She bounced even harder, pushing down with all her force now, riding him as hard as she could, and then he closed his eyes and seemed to stop breathing. Then he let out a long breath, and rolled over. She slid away from him and lay on the bed. Eli climbed in beside her, wrapping his arms around her. Jack ran his fingers up and down her thigh.
“Well,” she said, after a pause. “That was a good way to begin the morning.”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“It was,” Eli agreed.
*
After the sex they showered and then went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. Their hotel was close to a beach and so they decided to take a walk. As they walked (Eli was at her left, Jack at her right) Samantha couldn’t help but feel profoundly safe. Without thinking, she took Jack’s hand and Eli’s hand, squeezing them both. She had never really reflected on the nature of a relationship before, but right now she did for the first time in her life. Why couldn’t two men share one woman, if all three of them enjoyed it?
She knew what people would say about her. They wouldn’t say much about the men; nobody ever says much about men when it comes to things like that. If a man had had two girlfriends, he would be cool, a player, a legend. But if people found out about her, she would be a slut.
Ah, yes, she thought cynically. There is that word: that word that has done so much harm. Why would you listen to such a cruel word? Why would you let such a cruel word have an effect on you? But the fact is, if people in Barkton found out about this, she would be out of a job. Oh, the boss would contrive another reason, but soon enough she would be shunned, by the whole town. That’s what small towns were like.
Then she chided herself. Why was she dwelling on the pains of tomorrow when she had the pleasures of today to enjoy? Eli and Jack were dressed in shirts and shorts. She was wearing a dress. In truth, it was too cold for what they were wearing, but they were abroad so they’d made the effort.
“We should go for a swim,” Samantha said, not even knowing she was going to say it.
Then, without waiting for a reply, she ran toward the water. The tide was in and the water was glittering blue. The sun was pale and white in the sky. And the coldish air pricked her skin. She leapt into the water and then dunked her head under, relishing the revitalizing shock of the cold. She came up with a quick intake of breath, giggling like a fool. She turned to the shore and saw Jack laughing as Eli took off his shirt and waded into the water like a man on a mission. After a pause, Jack shrugged and followed.
There were few people on the beach, but the ones that were there were mostly walking dogs or taking quiet walks. They looked on in a mixture of disgust and envy and bemusement at the three adults splashing around like children. At first they just splashed, and then they played Marco Polo for a while. Samantha was shocked by how good Eli and Jack were at it. She could barely move without their lightning-quick Navy SEAL reflexes latching onto her.
Soon there were too cold and had to get out of the water. They traipsed back to their hotel room and took off all their clothes. They ordered up some lunch and ate in bed, naked. There was nothing sexual (just then) about their nakedness; they were just totally comfortable with each other. That was the most startling thing to Samantha. She had never been totally comfortable being naked around people. And now here she was, comfortable being naked around two people.
After lunch, Samantha returned to her room and took a shower. The three of them were going out on the town this evening. After her shower, she was going to call across and ask the others what they wanted to do until tonight when they walked through her door, fully dressed.
“Come on, Sammy,” Jack said. “We’re taking you shopping.”
And I thought this day couldn’t get any better, she thought, as she hastily put on her shoes.
*
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her new dress, Samantha felt sexier than she had in years. She had not one, but two hunky Navy SEALs. Just the thought of it made her feel dizzy.
That night they dined in an expensive-looking restaurant and then went to a club. Samantha kept insisting that they let her contribute toward something but the men were adamant that they would pay for her. Samantha told herself that when they got back to the States she would treat them to something nice, which she would. It was only fair.
When they returned that night, they sat in the moonlit hotel room and smoked cigarettes out of the window. There was nothing particularly abnormal about that moment but Samantha felt a change begin to happen within her. She was no longer Samantha the Lonely Girl Whom Nothing Happened To; now she was somebody interesting with some kind of purpose and spontaneity. She felt like she had finally been introduced to life.
After the cigarettes they made love, all three of them, and then fell asleep together. It was perfect.
*****
The four days in Malta ended quicker than Samantha would have liked, but reality came calling and all of them were adults and so they had to return. Samantha apologized to the good patrons of The Spatula and Eli and Jack went north for a meeting with some important Navy people. Samantha sensed that neither of them wanted to talk about it so she didn’t ask. They were uncomfortable with the role they’d played in so many deaths, Eli had told her one night in Malta. It was as though the animal-shield had been lifted and she had glimpsed the real him.
Samantha didn’t contact the men and they didn’t contact her. It was nice, in a way, to get back to her normal life for a while. It was nice to remember what it was like to be a normal member of society. But beneath it all was the yearning to return to the craziness of those few days. She wanted the SEALs back with her; she wanted them to whisk her away into another realm of craziness.
Instead of anything so dramatic, she came home one day to Eli and Jack standing outside her apartment building. It was almost two months after their return. It was well after Christmas (which Samantha had spent with Fiona) and the first whispers of spring were beginning to thaw the snow and paint the leaves a yellowish green.
Samantha knew that some women would be angry at the way the two of them had left her, but she wasn’t. They had never declared love or even commitment. They had shared pleasure and that was that. And now that they had returned, Samantha’s main emotion was happiness intermingled with surprise. She immediately ran over to them and took them both in her arms, wrapping her arms around their necks. They hugged her back, Jack laughing, Eli squeezing her tight.
“Come in,” she said, and hurried them through the door.
*
The three of them sat around the coffee table, much as they had when the two of them first came here, but something was changed in them. They seemed less comfortable. Eli stared at the wall and Jack looked down at his hands for a long time. Samantha couldn’t help but remember. Jack is staring down at his hands. He is nervous. She is nervous. They are fifteen and the summer sun blazes down on them and the river glitters and Sammy knows things will never be this perfect again. He wants to say something but he had to look down at his hands to compose himself. Jack is small and nervous and strong and big at the same time. He looks up and smiles and says it; and they kiss and they do more than kiss and it is beautiful. She was stunned by the force of the thought, but pushed it away. She wouldn’t dwell on the past.
“We’re going over there again, Sammy,” Jack finally said.
More was said. There were hugs and kisses and lovemaking and everything else, but that was all Samantha really heard. They were going away. But this was different to the last time. Now they were going away possibly forever.
The SEALs had taken her; the SEALs had left her.
*****
Samantha Fry, the manager of The Spatula in the small town of Barkton, had no idea that Jack and Eli were going to return, or if. She had worked hard over these last eight months and eventually the boss had promoted her and taken a more background role himself. She was able to buy a house and she had no problem staying here. She had flown one
wintery fortnight last year that nobody but she and her secret traveling companions knew about. Over the months she thought about writing them a letter, but she just couldn’t do it. She had no clue what to say.
Then, like it was the most normal thing in the world, Jack and Eli re-entered her life. She returned to her three-bedroom house one evening, tired from training a new batch of waitresses, as well as helping along the expansion of The Spatula into a two-restaurant franchise (it had become very popular under her management), and there, sitting on the doorstep, were Jack and Eli.
They stood army-stiff when they saw her. Samantha giggled. “At ease,” she said, slipping naturally and comfortably back into their old relationship.
Eli even smiled a little.
“Have you come to drop a bomb on my life again, boys?” she said.
“More than that,” Eli said, looking her up and down, and Samantha found herself arching her back a little more than usual, feeding his eyes. All these months, and she hadn’t tried to find a partner. She’d told herself it was work, but—
“We’re not here to cause trouble,” Jack said, smiling. “We just need a place to stay. Have you got a spare room?”
“You’re in luck,” Samantha said, not even having to think about it. “I’ve got two spare rooms.”
The three of them went into the house. None of them said it, but all of them knew it: they were about to begin a new, strange, beautiful life together.
THE END
Bonus Story 18 of 40
The Choice
Marceline
I sighed deeply, trying to prepare myself for the night that lay ahead. This wasn’t going to be one of my typical waitressing shifts, this was going to be working with extremely rich men and women – people that had more money than sense – and I had to be top notch if I wanted the party to go well.
After all, it was the tips that kept me going, and this party held endless possibilities for that. I’d made sure in advance that I was looking my best for that exact reason. I’d pulled back my long dark hair into a French braid, I’d scrubbed and exfoliated my body to give me added confidence, and I’d even bothered to apply a cute red lipstick, which contrasted well white my pale, milky skin.
It wasn’t that I particularly got off on using my looks to get me places, but in waitressing, looking smart and presentable always equaled more respect and bigger tips. Every single time.
“You okay?” Nikki, one of my closest friends asked me. “You seem a little nervous.”
I couldn’t help but notice that she seemed completely at ease with all of this – as if hosting this sort of event was something that she did all the time. Why did I seem to be the only one that was finding this difficult?
“Yeah.” I huffed once more. “Just a little tired.”
Juggling my studies with this job – which I needed to do to fund my dream to become a lawyer – was difficult, but I didn’t have any choice. My family was too poor to be able to help me, and I was unselfish enough never to ask them. I’d been independent from a very young age, and was proud of that quality about myself.
“Come on,” she tugged on my arm, smiling. “Dominic needs to prep us.”
As our manager Dominic droned on about proper behavior, the billionaires filtered onto the yacht. This party was to celebrate some business merger or another and I was certain that it was going to get nuts. I’d never seen rich people party, but I was sure that they went wild when they really got into it. Seeing all of that was one thing that I was really excited about!
Finally, we were set lose among them, holding platters of various pretentious food items. Some people were rude, and others dismissed us entirely as if we were dirt to be trampled on. That really annoyed me.
Well, it would have done under normal circumstances, but tonight I was focused on something else. There was one businessman that kept distracting me by sending me secret smiles. At first I decided that I was imagining it, but then it kept on happening, and finally I got a wink – proving to me that there was something going on here.
I didn’t know what to think about that, what I was supposed to do, but I couldn’t stop myself from grinning back on more than one occasion. He was absolutely stunning – talk, dark and very handsome – so of course I was incredibly flattered.
But it was more than that. He was sending butterflies flying all over my body. I liked him, a lot. I found him incredibly sexy.
But out of my league… obviously.
“What are you doing?” Nikki hissed at me when she caught me sending him another smile. I tried to shrug it off, but she was having none of it. “Just don’t let Brad catch you. You’ll get fired.” She wasn’t judging me, she was warning me. We’d seen more than one staff member lose their jobs for stepping over professional boundaries.
Much as I knew that she was right, I didn’t seem to be able to help myself.
Finally, as the night started to darken, the yacht turned around to go back home, and the party started to wind up, he approached me.
“You’re a pretty young thing, aren’t you?” he smirked, sending a bolt of desire racing right through me. If anyone else had said this, I would have found it sexiest and offensive, but somehow coming from him, it felt like a compliment.
“Th… thank you.” I stuttered, glancing around hoping that I wasn’t about to get caught. Talking to the clients was fine, but if anyone heard what was being said… that would be another story!
“So, are you going to tell me your name?” He moved closer to me, giving me the chance to inhale his musky scent. The way he smelt was so sexy that it actually made it hard for me to think.
“M… Marceline,” I stammered, feeling a blush fill my cheeks. “Yours?” As soon as I said this, I realized that it was probably rude. Asking the name of a billionaire was probably not the done thing. I’m sure it had been mentioned in the proper behavior speech.
“Guy.” He completely brushed over my blunder. “Now, what’s a stunning girl like you doing waitressing? Shouldn’t you be a model or something?”
“Oh, I… I don’t think so.” I grew in embarrassment, not sure how to react to such blatant flirting. I knew how I wanted to react, especially with him so close to me, but I also knew that wouldn’t be appropriate. I could not afford to lose my job over this bit of fun!
“Anyway,” I smiled weakly, already feeling sad that I had to leave. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Oh of course.” He touched my shoulder, causing me to suck in a shocked breath. “But here’s my phone number, in case you want to reconvene after the boat has docked. I’d like to see you again.”
And then he left in a breeze of expensive cologne, leaving me confused and incredibly turned on, with a business card between my fingers.
I stuffed it into my pocket, racing off to find Nikki. I needed to tell her what had just happened!
“So text him,” she hissed, as soon as I’d finished my story. “Men like him don’t come around every day.”
“I know, but… what if he’s a dick?”
She sighed deeply, knowing that I was referring to my past. My ex-boyfriend, Dylan, had been a real shit – cheating, lying, and manipulative. It had taken me a long time to walk away from him, and even longer to recover from it all.
“Not every guy is like that,” she murmured quietly. “You can’t allow your past to define you. You’ve spent too long avoiding men because of Dylan. And anyway,” she smiled at me, landing her final argument, “no one is asking you to marry him. Just have a bit of fun for crying out loud!”
As she left the bathroom, she’d given me a ton to think about. My body was gagging for that hunk, but my brain was trying to be smart.
I wondered which one was going to win…
*****
Hugh
I spotted the gorgeous, dark-haired waitress from the very first second that the party started. I immediately knew that I wanted to take her home, and I knew that I would end up doing so because I always got wh
at I wanted.
But then I had to do the rounds chatting to the other guests, and she had to work, and I completely lost track of her.
It was only when I went looking for her once more, to ask her out, that I’d spotted her talking to and laughing with Guy, my friend and business rival. I knew in that moment that all was lost. He was handsome in the muscular rugged type of way, and extremely charismatic. The opposite of me. I was good looking too, but in a more understated, preppy way, and I was quieter than him too. Sure, I was just as determined and successful, and I did always get my way, but I didn’t go about it in the over-the-top fashion that Guy did.
I wouldn’t be able to compete now that he’d stuck his claws in.
As soon as I saw my mystery woman talking to him, I knew that she’d never be mine – not that night anyway. I would have to come up with another method if I wanted her too. It wouldn’t be tonight, but I was sure that I could have her at another time.
And as I watched her blush at something he said, a steely determination took over me that I absolutely would have her. I would do everything within my power to make her desire me, to make her crave me.
I stalked away and quickly found my personal assistant to send him on a mission. I adored my PA; he was great at this sort of unexpected task. He never asked questions, or judged me; he would always just do as I asked. I knew he’d get this job done, and I trusted him implicitly.
Tonight however, I would have to settle for growing increasingly jealous and pissed off at the thought of Guy and her together. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else, and I decided that the only way I could deal with that was by getting stinking drunk.
Alien Affair Page 62
