Page 5 of Apricity (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse)

Alessandra

“How do you even pronounce this name?” Hawk lifts the book he’s reading and holds it outstretched over me towards Jax. He takes a look at it and pronounces the name phonetically.

“ Vay- gah-tor-uh.” Jax pauses after, his eyes darting to the ceiling and around the room for a second before nodding and repeating his pronunciation. “Yup, that’s it.”

“Oh, that’s just bullshit. It’s not even spelled with any letters a sane person would think to use to make that name.

What’s with freaking fantasy novels having the weirdest fucking names?

How am I supposed to enjoy the book if I spend an entire half an hour just learning how to pronounce one name let alone the fifty others they just introduced in the first damn chapter?

” Hawk waves the book around aggressively before slumping back onto the pillows next to me in a huff of frustration.

“I swear, for books this intricate, character guides should be mandatory… just saying.” He ends his rant by growling menacingly at the literary culprit – as if that’ll fix the problem - before relenting and continuing to read where he left off.

I smile and return my eyes to the sentence just above where my finger is pressed. After dinner, we all washed up and decided to end the night cuddling in our regular dog pile and read until we fell asleep.

The candles the guys placed all over definitely help illuminate the room, allowing us to see the pages, but I can already feel my eyes begin to droop. The heaviness pulls at my lids as the wicks’ flames dance around the room, lulling me to sleep.

Before I drift off, however, I reach a rather interesting scene in my book and force myself to stay… the fuck… awake. I’ve been waiting for this scene since we fell into bed and I’m not about to let drowsiness ruin my fun.

It’s not a why-choose romance like I’ve been reading, but a male/female sex club mafia romance.

The male main character just put the female protagonist into wrist restraints and is fastening her to a St. Andrews Cross, effectively immobilizing her arms and upper body so he can explore her to whatever extent he so chooses.

And now I’m awake… Jeez it’s hot in here…

I’ve never thought about being restrained but now that the idea is right there in black and white, I can’t help but imagine the guys doing that to me . And now that Cole has brought up the idea of divulging our deepest, darkest fantasies, I’m even more curious.

Turning to Jax on my right, I point to the excerpt. “We should try this someday,” I whisper. Jax takes a peek at what I’m referring to, his eyebrows meeting his hairline at what he sees.

Cole notices Jax’s reaction from the foot of the bed and perks up, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

He lifts himself onto all fours and crawls up my legs and chest, letting his entire body weight fall onto me as he captures the book to read the page for himself. “Oh… we can definitely do this.”

At Cole’s words, Hawk throws his book across the room, earning him an audible gasp from me at his recklessness with such a treasure.

He goes onto his knees, waving his hands in front of him in a gimme motion just before Cole turns and places the book into his anxious hands.

I don’t think his eyes could bug out of his skull anymore if he tried, but he regains control of his composure before nodding.

“Oh yeah. Let’s do this. We’ve gotta have some shit here, right?

Right ?” He looks pointedly at Jax who gets up to go find whatever it is they’re talking about.

I try to watch him as he leaves but Cole, still lying on top of me, captures my face in his hands, pulling my attention to him. “You sure you want to do this?”

My head dips, slightly hesitant but curious, before I answer. “Yes. I want to try.”

His lips tilt into a smirk as he lifts his body from mine.

Bracing himself on his one forearm, his other hand drifts down my chest, my side, my hip and ultimately falls over my pussy.

He doesn’t touch where I crave him most, however, just hovers over the area teasingly.

“Got this beautiful pussy all hot and bothered just by reading about it, huh? I bet if Hawk touched you right now, you’d be soaked. Isn’t that right, gorgeous?”

My eyes automatically turn in Hawk’s direction, capturing his lust-filled gaze as he turns his towards my desperately soaked pussy, joining Cole’s locked stare-off with my most intimate of areas.

That book had me in a chokehold and I’m about to be the lucky girl that gets to reap the rewards of having three virile men to take care of me immediately after reading a spicy scene.

Hawk lifts his hand and reaches towards my legs.

I’m still only wearing a t-shirt and panties but the panties might as well not even be there for the lack of help they are at concealing my arousal.

Maneuvering around Cole’s, he dips his fingers in between my thighs and groans deeply before pulling them free, showcasing his glistening digits to Cole.

“Fuck yes,” Cole says on an exhale just before he grabs Hawk’s hand, taking his fingers into his mouth and sucking them clean of me.

Hawk’s face matches mine as my arousal skyrockets at the act, a wanton moan leaving my lips as Cole smirks at us both.

“Better get used to that, beautiful. Keep this up and I’ll gladly lick your juices off of every surface imaginable.

” He leans in to my ear. “ Every surface imaginable ….”

“Holy fuck…,” Hawk and I whimper at the same time at Cole’s promise just before he rids me of my oversized shirt, tossing it onto the floor.

After speaking about his limited lack of boundaries, my head starts spinning with possibilities while my pussy contracts in on itself, begging to be filled immediately.

“Got it! Will paracord work? ”

All three of us turn our heads as Jax returns from the cupboard across the room with a few bundles of long red rope tied in a figure eight. He holds them up, oblivious as to what had just happened.

“Normally no, our 550-width wouldn’t since it’s so thin it could hurt her, but this stuff is bigger, thicker.

Should do just fine.” Cole takes one, unravels the length and pulls on a section, making it taut a couple of times before he nods to himself and continues to prep some sort of knot with one end.

He takes my hand and guides it above me, softly kissing the inside of my wrist before securing it in the rope and then the rope to the bed frame.

When he finishes, his gaze returns, staring deeply into mine before speaking softly. “Still ok?”

I nod but Cole immediately starts to shake his head. “Words from here on out, precious. I’m serious. We need to know everything in that brain of yours in order to be safe. So, when we ask, you answer with your voice not your body unless we indicate otherwise. Yes?”

I nod again, unable to stop the movement, but make sure to abide by his request. “Yes. I’m ok.”

Cole smiles softly at my response. While I was originally overexcited, anxious and admittedly nervous about this new endeavor, even though I was the one who suggested it, his slow movements and caressing voice has helped to calm me down significantly.

He’s preparing me for this. Making sure I know he’ll keep me safe.

That I can trust him, Hawk and Jax. That I’m ready for what he has in store for me.

I’m so fucking ready.

“Before we continue, you need a safe-word, just in case you feel any sort of pain or discomfort. Whatever the case may be. Even if you decide this isn’t for you and just want to stop. Even if it’s in the middle of everything. You have the power here, not us, despite what it may look like.”

I let out a stuttered breath. “Ok. How do I choose?”

“Let’s just keep it simple for now and go with the traffic light system,” Cole suggests.

Hawk and Jax move closer on the bed and listen as he explains.

“If we ask you how you’re doing, status check, whatever, there are three options for you to choose from that will indicate where you are mentally and physically for us.

Green means good to go, continue, don’t stop.

Yellow is for when you’re overwhelmed, need a break, for us to slow down or if you might not like what we’re doing and need to reevaluate.

Red is an all-out stop. Hands off. Done.

Whatever the fuck we’re doing will immediately come to a halt, the ropes will be removed and we will stop for the time being.

Only these three answers will be acknowledged when we ask for a check-in.

” He pauses, taking in each of our reactions to the safe-words.

They seem easy enough to remember. I think even in my most blissed-out state I could probably remember those, but Cole beats me to that thought as well.

“Now, no need to worry if you forget or are unable to voice the words. I’ll be assessing you the entire time from this moment forward.

Physically, mentally, all of it. If anything seems off or if it looks like you’re trying to push through when you’ve actually reached your limit, I’ll call it for you. ”

“Damn, he’s fucking thorough, this one. Covering all the bases. ”

“Aiming for a homerun here, beautiful,” Cole replies with a smirk before continuing. “Everything sound good?” He looks around at the three of us, prompting us to answer overlappingly.

“Yes.”

“All good here.”

“Fuck me, who in the hell are you?!” Hawk exclaims before catching himself. “I mean, shit, yup. Good to go.” He salutes him while side-eyeing Jax as if to say, 'W here the fuck has he been hiding this shit?! '

Cole smiles victoriously but with a hint of mischief. He drifts his eyes down my partially restrained body before saying, “Alright, let the games begin.”