Chapter 13
Scarlett
The mood is jacked in the bedroom that night.
I can feel it as I brush my teeth: the four of them, agitated from the race. Bickery but not quite stabby. We’re really making progress here. I should fuck them. Two things calm monsters down really fast: blood and sex. Can’t do the former, so the latter it is.
I spit into the sink and Alexei does this full-body shiver thing that always ends with him curling his gloved fingers in a way that’s too hot for his own good.
“Where else am I supposed to spit?” I ask him, and he sighs.
“In the toilet, preferably.” That’s really what he says to me.
I give him a look. He’s leaning against the wall in a pair of smart, expensive pajamas.
The cerulean silk is edged with black piping and the buttons look like ancient silver coins, with patina and everything.
It’s unbuttoned. There’s a lot of chest showing.
“Sure you don’t want me to spit in your mouth?” I spit in the sink again and he works his jaw, like this is foreplay for us.
It is.
I use a hand to cup the water and rinse the sink. There. That’s civil, isn’t it? I grab a washcloth and wipe my mouth on it. I’m about to hang it back up because it’s totally fine, but Alexei plucks it from me and flings it into the hamper like it’s diseased.
“Ash does the laundry, you know. Maybe if he had less of it to wash, his job would be easier?”
“He does not need to do the laundry. I will do it.” Alexei looks down at me from imperious eyes, once again restored to a wealthy throne of power and violence.
Only, he’s exactly the same as he was before, when he was living in Bohnes’ warehouse.
His confidence was unaffected by any of it. Fuck. That’s powerful.
“Why not hire a housekeeper? I have contacts for that, too.” Bohnes drifts past, flicking on the sink and then splashing his face with cold water.
His ghoul makeup runs down the drain, leaving him barefaced and beautiful.
I’ve said before that like this, without the makeup, he looks almost nice.
Approachable. Then you get close enough and the air is a miasma.
I want to drown in the thick of it, drink it up. I slide my arms around Bohnes from behind to see what he’ll do.
He welcomes me in, pressing his hand against mine as I lace them together over his bare stomach.
I snuck up under his t-shirt to get to his abs.
He’s pretty young to be as dangerous as he is, don’t you think?
That’s exciting to me, the thought of him getting better and stronger and smarter. Bohnes makes me feel safe.
“I don’t want anyone in my space,” says Widow, naked in the shower.
I’ve been trying to peep on him since he got in, but he hung a towel over the glass door.
I’d have to move it, and I don’t want him to catch me stealing a glance.
If he does, he’ll gloat incessantly about it, and I’m not sure if I can deal with that and not stab him.
I should look, even if it leads to stabbing.
“I’m fine to do the laundry,” Ash agrees, stretching his arms over his head and yawning.
He’s stressed as fuck about Jonas. Doing an admirable job of enjoying the ‘time he has left’.
I can’t wait to prove him wrong. “Living like I’m dead, that means not being seen as much in public.
My job can be here. Cook. Clean. Protect Patricia. ”
He’s really into this idea of getting my grandma to forgive him. If he can figure out the secret, I’d love it if he’d let me know so I can replicate his success.
My wedding is on Wednesday. It’s probably best if Gram doesn’t come. Less eyes on her is better. Also, I really, really want her there. Ugh. This is dumb. My real wedding was at the track anyway, and I don’t care about some random mob ceremony.
Need to go with Basti to buy a dress. Hard to justify dress shopping when on a mob deadline. Heh.
“Ash, you’re going to learn to move around so that nobody can see you.
” Bohnes takes his toothbrush from the holder on the counter and Alexei has to look away because it’s too much.
He uses a new toothbrush every day. He has a drawer full of them.
Real rich people shit. “If Scarlett wants you with us, then you will come and remain hidden.”
Bohnes starts brushing his teeth as Widow shuts the shower off and yanks the towel down, standing there dripping and naked and steaming. His dick is right there, so no need to peep I guess. He runs a hand over his wet hair and then down his face.
His eyes flick to mine. He catches me staring, my arms still wrapped around Bohnes, and laughs. It’s a nice sound, like whiskey and water. I want a sip.
Releasing Bohnes, I stand up and take a few steps back, putting myself in the middle of them.
This bathroom is big enough that Alexei, Bohnes, Ash, Widow, and myself all fit in here. All of us. With room to spare.
Widow, drying off. Ash, shirtless with the sword strap cutting across his front.
Alexei in thousands of dollars of silk. Kellin.
Hah. Kellin is brushing his teeth. He glares at me in the mirror like he knows I’m thinking of him with his first name instead of his last. Personally, I’m dressed in a black silk nightie that I would never wear at home by myself. No panties either.
Not one of them has touched me.
“Do I have to bend over and flash y’all to get one of you to fuck me?” I ask, sounding annoyed. They’re all jacked-up. I’m fucked-up from adrenaline. I want to have sex. Now. “Take a hint. Look at my pj’s.”
“Obviously,” Widow growls, like this is something the boys have already talked about together.
Where are they getting all this private time to chat?
Every spare second, I’ll bet. When I’m talking to Basti and Nisha.
When I’m asleep. When I’ve got a tete-a-tete going with one of them in private.
“But you need to handle all four of us at once. Decide how you want to do it, but it requires a bit of talking first. Logistics.”
“Excuse me?” I blurt back at him, cheeks filling with heat. That’s literally exactly what I wanted to do, take them all at the same time. But how dare this fucking fuckboy try to tell me what to do? I’m going to kick his ass. “Whose free use rights come first, cuck?”
Widow grits his teeth at me. I can see the veins in his dick and his forearms. It’s hard to stay mad at him. I hope he feels the same way about me. Not the veins thing though. Something else. Nice tits, maybe? Perky ass?
“Please. This is us doing you a favor. Don’t act like we owe you shit for this.” Widow scoffs at me as he storms past, remaining naked by the way, and goes straight for the bed. “You’re getting exactly what you want, Scarlett.”
Alexei slips his shirt off, tugging expensive silk sleeves over cheap latex gloves. He chucks the shirt into the hamper despite only having worn it for three minutes. My eye twitches.
Ash’s fingers curl around my arms from either side, his body pressing into mine from behind.
“It’s really fine for me if I do the laundry,” he murmurs, getting squirmy against me. I press my lips together to stifle a groan as he rubs shamelessly against my back. “But I love that you’re standing up for me.”
“You need someone to stand up for you, Ash. Desperately.” I pause, reaching up to take his fingers. “But, uh, you happen to have any ideas for group positions? It doesn’t feel like there are all that many ways for us to, you know, twine.”
Bohnes strips his clothes beside us, taking the time to drop them in the hamper. He’s a clean monster. Clean means less evidence. Makes sense.
“I’ve seen plenty of orgies,” Ash replies, weirdly.
I bust out laughing even though the implications are far darker.
He’s likely seen Aspen doing all sorts of horrific sex acts.
His dad, too. Chet. Ernest. All kinds of people.
Poor baby. “I can make some suggestions. If everyone knows what they’re doing, it’s…
not as bad as I thought it’d be.” He’s rubbing at his chin, murmuring something under his breath. “Look what I made her do.”
Uh-oh. I reach out and put my hands on Ash’s face, carefully peeling off the dick bandage to check his wound. He doesn’t wince at all when I pull it off. Ash has seen some shit. He doesn’t flinch over a few tugged hairs.
There’s a scab there. It looks good, but I’m going to clean it again before bed.
“Explain one of these suggestions to us,” Alexei commands, causing Ash to cock his head. Ash lifts his fingers and absently goes to probe the cut. Alexei is there in an instant, snagging his wrist. “Don’t contaminate the wound any more than necessary. We’ll disinfect it.”
“Is it festering?” I whisper, making a joke out of it.
Alexei looks at me like, uh, yeah.
He opens a cabinet and takes out a first-aid kit.
I was going to use a warm rag, some soap, and a kiss to make it all better.
But whatever. I pop my hip against the vanity and flick my eyes between Widow and Bohnes, both naked in the bed and whispering, to Ash watching Alexei open the box and remove supplies.
Alexei gives them all to me, like I have any idea what to do with them. I start with some sort of antiseptic wipe. Follow it up with some healing gel shit. Another fresh bandage, this one without winged penises on it. Cool.
I step back and, on instinct, decide I better wash my hands again for Alexei’s sake.
“Explain, huh?” Ash rubs at his chin in thought, adjusting the sword strap with his other hand.
Is he going to leave it on while we fuck?
I’d be into that. My hands are on his shoulders now, bare skin against bare skin.
He gives into me in an instant, pulling me against him, wrapping his arms around me.
“Perhaps it’d be easier if I just showed you?
” His mouth is pretty. His smile is dark.