Holding My Breath

by A. M. Hartnett

  Up she went on both knees so that she could look down upon him. His smarmy look changed instantly, mixing surprise and elation. The hands on her ass went still.

  ‘Let’s be clear, shall we?’ she said. ‘You may have the money, but only one of us is in charge for now.’

  She pressed her fingers against his scalp and pulled his hair taut. He winced, but she still hadn’t wiped the smugness from his face completely. Still, she had caused a shift. She could see it in the admiration that shone in his eyes, and from the smudge of movement at the corner of her eye. Quinn was moving, shrugging out of his jacket.

  She turned her attention back to Simon, squashing the bra between them as she pressed hard against his chest.

  ‘I think I’ve had about enough of your attitude,’ she said softly, and quickly darted her tongue over his bottom lip. He went forward for more, but she jerked his head back. ‘You’ve been very rude to me and to my friend. I could make you apologise. I could, you know. I could make you crawl on the floor and beg for forgiveness.’

  Simon narrowed his eyes. ‘Tell me, how could you possibly do that?’

  ‘I have the best weapon imaginable.’

  She slid her free hand from his chest and down his arm. There was definition to his body and muscle shifting beneath the skin beneath the shirt. As she reached his wrist he turned his hand over to meet hers, but she didn’t give it to him.

  She clamped down on his wrist and dragged it between them.

  ‘I have this,’ she murmured, and nudged his fingers between her slick lips. ‘I have what you want right here, don’t I?’

  He smiled, a wide joker’s smile split from ear to ear. It was a different sort of smile: no hint of sarcasm, just pleasure. Flexing his fingers in and out of her pussy, he made an agonised sound of defeat.

  ‘Now I asked you to do something for me,’ she went on, sliding her gaze to the glass of water sweating on the table. ‘Wrap your hand around it.’

  There was still hesitation, but he moved his hand to the glass and closed his fingers around it.

  She released his hair and his hand, and planted her own hands on his knees behind her. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere. Now you’re being a perfect angel, aren’t you?’

  ‘It won’t last,’ he whispered, and delved his fingers to the knuckle. ‘I’ve got next to no will-power these days.’

  ‘Then this is all you’ll get until I decide you deserve more.’

  This time when he filled her, he stroked his thumb along the underside of her clit. Molly hung her head and gave in to sensation for just a moment. The walls of her sex shuddered around his fingers. Her own will-power was in peril.

  Quinn had done what he had called his duty by going down on her and getting her off before she got ready for the evening. He said it would loosen her up and keep her focused on her client’s pleasure, but it had been futile.

  She wasn’t drunk on the authority she wielded, but she was certainly buzzed. Beneath her, Simon shook with his need. Behind her, she felt Quinn bristling with his.

  Molly needed him now. She needed his closeness to keep her strong if she was going to proceed. She pushed Simon’s hand away and slipped from his lap.

  ‘Here’s the hard part,’ she said, her voice shaking as she tried to keep her breath from getting away from her. She glanced at the water in his hand and longed for it, but she wouldn’t ask him to relinquish it. Not yet.

  She turned to Quinn and found he had further disrobed while she was occupied with Simon. He had loosened his shirt and shoved his jeans down to mid-thigh. Cock in his palm, he looked ravenous as Molly stepped towards him.

  ‘I know Quinn is here to be a silent observer, but I need him. Actually, I need what he’s been playing with while you’ve been playing with me.’ She reached out and offered her hand. ‘I can think of a much better use for a hard cock than coming all over yourself.’

  Quinn clasped her fingers and stood. As soon as he was upright his hands were on her, sliding along all the places Simon had touched, as though he needed to reassert his dominion. He kissed her and pushed his tongue against hers, and slid his fingers along her sex. For a few heartbeats there were only the two of them in the living room.

  She ached when he withdrew, and saw the same pain written all over him before he turned that feral look on Simon.

  ‘What do you need from me?’

  ‘Get undressed and follow me,’ she replied, and turned back to Simon as Quinn unlaced his boots. ‘You can let go of the glass long enough to take your cock out.’

  She didn’t bother to restrain her smile as both men did precisely what she wanted without argument. She felt a little like the Queen of Hearts ordering her knaves about and watching them scramble. As flesh was revealed to her, made golden by the dim lamps around the room, Molly became the woman who twisted both of them around her little finger.

  Once more she loomed over Simon, taking in the bloom of arousal on his cheeks and matching splotches along his neck and shoulders and across his chest. He sat straight as an arrow, an obedient dog waiting for a command from his mistress. Possibility made her breathless, and Quinn’s arms around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder gave her strength.

  ‘What have you got in store for him?’ he murmured against her ear, and scraped his cheek across her skin. The five o’clock shadow was a part of his dressing down, a full day’s growth that hinted at a thick, ruddy beard. Lumberjack Ken, she’d called him in her head, and hoped to see more of him.

  For now, she reached out and captured Simon’s chin. She tilted his head all the way back and held him as she looked down his body.

  ‘It doesn’t take much to get him hard, does it?’ she remarked with a chuckle. ‘Just a little pinch and a little poke and he’s ready to go. Tell me, Simon, what’s got you so turned on right now? What do you want me to do to you?’

  ‘I want you to shut up,’ he grumbled, his tone genuinely testy. ‘If it means getting on your knees or getting on top of me, I don’t care, just –’

  As he let go of the glass and reached for her, Molly pushed his head back and he stopped talking.

  ‘I think I’ve heard enough.’ She turned in the tight space between the two men and, still trapped in Quinn’s embrace, stood on her toes and pulled him into a kiss.

  Ready and rough, he crushed her. Once more, Simon became some phantom she was only vaguely aware of as Quinn’s shaft throbbed insistently against her belly and he pushed his tongue into her mouth. She closed her lips and sucked him hard. It was a flash fire, a sparking, hissing moment in time, one she had to push away, and push him away.

  He stumbled, curiosity on his face as she took a seat on Simon’s lap.

  ‘Do you need a condom?’ Quinn asked.

  Full of mischief, Molly laughed. ‘Not for him – he hasn’t earned it yet – and not for you, though you might want a pillow. These floors look pretty hard on the knees.’

  The Queen of Hearts on her throne, Molly shifted until she was comfortable. Simon’s grunts of discomfort meant nothing to her. She settled against his chest, his cock resting at the small of her back, and laid her hands upon his.

  Simon shifted beneath her, but he didn’t upset her pose. ‘You’ve got a nasty streak. I don’t think we’ve been introduced, by the way. What’s your name?’

  ‘Shush.’

  She took his hand and placed it around the glass, and smiled up at Quinn as he returned. He dropped the pillow at her feet but he didn’t kneel. He stood over her as she had stood over Simon, and gave her what she imagined was the same twisted smile she had given Simon.

  He was like a wild man who had escaped from the woods and climbed through the window, like he didn’t belong. His chest heaved and his shoulders hunched. He wrapped his hand around his cock until only the moist tip poked out.

  Against her, Simon’s shaft jumped.

  A white-hot pulse went through her, and she giggled. ‘Oh, you greedy bastard. You want to get two but only pay for one.’


  ‘I’ve had Quinn. Well, Quinn has had me, though not for a very long time.’

  ‘I don’t think you could afford Quinn.’

  ‘And it’s my night off. I’m mentoring tonight,’ Quinn added as he dropped to his knees. ‘Open your legs.’

  It was Simon who obeyed, parting his thighs and hers at the same time. Quinn leaned forward and touched his tongue to his upper lip as he pushed her knees further apart.

  Two bodies yielded to him. Two hands, one guiding the other, dragged over her belly, and countless fingers splayed her apart.

  ‘Now, Simon,’ Molly said quietly and drummed her fingers over those holding the glass of water. ‘I’m going to trust you not to spill a drop. If you do, you’ll only prolong your wait for what Quinn is about to get very wet and very warm for you. If you don’t make a mess, you and I can do a little negotiating. Understood?’

  ‘Perfectly,’ he replied, but he sounded unconvinced.

  Either way, Molly didn’t care. She left him to his task and cupped the back of Quinn’s head as he bowed forward.

  Oh, that silver tongue. She sighed and rested her head against Simon’s shoulder. Quinn didn’t tease her, not like earlier when he’d nearly reduced her to tears until he realised they were on the verge of running late. Now he closed his eyes and devoured, flickering tongue precise around that bundle of nerves on the underside of her clit. Simon’s fingers moved independently of hers, pushing and pulling the plump flesh around Quinn’s sealed mouth.

  The body beneath hers was perfectly taut. This was a man who found agony in the subservience he’d goaded her into impressing upon him, but the helpless sounds that skittered in her ear hinted at the pleasure straining against the bonds she had placed upon him.

  At the sound of the ice shifting in the glass, Molly opened her eyes and turned her head. His fingers were as stiff as the rest of him, claw-like around the glass.

  ‘Good boy,’ she whispered, and choked as Quinn dragged his tongue up and down over her clit. Her throne might have been strong, but Molly welcomed the defeat of her will-power and moved with the tempo of Quinn’s tongue.

  Looking down, she found Quinn’s gaze rapt – not on her but on Simon. He wasn’t just dining on her; he was dishing it to Simon.

  Look at what I’m doing to my girl – and look at what she’s done to you.

  It’s going to be a long night, she thought, as Quinn closed his eyes and put all of himself into getting her off.

  That thick scruff scratched her raw as he bobbed his head and coaxed ferocious pleasure from deep inside her. It lurked beneath the surface, a rolling cloud changing shape, growing and shrinking. It was the twin of whatever Simon kept caged at that moment, but while his only pleasure came from the pressure of her body against his, hers was ready to strike.

  Teeth nipped at her shoulder. The sting moved quickly down her body and exploded on the tip of Quinn’s tongue. She sobbed as Simon spread his fingers, spread her apart, and Quinn sealed his mouth around her, and her climax was unleashed. It ripped her apart and burned the Queen of Hearts to cinders.

  She pushed Quinn away and let the heaviness take her.

  Laughter wrapped around her. Quinn’s amusement brought her back. She found him with his arm propped on her knee, hiding his smile in his forearm.

  ‘Did you at least let the poor man come on your back?’ he asked, words muffled against his skin.

  ‘No,’ she croaked, and reached for the glass Simon held.

  It wasn’t there. Only a puddle remained next to his trembling fingers.

  She shuffled her legs. Quinn sat back on his calves, his expression holding too much victory for a man who still had a hard-on that could have shattered concrete. She held out her hand and he clasped it, giving her his weight as she struggled to her feet.

  She regarded the mess on the hardwood. The glass had cracked but not shattered, and the water ran in ribbons across the floor.

  She picked up a lump of ice and twirled around.

  ‘Refresh my memory,’ she told the man slumped in the chair. ‘What was it I said would be the consequence of spilling my water?’

  Back to his unapologetic self, he shrugged. ‘You’ll make me wait.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  She sucked the ice into her mouth and rolled it around until the dryness in her throat had abated. Ignoring Quinn for now, Molly pushed the ice between her teeth and regarded Simon.

  After a moment, she popped it into her hand and held it over him. ‘I did warn you.’

  ‘Yes, you did.’

  ‘Then why are you looking at me like you don’t think I have it in me to follow through?’

  She closed her hand around the ice.

  ‘Temptation. You have two hard cocks ready for you. You’ve got two choices.’ He winced as cold water dripped down on his groin, but it sharpened the hunger in his eyes. ‘Two choices. You can toy with me and suffer the wait along with me, or you can have exactly what you want: two cocks buried wherever you want. So cut the bullshit and let’s get down to business.’

  They stared back at one another, Simon completely belligerent once more. Quinn got to his feet and moved close to her, but she no longer needed his strength: the longer the silence stretched, the more confident she was that she could best this brat on her own.

  She turned to Quinn. ‘What do you think?’

  Quinn stepped to her side and leaned down. She expected him to refuse her offer, but instead he brushed her hair away from her neck and laid a kiss on the damp surface, then whispered, ‘If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get.’

  She slipped her hand in his and offered the other to Simon. ‘Are you ready?’

  The deal sealed with his hand in hers, he stood. ‘And your name is?’

  Molly laughed and leaned back against Quinn. ‘Call me Sonia.’

  Chapter Ten

  Quinn entered first, leading Molly by the hand. He released her and took the armchair in the corner of the room, while Molly landed on the bed and rolled onto her side to watch Simon rifle in his nightstand. He extracted a roll of condoms from within and draped them on top of the nightstand in front of the blue-green clock on his iPhone dock. She waited for something much more interesting to appear, but instead he squared his shoulders and looked at Molly.

  ‘I have to admit, I’m stuck on this comment about mentoring,’ he said, and jostled Molly, one knee pushing down on the mattress. ‘Has he been giving you a lot of homework?’

  ‘I’ve been pulling a lot of all-nighters.’

  Simon gave her a wicked smile as he settled down next to her, and, with the heat from his body closing in, her nerves started to sing.

  This was it. The exercise with the water had just been a warm-up. This was the big show.

  Her whole body tingled as Simon ran his hand along the hump of her ass. She regretted turning her back on Quinn, but his presence was everywhere. Even as Simon drew her closer, it was the man who had brought her here she felt in her blood.

  As unfamiliar hands stroked up and down the valleys of her body, Molly melted into the bedding. It wasn’t unpleasant. Far from it. Her body came back out of its fatigue quickly and welcomed his touch with puckering flesh and wet heat. She sank deeper, as far onto her back as she needed to look across the bed at Quinn.

  He was back where he had begun, slumped a little low in the seat and slowly kneading the length of his cock.

  Anchored to him once more, Molly opened her legs for Simon and shivered as he brushed the sticky hood above her sensitive clit. He went forward and just as gently probed the circumference of her hard nipple.

  His exploration was the reprieve she needed to recharge. She drew her knees up, both to open up to him and to show Quinn the display of fingers through wet flesh. That’s what was simmering this warm pool of arousal she had sunk into. The excitement didn’t come from being paid to lie back and let Simon do this to her; it came from being watched by Quinn. Night after night he’d told he
r his stories of debauchery, but tonight she was living it.

  Simon lifted his head but he didn’t kiss her. Instead he simply looked down upon her as he slipped his fingers into her pussy.

  ‘Here’s what I want for my money,’ he murmured and flexed his long fingers against her inner walls. He didn’t speak loud enough for Quinn to hear. Whatever was coming was all hers to take or leave.

  She was bold and brave. She reached between them and wrapped her hand around his cock. ‘Go on.’

  Simon glanced past her to Quinn so quickly that if she had blinked she would have missed it.

  ‘I want you to spend the next little while with my cock in your mouth,’ he went on, ‘and then I want to switch things up a little. I want to get comfortable like your man is and enjoy a demonstration of him putting you through your paces.’

  Quinn’s low laugh reached out and swept over her like a caress. ‘I do like where this is going.’

  As hard as it was, Molly ignored him and kept her attention on Simon. He was rock solid in her hand, and the more she tugged and smeared precome along the shaft, the more appealing the prospect of having him in her mouth became.

  ‘You like to watch, then?’

  ‘In addition to being on the receiving end, I’ve seen Quinn at work a time or two. He makes fucking an art form, and what I’ve seen of you gives me a pretty good idea that the two of you together would be something I’d never forget.’

  Slowly he withdrew his fingers, and as he lay on his back Molly pushed up and looked at Quinn.

  ‘Did you get any of that?’

  He gave a quick shake of his head. ‘I’m just observing.’

  ‘Not for much longer.’

  She knelt and looked down Simon’s body. Compared to Quinn, he was average. There were no gym-hewn abs and thighs, but he was solidly built and attractive, and with the girth he packed between his legs he easily matched Quinn in width if not length.

  One more look at Quinn and she formed her plan. If Simon wanted his cock sucked, she’d suck him. If he wanted to watch Simon fucking her, that’s what he’d get.

  But she had her own plans, and they involved bringing the two of them together and having things her way.