9. Alessia

Chapter 9

Alessia

Warmth bathes me in a yellow light when I roll over in the large bed. A soft mattress beneath me, plush pillows under my head, and the heaviness of two male arms wrapped around me leave me secure in the knowledge that last night wasn’t just a one-night affair.

It also reminds me that it wasn’t a dream. It’s all real. I’m home, with the two men I love, and I know for a fact they love me too. It wasn’t a teenage crush, it was something more, something real. And that makes me smile. The memories of last night flicker through my mind like a reel, playing over and over again. The butterflies that have always been awake and alive around Julien and Adrien are once more fluttering through me.

In the light of day, I know we need to talk about what happened. And even though it may be something we don’t want to delve into, I know we need to speak about how this is going to play out.

Once the will is read, they want to leave, but I don’t. Deep down, I believe it will only alienate them from the organization, and from the men who have stayed to show loyalty to the two of them. And that means we should show them the respect they deserve.

My parents weren’t the most understanding. There were things we did that were wrong, but then again, it was their doing. If they’d been honest, perhaps we wouldn’t have wanted each other in such a way. But when my gaze flicks toward the boys, I know it’s a lie. I would’ve wanted them anyway.

Most people believe love is black and white. That’s where they’re wrong. It’s never been more colorful than it is right now. There are no longer rules as to who you can love. Your heart is stolen by someone, anyone, and there’s no way of stopping it.

In history as far back as I’ve learned at school, people have loved. Whether it was the wrong people for them, or the right ones, their hearts couldn’t tell the difference. Of course, there’s always the argument of lust. That violent need that doesn’t allow you to choose. That wanton craving of someone to fulfill the emptiness inside you. That’s what most people believe lust is. Women go out and fuck any man, one-night stands, men end up in a different bed each night, but nobody finds that constant.

Lust.

Love.

However, you want to label it, there’s a human element behind it. The primal need of any person is to have another beside you, under you, inside you. There’s no denying that any man, any woman you ask will say the same. Yes, perhaps society tells us who those significant others are meant to be.

But what if they’re unexpected?

How do you know somewhere down the line you didn’t accidently kiss a relative you didn’t know?

What if years from now your estranged son walks into your life and makes you fall head over heels? We can never deduce who we’ll love or who’ll be the one to make us feel like the world is right, but never let anyone force you to be with someone you don’t love.

They say loving your family is a crime.

But if you think about it, spending your life unhappy is more of an injustice than anything I’ve ever encountered.

There’s never a right and wrong.

There’s never a good and bad.

That’s what society tells you. Love is love. No matter the color, the religion, the beliefs, the blood. Julien’s hand grips my breast, his fingers tease my nipple, and I have to bite back a moan. Both men still with their eyes closed look no different than men I could possibly meet in a bar.

The only difference between those men and these two is their bloodline, their DNA. But deep down, they’re just men. Who’s to say that either of them wants me anyway? Our night together was just that—one night of pleasure. One night of lust.

I may decide to renounce my crown tomorrow. Once the will is read and father’s final wishes are announced, I may even be disowned for making my stepbrothers desire me. Closing my eyes, I recall that night.

“I want to kiss you.” Julien’s smile is everything. Adrien is sitting behind me, holding me in his arms. Eighteen and never been kissed. I’ve heard the songs. I’ve learned the rhymes. But the boy before me wants to kiss me. Who am I to deny him? Yes, we’ve grown up as brother and sister, but as we’ve been told time and again, I’m no relation to them, a child of their new mother brought into the castle.

“But, once you kiss me, you can never be my brother again,” I tell Julien. It’s true. If we do take this step, there’s no going back to where we used to be. We’ll be so much more than friends, more than stepsiblings. We’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend. He leans in and gently presses his lips to mine. The flavor of his tongue when it darts into my mouth makes me smile against his mouth.

I close my eyes, pouting my lips, and then the shift in the bed happens, and the lips on mine are no longer Julien’s, but Adrien’s. His kiss is sweet, gentle, and kind, but his hands roam my underdeveloped breasts. At eighteen, I haven’t truly filled out yet, I’m only a small A-cup, which makes the boys at school laugh.

Adrien’s tongue darts into my mouth, making me gasp in shock. Julien leans in, his lips at my ear as he informs me, “We’ve wanted to kiss you for so long, Alessia. Let him taste you.” The words, far too mature for my teenage ears, make everything in my chest and belly flutter wildly. It’s as if there are a million birds flapping their wings.

My body is alive. There’s heat everywhere. Between my legs, down my spine. My toes curl as pleasure seeps through every inch of me. Julien’s mouth finds my earlobe, suckling it into his mouth. His teeth biting down, causing more tingles to race to the center of my body, right between my legs.

I’m flying. I’m soaring so high.

My bedroom door slams against its hinges, and my mother’s voice crashes me back down to earth.

“What in God’s name is going on in here?” she shouts.

We separate as if acid was thrown on us. My mother’s voice is cold and rigid, angry as she storms into my room. Julien is the far corner to my left, Adrien to my right, and I’m on the bed, still disheveled from being kissed and feeling like I’d never felt before.

“Get out. Both of you.” Her order doesn’t leave room for explanation. It doesn’t allow us to attempt an excuse. Her gaze burns me, scorching my sinful act. Only, I don’t know what I did wrong. Besides kiss a boy before I was married.

“Mama—”

“Don’t play that innocent card with me, you little whore. How long has this been going on?” She grips my shirt, throttling me back and forth. Tears prick my eyes. “You know what? I don’t care. You’re going to St. Agatha’s for girls.”

“But, Mama ? —”

“You’ve committed the ultimate sin. Your stepbrothers are your blood. This… This… Oh, God, forgive us.” Her words slam into my chest as if she punched me herself. Only, she’s only given me the truth. I can see it in her eyes. Right then and there, I realize I’ve kissed the boys that are not only my brothers in name, but in blood as well.

“ Gattino .” Adrien’s voice comes from behind me. I’d fallen asleep and rolled farther away from them. A shiver trickles over me, and he pulls me closer. His warmth, mixed with the way his hand travels over my breasts, makes me smile. “You need to stay right there,” he murmurs in my ear.

Another hand finds my hip, then gently moves its way down to my core, fingers dipping between my legs, playing me like an instrument, eliciting a melody of my moans. Adrien grows hard behind me, his cock between my thighs, and I feel Julien gripping him fiercely, stroking Adrien’s shaft against my pussy.

“Tell me, Gattino ,” Adrien growls along my neck, his lips brushing featherlight kisses, making me shiver. “This organization is as much yours as it is ours. There’s no reason for you to run, to leave. You belong here. And even if we have to walk away from this house, we will do so together. Tell us you’ll stay and rule alongside us.”

His request is easily answered. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I love them. Because of my parents, we fell in love when we should never have. But there’s no going back now. We are three hearts that will never be broken.

“I love you both,” I murmur as Adrien slips into me. We’re connected once more. He thrusts slowly, not fucking me, but making love to me. “I’ll stay and rule between you. The organization is ours, it’s the legacy we have to carry forward from now on.”

“Then it’s settled,” Julien says as he looks down at me from where he’s poised, ready to pounce like a predator about to capture his prey.

“It is,” Adrien agrees with a nod.

“And that means you’ll take us both again,” Julien announces, the corner of his mouth tilting into a sly grin as he moves around the bed. Lying in front of me, I’m cocooned between them, wanted and desired.

I’ve seen them together. I’ve seen how much they love each other, and now they’re showing me how much they love me. Julien spreads my legs wide, almost painfully so, as our brother pulls his wet cock from my core and nudges my tight back entrance.

Adrien moves slowly, gently nudging himself inside me. As soon as I’m filled, Julien positions himself at my pussy, sliding into me swiftly, my arousal allowing him to move quickly. And I feel drunk. Flying through the clouds with both men inside me.

We’ve taken the step. We’ve taken everything we believed and smashed it to the ground, and I whimper when they begin to move in sync with each other. In and out. I’m taken, I’m claimed, I’m loved.