemence in Sophia’s voice. Even Garrett gives her a
harsh look for her honest reaction though given time he would have said the same thing. I kneel before her, taking her hands in mine.
She jerks them away. “I thought I might never see you again. When you called you scared the life out of me. And now here you are with him.”
“When I phoned I wasn’t sure I would have another opportunity. If I’d have known the way things were going to have turned out, I wouldn’t have called.”
“So, you’re saying you were in danger…enough danger that you might have never had a chance to tell me you loved me again…and you called to say the words one more time?”
I nod and she slaps me.
“Damn you!”
I drop my face, knowing I deserve her outrage. I’m just surprised she hasn’t cracked under the pressure before now. Garrett wraps her in his arms so that she can’t move, and she struggles against him. “Kitten, please, calm down. It isn’t good for you or the babies to be this upset.”
“Did you hear what he said? He thought he might die. That’s why he called. I told you that was why, and I was right. He could have died today.”
He kisses her forehead, holding her tighter. “He isn’t dead. He’s here now.”
Her face crumbles as she demands, “What about next time?”
I bury my face in her lap, hoping she will be able to forgive me when I give her the rest of the news. A sob escapes before I can stop it. I have never been asked to do something this emotionally difficult. I don’t want to go on this assignment and if there was any way not to I wouldn’t. My tears shock both Garrett and Sophia into silence.
I wrap my arms tightly around her folded legs, hugging her, holding on to her as all the loss I’ve experienced the last year hits me. She leans over me, hugging me back. “What is it, Ari? You’re really scaring me now.”
I sit back on my haunches and wipe my face. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day, and I’m afraid I don’t have very good news.”
“O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard. Being in night, all this is but a dream. Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.”
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Chapter 41
Thomas
“Take her with you.”
Garrett strides into the bedroom, finding me packing. I can’t say his demand takes me by surprise, but I find it disappointing. I’d hoped he’d step back into the game. Since announcing her pregnancy, it seems he’s been ready to walk away and allow us to be a happy couple, but neither Sophia or I want that. I answer, “That isn’t an option,” not even bothering to look up from the shirt I’m folding.
“She isn’t happy with me. When you are away, she mopes for you constantly.”
Grinding my jaw tight, I meet his gaze and silently count to ten. Then I count to twenty, knowing she is in the other room and the last thing she needs on the night of my departure, especially following the scare of a potential miscarriage, is the two of us butting heads. Under my glare, he flinches.
“Tell me what to do, damn it, because I’m out of ideas.”
I carefully lay the folded shirt into my suitcase before walking to him. We’ve been in this power play before, the moment when time slows and the walls around us throb, waiting, matching the rhythm of our heartbeats. Usually, we end up beating the hell out of each other or fucking each other’s brains out. Today we have time for neither. I step close, crowding him, but he doesn’t step back. I caress his face. “Do you believe it would be any different for me should the situation be reversed? Do you not understand that she loves us both fully with the divided halves of herself?”
He snorts derisively. “You make her sound schizophrenic.”
I hug his face between my palms, forcing him to meet my gaze. “We are all two halves of one whole, Gar. Light. Dark. Most of us fight to unite ourselves and find balance. She fights to keep hers separate.”
He whispers, “I don’t want you to leave. Not like this. Not knowing when or even if you will be able to come back for short visits or whether you will even be permitted to return for the birth of the babies.”
I push my forehead against his. The emotion he is holding back is palpable. He’s killing me. Sophia crying in the other room I can survive. But this? It’s worse, harder to walk away from. “She will grieve. Mourn my absence with her as I did when you left.”
A tear finally slides down his cheek and the force of need swelling the room breaks. I sigh, relieved, knowing he has accepted the fact that I am leaving and I’m not taking Sophia with me. I kiss him, his mouth warm and pliant beneath my lips.
He whispers against my mouth, “Don’t go.”
“Gar,” I whisper, “I’m no happier about this than you. I’d give anything to make this assignment not so.”
* * * *
Sophia has said nothing and that worries me more than Garrett’s open grief. I think perhaps we should call George, but Garrett convinces me that the three of us should spend a final night in each other’s arms and assures me that after I leave he will call George if it is deemed necessary.
After a quiet dinner, Nikos excuses himself and goes back to the guest bedroom. He feels horrible and I know he blames this mess on himself, but the honest truth is that I wouldn’t even have the relationship I have with these two people I love so much if he hadn’t taken my place a decade ago. I was only able to disappear because of his sacrifice.
Now, it’s my turn.
We go to the bedroom agreeing on no penetration even though Dr. Wang has said he feels that all normal activities could be resumed. I’m not willing to take a chance, neither is Garrett. At this point it is fairly obvious that Kitten will have to be content with mere servitude as both Garrett and I share the agreement that no level of play is safe following the episode of bleeding.
Standing between us, she is almost unresponsive as we both kiss her. Garrett in front of her, kissing her lips, while I stand behind her kissing her nape. I bite softly, eliciting a moan, and she turns between us to kiss my mouth.
I am glad when Garrett takes it in stride and continues to caress her, rubbing her arms and breasts and belly through her clothing. I lose myself in her mouth, enjoying the sweetness of her kisses. She whispers, “I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know, baby, I know.”
I pull her shirt over her head and kiss her skin as it’s revealed. Garrett unsnaps her bra and draws it down her arms. I sit down on the bed and pull her forward to suck her nipples. She gasps and moans, so sensitive due to the pregnancy. I am not sure whether I am causing her pleasure or pain, but I don’t stop.
Behind her Garrett is similarly tormenting her, alternating between biting her neck and sucking her earlobe. She exclaims, “God! Oh God.”
I shimmy down her stretchy pants and help her to step free. Garrett drops to his knees and starts massaging her legs, rubbing his hands and lips over the backs of her thighs. She twists her fingers into my hair and forces me to meet her mouth, kissing me with need verging on desperation.
I drop back onto the bed, pulling her with me. Garrett moves onto the bed as well, helping me pull her into position. Rolling her beneath me, I crawl between her legs. I want her desperately but settle for licking her slick folds. Garrett climbs around so that he can kiss her lips while I worship her labia and clit. She moans softly. “Master, I want to suck you.”
I am not surprised by her request, it is a frequent one asked of both of us. He maneuvers around to straddle her face. She takes his length into her mouth and makes soft happy sounds deep in her throat which makes my erection tighten painfully.
I don’t stop licking her, not even when his mouth joins mine in the task.
Garrett and I share a kiss over her throbbing pussy, both of us smelling of her, before return to the task of helping her find pleasure. Our tongues collide and tangle more than once and I think that the sensation of both of us licking her does it for all of us.
Her orgasm starts, quickly followed by Garrett’s. I take my own cock in hand, the tou
ch barely necessary to find my own release. My orgasm is anticlimactic, one step closer to having to say goodbye.
It takes a moment for us to all rearrange so that we are lined up with our heads again on pillows. I am in the middle, making an immediate escape impossible, not that I want to go. That’s the problem. My mind flies through a dozen different scenarios, all of them ending with me, Garrett, and Sophia lying under a hot sun on a foreign beach with icy frou-frou drinks in hand. I say for what seems like the hundredth time, “You both know I don’t want to go.”
Too soon it is time for me to go. I still have to get Nikos settled in at Lewd Larry’s. I keep an emergency sleeping room there at The Attic and it was agreed by both Garrett and Sophia that they want him there. In part I think they believe that if he is there I will most certainly come back. Silly on their part, I wish I could make them see that they are all the draw I need. They are my family now as much as Nikos.
We are both quiet as Blake drives us to the club. I as lost in my thoughts as he is in his. Both of us worried about what direction our new roles will take us.
“They don’t know that fucking the senator is part of the job description, do they?”
“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
The night air is a cool, sensual caress on my face as I step from my car. A bass beat throbs in the air and we haven’t even entered the building yet. It will be Nikos’s first impression of his new place of employment, and what an impression the place is capable of making tonight. The Lewd Larry’s crowd wraps around the block, waiting to get in.
“This is it?” he asks.
“This is it,” I answer, looking up the side of the brick façade, four-story warehouse to a brilliant blue flickering neon sign that says it all: Lewd Larry’s Fetish Fantasy.
I use my staff key to get us into a secondary entrance that leads onto the spacious dance floor, the heart of the casual observer’s Lewd Larry’s experience. Multi-level dance stages are outfitted with dance poles and surrounded by brass dance cages that offer eye candy in the form of barely clothed professional dancers. A club DJ on a raised dais is responsible for whipping the dance crowd into a frenzy, playing the hottest dance mixes and filling their minds with naughty ideas for what they might want to do in one of the secluded alcoves, should their partners be willing. A smokey haze fills the dance space and reflects a blaze of alternating colored lights. The overall mood is high class, mysterious, and very sensual.