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Chapter 14

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, and 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.”

I half expect Beast to say no. He’s been right there with us all day, but something remains held apart. I don’t know what it is. Beast has always been a mystery to me. Even when he’s fucking me, he’s holding back. It’s part of what attracted me to him in the first place, but mysteries were meant to be discovered, a trail of answers through the years until you get to the very heart of them. With Beast, I never made it past the first layer.

He doesn’t say no. He simply steps out of the lounge pants and into the tub, settling opposite us so that all our legs end up tangled together. It feels weirdly right, but even in my blissed out state, I know better than to say as much. The rift between these men didn’t start with me, but my presence made it worse.

Another sin to lay at my feet, another form of penance to make. Another apology presses against the inside of my lips. Beast’s gaze lands on me and he shakes his head. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“If you want to be flogged, one of us will be the one to do it. You don’t need to mentally flog yourself over the past.”

Irritation rises, but it doesn’t quite drown out the guilt. “If I hadn’t made mistakes, you two wouldn’t have basically strong-armed me into a sex pact to punish me.”

Beast gives that infuriating small smile and stretches his arms over the side of the tub. “Fuck yes, you made mistakes, Isabelle. You weren’t the only one, though.” His gaze flicks to Gaeton and then back to me. “Did you ever think that we offered the sex pact because we wanted to?”

He’s simplifying things and ignoring the anger that’s laced so many of our interactions since I showed up in the Underworld. I narrow my eyes. “Am I the only one required to be honest in this scenario?”

“Yes.” His gives a dry laugh at my outraged expression. “Tell her, Gaeton.”

The big man shifts against my back. “Speak for yourself. I was angry.”

“Was?” Beast lifts his brows.

“Stop twisting my words, asshole. I still am.” His touch is gentle on me. “But you’re right. It took three people making mistakes to get us to that point.”

Relief courses through me. At least we’re all on the same page there. It’s the tiniest of steps, but one we’ve taken together. I don’t know what it means for the future. There’s still the deadline bearing down on us, the choice I’ll be forced to make. Even if we move past the sins of the past, at the end of these two weeks, half my heart will be walking away from me. It’s just a matter of which half.

I don’t realize I’ve started to shake again until Gaeton gathers me close. “Stop thinking so hard. Enjoy the aftermath, let the hot water soak out some of the soreness, and then we’ll feed you.”

My stomach chooses that moment to growl uncomfortably loud. We took a small break for food earlier today, but I was too out of my head to eat a proper meal. Still … “I don’t understand how you can just focus on the here and now and worry about everything later.”

“Who said we’re doing anything of the sort?” Beast shakes his head. “We have a lot of shit to wade through, Isabelle. A lot. We treated you like spun gold, but you weren’t exactly honest, either. Did you ever actually tell either of us what you wanted, in the bedroom or out of it?”

My flushed skin has nothing to do with the heat of the water and everything to do with embarrassment. “Not exactly.” When he just watches me, I feel compelled to elaborate. “At first, I liked the pedestal you both put me on. But the longer it went on, the more I felt constrained by it. Every time I even tried to suggest something, I was shot down.” Could I have been more explicit? Probably, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. Even as I was starving for the things I needed, I’d somehow decided it was a better option than begging one or both of them to fuck me dirty. “Do you remember the dressing room when you were escorting me to pick out the gown for Sienna’s birthday party?” I had opened the door wearing only a pair of thigh highs and pulled him in with me for a quickie, except Beast just pressed a soft kiss to my lips and told me to get dressed before we were late.

That makes him look away. “Like I said; mistakes on all sides.”

We sit together until the water starts to cool and then Gaeton passes me to Beast and stands. I start to argue that I’m more than capable of moving my body around, but the sight of him rising out of the water like some kind of barbarian god stills my protests. Why waste energy arguing when I can enjoy the view?

He steps out of the tub and snags a couple of towels. I’m distantly aware of Beast going perfectly still behind me, but I’m too caught up in my voyeuristic tendencies to think about it too hard until his lips brush my ear. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

I don’t know if beautiful is the right word for Gaeton. Beast is beautiful with his perfect cheekbones and model good looks. Gaeton is … “Powerful.” He looks like he’d be at home on an ancient battlefield, swinging an oversized ax and soaked in the blood of his enemies.

“Yes, powerful.” Beast’s rough voice goes the slightest bit deeper. “Thick thighs, thick torso, thick neck, thick fucking everything.”

Gaeton catches us watching him and frowns. “What are you two up to?”

“Nothing right now.” Beast answers for both of us. He gives me a nudge and I rise up on wobbling legs to allow Gaeton to wrap me in a surprisingly fluffy towel. He ignores my attempts to take it from him and dries me off while I stand there, feeling silly and cosseted.

And loved.

I swallow hard. “You know I’m not a doll you need to cart around and move yourself, right? I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

He looks up from where he’s gone to one knee before me to dry my legs. The position is another echo of the past, of the moment when our carefully balanced act went spinning into ruin.

Marry me, Isabelle.

No. I can’t. I won’t.

The stark pain that flashes through his dark eyes lets me know he’s remembering the same thing. He stands slowly and tucks the towel around me. “I like taking care of you.” He speaks so low, I have no idea if it carries to Beast where he’s drying off a few feet away. “I want to do it, so I do. It has nothing to do with what you’re capable of.” Layers upon layers within those words. I’m afraid to dig past the surface for fear of what I might find.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that, so I just nod. It’s enough for now. He disappears into his closet and returns wearing sweatpants and holding a T-shirt. This, at least, he allows me to pull on myself. It hits my knees, and the feeling of being wrapped up in Gaeton’s clothes is so bittersweet, tears prick the backs of my eyes. I clutch the fabric to me. “I missed this.”

“Me, too.” He passes a second pair of pants to Beast. “I’ll get food started.”

It’s only when he walks out of the bathroom that I realize he’s intentionally left us alone. My stomach does an uncomfortable flip as I look at Beast. He’s swimming in Gaeton’s pants, but it doesn’t seem to bother him in the least. Then again, nothing bothers Beast. He’s unflappable.

I force myself to stop clutching Gaeton’s T-shirt. “I’m afraid.”

“I know.” He crosses the distance between us and takes my face in his hands. Even as his thumbs coast over cheekbones, part of me is all too aware of the violence he’s done with them. Violence that he’s never once turned on me. That knowledge feels strangely like power, and I drink it up. It’s something I’ve always loved about both men, but with Beast, the difference is so stark. He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Trust me, princess. I have this all under control.”

I’m not sure I believe him, but I’m exhausted. Handing off worrying about the future feels good right now. Maybe I’ll regret it tomorrow. Maybe I’ll wake up ready to draw my own personal line in the sand and refuse to budge. Tonight, I just want him to take care of everything.

To take care of me.

I nod against his hold. “Okay. I trust you.”

“Good girl.” There it is again, that flicker of true warmth in his blue eyes. “Let’s get you fed.”

We find Gaeton in the kitchen, lining up stuff for sandwiches. He catches me looking and shrugs almost self-consciously. “I’ll put together a real meal tomorrow.”

I try for a smile. “This looks perfect.” Things feel so fragile right now, like one wrong word will splinter our tentative peace into a thousand shards.

We are silent as we put together our respective sandwiches. One for me. Two each for them. Silent as we eat. Silent as we clean up what little dishes there are. Just when I think I might scream from the glaring lack of communication we’re capable of without someone being naked, the door’s buzzer goes off.

Instantly, both men are on high alert. I barely register the sound when Gaeton steps in front of me, like someone is going to announce themselves before they blow a hole in the fortified doorframe. I peek around him to see Beast stalk to the buzzer like he expects it to explode, too. He presses the button. “Yes?”

A tinny male voice answers. “I have the delivery you requested this morning.”

That sounds suspicious as hell, but Beast nods. “Bring it up.”

Two tense minutes later, there’s a knock on the door. Gaeton shifts slightly and I catch sight of metal in his hand. Where the hell did he pull the gun from? He must have it hidden somewhere in the kitchen because there’s no way he was hiding it in his sweatpants. Without looking, he snags my hip and pushes me back behind him, using his body to shield me. As a result, I only hear the door open and low voices as Beast confers with whoever is handling the delivery. Three slow exhales later and the door closes.

Gaeton still doesn’t relax. “Check it.”

“Already on it.” Rustling. Beast curses. “No nasty surprises, but a little birdie left a message.”

Gaeton does some creative cursing of his own. “Bring it here.” He finally steps to the side, allowing me a full view of the room. There are two small suitcases laying open on the ground, plain black and utterly indistinguishable from thousands of others like them. I recognize some of Beast’s clothing, but that’s not where my attention lands. It’s on the pretty blue card in his hands. As he crosses to the kitchen peninsula, I recognize the stylized blue seashell on the front of it. “Ursa.”

“Yes.” Beast sets it on the counter and spins it to face us. “The Sea Witch sends her regards, apparently.”

I read the flowing script and then reread a second and third time.

Congratulations on your reconciliation with the little princess. It would be a shame for such an epic love story to end in anything other than a happily ever after.

On the surface, it looks like a friendly overture, but I know better.

It’s a flat-out threat.

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