Ezra shifted off of her and she crawled up beside Oliver, resting her head against his shoulder, pressing kisses to the skin there.
Ezra moved too. He lay his head against Oliver’s stomach and immediately Oliver began to gently stroke his hair. She sighed as this feeling of complete safety washed over her. It was nothing like anything she’d ever known before. And it was because of them. These two remarkable men who gave her more than pleasure. They gave her everything.
She sank into that realization, closing her eyes and letting herself slip into slumber. Soon enough she would wake. Not just from her dreams but to a reality where this time ended.
And the future she dreaded would come to pass at last.
* * *
Ezra
Anna whimpered softly and Ezra lifted his head to look at her. She was still sleeping. Dreaming. Though perhaps not the happiest of dreams when it came down to it. He looked past her and found Oliver watching her just as closely, his full lips pulled into a frown of concern.
“When this is over, she’ll be lost,” Oliver whispered so as not to wake her.
“I’m paying her for posing for me,” Ezra reminded him gently. “She won’t be without funds.”
“It won’t be enough,” Oliver said, his voice rough, just as it was always rough when he talked about any danger to Anna. “Hewill make sure it isn’t.”
Ezra stiffened. “The new duke. Her late husband’s uncle.”
Oliver hesitated a moment and Ezra held his breath. This man had protected Anna’s secrets for the entire time they’d been here. If he surrendered them now, it meant something. And he wanted Oliver’s trust. He wanted to earn what was so carefully given.
At last Oliver nodded. “Yes. I realize men like you don’t like to see the worst in each other, but the new duke is a monster and will destroy her if he has to, in order to gain power over her and her…her…”
“Body,” Ezra said mildly, though the idea of Anna in such a situation made him feel such a deep anger. Such a savage sense of protection that he had to meter it.
Oliver paled. “Yes,” he whispered, and gently rolled Anna away. He was less gentle as he pushed past Ezra and got to his feet. He paced away, toned backside backlit by the fire as he rubbed a hand through his tangled hair. “We shouldn’t talk about this here. I don’t want to wake her.”
Ezra nodded and got up. He motioned to the door. “Then let’s talk about it somewhere else. I don’t think it’s a subject we can ignore any longer.”
He picked up his dressing gown and handed it over to Oliver. Oliver stared at the fine fabric with a shuddering sigh. “I…couldn’t…”
Ezra snorted. “I had your balls in my mouth half an hour ago. I think we’re past little courtesies. Put it on.”
Oliver’s lips pursed but he did so, and Ezra grabbed his trousers from the pile of discarded clothing on the floor. Together they walked out of the bedchamber and into the sitting room attached. Ezra closed the door gently and motioned to the chairs before the fire. Oliver took one but sat on the edge, as if he was uncomfortable. Ezra shook his head. It seemed the man would always revert to the role of servant, no matter what wicked things the three of them shared on his bedroom.
“What do you know about the new Duke of Sedgewick?” Oliver asked.
Ezra shrugged. “Not much. I have separated myself from my father and grandfather’s world for a long time. By choice.”
“Well, he is…” Oliver bent his head but there was no hiding the rage in his expression. It rippled through his entire being from his clenched jaw to the way his fingers flexed in and out of fists against his thighs. “He is what I already declared him to be: a monster.”
“He wants her,” Ezra said softly.
Oliver nodded. “Yes. He always wanted her, even before his nephew’s untimely death. The way his eyes would track her, the way he would find ways to touch her under the guise of assistance or care…I could have killed him.”
The emotion in Oliver’s voice made Ezra shift. It was so very evident how much this man loved Anna. Loved her deeply and passionately and with a purity that made Ezra’s scarred soul think of summer days. It made him think of possibilities that he’d believed were lost a long time ago. Oliver challenged his bitterness and stone walls and everything else about himself.
So did Anna. And that was slightly terrifying, but also exciting.
“Because you wanted to protect her,” Ezra said softly.
Oliver nodded slowly. “Yes. But I couldn’t. Not from the pain caused by her husband. Not by the danger posed by his uncle. You two want me to pretend I have a power I don’t, and it is a beautiful little fantasy. But there is no place I feel more powerless than when I watch her hurt. When I watch her fear. When I watch her cry and cannot do anything to build a wall between her and those who would hurt her. Because Iama servant, Ezra, whether you two suck my cock or not. I’m a man with no power, no means. And this fantasy world won’t change that. Not in the long term.”
Ezra let out his breath softly. Oliver wasn’t wrong. It was almost impossible to change the station to which one had been born. To fall was easy. To climb…well, it took a great deal of privilege and money and work to do so. There were few who made it.
“If the money isn’t enough, what would be?” Ezra asked. “What do you think would protect her?”
