Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
I love teasing Ethan—
even though I’ll pay for it later.
Or maybe because I’ll pay for it later.
~ Zayne
“THANKS FOR ALL your help today.” Chloé kissed Shayla’s cheek and pressed the button on the elevator. “I owe you.”
“You do,” Shayla agreed. “So I’ll take a home-cooked meal by one of the best chefs in Chicago whenever she feels like it.”
Chloé chuckled as Shayla stepped inside the car. “That I can do.”
“Good.” Shayla looked past her shoulder to where Chloé knew Ethan and Zayne stood, then brought knowing eyes back to hers. “Now, you go and have a great first night in your new house. No stressing about the past.”
Chloé nodded. “No stressing.”
“See you soon.”
“See you, Shay.”
As the doors slid shut, Chloé took in a deep breath, and for the first time today allowed herself a moment to really let everything sink in.
She now lived with Ethan and Zayne.
Her two boyfriends. Her two doms . The two men who held her heart. And despite her moment of apprehension earlier in the day, she couldn’t be happier.
Chloé touched her fingers to the pretty gold bracelets around her wrists, and a smile slowly curved her lips as she drank in the sight of her new roommates—Zayne in his jeans and a t-shirt that clung to all those muscles, and Ethan in a pair of casual black pants and button-up shirt that he’d left untucked.
Yep, that was about as casual as Ethan got, but damn if it didn’t work for him.
“Well.” Chloé looked around at the boxes and set of drawers littering their— her —living room and shrugged. “Now that you’re stuck with me, where do you want me?”
“Now that’s a loaded question, Red.”
Chloé’s body immediately responded to the mischievous glint in Zayne’s eyes as he sauntered over to her.
“Maybe I should rephrase it, then?”
“Oh no.” Zayne stopped in front of her and, with a finger under her chin, angled her face up until their lips were an inch apart. “I like that question just fine.”
He lowered his head the final distance and nipped at her lower lip, before swiping his tongue across the same spot and slipping it inside.
Chloé moaned and put her hands up to brace them on his chest, and as the solid thump thump thump of his heart beat against her palm, Zayne angled his head and dove in deeper.
A low groan rumbled out of his throat, and he reached for her face, holding her where he wanted as he swept the interior of her mouth with a greedy tongue. Chloé melted into him, and when Zayne finally raised his head and her glassy eyes met his, he winked.
“I want you right here. In my arms, in Ethan’s, in our home. Where you put your stuff? That’s totally up to you, gorgeous.”
Chloé licked at her swollen lips as she looked over his shoulder to Ethan.
“Why don’t you go take a shower and unwind? Zayne and I will take these boxes upstairs. Once you’re done, come join us on the balcony for dinner.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping.”
Zayne fingered one of the curls that had escaped its confines. “We got this. Go and relax.”
She looked upstairs. The idea of a nice, hot shower on her aching muscles sounded like heaven. “Okay. I promise not to be too long.”
“Take as long as you like.”
She made her way to the stairs, but before she headed up, she stopped and turned back to where the two of them stood watching her.
“For dinner…”
“Yes?” Ethan waited for her to continue.
“How about a thick, juicy burger and some crinkle-cut fries?”
“Work up an appetite today?”
“Sure did. I’m starving.” With that, she jogged up the stairs and headed into her new bedroom.
Wow…
It was hard to believe that a few months ago she didn’t know either one of these men, when now she felt so intrinsically connected to them.
She wasn’t delusional. She knew there was still a lot they all had to learn about one another.
But with every day that passed they became more intimately woven, and this was just one more layer.
Their bedroom. Their bed. Their sanctuary.
She now shared this space with them, and she had a fierce urge to lay claim to every inch of the place—and men—that were now hers.
She looked at the large bed in the center of the room where she’d spent many nights tangled up between Ethan and Zayne, and smiled. There was a third pillow up against the headboard and an empty space on top of the bureau in the corner.
They’d gone out of their way to make room for her, to let her know that they wanted her to be a permanent part of their life. Something as simple as that pillow and an empty space for her perfumes and knickknacks made her heart full to bursting.
She could hear them moving around downstairs and knew the sooner she got in the shower, the sooner she could go and help them. So she hurried into the bathroom and stripped out of her clothes, then stepped under the water.
With her eyes shut, Chloé tipped her head back and moaned as she slicked her hands through her hair and let the steam envelop her.
God, that felt good. The heat on her tight muscles loosened them as she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck from side to side. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, but when her stomach began to grumble, she decided it was time to finish up.
She opened her eyes and spotted a new bottle of body wash— her body wash—on the shower shelf.
Ethan . She knew that was his attention to detail.
She’d brought her soap over a couple of times when she’d stayed, but never left it.
Now here was a brand-new bottle, and beside that, a fluffy pink loofah. That was Zayne.
Practicality and comfort—it was the perfect combination and summed them up pretty well.
Chloé smiled and picked up both, then poured some of the sweet-smelling soap onto the sponge and quickly washed up, wanting to get back to her two men so she could thank them for making her feel so welcome…
In whatever way they saw fit.
* * *
“SO WHERE SHOULD I put this?” Zayne pointed to the box at his feet. “Did you find enough room in our closet?”
“I did, actually.” Ethan opened the door to their walk-in and stood aside. “Right over there.”
Zayne hefted the box up, walked inside, and saw that Ethan had in fact managed to clear off an entire side for Chloé. He put the box in the far corner and then turned to look at the opposite side of the wall, noticing Ethan’s suits and ties occupying one end and his jeans and shirts on the other.
He let out a low whistle. “Impressive.”
“You think that’ll be enough room?”
Zayne looked back to the empty shelves and hanging area. “It should be? But there are twelve boxes.”
“True. But we can move her set of drawers up here too, and if she needs more room, we can always have something worked out. Maybe have something built?”
Zayne chuckled. “Yeah, we totally can. I’m just trying to work out where you put all of your clothes.”
Ethan pushed off the frame and walked over to him. “I don’t have that many.”
Zayne looked to the suits and dress pants hanging. “You have more than these.”
“I do. But we also have an estate thirty minutes away from here with more bedrooms than a small hotel. I realized I don’t need as many clothes as I was keeping here.”
“So you cleared them out for Red?”
“I did.”
Zayne’s lips curved. “That was nice.”
“It was common sense.”
Zayne leaned in and whispered over his lips. “No. It was nice. Admit it. You want to make sure she feels at home.”
“And you don’t?”
“I didn’t say that…” He smoothed a palm down Ethan’s hard chest to his waist. The sound of Chloé’s shower filtered in through the open door. “But you want to make sure she feels like she’s more than just a naked body to us. That she’s ours.”
Ethan cocked his head in the direction of the en suite, and Zayne nodded.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
“It might’ve crossed my mind.”
Zayne grinned against Ethan’s lips. “See. Nice.”
Quick as lightning, Ethan struck. He grabbed Zayne’s wrist, spun him around, and shoved him up against one side of the closet. Ethan muscled in behind him and trapped Zayne’s hand against the empty shelf above him.
Zayne’s heart and cock throbbed as the sharp scrape of teeth abraded his skin, and a low groan rumbled out of him.
“Tell me I’m nice again,” Ethan dared as he rubbed his erection against Zayne’s ass.
“ So fucking nice.”
“You’re going to regret saying that.”
“Promise?” Zayne gripped the shelf and shoved back into Ethan’s strong embrace.
“Yes. But not right now. I’m going to make you wait for it.” He nipped at Zayne’s ear. “Then I’m going to make you beg.”
Ethan released him, and Zayne turned around and palmed the hard-on straining against his denim.
“ That is mine.” Ethan slapped his hand away. “No touching. The next time you come will be when I let you. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Good. Now, let’s go and deal with these boxes so Chloé doesn’t have to.”
Together they moved all the boxes marked shoes and clothes up to the bedroom and closet area, and once they got through with that, Zayne spotted the one marked books and groaned.
“Okay, I’m hoping she keeps that one down here. She wasn’t kidding about having a collection. Julien gave her some of his, plus she had several shelves of romance books—naughty-as-fuck ones, judging by what I saw—and man, hardbacks are heavy.”
“Really. With all those muscles you’re complaining about a few books?”
“A few? She has enough to start a small library.”
“Huh.” Ethan scanned the living room. “Then maybe we should build a bookcase? For down here.”
“I bet she’d love that. She also has her stereo and vinyl collection. Maybe something for all of it.”
“Good idea. That space under the stairs wouldn’t be a bad spot.” Ethan looked to the three boxes at his feet. “But for now, how about we slide them over there? We wouldn’t want to strain all your muscles.”
“Hilarious.” Zayne hauled the heavy box into his arms, and saw the way Ethan checked out his bulging biceps.
“Maybe you should take that upstairs after all?”