Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Colum: I have a concern about Eric with Nikolett.
Franco: Your wife?
Colum: Feck.
Franco: Just one concern?
Colum: Do you think if…like a female preying mantis…once they’ve had sex, she’d eat him?
Franco: Did you eat another pot brownie?
Franco: Also, valid concern.
X avier was in a mood.
Colum watched him pace.
No. Not pace.
Prowl.
Xavier’s seemingly casual yet deliberate steps as he prowled around the living room of the suite were like a tiger pacing the edges of a zoo enclosure.
Restless.
Dangerous.
Colum switched his attention from Xavier to Annie.
Annie was watching Xavier too; except she wasn’t just watching him. She was studying him, and the way she tipped her head to the side made Colum tense in anticipation.
If it were up to Colum, he would have picked up a book or his laptop and immersed himself in study or research, ignoring everyone around him until whatever emotions or interpersonal issues were at play simply went away.
Except that wasn’t really an option. When he tried to open his laptop, Annie reached over without looking and snapped it closed.
And surprisingly, Colum wasn’t upset. He didn’t really want to ignore Xavier and Annie. He wanted to know what was making Xavier pace like that. Wanted to know what that calculating look in Annie’s eyes would manifest as. He just didn’t have any idea how to engage with them, and he’d never had to learn how to. He’d always had Josephine for that.
Annie rose, and Colum tensed with anticipation, gaze bouncing back and forth between them.
She sauntered over to the desk and picked up a small, thick pad of paper with the hotel’s logo on it. She pulled back her arm and winged it at Xavier.
The paper fluttered as the pad flew, making just enough noise that Xavier whirled, saw it coming, and ducked.
“What the fuck was that?” he snarled at Annie.
Annie smiled, reaching for a hotel pen.
Xavier stalked across the room toward her. Annie raised the pen to throw, and Xavier picked up speed, his posture threatening. Colum rose, watching carefully but silently vowing not to punch Xavier unless Annie told him to.
He caught Annie’s wrist, and the pen clattered from her hold. She tipped her head back, locks of her smooth hair sliding off her shoulders as she looked up at Xavier.
“I dare you,” she purred at Xavier.
“Dare me to do what?” He leaned into her, forcing her ass against the edge of the desk, her back arching slightly.
“The thing you’re imagining. Whatever it is you’re planning but trying to convince yourself you shouldn’t do.” Annie’s arm moved, fast and sure. Xavier had been holding her wrist, their arms still raised. Now, she pulled on that hold, forcing Xavier’s arm down and around her as she put her own wrist behind her back. “Do it,” she taunted.
Xavier’s hand shoved into her hair, fisting it until she gasped. Colum took a half step forward, but this time instead of being worried about her, the sight of Xavier’s rough handling had desire pooling in his belly.
Xavier spun them around until Annie was pressed against the wall instead of the desk. A tug to her hair forced her head back, while Xavier moved the hand manacling her wrist, pinning it beside her head.
Xavier bent to her exposed neck, and even from here, Colum could see his teeth indenting her skin. Annie gasped then hummed in approval, only to gasp again when Xavier rubbed his bearded jaw against the skin below her ear.
“You’re still holding back,” Annie said, voice thin because of the position of her neck. “Don’t. I can take it.” Annie’s gaze slid to Xavier’s. “We can take it.”
Colum’s arm muscles tensed with the desire to join them. To be the one bending Annie—sweet, dangerous, powerful Annie—to his will.
Xavier released Annie only long enough to spin her around, forcing her face-first against the wall. He pinned her wrists together above her head, his voice too low for Colum to hear as he whispered in her ear.
Then Xavier stepped back just enough to put space between them while keeping her wrists pinned. With his free hand, he reached for the waistband of her pants, yanking them down to her knees.
Annie’s pert, pale ass was exposed, and Colum had a quick, wicked fantasy about punishing her, making her stand in the corner as he spanked her ass.
He was mildly disgusted with himself until Xavier proved he wasn’t the only one thinking that.
Xavier’s hand smacked against her ass, raining a dozen blows in quick succession. When he stopped, there was a faint pinkness to Annie’s ass.
Colum swallowed against the knot of desire, not realizing how close he’d gotten to them until Xavier grabbed his hand. With Xavier guiding him, Colum’s hand smoothed over Annie’s bare ass, and he felt the temperature difference between spanked and un-spanked flesh.
“Qui est un belle salope?”
One hand still in her hair, the other around her waist, Xavier pulled Annie back against his chest, spinning until they faced Colum.
He froze, not expecting to be the focus of their attention, yet he couldn’t stop himself from looking at Annie—her body bare from knees to waist.
Xavier jerked on her hair, forcing her head back against his shoulder as his other hand splayed over her belly, then slid lower, between her legs. Annie gasped and arched as he cupped her pussy, one hand gripping Xavier’s arm.
Xavier’s fingers moved against her, and Colum wished he could see exactly what the other man was doing. How he was touching her to make her writhe and moan like that.
Just as quickly as he’d grabbed her, Xavier released Annie. “Strip.”
The command was hard, bordering on cruel, and Colum searched Annie’s face for any sign of distress. There was none, only need and a softness Colum couldn’t name.
Annie slid her pants and panties down, kicking them away, then pulled off her shirt. A soft lace bra covered her chest, but before she could take it off, Xavier grabbed her again. Neither one of them had noticed that he’d removed his belt until he used it to bind Annie’s wrists together in front of her.
Her hands rested in front of her pussy, covering herself, until Xavier smacked her ass, and she jerked her arms up, hooking her wrists behind her head.
Xavier smirked at her with that cruel half smile. “I knew you could be a good girl.” He ran the backs of his fingers along the underside of her raised arm, making her shiver. “Our good little slut.”
Colum’s cock was rock-hard inside his pants, and he jerked at the word “our.”
Xavier pulled Annie’s back against his chest, cupping her breasts and pinching her nipples hard. He twisted, and Annie pushed up on her toes, gasping in what sounded like pain.
“You’re hurting her,” Colum said, taking a warning step toward Xavier.
“I am. Tell him.” Xavier’s lips skimmed along Annie’s arm. “Tell him how I’m hurting you.”
“He’s pinching my nipples,” she whispered. “Grinding the lace into them. It hurts…so good.” Her little mewling noise of pain shouldn’t have been arousing, but it was.
It really fucking was.
Their darkness called to something in Colum, and he closed the distance between them, until only a handspan separated him from Annie.
Xavier released her breasts to pinch her chin, forcing Annie’s mouth open before looking up, meeting and holding Colum’s gaze. “Colum?”
“Yes, Xavier?” He almost didn’t recognize his own voice.
“Which hole do you want?”
Colum’s breath froze in his chest, and Annie’s eyes widened before sliding closed, a slight smile curving her lips.
“Which of her pretty, tight holes do you want to fuck?”
Xavier pressed a finger between Annie’s smiling lips, hooked a finger over her lower teeth, forcing her mouth open wider. “Do you want to fuck her mouth? Make her gag on your cock?” Xavier forced two fingers deep into Annie’s mouth until she gagged softly.
“Or her pussy?” Xavier’s wet fingers trailed down her body, pausing to yank the cups of her bra to the side, finally exposing her breasts. He cupped her pussy.
Except he didn’t just cup Annie’s soft flesh; he nestled two fingers between her pussy lips and spread them open.
Colum stepped back so he could get a better look at what was being offered to him.
“Or her ass.” Xavier spun Annie around, using a hand in her hair to force her to bend at the waist, then rearing over with his other hand to grab one ass cheek and pull it to the side, exposing her puckered rear entrance.
Colum was so aroused he worried he was going to pass out now that all his blood was in his cock. That worry was secondary to his alarm at what it was he wanted to do to Annie. Xavier’s darkness called to a part of him he’d never known or acknowledged.
He should have wanted to protect her, the way he had when Xavier bent her over the couch that first time, but now, Annie’s naked, submissively offered body made him want to pleasure her until that pleasure became pain.
“Please,” Annie moaned. “Please fuck me. Any hole. I just need your cock in me.”
Xavier arched a brow at Colum.
Colum surged forward, knocking Xavier out of the way. He made quick work of removing the belt from Annie’s wrists, catching the flash of disappointment in her gaze.
That disappointment disappeared when Colum slowly slid the belt around her neck, sliding the end through the metal loop of the buckle.
“I told you so,” Annie breathed, and though she was looking up at Colum, all soft trust, it was clear she was talking to Xavier.
“I didn’t disagree.” Xavier stepped up beside them, gaze roving over them.
“On your knees,” Colum said, making sure the belt was loose around her neck. God, what was he doing? What if he accidentally strangled her?—
Annie’s knees hit the floor, and then her hands were on him, fumbling in sudden haste to get his button open and draw down the fly.
She yanked and his cock sprang free, hard and hot, the tip wet with precome.
Colum cupped her head with the same hand holding the belt, pressing the flat of the belt against her until it molded to her skull, then drew her in. Annie gripped the base of his shaft, angling it to line up with her open, waiting mouth. He pulled on her until his cock slid into the warm heat of her mouth. He hesitated for a moment, overwhelmed by the feel of her mouth around his cock, especially when she teased the underside of the head with her tongue.
“Deeper,” Xavier urged him.
Colum thrust in, holding Annie’s head so she had no choice but to take his cock as he thrust in deep, hitting the back of her throat, the sensitive head of his cock sliding along the wet, soft skin at the back of her throat until she gagged on him.
Xavier straddled Annie’s calves, facing Colum, as he thrust into her once more. He was going slow, making her take him deep, in part because any faster, and he’d come. He’d come long before he was ready for this to be over.
Xavier’s hand cupped the side of Colum’s neck, a thumb under his jaw, forcing his face up just a bit.
While fucking Annie’s face so deep she gagged, Colum shared a soft, tender look with Xavier. That tenderness continued as Xavier leaned in, pressing his lips to Colum’s.
There was a shock of connection, of electricity arcing between them at the first press of lips. And then they were ravaging one another’s mouths, fighting for control of the kiss. Xavier won, but only because Colum was distracted by Annie’s mouth.
The image of having Xavier on his knees the way Annie was almost pushed Colum over the edge. He broke the kiss and jerked back, looking down at Annie. Her lips were sealed around his cock, her chin wet with drool, eyes glassy with desire.
Colum reached down, hauling her to her feet. He hadn’t touched her, tasted her nearly enough, so he remedied that. Colum ran his hands over every inch of her skin, shucking his clothes when having his pants tangled around his knees got in his way. As he did that, Annie stripped off her bra, finally fully naked.
Colum pulled her to him, cupped her ass, and at his urging, she hopped up, hooking her legs around his waist. Lifting her by the ass, Colum raised her upper body until he could capture her nipples with his lips, tongue, and teeth. She made sweet noises as he licked and sucked.
He couldn’t hold her like that for long, and yet he didn’t want to take her to bed. This didn’t feel like a bedroom moment.
Instead, he staggered a few steps to the couch, setting her on the back of it, which was just the right height to line her pussy up with his cock.
She grabbed his dick with one hand, the other unlooping the belt from around her neck and throwing it to the side. She tugged on his cock, trying to pull him closer.
“I haven’t made you come yet,” Colum said. “I want you to play with your clit until you come.”
Instead of responding, Annie shot a pointed look at Xavier before refocusing on Colum.
“Fuck my pussy the way you fucked my mouth,” she demanded, the soft submission of a moment ago burned away. “I want you so deep in my cunt that I can taste you at the back of my throat.”
With a snarl of base desire, Colum surged forward, his cock sliding along warm, plump folds before finding her entrance and tunneling in. She was tight, so tight that Colum was terrified he was about to come with one thrust. Annie’s back arched, eyes closed in bliss.
As she leaned back, they tipped off-balance. Colum grabbed her, but he too was leaning forward, and she would have fallen if Xavier hadn’t appeared at her back. Kneeling on the couch, he braced her against his chest, one hand sliding over her front until his fingers found her clit. Xavier’s fingers first traced the place where Colum’s cock entered her body before moving up, and whatever he was doing was making Annie gasp, her pussy tightening around Colum’s cock.
Colum pulled out and surged in again, this time leaning down to capture Annie’s mouth with his. He wondered if she could taste Xavier on his lips as his tongue dueled with hers. He thought maybe he could taste himself in her mouth.
Colum held back as long as he could, fucking Annie with long, deep strokes as Xavier teased her clit and whispered filthy things to her in French.
“Oh fuck, I’m going to come,” she gasped, nails digging into Colum’s biceps.
Colum let himself go, fucking her hard and fast, the heavy hotel couch thumping as he slammed into her, his own pleasure tight at the base of his spine.
Annie slumped against Xavier, panting, as Colum used her sweet, tight body to bring himself to orgasm. The pleasure was more intense than anything he’d ever felt, sinking into his soul as he opened his eyes at the peak of his climax to find Annie and Xavier, their faces close together, watching him.
Annie lay on her back, staring at the ceiling of the hotel bedroom. It had been nearly half an hour since that incredible orgasm, but her body still felt floaty, weightless, wonderful. They’d moved here from the couch, Xavier stripping off his own clothing before the three of them climbed beneath the sheets.
She’d been just about to drift to sleep when she was pulled back to reality by Colum’s sigh. It was too heavy and sad, given what they’d just shared.
“What is it?” she asked, lifting her head to look at him, confused by the sudden clouds in his expression.
“That’s probably the last time I’m going to have sex.”
Xavier pushed up to his elbow, looking as confused as she felt. “What do you mean?”
Colum ran his hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have…” He shook his head. “The thing is…I’m married.”
Annie sat bolt upright, clutching the covers under her arms. “You’re married ?” she asked hotly.
Colum sat up as well, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, so his back was to them. If he tried to walk away, Annie was prepared to kick his legs out from under him, straddle his waist, and hold him down until he explained what the hell he was talking about.
But he didn’t rise. Instead, his shoulders drooped, his head hanging low. The posture was that of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
She and Xavier exchanged a glance. As upset as she was that Colum had withheld something so important from them, she also didn’t have it in her to kick a horse who was down. And Colum was down.
“I should have told you,” Colum admitted, “but it all happened so fast, and I haven’t let myself think about the trinity, focusing on the investigation instead.”
“Happened fast? How long have you been married?” Annie asked.
Colum rested his elbows on his knees. “A fortnight or thereabouts. Not that I’ve seen my spouses or spoken to them even.”
“Oh,” Annie said. “You just got placed in your arranged trinity.”
“Colum,” Xavier said, his tone even and calm. “Turn around and look at us.”
Colum clearly didn’t want to do that, but he did anyway, twisting until one leg was bent beneath him, the other still hanging over the edge of the mattress. She and Xavier were sitting, both propped against the headboard.
“So you had your binding ceremony, and you have a month before you go back and actually get married,” Annie said.
“What? No. I know that’s how it is for the Trinity Masters, but we don’t have two ceremonies, only the one.” Colum swallowed hard. “I’m… I’m married. I didn’t think I ever would be, but I had to…”
“Had to?” Xavier asked gently.
“Eric…” Colum sighed and looked away. “Maybe I should start at the beginning.”
“Okay.” Xavier reached out to run his hand down Colum’s bare arm. “Do that.”
“The archivist’s situation within the Masters’ Admiralty is different from other members, or…it was.” Colum’s eyes were downcast.
“Different how?” Annie asked.
“While I’m a member of the society, I function autonomously. The archive, Dublin, functionally all of Ireland, is neutral.” Colum glanced up at their faces for the first time and saw their confusion. “I don’t answer to any territory admiral or the fleet admiral.”
Xavier blew out a slow whistle, clearly shocked by that information. Annie was too green when it came to how Masters’ Admiralty functioned, but she’d learned there were enough differences between the two societies that this didn’t pack the same punch for her as it did for Xavier. As far as she knew, the Trinity Masters didn’t have an archive, and if they did, it was kept a secret the same as Colum’s.
“The archive is neutral,” Colum went on to explain for Xavier’s benefit. “In recent years, the Masters’ Admiralty and Trinity Masters have begun,” he paused, clearly searching for the word, “not exactly working together, but sharing information and the like, when it affected both of us. While the Masters’ Admiralty knew of the Trinity Masters’ existence, your society did not,” he directed toward Annie.
Annie nodded. “Before being assigned to take part in this mission, I didn’t have a clue there was another society.”
Colum rubbed his jaw, and she got the sense he was measuring his words, probably taking care not to let something slip that they weren’t supposed to know. Like the name of the Grand Master.
“Franco sort of serves as the unofficial archivist for the Trinity Masters,” he explained. “The two of us have become friends over the past few years, working together on occasion to share information, discuss possible threats.”
“There have been a lot of threats?” Annie asked, fascinated to discover how much happened behind the scenes of the Trinity Masters she wasn’t aware of.
“There have,” Colum said softly, something that looked too much like grief crossing his face. “It isn’t unusual for the Grand Master or fleet admiral to call upon members to help with investigations like the one we’re conducting.”
Xavier tilted his head. “Colum, what does all of this have to do with you being married?”
Annie leaned toward Xavier, bumping her bare shoulder against his. “Patience, grasshopper.”
Xavier studied her. “Did you just call me a bug?”
“Oh, never mind. The point is, he feels we need more background knowledge,” she countered.
“Ye do,” Colum added. “Otherwise, you won’t understand. As I said, this cooperation between our societies is new. Recently, we formed a joint council with representatives from each society.”
“What representatives?” Xavier asked, frowning.
Colum blinked several times, surprised by the question.
Annie was too, considering Xavier had just impatiently tried to move Colum through this part.
“Er…the Grand Master, the fleet admiral, the Grand Master’s counselors, a few members of the MPF, and?—”
“MPF?” she asked.
“Jaysus,” Colum murmured. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to…” He sighed and then replied, “Masters Protection Force. That was actually our first foray into working together. It was a joint task force to address the threats I mentioned. I probably shouldn’t say more than that.”
Xavier looked like he wanted more details, but this story was already taking too long, so she reached over and squeezed Xavier’s knee.
Xavier sighed. “Fine. Who else is part of the new council?”
“Some of the admirals,” Colum finished.
“Some? Not all?” Xavier asked.
Annie looked at Xavier and threw her hands up, frustrated about his seemingly pointless questions. “Why does that matter?”
Xavier shrugged. “Just curious.”
“Not all the admirals,” Colum confirmed. “As the archivist, I was invited to attend. Franco and I decided to introduce our idea of a joint archive at the first meeting of the Trinity Council.”
“A joint archive is a good idea,” Xavier said.
“It’s a grand idea, but one of the admirals wasn’t happy about the fact that Franco is married to the Grand Master, while I technically don’t have to answer to the fleet admiral. The admiral was worried the Trinity Masters would have better access through Franco than any of our admirals would, since—in my role as archivist—I’m exempt from the trinity marriage.”
“Wait.” Xavier leaned forward, placing his hand on Colum’s shoulder. “You’re a member, but don’t have to get married?”
Colum nodded. “That was the old rule. I misspoke. I was exempt from the trinity marriage. In order to convince the council to move forward with the joint archive, I had to agree to be placed in a trinity marriage, and my marriage had to be to an admiral within the Masters’ Admiralty.”
Xavier’s grip on Colum’s shoulder tightened. “An admiral?”
“Eric assigned me to a trinity with Sarah Ritter, a knight from Germany, and…” Colum swallowed hard. “Nikolett Varda, the admiral of Hungary.”
“You have to be married to an admiral?” Xavier repeated as he leaned back, his brows furrowed, though Annie couldn’t tell if he was angry or frustrated.
“So why haven’t you met with your new spouses?” Annie asked. “And why do you think you’ll never have sex again?”
“Eric knew I didn’t want to be married, so he basically arranged an in-name-only marriage. Sarah is a knight in Germany, and I’m not really sure how this will impact her. Maybe she’ll stay there. Or become a knight in Hungary. She won’t be moving to Dublin. Nikolett is the admiral of a big, complicated territory. She’ll have to remain in her territory. I’m tied to the archive and Dublin…the marriage satisfied the requirement without forcing any of us out of our positions.”
Annie studied Colum. “If this Sarah is a knight, she should move to Dublin and protect you and the archive.” The idea of the other woman moving in with Colum and being his wife made Annie feel sick, but she was trying to look at this from a purely logical point of view, no emotions.
Colum’s eyes went wide. “What? No… Is she going to want to do that?” He sounded utterly panicked.
“Why wouldn’t she? And why is it you think you’re never going to have sex again?”
“Sarah will want, need, to protect a territory.” Colum sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as them. “And with Nikolett…there’s a bigger problem.”
Xavier frowned. “What’s that?”
“Eric is in love with Nikolett.”
“What?!” Xavier cried out, rearing upright. “The fleet admiral is in love with the admiral of Hungary? How do you know this?”
Colum shrugged. “He told me. Well, not in so many words, I suppose, but I know him well enough to know he’s mad about Nikolett.”
“Eric, Nikolett,” Xavier repeated, staring at Colum. “You seem to know the fleet admiral quite well.”
Colum nodded, but in true Colum fashion, he didn’t pick up on the social cue to expound, so Annie addressed Xavier’s confusion.
“Colum is basically Eric’s adopted brother. They’ve known each other for a very long time,” she explained. “Since before Eric became fleet admiral and Colum a member.”
Colum nodded. “Right enough.”
While Xavier’s confusion had been dealt with, hers had not. “I don’t understand why Eric would put you in a trinity marriage with the woman he loves,” Annie said, hoping he’d offer her some clarity.
Xavier’s brows rose. “Because the admiral of Hungary is the only currently unmarried admiral.”
Colum nodded. “Yes. Nikolett was the only option.”
Annie shook her head. “What if there had been no unmarried admirals? There’s never only one option. Not really.”
“Fair enough like,” Colum said. “But…Eric’s been married before. Both of his wives died, and he grieved for a long time. He won’t let himself be with anyone else, convinced that bad things happen to women he cares for.” Colum looked away, his gaze focused on the night sky. It looked like Eric wasn’t the only one grieving. Had Colum known Eric’s wives?
“By putting me in a marriage with Nikolett, Eric was keeping me from having to, well…” Colum rubbed his temple. “I told you. I’m not good at relationships. This way, I can maintain my solitary life and…”
Annie scowled. “He’s dooming you, Sarah, and Nikolett to a loveless, in-name-only marriage.”
“I know it sounds bad, but—” Colum started.
“No but about it. It is bad,” Annie interjected. “The point of the arranged marriages is to form strong trinities. Yours isn’t really a trinity at all. If I was Nikolett, I’d chop off Eric’s dick, fry it up in cornmeal, and feed it to him for breakfast.”
Xavier and Colum covered their cocks with their hands.
“He didn’t have a choice,” Colum protested again.
Annie knew she didn’t have all the information, understand all the intricacies of the Masters’ Admiralty, but from what Colum had said, it sounded like Eric had jumped on an opportunity. Satisfy the new requirement that the archivist be married to an admiral, make sure that while Colum was married, he didn’t have to actually be married , and lock the woman he loved into marriage with someone else because he had relationship PTSD.
And brother or not, Eric didn’t know Colum all that well if he thought what Colum wanted or needed was a sham marriage.
“Er…” Colum ran his hand through his hair, his obvious unease making the curls an even more chaotic mess. “I think I’m making Eric sound bad, when…”
“When?” Annie crossed her arms.
He fell silent. “‘He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.’”
Annie raised one eyebrow. “So you agree with me, Gandalf?”
“I should have said that to him, but…” Colum shrugged. “He’s hurting. He has been for a long time. We both… Neither one of us is good at talking about things that matter.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Xavier countered. “You’ve opened up to us.”
“That’s because you two are…different,” Colum admitted. “I don’t know why, but you are.”
Annie smiled. “I feel the same way, but, Colum, I think you need to talk to Eric about this marriage.”
Colum’s expression was the definition of glum. “And say what? I agreed to it.”
Annie reached over, cupping Colum’s cheek. “Talk to Eric,” she repeated, hating the idea of Colum being trapped in a loveless marriage, when he deserved so much more.
He deserved things like happiness, companionship, love.
If only she—and Xavier—could be the ones to give them to him.