Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
L andon was sitting up against the headboard when Kingston and I walked back into Kingston’s bedroom.
I was surprised, but also very glad, he hadn’t left. He caught sight of our expressions and the smile on his face morphed into concern. “What happened?”
“My father stopped by.” Before Landon jumped to his feet, Kingston added, “He’s gone now. He just came by to do his usual.”
At the confusion on my face, Kingston stroked his thumb over the back of my hand.
“Whenever he can, he surprises me with a visit. Either by showing up on short notice or providing his next move and doing something entirely different. It’s meant to remind me I never know what he’ll do next.”
“Charming,” I muttered. “Well, maybe we should do the same to him.”
Kingston arched a brow. “What do you mean?”
An idea I’d been turning over in my head made its way out. “What if we lied?”
Kingston shook his head, and I conjured up the wealth of arguments that must be running through his mind.
“I’m offering to do it, Kingston. What if we just told them I could invoke the statute?
I mean, if we stick to the truth and Elaine’s family pulls out of the deal, you marry her.
I can’t end up with you, but be honest with me…
is it even possible for me to be with one of them? Or both, if Max came around to that?”
“It wouldn’t be easy. Almost impossible. Even letting you leave together would come at a steep price.”
When he didn’t expand on that price, I swallowed. “Okay, so why can’t we lie? Remove the axe over our heads, and keep the playing field level.”
“Because when they found out, you’d be disqualified. It wouldn’t help in the end.”
“But how would they know?”
Kingston and Landon shared a grim look. “They’d know.”
When neither of them explained that, I opened my mouth to press for more details, but Kingston continued.
“And besides, you shouldn’t have to lie, Quinn.
You’ve done nothing wrong. Neither have any of the other Ladies who can’t do what Elaine did.
Our hands are tied by old, misguided beliefs, and I don’t feel right going along with them to win.
Especially since it wouldn’t work in the end.
I can sway Elaine and her family to believe our match is in their best interest, over whatever deal they’ve made with the Valencourts. ”
Landon’s head popped up, his eyes narrowing on Kingston and then the door. Kingston shook his head before turning back to me.
“If I can do that, then you just have to win. And if, in the end, I’m able to do what I set out to do, you’ll be free to choose whatever or whoever you want.”
His eyes fell on Landon again, and a flash of concern hit me.
Last night was supposed to be mine and Kingston’s time alone.
I hadn’t explained why Landon had crashed it, so I corrected that.
I needed them to know I wanted them both.
Separately, and together, especially in light of everything that just came up.
“I want all of you. Together and alone. I should’ve mentioned it before, but you had a nightmare last night.
I wasn’t sure what to do, and Landon heard, so he helped settle you.
I wanted it to be our night together, but I asked him to stay.
Just in case. I didn’t know how to help, and… I hope that’s okay.”
Kingston nodded to me and then stared at Landon for a moment before clearing his throat. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I’m glad I could help.” Landon glanced between us, releasing a breath as he returned Kingston’s stare. “I should go.”
Kingston tightened his grip on my hand.
He needed us both here. In sight, safe, and unharmed.
The tension rolling through him worsened when Landon shifted on the bed, moving like he planned to leave.
I wanted to bridge the divide between us. Show them we were in this together. But after his run-in with his father, I wanted to follow his lead.
When Kingston met my gaze and saw the question in my eyes, he nodded. “Go to him,” he commanded softly. “I don’t want my father to win. We should be free to be here without fear. I need—” He swallowed deeply. “Go to him.”
He squeezed my hand and released me. I went to Landon, halting his progress where he sat on the edge of the bed. Maneuvering my legs between his thighs, I placed my hands on his shoulders and leaned down for a quick kiss.
Tension lingered in his body, too. His dark amber eyes searched my features, and he trailed his hand along my thigh.
As I kissed him, he relaxed. Both of them released a breath, and the weight of Drake D’Arthur’s sudden appearance lifted, as I stood between them.
For now, we knew he was gone, and he couldn’t hurt us.
Or stop us.
My heart raced as Landon slid his palm up underneath my sleep shirt, his fingers softly playing over my skin.
Until he lightly pinched my butt.
My eyes narrowed, and the corner of my mouth twitched when I pulled back to look at him.
“Someone woke up fresh today.”
“It’s the first night you haven’t spent in my arms since we got here. And then to find out—” He tipped my chin up with his thumb, chasing away that thought by placing a kiss on my neck. “What can I say? I missed you.”
My head fell back when Landon sucked deeply at the base of my neck. Goose bumps erupted down my arms. Pleasure shot straight to my toes.
I moaned, fully unable to stop myself.
Landon slipped his hands higher up beneath my sleep shirt, cupping my ass and squeezing. He pressed his thumbs into the muscle, kneading deep before he skirted his fingers dangerously close to my panties.
“I hate that he was here, and so close to you.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
Kingston remained silent behind me, his eyes on my back like an electric current, thrumming through the space between us. Tethering him to us even as he stood apart.
And while maybe that thought should’ve made me pull away and check in with him, it only amplified the need to keep going. To give him what he needed. And to keep fighting for this tenuous peace we were creating together.
“Landon…” I breathed, my eyes falling closed as I clenched my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. They traveled up into his hair, pinning him to me while his tongue and hands worked me up the way they always did.
I whimpered when he slipped past the line of my panties and grazed my core. Coming away with proof. Shining with my desire for both of them. If there was hesitance in either of them, I couldn’t focus on it. And they were big boys.
If they had issues with it, I had to trust they’d say something.
As my head swirled with lust, I went with that.
I didn’t have to worry for very long because when Landon’s hand came out from beneath my shirt, shining with my desire, Kingston made it clear he was on board with what was happening.
“Taste her.”
My breath caught.
My eyes flashing to where Kingston had rounded the end of the bed, his blue-gray gaze locked on Landon’s fingers, and heat burned the azure to ash.
Landon kept his eyes on me, even as he obeyed Kingston’s command, and he searched my face for a hint of hesitation.
But he wouldn’t find one.
My breathing grew unsteady. My pulse raced, and desire coiled tightly in my lower belly. Hands shaking, I only gripped Landon harder. Clawing at him with need.
He knew I wanted it.
Wanted them .
When he brought his fingers to his lips, his eyes fell closed at the first taste of me. As if it had been years instead of a day. And when he sucked deeply, he groaned.
“Fuck.” Kingston shuddered, one hand on the bedpost and the other adjusting his cock.
It strained against his dark gray slacks—reached for us—and Kingston let out a ragged breath as he stepped back and away from the bed.
With his white button-down still left open, my eyes jumped between him and Landon. The distance between them too much when I needed them both.
But Kingston thought of everything.
He was always two moves ahead. And as he sank into the plush leather chair by the window, angled toward the edge of the bed, he let us in on his grander plan.
“Lie back on the bed, Landon.”
Landon swallowed, his eyes still on mine. Waiting for my go-ahead even as he yearned to follow his King’s next command.
“Quinn?” When I looked at Kingston, he arched his brow in question. “Are you…? Does this please you, Lady Everly?”
His lips twitched, and though Landon stared between us, wondering what was going on, I understood. And I nodded.
Landon tensed, and I glanced down at him, running my hand through his hair. “I’m…good with this,” I said quietly, in case admitting I wanted it so badly I could barely breathe might sway his answer. “But only if you are, too.”
“What my Lady wants, my Lady gets.”
He stared at me for a moment longer before turning to Kingston. They locked eyes, and Landon nodded.
“Good,” Kingston murmured, gripping the arms of the chair. “Then, I believe you were given an order, Sir Lancelot.”
Landon’s eyes darkened, and when he returned them to mine, he scooted back on the bed.
Biceps straining, his whole body coiled with restraint as he pushed himself backward.
He didn’t break our stare until he took up the space at the center of the headboard.
Then, he looked to Kingston for his next move.
But it was my turn.
“Come here, love.”
Kingston beckoned me over to him, and I approached on trembling legs. My knees weakened further by the look in his eyes. The hunger and longing.
He found the same in my voice as I stood in front of him, still trying to catch my breath. “You won’t join?”
Lifting my hand, he kissed my palm and cradled it against his cheek. “Soon, love. But for now, if you want, we can give each other this. I want you both to know this —what you feel for each other, what you’ve shared—is what I want. Without doubt.”
“Without fear or limits.”
“Exactly.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before slipping my hand away. Bringing it to the hem of my sleep shirt, I pulled it over my head and dropped it at our feet.