Chapter 12 – Greyson
Dominic had Mari flipped in a second, her wrists shackled over her head with one of his hands.
Looking at him, I saw nothing of the Dominic I was used to. No jokes or flirting, no sweetness for Mari. Just cold, hard determination.
Dominic undid his pants just enough to pull out his cock, leaving the rest of his clothes on. Meanwhile, he tore off Mari’s bra, ripping her pants down her thighs as he straddled her ass. Hell, he barely moved to get the fabric out of the way. He held her underneath him, thrusting his cock between her cheeks and grunting like an animal. Every movement carried with it an edge of violence that set off every instinct I had as he leaned down to bite her neck.
It wasn’t a love bite. It was savage, and it tore a scream from Mari’s throat.
I jerked forward on instinct, ready to pull her out, but Dominic snarled at me. “Don’t.”
“You’re going to hurt her.”
“Only because she needs it.”
“You don’t get to decide that!”
“Grey, please.” When I looked at Mari, I saw pain on her face, but I saw pleasure too. Pleasure and relief. My heart raced, and I wasn’t sure I could stay in the room. Dominic was going to mount her like an animal, rut her into the mat, and even if the thought made me hard, it felt too close to real violence for me to be comfortable. It felt like one wrong move would wreck her and us and everything, and I wasn’t sure my nerves could take it.
“I’ll tap out if it becomes too much, but I need this, Grey. I need it. You can go, but I’d like you to stay.” Tears crept down Mari’s cheeks, bright in the overhead lighting, and I knew in my gut that I had to stay. I had to witness. For her. For my reina.
I didn’t have to tell Dominic I’d tear him to pieces if this fucked Mari up, he already knew, but I glared it in silence anyway. With a nod my way, Dominic refocused all his attention on Mari. He looked at her like she was his prey, and it was impossible to ignore when she preened under him. She rolled her hips along his cock until he was laughing under his breath.
“If you wanted my dick, you should’ve just asked for it, mariposa. Is that what you need? A little fucking to set you right?”
“No. I need more than that.”
He dipped and bit her again. “Ask. Nicely.”
She tilted her head so she could see both of us at the same time. “Will you fuck me, Dominic?”
He shoved a hand into her hair and hauled her head back to whisper in her ear, “You’re going to regret that, mariposa.”
Then he was slamming into Mari, grunting as she clawed at the floor.
Dominic was brutal as he fucked her into the mat, fingers bruising and teeth tearing. Sniping and snarling at her the whole time. He didn’t say a word, didn’t kiss her, nothing. It was almost obscene watching him conquer her, fully clothed to her complete nakedness, but the forced vulnerability that came from her nudity was part of what she needed. Dominic claimed her with his body and used her how he wanted. If I couldn’t see her hips jerking back into him or hear her soft groans and the way she chanted his name, I would’ve killed him on the spot.
Watching it was the most difficult thing I’d ever done.
With Mari trapped beneath him, I was tenser than ever, but I couldn’t help getting hard. Seeing Mari writhe, seeing the pleasure she took from Dominic, was all I needed. Even if it wasn’t me riding her, Mari was my kryptonite.
Their savagery went on for a while, with Mari skating the razor’s edge of pleasure the whole time. She was babbling and desperate as she tried to take over from below, but Dominic wouldn’t let her. Every time she got close to coming, he stopped. Not slowing or pulling out, just stopped with his hips snug against her ass, his cock buried deep inside her. It drove Mari nuts.
She was crying again, eyes glazed and mindless when Dominic thrust forward for the last time, groaning as he came. When he’d emptied himself inside her, he leaned back, smacked her ass hard, and shoved her away like she was just another fuck for him.
I ground my teeth at the rough treatment. It was disgraceful, disrespectful, but I’d keep my opinions to myself if it helped Mari. Then he spoke, and I almost shot him in his smug fucking face.
“Your turn, Grey.”
My turn, like Mari was some hole for us to use. I whipped my head toward him and glared. “She’s not our whore.”
Dominic’s eyes were vibrant, satisfied from his orgasm but missing nothing. He looked just as arrogant as before, but there was amusement in his face that took some of the panic from me. “I didn’t say she was and I don’t expect you to treat her that way, but our little butterfly’s wings have been broken. Fix them. It’s what you do best.”
It took a moment for his words to penetrate.
Fix Mari.I’d spent my whole life helping her, protecting her, healing her.
Fix her? Yeah, I could do that.
When I looked down at Mari, she was panting and pink-cheeked, obviously desperate as she ground her hips into the mat. Dominic hadn’t let her come, and she hadn’t even attempted to get up and do it herself. She was still firmly in the mindless pleasure zone he’d pushed her to.
“Greyson,” she begged, reaching for me. “Please.”
This wasn’t my Mari; this was someone else. Someone in limbo, desperate for air that only I could give her. Dominic was right. I had to fix her. Pretty sure I was the only one who could, now that Nate was gone.
Rolling her over, I took Dominic’s place between her thighs. Her glazed eyes watched as I stripped down, needing skin-to-skin contact. I ignored Dominic, though I knew he was watching as closely as I had, and cradled her cheeks, brushing away the tear tracks with my thumbs. I kissed her so softly it almost hurt. “Are you sure?”
“Please,” she panted against my lips, her body jerking into mine. “I need this.”
“Anything for you,” I whispered. “Anything.”
I rolled my hips, rubbing my cock against the wetness of her pussy until I was soaked and slid inside her.
If I had any doubts about where I was meant to be in the world, all I had to do was fuck Mari to know that place was here. In her arms, her bed, her heart.
Wherever Mari went, I would follow.
“I love you,” I whispered, not caring that Dominic could hear me. Like he’d known she needed to be taken like that, I knew how to put her to rights again. “I’m so proud of you.”
My hands roamed her body, softly easing some of the ache he’d left her with. I kissed her bruises and bites, nipping here and there to give her my own, but I kept everything easy. My hands on her waist were loose, tempting her to roll her hips with me, writhe with me.
Part of putting her back together was reminding her that she had the power here.
We were her soldiers, her knights, ready and waiting for our mistress’s call.
“I missed you,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around my neck, keeping our bodies tight together. A breath of relief tore from me, and I knew that whatever this was, it had worked.
This woman under me, gripping my ass and pulling me in? This was my Mari reborn.
“I missed you too.”
Mari’s orgasm rose, her body tightening around me, and I ached to let it pass by, to give her what she needed without anything else, but we weren’t done.
She had to let go of Nate.
Her pussy clenched around me, and her broken sob was one of relief until I leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“I’m sorry, reina.”
Suddenly, she was crying for another reason, the ugly sobs tearing a hole in my heart. She clung to me, her fingers digging crescents into my skin, but I didn’t care. She tried to roll away, but my hips kept her still. At some point, she grabbed Dominic’s hand, and between the two of us, we pinned her in place with nothing but the force of our love.
Mari’s surrender was harder to watch without Dominic’s savagery stealing my attention. It was all pain. Every twitch screamed that she was in agony, and everywhere we touched hurt like I could feel it. I took it, though. I took everything she gave me as she finally allowed herself to grieve what she’d lost. What we’d all lost.
Nate. Our family. A future.
Dominic lifted her wrist to his mouth, pressing his lips to her skin like he needed it to breathe, and I stayed inside her, not moving, just waiting. Keeping her close. Reminding her I was there and I wasn’t going anywhere. Watching as she slowly let go and following her.
My chest ached as I went through my own healing in her arms. Nate was gone, and even though it killed me to lose the man I’d trusted my world to, there was nothing to do but accept it and rebuild.
I didn’t know how long we stayed on the gym floor, with Mari’s tears drying on her cheeks. My body ached from being so close to her and holding back, but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t come. I couldn’t. This wasn’t about me. Mari needed this connection, a reminder that we were hers. Always.
I should’ve known she wouldn’t let it go, though.
“Greyson.” She arched into me, rubbing herself against me and making me groan. I was trying not to push her, needing her to tell me where to go from here. “Keep going. Remind me what I’m fighting for.”
Fuck yes.
This, I could do. I could hold her, kiss her, pleasure her until she remembered who she was. Until she was put back together again. Then we’d handle everything as we always should have—together.
Dominic didn’t let go of Mari as I started fucking her again, his other hand creeping between us to play with her clit as she moaned and thrashed beneath me. When I felt myself getting close—so fucking close—I tightened my hands on Mari’s waist and let go, fucking her as hard as I needed to. Dominic took the hint and rolled her clit once more before he took it between his fingers and pinched. Mari exploded, her pussy clenching me so tight I had no choice but to come too.
White exploded over my vision, and it took ages for it to finally fade, letting me see the woman underneath me who looked at Dominic and me like we’d painted the sky with stars just for her. As I blinked away the last of the fog, we all burst into laughter. I didn’t know what they were laughing about, but I couldn’t help myself.
The glitter in her eyes felt like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds.
Mari was back. Finally.
I couldn’t be happier.
I dropped another kiss to her lips and pulled out, stifling the groan that came with losing her. Dominic disappeared, coming back with a towel that he used to clean Mari up before bundling her against his chest. I pressed myself against her back, hand wrapped around her hip while he stroked her hair. And for the longest time, we just breathed together.
It was perfect.
“I saw him.”
Dominic and I stiffened at her unexpected words, and Mari squeezed my hands idly as she kissed Dominic’s chest.
“What happened?” I asked finally.
“He apologized. Said he didn’t mean for this to happen. Told me he still loves me.”
She laughed like it was a joke, but I knew Mari too well for that. She was still smarting from Nate’s betrayal. Pretty sure she always would. “Do you believe him?”
Silence followed, and then, quietly, she whispered, “I don’t know.”
She wanted to, though. I knew, and when I looked up, I could see there was no doubt that Dominic did too.
What we were going to do about that, I wasn’t so sure.
“I’m sorry for hiding from you.”
“We get it,” Dominic said, pushing her hair out of her face. “It sucked, but we understand.”
She shook her head and burrowed into us. “I won’t do it again.”
“Yes, you will. It’s how you process.” I kissed her spine and shoulders, tightening my grip. “As long as you come back to us, it doesn’t matter.”
“Always.”
I smiled at the happy sigh she gave as she wiggled to get comfortable between us.
“No more lies, though. I can’t handle it again.”
“No more lies,” Dominic and I agreed.
But the secrets we carried between us labeled us frauds.