by Vanessa Vale
But I wanted to see Cooper, too. To take in the men they’d become, every bare, hard inch. He’d shed his pants, but was lingering over his button down shirt. His earlier bravado seemed to have faded. I went over to help him and for a second he froze when my hands went to push the shirt over his broad shoulders. I saw something I hadn’t expected. Worry. Apprehension. “Fair warning, sweets. I’m not the man I was.”
I frowned, expecting him to say more, but he didn’t. Because of this, I waited, my hands poised in the air until he nodded, to give me consent to see something he wanted hidden. Letting out a long sigh as the shirt dropped, I quickly saw why he’d hesitated. Scars covered his left arm and upper chest. These weren’t marks of a small wound or childhood injury. No, this was a remnant of war. Battle. Evil. By the size and number of scars, he was lucky to be alive.
My chest squeezed painfully at the visible sign of all the pain he’d suffered. He hadn’t told me much, just skimmed over what had happened to him at dinner. Said he’d been in an accident which is why he was discharged from the military, but he didn’t tell me the extent. I just assumed the information was classified or something. Not this. He didn’t want to tell me he’d almost given his life for his country.
I wasn’t letting this get between us, to affect what we had. To me, he was perfect. I was attracted to him, scars and all.
I touched him gently, tentatively, felt the thick edges of the scarring, the way it was pink and tender looking beside his unmarred tan skin. But then he grabbed my hand and pressed it to his chest, telling me without words that my touch didn’t hurt him. They might give him physical pain, but it was obvious he hadn’t recovered from the emotional pain of his accident. I leaned in and kissed one of the scars and heard his quick intake of air before his hands tangled in my hair and held me close, his lips pressing against the side of my head.
I didn’t care about the scars, only that he’d endured so much pain from them. I saw him, not the healed wounds. They only showed that he’d survived, that he’d been brave and strong. They were badges of honor and I kissed each one.
“I’m wet for you,” I admitted. He sucked in a breath at my bold words. “You felt it. If you don’t believe my words, believe my body, my desire.”
He groaned then, pulling me in to him, all the tension seeping out of him. Rory came up behind me and Cooper eased his grip, but tilted my head up so he could claim my mouth.
I felt the emotion, the need in that kiss. He’d been worried I’d think less of him and I felt all of his concerns melt away as his mouth moved over mine, as his tongue plunged deep, just as I hoped his cock would soon enough. But they seemed to have no interest to take me fast. Dammit. I wiggled, rubbing back and forth against both of them. I heard a growl from Rory, but they didn’t take the hint and toss me on the bed and fuck me senseless.
No, these men wanted foreplay.
Rory wrapped his arms around me from behind, his muscles pressing against my back and his hard cock nestled against my ass. Cooper pulled me closer so my breasts molded to his chest, his cock jutting against my lower belly. I didn’t have to doubt their eagerness and when they got me naked, they’d find I was more eager than ever. My panties were ruined.
My little black dress was all that separated me from these men. My men. Their hard bodies had me trapped between them and I’d never in my life had felt so safe. So treasured. Not even that one night we’d shared so long ago. I let myself revel in the sensation as they kissed my lips and neck.
But then the frustration grew to be too much. In a matter of seconds they had me back to the painfully turned on state I’d been in when we were in the restaurant. My dress was in the way, keeping me from what I wanted. It wasn’t enough. I needed more.
“Cooper,” I breathed against his lips. Begged.
“What do you need?” he murmured. I felt his warm breath fan my heated skin.
“You.” I looked over my shoulder at Rory. “Both of you.”
“It’s our turn to see you,” he said, stepping back. With deft fingers, Cooper pulled my dress over my head and Rory unfastened my bra. When my breasts fell free, they both groaned. Rory turned me so I stood between them, so they could both get their first bare glimpse of me since I was eighteen and in the back of Cooper’s truck.
For the first time since they’d started kissing me, a new sort of fear took hold and held me in its grip. I bit my lip and held my breath. Could they see a difference? My breasts definitely weren’t as perky as they once were. Gravity, and breastfeeding, had taken their toll. What if I didn’t live up to their expectations? I was in fairly good shape, but I’d had a baby—my body was different, definitely not the tight, hot body of a high school senior. And not the tight, hot pussy of an inexperienced teen, either. If they looked close enough, they’d see the faded, silver lines of my stretch marks.
I moved a hand to cover my belly, but Rory brushed it gently aside with impatience. “Don’t hide from us, sweets. We’ve been dreaming about this moment for far too long. To see you bare before us again. Between us. To know you want us just as much as we do you. Your panties are soaked.”
I blushed at his carnal words. “You knew that already,” I countered, then swallowed down the nerves that made me want to tell them everything. To bare more than my body.
“You are so fucking gorgeous,” Cooper muttered as he lowered his head to suck on one hard nipple. I gave a small cry as his lips firmed and I felt the gentle pull. I grabbed the back of his head and held him to me as he moved between my breasts, covering them in kisses and teasing my nipples until I was panting for air. They were more sensitive than I ever imagined.
“You look even better than I remembered,” Rory said as he came back behind me and wrapped me in his arms, his hands sliding up and down my sides. “How is that possible?”
I shook my head, but didn’t say a word. I couldn’t. All I could do was moan when Cooper cupped my breasts with his palms, licking and nibbling with his mouth, teasing with his fingers. My anxiety faded with each pull of his mouth, with every whispered word from Rory’s lips.
My head fell back against Rory’s shoulder as he lowered his hand to cup my pussy through my panties. When I moaned, he bent his knees slightly and nudged my legs apart so he could nestle his cock between my thighs.
This time, we both moaned. It was so intimate, yet such a tease since I still wore my silk panties. “I need it. I need your cock in me,” I said, not caring I was so bold with my words. “I can’t wait any longer.”
That was the truth. My pussy was aching for it. I needed to feel them inside of me.
Rory gave my shoulder a little love bite before taking a step back, grabbing the condom, ripping it open and rolling it on before coming back. Sheathed and ready, he tugged my panties down to my ankles. I stepped out of them and he nudged my legs apart once more to position himself right at my entrance. His cock slid inside of me in one hard, slow thrust. My eyes widened and I met Cooper’s heated gaze as Rory stretched me open, filled me deep. Took me slow. I cried out at the delicious feel of being claimed by Rory as Cooper held me upright, continuing to play with my breasts as Rory fucked me from behind. I gripped Cooper’s forearms, thankful he was there to keep me upright.
Foreplay was over. They hadn’t even taken me to bed, just fucked me right inside the doorway.
I was so ready, so primed by them, it only took three thrusts of Rory’s thick cock before I came in their arms, my cries of pleasure cutting through the silence of the hotel room. I had no idea it could be like this, so desperate, sweaty, wild. I’d never fucked standing up before, never like this.
They covered me with kisses as I came back to earth. Murmured words of praise, affection. I might have come once, but this night was far from over. Rory was still deep inside me. He hadn’t come and I felt him thick and hard, so deep his hips pressed against my ass. His voice was a growl in my ear as he pulled out. He groaned and I whimpered. “No,” I whispered, not wanting him to leave me. I felt em
pty without him.
Cooper spun me about, my breasts swaying with the motion. Rory nodded toward the bed. “On your hands and knees.”
The curt command made me hot all over again. I liked this bossy side of him, that he was taking from me what he wanted. I could say no and he’d stop. They both would. By why? I knew however they took me, fast or slow, wild or passionate, they’d make me come. Again and again. My pussy clenched with sweet anticipation.
I hurried over to the bed and positioned myself how he’d demanded. Rory came to the edge of the bed, his cock at my eye level. He’d stripped off the condom as I’d moved. Jesus, he was hung. Thick, gorgeous.
Cooper got onto the bed behind me and I heard him open a condom. I had no idea where it came from, but I didn’t care. The men were prepared and were taking care of me, in more ways than one. Before I could think anything more of it, he gripped my hip, slid a hand soothingly down my spine.
“Ready for both of us, sweets?”
I looked back at Cooper, saw his cock primed and ready for his turn, then looked up at Rory. His hand gripped the base of his cock and he leaned toward me. I licked my lips, then opened wide, ready for both my men.
Some would say it was crazy having a threesome, that there was something wrong with it. But I was raised in Bridgewater, knew where I stood with these two—even if I fought it tooth and nail—and wanted them both. What we did was hot. Steamy. Wild. But it was more. It was… special. They weren’t just fucking me, they were claiming me all over again.
They entered me at the same time. Rory slipped his cock into my open mouth and Cooper worked his cock into my pussy with hard, deliberate strokes.
That one night I hadn’t sucked either of them off, all of us too busy fucking for the first time to do it. But Rory’s taste had my mouth watering. He was careful with how much he fed me, pulling back and rocking into me with easy strokes.
Cooper fucked with a deliberation and intensity not shared by Rory. He held me right where he wanted me, the broad head hitting every sweet spot deep inside me. He knew just how to move, to take me to make me come again.
It was an urgent and mind blowing give and take. Each of us focused on pleasuring the other. Sucking and licking and fucking and touching until all three of us came apart. Rory’s seed spilled down my throat and Cooper deep in my pussy, filling the condom. No baby this time. Lily wasn’t a mistake. She was the light of my life, but I wasn’t ready for another. I was only ready for another round with my two hot cowboys. Round two was enough for now.
They took me three more times throughout the night, in between some much-needed bouts of rest. The last time I woke, the sun was starting to come in through the slit in the closed drapes and my heart sank at the sight. I felt both men on either side of me, Rory’s arm slung over my waist, his palm cupping my breast. Cooper was asleep in front of me, his thigh brushing mine. They seemed to want constant contact as much as me.
This was it. My one night in heaven was over. This dirty Cinderella’s coach was about to turn into a pumpkin. I ached to remain between them, to feel safe and protected, cherished and… theirs.
But no. It wasn’t just me anymore. I couldn’t be selfish or greedy. Moms couldn’t do that.
I tried to be quiet as I got out of bed, and slipped into my bra and little black dress from the night before. My panties were on the floor, ruined. They were better than I remembered. Smart, kind. Funny. Generous and brave. Hot as could be and very skilled at pleasuring me. All different kinds of ways. But that wasn’t enough. I glanced back at them in bed, the space between them obvious. Tears stung the back of my eyes at the thought of having to say goodbye. Again.
For good this time.
CHAPTER SIX
COOPER
I shook Rory awake as I watched our girl get ready to flee. Yeah, fucking flee. She was going to leave without waking us as if what we’d done was shameful.
I had to admit I was surprised. Hurt, even. We’d had an amazing night and I knew she’d felt it, too. She hadn’t been faking, not when her pussy walls had rippled as she came, her nipples hardened against my tongue. I hadn’t missed the way she’d clawed at Rory’s shoulders as he ate her out.
That old connection, the sizzling heat, was still there. It was better than ever, this thing between us. We might have been teenagers before, but we’d known Ivy was the one. That hadn’t changed and last night proved it. Even to me, who’d been so fucking doubtful. Scared of what she’d say about my scars. I’d been wrong. So damn wrong. We had a chance to be with her, a really good chance. No military, no college between us and Rory and I were going to do everything we could to keep her.
When we’d finally fallen asleep, I hadn’t dreamed, I hadn’t woken in a cold sweat, the chopper falling out of the sky again. No, I’d slept the best I had in a long time with Ivy in my arms.
While I’d known it would be amazing, having her beneath us again, we’d needed her to see it. And she had, I was sure of it. But obviously only in the short term. We’d said one night and she’d taken it to heart. Not one night to show her what it could be like, what it would be like if she let us. No, she was one and done. But why? Why walk away from something so good?
Why the hell was she running out of here like the devil was on her tail?
I heard Rory roll over, the empty expanse of bed wide between us where Ivy should have been. “What’s going on?” he murmured as he blinked sleep from his eyes. I knew the moment he caught sight of a guilty looking Ivy slipping on her heels because he sat upright beside me. “Where are you going?”
She glanced at us and her face was pale, stricken. Her eyes looked sad, haunted.
I sat up too, leaned against the headboard, my eyes focused on the details—the way her hands shook slightly as she fumbled with her earrings. The way she bit her lip and refused to make eye contact.
She didn’t want to leave. She’d been just as affected. The realization struck me with force and gave me hope, which was a rare feeling for me these days. I hadn’t fucking felt it in a long, long time. I’d stopped being hopeful nearly a year ago when I’d survived the accident of my making when so many others hadn’t. Optimism wasn’t something I believed in anymore…not until now. Not until Ivy.
The way I was raised was too ingrained in me. We might not be in Bridgewater, but the customs deeply rooted there remained with me. With Rory. She was the one. She was ours. I knew it to be true, just like I knew that it was meant to be. It took seeing her again, being with her, in her, for me to remember the beliefs I’d been raised with. That I wanted to share for the rest of my life.
“You don’t have to go,” I said quietly, trying not to spook her any more than she already was. That’s the way it seemed, at least. I recognized that look in her eyes. It was fear and regret. She wanted to stay, so what the hell was keeping her from us?
She might have looked rattled, but she also had an air of determination about her. Her jaw was set and her lips pressed together like she was ready for battle. There was no way we were getting her to talk, not that her efforts to get dressed and out the door were deterring Rory from asking a million questions.
“Do you need a ride home? When can we see you again?” He kept throwing questions out there but she ignored them all.
She looked around the room, clearly missing something. I spotted it first. Her phone was sitting on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I grabbed it before she saw it. She couldn’t leave if she didn’t have her phone. Was it a juvenile move? Maybe. But I was desperate and willing to do whatever it took to buy us more time. “You don’t have to talk to us now, sweets. But you can’t expect us to just leave town. To leave you. Not after last night.”
I watched her take a deep breath as she glared at me, her gaze dropping to her phone like she could will it out of my hands. “You promised one night.”
Her voice sounded husky and choked, like she was on the verge of tears. What the hell? I was about to ask her what she was keeping from us when her ph
one dinged. I looked down at it in my hands, lit up with a text. I didn’t read the message, my attention was too focused on the picture in the background.
I muttered a curse under my breath as I studied the picture of Ivy with her arms wrapped around a little girl. A girl who was the spitting image of Ivy. Rory snatched the phone out of my hands to see what I was staring at as I looked up at Ivy.
I felt as if I’d been kicked in the gut. This—no, she—was why Ivy was running?
Her eyes were wide and her lips parted like she might say something, but no words came out.
“Holy shit.” Rory handed the phone back to me like I might know what to do with this new information. “Is that your daughter?”
Of course it was her fucking daughter, but we had to get confirmation. Had to know for certain.
She paused for a second before nodding. The girl looked just like her and we both knew Ivy had no siblings so it couldn’t have been a niece or nephew. Which only left a daughter.
Holy shit, Ivy was a mom.
“Who’s the father?” I asked. Suspicion gave my tone a hard edge and I saw her blink rapidly in response. This was exactly what I’d feared. There was no way in hell Ivy was single—I should have known that was why she had been so hesitant to see us, why she was running out now.
Rory rubbed his face like he was trying to wake himself up from a dream. “Are you involved with someone, Ivy?” His voice was kinder than mine had been and some of her shock seemed to fade.
