Boston Avant-Garde 4: Encore (31 page)

DANTE COULD HAVE joined them, but there was a certain voyeuristic pleasure in seeing his lovers participate in an erotic dance. Stroking his cock in rhythmic tempo with Suri’s music, he watched her rub herself against Jericho’s back.

Jericho clenched his fists to maintain control. Suri swayed before him, picking apart the buttons on his shirt until she could slide it over his shoulders and onto the floor. Dante admired the way the light caught Jericho’s rugged physique. Sinking lower, Suri worked his pants down over his hips.

Stepping out of the slacks, Jericho kicked them aside. Dante sat forward and gripped his shaft in breathless anticipation. Freed from the confines of clothing, Jericho’s cock stretched upward to his navel.

Moving with sinuous grace, Suri skimmed Jericho’s belly with her fingers. His hips thrust reflexively as she neared his groin. Going lower, she bent her head and used the flat of her tongue against the tip of his erection.

Jericho groaned, Dante echoing the sentiment. His cock was throbbing, precum coating the tip and dribbling down the flange onto his fingers. He pumped his shaft harder. It wasn’t enough.

Suri danced away, twirling around to Jericho’s backside. She ran her nails down his back, pressing her body against his and kissing his spine. He threw his head back, muscles rigid beneath her touch. Dipping her head, she laved the patch of sensitive skin at the base of his spine. She continued downward until her tongue ran the length of the crease between his firm cheeks.

She began to undress. She tapped her feet and twirled, letting her top fall and her breasts bounce free. Firelight licked along their perfect shape. Her nipples hardened into tightly puckered buds, and Dante longed to take them between his teeth.

When she came to a halt and unfastened her skirt, Jericho knelt before her. He lifted her leg and set her bare foot on his knee while he removed the chain of bells holding her costume in place. Repeating the process with the other foot, Jericho slid his palm up the inside of her leg to the apex of her thighs. She shivered eagerly, the bells on her wrists chiming.

Dante gripped his shaft until the head turned dark with the trapped blood flow. Reaching down with his other hand, he grabbed hold of his sac and kneaded his balls. His desire was reaching fever pitch, strung so tightly he wasn’t certain he’d be able to climax when the time came.

Jericho lifted her leg higher, placing her foot on his shoulder. With her pussy spread before him, he stroked her sleek folds with his tongue. Suri moaned and put one hand on his head to steady herself. Dante couldn’t look away from the sight of Jericho pleasuring her. He could almost feel the way his lover’s fingers spread her wider, holding her clit open for a fuller taste of her sweet core.

She trembled, her hips moving even as her head fell backward and she cried out. Dante knew she was coming. Knew the moment her release sent her flying into ecstasy.

When Jericho lowered her leg and bent her at the waist, Dante hissed in anticipation. Legs spread, Suri’s fingertips brushed the floor while her ass was in the air. Without further preamble, Jericho plunged his cock into her pussy.

Dante had never seen anything so arousing. Like him, Jericho was too turned on for gentle lovemaking. He took her like an animal staking his claim. Jericho gripped her hips and thrust hard. The sound of sex filled the room, his cock slapping her pussy and his balls swinging heavy between his legs. Each stroke grew deeper, harder, until Jericho roared his release. He strained against her body, filling her with his seed.

SURI WANTED ANOTHER fucking. She needed more. Another climax, another pounding, and another thick cock thrusting in and out of her pussy. Jericho had fucked her hard and fast. He’d helped her fly. But now she wanted Dante.

She stood upright, legs shaky from Jericho’s thorough use of her body. Drunk on her feminine power, she stalked in Dante’s direction. The music still played, its ebb and flow a perfect background for sex.

Dante’s cock was harder than she’d ever seen it. Big ropy veins creased its satin surface. He stood when she approached, and she used the moment to strip his unfastened pants down his legs. He stepped free and pulled his shirt over his head.

Words weren’t necessary. She climbed up onto the chaise, getting on her knees. She spread herself and arched her back until her breasts pressed against the cushions. Looking over her shoulder, she told him with her eyes what she needed.

He put a hand on her ass, roughly spreading her cheeks. His fingers dipped into the creamy mixture of her juices and Jericho’s cum leaking from her pussy. She shivered at the contact, needing what he could give her.

The head of his cock probed her entrance, and seconds later, he sheathed himself balls-deep in her pussy.

Suri gave a high-pitched wail at the sensation. Delightful friction left her quivering with desire. Dante’s shaft pushed inside and slammed home as he fucked her hard. She wriggled backward, telling him she wanted that and more. He complied, giving it to her again and again with his thick cock.

She tilted her hips until his thrusts skated along the sensitive muscles at the back of her channel. Every stroke was heaven. Every stroke was hell. She was insatiable, needy for more. Her cries filled the room, punctuated by his grunts as he increased the pace.

Orgasm coiled in her limbs. It flowed through her blood. Everything else slid away. There was only his cock inside her pussy. The feel of him stroking that one spot that felt so good. Heat and desire culminated into one earth-shattering moment when she closed her eyes and let it all go.

Dante shouted when he came. The sensation of his semen spilling into her channel pushed Suri over the edge of oblivion. Her muscles contracted powerfully, the rocking waves of release leaving her weak in their wake.

Her knuckles cracked when she tried to let go of the chaise. The intensity of the air gusting in and out of her lungs was painful. Had Jericho not swept her up into his arms, she would have fallen.

“We’ve got you, Suri,” he murmured. “We’ve always got you.”

“I’m so glad you came!” Abby threw her arms around Suri’s neck. “I was afraid Jericho might do something stupid and screw it up.”

Suri cast a glance over her shoulder at her two men. “Have a little more faith in your brother, Abby. There’s nothing he could do to make me love him less.”

An older version of Abby came downstairs with a toddler in her arms. “Love? I thought you two just met?”

“This is my niece Olivia and my older sister Layne.” Abby rolled her eyes. “She’s the bossy one.”

Layne pushed a strand of curly dark hair behind her ear. “And you’re the busybody.”

Suri could’ve chosen to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activity going on inside the house. Three men lounged in the front room, watching football. Layne was heading into the kitchen, where Suri could see Jericho’s mother, Maggie, at the stove. Kids congregated like dogs underfoot. She could not possibly imagine Jericho being comfortable in this environment.

“If Abby’s a busybody, she gets it honestly,” Dante commented.

Layne shot him a withering glare. “Oh, look, it’s the Latino Leech. Just because you managed to weasel an invitation doesn’t mean you have permission to speak.”

The venom in Layne’s words shocked Suri. Glancing back at Dante, she could see no sign that the nasty comment had struck a chord, but her heart knew better. Dante wasn’t as devil-may-care as he pretended.

“Come in! Abby, don’t trap them in the entryway. So good to see you again, Ms. Robertson!” Maggie appeared, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.

“Please, call me Suri.” Suri accepted a hug and wondered how to proceed. “I would have brought something, but I’m not really much of a cook.” Not like Maggie anyway. Suri had been cooking for her mother and Kim almost her whole life. But she didn’t suppose Maggie would have been impressed with Cheeseburger Mac or hot dog surprise.

“Don’t be silly. There’s plenty!” Maggie dragged Suri toward the kitchen. “And really, cooking is easy once you have the time to settle down and make family meals.”

Now it was easy to see where this was going. Maggie was about to try to make a housewife out of Suri, a devoted husband out of her son, and an unnecessary appendage out of Dante. That might be her plan, but Suri wasn’t going to let it fly.

DANTE WATCHED JERICHO’S mother sweep Suri into the kitchen, into what he’d always viewed as the Woman’s World of Maggie O’Shea. He didn’t like it. The idea of Maggie turning Suri into a housewife was laughable. Their Suri was hellfire and brimstone, not Martha Stewart.

“Come on in, boys. The game just got started.” Mr. O’Shea, his son-in-law Ryan, and Jericho’s half brother Michael were camped out around the flat screen.

Dante followed Jericho’s lead, taking a seat beside his partner on the sofa across from O’Shea’s easy chair. He’d been coming here with Jericho for years, but they still viewed him like an interloper.

Michael glanced away from the television. “How’s business?”

“Good, actually.” Dante didn’t even entertain the idea that Jericho was going to speak. He clammed up almost instantly in this environment, though he’d never actually explained why. Dante had his suspicions and had always picked up the conversational reins. “The holidays are almost always a lucrative time of year. People tend to feel as if they’d like to let off a little more steam than normal. And we host a good number of parties for our bigger clients.”

It amused Dante to no end to watch Michael try to work it all out in his head. None of them actually understood exactly what Asylum offered. They’d all visited from time to time, remaining firmly on Level One. They knew he hosted illegal gambling but couldn’t understand how he got away with it. They knew Asylum employed strippers, provided a place for people to dance and drink and mingle, but they didn’t understand how it was possible for Dante and Jericho to constantly rub elbows with Boston’s elite. Dante had no desire to explain it.

“Have you thought any more about that offer I made you?” O’Shea looked at Jericho. “I have partners interested in investing in a security firm if you’re willing to run it. A few years down the line, you could own it yourself.”

Dante narrowed his gaze. O’Shea was in pharmaceutical sales. He’d been trying unsuccessfully to pry Jericho away from Asylum for nearly a decade. This latest tactic was new. It bothered Dante intensely that Jericho had never mentioned it.

Ryan gave a low whistle. “That’s a great offer. I know you’ve been Dante’s right-hand man for years, but running your own business is a better long-term gig.”

Had they actually practiced this beforehand? It sounded scripted. A knot twisted inside Dante’s belly. Why hadn’t Jericho told him about this? And why would he never tell his family that he wasn’t Dante’s employee? He’d been an equal partner in Asylum since the doors had opened.

JERICHO HATED THESE family gatherings. He always felt like a bug beneath the microscope. Layne and Michael were only a few years younger than he was. He’d come to live in their home at thirteen, and they’d tortured him. They’d poked at his accent, his clothes, his olive skin and wild hair that contrasted with their ruddy Irish roots. Now they lived to rip him away from Dante—had been trying to do it for over a decade.

He wished he could say what had to be said. But one explanation would lead to another and another until they were all yelling like banshees in his face. So instead, he hid behind his stoic silences and Dante’s gift for conversational diversions.

“Jericho already owns his own business.” Suri’s musical voice came from the edge of the room. “As far as I know, he and Dante have owned the club together from the very beginning.”

She strolled in boldly and inserted herself right between him and Dante on the sofa. It didn’t even seem to bother her that her statement had left the room blanketed in a stunned silence.

“Did you say owned?” O’Shea came to the edge of his chair. “You own that club with Dante? As in partners?”

Suri’s hand wound its way into Jericho’s, giving him a jolt that somehow unlocked his jaw. “Yes. Dante and I have been partners since the first night.”

Michael slapped the arm of his chair. “And you never thought to mention that until now?”

“Oh, I know how that is.” Suri met and held his half brother’s gaze. “My mother and sister are so quick to talk that anything I say just gets lost in translation. I’m sure Jericho has mentioned it.”

“What about you, Dante?” O’Shea shot Dante a cool look of disdain. “Did you ever think to mention it?”

Dante didn’t suffer from Jericho’s lack of forthrightness. He followed Suri’s lead with no problem. “It wasn’t my place to mention it. You welcome me into your home occasionally. I don’t expect to monopolize a casual conversation by discussing business.”

“How is it that you seem to know them both so well?” Ryan glanced at his in-laws. “I thought they just met two days ago.”

From the corner of his eye, Jericho could see Dante struggling to hold back a laugh. His partner
would
enjoy the waves Suri was making. Jericho just hoped the house was left standing when she was through.

“I’ve known them both for over a year.” Suri didn’t expand on that little half truth. Instead, she snuggled under Jericho’s arm and reached out to take Dante’s hand and pull it into her lap.

“Wait, are you seeing them both?” Michael’s voice was loud enough to bring his mother, Layne, and Abby out of the kitchen.

Jericho’s stomach clenched. What was she doing?

His mother gave him a hard stare. “Jericho, what is she talking about?”

Suri gazed at him with love and acceptance. Jericho knew what she was waiting for. She was waiting for him to claim them, for him to openly accept her and Dante just as she’d done and as Dante had done. But it was more complex than even that.

She was telling him she’d stand by him while he explained, or she’d do it herself. She was leaving the choice up to him. And Suri was right. He had been depending so heavily on Dante all these years without ever explaining to his family how much his partner meant to him. Now they had added Suri to their relationship. It was past time to make it right.