I sighed. This was heaven.
Maven’s hands were rougher than Chance’s. I could feel the pads of his calluses. I didn’t know where he’d gotten them, but the little bite as his fingers practically nipped at my stomach was enticing. Chance traced hearts on my thighs. I smiled. He’d hate for others to know how sweet he was.
I’d keep that info for myself to treasure always.
I didn’t feel any urgency from them, and I was content to let this unfold as it did naturally. This was… a break from stress. We were all here together, on the blue ocean, floating through life. Maybe it was the rocking of the boat, which wasn’t bothering me anymore, but there was a feeling to this moment like we floated through it as well.
Chance nuzzled my thigh, taking an audible breath. I smiled as Banyan kissed me.
“Think she likes this.” Banyan’s voice was a husky whisper.
To say I liked it was an understatement. Maven bit down lightly on my stomach, and I arched on the bed. This seemed to spur them on. Their movements became rapider. I trembled a little bit.
Maven moved, changing places with Chance. What was he doing? Banyan took the opportunity to alter his location. He left my mouth and instead took my breast in his mouth, sucking hard. Chance took the other one, doing the same. My body turned to flames. I’d never known my breasts could be so sensitive. I grabbed onto the back of their heads, drawing them further toward me. Yes, I wanted more.
This was sweet torture.
Maven pushed my legs apart a second before his mouth came down on me. He licked a long stroke over my pussy. I cried out, and Maven moaned. He stroked me again, and then again. He didn’t stop. When he found my clit, he ran his tongue over it in a circular motion, stopping to bite down gently. I panted, so many sensations rushing through me I couldn’t make out one from the other. My clit pulsed and swelled.
Chance bit down on my nipple. That was it. I exploded, all over Maven’s tongue. He must have liked it because he didn’t pull back. Instead, he gave me one long lick over my pussy. I shuddered. He pulled back to grin at me as Banyan and Chance let go. The last time we’d been all three together they’d preplanned things, but the way they kept looking at each other, I wondered if they were winging it this time.
I had an idea. “We could… do the next part all together.”
Banyan cleared his throat. “What did you have in mind, gorgeous? And I want to paint you like this.”
“You can as long as only the people in this room right now ever see it.”
He nodded, a glint in his eyes. “Great.”
“One of you inside of me, one of you with your cock in your mouth, and one of you with your dick in my hand.” There, I’d said it. They could say they didn’t want that. They all wanted to be inside of me at some point and that would be fine. I just thought maybe it would be fun.
Chance stepped back. “I call mouth.”
I grinned. “Is that dibs?”
“That’s dibs.”
Banyan nodded. “Would you stroke me, Giovanna? I love when that happens. I’d love to watch your face when you come. I’d love to have your hand on me when you do.”
Well, that seemed to be worked out. “Maven?”
“Are you kidding?” He held out his hand. “Chance, hand me a condom.”
Chance pulled a condom out of his pocket and gave one to Maven. They were always so prepared. I loved how they took care to make sure everything was handled. This would be tricky until we found our rhythm and any more talking about it was just going to spoil the mood. I liked that we were all working this out as we went.
I scooted just a little bit back on the bed. Chance moved to my left and Banyan to my right, which was funny because they actually changed places on the bed. I almost pointed out that wasn’t necessary but none of us were thinking all that clearly.
Maven scooted forward. He pressed his cock near my pussy and gently pushed himself inside of me. Maven could, and had in the past, entered me all at once. But he was gentle this time, cautious even. By the time he had filled me up—and oh how I loved that feeling—Chance had pushed his long cock into my mouth. I did my best to deep throat him and hoped that what I lacked in ability would be made up for in enthusiasm.
I reached to my side, finding Banyan’s cock. I stroked it hard, from tip to balls and back again. I closed my eyes. This was going to be so much better if I could just let myself feel. I kept my movements akin to Maven’s. If he pushed in, I stroked and sucked. If he pulled out, I did the same. Soon we were all moaning together, a beautiful cacophony of sound I’d never heard before. God, I wanted to come at the same time that we all did.
Banyan liked pressure, so I applied some to the tip of his cock while I let my teeth gently graze on Chance. He cried out. Yes, he liked that. The sound made me clench harder around Maven who in turn sped up his movements. We were all close. I could feel it. I opened my eyes. Banyan wanted to see me, and I’d let him.
Up until the moment I came.
Maven jerked suddenly, hitting my clit hard with a thrust, and I exploded. My hand squeezed Banyan hard. He followed me, my hand suddenly soaked in the beautiful evidence of how much he wanted me. He cried out my name just as Chance came into my mouth. I drank him deep.
Yes, this was just what I’d wanted.
And then some. I let all the pleasure rush through me. I knew that for the rest of my life, I’d never forget this moment.
* * *
The problem with doing nothing was that I got used to doing nothing. Although I supposed that wasn’t fair. I got my classwork done on my laptop hooked up to Wi-Fi on the boat. I’d finally learned that Chance had named her Ahsa. It was a name that in Sanskrit meant future. He’d wanted one when he’d bought and crewed his boat on a whim.
I stared at my guys. I lay on my stomach, topless, and regarded the day ahead of us. For the last five days I had woken up, done my classwork, looked at the critique group I’d joined to see if I had any suggestions for my book, and lain in this chair. My nightmares had stopped. They might come back, but right now I was calm. Maybe too calm.
Chance rose from his lounger and walked over to me. “I think it’s time.”
It wasn’t lunch. Or at least I wasn’t hungry. “For what?”
“To go see my father.”
I lifted my head to look at him better. I didn’t have sunglasses on, so to see him completely through the glare of the blazing sun was hard, but I managed. “You sure?”
He nodded. “I have to live with myself. It isn’t about him. Part of me—and my brother feels this way, too—thinks it should be ‘fuck you, Dad, go and die.’ We aren’t coming to your deathbed. You can’t make up for what you did to us, to Mom, with an apology and some final moments.”
I could actually understand that. Their dad had been horribly abusive, and in Chance’s lowest moments, he wondered if their dad had actually killed their mom. He had no proof. The official story was that she’d fallen on some ice, which was why he went a little into the overprotective mode when I walked outside during the winter.
He continued speaking. “But then I was thinking these last five days that he will be dead. Gone. He won’t be walking the Earth anymore, able to do anyone any more harm. But if I don’t go see him and stand there, let him say to me whatever he’s going to say, then I’ll always wonder what that was going to be. He’ll have power even after he’s dead, the power to continue to hold a place in my thoughts while I wonder what he would have said to me. That might eventually eat me up inside, the not knowing. Rather than give him that, why not say fuck it and be in control of how the rest of my life goes.”
Maven nodded. “I get it. But you really don’t know how this will go. What he says might eat you alive anyway.”
“Then I guess I’m going to find a therapist and get some help. I’ve had one already. I know how to do that. I…” He seemed to start and stop. “For example, my natural inclination is always self-preservation.”
I didn’t see
Chance like that. “You ran the pledges. You help me. You stayed with them during the fires. I don’t see you that way.”
“Thanks for that. But what did I want to do? I wanted to go be with you.”
“You didn’t take off running,” Banyan added. “You didn’t say fuck this I’m out. You didn’t even back down from Maven’s mom, and she’s scary.”
I looked at him to see if he was joking, but he didn’t seem that way. I supposed he was right. Barbara Stone was kind of scary. Not lock in a room and threaten to burn to death with you scary but more like how am I supposed to exist under her sneer scary.
“Trust me, none of that was how I used to be.” He rose. “Anyway, I think it’s the right thing to do. I want to do this. If you guys will come with me.”
Maven nodded. “Of course we’ll go, but do you want all of us or do you just want Giovanna? Because it’s okay to say that you want to do this alone with her. I think… I mean, we have to figure out this whole relationship as we go through it. I don’t know if there are websites devoted to how to do this or some sort of guidebook, but it’s not like people have one to one relationships all that figured out either. Look at all our parents.” Maven rose. “Still, I think there will probably be times in our lives when we want to be alone with Giovanna one on one with her. That’s okay.”
Chance looked at the ground for a second. “If Vonni is willing, I’d be okay with this just being the two of us for a few hours.”
“I’m fine with it.”
“Yep.” Banyan laughed. “That’s okay. It will leave me with painting time. I’m feeling that view of the island today. All bathed in pinks.”
Was he moving past just wanting to paint us? I really couldn’t wait to see what Banyan did over the next few years. What happened with artistry as it progressed?
I took Chance’s hand. “Let me change fast. I don’t have a shirt on.”
His smile was slow. “Oh we know. Trust us. And probably the captain and the crew know from wherever they’re watching us.”
I gasped. I’d totally forgotten. I grabbed my shirt and threw it on. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well you were chest down. I kind of thought you’d dress before you got up.”
Mortification was a real thing. I groaned. I was going to forget this. Somehow. Someday.
* * *
There was no handbook on what to wear to go see your boyfriend’s abusive father on his deathbed. Chance hadn’t changed out of his khaki shorts, white t-shirt, and sandals. I dressed similarly. As it was, I only had the clothes Chance himself had picked out for me available. I put on a blue maxi dress that was off the shoulder and paired it with some sandals of my own.
Chance waited for me by the smaller boat that he would be captaining to bring us to shore. I cleared my throat. “You know how to do this? How to operate this… dinghy?”
“It is not a dinghy.” He laughed, throwing his head back. “Vonni, I’ve been on boats since before I could walk. The one thing I’ll give Dad credit for was instilling in my brother and me the love and respect of the ocean. Yes, I know how to operate this. Sit back. I’ve got this.”
And it turned out he did. Chance’s not-dinghy danced over the water at high speeds, some of it hitting me in the face as we went. I grinned. This was kind of fun. We’d dove off the boat one day but hadn’t gone swimming all that much because Banyan couldn’t stop talking about sharks, mostly to make Chance crazy.
I leaned back. Chance was right. This was fun.
* * *
I’d been to a lot of places in the world with rough roads; Grand Cayman wasn’t one of them. The roads were well done, and it was a smooth trip from the dock to the house where Chance’s father was living and would presumably die. I guessed Chance had arranged the driver in the time it had taken me to put on some clothes.
I sucked in a breath as we pulled up. I thought I’d gotten used to the way the guys lived. We were in Manhattan living like kings but nothing had prepared me for this. It was a mega-mansion for sure. “How big?”
Chance didn’t pretend to misunderstand me. “I think it’s probably around 45,000 square feet.”
“Did you come here as a child?” That might be neither here nor there at the moment, but my mind was trying to digest the sheer size of the place.
He nodded. “Sure. This was his favorite spot.”
Chance took my hand as we walked toward the house. It was tan and huge, beautiful, and yet also… too much. “He lives here alone?”
What did a person do with this much space? “He and his staff. Sometimes he had a girlfriend, but I don’t think lately. He never married anyone after Mom. Didn’t want to share.” The idea of being alone in such a space seemed horrendous. Did he just wander from room to room by himself? Sit in one spot and then the next?
Chance continued, “The back of the house has huge windows and some natural caves that we used to run through as kids. It’s actually beautiful, that part anyway. The rest of this is a study in bad taste. I don’t know what his will says or what he plans to do with this place.”
“You seem calm. Are you? Or are you faking it?” I supposed it was best to just come right out and ask.
“I am. Tells me I’m probably doing the right thing.”
I squeezed his fingers. “You amaze me, you know that? You are always thinking about things, always trying to be a better version of you. Most days I am just trying to figure out how to put one foot in front of the other.”
“Not true.” He shook his head. “Having your book critiqued doesn’t seem like it would be very much fun.”
It wasn’t. But I didn’t want to dwell on that now. We could talk about something as unimportant as that after we were done seeing his father. Or weeks from now. He rang the doorbell and a second later a man opened it.
“Charles.” I blinked at the name. I’d never think of Chance as Charles. Even if the entire world started calling him that.
He nodded. “Nice to see you again, Henley. This is Giovanna.”
Henley was a man in his forties, or so he looked. I supposed he could be older and look younger. He wore slacks and a white shirt. It didn’t look uniform-y but rather just like he’d dressed like that. He had an earring in his left ear. My eyes were drawn first to Chance’s gold stud earring and then to his infinity tattoo that he kept covered most of the time. It was visible now. He must not care if his father saw it. Maybe someday I’d brave the pain and get one.
“He’ll be glad you’re here.”
Chance made a non-committal noise and then squeezed my fingers. We followed after him and up a long staircase. I didn’t stop to look at the artwork. This wasn’t a gawking at the house trip. We were here for a purpose and it wasn’t that. Finally, we came to the top and went down a long hallway to a room at the end of the hall.
“He’s not in the master?” Chance asked Henley.
The other man shook his head. “Not since your mom died.”
Chance made another noncommittal sound. I couldn’t interpret his noises, that much was for sure. In fact, I hoped he never made the strange noise at all to me. It was not a sound of happiness. If this was what he did in these circumstances I never wanted to hear it again.
Henley entered the room with a knock, and we followed. If Chance had any reaction to seeing his father, he didn’t indicate it. His face remained entirely passive. I actually didn’t know what Chance’s father looked like before, but the man on the bed was emaciated. I’d never asked—because it seemed I’d been excellent at not questioning Chance on any of this—but I would guess he had cancer. What kind, I’d find out when we left the room.
He’d probably not looked like this the last time Chance saw him. I looked around quickly. There was one thing that the rich and the poor did the same, they died. In the end, what difference did the money make? We were all humans. We were born. We died.
He was hooked to machines. They made clicking and beeping noises. I knew enough that some of that was bloo
d pressure, some of that was pain meds, probably was something keeping him hydrated. I’d been with my grandmother, my father’s mother, a bit when she’d died. We’d left before she passed so my mother could give a speech, but we’d visited for a while. This didn’t look much different than then.
I rubbed my hand and then wrist, suddenly aware that they were both still aching. Or maybe it was just what I did when I got anxious. I obsessed.
“That you, Charles?”
Chance nodded and stepped toward him. “It’s me.”
“I didn’t think you were going to come. Then they called me to tell me you were coming today. Only an hour ago. You don’t give a man very much time.”
My love raised his eyebrows. “I wasn’t going to come at all. Then I changed my mind.”
They were both silent. Finally, Chance’s father’s gaze fell on me just as Henley turned to leave. I wondered if the other man left to give us all privacy or if he wanted to be away from the discomfort in here.
“Who is this you’ve brought with you?” His father looked at me again.
Chance squeezed my hand. “This is Giovanna.”
“Hello.” I nodded toward him.
There was silence after this until eventually his father spoke again. “She must be important for you to have brought her here.”
Chance didn’t comment, not to say yes or no to his father, and the next thing his dad did was sigh.
“Do you remember when you used to come here as a child? With your brother?”
Chance shifted in his seat. “Sure. And Mom.”
His dad nodded. “You and Jack would run up and down that beach all day. We’d call you in for dinner.”
“I remember it a little bit differently but sure, that’s the general idea.”
Silence fell in the room again. I wasn’t sure if his father had fallen asleep, but then he spoke again. “Do you still like tomato soup?”
Undeniable: Reverse Harem Story #3 Page 14
