Page 85 of The Devils of Saint City

“No,” they say in unison, Manson continuing before Ash can. “Not at all. The difference between us was I knew we deservedthe happiness you gave after all we’ve endured, and Ash is convinced he doesn’t.”

Asher frowns, his fingers tightening around mine. “That’s not entirely true,” he admits. “I mean, yeah, I don’t deserve your love, but that’s not why I insisted we let you go. Whether I deserved it or not wasn’t a factor. I just needed to know it was real, and I had to give you a chance to choose or I might have never fully believed it... because I had already fallen for you. Truth is, I didn’t want to love you, but I did. I still do, and I’ll wake up and choose you every single day to show you it’s true. It won’t be perfect, but please... choose me too. Choose us.”

Such pretty words from a pretty devil. I wish it were that simple.

“Tell me something, each of you. If I come back, what does our life look like? Don’t sugar coat it or say what you think I wanna hear. I’m not saying I’ll even agree to everything you say, but I want to know in a perfect world if you get everything you want... what does our day to day look like?”

They share a look before Asher responds. “How it looked before we set you free. The difference would be a collar and handcuffs wouldn’t be necessary because the fear of you leaving wouldn’t be here. But we still want you to be only ours, to stay home and let us take care of you financially while you take care of us in other ways.”

“We’re open though—” Manson rushes out— “if there’s something about that you don’t like. We want this to work for all three of us, so if you want date nights out or some shit we’re not against it.”

What they’re offering is the best of both worlds. I honestly expected to have to try harder to get it.

“And what if I told you I wanted the collar and cuffs? What if I told you that feeling trapped without actually being trapped makes me wet?”

Both of them tense, Manson excitedly and Asher hungrily, but their pleasure radiates off them in waves. “Really?” Apprehension laces Asher’s tone, his fingers cutting off circulation with how tight they’re gripping me, so I smack the top of his hand to get him to let me go.

“Yes,” I say firmly. “But you don’t decide when or for how long. I do. You will add my thumb print to the door locks here so I can come and go as I please... and you will both have trackers implanted too.”

“You want to track us?” Manson asks, amusement lining his face. “Why?”

I meet his gorgeous eyes and say simply, “Because. You belong to me, too.”

That makes them both smile. They’re so beautiful it hurts, especially like this, and the fact that my step-brother is looking at me this way makes me blush. “I agree,” he replies. “But there is something else I’d like to discuss. Punishments.”

The little brat in me wants to argue and remind him that I’m perfect, but I know I’m not. If they can make concessions, so can I. “I’m listening.”

“So you’re not opposed? Because I might lose my mind if I couldn’t punish that bratty little mouth of yours.” He’s staring at my mouth like it’s taking all of him not to kiss me again, so I lick my lips slowly to punish him a little.

“You can punish me. But I get a safeword, and I also get to punish both of you.”

They share a dark look, ultimately nodding. “What’s your safeword?”

“Spooky. Yours?”

“Can it be the same?”

Asher blushes in a way I’ve never seen before and I know it’s the vulnerability that has the blood rushing to his face.

Manson takes his hand. “No. It should be unique to all of us. Mine is river.”

“River? Um... okay.” He scratches at his head for a moment. “What about phantom?”

Trying to remember three is going to suck, but we’ll get there. Hopefully they won’t be necessary often. “Phantom, river, and spooky. Got it.”

Nodding, Asher squirms in his chair slightly. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Manson adds. “What kinda punishments are you thinking for us?”

“The kind where you get edged repeatedly for breaking our deal in any way, and the kind where if you hurt me without my permission, I get to hurt you back.” I’ve thought about that one a lot. I like the pain, I do, but on my goddamn terms. “Issues with that?”

To my surprise, both of them agree. I guess this time apart wasn’t the worst thing in the world, even if it felt like it at times. “We’re yours, Rhea. There isn’t a thing you can say now that will change that for us.”

The fact that it’s coming from Asher’s mouth — my hateful step-brother — makes me certain I did the right thing. We were made for each other.

“Good. Now pick a day of the week. Any day.”

“For what?” Manson asks, just as Asher says, “Sunday.”

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