One Dirty Night

Hunter nodded. “Nick’s right. We were rough with you. You deserve us to worship you now.”

“But you did worship me. Many times.”

Hunter chuckled. “Fine, call it pampering, then.” Untangling himself from the nest of body parts we’d made, he scooted off the bed and stood with a pop of his spine and an impressive stretch. Even with his erection softening, his body still sent pinwheels of attraction through me. His abs, his muscles, his effortless power.

A lance of jealousy filled me.

How many other girls had he fucked until they were speechless, only to tend to her as if she was the most precious thing in the world? How many towns had he found a girl like me? Sexually repressed and just waiting for him to wake her up?

He’s not yours, Ella.

It was just one night.

And besides…

I focused on the man embracing me. The man I’d lived with for so long.

I had Nick.

An effervescent glow filled my chest.

Nicholas.

After what happened here tonight…he couldn’t deny that something existed between us. Something passionate and real and raw.

Sucking in a breath, Nick nudged his knuckles beneath my chin and stared into my eyes.

I smiled with my heart wide and trusting, but then I stiffened as ice trickled down my spine.

“Ella, I…” Whatever openness he’d shared while his body had been inside mine swiftly closed. A door over his soul and blackout curtains over his eyes. Just like I hadn’t been able to read him for the past eight months, I struggled to read him now.

My glow extinguished.

“Nick?”

Frowning, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

He went to speak—

Someone knocked on the door.

All of us glanced at the exit, freezing into statues.

No strangers watched us anymore, drifting onto other rooms where circus goers still played, but I wasn’t prepared for it to open and Giselle to step inside.

Gasping with embarrassment, I snatched for the bedsheet, wrapping the black satin around me the best I could. Nick draped the end over his lap while Hunter stepped down the three steps and padded toward his second in command as if she’d seen him naked all the time.

“What is it, Gis?” He cupped between his legs as he reached her, shooting Nick and I a look before forcing his entire attention on her.

Giselle shot me an apologetic glance before squaring her shoulders and saying, “I waited for you to be done, but…we have a situation.”

“What situation?”

“Two guests brought a girl with them. Their paperwork checked out, and their identifications showed the appropriate ages, but…”

“Fucking hell, not again,” Hunter snarled. “Bloody predators.”

“What…what’s happened?” I asked, fisting the sheet between my breasts.