Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Colum: I fecking hate travel.
Franco: I know.
Colum: There’s people. Everywhere.
Franco: True. You’re a terrible choice for a character in a road trip book.
C olum looked up at the first bit of movement after God only knew how many hours. They’d doubled down on the research, deep diving into the Stokers, just in case they came up empty with the great-niece.
Xavier seemed sure that Florence Stoker would have a piece, and his confidence was persuasive.
But for Xavier to be right, it meant the Stokers, or maybe just Florence, had known about this dangerous manuscript but never told the Masters’ Admiralty. Or maybe they did, and that’s how the archive ended up with the painting containing the first piece. He didn’t actually know exactly how the canvas came to be in the archive, especially given the complete break between Wilde and the society.
If the Stokers did know about the first piece, and made sure it ended up with the archive, why didn’t they pass over the section they had?
But then again…
Colum was working in circles. If things didn’t pan out with the great-niece, they needed a plan B…and C…and D, but he was glad they were going back to Dublin. While he would put his hand to God and declare that everything in his archive was catalogued, a niggling doubt nipped at him. What if Florence Stoker’s piece was in the archive somewhere, and whoever catalogued it hadn’t realized what it was?
His brain was starting to hurt.
Annie stood up, arching her back to stretch. The position pushed her breasts out, and while Colum liked to consider himself a gentleman, he was also a red-blooded man and he couldn’t resist the pull to admire them, his thoughts running rampant as he recalled the way it had felt to be inside that mouth, that pussy.
Anastasia Ward was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met, and the fact that she was as attracted to him as he was to her felt like a goddamn miracle.
More than that, she cared about him. Colum had been on his own since Josephine’s death, and as far as being his own keeper, he was shite at the job. His sister was the one who’d always made sure he ate the occasional vegetable rather than living on fish and chips, made sure he looked after himself, even forced him to stand up and walk around outside.
“You’re up to ninety,” she’d say, insisting he go outside even if it was lashing rain. It was strange to him how he’d always found those thoughtful little acts annoying as hell, because they were the things he missed the most these days.
Since the first day they’d met, Annie made sure he came up for air and food as they conducted their research, encouraging him to take regular breaks. She also made sure he had a steady supply of hot tea and biscuits, nudging them under his hand whenever he got lost in whatever he was working on.
He’d ignored or grumbled about those things when his sister had been alive, never once thanking her. He rarely even noticed she was doing it, taking it for granted, too lost in his books and thoughts.
He wouldn’t do that again. Wouldn’t fail to appreciate a kindness shown to him. So, he’d said, “Ta,” to Annie every single time. So much so, she’d teasingly told him he didn’t have to keep thanking her. The thing was, she was wrong about that, because he did. He couldn’t let a woman he…
Bloody hell.
Colum blinked a few times and even shook his head. Because he’d nearly thought the word love…about Annie.
Obviously, he’d loved his sister, but that was a very different kind of love, and he definitely had feelings for Annie, but was she a woman he loved?
That couldn’t be right, could it?
He’d known her less than a week.
Love didn’t come as quickly as that. Or at least, he assumed it didn’t.
Though what did he know? He’d never been in love in his life. Never managed to forge that kind of connection, too perplexed by human interactions to break through to something that strong, that real.
So, he had to be wrong about loving her.
Maybe.
Probably.
His emotions were getting mixed up in his head, his fondness for Annie jumbled up with memories of Josephine, anxiety over his trinity marriage, and the overpowering lust he felt for her and Xavier.
Lust.
That was another thing he was fairly new at too.
Well, no, that wasn’t true. He was a normal guy, and all his parts functioned just fine. He felt lust as much as the next fella, so maybe it was more accurate to say he was overwhelmed by sex that wasn’t based only on physical release, like his past two encounters had been.
Sex with Annie, with Xavier, was so much more than that. Because it included that deeper, more meaningful connection that had always eluded him.
Colum dismissed the ideas of love and lust, deciding instead that he was merely moved by the two of them and the way they looked at him, somehow seeing something worthy of their attention.
After all, Annie had been angry at the idea of him being forced into a loveless, in-name-only marriage, and though she’d pointed out Sarah might be able to move to Dublin with him, he was sure that wouldn’t happen. Knights were the law and order of a territory, and Dublin, as a neutral zone, had no knights. Sarah would have to give up her job to come to Dublin, and that would be a waste of a good knight. No, Sarah would go to Hungary and become one of Nikolett’s harcosok.
Nikolett. He wasn’t exactly chuffed to be married to her as he found her terrifying, and knowing Eric loved her made the idea of even kissing her abhorrent. But it was the price he paid to get what he wanted.
A price that hadn’t seemed unreasonable at the time.
Eric was twisted in a million knots over Nikolett. There was no telling how the two of them would ever unravel their feelings for each other.
His whole reason for accepting membership to the Masters’ Admiralty and the position of archivist was because he would be exempt from the arranged marriage, something he’d always known he’d fail at. Eric understood that, and when Hande’s conditions for the Trinity Archive were put in place, Eric obviously thought he was protecting the solitary nature of what had first made Colum agree to join, by placing him with two people who he wouldn’t live with, and most likely rarely see.
Now, however, as he looked at Annie, and then at Xavier, he wondered if perhaps he’d been too quick to write off relationships.
Annie did a deep bend, touching her toes, drawing his attention from her tits to her ass.
Xavier caught him, perfectly aware Colum had been checking her out. Probably because he’d been doing the same thing.
The sexy Frenchman gave him a wink, and Annie caught sight of it.
“I know you’re both looking at me,” Annie said.
“Because you’re putting on a show,” Xavier said.
Annie laughed. “It’s time for a work break.”
Colum looked at the clock. They really had been at it for hours.
Had they even stopped for lunch? Or dinner?
Glancing around, the empty plate next to his elbow told him he’d eaten something, though there weren’t enough crumbs left behind to tell him what.
“What did you have in mind?” Colum asked. “Not sure we should take a walk outside after dark if we’re in danger, security detail or not.”
Annie tilted her head, wiggling her eyebrows. “Oh, I’m definitely interested in some physical activity, but not a walk.”
Xavier shifted closer to Colum on the couch, wrapping his arm around his neck. “Our girl knows what she needs.”
Annie smirked but didn’t deny it.
Colum nudged closer to Xavier. “I’d say that’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.”
Xavier laughed, the hand that was looped around his shoulders shifting to grip the back of Colum’s neck. Colum was ready for this, wanted this…and then remembered the conversation they’d just had.
He was married, and this was wrong. He’d allowed himself to forget and not think about the marriage enough to be with them once, but he couldn’t do it again, especially not now that they knew too.
“Can I watch?” Colum asked glumly.
“Just watch? No. You’re participating,” Annie insisted.
“But…but I’m married.”
“Are you?” Xavier asked. “Annie and I discussed it, and I explained how all new trinities have to go and kneel and make a pledge at Cashtal Ny Tree Cassyn .”
Colum frowned. “That’s just ceremonial.”
“All marriages are conditional until approved by the fleet admiral,” Xavier added.
Colum threw his hands up, exasperated. “The fleet admiral is the one who declared I was married.”
“No.” Xavier shook his head. “It’s not real. Not complete.”
“The ceremony is just, er, ceremonial,” Colum said again, but the protest was weak.
“It sounds to me like you’re in your binding period,” Annie declared. “Not really married. Not yet. Schrodinger’s marriage.”
Colum swallowed hard, looking at them. “You’re…you’re okay with this?”
“Okay with you being stuck in a loveless, in-name-only marriage where you end up by yourself and celibate in the archive in Dublin?” Annie’s gaze was hard. “No, I’m really not okay with it.”
Xavier shot her a look, then turned back to Colum. “Until your name is in the book, as far as I, we, are concerned, you’re not married. Which means you’re ours.” Xavier’s expression flickered. “For now.”
The mood could have, might have died right then, but Xavier leaned closer, his breath hot against Colum’s cheek. “Have you ever considered taking a male lover?”
“Jaysus,” Colum whispered. Pursuing prospective lovers—male or female—wasn’t in Colum’s skill set. The only reason he’d slept with the two American lasses was because they’d propositioned him.
Annie stepped closer, perching on the edge of the coffee table in front of them, her knees brushing theirs.
“How, er, how do you think that would go?” Colum asked, partially to stall while he wrapped his head around what Xavier was offering, and partially because he really did need more details.
He half expected Xavier to laugh at his awkward question, but he should have known better. Neither Xavier—nor Annie—had ever made him feel like a fecking Muppet, even though he was sure he was being as awkward as a pig in a parlor. They never laughed at his strange comments or made him feel like the odd guy out, despite the fact he was considered odd by most people who knew him. The only other people to ever look beyond his introverted nature were Eric, Josephine, and Franco.
Xavier shifted until his lips brushed Colum’s ear, though when he spoke, it was loud enough that Annie could hear every word. “To begin with, I thought I’d take you into the bedroom where I would strip off every piece of clothing hiding that sexy body from me.”
“From us ,” Annie interjected. “And I want to help.”
Xavier sent a smoldering look toward Annie. “I welcome the help, but you’ll only do what I tell you.”
“Maybe,” she teased.
Colum swallowed hard, imagining these two pulling his clothes off, their fingers brushing against his skin, stroking him. It had been hard as hell to hold on earlier because Annie and Xavier had found every single one of his buttons and they hadn’t just pressed them. No, they’d beat on them like it was a Whac-a-Mole game with money on the line.
“Go on,” Colum urged. He’d become a huge fan of Xavier’s dirty talk. “What else?”
Xavier’s grip on his neck tightened. Colum wasn’t sure what it was that made that touch so fucking sexy, but his dick had responded to it instantly, his jeans far too tight for the erection that had sprouted.
“Then I’m going to drop to my knees and take that thick cock of yours into my mouth,” Xavier said. “I’m going to swallow it, suck on it so hard, your knees will buckle.”
“Fuck his mouth like you fucked mine,” Annie urged.
“Christ almighty,” Colum murmured.
Annie leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, hanging on Xavier’s words as much as Colum was.
“The first time you come,” Xavier continued, “is going to be down my throat.”
Colum was practically panting, as he silently offered up an Irish prayer for strength.
“I’m going to watch,” Annie said, “but I’m not making any promises when it comes to keeping my hands to myself.”
Thus far, voyeurism had played a definite role in their sexual antics, Colum watching Xavier with Annie, then Xavier doing the same as Colum took their beautiful woman over the couch.
“I want you to touch me,” Colum admitted. “I love your hands on me.”
Annie reached over, grasping his hand before taking Xavier’s as well, squeezing them. “Spending this time with the two of you…” she said, more seriously than he’d ever heard her. She paused, looking for words Colum didn’t need to hear. “It’s been…”
“Aye,” Colum said, acknowledging just how special this was to him as well.
“ Oui ,” Xavier added softly.
They remained there, for just a moment. Apparently, a moment was all Xavier could spare before putting them right back on track.
“After you come down my throat, I’m going to…” This time, it was Xavier who paused, a wicked grin growing. “Do you want to know what happens next, or should there be some mystery?”
Colum licked his lips, genuinely considering that question. “Er…”
Annie giggled. “Surprises are fun,” she said to Colum. “Especially Xavier’s. They’re always kinky as fuck.”
Colum had never been a fan of surprises, but in this instance, he thought it might be the best way to go. If Xavier kept describing what he planned to do, they’d never make it to the bedroom because, sweet mother of mercy, he was under no illusion that the sexy Frenchman couldn’t talk him into a climax right here, right now.
“You two wait here,” Xavier said, leaving the suite before Colum or Annie could ask him where the hell he was going. As far as timing went, Xavier’s sucked. Or so Colum thought. Until Xavier returned within two minutes, brandishing a tube of lubrication in his hand like a swashbuckler waving his sword.
Annie clapped her hands. “How very Boy Scout-ish of you! So prepared.”
“Bedroom,” Colum said, clearing his throat when the word came out too husky.
Annie hopped up with her usual energy and joy, looking like a kid who’d just come downstairs to discover Santa had arrived. She grabbed the lubrication, leading the way to the bedroom. While he and Xavier both had their own hotel suites, they hadn’t stayed in them since the night Annie drugged the two of them and tucked them into her bed. Last night, after Colum told them about his marriage, the three of them had climbed under the covers together and fallen asleep.
Once they entered the bedroom, Annie walked over to the bed, dropping the tube on the mattress before perching on the edge. When she waved her hand in a “commence” gesture, Colum chuckled.
The sound, however, was cut short because Xavier lost no time moving them to the next level, cutting the laugh off with his lips. Colum was thrust back to last night, to the kiss they’d shared, Colum’s first with a man. Now, like then, both of them fought for dominance, strove to be the one in charge. He wasn’t sure who was winning at the moment, but it was for damn sure neither one of them was losing.
Xavier gripped his waist, fists closing around his shirt, so he could pull their bodies together. Colum felt Xavier’s hard-on pressing against his own, and he had to lock his knees to remain standing. He’d seen Xavier’s cock, so he knew exactly what he’d just signed on for. The idea of taking that big cock into his ass was equal parts thrilling and terrifying.
For the next few minutes, Xavier did everything he’d promised in the living room. Colum’s clothing fell away, stripped off by both Xavier and Annie, each of them taking time to touch, kiss, and lick every inch of bare skin.
Colum was flushed, perspiring, and they hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff.
“Jaysus,” Colum murmured when Xavier dropped to his knees in front of him.
Annie drew in a sharp breath as Xavier wrapped his fist around Colum’s cock, roughly stroking it. “Hell yeah,” she whispered, as she knelt next to him for a closer look. “Harder,” she urged Xavier, who shot her a warning glance.
“I’m in control,” he reminded her.
Annie merely laughed. “Stroke him harder,” she repeated.
Xavier narrowed his eyes, and then—fuck him—did just as she commanded.
Colum’s hand flew out, landing on Xavier’s shoulder. He wished he’d had enough wits about him to take off Xavier’s and Annie’s clothing as well. “Why are you still dressed?” he grumbled. “Strip.”
“This isn’t about us right now,” Annie answered, primarily because Xavier had chosen that exact moment to take the head of Colum’s dick into his mouth.
“Feck,” Colum breathed, gripping Xavier’s shoulder tighter when he took him deeper, not stopping until Colum felt the back of his throat. The American lasses had both given him weak attempts at blowjobs, neither doing more than drawing him in and out a few times, and to be sure, he’d thought that had felt pretty fantastic. Those experiences didn’t hold a candle to this.
Xavier’s grip on the base of his cock was firm, working in time with his mouth, slowly driving Colum out of his bloody mind. Xavier’s cheeks hollowed out as he added more suction and when he swirled his tongue over the sensitive spot just beneath the head of his dick, Colum groaned with pleasure.
It wasn’t until Annie whispered, “Breathe,” that Colum realized he’d been holding his breath for too long, the ability to do something as basic as draw air into his lungs completely lost to him.
Xavier had promised the first orgasm would be this way, and the man wasn’t wrong. Nor was it going to take long. He tried saying the rosary in his mind, but that felt sacrilegious even though he wasn’t a practicing Catholic, so he switched to naming all the Fianna. It was a failed attempt. Especially when Annie added fuel to the fire, reaching between his legs to cup his balls.
“Fecking hell!” Colum wasn’t ready for this to end, but he’d be more successful attempting to hold back a tsunami than this climax.
Neither Annie nor Xavier gave way, Annie gently squeezing his balls and Xavier drinking down every drop of come, holding him in his mouth, even after his cock had begun to soften.
Colum blinked down at the two of them, his thoughts splintered into a million pieces, nothing making sense to him except…them.
Fecking hell.
He was wrong.
This was love.
It seemed so bloody obvious to him now.
Xavier and Annie rose as one, Annie guiding Colum to the bed, playfully, softly pushing him to sit down. Thank God for her help because he was suddenly weak as a newborn calf. As he watched, Annie and Xavier took turns undressing each other, sharing their own heated, passionate kisses.
Colum would have thought himself spent, done for the night, but his dick stirred at the sight of them. They were beautiful together, and even though he couldn’t keep them—his heart pierced at that thought—he couldn’t stop from falling even deeper with each passing minute.
Once they were naked, they joined Colum on the bed. Annie shifted to the middle, fluffing a large pillow against the headboard, leaning on it, looking for all the world like a queen on her throne. She crooked her finger at Colum regally as Xavier said, “Hands and knees.”
Moment of truth.
Colum climbed on the bed, assuming the position so that Annie’s adorably outstretched legs were beneath him, her toes teasingly tickling his chest. Pushing upward, he gave her a quick, hard kiss, then warned, “Behave.”
Annie cupped his cheek, gracing him with one of those smiles of hers that lit up the whole room.
The mattress sank and Colum looked over his shoulder as Xavier knelt behind him, stroking his ass before lifting his hand and placing half a dozen hard smacks on the left cheek.
“This ass,” Xavier muttered. “So fucking fuckable.”
Annie giggled softly, but Colum couldn’t spare the breath, his nervousness returning.
He wanted this, that much he knew for certain. The problem was there was a big difference between fantasy and reality. While the fantasy of taking Xavier into his body was one he’d played over and over ever since meeting the sexy Frenchman, the reality was…this was probably going to hurt. His experience with ass play was nil.
Colum watched as Xavier gripped his own dick, drawing it along the slit of Colum’s ass, the stroke equal parts tease and threat.
It’s not going to fit.
“Of course it is,” Xavier reassured him, and Colum realized he’d spoken aloud. “I’ll make this good for you.” He bent over Colum’s back, his erection brushing against Colum’s balls as he held his hand out to Annie. “Suck on my fingers, mon cheri ,” he urged her. “Get them good and wet. I have some work to do, stretching this tight ass out until it’s ready to take me.”
Colum shivered, goose bumps rising on his skin. He watched as Annie took two, then three of Xavier’s fingers into her mouth, sucking and licking on them until it was Xavier who groaned.
“Such a sweet mouth,” Xavier murmured. “One night, I’m going to fuck it while Colum fucks me.”
Colum’s brain short-circuited at the thought. He was only just wrapping his head around the idea of taking Xavier’s dick in his ass. Adding the image of him on top was one sexual fantasy too many right now.
Xavier pulled his fingers out of Annie’s mouth, then drew them through the crack in Colum’s ass until he found the tight ring of his anus.
“Saints preserve me,” Colum muttered, closing his eyes.
Xavier circled, the wetness Annie provided allowing him to slip the tip of one finger in with relative ease. It was the second knuckle that took a bit more work.
Colum’s head hung down as he sucked in a hard breath, while Xavier, the poet, drew pictures with words, played sonatas with his fingers.
“So tight,” Xavier growled. “Only one finger. You’re gripping it so hard I can barely move it. God, I can’t wait to feel this pressure on my cock. Can’t wait to take this virginity. This moment, Colum…it’s destiny, it’s fate. We were always meant to be here, just like this.”
Colum cursed under his breath when Xavier added a second finger, stretching him wider. Those two fingers were nowhere close to the same size as Xavier’s cock, and he was already slightly uncomfortable from the pinch.
“It hurts,” Xavier mused, his words not a question. “That’s good. Pain is good. It makes you feel alive.”
Colum shook his head, though it wasn’t a rejection, merely his body’s way of trying to say something he didn’t want to. He wanted this. The pinch, the pain, the possession.
Especially when Xavier pulled both fingers out.
Colum grunted, the ability to speak gone.
Xavier chuckled, then something cold and slippery landed on his anus. “This will help.” Xavier pressed those two fingers back in. Shove might actually be a better word, but this time, the path was made easier, less jarring, helped along by the lubrication. After working those two digits in and out a dozen or so times, Colum felt more at ease.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so?—
Xavier added a third and Colum groaned, the stretch so much more.
“Fuck me,” he muttered. He wanted this, but…what if he couldn’t take it? What if…
“Oh yeah. I do like to hear you beg,” Xavier said, interpreting the words differently than Colum meant them. “Do it some more. Because once I slide my cock into this tight ass, I won’t be able to hold back.”
“Stop. Talking,” Colum gritted out.
Xavier either ignored him or didn’t hear, too lost to his own desires. “I’m going to fuck you hard and fast.”
Colum shook his head, his body shuddering in response. His shoulders pulled tight.
“I’m going to—” Xavier stopped mid-sentence.
Colum looked over his shoulder then blinked a few times to be sure he was seeing what he thought.
Somehow, Annie had moved from her position without him even realizing.
How had she done that?
The pillow she’d been reclining against was pressed against Xavier’s face. “Less talking. More action,” she said. “And more lube.”
Colum shivered when Xavier squirted more lube on his ass, working it in, slower this time.
Annie had lowered the pillow and grasped Xavier’s wrist, controlling his pace and speed. “Slow and steady wins the race.”
“You’re a terrible submissive,” Xavier chastised, even though he allowed her to take charge, his fingers gliding in and out, the pinch gone, replaced by a toe-curling pleasure Colum had never experienced.
“Yes,” Colum hissed. His cock was thick and hard again, his erection brushing his stomach. He’d thought himself too spent after the blowjob, but as always, these two proved him wrong. About everything.
He grunted when Xavier withdrew his fingers, slid on a condom, and replaced them with his cock.
Colum held steady, waiting, wanting. He let out a soft keening cry as the head of Xavier’s thick dick penetrated. This was beyond anything he’d ever imagined.
Mercifully, Xavier recalled Annie’s instructions and rather than ramming in hard and fast, he slid in smoothly, gently, giving Colum time to adjust to every…fucking…glorious…inch.
Once Xavier was seated to the hilt, they froze for a moment, Xavier clenched Colum’s hips while Colum fisted the duvet, both of them savoring the intensity, the sheer magnitude of what was happening.
“Fuck me,” Colum repeated, and this time, he meant exactly what he was asking for, and begging would be no problem.
Xavier let go of the reins, withdrawing then returning with more pressure, more speed, more force, the two of them fucking like animals, clawing, grabbing, snarling, feral.
Colum held on for dear life as Xavier fucked him, the only sounds in the room the relentless slapping of Xavier’s thighs against his and Colum’s panting breaths. On and on it went, until Colum’s world shrank down to this room, these people, this moment.
“I’m close,” Xavier said at last, his voice thick.
Colum managed a nod, a single bob of the head. While this felt incredible, he didn’t think he’d be able to come like this.
Until Annie’s hand reached beneath him, taking his dick in his hand.
“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary,” Colum breathed, his eyes clenched closed as Annie stroked his cock in time with Xavier’s rough fucking.
Within seconds, they were both there, Xavier filling the condom with come, and Colum erupted. Annie caught most of his come in her palm, but they were going to have to strip the duvet off the bed or spend the night in one of the other suites.
He didn’t have a clue how long they remained there, frozen in place with Xavier’s softening dick in his ass, Colum’s head bent low, Annie’s tiny hand still gripping him.
Annie moved first, releasing him. “That was fucking hot. How long until we can do it again?”
“One-track mind,” Colum said hoarsely, snorting.
Xavier chuckled and before long, the three of them fell apart, laughing their arses off.
Colum fell to his back—stickiness be damned—Xavier on one side, Annie on the other.
And that was when the world crashed in.
Because he was definitely in love.
Feck.