Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Isabelle

It feels like I take one long blink and we’re in the shower. It’s not a particularly large shower, though it is a walk-in, and with Gaeton’s broad shoulders taking up space, it feels small. Even so, neither of the men even brings up the option of us taking turns. I’m not complaining. After the events of the last few hours, I don’t think my legs can hold me. That weakness is something that will bother me. Tomorrow. Tonight, I don’t have the capacity to do more than lean against Gaeton’s chest and watch Beast soaping up.

Gaeton keeps me on my feet with an arm around my waist, and I let myself sink into that touch a little. My whole chest aches from wanting him—from wanting them both—but I know better than to say as much.

If tonight has proven anything, it’s that I don’t know these men nearly as well as I thought I did.

“You’re thinking awfully hard over there, princess.” Beast steps beneath the spray of water to rinse off and then moves out of the way. “Give her here.”

Gaeton squeezes me a little and then passes me over. Once again, I feel like a living doll with no will of my own. I frown up at them. “I am more than capable of standing on my own.”

“No, you’re not.” Beast turns me and takes a position identical to the one Gaeton had, his arm around my waist, his chest to my back. He’s only a few inches taller than me, so he rests his chin on my shoulder easily. “You’re shaking, and if left to your own devices, you’d be a sobbing puddle on the floor.”

I try to jerk away, but he easily holds me captive. “I would not.”

“Yes, you would.” Gaeton ducks under the spray and, when he comes up, he shakes his head like a dog. “The effects of a scene don’t end when the scene does.”

I cross my arms over my chest, and then feel foolish for doing even that much while we’re all standing naked in this enclosed space. “I’m fine.”

Gaeton gives me a long look. “The truth, Isabelle.”

Damn him. I lift my chin and try not to notice how my body shakes. “I am scared and uncertain and feel entirely unmoored. I’m also pissed as hell that you pulled that stunt in the bedroom with each other to punish me.”

“Better,” Beast murmurs. He steps back, pulling me with him. “Why don’t you go change the sheets and I’ll finish up here?”

Gaeton nods and he trails his fingers along my stomach as he passes us out of the shower, leaving sparks in his wake. We listen to him walk out of the bathroom and then Beast moves me a bit away from him. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I can do it myself.”

He shoots me a look that stops me from reaching for the soap. “If I want you to do it yourself, I’ll tell you to do it yourself. Now stand still.”

I obey. Partly because I promised to. Partly because something in me that’s been buried deep responds to the snap in his voice. It wants me to fall to my knees and wait for his next command. I shove it away. This arrangement is required for their agreement to return to the territory. That’s it. Yes, I crave rough sex and, yes, I’m weirdly turned on by Beast’s harsh words and carelessness with me, but that doesn’t mean I want to submit to either of these men outside the bedroom.

Right now, we are outside the bedroom.

“You’re doing it again.” He doesn’t lift his voice as he soaps down my body. “Already contemplating breaking the pact?”

Yes, but I will never say as much. Instead I change the subject. “I don’t understand this. Shouldn’t you be telling me to sleep at the foot of the bed, covered in come and weeping openly?”

At that, he looks at me and raises his brows. “Someone’s been reading some interesting fiction.”

Guilty. I flush even as I try to fight down the embarrassment. “That’s not an answer.”

He moves to my hair, soaping it up with intense thoroughness that has me fighting not to close my eyes. “Yes, it is. There are relationships where that sort of thing might be the norm, and that’s those people’s business as long as they’re both consenting. That is not how I operate, and it’s sure as fuck not how Gaeton does, either.” He guides me back beneath the water and rinses my hair and body.

I’m still stewing on that by the time he’s towed me out of the shower and dried me off. I finally snatch the towel from his hands and glare. “How the hell would I know how you operate, Beast? You didn’t operate like this when we were together.”

He doesn’t have the grace to look apologetic. “You’re a smart woman, and quick on your feet. Figure it out.”

If we didn’t need him so much, I might strangle him. I truly might. I start to wrap the towel around my body, but stop when he shakes his head. “What now?”

“While you’re in this apartment, you’re naked unless one of us explicitly orders otherwise.”

I thought my capacity for shock was filled. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. “You can’t be serious.” They implied it in the car, but I thought they were bluffing.

“I am.” He tugs the towel out of my hands, and I let it go. As much as I might fantasize about pushing Beast out a window right now, the truth is that I could never dream to overpower either of these men. The thought both thrills me and fills me with dread.

I hate to admit it, but I am in over my head.

It’s a fight not to cover myself with my hands. They’ve already seen every bit of me. Clutching at modesty now would be silly and serve no purpose but to further humiliate me. Part of me wants to do it anyways.

Instead, I follow Beast back into the room to find that Gaeton has changed the sheets as requested. He’s tucking them in with a military precision and glances up as we walk through the door. His gaze travels from me to Beast and back again, and he seems to come to some conclusion. “We all sleep here tonight.”

The faintest tension works its way through Beast’s body. “Making some assumptions, aren’t you?”

Gaeton gives an arrogant grin. “By all means, sleep on the couch if you’re too precious to share a bed with me. Or, better yet, go home.”

If he goes home, I’ll be alone with Gaeton, and there’s no way we’re going to avoid having an uncomfortable conversation if that happens. The thought should make me happy, but it panics me instead. I stride to the bed and climb into it. I can feel Beast’s attention zero in on my ass, and so I take my time crawling to the headboard. I turn around and slither under the sheets in the middle of the massive mattress. He’s still staring, still on the edge of leaving. Damn it.

I prop myself up on my hands, well aware that the position arches my back and offers up my breasts. “Do what you have to do, Beast. I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to entertain ourselves while you’re gone.”

Irritation flickers over his face before he shuts it down. “You two are a pain in the ass.”

“That’s my line.” Gaeton booms out a laugh at the disgruntled look on Beast’s face. “Pipe down. I’m not going to maul you in the night.” I almost laugh at that, but he turns dark eyes on me. “You, I make no promises about.”

Despite my exhaustion, my heartbeat kicks up a notch. “What?”

“Tomorrow you’re going to wake up with my tongue in your pussy, Isabelle.” He doesn’t move toward the bed, for all the lusty threat in his tone. “You ready for that?”

Is this a trick question? As much as they’re tormenting me, the truth is that they’re tormenting me with pleasure. I came harder tonight than I have in longer than I can remember, and neither of them fucked me. I can take whatever they dish out as long as there’s orgasms involved. “Do your worst.”

“Oh, baby, I fully intend on it.” He stalks to the bed and climbs under the covers. Suddenly the massive mattress seems significantly smaller.

I eye the distance between us. Will we maintain it through the night? It seems improbable as hell. My chest gives a sickening lurch. Oh gods, maybe I’m not ready for this after all. Sex is one thing. Sleeping together is something else altogether.

“One last thing.”

I turn toward Beast pathetically fast, desperate for a distraction from the direction my thoughts have taken. He holds up the tiny purse I brought with me into the Underworld. I forgot about it, which says something about where my head’s been at for the last few hours. He tosses it onto the mattress next to me. “Update your sisters.”

My circling thoughts freeze. “Excuse me?”

“You’re here at their behest. Update them.”

I stare. Surely he can’t be serious. “You want me to tell them that I entered into a sex pact with both of you in order to get you back.”

The edges of his lips quirk up. “I want what I’ve always wanted from you, Isabelle. The truth.”

That stings. It stings far more than it has the right to. I don’t bother to argue. I won’t win this one any more than I’ve won the others. I just dig out my phone and type a quick update to the group text I share with my two older sisters.

Me: I have things handled. They’ll both be back in two weeks. I’ll see you then.

I’ve barely hit send when the replies nearly buzz my phone right out of my hand.

Sienna: That is not an explanation.

Cordelia: I’m going to need more details than that, Izzy.

Sienna: What she said.

Sienna: Texting isn’t cutting it.

Sienna: Video call incoming.

“Fuck!” I yank up the sheet to cover my breasts and pat at my hair. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not that it’s wet from a recent shower. My phone trills at me to accept the incoming video call. “Fuck,” I repeat.

“Answer it.” Beast still hasn’t moved from where he stands at the side of the bed. A quick glance confirms that Gaeton has no intention of moving from his spot, either. Currently both of them are out of frame, but I can’t guarantee they’ll stay that way.

I’ve run out of time, though. I take a deep breath and answer the call. Immediately the screen splits into two squares, each showing one of my sisters. Sienna has her blond hair twisted up and what appear to be two pencils stuck through to hold it in place, and she’s wearing the flannel bunny pajamas that her husband got her for Christmas as a joke. One wouldn’t know by looking at her that she’s got one of the most brilliant minds in Carver City—and possesses a complete lack of the moral ambiguities that plague most people.

On the other hand, Cordelia looks like she’s just come from some kind of event. I rack my brain to remember what was tonight, but I come up blank. Her dark brown hair hangs in waves around her perfectly made up face, and she’s got on a dark blue gown. For all that, exhaustion is written on her face.

Exhaustion that disappears as she focuses on me and narrows her eyes. “I thought you were having a meeting with them. Where are you? That isn’t your bedroom.”

My life would be significantly easier if my sisters weren’t so formidable. I draw my knees to my chest to ensure I don’t flash them. “I spoke with Beast and Gaeton as planned.”

Sienna snorts. “That’s not all you did tonight.”

Cordelia doesn’t blink. “And?”

I can feel the gaze of both men drilling into me from either side. It’s a fight not to shiver. “And, like I said in my text, they will both be back in their positions as generals in two weeks.”

Cordelia’s dark eyes flash. “That’s not fast enough. You have to—”

“Cordelia.” I cut in before she can pick up momentum. “I am doing what it takes to benefit the family. Trust me when I say that I negotiated the best deal possible, and there is no way to expedite things.”

That slows her down a little, but she doesn’t look convinced. She’s silent for a moment, obviously connecting dots that I’d really rather her not connect. “You made a deal with…both men.”

No use trying to lie. “Yes.”

“And now you’re naked in a bed that’s not your own.” She frowns. “No, I don’t like this. We’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way.”

All amusement flees Sienna’s face, and she goes ice cold. “There is always another way, baby sister. Where are you? If those two fuckheads think they can force you to be their sex doll for the next two weeks, I’ll castrate them myself.” She will, too. Sienna wouldn’t win in a fair fight with either of the men in this room, but my middle sister has never fought fair. I highly doubt she intends to start now.

“That’s enough.” I inject my voice with confidence I don’t feel. “I’m safe. I’ll bring them both home when this is finished. Please don’t try to interfere before then.” I keep talking over my sisters’ protests. No matter what they think, seeing this through to the end is what I have to do. For them. For the territory. And maybe even for me, too. “I love you both. Be safe.” I hang up and switch my phone to silent.

Gaeton rumbles out a laugh. “Was that supposed to reassure them or incite them to come rescue you?”

I close my eyes and press the heels of my hands to them. “You’re not helping.”

“Wasn’t trying to.”

“They’ll be content enough once we’re back to fight against the Sea Witch threat.” I open my eyes in time to see Beast move my purse and phone to the heavy wooden nightstand. Part of me expects him to lock them out of reach, but that seems silly now. As they keep reminding me, I’m here because I chose to be here. I could walk out that door right now if I needed to.

I glance down at my bare chest. Well, there are some things impeding that plan, but the fact remains that this is my choice and I’ll stand by it.

No matter what tomorrow brings.