Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Colum: I just spoke with my sister’s ghost.
Franco: Pot brownie?
Colum: No, poison.
Franco: YOU WERE POISONED?
Franco: DID YOU POISON YOURSELF?
Franco: WHAT’S GOING ON!?
Franco: COLUM, PICK UP THE PHONE.
A nnie stood in front of Eric’s desk, facing the fleet admiral, smiling brightly as he and Xavier stood next to her. Somehow, she’d managed to find a beautiful cream-colored sheath dress and she’d pinned her hair up in one of those fancy updo styles, where a few long pieces hung loose, curling around her face. She’d never looked more beautiful.
Xavier, as always, looked like he’d just come from a catwalk in Paris, a deceptively simple outfit of pants, button-down shirt, and waistcoat, all perfectly tailored and put together in a way that looked almost effortless.
Meanwhile, Colum was dressed in a white button-down shirt he’d borrowed from one of the Spartan Guards who was the same size as him, and a blue tie on loan from Eric, who’d choked up a little a few minutes earlier when Colum had put it on.
Neither he nor Eric had said anything as they got ready, his big brother merely adjusting the tie while fighting back the same strong emotions coursing through Colum. When Eric gripped the back of his neck in his large, calloused hand and smiled, Colum had returned it.
“I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, Colum.”
He blinked a few times, his eyes growing misty. “Thank you.” And then, because those words felt so thin, he added, “For everything.”
They held each other’s gazes for a few moments, and Colum recognized when Eric’s thoughts drifted to her. It was only natural they think of her.
“I wish—” Eric had started.
Colum shook his head, stopping him. “She’s here,” he said, tapping the side of his head, then placing his hand over his heart. “She’s always with us, Eric.”
Eric blinked at that, then nodded. “You’re right. She is.”
After that, they’d joined Xavier and Annie in Eric’s office. The three of them standing before him, waiting to get married.
Colum fought the urge to pinch himself, to believe he was truly standing here. Within the next fifteen minutes, every dream he’d never dared to dream was about to come true.
It was Josephine who had always been the dreamer, the one so certain that her future would be filled with love, laughter, marriage. She used to describe in great detail how he was going to be the world’s greatest uncle to her children—she’d planned on having four—and how he would accompany her family on summer vacations by the shore. Her imagination was vast, yet she never left him out of her dreams, determined the two of them would remain close throughout their lives.
Colum had never let himself focus on the future, always so certain that the future would look exactly the same as the present. But now he was determined to live that life she’d created in her mind for her. And him.
Annie shoulder-bumped him playfully. “Last chance to back out,” she teased.
“Never going to happen,” Colum said, as Eric looked up from the book he was flipping through, shaking his head, amused.
“I’ll bolt the door if he tries,” Eric said. “You two are good for him.”
“Throw open all the windows and doors if you want. I’m not going anywhere,” Colum repeated.
Colum had grown accustomed to Eric always looking at him with concern—and guilt—so it felt wonderful that his brother was smiling. Given the nature of Eric’s job—one that was filled with never-ending pressure and stress—it was rare to get a glimpse of genuine happiness on his face. But damn if it wasn’t present right now. It made Colum long for a camera, imagining he’d put the photo in a frame next to the one of Josephine on his desk. Then he glanced over at Xavier and Annie, standing close, holding hands, and he wanted a photo of them as well.
Family.
He’d felt alone and adrift for so many years, he’d forgotten just how good it felt to be a part of a family.
“Are the three of you ready?” Eric asked.
Colum nodded, as Xavier and Annie both replied with effusive “yeses.”
“Very well, then. First things first.” Eric rose from his desk chair. “You’re going to join the Masters’ Admiralty,” he said to Annie. “Then the three of you are getting married.”
Xavier placed his hand on the small of Annie’s back, then exchanged a glance with Colum, who lifted his to cover Xavier’s, overwhelmed by the need to touch them.
Xavier turned to Eric, one brow raised. Colum knew what he was thinking, and he chuckled softly.
“Something on your mind, Allard?”
Xavier smirked. “My mother won’t be happy with you. She’s already making plans for a big wedding.” Victoire Dubois was a force to be reckoned with as admiral, but that strong will seemed to triple in size when it came to her only son. She’d kept the three of them on the line for well over an hour, launching one hell of a wedding planning meeting, guiding them into discussions of locales for the ceremony, suggesting everything from the Ritz to a chateau to an opera house, and le musée Rodin. From there, she’d covered caterers, flowers, music, and so many other things that Colum’s head—still woozy from the poison—was swimming by the time they’d hung up.
“Yes. I live to piss off the admirals. I love getting yelled at,” Eric said with a sigh. “You can still have a big wedding. I’m not stopping you.”
On Eric’s desk sat a large, ancient book that Colum was familiar with. Eric had opened it to the appropriate page, turning it so that it was facing them. Colum recalled the day he and Josephine had joined the society together, standing in this same spot in front of the previous fleet admiral, Kacper. It was Eric who had recommended them for membership, vouching for them, and they’d both been so proud to become a part of something so meaningful, so important. Josephine had joked they’d done alright for a couple of farm kids from Galway.
Eric cleared his throat, his tone formal. “Anastasia Ward, you are called before me to join the Masters’ Admiralty. Do you stand before me today of your own free will and accord?”
“I do,” Annie replied, leaning back slightly against their clasped hands.
“Raise your right hand.”
Annie did as he instructed.
“Do you hereby pledge your life to the ideals and principles of the Masters’ Admiralty? Will you obey the rules and decrees, maintain the honor and integrity of our society, encourage creative, original thought, and strive to improve the world?”
Annie nodded. “I will.”
“Repeat after me. Morumque scientia servabo. ”
Annie said the words, then glanced at Colum, shrugging.
He chuckled, leaning close enough to murmur in her ear. “It means you will preserve knowledge and morality.”
“Morality, huh? Yikes.”
Colum recalled the night the mercenaries attacked the archive. How Annie had told anyone still in possession of a moral compass to leave.
Xavier released Colum’s hand so that he could wrap his arm around her waist properly. “That means no more stabbing eyeballs.”
“I make no promises,” she teased.
Eric crossed his arms, lifting one brow, looking at the three of them like they were naughty school children. “Can I continue?”
Annie nodded. “Sorry,” she said, even though she didn’t look the slightest bit apologetic.
Eric picked up a pen and a dagger, encased in a scabbard.
“Sign your name here,” he said, pointing to a spot in the book.
She leaned forward, and as she signed it, Colum couldn’t help but wonder how far he would have to flip back to see Oscar Wilde’s signature. Or Florence’s. Or Bram’s. He imagined how the three of them must have felt when they were joined together in marriage. Had they also felt this overpowering sense of hope and happiness?
Because the ancient tome remained here, in the fleet admiral’s office, Colum hadn’t had a chance to study it. He made a mental note to see if Eric would let him borrow it for a time.
Once she signed and dated it, she put the pen down, holding out her finger. Colum was touched not only by her willingness to uproot her entire life, eschewing her own society to move here to be with them, but also impressed by her bravery.
Eric poked the sharp tip of the blade into her index finger.
Colum watched as she let a bead of blood well for a second before pressing it next to her name on the page.
“Membership is for life, and breaking our rules, disobeying our laws, disobeying me, can cost you your life,” Eric warned.
Annie nodded. “I understand. While the words of the ceremony are different, the vows I’m making are the same ones I made when joining the Trinity Masters.”
Satisfied she understood, Eric told her to repeat after him again, feeding her more Latin a few words at a time.
Cum sanguinis mei, et cor meum recipienti pignori obligo animam meam.
Once again, she looked at Colum as she finished speaking, but this time it was Xavier who translated for her. “With my blood, I pledge my heart and my life.”
Eric nodded approvingly. “Anastasia Ward, you have promised your life to the Masters’ Admiralty. As Caesar, I welcome you, and bid you go forth.” Eric reached out, shaking her hand, then covering with his other, giving it a warm, fond squeeze. Colum swallowed deeply as he imagined Eric joining the three of them for holidays or visits, his relationship with his spouses growing closer over the years. He liked the idea of Annie becoming a sister to Eric. He needed one.
“Are you ready for the next part?” Eric asked.
“So ready,” Annie breathed.
“Good.” Eric walked around his desk until he was standing before all three of them. “Because it’s time to get married.”
He reached over, gripping Colum’s shoulder tightly, both of them caught in the grips of some heavy emotions. They didn’t exchange words. They didn’t need to.
Then, releasing him, Eric’s back stiffened, and he seemed to grow six inches as his brother disappeared and the fleet admiral took his place, his words and tone formal once more.
“I hereby bind you, Colum O’Connor of the archive, Xavier Allard of France, and Anastasia Ward of,” Eric paused, grinning, “America, in marriage. Your union will serve to better and protect our proud and ancient society. It is your duty to love, protect, and keep your spouses. I will hear your pledge to not only keep and protect one another, but to strive to better our world.”
Xavier, too anxious and excited, was the first to kneel, looking up at the two of them as he said, “I pledge on my honor, and as your spouse, to love, protect, and keep you, all of your days.”
Colum grinned when Xavier backed those words up with a shameless wink. Laughter had become a regular occurrence in Colum’s life these past couple of weeks. After so many years without it, every chuckle felt like a balm, soothing every ache and pain until he didn’t feel them anymore. He grasped Annie’s hand, the two of them kneeling before their husband together before Colum repeated the same vow.
Annie took their hands in hers, squeezing them tightly. “I pledge on my honor, and as your spouse, to love, protect, and keep you, all of your days.”
The three of them remained there for a full minute, simply staring into each other’s eyes before Eric cleared his throat.
They all rose, facing him once more.
“In the eyes of the law and the Masters’ Admiralty, I pronounce you husband and husband and wife.”
Annie laughed in delight.
“Colum,” Eric said. “This is the part where you kiss your spouses.”
Colum wasted no time doing just that. Bending his head, he kissed Annie first, then Xavier, then he took a step back to watch as Annie and Xavier shared their first kiss as husband and wife.
He was married.
Damn. It was going to take some time for that happy thought to sink all the way in.
Eric waited until they parted, then he reached over, pulling Colum in for a hug, slapping his back. “Congratulations.”He shook Xavier’s hand before bending to give Annie a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you decided to join us on this side of the pond.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve asked the Spartan Guard to pick up a special meal for you later. You can dine in the dining room, or she will deliver it to your suite.”
“The room will be perfect,” Xavier immediately replied, not bothering to consult with them.
Eric rolled his eyes. “I’ll make sure a bottle of champagne is delivered as well. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to check with Regina regarding some security measures we’re putting in place.”
Eric left his office, leaving Colum alone with his spouses for the first time.
“Honeymoon time,” Xavier murmured.
Annie laughed. “Is it really a honeymoon if we’re basically captives?”
Colum grasped her hand, tugging her toward the stairs. “We’re in a castle on an island, and it’s not like we’re going to want to leave the bedroom once we get there.”
“You romantic devil,” Xavier joked, following him and Annie downstairs to the guest suite that would be their temporary home away from home until Eric deemed it was safe for them to return to their real lives. Considering how elusive the Spaniard had been thus far, God only knew when that would be.
Not that Colum was complaining. For exactly the reasons he just stated.
He would be perfectly content to spend weeks, months, years, tucked away with these two. The real world could go hang. He had everything he wanted and needed right here.
Once they entered the room, Colum closed the door, leaning against it, grinning as Xavier and Annie walked over to the bed, clearly ready to get right down to business.
He was about to demand his spouses—God, he loved the sound of that—strip, when Xavier crooked his finger at him.
“Come here, husband.”
Jaysus. He loved the sound of that too.
Colum moved, not stopping until he and Xavier were chest to chest, battling for dominance in the hottest kiss of his life. Xavier’s fingers slid through his curly hair, closing a fist so he could use it to twist Colum’s head this way and that as he deepened the kiss, their tongues stroking, their teeth nipping, their combined breath so hot it almost singed.
Annie was there in the periphery, watching. One night, she’d confessed to enjoying her role as voyeur when it came to them. But tonight wasn’t going to be a Xavier/Colum show. Tonight was about them—the three of them—embarking on their lives together. They’d engaged in a few celebratory fucks since getting the green light, but this would be the ultimate celebration.
Continuing to kiss Xavier, Colum reached out with one hand, grasping Annie’s waist and tugging her closer. Xavier did the same until they’d absorbed her into their embrace, the three of them expanding on the kisses, all content to remain just like that, in no rush to move to the next part.
Because they had forever.
Forever.
Best word in the world.
When they finally ran out of air, Xavier pulled back, his gaze dark with need. “Naked. Now.”
Colum chuckled. Annie obeyed.
Turning her back to them, she glanced up at Colum. “Unzip me.”
He took his time pulling the small tab down, stroking the skin along her spine as he did so, loving the way she shivered under his touch.
She let the dress slide off her shoulders and fall to the floor.
Xavier muttered a soft curse in French when she turned to face them in her barely there lacy bra and thong.
Reaching out, Xavier pulled her into his arms. “You are so beautiful, ma femme .”
“I love when you call me mon cheri , but that,” Annie said, slipping her arms around Xavier’s neck, “is even better.”
As they kissed, Colum stepped behind Annie, unfastening her bra. Xavier lost no time grasping her breasts when the bra joined her dress on the floor.
Annie moaned into Xavier’s mouth as Colum drew his finger along the thin material of her thong, then he tugged it off as well.
Xavier lowered his head, taking her nipple into his mouth. Colum shifted closer, his chest pressed to her back so he could look down over her shoulder to watch, drawing in a long, slow breath when Xavier pressed his teeth into one hard nipple and Annie whimpered with need. Her hands were closed in Xavier’s thick dark hair, and as he watched them, Colum’s patience began to wane. They may have a lifetime together, but he was reaching critical mass in terms of his arousal, hitting the fuck-or-die level quickly.
Stepping away from them, he hastily stripped off his tie before adding his clothing to the ever-growing pile on the floor. Xavier and Annie were too distracted by their own touches to notice until he returned, his uncovered erection brushing against Annie’s ass. She turned away from Xavier, her eyes widening in delight when she found him naked.
Twisting away from Xavier, she took his cock in her hand, stroking it firmly as Colum closed his eyes, overwhelmed with pleasure.
“Get on the bed, Colum,” Xavier commanded in a deep voice, making it clear that he intended to call the shots tonight.
Colum didn’t have a problem with that.
Not at all.
His husband was the perfect amount of kinky.
Pulling down the duvet, Colum climbed onto the mattress.
“Sit with your back against the headboard,” Xavier directed. “Our wife is going to take that thick cock of yours in her mouth, while I fuck her from behind.”
Colum groaned, so fecking ready for that.
Once he was in position, Annie started to crawl on the bed, but Xavier stopped her, looping his arm around her waist from behind. Pressing his lips to her ear, he whispered loud enough for Colum to hear.
“Edge him, Wife, but don’t let him come.”
Mercifully, Annie looked ready to argue with that command, something Colum was grateful for. Because honestly, it wasn’t going to take much effort on her part to drive him over the cliff. He was already far too close, and she’d done nothing more than stroke him a few times. He’d never realized how much power the brain could seize during sex. He’d always thought it simply a physical act, one that required friction and force in order to achieve a climax. Xavier and Annie had shown him that words could get him there as well.
“Xavier—” she started.
He cut her off with a sharp, stinging slap to her ass, and she yelped. “Simply hold him in your mouth if you have to, but do not let him come. The first time our husband climaxes tonight will be in my ass. But only after we’ve given you three orgasms.”
Colum’s head fell back, banging the headboard hard enough to hurt. “You’ll both be the death of me.”
Xavier chuckled, completely unrepentant. Then he slapped Annie’s ass again. “Do as I say.”
Annie joined Colum on the mattress, crawling between his outstretched legs on her hands and knees. Grasping his dick, she slowly lowered her head, her tongue teasing the head before she sucked him inside.
Colum’s hands flew to her hair, his fingers drawing out the pins, flinging them to the side of the bed, until her long dark hair fell over her shoulders in beautiful waves. “Annie,” he breathed. He didn’t give a shite what Xavier said. There was no way he was going to be able to hold back. Not when she drew him even deeper into her mouth, the head of his cock brushing her throat.
Colum was aware of Xavier stripping off his clothes next to the bed, but for the life of him, he couldn’t lift his eyes, couldn’t tear his gaze away from Annie’s mouth wrapped around his dick.
He lost track of time, fighting like the devil to hold off, aware it couldn’t have been more than a minute, when the mattress dipped and Xavier joined them, kneeling at the bottom of the bed.
This time, Colum couldn’t resist taking a peek. Xavier’s eyes pierced him with a look so hungry, so needy, he forgot how to breathe.
“Jaysus,” he muttered when Annie increased the suction, his eyes rolling back in his head. He was a goner.
Or so he thought.
Until he felt a strong hand cupping his jaw.
Colum blinked a few times, fighting for focus. When he could see clearly again, he saw Xavier, slightly bent over Annie’s back.
Xavier’s expression was an odd blend of stern and desperate. “Don’t. Come.”
Colum nodded, just once, then tightened his fists around Annie’s hair, tugging it. “Have mercy,” he pleaded, grinning when Annie huffed an amused, breathy laugh around his length.
Annie, the shameless minx, clearly needed the word “mercy” defined, because she showed him none, shoving Colum to the edge, pushing him to the precipice, then leaving him dangling there with no means of leaping.
Each time she pulled away, he shuddered and cursed as Xavier chuckled. His spouses were sadists.
“I can’t hold back,” Colum said through gritted teeth.
Xavier slapped his cheek affectionately, then straightened again, kneeling behind Annie’s outstretched legs. “Perhaps a bit of distraction would help.”
Colum kept a firm hold on Annie’s hair, desperately trying to slow her down. Where he was failing, Xavier succeeded.
Annie hissed as their husband ran his fingers along her slit.
“So wet for us.” Xavier held up two shiny fingers to show Colum. “Our wife is a very obedient girl.”
Annie quivered in response, her ministrations to his dick slowing down.
Thank God.
For all of Annie’s badass-ness, she sure as hell loved submitting to them in the bedroom.
Xavier started whispering sweet nothings in French. Colum really needed to learn that language. He’d download Duolingo and he and Annie could learn it together.
Colum stared over Annie’s head, along her beautiful back, watching as Xavier toyed with her, her arousal growing with each touch. Colum could feel it through her panting breaths on his cock and see it as she trembled with need.
“Such a needy pussy,” Xavier murmured as he gripped his cock and ran it up and down her slit, pulling away whenever Annie reared back, trying to force him inside. If her mouth wasn’t currently occupied, Colum imagined she’d be making quite a few heated demands.
Colum had to gently pull her mouth off him when Xavier shoved two fingers inside, fucking her rapidly, forcefully. It hadn’t taken him more than a minute to show her the mercy she wasn’t offering him, and she came loudly, crying out both their names, her head bowed so that the wet tip of his dick brushed her cheek.
“Keep Colum’s cock warm in your mouth for me,” Xavier demanded. “Our husband is large. I’m going to need him nice and wet before he fucks me.”
Annie obeyed, her tongue licking away the precome on his slit before sucking him in again. Rather than torment him with her talented mouth, she did exactly as Xavier said, simply holding him there, looking sweetly content. Colum stroked her hair. He’d heard of cock warming, but he’d never experienced it. Suddenly, the idea of holding her as she slept, his dick tucked in her pussy—or, feck, Xavier’s ass—was something he wanted more than his next breath.
Xavier reached over her, pressing his thumb into Colum’s mouth. “Get it wet for me. Our wife’s ass is too tempting not to play with.”
Colum groaned when she lifted her eyes, watching as he sucked Xavier’s thumb into his mouth before Xavier withdrew, using that wet digit to circle Annie’s ass. Colum’s gaze jumped from Annie’s lips wrapped around him to Xavier slowly stretching her ass with his thumb.
Both sights were working against him in all the best ways as the truth crashed in on him again.
They were his.
They were married.
His heart pounded as he suddenly realized a lifetime with them would be nowhere near enough.
Annie’s ass tilted slightly, lifting as Xavier plunged his thumb in and out.
“Colum and I are going to take turns fucking you here,” Xavier told her. “There’s no part of you we won’t claim as ours.”
Annie shifted, and Colum groaned as she released him. His balls had to be neon blue by this point.
“Now, Husband,” she gritted out, as Xavier continued stretching her with his thumb. “Do that.”
Xavier tsked. “That wasn’t the plan, mon cheri . Not tonight. Besides, you aren’t asking nicely,” he purred. “Beg.”
Annie looked over her shoulder, her cheeks flushed, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she fought to catch her breath. “Please.”
Xavier shared a glance with Colum. “She needs to beg a lot harder than that.”
Colum wanted to agree, he really fucking did, but Annie had pushed him to the edge too many times. So many, in fact, that he was more than willing to do her begging for her. “Xavier. Please. Please fuck her. She needs it. We both do.”
Xavier shook his head, not in refusal, and released a long, pained sigh. “I can’t resist you both. I’d intended to draw this out, but… merde . You make it impossible.”
Colum kissed Annie again, the two pulled apart when Xavier pushed inside with one hard thrust before holding there.
The two of them shared a look over her back, Annie’s head bowed, her breathing labored. Colum imagined it wouldn’t take much for Xavier to draw the second and third orgasms from her.
“Fuck our wife, Xavier. Then I’m going to fuck you.”
After that, words fell away. Xavier gripped Annie’s hips, driving into her roughly, taking her the way they’d both learned she loved.
And while he was fucking her senseless, she had enough wits left to remember him. Colum jerked when he felt her lips slide over his cock, taking him into her mouth.
Colum closed his eyes, fighting with everything he had as Annie’s movements—driven by Xavier’s hard thrusts—pushed him to the precipice once again.
When it became apparent she was on the verge of coming, Colum gently pulled away from her, Annie screaming, her body writhing with pleasure. Xavier, true to his word, never gave way, fucking her through that orgasm and straight into the third as Annie gasped, pleading for a respite.
It came when Xavier let go of the reins, his eyes tightly pressed shut, his face distorted by a bliss that looked like agony, as he gave in to his own climax.
Colum watched, spellbound, his thoughts racing through the next fifty years or so. Annie’s body round with their baby, sleepless nights as they cared for their child, breaking up their children’s “he’s touching me” fights, Christmases, birthdays, graduations, grandchildren.
A perfect life.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Annie shifted, lethargically crawling over him to place a soft kiss on his lips. “Fuck our husband,” she whispered, dropping down next to him, her back resting against the headboard. She resembled a queen—a naked, flushed, sweaty queen—on her throne, waiting for her subjects to entertain her.
Colum wasted no time climbing off the bed, more than ready to put on a show for her.
Xavier still knelt near the foot of the bed, watching as Colum pulled a new tube of lubrication from the nightstand, then stalked over until he was standing behind his husband.
They’d spent hours learning each other’s rhythms and turn-ons, so Colum knew Xavier enjoyed a slow burn, loved the way he stretched him out in degrees, first one finger, then two, then three. As Colum prepared his husband’s body to take him, Annie offered Xavier the same hot, drugging kisses she’d given Colum earlier.
Once Xavier was ready, Colum rubbed a layer of lubrication over his own cock, that light stroke almost his undoing.
“This isn’t going to last long,” he warned Xavier, who looked over his shoulder and winked.
“We have a lifetime to build up our stamina. I don’t need finesse or endurance. I just need you.”
Colum grinned, then pushed his cock into his lover’s tight ass. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, he’d never—NEVER—felt anything so fecking good as being buried deep inside Xavier’s and Annie’s bodies. It might be clichéd, but he genuinely believed they were made just for him. Physically, emotionally, intellectually.
In a word, they were everything .
Annie hummed with approval as Colum’s pace increased, Xavier grunting, gasping, driving him mad with his French curses and commands. God help him when he actually understood what Xavier was saying.
Colum’s hands tightened on Xavier’s hips, his balls drawing up. “I’m coming.”
“So am I!” Xavier groaned.
Colum’s eyes, which had drifted shut, flew open in surprise. Xavier had just come inside Annie, so he hadn’t expected?—
Ah.
Annie had shifted beside them, her hand between Xavier’s legs, stroking him.
Colum wanted to wait so that they could come together, but his strength was gone.
He groaned, the sound deep and guttural as he exploded, jet after jet of come filling Xavier’s ass. Xavier jerked harshly a few seconds later, a keening cry letting him know he’d leapt off that same peak.
As always, the three of them remained still, locked together for a few moments as they fought to land.
Annie, who’d had time to catch her second wind, got there first. Rising, she lightly touched Colum’s bare shoulder before placing a kiss on it as Colum’s softening dick fell free.
Xavier dropped heavily to his side, his body limp.
“How about a bath?” Annie suggested.
A bath sounded like heaven, as Colum considered how stiff his muscles would be tomorrow.
He and Xavier nodded, Colum sinking down to sit on the edge of the bed. He lifted his hand, resting it on Xavier’s sexy ass.
Xavier’s head had been turned away from him, but he lifted it, resting his head on his arms, and they simply stared at each other, listening as Annie drew a bath for them in the adjoining room.
Words weren’t necessary.
“It’s ready,” she called out a few minutes later.
Colum stood, reaching down to help Xavier up. They staggered to the bathroom like two old drunks, both grinning their fool heads off.
They pulled up short in the doorway, taking a moment to admire their siren of a wife, who was already in the large whirlpool tub, her body hidden beneath a mountain of bubbles and rising steam.
Climbing in, Colum reached for her, pulling her back against his chest, while Xavier claimed the other side, lifting her feet into his lap.
There were parts about this new life that felt like mountains still to climb—the Spaniard might attack the archive again; they didn’t yet have all the manuscript pieces—but it didn’t feel overwhelming or impossible.
Because they’d already turned what had once felt hopeless and impossible into their very own happily ever after.