Crossing the Lines (27 page)

“Punishment, Alice?” Strain deepened his voice. “For all the times I’ve made you wait?”

He held her entranced, eyes dark and bottomless as a sea of pines. She shook her head in slow, rolling denial. “Pleasure. For all the times the wait was worth it.”

Lowering her mouth, she took him as deep as she could, using her hand to make up the difference. She moved in unison, lips and tongue and fingers and palm, a twisting slide up and down. How odd that an action little connected to her own body’s pleasure centers nevertheless made her throb with need.

She’d given previous partners an uncounted number of blowjobs, but never had one given her such a deep sense of satisfaction and arousal. Hell, she’d given Jay one a few hours ago and it hadn’t made her feel so joined. Maybe because she hadn’t used one to communicate her appreciation and affection before.

Henry’s hand came to rest on her head. He stroked her hair without attempting to control her movements. Vivid recollection brought her the sight of Jay kneeling in front of him on a rainy morning. She shuddered with pleasure, understanding now why he so enjoyed worshiping Henry in this way.

Their service exposed trust and acceptance and something her mind shied from naming. But the power of that nameless thing spurred her to ignore Henry’s murmured warnings and refuse to remove her mouth. She hummed encouragement, hovering on the edge of orgasm herself when he climaxed, his hips bucking once as she swallowed. His fingers tightened in her hair, and a fierce growl of her name broke the silence of the room.

She reluctantly allowed his cock to slip from her mouth, tonguing him as his harsh breaths echoed in her ears and her body throbbed. For about ten seconds.

Gripping her rib cage, he hauled her bodily up the bed. He rolled the two of them toward the center, one knee dropping between hers and spreading her legs. Driving three fingers into her, he pressed his thumb hard on her clit.

She came on the second thrust, as his tongue swept into her mouth and surely found his own taste. When her trembling subsided, he pulled his fingers from her and savored them, too. Shifting his weight to both arms, he rested his body fully over hers and pressed soft kisses to her neck and chest.

She lolled her head to the side, obedient to his desire for access, and buried her nose in the pillow, in Henry’s scent.

Jay startled her as he blinked, his face inches from her own. She and Henry had rolled clear across the bed.

The corner of Jay’s lips, askew through her one eye above pillow level, turned up in a smile. “Want a washcloth?”

She didn’t have to answer. He climbed out of bed, Henry calling after him. “A bottle of water as well, Jay. Alice may be dehydrated after her emotional evening.”

Henry adjusted his body and her own until he half sat, propped against the headboard and pillows with her reclined against his chest. Arms encircling her, he cupped her breast in a possessive hold.

“You asked me to let you show me, Alice.” His breath washed over her ear. “Shall I tell you what you’ve shown me tonight?”

A glimpse of his wisdom and understanding? Yes, please.

“You value these nights together more than you have admitted to me. You’ve been struggling with emotions that overwhelm you, and you’ve feared to bring them to me. But you seek comfort in my bed. You find your own pleasure in pleasing me.” His arms tightened around her. His voice dropped to a whisper. “What am I to do with you, my sweet girl?”

Her heart hammered. Her throat rivaled the Sahara. A tiny croak emerged. “Keep me?”

His lips brushed her temple. “Did you imagine I would give you up?”

They sat in silence as Jay returned bearing a warm washcloth and a cold bottle of water.

“Well done, my boy, thank you.”

Henry held the bottle for her to drink as she rested on his shoulder. Once she’d had her fill, he drank before trading the bottle to Jay for the washcloth to clean the stickiness from her sex and thighs, briefly sliding her forward to do the same service for himself. When Jay reclaimed the washcloth, Henry pulled him in for a gentle but thorough kiss before sending him on his way.

“Perhaps you don’t realize how special you are to us, Alice—how much of a departure from the norm.” Henry idly stroked her stomach, a pleasant distraction.

“What, you don’t normally go for blondes?” She shut down her joking tone when he squeezed her breast in warning. “No, I know. I mean, Jay thought I was hot the day we met. I get it.”

“
Jay
thought.” Confusion sounded odd from Henry. “And do you suppose I made him wait a year to approach you in order to teach him patience?”

“A thousand years couldn’t teach Jay patience.” Jay smirked at her from the doorway. She stuck her tongue out. “I figured you didn’t want awkward hallway conversations every time we ran into each other. Or you wanted to make sure I wouldn’t freak out or tell the super you were harassing me.”

Having this conversation came easier without looking at Henry. Maybe he’d considered that when he’d settled them as he had.

“Or Jay wanted to fuck me and you didn’t, and you eventually let him convince you.” Revealed now as an incorrect hypothesis, because Henry would never let Jay convince him to do something if he didn’t want it himself or believe it necessary for Jay’s well-being.

Which explained her? Necessary for Jay or wanted by Henry? Was wanting to be both wrong?

The silence lasted as Jay approached the bed. Finally, Henry spoke.

“I made both of us wait for you because I wanted to be certain of success, Alice. Because you were not simply a borrowed female submissive for a hotel-room rendezvous. Because the longer we knew you, the more emotional the need for you became.” Henry stroked her breasts and belly, his arms enfolding her. “One night would not have been enough. You are the only woman to have been invited into this bedroom, Alice. You’re certainly the only person with an open invitation to come and go as you please.”

Tears threatened. An unexpected unknotting in her chest stole her breath. She wasn’t a replacement. There hadn’t been a woman before her. And Henry hadn’t been out looking for her replacement tonight. Relief overwhelmed her.

He tipped her sideways and studied her face, his own relaxing.

“You are not a toy, Alice. You will not be discarded, no matter how perfectly trained the participants at the club. You are here because you are
you
. No replacement exists for that.”

Jay flopped onto the bed and rolled on his side, his head propped on his hand near their feet. “Yeah, if Henry were the type to shuffle through submissives like a deck of cards, he’d have dealt me to someone else years ago. I’m a problem child.”

She giggled at the unrepentant pride in his voice. He squeezed the arch of her foot and kissed it. “Besides, you’ve got it all backward. Henry’s the one who brought up the idea of extending an invitation to you.”

Disbelief fastened her attention to Jay’s face. Smooth. Calm. Not hiding a punch line. But Henry was a meticulous man, not an impulsive one.

“You think I’m teasing, but it’s true. Not that I wouldn’t have suggested it—I mean, if I hadn’t wanted to see your reaction, I could’ve found something besides my wadded-up shirt to prop the door that first day.” He flashed her his most charming smile. “But Henry beat me to it that night. Wanted to know if I’d feel slighted.”

“Do you?” She’d never asked, though she’d worried. A submissive rivalry equivalent of sibling rivalry might make them compete for Henry’s favor, and Jay had been here first. He deserved the lion’s share.

“Nope.” Jay bolted up, leaned in and kissed her. Sweet at first, but with growing possession, even as Henry embraced her and his breath warmed her ear. Jay drifted back.

“I’m the youngest of five. Knew how to share before I could walk. And Henry’s good at balancing personalities and needs. I bet he could tell you why we work.”

Her silent inquiry received a light kiss on the tip of her ear in reply.

“I enjoy staging and direction, observing often, participating less so. Having two actors to instruct is more satisfying.” Henry shifted behind her, the brush of his soft cock as perfect in its own way as his arousal. “Jay enjoys pleasing others and being surrounded by people. The opportunity to bring you pleasure while pleasing me is a double joy for him. And you, Alice…you enjoy giving up control to me and being the central focus of our attention. That is why we ‘work,’ as Jay says.”

“I just thought you were hot. Teasing you was fun. You got all flustered first, and then you teased back.” Jay shrugged. “Henry’s the one who said you ‘showed promise.’”

What could she have done or said—oh. “My roommate and her boyfriend?”

“You didn’t blush, my dear. You weren’t ashamed. You were comfortable with sexuality and sexual acts happening in front of you.” Henry paused to run his thumb over her nipple, coaxing it to harden. “But no, it wasn’t merely that. It was a culmination of many things.”

She pleaded for clarification, a wordless hope that understanding what had drawn him to her might shove her insecurities out the door.

He gave her rising nipple a teasing pinch. “You’re a needy, greedy girl, Alice. But as I enjoy indulging you…”

He looked down at her face, eyes narrowed and distant. Picturing her as she’d been that first day, maybe. “The way you reacted to Jay’s body, to my nearness and voice. The way you allowed me to coax you into relaxing and accepting assistance, the trust you showed despite the brevity of our acquaintance. The way you attentively listened and participated in every conversation, whether the topic interested you or not, and the way you fell naturally into teasing us both.”

Too much to take in, a revelation to the horizon of her understanding.

“Verbally, that is. I’m certain you were not, on that day, deliberately teasing us physically. But you gave as good as you got. A great number of things added up to a desire to show you pleasure.”

Twenty months since the day they’d met, an enormous block of time. So much she’d missed or misinterpreted or ignored.

“Your loveliness and sexual compatibility, though highly enjoyable, are not what have kept you in our bed for the past eight months, my dear. The emotional bonds run deeper than that.”

Jay’s hand wandered along her thigh and Henry’s, an oddly grounding touch. Gazing above her, at Henry, he tilted his head like a puppy. The warm pleading in his eyes could’ve melted an iceberg.

Henry sighed with exaggerated amusement. “Perhaps now would be a good time to open the discussion of your contract, Alice, instead of waiting for Monday. We might contrive something with more flexibility.”

If Jay had a tail, he’d be wagging.

“I think I’m plenty flexible.” She curled her shoulder into Henry’s chest and gave him her best innocent smile.

He breathed out slow and steady, his eyes dark. “And I think I’ll demand a demonstration soon. But not while this conversation remains unfinished.”

She shivered at his tone. “Are you going to be inflexible about the flexibility?”

“You don’t want more flexibility in our arrangement, Alice?”

Her second chance. She’d be fucking brave this time. Tell him the truth. Trust him.

“Less.” She worried for Jay. Her truth would affect him, too. But he flashed a thumbs-up and a wide grin. “I want less flexibility. I want more time with you both. Guaranteed exclusivity. No potential encounters with other people. No dates with them. Because that’s, that’s not okay with me. I know you haven’t taken advantage of that clause, ’cause you would’ve told me, but I don’t like knowing it’s an option. I don’t like having it as an option. I’m not out looking for someone else. And I don’t want to feel like I should be. I like what I have here.”

Henry’s smile held a predatory edge. “Agreed. Your pleasure belongs to me. I will provide it more frequently, in ways sexual and nonsexual. I have no objections to those conditions, dearest.”

One down, one to go. She couldn’t impose exclusivity on Jay, and he’d dated other women with Henry’s blessing. He shrugged, his grin morphing into a smug smile.

“I already begged until Henry changed that in my contract. In August. It used to say I could have vanilla sex with any woman I wanted, as long as I kept him informed. Now it outlaws that, by
my
choice.” His bragging dropped to a teasing whisper. “But it got a new Alice subsection. You fill up three whole pages.”

August. The month they’d started this. She had no words. Her entire contract would fit in a subsection of his—and his included that many rules pertaining specifically to her. Rules he’d asked for. Given up other women for.