“I know you felt what we’re talking about, Julia,” Victor said, his voice low and tense as he sat forward on his seat. “I know you felt it with Micah and I, and I know you felt it again with Luke.”
Her face flushed, and I watched as her eyes darted from one to the next, to the next.
“How would this work?”
She wasn’t saying no.
“However you want it to work,” I said. “Honestly, this is new territory or us too. But I swear, we’ll do everything in our considerable power to make this work, if you choose to.”
Julia smiled at me, and fuck did I want to close the distance between us, kiss her fiercely and claim her right here and now.
But she had to say yes first. Again, we’d decided it would be all or nothing. She’d have all three of us, or none.
“Can I ask a question first?”
We nodded.
“What are your tattoos?”
The three of us froze, glancing at each other.
“The crowns, I mean.” She shrugged. “Look, if this…well, whatever this could be is going to be a thing, I don’t want to step into it with shadows hanging over it. I mean the scales are already way slanted. You’re princes, for God’s sake, and I’m just—”
“Our everything,” Vic said quietly.
Julia blushed, biting back her grin.
I could have fucking hugged Vic.
I glanced at my friends, both of them nodding at me, before I turned back to Julia.
Fuck it. Cards on the table time.
“There’s a club.”
I watched her cheeks turn red as her eyes went wide. Clearly, she’d heard the rumor.
“Julia, if we tell you this…” I shook my head. “This is the biggest secret we have.”
“It’s okay, really,” she said softly. “Look, forget it, you don’t—”
“We want to, actually. I— we want you to know everything, and this is something you should know.”
Julia nodded, her eyes locked on mine.
“It’s called the Triple Crown Club, and I’m betting by your look that you’ve heard the rumors.”
She nodded again.
“They aren’t rumors,” Luke growled.
I sighed. “I don’t know how it started, but it’s been around for awhile now. It’s a place without a place — the location changes all the time with only members being in the know as to where it is. It’s a place for the rich, wealthy royal elite to play, with an emphasis on…” I glanced at my three friends before turning back to her, seeing her waiting with bated breath.
“Sharing,” I growled.
Julia swallowed, her teeth raking over her bottom lip.
“Three crowns,” Vic said, his voice steely.
“One beauty,” Luke finished.
Her eyes went wide, and she slowly nodded as the heat bloomed through her cheeks and down her neck.
“You’re members.”
We nodded.
“Oh,” she looked down. “So, you’ve been there, together, with…”
She trailed off, her brow furrowing as she looked away.
Fuck.
The three of us were up and over to her in half a second, all three of us pulling her into us. I kissed her first, soothing that worry in her face with my lips, before I pulled away. Vic was next, his hand cupping her jaw as he kissed her deeply. Luke paused, his eyes searching hers before he moved in, claiming her mouth as well.
“It’s been empty,” I growled. “Us being members. It’s been meaningless, to the point where we don’t know why we joined.”
“We won’t lie to you,” Vic said, his hand moving to hers. “Sharing is something that comes naturally to us.” He grinned. “I think you saw that the other night with Micah and me.”
Her cheeks burned hot, and something fierce burned in her eyes as she glanced up at him and then me.
“But the ‘one night’ thing isn’t for us. It never has been. The whole ‘no names, no faces’ shit is just…”
He shook his head before he looked up into her face.
“I like knowing your name, Julia,” he said quietly. “I like knowing your face, and I fucking like you knowing ours.”
He leaned in and kissed her again, Luke moving in to kiss her neck before taking his turn with her lips. I went after, savoring her tongue and feeling the hint of her moan set something alive inside of me.
“We want to bring you there.”
She drew back at my words, but I took her hand in mine, lacing my fingers with hers.
“We want to show you what it is, so you know that part of us.”
Her eyes went wide. “You can do that?”
“We can. Though the female guests are usually chosen and invited by members anonymously, no one has to know that we’ve, well, that we’ve had this discussion.”
She paused for a moment, eyes darting between us again like she was taking this in. And again, it was a lot to take in.
“Okay,” she finally said, slowly. “Yes to going to this club, you guys just better never leave my side when we’re there.”
“Not a fucking chance we would” Luke growled.
“And for the main question,” she bit her lip and turned to me, and this time it was her that closed the distance and kissed me first. She moved to Luke, and then Vic, doing the same. I watched her face flush more and more, and her breath come more and more halting before she finally pulled back.
“I know it’s all of you or none of you, and I…” She blushed. “I felt it too. I felt it with all of you, and having to pick one — as if I was going to be the one picking a Prince — has been eating at me.”
“So that’s a yes,” Vic growled.
She swallowed. “That’s a big probably for now, if that’s okay?” Her brow worried. “Can I see what this all means, at the club, and tell you afterwards? Look, I get if that’s a big annoying thing, it’s just that there’s so many emotions going through my head right now, and it’s all so confusing to feel what I feel for each of you at the same time, so I just—”
“Julia.”
I stopped her worries with a grin.
“Yes, you can tell us what you think after the club.”
She let out her breath, her shoulders relaxing as she smiled at me and then my friends.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. Her eyes sparked as she grinned wickedly.
“So…when does this club meet next?”
This time, it was our turn to grin.
“Tonight,” Luke purred. “I hear you’re good with masks.”
She blushed, biting her lip again, and I felt every muscle in my body coil with anticipation.
Tonight, she was going to peek behind the curtain. Tonight, she was going to really see what being shared by three of us would entail.
Tonight, we’d show her what she’d be missing if she denied us, and something told me, she’d be begging for more before the night was up.
11
Julia
“You’ve been acting strange.”
I glanced up into the mirror after my shower to see Emma lingering in the doorway to the bathroom
“Have I?”
She arched a brow at me, but I just shrugged.
“You know, just new work stuff. Jumping in and all that.”
“New work stuff responsible for that bruise in the shape of a thumb on your thigh and what is clearly a hickey on your neck?”
I blushed. “No, of course not.”
She smirked at me. “C’mon, you’ve got some hot office romance going on and you can’t tell me, your oldest dearest friend?”
“It’s—” I shook my head. “I can’t really talk about it.”
Because I’m screwing the Crown Prince of North Revania.
She grinned wickedly. “Ooo, a supervisor or something?”
I rolled my eyes.
“So, we’re going to ignore those bruises, and the fact that you’ve been walking around here like you’re glowing, which makes me
think you’re having some amazing sex. Plus, you're getting all dolled up to go out.”
“It’s just a work—”
“A work thing, yeah,” she said sarcastically, eyeing the outfit I had hanging up on the hook across the room. “A work thing where you wear a super hot little black dress that I’ve never seen before but looks insanely expensive?”
It was. Luke, Micah, and Victor had had it delivered before Emma got home that day. That along with the box of insanely sexy black lace and gold lingerie. I was buzzing with excitement, though also with a nervous energy. To be honest, I was a little scared of what I’d see and what I’d learn going to the club that night, but also so excited in this forbidden way.
I mean, I was going to a secret, exclusive sex club with three gorgeous, dominant, amazing men — all of whom wanted me, all of whom I wanted, and all of whom were actual honest-to-goodness royalty.
Not exactly a normal Thursday night for me, and Emma could tell something was up.
“You’re just…” she bit her lip, shaking her head. “You’re just full of surprises these days aren’t you?”
I swallowed. “It’s really just a work thing,” I said quickly.
I mean, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Very mysterious.”
“Emma,” I laughed, trying to deflect her. “Look, it’s just a thing, okay? Some people from work invited me out, and it’s kind of a fancy place.”
Lying to Emma wasn’t something I’d ever done. In fact, most of the time, I think we told each other entirely too much about our lives. But this felt different. This felt…secretive. Not to mention, as much as she was my best friend, Emma was a reporter. And if this whole thing with Luke, Victor, and Micah was going to be this big secret, seeing as who they were and what this was, then telling her didn’t really feel like the best move.
Nothing on her, it just felt weird to tell a secret that big to a person whose career was all about writing the truth and publishing it to millions of people.
“Fine,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Fine, I yield. I’ll stop. I have to go out anyways.”
“Oh?”
She shrugged, wagging her brows. “You’re not the only one with a hot date tonight, you know.”
“Well, well!” I beamed at her. “And do I get to pester you for details now?”
“Nope! I’m giving you a taste of your own medicine.”
We laughed, and she gave me a quick hug.
“Have fun tonight, girl.” She arched a brow. “And you’d better eventually tell me about what you’re up to.”
“I know, and I will.”
“Good.”
She turned, and I was just turning back to start my makeup when she poked her head back in.
“Hey, you ever find out if your boss is sporting one of those sex club tattoos?”
She squealed out a laugh and I chucked a washcloth at her as she skipped out of the room.
Emma had already taken off for her own mysterious date by the time I finished getting ready. I sat in our living room, nervously waiting for the town car the guys had told me would be picking me up. A limo with the three most recognizable and important men in the three kingdoms showing up at our apartment building wasn’t exactly subtle, so the car would take me to Luke’s palace, and from there, we’d go to the club.
The Triple Crown Club.
The dark, twisted, forbidden place of fantasy, and I was about to dive right in.
The knock on the door brought a gasp to my lips.
Must be the driver.
It was time. I smoothed my dress as I stood, taking a deep breath before I strode for the door.
“Hi, thanks for—”
I gasped loudly as I jumped back a step.
It wasn’t the driver.
It was Dan, the ex I’d left right before Emma and I moved in together. Dan who I’d caught cheating for the tenth time and finally left. Dan who’d treated me like shit for two years before I’d finally found a spine.
He’d barely even tried to contact me after I’d left, which suited me just fine. Life was just better without him. And God, now, with Luke, Victor, and Micah, life was amazingly better. And the last thing I needed on the night I was going to figure out what the four of us were and where I stood with that was Dan showing up at my front door.
“What do you want?” I hissed, keeping my hands firmly on the door and the door frame, ready to slam it in his face.
Dan grinned at me, his brows arching as his eyes took me in.
“Fuck, Jules, you got hot.”
I got hot. Dan was such a clueless asshole it was almost a joke.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” I spat. “What do you want, and what are you doing here?”
His eyes — a little more haggard looking than I remembered — pulled up to mine.
“Heard you got a pretty swank new job.”
“And?”
“Guess it pays having family in high places.”
He was talking about Anya and her connections in Lorne that had gotten me this job, though how he even knew that was beyond me.
“I’m closing this door now.”
“Hold on.”
His booted foot jammed into the doorway, stopping me from shutting it.
“You going out tonight?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
He sneered at me. “You look like a whore in that dress, so I’m just curious who’s paying.”
“Fuck you, Dan,” I hissed, my teeth grinding.
“Only if you ask nicely, bitch,” he spat back.
This was ridiculous. I didn’t have time for this, and I certainly didn’t have the space in my head to deal with Dan’s crap. Not now, and honestly, not ever.
“Goodbye, Dan. I’d move your foot unless you’d like me to amputate it with the door.”
He grinned. “This isn’t over.”
“Trust me that it is,” I said cooly.
Dan just smiled this evil, horrible smile. “Be seeing you, Jules.”
His foot slipped from the door, and I slammed it shut, locking the deadbolt and the chain lock before backing away from it.
The town car driver called me five minutes later, but I gave it another ten before I finally left my apartment. And it wasn’t until the car pulled away that I finally let my breath out. I took another cleansing breath, clearing my head.
Tonight wasn’t about the past. Tonight was about the future.
The scary, exciting, wildly enticing and forbidden future.
Tonight was about me, and the three captivating, incredible, all-consuming men who’d come into my life and held on tight.
Tonight was about letting go, diving in, and seeing where I came up for air.
I shivered as the car drove into the night.
12
Julia
The manor house was way out in the country, out past the farmlands west of the main capital and through the forest beyond that. We’d driven in silence — calm silent from them, nervously excited silent from me — but when we pulled through the wrought-iron gates and up the curved, landscaped drive to the old stone mansion covered in ivy, I turned excitedly to them.
“This is it?”
“This is it,” Luke said with a glimmer in his eye, his hand dropping to my knee. “At least for tonight. Like I said, the location changes every time.”
The car came to a stop, and I shivered.
“Here, gorgeous,” Victor murmured, handing me a lush, black velvet mask. It was totally different from the cheap plastic ones we’d worn at the Masquerade night before — this one was rich, opulent, and somehow sexier as I ran my hands over it.
Or maybe it was just what I knew wearing it would bring tonight.
We put our masks on as we stepped from the limo and walked up the large stone steps up to the huge wooden front door. Two huge men in black suits blocked our path, but Micah stepped forward.
“Crown, castle, throne of old. Thr
ee kings seek to enter this house of gold.”
The men nodded as they stepped to the side.
Whoa.
Victor and Luke, on either side of me, found my hands, taking them in theirs as we stepped through the entryway and into the darkness beyond.
I gasped as we entered the manor. The place was all low light, dark wood, and red velvet — the very walls oozing raw sexuality and the floor practically pulsing with sexual energy.
I shivered.
Other men — all wearing tuxedos and masks like my three princes — moved past us. Some turned, their eyes behind their masks lingering on me in ways that had me blushing and biting my lip.
“Ours,” Micah growled, stepping towards a group of three men who’d lingered a little longer, their eyes sweeping over me.
“She’s spoken for,” he said menacingly, his hands tightening to fists at his sides.
The men nodded wordlessly and moved on.
We moved deeper into the house, and I felt my pulse roaring louder and louder with each step. There were other groups there — foursomes of three gorgeous men in tuxedos with stunningly beautiful women in elegant gowns and cocktail dresses. The masks made the whole thing somehow even sexier, and the fact that I knew the men were all royalty made it even more scandalously hot.
It was like a dirty little secret that burned deep inside, sending tendrils of fire through my body.
Luke passed me a flute of champagne as we stepped into another sumptuously elegant room. A woman with chestnut brown hair sat on a couch, moaning softly as a man in a tux sitting next to her kissed her deeply. On her other side, a second man nuzzled her neck, his hands skimming up her sides before he pulled her from the first man and twisted her head. He kissed her next, harder than the first man, his hands wandering boldly over her breast. Behind the couch, a third man leaned down, pulling her hair back and bringing his lips to her bare shoulder.
Raw heat pulsed through me, and I squeezed my legs together as the tingling feeling teased through my pussy.