“You…took care of it.” Ursa exhales a rough laugh. “What in the gods’ names made you think such a reckless act would work out?”
“I had no choice.” Zuri lifts her chin, a sure sign that she’s not going to back down. “I have his word that he won’t move against you or anyone in Carver City.”
“What makes you believe his word?” I blurt.
She cuts a look to me, her eyes going soft. “Because if he doesn’t, I’ll inform Poseidon that he’s about to bring war between the two cities. The Thirteen won’t allow it.”
“They might kill him if you do that.” I drag my hand through my hair. “He has to know you’re bluffing.”
“I’m not bluffing.” She turns back to Ursa. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that, and I know it hurt both of you. I knew you would assume I’d made my choice and left, but I still went through with it because I’d rather you were alive to hate me than the alternative.”
“You have such faith in your father. He’s been trying to kill me for years.” Ursa still hasn’t moved, every bit of her expression locked down.
“It’s only recently that I know what he’s been doing outside the house, but I know what his people are capable of. I am less sure of yours. I couldn’t risk it.” Zuri clenches her hands, her expression resolute. “It may be too soon, but I love you, and I refuse to lose you. So I took care of it. He’s not going to welcome us back into the family home anytime soon, but he won’t move against you. If making that choice is unforgivable, then I understand and I’ll leave. But I’m not sorry I moved to protect you; I’m only sorry that my actions hurt you.”
I can barely believe that she’s here. Safe. Returned to us. Last night hurt, but fuck. I can be angry about her choices and still be grateful that she’s come back. That she didn’t actually choose to leave in a permanent way.
But I’m not the only one in this relationship.
I look at Ursa, waiting for her response. Finally she exhales shakily. “Am I to take this to mean you’ve made your choice, little Zurielle?”
“Yes.” Zuri takes a step forward and then another. “I choose you, Ursa. And I choose you, Alaric.” She gives me a quick smile. “I choose this life and the future we build together.”
I take the last step to close the distance between the three of us and press my hand against Ursa’s back. It’s like that touch unfreezes her. Ursa pulls her into her arms and buries her face in Zuri’s hair. “I was so worried about you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ursa grabs me with her other hand and pulls me into the embrace. “Don’t you ever do that again, Zuri. Do you hear me? Ever again. If there’s a problem, you come to us and we figure it out together.” She meets my gaze. “That goes for you, too, Alaric.”
“Understood,” I say faintly. I hug them both tightly, something inside me finally realizing that Zuri is here, that we’re all safe. That we are actually going to have the thing I want more than anything—the three of us together.
I kiss Ursa. Or maybe she kisses me. I’m not sure how it starts, but one moment we’re hugging and the next the three of us are stumbling down the hallway, shedding clothing in our wake. We end up in Ursa’s room on her bed, Ursa on my cock and Zuri between our thighs, her mouth on Ursa’s clit. It’s hard and fast and messy, Ursa riding me to orgasm as I fight to hold my own at bay. It’s no use. It’s never any use, not when I have the two women I love in bed with me.
Ursa tumbles Zuri back onto the bed and then she’s fingering her, kissing her like she’ll never get another chance to again. I go down on Ursa, needing this connection, needing everything.
I never really believed in happily ever after. Not for people like me.
I believe in it now.
I’m living it.
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The Wicked Villains series reaches its smoking hot conclusion in QUEEN TAKES ROSE! Aurora and Malone have been circling each other for nearly a decade and it’s finally time for them to get each other out of their system… Or that’s what Malone thinks. Aurora? She’s got darker plans for this queen.
Looking for your next sexy read? You can pick up my MMF ménage THEIRS FOR THE NIGHT, my FREE novella that features an exiled prince, his bodyguard, and the bartender they can’t quite manage to leave alone.
Keep reading for a sneak peek of QUEEN TAKES ROSE!
It takes me three minutes to get to Hades’s office. I pause outside his door and take several deep breaths that do absolutely nothing to calm me. It’s enough to get my public face in place, though, and I’m smiling as I walk through the door.
A quick glance around the office shows that it’s the exact same as it’s always been. Hades has a private office, but this is the room where he prefers to handle any club business that arises. The room is done in shades of gray, and careful lighting that always leave the man behind the desk bathed in shadow. It’s very dramatic, but I’d never be fool enough to say as much to Hades.
He’s the only one in the room.
I almost drop the smile, but I still don’t know what this is about. It could be something as simple as planning a surprise scene for Meg, but if that’s the case, there’s no reason for Malone to be involved. Those two don’t play together. Malone is Dominant, and while Meg is a switch, she only submits to Hades.
I clear my throat. “You called for me?”
“Sit.”
As I make the short trip across the office to sink into a chair across the desk from him, it strikes me that this might have nothing at all to do with Malone…and everything to do with the pending deadline of my bargain coming up. I clasp my hands in my lap and try to keep my voice even. “Are you going to kick me out the same way you kicked out Tink?”
Even in the shadows, I can see his surprise. “You and Tink are hardly the same, Aurora.”
A sentiment I’ve heard more times than I can count, especially since I took over her position. If Tink wasn’t one of my closest friends, it might make me hate her. As it is, she gave me large shoes to fill when she left. I try to still my sudden shaking. “With respect, that’s not an answer.”
He gives a nearly soundless sigh and leans forward to prop his elbows on his desk. It brings his features into the light. Hades is an attractive older white guy with salt and pepper hair and black square glasses that frame his dark eyes. He’s handsome in a scary kind of way, but he’s never been anything but kind to me.
Not that he’d label it as such. The man has a reputation to uphold, after all, and if I ever pointed out that he got the raw end of our bargain, he’d deny it. Hades doesn’t do charity, but in my case, there’s no other way to describe it. What other man would give an astronomical amount to a seventeen-year-old girl and then refuse to let her even inside the club until she’s twenty-one? Even then, he resisted letting me work as a submissive until I practically begged him.