Page 26 of Chloé

“But first, I need a coffee.”

* * *

AS THE DELICIOUS scent of ground coffee filled the air, Zayne watched Chloé move around the kitchen as though she’d been living with them for years instead of days.

It was nice to see her there, feeling so comfortable in their space. He settled onto a stool beside Ethan, then leaned in and asked, “You think she really has a book about that? Or is she just teasing us?”

“True or not”—Ethan looked down at his lap, where Zayne’s erection was outing him—“I think you’re well and truly teased.”

Zayne grunted, but couldn’t deny it. He’d always thought Ethan looked like a throwback to another time in his long coats and pocket watches. He could quite easily imagine him as some dashing earl, and Chloé a duchess in some big, beautiful dress that pushed her breasts up like ripe peaches he wanted to—

“Sugar or syrup?”

Zayne blinked. “Huh?”

Chloé frowned, and Ethan chuckled. “Don’t mind him,petite fille.I believe he’s busy fantasizing about breeches and corsets.”

“Ah, so maybe stickyandsweet?” She reached for the syrup. “Got it.”

She poured it in and then wiped the end of the spout with her finger, which she sucked clean. Yeah, Red was having a hell of a time with him now, and considering he’d forgotten the current ungodly hour, that was saying something.

She slid his mug across the counter, then went back to make Ethan’s. A couple minutes later, they were all sipping on freshly brewed coffee.

“So, enough about me,” she said. “What did you two get up to yesterday?”

“The bookshelf for the most part. Ethan with a drill is…unstoppable.”

She looked over at the almost-finished shelves. “It’s looking gorgeous, by the way.”

Zayne nodded. “It is, huh? Fits in as though it was always meant to be there.”

“Just like the lady it’s for,” Ethan added, and a soft blush hit Chloé’s cheeks. “We also made some changes down at the club.”

“Changes?” she asked.

“That’s right. Zayne and I thought it was time to hand over the baton to someone else.”

A frown pulled down Chloé’s brows. “What does that mean?”

“Well, you know why we used to go to the club together. What we’d do there?”

“Yes. You’d pick a third partner to join you for the night.”

She said it so matter-of-factly that Zayne couldn’t help but laugh. “We’d pick asub,Red. But we don’t need to do that anymore.”

“Because we found a sub we wanteverynight,” Ethan added.

“Me?”

“That’s right,petite fille. You.”

“Wow…”

Ethan eyed her closely. “You’re surprised?”

“I… I mean, a little, I guess. We hadn’t really talked about it, but I figured it was your job and—”

“You were okay with us being with others that way?”