Ménage Material [La Belle sans la Bete Ménages] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (34 page)

Things had been going so well, so smoothly. Devvy had easily accepted Alexei into her heart. All of their dreams had seemed so close to fruition. Bastien knew something had to spoil it.

It was a negative train of thought. Not a track of the mind he was used to taking. In this instance, his relationship was too important for the shit to hit the fan.

He wished, last night, he’d told them. Given them the choice and hastily fulfilled all the blackmailer’s demands.

Instead, he’d thought with his cock.

The idea of finally taking Devvy to bed with Alexei there had been too much temptation. How could he have ruined the mood, when they were finally ready to take their relationship to another level?

He couldn’t have.

But now, he was paying the price.

And what a price.

His head was aching by the time he made it out of the shower. So bad was the dull thud, he staggered over to the toilet seat and sat down heavily. He tried to rub the back of his neck, tried to ease the tension gathering like storm clouds, but it didn’t work. Five minutes later, Devvy found him there. Sat on the toilet, shoulders hunched over, his face twisted with agony.

Instantly recognizing what he was going through, she rushed over and said, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

Before he could answer, her hands were there. Rubbing his temples, gently smoothing over the taut flesh and running down over the lumps and bumps of his skull. Her thumbs dug deep either side of his neck, round and round they worked, massaging away the hammer-blows that were still attacking him.

She moved in front of him, standing between his legs for better access and he took advantage. Leaning forward, he rested his head on her belly and whispered, “
J’espere que tu me pardonnes, Devvy.
”

“Hey!” she grumbled. “No French. Not this early, not when I’m fresh out of bed. You’re likely to convince me to get back into it, especially at this godforsaken hour. Anyway, what do you need me to forgive you for?”

He grunted. “Your French is improving.”

“Not really. You spoke really slowly. But that doesn’t bode well, does it? You muttering stuff when you think I won’t understand.” Her tone was chiding, but tinged with amusement. Her fingers continued their work as she asked, “What’s going on? If it’s caused this, it really isn’t worth it!”

“I’m being blackmailed, Devvy.”

She froze. Against his head, her stomach muscles clamped down, removing the warm, giving pillow of her belly. “Why? What have you done?”

“When the first threat came through, it was a threat to tell you about Alexei.”

“Oh, well. There’s no need to worry about that anymore.” Her tone had cheered up a notch. “Considering he was fucking me in the ass last night, I don’t think I could
know
him much more!”

“It isn’t as simple as that, Devvy. It’s highly likely the blackmailer went to the papers.”

“
Went?
You mean, it’s
fait accompli
? We can’t pay the ransom demand?”

He groaned. “I meant to tell you last night. Discuss it with you and then Alexei. I never expected to see the pair of you together, in your salon. The thought of the blackmailer’s demands just flew from my mind. You’ve no idea how hard it is trying to get Alexei to go out! Just seeing him here, with you, together…. My mind just drained itself of other thoughts.”

“You mean you could have paid the payoff last night?”

His nod had his head butting against her belly.

She sighed, but her fingers didn’t cease to rub tenderly at his head. “Well, we’ll just have to deal with the aftermath, won’t we?”

“You say that now. But what will you say when the news hits the US? It’s bound to! What will your parents say? The papers will likely touch upon my relationship with Alexei!”

“Then, you’ll just be confirming the gossip that’s already floating about.”

He tilted his head back to frown at her. “What do you mean?”

She jerked a shoulder. “I meant to tell you before, but in the scheme of things, it was so unimportant. Mother called me a few weeks ago. She said someone had commented on you and Alexei. She didn’t actually say what the gossip was inferring, but reading between the lines, it had to be that the two of you were an item. I just told her you two had a business relationship. She accepted it. I guess this will only confirm it.”

Bastien’s arms reared up and he embraced her tightly, pulling her legs against his chest and wrapping her tightly in his embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Devvy.”

“Don’t be,” she told him, sounding surprisingly cheerful considering the direness of the situation.

“If your parents suspect I’m gay, they’ll expect you to divorce me.”

She snorted. “Like that’s going to happen. Don’t be worrying about that. And if it causes a fallout between my family and me, then there’s no love lost there anyway. Christ, it’s the excuse I need to break things off.

“Do you realize how often my mother calls me?” she asked, cheerfulness now replaced by a sour note that made him frown.

“Once a month?” he guessed.

“At least once a week. And usually to gripe at me. To bitch. To ask how much I weigh or if I’ve lost weight. If she sees my picture, she tells me I need to go on a diet or asks why I wore the dress I did. She tells me I need to be careful with you, that I need to watch everything I eat, because I’m not good enough for you, so I have to make sure I’m skinny.” She sighed. “Does that sound like something to be missed?”

“You never told me any of that,” he snapped.

“It’s embarrassing! Of course, I didn’t! Do you take me for an idiot? But what could I do? She’s my mom. A thirty-minute call, once a week, is endurable. If this breaks the ties, then it breaks the ties. I certainly won’t miss her. If anything, it will be a relief. I won’t be the one to do it. She’ll have to be the one to cut me off. When she does, the fault lies with her.”

Bastien shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re being so blasé about this.”

She shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Her wryness made him close his eyes as guilt throbbed through him once more. “This is my fault for thinking with my cock.”

“No, it isn’t. Blackmailers never stop. Isn’t that what they say? You could have paid this bastard last night and he could have still released whatever he’s got on us to the press. Alternatively, he could have come back for more.

“That’s no way to live our lives. Always looking over our shoulders, waiting for the next ransom demand. The only thing is…how do we tell Alexei?”

Before he could answer, a croaky voice retorted for him, “Consider him told.”

A yawn echoed around the bathroom as Alexei stepped in and headed toward the washbasin. Devvy and Bastien watched as, completely unconcerned, Alexei ran the water and gulped up a few mouthfuls. Turning toward them, he jerked a shoulder. “What? I’m okay with it. Hell, it won’t affect me either way. You’re the one with the corporation, Bastien.”

“What about your mother? You saw how she reacted to
me
yesterday. Never mind how she’ll react to Bastien!”

Alexei grunted. “Do you think I’ll miss those pity visits? We share the same sentiments where our family is concerned, Devvy darling.

“I won’t cut the ties, but she can. I’ll gladly be free from her.” He shuddered. “It’s about time anyway. The woman disturbs me.”

“That woman is your mother,” Bastien told him wryly.

Devvy shook her head. “Yesterday, I’d have agreed with you, Bastien. But she’s really weird. I mean, psycho weird.
Hitchcock
weird, you know?”

Alexei chuckled. “It’s nice to see I have someone on my side now. Bastien,” he retorted, “we’re not all lucky to have loving parents who leave us the hell alone and are happy to come together during the holidays.”

Devvy grinned. “You’re not wrong, Alexei. You
are
fortunate, Bastien. Suzette and Henri are so nice in comparison to my mother and father. Hell, we should invite them here more often.” She grimaced. “Well, that is if they’re still talking to us after the press opens the door to our lives.” She sucked in a breath. “We’ll deal with it. We have to. No other choice, is there?”

Her strength astounded him. Bastien let his head drop down to her stomach again and mumbled, “I deserve neither of you. I don’t even deserve my parents!”

When Alexei’s hand ran through his hair, he trembled a little. “Don’t think about what you deserve, Bastien. You’re a good man. You love us and you love your parents, even if you’re absentminded where they’re concerned. You’re an easy man to love.”

Soft lips pressed against his hair. “He’s right, darling. You really are.”

Bastien swallowed, ashamed by his sudden urge to cry. He cleared his throat and whispered, “Thank you. Both of you.”

“Alexei, why don’t you go to the breakfast room and get the papers. They should be on the table by now. Let’s see what damage control needs to be done, because it
could
affect
La Belle sans la Bête
, Bastien.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m looking to sell anyway.”

Devvy sucked in a breath. “And you didn’t think to mention that?”

He grimaced. “I need to learn to share more.”

Alexei rolled his eyes but laughed. “You’ve got that right.”

Devvy glared at him, and said, “Bring the papers up, Alex. I’ll sort out our secretive SOB’s migraine.”

“Now, now, Devvy. You can’t compliment Suzette on the one hand, and then call her a bitch on the other.”

Devvy just grunted. “Get the papers, Alexei.”

He strode off, cheekily patting Devvy’s bare butt as he walked off. He grabbed Bastien’s robe and covered himself in its folds before leaving the bathroom. The sounds of his whistling could be heard as he entered the bedroom and started to move down the hall.

“I’ll never understand that man,” Bastien complained.

“I don’t have a hope in hell of understanding him if you don’t after all those years together!” She shook her head. “Anyway, you! Don’t change the subject. Go and lie on the bed. All your shoulders are knotted. I need you to lie flat to work them out.”

Bastien nodded his acquiescence and stood up the instant she moved out of his path. He heard her open some bathroom cabinets as he made his way over to the bed and crawled onto the soft, warm sheets.

He’d have liked to belly flop, but the ensuing wobble of the mattress would have been the final straw to his still-throbbing head.

Sometimes, confessing one’s sins didn’t help a man atone. Or in this case, a man’s body.

Feeling forty years older than he actually was, he spread himself out on the sheets and waited for Devvy to work her magic.

She returned in seconds, carefully climbed onto the bed and settled herself atop his ass.

The sensation of her warm pussy lips rubbing his butt had his cock reacting predictably even in his current state of pain. Grunting at his body’s foolhardiness, he tried to ignore his erection as she poured oil down his back.

The torture continued, however. Every time she moved her arms, massaging away his ache, she created another of a different ilk. He wasn’t too far gone to feel those soft, silken lips had started to grow moist. Every time her hips rocked, the gentle sway enabling her to rub his shoulders or neck, she’d grow a little wetter.

By the time Alexei returned, his feet padding down the hall, her breathing was soft and flustered.

Little hiccups of sound burst free every time her hips twitched and his cock, already suffering, started to dig a hole in the expensive mattress.

It was either that, or break.

Alexei’s soft chuckle sounded from the doorway.

“Well, well, well. Bastien always told me how your massages worked miracles, Devvy. Now, I realize why!”

A soft whooshing sound told Bastien Alexei had removed the robe and that it now lay on the floor. He groaned at the thought of his lover being naked, of the hard-on he’d probably be stroking as he watched the two of them cavort on the bed and all under the guise of a massage.

“Let him roll over, Devvy. I think Bastien needs a different cure for his migraine.”

A breathy sigh was her response as she stood on shaky legs on the mattress. When Bastien rolled over, his ruddy-purple dick told a tale of its own, a tale that had Alexei laughing.

“Bastien has another ache, Devvy. Maybe you should massage that away, too.”

Bastien grunted as she settled astride him once more, only this time, a little further down.

He’d expected her soft, greased hands to jack him off. But when her mouth supped at the leaking tip of his shaft, he wasn’t going to complain.

She licked at the pre-cum gathered there, then popped the glans into her mouth and sucked down. Hard.

His hips reared up off the bed at the sudden pressure. The move had his cock sliding deeper into her mouth, ensuring all of his length was encompassed in that hot, pressurized cavern.