Page 112 of Gemini Queen
Cheese on toast, how did everything with these four warlocks get socomplicated? And so freaking fast too?
“Bollocks.” Ronin sighs. “Guess I’ll just get up then.”
Neither Neo nor I are on board with that plan, so we both wrap around Ronin in tandem to persuade him to stay. I figure my persuasive powers are assisted by the fact that I smell like his other mate in Lucius’ shirt. Either way, Ronin settles easily into trading long slow kisses with Neo and me that make me wonder again just what I might’ve missed between the two of them last night.
“Nothing,” Neo mumbles, leaning over Ronin to kiss me too. “I mean, you didn’t miss anything. We waited for you, babe. But maybe… if you don’t mind… tonight…?”
Neo’s the only guy I know who blushes while he kisses, and he’s doing it all the way to his hairline right now. But he sounds so hopeful that it pings my heart like a guitar string. Because of course I figured out after watching him with Ronin that my mate is toting around a fairly significant torch for this guy.
And I have to stop calling him my mate.
Especially since I’m starting to fall into the habit of thinking of them both that way.
“Safe to say I don’t mind, baby.” I reassure Neo with another deep kiss that he melts right into. “You know the way I roll.”
“Mmmm, I love the way you roll,” Neo breathes against my lips.
Then I turn on my side and prop up my head to give Ronin a stern look. “You know you have to be careful with him, right, Adam? You can’t just one-and-done him and break his heart. Because I won’t freaking stand for it.”
“I know it’s his first time with a guy. I’m going to take care of him. And you’re going to join in and make sure I do.” Ronin’s hot amber gaze drifts over me. “Any rate, starting to feel a bit like maybe my one-and-done days are history, yeah?”
This gives mesucha warm feeling in my chest. Yeah, this is it. That feeling I’m always chasing in a polycule but somehow never finding. The feeling that we’re all here for each other, that we have each other’s backs, that it’s us against the whole world.
Only I’m a greedy witch because I wantus, in this case, to mean not only Ronin and Neo and me, but also Vasili and Lucius.
Even though Vasili and Lucius are not currently on the menu. And they’re definitely not on board with joining my polycule.
Especially since I haven’t been planning to stay.
And therefore I don’t really have a polycule.
Fortunately, since Neo still doesn’t know about Vasili and Ronin being an item, and they should probably be the ones to tell him, Neo’s only half awake. (He’s definitely not a morning guy, this mate/not mate of mine.) Also fortunately, he’s focused on what Ronin just said and not on what I just thought.
“If this is going to be an actual thing, like a real relationship, with all three of us?” Neo snuggles up happily against both of us. “Then I think we should all commit. That way we can all, you know… um… fuck each other bare? The way Zara and I do.”
I’m not expecting that, like, at all. In fact, my brain seems stuck like a broken record on the wordcommit.
Because that’s something else I’ve never had in any of my casualménageor polycule setups.
Commitment.
Considering his whole one-and-done history, Ronin handles this commitment bombshell pretty well himself. His eyes go molten at the thought of fucking us bare. Then he wraps one arm around me and one around Neo and settles us both against his chest, his fingers winding in our hair.
“We’d still need to protect Zara,” Ronin says slowly, and I’m shocked to realize he’s actually even considering it. “Guessing you’ve got that squared away already though, haven’t you, love?”
“IUD,” I confirm, reaching across Ronin to link hands with Neo.
Okay, maybe right at this moment, I do have a polycule.
“Right. That’s my girl.” Ronin nods. Which just about makes me combust with happiness. “I’d still want to get tested again. I know I’m clean because I’m bloody careful, but I’ve quite the history, haven’t I? I’d want both of you to feel totally certain and totally safe.”
I relax in his arms, because I can see I don’t need to worry about Ronin taking care of Neo. In fact, he wants to take care of both of us. And I totally love him… I meanit. This. I totally love that he’s doing this.
“And it isn’t just the two of you I’d be committed to, yeah?” Ronin points out, which makes my heart pound like a jackhammer. I hope now he’ll tell Neo about Vasili, let him in on their big secret, which in turn would open the door to letting Vasili intoourarrangement too… the one going on in this bed right now… if he wanted that. The Goblin King doesn’t seem to play the field, he’s way too aloof and abrasive, but since he’s crazy in love with Ronin, I figure Vasili’s already committed to whatever Ronin wants.
“Obviously I know you’re mated now to Lucius—Master Aries, I mean.” Neo snuggles against Ronin and brings my hand to his luscious lips to nuzzle my palm. I cup his strong jaw, all raspy with stubble. “I’m not saying he wouldn’t take some getting used to. He’s been my teacher since freshman year. But he is very… interesting.”
That’s clearly Neo’s way of saying he wouldn’t mind having our wolfish headmaster prowling into our bed. Which is a scenario I’m more than on board for.
