in the world to me five seconds ago, I realize everyone at the party is too busy with the party. They aren't watching us right now. They've got their own stuff going on. Nobody saw what just happened so there's no reason for me to be embarrassed about it. They didn't see Soren lose his temper, and they didn't see me crying. And they can't see anything now with me shielded by Soren's broad body.
“What was going to happen here tonight?” I ask.
Soren sighs. “We drew straws and Dayne got first sex. I got first anal. And Griffin got first punishment. Griff decided he wanted to be a hero and save you from first anal with me and he knows how much I like punishment. So we traded. I was going to punish you tonight anyway. Not because of anger, but because I wanted to do it.”
I let all that settle in. Half of me thought Dayne was kidding about drawing straws for me. It's at once both juvenile and barbaric. And I am grateful that Griffin made that trade, though I'm not sure a punishment from Soren is much more comforting.
“And I was going to fuck your ass,” Griffin says.
I take in a deep breath. And what? Now we're going to go back to the house because Princess Livia cried? Seriously fuck that. We're doing this.
“Let's do it then,” I say.
“Excuse me?” Soren says. It comes out a half laugh.
“Let's do the stuff. It's our last night. I want to do the stuff.” I turn to Dayne, “But can you make that Colin guy leave, please?” The idea of him watching this after the conversation I overheard feels wrong.
Dayne arches a brow. “You're asking me to ban Colin?”
“Not like forever. Just... until we leave.”
The guys exchange looks. Finally Dayne shrugs. “Sure, why not? It would amuse me to put Colin in the time-out corner for a while.”
Dayne hops off the platform and goes to talk to some guys who look like bouncers. They nod and then go off in search of Colin.
27
Soren
The Punishment
The Present.
What in the fuck is happening right now? So much for thinking Livia couldn't handle my darkness. Though the night's not over yet. I look at her to find she's got this sort of defiant look on her face, and fine. She doesn't want to be spared? I won't spare her.
Before she can catch her breath, I grab her arm and jerk her to her feet. Griffin has showed up again with a black robe to cover her, but I wave him off. No, she's in this. If she's in it, she's in it. There's no sense or point in covering or protecting her modesty now. They've seen everything.
She yelps as I half drag her down the stairs.
“Soren,” Griffin warns, ever the hero.
“What?” I snarl. “You heard her. She wants to do the stuff. So I'm going to do the stuff. You're welcome to come watch. And then you can do your stuff. Deal?”
Dayne doesn't try to interfere at least. This whole honeymoon setup is grating on my nerves. I know I agreed to this. I'm the king at home. He's the king at the resort. Griffin is... second at home? Third at the resort? Fuck I don't know. We've always just shared girls with no drama. We've rarely felt the need to create this hierarchy of possession or keep score. Because with every other girl we knew it was only temporary. And then there would be someone else to amuse us.
So if we didn't like how the power structure played out, we could just reset with the next one. But Livia is the last one. We all know this on a deep level so we have to get it right. And Dayne has enough sense to back the fuck off right now and not try to play his king of the resort and secret underground kink club card.
Though part of it I think is reputation. If he steps in and rescues her too much in public it makes him look weak. Welcome to my world, motherfucker.
By this point the music has stopped, and we're drawing attention. Guests are becoming interested again in our activities. Fantastic, I love giving a good show. It's been a long damn time since I've been able to do this.
I can feel the tendrils of fear and adrenaline coming off Livia. It's like it seeps out of her skin, into mine, into my bloodstream making my own blood pump harder and