7. Von
T here was never a doubt in my mind Erik would have a dark story. We who have demons living inside us always do. Knowing what I did about Erik and his past, I guessed his darkness stemmed from something to do with the military. However, taking out an entire rogue militia wasn’t on my list of possibilities. Which, I mean shame on me for thinking so small.
My highly logical brain latched right away onto the fact that this militia would have been taken out one way or another, so in a way Erik saved the military valuable time and money. To a military man, his unit was his family, and these trigger-happy assholes killed the one person Erik was closest to. It only made sense they’d have to pay for what they did, and I fully supported his actions. Yet as I stared into his eyes, I realized he was bracing for my rejection.
“Big Red, do you honestly think I’d throw you out now that I know this?” I questioned, cocking my head to the side slightly.
His gaze dropped as he shrugged. “Most people would.”
“ Ha ,” I blurted, rocking back at the force of my harsh laugh. “Most people, when the fuck have I been most people? Seriously, would most people have helped plan and execute a mass murder of two major crime families?”
Erik’s eyes snapped back to mine as his brows shot up and lips parted in surprise.
“You remember Poison right? You two talked on the phone,” I asked, and Erik nodded. “Well, Poison and Queenie are my blood oath sisters,” I explained, showing the scar on my forearm.
Erik frowned as he grasped my arm and gently ran a finger down the scar. “What’s a blood oath?”
I didn’t pull my arm back since I was proud to show off the mark which linked me to these women for life. “Think of it like the bond you had with your team, there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for them. Well, I feel the same about those two. Other than Bear and my family, Ivy and Astin are my ride-or-die bitches. Astin is the newly appointed head of the Caprioni and Raffa crime families, which was a big fucking problem for people because she’s a woman. Say what you like about the world changing, it doesn’t apply to the mafia.”
“Wait, did you say the mafia?” Erik cut in looking rather skeptical.
“Yup, sure did,” I confirmed with a wink. “Nepreea was home to five of the oldest mafia families, until a few months ago. Thanks to us pesky women there’s only three left.”
“I didn’t think the mafia still existed outside of movies and books,” Erik mumbled as he released my arm and rubbed a hand over his buzzed hair. “Is this common knowledge?”
I shrugged. “Hard to say since I was raised in that world. What I do know is the mafia leaders are extremely skilled at keeping their outward appearances clean. All they want is for people to see them as savvy businessmen and major benefactors to the government and law enforcement. You see the mafia’s true power lies in their connections and how well they control the people who grease the wheels. While subtlety is not my thing, it is considered the true art of being a mafia leader.”
“Huh, knowing this certainly explains all the strings you’re able to pull and favors to call in,” Erik commented as he scratched his chin, starting to connect the dots.
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” I corrected. “I don’t use any of my father’s connections unless I’m left with no other choice. The strings I pull, I neatly tie around my prey’s neck all by myself. Took a little practice, killed one or two along the way, but such is life.”
Erik snorted at my joke which drew a pleased smirk from me.
“People call me The Wolf for many reasons, one of them being I was a free agent. If you have the money or goods to pay my fee, I am happy to provide my services. It’s important for weapons brokers like myself to stay impartial, so we can sell to both sides and not ruffle any feathers,” I explained.
“I share this to prove the mafia has rules and standards everyone in the criminal world needs to be aware of. They were agreed upon by the Five Families to keep there from being blood covering the streets twenty-four-seven. Yet two families decided those rules no longer applied to them and no one was safe. Realizing the reign of the Five Families was coming to an end, I took the opportunity to align myself with a powerful ally, Astin Caprioni,” I announced with a flourish of the hands. “I’m sure you understand that sometimes to make changes for the better, you need to burn the system to the ground and rebuild. Which is exactly what I helped to do by wiping out two entire families and I have zero regrets about doing it.”
“To be clear, little siren, I have no guilt over killing those militia men…” Erik paused for a moment before he continued. “... but it wasn’t just men, I killed them all . To top it all off, I didn’t even remove the whole threat. Another hundred or so members were living on the new base.”
I let out a sigh, then wriggled out of Erik’s hold and sat cross-legged, staring down at him. “What exactly are you wanting from me?”
Erik didn’t say anything so I charged forward, frustrated because this conversation felt like a waste of time.
“What? Do you want to hear I also helped kill women and children? That I suggested we obliterated them by going back four generations?” I snapped and tossed up my hands. “News flash Erik, Apollo is one of the heirs to the Accardi Family. The whole reason I’m looking for him is to kill him and his brother. Those twins are one of the last few threats to the family I’ve bled for. You clearly want something from me, I just don’t have a fucking clue what it is. If you want someone to absolve you of your sins, I’m certainly not the one to do it. My hands are even fucking bloodier than yours.”
Erik rolled onto his back and rubbed his face growling in frustration. “I don’t fucking know what I want, or why I told you my dark secret.”
“Fucking pussy-ass liar,” I shot back, grabbed a pillow, and smacked him with it. “Don’t be a goddamn sheep and run from a conversation you started.”
A loud growl rumbled as Bear tossed back the covers and sat up. Apparently, he’d given up on pretending to be asleep. “ I’m going to take a shower since you two won’t let me fucking sleep. ”
“Don’t even pretend you’re mad, you were awake the second I opened my eyes,” I shouted after him. “You should be proud of me for sitting here talking about feelings and shit.”
Bear paused at the bathroom door and glanced over his shoulder. “ If you finish in time, come join me and I’ll show you how proud I am. ” He then shifted, grabbed his cock, and stroked it just in case I had any confusion about what my prize was.
“Ahuh… sure thing,” I managed to say without drooling.
A sharp pain caused me to gasp as Erik tweaked my nipple. “ Fuck. ”
“Tsk, tsk, Bear said you get your reward after we finished our talk,” Erik warned. “We still have a few more feelings and shit to go over.”
I slapped his hand away and rubbed my tender bits. “Real dick move, Red.”
“Takes one to know one,” Erik offered with a smile.
“Uh, your kindergarten teacher called, he’d like his insult back,” I sassed.
Erik let out a bark of laughter as he sat up and leaned his back against the headboard. “Hardly, my response was at least middle school level. If I was going to aim for kindergarten, I would have gone for something like… I know what you are but what am I?”
I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Oh God.”
“Trust me, this is a fight you won’t win.” Erik smirked as he pulled up one knee to rest his arm on.
The humor in Erik’s gaze faded as something more serious took its place. “Look, about my story. I didn’t share it with you because I wanted something out of it. The only people who know besides you are those I had to inform. Once I was out of the military, I had to make a living and figure out how to find some kind of peace with my new life. In order to do that I hid who I really am, and to steal your words, live as a sheep.”
“So why me?” I asked for what felt like the tenth time.
Seriously, this man has no idea how hard I worked to avoid these chats. They only happened with Bear because he cornered me into them. But somehow, Erik always managed to sneak up on me and I didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.
Erik reached out, slid his hand down my arm until he could take my hand, and pulled me back to the here and now. I met his amber gaze and saw something in it that caused my heart to beat a little faster. Something about this man could soften my hard edges ever so slightly, allowing me to connect with him in a way I never thought I could.
Gently, Erik squeezed my hand breaking whatever spell I’d fallen into. “Warning, little siren, what I’m going to say is oozing with emotions, so brace yourself.”
I grimaced and almost shuddered, but nodded for him to continue.
“I think the reason I told you my darkest secret is because you’re the one person who would be able to look past it as if it were nothing. That’s only part of it though. The other is I wanted you to know me. Neither of us expected this connection we have, but it’s strong enough to make me forget about ever having a life before meeting you. If I never see my home, work, or family again I wouldn’t care. There’s something about being in your world, by your side, that tells me it’s where I belong.”
He hadn’t been kidding when he said this would be super emotional. If anything, Erik undersold the amount of sappy goo he was about to lay on me. My immediate response was to get the fuck away as quickly as possible. Almost as if his words were a poison seeping into my mind trying to kill me. Yet, a teeny tiny sliver of myself melted at his words. That realization sent a jolt through my body as I fought against wanting to gag on this emotional moment.
“Breathe, little siren, it’s gonna be okay. We're through the worst of it,” Erik reassured me, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Don’t worry, I’m not expecting any kind of response or for you to reciprocate in any way. In fact, I’m going to kiss the hell out of you, then send you off to Bear so he can fuck the feelings right out of you.”
Numbly, I nodded, and Erik made good on his word. He slipped a hand around the back of my neck and kissed me so fiercely my toes curled. Then Erik gave me a wink, set me on my feet, and slapped my bare ass as I turned to head for the safety of the bathroom.
Thankfully, Bear was still in the shower, and the bastard hadn’t even bothered to close the glass door knowing I couldn’t turn down his offer. I carelessly tossed my hair over my shoulder and padded across the damp tile to join Bear. He was facing the stream of water washing the soap off his body. More than happy to wait and watch, I leaned against the back wall, taking in the sight as water ran down his large, toned body.
Biting my lip, I followed one clump of bubbles as it slid down his wide back over the face of the snarling bear tattooed there. Those suds continued until they reached his ass, which could crack a fucking coconut. I would never tire of looking at Bear’s body, regardless of the scars he attempted to hide with the tattoos covering ninety percent of his skin. What I found interesting was how Bear appeared even more intimidating naked. Probably because you could clearly see the definition of his muscles as they moved under his bronze skin. A man couldn’t get that jacked without some serious training and discipline, both of which Bear had.
After scrubbing his face with his hands, he turned to face me, his studded cock bobbing in excitement upon seeing me. I grinned and slowly let my gaze travel up Bear’s body from his dick to his eyes. They glinted with a hunger which I’m sure matched my own. One thing the two of us always agreed upon was, sometimes you just needed a good solid fucking.
Bear stalked over to me as his body tensed with threatening intention, but I wasn’t worried in the slightest. Without hesitation, Bear grabbed my throat and yanked me away from the wall only to twist and slam me against the wall to my left. He slid his hand a little higher, forcing me to look up where he greeted me with a savage kiss full of teeth and need. I groaned as he shoved his knee between my legs and used his thigh to roughly rub against my pussy.
When he broke our kiss, Bear spun me around and shoved my upper body against the tile wall. My skin prickled from the cold against my breasts, causing me to shiver. He took both my hands and lifted them over my head where a handle was conveniently located for me to grip. I cried out as Bear slapped my ass twice in quick succession, then grabbed my hips and yanked them closer.
If I hadn’t been holding on to my safety bar, I would have landed on my face with how brusque Bear was being. It hadn’t taken us long to learn it was helpful to add some gripping aids where we liked to have sex. Which is why every shower had grip bars and textured foot holds that could accommodate any position you could think of. Trust me, Bear and I made sure to test out every possibility to get the setup perfect.
I wiggled my ass, taunting Bear, and earned myself a few more slaps which made my skin burn delightfully. Abruptly, Bear hoisted my right leg and plunged two fingers into my pussy making me scream as I came instantly. My left leg shook as it held all my weight, and I tried to keep from buckling under the assault on my pussy. Bear wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet and tender, this was about taking what he wanted. Lucky for me, what Bear loved most was ruining my fucking pussy, and causing my brain to melt with how many orgasms I experienced.
Bear stepped closer so his chest was pressed against my back, and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. Just as I was about to come again, Bear removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock. The feel of his double Jacob’s ladder had me screaming, shaking, and squirting all over him.
“Oh, fuck yes,” I cried as Bear buried himself balls deep.
He gave me a warning tap on my weight-bearing leg before he hoisted that one up as well. Bear used my body weight and leverage to slam me down on his cock as he thrust almost as if he was truly trying to rearrange my guts. My pussy would be sore after this, but the way I looked at it, that was a lovely reminder of the mind-blowing sex that caused the soreness. Bear moved closer to the wall and placed my feet on the textured foot holds, allowing him to change his angle. Now his piercings were running right over my G-spot and I was seeing stars.
It was getting harder to hold onto the handle as my body refused to listen to anything I told it to do. Thankfully, Bear was already ahead of me as he pulled out, picked me up, and set me on the floor with my ass in the air. He used his grip on the underside of my hips to hold me still as he drove his cock into me. Bear was a man who could outlast the best of men, but when he got like this and let loose, not caring what happened in the moment, he couldn’t push off his own grand finale. I knew it was coming as his thrusts came faster and the sound of a deep growl rumbled in his chest. With a roar, he slammed as deep as he could get before he came and my release quickly followed. Something about being able to feel Bear’s cum as it filled me, would always get me off.
Bear dropped to his knees behind me, panting as he rested his head on my back. Every movement, even the slightest twitch from his cock, had me writhing in his hold. Fuck I loved when this man owned my body and used me like a ragdoll.
“So that’s what all the handles are for.”
My head snapped up at the sound of Apollo’s voice. I’d almost forgotten about him, which wasn’t good. Apollo Accardi was the enemy, and I couldn’t let myself forget if I wanted to stay alive.
“Why the fuck are you in here?” I demanded as Bear lifted me off the floor.
The possessive bastard made sure his cock didn’t slip out. He wanted Apollo to see he’d claimed my pussy, and in a twisted way, I found it rather romantic.
“I did knock,” Apollo pointed out. “However, you didn’t hear me over your delicious screams of ecstasy. Anyway, I wanted you to know breakfast is almost ready, and I don’t want it to get cold. So chop chop, people,” he instructed, clapping his hands in encouragement before leaving the bathroom.
Bear growled as he set me down, ready to go after the man who dared to intrude on our moment.
I reached out a hand blocking my grumpy Bear. “It’s not worth it. The bastard wants to get under your skin so let’s not give him the satisfaction of doing it so easily.”
Bear wasn’t convinced by my logic, so I had to pull out the big guns. “If you stay, I’ll let you wash my hair.”
The offer instantly had Bear turning to face me, his expression wary as if he didn’t believe I was serious. “ Why? ”
“Why what?” I questioned.
“ Why bother to stop me? He’s going to die, Von, ” Bear explained. “ Plus, I don’t trust anything that prick says, and it worries me you’re protecting him. ”
“I’m not protecting him,” I argued, crossing my arms which pushed my boobs together and drew Bear’s attention. “Look, once I know my family is safe, then we can kill him. You don’t need to worry, I know what has to be done.”
Bear’s gaze flicked to my own, narrowing as he stared me down. When I didn’t budge, he let the matter drop and urged me to stand under the water. This man loved nothing more than to take care of me, and ninety percent of the time, I hated it. Only weak people would rely on others when they could do it themselves. The more power you gave a person the less you had, or at least that’s how I used to see the world. I’m not saying I don’t still believe that logic, but Bear and Erik were doing a damn good job of forcing me to understand that not everyone would use such power against me.
I closed my eyes and let Bear take over, moaning at the feel of his touch as he massaged my scalp. People talked about this concept of aftercare and how it was a good thing to do after rough sex or a kink-heavy scene. Maybe it wasn’t all a load of crap because damn if this wasn’t a euphoric experience.
Finally, I was deemed clean, but before I could even think about toweling myself off, Bear swaddled me up in a fluffy, warm towel. He used another towel for my hair, drying it to the point where it wasn’t dripping, then scooped me up and carried me out to the bedroom. Erik was lying across the foot of the bed, reading one of the books Bear had gotten about polyamory. He tilted his head back to look at us and smiled with genuine happiness shining in his eyes at the sight of us.
In a move I hadn’t been prepared for, Bear shifted his hold, pulled open my legs, and dropped me so my pussy landed right on Erik’s face. Bear then yanked off my towel, wrapped it around himself, and winked before heading out of the bedroom.
Erik’s hands grabbed my ass as he let out an excited moan.
“What did I do to deserve this reward?” Erik questioned as he wriggled under me into a better position. He used his thumbs to expose my pussy, and let out a feral growl. “Oh, fuck how did that bastard know?”
“Wh—” I started to ask, but all words were forgotten as Erik’s tongue delved deep into my pussy.
Erik groaned as he lapped and sucked at my pussy while his fingers dug into my ass as he pulled me closer. It wasn’t until I realized Erik was making a rather specific motion with his tongue that I figured out what had him so turned on. Bear made zero effort to wash his cum off me and I’m pretty sure most of it hadn’t leaked out on its own. Erik was happily on a search and rescue mission to find every last soldier left behind.
With a fucking that rough I was a little sore, yet I was surprised by how glorious Erik’s tongue felt on my abused pussy. It was so good, it soon had me coming hard as Erik hummed his delight. How the fuck had Bear known Erik would be into this? I assumed it was because of what Erik had shared about enjoying sex with men as well as women. Yet to make the leap of Erik enjoying eating another man’s cum out of my pussy was risky. After yet another orgasm brought on by Erik’s fingers as he made sure to scoop everything out, the man pressed a final kiss to my clit and smiled up at me.
“Fuck that was so goddamn hot,” Erik announced. “I’ve never been so glad you decided not to kill me as I am right now. That cocky bastard hand delivered you to me with one hell of a creamy pussy.”
I didn’t have any other reaction but to laugh at how fucking blissed out he sounded. The expression on Erik’s face was that of a man who’d just finished gorging on ice cream. I watched with raised brows as he licked off every speck of dessert he might have missed from around his lips.
Jesus fuck, why was that so damn hot?
Something must have given away what I was thinking as Erik flipped me onto my back, then dragged me down until he could kiss the hell out of me. Our tongues battled as he ground his jean-covered cock against my bare pussy, making me hiss a little, with how sensitive I was. It would appear I was a woman who had a raging libido and needed two men around at all times to deal with my horny ass. I’d experienced more orgasms this morning than ever before, but I knew I’d welcome more if they wanted to give them to me.
“Sounds like you might be too sensitive for me to keep playing, little siren,” Erik murmured between kisses. “I got my prize, so unless you need more to be satisfied, it might be best for you to get some clothes on.”
“What if I don’t want to wear clothes?” I challenged with a grin.
“Then any chance of Apollo living more than a few minutes is out the window,” Erik countered. “You might not be a jealous person, but Bear abso-fucking-lutly is.”
I let out a grumbling sigh. “Fine, I’ll get dressed.”
Erik rolled onto his side allowing me to get up and pad over to the dresser. I felt his eyes on me as I dressed but ignored him. By the weight of his gaze, I felt Erik wanted to ask me something. So far, the man hadn’t been shy about speaking up when it came to advocating for himself. However, when it came to asking about my past he chose to walk on eggshells. It wasn’t until I pulled on a pair of leggings that he got the balls to spit it out.
“That scar…” Erik blurted, then stopped.
“Gonna need to narrow that down, Big Red, I’ve got a few,” I drawled, glancing at him.
“The one you have here,” Erik clarified, drawing a finger across his stomach just above his pelvis. “I know what that means and what was done to you. What I want to know is, was that your choice or his?”