by Lynn Tyler
A soft sigh ruffled the hair on his chest. “What are you thinking so hard about?”
The last thing he wanted to do was start a relationship with a lie, and he dearly hoped they would be starting a relationship.
“I was thinking about Aaron.”
“Aaron?” The question was laced with curiosity and maybe a hint of heat, although that could be wishful thinking on his part.
He cleared his throat. Better to drop his bombshell now, when his heart was only slightly on the line, instead of admitting to his fantasy and risk his heart breaking into a million tiny pieces later. “I have a confession.”
She pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. “Okay. Give it to me straight.”
He groaned. Straight was exactly what he had to talk to her about. “Here’s the thing. I’m not strictly…straight.”
Talia simply raised an eyebrow and tightened her fingers around his in a gentle squeeze. “Go on.”
Well, that wasn’t what he was expecting. The first and only time he’d confessed his sexuality to a date, she’d called him a sick bastard and run out like her hair was on fire.
“See, I’m bi. I like women, but I like men, too.” He waited for her answer, his stomach suddenly in knots. He’d never wanted something so badly in all his life.
“I see.” She slid one leg over his hip and pressed her core against him.
He gulped when he felt her folds spread, her slick wetness scalding his skin.
She shifted and pulled herself closer. “And Aaron is the guy that’s caught your eye?”
This was the real test. “Yes.”
“That is so hot.”
“It is?” He was genuinely surprised. Sure, he knew lots of women got off on the idea of two men, but he’d never met one in real life. Could this really be happening? May as well go for broke. “Ever thought about…you know…being with two guys?”
“You mean have I ever thought about fucking two men at the same time?” The dry tone of her voice belied the sparkling in her eyes.
He blushed for the first time in years, but his spent dick twitched and tried to rise again at her coarse words. “Yeah.”
She tapped his chin with one slim finger. “It’s my go-to fantasy, if you must know. And thanks to you and Aaron, I now have faces for my fantasy men.”
His heart was pounding against his chest so hard, he wondered if it would break through its cage of bone and muscle. “So if I was to ask him out on a date with us, you’d be good with that?”
He enjoyed the shiver that ran down her body, and she pressed her pussy more firmly against him. “I would be great with that.”
She tucked her face under his chin and wrapped her arms around him completely until she was plastered fully against his body. “I’m tired,” she said on a yawn. “You wore me out.”
The question in her statement was clear, wondering if she should give into sleep or if she should get dressed for him to drive her back to her car.
“Go to sleep, honey.” He stroked her back, tracing his fingers over her spine in circles.
“I have class at eight thirty tomorrow.”
Right. Tomorrow was Friday. “I’ll wake you up in time to get you there.”
She didn’t even answer, just relaxed completely and fell asleep.
Like he was going to make her leave. Hopefully, he’d never sleep alone again.
* * * *
Eros glanced at the clock on his office wall again. Nine fifteen a.m. and Neil still wasn’t in.
He frowned and looked back down at his desk, trying to take his mind off his worry, but just like five minutes ago, it didn’t work. What if things had gone wrong after he’d sent the scrying bowl back? What if they’d had a fight and now wanted nothing to do with each other?
Oh, gods. What if his power and his mother’s were too much combined, and Neil and Talia had fallen in love and eloped?
Shit. He had to get to the Fates temple as soon as possible. If he could scrounge up some of that expensive perfume they liked, maybe he could bribe them into letting him use their bowls again.
“Aaron? You look like you’re going on a warpath. Who pissed you off?” Neil stood in his office door, two paper cups in his hands.
Relief hit his system, making him as giddy as if he’d downed four shots of espresso in as many minutes. He bounced to his feet and rushed over to Neil, unable to stop the giant smile from crossing his face. He took the proffered cup and cradled it close. “You’re late.”
A sly smile tilted the corners of Neil’s mouth. “I had to drop Talia off at the university. We sort of slept through the alarm.”
Well, after the night they’d had it was little wonder, although Eros wasn’t about to reveal the fact that he’d spied on them. Or the fact that he’d enjoyed himself a little too much while watching them.
“Sounds like your date went well,” he said instead.
Now that the perfect moment had come to plant the seed about forming a ménage relationship Eros found himself paralyzed with fear. “So, uh, it looks like the boss has us lined up to work on a project together.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly the most romantic thing he’d ever said. No one would ever guess he was the god of love, if that was the best he could do.
“Yeah, I saw that. Can you give me a minute to dump my stuff at my desk? We can work in here, if you want. Less distractions than my cubicle.”
And a door that locked.
Eros nodded breathlessly and covered his gleeful anticipation with a sip of hot coffee, swearing when it nearly scalded the roof of his mouth off.
“Careful.” Neil cupped Eros’s cheek and ran his thumb along Eros’s bottom lip. “I like your mouth undamaged.”
Eros stood still, dumbly staring at Neil’s fine ass as the man walked out of his office. How in Tartarus was he going to get through the day without jumping Neil’s bones? Or bone, as the case may be.
He took a deep breath as Neil picked his way through the cubicles outside his office. He’d just have to keep the bigger picture in mind—a committed relationship with both Neil and Talia.
“So, do you have any ideas for the new website we’re supposed to be building?” Neil plopped down in one of the desk chairs.
The chair was one of the modern, molded ones without arms, and Neil’s long legs ended with his feet planted firmly on the ground. Neil slouched just a little in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
Eros blinked, and that chair suddenly turned into the ultimate fuck toy. The image of him straddling a naked Neil’s thighs and lowering himself down onto Neil’s rigid cock floated into his mind. Of course, Talia would be sprawled across his desk, hand between her thighs, encouraging them along.
Oh, shit, if Eros’s pants got any tighter in the crotch, his dick would snap off. He adjusted himself as discreetly as possible, but the knowing grin on Neil’s face told Eros he hadn’t been successful.
“The website, right,” Eros muttered, sitting down in his own chair.
Neil scooted closer, his chair leaving divots in the carpet from dragging it over. They bent over the client request form and groaned. The client had been vague with their instructions. There wasn’t even a color scheme or instructions on the number of pages. “This is going to take a long time,” Neil said.
Eros glanced at the large whiteboard where he always listed project deadlines. “It looks like we’ve got a week and a half to finish it.”
“We’d better get started then. Any ideas?” Neil grabbed a marker and poised his hand by the whiteboard, ready to brainstorm.
Snorting, Eros nudged Neil’s foot with his toes. “I’m the programmer, not the designer.”
Neil made a face but nodded. “Well, they say they want a modern look. We should maybe do something really slick looking. You know, cool blues, blacks, maybe some grays.”
Eros’s thoughts had gotten caught up on the word slick. Sex with Talia and Neil would be very slick and wet.
It took ever
y ounce of willpower he had in him to drag his mind back to the task at hand. “Sorry, I zoned out for a second. What did you say?”
Was it possible that Neil’s eyes were glittering from more than just amusement? “What do you think about something sleek, something sort of sexy?”
Eros stifled a groan and shifted around in his seat. Booting up his computer, he began stringing together code as Neil talked. They’d always worked well together, but it was getting progressively harder to concentrate on what he was doing as Neil leaned over his shoulder, his breath tickling the back of Eros’s neck.
By the time Neil suggested a break, Eros was pretty sure he’d developed the world’s longest case of blue balls.
Eros rubbed the back of his neck, trying to soothe the tingle Neil’s lips being so close to his skin had caused. “So, how was your date with Talia last night?”
Talk about glutton for punishment.
A charming smile crossed Neil’s face. “She’s something else.”
“That she is.” Of course, Eros already knew that.
“You know, I’m meeting her for drinks after her last class tonight, and we’d really like if you could join us.”
Eros mentally sighed. They probably wanted to thank him for introducing them the other night. He really shouldn’t go, at least not until he’d determined if they were open to a ménage with him, but his better judgment lost out to his need to see the both of them. “Yeah, I’ll go out with you.”
Neil rolled his eyes. “Jeez, you’d think we were dragging you off to your doom or something. Come on, lighten up. It’s just a couple of drinks at Enzo’s. But I have to drop Tal off at her car first. She kind of ended up spending the night at my place last night.”
Crap. The tingling of an impending climax was settling into Eros’s balls when he thought about the scene he’d witnessed—okay, spied on—last night. He took a deep breath and willed his body to behave.
Eros jumped when a gentle hand landed on the back of his neck. Neil massaged his tight muscles for a few seconds before leaning down to whisper in his ear. “You okay, babe? You look a little tense.”
A shiver worked its way down Eros’s spine when Neil’s warm breath bathed his neck. “Yeah. Just thinking about something.”
Neil laughed low and husky in Eros’s ear. “Well, whatever you were thinking about must have certainly been…stimulating.”
Eros cursed his fair complexion when he felt the blush work its way up his throat and on to his cheeks. He was the god of love, damn it. He should not blush so easily when someone flirted with him.
Warm lips closed over Eros’s earlobe, sucking gently before moving in a damp caress to the spot on his neck that Neil had discovered the other day. Eros ground his palm against the log in his pants, not really sure if he was trying to prevent an explosion or provide the friction he needed. “Door’s open,” he panted.
“Right.” The word was muttered right against Eros’s mouth.
They jerked apart, and Neil sat back down. Luckily, it was lunchtime, and their floor was usually vacant by now. Of course, Eros could have erased anyone’s memory, but that sometimes got messy if they had a particularly strong mind.
Neil cleared his throat and began doodling on the pad of paper in front of him. “So, maybe you’d like to come out for that drink tonight?”
The breath caught in Eros’s throat. Could it really be as easy as this? “Are you sure?” he asked, wanting to kick himself for even questioning Neil’s invitation.
“I am,” Neil answered. “We talked last night and both agreed that we’d love it if you could come out with us.”
Well, who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Chapter 8
Talia licked her lips in anticipation. Neil had texted her saying that Aaron had agreed to meet them for a drink after all. She’d been distracted all day by the thought of having Neil and Aaron all to herself. She’d gotten halfway through her anthropology class before she realized that she hadn’t taken a single note. For the first time in her life, she thought about ditching a class. It wasn’t like she was going to be actually learning anything anyway.
Deciding to go to the campus gym instead, she sweated her ass off on the treadmill for twenty minutes. She eyed the free weights with distaste and decided that she’d had enough for the day.
The showers were empty, and she took the time to luxuriate in the endless hot water. It was a good thing she’d thought ahead and brought her date clothes with her. She’d spent so long in the shower, scrubbing down with her favorite vanilla sugar scrub, that it was almost time for Neil to pick her up.
This time, she’d scrounged through her roommate’s closet and borrowed a maroon sweater dress, gray leggings, and black stiletto boots. Her roommate had tried to convince her that the pair of black fishnet stockings was a good idea, but they were a bit too much. She wanted to look sexy, not slutty.
She quickly dressed and made her way to the bank of mirrors along one wall. There wasn’t enough time to do much with her hair, so she ran some gel through it and slicked it back into a high ponytail. Grabbing her makeup bag, she dabbed on a bit of lipstick and applied just a touch of smudge-proof mascara.
Satisfied that she looked as good as she was going to, she stashed the rest of her stuff in her gym locker, including her backpack. She probably wasn’t going to get any studying done tonight. Or she hoped she wouldn’t have time to study, anyway.
She rushed out of the gym and across campus. By the time she made it to the admin building, Neil’s car was already idling by the curb.
“Hey, Tal? I didn’t make it to anthro. Can I borrow your notes?”
Now was totally not the time for a fellow student to be asking her for her notes, especially not when Neil and Aaron were frowning at the jock who’d stopped her. “Sorry, my notes are back in the gym locker room, and my friends are waiting for me.” Not that she’d actually taken any notes.
The football player, Jud, reached out and grabbed her arm. Strong fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist. “Come on. It will only take a minute.”
She pulled against his grip. “I really don’t have the time. I think I saw Brian on the way over here. He always takes good notes.”
Jud didn’t take the hint, and he tightened his fingers even more. “Talia, come on. I’m desperate here. If I don’t get a B on this next exam, I can’t play.”
Aaron was next to them in a flash. He pried Jud’s fingers off her arm one by one. “The lady said no. Now, do I have to make things even more clear?”
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought Aaron may have bent one of Jud’s fingers back a little more than necessary to make his point.
Jud winced and pulled away. “Ow, dude. What the fuck? I was just asking her for her notes.”
Aaron sneered at the bigger guy and got right in his face. “Yeah? Asking for her notes required you to bruise her wrist? Get the fuck out of here before I do more than bruise your wrist.”
It wasn’t until her chest began to ache that she realized she was holding her breath. Jud was a big guy, built like a house, and did not have a reputation of being particularly patient on or off the field. And while Aaron was tall, his muscles ran more toward the long and lean swimmer’s type instead of the bulked-up steroid-out type Jud sported.
Jud must have seen something in Aaron’s eyes, though, because he nodded and backed off. “Dude, I was just trying to pass my class.”
Aaron wrapped his arm around her waist in a possessive gesture. It should have pissed her off. She was a grown woman and totally capable of taking care of herself. Hell, she had a black belt in karate. Her hands were lethal weapons.
Instead of being insulted, though, Talia found herself thrilled with the closeness and the completely unnecessary male display of machoness. She didn’t even bother to squash the urge to snuggle into Aaron. “You know, I really don’t need you to threaten guys for me, right?”
Aaron looked properly chastised. “I’m sorry. I jus
t kinda saw red when he grabbed you.”
She smiled to show she wasn’t angry. “Well, I don’t need you to chase people off, but I did like it. It was hot, in a caveman sort of way.”
“Oh, so now I’m a caveman?” He kept his arm around her as they walked to Neil’s car.
She poked him in the side and laughed. “Okay, maybe not a caveman. You’re just a smidge too young to be a caveman.”
The look Aaron gave her was weird, a mix of weary and irony. “Sometimes I feel that old.”
Before she could ask him for clarification, Neil was out of the car and opening the passenger side door. “Everything okay?”
She slid into the car, taking care to arrange the sweater dress so that it showed an appropriate amount of thigh. Her legs may have been covered by leggings but there was no reason she couldn’t try and tempt them a little.
Aaron climbed in behind her, and Neil joined her in the front. “So, where to?” Neil asked.
Both men were silent, clearly waiting for her to make a suggestion. Did she have the guts to tell them where she really wanted to go?
Yes, she did. “Actually, I was thinking about takeout. At one of your houses.”
She stared out the front window, concentrating hard on keeping her hands still. Two sets of eyes burned into her, but neither man said anything.
“Never mind,” she muttered. “Let’s just go to a bar or something.” A stiff drink was definitely on the menu.
“I vote for Aaron’s place,” Neil shouted. His hand massaged the back of her neck even as he eased out into the road. “And I can’t speak for Aaron, but I didn’t say anything right away because you took me by surprise.”
“Actually, I was sort of thinking about rolling those tights off your legs and kissing each and every inch of skin I find. And I do mean every bit. My tongue sort of got stuck on the roof of my mouth when I wondered if you were wearing a thong.” Aaron’s voice floated over the back of her seat, and she relaxed. So they weren’t completely turned off by her boldness.
