“Of course I have feelings, Gordon, and don’t think I don’t have them for you as well!” she retorted indignantly. “But you both overwhelm me and I can’t think straight, and I’m scared.”
Haley felt the tears spill over and streak down her cheeks. Shit. She didn’t want to do this to Gordon. He handled her tears more easily than Warren did, but it would just cloud the issue. She resisted him when he reached to pull her back onto his lap.
“I can’t talk anymore tonight, Gordon. I’m going to bed.”
“Our bed, Haley.”
Haley opened her mouth to protest, but read the resolve in Gordon’s eyes. He was both right and wrong to insist she sleep with him. She wanted to sleep alone and process, and not be influenced by his presence. But she needed the comfort, too. She nodded mutely and let him walk her up to bed, tuck her in, and then spoon behind her, wrapping her in a warm embrace. She thought she would lie awake, tormented by her ambivalence, or at best rehashing the events at work, but she felt herself slipping away. Gordon always seemed to know best.
* * * *
Gordon stared unseeingly into the dark. The love of his life was warm and safe in his arms, breathing gently and making those little sounds that signalled deep sleep. He was glad that he could give her such comfort because she had been as tense as finely strung wire when he had picked her up at work. Had he been premature to bring Warren into the picture? Was Haley truly resentful that he had done so? Warren couldn’t have picked a worse time to have to go to his New York office. Haley still didn’t trust what they had together, and Gordon couldn’t figure out how to fix that, and he shouldn’t be doing this alone. He carefully extricated himself from the silken feel of her and found his robe in the dark. He made his way to the den. This felt like the day he had called Warren to come and find his sub, only this time Gordon was worried for different reasons.
“Warren Chalmers.” Warren’s voice was slurred by sleep, and Gordon remembered the significant time difference.
“Sorry, Warren,” he began.
“Gordon? What’s going on? Is there something wrong with Haley?” Warren’s voice cleared as if by magic.
“She’s fine, Warren, at least physically. I’m not so sure what’s going on in her head though. She seems to be pulling away from us, and tonight she said we overwhelm her and that she’s scared.”
“God damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have left. I knew it!”
“We all have work commitments, Warren,” Gordon replied.
Warren literally snorted. “I don’t need to have work commitments, Gordon. That’s the joy of being wealthy. Haley is my commitment. I’ll be home early tomorrow if I can catch the red-eye. Figure out a way to take Haley on vacation. I’ll book it.”
Gordon didn’t even pretend to want to talk Warren out of coming home early. He hung up and punched another number in. As he had hoped, Nick Lewis was still at Enrico’s, probably counting the receipts and looking through the orders Haley had placed, if not drinking up the inventory. Gordon knew Lewis through a variety of venues and had strongly encouraged him to hire Haley. Not that she knew that, nor had she gotten the position based solely upon his recommendation. Haley had probably given Lewis’s restaurant a new lease on life because the other chef hadn’t been doing a great job. Now it was Lewis’s turn to repay the favour.
It took a bit of chat and pressure, but Lewis agreed that Haley could take a vacation in preparation for the anticipated extra work of cooking in two restaurants. Lewis hoped to open his second space in a few weeks, and close Enrico’s for renovations. The two closures would now overlap for two weeks, and Lewis would get a significant premium reduction on his insurance to offset the loss. Gordon smiled. Haley hated renovations, so that would give them the perfect excuse to take her away. All of the renos would be done by the time they returned. And if Gordon had anything to say about it, they would return as a committed threesome, with Haley married to Warren and hopefully willing to start trying for his baby. They could really connect with Haley and reassure her when they were away from all distractions. Gordon believed it would be both cathartic and fruitful. He walked back upstairs with a lighter step and the feeling of a job well done to climb back into bed and bracket Haley with his body. She murmured in her sleep and fit herself against him like she was made for him. The only thing missing was Warren. Gordon woke several hours later when Warren’s weight rocked the mattress and he stretched out on Haley’s other side, gathering her to him and effectively robbing Gordon of her warmth. His eyes met Warren’s in the burgeoning light from the sunrise.
“We’re booked in Aruba in two days’ time. A nice beachfront house, private, with a daytime staff. We’ll take her shopping for a few things, not that she’ll need much as we should plan to keep her naked most of the time.” Warren had to be exhausted, but his tone was exuberant, if hushed in deference to Haley’s slumber.
“Lewis released her for two weeks. That’s the time we have, my friend,” Gordon said. “We need to make the best of it.”
He saw Warren’s teeth flash and knew he was smiling as hugely. It was all coming together. They had covered every detail.
Chapter Four
“Excuse me?” Haley’s voice cracked in outrage, and her eyes shot daggers at him.
Warren winced and saw Gordon’s astonished face mirror his own. He had woken after just a couple of hours of sleep, having rushed to the airport following Gordon’s call to catch the red-eye by the skin of his teeth, and having had to travel coach to boot. Gordon’s arrangements at Haley’s workplace and his own online planning to secure them the place in Aruba, including a chartered plane, had filled them both with complacency. Warren had revelled in Haley’s startled then pleased reaction when she opened her eyes and found him lying beside her.
He had kissed her, both of them laughing over morning breath, and then he had slid the palm of his hand down between her breasts to cup her sex. Gordon’s hand curled over her waist and slipped up to caress her breast, trapping the beading nipple between his fingers. Warren pushed a finger up inside her to ensure her wetness and fit the head of his cock at the entrance to her pussy. He surged into her, and her gasp aroused him further. He stilled and looked over her shoulder at Gordon, who read his mind.
“Haley, we want to take you together, sweetheart. Can we?”
He watched as her brow furrowed and then cleared when Gordon didn’t prepare her ass. Her eyes widened as they searched his face and then they filled with excitement. She nodded, and Warren looked to Gordon. He pulled out of Haley, relishing her regretful moan, and took the lube from Gordon’s hand. He flooded Haley’s pussy with it, adding to her wetness, and then lubed up his cock as well. Gordon pushed up into her from behind, pulling Haley tightly against his chest, and lifted her leg to allow Warren better access. He carefully hooked a finger where she and Gordon were joined and pulled to allow a small area to open to fit his cock into. He pushed upward and slipped and slid along Gordon’s erection, marvelling at how Haley relaxed and facilitated his entrance. The tight quarters were beyond anything he could describe, and he pressed a reverent kiss on her forehead when he finally was seated as deep as he could go. Haley had started to pant and thrash her head, and she moaned deep in her chest. Warren grasped her hips, and together he and Gordon lifted her in small increments up and down their shafts. Warren soon felt his eyes rolling back in his head and registered Haley’s screams of passion as she bore down and clenched on them. Gordon groaned like a man in extremis, and Warren felt a gush of fluids bathe his cock. Then he came so hard he saw proverbial stars.
After what seemed an interminable time, Warren slipped out of Haley, and Gordon’s flaccid cock followed suit. He knew that one of them needed to get up and take care of their woman, but he couldn’t find an ounce of energy and Gordon clearly wasn’t able to move. Haley was curled between them, napping, and Warren drifted off. When he awoke, both Haley and his friend were gone, and when Warren dragged himself to the bathroom, he found that there w
as a dearth of hot water in the shower. He made do and quickly dressed. He wanted to hear what Haley had to say about their surprise.
The two of them were standing in the disaster of the kitchen, discussing the progress of the renovation, while sipping coffee. Warren kissed Haley and then poured himself a cup.
“Have you told Haley about our plans?” he asked after a swallow.
Gordon shook his head. “I wanted you to be here. After all, it was a joint effort.” Gordon’s face shone with goodwill, and Warren smiled back.
He quickly outlined what had transpired while Haley had slept soundly the night before and waited for her to react with pleasure and excitement. He was immediately disappointed. It appeared that they had forgotten that their sub might have an opinion in the matter, and she wasn’t pleased at how they had arranged her life outside of the bedroom. Warren could understand his own oversight, but Gordon appeared to have been infected by the same irrational spontaneity and neglected to remember Haley’s edict.
Gordon stroked Haley’s back soothingly, but she wrenched away from him and glared more daggers.
“You didn’t think to check with me?” she fairly shrieked. “You called my boss, told him that I wanted a vacation, and expected him to simply shut Enrico’s down, just so that you could take me to some exotic island and fuck me into accepting our threesome status as a long-term thing? Words fail me.”
“You’re making your position fairly clear, Haley,” Warren heard himself answer in that cold, arrogant tone he used to take with people who stood up to him. Haley whirled and clenched both fists, her mouth thinning and setting into an ugly line.
“You’ve influenced Gordon, you jerk,” she snapped.
Gordon was on her before she could say anything further. He gathered her to him and swung her up into his arms, giving Warren a look that spoke volumes. Warren snapped his mouth shut and gave himself a mental slap. They had screwed up, and it was cold comfort that Gordon was in the same deep hole with him. He followed his friend and a struggling Haley to the living room where Gordon sat with her on the couch and just held her until she settled and her breathing calmed.
“Let me go, Gordon.”
Warren watched as Haley slid from Gordon’s lap and went to curl up in a chair, precluding any easy physical contact. Her face was still flushed from her tantrum, but now her bottom lip was trembling. Damn it. How was it that he always managed to make her cry?
“Can we please talk about this, Haley?” Warren tried.
“What’s to talk about? You and Gordon just decided to plan, not just the next two weeks for me, but the rest of my life! And I’m not having it.” He watched as she dashed away the tears and stared at her feet.
Warren looked at Gordon, who shrugged. Impasse. Warren tried again.
“Haley? Both of us noticed how you were pulling away from us. And then you told Gordon we kept you from thinking clearly and that you were scared. Please, honey, we just wanted to take you away from everything for a couple of weeks while the renos were completed and give us a chance to sort this all out.”
Haley visibly calmed her temper, shutting her mouth over some thoughts that Warren figured he really might not want to hear. He waited, the only other sound in the room being Gordon’s shift of position on the couch to sit closer to Haley.
“I’m not going away with either of you, never mind both of you. I’m going to use the two weeks you so conveniently arranged for me to have off to find a place to live.”
At his immediate negative reaction, swiftly echoed by Gordon, Haley rose to her feet. She looked determined and furious, and Warren wanted to drag her down and roll her under him, remind her of their physical connection, seeing as she was determined to establish such distance between them emotionally.
“And don’t think you can use sex to dissuade me either! I need some space, and unless you plan to kidnap me and force me to participate in this plan of yours, there is really no other option.”
Warren watched her storm out of the room. Déjà vu. It was like his own personal nightmare. She was leaving him again. He started after her, and Gordon forestalled him.
“Let her go, Warren. We panicked and pushed her. She cares for us both and just needs some time to figure it out. If we try to convince her otherwise, using high-handed tactics again, then we stand a real chance of losing her. I must have lost my head.”
“But we know what’s best for her, you better than me!”
Warren was so frustrated he could have punched right through the wall. He could hear Haley stomping around upstairs, and he knew she was packing. He closed his eyes and wondered how they might kidnap her and get away with it. He, too, was losing his mind. When he opened them, Gordon was gone. Warren ran upstairs and stood with Gordon like a supplicant outside of Haley’s room. He listened to Gordon’s measured tones.
“My offer of a guest room stands, Haley. Please feel free to stay until you are able to find a place to your liking. We won’t bother you and will do our best to keep out of your way. I apologize for trying to run your life. I love you and don’t know what came over me to push you so hard, except I thought you might come to the same conclusion if you were offered the opportunity.”
Warren wanted to protest. He wanted to tell Haley that she was going on vacation with them and that her room would be combined with Gordon’s so that they would all be comfortable in the space and also have enough room for a nursery. He wanted to plead with her to reconsider and stay. In the end, he kept his mouth shut and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gordon. He watched Haley begin to relax under Gordon’s reasonable, calm tone.
“I love you both,” she said quietly. “I won’t deny it. But it’s too soon, too fast, and I need more time to adjust. Look where love got me before. We are all influencing one another, and I’m not convinced this is what I want or if it’s good for me. I’m sorry, but that’s how it feels right now. I’ll stay until I find a place, Gordon, thank you, but it’s going to be awkward.”
Warren thought his heart would stop. Just a few short days ago, he had professed his love for this woman, and she had returned it. What had happened? He fought hard against lashing out and felt Gordon lending him strength. He forced himself to nod and smile and searched for words that would tell her the truth and not push her further away. In the end, he said what was in his heart.
“I love you, too, Haley. You told me you knew it, believed me. I’ll honor your request for space, but I’ll be patient for only so long and then I’ll be pursuing you. I’m not giving up.”
Haley’s eyes glistened, and she stared at him for some time before replying. “I can’t go back to the way things were, Warren.”
“I understand that, Haley. I just think we need more time.”
“And do you think that setting up an artificial environment like a vacation would give us that time?”
Warren shook his head. “We believe we know what is best for you. I know, I know, you think that’s the height of arrogance, but it is what it is. When you come to see it is true, Gordon and I will be waiting.” He turned and made his way to the back door where the construction crew would soon be arriving. He thought he heard Gordon say something else but couldn’t make it out beyond the blood roaring in his ears.
* * * *
Haley plunked down on the bed and shoved a suitcase away with an impatient hand. She knew she was acting like a diva and was ashamed of herself. It was just that she absolutely couldn’t believe that Gordon of all people had gone along with that harebrained plan after she had told him her worries. Haley thought for a while and realized that was exactly why Gordon had gone along with Warren and planned said vacation. They truly didn’t want her to leave or create more distance between them. But this wasn’t about them. This time it was about her, and she wasn’t ready for the commitment. She would find a place to live and get a taste of being on her own. If they wanted to date her or something once she got her head on straight, then she would see where that went. She resolutely ignored
the protest from her traitorous erogenous zones and the far more vocal echo from her heart. She needed to keep her sanity, and this morning’s incredible sex was robbing her of that. Haley dug out her recent purchase, a laptop, and booted it up. She started searching for an apartment and began making a list of possibilities. She would borrow Gordon’s car to go and view them, but she wasn’t going to let either man accompany her. Being in such close proximity would undermine her determination. Haley didn’t even stop to consider that she was running from the best things in her life.
* * * *
Nearly two weeks later, Haley was frustrated both sexually and by the lack of finding her own apartment. She had spent hours driving from one end of the city to the other, looking at places within her price range, only to find them either totally unsuitable or already taken. True to their word, Warren and Gordon had left her alone, asking only how her search was going, making sure she had everything she needed, offering her tea when she sat with them in the living room, and asking her to join them for dinner out on the town, seeing as the kitchen wasn’t yet finished. Haley hated being confined to her bedroom with nothing to do other than read or surf the Net, but she couldn’t stand to be near them too much and know what she was missing out on. She missed her guys. She missed talking with them and listening to their conversations, not to mention sleeping with them. Warren kept touching her, little, barely there touches, like whenever he passed her or if he stood back to let her precede him through a door. He’d lay his hand in the small of her back, lightly, but the heat of him warmed her to her toes. Or he would feather his fingers over her arm or hand as he reached around her for something. It was making her crazy with arousal. Gordon was simply there. That presence of his, the one that had spoken to her when she first moved into his house now drew her nearly beyond her control. She walked around in a state of dampened panties and heavy breasts whenever they were home together. Hiding out in her bedroom made things tolerable. Just.
True Perfection [Aspire 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
