Page 6 of Love & Power

It was easy to see when the lightbulb went on in Luna’s brain as her shoulders sagged. Jace released his hold on her, allowing her to look from me to Luca then back to me. From the moment the two of them went back into the room, I knew they were going to fuck—we’d all been surprised it didn’t happen last night. Hell, I don’t think I could have waited longer than getting to the house to savor the thing I’d missed most after three weeks in jail. Yet something had been nagging at me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

When I was sure they’d fallen asleep, I snuck in there, needing to make sure she was okay. They were tangled up in a sexy embrace with Luca’s cock still buried in her pussy. I tried to leave them be, to let them have their movement, but I couldn’t force myself to go back out there. Instead, I climbed in behind her, kissing along her spine, letting her know I was there guarding her back. I hadn’t planned to fall asleep, but having her close, knowing she was safe, was all I needed to pass the fuck out.

The realization I felt guilty didn’t hit me until she snuck out of bed, froze, swore, then cupped her pussy bolting for the bathroom. Fear that she was hurting had me stalking after her to fix what I’d done, only to be greeted with the frosted outline of Astin doing a Captain Morgan impression, muttering under her breath about cum everywhere. Relief had me sagging against the wall as I watched her, analyzing every movement to ensure she was okay. After watching her for years, I knew when she was hurting, and while I saw signs of discomfort, there was nothing to indicate what I feared.

Feeling better about the situation, I let her know I was there and gave into my favorite hobby—watching Astin. The joy I’d felt when she gave me the green flag to watch her in person would have terrified the average person. Thank fuck, my Moonflower was anything but average—she was a goddess. All that warm and fuzzy shit came to a screeching halt the second she confessed sex would need to be off the table for a day or so. Then the knife of guilt stabbed me in the heart at the fact that the woman I loved more than anything in the world thought she was responsible for dealing with all our sexual needs.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Astin Caprioni was our queen, and we were her dark knights, ready and willing to serve, protect, and love her in every way possible. She owed us nothing and certainly wasn’t responsible for our needs, sexual or otherwise. This needed to be made clear along with a few other things before we entered the labyrinth of hell the founding families created for us.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Hound, and what you are trying to say,” Astin said as she rose and walked over to me. The warmth of her hand on my chest, over the heart that beat only for her, caused me to let out a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I put you in a position like that, and I’m glad you made us have this conversation. Having one relationship is hard for anyone who’s never experienced it, but juggling seven is on a whole other level of complexity.”

My hand covered hers a moment before I pulled it up to kiss her palm. “You’re not the only one trying to learn as we go along… we are too. That’s what this conversation is about if we cut to the core. We don’t know until we don’t know, then we have to find a way to fix it. Let me be clear, you are not responsible for taking care of my sexual needs. All of us are grown-ass men who have come up with ways to deal with our lower brain. It just took me a minute to really understand that while I have just you to devote all my attention to, you split that between seven of us, not to mention running the Caprioni Family. The last thing you need to worry about is when the last time you got me off was.”

She snorted in laughter, shaking her head as I hugged her. “Just to be clear, if you think the solution to deal with your needs is to stick your dick in someone else I’m not fucking, you won’t have that dick for long.”

That had me grinning as I whispered in her ear, “Does that mean you’ll share Jace and Braxton with me?”

“Maybe, but that’s a conversation for another time,” she mumbled into my chest.

I pulled off the towel wrapped around her hair and kissed her head. “That’s fair, and just to be clear, I won’t mention it again unless you bring it up. As long as I have you, anything else is a bonus. I got the grand prize right here.”

Astin groaned and looked up at me. “Would you like some wine with that cheese?”

“Nah, why mess with something when it’s already perfect,” I reasoned.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled away from me and sat in one of the armchairs. She automatically crossed her leg, causing the bathrobe to open, showing off her long, perfect limb and making my mouth water. Now that I’d finally tasted the forbidden fruit, I wanted nothing more than to live between her thighs, but as I just stated, that was a problem for me to deal with.

“So now that we’ve brought this concern to light, how do we move forward?” Astin inquired, acting like the queen she was.

Atticus raised his hand, drawing all our attention.

“Do you have a question, or are you offering a suggestion?” Liu asked.

“Neither, more of an addition since I believe both matters tie into each other, or at least they do in my mind,” Atticus explained.

A-Dog wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but damn, they were missing out on a cool dude. He’d grown a lot since the last time I met him, but I had the feeling our Luna had everything to do with that. Astin had no idea how she’d changed us all for the better by being in our lives. I think it’s one of the reasons we all love her as deeply as we do. I know for myself it’s a major part of it.

Astin swiveled her chair to face the man. “Care to share what that addition is, Atty?”

“It was mentioned to me by Ryker that I might have taken your invitation to sleep with you anytime too literally. I’m aware that I’m not the only one who wants to sleep with you fairly often, but I respect that everyone deserves time as well. Perhaps we could create a way to know if we are welcome to join you or if it is a private night,” Atticus elaborated.

The room fell silent as we contemplated this dilemma. It was something we needed to figure out but not that simple to fix. Of course, I would just see who joined her for the night and take my chances, but Atticus wouldn’t do well with that approach.

“Would it be inappropriate to create a calendar?” Atticus questioned. “Then we can sign up for specific nights and make notes if we need to be aware of something. I’m certain that Hound could make it secure from others discovering it.”

While it wasn’t the most romantic idea, it would solve the problem. Although the wrinkle on Astin’s nose told me she didn’t love the idea.

“Let’s start simple. Who isn’t willing to sleep in the same bed with others there on a regular basis? I’m talking sleep, good old-fashioned cuddling up and zonking out for the night,” I asked.

No one spoke up as they looked around the room at the others. We’d all crashed in her bed one night, and there’d be no issue. Well, no issue until Jace decided to get a little handsy and roped Liu into the shenanigans. I personally enjoyed every minute of it, but the others left, allowing the threesome to have their privacy.

Which led me to my second question. “Who would prefer not to share their sexy time with another lover in the bed or room?”

Pretty much everyone turned to look at Ryker since we all knew he was a possessive asshole about Astin. As this relationship evolved, he’d been the one to struggle most with it. Yet, I had a feeling things would get better now that Luna had forgiven him.

“What?” Ryker demanded. “Why is everyone giving me the side-eye? What about Atticus? I don’t feel like he’s one to be comfortable with the idea either.”

“Come on, man, you can’t be surprised by our reaction,” Jace reasoned. “Since day one, you’ve been an ass about things. You tried to keep us from flirting with her and even became a major cockblock just to keep her to yourself.”