Food for the Soul

by Ceri Grenelle

  “Hi, I’m on Main. I should be there in about twenty minutes. I can’t wait to tell you both what happened, but I’m not gonna say a thing until I get there!” She was excited enough to be bouncing in the seat, and it wasn’t from the pothole-filled bus ride.

  “Harper, what are you doing on the bus?” Theo’s voice was chiding. “We could have come to pick you up. We said we would.”

  “I know! But that was before I learned the most amazing thing ever. It has empowered me to take the bus.”

  Theo chuckled, his deep voice setting off a whole slew of reactions in Harper’s body that added a delicious new layer to her excitement. “All right. We’ll keep an eye out for you.”

  A new voice came on the line. “Be careful, kid.” Flynn sounded wary. “People with injuries look like—”

  “Victims. I know.” Their concern was sweet, but she would be fine. Her bruise was mostly green now but beginning to fade. “It’s one bus ride, then a couple blocks, and I’m there. Easy as pie. I’m going now.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  “Who’s watching Ben?”

  “He’s spending the day at my dad’s, helping him unpack. Thanks for asking.” Flynn sighed, but it didn’t sound like a good, content sigh.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked, putting aside her ebullience to focus on Flynn.

  “Only Dad being his usual lovely self, but it’s nothing out of the norm. We’ll see you soon, kid.”

  “I can’t wait,” she said, trying to keep from squealing with excitement.

  “Me too.”

  There was a scuffle before she heard Theo’s voice back on the line. “Me too, sexy.”

  She hung up to the sounds of the guys attempting to wrestle the phone from one another. They were wonderful. This day was wonderful. Nothing could take this feeling away from her. She’d hold on to it like the precious gift it was, and on rainy days, she would take it out and get high on the vapors. It was that good.

  No, they were that good. And she was that lucky.

  Harper leaped off the bus when the driver reached her stop, much to the amusement of the other passengers she was sure. She sprinted the three blocks long blocks to Flynn’s house, then ran up the driveway. Theo and Flynn opened the front door as she reached it, and Harper used her momentum to propel herself into their arms. They all staggered back, and she kicked the door shut.

  “Are we alone?”

  “Yeah, I told you on the phone Ben is with Mitchell—”

  “Marcie and John or any of your employees here?” she asked as she began to undress, tearing her shirt and bra off, then throwing them on the floor.

  “No, we—Harper, not that I’m complaining, but what is going on?” Theo asked, watching her in amusement.

  “I want you both inside me.” She pushed her skirt, underwear, and sneakers off, then stood naked before both of them, her heart pounding and in search of a release of all the jovial energy she had coming from her mended soul. “Now,” was the last thing she said before turning around and dashing up to the master bedroom. She got as far as the doorway when a naked man wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her onto the bed on all fours. It was Theo leaning over her, rubbing his bare cock along her ass cheeks and the base of her spine. He crept his hand down and began to massage her pussy lips. She leaned into it, her back rubbing against his chest and her pelvis pushing into his hand.

  “This what you wanted?”

  She shook her head, and he playfully nipped at her neck.

  “No? Then what, sexy?”

  “Both of you,” she panted as Theo pushed two fingers inside her, slipping within easily, as she had been ready for them the second she’d leaped off that bus.

  “One at a time?” Theo kept one hand in her cunt but supported her abdomen by wrapping the other around it, then pulled them up to a kneeling position. He continued to tease and fuck her cunt with two long fingers but with his other kneaded and pinched her breast and nipple, making sweat drip down her back.

  “No, at the same time.”

  “Like this?” Flynn asked, crawling onto the bed. Beautifully naked, he stood, his cock directly in front of her, and gently gripped her hair to bring her forward.

  She couldn’t help herself. Faced with the stark masculinity of his erect member, she was overcome with wanting to lick and suck. She gave in a bit, nibbling around the mushroomed head, then licking along the thick vein. Flynn guided the tip to her lips, and she took him in with a moan echoed by Theo.

  “That is sexy as fuck. Suck him harder.” Theo adjusted his stance behind her, canting her hips back enough to give him room to slip within, his penis sliding along her walls, stretching her with his considerable girth. “Flynn, baby, she’s wet. You need to feel this. Ah, fuck. I want to come just from being inside her cunt.”

  Harper pulled her mouth off Flynn’s cock and said, “No, not yet. I want you both inside me.”

  “We are—”

  “Theo, I want you in my cunt and Flynn in my ass.”

  Silence stretched between them, and Harper would have laughed at Flynn standing there dumbfounded with his dick in his hand if she hadn’t needed release so terribly.

  Flynn came out of his stupor first. “You sure, baby?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I need to feel you both, now, damn it.” She slammed a fist on her thigh, unwilling to wait for what she wanted any longer.

  With an impressive strength, Flynn picked her up and into a standing position. He kissed her slowly, letting his tongue explore every inch of her mouth, and she savored the striking man she had come to love terribly in such a short time.

  “Thank you for letting me be your first.”

  She couldn’t help her devil’s grin as she said, “Never told you I hadn’t done it before.”

  Flynn looked past her shoulder at Theo, still kneeling on the bed, and said, “Now she’s gonna get what’s comin’ to her.”

  Flynn turned her around, gently despite his teasing, and had her kneel in front of Theo. “Sit on his thighs, fuck his fat cock with your arms and legs wrapped around him.”

  She nodded, nervous and excited and vibrating with need. As she came down onto Theo’s thighs, guided by his hands wrapped around her waist, her hands began to shake.

  “Tell us what’s happening, sexy,” Theo said, nuzzling her lips and teasingly keeping her hovered over his tip, rubbing it against her lips but not letting her sink onto him.

  “I just—there’s a lot happening in here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “I’m overflowing, and I need your help to get it out. I need help. Please.” She kissed him, lust overcoming her to the brink of tears. “Please.”

  He lowered her down onto him on the last pleading whisper.

  “Make love to me,” she said, resting her forehead on his shoulder and jumping slightly as Flynn came down behind her. He soothed her with a hand on her back, rubbing up and down her spine.

  “We will,” Flynn said gently as Theo began to grind his hips against hers, slowly and methodically. She reveled in each shift of skin against sensitive skin. She tensed as she felt the cold touch of lube against her backside and the gentle massage of Flynn’s fingers, relentlessly touching her despite Theo’s shifts and thrusts.

  They worked together, her lovely, wonderful men, seeking to ease her into a profound and mutual pleasure. As Theo increased not the pace but the force of his movements, Flynn slipped two fingers into her chute. She gasped.

  “Aw, baby,” Flynn murmured against her hair. “You took me in so well. Can you feel me stretch you inside?”

  “Yes,” she said on an intake of breath as Theo squeezed her pelvis to his, pushing himself as deep as he could go in their position.

  “Theo, hold her ass cheeks open for me, and I’ll grip her hips.” They shifted slightly to accommodate one another, such a parallel to their everyday lives. Theo lessened his workload at the hospital; Flynn welcomed them into his home and the life of his child. They shifted and moved pieces
to fit one another in. It was the best puzzle.

  “Now, baby,” Flynn said, lining up his piece behind her, nudging at her hole and stretching her wide open. She leaned back into it, knowing what to do after watching her men with one another over the past month. She cried out as Flynn’s width stretched her, burned her muscles, but still she leaned back into it, accepting him with love and care.

  “I love you,” she said with a whimper. “Move. Now, move.”

  They didn’t hesitate, but they started slow, easing her through the initial discomfort. It didn’t take long for her to become used to the overwhelming sensation of fullness in that part of her body, or how her men’s cocks rubbed against one another as one thrust and the other retreated.

  They picked up the pace, Harper gripping one hand on Theo’s shoulder, scratching and kneading in her tension, and the other on Flynn’s hand by her waist, holding her steady for his and Theo’s pleasure. Theo began to grunt, his dick like a piston within her, using short, sharp, yet powerful bursts he knew drove her wild. Flynn didn’t use as much force as he knew he could, but his speed and surety made up for it.

  Without warning, Theo adjusted his angle, and the tip of his length massaged a spot within her that began to make her insides twist.

  “Right there, right there,” she chanted, her head thrown back against Flynn’s shoulder. She dipped her thumb inside Theo’s mouth for him to add another layer of sensation and suck on. They all increased the volume of their moans, their pace, their intensity. Their rhythm in tune with their synched heartbeats. Faster, harder, they each demanded more with every drop of sweat and gasp of breath.

  “I can’t hold it any longer,” Flynn grunted before wrapping his arms around her chest and abdomen, grunting in relief as he came, his mouth against her neck. “Love you,” he repeated with each burst of cum shooting into her back passage, the heat adding to her rise toward climax.

  “Theo,” she said, taking her thumb out of his mouth, not knowing what she was asking for.

  “Here, sexy,” he said pressing his thumb against her clit and shifting his angle enough to rub the perfect spot within her.

  Harper moaned both their names, tears rolling down her cheeks as she came, the agony and ecstasy of the moment tearing her soul to pieces before mending it anew.

  “Oh, Christ. Right there. Yes,” Theo yelled, his cum flooding her cunt, warming her.

  She smiled, panting against the both of them.

  “I’m gonna fucking collapse,” Flynn said, his lips still against her neck. “Hold on, baby.” He slowly and gently pulled out of her ass, then climbed off the bed, running into the bathroom. She kept her eyes closed, relaxing on Theo’s chest, his cock still inside her, twitching with final aftershocks. Flynn returned and began to clean her with a warm washcloth, his tenderness making her heart spark with fireworks once more, only this time she had no energy to conjure to expel what she was feeling.

  Once the men had seen to her aftercare, ensuring they hadn’t done any harm, they all curled up together with Theo in the middle. Eventually, they began to drift to sleep, and Harper grinned to herself. She hadn’t told them her amazing news, but it could wait. This was the moment she wanted to be in. She stayed quiet and let herself focus on the love and happiness in the room.

  Epilogue

  “Hey, Harper, did I ever tell you ’bout that time I stole two pennies from President Nixon?” Greg asked with a toothless grin as he graciously accepted a plate of barbecue.

  “No, Greg. Please tell me for the hundredth time.”

  “Well, he—hundredth time? Girl, you’re pushin’ it. Respect your elders.” The old man waved her off, but his hidden grin told her he’d acknowledged his flub and was in good humor. How anybody could not be in a good mood on a day like this was a mystery to Harper. She, who usually held a stoic but open attitude when serving the people of the Full Spoon, couldn’t help but let loose a little and smile.

  Over the past two months, Harper, Theo, and Flynn had banded the community together and organized not one but two fundraisers for the Full Spoon. One a family-fun day, the other a gala event. She hadn’t thought about the gala, as she would never have been able to afford to put something like that together, and she wouldn’t accept a handout of either Flynn’s or Theo’s money. But when the wealthier communities heard of the misfortunes that had befallen Harper, they came running with checkbooks open, and Flynn’s community had agreed to host the event.

  The gala had been the previous weekend, and the city had surprisingly honored Harper with the key to the city, stating any woman who had been attacked and yet refused to back down and give up her cause deserved to hold the city in her hands. And truth be told, seeing the smiling faces at their fundraising family-day barbecue, she sort of felt like she did.

  Flynn and a few other volunteers were manning the barbecue. He’d stuck by his misogynistic joke that men were the kings of the barbecue, and it was their job to grill the meat up. For that, Harper had given him three of her best cooks for help; all happened to be women who didn’t take any shit from grandstanding men. They had quickly shoved him aside at the beginning and wouldn’t let him back on the grill until he’d proven himself worthy of the noble task. A couple of the women owned their own restaurants. She didn’t care who was manning the grill—or womanning the grill, as it were—as long as the food came out sumptuous and delicious.

  Just because she served the homeless didn’t mean the food couldn’t be good. They deserved that much, at least.

  But today wasn’t only for the homeless. There were families and neighbors from all over the city, sitting at the folding picnic table and chairs. Officer Reynolds came up with the amazing idea of setting up volleyball nets, soccer goal posts, and relay races for the kids. Daniel Webster Park was an underutilized and ill-cared-for public park, but she could see this sort of thing becoming an annual or maybe a weekend event in the summer, a little boost to help raise money for the Full Spoon and remind the people of the community that there were those who needed their help.

  At night they could set up a big movie screen and projection; maybe in the afternoon they could show kids’ movies. Perhaps if there were enough local vendors, an affordable farmers’ market could be set up on Saturday or Sunday mornings. There was a great amount of potential for this city, to make it better, not gentrify it, the way the bank wanted to do.

  You could improve a city without kicking its people out. You only had to offer a helping hand.

  “Ms. Pettinger.”

  Harper looked up from filling up plates of food to see a face she’d never thought to see again. Her heart jumped, and she handed off the plate to one of the volunteers. She couldn’t get around the serving station fast enough to throw her arms around the older man grinning at her. He hugged her right back, and she was grateful, because if it weren’t for Mr. Hobbs, her old account manager at National Trust, she wouldn’t have this opportunity.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”

  They pulled out of the hug to step away from the line. Harper linked her arm into Mr. Hobbs’s as they strolled around the park, watching the kids playing whatever game had struck their fancy. Mr. Hobbs looked good, for a man she had to assume was at least in his midseventies. His hair was fully white now, at least what was left of it, and his belly had become decidedly rounder. Maybe retirement was suiting him well.

  “Mr. Hobbs—”

  “Harper, call me Daniel. I’m not your business associate anymore.”

  “Right.” She grinned sheepishly. “How did you manage to stick that clause in?” She didn’t have to explain what she meant. He wouldn’t have been at the picnic if he didn’t know how she had managed to accomplish three months’ payment free. “I know it wasn’t there when we originally signed the papers.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” He glanced down at her, a twinkle in his eye. “This is strictly off the record.”

  “Of course.”


  “Those bastards—excuse my language, but that’s what they are—at the corporate bank came in to take over and fired everyone. And I mean everyone. From the tellers to the cleaning crew. They didn’t have to do that. Larger banks absorb banks all the time, but they keep the employees. It’s good to have those connections to the customers that only our account reps had. But they didn’t care. They wanted their people, workers with the right mindset, to get the job done. Ridiculous.”

  “They fired you too?”

  “Actually, I was planning to retire anyway, so it didn’t affect me. But there were others in the bank who needed the job. Needless to say I was angry…and became enraged when I heard what they’d planned for your neighborhood.”

  “Planned? You mean the gentrification.”

  “Not only that, but they looked at your record, saw how many times you’ve been a day or two late, and then they looked at the parcel of land your building was on. That area is prime picking for gentrification. Hardly anyone lives there, and there are no businesses open save yours. With new buildings and fixed-up streets, it’s close enough to the center of town to work for them.”

  “If they brought in the right kind of people.”

  “Exactly. I knew you were usually good for the payments; it was why we were so lenient on you when you were late. It was only by a day. I know it’s hard to get donations for the Full Spoon, but it’s important to keep it open.”

  “Thank you, Daniel.”

  “You do good work here, Harper. And the day you came in to sign the new documents, the corporate bank’s version of the mortgage, I quickly added a clause and, when they weren’t lookin’, had you sign it.”

  She thought for a moment. “It was that last piece of paper. The one we signed too fast to have me read.”

  “Yup. Those idiots were none the wiser. They put it in their file for the top of the bank to sign, and he signed because at that point, all their lawyers had gone over everything, and he signs where he’s told. Worked out pretty well if I do say so myself.”