22
Asher
We all wake around 14 hours later. It’s insane how stiff my limps are tangled with these two, but aside from that it’s the most sleep I’ve gotten in years.
Her scent was so comforting I fell asleep inhaling her hair with Manson’s fingers curled around mine. And I’ve never felt safer.
It’s ridiculous to believe that when she had a gun in my face yesterday, but the fact that she didn’t shoot told me more than any of her promises could.
She doesn’t want me dead.
After I’ve tormented her for years, she still chose to spare my life, and I now know she truly isn’t like her mother.
She’s better.
Thirty more minutes pass with none of us brave enough to move or speak, but I can hear their breathing and know they’re awake just like I am.
I get the feeling none of us want to ruin the moment.
I have to piss though, so I need one of them to cave and get up, because I don’t want to be the asshole. Again.
“I have to pee,” Rhea finally says, making Manson and I both sigh in relief as we shove down our morning wood.
Her climbing over me doesn’t help it go away at all, and neither does how good her ass looks as she walks out. “You think it’s too soon to ask her to hold my cock for a piss again?”
“Yes,” he groans. “We only did that to embarrass her. Try not to do that today.”
I’m learning he’s got a few more tightened screws than I do so I decide to listen to his advice. “Noted. Anything else I should I avoid specifically?”
“Yeah, most of the things we usually do,” he chuckles. “Maybe for today, we should treat her like we treat each other.”
Like we treat each other. I think I know what he means by that, and he definitely isn’t talking about the wet willies and aggressive teasing we do. He means the way we’re only soft for each other. “Alright, I can do that.” I hope.
“If she still cops an attitude, spank her until she cries.”
Now that I can absolutely do. Smirking, I reach over and slap his morning boner before getting out of bed to take care of mine, and as I relieve myself, I smell our coffee brewing. Guess we’re all playing nicely today.
After Manson and I are done, we sit up in my bed and wait for her to join us. When she does, she’s got a travel mug in each hand and one tucked under her arm for herself. She looks sheepish, almost scared. “Would you mind if we ordered breakfast today?”
“Of course not,” Manson pipes up enthusiastically. “Our treat for our peace offering.”
He pats the bed between us for her to squeeze in, but just before she does, he nudges me to chime in. “Yeah, peace. Do you uh... you still like waffles?”
The fuck kind of question is that? Who doesn’t like waffles? I was remembering how much she loved them as a kid, but instead I just sounded like an idiot.
“I do,” she nods. “And it kind of has to be your treat.”
The reminder that we’ve taken everything from her has a heavy silence taking over the room as I order our food on my phone. Maybe I went a little too far with that one. “It’s on the way. Coffee is perfect, by the way.”
She forces a little smile, then takes a sip of her own and relaxes, leaning just a little to the left so she’s touching my arm. “Are you two working today?”
“Unless the Provost calls, we’re staying here.” The warmth coming from her has me leaning in more. “Kind of hoping he doesn’t.”
Manson is grinning into his mug like me admitting that is some kind of win, and as much as I don’t understand how, I don’t push him to explain. “Me too,” he agrees. “I want today to be about us and what we can be if we’re all being good to each other.”
Leave it to him to lay it out there straight.
“Can we go outside?” she asks quietly. “We can wait until tonight if you want, and you can cuff me again. I just... really want to see the sky again.”
Manson and I share a look that shows equal parts understanding and fear, but I know this is step one in learning to trust each other. Fuck.
“I think we can do that,” Manson mutters, still holding my gaze. “Right?”
Well now it’s all on me, and since I’m trying hard not to be the same asshole I have been, I nod.
I fucking nod.
I take a long sip of my coffee to keep myself from taking it back, and I hate myself a little more for being happy I stole all of her money. She couldn’t run away if she tried. Damn... I’m a real asshole that doesn’t deserve an ounce of kindness from either of them, but here we are.
“Thank you.” Her voice is soft, and she’s looking at me. Not Manson. “We can stay in the backyard since it’s fenced in.”
I feel my whole body relax so suddenly I know she feels it too. How did I get here? I went from hating when she’s around to caging her in my house with no intentions of letting her free, and the thought of her escaping gives me more anxiety than a job where I sometimes have to kill people. I don’t know what broke inside of me the moment I saw my father’s body, but it obviously isn’t fixable.
“Maybe we can make a little hangout area out back so she can see the stars every night?”
He’s pushing it, but to my surprise I don’t have any objections. “Yeah, maybe. So you don’t plan on hopping the fence to run?”
I have to ask, even though neither of them seem very happy about it.
“And go where?” she asks, a little roughly. “I told you, you can cuff me to your giant body when we’re outside if you want. That means if I try to hop the fence, I have to take you with me. I’m just asking for a little fresh air, Ash.”
“Alright,” I relent. “I’m sorry. It was a dumb question.”
One I didn’t mean to fuck up the mood, but I realize quickly that might have been the first time I’ve ever apologized to her about anything real while she was awake. I brace myself for her to laugh, to use it against me, for any reaction at all that’ll make me want to take all of this back — but she leans in and kisses my cheek instead. “It was a dumb question, but that’s okay.”
Well that felt good.
“I only brought it up because I didn’t plan on using the cuffs.”
Kiss me again, Rhea.
“Really?” Her eyes light up as she squirms, pivoting to face me better. “Why not?"
“We all want something more right?” Both of them nod a little too excitedly. “That takes trust. You didn’t shoot me when you had the chance.”
I stop there because I really don’t know what to say, though it seems to be enough. Rhea launches herself at me and wraps her arms around my neck, knocking me back against the headboard. It’s not a kiss, but her arms around me feel just as fucking good. Manson strips the mug from my hands so I can hug her back, and I swear I melt there for a little while.
Eventually, she pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. “How soon until breakfast comes?”
I’m staring at her mouth, but I hold myself back because when I kiss this woman, there won’t be any doubts that she’s mine. She won’t even want to escape me. “Probably like five minutes, maybe?”
As if on cue, someone knocks on our door, so Manson climbs off the bed to go get it. Rhea stays right where she is, watching me. “Do you think we can do this?”
I don’t want to lie to her nor dull the mood by saying nothing I’ve ever wanted has worked out, so I give her the best answer I can. “I think we can if we all continue to work on it every day.” Me, especially. “If relationships were easy, there’d be no music or poems, right?
She bites her bottom lip like she has follow up questions, but Manson pops his head back in to tell us breakfast is on the table.
Rhea’s off my bed and out the door before I can blink.
Jealousy coils in my gut, and I don’t know if it’s because she sits in Manson’s lap the entire time we eat, the way her tongue curls around her fork with each bite, or the little noises she makes when syrup drips down her chin and she laps it up.
It’s probably all of those things to be fair, but by the time we’re done eating and move over to the couch, I grab her to sit on my lap instead.
She fits better than I expected, but her bare neck makes me angry. There’s supposed to be a fucking collar there.
Manson catches my eye with a warning look and I force myself to chill as Rhea settles in. I just have to remind myself this isn’t permanent.
“So... I didn’t have an episode last night?”
“No,” I respond. “Probably because you slept like a rock, and even if you attempted to move, Manson was pinning you down.”
And he wasn’t the only one.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hmm.” Rhea squirms, waking my cock up even more than it already was. “That’s good, I guess.”
Gripping her hips, I meet her gaze. “Keep squirming like that and you’re going to start something I’m going to have to finish.”
“Psh, don’t count me out, Ash. I can finish whatever you can’t,” Manson teases, but Rhea’s eyes darken. Her slender fingers tangle in my hair as she deliberately rolls her hips, grinding down, and I couldn’t stop my hips from moving with hers if I tried. Fuck, I’m so hard. “You want to play, Rhea? Is Manson invited?”
“Mmhm.” She glances over at him, smiling softly. “I want you both in my pussy again. While I’m awake this time.”
Both of us groan like horny little bastards, but immediately I know there’s no way either of us deny her. I just hope she’s ready for it because there’s no going back now.
We’re about to wreck her pussy.