Repercussions (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

by Rainey Daye

  “Okay.” Jess grinned. “You’ve convinced me.”

  “So all I have to do is convince Alex?”

  “Nah. With both of us wanting an artificial tree, Alex will go along with it to make us happy.”

  “Speaking of Alex, where is he? I thought he’d be down as soon as he smelled the coffee,” Maggie remarked.

  Jess shrugged. “He must have gotten in later than usual last night. He’s out cold.”

  Maggie scowled at the reminder of Alex’s late night activities and silently cursed Troy again for mucking up their lives.

  They finished their coffee in silence, and Jess made sure the coffeemaker was set to warm before he went back upstairs to get ready for the day. He shook Alex again as a matter of principle and then went into the bathroom to shower and shave. After he was finally dressed for the day, he sat beside Alex and concentrated on truly getting him to wake up, figuring that they had an hour before their first class of the day.

  He was half tempted to awaken Alex in a way that was guaranteed to put a smile on his face, acknowledging to himself that he was horny as hell since none of them had had sex with each other for the past two weeks. But they really didn’t have time, so he shook Alex’s shoulder again and spoke loudly, telling him what time it was and that he was going to be late to class if he didn’t get a move on.

  Alex finally began to rouse, and Jess nudged him up and out of bed. Alex closed the bathroom door in his face, and Jess went over to the closet and yanked out a change of clothes for him to save some time. He then went back downstairs and poured a generous serving of coffee into a thermos for Alex, along with one cup as an initial wake-me-up. He placed the cup next to the half full plate of donuts and then wandered out to the dining room to gather up the books he would need for today’s classes.

  Alex came down about then, having foregone a shave, and weaved his way into the kitchen, where he gratefully snatched up a powdered donut and jammed it into his mouth, washing it down with a long draw from his coffee cup. “Juice?” Alex asked, and Jess moved to the fridge and poured a cup of OJ for him.

  Alex was working on his third donut, his eyes more focused, when Maggie entered the kitchen. “Did you tell him our idea?” she asked Jess.

  “Your idea,” Jess corrected her. “And no, I didn’t. Wanted to give him a chance to wake up before I sprang it on him.”

  Alex narrowed his eyes at them. “Should I be worried?” he asked.

  Maggie smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. “No, silly. We’ll tell you in the car.”

  “You’ll tell him,” Jess couldn’t resist saying and was rewarding with a mock scowl from Maggie followed by her tinkling laughter. It had been so long since they had actually heard her laugh that both men just stared at her in amazement. Yeah, Jess thought, this is what we live for. Making Maggie laugh with joy.

  Once in the car, Maggie swung around in the passenger seat to regale Alex with her idea about finally decorating the house for the holidays. When she got to the part about going shopping for an artificial tree, Jess spoke up and told Alex not to argue with her because her arguments for wanting an artificial tree made too much sense. Maggie took that as her cue to wax poetic as to the virtues of an artificial tree versus a live one, and Alex finally burst out with a belly laugh, conceding that Jess was correct, and that if she wanted, they could go tree shopping this afternoon on their way home.

  Maggie was so happy with that announcement that she reached over her seat and told Alex to “come here” so she could kiss him in gratitude. Jess grumbled that he had caved first and told her he would help her convince Alex, garnering a laugh from Maggie and a quick kiss on the lips when he stopped at a red light.

  Jess reflected that he didn’t want this joyful mood to disappear and happily sat through his classes, mildly impatient for them to end so the three of them could hit the mall. He frowned, suddenly wondering just where in the hell one shopped for an artificial tree. Thankfully, Maggie solved that problem. She had stuffed what she called a “whoopee sheet” in her purse prior to leaving the house. The first time the men had heard her refer to the weekly circulars that were hung on mailboxes, they had burst into laughter when she told them that every time one arrived back home, her dad would roll his eyes and say, “Whoopee, another sale.”

  They met in the north quad after their last class, and the three of them hunched together as they perused the flyers advertising different Christmas trees for sale. Jess was surprised when he realized that both he and Alex were becoming animated as they debated what type of tree they wanted to buy. They finally settled on a flyer that seemed to offer the biggest selection, and headed for Jesse’s car.

  On the ride to the store, Maggie questioned them as to what type of Christmas decorations Aunt Ida had and what other items they might have to buy. Jess silently acknowledged that his credit card was going to take a hit this holiday and resigned himself to more time working off the debt in his mom’s kitchen. He figured he was going to find himself in a penguin suit quite a bit during the coming months as he paid off his tab. At least his parents were willing to pay the monthly minimum balance on his credit card in exchange for free slave labor. And when he needed spending cash, they paid him minimum wage for helping out. He was sure that Alex’s dad had come up with the idea and proposed it to his parents when the two of them had mentioned that they were moving into Aunt Ida’s house together. Between the credit cards and the property tax that their parents footed for them while they were college students, Jess figured that their parents had saved a small fortune in hired help by using their sons instead.

  And judging how animated Maggie was, how she was practically vibrating with excitement about finally beginning their holiday traditions, he didn’t care how long he had to work off this debt. Her enthusiasm was starting to affect him, too, and he was truly looking forward to this shopping trip. He grinned at Alex in the rearview mirror and was rewarded by a grinning look of martyrdom. Alex was enjoying this, too, yet was unsuccessfully trying to maintain his tough-guy persona. Jess found himself laughing, which was awarded by startled looks from Maggie and Alex. But rather than explaining what was so humorous, he simply chuckled and put his eyes back on the road.

  At the outlet store, Maggie made a beeline for the holiday displays, and Jess and Alex ambled along in her wake. Once they reached the department, Alex took one look at all the decorations available, sighed, and pivoted on his heel, walking back toward the entrance. Jess was a bit perturbed that Alex refused to give in to the spirit of this occasion and went to join Maggie at the large Christmas tree display. They had narrowed their choices down to the Norway spruce, the Rocky Mountain pine, and the Royal Douglas Fir when Alex joined them pushing a shopping cart. Maggie grinned at him and pulled him into their debate as to which tree looked most realistic and had the fullest branches. Jess noticed the genuine smile on Alex’s face as he began to study their choices and felt himself relax.

  After a lot of debate, they settled on the tree they wanted. Maggie had petitioned for the cheapest of the three since she was feeling pretty guilty about foisting her own belief system on them. The men overruled her and decided on the midpriced tree because they insisted that it had the fullest, most realistic-looking branches. After they told a salesclerk which one they wanted, the three of them began looking earnestly at the decorations available. Maggie kept asking what type of decorations Aunt Ida had in storage, and Alex waved her off, telling her that since this was their first Christmas together, they were going to do it right, and that meant they were going to pick out decorations together. Jess reassured her by asking another salesclerk about their return policy and told Maggie that they would return anything that Maggie felt was outshined by what was in storage. When the men moved to the outside-lights display, Maggie goggled at the prices and pleaded, “Please tell me Aunt Ida had a lot of outdoor lights and we don’t have to buy any more.”

  Alex scowled as he examined a box of icicle lights. “Yeah, she had a wh
ole shitload of outdoor lights. Always said a large house meant a large display. And I was the poor sap who had to put them up after her last kid left for college.”

  “Hey,” Jess cried. “I resent that. I helped, too. And so did Danny and our dads. Not to mention…”

  “Okay, okay, I get it. It took a lot of people to put up her display. But you gotta admit that once she died and left me the house, the help kinda dried up.”

  “That’s true. Just you and me the past couple of years,” Jess conceded.

  “Well, we don’t have to go overboard. Not really,” Maggie interjected. “I’m sure what’s in storage will be sufficient. We don’t have to buy any more.”

  “Well,” Alex said, “some of the decorations offered nowadays puts Aunt Ida’s stuff to shame.”

  “We’re not trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Maggie pointed out. “Everyone in the neighborhood knows we’re three poor college kids living in a huge house. They’re impressed that we do our own lawn work. We don’t have to impress them with an over-the-top light display.”

  “Yeah,” Jess contributed, grinning, enjoying the bantering, “we’re aiming for understated elegance rather than an in-your-face, over-the-top, gaudy light display.”

  “Think of the electric bill,” Maggie pleaded, biting her lip.

  Alex laughed and turned their cart around, proceeding up the aisle and finally heading for the checkout lanes. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief, and Jess fell into step beside her.

  A display of ornaments caught his eye, and Jess went over to it, picking up the one that was labeled “Our first Christmas” with the year beneath it. Maggie stepped beside him and gazed down at it dangling from his fingers.

  “We can write our names on the backside,” she murmured softly.

  Jess grinned down at her and kissed her cheek. “That’s a great idea, Mags,” he said, and taking her hand in his, they joined Alex at the checkout lane.

  An hour later they were in the basement storage room, pulling out the Christmas tree ornaments, the indoor decorations, and the lights and then hauling the boxes upstairs. They tested the lights and then spent the remainder of the evening assembling the tree after vociferously arguing over where to place it and finally settling on the left-hand side of the fireplace and then stringing the lights along the branches as they assembled it so that the lights glowed from deep within the tree itself. They laughed and drank warm apple cider and hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows as they separated the branches by size. They acted goofy and acted like surgical nurses, slapping the asked-for branch into the outstretched hand of the tree surgeon. When Maggie fluffed out the top section of the tree and handed it to the men, it seemed like a momentous occasion to them, and they treated it solemnly. Alex asked Maggie to turn out the lights, and after she had done so, Jess flipped the switch controlling the strands of lights on the tree. He clearly heard Maggie’s gasp from across the room, and the two men went to join her, marveling at how wonderful the tree looked.

  “Just wait until we add the ornaments,” Jess pointed out, and the three of them began rummaging around in the boxes strewn around the room. They topped the tree with a redheaded angel that the men had insisted on buying, insisting that it looked like Maggie, their own personal angel. They spread fake snow around the base of the tree, rather than a skirt, and then they debated the various ornaments, agreeing on some, discarding others, and settling on a majority vote with still others. Rather than tinsel, Maggie had insisted on strings of clear plastic beads, and when they strung them up, the lights on the tree were magnified and refracted, making a truly dazzling display. They broke open the boxes of candy canes they had bought in various flavors and added those last.

  Finally, they pushed aside the detritus of their decorations and stood back, admiring the results. Jess picked Maggie up in his arms and spun her around, planting a kiss on her lips as she laughed with joy. Her laughter turned to a moan, and Jess found himself changing the kiss from playful to meaningful. He let her slide down his body as he pulled her tighter against him, deepening the kiss. Maggie’s moan was music to his ears, and he cupped her buttocks possessively as he ground his pelvis into her. He felt Alex trail his hand across his ass and then turn Maggie’s face away from Jess to claim his own kiss from her.

  Within moments the three of them were removing each other’s clothing with equal abandon and had sunk down in front of the Christmas tree. Once Maggie was lying there nude and inviting, Jess remarked that if only she were wrapped up in a bow, she would be the best damn present they could ask for. Maggie chuckled, making her breasts bounce delightfully, and Alex scooted over to a discarded box and removed a roll of red ribbon. With a grin, the two of them proceeded to wrap her up, strategically covering all her more fascinating parts with the ribbon. They then posed her provocatively under the tree and stepped back to better appreciate their present.

  “Damn, you’re as pretty as a picture,” Jess remarked. “Where’s your camera? I want to take one.”

  Maggie laughed and said it should be in her room. He saw Alex stiffen but was too intent on immortalizing this moment to pay him much heed. Jess sprinted up the stairs after admonishing Maggie not to move and rushed to her room, snagging her camera from her dresser and running headlong down the steps, skidding into the living room on his bare feet, noticing that neither Maggie nor Alex had moved while he was gone.

  He slipped the camera strap around his neck and then paced around Maggie, snapping pictures, suggesting poses while Maggie gamely obliged and Alex remained disturbingly quiet. This was a game that he thought Alex would be more than willing to participate in, but his silence was starting to affect Jess’s exuberance, so he finally set aside the camera and informed Alex that is was time that they unwrapped their present.

  Alex seemed to return to them from a great distance, and his eyes slowly focused on Maggie. Jess recognized the hunger that steadily grew there, because it was mirrored in his own eyes. They were soon on their knees beside her, reaching out and tugging at the bows, unrolling her in their arms, touching her everywhere as they slowly exposed more and more of her succulent flesh, kissing and stroking every inch that they revealed.

  Before long, the three of them were nakedly entangled in front of the tree, touching and kissing and stroking and straining together. Their moment of bliss stretched out for eons, and the three of them fell into an exhausted slumber within each other’s arms.

  Jess was awakened to the feel of Maggie hungrily administering to his rapidly hardening cock. He groaned and opened his eyes to see Alex orally ministering to Maggie from behind. Jess squirmed about until he was lying beneath Maggie and reached up to cup Alex in his hands. Their three-way oral play was a favorite of theirs, and Jess lost himself in the pleasure to be had.

  He was awakened a second time to low moans and turned his head to see Maggie seated in Alex’s lap, her legs wrapped around his hips, backlit by the lights from the tree while Alex slowly rocked inside her. Jess watched, lying on his side and absently fondling himself, deciding on what position he would take Maggie in as soon as she and Alex were through. In the end, he decided on face-to-face so he could share slow, drugging kisses with her, and they rocked together on the floor in the missionary position while Alex lazily looked on as he recovered.

  Finally, Alex stood up and extended a hand to both of them. In unspoken agreement, the three of them retired to the master bedroom where they spent the rest of the night loving each other.

  * * * *

  The next morning Maggie woke up entangled with the men. Someone was lazily stroking her hip. She yawned and stretched, arching her back. Moments later a hungry mouth latched onto her breast, and Maggie sighed in bliss, stroking her fingers through his hair. She didn’t even bother opening her eyes. She was back in the arms of her lovers, and she was determined to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

  * * * *

  It lasted only while they were in bed. Once the three of them realized that they had no
choice but to meet the new day, both Maggie and Jess couldn’t help but notice how grim Alex was. A couple times he seemed about to broach whatever subject was weighing heavily on his mind but snapped his jaw shut at the last second and looked away. Whatever was bothering him started to bother them, too, and it was a very silent car ride to school that day.

  * * * *

  While the men cooked dinner, or rather, Jesse cooked and Alex brooded, Maggie set about packing up the almost empty boxes of Christmas tree decorations in the living room from the night before and pushing the boxes down the basement steps to be shoved back into storage until after the new year when they would have to pack everything back up. She went through the boxes of indoor decorations and brought a few up, delighting in the eclectic mix of kitschy, homey, and distinguished. Alex had caught her struggling with a box on the stairs and took over bringing them up for her, and Maggie contented herself with deciding what to use and what to keep packed away.

  She tried to leaven the mood during dinner by discussing the various outside decorations she had found down there and to ask them if they wanted to plan the outdoor display or if they should just wing it this weekend. Jess seemed eager to accept the distraction that she was offering, but they had a hard time drawing Alex into their conversation. They finally stopped trying and simply conferred amongst themselves, leaving Alex to his own thoughts.

  He remained at the table while Maggie was doing the dinner dishes and Jess had gone into the dining room to put the finishing touches on one of his final school projects for the term. Maggie was softly singing along to Christmas carols playing on the small radio she kept by the sink, when Alex finally spoke.

  “Would you be willing to let me take some pictures of you, Mags?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Maggie replied. “We can all put on our holiday sweaters and pose in front of our beautiful tree.”