Boston Avant-Garde 4: Encore (23 page)

“Where’s Les?” Suri set her portable music stand at the proper height and adjusted her chair.

“She’s running late.” Niles rubbed his bow with a cake of jade rosin. “Something about staying up until the guys got home from a late-night business meeting.”

Considering Leslie’s night shouldn’t have been much later than Suri’s, she wondered how much Seth and Joshua had told Leslie about their eleventh-hour negotiation.

“So.” Niles put the rosin away. “Should I keep calling you Jen, or is there something else you’d rather go by?”

There was no judgment in his gaze. Of all her friends, Niles was the most easygoing. He seemed to be a master of rolling with the punches. Being both gay and the father of a little boy, he’d seen and heard it all.

“My name is Suri Jennifer O’Callaghan.” The words were accompanied by a fierce feeling of satisfaction. “And I prefer Suri to anything else.”

“Then Suri it is.” Niles tested the tension in his bow. “It’s prettier anyway.”

“Thanks, Niles.” She meant it. A lot.

Leslie came striding up with her violin case in hand. “Sorry, guys. Totally unprofessional, I know.”

Niles gave her a cheeky grin. “Don’t worry. I’m keeping track for the next time I want to sleep in on a Sunday.”

Normally, Leslie would have jumped on him for that kind of comment. Today she ignored it. “Jen—Suri—can I talk to you?”

Suri felt blindsided. “Sure, I guess. Do we really have time to do this now?”

“It’ll only take a second. I promise.” Leslie grabbed Suri’s hand and dragged her several steps away until they were tucked into a particularly large copse of ferns on the perimeter of the room. “Seth and Joshua told me what happened last night.”

Suri had conflicting feelings about that. “I didn’t have anything to do with what happened.”

“I know. But Seth pointed out that I was making snap judgments about two people I don’t even know.” Leslie fidgeted with a lock of her long red hair, pushing it behind her ear.

“Yes, you were.” And not even this little speech could make things go back to the way they were. Suri didn’t like being judged. Not by anyone. Especially not by someone who was supposed to be her friend.

“I’m sorry. I had no right to say the things that I did. You were always willing to listen to me when I was going through this with Seth and Josh.”

“I know Dante and Jericho don’t look as clean-cut as your boyfriends.” Suri wished she could make Leslie understand. “But I’m safe with them. And they’re good to me.”

“And that’s good enough for me. I promise.” Leslie pursed her lips, and Suri knew she was trying to decide if she should say more or just leave it be. “I just—I want you to think really seriously before settling into anything permanent. It isn’t an easy lifestyle choice.”

She knew Leslie was right. “I know it can’t be easy, but is it worth it?”

“More and more everyday.” Leslie gave her a quick hug. “We should get tuned so we can start before the guests arrive.”

Suri’s brain settled into the familiar activity, but her thoughts were far from Mrs. Carter-MacPherson’s conservatory. Waking up next to Dante and Jericho had been the perfect way to start her day, even when she’d had no desire to get up. Feeling them beside her was a delicious reminder of the things they had shared the night before. But after meeting Flaherty at the Triptych, she’d never get another chance to repeat her perfect morning. It would all fall apart once they found out she’d agreed to meet Flaherty behind their backs. The reasons she’d done it wouldn’t matter. Breaking faith with men like them would destroy any chance for a future together.

* * * *

Jericho came awake with a start. He stretched out on his back, getting his bearings. Beside him, Dante still slept. Suri had left earlier to play an engagement with her trio. The room was quiet. A blanket of stillness covered Asylum in the familiar patterns of daylight. It should have been the same as it was every morning. By nine o’clock, the customers were gone, the graveyard shift had left, and the morning shift had yet to come in. Jericho and Dante were alone.

Fumbling for the slacks he’d left in a heap beside the bed, Jericho found his phone and checked the time. Normally he’d be sleeping on his cot in the unused office on the second floor by now. He almost never got more than four or five hours at a stretch.

“Did Suri leave?” Dante’s voice was rough with sleep.

“Over an hour ago.”

He rolled to his side. His tangled dark hair covered most of his face. “It’s a good thing I have you to watch my back.”

“Why is that?” Jericho couldn’t resist the urge to smooth Dante’s hair from his face.

“Because I sleep so soundly someone could sneak in here and murder me in the night.”

Touching Dante wasn’t like touching Suri, though it was equally pleasurable. “The only one who is going to kill you is me.”

“Nice. I should fire you for insubordination.”

Jericho didn’t bother pointing out that Dante couldn’t really fire him at all. Their work relationship was just as complicated as their personal one at this point. “If you fire me, I’ll have to sue you for sexual harassment.”

Dante’s dark eyes snapped open. “Is that right?”

Despite the lighthearted tone of their conversation, Jericho found himself becoming aroused. Blood thrummed in his veins, and his cock thickened and grew hard. Dante was as naked as he was. It wasn’t going to take long for him to see what was going on.

“Sexual harassment implies an unwilling element.” Dante’s hand moved under the covers. He gripped Jericho’s shaft, giving the hard length a tug. “And you just never seem that unwilling to me.”

Unwilling? How could he be unwilling when his body longed for Dante’s just as it did for Suri’s? Was it even right for them to pleasure each other when she wasn’t present? What were the rules for this type of relationship?

Dante seemed to guess the direction of his thoughts. “She wouldn’t mind, you know.” He leaned closer and brushed his lips across Jericho’s. “In fact, I think she’s going to be disappointed she didn’t get to watch.”

Jericho’s breath began coming in short gasps. His skin was on fire with the desire to be stroked. He watched Dante prop himself on one elbow. Beneath the thin sheet covering his body, Jericho could see his lover’s firm cock bouncing against his belly.

“You know”—Dante ran his palm across Jericho’s stomach—“your body is really incredible. Even before I was comfortable telling you, I knew it.”

Every touch was agony, but Jericho didn’t want it to stop. Dante traced the veins where they snaked below the surface of Jericho’s skin. He fingered the grooves on either side of Jericho’s belly, trailing them until they disappeared in the thatch of hair at his groin. Dante caressed his hip, letting his hand slide lower until it was only inches away from Jericho’s hard cock.

“You aren’t the first man I’ve been with,” Dante murmured. “But with you, its not just sex for the sake of sex. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else.”

Jericho touched Dante’s cheek. Something about his lover’s words made him want to lay everything on the line. “I love you. I think I have since not long after we met. I just never realized how I loved you until Suri came into the picture and shook things up.”

Dante lowered his head and kissed Jericho’s belly just below his navel. Jericho hissed, his cock leaping with anticipation. When Dante finally ran his lips down the shaft and tongued the hole at the tip, Jericho groaned with satisfaction. It wasn’t enough, but it felt damn good.

“I’ve never put much stock in love.” Dante cupped Jericho’s sac. “But what we have has never fallen within normal limits. Adding Suri sent it even farther beyond, into something almost perfect. I love you too.”

When Dante took the head of Jericho’s cock into his mouth, Jericho thought he might die of pleasure. Dante’s tongue swirled circles at the tip. He dipped lower, swallowing the length until Jericho felt his dick bump the back of his lover’s throat. The wet, rhythmic sucking made his toes curl in ecstasy.

Climax began to uncurl in Jericho’s belly. He ground his teeth and forced his body back under control, but he couldn’t stand against Dante’s clever mouth. Jericho’s hips thrust involuntarily as he drew closer to release. Precum spilled from the tip of his cock onto Dante’s tongue. Dante rubbed against the head of Jericho’s cock in quick laps that had Jericho panting with the effort of holding back.

Dante pulled back and placed a teasing kiss on the tip. “Let it go. Come in my mouth. I want to taste your seed, Jericho.”

The words sent Jericho over the edge. He convulsed, his hips thrusting upward as he stabbed his hands into Dante’s hair to hold his head still. He fucked Dante’s mouth, his cock spewing a thick stream of semen into his lover’s mouth.

When the storm subsided, Jericho’s chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He released Dante’s hair and stroked its softness.

“You taste incredible.” Dante gave the tip of Jericho’s cock one last lick, making him shiver.

Jericho cast a glance at Dante’s crotch. “And you’re still hard.”

“You know what would really turn me on?” Dante’s dark gaze glinted with erotic intent. “You watching me bring myself to orgasm.”

“I only get to watch?”

Dante’s chuckle was laced with lust and promise. Jericho drank in the sight of his lover pushing aside the covers to bare his muscled body. Dante was absolutely beautiful. His body was lean and long, his shoulders just a bit broader than Jericho’s, and his cock thick and hard.

Jericho watched Dante’s hand close around his shaft. But it wasn’t enough to be a spectator. Jericho reached up and fondled Dante’s hard nipples. His lover groaned, jerking beneath the attention. Moving from his chest to his abdomen, Jericho caressed the hard planes and rugged grooves of his lover’s chest and stomach.

Dante increased his pace. His cock turned a deep hue of purple. The head gleamed as it leaked precum. Unable to resist, Jericho leaned down and tasted it with the tip of his tongue.

Dante’s groan accompanied another spurt of the sweet fluid. Jericho lapped it up. Using his tongue, he delved into the hole. Dante’s movements became jerky, desperate. His balls clenched tightly underneath his cock. Jericho cupped them in one palm, carefully kneading them.

Dante was approaching the edge. Jericho could feel the desire spiraling out of control. He wanted what Dante had taken from him. He wanted to feel his lover come in his mouth, to feel the spray of semen against his tongue before he swallowed it down.

Tugging Dante’s hands away from his cock, Jericho took it whole. Dante shouted something in Arabic and grabbed Jericho’s head. Jericho sucked hard, making long thrusts that mimicked the deep penetration of Suri’s pussy. He thought of their beautiful female counterpart, of her willingness to help them explore their attraction to one another. Jericho wished she were there. He wanted to show her their passion and feel hers in return.

“Fuck. I’m coming.” Dante arched his back and pushed into Jericho’s throat.

Hot semen pulsed from Dante’s cock. It bathed Jericho’s tongue in his lover’s essence. He swallowed instinctively, sucking harder to get every drop. When the last drop had passed his lips, Jericho rolled to his back and sighed.

“All these years.” Dante reached over and caressed Jericho’s chest. “We’ve been missing out on this.”

Jericho thought it over, knowing it wasn’t entirely true. “It wouldn’t have worked.”

“I know.”

Suri’s sweet, feminine curves completed them in a way they could never manage by themselves. Jericho missed her. “It’s never done until we’ve shared it with her.”

“I know. Which is why I want so badly to know what it is she’s holding back.”

“I’m looking for Malachi.” Suri tried to sound confident and sexy. Unfortunately her voice came out sounding slightly strangled instead.

“Is that right?” The guy slouching against the back wall didn’t even bother to stand upright and acknowledge her.

The club’s front entrance was a block away in an old two-story brownstone. She’d already tried that, but Triptych was like Asylum—no one got in unless they were on the list. When she’d asked to talk to Malachi, the bouncer at the front door had sent her around back. Now this guy looked as if he thought she was one card short of a full deck.

A shot of anxiety made Suri almost light-headed. As much as she wished she could just turn and walk away, she could never allow Flaherty to betray Dante’s identity to his enemies. They’d come after Dante, and Jericho would step in to back up his friend and lover. It would mean the death of both her men. She couldn’t allow them to be hurt when she could stop it.

“I guess I’ll just tell Congressman Flaherty that you wouldn’t let his entertainment in the club.” Suri injected her words with forced cheer.

The door guy pushed away from the wall. Suri took a step back. His aura screamed subjugation. Jericho always held a hint of malice when dealing with customers, as if he was waiting for them to lose his good opinion. This guy’s attitude said you’d never had his good opinion to begin with.

He was at least six feet two and lean with a sleek, pantherlike build. He was wearing black leather pants, heavy boots, and a white long-sleeved thermal shirt open at the collar. The part of his chest visible in the V of his shirt was muscular. With his stoic expression, sunglasses, and shoulder-length dark hair, he looked as forbidding as the gatekeeper to hell.

Which was sort of how Suri viewed him.

“You’re the woman meeting Flaherty tonight?” He raked her body with his gaze. At least she thought he did. It was hard to tell with the dark glasses. “You dance at Asylum?”

She stiffened, drawing the lapels of her long black coat a little closer around her skimpy minidress. Just because she didn’t look like a sleazy over-the-hill stripper didn’t mean she was a choirgirl. “That’s me. Are you Malachi?”

He ignored her question. “Does your daddy know you’re doing this? Or did he leave you with an abandonment complex?”

“Does your probation officer know you’re doing this, or has he given up on any efforts at rehabilitation?”