Breath of Desire by Ophelia Bell

heels again. His flushed skin and tangled gold locks made him look about as thoroughly fucked as she felt. Holy Christ was he sexy.
    A flutter of cloth materialized from above, one hand towel coming to rest on Aurik’s head. He caught the second deftly.
    “Get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready in a little bit.” Dimitri’s disembodied voice reached her ears again. The sound brought back all the best memories of living with him and Alex, of being in this pleasantly buzzed and disoriented state right after sex and having one or the other of them already thinking of her needs.
    Thea’s stomach rumbled in response to the scent of sautéing onions. She accepted Aurik’s proffered hand and stood, grateful for his supportive arm around her waist. She was still a little spinny from the intensity of her orgasm. She glanced up at Aurik, about to make a comment to that effect, but the words halted in her throat at the troubled expression on his face when he watched Dimitri. After a moment, he tore his eyes away and smiled down at her.
    “We have time for a quick shower. Join me?”
    She nodded and gathered her clothing from the floor, then took his hand and let him lead her up a wrought iron spiral staircase to the loft above.
    “Is something wrong?” she ventured when they were alone in one of the most luxurious bathrooms she’d ever seen. The Twins must be loaded if they could afford all she’d seen so far. It wasn’t even the decor that impressed her the most. While that was nice, the most impressive things were the priceless antiquities that littered every spare surface and corner in the place. Dimitri had struck gold with these two, assuming their relationship was as close as her first impression told her. Let me share them with you, this once. But would once even be enough?
    “It’s complicated,” Aurik murmured, testing the heat, then stepping in and gesturing for her to follow.
    “Ow! Shit!” she yelped when the stream of scalding water hit her skin. He abruptly blocked the flow from her and adjusted the knobs until she gave the nod that the temperature would do. She sank beneath the warm stream, marveling at how comfortable she felt with this near perfect stranger. Like they’d known each other forever already. She remembered feeling the same way about Dimitri the day Alex had introduced her to him, but that may have merely been by virtue of her familiarity with Alex.
    “Trust me, I know complicated. Dimitri explained our relationship… er… former relationship, right?”
    He nodded, stepping under the water when she moved to make room. “I fear I must leave soon, and he isn’t happy about it. Neither of them are.”
    “Leave… Why?”
    He hesitated as though trying to find the words. “Legal reasons is the best way I can explain it.”
    She let that percolate while she soaped up, then turned to watch him from beneath the water while he did the same. He eyed her breasts in an amusing way for a second, but made no move to touch her again. She was a little disappointed, but hungry enough to keep the shower businesslike.
    “Are you screwing your sister?” she asked abruptly.
    Aurik blinked at her, then broke out into a ringing laugh that filled the room. “Sweet Mother, no. She’s fine, yes, but that would be even more pointless than masturbating when we have Dimitri. We don’t enjoy each other that way.”
    “Oh…” Thea trailed off, confused. “What legal reason could you possibly have for leaving him , then? I saw the way you looked at each other, so I know you’re together. I’m not a stranger to precisely that kind of arrangement and there was nothing that could take either of those brothers away from me.” She caught herself too late. In a quieter tone she amended, “Well, almost nothing.”
    “My life is different. I have… obligations. Neither of my choices are easy, particularly because both preclude my being with him.”
    “You do know gay marriage is a thing now, right? Not