by Amelia James
She shuddered and went limp in my arms. “Is that why it was so good? Because you were thinking of her?”
“No, that was all me, darlin’.” I wiggled my finger inside her. “Pure skill.”
She laughed when I winked, and then gasped when I stroked. “Go before I start swearing again.”
I pulled my finger out and licked it off. “You are so beautiful.”
“You got into my pants….”
I smacked her bare ass. “I got them off.”
“So I believe you.” She switched on the porch light and opened the front door, leaning against the frame as she watched me get in my truck and back out of her driveway.
We could be so good for each other.
I picked up my cell phone. So why am I calling Alex to make plans with him and Talia?
The Invitation
Warm water streamed down my face and trickled over Talia’s thighs as I flicked my tongue into her pussy. The shower had become one of our favorite places to fuck since she’d been staying with me. We’d tried the kitchen floor, but the cold, hard tile proved to be uncomfortable. The patio had been a lot of fun until one of the neighbors complained to the police. I managed to talk the officer into keeping it off the record—a little ‘donation’ had helped, too.
“Mmm, Alex….” Talia grabbed my hair and braced her leg on the tile bench, giving me more flesh to molest.
I nibbled her little clit and shoved a couple fingers inside her. I had to get her off before Will got here. We’d made plans to go out for dinner and then shoot some pool, but Talia and I needed to have a private and intimate conversation with him first, and I didn’t want her horny during our chat. Of course, it would take more than one quick orgasm to accomplish that. Damn woman never gets enough.
“Oh!” She arched back against the wall as I sucked on her throbbing nub. “Yeah, that’s it.” She gasped and splashed, and her knees buckled.
I stood and rammed my cock into her cunt before she could catch her breath. “Liked that, huh?”
“Loved it.” She moaned and dug her fingers into my ass, pulling me in. “I love you.” She kissed me, drawing my tongue into her mouth as I pounded her against the steamy shower wall.
I’d never get tired of hearing that, especially now that I no longer needed proof, and could take her at her word. “Turn around, slut.”
She released me and rolled, placing her hands on the tile and bending just enough to grant me access to her pussy. I ran my wet hands down her dripping skin, her breasts, her stomach, while I entered from behind and stroked. Our bodies slipped and slid against each other. The hot water and rising steam turned our shower into a sex toy—the closest I’d ever get to good, clean fun.
Good? Yes. Clean? Oh hell no.
I sat on the bench and pulled her onto my lap facing the shower spray. The water spritzed her nipples, flowing into a gushing river that spilled between her breasts and ran down over her clit and my balls. She’d told me that position felt like we had an extra hand or tongue in there with us, so I took advantage of it every chance I got.
She grabbed the edge and ground down on me, leaning back and spreading her legs to get the full effect. “Oh God. Oh yes!”
I’d been debating whether or not I should come too. If our conversation went well, I’d need all my sexual energy for later. If not, I’d need all my strength to comfort Talia. But my arguments came to an abrupt end when her pussy clenched around my cock and drained the life out of me. Fire in my veins instantly evaporated the water on my skin, and plumes of steam erupted toward the ceiling.
I ducked under the shower, letting the soothing flow replenish me while my lover cooed in my arms.
“You should get dressed,” she sighed. “I need to wash my hair.”
“Okay.” I stepped out of the stall and grabbed a towel. The vent struggled to keep up with all the steam we’d generated, so I opened the bathroom door and let in cool, fresh air. I went to our bedroom to put on my jeans, and heard Talia’s phone ring. I carried it into the bathroom. “Babe!”
She turned off the water and opened the door, snatching the phone as it rang one more time. “Hello?”
I walked down the hall to the living room and glanced out the front door to see if Will had arrived. Too soon. I need a drink. I grabbed my favorite bottle of bourbon and downed a quick shot, but my hands still trembled. What the fuck?
“Alex?” Talia shuffled into the room, clutching a towel to her breasts and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her wet hair dripped on the couch as she plunked down.
“Baby, what happened?” I sat beside her and stroked her bare shoulder.
“I didn’t get the apartment. Something on my credit report….” She sniffled. “They wouldn’t tell me what it was, but….” Her lower lip quivered and she muffled her face in my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” I held her close and pressed my lips against her damp hair to hide my smile. You can stay with me!
She sat up and looked at me with shiny eyes. “I can’t imagine what it would be. I’ve been paying all my bills on time ever since….” She clapped her hand over her face and shook her head. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
“While I was training for the forensic accounting program, before I found a job, I’d quit the firm and used my savings to pay for school. My rent payment was late a few times. I think I missed it once or twice along with some other payments.”
I gritted my teeth and stroked her hair. “That’s probably what did it.”
“I never thought about it at the time. I’d been in that apartment forever. No one was checking credit back then, and I never planned to move.” She crossed her arms, pinning the towel over her breasts as she flopped back on the couch.
Oh shit. “Until I dragged you out here.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. I chose to stay with you.”
“You’ll find a better place.” Not if I can help it.
“Maybe not.” She wrung the towel and bit her lip. “No one is going to accept an applicant with a missed rent payment on her credit history. I’m screwed!”
I wanted to ask her to live with me. I’d been asking, but she always turned me down. But damn it, when have I ever taken no for an answer? “Stay with me.”
She plunked her elbow on the armrest and sighed as she dropped her chin in her hand. “Looks like I’ll have to.”
Not like that. “No. If you have to stay here, I don’t want you to. I want you to choose me, my home. Let’s make it ours.”
“It’ll never work.” She stood and paced in front of the couch. “You still have questionable contacts. Can you find someone to ‘correct’ my credit report?”
“I could, but I won’t.”
She stuck out her tongue at me.
I leaned back and laced my fingers behind my head. “I could find someone to fuck up your background check, too. You’re screwed either way, babe.”
“Where I am going to go?” She flung her arms out in a dramatic gesture. The towel hit the floor and she swooped down to grab it, presenting her sweet ass and all her pretty girl parts to my face.
Whoa. I stood up, adjusted my pants, and collected my thoughts. “You don’t have to go anywhere. Listen to me.” I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face me. “Look at all the shit we’ve been through. Look at where we are now. I never thought we could work. I never wanted us to. You sure as hell didn’t either. But here we are—together—talking seriously about living together… together!”
She secured the towel around herself and moved a step closer. “You said that word a lot.”
I slid my hands to her waist and pulled her in. “I like it. You and me. I like knowing you’ll be here when I get home. I like going to bed with you every night and waking up with you in our bed every morning, and calling my bed our bed, our shower, our everything.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, and let the towel fall below her breasts. “You’re so
fucking persuasive.”
Mmm… sweet nipples. Focus! “You’re Goddamn right I am, and I’m not going to give up until I get the answer I want. And you know I will, so you might as well cave right now.” Before I rip that towel off and forget this entire conversation.
She sighed and drew her eyebrows together as she chewed her lip. “All right, how about this? I’ll quit looking for an apartment, and you can call your house ours.”
My heart stopped. “And you will, too?”
She pursed her lips. “I will eventually, once I’ve eliminated all the other choices and decided this is my best option.”
“Oh that’s so appealing.”
“Take it or leave it. I need time to adjust to the idea. You’re not going to get a better deal, counselor.”
I grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. “How about if I just take you to my bed—our bed—and tie you to all four posts in nothing but that towel until you realize I’m right?”
“Why the towel?”
I rubbed the soft cotton over her perky nipples. “Because I can do perverted things to you with it.”
Her words escaped in a breathless rush. “Ooo… okay, I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
Forever. “That’s better.” The towel hit the floor as I curled my fingers around the back of her neck and kissed her. She pressed her naked body into me, still warm from our steamed-up shower, while I fondled her ass.
She wiggled free. “Do you still have that yellow rope?”
“Uh-huh. It’s in my—our—closet.”
“Good to know.”
A rattling, sputtering old truck pulled into the driveway. I scooped the towel up and flung it over her shoulder. “Go get dressed. I’m not gonna have you running around naked and dripping wet while he’s here… not yet.”
The doorbell rang.
“Right, I need to be able to think straight.” She scampered toward the hall, but stopped short. “Are we going to tell him about our living arrangement?”
“No secrets, babe.”
She nodded as a knock sounded.
“Go.” I watched her run to our bedroom before opening the front door. “Hey man. Good to see you.”
“Hey.” Will stepped inside. “Nice place.”
I led him to the living room. “Is this the first time you’ve been here?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let me show you to the beer.”
He followed me to the kitchen, and I opened the fridge. “Beautiful kitchen.” He stroked the quartz countertops as if caressing a woman’s breast. “Looks like she’s never been used. It’s a crime to neglect her.”
I opened a couple of beers and gave him one. “Uh… I don’t use it. Talia does most of the cooking.” My hand trembled as I raised the bottle to my lips. How the hell am I supposed to ask my best friend to help me fuck my girl? How did he do it with me?
I glanced down the hall, but Talia hadn’t made an appearance, so I ventured out on my own. “You’re gonna think I’m stupid….”
He raised an eyebrow. “What did you do?”
“Nothing… yet.” I took another swig and let the warm buzz focus my head. “I, we, Talia and I… had a crazy idea.”
The bottle stopped halfway to his lips. “She’s not moving in with you, is she?”
I leaned back next to the fridge, and he planted himself in front of the sink across from me, keeping the island between us.
“Uh… yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“She didn’t get the other place?” He drank.
I drank. “No, her credit is fucked up. That’s not the point.”
“So she’s going to stay with you until… whenever.”
“Yeah, but we need to talk about something—”
“I’d love to say I’m happy for you, but man, you are so screwed.” He laughed.
“Dude. Shut your mouth and let me talk.”
He set the bottle down and crossed his arms. “What’s up?”
Shit. Now what? “She’s happy.”
“Good.”
I set my bottle on the island between us and spun it in my hands. Damn it. What’s taking her so long?
Will glanced over my shoulder toward the living room. “Is that what you were dying to tell me? She’s happy?” He’d raised his voice and cast another look behind me.
She’s listening. “No, there’s more.”
“Go on.”
“I, we, no mostly her… and me. Jesus.” I shoved the bottle across the polished quartz and just blurted it out. “She still wants you, Will. We’ve fooled around with other guys, but she won’t be completely happy unless she can have you, too.”
His eyes got wide and he wobbled back a step, but then a smug smile lit his face. “So you’re asking me to…?”
I’m gonna punch that sly grin right down his throat. “I need your help.”
“How, exactly?”
Bastard wanted me to say the words. “Do… what we did… back in Chicago….”
“You want me to fuck Talia?” He shook his head. “No.”
A small gasp echoed from behind me.
He’s rejecting her? “I thought you wanted her back.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and squeezed as if protecting his heart. “I won’t lie to her again.”
“No secrets, no lies. We include her in everything.”
“Then we’d better start now.” He nodded toward the living room. “You know she’s standing around the corner listening.”
“Oh yeah.” I’d caught on as soon as he had. “Is she dressed?”
“She was naked? I missed it?”
“Talia, get your ass out here.”
She marched across the room and shoved Will against the sink. “What do you mean, no?”
He grabbed the countertop and regained his footing. “I mean I won’t hurt you again.” He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, his arms stiff, not allowing her to get too close.
I wanted him to hold her, comfort her. He could say he wouldn’t hurt her, but words meant nothing without action.
“She’s hurting without you.”
Talia nodded, her eyes shiny. “I missed you.”
His stone face cracked. “I missed you too, baby.” He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair and whispering sweet words while she hugged him tight.
Hope filled my heart, chasing away the dark cloud that lingered when he’d said no. Seeing them holding each other—Holy shit! My throat choked up and my eyes stung. Is this what happy feels like?
But he pushed her back and looked at me with fear lurking in his eyes. “Are you sure about this? Think about it, guys, to pull off something like this, we need to be able to trust each other completely, and I’m not sure we’re there yet.”
“He’s got a point,” I said to Talia.
Her eyes watered, but she pressed her lips together and squared her shoulders. “I believe we can do it. I trust you both.”
Will shook his head and we both laughed.
“I mean it.” She reached for Will, stroking the arms he’d crossed again. “I trust you because you can’t lie to me anymore. You might be able to keep your heart from others, but I own it.” Then she pulled him across the room, and linked her arm with mine, settling herself between us. “I trust you because I know you. We’re the same brand of fuckup.”
I placed my hand over hers. “You and I are fucked up enough to make us work.”
She smiled and kissed my cheek.
Will stepped back. “That’s good. I’m glad to see you two are secure, but how do I know this isn’t some twisted revenge plot?”
She reached for him. The girl loves being sandwiched between us. “I got my revenge against you guys a long time ago. I’m over it.”
He raised his empty bottle to her. “Congrats on that, by the way. Well played.”
I grinned and squeezed her shoulders. “She gave the money to cancer research
.”
“Nice. At least something good came out of it.”
I separated myself from her and my emotions. “All right. If we don’t want to get hurt again, let’s go over our past experience and figure out what went wrong.”
They both groaned. Talia opened the fridge for more beer. “Do we have to?”
“Look at the facts. Will kept it a secret, mistake number one.”
“You did, too,” he argued.
“You’re right, I did. So how do we correct that mistake?”
Will popped the top off a fresh bottle. “Communication.”
“Right. Full disclosure. Everyone knows who’s out with whom, where they’re going, when they’ll be back—”
“Hold up a second.” Will raised his hand. “Are we talking a one-time fling or a long-term arrangement?”
Talia chewed her lip. “I was hoping for long-term….”
Will arched an eyebrow at me. “Is that what you want?”
I want Talia to be happy, but what’s in it for me? I hadn’t asked myself that question—not where she was concerned—since…. It didn’t matter anymore. “I want what she wants.”
Her smile melted my last icy doubts. “You spoil me.”
“And I intend to keep doing it till you’re rotten to the core.”
She kissed me then pulled Will close. “Would you like to help?”
He smiled and shook his head at us. “Let’s take it slow. I still need to figure out what to do about….” He swallowed the name in his beer.
“Oh,” Talia sighed. “Are you still seeing Claire?”
He nodded. “We’re not involving her in this. Three is complicated enough.”
“Are you going to tell her what we’re considering?”
“No, she wouldn’t understand.” He picked at the label on the bottle. “I’m not sure I get it either.”
Talia settled back against me and focused on him. “It’s pretty simple, when you think about it, and I’ve thought about it a lot.”
He peeled a corner up. “I believe that.”
“I love Alex. He’s my naughty, dangerous boy.”
I fondled her ass. “Mmm… damn fucking right.”
She took the bottle from his hand. “I love you. You’re my comfort and security.”
