Page 22 of Solstice

“Where’s this coming from?” He took a step closer, cupping my chin so he could force me to look at him. “What aren’t you getting from me? You want me to tie you to the kitchen table?” I choked back a laugh and tried to whip my head away, but he wouldn’t let me. He gripped my jaw tighter. “You want me to force you to tell the truth over and over again?”

“You did that to her?” I hated that I’d missed it, that he might know things about her I didn’t. Christ, what she must have seen in his head that I never would. Yeah, I was lucky, but so what? To have that kind of connection with someone was unique and powerful, and I’d been chasing a stupid pipe dream while they’d been developing it.

He laughed that dark Lex laugh and leaned in closer. “She’s seen the memory of us in London so many times, I bet she could recite the whole night for you, word for word.”

“Fuck.” I stabbed out my cigarette and stepped away, struggling to remember the last time it had been just him and me. “Are you happy? Is she?”

“No. We miss you every fucking second of every fucking day.” Lex shook his head, narrowing his scrutinizing eyes on me. “You made me a promise.”

“I know,” I said. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Lex stabbed his smoke out in the ashtray and wrapped his hands around my blanket, tugging me closer to him. “She loved you first, Carter. We both did. We love you more.”

“Stop that,” I said. “It’s not true.” Lex furrowed his brows as I sighed and explained. “You and me, we’re two sides of the same coin. Foils in a messed-up tragedy. You and Miri, she’s the air you breathe, and you’re her prince of darkness. But you and Ivy?” I shook my head, exhaling into the cold, quiet night. “You two are the same soul.”

Lex let out another sad chuckle. “I know you’ve been out in LA long enough to fry your brain but spare me the new-agey bullshit.”

“I’m serious.”

He raised an eyebrow, still unconvinced. “If Ivy and I are the same soul, what does that make you and Ivy?”

I shrugged. “She’s my foil, too.”

“And you and Miri?”

“Ahh.” I laughed. “She’s my partner in crime. My star-crossed lover.”

Lex slung an arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer, leaning his forehead to the side of my head so he could whisper, “Just tell me you want me to tie you to the table, Chicago, and I’ll do it.”

I shoved Lex away before reeling him back in for a kiss, memorizing how his lips melted against mine, so soft and warm and distinctlyhim.“I’m jealous you two can read each other’s minds. I’m jealous you’re together all the time and I get you one week every few months.”

“It’s not as great as you think.” Lex kissed me again, lingering, licking my mouth slowly as he tried to make it up to me. “She can do it with anyone. Just ask and I’m sure she’ll be happy to let you into that hellscape she calls an imagination.”

I smiled again, making his teeth scrape against my lips, and when I responded by tucking my hand down the front of his boxers, Lex hissed and yanked me back into the house to make good on his promises of orgasms before coffee.

I had my cock in Lex’s mouth and my fingers in his hair when Miri arrived. She, too, had caught an earlier flight and now stood in the entryway, her hands on her hips, an eyebrow halfway up her forehead.

“Figures I’d find you two like this.” She shut the door behind her and dropped her luggage by our shoes. “Ivy’s upstairs then? Very well. Carry on.” She trudged up the steps to leave me and our husband to our own devices.

Lex throat fucked me until his eyes watered, holding me down when I squirmed under him. I loved his mouth, and when he let me go with a loud suck, I whined and tried to push his head back down.

“No, no, no,” he said, nodding toward the couch. “On your knees, Chicago. You wanted me to prove I love you? I’m going to fuck you so hard, you feel my cock in your heart. You ready for that?”

I swallowed a laugh as I moved, turning over on my knees so my elbows were on the back of the couch. Lex yanked my boxers down and stepped behind me, the sound of the lube being opened making me shiver. Then he did. He gripped me by the hips and surged into me so hard, I winced and nearly sobbed. It hurt in the best way, and I sagged on the couch, arching into him as he hit the spot inside that made me tremble. He dug his nails into my skin, there’d be marks later, but I didn’t care. My cock wept with his ministrations, and when I tried to touch myself, he slapped my hand away.

“That’s mine,” he said. “Mine. And you thought I didn’t want you?” He laughed. “You silly little slut. I’ll always want you.” Lex pumped me, his fist like a vise, and when I came all over myself in an embarrassingly short amount of time, he laughed and took me harder. “There it is. Such a good whore for me, huh?”

“Fuck.” I sobbed, but that only instigated him. His thrusts were punishing, and when I couldn’t hold myself up anymore, I relented to his fury. I loved him like this—so in control, so dominating. It almost made me hard again. When Lex reached his own climax, he stayed inside me and leaned over my back to bring his lips near my ear.

“You better keep your promise, Chicago,” he said. “Or I’ll hunt you down and drag you home by your filthy cock. You understand me? We’re nothing without you. We need you.” He cleared his throat and bit my throat hard enough to leave a mark, almost breaking the skin. “Ineed you.”

Then he pulled out of me, cleaned me up with a towel from the kitchen, and kissed me deeply.

“Let’s go find our wives, huh?”

When I nodded, he pulled me to my feet and we went upstairs to shower, only to find them reacquainting themselves in the huge walk-in with four (that’s right,four)showerheads.

Ivy kneeled in front of Miri, kissing and sucking the most intimate parts of her, and Miri tangled her hands in Ivy’s long ginger hair. The sight of them together always lit my blood on fire, and if I hadn’t just emptied my cock in Lex’s hand, I would have bent one or both of them over to appease my own appetite. Instead, Lex and I shared a devilish glance while Miri cried out in release and smiled down at Ivy.

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