Dark Devotions by Nichole Greene
22
OLIVIA
Maria hada chef come prepare us an authentic Costa Rican meal of chicken and pork with rice, beans, and plantain. There is a huge bowl of fresh papaya, melon, and pineapple left for dessert on the table. After the last server leaves and Maria heads back down to her house, we all decide to spend the evening in the pool.
Watching the guys play football and volleyball this afternoon was the best way to spend a beach day. Nolan and all his tattoos glistening with sweat. Grant was impressively fast with his lean build. Sawyer and Lake with their insanely muscled bodies look like they were born to walk tropical beaches everyday of their lives.
I had almost forgotten how easily they slip into being a unit. The depth of knowledge they have of each other is a beautiful thing. Especially watching them team up against each other to play sports. They switched partners between football and volleyball. They can communicate with one another through simple gestures and looks. It’s amazing to watch.
I cut through the still, warm water of the pool over to the edge where Sawyer and Nolan are talking. Grant and Lake are sitting in lounge chairs talking quietly, probably about what our next steps should be to get my money back from Tripp.
“Hey beautiful.” Sawyer pulls me over for a kiss.
“My turn.” I’m pulled from Sawyer’s arms into Nolan’s, who gives me a much dirtier kiss including grabbing my ass. “Did I tell you how hot you look in this bikini?”
“Once or twice,” I say with a giggle. They all complimented me today, with both their lingering heated looks and their kind words. “What are you guys talking about?”
“I forgot as soon as you swam over here,” Nolan answers with a mischievous grin.
“You are very distracting,” Sawyer says as he sandwiches me between them. “Now all I can think about is how much I want to untie this bikini and taste every inch of you.” His fingertips slide under the cups of my top, circling my nipples gently.
I tighten the hold my legs have around Nolan’s hips, rubbing my already aching core along his hard length. He bends down and kisses my neck, nipping and then licking the sting away from my collarbone to my jaw. Sawyer continues to tease me with his fingers until I’m practically mewling between them. I hear the splash of water as Lake and Grant both join us in the pool.
“Liv,” Grant says from a few feet away. “Take your top off.”
I glance over at him, my hands already moving to the string around my neck. I don’t understand why it’s so easy to do what he tells me to, but I’m not going to question it tonight. I’m not going to question anything tonight. I reach behind my back, allowing Sawyer’s chest to keep me braced above the water, and pull the tie free.
A low sound comes from deep within Nolan’s chest as my nipples pebble in the cool evening air. He bends down and takes one into his mouth, laving his hot tongue over the cool peak. I arch my back giving him better access and turning my head to take Sawyer’s lips with my own. His hand moves down my belly to where I’m pressed against Nolan’s cock. He strokes between us, along my slit and the bottom of Nolan’s dick causing both of us to tremble with desire.
“Nolan, Sawyer, stop. Put her on the side of the pool,” Grant orders. Sawyer releases me, but Nolan’s features harden. I know he’s not used to giving up control from the way he’s been with Lake and Sawyer.
“Please?” I set my palm over his beating heart. “Grant needs this. He won’t participate in any other way.”
“Only for you, Livvy, would I ever take orders from another man like this.”
I give him a sweet kiss as he carries me to the edge and sets me on it. No worries cross my mind as Grant walks through the water, stopping in front of me. He pulls each tie off my hips and tosses the bottoms on the decking behind me.
“Spread those beautiful thighs for us, Liv. Show us everything that belongs to us.” Grant’s voice has taken that deeply possessive tone again. His hand cups me firmly. “This cunt belongs to us.” He slides a finger inside me. “We’re the only ones who see it.” Another finger slides in. “We’re the only ones who taste it.” A third finger joins, stretching me. “We’re the only ones who feel it.” He drives his fingers in and out torturously slow. “We are the only ones who worship and destroy it.” I’m so wet that the sounds of my desire fill the night air. “Ours.” He presses on my g-spot, sending me shooting into an intense and unexpected orgasm.
I stare into his eyes as I come riding his fingers. When the final tremors subside, he withdraws them and sucks my juices from them before kissing me. Tasting myself on his tongue is so incredibly erotic, especially with three sets of hungry eyes watching us.
“Sawyer,” Grant calls over his shoulder, “come clean Liv up.”
Less than a second later Sawyer is between my thighs, he runs his nose along my dripping core, inhaling the scent of my orgasm. Then he spreads me with his thumbs, parting my folds as he licks me with the flat of his tongue all the way from my pussy to my clit. Back and forth with increasing pace until he’s licked my juices clean then he sucks my clit into his mouth, sending me into the height of another climax.
My fingers dive into his thick, wavy chestnut hair holding him close as his tongue and his lips send me into the throes of pleasure. I know we make a lewd picture, me completely nude and bare with him licking and sucking me through a second orgasm. Grant is sitting on the edge of the pool, stroking his magnificent cock while he watches us. My hair has come undone and hangs in loose waves down my back, and my heart is beating so hard I can almost see it in my chest.
Sawyer lifts himself out of the water and kisses me. Just like with Grant, tasting myself on him is the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. Nolan and Lake both exit the pool and walk me over to one of the oversized lounge chairs. Lake strips and lays down first, pulling me on top of him. I lean down and kiss him, letting him tease me with the tip of his cock.
Sawyer grabs my hair and pulls my head back, his cock is hard and right by my lips. I shift so I can take him in my mouth, moaning at how hard and delicious he tastes. I hollow my cheeks around him, taking him deep into my throat as his hand tangles in my hair. He holds my head still while he pumps his hips back and forth, using my mouth to get off like I used his.
I gasp around him when Lake thrusts inside me, Sawyer pulls out of my mouth and moves behind me, seconds later coming in warm spurts over my ass. He collapses beside us on the chair, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he comes down from his orgasm. I don’t have time to appreciate his beauty before Nolan is at my back. Readying me to take his cock, he grabs a bottle of aloe, covering me and himself with it. He slides in slowly, giving me time to adjust to having both of them fully inside me. Just like on the plane they each start with slow, synchronized thrusts. My fingers dig into Lake’s pecs as they speed up. My orgasm comes barreling through me like a hurricane. I cry out in ecstasy, feeling like I’m levitating between them. I feel both of them pulse inside me, coating me with their cum. We collapse in a pile of sweaty limbs, all three of our hearts racing and beating so loud I can hear each one.
A minute later Grant comes out of the house with four warm wash cloths. Nolan slides out of me and immediately falls onto his back on the lounger beside Lake. Grant drops a cloth on each of the guys but pulls me off their laps and sets me into his. He gently cleans me, making sure not to press hard as I lean bonelessly against him.
I must fall asleep because I hear Grant murmuring to someone about taking me inside. I feel cool sheets against my skin before I’m nestled between two hot, hard bodies. I fall asleep feeling safe, desired, and fulfilled.
* * *
The next morning, I find myself frowning in the middle of an empty bed. I know at least two of the guys were in here with me. I look around until my eyes land on Grant’s suitcase in the corner. I must be in his room. The floors are warm beneath my feet as I stand, looking around for a discarded shirt or anything to cover up with. I open a drawer, finding perfectly folded boxers and undershirts, and slip one of each on.
The morning sun is shining through the window in the bathroom, so I skip the light. My hair is a knotted mess, but my skin is glowing. There is a bit of pink on the apples of my cheeks and the bridge of my nose, bringing out the slight freckles there, but the rest of my skin has the beginnings of a golden tan. When I study myself in the mirror, even though I look a bit of a mess, I’m happy. There’s a light to my eyes that I forgot I could have.
My heart expands in my chest, filling me with warmth and love for the four men who have fulfilled every promise they ever made to me. They want this: our weird, messy, situation-ship. They want me.
For the first time in forever, I feel like I’m enough. A tiny bud of hope takes root inside me and begins to bloom. Maybe we can make this work. Maybe I’m worthy of this level of happiness. With that optimism taking hold of me, I put my hair back up in a messy bun and head downstairs to find my guys.
Mine.
They’re all sitting around the table with serious looks on their faces when I get down to them. Nolan has two computers running in front of him. Lake is looking through security feeds on his laptop. Sawyer is on a tablet reading a document with tiny text. Grant is texting back and forth at a quick pace with someone. None of them notice me immediately when I walk in.
“Good morning,” I say hesitantly.
Four heads turn in my direction, their expressions all warming when they see me. Lake is the closest to me, and he reaches over to pull me into his lap. I grab the carafe of coffee and the empty mug beside it, filling my cup and adding some cream and sugar.
“You guys are serious today.” I take my first sip, moaning with pleasure at how good it tastes and then turning red at the lascivious look Nolan sends me. “What’s going on?”
“We’re getting ready to set our trap for Tripp.” Grant’s voice is icy and calm. “We just can’t figure out how to lure him to where we need him to be.”
“I’m kind of an expert on how his mind works. Explain what you’re planning to me, and I’ll see if I can help.”
“Are you sure?” Sawyer looks up at me. “Every single part of this plan is illegal. We could get caught, and if so, you would have to testify against us and possibly face charges yourself. If we don’t tell you, you’re safe.”
“I want in. Your criminal lives don’t scare me, nor do they make me doubt my involvement with you. I just looked in the mirror and felt hope for the first time in years. I felt like I belonged. I am yours, and you are mine. From here on out complete transparency. You guys go down, I go down.”
I give each of them a meaningful look, and then after a minute of silent discussion, they nod at me.
“First things first,” Lake starts by pointing to his screen, “I’ve been watching the movement around LA and San Diego much closer. I put one of my West Coast teams on this, and they’ve found irrefutable intel that Tripp is trafficking women into the US, as well as drugs and weapons. He has a variety of fronts, from a coffee shop, to a chain of nail salons and a med-spa. He’s even selling guns out of an indie bookstore.”
Bile rises in my throat thinking about how truly evil he is. To be the face and mind behind a charity against human trafficking but be doing it yourself is the definition of depraved. Guilt washes over me, realizing how naive I was with him. How I just handed control of my life and assets over to him believing all the lies he sold me.
“I’ve been working on a way to drain his accounts and get your money back, Livvy.” Nolan’s voice pulls me out of the spiral of shame I’ve begun to descend down. “I’ve been skimming money off all his accounts for the past few weeks and depositing it into an offshore account for you. Once we have him where we want him, I will finish the transfer of funds. I can give you all his money, which you undoubtedly deserve after everything he put you through.”
“No. I don’t want money he made by selling humans into who knows what kind of slavery and drugs and guns.” I shake my head. “I’d rather live in a cardboard box.”
“I figured you would say that.” Nolan taps out a few things on a spreadsheet before fully turning his computer to the rest of the table. “I went through the stocks from your parents’ patents and what their general residual earnings would have been since they were murdered. I came up with that number and added it to what you left with in their will. I’ll have that amount transferred to your account in full after we get Tripp.”
I look at the numbers, mentally adding up what I know from the will and my conversations with my parents. It seems like a solid number. There’s one thing that bothers me though.
“Why would he kill my parents for such a small amount of money though? Look at what I’ve got in contrast to what he has. He’s sitting on five times the wealth the will brought in.”
“I know.” Nolan nods. “It doesn’t add up just by the numbers.”
“Could be just a power move to keep tighter control of you.” Grant leans back in his chair, arms behind his head.
“But why? Why me? I don’t mean that in the way of a victim, just honestly. Why. Me.”
“I’m not sure and, at this point, it doesn’t matter ‘why you’. The only thing that matters is justice. For you. For the people he’s hurt,” Lake says.
“What about the divorce?” I look over at Sawyer. “How long do you think that will take?”
“You’re not going to need a divorce,” he says quietly as his cobalt eyes lock with mine. “Because we’re going to kill him.”
“After we torture him,” Nolan adds.
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I’m fundamentally against violence. I always have been. Growing up in countries that are literally torn apart by violence makes you want to avoid it at all costs, but for some reason, I can’t tell them no. I’m not sure they’d listen to begin with. I know that Nolan and Lake both kill, but when I think of Sawyer, his perfectly polished exterior and drive for justice, I don’t see him as a killer. I also can’t picture Grant with anything other than a charming smile and polite conversation, certainly not him killing anyone in cold blood.
“Can you all do that? Can you all take his life and walk away with no demons, no regrets?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely.”
“Yeah.”
“Without a doubt.”
Their answers all come simultaneously and without hesitation.
“I have a lot of regrets when it comes to decisions I made regarding you, Liv,” Grant says. “But hurting and slowly killing the bastard that hurt you, that drove a wedge between all of us, is not one of them.”
I don’t want to live my life in fear, so after a minute of deliberation, I nod. “How are you going to find him? And what should we do with the money I don’t want?”
“We’re planning on hosting a charity gala when we get back. We’re going to honor donors of a non-profit in the city focused on helping women who are survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Since we know Tripp is in town, we’re going to have Grant reach out and invite him. After the gala, we’re going to abduct him and take him to the compound upstate. We’ll interrogate him for answers about his trafficking ring, so Lake can take a team in and disband it, or we’ll send our intelligence to his contacts at the FBI.”
“You know people at the FBI?” I look over my shoulder at Lake.
“I know people everywhere. Sometimes things need to be taken care of with more discretion than a governmental agency can provide. They call me for those jobs, and in return, they turn a blind eye to some of mine.”
“We just can’t figure out how to get Tripp there. He’s narcissistic enough to want to walk around in our presence knowing we know what he’s done, thinking he’s untouchable, but would he come out to a gala he’s not part of?”
“I’m guessing he would if he thought it would better his chances of getting in with some of the guests.” Grant leans forward this time, resting his elbows on the table. “I might just have to name drop some attendees.”
“No,” I say as I sit up straighter. “Make him a keynote speaker. Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes him harder than listening to himself talk. He’s his own drug. Then once he stands to give his speech interrupt with an announcement that he’s donated ten million to the charity.” I look over at Nolan with wide eyes. “And let’s donate the remaining twenty million of his net worth to various charities, including the one my parents spent their lives serving.”
“Livvy.” Nolan yanks me out of Lake’s lap with a swift tug. “That’s fucking brilliant. You deviant, gorgeous, intelligent creature.” His lips claim mine in a raw, primal kiss full of teeth and desire. When we pull apart, I look over at the rest of the guys who are looking at me with the same combination of awe, lust, and love that makes my toes curl.