They arrived at the B&B a few minutes later. The three of them left the pumpkins they’d carved on the porch with the other Halloween decorations and quietly crept up the stairs (or as quietly as three slighty-tipsy revelers could manage).

“Cool room,” Justine said as she unpinned her witch’s hat and dropped it on the dresser. “Thanks for having me over.”

“Glad you could join us,” Nora said. “Wine, Nico.”

Nico nodded and poured three glasses for them all.

“That’s nice,” Justine said when Nico handed her the glass. “You just…give an order and he follows it? That how it works?”

Nico glanced at Nora, waiting, probably as curious to hear her answer as Justine was.

“Not quite,” Nora said. “He’s got a mind of his own, damn him.”

“You’d never love a doormat,” Nico said.

“Never,” she said.

“I thought you guys like…licked boots and stuff like that? I’m sorry if that’s a rude question. I’m just curious.” Justine sat on the edge of the bed. Nora liked how careful she was with her wine glass, trying not to spill it even as she sat. She was respectful and mature. A good person to play with. All fun, no drama.

“Ask all the questions you want,” Nora said. “That’s how we learn. You gave us a history lesson about Salem. Here’s one about us: There’s lots of different ways to submit in a kink relationship. There are subs, submissives. There are slaves. There are service tops. Lots of options. What we do, Nico and I, it’s something that began in France around the late eleventh century. It came out of the culture of courtly love—young knights would fall in love with a married lady and serve her faithfully and devotedly. It was supposed to be chaste love, but we’ve all seen how well that worked with Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot.”

“He lanced her,” Justine said. “A lot.”

“Precisely,” Nora said. “I have someone I’m practically married to who I spend most of my life with. And I have Nico who serves a very different role.”

“I’m like her knight,” Nico said. “In private, I please her. In public, I protect her whether it pleases her or not. If someone insults her, I defend her honor. If someone tries to hurt her, I hurt him. When we’re playing, she’s in charge. When it’s serious, I take over.”

“So no boot-licking,” Justine said.

“I have clients who pay me money to lick my boots. Nico gets to lick everything else.”

Justine laughed. “So if I said something really rude to the mistress over here,” Justine said to Nico, “you’d kick me out?”

“I’d escort you out,” Nico said, gesturing with his wine glass to the door. “Or she would. You insult her once?” He shrugged. “You don’t get to do it twice.”

As opposed to Søren, Nora thought, who would likely agree with the insult. And he would probably be right.

“Okay,” Justine said. “Got it. Understood. One more question though.”

“Ask,” Nico said, smiling at her.

“Will you marry me?”

“Tonight?” Nico asked, his eyebrows raised.

“I’m asking both of you,” Justine said. “Gotta be legal somewhere, yeah?”

“Oregon,” Nora said. “I assume.”

“You two are awesome,” Justine said, grinning.

“So are you,” Nora said. “You ready to play?”

Justine took a long breath as if steeling herself.

“Yeah,” she said. “I think.” She looked at Nico who lifted his wine glass to her in a salute. “Okay, definitely ready to play.”

“Nervous?” Nora asked her.

“A....little tiny bit nervous,” she said, her voice hitting a high note and squeaking.

Nico stood by the end of the bed, leaning on the post. Nora blew a kiss at him.

“Don’t worry. So is Nico.”

“Are you?” Justine asked him. He nodded.

“You?” Justine asked Nora. Nora shook her head slowly. “Because you’re only watching?”

“I’m not watching,” Nora said. “I’m cheerleading.”

Nora raised her arms and shook her invisible pompoms. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Plus,” Nora said, collapsing into the armchair and stretched her legs out onto the ottoman, “nothing’s going to happen—wait. I need my riding crop to do this speech.”

She leaned over the side of the chair, unzipped her toy bag and pulled out her favorite red riding crop.

“Okay,” she said, pointing her crop at Justine and Nico. “As I was saying, nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. Both of you. If either of you gets uncomfortable, you say ‘I want to stop,’ and guess what? Everything stops. Then we drink a little wine, eat a few Kit-Kats, find a bad horror movie on TV or call it a night. Comprendnez vous?”

“Je comprends parfaitement, mon amour,” Nico said.

“Ah…French,” Justine said. “Don’t know what you both said. Don’t care. Whatever you tell me to do to him, I’m ready and willing to do it.”

“Good,” Nora said. “Let’s start easy. Take off his jacket for him. S’il vous plait.”

It was a simple order, but Nora could see Justine was still nervous as she raised her hands to Nico’s buttons and slowly undid them.

“Very good,” Nora said as Justine pushed the jacket off Nico’s shoulders. “Now fold it and put it on the dresser.”

Justine obeyed. “Next?” she asked.

“Shirt,” Nora said.

“This is so crazy,” Justine said as she went to work on Nico’s buttons.

“Good crazy?” Nico asked.

“Very good crazy.” Justine’s cheeks still wore a becoming blush. She opened Nico’s shirt and her eyes widened slightly. “Very, very good crazy.”

Nico kissed her cheek as she pushed the shirt off of him.

“Everyone having fun?” Nora asked. “Say ‘no’ if you aren’t. Say ‘hell yes’ if you are.”

“Oh, hell yes,” Justine said.

Nico said, “Hell yes,” but he did it in French.

“You’re doing that on purpose now,” Justine said to him. Nico nodded. “Good. It’s working for me.”

Nora tapped her tennis shoe with the tip of her riding crop.

“Darlings,” Nora said, “less talking, more kissing.”

“You heard the woman,” Justine said.

Nico apparently had. He took Justine’s pretty face in his hands and kissed her long and deep. Nora grinned. They were obedient as two marionettes, and she pulled all their strings. And the best part was, they loved having their strings pulled.

“Neck,” Nora said. “You, I mean, Justine. You kiss Nico’s neck. He likes that.”

He did like that. When Justine put her mouth on his neck over his naked collarbone, Nora saw Nico’s eyelashes flutter and his chest heave with a hard breath. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

“Chest,” Nora said. Justine kissed his chest. “Arms.” Justine kissed his biceps. “Throat,” Nora said. Justine kissed his throat.

“Hmm...” Nora said. “What to kiss next?”

“I have a suggestion,” Justine said. It seemed her nervousness had evaporated. Nico’s too. Both of them simply looked happy and aroused and ready to play.

“I think you’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking,” Nora said.

“Does it rhyme with Rick?” Justine asked.

“No, it rhymes with sock. But close enough,” Nora said. “Nico, love, I want you to come over here.” Nora tapped the side of the bed with her riding crop. Nico obeyed and sat where she’d tapped.

“And you, beautiful,” she said to Justine. “I think you should kneel on this.” She tapped the ottoman. “And I think I should get in a better position to supervise.”

“And lead the cheers?” Justine said.

“Exactly,” Nora said. Justine slid the ottoman over to the bed, placing it between Nico’s ankles. Nora tapped the ottoman again. She didn’t have to say anything. Justine knew what to do. Like a dainty maiden, she lifted the skirt of her red dress and knelt primly on the ottoman.

“I have no other orders for the time being,” Nora said. “Other than, have fun, kids.”

“Want to have fun?” Justine asked Nico.

“I already am,” he said.

Justine bent her head and kissed Nico’s side, his ribcage and stomach. Nora tapped the bed with her hand and Nico rolled back.

“I cannot believe I’m doing this,” Justine said with an ear-to-ear grin. “I swear I’m usually boring.” She unbuttoned Nico’s trousers. “I need to hang out in cemeteries more often.” Justine glanced down at Nico’s gorgeous erection. “Way more often.”

Nico inhaled sharply as her blood-red lips surrounded and sucked him. Nora slid onto the bed and sat at his side. She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm as Justine licked his cock from base to tip. Nico’s dark eyes were half-closed in pleasure and arousal, but he kept his gaze locked on Nora’s.

“I love you, moosh,” she whispered. He blew her a kiss in reply. No words necessary.

Justine seemed to be having the time of her life with Nico’s cock. She lavished it with all the attention it deserved. Nora gave Justine little hints about what to do, how to make Nico feel the best. Use your hand like this. Use your tongue like that. Stroke harder, softer, longer... Soon Nico was panting hard. His hips lifted off the bed in small hungry undulations. Justine’s red fingernails lightly scoured his stomach, leaving behind pink tracks on his brown skin. Her red tongue massaged every inch of Nico. Nora smiled at the smear of red lipstick on Nico’s stomach. It was sexy enough that Nora would have to take a picture of it just to look at longingly when they were apart again.

Nora ran her fingers through his hair, kissed his mouth, his shoulder, his forehead. He was so young and lovely and hers, all hers. Even with his cock in another woman’s mouth he was all hers because he was doing this to please her. And it did please her. His trust. His pleasure. His playfulness. She felt so close to him in that moment right before he came when he looked at her with love and adoration and wonder. Then his back arched off the bed, and emptied himself inside Justine with a low grunt.

Though Nora told her she didn’t have to swallow, Justine did so eagerly. Nora slipped off the bed and handed Justine a cup of water, which she drank quickly before passing it back to Nora.

“Was that fun, sweetheart?” Nora asked, running her hand over Justine’s cider-colored hair. Justine leaned against Nora’s stomach. Nora held her close and kissed the top of her head.

“Please move here,” Justine said, hugging Nora to her tightly.

“Nico?” Nora asked, still stroking Justine’s hair. “What do you think? Want to quit the whole France thing and move to the States?”

Tiredly, happily, Nico began to whistle a few bars of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”