Ménage Material [La Belle sans la Bete Ménages] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (43 page)

He seemed so much happier now. So much more at ease.

She knew that was because their relationship was now a fixed part of all their lives. He didn’t have to run himself ragged between the business and his two lovers. With Alex starting to move in, and still bitching about it, they were all on the brink of being under the same roof, and Devvy knew how much that put Bastien at ease.

At heart, Bastien was a protector. An old-fashioned man who provided for his loved ones. When he couldn’t protect or provide, he felt impotent. And while she knew there was still some strain, because neither of them had told Alex they knew about his past, it was different now. Almost as though the knowledge of why Alex was the way he was, what made him tick, enabled Bastien to relax.

She could understand that.

Alex wasn’t an easy man, outside of the bedroom, that was. At the same time, he was loveable. Charming, amusing, honest. He could be quieter than a church mouse, and then be the noisiest when he was happy.

His quirks were a part of his nature, and she knew Bastien had always accepted them but never really understood his lover. It had hurt him that Alex always tried to put distance between them, either by asking for time-outs or by refusing to live with him. In a way, it was that that had hurt Bastien the most, she thought.

His traditional soul had quivered with the pain of not being trusted by a man so important to him, and while his love had been strong enough to push all that to the side, it hadn’t been enough to soothe the ache.

Devvy could only imagine how hard it must have been for Sebastien. For twenty years, not understanding why Alex pushed him away, but enduring it because he loved him. As painful as their discovery had been, finding out why Alex was the way he was, what had happened to him to make him this way, had been illuminating.

That sounded like a positive reaction, and when dealing with the aftermath of Alex’s childhood, positivity was hardly the case. However, just knowing the answers made it easier to accept the oddities in their lover. It made it easier to adapt to him, to mold themselves to protect him.

That his mother wasn’t rotting away in a jail cell burned a hole in her stomach lining every time she thought about it. Bastien and she had made the decision to keep quiet about Alex’s past, preferring to let him settle, to let him come to them with the truth, if he ever decided to do that, anyway. He’d spent too large a part of his life out of control. They decided to hand him the mantle of power, even if he was unaware of it.

The problem with secrecy was the fact she couldn’t tell him his mother
had
known what her partner had done to him. She’d tossed and turned before making her decision to keep quiet, preferring to leave his secrets well alone. In the future, she might regret it, but as Bastien agreed with her, she felt a little more at ease.

Devvy would admit that she only felt comfortable hiding Antoinette’s part in her son’s abuse because of her admission she’d been the one blackmailing them. The police had found more evidence to prove this was the case in her apartment, and her role of blackmailer had ensured that Alex had cut all ties with her.

He
had
paid for her legal team, and he’d done his best to ensure she’d have the lightest sentence possible. Combined with a certificate of diminished responsibility, Antoinette was currently serving a suspended sentence while she underwent psychiatric treatment.

As horrible as it made her feel, Devvy knew and rejoiced in the fact that Antoinette’s biggest punishment was not seeing Alex.

Only the fact that he was no longer in contact with his mother made her feel in any way happy with the situation. If he’d remained in touch with her, Devvy would have had to tell him of his mother’s awareness of his abuse.

She couldn’t have stood for him to keep on communicating with the fucked-up bitch.

As it was, she could rest easily. Knowing he was safe and away from the toxicity that was his mother.

To society, it was the woman who was the weak partner. She needed the strength of a man to give her a backbone. But in their relationship, Alex was the weakest. There was no shame in that, but it was the truth. He needed them, and he didn’t exactly know why or what to do with them. They just had to be there. They had to love him, protect and care for him.

It sounded like a selfless role undertaken for a selfish man. But Alex was anything but selfish. He gave of himself without even realizing it. He boosted and lifted their lives, because he flourished in their care.

Being with these two men had made her realize how strong she was. She might still be shy, and hardly the most confident woman on the planet. She might not be the most beautiful or the sexiest. But she was needed. And she was loved. What else mattered?

Suzette was the only parent at ease with their ménage. Her mother refused to speak to her, something that was a blessing in disguise, and Devvy’s father had also cast her out. Henri, Bastien’s papa, was totally perplexed, but on the whole, forgiving.

In a way, they’d created an exile of their own making, and she’d never felt happier. Or freer.

A smile had her lips twitching as she watched Alex hovering at the doorway that led onto the terrace.

He hadn’t moved in. Yet.

More and more of his stuff was appearing in one of the spare rooms. A room he’d demanded so he could have his own space, which had subsequently remained unused because he always slept with them.

It was still a nightmare trying to get him out of the penthouse, and he was stubbornly refusing to speak to a new psychiatrist, insisting he was happy with the one he had.

A few days ago, she’d actually jerked him off in the elevator, then told him she’d let him come in the limo waiting outside, just to get him over here.

The power throbbing through her as she’d made that statement had made her feel like electricity. He’d let her take the lead, submitting to her care. With his broken sighs in her ears as she rubbed the head of his shaft, enticing the cum out of him, only to grab his balls and gently twist, she’d manipulated him out of the elevator.

He’d been here four days now. Every step was like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in one go, but it was worth it.

She tapped the window and watched Bastien’s head jerk up. She pointed behind him, nodding her head to urge him to look behind him. Squinting at her, he turned around and, seeing Alex stood behind the French doors, jumped out of his seat.

Devvy watched the silent movie unraveling before her. The two of them were talking, normally at first. As she watched, Alex started to glare at Bastien, then shot a glare over at her. She didn’t know if he could see her, but she grinned, just in case he could. His scowl deepened, so she reasoned he’d spotted her amusement and almost as though that was the trigger, he stalked outside.

For a second, he looked as though he regretted the move. Then, as the peace of the garden settled on his shoulders, as the tweeting of birds and the calmness of the serene yard overcame him, she watched as he took in a huge breath and started to relax.

She was a long way away from fucking him in her herb garden. He was far too fraught to even tease. She knew because she’d tried! His lack of a hard-on, considering he was like a jack-in-the-box for most of the time, told her of his stress even out here in the peaceful surroundings of their enclosed land.

Time would ease this particular wound. And she’d help, too.

Bastien had enabled Alex to get worse. He’d let him do what he pleased, when. It had been out of love, as well as helplessness, so she could understand why he’d acted the way he had. Not that she’d allow it to continue. Devvy was intent on dragging Alex out of his comfort zone, and, inadvertently, had found another aspect of her nature.

When Alex finally took a seat, looking like he’d sat down on a bunch of hot coals and could leap off any second, she turned around, content for the moment that he was outside with Bastien, and returned to the concoction she was brewing. Thanks to Alex, the anti-acne soap was complete and she was working on the final trial product.

One night, while Sebastien fucked her and Alex ate her pussy, alternatively licking Bastien’s shaft and slurping up her juices, the answer had come to her.

The teeniest, weeniest addition of olive oil.

Okay, it was weird to come up with the solution to her dry-skin problem mid-coitus. The thought had just popped into her head, and then slowly popped out again, when Alex had sucked on her clit.

The memory made her smile, and tingle.

That was the beauty of being with two men, especially two men who weren’t afraid to touch one another. Nothing was taboo. Everything was an experiment, and if it created pleasure, then it was all to the good.

Devvy had discovered a naughty streak in her nature, something that had led Alex to nickname her “Dirty Devina.” The alliteration, according to him, was too delicious to ignore.

When he called her that, she just rolled her eyes at him.

But inside, she soared.

Why?

Because of these two guys, she
was
dirty. She’d been liberated from a lifetime of boredom between the sheets by meeting Alex and Bastien. She’d avoided being humped away at by a scientist as geeky as herself, lights out, curtains closed, and under the covers, all the while accepting the fact she’d never experience an orgasm because there was something wrong with her. It couldn’t possibly be the guy’s fault, right?

They’d saved her from that.

She’d teased Alex when she’d told him that in the photo, from the magazine interview that had started all of this, she’d been pissed off at having to change so many times for the photographer. A part of her wondered if her yearning for something more, something better than what she’d always known, had burned brightly in her eyes.

He’d interpreted it as a promise.

She thought of it as silently pleading for someone to drag her out of herself, to help her experience a life outside of the lab. To experience love and acceptance with no repercussions.

They’d done that for her.

As Tiesto’s song went, “If you close your eyes, it’s a beautiful world.”

For Devvy, eyes open or closed, her world truly was beautiful. It wouldn’t be perfect, and with Alex there would always be a few bumps in the road, but to her it was a dream come true.

Thanks to her two men, and the life they’d given her, the doors of opportunity they’d opened, and the love so deep she could drown in it and still breathe, Devvy Jacques realized she was the luckiest botanist in the whole world.

THE END

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Serena Akeroyd is a romanceaholic. She won’t touch a book unless she knows there’s a happy ever after at the end of it. Pathetic as it may be, because of this addiction, Serena decided to craft her own tales, stories that suit her voracious need for raunchy romance. After all, a love story ain’t a lurve story without a bit of raunch!

A citizen of the world, Serena is a nomad at heart, and her novels enable her to travel the globe and all behind her computer desk. Naturally, she’d prefer the option of a private jet, but still, if wishes were horses, eh?

Always feel free to connect with Serena, she’d love to chat with her readers, as well as fellow raunch addicts!
 

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