And Ursa.
I’m still drying off when I hear the bedroom door open. I wrap the deep-blue towel around my waist and walk over to lean on the door frame. Ursa looks just as decadent as ever, her generous curves wrapped in a printed dress I want to take off with my teeth. Zuri is still naked, padding behind the other woman and looking a little dazed.
Ursa sees me first. Her gaze rakes over my bare chest and, fuck, the promises she makes with that single look. It makes me want to hit my knees, to give way to the sheer dominance this woman wields. Any other night, I’d do that and happily crawl to her. Tonight isn’t about us, though. Not entirely. Not when Zuri is standing there, still flushed from the orgasm Ursa licked out of her.
And fuck if that wasn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I could have stood there all night and watched Ursa make Zuri come again and again. If there’s a flicker of jealousy there, I’m used to it. Nothing in this world is ever entirely mine. Not a home. Not a possession. Certainly not a romantic partner.
Even Ursa, whom I care about far more than is wise, will never be mine in truth. I might be hers, but that’s hardly the same thing at all. She’s got walls upon walls, and she’s spent most of her life making sure no one comes near. I’m closer than most, close enough to recognize the distance she maintains between us, close enough to be stung by it.
She’s still watching me, amusement flickering through her dark eyes. “You’re thinking too hard, Alaric.”
I force myself to shrug. There’s no point in letting my circling thoughts take precedence. Tonight is about action, about the culmination of months and months’ worth of plans. I won’t be the one to ruin it. “It’s a habit.”
“And a poor one at that.” She crooks a finger at me, her red nail gleaming in the low light. “Come here, lover. Come take a look at the present I got for you.”
A bolt of sheer lust strikes me. “You always give the best gifts,” I murmur. I keep my attention on her, trying to read how this scene will go. Because this is a scene. During my time in the Underworld, I’ve played both Dominant and submissive, but there is only one role for me here. Submit to Ursa. It’s only the flavor of it that is left to be determined.
Luckily, she likes group play nearly as much as I do.
I stop just short of touching her, and she reaches up to sift her fingers through my hair. Times like these always surprise me. Ursa has such a big personality, I sometimes forget that she’s a good six inches shorter than me. She smiles up at me, as warm as standing in the late July sun that’s long since disappeared below the horizon. “Would you like to play with your gift, Alaric?”
I resist the urge to look over her shoulder at Zuri. Ursa’s mean enough to tempt me with this and take it away. I love that she’s mean like that. “Would you like me to play with my gift?”
“Clever boy.” She gives my hair a tug and steps back. “How many nights did you leave Zurielle untouched? Walk away with a painfully hard cock without doing all the things you wanted to her?”
Answering a definitive number is out of the question. Ursa’s just as likely to deny me that many orgasms again out of perversity. I manage a smile. “More than a few.”
She snaps her fingers. “Zurielle. Stand before the bed. Don’t move or speak.”
I watch Zuri obey without protest, submitting so sweetly that my mouth waters. A gift, indeed. I’d suspected she had submissive tendencies, but I couldn’t be sure, not when we were never alone enough to follow through on anything. Not when doing so would jeopardize this entire plan. But suspecting and seeing it in action are two very different things.
Zuri looks so small in this room of deep blues and blacks, a minnow who’s lost herself to the dark. A treat for the first predator that comes along.
I let Ursa nudge me to sit on the edge of the massive bed. The mattress gives as she climbs up to kneel behind me and clasps my shoulder. Her lips brush my ear, her voice just loud enough to carry to Zuri. “How many times have you imagined this? Her naked and flushed with need?”
“More than a few,” I repeat. If I were a better man, I’d put a stop to this. Hell, if I were a better man, I wouldn’t have acted the part of bait for this innocent woman. I’m not. She’s here and I want her, and Ursa is offering to give her to me.