Page 56 of Captive

His chest rumbles with a chuckle. “I’m not sure what rainbows taste like, and even though I’ve never had any gumdrops in my life, I’m pretty sure you don’t taste like them.” The hand he had on my back tracing circles moves to my face, where he sweeps my hair away from my eyes. “Still, you taste pretty damn good, Abby.”

“Good enough for a future round two?”

“Round two, round three, round four… who’s counting?”

I smile at him. Just what I like to hear.

For a while, we lay there as we are, naked and sweaty, on top of the sheets. Eventually his cock slips out of me, but neither of us dare to move. It’s almost like we’re afraid that if we move, whatever spell came over us will end.

I hope it’s not a spell, a temporary thing. I’ll accept it if it is, but I don’t want it to be. I want him, I want Royal, and I want Hawthorne. I want all three of them, together, apart, and every combination therein. It might not be normal, but none of us are normal in this house. Whether we could make this last long-term is anybody’s guess, but if anyone can make it work, it’s us: a wannabe serial killer and the team behind D.D.K.

We got this. We’ll clean up the streets one by one and then get freaky in the sheets when we’re at home. The stuff every woman’s dreams are made of.

Chapter Twenty-Three – Royal

Hawthorne calls me and Ezra into his office one day, about a week after I joined him and Abby when they were getting busy that first time. I did learn some new things about the man. For the guy who loves telling people what to do, he can definitely take some orders when his clothes are off.

And Ezra? Let’s just say I overheard a bit after my workout, right after I told Abby to go to him and tell him about Connor herself. I won’t say I’m a matchmaker and that I made it happen, but… I fucking made it happen. They both should be thanking me.

Hawthorne stands before his desk, leaning his backside against it, while Ezra and I stand a few feet away from him, waiting for him to disclose just why he brought us in here to begin with. The door to his office is closed, which means he doesn’t want Abby overhearing.

I wouldn’t put it past her to eavesdrop, though. She seems like the type who’d do something like that.

“What’s going on, Hawthorne?” I ask. Can’t be anything involving Connor, not yet. If it was, Abby should be here. That leads me to believe this is about something else.

“I wanted to talk to you both about…” He adjusts his glasses, his amber gaze darting between us. “About Abby, actually. I’m well aware that we’ve each—” He stops, apparently unable to say it, even though he’s watched me do it.

“Fucked her?” I offer, and my crude words earn me glares from both guys in the room. “What? That’s what it is, ain’t it? You fucked her, I fucked her, he fucked her—” I point to Ezra. “—we’ve all fucked her. No point in beating around the bush about it now.”

Ezra shakes his head at me, while Hawthorne rubs the back of his neck, acting awkward about it. Again, I don’t really get why he’d be acting awkward about it. Aren’t we past that point now? Shouldn’t fucking her have, I don’t know, made things less awkward?

Once he regains himself, Hawthorne says, “As you’ve put it, yes, we’ve all been with Abby. I have not disclosed it to the Benefactor yet, but eventually I’ll have to. I don’t know how they’ll react once I tell them. It doesn’t explicitly go against the rules they set out for us, the rules we agreed to when we joined up, but I imagine they won’t be too thrilled about it either way.” He pauses for a second. “I don’t know what’ll happen after that, but I don’t plan on telling them until we figure this out first.”

It’s Ezra who asks, “Figure what out? What’s there to figure out? I thought everything was figured out already?”

“I mean with Abby.”

Again, he’s confused. “What about her?”

Hawthorne looks between us. “The situation is not a typical one, but we aren’t your typical people, either. I wanted to pull you both in here so we could talk about it, about her, and make sure we are all on the same page.”

Both Ezra and I are quiet, letting him continue: “We are a family. We may not be related by blood, but we are a family nonetheless. I do not want anyone to get between us, including Abby. I also don’t want to deal with any sort of jealousy in this house. We’ve all… crossed a certain line with her—” Still, the man can’t seem to say it aloud. “—and she doesn’t seem like she wants to choose one of us. She seems content with us all.”

I can’t argue with that. It’s definitely true. Abby’s a little freak, but there’s nothing wrong with that. The others might not accept it yet, but we’ve all got a freaky side, and that side has never had a reason to come out before. Now? It does.

Ezra is the one who says, “As long as we’re honest with each other, as long as we don’t try to hide anything, I don’t see that it’s such a big deal. I mean, sharing her. That’s what you’re talking about, isn’t it? And if you’re worried that she’ll get in between us, I don’t think she’d ever do that.” He speaks about her confidently now, so much more confidently than he would have before they got down and dirty.

Good for him. I’m glad to see him opening up some. Lately, he does seem more relaxed. A good fuck with Abby will do that for you, something I was the first to understand.

“So,” Hawthorne says, “that’s it, then? None of us are going to… pull back from her?” He sounds almost hesitant, like he’s uneasy in saying it, not because it’s Abby in question, but because it’s out of the norm.

Hooking up with someone is one thing. You kind of understand they’re also hooking up with other people. Sharing someone long-term is completely different, but now that I’ve had a taste of her, I don’t see myself abstaining from her particular flavor.

Fuck no.

“If I pull back,” I grunt out, “it’s only so I can push my cock in her again.” Just in case these two don’t get it, I add, “And again, and again, and again.”

Hawthorne holds up his hand, his cheeks gaining a bit of color. “All right. Then… we’re all… good?” Even now, it’s clear he still doesn’t get it, like a part of him is anxious we’ll start fighting over her.