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Xavier laughed, the hand that was looped around his shoulders shifting to grip the back of Colum’s neck.Colum was ready for this, wanted this…and then remembered the conversation they’d just had.

He was married, and this was wrong.He’d allowed himself to forget and not think about the marriage enough to be with them once, but he couldn’t do it again, especially not now that they knew too.

“Can I watch?”Colum asked glumly.

“Just watch?No.You’re participating,” Annie insisted.

“But…but I’m married.”

“Are you?”Xavier asked.“Annie and I discussed it, and I explained how all new trinities have to go and kneel and make a pledge atCashtal Ny Tree Cassyn.”

Colum frowned.“That’s just ceremonial.”

“All marriages are conditional until approved by the fleet admiral,” Xavier added.

Colum threw his hands up, exasperated.“The fleet admiral is the one who declared I was married.”

“No.”Xavier shook his head.“It’s not real.Not complete.”

“The ceremony is just, er, ceremonial,” Colum said again, but the protest was weak.

“It sounds to me like you’re in your binding period,” Annie declared.“Not really married.Not yet.Schrödinger’s marriage.”

Colum swallowed hard, looking at them.“You’re…you’re okay with this?”

“Okay with you being stuck in a loveless, in-name-only marriage where you end up by yourself and celibate in the archive in Dublin?”Annie’s gaze was hard.“No, I’m really not okay with it.”

Xavier shot her a look, then turned back to Colum.“Until your name is in the book, as far as I, we, are concerned, you’re not married.Which means you’re ours.”Xavier’s expression flickered.“For now.”

The mood could have, might have died right then, but Xavier leaned closer, his breath hot against Colum’s cheek.“Have you ever considered taking a male lover?”

“Jaysus,” Colum whispered.Pursuing prospective lovers—male or female—wasn’t in Colum’s skill set.The only reason he’d slept with the two American lasses was because they’d propositioned him.

Annie stepped closer, perching on the edge of the coffee table in front of them, her knees brushing theirs.

“How, er, how do you think that would go?”Colum asked, partially to stall while he wrapped his head around what Xavier was offering, and partially because he really did need more details.

He half expected Xavier to laugh at his awkward question, but he should have known better.Neither Xavier—nor Annie—had ever made him feel like a fecking Muppet, even though he was sure he was being as awkward as a pig in a parlor.They never laughed at his strange comments or made him feel like the odd guy out, despite the fact he was considered odd by most people who knew him.The only other people to ever look beyond his introverted nature were Eric, Josephine, and Franco.

Xavier shifted until his lips brushed Colum’s ear, though when he spoke, it was loud enough that Annie could hear every word.“To begin with, I thought I’d take you into the bedroom where I would strip off every piece of clothing hiding that sexy body from me.”

“Fromus,” Annie interjected.“And I want to help.”

Xavier sent a smoldering look toward Annie.“I welcome the help, but you’ll only do what I tell you.”

“Maybe,” she teased.

Colum swallowed hard, imagining these two pulling his clothes off, their fingers brushing against his skin, stroking him.It had been hard as hell to hold on earlier because Annie and Xavier had found every single one of his buttons and they hadn’t just pressed them.No, they’d beat on them like it was a Whac-a-Mole game with money on the line.

“Go on,” Colum urged.He’d become a huge fan of Xavier’s dirty talk.“What else?”

Xavier’s grip on his neck tightened.Colum wasn’t sure what it was that made that touch so fucking sexy, but his dick had responded to it instantly, his jeans far too tight for the erection that had sprouted.

“Then I’m going to drop to my knees and take that thick cock of yours into my mouth,” Xavier said.“I’m going to swallow it, suck on it so hard, your knees will buckle.”

“Fuck his mouth like you fucked mine,” Annie urged.

“Christ almighty,” Colum murmured.