The Art of Love [Hedon Falls 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (12 page)

“How are you feeling?” Garrett asked.

“Well-fucked,” she replied, and both men laughed. “I feel fantastic. I never knew how good this could be. Thank you both.”

“It was our pleasure,
ma chérie
,” said Justin.

“And now this solves your dating dilemma,” Garrett said. “You can be with both of us at the same time and not feel guilty.”

Melanie lay quietly. They didn’t know about David. She had never specified how many other people she was seeing when she talked to them. Although she didn’t even know if David wanted to see her again. It didn’t seem like it. “There was someone else, too,” she said. “But I think he’s gone.” To her surprise, her eyes welled up with tears.

“What’s wrong?” Garrett asked. “Who is this other guy?”

Melanie sniffed and replied, “David Hannah, the other artist.”

“Let me get this straight,” Garrett said. “You visited three different artists and ended up sleeping with all of them?”

Melanie’s tears fell faster as she nodded. “I know I shouldn’t have done any of it, but I can’t seem to control my hormones around you guys! When David wanted to go out with me tonight and I told him I already had a date with you, he freaked out and left.”

Justin stroked her arm, soothingly. “I am sorry
, ma chérie
.”

She shook her head. “It’s no one’s fault but mine,” she said. “I dug myself into this. I’m a horrible person!” She sobbed against Justin’s chest.

“Melanie, you are not a horrible person,” Garrett said fiercely. “You are a grown woman who is completely entitled to explore her options. It’s only horrible if you had agreed to see him exclusively and then gone fucking around. But you didn’t do that, did you?”

She shook her head. When she thought about it logically, she knew Garrett was right. But it still hurt that David had left.

“You care for him, this David?” Justin said and she nodded again. “Then he was a fool. Garrett and I care for you deeply. And we are not going anywhere.”

“No, we are not,” Garrett confirmed. “But if he wants to see you again, it’s okay with me. I want you to be sure about any decision you make.”

“As do I,” Justin said.

Melanie nodded and both men kissed her gently. Her tears slowed as she lay with them, and eventually she fell asleep, cradled in their arms.

* * * *

Melanie made love with Garrett and Justin again in the morning. Being with the two of them made her feel incredibly desirable. She could hardly believe that they both wanted to be with her. And it seemed as though the men were well on their way to becoming friends. Apparently sharing a woman could do that. She took them back to her place and they spent the day walking through the grounds. They ran into Serena, Liam, and Lance as they returned. The trio, and their kids, were just getting out of their car in front of the house and Serena waved them over.

“Hi, Melanie!” she said. “How are you doing?” She glanced pointedly at the two men flanking Melanie.

Melanie blushed a little. “Serena, this is Justin Gauthier and Garrett Anderson. They’re two of the artists who will be exhibiting their work at the gallery.” She introduced Justin and Garrett to Serena, Lance, and Liam.

“You are both her husbands?” Justin asked with a frown. “How can that be?”

Lance laughed. “Come in and have dinner with us and we can chat.”

Melanie and her men followed the others into the big house. They followed them to the family room, where Serena turned on the new gas fireplace and gestured for them to have a seat. Liam and Lance were each carrying one of the twins and they set them down in front of a chest of toys.

“Can I get you some wine?” Liam asked.

“That would be great,” Melanie replied. Liam disappeared to the kitchen, and Serena and Lance sat together on a love seat. Melanie, Justin, and Garrett took a seat on the sofa facing the others.

“So you want to know about how a ménage relationship works?” Lance said.

“You sound like an informational video,” Serena said as she poked him in the ribs.

“Well, they want to know,” he replied. “How else do I say it?”

Serena laughed and kissed him. “Fine, then. Carry on.”

“Anyway,” Lance continued. “We couldn’t both legally marry her, so we had a commitment ceremony instead, and one civil service.”

“Sounds interesting,” Garrett said. “And congratulations.”

“Thanks,” said Serena. “I never would have believed that I could be so in love with two men at once, but I’m so happy I found them.” She looked adoringly at Lance, who bent his head down and kissed her.

“We’re happy she found us, too,” Liam said as he returned to the room carrying a tray with five wine glasses and a bottle of wine. He held the tray out and Melanie, Justin, and Garrett all took a glass. Serena took the lone glass of milk.

Melanie took a sip of the wine. It was a delicious white, with a wonderful, fruity flavour. “This wine is fantastic. What kind is it?”

“It’s a Californian brand called ‘
Ménage à Trois
’,” Liam said with a grin.

“
Ménage à Trois
?” said Melanie. “You’re kidding right?”

“Nope,” Liam said. “We found it when we were in California over the summer and loved it so much we had them ship us a couple cases. This variety isn’t available in Ontario, though you can find a more generic white. I thought it would be appropriate.”

“Indeed,” Garrett said as he smiled at Melanie. “A toast then, to the
ménage a trois
. Delightful as a wine, or something else.”

Melanie blushed as they all raised their glasses and drank. She knew she didn’t need to be embarrassed about her recent relationship status change, but couldn’t help feeling a little odd about her friends knowing she was sleeping with two men.

“I have new empathy for you, Serena,” Melanie said.

“I’ll bet,” Serena replied with a grin and the two women burst out laughing. “But we can discuss that later, when the guys aren’t around.”

“Agreed,” Melanie said.

The evening was quite pleasant. Lance was an amazing cook, and the meal he made for them was fabulous. They drank a fair amount of the wine and by the time they were ready to leave, Melanie was feeling quite tipsy. Garrett and Justin each took an arm and led her to her house. Once inside, she dragged them both into the bedroom, and it wasn’t long before she found herself naked and making love to two very sexy men.

* * * *

In the morning, Justin and Garrett left and Melanie got to work. She hadn’t realized how much work it would be to open a gallery. She was determined to see it through, but there were times when she felt overwhelmed. She had to have signs made up for the windows, menu boards for the café, furniture ordered, light fixtures ready to go, interesting facts to go along with the displays. It seemed the list was never-ending and her recent spate of social activity had put her slightly behind on some of her tasks.

When Serena knocked on the door at ten, Melanie invited her in. “Is it okay if we just hang out here? I have a bunch of work to do, so I don’t want to be away from it for too long.”

“That’s fine,” Serena said. “You had a lot of wine last night. How’s your head?”

“Surprisingly good,” Melanie said with a laugh. “The guys took care of me.”

“Speaking of the guys, give me some details. What happened between Saturday morning and last night?”

Melanie explained how she had talked to Justin and Garrett about seeing other men and they both seemed not to mind. She told Serena about going to the club, Justin and Garrett meeting up and hatching their little scheme, and the subsequent fun back at Garrett’s apartment. She skipped over most of the details, only mentioning the fact that they now seemed to be involved in a ménage relationship.

“Though we haven’t said that explicitly,” Melanie said. “Garrett just said that now I wouldn’t have to worry about having to choose. He even said that I could date David again if he asks. Which I don’t expect him to.”

“I know you liked David,” Serena said. “But maybe this is what was meant to be. Justin and Garrett looked positively smitten with you. And they seem like decent men.”

“They are,” Melanie said. “You’re right. Maybe it is for the best. And I have so much to do with getting the gallery ready that I’m thinking I don’t have much time for dating anyway. When I can date two at once, it saves me some time.”

Serena laughed. “Whatever happened with the plumbing situation?”

“It was thirty thousand to replace everything.”

“Thirty thousand? Dollars?” Serena asked. “How did you manage to pay for that?”

“I told them to hold off on the apartment,” Melanie told her. “I like it here, so I can keep renting for a while, if it’s okay with you. Then I can finish the apartment later on.”

“I guess that’s what you have to do,” Serena said. “Did it set you back too far in terms of the timeline?”

“Andy said maybe a couple of days. It shouldn’t be too bad,” said Melanie.

“Hopefully there aren’t any more setbacks,” Serena said. “I should head out then, and leave you to your work. But let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Melanie thanked Serena and walked her to the door. Then she sat down to get back to work. Construction was scheduled to finish up in three weeks. She wanted to have everything ready to go by then. It would mean a lot of hard work, but she knew she could do it.

Melanie looked around at the empty gallery.
Finally.

The last three weeks had passed in a whirlwind of activity. She had managed to get almost everything done. The contractor had sorted out all the plumbing issues and managed to finish the construction only three days later than her initial projection. The lighting and walls were put up. The café section had a complete kitchen, with gleaming surfaces, and boxes of furniture to be unpacked lined up along the wall. A curved wrought iron staircase let to the loft level where her apartment would eventually be. All she needed to do now was fill the place with the fixtures, and more importantly, the artwork. She had called David to come to the gallery so they could plan where his sculptures would be placed, since they were the largest objects she would be showing.

Making that call had been difficult and awkward. David spoke as little as possible, using “yes” and “no” whenever he could. Melanie was nervous about seeing him again. It would be the first time since their argument earlier that month. She really wished things had worked out better between them, especially in light of the new developments with Justin and Garrett. She had spent a lot of time with both of them, some of it even outside the bedroom. As she thought about their amazing lovemaking sessions, warm heat blossomed between her legs. Thankfully, she had gotten her period, right on schedule, and the men had accompanied her to the clinic where they had themselves tested for STIs, so she could be sure they were safe. They were both clean, and now that she’d begun the Depo-Provera, she was looking forward to being able to fuck them without the condoms. But she tried not to think about it anymore. It wouldn’t help with David.

“Melanie?” David’s deep voice echoed through the gallery.

She hurried toward the door. When she went around a corner, she stopped and stared. David was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. Both were tight. The shirt accentuated the muscles in his chest and arms, while the jeans brought out some of his other nice features. She had remembered that he was beautiful but her memory hadn’t done him justice. His smooth, flawless, chocolate-brown skin gleamed softly in the sunlight. She remembered his full lips against hers, and a shiver went through her.

They stood for a moment, staring at each other. Finally, Melanie managed to propel herself forward. Up close, she swore she could feel the heat radiating off his body. It was attracting her to him. She wanted to feel that heat surround her. She swallowed and closed the distance between them.

“Hi,” she said softly. His eyes held hers and she swore she could see the desire in them before he looked away.

“This place looks good,” he said.

“Yes, I’m happy with the way it turned out,” she said, glad they could talk about business. “I wanted to talk about where to place your sculptures. We should do that before I worry about the two-dimensional pieces.”

“Good plan,” David said. “What were your ideas?”

Melanie led him through the main gallery. “I thought the life-sized sculpture could go right by the entrance. It’s big and dramatic, and I think it would be perfect as an opening piece.”

“That would work,” David said. “You’ve got room there.”

“I have some pedestals that we can put the smaller pieces on,” Melanie said. She waved around the main gallery. “They would be better scattered in the middle. Then people can walk around and really appreciate your work from all sides. They’ll want to see every facet to really get the genius of the pieces.”

“Now you’re just kissing ass,” he said with a smirk.

His grin pulled up the corners of his mouth in a sexy way, and she blushed as her pussy responded. “It’s the truth, not ass-kissing.”