I timed my arrival back home at my apartment perfectly — after Emma went to her job as a staff reporter at the Revania Post, and with enough time to get ready for my big first day.
After showering, and still glowing, I blushed, glancing up and catching my own reflection in the vanity mirror. Visions of the previous night danced through my head, sending a shiver down my back and a pulsing heat through my core.
“Okay, details.”
I yelped, half-jumping out of my skin as I whirled to see Emma leaning against my doorframe, grinning at me.
“I thought you were at work!”
“Working from home today.” She shrugged. “Job perks to make up for the garbage pay of being a reporter.”
I flushed, swallowing the heat and the thoughts of the previous night from my face. Well, trying to.
“So?”
“So?” I shrugged as casually as I could, turning back to the mirror and combing out my hair.
Emma laughed. “Don’t pull that ‘who, me?’ crap, lady. You went home last night with two totally gorgeous men, and if you think I’m not going to press you for details, you’re actually insane.”
I laughed, biting my lip and blushing wildly.
“It was...” I took a shaky breath.
Amazing? Mind-blowing? The hottest night of my life?
“It was, uh, good?”
Emma rolled her eyes dramatically. “Good? Seriously? That’s the best you can do? Um, yeah, that sounds like a very good to me.”
My face went bright red.
“No, it was—”
“Julia.”
“Okay! I—” I bit my lip, my eyes blazing in the mirror. “I had some fun.”
“Some fun.”
“Fine, lots of fun,” I said quietly.
“Those aren’t details!” Emma groaned. “C’mon, some of us went home last night with Netflix and half a bottle of rosé I might have found in the back of our fridge. “Let me live through you and your wild night with the two hotties!”
I laughed, turning and putting my hands on my friend’s shoulders. Emma knew I wasn’t a kiss-and-tell type person, but I also knew I couldn’t just ignore what she knew had happened the night before.
“Let’s just say it was the single hottest night of my life and leave it at that?”
“What if you just tell me all the details about that hottest night of your life and we leave it at that?”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Prude,” she laughed.
“Nosey.”
“Guilty.”
We laughed as I finished getting dressed. Both of us headed to the kitchen as I poured a cup of coffee.
“Hey, Emma?”
For some reason, the question on my lips had been lingering since the night before. And somehow, through the incredible night I’d had, it was a detail I kept coming back to.
“Do you know anything about tattoos?”
“Not really?”
I rolled my eyes at myself as I poured the coffee. “Yeah never mind.”
“What’s up?”
“I—” I frowned, and I wondered again why I was bothering to ask her this. Though, she was an investigative journalist, so maybe I thought she might have some insight.
“What does a tattoo of three crowns mean?”
She was silent for second, and when she answered from behind me, her voice was edged.
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged, sipping my coffee as I turned to her. “It’s probably nothing. A tattoo of three crowns over a little crest.”
She gasped.
“Whoa, Jules!”
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said quietly. “It’s— it’s nothing, just this urban legend.”
A chill crept up my spine, worry playing out across my face.
“Uh, what kind of an urban legend?”
Visions of serial killers and organ harvesters danced through my head.
“It’s called the Triple Crown Club.” She cleared her throat. “But seriously, it’s made up. I mean it has to be. Someone would have found something out about it if it was real. It’s totally a made up thing.”
“Well what is this made up thing, exactly?”
She sighed.
“It’s secret underground club. A sex club.”
A raw heat teased through me, my memory flashing first of the two identical tattoos on Matthew and Van, and then of the insane night that followed.
“Really,” I said quietly, trying to keep the squeak out of my voice.
“Yeah, it’s allegedly this club exclusively for royal elite guys. You know, princes and that sort of thing. And the whole point of this club is…”
She trailed off, and I realized I’d been holding my breath as I quickly exhaled and shook my head.
“And the whole point is?” I whispered “The whole point is, women get picked to go there and get…” she giggled nervously.
“Emma!”
“Okay! They go there and get shared by these guys.”
My eyes went wide.
“What.”
“Yeah, like, you know.”
“Like a threesome?” I whispered, the blood roaring in my veins.
“Hey, you’re the expert now.”
I blushed furiously, groaning into my cup of coffee as she stuck her tongue out at me, teasing me.
Like the mind-blowing one I had last night?
“Or a more-some, yeah.”
My pulse thundered in my veins as I thought again of the identical tattoos on my mystery men.
The masks.
The sharing.
A tingling heat began to pulse between my legs, slowly teasing out to every bit of my body.
“Wait, where exactly did you see this tattoo?” Emma suddenly gasped. “Oh my God, did those guys from last night have triple crown tattoos?!”
“What? No!” I said quickly, almost choking on my coffee. “No, of course not! I just— I heard someone talking about it.”
“It’s the mark of member,” She said quietly. “You know, allegedly.” She snorted. “Did you happen to go home with a couple of princes last night?”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed nervously, trying to brush it off.
Or did I?
“No, they probably just got the tattoos for some kind of sports team thin—”
“Wait, wait, wait, they did have the tattoos?!”
I should have lied.
I froze instead.
Emma picked up on it.
“Juliana Carlson!” She gasped loudly. “Now you have to give me details!”
“Uh, I have to go!” I sputtered out, my face burning bright red. “Gonna be late!”
“Dude, this could be a HUGE story for me if it’s real!”
“Emma! It’s nothing, seriously. I probably didn’t see the tattoos right. I’m sure it’s for something else.”
She gave me a look before she sighed, giving up, even if it was just for then.
“I supposed you might have been distracted. You know, what with the two dicks to think about.”
I blushed furiously as I whirled to grab my keys and bag.
“Hey, Jules.”
I turned, my face still beet red.
“I’m just teasing you, you know.”
I grinned. “I know.”
“Hey, good luck today with your hot new boss.” She giggled. “See if he’s got a crown tattoo!”
I bolted from the apartment before Emma had my face permanently a shade of red.
My pulse raced, my body trembled. My breath came stuttered.
What had I done last night?
…And with who?