Page 22 of Queen of Spades

“Sorry, Angel, what did you say?” I sighed, setting down my glass.

“I was asking if it was safe to meet Dr. Howell at his own home,” she repeated, her hands moving in slow, careful signs. She was improving every day, much to Jesse’s excitement. They could have entire conversations without me helping now.

“It’s safe enough,” I assured her, although Anders would disagree with that, I was sure.

“So he wouldn’t be working with my brother, then?” Grace’s voice was steady, but the concern in it made me want to throw something.

I hated that she felt scared, that I couldn’t give her the security she deserved. She was finished with her dinner now, just sipping on her red wine as we talked. At some point,someone had found the stash of clothes Anders had for her, so she was dressed in a pair of light gray leggings and a soft lavender sweater. Every instinct in my body told me to scoop her up and pull her onto my lap where she belonged, but I didn’t want to spook her. Jesse had explained how he’d hesitated with her earlier when she’d gotten physical with him, and how hurt she’d been. We were all—or I guess, most of us—treating her like a Faberge Egg, worried she’d crack if we so much as looked at her wrong.

Maybe Anders was right, maybe we were coddling her too much. I waited until she set her glass back down and leaned over, taking her hand and tugging it gently, more of a request than an order. A smile broke out over her face and she stood, letting me pull her down onto my lap. I brushed her hair over her shoulder as I pulled her against my chest, and the world seemed to right itself in that moment.

“Gregory Howell doesn’t work with anyone but himself,” Jesse told her, his eyes sparkling with obvious interest as I wrapped my arm around Grace’s waist, reaching over to grab my wine off the table.

“He’s a powerful ally and he knows it, so he took himself off the playing field. He claims he is a neutral party, but just enjoys watching the war from the sidelines,” I continued, grimacing. “We would know, my father tried to curry favor with him for years. So did your father. Both sides had reason to win him over, but he refused both of them.”

“I think he wanted them to kill each other,” Jesse mused, and I smirked, finishing my wine and leaning back in my chair, pulling Grace with me.

“Probably. He wouldn’t move against us openly in any case, and he wouldn’t go behind our backs and side with Dougeither.” I sighed. “He’s a real bastard, but he puts all his cards on the table at least.”

“Lovely,” Grace murmured, and I nuzzled against her temple, kissing her jaw softly as she smiled and shifted in my lap. God, it was hard to be a gentleman when she was so tempting. I caught Jesse’s eye across the table, and he looked as hungry as I felt.

“Are you tired, Angel?” I murmured, and she laughed softly, angling her head so she could smile at me.

“A little,” she replied, her nose brushing along my jaw. Before, I would’ve taken that as a signal that she was interested, but I didn’t trust my senses, not when something other than my brain was currently doing the thinking.

“I could take you upstairs to bed,” I offered, my hand trailing up her thigh.

“Mm, just you?” she whispered, and I growled as she pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. I grinned, glancing up at Jesse and nodding slightly.

“We’lltake you to bed,” I amended with a smirk. As gently as I could, despite my near-feral need to see her naked and on my bed, I lifted her into my arms and jerked my head at Jesse, who hopped up immediately. I carried Grace upstairs and into my room—now hers, technically—and set her down on the bed.

Her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth, and I caught the look of hesitation in her eyes immediately. “What’s wrong, Angel? What do you need?” I asked, kneeling beside her.

“Just… I need just a second,” she murmured, taking a deep breath. Jesse was at her side in a heartbeat, stroking her hair and smiling his heartbreaking smile at her.

“Take your time. What would help?” Jesse signed, and she shrugged helplessly.

“I get this wave of panic sometimes, like I recognize the situation, even though I don’t remember…” she explained, and I winced, feeling like a complete jackass.

“What if we change the situation?” Jesse offered, and gestured for me to climb up on the bed with them. I cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering what the hell his plan was. Grace scooted up to sit back against the headboard, and Jesse caught me before I could get any closer to her, dragging me toward him by the shirt collar.

Before I could ask for the game plan, his lips were on mine. He wasn’t as aggressive as he normally was, he was drawing it out, making it more sensual. Comprehension dawned when I glanced over at Grace and saw her watching, her eyes wide she took us in.

Jesse, you tricky little fucker.I kissed him back eagerly, parting his lips with my tongue and plunging inside his mouth. A low groan ripped out of him, and he let go of my shirt to palm my hardening cock through my jeans.

I groaned, thrusting into his palm as I tugged at his shirt, breaking off the kiss only long enough to rip it over his head. Mine followed quickly, and I was panting as he unbuttoned my jeans, his hair loose and flowing around his obnoxiously handsome face.

A small gasp caught my attention, and I broke away from Jesse’s lips. Grace was leaning back, and one of her hands had drifted down between her legs, stroking lightly over her leggings.

“Do you like what you see, Angel?” I asked, hissing as Jesse’s teeth dragged across my earlobe, getting more aggressive as we got heated up.

“Yes,” she breathed, and I grinned, my hips bucking into Jesse’s hand again.

“You should take those off,” I murmured, weaving my hand through Jesse’s hair as he sucked a hot path down my neck, sending all the blood straight to my cock. “I want to see how much you like it.”

I turned my attention back to the horny surfer attached to my neck, dragging his face up to capture his lips once more. I could feel his cock grazing mine with every shift of his hips, and I felt the bed move as Grace shifted beside us. When I managed a glance back at her, the leggings had disappeared, and so had her sweater. She was propped up against the pillows, one hand back between her legs and the other cupping one of her breasts, kneading it as she stared at us.

Tapping Jesse on the shoulder, I gestured for him to look over at her and busied myself with untying his shorts, shoving them down his hips until his cock sprang free, bobbing up against his stomach. He let out a groan as I stroked him, my other hand digging into his hip and holding him still. Jesse zeroed in on Grace, grunting softly as he bucked into my hand. I dragged my tongue along his neck and latched onto the sensitive spot under his ear, sucking until he shuddered underneath me.

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