Chapter 20

20

Abel

Harlow is skittish as fuck, but she drops the robe and walks to the bed, her chin raised as if about to step in front a firing squad. I check out her round ass and thick thighs, enjoying the little jiggle with each step. She’s built like the mythical Amazons the faction in Sabine Valley get their name from, but my girl likes to eat. I love that shit.

I lift my gaze to find Eli watching her, too. For just a moment, before he locks himself down, he has the expression of a man standing in a desert who’s just laid eyes on an oasis. No matter how ugly things have gotten between them, he obviously still loves her. The thought sends an unwelcome pang through me. Love or no, he fucked up his chance. She’s mine now.

They both are.

Like I told him earlier, I don’t give a fuck what the status quo was when it was just the two of them. I’m here now. Harlow can think what she wants. Eli can keep hatching plans in that impressive brain of his. It doesn’t matter. I’m not going anywhere.

Harlow skirts the edge of the mattress closest to Eli and climbs on the other side. She scoots to the top of the bed and leans against the headboard. She catches me watching her and raises an eyebrow. “Big talk, but you’re just standing there.”

There you are.

I give her a slow smile, enjoying the way I can see her catch her breath even from across the room. I stalk forward and grip the back of Eli’s neck when I come even with him. He tenses like he’s going to throw me off, but I don’t miss the way goose bumps rise over his exposed skin. Eli likes being handled roughly, and fuck if that knowledge doesn’t tie me in knots.

“The same thing I said in her room goes for you, too.” I say it quietly. “At any point, if you want this to stop, say so and it stops.” No matter how much I want to punish him, to fight him until we’re at a standstill, I’m not interested in forcing anyone into my bed who doesn’t want to be there.

He leans back against my grip, just a little. “Even after all this time, you know me better than that, Abel.”

“Do I?” The question feels ripped from my chest. I thought I knew him, once upon a time. I thought I knew a lot of things.

Eli twists a little. Not trying to break my hold on him; just moving enough that he can meet my gaze. “People don’t really change. You’re the one who told me that.”

I remember that night. How could I forget? It’s the night everything changed. My father had just pulled some fucked up shit with Cohen, and I’d had to step in. It’d fucked me up. I knew my father was a monster, but having that violence turned on us had rocked my world view in a way I wasn’t prepared for. I was twenty-seven at the time.

That was the night that I realized working at the ground level to change things in the faction would never do a damn thing as long as Bauer Paine ruled.

Eli’s the one who found me on the roof, sitting there in silence in the freezing night, unable to release the storm of emotions inside me. He’d offered me what comfort I’d allow, sitting close with his shoulder a reassuring steadiness against mine, and asked me what I wanted to do. I’d told him that people didn’t change and my father is a threat.

Threats needed to be eliminated.

I still don’t really understand how the fuck we ended up here. If people don’t really change, then how could the man who was always the steady presence at my side suddenly shove a blade in my back?

I search his face, but there are no answers there. Eli always did have a damn good poker face, but tonight isn’t about digging into the useless whys of the past.

It’s about Harlow.

I’m not quite sure how we landed in this strange place of agreement, but as I lean in, he relaxes into my touch. I study the look in his hazel eyes. Fierceness and determination and no small amount of lust. It’ll do. I give his neck a squeeze. “You’ve been fucking up.”

“So you keep telling me.”

I use my hold on him to turn his face to Harlow. “Seems to me you have some groveling to do.”

She shakes her head. “Not interested.”

“Not with his words, sweetheart. With his mouth.” I guide him forward until our knees hit the mattress. “What do you say, Eli? Gods know you’ll fuck this up if you talk, so just nod if you want Harlow’s pussy all over your face.”

He shoots me a hard look. “Watch yourself, Abel.”

Fuck, but I like it that his charming facade has cracked. I can’t help but poke at him further. “Nah, I’m good.” I give him a little push, urging him onto the mattress. “Unless you just want to sleep. Seems like a waste with all this potential in bed.”

He snorts. “You mean with you in bed.”

“I said what I said.” I focus on Harlow. “What do you say, sweetheart? You willing to let him do a bit of oral groveling?”

She’s a bit too wide around the eyes, looking as spooked as she did earlier. It’s like now that the worst of her rage has drained away, she’s easily bruised. At least easily bruised by Eli. All I have to do is kindle that angry flame. I give her an arrogant grin. “Though if you’re not in the mood to play, you can just scoot on over, and we’ll have some fun without you.”

“Fun,” Eli grinds out.

“Sure. Fun. What else would you call me fucking your ass?”

He startles and gives me a long look. “Well, when you put it like that, how am I supposed to argue?”

“Easy answer: you’re not.” I wave at his hips. “Lose the pants, Eli.” While he does that, I round the bed to Harlow. She’s blinking up at me as if she’s never seen me before. Earlier, in the bathroom, the gentleness felt right. It won’t work for this situation. I put one knee on the mattress and lean down to wrap my fist around her long hair, tugging her head back and baring her neck. “I meant what I said before. You change your mind, you let us know.”

Her breathing picks up, and she licks her lips. “This isn’t going to change anything.”

“No shit.” I lean down and drag my mouth over the long line of her throat. “But it’ll let loose a little steam. Tomorrow we can go back to being at one another’s throats. What do you say?” I can’t pretend that I’m entirely selfless when it comes to this. Shit with Eli is complicated in the extreme, and I’m not sure what the hell will happen if it’s just the two of us fucking. Blow jobs are one thing. I can maintain some control there. But taking his ass? Having so much of me pressed against so much of him? Even as jaded as I am, I can’t deny that it might shift things. We have too much messy history.

With Harlow in the mix, it gives us both something to focus on that isn’t each other.

Her eyes narrow, some of the shocked look bleeding out of them. She reaches up almost tentatively and presses her hand to the center of my chest. “Do you want me to do this?”

Half a dozen replies spring to mind, every one of them designed to increase the distance between us. I don’t know how she got so close to me, but even if I mean to keep her, vulnerability isn’t on the agenda. I’ve learned what happens when you trust people, and evidence of that is kneeling on the other side of the bed, watching us with a frown on his handsome face. Eli’s betrayal carved my heart out because I cared about him. Because I trusted him. If I give Harlow the same opportunity, will she slice out what’s left?

I’ll never find out.

Still, when I finally answer her, it’s the truth that emerges. “Yes.”

She searches my face and finally nods. “Okay.”

It strikes me that Harlow trusts me to see us through. That thought might stagger me if I think about it too closely, so I shove it aside. I snap my fingers at Eli. “You know what to do.”

“You snap your fingers like that again, and I’m going to break them.”

I grin. “You’re welcome to try.” This is normal. Or, rather, the new normal. Sharp edges and sharper words.

Instead of answering, he crawls across the bed to Harlow. Without a word, Eli hooks her thighs and drags her down the mattress, settling between her thighs with an ease that speaks of familiarity. He doesn’t say anything to her, doesn’t hesitate, just wedges his hands beneath her ass and lowers his mouth to her pussy. She gasps a little and starts to reach for his head before she seems to catch herself. She fists the sheets on either side of her body as he works her with his tongue, a pretty pink stealing over her skin.

They look good together. Really fucking good. He’s all long, lean strength, and she’s soft skin and parted lips and a mass of light red hair.

They look like mine.

I pull off my pants and drop them onto the floor. There are a thousand ways to play this, but I let instinct guide me. Eli would call that being impulsive, but my impulsiveness has landed both him and Harlow in my bed, so it’s not like that’s a deterrent. I crawl onto the mattress and, after considering my options, I kneel at Harlow’s side and palm her generous breasts together. Her pretty pink nipples look neglected, so I lean down and taste first one and then the other, alternating with licks and sucks and little nips. She moans, and then her fingers are in my hair, holding me to her as Eli eats her pussy.

She’s all flushed skin and harsh breathing, but he’s just playing around right now, teasing her. He’s not actively trying to make her come. I shift down so that I can skate my hand up the lean line of Eli’s spine. He tenses beneath my touch, but the moment I wrap my hand around the back of his neck, he gives a growl that has me going painfully hard. Fuck, he’s sexy, even if he drives me up a wall when our cocks aren’t involved.

I keep hold of his neck as I move to stretch out on top of him. We’re nearly the same height, which puts his pert little ass right against my cock while still giving me access to his neck and Harlow’s thighs. I give her a light nip, and she jumps. There’s almost too much sensation, almost too much pleasure, and we’ve barely gotten started.

She presses herself up onto her elbows and looks down her body at us. I’d pay good money to see it from her perspective, because her eyes go wide, and she bites her bottom lip. It takes her two tries to speak. “Are you going to fuck his ass, Abel?”

Beneath me, Eli goes perfectly still. I plant my fists on either side of his ribs and leverage up a little, pressing my cock more firmly against his ass. “Do you want me to?” The question is for both of them.

Harlow nods so fast, her hair flies around her head. “Yes.”

I give another slow thrust against Eli’s ass. “And you?”

He lifts his head just enough to turn his face in my direction. “Yes.” A ground-out word, permission to do something I’ve wanted for far longer than I care to admit. This feels different than him sucking my cock. This whole night feels different than anything I’ve done with either of them to date.

This could change everything.

I want to take his ass, want it so bad, my hands are shaking, but I’m also not ready for this to end too soon. I bite the sensitive spot where his neck meets his shoulder. “Then earn it.”

He curses, and then his mouth is back at Harlow’s pussy. There’s no finesse this time. He’s going after her like salvation is on the other side of her orgasm. I snake one hand around and down his stomach to wrap around his cock. He jolts, and then his hips are moving, fucking my hand and grinding back against my cock as he eats Harlow out.

Fuck, it feels good. Having his whole body available to me. Building each of our pleasure in steady, rolling waves. All of it.

We don’t need much in the way of words when there’s sex involved. And without words, we have nothing to fight over. The past doesn’t matter. The future is nonexistent. There is only the three of us in this bed. Time stands still until we decide otherwise.

“On your back.” I barely sound like myself, but that’s okay.

I slide off Eli, and he wastes no time obeying, rolling onto his back and taking Harlow with him. She lets out a cute little squeal, and then she’s straddling his face. Her surprise flips right back to pleasure as Eli sucks on her clit.

Playing this slow is the right way to go. Teasing Eli until he’s fucking panting for me, until he can’t think past his need for my cock.

I can’t do it.

Every encounter I’ve had with him in the days since Lammas have been tense and filled with things unsaid, things undone. None of that matters right now, not with lust so thick in the air that I can taste it on my tongue.

It’s not the only thing I want to taste on my tongue.

Before I can think too hard about it, I lean down and take Eli’s cock into my mouth. He’s not as girthy as I am, but he’s longer and has a wicked curve. I press my hand to his stomach as I suck him down, enjoying the way his muscles flex beneath my palm as he fights not to arch up into my mouth.

I explore him with my tongue slowly, forcing myself to go easy instead of sucking him off until he loses control and comes. I want that, want it more than I can say, but I can’t shake the feeling that the moment he does, he’ll find a way to end this.

I can’t remember the last time I felt anything resembling peace, the last time I set down the burdens that weigh so heavily on my shoulders. Even when I’m in bed with Harlow, focused entirely on her, part of me has always been wondering what bullshit Eli is getting up to.

They’re both with me tonight. I don’t have to wonder. I don’t have to watch for a knife in the back, not until the sun rises and this strange peace dissipates like the morning dew. Tonight, there’s nothing on the agenda but pleasure and I didn’t expect the sheer relief that knowledge brings.

I’m not ready for this moment to end.

With that in mind, I drag myself off his cock. “Get over here, Harlow.”

She whimpers a little, but I’m not in the mood to argue. I hook her around the waist and lift her off Eli’s face and down to perch astride his hips. “Take his cock.”

“Abel—”

I catch her chin in a light grip and drag my thumb over her bottom lip. “Take his cock, and take mine, too.”

Her breath catches. “I thought you were going to fuck his ass.”

“I am. I will. But he hasn’t earned it yet.” I hold her gaze and give her a slow smile. “Before I fuck him, we’re going to fuck you. Over and over again until you can’t take any more. Right, Eli?”

“Right.”

I skate my hands up her thighs to her hips and look over her shoulder at Eli. “You have lube stashed in here somewhere?”

His grin is slow and arrogant. “Yes…”

“She’s going to need it.”

Harlow’s jaw drops, but she recovers quickly, her expression settling into the familiar challenge that I enjoy so much. She looks at him and then at me. “You think you can outlast me?”

“Sweetheart, I know we can. Now, where’s the lube?”