“London.” She toyed with her glass, then added, “I needed a change of scenery. Cunningham was kind enough to help me get a starter job there, and …” she trailed off with a little shrug. “I love London. It gave me everything I needed at the time. New friends, new life. New me.”
Elle’s stomach churned. “Was it that bad?”
“Bad? No. I wouldn’t say anything about it was bad.” Bianca laughed, then took another sip. Her glass was almost empty.
The bartender placed a glass of wine in front of Elle, then poured Bianca another martini. “You mindreader,” she said to him with a wink. She reached her perfectly manicured hands into a designer purse and pulled out some money. “Let’s go sit on the roof. It’s too sunny of a day to be in this gloomy room,” she said, tossing the bills onto the bar.
Whatever Elle had been expecting of a roof, the top of the Shangri-La wasn’t it. It was like a tropical island under a dome. Palm trees swayed in a gentle breeze that sure felt real. A few people floated lazily in the pool.
She followed Bianca into a small gazebo, all the while trying to decide which questions to ask first. She was dying to know how Bianca had ended up with the men, but maybe that was a little too personal. She sipped the crisp, mouthwatering wine. It was ok. Not nearly as good as what Cunningham would have ordered. Maybe he was rubbing off on her after all.
Finally she settled on a question. “How long were you with the company?”
Bianca smiled, her perfect white teeth dazzling. “Only a few months.”
When Elle frowned, Bianca said, “Have they really not told you about me?” She leaned forward, her green eyes filled with curiosity.
Elle shook her head. “Things with us are pretty new, though.”
Bianca raised an eyebrow. “Maybe. But Nolan wouldn’t have flown to England to entice me back if the situation weren’t serious.” The wistful look on her face only made her prettier.
“Guess I’d better start at the beginning,” she said as she delicately kicked off her high heels and folded her long legs underneath her. “I met Jonathan first. I’d just gotten out of a bad relationship and was looking for some uncommitted fun. We messed around for a few weeks and one night, I went to his apartment and met Cunningham and Nolan. I suppose I don’t have to tell you what happened next.”
That wistful note had crept back into Bianca’s voice, and Elle forced herself to remain calm.
“The four of us continued to see each other several times a week. We weren’t exclusive. I wasn’t looking for that, so I was surprised when Jonathan asked me to come work for them. At first I said no, but then my boss passed me over for a promotion, so I figured I’d go for it.”
Bianca was staring off into space, lost in her memories. “And then what happened?” Elle asked gently.
Bianca shook her head, and for a moment, she looked bitter. “Then I fell in love. No one was more surprised than me. If I hadn’t, maybe …” She stopped herself and gulped down the rest of her drink. “Where are all the danged waiters?”
“I’ll let you know if I see one,” Elle promised. “So you fell in love?”
“Yes. With Cunningham. Well, mostly with Cunningham. I didn’t mind the menage-a-gogo, but I wanted more. Of course I was very confused,” she added quickly. “Anyway, Cunningham made it clear it was a package deal, so the four of us went on as before. But over time, I got resentful.”
Elle nodded in sympathy.
“Anyway, I probably could have dealt with all the little inconveniences, but Cunningham …? Hot and cold. He’d look at me like I was his world, then the next minute I was invisible. He tried to love me, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. It got so that his touch hurt, you know? I couldn’t ever really submit to him. My heart was elsewhere, locked away where it was safe. We continued on fucking.” She pronounced the word precisely, the sounds harsh in her mouth. Then she tilted her empty glass over and swung it back and forth. “Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“So you went to London.”
“Not right away. I tried to carry on with Nolan and Jonathan, but that hurt, too, so I started avoiding them all. Nolan seemed to take it personally. And then one day Cunningham called me into his office. I thought maybe he missed me. Instead he asked what would make me happy.”
Elle’s drink had given her enough of a buzz that she said, “What did you say?”
“New job, new city, relocation costs. I was hurt and angry, and I named an obscene figure.” She snorted. “I’d secretly hoped Cunningham would say no, but apparently he was so anxious to get rid of me that he agreed to pay it without blinking.” She sighed and settled back in the chair, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. “Questions?”
Elle only had about a million, most of them wildly inappropriate. “I guess I’m supposed to be learning about the challenges of dating three men.”
“Oh, but that’s not the difficult part.”
“It isn’t?”
“Not if they love you.”
Stunned by the raw pain in Bianca’s voice, Elle took a moment to pull herself together. “I’m sure they cared about you.”
“Seven figures in my bank account say they didn’t.”
“Seven figures?” To go away quietly? Did Cunningham think he was being kind?
“Oh, yes. I figured if they were going to treat me like a whore, I might as well be a well-paid one.” She opened her eyes, tilted her head and studied Elle. “Can I offer up some advice?”
Chewing on her lower lip, Elle nodded. “That is why you’re here.”
“Imagine the pain of a breakup, but tripled. The heartbreak is unbearable. Your life goes from full to empty in a flash.”
“But—”
“Run.”
Elle found Nolan hunched over his phone, his fingers flying across the screen. He stowed it and stood quickly when she approached. “Where’s Bianca?”
“She said she needed a two-hour massage.”
Nolan raised an eyebrow.
“So explain to me—”
“No. What she told you is her side of things.” He steered her toward the exit. “Cunningham feels strongly that we not … disrespect … Bianca’s experience by trying to absolve ourselves.”
“Did you love her?”
The question clearly caught him off-guard because he stopped walking for a moment. “What did she say?” he asked, wary.
“She said she loved Cunningham, that he didn’t love her and paid a lot of money for her to go away. She thinks you felt she was a whore, and she’s in a lot of pain considering it’s been a year since she left.” Bianca had downed two more martinis. Elle suspected that she only started drinking like that after the breakup.
“Oh, Elle.” Nolan gathered her into his arms and held her tight, his hand smoothing her hair. She felt so safe with him, which was stupid considering what she’d just learned.
“Did you love her?”
“Elle—”
She struggled out of his arms and glared up at him. “Answer the question.”
“It’s complicated—”
“Answer the question!”
“We didn’t love her. Fuck, Elle. She was so closed off, and she was always half-drunk. It was impossible to even know who she really was.” Nolan blinked. “Cunningham tried to get her into therapy, but she refused. Then everything went south.”
“Oh. Actually, Bianca didn’t mention any of that.”
“I told Cunningham this was a stupid idea. Forget Bianca.” Elle expected his eyes to fill with anger, expected his intensely blue irises to get darker, but they didn’t. “Elle, I love you. How can you still not understand that?”
Now it was Elle’s turn to blink. “What?”
“I said that I love you. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this relationship work. Including flying to London to bribe our ex into coming over.” He stared straight at her. “The idea of you suffering Bianca’s fate fills me with revulsion, and at the beginning I wanted nothing to do with the
m hiring you. But you’re special. You’re smart and kind. You keep me on my toes. Plus, shoot me, but you’re hot as hell.”
He caught her face in his hands and Elle lost herself in the liquid depths of his eyes. Then he kissed her the way she’d craved when they were in the bar, his lips firm yet soft, his hands holding her still while he publicly claimed her, his tongue dipping deep, exploring every centimeter of her mouth because she was his and he wanted the world to know it.
When he released her, Elle nearly fell over. “Oh God,” she breathed. Her lips tingled as if his were still pressed there. He loved her. She hoped he would kiss her again. Smiling, he took her elbow and guided her to the curb where a sleek limousine waited.
Elle shot him a interrogatory glance, but Nolan helped her into the vehicle without any explanation.
She sensed Cunningham before she saw him and Jonathan seated at the other end of the vehicle, deep in conversation. The door closed, and Nolan settled next to her as the limo pulled away from the curb.
She stared at her hands and went over the events of the last few hours. Nolan loved her. And she knew Jonathan did; it was evident in the way he looked at her and how he acted like she was the most amazing woman to ever walk the planet.
But Cunningham? Elle peeked at him out the corner of her eye. He and Jonathan were discussing something in hushed tones. Had his inability to protect Bianca broken him?
No, she decided. He wasn’t broken. Maybe gun-shy. Under the circumstances, it made sense. Fixing things was in his nature, but it was impossible to make people change.
No wonder he struggled with all this. So did they really need to follow a relationship timetable? The fact that he’d so earnestly offered to take things to the next level carried enough weight to satisfy her, at least for the time being. She could afford to back down.
Elle cleared her throat. “I think we should slow down the relationship stuff.”
Cunningham stopped talking mid-sentence, and Elle repeated what she’d said.
“What do you mean?” Cunningham growled, his gaze piercing her.
“I don’t think you’re ready for it, and I don’t want to be sent to another country because I fail to meet your expectations fast enough.” Her voice trembled.
“You fought to start this relationship,” Cunningham said angrily.
“Yes,” Elle breathed.
“Would it be fair of me to introduce you to the pleasures of being fucked by multiple men, only to shut you away from it?”
“I don’t understand.”
Jonathan sighed. “I think Cunningham is trying to say that he is, in fact, ready.”
“I can speak for myself,” Cunningham snapped, shooting Jonathan a dark look. He turned the full force of his ire onto Elle. “I’m not the one ignoring emails and hiding.”
Elle’s mouth dropped open. “I’m not hiding. It’s just intense. You’re so demanding, and I don’t even understand why you—”
“Are you really surprised, Elle? The first day we met, I fucked you in ways that no man ever had. You know what I am. And it’s becoming clear to me that you aren’t committed to this.”
“What?” She blinked back tears. “How can I prove that I am?”
“We know you are,” Jonathan said softly. “Isn’t that right, Cunningham?”
Cunningham ignored Jonathan and leaned forward, his dark eyes glittering. “Would you let me tattoo my name on your face?”
“If you wanted to.” She was sure he’d never ask her to do something like that, but she began softly sobbing.
“Would you stay chained under my desk, eating from a plate like a dog?”
“Yes.”
“Will you submit to two cocks in your pussy while your ass and mouth are stuffed full?”
A little shiver ran through her. He’d said she would have to do that at some point. “Yes.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He unlocked his phone and dialed. A moment later he said, “Change my reservation to 8:00.” He hadn’t even announced who he was. He hung up, then pressed the button to speak to the chauffeur.
“Change of plans. To the waterfront.”
“Understood, sir. Should I notify—”
“If you don’t mind.” Cunningham pressed the button again, cutting the contact. He removed his tie and rolled it up, placing it in one of the pockets of his suit jacket. Then he took off the jacket and set it aside. Elle’s face burned as he carefully rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top of his starched white shirt.
“Lie across my lap,” he said, patting his rock-hard thighs. Elle arranged herself over him, and Cunningham rolled her shirtdress up over her breasts and slid her panties down to her shins.
He tapped the small of her back, and Elle sank lower until her stomach pressed against him and her nose was right in Jonathan’s lap. Jonathan, never one to pass up such an opportunity, unzipped his slacks and reached inside. A moment later, his slowly stiffening cock brushed against her lips. The tip of Elle’s tongue flickered out and she tasted him.
Cunningham tightened his hold on her waist. “Nolan, if you don’t mind.”
Nolan already had his hand wrapped around his erection. Cunningham shifted Elle so that her legs trailed into the open space in the middle of the limo.
He simultaneously plunged four fingers into her: two into her slick pussy and two into her ass. Elle gasped in surprise, and when her lips parted, Jonathan raised his hips until her mouth was full of him.
Cunningham pulled his fingers almost all the way out, then entered again. Even one of his fingers was enough to fill her, so she was stretched and sated. She didn’t need any more than this.
Except her lovers didn’t agree. She felt Nolan sliding up between her legs. The soft fabric of his pants caressed her inner thighs, then he was pressing into her heat …
Elle tried to move away, but the men held her down. Jonathan fondled her breasts with one hand, scratching his fingers very lightly over the excited nipples.
She moaned, and then Nolan was fully inside. Nolan plus Cunningham’s fingers, all squeezed in her. Her ass was full, her cunt stretched pleasurably.
Nolan began fucking her in a slow, steady rhythm, his short nails digging into the bare skin of her ass, so very sore from Cunningham’s spanking.
“When you come, which will be very soon, you’re going to feel that you’re losing complete control of your bladder,” Cunningham said, his deep voice hypnotic. “That’s a normal concern when you’ve got so much inside you, but you have nothing to fear. And if it happens, it’s not a big deal.”
Panicked, Elle tried to wiggle free, but found she was completely restrained. There was no way she was a match for three muscular, healthy men in the prime of their lives. They would fuck her how they wanted, and she would gratefully accept it.
Cunningham twitched his fingers, pulsing right into her g-spot. Elle’s eyes rolled back into her head and she moaned huskily as she came. It was like ten orgasms rolled into one long, almost painful one. Luckily, she didn’t lose complete control of her body.
“Damn, woman, the way your throat caresses my dick when you convulse like that should be illegal.” Jonathan squeezed her nipple, then tangled her hair up in both his hands and drew her head back. A moment later, he was fucking her mouth hard and fast in a frenzied rhythm.
“Jonathan,” Cunningham warned. “We’re here.”
Jonathan reluctantly loosened his hold on her, but he kept himself buried in her mouth. Elle didn’t mind having to breathe around his erection. Truth be told, holding him there was very hot because she knew that at any moment, he might surge forward again, out of control. In fact, she hoped he would.
The limo slowed, then a moment later, Elle felt they were driving on pillows. Nolan pulled out of her, Cunningham slowly withdrew his fingers, and Jonathan twisted away from her mouth, laying her head on the plush seat. Their absence left Elle shuddering and shivering, suddenly cold after having gotten used to the heat of their male bod
ies.
Cunningham reached into his jacket pocket and produced the rolled-up tie. Instead of looping it around his neck, he slapped Elle’s ass lightly. “Kneel in front of me.”
She sat up and slid onto the carpeted floor. Nolan wrestled off the rest of her clothing.
“Close your eyes.”
The silky tie draped over her eyelids, and then tightened in a band around her head. Cunningham secured the makeshift blindfold well enough that she couldn’t even open her eyes. She was completely in the dark.
The limo door opened.
“Elle. It is a pleasure to see you.” It was Gustav, one of the company’s best clients. His sexy European accent and cultured voice were unmistakeable. Her pussy clenched, and she licked her lips. Sucking Gustav’s cock had been quite an experience.
She wondered if Karl, Gustav’s business associate, was with him. Two hands ran up the back of her legs, then brushed over her breasts before jamming into her mouth.
A man laughed. “Horny little thing, isn’t she?” Elle didn’t recognize his voice.
Then yet another unfamiliar voice said, “So this is the infamous Elle.” He leaned closer to her, his lips brushing against her ear. “I’ve been wanting to fuck your tight little cunt for some time now.”
And then he inserted a finger right into her warm, wet slit. Elle trusted her lovers and knew they’d never allow an unworthy man to touch her, so she wasn’t worried. She moaned, enjoying the feeling of being appraised by these strangers.
“Ah. Here come Karl and Tommy,” Gustav said. “Let the games begin!”
Elle inhaled sharply. Eight men.
Eight.
Cunningham had once said that seven was the limit. The most she’d ever had was five. She wondered when and why he changed his mind.
If all these men were as enthusiastic as the hands that were groping, pinching and teasing her, they were going to wear her out.
“We’ll take turns,” Cunningham said. “See me if you need condoms.”
Someone removed her shoes and Elle found herself propelled out of the limo and into cool, shifting sand. Then she suddenly noticed the tangy smell of the water, the keening cries of seagulls and terns.
Flex Time (Office Toy) Page 3
