Magic of Three

by Jenna Castille

  Sensation. A surplus of sensation. Warm water rolling off her skin. Hot hands anchoring her into a pounding rhythm. The sounds of Tim’s pleasure flowing off his tongue like melted chocolate. The musky scent of man and sex tinting every breath she took. And the jagged shocks of pleasure each thrust gave, her clit rubbing against his skin as the head of his cock dragged across that spot deep in her womb that rolled her eyes back in her head.

  Finally the erotic pressure reached the breaking point. Her entire body bowed in Tim’s arms, water splashing across her face as her orgasm crashed through her body. She screamed her pleasure as Tim’s cry burst from his lips.

  She sagged into his arms, shaking with pent-up energy and emotion. “Shh, sweetheart,” Tim murmured as he held her close. He kept a tight hold as she eased her way back down from the heavens. “I’m here. You’re safe. You’re with me, in my arms. Where you belong.”

  In that moment she believed him.

  * * * * *

  Three hours later a pleasantly tired and aching Lisa stumbled out into the condo hallway. Tiffany-style sconces bathed the hall in a warm glowing light, matching the soft glow filling her.

  Tim waited outside for her. He wanted a private date, time alone like Julian had already gotten. Horizontal activities optional but highly desired.

  Julian stayed, calling to make sure her security system was in place by that evening. She fingered the key he’d handed her on her way out. An open invitation to visit whenever she wanted to, no matter when or why.

  A woman bumped into her on her way toward the elevator. Jet-black hair streamed down her back, set off by her red power suit. Lisa wrinkled her nose at the overpowering scent of waaay too much cheap perfume covering something else she couldn’t quite place. Something almost sweet masking something repulsive at the same time.

  “Sorry,” Lisa said with a forced grin. “Long night. Wasn’t paying attention.”

  The woman snorted, looking over her shoulder at Julian and Tim’s door. She rolled her dark eyes and sneered. “I just bet.”

  Lisa blinked at the venom in the other woman’s voice. Prejudiced much? “Excuse me?”

  “Oh you know what I mean,” the woman answered with a humorless laugh, her blood-red lips twisting in a dark smirk. “Those two. You’re another one of their women. Go through them like tissue.”

  “What?”

  “Those two are the building’s sexual acrobats. The stories I could tell.” The other woman shook her head, eyeing Lisa, disdain dripping with each word. “Be interesting to know how much was true. Two at once or do they take turns?”

  Lisa’s face heated. She shook as the woman’s words made impact on her morning afterglow. Eggs-over-easy twisted in her stomach. “That often, huh?” she whispered.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll have you over a few more times before they’re done. Most women last at least two weeks.” The woman pursed her puffy lips while considering her next words. “One even lasted a month and a half. Had her own key.”

  Lisa gripped the cold metal of the key they’d given her. It bit into her flesh as she turned to the stairway. Tim would be waiting at the elevator. This close to the Strip she could catch a cab.

  She never noticed the red glow of the other woman’s eyes as she planned her escape.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lisa slammed her cup down on her coffee table hard enough to set the glass trembling under the blow as she glared at the small brass condo key.

  Special. Only woman. Yeah, right. I fell for that one hook, line and sinker. Bastards.

  She snarled, puffing that annoying lock of hair out of her face again as she slouched down on her couch. She resisted the urge to kick the table.

  But the memories refused to leave her in peace. Moments from the past teased her. Lying safe, surrounded in their secure embrace. Feeling their bodies heaving around her, beside her, in her. Pleasure crashing over her, wave after erotic wave. Her soul-deep loneliness fading, if only for a few precious hours, in the wake of their constant attention.

  The shrill beep of her phone shook her from her reverie. Even with the machine turned down she knew it was them again. It had only been them calling since the moment she stepped through the door. Over and over, she’d lost count of how many times they’d called. She refused to pick up. She couldn’t face them. Not yet.

  The fact they’d made no promises didn’t stop the stinging deep in her chest or the tears clawing at the back of her eyes. With every breath, every thought, she fought against that rise of tears. The cut ripped deep, an old wound gaping wide. How had she let them in so far, so fast?

  A brisk knock at the door shook her from her thoughts. Sniffling, she dragged herself out of her cocoon. She peeked out the peephole at a man in a uniform with Triad Securities blazing across it. Not Julian. Not Tim.

  “Miss Harrington?” he asked, glancing at his clipboard as she cracked open the door.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m here to put in your system.”

  Lisa nodded, stepping back. She hadn’t expected Julian to still send the man, contract or no contract. At least he’d meant something he’d said to her. “Will this take long?”

  “A few hours to get everything wired,” the man replied, glancing around her home. “You can go out if you want. If you leave your cell number I’ll call when I’m done.”

  Lisa glanced at her watch. Janice should be off for lunch soon. A little venting time sounded good.

  She gave the man her cell number and left him to work. She scurried to her car on the off chance Julian showed up to supervise.

  * * * * *

  Bright sunshine mocked Lisa’s mood. It should be raining, thunder and lightning punctuating the gloomy silence. Maybe even a gusting wind ripping through the city streets. A normal shady lunch at a passable café, Janice’s favorite, seemed…wrong.

  Of course, everything seemed wrong to Lisa now.

  “I think you’re overreacting,” Janice told her, disgust obvious in her voice.

  Lisa stabbed at her salad, looking at the next table on the patio before answering in hushed tones. “Overreacting. I’m a link in a chain of one-night stands and worse, they lied to me about it.”

  “Worse?” her friend asked, raising a single brow. Her bright locks danced around her head in the light cooling breeze, sunlight turning them into a rainbow-colored halo. But a stranger, more irate angel Lisa’d never seen.

  “Yes, worse,” Lisa replied, feeling shame eating away at her pleasant memories, leaving only an empty shell, somehow more lonely for the brief reprieve. “I went into this with open eyes. I didn’t expect to have a relationship with two guys at once, not really. But then they started telling me how special I was and how they’d never done this before. And I fell for it, freaking fell for their crap. They made me go from feeling valued to feeling like an idiot. What could be worse than that?”

  “Okay, put like that I can see your point. But can you trust what some strange woman said?” Janice asked, trying to be Lisa’s voice of reason. “Could be flat-out jealousy.”

  “She didn’t seem jealous,” Lisa mumbled. Rationalization. I’ve stooped to rationalization, grabbing at an excuse, any excuse. But why does hope that I could be wrong scare me as much as being made a fool? “More like the building gossip.”

  “Right, an attractive woman living next to two gorgeous men tells a complete stranger about their sexual history. She didn’t say she’d slept with them, right?”

  “No,” Lisa pouted.

  “Jealousy,” Janice stated with conviction before taking a huge bite out of her turkey croissant.

  Lisa watched her friend swiping at crumbs and felt tiny rays of frightening hope. “I don’t know.”

  “And you won’t find out sitting around here with me,” Janice snapped, actually glaring at her. “You’re acting like a coward, not the woman who stood up to her cheating abusive husband and told him where to stick it.”

  But how could she face th
em? She’d walked out on them without a word. Refused to answer their calls. I’m an idiot. “You think I should talk to them. But how can I trust them?”

  “How can you trust anyone?” Janice stared at Lisa, the sincerity in her steady gaze making her squirm. “How do you trust? You either do or you don’t. Your choice. All I can say is Julian seemed worth the risk to me and I suspect Tim to be worth it too. Now stop avoiding the real issue. You haven’t told me a thing about last night yet.”

  Lisa closed her eyes, wrapping herself in memory. Warm skin. Wet mouths. The moment her lover slid into her body, filling it beyond measure while the other held her steady. Supporting the invasion. Rhythmic, pounding pleasure.

  God damn, what a night.

  “Shit,” Janice muttered. “That good, huh? I need to see if I can find a couple of guys willing to give it a whirl with me.”

  Lisa grimaced. “I may know a couple if the woman was right.”

  “Well, hell. Nice of you to test-drive them for me.”

  Lisa stared at her friend.

  “Come on. You can’t be taking me seriously. They must have shaken you more than I thought.” Janice patted Lisa’s hand, projecting comfort and easing some of Lisa’s strain. “I feel for you, I really do. I know you don’t let people in easy. Took me two years living next door to you in the dorms before you started letting me see the real you. And I’m not a closed kinda person.”

  Lisa smiled remembering the flighty young college student in the room next to hers. Definitely not somber and closed off, something Lisa’s husband had accused her of being before hitting her the first and last time.

  “Okay, I give the guys a second chance.” Wasn’t like it was the first time she’d swallowed her pride. “I just don’t trust myself alone with them. I get near them and my hormones shoot out of control. I can’t think straight.”

  “No problem,” Janice said, one of her evil, mischievous, I’m-going-to-get-you-into-so-much-trouble smiles spreading across her face. “You can take me with you.”

  A familiar sinking feeling weighted down Lisa’s guts. God, what would Janice do? What would she say? Was she really serious? “Take you with me?”

  “Yeah. I want a chance to get to know this other guy. I got a good feel for Julian at the gym. Nice enough guy at first glance, old-fashioned in a weird but charming way. All I got to see of Tim was his hot sweaty body. Not that I’m complaining. Nice to look at but not much to go on with giving my friend relationship advice. Sex advice yes. But not relationship.”

  Lisa cast a quick look around, making sure no one was listening in. “You expect me to take you to their place to give you a chance to gawk at them? How crazy do you think I am?”

  “No, I expect you to take me for moral support, to help you say what you want without tripping over your tongue. You know, someone to make sure you go. Someone to poke and prod you,” Janice smirked, “and not the same way they did. Sheesh, get that look off your face, girl.”

  “What look?” Lisa asked, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

  “That cat-ate-the-canary look,” Janice teased. “You’ve already got their neighbor woman jealous. Now you’re working on giving me the green-eyed monster. Totally unfair. Gotta be a breach of the girlfriend code of honor.”

  Lisa appreciated Janice’s attempt to cheer her up and calm her nerves. “I do not look like that. This isn’t my well-pleasured look. This is my dreading-facing-the-men-I-slept-with look. This is the my-friend-is-going-to-embarrass-me-horribly look.”

  “Hmm. Well-pleasured. I like the sound of that.” Janice leaned forward, tapping her fingers against her lips. “Now that you’re done moping are you ready to share some well-pleasured stories?”

  Blood rushed to Lisa’s cheeks. Rough skin. Sweat. Moans. Orgasm after orgasm, no breaks between. Shit. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “Come on. Guys do it all the time. Take it as proving you’re a liberated woman. Tell all.”

  “Nope,” Lisa answered, crossing her arms and looking at the sky through the draped patio cover.

  “Oh come on. Don’t be like that,” Janice pouted. “You promised to educate me, now spill.”

  “Nope.”

  “At least tell me some technical stuff. Did you try them one at a time, with the other watching? Both at once? What?”

  With a Mona Lisa smile, she stared her best friend down. “You mean I had to choose one way or the other?”

  “Now that’s just plain cruel.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Who’d have thought that a place once so filled with life and happiness could feel so empty and barren? No music. No teasing. No laughter. No moans of pleasure. Nothing he expected after a night in Lisa’s and Tim’s arms. Instead Julian paced. If it weren’t for Tim he’d have charged right out, broken into Lisa’s house and made her listen after she refused to answer his third call. But during the night Tim had developed a tie to Lisa as strong as the one he had with Julian.

  He felt her emotional pain, anguish ripping at her heart. It was Tim who’d rushed upstairs to find her gone, Tim who’d told him something was wrong.

  So much for the so-called Visionary. He hadn’t seen this coming and couldn’t see any reason for it. Everything had been going so well, better than he imagined.

  “She was happy when she stepped outside,” he muttered, eyes pleading with Tim for some sort of explanation, something he hadn’t thought of. “She looked forward to riding with you in the Corvette. She said she had a thing for cars and couldn’t wait to try to talk you into letting her drive. She was excited. What could’ve happened in less than five minutes to change that?”

  Tim stared down at his hands, unable to meet Julian’s disillusioned gaze. “I don’t know. I just have her feelings to go on. They’re in a maelstrom. Heavy on the pain, a taste of betrayal, a whole lot of confusion.”

  “But nothing physical?” Julian asked, grabbing at what reassurance he could find as he floundered in the depths. “She’s not in that kind of pain?”

  “No. Alex told us she looked fine when he got to her condo to setup her security system. She left right after he started working. Nothing’s changed.”

  “Something sure as hell changed,” Julian growled.

  “Why don’t you look and see again?” Tim urged, Lisa’s emotional turmoil and Julian’s eating away at him. “Maybe there’s some trace.”

  Julian glared at Tim, throwing his hands in the air and snapping, “I can’t see her at all. Not anymore. Our lives, my life, is too tangled with hers to see it clearly. I can’t see my own present life that way.”

  “Not even now, after being with her?”

  “I have more control but some rules can’t be broken.” Julian stared down at clenched hands, mentally cursing his own limitations. “A person can’t know too much about his own future. And some past events are too closely tied to personal future to be allowed to view them either.”

  Tim sat next to Julian, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, giving Julian what comfort he could. “Has Alex called back yet?”

  “Not yet,” Julian replied, looking up at Tim with bleak, defeated eyes. “He’s not close enough to being done to call her back in.”

  “Do you want to go looking for her?” Tim asked, giving options. Julian appreciated the support but couldn’t see how anything could help. It was up to Lisa now, completely out of his control. They couldn’t force her to them. That would add to the negativity causing the tear in dimensions, not heal it.

  “No, until we know what happened, what set her running, I don’t want to risk doing more harm.”

  “So we wait,” Tim replied, sinking his hands in his pockets and slouching.

  Julian growled, hopped up and started pacing again. The nerve-jarring shriek of the phone set his heart racing. Don’t get your hopes up. Probably Alex. Tim got up to answer, leaving Julian to his dark thoughts. How could I have been so stupid, so confident, when the past has taught me just how easy it was to lose her tru
st, her love?

  Tim came back with a hopeful grin lighting his face and brightening the room. “You up for some coffee? One of the mom-and-pop joints near CM?”

  “Want to spy on her?” Julian asked, holding his breath. So much relief and joy came off Tim.

  “Nope, she wants us to meet with her and a friend for coffee. Wants to talk,” he said with a smirk and a wink. “Sound good?”

  Julian’s stomach clenched, hope and fear at war. “I don’t know about good but better than complete silence any day.”

  * * * * *