“This is what you need, isn’t it?” I grip his hip and sink another few inches. “A reminder of whose rings are on your finger right now.” Damn it, maybe I needed this, too. A year ago, when I asked Beast what would happen if his ex really was alive, I didn’t honestly believe it could be possible. Beast was so sure Cohen had died. He’d mourned him.
Now we find out the bastard has been alive this whole time.
I finally sheath myself completely and lean over his back to brace one hand on the other side of his. I kiss the back of his neck, his skin salty with his sweat, and set my teeth against him. “He can’t have you. Do you fucking hear me, Beast? You’re ours and he made his choices when he didn’t come to Carver City.” I start moving slowly, and then picking up pace when he moans. Each word punctuated by a thrust. “You. Are. Ours.”
“I know!” He bursts out. “Fuck, you think I don’t know that?”
I grab the lube and pause long enough to coat my palm. I reach around his hip and wrap my fist around his cock. “How would I know? You haven’t said a single fucking word.” I meant to hold off on this conversation until we were finished fucking, but we really do communicate better when we’re fucking. Twelve months hasn’t changed that.
“This cock.” I squeeze him roughly, earning another moan. “This ass.” A rough thrust. “Mine. Isabelle’s. Fucking say it.”
Beast shoves back against me. “I’m yours. Now fuck me properly.”
I pump slowly, timing the strokes of my hand to coincide. Teasing him. I didn’t realized how pissed I am about his withdrawal until this moment. “Do you know what it’s been like watching you retreat? Isabelle is about to lose her fucking mind, and I can’t comfort her because I’m not sure of you right now. I haven’t been since Lammas night.” Since Beast got a call from an old contact in Sabine Valley informing him that all seven of the Paine brothers are alive and well, including his ex.
Beast exhales slowly, like he’s fighting for control right along with me. “I love you and Isabelle, Gaeton. I chose you back in your apartment during that week, and I chose you again at the altar six months ago. Cohen being alive doesn’t change that.” He curses when I give his cock a few rough strokes. “I haven’t said anything, because I didn’t know how I felt. I mourned that fucker, and now I find out he’s been alive this entire time and never reached out? I’m pissed and I’m fucking hurt, but none of that means I want anything different than what I have.”
Relief makes me dizzy. In my heart of hearts, I knew he wasn't going to leave us, but the longer we went without talking about it, the more fear took root. I grab one of his hands and guide it to his cock. “Make yourself come while I fuck your ass.”
He doesn’t hesitate, stroking himself even more roughly than I had been. I lean back and grip his hips. He asked for a rough fucking, and apparently that’s exactly what we both need. I drive into him, cursing as how good this feels now that I can focus entirely on the pleasure without the fear lingering in the back of my mind.
Beast growls my name as he orgasms, and I let myself follow him over the edge, barely pulling out in time to come across his back. It feels like marking him as mine all over again, and the sight soothes something dark deep inside me. “Don’t move.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
I yank up my pants and climb out of the ring again to grab two towels. After I get our mess cleaned up, I pass him his shorts and wait while he pulls them back on. Only when we’re both clothed do I speak again, “The whole point of being in a relationship is that you can talk through shit. I get that it’s not any more natural for you than it is for either me or Isabelle, but we need that. You closed us out and it wasn’t okay.”
He scrubs a hand over his face. “Yeah, I know. I just needed time. I still need time.”
“Then tell us that.”
“You’ve gotten damn good at this communication shit.”
“It’s a work in progress.” I grab his hand and pull him to his feet. “Think you can manage some sleep after we shower?”
He gives me a tired smile. “Yeah. I actually feel better now.”
“Weird how that works.”
“Oh, fuck off.” He laughs hoarsely, but the sound fades almost as soon as it begins. “Look, I’m sorry I freaked you out. I’m all twisted up, and it didn’t even register that you wouldn’t realize I have no intention of walking away. Cohen made his choice, just like I’ve made mine.” He frowns at the floor of the ring. “I have some fucking questions about what the hell he was thinking, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. I have you and Isabelle, and I’m better off.”
I really, really want to agree with him that it doesn’t matter, but I suspect it’s not the truth. I take a deep breath and strive to drown out the fear. “It might help if you talked to him. To get answers, I mean.”
Beast looks at me for a long time. “That took a lot for you to offer.”
No point in denying it. “Yeah.”
He moves, quicker than he has right to, and hooks the back of my neck. He tows me down and kisses me hard. I barely have a chance to sink into it before he pulls back a little. “Maybe I’ll decide at some point that I want to talk to him, but I’m not there.” He massages the back of my neck a little. “If I decide that’s something I need, I’ll talk about it with you and Isabelle before I do anything.”
I exhale slowly, trying not to let my relief show. “That’s all we ask.”
He kisses me one last time and then releases me. “I love you, Gaeton. Never fucking doubt that.”
“I don’t.” It’s the truth. I don’t have a single doubt about how Beast feels for me. Not anymore. It doesn’t mean life isn’t complicated, though.
He ducks out of the ring and holds the ropes for me to follow him. He doesn’t speak again until we reach the door and step out into the hallway. “How tired are you?”
Only one answer to that. “What do you have in mind?”
His grin is downright wicked. “Figure I have some making up to do with Isabelle. Want to help?”
I answer with a grin of my own. “As if you have to ask. The answer is always, will always be fuck yes.”
This short originally appeared as the June 2020 short for my Patreon. Each month, patrons nominate their favorite couples and characters, vote on one, and I write a brand new short featuring the winner. For more bonus stories, please consider joining my Patreon.
* * *
Cohen’s story will continue in the Sabine Valley Series, starting with Abel.
12
Seven Minutes in Heaven
Gaeton
“She tell you what’s up?”
I glance at Beast. He doesn’t look overly concerned, but why would he be? Isabelle just told us to meet her at my apartment at seven for a surprise. She’s done this a few times over the last few months, and the end result is always a good thing for everyone. It makes me glad I kept this place; a spot for us to fuck around that isn’t in Isabelle’s family’s home. “Nope.”