AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What else?” he asks.
“It’s nothing.” I glance out the side window, wanting to evade this subject. “I should probably go now so I won’t be late.”
“Devochka.” He grabs my chin and turns my head back to face him. His low brows lend him a demanding expression that’s impossible to refuse as he says, “Tell me what it is.”
“Uhm.” I swallow and bite my lips as vulnerability courses through me, knowing what I have to admit to. “Markus said we’d talk about continuing this on a long-term basis…”
“And…” Grigory prods as I trail off, tightening his grip on my jaw, demanding my full attention.
Blinking my eyes hard, I gather my courage. This really is too soon to say, but I don’t have much choice, it seems, so I open my eyes again. Here goes.“I’m worried you’re not into this sharing thing and will want to find someone of your own.”
Grigory’s nostrils flare, and his eyes become impossibly dark. For a moment, I think it was too soon indeed. We barely know what this is, and I’m already thinking too far ahead, hoping for a steady relationship and a type of commitment he’s probably nowhere near ready for.
But then he leans in, dangerously close, and says with grave sincerity, “As long as Markus wants to share you, I’m not letting you go for a single moment.”
My breath catches in my throat as his powerful words descend upon me, and a heady thought stirs in my mind.
Could it be that he feels this instinctive pull between us as deeply as I do?
— CHAPTER 8 —
MARKUS
I’ve just put my jacket in the closet in my dressing room when there’s a brief rap on the door. The door opens, and a smile spreads across my face when Grigory and Clara step inside.
I can immediately tell she’s nervous—like I expected—but I can’t help myself, poking her a little. I like her shy nervousness. “Have you been a good girl?”
A rosy hue spreads over her cheeks. It’s so damn cute that I want to grab her straight into my arms and steal her breath with a deep kiss. But I’ll give her a moment to adjust to this new situation—or rather, context. We’ve been together, all three, before. Nothing new about that. But for the first time, Clara arrives with Grigory instead of me, having spent ten days with him.
“Exemplary,” Grigory answers for her, stroking her back and pulling her closer. He’s clearly spotted her unease too and tries to alleviate it.
She leans into him like it’s second nature, breathing a deep sigh that has her shoulders loosening.
A twinge of jealousy stirs in me. But it’s only that. A twinge. I like seeing her with Grigory. There’s something reassuring about it, knowing she’s safe and cared for with the man I trust the most when I can’t be with her myself.
She’s always easily accepted his dominance, but there’s a certain calmness in the way she does it this time. Before, she’d always need an unequivocal invitation to lean into him, but now it seems unconscious as she presses her hand against his chest and fiddles with a button on his shirt.
But it’s not just Clara who has become more comfortable. Grigory has too. His countenance softens as he wraps an arm around her and leans down to press a kiss against her head. There’s no conflict in his eyes or tension in his jaw like I often saw during the summer.
I can’t help smiling. Despite being eager to have Clara in my own arms, I enjoy watching them. And as I do, I realize just how relieved I am. I’ve been reassuring Clara that Grigory was fully committed, yet I’ve had this dot of doubt nagging at the back of my head, worrying that Grigory would do a one-eighty again.
“What?” Grigory says in his usual terse tone as he looks up and sees my smile.
I gesture my hand up and down toward them, and Grigory huffs and shakes his head even as humor lights up his eyes.
Clara lifts her head from his chest and glances at me, then up at Grigory. “Can I go give Markus a hug?” she asks, submissive as always, tuned in on the man in charge of her.
“Of course.” With a nudge on her back, he sends her my way.
Her first few steps are eager, but then she halts, a furrow knitting her brows as she stops three feet away from me.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask permission to hug you.”
I don’t have to study her long before I know what she’s thinking. She’s conflicted about obeying Grigory when I’m her primary Dom and boyfriend.
“It’s okay, sweetie.” Leaning forward, I grab her arm and haul her into me, flush against my chest.
Closing my arms tightly around her, I breathe a contented sigh as her body molds into mine, small and fragile, submissive and pliant. Mine to protect. I cup her head between my hands and lean down to press a long kiss to her lips, then level her with a sincere gaze. “We haven’t set up any boundaries like that yet. You’re free to submit to both of us however comes naturally.”
