Three Rings and a Rose (19 page)

Unable to take any more of the heartbreak on Ella’s face or the stress on Caedon’s, Micah slid his eyes closed then took a cleansing breath. When that didn’t work, he lifted his lids with a long sigh. “We can’t think like this,” he told them. “Yes, we all have careers, but they don’t define us. We are who we are. Fuck everyone else. As long as we love ourselves and each other, we will be happy.” Micah’s unintentional declaration of love for
both
Ella and Caedon rolled off his tongue with ease—too much ease. This wasn’t the time to say, “Hey, Caedon. I know you’re straight, and you don’t feel the same way, but I love you, and I want to fuck you.”
Yeah that
would just make this fucked up moment perfect.

Ella and Caedon both turned their shocked expressions on Micah, but neither said a word or asked a question about his declaration.

Thank God.
He wasn’t ready to have that discussion. He’d barely been ready for this one.

Studying Micah closely, Ella changed the subject. “Can
you
be happy just sharing me with Caedon?”

Before she’d even finished, Micah realized exactly what Ella was getting at. She was asking if he could handle being in a ménage with Caedon without
being
with him. The answer to her question eased out of his mouth without him having to think. It was just there—his honesty laid out on the table. “Yes,” he said with a fierce determination behind the simple words. “I can.” Ella sighed, her relief tangible, before turning her attention to Caedon and asking the same question. Just as he had, Caedon said,

“Yes.” But surprisingly, he peered at Micah meaningfully then tacked on, “I can be happy sharing you with Micah.”
138

Mia Ashlinn

Micah’s heart accelerated, making him feel light-headed. He sucked in long, dragging breaths to help calm himself before he continued on. “Now Ella, I will ask you one more time. Will you give us the chance to prove to you that we can be a family?” Surprisingly, Ella nodded. Her face was still buried in Caedon’s shoulder so he couldn’t see the expression on her face, but he heard her mumbles. “I’m not sure this will work, and I think this may end badly. But I have to try. If the two of you are willing to work at his, I am, too. Obviously, we all have a lot of issues that need to be worked through. I want to deal with them together. I just have two teeny, tiny stipulations.”

Micah didn’t like the sound of that. He had a feeling that he knew what at least one of her conditions would be, and he wasn’t keen on it.

However, he would do whatever it took to win her over—including keeping his dick to himself.

Caedon groaned. “Are you really going to ask us to keep our pants zipped?”

Again, she nodded. “Yes, I am. I want you to prove that we can have a relationship that succeeds without sex, and I want you to do it while we’re living together. You can kiss me, hug me, hold my hand, and touch me. But that’s it. No more.”

Yep, I don’t like the first stipulation. Not one bit.
Micah didn’t share his thoughts. He knew better. If he complained about the restriction, she would have a damn good excuse to run for the hills. So rather than being the asshole who wants to fuck more than cement a relationship, Micah said, “I can handle that.”

“Me too,” Caedon said quickly. “I would love to live with you two again.”

Micah sauntered over to where Caedon and Ella stood in a tight embrace. He went up behind Ella and wrapped his arms around her.

He didn’t care that doing that little action brought Caedon into his arms. He wanted to hold them—both of them—even if that meant he showed his true feelings for Caedon.

Three Rings and a Rose

139

Squeezing his eyes shut, Micah admitted to himself that Shane had been right. He wouldn’t be able to hold back from Caedon long.

He just hoped he got Ella in their arms before he did because if Micah ever had both of them, there would be no going back. There would be three rings on their fingers. And that would be both the beautiful beginning and the bittersweet end.

140

Mia Ashlinn

The following day, Ella stared across her shop at the two roses she’d placed in a tall, thin glass vase as soon as she’d arrived at work this morning. She admired the slender, elegant stems as well as the blooms’ splendid shape and the perfect petals. But the magnificent colors especially captured her attention, and she smiled.
A single red
rose from my Caedon, and a single yellow rose from my Micah.

When she’d awakened at the crack of dawn, both roses lay nestled side-by-side on her pillow. She hadn’t been able to miss them, not that she would have. She’d smelled the red rose’s dark, rich musk coupling with the yellow one’s soft, subtle sweetness before she’d even yawned and raised her heavy lids.

Rolling out of bed, she’d stumbled into the kitchen and found what she’d expected—Caedon and Micah cooking her breakfast. In the past, they’d loved to surprise her with breakfast in bed, but not this time. She wanted to be with them while they cooked and talked and laughed. They’d done that, too, when they lived together before.

Half the time, she’d lie alone in her bed, listening to them and wishing she could join them. Only she hadn’t—not then. They’d needed their time together. Not to mention, they always ended up disappointed when their surprises fell through. So she’d merely remained in bed and pretended to sleep.

Once she’d joined them in the kitchen this morning, they’d had the best time. Or at least, she had. Her men had seemed to as well, but she couldn’t say for sure since she hadn’t asked. However, for her, the morning had been perfect.
Except I was late for work. It’s a damn
good thing I’m the boss.

Three Rings and a Rose

141

Ella hadn’t regretted being late. In fact, it had been a nice departure from the monotony of her usual routine. Spending an hour and a half in the company of two gorgeous men who adored her was hardly a hardship. They’d talked about whatever crossed their mind, which had been more naughty than not. They’d told jokes that were horrible and laughed anyway. And she just had to top off the morning with an itty, bitty food fight—one that had left her men without their shirts on and her running around in her underwear.
Damn men would
get revenge for jam on their shirts with syrup on my shorts.

It had tortured her to walk away from Caedon and Micah to hop in the shower and get cleaned up for work. The whole time she’d been under the cold water spraying her overheated body, all she could think about was them—how much she wanted them, needed them, and loved them. Every emotion, every feeling had coalesced inside of her, and she’d spent ten minutes fantasizing about them as she’d finger-fucked herself.

Even now, she couldn’t think about anything other than taking them to her bed and showing them how she felt. After years of erotic dreams of Micah and Caedon—sometimes together, sometimes apart—she was only hanging on by a thread.
It’s going to be the
longest fucking two weeks ever.

Dragging her gaze away from the roses, she counted to twenty then attempted to return to work and failed.
If only I didn’t have to
restock the toys this morning.
Holding a purple dildo in one hand and a vibrating butt plug in another while thinking about the two men she loved wasn’t a smart move.
But I have to work. It’s my store.

A tiny, red devil appeared on her right shoulder and a dainty angel in a white gown on her left. Both of the imaginary beings urged her to follow the path they suggested. The devil thought it would be best to take care of her body’s needs in the backroom while the angel wanted her to work hard so that she could go home to her men tonight for a kiss and a hug.

142

Mia Ashlinn

Ella snorted.
Yeah, right. A kiss and a hug isn’t going to fix the
ache between my fucking legs. Now why did I evoke a no-sex rule?

Because I’m a glutton for punishment. No. I think I was trying to
avoid complicating things. Umm, if I don’t get laid, it’s going to get
complicated anyway.

With a sigh, Ella uncrossed her legs then heaved herself off the floor. Bending down, she snatched up the box with the purple dildo she’d just been holding and lifted back up before spinning around.

Impatient to assuage her hunger, she didn’t waste time with locking the front door. She’d hear the bell in the backroom if someone came in.

Ella marched to the deserted backroom on unusually wobbly legs, tearing at the plastic box containing her new friend every step of the way, then opened the door and slammed it behind her. She rushed into the adjacent bathroom then removed the man-made phallus and threw the box over her shoulder. She heard the plastic hit the tile floor, but she was too far gone to give a flying fig.

Quickly cleansing the sex toy, Ella cursed the time she wasted washing, rinsing, and drying the dildo. When she finished, she whirled around and stormed back out of the bathroom then hurried to the couch before sinking down into the thick seat cushions.

Settling herself, Ella reclined back and closed her eyes. Without any preliminaries, she dipped straight into her fantasies of watching Micah fuck Caedon as she drove the hand holding the dildo under her skirt, thrust her thong aside, and plunged the entire shaft into her juicy cunt with a guttural groan.

* * * *

Ella’s eyes drifted open, and she smiled. She was no longer alone in the backroom of her store. She was in the kitchen at her apartment with Caedon and Micah. Immediately, she recognized the disastrous mess they’d made that morning. Cracked eggs lay in the carton on the
Three Rings and a Rose

143

counter while flour dust covered more than one flat surface. The floor had something sticky-looking on it, and the sink appeared to be on the edge of exploding from the amount of dishes they’d crammed into it.

To top the whole scene off, the aroma of burnt toast lingered in the air.

Ella’s smile transformed into a full-on grin as she realized where her fantasies had taken her. She’d been transported back in time, back to this morning so she could rewrite erotic history. Scanning the kitchen, Ella sought the two men she knew had to be nearby. Yet she couldn’t find them. Ready to go on a search and rescue, Ella moved her legs. Or at least, she tried to.

Glancing down, Ella saw two things that had her temperature going through the roof—and only partially in pleasure. The first thing was that each of her legs had been tied to one of the front legs of the kitchen table chair. Using a thick, heavy white rope, they’d restrained her and left her pussy vulnerably exposed to anyone who happened to walk by.

“You bastards,” she spat to the empty kitchen. Wiggling madly, she attempted to get loose. But that wasn’t happening. She wasn’t going anywhere. They’d made sure of it. “Where are you?” Two deep chuckles sounded behind her, one to her left and one to her right. The smooth noises caressed her skin and seeped into her pores. Instinctively, her body prepared itself for them, every inch going on full alert.

Her nipples puckered hungrily, and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from begging the men to gift her nubs with a touch, a kiss, or even a suck. At this point, she didn’t particularly care whether they used their hands or mouths, and she certainly didn’t give a damn whether they were gentle or rough. All that mattered to her was that they do something to ease the tingle tormenting her nipples.

Her pussy heated and wept, the walls softening, pleading for something hard to fill it. This time she didn’t bite her lip. She opened her mouth and demanded, “Come here
now!
”
144

Mia Ashlinn

Another round of chuckles flittered through the air. Otherwise, both men continued their silence. She heard footsteps nearing her mere seconds later. Then a shirtless Caedon appeared on her right. He swaggered up to her, the cocky air around him enflaming her hormones and her temper at the same time. The bastard was having fun tormenting her, and she was getting fucking wet because of it.

“Hi there, sunshine,” Caedon murmured as he proceeded to drop down in front of her. Settling on his knees between her legs, he leaned forward and licked her from the tip of her anus to the top of her clitoris, and she cried out his name.

To her left, Micah revealed himself. He grinned and said, “That’s fucking hot. My man licking my woman.”

His possessive words drove her arousal higher. She’d never seen herself as a woman who wanted to be owned, to belong to someone like a possession. But she’d been wrong. She loved it. She yearned for him and Caedon to take her—to take all of her in any way they wished. She craved them dominating her body and controlling her hedonistic mind.

Rocking back, Caedon sat on his haunches. He licked his lips seductively then smirked at Micah. “Yes, Sir. We’re yours.” Micah clipped out, “Good,” then he strolled over to stand in front of Ella. Facing Caedon, he slipped his hands into the blue gym shorts he always wore to bed and pulled his cock out. He didn’t remove his shorts. He barely even adjusted the material before dangling the mushroom-shaped head in front of Caedon’s lips. “If you belong to me, then that means I can do what I want with your bodies. Correct?” Caedon nodded enthusiastically, and Ella wanted to giggle so badly. Here they were together, and Micah was being dominant.