True to what I expected, Gaige has been behind the bar with me all night. Mostly he's just been sneaking teasing feels all over me, or letting his thick cock brush against me, or stealing kisses on the back of my neck — all of which has had me soaking wet for literally the entire time. Even if I did have an incredible, mind-blowing time with Vince up in the VIP room earlier. Even if he did drop to his knees in the shower and put his mouth on my clit until I screamed out another climax.
Yeah, in spite of all that, Gaige has had me aching for more since the second he got back here with me.
As the night's progressed, and especially after talking with Vince earlier, I've given up worrying about it — "it" being "jealousy," or being the one that gets between these five men who are closer than brothers and ruining that. But slowly, and as much as it's still so new to me, I've let go of worrying. They're all okay with it, and over the course of the night, they've each let me know that in their own way. So really, why not? Why not just admit that what I have here with the five of them is something insane, but also insanely good, and go with it?
I've imagined myself being that girl, dating or juggling multiple guys. But that's not what this is. This — whatever it is we're calling this — isn't a juggling act, and I don't need to manage anyone's expectations. Because their expectations are to all share me, and that seems to work just fine for them.
…It certainly does for me.
There's a bell, and big red, felt table in the middle of the floor is surrounded by the remaining crowd of onlookers — the same men in suits from the first night, along with some of their dates. Of the guys — of my guys, I guess you could say — Dane's the only one left as the final game gets dealt. It's Dane, a couple of real old-school-looking mafia types, and a huge, fat Russian guy with mustache and a scowl who's been slugging back double vodka's almost as fast as I could pour them all night.
The bet goes around the table, and slowly, the table starts to fold until it's just Dane and the Russian left. The latter grins a beefy smile from under his mustache, but his dark eyes glint in a not-so-friendly way.
"All in," he mutters in a thick accent, pushing his chips into the center of the table.
Beside me, Gaige swears.
"Shit."
"Shit is right," Noah mutters, leaning against the bar next to Vince. Luke is also near, his big arms crossed over his chest as he watches with a scowl on his face.
"What?"
"Ivan betting big is never a good thing," Gaige growls under his breath, leaning into me. "He's a shit loser."
"And when he bet's big, nine-times out of ten, it's just a big show," Vince adds, his brow furrowing as he watches.
"You think he's about to lose?" I bite my lip, worriedly looking at Dane as he contemplates his move.
"With that kind of bet?" Gaige nods grimly. "Yeah, that isn't a 'I've got a great hand' bet. That's a fuckin Hail Mary. He's about to go down hard, and when he does…" He shakes his head, his jaw tight.
"Fuck, I almost hope Noah loses, just so we don't have to deal with one of Ivan's legendary meltdowns," Noah hisses.
"Call."
Dane's voice cuts the silence, and suddenly, it's like the whole room is holding its collective breath. Dane lays his cards down, and I might not know a ton about poker, but I do know that five cards in a row of the same suit is pretty fucking good.
…Ivan apparently knows that too.
He stares at Dane's hand for a second before he suddenly explodes in a stream of Russian and English swears. He tosses his cards down, showing a single pair of threes before he lurches to his feet.
"You fucking rigged it!" he roars, jabbing a finger at Dane.
"I rigged you being a bad player when you're drunk?" Dane yells back, jumping to his feet.
"Aww shit, here we go," Gaige groans.
"You fucking cheated!"
"Easy, Ivan," Vince steps forward, hands raised. "You've had some drinks, we all had a good game—"
"And your little friend here fucking stole my money!"
"Calm down, Ivan."
The words seem to ignite something in Ivan. Suddenly, his whole face turns red and he screams something in Russian. Instantly, a number of guys around the room — all of them his guys — suddenly yank guns out from their suit jackets. The room erupts into chaos, as suddenly everyone has guns out and drawn — the whole place screaming and roaring in rage. Gaige swears and yanks me down behind the bar, covering me with his body.
"Whoa, whoa!" Vince roars, stepping forward and holding his empty hands up high. "Let's take it waaaay back here, gentleman!"
I sneak a peek from under Gaige's arm and take in the room. The mafia-looking guys are pointing guns at the Russians. Noah's pointing a gun at Ivan. Ivan's pointing a gun at Dane, and the rest of the Russians are pointing guns at pretty much everyone.
"You know the rules," Vince bellows. "None of this! There's no violence at the games," he growls.
"You heard the man, you Russian fuck," one of the Brooklyn mafia guys spits at Ivan. "Put the fuckin’ guns down!"
"You put the guns down!" Ivan roars back.
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck you!"
You can feel the entire pulse of the room lurch as the whole thing starts to escalate. My guys are jabbing fingers around the room and roaring for everyone to shut up. The mafia guys have decided this is their stand to make against the Russians, and Ivan and his guys will not back down.
But suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, something catches my attention. I turn my head away from the powder-keg situation that's ready to blow and suddenly focus on what I'm seeing. It's Rick, the perpetually scowling bar back who's constantly on his phone. He's scowling, as always, but this time, something's different.
…It's not a phone in his hand. It's a gun, and his eyes are locked onto Dane as he creeps towards him from behind.
I don't think, I just act.
I push Gaige aside, lurching for the row of glasses on the back of the bar. My hand closes around a big, heavy, pint glass, and while the room slowly gets ready to explode, I haul back, take a rough aim, and throw with everything I have. The whole scene seems to go into a frozen, slow motion state as I watch the glass sail through the air, turning and twisting and spinning slowly until…
Success.
The glass explodes against the side of Rick's head, and suddenly, everyone is whirling towards the sound. He screams, and the gun drops from his hand as he clutches his bleeding face and falters to the ground.
I guess it's the distraction everyone needs.
The mafia guys, along with Luke and Noah, suddenly make a move, tackling the momentarily distracted Russians to the ground and kicking their guns away. Vince roars, lunging over one of Ivan's guards and bringing the big man to the ground. Dane whirls, his eyes huge as he looks at the gun, the broken glass, Rick, and then right at me.
And suddenly, the whole thing is over.
"Enough! Enough!" Ivan holds his hands up, shaking his head as he lumbers to his feet.
Rick is still moaning, but suddenly, everyone's attention moves back to him as he starts to mutter swears…in Russian.
"What the fuck was that?" Gaige hisses.
Ivan scowls. "Leave him be."
"Oh, him?" Gaige hurdles the bar, strides over to Rick, and point down at him as he looks right at Ivan. "You mean leave him be?" He jabs a sharp toe into Rick's side, making the guy bellow in pain. Ivan tries to take a step towards them.
"Ivan," Vince hisses dangerously.
"He's my nephew, okay?!" Ivan's shoulders sag as he scowls. "He's my sister's kid, Jesus. He's just trying to be a good boy for the family is all."
"A good boy who, what, snuck in here for a job to be your inside eyes around here?" Vince's eyes turn to rage as they narrow at the big Russian.
Ivan says nothing.
"A good boy who was going to come up behind me and try and shoot me over a fuckin' card game?" Dane seethes, glaring down at Rick and making a threate
ning move that has the guy trying to scramble away.
"Game’s over," Vince growls. "Get them the fuck out of here."
The mafia guys help shove and kick Ivan, Rick, and the rest of the Russians up the stairs and out of the place, before Gaige pulls one of the older guys aside.
"Thanks, Sal."
The older Italian guy grins, pulling out a cigar from his coat and shrugging. "Anytime, kid." He pats Gaige on the cheek before he turns to leave. "Next month, my place?"
"Only if we skip the Russians," Vince mutters.
"Where's the fun in that?"
Sal winks at the guys before he turns to me. "Hell of a throw, miss. I think the Yankees would like a word." He grins, tips his hat, and then follows the rest of the crowd up the stairs. Luke strides over and slams the door shut, locking it with a heavy click.
"You alright?" Gaige raises a brow at Dane, who nods.
"Yeah, I'm…" He stops, and suddenly turns my way. And before I know it, he's striding right towards me, scooping me up in his arms, and kissing me hard. My head spins as he pulls me tight and kisses me fiercely, and when he pulls away, I can see the other guys just grinning at us.
"Hi," I breathe quietly. "What was that for?"
"Besides saving my ass?" He grins. "Because I'm fuckin crazy about you, Tess." He shakes his head, still grinning as he holds me tight. "You know how hard it is to play poker with you fucking standing right here?"
The smile stretches across my face, and I can feel my heart skip a little inside my chest.
"Actually..." Gaige coughs, clearing his throat. I turn back to see him glancing around at the four other guys before turning to me. "Actually, I think I speak for all of us when I say we're all crazy about you."
"Look, I know— we know it's not conventional," Noah adds. "And I don't want you to think this is some weird fetish or whatever where we all have to share you, or anything like that."
I grin.
"It's just that none of us have jealousy when it comes to each other," Luke says slowly. "There's nothing like that between us. So when you add in this perfect storm of you being exactly what each of us was looking for, well…" He shrugs as he steps forward, grins, and then leans down to kiss me softly. "Well then I guess that's how we end up here."
"So what about you?" Gaige says quietly, turning me to face him.
"What about me?"
He swallows, and for the first time, I see something I couldn't have imagined ever seeing on his cocky, confident face.
"How does all this make you feel? I mean, we're all cool with it, but I know that makes us different. And I know you might not be into the idea of—"
"I'm in."
I say without thinking, because I don't have to. I don't have to think because I know it suddenly and absolutely clearly in my heart: I want them all, and each of them. I want them as individuals, and as a whole.
And even if I know it's too weird to say it yet, I know the words I'm feeling in my heart, for all of them.
"Whatever this is," I say slowly, looking at each of them. "I'm in, with all of you."
The guys grin widely, eyes flashing as they move in around me.
"Well I think that calls for a drink," Gaige murmurs in my ear before he draws me close.
15
Tess
"That's how we got this place."
Dane sits back and slugs down the last of his beer. He, and the rest of them, have just finished telling me how five poor kids from Queens ended up owning the hottest, most thriving nightclub in all of New York City.
…Poker, of course.
"Anyone who tells you it's skill instead of luck is a fucking idiot," Luke chuckles. "Believe me, it's luck."
"Unless you're Dane," Noah grins. "That's pure fucking skill. That or he sold his soul the devil and never told us about it."
"You kidding?" Vince laughs, raising his glass. "He's almost as bad as my brother at keeping secrets."
My face burns at the memory of Vince letting me know that he knew about what had happened with Dane and his brother. But the heat in my face is really more hunger than anything else. It's not embarrassment — not anymore.
"Sal helped too, of course," Gaige adds, talking about the older Italian guy who helped with the Ivan situation earlier. "I mean, not like a mafia-type loan where our kneecaps were on the line, but a regular one with pretty decent interest."
"Sal and our grandad were war buddies," Vince says quietly. "Yeah, he's definitely mafia, but to us he's more just extended family."
"And here you are, with the hottest nightclub in town that just so happens to have an underground casino in the basement."
The guys laugh, Luke putting an arm around me and leaning down to kiss the top of my head. "Hey, never forget your roots. The five of us came up hustling cards, and the dudes that show up to play at these monthly things might be a little grungy, but…" He shrugs. "We just like to remember the grit we came from I guess."
"Still, pretty lucky for a couple of guys from Queens to end up here," I say with a smile.
"Nah, not luck," Dane grins. "Skill."
Vince rolls his eyes. "Let's just say it was a lot of hard work. The luck came later."
I start to smile when I realize he's staring right at me, his eyes blazing. I blush as I suddenly get what he means.
"The luck came the day you walked into our lives," he says quietly, moving towards me. He pulls me from Luke's arm, pulling me close and wrapping his arms around me. "I know I said it before, but I have to — we have to — make sure you know what you're getting into, before we get any deeper."
"I know what this is," I say quietly. "And I know what this will mean."
"We all knew the second we saw you, Tess," Noah says, his voice tight and his green eyes piercing. "Each of us knew, and there's not even a question about it."
I take a deep breath, and I know it before I say it.
"So did I."
The five of them all grin, and before I know it, all five of them are moving into me. Noah kisses me first, spinning me into him and melting his lips to mine. His kiss is hard and deep, and I'm gasping for air, my whole head spinning as he pulls away. Luke is next, and I lose myself in feeling how different each of them are. Luke's kiss is still powerful, and blazing hot, but it's got a tenderness to it that turns me to jelly in his arms. Dane's is searing hot, his tongue eagerly finding mine and making my toes curl before he's done. Gaige's is similar, but with this cockiness that I seriously just cannot get enough of. And then there's Vince, and his is the deepest, darkest kiss of them all. Vince's has a certain power to it that leaves me feeling like I'll never touch the ground again.
The guys pull away, though they don't move far from me.
"So, Tess," Gaige grins a wicked smile at me, flashing his perfect teeth. "Who was the best?"
"Dude," Luke turns and punches him in the arm as my whole face turns bright red.
I know what he means. But knowing that’s what he means doesn't shake me, or make me clam up, or bring out any sort of prudish shock like it might have before this all happened. Instead, it only sets a fire burning inside of me as my mind starts to replay the last few days with all of them — the last few completely mind-blowing, life-changing days with these men I never saw coming in a million years.
And the truth is, they were all different, just like their kisses. And I love how different they are. I love how Vince growls all sorts of completely filthy things in my ear. I love how Noah demands the orgasms from my body. I love how there's something so fucking sexy about Luke's size compared to my petite frame, or how he fills me like nothing else. I love how Gaige knows exactly where to touch me, and when, and just how hard or soft to make me completely lose my mind, and how Dane's tongue does things to me I've never even dreamed of.
The truth is, I'm not sure I ever could pick just one of them, because there's something about each of them that makes each of them freaking incredible.
So, yeah, I know what Gaige means when he says
it, but I decide to play innocent just the same, just to see where it goes.
"Who was the best at kissing?"
I smile sweetly at him, and I see the fire spark in his eyes.
"No, beautiful," he growls, stepping right into me and pulling me against him. "I want to know who fucked you the best."
I whimper at his words before I can even stop myself, and when he grins, I feel the heat throb between my legs. I take a deep breath though and pull back from him, glancing at these five incredible, gorgeous, tender, protective, and strong men.
"All of you," I say, shrugging and biting my lip. "Each of you are insanely good at making me feel good, all in your own way. And I think that's what I love about it."
Gaige grins, nodding his head. "You know that's not an answer, but I guess we'll let it slide this time."
"I'm willing to try it all again and see if anything changes."
In my head, it's a joke, but the room goes pin drop silent as the words leave my lips.
The air around me seems hotter. My breath comes slower, and deeper, and I can feel my pulse pumping through my body.
I want to try and tell myself all the reasons why this is a bad idea. I want to tell myself that what I'm standing on the edge of doing is "dirty", or "wrong", or "slutty". But I can't, because it's not. It's not wrong, and if it's dirty or slutty to want what I know in my heart I want, then so be it. But it sure as hell doesn't feel wrong.
"Tess…" Vince gives me a strange look, a mix between raw lust and a forced smile.
"I'm not joking," I say quietly. I swallow thickly, moving my eyes from one to the other until I've gone through all of them.
"I'm crazy about you guys too — all of you. And if I'm going to step off this ledge into whatever this is, with all of you, then I'm not going to step at all." I take a deep breath. "I'm going to fucking jump in, arms open."
I look at my feet before looking back up at them, all five of them still completely silent as their eyes blaze into me.
"Look, if you guys don't want to—"
I never finish my sentence, because suddenly Dane is yanking me into him, searing his lips to mine, and kissing me with more fierceness than I've ever known. I moan into his lips as I feel four more hands move over my body. A pair of lips find my neck, and when a second pair trail over the other side, I whimper into Dane's mouth. A third pair of lips finds the back of my neck, and I gasp as I suddenly feel a hand tugging at the zipper to my dress, with those lips on the back of my neck following it down.