Healing the Wounds

by M. Q. Barber

Jay moaned.

  Henry let go and licked his lips.

  “Thank you, my boy.” He kissed Jay softly. “Hold our girl open a moment. I’ve a gift to give her.”

  The best gift. Her breathing quickened as Jay pushed her panties aside and the tip of Henry’s cock rested just inside her. Jay stepped back. But Henry made no move to enter farther, and his hands kept her still.

  “You want to watch, don’t you, my boy?”

  “Yes, Henry.” His trembling tenor flirted with the edge of a whimper.

  “No touching. Neither us nor yourself. You’ll wait your turn like a good boy, hmm?”

  Jay rasped yes between heavy exhalations. He’d wait. Wait like she was waiting now. Wait for Henry’s pleasure. His choice of when and how to take them.

  The tingling need firing along every nerve shivered through to her skin. “Please…”

  “You want your gift, Alice?”

  “Yes. Please.”

  Henry thrust with a single, smooth stroke. Her thighs spread as he reached his depth. She clutched his shoulders. He drew back and thrust again, starting a deep, rocking rhythm that carried her along until she was whimpering with need and unashamed of it.

  “Who makes you feel good, Alice? Who gives you this pleasure?”

  “You do.”

  “Who am I, Alice?”

  “Henry. Henry-Henry-Henry.” She called his name with each thrust, a rolling chant.

  “And why do I do it, Alice? Why do I allow you so much pleasure?”

  She almost fumbled the rhythm, but then certainty filled her as surely as his carefully measured thrusts. “Because you love me.”

  “Say it again, Alice.”

  “Because you love me.”

  She repeated the words until she couldn’t, until her throat grew tight and her head pressed against the wall and she met Henry’s every thrust with violent force of her own. The drape of her dress and the slide of the fabric teased her as they had on their first night. The tension in her body teetered on the cusp of uncoiling.

  He tightened his hold on the backs of her thighs as he drove into her.

  Even Henry lacked the breath to speak now, she thought, until he growled against her throat. “Come now, Alice. Come now or not at all.”

  The pure command in his voice and the realization she’d somehow driven him to the very edge of his control gave her the final push. Enough to leave her shaking uncontrollably as pleasure unwound beneath her skin.

  He came, pressed deep inside her and groaning as she rippled around him, pinning her to the wall, a thin membrane of latex keeping his heat from spilling into her. Curiosity laced her satisfaction. She’d never allowed the elimination of that barrier with previous lovers. But with Henry? With Jay?

  She curled her fingers in the short hairs at the nape of Henry’s neck. Might be time to start.

  Henry raised his head and pressed his lips to her forehead. “All right, Alice? No fears, hmm?”

  Maybe he meant the emotional insecurity she’d been sharing with Jay, but his predatory behavior registered with a tumbling click. He’d used his body, his size, his voice, to crowd her against the wall. She’d sat across from a reminder of the club all night, but Henry’s stalking hadn’t once awakened her fear and anger over Cal’s jackass intimidation tactics.

  Her euphoria set off a string of giggles. “No fears.” She wrapped her arms around his back, burying her face in his neck and rocking. “Just love.”

  “Good girl.” He pushed off the wall. “Shall we take Jay to bed? Show him how loved he is as well?”

  She tightened her legs around his hips. “Definitely.”

  Past Henry’s shoulder, Jay stood at the kitchen table with his pants tented.

  “We haven’t shown him for hours.”

  Leaning toward them, obedient to Henry’s command not to touch, he threatened to crack the chair behind him with his grip.

  “We should fix that.”

  “Wonderful. Come along, Jay. But don’t come. Not quite yet.”

  She grinned like a fiend at Jay, who followed behind while Henry carried her to the bedroom. The clutch of her legs around Henry’s waist seemed all that kept his pants from tripping him. He set her gently on her feet—well, the heels she’d worn at his request—near the foot of the bed.

  Her dress cascaded into place around her knees. His pants dropped to the floor. Henry casually stepped out of them, as if he weren’t flustered to stand in front of her with his shirttails draped over his softening cock and his boxers hitched under his balls. Poised and elegant. She resisted the urge to giggle again.

  “Jay. Come here, please.” Henry positioned Jay in front of Alice and raised her hands to his chest.

  Jay’s heart thumped hard under her palm. Eager desire beamed from his smile and his eyes.

  “Undress our boy for me, Alice. Slowly.”

  Henry’s movements around the room divided her focus as she worked open Jay’s buttons. Images flickered like a gif set.

  Henry, disposing of the condom.

  Jay, nuzzling her hair and inhaling.

  Henry, removing his own clothes.

  Jay, his skin paler below his neckline.

  Henry, watching her push Jay’s shirt down his arms.

  She knelt to take off Jay’s shoes and socks, helping him balance as she made him stand on one foot and then the other. Lifting her head and moving her hands to unbuckle his belt, she slammed up against a twinge of nerves. His cock stood right there. In front of her mouth. Bulging behind a pair of dress slacks.

  If someone’s a good boy, he can watch me fuck her after his whipping.

  She gripped belt leather in tight, immovable fingers. Cal droned on.

  I have a lovely coachwhip.

  “Alice.” Henry coaxed her in quiet, understanding tones. “It’s all right, my dear. Finish the task I set you. You haven’t been asked for anything more than that, dearest.”

  Her fingers fumbled through unfastening Jay’s pants and lowering them as he stood unnaturally still. She was careful with his boxers, pulling them out and around to avoid teasing him, and then she was left with nothing more to remove. Jay’s erect cock waited inches from her face. He jumped, and her gust of breath resounded in her ears. She’d been blowing air across sensitive skin. Aside from one uncontrolled jump, he hadn’t moved a muscle. Hadn’t made a sound. Hadn’t cracked a joke.

  “Alice. Stand up, please.”

  She forced herself not to rush. She wasn’t afraid of Jay. She wouldn’t let him think she was. His erection stirred arousal and affection. But kneeling, and while his pants were still on, that was…difficult.

  “Raise your arms, please, Alice.” Henry stood behind her, his nearness swirling in her awareness before he stripped her sheath dress off over her head and laid it aside.

  She curbed the impulse to check for unwanted eyes watching her.

  Henry nuzzled her face. “Up unto the bed, my girl.”

  Jay gifted her with a compassionate gaze. He knew fear and vulnerability beyond any she’d encountered. Seeing her shaky responses, helping her, gave him purpose and permission. If she hid, he would too.

  Henry stepped aside, gripped her hips, and lifted her.

  She sat on the edge while he and Jay removed her shoes with synchronized motions, right down to the playful kisses they planted on the balls of her feet. She flexed toes happy to be free of their long confinement in fashionable footwear.

  Henry removed her panties and gave her a gentle push. “Go and sit at the head of the bed, Alice. Make yourself comfortable with the pillows.”

  Reclining against a pile of pillows and the headboard, she mimicked Jay’s position from the night before. If Henry meant to let her cradle Jay while he made love to him, he’d need lubrication. The nightstand displayed no condoms, lube, or toys.

  Henry ordered Jay onto the bed. “On your back, my boy. Lay your head on Alice’s thigh.”

  Not in her arms, not like she’d been with Jay behind her
.

  Jay followed directions quickly. Of course he had. Jay, duh. With a raging hard-on. He settled his head, nestling up against her with his face tipped toward the slight roundness of her belly. A pleasant weight but an unpleasant reminder. If they’d given up condoms, he might’ve enjoyed licking her clean. As it was, she wouldn’t get oral stimulation until she’d bathed, and things were a little busy to request a washcloth. She ran her fingers through his hair. He clasped her ankle, fingers circling in ceaseless motion.

  Henry paced around the foot of the bed and stopped at the far corner with his head tilted just so and a soft smile on his face. He breathed deep and let the air trickle out.

  She’d see this scene again. Not soon, and not until he’d finished, but he’d disappear into his studio tomorrow to sketch. Possibly even tonight while she and Jay slept.

  “My patient, patient boy.” Henry lowered himself to the bed beside Jay. Now she had two heads in her lap, and neither would be giving her any attention. Last straw. They were done with condoms. She was a responsible adult about birth control, and the three of them were a monogamous—God, that’s hot.

  Kissing Jay with fierce intensity, Henry pushed him harder against her thigh, one hand in a firm grip on Jay’s shoulder. He left Jay’s lips wet and swollen and his expression dazed.

  “Tell me your safeword, Jay.”

  “Tilt-A-Whirl.” No hesitation. No confusion.

  “And when should you use it?”

  “Anytime I feel uncomfortable or unsafe.”

  “And if you’re uncertain how you’re feeling?”

  “I should use it anyway, and you’ll help me figure it out.”

  “Good boy.” Henry leaned his torso over Jay’s when he kissed him again. The muscles in his back worked to keep him balanced on his arms, the right tucked along the inside of her left leg and the left outside her right leg. He stayed in close contact with both of them, no one alone or unwanted.

  Jay squirmed. God, could that boy squirm. He wasn’t a quiet kisser, either, emitting whimpers and half-vocalized moans Henry swallowed. A private lap dance from her two favorite men, entirely focused on each other. The intense, personalized eroticism made their show so much stronger than the distant arousal she’d experienced at the club. Watching strangers lacked the intimacy of Jay’s head tipping back across her thigh as he bared his throat.

  “You want to submit to me, don’t you, my boy?”

  Jay moaned his agreement, and Henry covered his throat with harsh, biting kisses.

  He’d done the same to her in the kitchen. Had it looked this way to Jay? Primal, and violent, and fucking rip-off-my-panties-and-bend-me-over hot?

  The mattress rolled as Jay bucked his hips. Lean muscle thrust him high, his erection bobbing past the flexing in Henry’s back. He put on an entrancing peep show, there and gone with a wet, shining tip. Excitement brought on by Henry’s punishing kisses.

  Sitting up, Henry added to the show. He wasn’t hard, but he’d come with her less than thirty minutes ago.

  He stroked Jay from neck to navel, and Jay wiggled and whined. Henry closed his hand around the base of Jay’s cock and squeezed.

  Jay groaned. His hips jerked.

  Henry held him too tightly to let him come so quickly. A handjob, like he’d given Jay last night. Jay working himself made for a fun show, but the excitement of Henry working Jay even beat the thrill of solving a complex design puzzle on the first try.

  Henry leaned across Jay’s thighs, pinning him to the bed, and surrounded Jay’s cock with his mouth.

  Jesus.

  Jay gave a strangled gasp and dug his fingers into her calf.

  Surprised you too, huh, stud?

  Clamping his mouth tight, Henry built up pressure like a hydraulic cylinder and Jay the piston rod driving home. Henry’s jaw stood out in a stark line, the tendons in his neck a relief map of tension quaking with every hard suck. He raised his head, licking his lips, leaving a wet and shining cock beneath his chin, and his gaze fastened on Jay’s.

  “It’s all right to enjoy this. I want to hear your pleasure.” Soft at first, Henry dropped into his low command voice by the end. “Let me hear you, Jay.”

  He closed his mouth over the head of Jay’s cock again. Sliding lips took him to the root. Henry gave blowjobs. Paradigm shift. Better than she could. Better than Jay, and he got bucket loads of practice. Sucking cock seemed so un-Henry-like.

  Yet Henry retained control. Dominant, even with Jay’s cock in his throat. Whimpering and writhing, Jay was helpless to do anything but accept his gift. Bold and confident, Henry commanded Jay’s submission to having his cock sucked.

  Jay arched his back and dragged his feet up the bed, swaying the mattress. His shoulder blades jutted into her stomach and thighs as he rose to meet Henry’s pull. The strain outlined every gorgeous muscle beneath his toned stomach. His teeth flashed, his mouth wide and pouring forth sweet, wordless whines.

  The power dynamic was the opposite of what Cal would’ve done—had threatened to do—to her. But a blowjob didn’t have to be a demeaning, frightening act. She’d enjoyed giving to Henry and Jay before. She would again. The people, not the act, made it what it was. She brushed back shaggy black strands of Jay’s hair falling in his eyes.

  Henry’s right arm, bent at the elbow, rested on Jay’s stomach, his hand mostly out of sight. Hidden between Jay’s legs, shadowed by the movement of Henry’s mouth as he sucked. Massaging Jay’s balls. Or lower. Teasing and circling Jay like he’d done to her months ago.

  Her body clenched, and it wasn’t in fear. It was curiosity. A stirring of desire.

  Jay’s groans grew louder, their familiar eager note signaling his imminent orgasm.

  Henry gained velocity, his lips sliding with a twisting motion from root to tip and back again, his cheeks hollowing out. His breath was harsh and loud and all but drowned out by Jay’s noises.

  Jay shouted Henry’s name, hips jerking beneath Henry’s weight.

  Henry’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  Holy fuck.

  Henry let Jay’s cock slip from his mouth and covered Jay’s chest with his own. “To whom do you belong, Jay?” His voice was hard and commanding and punctuated by his breaths.

  “You, Henry.” Limp and smiling, Jay stared up at Henry with wide, adoring eyes. Bliss. Maybe the same sort of muddled bliss she floated in when Henry mixed pain and pleasure into a devastating cocktail for her.

  “You enjoy belonging to me, don’t you, Jay?”

  “Love you, Henry. Want to be yours always.”

  Henry’s breaths quieted, and he stilled. “You know I’ll never hurt you.”

  Jay’s head shook vaguely. “Never ever.”

  “Good boy.”

  Henry kissed him, a kiss that started fierce, like the ones he’d given Jay earlier, but this one softened, and gentled, and slowed into the lingering affection of longtime lovers. And when Henry pulled back, he brushed his hand through Jay’s hair, running across Alice’s fingers, lifting them to his mouth and kissing her knuckles.

  “Never ever,” she echoed.

  Henry raised startled eyes—grateful eyes—to hers.

  “I know it.” She sank into the love in his steady stare, the weight as real as his embrace.

  “My sweet girl,” he murmured. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  He delivered the barest brush of his lips on one corner of her mouth, a chaste and reverent touch, before he claimed her lips fully and gave her the lingering attention he’d given Jay.

  Afterward, they lay together in silence, Henry’s head at her neck and Jay’s atop her thigh, her hand and Henry’s meeting in Jay’s hair.

  A long while passed before they rose from the bed, all three of them together, unwilling to part even to send one for a washcloth. Henry washed his hands and face in the sink while Alice and Jay nuzzled and kissed. Affectionate but not passionate, at least for her. With libidos satisfied, the emotional closeness mattered now. />
  Henry patted the countertop and urged Jay to lift her onto it as he wet a washcloth. Wary of the edge beside her hip, she spread her thighs at Henry’s command.

  Henry frowned. “We must give thought to enlarging this countertop. It’s entirely too small.”

  Jay smiled at her over Henry’s shoulder.

  She clapped a hand to her mouth as a giggle escaped. And another. She and Jay cracked up, unable to stop themselves.

  Henry watched with a half smile and his I’ll-have-you-figured-out-momentarily squint.

  Jay got himself almost under control first. “I had”—snort—“the same thought”—gasp—“myself”—chuckle—“last week.”

  “He did.” She sucked in a breath and held it until she could talk without giggling. “He was going to ask you about redecorating.”

  “Ah—I said two words. Alice. Mirrors.” Jay gave her a smug smirk.

  Henry waggled his eyebrows.

  Alice’s giggles erupted again.

  “Such a brilliant boy. We’ll put it on the to-do list. But right now—” Henry pressed the washcloth between her legs, and her giggle deepened into a moan. “I believe the to-do list is full.”

  Chapter 5

  The rich aroma of beef in the oven enticed her the instant she opened the door Monday night. Greeting her with a kiss, Henry sent her to change out of her work clothes.

  She wandered back to the kitchen. Six o’clock. “No Jay?”

  “One of his couriers neglected to come to work today, it seems, so he’ll be late to dinner this evening.” Henry manned the stove, browning what smelled like bacon, but in chunks rather than strips. The meat crackled and popped over the classical music on the radio.

  “Smells good. He’s gonna be sorry if he misses it.” Not just him. She’d miss Jay’s running commentary about his day at the table.

  “Mmm. I’ve lowered the temperature on the roast. We may wait on him. He’ll call when he’s on his way.” Henry fiddled with a pot on the stove. “Drain this, please, and I’ll show you how to prepare them once they’ve cooled a bit.”

  She dumped the hot water and refilled the pot with cold water to keep the baby onions wet and her eyes tear-free. A quick demonstration from Henry had her cutting off the ends, removing the skins, and slicing a cross pattern into the little onions.