CHAPTER 10
KENT
Our woman is easily the most beautiful woman in the room. My blood boils because Cy got to kiss her first, but it’s not jealousy I’m feeling. Hell no. I’m not jealous of him. I’m harder than I’ve ever been in my life at the thought I might get to kiss her next.
We have plans for our girl tonight, but whether she agrees to them remains to be seen. I have a lot of fucking hope she will.
She’s flushed and her pupils are blown wide. Cy’s kiss affected her. She wants him, she wants all of us, whether she’s willing to admit it is the problem.
I hope she does, but I get it at the same time. The three of us pursuing her isn’t exactly normal. I don’t give a fuck about normal though.
I grew up with normal, all the Norman Rockwell, two kids and white picket fence shit. It didn’t make my parents happy though. I think they’re still together because they hate each other and aren’t willing to admit defeat before the other.
It’s a battle of wills, one I don’t ever want to be part of.
I know it’ll be different with our little mermaid. I know it in my bones and in the way my heart beats for her.
Ariel licks her lips and takes another sip from her drink. It pleases me probably more than it should that her eyes sparkled with happiness when she saw what drink was waiting for her tonight. I made sure to ask her what her favorite drink order is and committed it to memory.
There’s a waver in her voice, “Do I trust the three of you?”
She locks eyes with Gabe who nods slowly. His voice is pitched low. “Yes, Ariel, do you trust us?” I almost want him to dial back his intensity, but I know it’s a completely fruitless endeavor. He is who he is. “It’s a very important question and one I want an honest answer to.”
Ariel’s spine stiffens and my fist clenches, ready to punch Gabe for pushing her, even if we’re beyond fucking ready. When she casts her eyes downward, the move submissive as fuck and sexy as hell, my cock throbs in my slacks. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to hold off from throwing her over my shoulder and stalking the few blocks to Club Sin.
“Yes,” she swallows hard, her voice breathy, “I trust you.”
Gabe grips her chin between his thumb and forefinger to raise her face so she’s looking into his eyes. “Good girl,” he coos and her cheeks pink in response. Fuck. She’s perfect. He glances down at her glass, “Finish your drink. We want to take you somewhere special. You’re going to spend the night with us, and we’ll explain everything.”
Her eyes flit around the table, making contact with Cy and then me. My heart stutters at the curiosity I see in her light blue depths. I smile at her, but I don’t know if it’s reassuring or not. I’m right on edge and am barely holding on.
Ariel grips her glass when Gabe lets go of her chin and she gulps down the last of her drink. “Okay,” she breathes out, the single word, her consent, so softly, but it brushes past me like a hurricane wind gust.
Time seems to speed up as we all stand and lead her out of the bar. We knew having her meet us at Club Sin would be too much. Fuck, taking her there now might be too much as well, but it’s something we’ll have to risk.
I want her to feel comfortable. I want her to know she’s so deep in that there’s no way out for her already. We’ve been waiting for the right time for the last six months and the time is now. There will be no more waiting.
When we get to the doors of Club Sin, Ariel’s eyebrows pull together, “Is this a hotel?”
I grin at her and wink. “Not exactly.”
She narrows her eyes at me, but before she can say anything, Cy is at her side, kissing her temple. Her entire body seems to relax at the contact. “You know us, little mermaid, we’ve spent the last six months getting to know each other. If we had known you were dating, we would have stepped up a lot sooner.”
“I don’t understand.”
The doors open and we usher her inside. We already set it up to have a guest with us tonight and we forwarded on her medical records to be in accordance with the rules of the club. Should we have that information? Hell no, but we do because of Gabriel’s connections and I’m not a little bit ashamed about it.
With a nod to the man at the door, we guide her through the first floor which is set up like a lounge. Ariel takes everything in, her lips slightly parted in surprise. She eyes the people around us, some of the women scantily clad and some dressed like she is—to impress.
It sends a jolt through me that our woman made sure to look nice for us. It makes me want to dress her up just to rip everything off her again. The three of us are focused on her and each of her reactions. There could be someone fucking in the lounge, and we wouldn’t notice. Not that there are. Everything in the lobby of Club Sin screams opulence.
Ariel tries again, “Where are we?”
I chuckle under my breath and when she looks at me, I shake my head and grin at her. “It’s a surprise. Don’t you like surprises, Ari?”
She huffs and tucks some of her hair, still mussed from Cy’s fingers, behind her ear. “Not really,” she admits while scrunching up her nose. “The anticipation is usually too much for me to handle.”
I bark out a laugh as we guide her to an elevator, the cage reminding everyone how old this building is. I’m sure the owners could have replaced it when they renovated this place and opened, but I’m glad they didn’t. If we were in an enclosed space with her, I don’t know if I’d be able to hold myself back.