Is Three A Crowd? (20 page)

“I don’t understand why you two didn’t just move on? Why would you give up so much time not knowing if I’d ever come back to either of you.”

“Sometimes we don’t understand it either,” Nathan conceded. “Eat before it gets cold.”

They finished their meal in silence, fed Shin, and loaded the dishwasher in relative quiet and all hesitated when it was done.

“I’m not sure what to feel or how I feel right now. Ambivalent, I think, and very tired. Thank you both for finally telling me the truth.”

“Why not get some sleep? We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Blake reached to run his fingers down her cheek until Nathan cleared his throat.

“You’ll be safe. We’ll sleep down here to make sure of it.”

Nathan’s offer was sweet but unnecessary. “No, I’ve caused enough trouble to you two. I’ll lock up and be fine. Go home, both of you. I’ll see you in the morning.” She paused to kiss each man on the cheek before heading to the stairs. “Come, Shin,” she said and waited for the dog to join her. “Seriously, I’ll be fine. I’m exhausted.”

“Call the house if you need anything.” Blake sounded insistent.

“I will, I just need time to process all this information. Good night.” She turned and headed up the stairs before she changed her mind and asked them to stay. Only she didn’t know which one she’d ask, and taking them both to her bed, even just to sleep, didn’t seem right.

Chapter Sixteen

Maris woke with a start in a cold sweat. She was nauseous, and her head throbbed. Every limb in her body ached. She threw back the covers and turned on the bedside light. Shin slept peacefully before the closed door. Glancing to the bedside clock, she saw it was just after
midnight
.

The dream had felt so real. She was tumbling off a cliff towards the rushing water below, her arms and legs flailing as she descended. She woke before she hit the water. Now she had to decide if it was a real memory or just a dream from what her men had told her today.

She dropped back on the pillows and tried to find a comfortable spot. After punching her pillows for a bit, she snaked her hand out from the covers and snapped off the light.

Maris woke an hour later with the same feeling of dread she had from the first nightmare. She decided that’s what they were, since she had no control over them. This time she was teetering on the edge, grasping at air, when a feminine hand, the arm covered in yellow rain gear, reached forward and shoved her. This time she got up and went to the bath. Water splashed on her face didn’t help the anxiety. “Cookies,” she said to the face in the mirror. She watched a smile cross her lips and wondered who she’d turn out to be. The mild-mannered woman who spent her life playing with numbers and other people’s real estate, or the freethinking landscape artist who used men without thought. “It would be nice if I could find a balance between them. Come Shin.”

The dog looked up at her from a lazy sleep before finally stretching and standing so she could open the door. The dog ran ahead, and Maris paused on the stairs looking at her two men, asleep in the living room. Blake had stretched out on the sofa, and Nathan was in the club chair before the fireplace, his neck bent at an odd angle. His long legs were stretched before him.

“He’s gonna be sore in the morning,” she said to Shin and continued on to the kitchen. One of her men had left the stove light on as a night light. Her destination was easy—the microwave where she’d stowed the rest of the cookies earlier. Aminta had taught her that trick. Instead of having a separate breadbox, the microwave was an easy, bug-free stash.

Pulling out a chair from the table, she tried to let her mind go blank. It didn’t work. Even the cookies didn’t help. “I wish I had brought the files back with me,” she said to the dog, knowing she wouldn’t walk to the greenhouse at this time in the dark, alone.

She paused in the living room and glanced to the staircase. She decided to stay there with them for a while, taking a seat in the club chair across from Nathan. Studying each of their faces, tidbits of memories started to surface.

* * * *

Maris watched Nathan’s chest rise and fall with each breath. His body size and bulk attracted her, his large hands excited her. The silky hairs of his beard would tickle her thighs. In an instant, she remembered his fingers stretching her pussy wide, pushing deeper until she climaxed against them. She knew he’d gently pulled from her body and drew her own moistness across her lips, then descended to lick her lips clean. They had been in the forest, a small clearing beyond the gardens, when their amorous necking had gone further. Maris didn’t know exactly when the incident happened, only that she had instigated the encounter. The memory cleared as she studied his face. They’d been walking the gardens, her showing him some of the changes she’d make. He was interested but distracted by her hands roaming his chest and shoulders. He’d told her she should be careful what she asked for, and she dropped her hand to cover his crotch. His cock had been semi-hard, but her touch made him completely erect. Maris knew she’d directed him into the woods. He’d been hesitant. Once inside the tree line, she’d dropped to her knees and rubbed her cheek across his erection. He’d groaned and allowed her to unzip his pants and pull him to her waiting lips. She’d devoured his cock, hard and thick, until she tasted his droplets of pre-cum. That was when he’d tugged her up to kiss him. During the kisses, he’d turned her back against the tree and let his hands wander along her body. He’d pulled up her T-shirt and sucked her braless nipples until they were puckered and erect, needy and wanting more of his attention. Her hand had come to the back of his head and held him in place. He let his hand drop and opened her jeans, sliding his palm against her mound. A shiver ran through her body as if he’d just touched her clit this very second, but she knew it was a long time ago.

Maris found it hard to comprehend how she’d been so free and responsive, especially in an outdoor setting. She remembered her head dropping back against the tree as he stroked her puffy pussy lips, his mouth still to her nipple. During the process, he’d slid his hand lower and let his middle finger slide inside while the heel of his hand continued pressure on her clit. She’d come quickly when he slipped a second finger inside her. Nathan had held her tight, and she knew he could feel her muscles contracting around him. That was when he pulled from her and wiped her cum on her lips only to kiss it away. They hadn’t fucked that afternoon, she’d gone back to her knees before him and swallowed his erection down her throat, her sucking motions too much for him to hold back.

She had a vivid memory of him drawing her up along his chest a second time and kissing her to share his cum. They’d arranged clothing quickly and all but ran back to the house. Inside, she’d drawn him upstairs to the master bedroom and locked them in. While he’d been cautious, she knew she’d stripped off her clothing without a second thought. Standing before him with her breasts still full, her nipples still puffy, she’d used her own fingers to penetrate her pussy, pulling them out and sucking them in her own mouth. He’d stripped off his clothes while watching her and tackled her onto the bed, landing on top of her. She’d moved her hips only slightly to put his full cock at her entrance, thrusting upward until he finally slid inside her. Maris remembered their lovemaking as if it had been this week, not years earlier. Worse yet, she found she was tensing her thighs together to stop the ache the memory created. Nathan had fucked her with abandon that afternoon, setting their pace, slow and fast at his whim until she’d clenched around him. He’d thrust deeper and let himself come. Only seconds after, he’d pulled from her body and crawled between her legs, using his tongue and fingers to make her come again. Her breathing was shallow, and their bodies were covered in a layer of sweat. It was his grin she remembered most, his head peeking from between her legs with a very satisfied grin. She knew she’d reached down and tousled his hair and offered her hand to help him back onto the bed. They’d lain together for a long time, not talking, just relaxing.

Rousing herself from the memory, she almost let her fingers drop to rub her now moist pussy lips. Instead, she gripped the arms of the chair, forcing the image away.

“Well,” she whispered aloud, “apparently I wasn’t a prude and Nathan was an amazing lover.”

Letting go of the fabric, she used her fingers to massage her temples, the ache in her head retreating. Blake groaned and turned onto his side on the sofa where he slept.

Watching him settle back to sleep, she remembered their day in his studio. Remembered she’d been the one to choose the paintbrush for him to use as a fake cock on her. His expression had questioned her move, but she’d only smiled at him, a silent go-ahead to penetrate her. She could still visualize how he’d sucked the handle before pushing it inside her.

She also remembered something else. She’d taken Blake to the master bedroom, too. A different time than Nathan, but she’d enticed him to fuck her on the same bed.

Maris shut her eyes and remembered how she’d drawn him up the stairs, couldn’t remember what they were laughing at, but that he’d been hesitant. Once upstairs, she locked the door and turned to him. His smile would always be her complete undoing, she knew. The wicked little grin his lips spread into when he thought about sex.

They had kissed in the center of the room for a long time, slowly peeling away layers of clothing, tossing them where they fell. They’d wound up on the bed fucking in a missionary position at first. She’d changed their position, turning on her side with him spooning behind her to take him deeper. None of the words they shared came to mind, only the hazy image of them making love. He’d pulled from her several times and licked her pussy and anus before going back to fuck her. In a moment of clarity, Maris remembered taking his hand to her butt, an invitation he didn’t resist. At first, he’d palmed her cheeks, pinching her skin while his cock slid in and out of her. She had taken his hand to her mouth and sucked his middle finger, his cock throbbing harder inside her. She also remembered she’d taken his hand and put it back on her butt. He’d questioned her with a look, and she knew she’d given him permission to penetrate her anus. Sliding his finger inside her while fucking her pussy had been enough to push her over the edge into orgasm. He’d come inside her and paused to catch his breath before moving from her. She reached back and drew his cum-coated cock from her pussy and drew it higher. Her intent became clear as she made the same move several times. He’d come alive in her hand, getting harder each time she rubbed his cock head along her anus.

Maris knew she’d rolled onto her stomach and propped her butt high in the air. Blake hadn’t refused the invitation, using his fingers to draw his cum from her pussy and wet her higher. She knew they’d talked as lovers did, but still couldn’t find the words they’d used, only that she’d wanted the invasion. When his cock was hard, he’d stroked it, making her turn to watch while his moist finger invaded her. She’d pushed back, talking it deeper until he finally replaced it with his cock.

Maris knew she’d wanted him to fuck her ass, had enjoyed it, and knew she missed the different climax it afforded her. They’d stayed that way for a long time, him slowly fucking her butt while she used two of her own fingers to push inside her pussy.

Her body shook as she remembered the powerful orgasm that had led to. Sitting in the living room now, she was tired and horny. While she still pressed her thighs together, the ache wouldn’t subside.

“Maybe,” she wondered aloud, but neither man roused. Deciding she didn’t have the courage to start something now, she quietly went back upstairs to her bed, alone. Even Shin stayed sleeping before the fireplace.

She’d left the door ajar, knowing both men were downstairs. She paused at the nightstand drawer and pulled out the glass dildo, shaking off her robe, letting it fall to the floor. Climbing back into her bed, she lay in the center, naked, sucking the glass phallus. Her fingers rubbed her pussy until she took the saliva-coated toy and slipped it between her lips. Shaking her hips to seat it in just the right spot, Maris used one hand to fuck her pussy with the glass and the other to pinch her nipples. She came, but not like she remembered orgasms with her men.

* * * *

Nathan woke early, his neck cramped and his body aching from the position he’d slept in the chair. His shifting woke Blake, who startled and sat up on the edge of the sofa, forcing sleep from his being.

“Is she okay?” he asked.

“I think so. I haven’t heard anything from upstairs.”

They stared at each for a long time in the still dark room, neither saying what they were thinking. Finally, Blake broke the standoff.

“We both know if we don’t make a move, she won’t, at least for a long time.”

“I realize that. She’ll be afraid of hurting one of us.” Nathan shook his head at their predicament.

“My worst fear is she’ll walk away from both of us to avoid that situation.”

Nathan stood and stretched. “What do we do?” He’d watched a sly grin cross Blake’s lips and knew he probably wasn’t going to like the answer.