Page 37 of Their Domme

Alexei shot her a small grin. “You mean spoiled you?”

“No,” Nic huffed as she rolled her eyes. “Maks? Save me from his teasing.” She turned to me and leaned over, then Alexei loosened his hold enough that she could slide onto my lap. Nic tucked her face into the crook of my neck as Alexei shook his head, a tender look of affection, exasperation, and love on his face as he stared at our woman.

“You’re the only person who would ever ask me to do that,” I deadpanned, wrapping my arms around her waist to hug her loosely. “I knew you’d come back.”

“You did?”

“You came back before.” I shrugged, leaning back until my back hit the mattress so we were sprawled out on the bed with her across my chest. “It took a while, but you did. Of course you’d come back this time.”

Nic hummed, running a hand up and down my chest. I felt Alexei shift and grab my gun, saying he’d put it on the bedside table for me. “Starting tomorrow, you and Oli need to tear apart the apartment and the compound. Maybe a few other places, too.”

“Why?” I asked, tugging her up my body so I could look into her face.

Her blue-green eyes were tired but serious. “Because I never took my stuff when I left a month ago. All my things… Earlier today, Rhodes mentioned that they had been taken. I didn’t go to their apartment before I left, Maks.” I stilled, studying her face before glancing over at Alexei. His anger flared at the implications of what Nicholette had revealed. Someone had been in the others’ apartment. When Sacha and Vas found out, they were going to lose it. “Tomorrow,” Nic coaxed, shifting so she laid on her side with her ass scooted back into me. “Alexei?”

He didn’t bother responding with words. Instead, he climbed onto the bed and laid down beside her so she could snuggle her face into his chest before instantly falling asleep. The three of us were more in the middle of the bed than up near the pillows, but I didn’t care about that. Being with Nic and Alexei made me feel content, at home, like I was understood in a way I hadn’t experienced with anyone else. Not on this level, at least.

We both watched her for a bit, our hands wandering her body, over and under her shirt, as if we were starved for the touch of her soft skin and needed reassurance that she was back with us. Not to mention an unsettling fascination with the idea of children growing inside of her. Whose were they? The idea that they could be mine was… terrifying, so instead of focusing on that, I kept my attention on Nic and Alexei, the person who had claimed my black heart a long time ago. Our hands touched a few times in a graze of fingertips, making me very aware of the man who was only a short distance away from me.

We had officially gotten together in Nic’s absence, her disappearance encouraging Alexei to seek me out. He wanted to lose himself, and I was only too happy to help him with that. There had been progress made between Alexei and me even though we weren’t out. I didn’t really care about what level of public acknowledgement our relationship received, though Alexei might. I didn’t give a damn what everyone thought of what was between us. The only people whose opinion I even cared to hear were in the room with me right now.

“It’s going to take a long time to sweep through all those places,” I said, trying to shift my wandering thoughts to something more productive. I glanced up at Alexei to find that he had been watching me with a serious look on his face. How long had I been lost in thought?

“If you do the compound and apartment, you might need to look at our clubs too,” he eventually added on, and I nodded, agreeing with his assessment. I licked my teeth, wishing I had a cigarette. The prospect of how much ground needed to be covered was more daunting than I liked. That was a lot of fucking space.

“Probably need to ask the others what outside places they frequent,” I thought out loud.

“I’m just glad she’s back. Knowing Nic, she has more schemes and information she isn’t sharing, but right now I don’t care.”

I snorted. “Yeah, this is as forthcoming as our girl gets. Maybe Wrenn will help with searching the clubs.”

He wasn’t thrown by my sudden subject change; he knew I wasn’t good at letting shit go once I dug my teeth into it. Alexei looked thoughtful as he combed his fingers through Nic’s hair. “Smart. She has stepped up a lot in the past month. We should mention Nic is back. Wrenn has been looking for her as well.”

“Yeah,” I huffed. “I can’t wait to see how the others react when they get back together.”

Alexei just shrugged. “Do you really think that’ll happen? Their reunion wasn’t smooth.”

“Our relationship isn’t smooth,” I countered with some amusement. “Besides, they have history. Nothing will ever be straightforward when you have the past tugging at you.”

“You’d think she’d be done… but no. Ansel, Wrenn...”

“Well, she added the two of us and Rhodes after she was with the others.” I smirked, remembering how pissed off they all were when that came out and the way Nic had sauntered in, hell on heels. She was breathtaking, and that memory almost rivaled the sight of her kneeling before me, begging. “I’ll call Wrenn. I need a cigarette anyway.”

“Waiting until the morning to fuck her?” Alexei asked with a touch of amusement in his husky voice.

“I do have a video to send my favorite cousin,” I joked, and his rumbling laugh filled the room until I leaned over, covering his lips with my own.

He kissed me back readily, palming the back of my head and pulling me closer until I had to brace my hands on the bed, careful of the woman between us. I nipped his lower lip, soothing the sting with a quick flick on my tongue before I deepened the kiss. We stayed locked together for a few minutes, and when we broke apart, his green eyes were warm with enough emotion to make me swallow hard.

“Go smoke and come back, Maksim. We’ll be here.”

“She isn’t the only one I’ll be fucking, Alexei, so be ready. Though I guess I’ll wait ‘til tomorrow, so she doesn’t miss out on that. I remember how much she loved it last time you both submitted to me.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, though he curled around Nicholette without complaint, holding her close while I stood up. When she muttered something and snuggled further into his chest, he smiled.

Not bothering to look back, I walked out of the bedroom to find some place to smoke, though I didn’t get far. Ansel was standing there, leaning against the fall wall, with Rhodes beside him. The two of them stopped talking when the door closed behind me.

“What are you two doing out here?”

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