“No, we don’t,” Jace said evenly.
“What does that even mean?”
They looked at each other before Killian turned back to me.
“Just come out.”
“Tell me first what that mea—”
“It means we share,” he growled. “We don’t want you to pick because you can’t. We come together.”
My jaw dropped.
“Wait, what?”
Had I just even heard him right?
“Hang on, you want me to come out with all three of you, because all three of you…” I trailed off, swelling.
“Share.”
“Yes,” Dean nodded. “We’ll go someplace discreet if it helps.”
I shook my head. “This is nuts.”
“So run away.” Dean shrugged, but his eyes never left mine.
“If this is beyond you, that’s fine. Walk away.”
I thought about it. For a full ten seconds, standing there with them, I thought about it. But then I thought about those kisses.
I thought of that passion, and that heat from the night before. I thought of how I’d fallen right into them and how being around them felt like nothing I’d ever known before.
My feet stayed planted, and I didn’t run away.
“Where did you have in mind?”
They smiled.
“Look, I’m not saying anything, but, I’ll go out and see what you mean.”
Dean grinned. “There’s a restaurant we could just book out. Or we could go to a—”
“What about the club?” My mouth snapped snout. I had no idea why I said it.
Killian’s brow perked up, an amused look on his face.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You want to come to the club?”
I quickly shook my head.
“What? No, I…” I bit my lip and looked up. “Maybe?”
“You’re curious.”
I blushed as they moved closer, my heart flip-flopping at the nearness of them.
“If I’m going to go on a date with three men, I’d like to…you know.”
“Research,” Jace chuckled.
I blushed. “I’m just curious is all.”
“Then we can show you,” he purred in my ear as he pulled me close.
I gasped as they moved around me, six hands finding my waist and trailing over me. And I didn’t even care in that moment that someone could have walked back and found us. I didn’t care about anything actually except for the sparks teasing through me from where their hands touched me.
I tilted my head back and met Dean’s eyes.
And then it was happening all over again.
He kissed me softly, tenderly, tasting my mouth as his hands pulled me close. And then I was being turned, moving to Killian and kissing him a little hungrier. Jace kissed me third, growling into my mouth before they pulled back.
“We—” Killian’s brow darkened. “We do need to ask you something, though.”
“The bracelet,” Dean said slowly.
“Oh, that, yeah,” I shrugged, making a face. “I mean, those guys were creeps, and I felt weird keeping the gift.”
“We need to know who gave it to you,” Jace said, his voice edged.
I frowned. “Oh, shoot. Did they not get it back?”
“No, not that’s not it.”
They glanced at each other again.
“Who gave it to you?”
I shrugged. “The two men who I came with and a friend of theirs who was already at the club.”
“Names?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Carl, Shawn, and Thomas, but they said they were fake names.”
The three of them bristled.
“What?”
“What happened before the bracelet?”
“Nothing? They were scumbags who lied about where we were going, and once we were there, they got super creepy. I said I had to use the bathroom so I left.”
“And they gave you that.”
“Yeah.” I frowned. “Is there something I’m not getting here?”
They looked at each other, and Jace muttered under his breath.
“Is there a problem with the bracelet?”
“No, it’s just…”
“It’s a club rule,” Killian growled. “The bracelet marks you as ‘taken,’ so no one else approaches you.”
I blanched.
“Um, well I’m not taken by those three creeps.”
“They gave you a bracelet.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what it meant. I think that’s called entrapment.”
Dean and Killian grinned, nodding. Finally, Jace nodded too.
“Alright, we’ll go. Not tonight, but there’s another club gathering happening in a few days, if that works for you.”
I felt my pulse quicken at the thought.
Dean looked at me with narrowed eyes. “You sure you’re ready?”
I nodded quickly before I lost my nerve. “Yes.”
“Look, Anya, we can promise you two things about it when we go,” he said quietly. “First, you’ll be safe. No one will touch you while we’re next to you.”
I nodded, my breath coming quicker.
“Two, nothing happens that you don’t want, alright?”
I nodded, but inside I had one thought:
But what if I do want it?
“After that though?” Dean grinned. “After that, we can’t promise anything. The whole point of the place is to sort of give up control and see what happens. You ready for that?”
“Absolutely,” I breathed.
“Hope so,” Killian said, his eyes locked on me. “Cause there’s no telling what you might see when you’re there.” His eyes flashed at me. “Or what you’ll feel.”
Chapter 8
Anya
A few nights later, I was getting ready to go. So was Adele, actually, but for a much different night out than me. That night, Adele was off to a “suitor’s ball” at her uncle’s — King Lucian’s palace in Avlion.
I’d wanted to tell her about the club, and everything that was happening, but I hadn’t been able to. It still felt too surreal, and too personal to tell anyone yet — even my best friend. I’d come close to spilling the beans a few days before, when we’d snuck out to our favorite swimming hole in the woods that we sometimes went to. But I’d chickened out at the last second.
Interestingly enough, for the last few days, Adele had been acting weird too, and I had a hunch it was guy thing, even if she wouldn’t tell me.
Hey, we’d tell each other when we were ready. I knew that.
I was just putting some of the finishing touches on my makeup and dress when I heard “our” knock — the two short and one long knock — on my door, which said it was Adele.
“Hey, come on in!”
The door swung open, and my friend waltzed in in full princess mode.
“Holy shit, you look fantastic.”
She did, too. She was wearing a silvery gold dress that shimmered and sparkled like diamonds around her, and her long black hair was up in this elaborate and intricate series of braids and curls.
I whistled and she rolled her eyes.
“Look who’s talking!” She eyed my dress, making an exaggerated “wow” face.
“You look fantastic! Where the heck are you off to tonight?”
“Oh,” I rolled my eyes, waving her off as I turned back to my mirror.
“Just this thing.”
“Yeah, you’re going to need to be more specific than that when you’re dressed like that.”
I blushed, knowing that it was usually me making her blush, since she was the sheltered one here. But then, me being with three men and a sex club made me feel like the sheltered one these days.