Chapter 35
“Dry off and then meet us in the bedroom,” Declan growls over his shoulder as he carries me out of the bathroom. I’m so wound up, I’m pretty sure I’m leaving a trail of my desire behind as we go. Watching Declan kiss Cade was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The dominance, the sheer power they fought over, and the lust—god, that is what songs are written about.
Pure want, need, and love.
At dinner, Declan asked Cade if he’d known real love. What he doesn’t realize is he knows it too. He and Cade have been showing it to one another in small ways for years. But tonight—tonight—they finally unleashed it all.
And I got to witness it. Hell, I got to be a part of it.
I’m forever changed. No matter what happens, I’ll never accept anything less than what I saw transpire between them tonight. I’ll never settle for anyone who doesn’t need me so badly they practically combust at my touch.
Declan runs a hand through my damp hair, pushing it off my face. “You okay, sweetheart?”
I let out a shaky breath. “That was just…” Words are almost impossible right now. I’m still in such awe.
As he waits for me to explain, his brow dips low with concern.
Not wanting him to get the wrong idea, I suck in a breath and focus. “It was beautiful.”
His lips cant up, and his eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. “Yeah?”
Sinking my teeth into my lip, I nod. “If I forget to say this later, thank you.”
Declan’s smile grows. “For what?”
“For letting me be here for this.” My throat tightens with emotion. “For taking a chance. I’m so proud of you.”
Rather than respond with words, he presses his lips to mine. Our tongues play and our hands wander, and just when my heart starts to pound and my body wants nothing more than to continue this until we’re fucking, Declan drops me onto the bed and pushes himself back. “I think you’ll reconsider that thank-you when you hear what I have planned.”
Cade walks out of the bathroom behind him, a towel wrapped around his waist.
Cocking a brow, I spread my legs, certain that one of them will take the hint and give me what I need.
With a smirk, Cade makes a beeline for me.
Declan turns and throws an arm out, smacking a palm to his chest and stopping him. For a moment, I don’t breathe, transfixed by the way the two of them watch one another. Cade’s chest rises and falls as his lips part, and Declan’s back ripples with tension. He’s standing in the middle of the room, naked, and for a moment, I think he might demand Cade drop to his knees and suck him off.
My blood ignites at the thought. I’m not sure anything could be more beautiful than watching Declan accept who he is while, at the same time, Cade getting everything he’s ever wanted. Declan. He is clearly the love of Cade’s life. For the moment, I won’t allow myself to worry about what that means for me.
When Declan finally speaks, I have to actively focus on breathing. “Last night, Melina helped me with my anxiety, and this morning, I woke up calm and feeling grounded.” He gives Cade a once-over, then slips the hand from Cade’s chest down his abdomen until it hovers just above the knot in his towel. “But then you went and got me all worked up again by flirting with someone else at the bar.”
I smile at the memory of how jealous Declan got watching his best friend talking to another woman.
Cade licks his lips, his blue eyes wide. “I’m sorry,” he says, his tone sincere.
Declan lets out a caustic laugh, clearly not appeased by the simple apology. “You telling me you won’t do it again?”
I hold back a chuckle. We all know that asking Cade to stop flirting is like asking a snake to not shed its skin.
Cade shrugs.
“That’s what I thought.” Declan turns to me. “And you—I promised you that you would pay for that orgasm in the shower, didn’t I?”
Heart beating wildly at the prospect, I shift to my knees and nod eagerly.
He chuckles darkly. “So excited to be punished.”
“Are you going to tie me up?” I whisper as heat pools in my core.
Turning back to Cade, he replies, “No. I’m going to tie him up.”
With that simple phrase, all the air is sucked from the room. The image of the dark, broody man working meticulously with his rope while the lighter, brighter man is bound to his bed makes me dizzy with desire.
Declan tugs on the knot of Cade’s towel and lets it fall to the floor. “Does that work for you, baby? Can I tie you up?”
Cade stands before him, hard and breathing heavy. “Yes.”
Declan nods. “Lay next to Melina while I get the rope.” He looks at me, chin lifted high. “You. Stay just like you are, but face Cade. I want your hands on your thighs. No touching. Cade or yourself.”
I press my lips into a flat line to hold back a whimper. I have a feeling I know where this is going, and though I have no doubt that it will all be worth it, watching Declan tie Cade up—while they’re both naked—without at least touching myself is going to be incredibly difficult.
Sauntering to the bed, Cade mouths, “No tempting me, Trouble.”
He climbs onto the mattress, keeping plenty of space between us. Smart man. If he were any closer, I’d break the rule and kiss him.
Even if I can resist, I still long to check in with him. To splay my hands over his chest and feel his pounding heart, to press my lips to his and let him know that we’re in this together. We’re getting everything we want right now, and the experience is so much sweeter because Cade is at my side. He makes everything better with his smiles and laughter and his easy-going nature. Already, he owns my heart. Simply watching him get what he wants is enough to bring me a joy I’ve never known.
Despite those desires, it’s hard not to want to obey Declan. I want to give him the control he craves. The control he needs. I trust that he knows what we need and that he’ll give it to us. I have faith that he’ll figure out what it’ll take so we can all move forward together.
As Cade settles himself on the mattress beside me, I realize that Declan has stripped the bed of nothing but one pillow and the fitted sheet. The rest of the bedding has been folded carefully and placed on the chair in the corner. My chest warms at the thought of him preparing for this while we were making out in the shower. He knew he’d have to punish us before he stepped into the bathroom, because he knew what we’d do if he sent us into the shower alone.
This devious planning gives me yet another glimpse into who Declan is. With each facet of him I discover, I find myself falling harder.
“Do you remember your colors, Cade?” he asks in that tone that makes my blood heat. It’s gruff and slightly condescending.
The cocky bastard smirks, unbothered that Declan always seems to be calling the shots. Leading us. If I had to guess, Declan needs it like that. And since neither Cade nor I hold any reservations about what happens next, it’s not hard for us to relent.
“Green: good. Yellow: slow down. Red: stop.” He’s so cocksure as he holds his arms out wide, taunting Declan, all but begging him to tie him up.
“And why would you ask me to slow down?” The heat behind Declan’s words spreads through me, reigniting the need Cade incited in the shower.
Cade cocks his head and studies his friend. After a moment, as though the answer has hit him, his smile grows. “Because I’m close.”
Brow furrowed, I worry my lip. Close to what? Maybe I should ask, but I leave it alone. The guys are on the same page, and that’s all I care about.
The dark man looming over us shifts his focus to me. “Would you like to learn, or would you prefer to watch?”
God, I can’t imagine I could concentrate with how keyed up they’ve got me, but if I let him teach me, I could get closer. And more than anything, I want to be closer to him in this moment. In every moment. I want him just as fiercely as Cade wants him. I know I’ve said Cade is like my sun, but in this moment, it becomes clear that Declan’s our sun. Holding us in his orbit and providing everything we need. But god, when he’s far away, when his focus is elsewhere, the chill goes straight to my bones.
“Yes, please.”
Declan tilts his head, one brow arched, as if he’s waiting.
For a moment, I study him, at a loss for what he’s silently communicating.
Cade is the one who clues me in. “Yes, sir,” he says, smirking at me.
A flush works its way up my chest and neck. That single word, sir, in reference to Declan is hotter than seems possible.
A mixture of pleasure and need flit over Declan’s face. “Good boy,” he mumbles. The words escape him harshly, in the same way he’d curse if my lips were wrapped around his cock. Like he can’t believe how good it feels. Like it slipped out, surprising us all.
Cade shifts his hips, his cock thickening as they assess each other.
“Where do you want me, sir?” I breathe out, my words cutting through the thick tension in the air.
Declan strides to my side of the bed and presses a kiss to my neck. “The things I want to do to you both.”
His words ignite a wildfire beneath my skin, setting forth a course of shivers.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” he asks, raking my hair away from my face, then fussing with it.
“Are you braiding my hair?”
I tip my head slightly, but Declan cuffs my neck, stopping the movement. He doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t go back to toying with my hair. When the silent seconds bleed together, I look to Cade for a clue.
He arches a brow, silently reminding me of how we’re playing this.
With a smirk, I tack on the magical word. “Sir.”
Declan leans down and nips on my earlobe. “Figured he’d be the brat, but he’s much better behaved than you are.”
“It’s because she loves her punishments,” Cade says with a grin.
“And you don’t?” Declan’s tone is full of amusement rather than reproach.
Cade swallows thickly, his focus moving from the man commanding us to me and back again, like he’s searching for an answer.
He doesn’t need to speak. The way his cock bobs makes it clear that once again, the thought of Declan touching him—whether it’s for pain or pleasure—is everything.
“I’ll take whatever you give me, sir,” he finally says, his tone low and his voice full of heat.
Holy fuck.
Please, please, if I die, let this be my heaven. These two men. This night. Those words.
“Yes you will,” Declan says, tugging on my hair like he’s tying off the braid. With his mouth next to my ear again, he adds, “Safer with the ropes.”
My heart sinks in disappointment. “You’ve done this before.” It shouldn’t bother me. Of course I wasn’t his first. He was open about his experience with Shibari. But somehow, this braid, his tone, his confidence, confirm that this is a lifestyle he’s comfortable with.
“Yes.”
He steps back from me and then kneels on the bed. His cock hangs close to Cade’s head, and when Cade turns, his mouth is only inches from its tip. But he keeps his eyes on Declan’s face, as if he’s more interested in what he’s doing than what he’s packing.
Newsflash, he’s way better at this than I am. I’d have already slid my tongue out for a taste. It’s impossible not to taunt Declan into being reckless with me.
“She really is trouble,” Declan mutters as he catches me staring at the two of them.
Chest heaving, I drag my attention back to his dick. How the hell is he not rock hard right now? It’s as if he’s completely immune to us. As if the way the two of us are practically salivating over him doesn’t affect him even slightly. God, why is his self-control so hot?
“You gave her the nickname,” Cade teases.
With a smirk, Declan grunts. “And then you used it to taunt me.”
“Just offering a little push.”
“That’s all you ever do. Push and push. Right, baby?”
Oh, fuck. My core tightens at that term of endearment. He called Cade baby in the shower, but I assumed it was a slip of the tongue or a throwaway word. But now, when Declan is exercising so much control, it’s clear that it was no accident.
Holy hell. If he’s this comfortable already, then I can’t imagine that his feelings for Cade are as new as he would have us believe.
I’d bet they’ve been simmering for years.
Cade swallows thickly and nods. “You know me better than anyone else.”
“I do.” Declan grips his hand, ready to get started with the rope, but pauses there and squeezes. “Trust me to know what you need?”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
Cade regards him, eyes wide, as if no one on earth exists but the two of them. And there isn’t an ounce of jealousy in my heart. Cade, the man I fell hard for the day I met him, is getting everything he’s ever wanted with Declan, the man who’s come to own my body and my soul just as equally. There’s no threat here. It may be the most beautiful moment I’ve ever witnessed.
“I do,” Cade whispers, his eyes glassy. “Just don’t break me.”
Declan leans down without hesitation and presses his lips to Cade’s. “I’m going to try really hard to get this right.”
A tear slides down my cheek at the admission, at Cade’s plea, and I don’t swipe it away.
“Ready, baby?” Declan asks. He kisses Cade gently one more time.
“I’m ready.”
Declan meticulously winds the black rope around Cade’s arm, explaining each step and the reason behind it. As he works his way across Cade’s chest and to his other arm, he straddles him, completely oblivious to how we’re tracking his every move. His hands work the rope. His tongue peeks out as he checks the tightness. His dick slides across Cade’s chest as he moves from one side to the other. All the while, he’s completely unaffected.
Me? I’m sitting in a literal puddle of desire. Poor Cade is so hard he’s leaking down his shaft.
When he’s finished tying the rope around Cade’s hands, he surveys his work, his lip between his teeth. “You look so fucking sexy tied up with my rope.”
Cade’s eyes swim with longing. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, baby. But you’ll look even better tied to my bed while our girl rides your cock.”
Pushing up on his knees, he flicks the top of one bedpost, exposing an open ring.
“What is that?” I hiss, my already overworked heart pumping faster.
Declan turns to me with a smirk. “Specially made bed.”
He lifts Cade’s hand and kisses his wrist, then attaches the rope there to the ring.
On Cade’s other side, he does the same.
Without a word, he stands, gives us one more perusal, then strides to the chair in the corner. “Ride him, sweetheart,” he commands. “But be ready with your colors.”
I almost tumble off the bed as I scramble to sit on Cade’s impossibly hard cock. Once I’m straddling him, I splay a hand over his abdomen and slide down his length. “Oh god,” I cry, shivers coasting down my body. “That’s too good.”
The way he fills me is incredible. The sounds of his groans, the feel of each vein as I work my way down his shaft. Holy shit. I’m already close. Anxious to come, I roll my clit against him, and colors dance behind my eyes.
“Yellow,” Cade grits out.
I’m rocking against him, lost in my head, desperate for release, when Declan grasps my hips.
“Hold still, sweetheart,” he says into the crook of my neck. Shifting so he’s focused on Cade over my shoulder, he grunts. “She feels too good?”
My pussy clenches at the sound of Declan’s voice. At the way it rumbles through me.
Cade grits his teeth. “Feels like heaven.”
“Sinful, really,” Declan muses. “She’s got us both hard as a rock, and she’s completely oblivious while she grinds on your dick and taunts me with this perfect ass.”
Cade hisses, throwing his head back, his neck straining. “Exactly.”
“It’s like she needs to be punished.”
A shiver runs through me in response to Declan’s words, and I roll my hips.
He presses a hand between my shoulder blades and pushes until I’m flat against Cade’s chest and burying my face in his neck.
“How many?” Declan asks Cade.
Though I have no idea what he’s talking about, my heart flutters.
“Three on each cheek.”
They’re in sync, carrying on a conversation with few words. Damn, is it a turn-on.
“You’re going to spank me?” I ask, pushing up so I can see Declan over my shoulder.
Licking his lips, he smooths a palm over my left cheek. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m going to spank you, and when I do, you’re going to squirt all over Cade’s cock.”
I flex, tamping down on the need to ride Cade until I come.
Beneath me, he groans. “Still fucking yellow.”
Declan’s dark chuckle vibrates through me. “And that’s where you’ll stay.”
Then, without warning, his hand lands on my ass. The sting is so shocking, I lose my breath.
“Holy fuck,” Cade cries as he tenses beneath me.
I zero in on him, forgetting the flash of pain. “What?”
“You squeezed me so tight I almost came.”
“Red, baby?” Declan asks, soothing the ache with a soft caress over the globe of my ass.
Cade takes a deep, stuttering breath. “Green.”
“Good boy,” he rumbles as he smacks the opposite cheek.
Holy. Shit. My chest tightens, and my body convulses. My orgasm builds, making it hard to breathe. Seeking friction, I wiggle on top of the man who’s still impaling me, but with the way he’s tied to the bed and how the man behind me is holding me down, it’s not going to happen.
I whimper. “I need—”
Declan covers me with his body, sandwiching me between two hard chests, and brings his lips to my ear, whispering, “What I give you. You need only what I give you.”
Yes. Okay. Right. Despite the way I’m flooded with desire, my body knows that it must obey. My nerve endings bleed into one another, and an electric current takes hold of me, keeping me at the ready.
“Yes, sir—” The last word leaves me in a rush as he slaps me again.
“Color?” he rumbles.
“Green.” So fucking green. I’ve never spiraled so out of control.
As he smacks me again, Cade grits, “That’s four.”
I suck in a breath at the knowledge. Two more. I can do this.
This time, when Declan makes contact, it’s with both hands. As both cheeks sting, my orgasm begins to crest like a wave.
“Holy shit. I’m going to—”
Declan clutches my waist and yanks me off Cade.
Heart stopping, I let out a cry. I try to turn, ready to smack him for depriving me of my release, but he holds me in place.
“You didn’t say yellow,” he practically growls in my ear.
Oh. Oh. Yellow doesn’t mean I can’t handle what we’re doing. It means I’m close to coming. I’m only now understanding the rule, I suppose. And red means stop because I’m going to come.
He’s restricting our orgasms.
Shit. My pussy clenches around nothing, still seeking that release.
Cade is glowering at his cock, probably because he can’t even squeeze it to relieve the pressure. “Please,” he whines, lifting his hips.
“Please what?” Declan’s tone is gruff as he breathes through his teeth.
Cade meets Declan’s eyes, his own so full of need and love and hope that I swear I lose my breath. “Make me come.”
Grasping my hips again, Declan thrusts me onto Cade so fast that I don’t have time to prepare. I’m impaled on his cock, still adjusting to the full sensation, when Declan works me over him, lifting me like I’m a doll whose purpose is to pleasure the man beneath me. Like he’s a dildo meant to give me mine.
Declan moves me up and down until Cade is hissing out, “Yellow—please—fuck—yellow.” Releasing me, Declan jacks himself. “Ride him, sweetheart. I want you to come all over his cock, then I’ll do the same.”
If there was even a chance I could hold out, it goes up in flames right then and there. I come so hard I almost black out, barely registering the way Cade thickens or the groan he releases. All I know is that one second, I’m impaled on him, and the next, I’m being yanked away again.
Declan drops me onto the bed beside them as he settles a knee on either side of Cade, straddling him. Then Cade thrusts upward while Declan grinds their cocks together and leans down, taking Cade’s mouth roughly. They’re fucking one another, rutting and groaning until Cade cries out that he’s coming.
Declan pulls back, his gaze transfixed on Cade’s pulsing cock, and fists his, jacking himself until he comes in hot waves all over his best friend’s dick.
Euphoric, I stare at the two of them, still panting, knowing that from this moment forward, nothing will ever be the same.