Page 29 of Malice and Surrender
Jace coming back to town forced me to press things with Raine faster than I wanted. I hoped to lay out the entire situation and do dinner with them, but I should’ve known that would never happen. Jace had a style all his own, and he’d never been one to conform. I’d been talking about Raine for the last year, when Jace asked if I was in love with her. Of course, I told him yes, and he hadn’t taken no for an answer about meeting her. Now apparently, he was going to see how far he could push her and there was nothing I could say or do to stop him other than throw him out of the house.
Raine didn’t consider herself brave, but that was because she didn’t see herself the way I did. Breaking the kiss with Raine, I admired her swollen lips and glassy eyes before turning my head to capture Jace’s mouth. He was far more demanding, and his tongue immediately invaded my mouth as his hands roamed over my body. His kisses were always desperate. It felt like he was trying to devour every second we had together, a meal that would have to sustain him until the next time he passed through.
This wasn’t the life I imagined for us. It certainly wasn’t what I would’ve chosen, but it was the situation we were in currently. He was worried, or maybe jealous. I didn’t know exactly, not that he ever had anything to worry about, but Jace talked his agent into letting the band do the show at the bar so that he could meet her. The show being a hit was just an added bonus.
His hand snaked around my waist, and Raine jumped as he slid it between our bodies. I broke the kiss and locked eyes with Raine once more. She was staring at the spot where Jace drew lines up my neck with his tongue as he teased me.
Raine’s eyes held the desire I longed to see, but she was guarded.
“You still interested?” I lifted my brow. This was it, the moment of truth.
“I’m not sure. I thought the next logical step would be dinner or something. This is very lightning paced,” she said. It might seem that way to her, but for me, it had been years of coaxing.
“We’ve eaten dinner at the bar after work almost every night for four years. We drank coffee and talked until all hours of the day and night as we discussed everything from a new routine to our dreams. Recently we streamed new movie releases on the screen in the bar when it was closed.”
She smiled, the blush creeping across her cheeks. “You brought the popcorn,” she said softly. Raine lifted her eyes from my chest. “You’ve been planning this a long time, haven’t you?”
“Almost from the first day we met,” I said, and her face deepened to a rose color. “I just didn’t know how or when to tell you about my feelings or Jace, but I can promise that we won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. If you want to stay in your clothes and just be upstairs with us, then that’s fine. You want to touch us, but we don’t touch you. That’s also fine. You want to have a shower and pass out, then do it. All I’m asking is that you stay. Rip off a layer of the protective coating and take the leap.”
I didn’t want to give her the way out. I wanted to grab her hand, drag her upstairs, and make her scream as we fucked her senseless, and she begged to stay forever. We had a third in our relationship on a few occasions, but this felt different. I didn’t want her to be a few nights of fun. I was desperate for Raine and Jace to get along. Adding her to our mix meant everything to me.
“Unless you’re too scared,” Jace said, lifting his mouth from where he was making a hickey I would have to cover later. I glared at him, but he completely ignored me. “You’re sexy as fuck, Peaches, but you definitely don’t seem like the type that can handle two men. Especially us. I think Avro was right. You’re not ready for us. You may never be.” He lifted his shoulder and let it drop. “No shame if you wanna go home.”
Raine’s eyes flared, and she narrowed her eyes at Jace. “Oh, really?”
I could feel her bristling, and the competitive edge she always had in spades at the bar was firing on all cylinders in her eyes.
Jace broke contact with my body, and I instantly missed his presence. There’d always been something about Jace that called to me, that had me on my knees begging.
He opened the fridge and smiled. “I do love your organization. I miss that on the road.”
Reaching in, he pulled out the two bottles of champagne and the plate of chocolate-dipped fruit. Whenever Jace was in town, we made it a celebration. Those sexy-as-fuck eyes met mine first, then went to Raine. “Well, I don’t see you moving to prove me wrong. Are you all talk?”
“Jace,” I growled at him, but he just smirked.
Jace disappeared out of the room, and I knew that by the time we got upstairs, there was a good chance he would be fully naked.
I looked back at Raine. “I really want you to be part of this. Ignore Jace. Whatever you’re good with is fine. He likes to run his mouth, but he’d never force you into something.”
She bit her lip, and I could see the gears turning as those big blue eyes found mine.
“Alright, but no promises on how far I’ll go, at least tonight. And, Avro….” She paused, and her eyes grew serious. “I need you to know it’s only because it’s you that I’m willing to try this.”
Nothing could’ve wiped off the smile that spread across my face. Her trust in me was intoxicating. Dropping my head, I gave her a quick kiss.
“Thank you, and whatever you want is totally fair. I did kind of press fast forward on us.”
Stepping away, I took her hand and led Raine through the house, past the crowd well on their way to turning my sitting area into an orgy. I didn’t mind Jace’s band mates. Allen held auditions and hired them after Jace was signed, so I never got the chance to know them well. They rarely came over when Jace was in town, and I didn’t ask if that was their choice or by Jace’s design. All I knew was that I was gonna need to sanitize the shit out of my room, but that was tomorrow’s problem.
“Can I ask a question?” Raine said as we walked up the stairs. “What do you call this that you have with Jace? I mean, after the beach and the kiss, I thought you wanted to date me, but I can’t quite figure this out. Am I an add-on to a fun night for you two?”
I stopped walking as I realized just how oblivious she was. Had I really done that good of a job hiding my feelings, or had Raine not picked up on any of my flirting, teasing, and suggestive ideas?
“Raine, I wasn’t joking. I’ve wanted you since practically the first day we met. Jace has been in my life for as long as I can remember, but if you’re willing, I want to bring you into our relationship. It would be our relationship, as in the three of us.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Like on a regular basis?”
“Like permanently. As in, it would be the three of us from now on,” I said. “When Jace is away touring, you’ll have to settle for just me.” I smirked at her. “But when he’s in town, it would be the three of us.”
