Hunks, Hammers, and Happily Ever Afters

by Cari Quinn

  “We wanted to be here to support you before we all hit the club later.” She eased back and cupped his cheeks. “You’re still coming with us, right?”

  Almost immediately, he started to close down.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Lil.” He narrowed his eyes. “From the way you were acting this week, I thought you’d begun to think the same way. Wonder what changed your mind.”

  “Unlike you, our Lily has an open mind.”

  Lily gave me a shush gesture with her fingers on her lips, but I didn’t take it personally. If any key would work in Emerson’s stubborn-as-hell lock, it wasn’t sweetness and light.

  “You don’t know what’s in my mind.” Emerson turned back to his bag and started rooting around. Probably for air. Anything to make it seem like he was too busy to talk to us.

  He was about to get a rude awakening.

  “So, you have this bathroom to yourself?” I asked casually, taking a glance around. I saw a double bank of lockers and a row of stalls, bookended by a couple of shower setups.

  Perfect for an icebreaker before we hit the club.

  “Right now, I do.” He didn’t look my way. “Someone could come in anytime.”

  “Does this place have any other bathrooms like this for the other fighters to use?”

  He nodded without speaking.

  I came up behind him and reached down to palm his cock, giving it a hard stroke while Lily watched in wide-eyed fascination. He was already halfway to hard, and the only stimulation he’d had was a quick hug from Lily and a thorough eye-fuck from me. “You need some help with this?”

  He jerked in my hand, heavy and hot. And I knew he wouldn’t ask for it. So I would.

  “Can I suck your cock?”

  “Jesus.” His exhale lit me up inside like the Brooklyn Bridge at night. Enough light to burn back the dark. I didn’t always know if I was making the right move, if maybe this time I was pushing too hard, but his torturous groan informed me that I’d done something right.

  He needed this too, and I was going to give it to him.

  I turned my face against his shoulder, inhaling the musk of his sweat like breath. My gaze connected with Lily’s. She was biting her lip and squirming a little, and I figured she was probably soaked if her expression meant anything.

  “Can you go turn on the shower for us, babe? Hot, full blast.”

  She nodded and hurried away to the farthest stall.

  “You ready for me?” I grazed my teeth over the corded muscle along his shoulder and tightened my grip on his erection. There was no halfway anymore. He’d turned completely rigid. “Because I sure as fuck am ready for you.”

  He whirled and shoved me back. “We can’t do this here. Lily isn’t ready—”

  “Oh yes, she is.” She stood a few feet away, arms crossed, toe tapping. “I’m absolutely ready to watch you two wreck each other.”

  I raised a brow at Emerson. “Any other objections? Is it that you don’t like guys?”

  Emerson slid a glance at Lily and said nothing.

  “Or if the problem is just that you don’t find me attractive, then go ahead and say it. I promise I won’t cry.” I grinned. “Doesn’t mean I’ll give up trying to change your mind though.”

  “He finds you attractive. He’s just freaked by what it means.” Lily slid between us and coasted her hands up his sweaty chest, making him shudder. She leaned up to whisper in his ear and he shut his eyes and fisted his hand in the back of her shirt. Then lightly, he nudged her aside.

  Before I could react, he’d moved forward and slanted his mouth over mine. His hands slipped into my hair and his body pressed so close that I could feel the tremble of his belly muscles and the full outline of his dick. I could feel every-damn-thing.

  He slid his hands down my back and into the pockets of my pants, hauling me against him so roughly that our teeth collided. And I didn’t give a shit. It was raw and dirty and hard and I couldn’t get enough of his tongue lashing against mine. He’d never been anything but stony in my direction, and it seemed like he’d fuck the same way.

  I couldn’t wait.

  Somehow we stumbled our way into the shower, losing my clothes as we went. I expected Lily would want to play lookout, to make sure no one interrupted us. Instead she shed her clothes too, stripping down all the way and slipping into the tiny stall beside us. Then she was between us, and my mouth was on her neck and my hand between her thighs while Emerson lapped hungrily at the water streaming off her tits. We were making so much noise, not bothering to stifle anything. Hands wandering, lips everywhere, bodies rubbing together like none of us could get enough friction.

  Lily eased behind me and pressed her breasts to my back as she trailed her nails down my sides. I knew what she wanted. What he wanted, burning so darkly in his eyes. Hell, I wanted it too.

  I’d already had some of Emerson’s taste inside me. Now I craved the rest.

  Going to my knees for him felt completely natural. Like I’d been holding my breath all this time, just waiting for the chance. I tossed back my wet hair, blinked away the moisture that kept right on coming, and set about my task. I gripped his length and lapped at the head, pleased at the steady drops that spattered across my tongue. Closing my fingers more tightly earned me a groan and more of that salty-sweet flavor, so I used all my strength on his shaft and drew him into my mouth.

  My heartbeat thundered in my ears, nearly blocking out his moans and the roar of the water. Nearly but not quite. Lily knelt beside me and tucked her hand between my legs, stroking me in time with my rhythmic sucks. I didn’t think about technique or about impressing him with my skill. All I thought about was giving him pleasure. Showing him that even through the months of griping and poking at each other, I’d been aware of him. More than aware.

  Hate and love might be on opposite sides of a line most of the time. Right now, I was fucking straddling it with his dick in my mouth. And I adored every second.

  Lily rode her hand up and down my shaft, building the intensity so that I could deliver it straight to Emerson. I took as much of him between my lips as I could, swallowing the head just for the express purpose of watching him tip his head back. The water sluiced down his throat and over his chest, slipping down to gather in the dark thatch of hair at the base of his erection. I lapped at the water too, savoring the taste of his skin, his arousal and the liquid mixed together.

  I was so busy tasting that the feel of Lily’s hot, wet mouth closing over the tip of my dick startled me, and I started to laugh and choke around Emerson’s length. He groaned and I somehow got it together, losing myself both in his strokes between my lips and Lily’s focused suction below. She didn’t let up on me for a second, but I wasn’t going out that way. I clamped my hand around Emerson and eased back to speak against the dark red tip while our gazes collided. Water blinded me but I fought to keep the connection. I knew he’d hear me, even over the spray.

  “You’ve got three more sucks to come in my mouth or else I’m leaving you neglected while I fuck the hell out of Lily.” With my free hand, I gripped a fistful of her hair, pushing her down more forcefully into my lap. Part of me wondered if I was going too far. A little hair tugging was one thing, but I was basically pushing her to take more of me.

  She never balked. There was no resistance. She simply obliged, making a choked sound before her throat opened up around me and she drew me down. Not like she was deep-throating me. I was pretty sure she was still new at this, and I was big enough that it would probably never happen. But she worked to accept as much of me as she could, and shit, her mouth felt good.

  I pumped Emerson’s cock while I sealed my lips around the head, working him hard. The three sucks had been an arbitrary number, but damn if I didn’t feel the first spurt on my tongue on the second. He drove his fingers into my hair, holding me rigidly in place. His thrusts slowed, his body tensed, and then Christ, he was flooding my mouth. I swallowed and swallowed, trying not to lose a drop. His ya
nks on my hair reverberated into my balls and I shifted forward on my knees, knowing I’d be painting Lily’s throat in seconds if she didn’t stop.

  “Fucking hell,” Emerson muttered, finally releasing me and slumping back against the tile. His big hands clenched and relaxed at his sides.

  “Up you go.” Lightly, I dragged Lily off my cock and we both clumsily got to our feet. The water was turning cold, and now it stung my skin like little darts. That didn’t stop me from pushing her against the tile wall and kicking her legs apart. “You on the Pill?” I asked her, prepared to stop things right now if she wasn’t. Taking chances was one thing, stupid risks quite another.

  She nodded and glanced at me over her shoulder, her mouth puffy and red and her lashes starred with water. “Yes. Do it. Please.”

  “We’ll both do it.” I glanced at Emerson’s thoroughly spent shaft and chuckled. “Okay, maybe he’ll just act as ballast.” My lips twitched. “On your knees, fighter.”

  He turned her toward him, facing us away from the direct line of the spray, and did as I asked. And immediately went to town on her pussy, ripping a cry from her throat.

  I bent my knees and lined myself up between her slick thighs, teasing her swollen flesh with the head of my cock. “I’m clean,” I told her, and she nodded, not even questioning it.

  “Me too. Just do it.”

  Her easy trust baffled and amazed me, and I had only one way of showing my appreciation for it. I banded my arm between her breasts and lifted her onto her toes before driving into her and causing a cry of my own.

  Emerson never stopped licking. His mouth was everywhere, sliding over both of us as I fought to maintain my hold in the water. She was so slippery and excited that she was like an eel in my arms. Every time I drew back and thrust in again, she tried to squirm away but there was nowhere to go except toward Emerson’s eager tongue.

  “Too much, too much,” she gasped, and that only made me slam into her harder.

  Within just a few moments, she began to shake, her walls contracting around me. Between her rhythmic pulses around my length and Emerson’s ceaseless attention, I was a goner. She hadn’t finished spasming when I bit down on her shoulder to smother my shout of completion, barely pulling out in time to splatter her perfect ass and the stall floor.

  “Goddammit.” She fell against the tiled wall, shoulders heaving, back rising and falling in time with her panting breaths. “Holy shit.”

  My back hit the wall beside her, and I fought to drag in air. Even the water needling my skin couldn’t cool me down. “You can say that again.”

  “Can’t. Can’t...breathe.”

  Still on his knees, Emerson licked his lips and grinned. Guess he didn’t mind getting a faceful of water. “So I suppose we should get cleaned up now, huh?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Emerson

  “Dance with me.”

  I glanced down at Lily, warmth blossoming through my chest at the joy in her eyes. Nothing could hide it—not the pink and purple strobe lights, not the dark corners where clubbers seemed to congregate. Her happiness was a real, tangible thing, as pervasive in the air as classy perfume and expensive liquor.

  “Sure.” I picked up my beer and, limping a little, followed her into the mass of people gyrating in front of the stage where live acts played a few nights a week. Tonight a DJ was in residence, and he was spinning hip hop music meant to make the crowd get on their feet.

  From the decibel level and amount of bodies crushed together, so far it was working.

  As if she were a heat-seeking missile, Lily aimed right for Jenna and her date Daniel and Carly and Giovanni. The four of them were dancing near each other, though Carly was more shuffling than anything else. Giovanni was smiling down at her, his arms looped securely around her waist as she leaned back to talk to Jenna over Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel kept shooting Carly the look, probably because he wanted to be alone with his date, but Carly was chattering away in spite of the loud music that made it nearly impossible to hear anything.

  I leaned down to Lily. “She’s never quiet, is she?”

  Lily shook her head, laughing softly. “She’s a whirlwind.”

  “Speaking of whirlwinds...” I pressed my mouth to Lily’s ear under the pretense of talking but managed to add in a little lick. She shivered and I smiled. Knowing I had this effect on her was incredible after all the years I’d denied myself. “Where’s your better half?”

  “He saw a friend and went to talk to him. He’ll be back soon.” She slipped her thumbs into my belt loops and drew me closer. Her hips circled against mine, teasing me into semi-hardness though I’d been drained not long ago. “You were amazing tonight.”

  I sure didn’t feel that way at the moment. Right now I was as achy and stiff as a geriatric who’d skipped his arthritis pills. Even a fight where I’d dominated took its toll on my body.

  “You too,” I murmured, biting her earlobe.

  She laughed, shaking her head. Lily laughing was pretty much the best sound ever invented. “Not...that. I mean, the fight. You were so good.” She eased back a fraction, eyes shining. “Daddy’s right. You could go pro.”

  The aches I carried diminished under her praise. How could they not? The girl I adored was staring up at me, her lips curved and her cheeks glowing, and she thought I was a good fighter. It didn’t matter that she rarely followed the fights. Hell, I wasn’t sure I wanted her around that kind of environment anyway. All that counted was that she believed in me.

  Even so, my first instinct was to deflect. “I’m not at that level yet. Maybe in a few years—”

  JC came up behind Lily, swagger firmly in place. He had a shot in one hand and knocked it back in one swallow. “What’re we talking about?” he yelled over the music. With his free hand, he gripped her hip and pressed against her. “Because you’re surely not dancing.”

  “We are so.” Lily rolled her eyes and leaned up to say near his ear, “We’re talking about Em going pro. Don’t you think he could?”

  “Absolutely. You were a beast out there tonight. Lubino’s probably wishing someone would put him out of his misery.”

  I smiled and drew Lily closer, wondering if JC would hang in or back off. In spite of our situation, we weren’t telling the whole world we were together. But he moved in close to her back, dipping his head to kiss the top of her ear. He wasn’t being obvious about it. Still, anyone who looked long enough would learn our platonic date was anything but.

  Combined with the sparks we’d been shooting off after our shower interlude, I was surprised there was anyone in the place who hadn’t figured out the score between us yet.

  Just as well I mention my news to them now, right? Anything to distract them before our display turned into one of public lewdness.

  “A guy showed up at the gym the other day.” I raised my voice to make sure they could hear me. “He’s one of the biggest promoters around. Some say if you get in with him, he has connections on the next level.”

  “Oh my God, yay!” Lily leaned up to give me a smacking kiss, then glanced back at JC. “See, we knew it.”

  “Holy shit, that’s amazing.” JC held out his fist and we bumped knuckles. “You’re going for it, right?”

  My smile faded. I hadn’t really considered the proposition yet, mainly because my schedule was already tight with training and the fights themselves and work. I didn’t know how I’d slot in even more training, because moving up higher meant I’d have to keep my game improving too. I might even end up in more fights per week. Anything that helped my visibility on the circuit.

  I’d probably make more money from all this increased exposure too, so maybe I could let up on my hours at the landscaping business. But the truth was, I liked not just relying on my fists to get paid. If I got hurt, then what? Better fighters than me had quit after an injury. Fox Knox had retired after he’d gotten his eye socket blown out by Giovanni, though now the guys were the best of friends and practically brothers-in-law, sin
ce Fox was living with Carly’s sister. Still, I didn’t know if I wanted to put everything on something that could be over in a flash. And that was even assuming I’d be able to keep winning.

  Only one thing was a certainty in the ring—there was always going to be a winner, and there was always going to be a loser. Which one you’d be on any given day was a combination of hard work, talent and luck. Pure fucking luck.

  “It’s going to take a lot of my time,” I began, walking with them back to one of the huge circular booths.

  The music had shifted into something that apparently they didn’t want to dance to anymore. Or else my predicament was more interesting than grinding up on each other.

  “So what? This is an awesome opportunity. You gotta go for it.” Lily pushed me into the booth and sat down beside me, nearly crawling into my lap. “I’m so proud of you, making all your dreams come true.”

  I touched her hair, marveling as always at its texture. She was soft everywhere I was hard, gentle everywhere I was rough. She’d been my biggest dream for so long, and right now it felt like I was having to make a choice. It didn’t make sense. Chasing success in the octagon wouldn’t drive me away from Lily—and JC—but I couldn’t deny the feeling that by picking one, I’d be not picking the other.

  “I have a lot of dreams,” I murmured, caressing her cheek.

  This woman was everything I’d ever wanted. She was okay with me and JC, for God’s sake. Not just okay with it, she seemed to get off on it. For as sheltered as I’d always assumed she was—as sheltered as I’d tried to make her be—she’d just accepted without a blink a status I’d never fully come to terms with myself.

  I was bisexual. And I’d found a woman and a man who fit me so perfectly, I couldn’t imagine the next day—never mind the next week—without them. JC, with his occasionally obnoxious, cocky attitude, had worn me down to the point I actually seriously cared about the guy. And Lily...

  God, she was my forever. Maybe they both were.

  “Yeah, but this one is the one that matters. This is the one that will tell everyone you’re a star.” JC grinned and reached around Lil to slap me on the back before he summoned a passing waitress. “A bottle of Dom for the table, please,” he said as the others arrived, laughing and flushed from their exertions on the dance floor. He glanced at Carly and pointed. “And a giant pitcher of OJ for the pregnacious one, please. Thank you.”