Page 9 of The Devil’s Bargain (A Devil to Die for #3)

Titus didn’t like feeling inadequate. It wasn’t a common sensation he experienced, and he found it made him irritable. The hope had been that assigning Calix to the department would garner some leads, but weeks into the job, Cal constantly returned home more sullen than the day before.

He should have known the police wouldn’t be able to do something Titus himself couldn’t, and yet…Bruce had meant something to his little monster, had filled a role impossible for Titus to ever step into.

He wanted him to have closure.

Wanted them to find the culprit and finally put the whole ordeal behind them.

Selfishly, he didn’t like the fact that Calix wasted time and energy on someone else, that he gave so much thought to another man. Even one who’d acted as a father figure.

Titus wanted everything, everything that was Calix Valimir, and he wouldn’t settle for less.

Which meant finding whoever had dared murder Bruce and making them suffer.

He’d—

“What’s wrong?” Aodhan appeared behind him, settling his body tightly against his back. He dropped his head to Titus’s shoulder and nuzzled against him, a sure sign he was sleepy.

“Did I wake you?” Titus rested one of his hands over the doctor’s where it clung to his waist, chuckling when that caused his Second to cling to him even more tightly.

“You’re upset,” Aodhan replied softly, exhaling against the side of his neck before planting an almost chaste kiss there. “What’s wrong, Mercy? Tell me. Who do I have to kill to get you to come back to bed? It’s our day off.”

“That’s just it,” he sighed, feeling Aodhan’s prickle of confusion through the bond at his words.

“We promised our Third we’d find the one responsible for Bruce’s murder.

” But there were no new leads. It was as though whoever had committed the crime was made out of smoke. “I don’t know who to kill.”

“Is that what this is about? Calix understands. He knows we’re trying.”

“That’s not good enough. We promised—”

“He’s already our Third,” Aodhan cut him off. “He’s already part of our Pod. If discovering this murderer and presenting his head on a gilded platter were part of the deal, he would have made sure to say as much before he allowed us to complete the bond. You’re overthinking things, Mercy. Relax.”

The doctor pulled back just enough to settle his hands over the rise of Titus’s shoulders, massaging him even as he pressed his lower half against Titus’s ass.

Aodhan was horny. He was always horny.

Titus would have rolled his eyes if that were the sort of thing he frequently did. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, little killer. We both know your ass is still sore from last night when I tore through that tight hole of yours.”

“Did you have to make me bleed?” Aodhan grumbled. “You know that’s not my thing.”

“Only if it’s someone else who’s bleeding,” he agreed. “Cal was curious. You heard him.”

“He was joking .”

“Was he?” He partly had been, but Titus had been too caught up in the moment, too eager to please their Third to pause over nuances.

Besides, as much as he complained after the fact, during the act itself, Aodhan had been every bit as into it as he had been.

“Should I apply more sun cream? Will that make it better?”

“If you touch me right now, I’ll just get hard.” Aodhan clicked his tongue when Titus snorted pointedly. “Okay, I’ll get even harder.” He stepped back. “And unfortunately, you’re right, as per usual. I don’t think I can go another round this morning. But later?”

“What’s later?” Calix stopped beneath the threshold leading into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.

“Breakfast,” Titus announced, turning away from the sink where he’d been sightlessly staring out the window before Aodhan’s arrival. “What do you feel like?”

“Eggs and toast,” Cal replied, moving to take his seat at the table.

“Basic.” Aodhan dropped down on the chair across from his. “How about we mix it up and have pancakes today, Be’urn? Our First makes phenomenal pancakes.”

Calix rested his chin in his palm and yawned. “Whatever.”

“Someone is getting a bit too comfortable,” Titus teased, and when Cal’s eyes immediately snapped in his direction, and he grinned. “Erase that hopeful look, Detective. No sex until after breakfast.”

Calix scowled but didn’t verbally argue, not that he needed to; they could feel his displeasure zap through the connection loud and clear.

“You were fucked pretty thoroughly last night,” Aodhan stated. “Getting kind of greedy.”

“Only one of us got to bleed,” he pouted.

“Want me to fix that?”

“Enough,” Titus scolded, bringing over two filled mugs of coffee. He set the one with less cream in front of his doctor, and the one with more in front of Calix, giving them both a stern look in the process. “I said none of that.”

Aodhan crossed his arms. “You’re no fun.”

“Say that again tonight when I order Calix to blow you while you ride me.” Titus could picture it now, his Second’s flushed face…the tears flowing down his Third’s cheeks as he was forced to suck down as much cock as he could take…

Well.

Now Aodhan wasn’t the only one hard in the kitchen.

“What are your plans today?” Aodhan changed the subject, directing the comment to Calix. He must have sensed Titus was close to breaking his own rule about no sex before breakfast and didn’t want to risk his already bruised entrance.

“There are a couple of cases I need to take a look at,” Calix said. “Nothing too crazy. I should be able to get to the bottom of at least one or two of them, so long as I focus and work throughout—”

“Be at the hospital by noon,” Titus interrupted, knowing where he was going with that. Ignoring the glare that earned him, he turned to the refrigerator and began collecting the ingredients he’d need.

“I’ve been there every day this month,” Calix complained. “I can’t keep slipping away like this. Someone is going to notice and—”

“And?” He quirked a brow.

The detective huffed. “Are you trying to get me fired? Why bother letting me take the job if you were just going to—”

“Quit while you’re ahead, Be’urn,” Aodhan warned him lightly, winking in the process.

Cal rolled his eyes, but dropped it.

For all of a minute.

“Controlling bastard,” he muttered under his breath, just loud enough to be heard in the otherwise quiet kitchen.

Titus paused.

Aodhan let out a low whistle.

“I refuse to reward bad behavior,” Titus stated.

“Then you should probably punish me instead.” Calix had the audacity to affix a sultry pout on his face, as though he hadn’t been attempting to rile Titus up this entire time with punishment in mind.

“Our Second wants pancakes,” he reminded.

Cal shrugged. “So make him pancakes.”

“Oh no, I think it’s past time you learn how to do it the way our delectable doctor likes.” Titus held out a hand, smirking when Calix hesitated. “I’m going to instruct you how to make it, and you aren’t allowed to spill a single ingredient, or we start from the beginning again.”

“What’s…the catch?”

Titus tugged him out of his seat. “You’re going to do it with my cock buried inside of you.”