“Shift over.”
Gaby’s head lifted in surprise.
“He asked for some attention,” Liam said.
Fletch’s succinct curse would have made her mother tut. Gaby just grinned and shifted over to allow Liam access to Fletch. She cast a saucy grin at Fletch, noticed the faint color in his cheeks, his swollen lips and the heat in his brown eyes. They glowed with open need and desire, causing a spike of return heat in her.
“I need another kiss from you before we torture Fletch some more.”
She sank into their kiss and gave in to the urge to touch. Her hand snaked under the band of her panties and between her legs, gliding across slick flesh. The zing of sensation made her gasp against Liam’s lips. He drew back, his blue eyes sparkling with an echo of the desire she’d witnessed in Fletch.
“Just a little longer, Gaby. The wait will be worth it. Okay?”
“Yes.” She didn’t question Liam’s right to order them around. He wasn’t being obnoxious, and since the three of them had the same goal, Liam’s taking control worked for her.
“Ready to put Fletch on edge?”
“Oh yes.” Laughter filled her, silently bubbling like an effervescent drink. She felt giddy and excited as a world of possibilities opened to them. She bent her head, snatched another kiss from Liam then turned her attention to Fletch. As before she licked the head of Fletch’s cock, but this time Liam joined her, his tongue flickering out to take a taste. Sometimes their tongues touched while at other times Fletch was their only connection. Their gazes caught and held, a link binding them together.
Fletch’s groans and soft curses filled the air, his large frame quivering, his hips jerking upward as he attempted to find a mouth. Liam backed off, giving her a faint nod. She took Fletch into her mouth while Liam tongued his balls and sac, his fingers roving over Fletch.
“Stop,” Fletch said without warning. “I can’t take much more.”
Liam smirked at her, lifting his brows in a smug expression. “But you wanted attention.”
“Smart-arse.”
“You want to suck me off while you and Fletch do the regular thing?” Liam asked in an undertone.
“What are you two whispering about?”
“Nothing to concern you,” Liam retorted, yanking at his remaining clothes.
Gaby gave a slight nod and stripped off her panties as well.
“Fletch, Gaby wants you to fuck her.”
“Hallelujah!” Fletch rolled away from the middle of the mattress and patted the space he’d vacated. “Come on up, sweetheart. What are you going to do?”
Liam couldn’t prevent a smirk at the suspicious note in Fletch’s voice. “I’m going to watch and critique your performance.” Although he aimed for impassive, his lips quivered.
“Fuck that.” Fletch brushed an absent kiss on Gaby’s shoulder while glaring at him.
“Isn’t it me you’re gonna fuck, Fletch?” A mischievous note entered Gaby’s voice and Liam wanted to laugh. Sex with Fletch and Gaby was a constant surprise and full of fun along with pleasure that rocked him soul-deep.
With a grumble, Fletch positioned himself and pushed inside Gaby. One thing Liam hadn’t considered was how hot it would be watching instead of participating. It was easy to see Gaby got off on watching, and he could see why she liked seeing the sexual action.
“Wait!” Gaby shouted.
Fletch froze, a contrite expression hitting his face. “Aw, hell. Gaby, I didn’t think to grab a condom.”
“That’s not the problem. I brought home a new condom to test. Do you mind?”
“Where are they?” Liam asked. “I’ll get them.”
“In the brown bag on the floor over there. Bring the lube as well. I’m trying a new flavor and want to see what you think.”
Liam grabbed the bag she’d indicated and returned to the bed. “You want both of us to try the condom?”
“Please.”
Fletch pulled out and went to grab a condom. Liam batted his hands away. “I’ll put it on for you.”
“You just want to fondle my cock,” Fletch grumbled.
“Damn straight.” Liam smiled, his heart lurching against his ribs as he unwrapped the condom and rolled it onto Fletch’s dick. While this wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he’d told Fletch he wanted to date Gaby, he couldn’t be sorry at this turn of events. In fact, he didn’t know why he’d never considered it before. No, not quite right. If it hadn’t been for Fletch’s forward thinking they’d still be fighting for Gaby’s attention. Unable to help himself, he leaned close to kiss Fletch and gave Fletch’s cock a furtive stroke at the same time.
Fletch didn’t tense or back away. Instead, he moaned into Liam’s mouth, a shudder racking his body. Gradually, Liam drew away to roll a condom onto his own cock. Fletch returned to Gaby, surging inside her with a seamless stroke.
Gaby’s eyes slid to half-mast and a soft sigh emerged from her. Fletch started to move with steady strokes. Liam kneeled on the mattress at Gaby’s side. He tapped his cock against her lips in a silent demand for her to open her mouth. When she did, heat surrounded him, the condom little barrier to his enjoyment.
“That’s real good, Gaby. Your mouth feels great. Take more of me. Yeah, that’s the way.” He broke off on a groan when she applied suction—hot, intense suction that was like a bolt of lightning to his nuts.
Wanting to return the favor and heighten her pleasure, he leaned closer to flick his tongue over her nipple. Her moan was a vibration around his cock head. His belly muscles tensed when she lifted a hand to caress him, her fingers grasping his hip, biting into his flesh.
“That feel good, Liam? Gaby sure feels good on this end.” Fletch continued his measured strokes and Liam started to do shallow thrusts in time with his friend. In. Out. In. Incredible warmth surrounding his dick. Good. So fuckin’ good.
Fletch started to move faster, ramping up the pace. Liam’s balls drew up, the assault of Gaby’s mouth too much for him to hold back an instant longer. The heat exploded from him in the form of a climax that stole rational thought. He shuddered, drawing back when the lap of Gaby’s tongue became too much for him.
His body hummed with residual satisfaction while he watched Fletch’s face, contorted with pleasure. Liam removed the condom and tossed it aside. He kissed Gaby and, unable to resist, he leaned over to kiss Fletch too, messing with his rhythm.
“You close, Gaby?” Liam asked, grinning at Fletch.
“What about me?” he demanded.
“Gaby?” Liam’s grin widened. No doubt there would be payback in his future.
“Yes…I need.” She met Fletch’s inward stroke with an upward one of her own.
Liam smirked at Fletch and slid his hand between their bodies, stroking a finger over her clit. She made a soft, yielding sound.
Fletch pulled back and started to hammer wildly into her. Liam moved his hand and watched Fletch’s face. He sensed exactly what he was feeling, the boil of semen in his balls and every nerve ending snapping to attention as he savored the clinging fit of Gaby’s pussy. Liam knew the moment Fletch climaxed and was mesmerized by the expression on his face. He rolled closer to Gaby and placed a hand on Fletch’s back, reveling in the connection with the two people he loved most in the entire world.
“Aw hell,” Fletch said after withdrawing. “The condom broke.”
“Bother. Where’s the clipboard?”
Liam leaned over to grab the clipboard and handed it to Gaby. She pulled the attached pen free and scribbled some notes.
“What happened to the wrapper?”
Fletch retrieved it from the floor and read out the code for her.
Liam shrugged. “The one I used was okay.”
“I obviously have super sperm,” Fletch drawled.
“No problem. That’s the reason I’m on the Pill. How were the sensations?”
“Good for me,” Liam said.
“Me too. No complaints.”
“I might hav
e to go up a fraction thicker with the latex.” Gaby jotted another note before dropping the clipboard on the floor. “We didn’t test the lube. You guys up for another go-round.”
Liam exchanged a grin with Fletch. “Hell yeah.”
“Bring it on,” Fletch agreed.
Chapter Eleven
Gaby’s lab phone rang a fraction after eleven the next morning. It was Alice requesting a meeting. “Do you want me to come now?”
“If you can spare the time. We’ve done the advertising mock-ups and we’d like your input.”
Most of the board was present when Gaby walked into the boardroom. Loud shouts streamed through an open window and the oldies were doing their best to talk over the commotion.
Curiosity propelled Gaby to ask the question. “What’s the racket about?”
James scowled at each of the board members in turn. “Somehow, the Children of Nature cult has learned about our new product.”
Gaby stiffened. “They didn’t find out about it from me.”
Richard Morgan came stomping into the boardroom, newspapers clamped under his arm. “The Sloan Gazette has reinstated Ms. Knowall’s gossip column.”
“What?” James stretched out his hand. “Let me see.”
Richard slapped the papers on top of the board table. “Hinekiri told me to bring a few papers.” His grim voice and darting look at her made Gaby’s insides twist. She remembered when Ms. Knowall ran her last column. For some reason she’d stopped her column as suddenly as she’d started writing it.
“I can’t find my glasses.” Katarina rifled through her bag with one hand and grabbed the last remaining paper with the other.
For a few frantic seconds the rustling of newsprint was the only sound in the room.
“Which page,” Ben demanded finally.
“Page eleven,” Katarina answered, peering closely at the page number.
“Gaby!” Gran said. “You’re in the gossip column.”
“But I haven’t…” Oh, god. Surely there wasn’t something about Liam and Rachel.
“Give me a paper,” Alice said with a touch of impatience. “I’ll read the item out loud.” She folded the paper and scanned the first few lines before lifting her head to search out Gaby. “Oh dear.” She made a tsking sound at the back of her throat. “‘Sources close to me have informed us of Miss M and her untraditional living arrangement. Miss M, who works for Fancy Free, lives with two men and they don’t have their own bedrooms, if you know what I mean. Another source has confirmed Miss M is the inventor of a new condom for Fancy Free. I wonder who she asks to help with testing.
“‘And sticking to the Miss M theme, another source informs me one of her roommates is the father of a baby. Imagine this, readers—the man is denying everything. The mother, Miss S, is having a difficult time getting Mr. R to accept responsibility. He’s had his fun and now he’s denying everything. A case of like father, like son, me thinks.’”
Gaby listened to Alice with increasing horror. Someone knew. Someone had discovered she, Liam and Fletch were more than good friends. She drew a sharp breath when Alice read about Rachel’s pregnancy. That wasn’t fair. Now everyone would expect Liam to marry her and they weren’t even positive he was the father. She scowled, aware of the clear speculation in the boardroom.
“Do you have anything you want to say, missy?” Joseph Craig asked in his gruff voice.
Katarina peered over the top of her reading glasses. “Is it true? That’s what I want to know.”
“I always liked Fletch and Liam, but both of them, Gaby?” Sam asked.
Gaby swallowed and remained silent. Deny everything, a voice screamed in her head. No one knew the truth. This was supposition.
Ben’s shrill whistle cut through the silence, making Gaby flinch. “Your mother is going to have a cow.”
“You don’t have to sound so pleased about it,” Alice said in a chiding manner.
Gran snorted. “Ben’s right. She’ll be gunning for you, Gaby.”
“If she doesn’t disown me first,” Gaby said in a glum voice. Even though Ms. Knowall had used initials, the connection with Fancy Free would help everyone guess the identities of the supposedly guilty parties. Oh heck. No doubt most of Sloan’s residents had read the scurrilous gossip already.
One thing was certain—Fletch and Liam could kiss goodbye any chance of winning the contract on the new subdivision.
Katarina reached for her coffee cup and frowned at the lack of contents. She set it back down with a clatter. “Do you have any comment?”
Deny everything. “I don’t know anything about this.” Gaby was proud she managed to meet the gaze of each of the oldies without a blush.
“I’ll be back in a sec.” James left the boardroom, his expression grim.
The chants of the cult members carried through the window. “Down with condoms. Condoms are bad. Population growth for Sloan. Down with condoms.”
“That’s a new one,” James said, appearing back in the boardroom. “I didn’t realize we were directly responsible for inhibiting population growth. I thought I might have an idea of the person who wrote this, but they’re not responsible. They’re in Australia.”
A burst of babble and speculation rang out, pandemonium filling the boardroom.
“Maybe we could study the design boards?” Gaby wanted to run and hide. She wanted to ring Fletch and Liam to warn them about the gossip column. She did neither. “I’m working on a new design and I would like to get on with my experiments,” she said, trying not to act defensive at the number of smirks leveled in her direction.
“Gaby’s right,” James said. “Besides, if she has more excellent designs up her sleeve, we want to encourage them.”
“Hear, hear.” Alice nodded emphatically. She switched on the projector screen and tapped several buttons on her laptop. “What do you think about this?”
It was perfect, a more polished print ad than the rough one Alice had shown Gaby earlier. The title was the same—Christmas is Coming. A picture of a Christmas tree and a couple exchanging a gift. The parcel bore Fancy Free’s distinctive motif of the joined Fs. At the bottom of the ad, the words—Give your lover the gift of pleasure—were emblazoned.
“That’s perfect.” Gaby didn’t have to pretend enthusiasm. “The vibrators are going to fly off the shelves.”
“Along with the other gift packages Alice and I decided to market at the same time. We have condom and lube combos plus the main one of the vibrator. All of the packages will be wrapped in gold with red-and-green ribbon and we’ve decided to do a seasonal Vibrations condom in Christmas colors too.”
“I like it,” Gran said, and the other oldies agreed.
“That was easy,” Alice said to James. “I think we’re done.”
Before any of the oldies had a chance to ask more noisy questions, Gaby stood and casually left the boardroom. She kept her steps slow and measured, despite every urge inside telling her to run.
“Gaby?” Alice followed her from the room.
“Yes?” The last thing she wanted to do was chat. She had to ring Fletch and Liam, warm them of possible fallout. Then she’d screen her phone calls. She winced, imagining the blast she’d receive from her mother. How long could she dodge her calls before her mother decided to visit in person?
Alice strode down the passage to stand beside her. Sympathy shone in her eyes and she gave Gaby a swift hug.
“Don’t worry about the gossip. Ignore everything. James and I understand what you’re going through. If you need to talk or want someone to rant to you know where to find me.”
“Will the gossip hurt sales?”
Alice grinned. “Hell no. The pre-gossip about Vibrations built expectation and buyers pounced the moment stock hit the shelves. James and I were trying to think of a way of dragging the Children of Nature cult out to protest and organize petitions because their demonstrations worked so well last time.” Alice patted her arm. “You keep feeding the gossip mill and we’ll all
reap the rewards.”
“You don’t know my mother,” Gaby said dryly.
“Don’t worry. Everything will work out.”
Gaby nodded but didn’t believe it for an instant. Her mother and sister would probably disown her while Liam and Fletch would cop some flack too. How could everything be all right?
Back at the lab, Marc lifted his head from his microscope to scrutinize her. “What have you been up to? The phone has rung nonstop with people wanting to talk to you. I couldn’t concentrate and took the bloody thing off the hook.”
“My mother?”
“And your sister among others.”
“Okay.” A lie. Nothing was okay about this situation.
“Anything you want to tell me?”
“No.” Marc would find out soon enough. “I have to make a phone call.” Gaby plucked her cell phone from her pocket and left the lab, seeking somewhere private to make her call. Outside in the small rear garden the workers used for lunch and smoke breaks, she dialed Liam. His phone was busy. She tried Fletch next.
“Hi, sweetheart. What’s up?” He listened while she told him everything.
“Fuck. Liam is with Rachel’s father, delivering our bid.”
“He wouldn’t do anything stupid, would he?”
“Liam?”
“No, Robert Saunders.”
Fletch paused. “He’s not a hothead.”
“This must be hitting close to home for Liam with his mother.” Liam didn’t like to talk about his mother, but she remembered the teasing he’d received at school. She might have been a few years younger, but even she’d been aware of the ridicule he’d faced at the hands of the other children.
“Don’t worry. We’ll circle the wagons. If anyone asks questions, deny everything. The gossip column is mere speculation. No one knows the truth apart from us.”
“But what about your business? Won’t this hurt you both?”
“It’s true some of our clients are traditional and might believe the gossip, but we should be okay. We’ve built a solid reputation.” Fletch chuckled. “Besides, you’re gonna make lots of money at Fancy Free. I fancy being a kept man.”
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