Page 28 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

‘Yes. No.’ She frowns. ‘You put so much effort in, you should…get to.’

He smiles a little. ‘You never owe me for anything, Tulip, and I loved doing that. Feeling you pulse around me as you came was amazing.’

He kisses the inside of her knee. ‘I’m not going to do it now. I want to. Don’t get me wrong, but you’re going to be sore after that.’

She looks equal parts relieved and disappointed.

‘Soon,’ he promises. ‘The first time for us isn’t going to be in a basement sex dungeon.’

He moves away, leaving Blake between her legs, his eyes shining.

He stops the vibe and eases the toy out of her ass.

We unstrap her and take her legs down. Blake pulls her slowly up to sit on the table, holding her as she sways a little.

‘My turn.’

He picks her up, wrapping her legs around him and moving to the couch where he sits down.

She straddles him.

‘I’m going to fuck your ass,’ he says. ‘But if it’s too much after that, you have to tell me, okay?’

She nods. ‘I want you to.’

He kisses her fiercely. ‘How did we get so lucky?’

She shrugs and he smiles at her. ‘Relax. Your body will want to tense but try not to let it. You’re already open from the plug.’

Daisy nods and I stay close, hovering just in case Blake forgets to be careful. But in truth I’ve never seen him so thoughtful, so aware of a girl’s pleasure before.

He holds her up over him and lets gravity do the work, impaling her slowly. She grips him tightly, her breathing stuttering, tears coming to her eyes.

He stops, letting her adjust and kissing her tears away.

‘Keep going,’ she says after a moment, wiggling her ass a bit and making him groan something unintelligible.

‘I’m sorry I’m hurting you,’ he whispers. ‘But you feel so good. Do you feel the stretch in that tight little ass?’

She nods, her eyes closed. She presses her forehead to his.

‘Give me the pink one,’ he says to no one in particular.

I grab it from the bag, and he turns it on, reaching down to press it to her clit.

The sound she makes goes straight to my dick, making it harden again.

‘Roll your hips a little. Take my cock deep in that ass. It’ll feel so good,’ Blake groans.

She whimpers and nods. I see her muscles relax and she sinks with a soft cry.

‘Fuck,’ he snarls, but makes no move to thrust.

He waits until she makes an impatient sound, one he clearly knew was coming if the shit eating grin he gives me is anything to go by.

‘I’m already close,’ he murmurs to her. ‘It’s not going to take much. Are you too?’

At her nod, he picks her up and thrusts into her, making her squeal. He puts the vibe up to the highest setting and, when her back bows, he pushes into her, pulling down at the same time, bottoming out in her ass and throwing his head back with a roar.

Watching them is one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen, I decide right then and there, and when I see Mav’s face, his expression mirrors my sentiments absolutely.

Blake comes down, looking dazed, but then a steely determination takes over his features and I tense, ready to step in if I’m needed.

‘Another one,’ he murmurs, keeping the vibe pressed to her flesh. ‘Give me another one, gorgeous.’

Her body shudders and she pushes at his chest.

‘I can’t!’ she cries, her eyes opening and staring into his when he doesn’t let her go. ‘ Red .’

His eyes widen and he pulls the toy away from her quicker than I can act. He pulls her off him carefully and turns, easing her down on the couch.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says breathlessly.

‘No,’ he breathes, leaning over her and kissing her cheek. ‘I’m sorry. I should have stopped. And never say sorry for using your safewords. Never, my perfect, beautiful little whore.’

‘Okay.’

‘Promise me. Promise me that no matter what, even if you think we’ll be disappointed, you’ll never be sorry.’

‘I promise,’ she whispers, and I see him relax, his eyes closing as he lets out a long breath.

‘I love you,’ he says.

The three words he utters aren’t whispered. He says them so that she can hear them, so that we all can.

I feel my mouth drop open. I wasn’t sure Blake was capable of such a thing a few weeks ago. Maybe he wasn’t before Daisy, but he’s serious. He means those three words to his core.

She stares at him, and, with a shaky hand, she cups his face. She doesn’t say it back, but he doesn’t seem upset by that.

‘I wanted you to know,’ he says, and I know he’s not just telling her that, he’s telling Mav and I as well.

Mav steps forward, putting a hand on Blake’s shoulder. He barely acknowledges it, but he doesn’t shy away either.

‘How are you feeling?’ Mav asks, sounding a little concerned.

She smiles, her hand dropping away to fall to the couch like she doesn’t have the strength to keep it up.

‘Good. Sore.’ She frowns. ‘Wet. Sticky. A little cold.’

‘Shower?’ I ask and she yawns but gives me a tiny nod.

Mav winks at her and disappears. I hear the small shower start a moment later.

‘Do you want a little privacy?’ I ask.

Blake begins to move away, but her hand flies out to stop him.

‘Can you help me?’ she asks him.

He nods and stands, pulling her up to her feet. Her legs shake a little and she grabs the back of the couch to steady herself, so he picks her up, holding her close and murmuring something into her ear that makes her relax against him.

‘Come on, gorgeous,’ he says and takes her to the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

I sink down to the couch.

‘Fuck,’ I whisper.

Mav sits next to me. ‘Fuck is right.’

He side-eyes me. ‘She’s… I’ve never…’ He puts his face in his hands. ‘She’s special. I know people say that about the people they care about, but, fuck. She has me in a chokehold. A fantastic fucking chokehold. Blake too.’

I nod. ‘And me. She always has. From the moment I saw her, I knew it. Deep down I knew I was hers. Even though I didn’t understand back then.’

‘Do you think she’ll ever feel the same about all of us?’

I lean back, resting my head on the back of the couch as I think of how she told me she loved me. ‘I think she already does. Maybe she just isn’t sure how to say everything she feels.’

‘Maybe she doesn’t need to,’ he murmurs.

We sit in silence until we hear the shower stop running and, a moment later, Blake comes out with a towel around his waist.

Daisy follows, looking exhausted, her eyes drooping.

‘Need to check the lab,’ she says.

‘I’ll do it,’ Mav offers, but she shakes her head.

‘No. I trust you, but I’d like to see for myself.’

He nods and she shuffles out. Mav follows closely, leaving Blake and I alone.

My friend looks at me with a wary expression and I grin at him.

‘Took you by surprise, huh?’

He looks startled and then barks a small laugh.

‘Yeah,’ he says, running his hands through his dark hair, making it flop over his forehead a little. ‘I guess it did.’

‘You aren’t the only one,’ I murmur, crossing the room to the small door we always keep locked.

He frowns when I grab my phone to unlock it. ‘We aren’t sleeping in the office?’

I shake my head. ‘The couch is uncomfortable as hell.’

Looking dubious, he walks over. ‘I don’t think she’s gonna want to sleep in there.’

A beep sounds as the door unlocks.

‘No? Take a look,’ I say.

Eyeing me, he brushes past and opens the door, letting out a sound of surprise.

‘When did you do this?’

I grin and walk in, taking in the plush, grey carpet, the light, freshly painted walls and, most importantly, the huge bed.

‘How the hell did you get that in here?’ he mutters, gesturing to the heavy dark wooden bed.

‘They had to build it in here,’ I say.

I hear a noise behind me and find Daisy in the doorway. She’s looking around at the room with a blank face.

‘You don’t like it?’

She looks around. ‘It’s not that, but,’ she eyes the bed, ‘it’s just…isn’t this a sex room? Um…How many people have, uh, you know, used that bed?’

I put up my hands. I’d forgotten she’s never been in here, so she has no idea what it was like before I had it decorated.

‘This room was just for storage until yesterday,’ I assure her. ‘The bed is brand new. No one’s ever even slept on it, cross my heart.’

She moves into the room slowly, taking it in. ‘I can smell the paint,’ she murmurs, turning to me. ‘You did this?’

I nod. ‘Well, I mean I paid some guys I trust not to blab that it exists.’

‘Why?’

‘We’ll be here a lot. You’ll be spending nights here. I wanted you to be comfortable. Safe.’

A smile plays on her lips as she looks over her shoulder at the door that matches the other ones down here. ‘Are you intending on locking me in?’

I’d love to.

I chuckle, taking her hands. ‘No, I’m not going to lock you down here. You’ll have complete control over the door on the app, same as the others. I suggest that we keep it locked when we aren’t here though. Don’t want any of the VIPs thinking this is part of the deal when they use the Dark Lounge.’

‘What if the power goes out?’ she asks.

‘There’s a backup generator in one of the tunnels,’ I say, ‘but in the unlikely event of it failing as well, all the doors will unlock automatically. You won’t get stuck down here if that’s what you’re worried about.’

She looks a little relieved.

‘What are you guys doing in the stor—’ Mav stops short when he sees what I’ve been up to, even though I told him about it yesterday.

‘Fuck,’ he mutters. ‘This does look different. How long did it take?’

‘Not long. They finished this afternoon, actually. Don’t touch the walls. They might still be tacky.’

Peering around the room, his eyes land on the matching bureau. ‘There’s even drawers,’ he says, looking impressed.

He sits on the massive bed and bounces on it a little. ‘We all gonna cozy up together?’ he asks, quirking a brow.

I smile at him, spreading my arms wide. ‘If Daisy wants us all here with her, I don’t have a problem with slumber parties.’

Blake sniggers.

‘We can all sleep in here together?’ Daisy asks.

‘That was the idea. You seem to like us with you so long as you have enough space to sleep, so I made it happen.’

‘You did this for me?’

She looks momentarily gobsmacked.

‘Of course. The couch in the office is awful. You can’t sleep on that every time you’re making Envy. Plus, you can barely hear the club from in here, so the noise won’t keep you up.’

‘Are we sleeping here tonight?’

She sounds excited.

‘If you want to,’ I say, ‘Or we could always?—’

But she’s already dropping the towel and pulling the thick dark grey comforter back.

She gets into bed and starts to lay back. ‘Oh, is there an extra towel?’

Mav grins, holding up the clean hand towel in his hand and she lets out a small carefree laugh.

He puts it on the middle pillow for her and she lays back, moving her hair onto it.

‘Well, I think I have my answer.’

I take off my shirt and jeans so I’m just in my boxers and see that the others have done the same. I take the left and she scoots closer to me, kissing me on the cheek.

‘I have class tomorrow, but after, maybe we could go to where Mom…’

‘I’d like that,’ I murmur, a lone finger trailing down her cheek. ‘And there’s the box Stevens gave me. It’s in my room at the KIP house. I keep forgetting about it. We should go through it.’

She nods.

‘Thanks for this,’ she says. ‘It’s very nice. I wasn’t looking forward to the couch in the office after today.’

She closes her eyes, and I watch as her entire body sinks down, my heart doing a weird flip as I observe her.

I did this. I made her feel safe after a horrible day.

‘I’m glad you like it,’ I murmur.

But she’s already asleep.

I’m vaguely aware of the other guys getting in bed on the other side. I guess they’re used to this since they’ve been trying to share with Daisy for weeks now. They probably won’t be at all weirded out if they wake up in each other’s arms after Daisy gets up to mess around in the lab.

I watch her for a long time.

‘Snuck up on you too?’ Blake whispers.

I shake my head, huffing out a laugh as I settle down next to her and turn off the lights.

I trace the small daisy tattoo on my chest almost absently.

‘Nope, I’ve always loved this girl.’