Davies, Corinne - Steam-Driven Seduction [Steampunked Lust 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

His own father had turned into a raging drunk after losing everything their family held dear in order to pay off his gambling debts. Julien wasn’t that weak. While he’d suffered, he eventually pulled himself out of his self-imposed mourning and put his life back in order. Miguel had listened for news regarding Julien. No one knew of his marriage or desertion by Kassandra, and anyone who did kept it quiet. Kassandra had become a legend of her own with her single-minded obsession with destroying the slave dens. She’d partnered with the crew of the
Apollo
enough times that Miguel had believed she, Liam, and Tristan were bonding into a relationship.

His own obsession had grown as he followed her. He’d planned on infiltrating one den to rescue two men who he believed knew the secrets of alchemy. If they were to break and tell the New World government, there was no telling what damage that information could have. The New World’s strict aversion to technology didn’t encompass alchemy, as it was considered an ancient art and well within their rights to control.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you brood.” Julien strode into the room and made his way to him. Miguel enjoyed the sight of his lover’s kilt swirling around his legs. He liked that with a simple flick of his wrist Julien’s ass could be bared for pleasure. Despite the sated feeling that infused every cell in his body, Miguel’s cock still twitched in appreciation.

“Merely wondering what the future will bring.”

Julien’s eyebrow twitched, and he poured two glasses of brandy and brought one over to him. “I’ve no talent for seeing into the future.” He gripped Miguel by the back of his neck. The light caress of his lips was a surprise as Miguel expected to be plundered. It was one of the things he truly loved about Julien. Rarely could he predict what the man would do.

“Should I apologize for what happened?” Miguel knew that he took a risk in driving the intensity of their encounter. “I couldn’t resist her.”

“I’m not about to judge you for something I myself cannot do. If you hadn’t plunged your cock into her, I would’ve told you to.” Julien sipped at his glass. “I owe you a debt again. You took a chance and it paid off.”

Miguel knew what Julien was referring to was Kass’s fear of the whip. “I could tell by her reaction that something happened in here.” He nodded toward the left wall. “It folds back?”

Julien nodded and Miguel strode over to indulge his curiosity. It only took a moment to find the depression in the wall. The panel squealed for a moment before sliding out of the way and a cross rolled forward. “So that’s why she refused to look over here.”

“She didn’t know. How could I ask her to accept a whip when up to the point when I met her, a whip had been used as a symbol of torture? She’s seen men whipped to death.”

“She carries one.” Miguel remembered seeing the long coil attached to her hip at an auction where she’d been masquerading as a buyer in order to plan an attack.

Julien gave him an incredulous look. “Pardon me?”

“I’m not surprised really. To her a whip must be a symbol to be feared. When she acts the part of evil, to her wearing a whip would instill fear.”

Julien downed the rest of the amber liquid in his glass and then made his way over to a bed of cushions on the floor. “I was instructing a friend on how to bring his partner to pleasure at the end of a tail.”

“Seeing you wielding a whip destroyed how she’d viewed you up to that point.” Miguel stroked his hand over the wood grain. Despite the length of time that had gone by, Julien kept his belongings in good working order. The wood had been oiled and polished, and the hooks were clean and gleaming.

“I’m not completely certain what she saw, other than I suspect she saw Shelby peak. Darien was using the whip on him, but I had one in my hand as well, showing him.”

“It is also possible that she saw her husband pleasuring another man she knew nothing about. How much of her sense of betrayal came from that and not simply the whip?”

Julien rubbed his forehead. It was obvious the man had never considered that possibility. “Kassandra is an incredibly intelligent woman with an irrational fear.”

“But she is also a passionate woman who would might have misunderstood what she saw and believed you betrayed her.”

“You and Yzabeau have a talent for making me feel like a bumbling moron. She was the one who pointed out some rather obvious flaws in my decisions with Kassandra.”

“Yzabeau?” Miguel was curious about a woman who’d managed to get Julien to swallow his pride and go after Kass.

“She’s gathered information for me in the past and recently has been claimed by Liam and Tristan of the
Apollo
.”

Miguel nodded. He’d watched the three of them not long ago while he was looking for Kassandra but at the time hadn’t known their names. He’d known there’d been a possibility she’d passed the information he wanted to her friends, but after close observation he doubted it. Kassandra had disappeared for a few weeks, and he suspected that she collected the information for Gilbert and Devon Horton. Both men had gone into hiding or, more likely, collected additional information from a separate place.

“I didn’t only come here to see you.” Miguel had weighed the situation and decided that he didn’t want any misconceptions complicating the fragile bond the three of them had created tonight.

“I thought you came here to kill me?” Julien strode over, capturing one of Miguel’s hands. He lifted it to the binder high on the cross. Miguel flexed his arm and prevented him from raising it any further. They stared at each other for a moment. Julien’s gaze was level but not void of emotions. In a way, Julien showed almost as much emotion in his eyes as Kass did, but he was more subtle.

“That’s what they think.” He relaxed his arm and let Julien lift it up, but instead of locking his wrist in the binder, Julien let him grip it with his fingers. Miguel quietly watched as Julien lifted his other arm and gripped the second binder on the other side.

“And what will they do when they discover that you have double-crossed them?” Julien stroked his hand down Miguel’s cheek and then neck. He traced along his collarbone and ran his finger down the neckline, pulling at the laces that held his shirt together.

“No doubt try to kill me in some overly dramatic and shabbily organized attempt to save face.” Miguel attempted a dramatic sigh, but it was much more heartfelt when it escaped his lips. He loved feeling Julien’s hands on his skin.

“Why else did you come here, Miguel de la Vega?” Julien opened Miguel’s shirt and ran his hands over his chest. His fingers twirled around one nipple and Miguel felt his cock twitch and lengthen.

“I was following Kassandra. I believe that she has information that Espa
ñ
a’s government wants.”

“How close did you get to her?” Julien whispered the words in his ear. He understood what he wanted to know.

“I’ve stood over her as she slept.” Miguel confessed exactly how much danger Kass had allowed herself to be in. “She is very careful,” he added.

“But, not careful enough if someone had decided she needed to die.”

“She lives her life with certain arrogance, as if she never truly understands how much danger she is in.” Miguel turned his face and tried to capture Julien’s lips, but the man moved far enough away to stop him. “Or she doesn’t truly understand how much pain those who love her would feel if she died.”

Julien slid his hands along either side of Miguel’s jaw. “What’s she carrying?”

“There’s a rumor of men who practice alchemy. Two men who were rescued from a slave den by Kass.”

Julien rocked his hip against Miguel’s groin. He could feel the length of Julien’s cock behind the layers of material and craved the sensation of their bare rods sliding together.

“And what do you think she has?”

“I know she obtained some information for them. I don’t know the specifics but I also know that Dubrova had men following her.”

Miguel felt his pants slip to the floor, and he kicked them off. Standing there bared for Julien’s pleasure while Julien remained dressed was a dark, seductive force. Miguel didn’t bend for many, but he and Julien had created something special in the short time they’d been together. Miguel never stopped wanting him, and it broke his heart to walk away from him.

Julien wrapped his hand around Miguel’s cock, stroking his fingers down the length and then swiping his thumb over the tip, flicking the silver ring with his thumb. The extra sensation from the ring made Miguel jerk his hips, pressing his cock harder against Julien’s hand. He desperately wanted to feel more friction. He wanted to feel Julien’s cock spearing deep into his ass.

Julien gripped the cheeks of his bottom and pulled them apart, enough that he could tease the puckered entrance to his ass. A shiver darted through him, raising the hair on his arms and up the back of his neck. Julien kissed him while rubbing the covered length of his cock against Miguel’s bare one. His finger gently pressed against the entrance of his ass in the same rhythm. “Where are your loyalties, Miguel?” Julien bit him on the chin and then licked away the sting. “Who do you stand behind?”

“I’ll stand in front of you and Kass,” Miguel answered from his heart. He would show his support by standing in front of those he knew he cared about. He’d been in love with Julien since the day they met. Watching Kass and then interacting with her tonight sealed his heart with her, too. He couldn’t betray them any more than he could offer their heads up to Dubrova.

“I suspect that Dubrova’s been selling information to anyone willing to pay his price.”

“Let me worry about that. Turn around.”

Miguel did as Julien asked. Facing the cross, he lifted his hands and gripped the binders there. For the first time in his entire life he wondered what they would feel like. Could he enjoy himself knowing that he couldn’t escape?

“I’m not locking you in tonight, Miguel.”

Miguel could hear the soft sounds of clothes dropping to the floor behind him and then felt Julien’s hands on him again. The binders became loose in his hand and he pulled them down a few inches.

“Bend over for me, Miguel. But don’t let go of the binders. You let go and I’ll stop.”

Now he understood why Julien lengthened the chain. He bent over. The fact that he had Kass do the exact same thing earlier wasn’t lost on him. Anticipation clawed at his throat and made his heart beat faster.

A moment later he felt Julien’s breath at his hole, then a damp swipe that had his cock throbbing. Julien swirled his tongue around Miguel’s back entrance. Light little flicks and then long swipes from his balls to his tailbone. Never had anyone done this for him. It was a level of intimacy and trust that Miguel didn’t know he had in him until now.

“Oh, blessed virgin.” Miguel pressed back as Julien flicked his tongue over his puckered skin. He poked his entrance for a moment and then retreated. A second later Miguel felt him press a slick finger into his hole.

“A little something to make this easier.” The finger retreated then returned with more slick, slipping in and out with ease. Julien pressed a second finger in and Miguel panted. “I’m not stretching you too much, Miguel. I remember you like a bit of bite when you’re being fucked.”

Oh god, I do.
Miguel felt his cock lurch and for a second feared he wouldn’t last. He looked down and saw a pearl rise up from the tip. Julien’s hand reached around and he swiped it off with his thumb.

“Mmm, one day I’ll fuck you like this and we’ll have Kass suck your cock at the same time.” Julien licked his thumb off as he pumped the fingers from his other hand into Miguel’s ass.

“Yes, please, Señor.” Miguel groaned when Julien removed his fingers. He felt the loss immediately and leaned back against him, looking for his touch. A thick, blunt object pressed against his opening, and Miguel gasped. He didn’t remember Julien being this big, and his cock throbbed in anticipation

Julien was right. Miguel loved the bite that came with being stretched out by a thick cock and then fucked properly. His ass felt like it was on fire, being relentlessly stretched by Julien’s invasion.