Redemption FinalWPF6 7

by L. E. Harner

  “And what about Max and Jo? Your theory seems to be that there has to be something special between each of the members of the threesome. They didn’t have anything together when we started. It doesn’t all have to be neat. But if you want something, you have to work for it,” Marcus said. The frustration in his voice was clear enough.

  Gabe sighed. “God, Marcus. Sometimes I wonder how you ever managed to stay alive in your line of work. Max and Jo had you. They were linked through their mutual submissive tendencies and through their love of you. You. All. Fit.”

  ****

  An hour later, Lucky’s tail thumping against the tile floor was the first indication that his friends had returned unexpectedly. His hands were too sticky with raw ground beef to answer the light tap, but the door wasn’t locked. “Come on in, the door’s open. Not like it isn’t your place anyway.” He turned back to his job and finished forming the final burger then slapped it onto plate and put his hands under the warm water.

  “What happened? Did Michael change his mind about letting you use the plane? God you guys left enough food in the refrigerator for me to have a party. Good thing you’re back; you can help me eat some of it.” He finished washing his hands, grabbed a paper towel, and turned. His stomach dropped. Framed in the doorway were the two people he never expected to see again.

  “Uriah. Diane. What are you doing here?” He gave himself a mental head slap. He knew exactly what they were doing here. “Let me guess, Marcus called. Nosy bastard. He acted like it was his subs all up in my business, but once a Dom always Dom. He thinks he needs to control everybody’s life. Well, now that you’ve seen me you can just turn around and go home. You see that I’m okay. I see that you’re okay. All’s well that ends well.” Gabe knew he was babbling but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

  “Gabe? Don’t be mad at Marcus. We called him. Can we talk?” Diane asked.

  That surprised him. “You called Marcus? Why?”

  Uriah’s long black hair swung loose and partially hid his face, as he remained in the living room, and squatted down on his haunches to pet Lucky. God, please…just one look at those dark eyes. Let me see that Uriah is really okay.

  When he realized Uriah wasn’t going to meet his eyes, Gabe glanced at Diane who was apparently the spokesperson. It appeared as if she would wait until he agreed they could talk. Best to get it over with. They could all move on and everyone would leave him alone.

  “Have a seat,” he invited. He moved from the kitchen to the large living room with the glassed-in wall overlooking the lake. There was a lot of beautiful scenery straight ahead, he didn’t have to look at her, but he couldn’t help himself. The golden tan of summer had faded, but she looked fit and strong, except for the hint of dark circles under her beautiful eyes.

  “So, how’ve you been?” he asked, keeping his voice casual. After all, they were just barely acquaintances, not even old friends.

  “We’ve been good,” Diane said. Uriah’s head snapped up and he looked at Diane a moment before his gaze slid to Gabe and then back down up the dog. He still didn’t say anything. “How about you?” Diane asked.

  “Good.” Dear God, could this be any more awkward? “Look, I’m sure you want to know if I’m still drinking. I’m not. I got treatment this time and didn’t try to do it myself. I’ve been sober for six months. Is there anything else you want to know? Because otherwise, I really don’t know why you’re here.”

  With all the force of coiled steel spring under too much pressure for far too long, Uriah sprung from his crouched position and slammed into Gabe with a full body tackle. The two of them crashed to the floor, and Gabe found himself pinned underneath the big man.

  Ooompf. The wind went out of him, but before he could suck it back in, hands gripped the sides of his head and his mouth was plundered. He struggled against the weight of the younger man, against the lack of oxygen to his brain, against the feelings that were overwhelming him.

  When the dampness touched his face and Uriah’s chest spasmed against his, the realization that Uriah was crying hit Gabe like a hard slap. His arms went around the other man, and he held him closer, crooning against the hot, wet cheek. Diane joined them on the floor, wrapping her arms around both of them. Gabe felt as if he was suddenly holding on for his life.

  ****

  Diane didn’t know where to put the feelings that were flooding through her. Part of her was angry. A big part. They were going to have to talk about that. Gabe had hurt them. Especially Uriah, who had gone through hell wondering what he’d done wrong. She knew he had nightmares and when he cried out in his sleep it was Gabe’s name that he called. It broke her heart to see Uriah so sad. Finally, after months of wondering, she’d decided they needed a permanent resolution. She’d tracked Gabe down through his medical practice and the club in Phoenix where he said he’d worked.

  Surprisingly, when she talked to the manager, Max, she found out he knew all about their brief trial at a threesome. In fact, Max had been quite chatty on the topic. He’d put her in touch with his partner, Marcus, and the three of them had worked out a strategy. Maybe Gabe would walk away from them again, but at least this time he was going to have to look them in the face to say goodbye.

  Diane was shaken from her thoughts when her hair was grabbed at the nape of her neck and she was pulled down over the top of Uriah. Then Gabe’s mouth was on hers, his kiss hard, his tongue pressing at the seam of her lips. She opened and sucked his tongue inside her mouth. When Uriah joined, it turned into a messy, hot three-way kiss. Diane wanted to lose herself in it, wanted to surrender to the feelings between them. Instead, she pulled back.

  “Gabe, we need to talk, first,” she said.

  Uriah made a noise deep in his throat that could best be described as a growl.

  Gabe leaned his head back as far as he could, which wasn’t far considering he still had Uriah on top of him. “Yes, I suppose we do.”

  Diane pushed herself to her feet and looked down at the two men. Her heart squeezed when Uriah cupped Gabe’s face in his hands and pressed a long, slow kiss against their lover’s mouth. Then Uriah got to his feet, held out his hand to Gabe and pulled the other man up. She looked around the room and decided the couch was as good as any place for them to talk. She led the way and managed to put Uriah in the middle.

  “So, who wants to start?” she asked.

  “That would be me,” Gabe said. He looked toward the large windows, as if the lake view held the script for what he wanted to say. Finally, he inhaled deeply and started. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m a drunk. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye.”

  Taking Uriah’s hand in his, he pressed a kiss to the other man’s open palm before threading their fingers together. “Uriah, there is nothing I can ever say…nothing I can ever do to make up for leaving you alone when Patti arrested you. It was inexcusable.”

  Without giving either of them a chance to speak, Gabe turned to her and continued. “Dee, I knew Melody was feeding you a lie, but I also knew there would be a grain of truth in her words.”

  “Oh, Gabe,” she said. “I’m so sorry I listened to her. I knew better, I really did. You wouldn’t hurt someone that way. It’s not in you. But when I came to find you and tell you…” she trailed off, as her eyes filled with tears.

  Gabe raked his fingers through his hair with his free hand. “Don’t apologize, Diane. I could have explained, but I didn’t want to face her. I didn’t want to face you. What I wanted more than anything else was a drink. I was probably already at the bar before you even got to your room.”

  Her heart felt bruised at his words. She remembered the feeling so well. She pressed her hand over the top of his, joining the three of them together.

  “I might have said the right words when we were in the bottom of the canyon but I didn’t feel them. I hadn’t hit rock bottom yet. I was passed out when Marcus brought me to Phoenix that night. We came right here. When I finally sobered up and realized I�
��d chosen a drink over a chance at love with the two of you, the real truth of my addiction hit me. My friends were all right here waiting for me when I finally emerged from the guest room. My head hurt like a bitch, my hands were shaking, and I would have sworn my eyes were going to fall out at any minute. They did a classic intervention and told me how much they loved me but they wouldn’t watch me hurt myself anymore. We left that day for the clinic and I spent the next six weeks drying out and getting counseling.

  “Today, I am dry and I am sober but I’m still an alcoholic. I always will be. At this moment, I don’t think I’ll ever drink again, but I also know that there may be days that I fight every single minute to remain sober.

  “You wanted to know why I walked away? Because I wanted a drink. Why did I stay away? Because the two of you fit. You belong together. There is so much love between you that adding anything else might dilute your relationship. You deserve each other and you deserve a chance at happiness. So while I’m glad you’re here, and I’m glad we’ve had this chance to talk, I can’t be with you.”

  “Well thank you very fucking much, Dr. Gabriel,” Uriah snapped, pulling his hand from theirs as if burned.

  Diane winced at Uriah’s harsh tone, but she was relieved to see he was angry. That was an improvement over the kicked puppy attitude that he’d often had in the months since Gabe left them.

  “So that’s it? You were sick? You’re an addict? How does that make you the one to decide the future for all of us? At first, I thought I’d done something wrong, that maybe you blamed me for Joe’s suicide, like some kind of do no harm shit. Finally, I realized you just didn’t love us, you didn’t want us.” No one moved while Uriah seemed to fight with himself for control.

  “You marked me, Gabe. There isn’t anything I can do to get you out of my head. I love Diane, I always have. But without you…that love is broken. She deserves more than that, more than just me. If we can’t find a way for the three of us to be together, then I have to find a way to walk away from both of you. I can’t have just one without the other.”

  Diane gasped, her heart split right in two at the thought of Uriah walking away from her. She’d already lost Gabe once and now Uriah would leave her? Oh hell no. There was way too much love between the two men, between all three of them. I will not let this happen.

  Swiftly, she moved to her knees and put a hand on each man’s waist. Looking up, she cleared her throat and with no more time to plan her words, she started to talk as though her life depended on it. “We have a chance at something special but we have to overcome some things in our past. I don’t think we‘ve had much of a problem forgiving each other’s flaws; it’s forgiving ourselves for past mistakes that seems to get in our way. Gabe, you promised that you would try this with us…try to be in a relationship. Uriah and I have talked this over and we accept. We want to be in a relationship with you. It’s why we’re here. We’re not going to let you push us out of your life, because we know you love us.”

  Gabe’s mouth opened and she thought he might intend to protest, so she continued without giving him the opportunity. “Your friends Marcus and Max know you pretty well—

  “They don’t know everything…” Gabe said, then trailed off.

  “They said you needed us, still want us. We believed them and that’s why we’re here. We’re not leaving.”

  Gabe snorted, and Diane paused, waiting for him to speak.

  “What do you think, you’re gonna just moved here to Phoenix…get new jobs? Plan to enroll in ASU, Uriah?”

  “I graduated last semester,” Uriah said. “I got my degree in accounting and I’ve already got a job. Max hired me to work for him.”

  Gabe’s head whipped from Uriah back to Diane and she wanted to laugh at how wide his eyes were. She nodded. “And I’m working for Enwright Security. Michael is a really nice guy and Jo hooked me up. They needed a fitness trainer and now that’s me. So we’re here. Now the question remains, what are you going to do about it?”

  “You moved here? You have jobs and you moved here to be with me?”

  “Yes, Gabe. We really do want to be with you. We have a lot to learn, but I think we all have a pretty good idea of what we’re capable of at the bottom end of the relationship scale. I’m looking forward to seeing just how far we can go.”

  Abruptly standing, Uriah looked down at them, and Diane’s mouth suddenly went dry with desire at the heat she saw in his eyes. “You know,” he said, “you two talk an awful damn lot. Gabe, how about you show us to your bedroom?”

  ****

  Uriah'd done a lot of thinking about things since the last time the three of them had been together. He’d been the least experienced in the trio and he appreciated the care that they’d taken. Especially Gabe. The one idea that he couldn’t get out of his head was Gabe’s promise that someday they were going to take Diane together. Just the thought of his cock in her ass while Gabe was in her pussy made him hard, and he knew Dee wanted it, too. Tonight he was going to get his wish. He hated the change he felt in Gabe. His lover seemed less certain, unwilling to take charge. Well, Diane had taken a big risk and he would, too. If Gabe needed someone else to be strong for a bit, then Uriah would do that for him. For them.

  The first thing he did was pull the blankets from the queen-sized bed and drop them on the floor. “We’ll worry about awkward later, everybody get naked.”

  Gabe and Diane laughed, but joined in taking off their clothes and dropping them to the floor. Before anyone could say anything, Uriah swooped in, grabbed Diane in a full body hug and tumbled with her onto the mattress. She gave a laugh and a squeal and landed flat on her back with her legs splayed.

  “Oh, yes. I see you know exactly what I have in mind,” he said. He stretched out alongside her and cupped a breast, massaging and savoring the heavy weight of it in his hand. Just before he moved in to swipe a nipple with his tongue, he looked up into Gabe’s hungry face. “Do you remember what you promised me?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Good. Get the lube and condoms and join me.” Then his mouth closed over her pebbled nub, and he drew her deep, stopping just short of her pain threshold. They had learned a lot about each other over the last several months…Gabe had some catching up to do. Uriah kissed his way up to take Diane’s mouth. Her tongue met his, hot and demanding. Threading his fingers into her soft brown hair, he pulled tight against her kiss. With the promise of what was yet to come, he slid his tongue in and out of her mouth while Diane sucked hungrily.

  From the way her back arched and the quick inhalation of breath, he knew the exact moment Gabe joined him in feasting from Diane’s body. Alternating licks and kisses, Uriah trailed down her neck and tasted the sweetness of her. Like a cat, she stretched and purred into their touches. Gabe moved between her legs to lean over, his mouth lightly skimming over Dee’s goose-pebbled skin, before he scrapped his teeth lightly on the underside of her breast. Uriah was mesmerized as he watched the other man nip and bite along the sensitive skin. Uriah knew Dee would dance on the edge of pleasure and pain. How had Gabe learned them so well in such a short amount of time?

  Diane made little noises in the back of her throat and it was sexy as hell to know Gabe was with him and together they would bring her pleasure like she’d never known. Uriah slid a hand over Diane’s sculpted belly and felt the underlying strength of her toned body. She was sleek and strong, all woman and hot as hell. He cupped the breast that Gabe was working. Gabe’s hand mirrored his and it was as if they were feeding each other from the delectable Diane. Her breasts were swollen and the rose-colored nipples peaked to hard points. He remembered Gabe’s promise to have Uriah’s nipples pierced. Would they get Diane’s pierced, too? That was too fucking hot, and he moaned at the image in his mind.

  Gabe smiled at Uriah, as if he knew the direction his thoughts had taken, then Gabe made a little growl in the back of his throat and reached for Uriah to take his mouth in a quick, claiming kiss that seared him to his toes. Gabe pul
led back with a sharp nip at Uriah’s lower lip, then returned to lick and kiss his way toward Diane’s hips. She writhed beneath his attention, pushing her hips up to meet his mouth. He shifted her slightly so that she rolled up on her hip and he was able to drape one of her legs over Gabe's shoulder, opening her up.

  Uriah ran his hand along her spine, down the curve of her waist, and back up over the flair of hip. Her beautiful, firm ass was right in front of his face and it was just exactly what he wanted. He bit hard enough that he heard her sharp intake of air. Then he kissed her tenderly to soothe the sting. Exploring her ass with his mouth, he made long slow sweeps with his tongue over her fevered skin. He pulled her cheeks apart and began flicking his tongue quickly against the small pucker of her anus. Both of their heads so close together in the vee of Diane’s core, Gabe and Uriah’s mouth met and they kissed, sharing the heat of desire, sharing the taste of Diane.

  Gabe squeezed a generous amount of lube on Uriah’s fingers, and Uriah pressed the tip of one finger against her tight opening. “I’m going to fill you here, Diane,” he said. Then he slipped one finger inside and Diane shuddered around him.

  Gabe laughed, a decidedly wicked laugh that sent shivers down his spine. “Did you wait to try this until I was with you, Uriah?”

  Their gazes locked and Uriah’s lips curved at the memory of Gabe’s fingers. The he used a variation of the words he’d replayed a hundred times in his head. “Just relax for me, Diane, baby. Gabe took care of me and I’m going to take care of you.”

  “We’re both gonna take care of you,” Gabe whispered.

  “Oh God, please I want you now. Both of you.” Diane’s breath came in short sharp pants.

  Looking at his slick hand, Uriah realized he should’ve put on his condom before the lube made his hands too slippery. He glanced up and found Gabe watching him with a half smile.