Andre sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just—I don’t know. I want us all to feel secure. I do. But wanting it and having it actually be so are two different things. So don’t think that the same thought hasn’t crossed Evan’s mind. If she comes home and finds the two of us in bed together, you don’t think she wonders if we’d be okay without her in the picture?”
“No, I hope she’s thinking, Hey, I’m here in time to join in.”
Andre smiled at that. “Well, knowing her, she thinks that, too. But we can’t pretend that not having that piece of paper or the law saying we’re married doesn’t play some role. None of us are traditional, but we live in a society that is, and we have all grown up knowing that saying I do is the seal on that deal. And our girl has to see those I dos every weekend. I saw one tonight, and even I, who hasn’t thought about weddings since my engagement, had a little kick of jealousy that I can’t go back home to the church I grew up in and stand in front of God and my family and commit myself to the people I love. There’s something sacred in doing that, the finality of it. And we don’t get that privilege.”
Jace laced his hands behind his neck and blew out a breath, the weight of all that Andre had said making him feel heavier than he had a few minutes before. He hadn’t thought about things like legal papers and church weddings making any kind of difference. Those things weren’t part of his orbit. He’d been in the kink world so long that, frankly, he couldn’t give a shit what the legal system said about his relationship status. And he’d seen firsthand how “sacred” those marriage vows were when his dad had cheated on his mother. And when his ex-wife had cheated on him. Marriage seemed like a sucker’s bet.
But he hadn’t looked at it from Andre’s and Evan’s points of view. Andre had grown up in a strict Catholic household with parents who’d been married since they were young. And Evan had been in foster care, where papers and the legality of relationships meant everything. So Jace could see how their commitment could feel less secure in their eyes.
And, of course, he couldn’t magically make the laws of the land or of the church change. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something to make it better. They’d had their collaring ceremony privately. None of them had wanted an audience that day. But afterward, they’d never celebrated their commitment in a public way. And they didn’t refer to each other as husband and wife. But saying boyfriend and girlfriend did seem empty now that he thought about it. Temporary.
The last thing he wanted was for either of his lovers to feel like their time together was limited. Jace had waited too damn long to find this kind of happiness, and he wasn’t about to let the two people he cared most about in the world feel like anything less than the very center of his universe. It was his fault for not recognizing the insecurity sooner. He needed to fix this.
An idea began to form in his head and he stepped forward into Andre’s space. Andre didn’t protest when Jace moved between Andre’s knees. “I hate to break it to you, Dre, but you’re not getting out of this. You try to bail on us, and I will hunt you down like some psycho stalker.”
Andre smirked. “I’m the cop, remember. I do the hunting. I’m not the hunted.”
“Sorry, Detective, you don’t get to pull rank around here. And Evan would be after you, too. I bet she was ready to take Martine down tonight.”
Andre laughed, his warm breath coasting along Jace’s neck. “She totally was.”
“Good, so don’t go out getting ideas about where you think you do and don’t belong.” Jace wrapped his hand around Andre’s neck and squeezed. “Because you belong to us, you understand?”
Jace’s tight grip on his neck must’ve triggered something in Andre, because that heated look flashed through Andre’s eyes. “Yes, sir.”
Sir. Fuck, that never got old. Jace loved sharing the dominant role with Andre. But he’d be lying if he said that when the tough-assed cop let his submissive side shimmer to the surface, it didn’t make everything inside Jace go hot.
He tugged Andre closer, pressing his chest flush against him, and their mouths collided. Andre braced his hands on the edge of the counter and gave himself over to the kiss—like he needed it more than anything in this moment. Their tongues twined, the taste of Andre’s cinnamon cereal lacing the kiss. Jace’s hold on Andre’s neck moved upward, his fingers sliding into and gripping his dark hair. The tension in both of them melted as the kiss deepened, and Andre’s cock grew hard against Jace’s stomach. Jace’s body responded in kind, and he groaned when Andre reached down between them and wrapped his hand around Jace’s stiffening erection, the pajama pants offering little to dull the electric touch.
Andre broke away from the kiss, both of them breathless, and met Jace’s gaze. “So I’m ready to pay you back for that rule I broke.”
Jace’s hormones were whirring too fast to catch his meaning. “What rule?”
Andre slid off the counter, nudging Jace back then nodding at Jace’s tented pants. “I woke you up.”
Jace’s blood went molten. He’d been teasing about the rule, but he could tell Andre was doing anything but teasing right now. The guy was stressed out. They were both stressed out. And Jace had learned that sometimes the best medicine was to slip into the roles they felt so at home in.
“Yeah, you did,” Jace said, his voice low. He reached for the tie on his pants and loosened it. “And now you’ve gotten me fucking hard. Better fix it.”
Andre’s mouth lifted at the corner, a cocky smile, but one that said he was going to do what Jace asked. He moved closer and put his hands to Jace’s chest, guiding him back against the island, then he reached for the waistband of Jace’s pants. With one smooth motion, Andre lowered Jace’s pants and got onto his knees in front of him.
Fire burned low in Jace’s belly, the sight of one of his lovers kneeling for him never getting any less exciting. Andre tugged off his dress shirt, giving Jace a view of those broad, tanned shoulders and the glinting silver of Andre’s nipple rings. Jace couldn’t resist reaching down and giving the rings a tug. Andre was the one to groan this time, and the outline of his erection jerked in response.
Jace gripped the base of his cock and positioned himself in front of Andre’s mouth. “Take me, Dre. Get me done quick and good and maybe I won’t sent you to bed with that hard-on.”
As Jace expected, Andre took that as a challenge and dipped forward to take Jace in one long slide of his mouth, swallowing him whole—the hot, wet cavern of his mouth sending sensation all the way to Jace’s toes. Jace’s head tipped back, and he made a sound low in his throat. Jesus. Andre never did anything halfway. Jace should’ve known to sit in a chair or something, because his knees were already shaky beneath him.
Andre eased back and ran his tongue around the head of Jace’s cock, taking extra time to press the tip of his tongue into his slit, something Andre and Evan knew made Jace want to explode. Oh, yeah, the guy played dirty. Jace loved that—loved that even though Andre enjoyed submitting, the guy never failed to project anything but absolute confidence in his ability to make his lover lose it. It was sexy as fuck.
Jace sagged back onto his elbows, Andre’s dark head bobbing between his thighs, and sank into the blissful moment. But Andre wasn’t going to let him coast for long. His big hand moved along Jace’s sac, cupping and squeezing, making Jace rock onto his toes from the sensations. Then Andre’s fingers traveled farther back, teasing along the sensitive skin behind Jace’s balls and venturing even farther as he took Jace deeper down his throat. When Andre’s finger circled Jace’s back entrance, Jace almost slid right down to the floor.
“Christ, Dre,” he ground out, the erotic feeling of both his mouth and finger curling up Jace’s spine. The move was a new one for Jace. He didn’t have