by M. Q. Barber
She dipped her paddle and splashed water his way. They dueled, calling a truce when she leaned too far and Jay had to shift his weight to counterbalance her motion.
“No tipping, remember?”
“Nice save, sweetheart.” She didn’t have to see him to know how calm and confident he’d grown since this morning. Henry’s campaign at work. “When was the last time you rolled a kayak?”
They pushed off in a slow turn, heading back toward the northern end of the lake. Jay keeping track of the time, no doubt.
“Oh, last summer. Pulled a stunt showing off for—” Silence from the back of the kayak. “Umm, the rest of the group. Speed. Flip and roll and bump upright.”
Showing off for a woman, or he wouldn’t have regrouped in midsentence. Last summer rang a bell. She paddled along in rhythm. Two strokes. Three. Four—ohhh. The woman he’d spent the Fourth with. Hadn’t Henry said Jay met her kayaking?
She refused to be jealous of the women in Jay’s past. He belonged to her now, and he hadn’t then, and it wasn’t like he had some continuing relationship going on. Lowering her voice to a smug flirt, she tossed words over her shoulder. “I bet you gave her a great ride.”
His panicked squawk imitated a bird call. “Gave who what?”
“I mean, fuck, Jay, you give me orgasms like the bank hands out free lollipops.” C’mon, sweetheart, take the hint. I’m not upset, so don’t you be guilty. “Tell me the truth, she was singing your praises when the fireworks went off, right?”
“How’d you know I took her to the—Henry.” He laughed. “Okay, no, not during the fireworks. But after, at her place, there was some definite praise.”
“Knew it,” she singsonged. “That’s my stud.”
“You don’t mind? Really?”
“It was before I knew you could be mine. And you had Henry’s permission, right?” He had to have. He wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
“Of course. He’s the one who suggested the fireworks date. Made the lunch and everything. ’Cause somebody needed a little rattling. An intimate dinner for two at home. Gave you a different perspective, didn’t it?”
She craned her head over her shoulder. No way would Henry whore out Jay. “He sent you out to fuck another woman so he could see how I’d react to dinner alone with him?”
Jay flashed his sexiest I’ve-got-a-secret smirk. “The fucking was optional. I could’ve come home anytime after midnight.”
She could’ve been angry. Gotten mad about the manipulation. But it was damn funny. And Jay’s date had obviously gone exactly the way he liked it. “Christ, did he tell you how many times I asked where you were?”
“Nope. He was in his studio when I dragged my ass home around sunrise. When he came out, he said the night had been ‘promising.’” Jay shrugged, his fire-engine-red life jacket bobbing. “And I got a fantastic fucking, so whatever you did, it totally got his motor running. Plus I got dessert, ’cause he saved me a bowl. Best date ever, maybe.”
She snorted. “You fucked and got fucked, and I had to cram my fingers in my panties. So not fair.”
“Yeah, no offense to your fingers, but they aren’t a match for Henry’s cock.”
They howled with laughter. When they finally got moving again, occasional giggles escaping, the day’s exertion caught up with her. She paddled with less speed and precision.
“Alice, your arms are getting tired. Hold your paddle above the water and lean forward, okay?”
She obeyed. Sharp clicks sounded behind her.
“Okay. Scoot straight back and then rotate your paddle ninety degrees and lay it down between your legs.”
She shifted a tentative inch but didn’t run into her backrest. The seat folded flat, apparently. Extra gear allowance for a solo outing. She wiggled her way back, pushing off her foot braces, until she sat snug between Jay’s thighs.
He sang to her as he lowered his arms, his paddle crossing in front of her stomach. “Put your floppy hat on my shoul-oul-der, whisper in my ear, baby.”
“What a crooner.” She tipped her face toward his and kissed his neck. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
He pressed his cheek to her head. “You’re the first woman I’ve fallen for, you know. The only special one.”
The muscles in his forearms flexed beneath a thin sheen of sweat as he paddled. Sweet, strong Jay. “Not even your first? Your sister’s friend?”
He laughed. “No, that was a good summer, fun, but I didn’t fall in love until I met Henry. And then it was slow.” His words came as smooth as his strokes, easy and relaxed. “Not being submissive, I mean, that was immediate. I couldn’t stop myself.”
She leaned her weight on his chest. Sunlight flashed off Henry’s watch on his wrist.
“But he did. He made me feel okay about myself. He didn’t yell at me or tell me I was bad.” Wonder filled his voice, light and floating. “Like everything I did pleased him. And when it didn’t, he corrected me gently. Taught me a new way. I didn’t feel stupid or punished. I was—”
“Happy. Special.” She knew that feeling.
“Yeah.” His hair rustled against her hat. “Happy. Special.”
They glided back to the boathouse at a slow, steady pace. The turtle sunning itself on the broken tree trunk had gained friends. The anglers had moved on. The dip and lift of Jay’s paddling seemed as much a part of the landscape as the birds calling to one another from the shoreline.
She sent Henry a silent thanks for giving her this time with their lover. He never hesitated to give them time together, sexual or not. Time to build bonds.
The trees on the hillside blocked her view of the deck as they approached. Kept her from knowing if Henry sat, sketch pad in hand, watching them, too. But she liked to think he was.
* * * *
They raced up the stairs to the deck after securing the boathouse, Jay’s longer legs an advantage as he peeled away from her. Being first to the top meant he had to stop to push the door open. She caught up, breathing hard. They muscled through the space together and collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“What an odd mess of limbs I seem to have left in the middle of the living room.” Henry greeted them from a distance, volume growing as he neared. “How strange, that I would so carelessly leave such things lying about for anyone to stumble over.”
Jay rolled and thrust an arm upright. Henry’s watch glinted. “On time. Five, like you said.”
“Quite right. Though perhaps next time the two of you will make a more graceful entrance. One with less potential for injury.” Henry pulled Jay to his feet and kissed him soundly before extending his hand to her. “Up we go. Time to shower off your sunscreen.” He kissed her with equal attentiveness and studied her face. “Which seems to have been effective. No need to invoke the sunburn clause.”
She yanked the fishing hat from her head and sent it sailing across the living room. “No more floppy hats, either.”
Jay pulled his shirt over his head, wadded it in a ball, and tossed it after her hat. “No more clothes!”
“No more clothes indeed,” Henry murmured. “Go on. You may pick them up after your shower.”
They left a trail all the way to the master bathroom, with her bikini top the last piece to come off. After they took quick bathroom breaks in private, Henry’s authority resettled over them. A protective coating, like sunscreen. Alice giggled.
Jay trotted obediently into the shower and started the water.
“You’re both in high spirits, my dears. Did you enjoy your afternoon?”
“Mm-hmm.” She stepped under the spray while Jay gave Henry a thorough report of everything they’d seen on the lake. Face tilted up, she closed her eyes and let the water rush past her ears. She basked in the heat and twirled. Stepped forward to soak her hair. Opened her eyes.
“Beautiful.” Henry leaned against the lip where the shower met the wall. Still clothed, not intent on joining them, but watching.
Jay, naked, stood with his back to the shower wall beside Hen
ry. Also watching. His hands rested against the wall, too. Cock hardening, he made no move to touch himself.
“You’ll want soap to wash away the sunscreen oils, Alice. Behind you.”
She smiled to herself as she popped open the cap on the citrus-scented body wash. So Henry wanted to play a voyeurism game. A little control. She drizzled soap on the shower puff and replaced the bottle.
“From the top down, sweet girl. Slowly. We wouldn’t want you to neglect even an inch.”
Nope, wouldn’t want that. Unless missing a spot would make Henry take charge of her shower himself. Her pulse thumped between her legs, and she squirmed. Her morning had been wonderfully sensual, but please God, let Henry give her his cock tonight.
Too greedy? She washed her neck and shoulders, leaving sharp-smelling lather with Henry’s scent behind. Making a half turn, she teased her way down her arm. Water swirled past Jay’s curling toes. He deserved Henry’s exclusive attention, too. Watching them play would be more hell yes than hardship.
She skimmed the top of her breasts and hid her joy at Jay’s soft whimper. Drowning out distraction, she attuned her awareness to the gentle chafing of the shower puff and the slippery suds on her skin. She rubbed tight circles across her stomach, sliding lower on each pass.
“Turn this way, my lovely girl.” Henry stared with dark intensity.
She sucked in a breath through her teeth. The water beat down on her back, strong and thuddy like her suede.
“Spread your legs.”
She widened her stance. Her hand crossed below her navel.
At the far side of the shower, Jay arched his hips forward. Even with his cock straining toward her, he obeyed Henry’s order not to touch.
Henry sported a shapely bulge in his slacks.
Her eyes closed and body shuddered without consulting her brain. Clutching the soap-slick mesh, she slipped her hand between her legs, replacing reality with the slow slide of Jay’s tongue and the thick heat of Henry’s cock.
Her moan was doubled, echoing. The acoustics of shower tile accounted for a fraction, not the full echo. She tugged her lip into her mouth and bit down. Tug and release, over and over, mimicking the motion across her sex.
“Alice, stop.”
Henry’s command halted her in midstroke.
She clamped down on the whine in the back of her throat.
“You’ve neglected your legs. Do give them a thorough washing, please.”
His sly tone and neutral face made imagining him a controlling bastard keeping her from her orgasm easy. But the flutter behind his fly proved he wasn’t indifferent. Just teasing her, and Jay, and himself by making her wait. A patient man with a tempting cock. The definition of hell?
Thank God he made up for it by taking her to visit heaven so often.
Fuck if he had the patent on devilish. Raising her leg, she settled her foot on the shower bench. Let them look. Let them see her with her legs spread, lips swollen and flushed beneath a covering of white foam. An Alice-approved audience of two, all bright-eyed love and lust and—respect. Water ran in streams down her stomach and through her curls to rinse her clean.
“Our girl has a fine sense of performance art, doesn’t she, my boy?” Henry took in Jay with a lingering glance and an approving hum. “You’re doing well to wait so long.”
She swept the shower puff down, rocking her hips with each stretch to her ankle. Lowering her leg, she added a shimmy and a flirty wink over her shoulder as she turned. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s so much easier to reach this way.”
“By all means, Alice.” Henry growled the words as she raised her other leg to the bench, her back to her boys.
Bending forward, she lathered soap from hip to ankle with her sex on full display. Her choice. Her power. Her invitation.
“I would hate for you to strain yourself.” Henry’s rumbling hum made her legs tremble. “Let’s make it even easier, shall we?”
Jay’s breathy, gratifying whine suggested the waiting game had reached an end.
“Jay, go and give our girl a hand. Just a hand, please.”
She groaned. Christ. He meant to kill her.
“She’ll need help with her back first. Why don’t you wash it for her?”
They followed Henry’s instructions, washing each other with rapt attention and simmering arousal, rinsing with roaming hands. When he ordered Jay to kiss her, their lips fused with unprecedented intensity.
“Step back to the wall, my boy, and take our sweet girl with you.”
Henry’s directions left them gazing at him through a curtain of falling water. Jay’s back rested against the shower wall. Hers rested against his chest.
Jay worked his fingers between her legs. Deep, sucking kisses massaged her neck. His cock prodded her lower back.
But what she loved best, what made her knees wobble as Jay thrust his fingers inside and drew out her orgasm, was the water-blurred sight of Henry watching with one hand squeezing his cock through his pants.
Not even the fun of giving Jay a handjob once she’d recovered enough to stand compared. Though matching Henry’s seven-stroke prowess for bringing Jay off in the shower satiated her competitive streak. Aww yeah. Nailed it.
She couldn’t shake her smug smile as Henry toweled them dry and heaped praise and kisses upon them. Nor as he wrapped them in robes and ordered them to the kitchen to help prepare dinner. Breakfast for dinner. Jay’s favorite. Another reward for being such a good boy today.
She cracked eggs for omelets while Henry diced meat and vegetables and Jay set the table. As comfortable a rhythm for three in the kitchen as kayaking had been for the two of them. They ate on the deck, lingering to watch the sun set over the western mountains. The slight chill in the air wasn’t the cause of her shiver when Henry remarked they’d best clear the dishes quickly. He expected them naked and in bed in fifteen minutes.
They left the dishes to dry in the rack and made it to bed in thirteen.
* * * *
“You’re gonna get fucked so hard.” Jay’s eager whisper broke the silence. “God, it’s gonna be beautiful.”
They knelt naked on the bed, side by side, waiting for Henry’s arrival. She tilted her head toward her playmate and whispered back. “How do you know it won’t be you? Maybe I’ll be the one watching the show.”
“Nope.” A slow smirk crossed his face. “It’ll be you.”
Okay, maybe. And yeah, she desperately wanted it. The suggestion and her own nudity, her awareness of the air passing between her thighs, provided a strong prompt for her body. Readying her to accept Henry’s cock. Squeezing and welcoming the wet slide in response.
“It could be you.” Her protest carried more form than belief.
“Nuh-uh. I got to play with you all day, and I got to come three times.” His firm headshake scattered strands of black hair across his forehead. “Besides—”
Henry stepped into the room.
Jay bowed his head. Perfect stillness. She copied him, her heart hammering.
Henry paced around the foot of the bed without speaking. Undressing with slow precision, he hung his pants over a chair. Lowered his boxers, his cock hard and leaking already.
She squirmed, the tiniest shift of her hips, wishing for something to ease the ache building in her. The empty need. Something. Ha. As if she didn’t know what she sought. The cock her covetous gaze tracked. Thick and hard and shadowed with color.
Henry gripped the base, and her muscles tightened. He angled his cock away from his body, positioned a condom on the tip, and rolled it down with exquisite patience.
It’s me. Me-me-me.
“Such a shameless, wanton show our girl put on in the shower.” Far from anger, his gruff tone streamed praise. “All for our viewing pleasure, my boy. Her initiative deserves a reward.”
Henry rubbed his palm down the shaft of his cock and over his balls. His breath escaped in a hiss. He squeezed tight.
Her whimper matched Jay’s.
“I was quite tempted to take you in the shower this evening, my dear girl. Waiting has made me more impatient to sample your depths.”
He inhaled, slow and deep. “You’re ready. Your eagerness scents the air. Your wet thighs shine for me. Show me. Spread your labia with your fingers and show me what’s mine, Alice.”
Fumbling and bumping as she rushed to obey, she splayed herself open, palms against her thighs and fingertips clutching slippery skin. Desire poured forth with the hope he’d see the greedy anticipation he caused. The near touch of her thumbs made her clit thump.
Rumbling approval, he ordered her to lie down. “Stretch out. Arms above your head. Quickly, now.”
She lay back. Jay hadn’t budged an inch.
“You as well, my boy. Lie on your side. Stay close to our girl.”
Her boys moved together, but the similarities ended there. Jay lay still at her side, erect but seemingly content, his eyes gleaming. Henry grabbed her wrists and pulled them to her chest, wrapping his arm beneath her as he rolled her onto her side between the men. Raising her knee with his other hand, he breathed hot against her neck as he thrust.
She groaned her pleasure at the penetration she’d waited for all day.
Her body parted in a frictionless slide, absorbing the force of his thrust and displacing it, sending ripples rolling through her.
He bucked his hips without pulling back and growled in her ear. “Is this what you needed? What you missed this morning?”
She nodded against his shoulder behind her. Fuck yes. She needed this every morning and noon and night.
“With words, Alice.” He pulled his hips back, his cock so close to leaving her.
She whined an urgent plea.
“Say what you need.”
“Need your cock. Need it.” She sucked in a breath, her lungs tight, his hand pressing her wrists between her breasts and making her work for air. “Please, Henry. Need you, all of you.”
He thrust hard. His tight grip on her thigh kept her from sprawling into Jay.
God, that low, guttural moan couldn’t be hers. Had to be. Inches away, Jay hadn’t made that sound.
“You have it, my sweet Alice.” Henry’s rapid thrusts left her shaking. “Everything I have to give you. All of it yours.”
