The Beast: A Wicked Villains Novel

by Katee Robert

  That control is what allowed me to date Isabelle at the same time as Gaeton. I wanted her. Eventually, I loved her. Competing for her love with him the same way we competed for everything else—power, status, money—felt like a natural extension of our already contentious relationship. Gaeton’s only role was as adversary. I wouldn’t allow myself to think about him as anything else, couldn’t afford to nurture the flicker of heat that sometimes rose when we fought.

  With every orgasm we draw from Isabelle, I feel that control slipping. We’re playing out a fantasy I never dared allow myself to have, trading her back and forth again and again. Working together in the pursuit of pleasure instead of being at odds. For her part, Isabelle takes it all with a devious glee that I’ve never seen in her before.

  It doesn’t line up with what I thought I knew about this woman. When we made this deal yesterday, I wanted her, yes, but I also wanted to punish her. What kind of princess would want to be fucked dirty the way Gaeton and I crave?

  Apparently our princess does.

  I pin her against my chest as Gaeton eats her out, working on her seventh orgasm. He lost his shirt somewhere along the way, but we both have our pants on still. Watching him worship Isabelle’s pussy with his mouth…

  Fuck.

  I’m going to keep them. I don’t know how yet, but the vision of a future together is solidifying in my head the same way all my other goals have in the past, so detailed it feels like we’re already there. Me, Gaeton, Isabelle. Together. It’s the path to reach that destination that’s still too murky. We have a lot of shit to unpack.

  “You were right before, princess.” I pitch my voice so Gaeton can hear, and he slows his movements the tiniest bit.

  She arches and whimpers. “I can’t … You don’t seriously want to have a conversation right now?”

  “I do.” I cup her breasts with rough hands. “We decided that you were something pure to hold gently in our hands to avoid breaking. We gave you polite sex because we thought that’s what you deserved.”

  She reaches for Gaeton, but I catch her wrists and guide them to the small of her back. I kiss her temple because I can’t fucking help it. She looks like a mess, every bit of fucking written across her appearance, from her tangled hair to the sweat glistening on her skin to the faint bruises marking her from our mouths and hands. I love it. Just as much as I love that there are faint nail marks on Gaeton’s shoulders from her last orgasm and bruises on his hips and thighs from where I gripped him as I fucked him last night and sucked his cock this morning.

  Mine.

  Not yet. But soon.

  “Make her come, Gaeton. She’s not going to focus on shit until you give her that orgasm you’ve been teasing.”

  He chuckles, and it must feel good because she moans again. Gaeton zeroes in on her clit, sucking and licking. It doesn’t take long before Isabelle bucks and cries out, her body shaking with the force of her orgasm. He softens his touch, giving her one last thorough kiss before he lifts his head and grins at me. He’s covered in her orgasm, and from the smug look on his face, he enjoys it as much as I do. “Seven.”

  “No begging yet.” I carefully adjust her position so she’s not lying on her arms. She lets me, her breathing harsh and body languid.

  His grin widens. “Nope.”

  I press my lips to her temple. “Good girl.”

  “I am … highly motivated.”

  Gaeton shifts to lay his head on her thigh. Most of his body is on the floor while I’m reclining on the couch with Isabelle on top of me. I reach down and feather my fingers through his hair and he closes his eyes for a brief moment. The feeling in my chest strengthens. Mine. Something I never let myself consider possible before last night, and now I can think of nothing else.

  Gaeton is nothing like Cohen. He’s brash and ruthless, but he’s got a heart that’s too fucking big. How it hasn’t gotten him killed before now is a mystery to me. Taking that on is a risk. If someone Gaeton cares about is in the mix, he will always run toward danger without thinking instead of engaging in a tactful retreat to find a better way.

  Cohen was nearly as cold I am these days. The only place he warmed up was in the bedroom, because letting down your guard in Sabine Valley, even during the festivals, is a good way to end up dead. He was the one who set our course, the one I was willing to follow to the grave if need be.

  Both Gaeton and Isabelle need someone to be that for them.

  I stroke her with my other hand, a soft exploratory touch that traces over her hips and stomach and chest. Mine. She makes a sound damn close to a purr and relaxes the last little bit into me.

  I can be the one to set our course. Fuck, I want to be. I am a beast in truth and not only in name, because I don’t give a fuck about plans and promises. I want them both, no matter what we agreed on fewer than twenty-four hours ago. I don’t care what these two people want right now; this is what I want. Both of them for my own. I’m selfish as shit, because I will do whatever it takes—lie, cheat, play dirty—to ensure it happens.

  That starts now.

  “We’re going to play a game, princess.”

  She tenses the tiniest bit, but it’s like her body doesn’t have the strength to hold even that position, because she immediately melts back into me. “We’re playing a game right now.” Her voice is hoarse, but her breathing has mostly returned to normal.

  “Consider this a game within a game.”

  Gaeton is watching me like I’m a snake about to sink my fangs into her. “I’m listening.”

  “Isabelle hasn’t been having her needs met. For every question she answers honestly, she gets that fantasy played out in real life.”

  Interest flares in Gaeton’s dark eyes. “Now I’m really listening.”

  Isabelle gives a shaky little inhale. “You two are asking a lot of honesty from me and not giving me much in return.”

  She’s not wrong, but I give her nipple a light pinch all the same. “If you have a counter proposal, make it.”

  “A truth for a truth. I’ll answer truthfully, but you will, too.”

  Instinct demands I say no. Information is more valuable than money, and the power dynamic between the three of us is already precarious at best. Keeping Isabelle off-center long enough to figure out shit with Gaeton is the safest option.

  But, fuck, I want some answers, too.

  Gaeton gives Isabelle’s thigh one last kiss and sits back, disengaging himself from us. “I’m game if you are.”

  “Yes.” I shift to one side of the couch, taking Isabelle with me. “Get up here.”

  “Sir, yes, Sir.” He rolls his eyes but climbs up to take up two-thirds of the overstuffed couch. Isabelle ends up with her legs draped over his thigh and twisted in my lap so her back is against the arm of the couch. No hiding for any of us in this position.

  I give him a long look and then focus on Isabelle. “Tell us one fantasy that you want above all others.”

  She narrows her eyes. “You’re really starting off with a softball, aren’t you?”

  I shrug as if her answer isn’t one of the more important pieces of information I’m after. “Answer and we will.”

  She frowns like she doesn’t like it, but finally sighs. “Fine.” Isabelle looks out the window across from the couch, and I allow her that space because it means I get the answer I’m looking for. “Gaeton’s kind of hit it on the head with the dirty little slut thing. I want to be … wicked, I guess? The idea of being put on display where anyone could have me, or of walking into a bar and fucking the first person who offers to buy me a drink. I get off to those two fantasies a lot.”

  Fuck.

  If that’s the kind of thing that gets her off—and every piece of evidence I’ve collected for the last twenty-four hours suggests it is—Gaeton and I did her a serious disservice when we were dating. We did ourselves a serious disservice, too.

  I touch her chin, the barest pressure to bring her face back to look at us. “Just men?”


  She blushes a little. “No, not just men. I said the first person who offers me a drink, and I meant it.”

  I glance at Gaeton, and the look on his face mirrors the determination filtering through me. Before our time with her is up, we’re going to ensure we play out both of these fantasies for her. Safely, because a whole hell of a lot can go wrong with the latter. I twist a lock of her hair around my finger. “It’s not enough to fuck a stranger, though, is it? You want to be wicked, you want to be caught. Punished. Told what a dirty little slut you are.”

  She licks her lips. “Yes.”

  Oh yeah, we can work with this. I give her hair a little tug and release her. “Gaeton, you’re up.”

  This should be easy for us. We both play in the Underworld on the regular, and that place has a way of bringing any fantasy a person can dream up to life. Still, there’s nothing simple about this kind of honesty, and I don’t blame him for taking his time answering.

  Gaeton finally huffs out a breath. “Fuck, fine. You know those parties your father used to throw all the time?”

  She tenses, and I can’t help doing the same. For a minute there, I’d almost forgotten that he was gone. Another person I care about, dead and buried, a loss in the war with death that none of us will ever win. Isabelle clears her throat. “Yes, though Cordelia was the one organizing them.”

  “I want you to wear one of those short little numbers, the ones that are just shy of being proper, with no panties under it.” He holds her gaze as he speaks, his expression so intense, it steals my breath. “And halfway through, I want to fuck you in that side room off the ballroom, the one where everyone hangs out at the end of the night. I want to fuck you until I have to cover your mouth to keep you quiet so no one hears you coming only a few feet from the party, and then I want you to walk back out there and make small talk while filled up with my come.” He barely waits a beat. “And then I want to do it again, and again, until we’re caught for real, until someone walks in to find me fucking the pure princess the rough and dirty way you crave.”

  “Oh.”

  It’s not exactly a mundane fantasy, not with the implications of what enacting it would mean, but the answer still surprises me a little. “How long have you been holding on to that one?”

  He transfers his gaze to me. “Since the first time I saw her.”

  I stroke my hand over her hip, aware of the way his fingers play over her legs. “The entire time you were having polite missionary sex with her, you were thinking about defiling her where everyone could see.”

  “Yeah.” He gives a rough laugh. “No one could say she’s anything but mine if they caught us like that.”

  Mine, not ours.

  It’s fine. I have time to bring Gaeton over to my way of thinking. I sit back and give myself five seconds to imagine telling them exactly what I want.

  Once, about a year into us dating, I had shown up unexpectedly to Isabelle’s room to see her. Halfway through opening the door, I realized she wasn’t alone. If I was a better person, I would have left then, but I opened the door a little more so I could see her bed. Where she was riding Gaeton’s cock. I was jealous as fuck, yeah, but it wasn’t nearly as cut and dried as I expected it to be. I wanted to be the one under her, but I also wanted … Him. Fuck, I wanted both of them.

  Playing out my fantasy would be walking into that room. Interrupting them. Punishing them. And then making them continue fucking while I join in.

  I won’t say it. Not now. No matter what I told them, now isn’t the time for honesty from me. Too much truth can harm, and we’re sitting too precariously for me to do something to spin us out of balance.

  So I lie.

  “I always wanted to fuck you in your father’s office.”

  Gaeton shoots me a sharp look, but Isabelle is frowning at both of us. “You two can’t be serious. Both of your fantasies are around me?”

  “You make quite the impression.” Gaeton picks up her foot and starts massaging, digging his thumbs into her arch.

  She gives a sweet little moan. “That feels good.”

  “I know.” He waits for her eyes to slide shut to give me another long look. He knows I’m lying, but apparently he’s content to let it happen. It’s something I’ll no doubt pay for later, so I’ll need to have my story straight by that point and a legitimate reason for breaking the rules of the game I constructed. Gaeton runs his hand up her leg and spreads her wide. “That’s enough of a break, don’t you think, Beast?”

  “But—”

  I nod slowly. “We’ll play another round later.” I cup Isabelle’s breasts. “I’m feeling generous, princess, so I’ll even let you pick how you want to come this time. My hands, mouth, or cock?”

  She shivers. “Your mouth. I want your mouth on me.”

  I shift her to Gaeton’s arms, and he picks her up with no effort, spreading her thighs over his large ones, holding her open for me. It’s not exactly natural to go to my knees before them, but looking up at the tableau they create makes the effort more than worth it. Gaeton guides Isabelle’s hand to his neck, stretching her body out for me, and then he runs those big hands over her. She rolls her hips, instinctively seeking the hard cock he has pressed against her ass. Her pussy is pink and wet from everything we’ve done to it, but she’s nowhere near begging for mercy. Not yet.

  I allow myself a tight smile as I dip down to drag my tongue over her.

  Before we’re through with her, she will be.

  Chapter 14

  Isabelle

  I make it to thirteen before my body gives out and my sanity breaks. I’m stretched out on Gaeton’s chest while Beast fucks me from behind, the friction from Gaeton’s cock in his slacks sending me over the edge. It no longer feels like pleasure, though. I’m so oversensitized, it’s almost pain.

  I bury my face in his chest and sob out the words that will end this. “Stop. Please stop. I can’t take any more.”

  Beast slows, but doesn’t pull out. “You know how to tell us you’ve had enough.”

  I have an instant of resistance to using my safe word, but Beast’s strokes have me rubbing against Gaeton’s cock again and it’s too much. “Candlestick!”

  Just like that, it’s over.

  Beast pulls carefully out of me and Gaeton lifts me and cuddles me in his lap. My body still smarts from all the sensations, and I can’t stop shaking. Against all reason, my eyes burn and the first tear slides out. Gods, I feel so weak right now. “I wanted to last.”

  Beast tucks a blanket around me and Gaeton and then kneels between Gaeton’s thighs to hold me from the other side, so that I’m completely encompassed between the two of them. “You’ll have both our cocks at the same time when you’re ready, Isabelle.”

  The thought makes me shake harder, but I can’t tell if it’s anticipation or trepidation. “Not tonight.”

  Gaeton huffs out a laugh. “No, not tonight.”

  Beast brushes a soft kiss to my lips. It’s the first time he’s kissed me since we started this and I’m too frazzled to enjoy it. “You did well.” He doesn’t move back as he looks at Gaeton, and I have the strangest feeling that he wants to kiss the big man, too. The moment stretches out like taffy, sticky and fraught, until he finally sits back. “I’ll get a bath started. You’re going to be sore.”

  “I already am.”

  He chuckles and gives me one last squeeze. Then he’s gone, his footsteps soundless as he heads into the bedroom.

  Gaeton’s arms tighten around me, the contact tethering me to this world when I feel like I might float away. I make myself as small as possible and cuddle into his chest. “I’m sorry.”

  He rests his chin on the top of my head. “What are you sorry for?”

  Some part of me is clamoring for me to shut my mouth, but the loose feeling has invaded my body and my brain, and I can’t seem to stop. “I never wanted to break anyone’s heart. I was selfish, but I didn’t realize I could hurt you the way I did. You and Beast are larger than life, an
d you always have been.” My eyes are trying to close, ignoring my mind’s command to stay open. “I was selfish and I couldn’t choose. I wanted it all.”

  He strokes a hand down my back. “After today, it’s pretty fucking clear that we all made mistakes.”

  That should make me feel better. I don’t want to be the only one who got things wrong before. Except it doesn’t. Time peels back and we’re in my room again, Gaeton angrily pacing with a ring box in his hand and me perched on the edge of my bed, my heart in my throat. I loved him so much, but I could only see that ring as a cage I’d never escape from. I couldn’t give him the answer he needed then, and he walked away from me because of it.

  I’m not sure I can give him the answer he needs this time, either.

  “I don’t know what to do,” I whisper.

  “You don’t have to know what to do for twelve more days.” His hold tightens and he lifts me as he stands. “You have time.”

  Time. I might laugh if I didn’t think I’d start sobbing. “We dated for two years and all that time didn’t make things clearer.”

  “We weren’t operating with all the information then. We are now.” He carries me through his bedroom and to the bathroom where Beast has the massive tub halfway filled already. The thing is obscenely large, more hot tub than actual bathing tub. Gaeton pauses. “Straight into the tub?”

  “Yes.” Beast walks to us and I’m still trying to figure out what he’s doing when Gaeton’s pants hit the ground and he steps naked into the tub.

  The first hit of hot water makes me whimper but as he settles in behind me and coaxes me to stretch out my legs, the warmth starts to ease my shakes. I let loose a shuddering sigh and relax against Gaeton’s chest. The tub is easily large enough for him to stretch out fully and leave room left over. “Orgy-sized bed. Orgy-sized tub.”

  His chuckle warms me as much as the water. “Gaeton-sized bed. Gaeton-sized tub.” He hooks an arm around my waist and shifts sideways a little. “Get in here, Beast. We all could use it.”