by Josie Dennis
“Business of the heart though, Matthew,” Posy said, her voice going soft. “Mary deserves everything she has.”
Matthew bent his head to Posy’s, their brows touching. “She’s not the only one.”
Suddenly Graham felt like an intruder once again. These Hawks had found their loves. True, he had Colin. If they continued to be lovers, he would thank his blighted Hawk stars. As to continuing on as they’d been, though? Taking nameless, faceless women together for a night’s pleasure? The thought caused his belly to clench.
After loving Lily, he couldn’t imagine a better match for the two of them.
* * * *
“So what was that about?” Colin asked Graham the next morning.
“What?” Graham shouldered his rifle and fell into step beside him.
The day was bright, and the chill of November all but forgotten as Colin and he joined the others for shooting. The participants were scattered far and wide over the earl’s wooded section of property, so he reasoned he wouldn’t get a better chance than now to discuss this with Graham.
All night he’d tried to make sense of what the others were talking about after dinner, but could only glean that there was more to every union than he first presumed.
“That oddly candid discussion in the drawing room with your relatives,” Colin said. “I know you and I talked about the earl and his wife.”
“And her cousin,” Graham put in. “Michael Crowley appears to be as much a part of that union as Gabriel.”
“Is it possible, do you think?”
“What are you asking? You and I have shared numerous women over the years, Colin.”
“I’m not talking about the fucking.”
Graham narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying you would welcome an arrangement like theirs?”
Colin looked at the ground as they continued through the woods. “I would welcome love, Graham. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Graham took his elbow and turned him. “I don’t know if I can do forever, Colin.” His dark eyes looked haunted. “I never knew my mother or father. The other Hawks have known only neglect from their parents or, in Matthew’s case, abuse. If we continue on as we’ve been, there may be more to consider than if the girl cares for us or not.”
“You mean children?”
“We’ve both spilled our seed in her delectable body. Something is bound to take root if this continues. As I said, Lily’s feelings may be immaterial.”
Cold settled in Colin’s belly. “Can you truly not see that the girl is in love with you?”
“What?”
“She was innocent, Graham. She was raped, but before your time with her in the garage she was, in effect, a virgin.”
“You really believe she loves me?”
Colin screwed up his courage and placed a hand on Graham’s shoulder. “How could she not?”
Affection, pure and sweet, filled Graham’s eyes then. “Then you must allow that she loves you, too.”
“Of course.” Colin grinned. “The question is, can you name the moment when this all ceased to be a game?”
“It’s not my game any longer.” Graham laughed as they turned to join the others on the trek back to the house. Their footfalls crunched over the crisp, cold leaves.
“You know,” Graham said after a while. “Matthew’s wife was a maid.”
Colin stopped in his tracks. His heart began to race. Was Graham saying what he thought he was? “And?” he asked him.
Graham shrugged, his brows drawn together. “Patrick Hawk’s, as well.”
His heart began to beat a more normal tempo. “And?” Colin prodded again. “Are you suggesting marriage?”
“Why not?”
Colin studied him for a long moment then shook his head. “You had better come up with a better proposal than that.”
“Do you think she would accept us?”
Colin stared at him for a beat. “Us?”
“Colin, I love you. You would have to be a part of this. An equal part.”
Colin covered his heart with his hand. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that we can figure out some way to get the girl to realize she’s more to us than a plaything.”
Colin thought for a moment. “We haven’t taken her together yet.”
Graham stilled. “She took me in her pretty little ass, Colin. You tasted how wet she was when I did that.”
Colin sucked in a breath. “I can just imagine how her pussy will feel around my cock when you fuck her ass again.”
“If that doesn’t prove she’s important to the both of us, to our pleasure and our happiness, then damn me for a fool.”
Colin threw his arm around Graham’s shoulder. “No one would ever call you a fool, friend.”
Chapter 11
Lily sat in her lonely room in the attic, wishing she could be anywhere but here at the manor. There was nowhere else, though. She was never going to find a better position. She’d known that upon securing employment here. She’d traded her hard-won security for a moment’s pleasure. First with Graham and then with Colin, she’d surrendered. She’d thrown everything away in pursuit of lust. That was all it was, of course. Lust and a shared desire among the three of them.
Oh, what they’d shared yesterday! Loving Colin together only strengthened her need for Graham as well, as impossible as that should be. Tasting Colin’s release and finding her own with Graham’s skillful tongue was something she could never have imagined before their liaison began. She’d been on fire for completion after Graham had taken Colin. After she’d sucked him so far down her throat she’d nearly consumed him. In that moment before she combusted through Graham’s ministrations, she’d caught hold of one thought. She could go on feeling this way forever.
“And now you have to do without it,” she whispered to herself.
Her body heated as she cuddled under the coverlet. Her hand drifted over her aching breasts to touch her pussy. She was damp beneath her nightdress. She’d never touched herself before, having never had urges when she was employed by the old baron. Certainly after his rough, unwanted treatment she’d had no notion pleasure could be achieved at all.
Nothing had made her crave a sensual touch again. Not even handsome Mosley the chauffeur had tempted her to give herself away. Not Cabot’s pretty face or clumsy hands, neither. But now that Graham and Colin had awakened her own hidden beast, she couldn’t imagine living without passion. What would become of her now? She withdrew her hand and fisted it on top of the coverlet.
It was only a matter of time before the countess learned of her shame with the earl’s relative and that man’s friend. What would she think of her? Lady Hawksfell’s good opinion was one of the shining benefits of this position in her opinion. To lose the countess’s warmth and caring would surely leave a black mark on Lily’s heart.
Sniffling, she squeezed her burning eyes shut. Losing Graham and Colin was a foregone conclusion. Whyever would they want to continue an arrangement with a maid, for goodness sake? She simply had to confess to Lady Hawksfell and assure her that nothing like this would ever happen again. She wasn’t trying to emulate Posy’s incredibly good fortune to find a Hawk to love her. Posy had not only Matthew Hawk but William as well! Before this liaison with Graham and Colin, she would have doubted such a path to bliss was possible. Now she knew far better.
She had no such illusions that her life would be anything but what she’d managed so far. This was lust, pure and simple.
She sadly shook her head. “No, not simple.” She was beginning to love the both of them.
They were sweet and tender to her, when they weren’t occupied with driving her out of her mind with pleasure. Their hands could be gentle even as they coaxed screams of ecstasy from her lips. Their cocks…No, she wouldn’t think about their cocks. “That way lies madness,” she chided herself.
Once Graham and Colin returned to their lives, she would admit to all of it. Perhaps the countess wouldn’t turn her ou
t without reference. Perhaps she would forgive her for succumbing to men far more experienced than herself.
If not, Lily was better off returning to London and finding work in a shop than attempting to work in another great house.
* * * *
Long after dinner that night, Graham paced his room. He’d managed to keep his expression clear in the face of the obvious love and warmhearted jests among the Hawks and their partners. His talk with Colin in the woods made him long for things he surely had no business wanting. Then again, he’d never imagined his friendship with Colin would deepen into romantic love. He’d cared for him for so long, back when they were at school and later as they gained manhood. Maybe he’d always loved him.
Perhaps the stifling upbringing his great aunt and uncle gave him made him believe there was no real great passion where the heart was concerned. The cock, of course. He’d never denied his beast, and he never thought of being a Hawk as being cursed. That assurance, too, he could lay at Colin’s feet. And now, with Lily?
Lily could be everything to them, if they were able to convince her. Colin was confident that she loved them. Graham was less sure of that fact. She didn’t know of love either. From what she’d told them, love had nothing to do with what her previous employer had done. Then she’d come here to find Cabot and no doubt the other male servants drooling over her. She looked…lonely.
During tonight’s particular conversation before dinner, he’d managed to bring up the subject of Lady Hawksfell’s previous maids. Patrick Hawk had married the girl that preceded Lily, according to Posy. She also said that she and Lily never really had time to grow close but the countess was very happy with her service. He’d had to keep his face impassive as he thought of Lily’s most recent service. Naked and on her knees in Colin’s guest room.
A knock came to his door and he crossed to open it. Relief swamped him when he spied Colin in the hall. “Where is she?”
Colin pulled back then offered him a small smile. “Easy. I’ve called for her.”
“What did Mrs. Holmes say about that?”
“Nothing.” Colin shrugged. “I’m just a slightly eccentric friend to one of the Hawks, Graham. She doesn’t know I share, shall I say, an accelerated libido with you and your Hawk relatives.”
“Are you sure you’re not a Hawk bastard, Colin?”
Colin chuckled. “Sadly, no. My parents are very much in love and always have been.”
Graham acknowledged this with a nod. Colin’s whole family was ridiculously happy, and that was one reason his friend preferred to stay at Spencer House without them.
“Well, when will she be here?”
“Planning to get on one knee?” Colin asked.
Graham found a smile. “Ah, I’m going to get on both tonight.”
Colin’s eyes sparkled, and Graham welcomed the closeness now. It wasn’t stifling, like he’d feared. No, it was like a warmth wrapping around his heart.
He stepped forward and grabbed the back of Colin’s head. Bringing his mouth to his, he kissed him then slapped him on the back. “Go get her, damn it.”
Colin nodded and went back out into the hall. “Ah, Lily.”
He heard Lily’s soft reply but couldn’t quite make out the words. Nevertheless, Graham felt desire lick a hot tongue down his shaft. Their girl was in the hall with Colin, and surely she knew what they really wanted when Mrs. Holmes sent her up here. She didn’t know they planned to take her together, but he knew she would love it.
“Graham’s room?” she asked as Colin tugged her inside.
“Yes, love,” Graham answered her. He stepped forward and took her hands as Colin shut and locked the door. “Tonight we’re going to take you in my bed.” He shrugged. “Well, my guest bed.”
She bit her lip in that adorable way she had, her green eyes luminous. “Both of you tonight?”
“Both of us, yes.” Colin began to remove his clothes. “Tonight and maybe more.”
Her delicate brows drew together. “More? Oh, you’re not leaving the manor right away then?”
Graham and Colin exchanged a look. They wanted her forever, but now wasn’t the time to talk of the particulars. They would just overwhelm her with pleasure and let their bodies speak for their hearts.
“Get out of that uniform, Lily,” he said as he undressed himself. “If I lay a finger on that silky white skin of yours, I’ll come before we even start.”
She gasped, her gaze going to where he tented his trousers. “Graham…”
“Come here,” Colin said.
He wore nothing now, and Graham admired his body for a moment before the man stripped Lily bare.
“God, look at the both of you.” He cupped himself through his trousers and cursed softly. “You’re going to kill me.”
Colin laughed, and Lily offered a shy smile. Her body was incredible, all lush curves and silken skin. Taken with Colin’s smooth muscles and broad chest, Graham nearly came at the sight.
Colin took Lily’s hand and led her to the bed. “I’m going to start, Lily.”
He sat up near the headboard and let her straddle his thighs. When he closed his eyes and hissed softly, Graham knew her pussy must be like heaven against his cock. They began to kiss, Lily making the most amazing sounds as Colin’s hands stroked up and down her back again and again until he cupped her pert ass. Graham was going to fuck that ass tonight, as he had before. But with Colin inside her as well? That was truly going to feel like heaven.
“Colin,” she sighed, letting her head fall back as Colin moved his mouth to her ample breasts.
She shivered as his mouth closed over one nipple and Graham fumbled to get the rest of his clothes off. Finally he joined them, coming behind her to run his aching cock over her round little cheeks. Her body was already glistening with sweat, and his hands slid deliciously as they roamed over her supple thighs and slender hips as she caught Colin’s rhythm.
“Ah, love,” he said, nibbling on her ear. “You feel so good between us.”
She murmured something and clutched at Colin’s shoulders. Her every muscle was tensed with her frustration, so Graham reached down to finger her pussy. She was soaking wet, and he knew Colin would have no problem getting into her tight passage. Glancing down at his own cock, he’d never seemed bigger. He’d certainly never felt so eager in all his blighted life.
“I’m going to take your pretty bottom before Colin slides into you,” he told her.
She glanced over her shoulders then, her mouth open in obvious shock. “Like before?”
He stroked her ass, his finger just outside her little hole. “Did you like that?”
She blushed pink but nodded.
“I didn’t hurt you?” he had to know.
“N–no,” she whispered.
He grinned and kissed her parted lips. “Good.”
As Colin continued to rouse her every passion with his lips and hands, Graham opened the jar of cream he’d used last time. Two of his fingers slid into her ass, and she braced herself. “Easy,” he soothed, kissing the soft skin at the back of her neck. With a groan, he pressed the tip of his cock against her hole until he began to slide inside.
“Oh, Graham,” she gasped.
“Take me, Lily,” he said, holding his breath as he felt her muscles ease a bit. “Let me inside. God, let me inside.”
She backed toward him just a bit, but it was enough. He was inside now, holding on to her hips as he throbbed. He wanted to move but knew he had to let her get used to him like before. Taking the chance to move at last, he slid slowly back and forth and she began to tremble.
“Finger her, Colin,” he bit out.
“You’re soaking wet,” Colin said. “I want to feel you around my cock.”
“Mmm, yes!” she said, nodding frantically. “I need you inside me, too!”
Colin shifted to lower her onto his shaft. Graham felt him. It was amazing, feeling him moving as they sought a rhythm to drive her out of her mind.
“Do you
feel us, Lily?” he asked, sliding in as Colin slid out. They repeated the motions, slowly building speed as she moaned softly.
“This is just… Oh, it’s lovely!” she cried.
Graham closed his eyes and let himself feel these two people he loved sharing with him the most incredible experience he’d ever had. He never wanted it to end. This passion. This connection.
And if he had his way, it never would.
Chapter 12
Lily could hardly think with the two of them inside of her. She felt so full, so hot and trembling, that she couldn’t do more than gasp and cry out. Colin was deep in her pussy, using his fit body to thrust upward as her clit rubbed against his pelvic bone. Graham was in her bottom, his hands gripping her as he alternately filled her and withdrew just enough to allow for Colin’s upward thrusts.
Their bodies were filmed with sweat, their combined scents filling her head as surely as the two of them filled her body. Colin’s face was pressed against her throat, his mouth nibbling and kissing as he grunted softly. Graham murmured her name, his chest flush against her back as he continued to drive her mad. She leaned forward, licking Colin’s shoulder. His muscles tensed beneath her lips, and he groaned more loudly. Graham cursed again, dragging his teeth over her shoulder as he seemed to grow inside her. As for her? She was slowly going out of her mind.
She knew she wouldn’t last much longer. Her every sense was filled with them. Their touch. Their smell. Their taste. Everything crashed over her in the next moment, sending her spiraling toward an orgasm so intense she stopped breathing and just arched wildly between them. She rode the crest, peaking higher still as they were wild inside her now.
“I’m coming!” Colin shouted. “Ah, God, I can’t hold it any longer.”
“Let go,” Graham bit out. “I’m with you.”
She heard all of this as if from far away, her mind spinning as she closed her eyes and trusted them to keep her grounded when she finally came back down. They shuddered and quaked around her, inside of her, and she began to sob. It was all just too much.
