13

Andre

"If you do not pull your head out of your ass and make love to—"

"Your wife?" I drawled as I did not even look up from what I was working on.

Ian stormed over to the desk I had in his study now and slapped his hand on it so I looked at him. I flinched at the anger in his eyes. Things had been going so well with Mabel.

Since her big event opening the women's center, we had gone on over a dozen lovely dates. It had been weeks of escorting her to events and shops, checking out a new dessert place or even an apothecary that she heard was a fraud that she wanted us to bust.

I'd loved every second of it. I even joined them in bed again, but it was only for kisses and holding her. When it was time for more… My answer was always the same—there was no need to rush. And there was not. We had been through a lot, and she had doubted me. I'd been hurt. Turning to the physical side of our relationship that worked well could do damage to us.

And I would not risk that.

Not when it was both of them on the line. I would lose them both, and I would not survive that, so I had to do this right.

Ian studied me and sensed something more than a human could like he always did. He huffed and moved around the desk, running his fingers through my hair which I loved. He always knew when I was too stressed and did it perfectly.

Switching roles to a minister was mostly done now, and it had been harder than I had thought. Giving over the role of commander to my best captain had been… I hadn't been ready to let go. I hadn't even thought I'd need to at first, but I could not do both. I was still head of the police, but he was now the commander of the day-to-day operations.

I'd wanted the progress, but I actually loved my job the way it should have been. Unfortunately, it took me to be the person to make it work the way it should have, and now someone else got the job I loved. That was life though, and I was happy this would be so much better for the officers of the kingdom.

Both Ian and Mabel were very supportive and understanding. The only thing they'd both said was they would miss seeing me in uniform because of how handsome I looked. Ian promised to take me to his tailor and the suits and tuxes he would have made for me would be just as attractive.

Goof. But it had helped soothe my hurt that they had left me behind.

"Andre, you have to move past this," Ian said gently. "Our wife."

"She has not said that. You did. You are steamrolling this and I want it too, but Mabel has not accepted it." I pushed his hand away so I could focus and stood even to put space between us.

Ian frowned, staring at the distance between us now. "Then you need to use your words and talk with her, Andre."

"I have," I defended. "I have told her there's no need to rush and—"

Anger filled his eyes. "Yes, and she's been asking me if she's gained weight." He nodded when I froze. "Or if she looks okay or is too tired. Does she look haggard? Has she been short with people or rude? Everything that indicates she believes she is the reason you do not want to be intimate with her."

He moved closer and poked his finger in my chest.

"Does that sound like you are handling the situation as you should?"

No… And we both knew it. I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. "I do not know that I can get back to that level to risk it being taken away again. I would lose you both if I make a mistake and—"

"Stop telling me this and tell her, you dolt," Ian cut in. "What you are saying is reasonable." He nodded when I could not hide my shock. "You are scared, Andre. I am too. So is she. Fucking let us in. We did not abandon you. It was my position, not me that protected her. If you were the prince, the grand duke, and part of the royal family, she would have married you."

And then he stormed out of there, making me feel about two inches tall.

I swallowed loudly and realized if nothing else, I needed to tell Mabel what Ian had just said because the pain in his voice hurt my heart.

I decided not to wait on it or let things come to a head in their own time anymore. Clearly, that was not working as I had thought. I knew Mabel was working on planning a fundraiser at the temple in the capital. There was a drought in the east part of the Areca and people were struggling. She wanted to host an event to raise money for that purpose.

Unlike how the temple would just always demand donations and funds for whatever they wanted.

It was also the first event the temple was going to have now that all of the temples were being purged of corruption. Once it started, too many priests tried to flee Areca with all the riches they could, but they were stopped at the border. Luckily, the king had foreseen this problem and sent reinforcements to battalions of our military who were waiting for them.

James hadn't even been needed to clear out all of the temples. I had mobilized local stations to lock them down until the military or authorized personnel could get there since the priests mostly accepted defeat and headed for the capital. Some undoubtedly slipped through the net—some of the wealth too—but it was mostly done.

There was some cleanup left, but most of the corruption had been cleaned out of the temples. Mabel was going once a day to where the priests were all being held and picking out the ones the goddess told her were to be sent packing. She would find their faces in the crowd, and by that night, their citizenship would be revoked and they would be on a packed cart heading for the Holy Empire.

And the only people complaining about it were them. Everyone else in Areca was thrilled and glad the hold the temple had over the country was over.

It took some plotting and the use of a map she had of the temple, but by breakfast I had something workable.

"Good morning, darling," I greeted, setting it all down on the table and giving her a kiss.

"You never came to bed," she muttered under her breath, not looking at me or what I had.

"No, I was working on an idea for your fundraiser, and I was hoping we could look into some details this morning together."

She glanced over at it then and nodded, still not meeting my gaze. "Another date sounds lovely."

I knelt next to her chair until she looked at me. "Be patient with me, Mabel. I almost lost you both, and the fear of it happening again is crippling me."

She seemed confused, but I saw the hurt in her eyes lessen at least. That was a start.

We ate and she was quiet, listening to my ideas to have a temple bazaar as the fundraiser and model it after festivals. Those were normally huge and a huge street fair in a commoner shopping area which meant it was not always safe for nobles or the upper class because of pickpockets and worse.

But this would be on the temple's grounds with security and smaller, meant to give people a taste of those festivals in a safer environment… Which they needed to be willing to pay for. That was part of the fundraising. They bought a ticket to attend, but also they bought the food like they could at a street fair or tickets to play the games—all of it on a smaller scale.

Mabel loved it. She was completely in love with the idea and excitedly looked over the papers I had laid out all over the map as my start. We could have street performers juggling and all of it.

Ian gave me a look to fix things as Mabel and I headed out alone, but I ignored it. Putting pressure on me when I was scared was not the way to handle this.

Dolt.

I cleared my throat when we were alone in the carriage and then moved to the floor to kneel in front of her. "I still want you, darling. I want you so badly I ache for you." I swallowed a sigh when she looked away from me. "Please look at me. It's hard to talk about this and I am so I do not hurt you. Please do not dismiss me by looking away."

Her eyes went wide and she slowly focused back on me, nodding that she heard me.

"Mabel, you did not walk away that night, but you did leave me behind. I reacted badly, and what I did was horrible, but it was—you made it clear if I did it again we were over. I would lose both of you because Ian was clear he could not live without you. It's difficult to simply move forward again and be at that level of intimacy when it could all disappear again."

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "So I am never—"

"You are absolutely allowed to say you do not want what I did in your life or a relationship," I said firmly before she snapped at me. "I am on the other side of that terrified that I will be shown the door if I blow my lid. Yes, I want to be a better man and never behave that way, but…"

"You do not see what you did as being as bad as I do," Mabel whispered. "Ian said the same."

"He did?" I hedged, taking my seat again.

She nodded. "I saw it as you hitting a partner and…"

"I would never hit you, Mabel."

"But you hit Ian and you love him too," she pushed.

And I had no way to defend myself. I now understood her point and upset so much more.

"But, he is right that it's between the two of you. I cannot punish you for hitting him when it's your relationship and your history is different. I was scared of you that night and… I was trying to move past that with you."

"I know. I have too. We have—I have been having so much fun. You sounded disappointed at the idea of another date. Have you not—"

"No, of course, I have enjoyed them," she gasped. "And I am thrilled your workload is lightening. You just seemed… You did not want me anymore and it felt…" She lowered her head.

"I want you, Mabel. I want what Ian suggested, but you have said nothing. That's my hesitation. I do not—I cannot have heaven again making love to you without more after you two married and I am alone. That is where my heart is."

"I suppose that's fair," she agreed after a moment, fidgeting with her hands. "I suppose I thought you would ask me. Ian said it, but you have not spoken on it either."

I really was a dolt. "There is one more thing I need to bring up because we are alone and it's difficult." I waited until she nodded and told her what Ian had said and how much it clearly hurt him.

Tears filled her eyes and she looked away. So clearly, it was true.

And as horrible as that was, it healed my heart some. She did not love him more or reach for him first when cornered. It truly had been his position more than Ian himself that had protected her. She had been forced to marry the grand duke to save herself, not Ian.

I was a dolt. We all were maybe, and it was not our fault after how hard the world had been on us.

I moved to sit next to her and held her as she silently let the tears fall. I waited until she settled some. "Did you pick his ring yet? You are not wearing one or—"

"He will not discuss it with me," she rasped. "I could not accept one of the rings or jewels of the royal family when I married him only because of his title. I did not say it like that, but he knows that's the reason. He knows, and I know it still hurts him, but… I did not want to marry at all, Andre."

"I know. I know, Mabel." I kissed her hair. "Will you marry both of us? The three of us married?"

She was quiet for the longest minutes of my life before nodding. "Yes. Yes, I will. I love you both and I want this to work. If that means being married, then—I have my exception. That's all I really wanted. I wanted to still be my own person and not property. The rest—I just want our love."

"Good, then let's go pick out wedding bands," I suggested, nodding when she shot me a surprised look. "Or you can look with Kathy, and I will get you our sizes. The three of us can have bands, and I will wear mine on my right hand. Ian and I can work together to design a new ring with stones you would like."

"Maybe not completely matching," Mabel hedged. "It's for us anyways, so why risk others realizing something? You and Ian go pick out what you like and get your sizes. I can pick out what band I like and yes, you both can design the ring normally for engagement. We can go look at ideas of what I like. Each as our own thing and you can work together."

Which gave us each the attention we would want and not draw attention to the situation or have tongues wagging. Yes, perfect.

And so was she.

We went around to several places and basically asked if they could handle catering for the event or having a booth set up. They agreed as long as there was some way for them to have help bringing it all over or food delivered as it was made. Festivals were normally on the street where the stores were located so the stalls were in front of their door.

This would not be like that.

Mabel assured them that she would handle that, but basically wanted them closed to everyone else for the day. That she would guarantee food would be sold out for the event and bought on location as long as they could have people manning the booth. They could get a few extras to help, but someone from their restaurant would man the counter.

Everyone loved it and wanted to help raise money for the droughts. More than that, they liked the idea of community at the temples instead of corruption and pompous priests looking down on them.

The chocolate and candy shops were the easiest since they simply had to bring their wares and be promised cooler locations with shade.

We ate lunch and then went to a jewelry store popular with nobles to look around. The employees were clearly curious as to why I was there with Mabel, but I took the manager aside and made it clear that I was the spy to help Ian pick the right ring later.

The man took it in stride but still had a lot of questions.

Mabel handed it like a master, making a few comments about how the rings from Ian's family were so huge or meant to draw so much attention that it made her uncomfortable. People would start rumors that he did not offer or someone did not want her wearing the jewels of the royal family, and she nipped that in the bud.

The employees helping us could not keep their shock under wraps though at Mabel's taste. She wanted simple and nothing remotely as big as most would assume a grand duchess would wear.

She would not even consider anything over five carats, and even then, only a few depending on the cut. Three carats was about right for what she liked, and that was as big as she'd go.

Of course, Mabel was reasonable like that. Ian would laugh when I told him.

There was a ring she clearly loved the design of. It was a three-stone setting, the one in the middle and then two half-circle stones on either side nestling it. I understood the meaning immediately. She did not want the stones as they were, probably thinking three diamonds like that plain.

I agreed. Mabel needed some color in those side stones or some flare in the band. Ian and I would figure it out.

I actually wanted to see if we could get a green diamond for the middle stone to match her eyes and dark stones on the side to represent us. Yes, that would be perfect, and I hoped Ian agreed.

"Oh, this is a handsome ring for you, Andre," Mabel said, waving me over.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but that's a wedding band," the lady helping us said.

Mabel chuckled. "Yes, and I am wearing a tea party dress, but we are not having tea. Thank you for making sure we knew, but people can decide for themselves as well."

"Of course," she agreed.

I moved closer and instantly fell in love with the ring. It was some type of black metal with a row of small diamonds in it… And that was before I noticed her pointing a few displays over that had a set of rings that were just the opposite. Silver rings with a row of black diamonds.

So we could all match but not be caught.

Perfect.

"You are right, it's lovely," I praised. "I supposed I have to get into the idea of wearing jewelry and more adornments now that I am a noble. I saw several men wearing rings on their right hands at the last party I escorted you to."

"Yes, exactly that," she agreed. "And it's better you get what you like now and people see you with it and your style before they try to push you into their style or to style you. That gets very expensive."

I tried it on, the display too small for my fingers, but I had enough of an idea that I loved it. The woman sized me, and I was about to thank her… Until I saw the way Mabel's lips were pressed in a thin line.

Oh, my woman did not like another woman touching me.

I met her gaze in the mirror and smirked, letting her know what I saw.

I signed the receipt so they could take the funds out of my account and then we were done.

"I will come back with Ian since I saw bands I love," Mabel said so the others could hear us. "You can bring him back to tell him all of the information you spied for him like I would not figure it out."

I laughed. I laughed for the employees but also at how easily she got sassy with me now—how far she'd come from when we'd first met.

I kissed her when we were back in the carriage and on our way home. I gave her my hand that the woman had touched, and she huffed at me… But still made sure to rub my hand so it was all her touch now.

And yes, we made out the entire carriage ride.

We found Ian the moment we were home and told him exactly what we had decided, checking with him and all of us agreeing it was what we wanted. Everyone saying it this time.

"We can get whatever rings you want, lovely," Ian agreed, forcing the smile to look like he was excited.

Mabel walked right over to him and cupped his cheek. "I married you that night because you were the grand duke. That was why you asked me in that moment. We did what we had to do. I am asking you now to make this decision with us because you are Ian—our Ian. We can all be adults and our own and love each other. That was what I wanted."

"Together," I agreed as I moved over to him. "No more running. No more walking away. Time-outs only."

Ian met my gaze and nodded. "Time-outs only."

"Time-outs only," Mabel agreed when we both turned to her. She gave me a challenging look. "Now are you going to take your wife to bed or are you going to keep denying me?"

I blinked at her for a full half of a second before she was up over my shoulder and I was hurrying to Ian's room. She yelled at me the whole way and all I did was laugh, Ian amused as well.

I set her on her feet when we were in his room, and the minx slid to her knees, looking up expectantly at us… And with a whole lot of lust.

"No, you finally want us as your husbands, not the protection of my title or anything you were cornered into," Ian declared firmly, an edge in his tone. He leaned down and cupped her face. "So your husbands will decide how your body is taken today, right? You give yourself to us completely? Forever."

She nodded so fast that it almost hurt my neck. "Yes. Yes, completely. However you want."

"Good girl," he breathed against her lips. "I will replace the dress."

I groaned, knowing exactly where his mind was. We had discussed wanting to rip her clothes off of her many times, but we worried after her abuse it would be too much for her.

Not that day. Mabel was dripping with desire after we tore off her dress, corset, and every inch of fabric or covering that had been on her body. I even took down her hair.

"Please," she begged as I laid her on the bed. "Please."

"Our perfect wife," I praised as I teased her nipple. I smirked at Ian. "What should we do with her first?"

He smiled evilly. "Everything."

"Excellent. Roll over, darling. Push that pert bottom up for us to feast on."

She whimpered and did as I said. Immediately, and it got me so hard to see.

We took turns eating her cunt and getting her ready. Then we were both naked, she was ready, and so were we.

Ian moved to one side and held up his cock for her to suck and I plunged into her body. Her cunt clamped onto me when she choked on Ian's dick a bit, and I nodded to him that she was fine.

She seemed to love it even. I held her hips tighter as she sucked him with naughty slurps and took him to new heights.

"We are going to cover you in our seed, wife," Ian said possessively, something happening with his eyes. Clearly, this was something to do with him being a shifter… But I was not against it.

And neither was Mabel from what I could gather.

I finished on her back and Ian did on her face and hair, something he truly loved.

He moved her onto her back and spread her wide as I cradled her head in my lap… And fed her my cock. She loved it, her eyes completely glazed over as we had her again.

"Finish on her tits," Ian ordered when he saw I was getting close. "Those are ours forever. All of her is ours forever. Mark her."

Shit, that was hot. I pulled out of her mouth and finished on her breasts as he said. She cried out in pleasure as Ian gave her another climax. She reached for him, but I held her down as he fucked her harder, driving us both crazy.

He pulled out of her suddenly and grunted as he came all over her cunt and stomach. "Ours. Completely ours."

"Yes, please, yes," Mabel moaned. "Please, Ian, I need to finish again. Please let me finish, my husband."

My head was by her cunt in a flash, and I licked her through another orgasm. Then we moved her to kneel between us and took turns fucking her. I would give her a dozen thrusts and then switch with Ian.

She went wild, begging for us both to be inside of her.

"Soon, lovely," Ian promised. "Soon I will be in your bottom while Andre fucks your cunt. Then we will completely own you."

"Now, own me now," she begged before screaming from another climax.

"We do," I chuckled before finishing on her body again. Ian took her a bit more and gave her one more orgasm before he came on her back… And she passed out. "Good, we can be in trouble together."

"I am not nearly finished with my fun," Ian said, something dangerous in his eyes. "Get over here and lick our wife's juices off my cock, husband."

I shivered, not having realized he would take it that far. I licked my lips and gave him the same look I had when we were young. "Yes, My Prince."

His eyes practically rolled up into his head, and seconds later I was on my knees giving him the best blowjob of his life. He finished deep down my throat and then I demanded to fuck him.

I almost laughed when he gave me a look that clearly said that was on the agenda and I was a fool to think otherwise.

So Mabel woke up to finding me cock-deep in her husband… And all the minx did was lick her lips.

"Bring your cunt over here for me to lick," Ian grunted. "If you are awake and not being pleased, that is a crime."

I could not have agreed more.

And I would not ever commit crimes against my sweet wife.

Or husband.