Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
VIVIAN
“Nash, maybe lean your head back with your elbows on the bench behind you,” I direct. “Yeah, like that. Like you’re relaxing. Perfect. And Jace?”
“Yeah, Smokeshow?” He’s keeping his eyes closed as I told him.
“Spray your abs down a little more. It needs to look hot in here.”
“Oh”—Vale giggles—“it’s hot in here.”
She looks gorgeous, lying on the teak sauna bench beside a eucalyptus urn. In her white towel and matching hair turban, tendrils of her long raven hair fall free, her ivory skin perfection.
We’ve spent the morning getting bathrobe shots in the changing rooms, massage shots with some of The Mercier spa staff before they left, and Jace’s favorite—a cold plunge photo that he said shriveled his balls so fast, he didn’t think he’d ever see them again.
That was Zar’s idea. He’s so cunning and cute.
He keeps checking on our progress while darting in and out of quarterly meetings in his office. Luca too. He’s proud of his new spa.
But I got this. I’ve had weeks to mentally plan this shoot, and the day is almost done. The sauna is the last location on my shot list for the day. Tomorrow, I’ll do the new pool and gym.
But right now, I can’t hide my thirsty grin, resisting my turn-ons.
Jace is in a white towel.
So is Nash.
They’re a deadly double dose of killer ink and muscles to die for.
It should be illegal for their two perfect bodies to be aimed at anyone, and that’s exactly why, with these photos launching the new Mercier Spa, they’ll be booked for years.
“Like this, Viv?” Jace mists his shredded torso with the spa’s signature mixture of distilled water, aloe vera juice, and orange blossom. Lucky rivulets meander down the valleys between his abs.
The men have sprayed down to the point their towels are almost soaked and see-through. The outlines of their impressive members clear. They’re trying to look sweaty without the steam because it’ll fog my lens.
While I’m the one soaking wet between my thighs.
“Yes.”
Shit, did I just moan?
Jace cracks an eyelid open, sneaking a peek at me with his smirk.
I’m wrapped in a white Mercier bathrobe.
Zar insisted I be in the shots as well, so I asked Jace to take them of me getting a facial.
He did a great job, learning how to work the light.
He got wide shots of the luxurious room, captured my glowing face, then got great details of the process. I felt serene and so proud of him.
But now that pride is rousing into something more.
I’m trying to focus my lens, trying to keep this professional, but we’re all naked under our robes and towels.
Temptation’s licking at my skin.
It’s impossible not to sense the stirring energy in the small space.
The four of us have been together all day, laughing, smiling, relaxing, our bodies lavished with delicious sensations.
All intensified by the erotic tension that often swirls around them, and now it’s gliding up my bare thighs, teasing the space between.
“Heard what you did,” Nash mutters beside Jace, knocking their naked knees together.
“Care to clarify?” Jace murmurs.
“Care to explain why you’re working with Ruslan Kholodov?”
“I’m not working with him.” Jace keeps his eyes closed, trying to look Zen for me, while it’s clear Nash is zapping his nerves. “I’m setting him up. I want him at the meeting, and ready to surrender, and the only way to do it is to give him a white flag: us.”
Jace tenses. My lens focuses on his hulking muscles hardening, his veins defined. It’s like he’s expecting Nash to rage, to accuse him of letting Ruslan go unpunished.
I can’t shoot them like this; I wait for the moment to pass.
“It’s wise,” Nash surprises him, “and about fucking time. It’s why Vale and I aren’t having kids yet. Not until we’re out of his crosshairs.”
Jace exhales, and I lower my camera, understanding.
It’s one of my concerns as well. I’m torn between two forces: one tired of waiting to start a life with Jace, and one worried we’ll lose it.
Nash is already a father. From what Jace has told me, Nash has seen Alena put in harm’s way many times.
The other kings and queens with their babies? I guess they’re willing to take the risk. I understand that too. Life is what you lose when you wait to live it.
“Thanks, man,” Jace mutters. “Gonna need your backup at our meeting, and—”
“Enough shop talk.” Vale sighs frustratingly. “We’re supposed to look relaxed for Vivian.”
“You’re good,” I chirp. “Take a break while I adjust this softbox.”
Jace opens his eyes, watching me move a light to eliminate the shadows falling over Vale.
But something looks like it falls over him.
Maybe it’s the sauna, the steamy setting, or our sexy foursome gathered. “You know, Viv,” he coaxes, “I’m supposed to test you somehow.”
“Test me?” I lift my camera, focusing on him.
“Yeah.” Jace grins at my lens. “Every queen has had a test, a chance to feel what an initiation is like.”
Vale adds, “It’s like a chance to dip your toe into shallow play before you dive into deep, erotic waters. It’s how we broke the sex swing last year. It was during my test.”
Jace reads me too well. He knows what I want, and now he wants me to try it. I swear he can smell the lust between my legs. “What does the test have to be?”
“It’s whatever a king and queen want,” Nash explains. “Ultimately, it’s to see if she’ll be comfortable with the other kings.”
Something stirs inside me. “Do all the kings have to test me?”
“No.” Nash practically barks back. “It never has to be all the kings.”
Jace huffs a laugh. “So rules the father of one of our queens. I heard Alena’s test was at a—”
“Speak and die.” Nash tilts his head back, closing his eyes, his muscles tense.
“Okay…” Vale chuckles. “Change of subject: read any good books lately?”
“Yeah,” Jace answers with his smile aimed at me. “Blair’s new one is hot. It’s an alien, why-choose romance.”
Blair is Vale’s identical twin. She used to work with us, but now she’s a full-time romance author, popular for her kinky paranormal romances, and Jace is her biggest fan.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw him.
In a depressed mood over my ex, I trudged up the wooden steps to the piazza of Delta’s, fuchsia azaleas blooming in the courtyard, but I was awestruck by the image of the biggest man I’d ever seen, clad in a charcoal designer suit, sitting on a stool by the black door.
His handsome nose was down, his sexy smile beaming at his book.
He didn’t hide the hot blue alien on the cover, clutching a bodice-clad human to his chest.
And I can’t deny that my heart started to beat again at the sight of Jace, and it hasn’t stopped.
Nash sprays down, mumbling, “I don’t get what you two see in those books, no offense to Blair.”
“What’s not to love?” Jace sounds proud. “They’re angsty romances where the alien is pining for the human, but he can’t have her.” He gazes at me. “Speaks to my heart.”
“Aw, big guy.” I lower my camera, tilting my head. “You have me now.”
He winks. “And I’m not letting you go.”
“And you’re not telling the whole story.” Vale laughs. “They’re also hot smut featuring big blue alien cocks that can barely breed the tiny humans. So, of course, they do two at a time.”
Nash laughs. Vale turns to him, swatting his inked shoulder, laughing with him, but Jace focuses on me. His brows lowering with his voice. “What’s not to love about multiple cocks, pleasing a human?”
His stirs.
I can see it rising under his towel. Then, I catch Nash glancing at Jace’s erection before adjusting his.
It makes me chew my lip as Jace lets his thighs fall open, his words coaxing. “I think my favorite part of the story is when the human trusts that the aliens will never hurt her. They just want to love her.” He cocks a brow. “Is that what she wants? To feel what it’s like to be loved by us?”
My breath hitches.
Desire pulsing between my legs.
I know what he’s suggesting, and I’m not nervous; I’m aroused.
My eyes dart to Vale to be sure, and she drops her sassy act. Deep down, Vale’s sweet. She’s always been kind to me.
“I think she should, if it’s what she wants.” Vale lies on her side on the top bench, her head propped on her hand. “I think every woman should feel what safe kink is like. I did, and I loved it. I’d welcome it for any queen.”
“What about you, Viv?” Jace keeps his eyes on me. “This could be your test to see what it’s like to be a queen. And if it’s not for you, we can stop anytime.”
Stop?
No. I’m just getting started with him; my body is tense with expectation.
I nod, and Jace opens his towel, letting it fall away, his cock thick for this like his voice. “Smokeshow, I’m so hard for you right now, I’m gonna need a verbal yes.”
“Yes.”
I set my camera down beside my bag by the sauna door. It’s closed. No one is in here but us. And if Zar comes by to check on our progress, the more the merrier.
I feel safe with the kings and queens.
“Why don’t you show her what I’ve seen?” Vale suggests warmly. “It only feels fair—queen to queen—that Vivian gets to enjoy what my kings do.”
“I’m going to need a verbal yes from both our queens.” Nash’s voice echoes Jace’s. It’s strained with lust.
Vale crawls down from her bench to sit beside him. After their deep kiss, she sighs over his lips. “Give her what you’ve given to me, my king. You have my blessing. My beg, actually. I want all queens to be equal.”
Nash cocks a brow at her. “You sure, Poison?”
Vale opens Nash’s towel, revealing his erection, jutting hard. Fisting it, she strokes him, making him softly grunt. “Very sure,” she says. “Show Vivian how our kings like to cross their big swords.”
Jace smirks at her joke and turns his gaze back to me. “Baby, is that what you want? To watch us? To join us?”
Is this a question? And who would answer no?
“Yes.” I untie my robe, letting it pool on the floor, my nipples pearling, my flesh blooming.
A jolt of jealousy strikes Jace’s eyes. I see it. But his breath deepens; he wants this for us more.