Repercussions (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

by Rainey Daye

  “Come on!” she cajoled them. “Bet Santa came last night.”

  “Don’t know about Santa, but I sure did,” Jess mumbled sleepily as he burrowed deeper into the warm covers.

  Maggie whapped him on the ass. “Keep it up and you’ll find a lump of coal in your stocking,” she said.

  Alex rolled over and squinted at the bedside clock. “Maggie, I love you, but are you out of your mind?” he groaned. “It’s 6:00 a.m. The sun hasn’t even risen yet.”

  “Fine, be a couple of grinches, see if I care,” Maggie huffed at them. “I’m going downstairs to open my presents and remove all of yours,” and she flounced out of the room.

  Alex and Jess cracked open their eyes and looked at each other. “Do you think she’s serious?” Jesse asked.

  Alex grimaced. “We’re talking Maggie, right? The one who’s been so excited about our first Christmas together? Damn straight she’s serious.”

  With a groan, Jess levered himself out of bed. “Hope she doesn’t mind us taking a nap later,” he grumbled.

  “You and me both,” Alex agreed as he pulled on his pajama bottoms before padding barefoot out the door.

  Jess caught up to him at the top of the stairs and tossed his robe at him. Alex raised his eyebrow askance as he caught it. “You just know Maggie is gonna snap a million pictures and e-mail a bunch to her folks. I think it’d be best if we’re covered up in some of them.”

  Alex nodded his approval and headed downstairs to find Maggie waiting impatiently for them to join her.

  “I see our presents are still there,” Alex remarked with a grin, and he leaned over and gave her a soft kiss good morning.

  “Another five minutes and they wouldn’t have been,” Maggie replied with an insouciant grin.

  “Can we at least have some coffee first?” Jess practically whined. “You know how grumpy Alex is in the morning. Wouldn’t want his grouchiness to ruin Christmas, now would we?”

  “Hey!” Alex protested, but Maggie let loose with her tinkling laugh that both men loved to hear.

  “Yeah, we can brew some coffee first. Or some hot chocolate. And then we’ll open presents and then sit down to a great big breakfast, and then…”

  “Got it all planned out, do you, sweetheart?” Jess replied with a grin and was rewarded with an answering one from her.

  Jess and Alex both adjourned to the kitchen where they set the coffeepot brewing and a tea pot to boiling for the cocoa, leaving Maggie snapping pictures of all the presents under the tree. Knowing that she would probably opt for the hot chocolate, Alex poured her a cup full, adding a handful of miniature marshmallows to it while Jess poured their coffee. The two men then returned to the living room, carrying their caffeine fixes and stifling their yawns while waiting for the brew to cool off enough to drink.

  Alex set down her mug and walked over to the tree, snatching a candy cane off it.

  “Hey!” Maggie started to chastise him, but Alex ignored her as he unwrapped the peppermint candy and then stuck it in her mug before offering it to her. Maggie immediately broke into a huge smile and kissed his cheek in thanks. She set it down on the coffee table and then immediately directed the two men to assume various poses by the tree while she happily clicked away.

  When she finally set down the camera to test if her cocoa was suitable for drinking, Jesse and Alex held a small conference and then Jess went over to the tree, digging out a box and walking back over to them. “We think you should open this one up first, Mags,” he said as he handed it to her.

  Maggie hefted the box in her hands, curious as to its contents, and then went to set it down and fetch presents for them so they could all open one together. “No,” Alex stopped her. “We think this present should be opened before any of the others.”

  Truly curious now, Maggie sat down on the floor and the men followed suit, crowding close while Jess picked up her camera. “What is it?”

  “Open it and find out,” Jess encouraged her.

  “Who’s it from?” Maggie asked, looking for but finding no gift tag attached to the box.

  “It’s from Santa, silly,” Alex said with a grin. “Who do you think?”

  Maggie laughed at them both and then proceeded to rip open the wrapping paper. She gasped when she saw what the box contained and almost dropped it. “You didn’t,” she gasped. “It’s too much,” she added. “I thought we agreed that we were shopping on a budget,” she accused.

  “Doesn’t matter when it’s from Santa,” Jess pointed out as Maggie opened the box containing their new video camera.

  She gave them both a measuring look while Jess continued to snap pictures. “Don’t think I don’t know why you bought this,” she warned them.

  “Whatever do you mean?” Alex tried for the innocent act but failed miserably.

  “I can see it in your eyes,” she accused both of them. “You already have plans for this thing.”

  Jess snorted. “Nonsense. We just want to catch every landmark moment with you on tape, and so we wrote a letter to Santa explaining our needs and desires. And look! Santa came through for us. He’s a great man, Santa is.”

  Maggie laughed again. “Well, this present might have backfired on you,” she chortled. “Look at this instruction book,” she added, removing it from the box and waving it at them. “It’s going to take you a week just to learn how to operate this thing.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we started studying the instructions a week ago, isn’t it?” Alex answered with a superior smirk.

  Maggie stared at them, dumbfounded. “But, but, how? When? How come I didn’t know?”

  “Because we wanted to surprise you, baby,” Jess said as he handed her camera back to her and took the video camera in return.

  “You really think I’m going to let either of you videotape us having sex?” Maggie asked, sounding scandalized yet intrigued.

  “Don’t know, but we’re hoping,” Alex responded with a lecherous eyebrow waggle. “What say you show us how much you love your present while we test it out?”

  “You mean, your present, right?”

  Alex enclosed her in his arms and tugged her onto his lap. “Sweetheart, don’t you realize that you are our present?” Maggie melted against him, offering her lips to him in a silent display of love and happiness. Maggie then jumped up and ripped a bow off one of the presents before she rushed upstairs without a word, leaving the men to exchange confused frowns.

  Maggie returned a few minutes later with a tripod that they had never seen before. “Dad bought it for my camera, but I always forgot to bring it along. It’s been sitting in my closet. Let’s see if it’ll work on the video camera.”

  “Uh, Maggie,” Alex said hesitantly. “And why would you assume we need a tripod for a video camera?”

  Maggie gave him a disbelieving look. “Oh, come on, Alex. You two have thoroughly corrupted me. You know perfectly well why we would want to attach a video camera to a tripod.”

  Jess laughed in delight. “Yeah, Alex,” he said. “This photographer gets awfully turned-on recording the two of you indulging. Or, if you’d rather, you can stand behind the lens while me and Maggie make our own movie.”

  Alex growled at that idea and reached for the tripod to see if it was compatible with their new toy. He looked up and grinned at them as he attached the camera to it, and Maggie scooted forward to show him how to open the legs and extend them. Alex then took the camera and set it up near the doorway, sighting through it to make sure their first Christmas opening presents together was in frame.

  They sipped their beverages and took turns unwrapping their gifts. Maggie had given both men lock boxes, explaining that she knew full well that they had each held on to the disks of sex pictures taken with her and while she wouldn’t begrudge them the photos, she sure as shooting didn’t want them to accidentally fall into the wrong hands again. So if they were determined to keep them for their own private pleasure, then they were going to safely keep them locked away in bet
ween viewings.

  There were serious gifts, whimsical gifts, and naughty gifts. The men cajoled her to model some of the sexy lingerie they had purchased for her, and Maggie just shook her head, saying that they should have addressed those gifts to themselves since it was obvious that they were the ones who would receive the most pleasure from them. And when each man unwrapped their own pair of naughty undies, Maggie burst into peals of laughter as she explained that she had actually bought them for her own benefit. Their raised eyebrows had her demonstrating that the sides were attached with Velcro so that Maggie could literally rip them off them. With a grin, Jess immediately started to shuck his pajama bottoms so Maggie could demonstrate, but Maggie laughingly told him to pull his pants back up. When he pouted, she promised him that they could experiment with them later, and Jesse told her he would hold her to her promise.

  Maggie happily snapped candid and posed pictures of her two wonderful lovers, enjoying this morning immensely. When the last gift was unwrapped, the three of them found themselves in a sea of discarded wrapping papers, ribbons, and bows, surrounded by their booty. And then their rumbling stomachs had them glancing at the ornate grandfather clock in the corner and levering themselves off the floor, turning off the cameras and heading into the kitchen to appease their stomachs. When Maggie would have taken a trash bag into the living room to clean up the detritus while the men were cooking, they stopped her and said it could wait, they’d help after breakfast, please stay in the kitchen with them.

  So while her lovers proceeded to whip up a large platter of scrambled eggs, pancakes, ham, bacon, sausage, and toast, Maggie set out their usual condiments and place settings, pouring them each glasses of juice while she topped off their coffee, and she poured herself a cup, chattering the entire time about how much fun she had had the past couple of hours, how glad she was that they were able to drag out the gift giving, and throwing in how much she was looking forward to making a movie with them later, just to see if they were paying attention.

  Jess dropped his spatula, and Alex almost tripped over his own feet as was carrying a platter of breakfast meats to the table. They had indeed been paying attention. Maggie gave them an innocent look and turned away lest the full mischievousness of her inner wanton break through and ruin the effect she was striving for. But their hot and speculative looks all throughout breakfast let Maggie know that they were not going to let her worm herself out of her statement. She knew perfectly well that they had splurged on a video camera for the sole purpose of making at least one sex tape with her. And since Maggie had confessed that she was open to trying it, there was no way she could back out.

  Besides, she trusted these two men implicitly. How many times had they told her they loved her? How many times had they actually proven that love to her? The number was too high to count, and Maggie knew intrinsically that their relationship was not just a bit of experimentation as far as these men were concerned. They were deadly earnest in their need and desire for her. And they were every bit determined to not only sustain but also see their relationship grow and flourish. She shivered as she finally allowed herself to realize their full regard. And then she shivered for other reasons as she started to plan out in her mind the sex tape they were about to make together.

  Oh, yes, this was turning out to be a memorable Christmas, after all. And she had decided on her New Year’s resolution as well. It was that there would be no more holding back. She was going to open herself to their love and no longer tamp down on the love that she felt for them. The situation with Troy could have ended disastrously, yet Alex and Jess had managed to handle it with aplomb in the end while concealing their secret lifestyle. With these two men so determined to protect her, who was to say that they wouldn’t succeed for the rest of their lives together? They actually perceived a long-term future with her, they wanted a long-term future with her, and if she were honest with herself, that was exactly what she wanted. No one man had ever fulfilled her needs, wants, or desires, but together, these two were doing exactly that. Yes, they had an unconventional love, but the key word there was love. She did love both Alex and Jesse, and now she was determined to allow herself to fall in love with them both.

  As she perused the men as they good-naturedly cleaned up the debris under the Christmas tree, she knew intrinsically that falling in love with both of them would not be a hardship. After all, they were already in a relationship together, they had already weathered several bumps in the road together, they had already proven that when things got rough they would immediately circle the wagons and protect each other. They lived, laughed, argued, and cried together. They were compatible in so many ways, and they met each others’ needs. Despite their relative youth, they were already in a mature, sustainable relationship. How many couples could make that claim? And it took a triple to do it, Maggie thought with a secret smile as she slipped out of the room.

  When the men looked up from packing up the trash, they saw Maggie standing in the living room archway under the mistletoe, wearing the Mrs. Claus baby-doll lingerie that they had given her for Christmas, complete with Santa hat. She had completed the outfit with the white garter and hose from Halloween and looked both naughty and nice. Their tongues swelled in their suddenly dry mouths as they silently gazed upon her in awe.

  “How about that video, boys?” She purred, and the three of them proceeded to make their first Christmas together one they would always remember.

  Epilogue

  Four years later

  “Hey, batta, batta, batta, swing!” Maggie cried from the bleachers at a player from the opposing team. She cheered with the rest of the fans as the pitcher struck the player out and the teams headed for their respective dugouts.

  Jess tugged on the bill of her ball cap and then gave her ponytail a playful tweak. “Having fun, sweetheart?”

  “I’m having a blast,” she replied with a grin. “Who would have thought that I’d actually be rooting for Troy after all that had happened?”

  “He’s come a long way, hasn’t he?”

  “You’re telling me,” Maggie replied, shaking her head in wonder. “It was awful nice of him to get us these tickets.”

  “You know that he had an ulterior motive in mind,” Jess pointed out just before the wave caught up to them, and they rose up from their seats to participate.

  “Does it bother you?” Maggie asked once they were reseated.

  “Does what bother me?” Jess asked, clearly perplexed.

  “That he chose me and Alex over you.”

  “Hell, no,” Jess said with a laugh. “Besides, I understand his motives.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Alex has the big fancy house with the killer pool, and Troy wants to keep you in his life in whatever way he possibly can. So naturally he chose you two over me.”

  “We could have said no,” Maggie pointed out.

  “And leave that sweet little boy at the complete mercy of his psycho daddy?”

  “He’s not a psycho.” Maggie vainly tried to defend him.

  “Maybe not, but admit it, he’s still a bit unhinged. He’s borderline ’cause he’s never fully recovered from losing you as his girlfriend.”

  “And now I’m simply his friend.”

  “Whether we want you to be or not. How the hell did he get you and Alex to agree to be his kid’s godparents?”

  Maggie laughed at the perplexed look on Jess’s face. “I don’t know, Uncle Jess. You tell me.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t remind me of my own duplicity.”

  Maggie laughed again and then began to scan the steps. “Where are they?”

  “Want me to go look?” Jess offered.

  Maggie bit her lip, clearly anxious for their return but also unwilling to ask Jess to leave the stands to look. Thankfully, she spotted a familiar dark-haired figure at that moment maneuvering his way down the steps, a cardboard box full of snacks in one hand while he expertly juggled a toddler on his hip with the other.

 
; “Oh, Alex,” Maggie sighed as she stood up to relieve him of his burden. “I thought you were only taking him to the potty?”

  “I was,” Alex replied with a grin as he took his seat next to her and doled out the snacks. “But all that grease and junk food out there smelled too good to resist. Didn’t it, champ?” he added as he tousled the boy’s hair.

  As Maggie caught a whiff from one of the hotdogs, she had to agree with his assessment. Jess waved his hand at one of the drink vendors wending his way along the steps and bought a round for the three of them while Alex fished out a juice box for Troy’s son.

  “There’s your daddy,” Alex murmured as he leaned close to the child’s ear and pointed out the batter currently warming up. He was rewarded with a happy squeal as the boy started waving his arms, calling “Daddy” and causing the two men to smile indulgently.

  Maggie smile at her lovers and her godson. Never would she have foreseen this outcome after that hellacious year. Though all of them were still experiencing the repercussions to some affect, distance and time had given her some perspective where Troy was concerned. And now he did indeed hold a special place in her heart. After all, if not for his botched attempt to “rescue” her that fall, she might never have realized just how right Alex and Jesse were for her. Nor would she have fully committed to a future with them. But it was their willingness to do whatever needed to be done to protect her that had fully opened her eyes to just how much they truly loved each other.

  And so when her lovers became fully determined to both finally win and prove that they could protect her heart and thus had subsequently laid siege to the walls that she had erected around it in a vain attempt at self-preservation, and then proceeded to systematically and with single-minded purpose to batter down those walls while simultaneously undermining the foundations of the monogamous belief system she had been raised with, she had forced herself to stand back and gleefully watch her careful defenses crumple around her. She had laughed delightedly as she unabashedly skipped through the rubble of her former mindset.