Marrying Mari (29 page)

Emotion swamped him, making his eyes sting. “Never anyone else,” he vowed. And thrust.

She kissed him and purred. Her sheath rippled around his cock.

He thrust again and pulled all the way out, moving aside for Ethan. Ethan played the tip of his cock against her clit, teased it through the wetness of her slit, and she moaned, rolling her hips restlessly. Ethan leaned forward and pumped into her, teasing her again with short pulses until she grasped his forearms. “Take me.” The words weren’t out of her mouth before he did, stroking inside her hard and fast.

Ethan groaned and looked down at where they were joined, where Mari’s soft tissue was stretched around the base of his thick, hard cock. He pulled out a few inches, and her pussy clung to him. He snarled in pleasure and stroked in again.

Like Gabriel, he held himself off her by stiff arms. He found himself watching her face, her glowing eyes, her rosy lips, the flush on her cheeks as he moved in her and over her. A swirling wave of emotion swept through him, tenderness, desire, need, protection and a fierce sense of claiming. He drove in to the hilt and paused, like Gabriel.

“Mate,” he vowed, his voice deep and rough. “Mine.”

Mari smiled and stared at him from under thick lashes. “Mine,” she said. “All mine.” She swept her hands up his back and down again, to dig her nails into his firm backside.

Gabriel tapped her cheek. When she turned her head, he held his cock against her lips. “Suck me, sugar, with that sweet mouth. Suck me while Ethan fucks you. Make us both come with that sexy body.”

She opened her mouth and he pushed into the wet cavern. She immediately closed her lips on him and sucked hard. His head fell back. “I’m going to push in more. Suck hard. Tongue me.”

Mari shivered at the dark excitement in Gabriel’s voice. Ethan’s cock was pumping harder in her pussy, and the combination of both men fucking her, loving her swamped her senses. She sucked eagerly at Gabriel’s hard flesh. Ethan took one of her hands in his, twining their fingers together. He held them against their joined flesh, and she moaned, feeling his heat and her honey, his hard cock wet from her, the power of his thrusts and the gentleness of his touch.

Both men drove into her in rhythm, and she undulated with them, aware of nothing but her mates and their joining.

Exploding up her spine, her orgasm broke over her, taking both men with her. Gabriel first, pulsing in her mouth, stroking her jaw and crooning nonsense. He pulled out of her mouth and fell back on his heels, gasping for breath.

She looked at Ethan and he was staring at her. His eyes were cobalt. She rocked against him and cried out his name. He thrust, one last time and froze. He could feel the emotion and orgasm break at one time, in the small of his back and shuddering through his body. He cupped her face and focused on her gorgeous silvery eyes. “Yours,” he growled. “All yours.” And with that, he came with a roar, harder than he had ever done, burying himself in the soft folds of the flesh that were made for him.

He collapsed on top of her. Her small hands clutched him close. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear and held him, even when he tried to move so he wouldn’t crush her.

“I love you,” he said against her neck. “God, I love you.” He rested in her embrace.

A few minutes later, when they were slightly recovered and re-settled in the bed, Mari between them with her head on Gabriel’s shoulder and her hand in Ethan’s. The leaner man was stretched out along her side, playing with her fingers and quieter than usual.

Ethan spoke, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “Will you put this back on?”

She turned her head, and it was the triad ring, their ring she had left behind that morning.

Without speaking, she held out her hand. He slipped the ring on her finger and kissed it. She caressed his face. There was the wetness of tears around his eyes. “Ethan?” she asked.

He smiled up at her, his lashes spiky. “It’s okay. It’s all right now.” He snuggled up beside her, laying his head on her breast, kissing the soft rise of flesh.

She laughed and looked up at Gabriel, whose eyes seemed to be permanently glowing gold.

“Happy?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “So very happy.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Three days later, Ethan walked into his office after a long meeting. Checking his watch he considered. There was time to call Mari, make plans for dinner at Insatiable or dancing at Crave. He smiled. Life was good. The three of them had spent the last few days talking about everything and anything. They’d also made love. Crazy, satisfying, out of control love. Maybe they should just stay home instead of going out. The thought made him grin.

Until he saw his brother relaxing on a couch in the sitting area. A coffee tray, untouched, was in front of him with a carafe and two cups. Ethan glanced at his PA, who had followed him into the office.

“Mr. Stone said it was urgent,” she replied blandly, in response to his look. “He didn’t want to wait in the outer area. I got him coffee. Decaf,” she added under her breath.

Ethan smiled. “Thanks, Amanda.”

She left and he shut the door behind her. Studied Tony as he crossed his office to join his little brother. Took his time sitting comfortably. Pouring himself a cup of coffee he didn’t want.

His brother sat hunched over, jiggling his leg, fidgeting. He was dressed in a light blue polo shirt, khakis and a jacket, not what Ethan would consider work clothing. He’d obviously already drunk at least one cup of Amanda’s decaf. He glanced at Ethan, then away.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Ethan glanced at his watch again.

“All right, what’s going on?”

His brother leaned forward. “Are you really going to mate with that girl, that Mariella?”

Ethan paused, studied Tony again. He suddenly had a gut feeling that something was very wrong, but his voice was calm as he said, “Yes, I really am. Gabriel too. The three of us in triad. Is that a problem for you?”

The younger man pushed up off the sofa and turned away, staring out across the city. “No. Not for me.”

Ethan sighed impatiently. “I don’t have time to play games.”

“Just give me a minute, okay.” Tony held up a hand. “The thing is I think it might be a problem for Mom.”

Grimacing, Ethan pushed up and headed for his desk. He began sorting through the phone messages of the last hour. Impatiently he stated, “Mother’s fine with Mari. You saw her last week, Saturday night. Everything was fine.”

Tony looked increasingly uncomfortable. “The thing is that I heard her Saturday night too. She was talking to someone and she said, she called Mari an outsider.” He turned back and looked at Ethan, unhappily.

Ethan frowned. “Talking to who? What did you hear?”

Tony hunched his shoulder, looked away. “I wanted to apologize for being late. I looked for her. She was in one of those alcoves, you know. Over by the windows.” He paused, looked away.

“And?”

“She was talking to Gabriel’s mother and another woman, Jackie Rawlings’s mom. And Mr. Chase. I thought I’d catch her with them because then, y’know, she wouldn’t give me such a hard time.”

Ethan settled back in his chair. He studied his brother, who looked miserable. He thought about his recent conversations with Allison. His voice was gentle when he spoke. “What did she say?”

“She didn’t see me because she had her back turned, but I am certain she said Mariella was an outsider and that you couldn’t mate with her. That it would ruin your agreement with the Trustees. That Mari would ruin your life. And Chase said that he and Dad would stop it.” The younger man wiped his hands over his face. “I didn’t know what to do. She didn’t sound like Mom at all, she sounded more like Gabe’s mother.” Tony sat down, his hands hanging loosely between his knees. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t find you.”

Ethan considered. Gabriel had told him about the night at Crave and Irene had told him on the phone about the episode with Jackie at the Founder’s Ball. Ethan had a feeling Jackie had gotten her bigoted ideas from her mother, but if Tony had heard correctly, Mrs. Rawlings was being influenced by Angelica and his own mother. And his father was working with Chase to contest their petition to the Board. That couldn’t be right, he thought. Betty must have misunderstood his mother’s meaning. Tony must have misheard or misunderstood.

But when he looked at his brother, Ethan knew what he had said was the exact truth.

“The thing is,” Tony went on tiredly, “Mr. Chase called this morning. And then she went out in the car. I should have told you all this before.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ethan said. “You’re here now. This can’t be easy.”

Tony kept shaking his head. “I’m freaked out. She and Dad are tense. I’ve never seen them like this. She’s even got Peter doing stuff for her. I’ve run into him twice in the house in the last week, in such a hurry to leave he barely said hello.”

“When? And doing what?” Ethan asked, forcing his voice to be casual. But the hair on his neck stood up and his gut churned.

“Last Friday was the second time. But I don’t know what he was doing. I ran into him coming out the front door when I came home from work. You know he hates Gabe, don’t you? He told me that once, when he’d been drinking. The thing is I’ve been so mad at you, being the perfect son and all. But being with Mari made you look so happy, you and Gabe both. Happier than I’ve ever seen you. I was glad, at first, when I thought Mom was ruining it, but then I realized that I liked seeing you happy. Go figure.”

The phone rang, and Tony jerked. “You’d better take that, I guess.” He moved toward the door, but Ethan stood and stopped him. Hugged him.

“Thanks. I mean that.”

“No problem. When I find the right woman you can tell her what a great guy I am, contrary to evidence.” His brother grinned. The phone stopped ringing, and Amanda popped her head in, looking anxious.

“Mr. Pryor, Donovan Chase is here and says he has to see you right away.”

Ethan frowned.

“Bro-ther!”

Ethan realized Tony and Amanda were looking at him in surprise. “What?”

His brother’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t realize you just growled? Like a tiger? Like a really, really pissed tiger?” He stepped back, hands up. “Wow. Your eyes just went nuclear. I’m going before I catch any of the shrapnel from the bomb that’s going off.”

Ethan smiled grimly at them. “Good-bye, then. Amanda, show Mr. Chase in.”

“Come on, Ms. PA,” Ethan’s brother hustled the startled Amanda out the door. “Do you have any real coffee around here?” Ethan heard him say right before his visitor entered.

“Ah, Donovan. What can I do for you?” Ethan sat behind his desk and smiled like a predator staring at a big meal.

Mari lay on the sofa working on the laptop. She had taken the afternoon off to focus on the possibility of schooling—what would she need to do if she did want to complete her undergraduate degree and go on to medical school?

When the doorbell rang, she glanced toward the kitchen where Mrs. W was cooking. The bell rang again, insistently, and she frowned. No one should be able to get up to the apartment without being announced, but no one had been announced. She got to her feet and headed for the front door.

Mrs. W came out of the kitchen as she passed, wiping her hands on her apron.

“Would you call downstairs and see what’s going on, please? Ask them how someone got up here without calling.” The older woman nodded and headed back toward the kitchen as Mari glanced through the peephole. “Wait.” she shook her head. “Don’t bother, I know how she got up here.” Taking a deep breath, Mari unlatched and pulled open the door. “Mama.”

The petite, middle-aged woman on the other side of the door stared at her. Anna Worth Amorini’s hair was also curly, but a mid-brown shot with gray. She wore a coat and carried, as always, a shoulder bag.

Mari stepped back, her heart beating too fast. She smiled, despite that. “Mama, come in.”

“Is this where you live now?” her mother asked.

“Yes. Please come in.” Mari waited as Anna stepped in to the foyer, looked around. She wished she was wearing something other than jeans, bare feet and one of Ethan’s blue-striped banker’s shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Her mother studied the marble floors, graceful staircase and chandelier.

She closed the door and stood, hands in pockets. “How are you?”

Her mother suddenly slapped her hard across the face.

“Mama!”

“Whore. Concubine.” Her mother stuck her hand in her pocket. She stood trembling with anger.

Mrs. W started forward, and Mari said, “No. It’s all right. Could you make us some tea, please? We’ll be in the back.” Mari held up a hand toward her mother, who bristled. She gestured toward the rear of the apartment. “This way.” Her mother turned and marched away. “We’ll be fine,” Mari said to the housekeeper. “Just tea.”

Drawing in a deep breath, she headed after her mother.

Ethan’s cell beeped. He glanced at the display, then held up a finger to the man sitting huddled in his chair on the other side of the desk in his office. “A moment.” He tapped a button. “Yes, Mrs. Watson?” He stared coldly at Donovan Chase as his housekeeper said, “Miss Mari’s mother just arrived. Slapped her face and called her your concubine. I think you’d better come home.” She hung up abruptly.