Page 18 of Gilded Lies

“Why are we here?”

“There’s a special show tonight. And you have worked hard this week. It’s time for a little playtime.”

Danika takes my hand and leads me past a booth with thick curtains drawn back with thick gold ropes. The lights are low, but there is enough light to reveal each of the private areas are filled with harems of men with their women. One, two… I count eight partitioned mini-rooms to my left. More fan out to my right. Several of the members have already started on their evening fun, but I brush it off, and keep walking.

My desensitization is born from a couple of years of seeing all there is to see from performers and other members. Not much phases me anymore.

Or at least I thought that to be true. As it turns out, watching events happen and checking off my little boxes as a mission accomplished at the end of the night is a whole other experience compared to being the one taking part. The biggest difference being the men at my sides.

Danika stops and gestures for me to enter a large booth with a horseshoe-shaped sofa large enough to fit half a football team. Seriously. I step inside and small lights flicker on to reveal that there is more to this little room within a room. A minibar and a towel warmer, for starters. I mentally take notes for ways to update Seattle.

“You’re overthinking again.”

Rune moves into the booth—mini room, indoor oasis…whatever it’s called—and pulls me onto the sofa with him. I settle over his lap and pull the tail of his braid around to wind it around my finger. A habit I’ve formed that he seems to love.

Oliver flashes me a devilish grin.

Uh-oh.

Before I can miss the heat of Rune’s embrace, I’m in Oliver’s. No one has an ounce of respect for personal space, and I can’t find it in me to care. I could use a little more skin on skin.

He settles me over his lap and Danika comes to sit beside me. I lean back and his arms come around me.

“Thief.” Oliver’s hands grip my hips, but there’s no jealousy in his touch.

“You stole her from Rune. I only see this as fair,” Danika grunts and then kisses me senseless. I groan into his mouth and savor the sweet taste of the bourbon we shared on the plane ride earlier this afternoon. He pulls back to where his lips brush against mine when he speaks. “We hope you like your early Christmas gift.”

Hoping to God they don’t take this the wrong way, I say, “A gift beyond having you three? How could I ever be so lucky?” It may sound like I’m teasing, but I mean every word. I feel beyond blessed right now that I’m not spending another holiday alone.

Lips find my neck, and teeth follow right after. Oliver is on a bent knee and taking advantage of my upswept hair. The low cut of my dress helps give him more real estate to explore as well.

Rune joins Oliver and he bites into the tender flesh beneath the pulse point. I cry out, jerking in his hold. I tighten the cloth of Danika’s dress shirt in my fist.

“Mm,” Oliver growls against my neck. “So responsive and the evening hasn’t even started.”

My lashes fall and I take a moment before I can open my eyes again. When I do, all three of them are looking down at me with so much affection in their gazes they steal my breath away.

Danika has his hair neatly combed while Oliver’s is more tussled from running his fingers through it.

“Yes, I’m ready. But to be fair, I want you to know I don’t want anything else other than this. Our time together is more than I could ask for.” I run my fingers through both and hold Rune’s eyes captive. Their massive amounts of body heat wrap around me.

“Your sweetness does naughty things to a man’s control.” Danika moves me higher up his lap and I understand what he’s referring to quickly.

“Oh!” I giggle and tuck my face into his neck.

“Is it the dress?”

“It’s you and everything you are,” he answers honestly. “Your gentle way of viewing the world. That southern drawl. Fuck, your voice makes my dick hard every time you open your mouth. And your heart, Magnolia.”

I murmur a soft laugh and the way he inhales when I sigh makes me feel like he’s pulling me into him and filling his soul.

Rune traces lazy circles on the back of my hand and Oliver’s eyes haven’t left my face this whole time.

His eyes are hooded in a way that conveys he agrees with everything Danika said. A hand moves up my arm until he’s cupping my face. He leans forward until his shoulders connect with Rune’s and Danika’s. Tucked inside their cocoon of warmthOliver whispers, “You’re the one reason we wake up in the morning.”

Not I, but we. These men are a unit. I know this, but seeing them speak for each other and treat themselves as one is a foreign notion to me.

It’s comforting and sets me off-kilter at the same time.

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