Page 19 of Fourplay & Fatalities

On my way, Lois. Hope you’re ready for this.

Asa white-knuckled the steering wheel the whole way home, replaying the conference call on a loop. The sounds Zane had made with Felix’s fingers inside him. The sloppy sounds of Felix sucking him off.

Christ.

He checked his phone, but neither of them had responded to his warning in the group chat. Zane knew better than to ignore Asa’s texts. It was rare that he did.

Sometimes, he was so deeply engrossed in whatever case he was investigating that he just didn’t hear the notification. Other times, he’d fallen down a research rabbit hole for one of his novels.

But usually…

Usually, Zane knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to be punished but didn’t want to ask for it. That initial stubbornness Asa had fallen for was very much still in there. But Zane used it strategically.

Anybody who knew his husband’s work would never doubt his intelligence or his ability to make decisions. When Zane wanted something, he’d find a way to get it.

But the longer they were married, the more Zane deferred to the others in the house. Not out of fear or obligation, but safety.

Felix said Zane had been so deprived of touch and comfort as a child that, once he felt completely safe, he sometimes seemed to make up for it. Among their little family, he could stop being so fucking responsible for himself all the time. He could be needy. Let somebody else decide what happened next. Trust that they’d take care of him either way.

Zane was happiest being everybody’s baby, and Asa was happiest when Zane got what he needed.

Asa made it home before Avi. He dropped his bag on the bench just inside the door, taking no more than five steps into the apartment before he saw them.

Felix sat on the dining room table. Zane stood between his knees, facing Asa. Felix had hooked his arms around Zane’s, pinning them behind his back as he trailed kisses along Zane’s neck.

They were both naked.

When they looked up, they both had that hazy look, as if they’d started back up when Asa had texted.

Zane was hard and flushed, the tip wet. He looked at Asa with a raw hunger that had Asa reaching for the buttons on his shirt, then tearing it off and letting it fall to the floor.

He didn’t remember crossing the room, but suddenly, his teeth were sinking into the flesh of Zane’s jaw, then his chin, before he captured his mouth in a punishing kiss. Asa nipped him hard enough to make him yelp, then licked the blood from his wounded lower lip, already swelling slightly.

“I wanna taste,” Felix murmured against Zane’s ear.

Asa got to watch as Zane turned to Felix, offering his mouth.

Felix captured Zane’s lower lip between his own, sucking at the wound until blood smeared across both their mouths. Something about it felt almost ceremonial.

Like communion.

Asa had marked Zane and now, Felix was tasting the evidence. The sound Asa made was damn near feral.

“I think our baby’s been bad,” Felix said, worrying Zane’s ear between his teeth.

“Have you, Lois?” Asa asked. “Have you been misbehaving?”

“It’s your fault for leaving without fucking me this morning,” Zane said, pouting.

Asa grinned. “Careful, Lois. Someone might think you’re trying to be punished.”

The barest hint of a smile graced Zane’s lips. Asa didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes. Zane played his part so well.

Asa bent down to capture one of Zane’s nipples, applying enough force to make him cry out, his body flinching away from the painful stimulus only to run into the resistance that was Felix, who gripped his arms harder.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” Zane hissed.