Cross My Heart

by A. M. Hartnett

  As their hosts went into the living room, Evie tugged on Ryan’s shirt, dragged him to her and returned his peck with a juicy kiss. When it was over, she pulled back, breathless, and grinned up at his surprised but ecstatic look.

  ‘What was that for?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing, really. I like your face, and I wanted to see if I could mess it up with my lips.’

  She was tickled to see his own lips twisting as he struggled not to smile too widely. It made her want to kiss him again, even better than the last time, with fingers twisting in his hair and leaving him with bruised lips and pink cheeks.

  Instead she bit her own lip to restrain a grin, took his hand and led him into the room.

  The truth was that Greg’s words had pricked her deep and she found herself bleeding feelings that had been smothered by this whole thing with the search and now with Seth. She hadn’t realised just how much her mind had been whirling with it all until Greg’s talk had slowed it to a crawl. It dawned on her just how much she missed the us from the early days of their relationship.

  As they settled side by side in the love seat with the other couple opposite on the sofa, Evie glanced at him. He did nothing special, just brought his bottle of beer to his lips with a smile at a joke of Rosie’s, but he kept hold of her hand. It was cosy and comfortable, and it had been a long time since the thick fog of this sinful scheme had allowed her to just breathe with him.

  Even the mere mention of the women who had come before her gave her a queer feeling. She didn’t want to hear about his exes and she didn’t want to remember hers. She wanted this, just this wonderful time in which they were a pair.

  Yet at the same time she wanted this thrilling new thing with Seth. She’d been truthful with Seth when she’d told him that he was and would always be the third wheel, and she’d believed him when he’d said that was the place he wanted.

  It was just sex. Just wet and dirty sex between three people who couldn’t get enough of one another until the sun started bleeding through the curtains.

  And she couldn’t wait for Seth to make his quiet escape so she could snuggle up next to Ryan and giggle with him until sleep took over. Waking was theirs, too, to shuffle into the kitchen like the walking dead and exchange looks that were both incredulous and triumphant, an unspoken can you believe what we did last night?

  She wanted this. To be a couple. To have their friends tease them like they did. To plan together and believe completely that there would be no what if.

  What if was the intruder in this intoxicating life she’d found herself living. She saw it in Ryan’s eyes whenever Seth first reached for her, only to be washed away when it was Ryan to whom Seth turned. He was wondering what if Seth touched her a certain way, looked at her a certain way or kissed her just the right way, and suddenly Ryan was the third wheel? No matter how many times she called for Ryan while Seth was inside her, the worry remained, and she didn’t know how to banish it from his searching eyes.

  There was one way. She’d entertained it a few times as they drowsed together in the morning light.

  She could tell him she loved him.

  This, too, would be the truth, something tattooed on her heart since almost the beginning, but it seemed harder than ever to get it out. There never seemed to be a good time now, and the last thing she wanted was to give him something so fragile when they’d just finished with Seth or were sitting waiting for him. If she told him when she was sure he really needed it, would he believe it?

  And why had he never said it? What if he didn’t feel it? What if it was all in her head?

  As adamant as she was that she would never, ever leave Ryan for another man, let alone Seth, she couldn’t dismiss the idea that Ryan could break her heart slowly by never saying it, or by giving her reason to believe that he didn’t reciprocate. She could find herself lost and bobbing like a runaway balloon, too crazed to do anything but to cling to the first man to offer her comfort – and that would be Seth, make no mistake.

  ‘You OK?’ he whispered once the game was set up, and squeezed her hand. She hadn’t realised she’d started to sweat. Her palm was clammy against his, and with an apologetic smile she tugged her hand free and wiped it against her thigh.

  ‘I’m good. Just went away there for a minute.’

  He scooted close so there was no room left between their thighs and gave her a playful nudge. ‘As long as you come back.’

  ‘Always,’ she said, and meant it, but her stomach flopped.

  ‘I never should have had that last glass of wine,’ Evie said through her giggles and spun around, knocking Ryan back as she threw her arms around him. ‘I’m fizzy.’

  ‘Drunk?’ Ryan teased and hugged her closer. Maybe it was the wine, but he seemed warmer than usual, his arms humming with electricity around her. She could have disappeared into his warmth.

  ‘No, just fizzy. Like I’ve got just enough sugar and alcohol in me to balance everything out in my head, but my equilibrium is all off kilter.’ She reached past him and pushed the elevator call button, then rested her cheek on his chest. ‘I shouldn’t use big words when I’m fizzy.’

  He rested his head on top of hers and swayed her back and forth. ‘What do you say we sneak up to fourth and eat the leftover cake all by ourselves?’

  Evie giggled and lifted her face to his. ‘That’s how bad karma happens. One day he’ll have cake and won’t offer us any.’

  ‘There’s two of us and one of him. We can take him,’ he whispered, then grinned. ‘Now there’s an idea.’

  ‘I know I said no video, but if you’re serious about trying to overpower Seth I’d like that recorded so we can laugh about it later.’

  He gave her a pinch and at her squeal cinched her closer. ‘You’re saying I can’t take Seth in a fight? I mean, yeah, he’s got the muscles and the height, but I’m pretty sure I could outmanoeuvre him.’

  ‘Is this supposed to be sexy talk?’

  He brushed his mouth against hers. ‘Maybe. Is it getting you horny?’

  ‘It shouldn’t, but it is.’

  The elevator door juddered open and, with a surprising burst of strength through her lethargy, Evie pushed him inside.

  As they trundled upward, he kissed away her giggles until they had become sighs, and he didn’t stop kissing her once they closed and locked the door to the apartment behind them.

  ‘You want to see my baby blues?’ she asked once she moved away from him, and wiggled as she pulled the hem of her skirt up to mid-thigh.

  Those baby blues were the new panties that had come in the mail that day. Though far from risqué, the powder-blue lace bikinis hugged her ass perfectly. She watched him give her one long, scorching look, and she could have sworn she saw his fingers twitch with wanting to take a handful.

  With a teasing growl, Ryan lurched forward and chased her into the bedroom. Her giddiness came back once he had her face-down on the bed, and her laughter turned into a yelp as he gave her a firm smack on the ass.

  ‘I like these too much to take them off. Maybe I could just keep doing this,’ he told her, and gave her another couple of smacks before relenting.

  She wriggled up on to her knees and he only had a moment to gauge the impish glee in her eyes before she pushed him down and straddled him.

  ‘You’re no match for me,’ she said, then let loose a super-villain’s laugh.

  ‘Is that so?’

  He flipped her on to her back and mimicked her laugh against the crook of her neck. Then, as she bubbled over until she couldn’t catch her breath, Ryan attached the wrist cuffs that dangled from her headboard.

  ‘So this is why you brought me to my apartment,’ she said, panting as he unbuttoned the front of her blouse and followed with his hot mouth.

  ‘I thought a change of scenery would be welcome, and your bed is the one with the perks.’

  By the time he had finished she was half-dressed, red shirt split open from the waist up and her bra tugged down enough to release her
breasts. Her baby-blue panties and her skirt puddled on the floor next to the bed. She didn’t seem to be able to stop smiling as he cuffed her ankles, and he grinned back at her as he undressed.

  It was a slow unveiling that made her mouth water. Lately their clothes had been coming off in record time. Like so many other things, she missed watching him unwrap himself: shirt sliding over his round shoulders and down to reveal those strong forearms. Unbuckling, with every clink of metal against metal bringing her anticipation up a notch, and that hungry look as he regarded her.

  ‘Is this a solo mission?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘Nope. The man’s got to have his cake.’

  Down to his boxers, Ryan slipped into the kitchen where the cardboard box containing their leftovers had been tossed on to the counter. He returned with it, a bottle of chocolate drink syrup and a spoon and sat on the edge of the bed.

  Evie giggled, and he shot her a scolding look.

  ‘You know I used to work in a café back when I was in university, right? I could make a macchiato in my sleep, complete with the leaf design. Presentation was just as important as the food.’

  ‘Oh, my God, I don’t believe this,’ she said as he uncorked the syrup and held it over her stomach. ‘I’m dessert.’

  ‘You’re dessert,’ he agreed, and drizzled the chocolate in spirals all over her body, careful to avoid the expensive bra she was trapped in. She flinched – the syrup had come from the fridge and was freezing – as he drew streaks leading away from her bare and pink pussy, then sighed as he leaned down to lick up a drop that ran down her thigh.

  Next came the cake. Ryan mashed it before dropping spoonfuls in the tracks he had made.

  ‘Careful. You don’t want this all over your clean bedding,’ he warned as she started to squirm.

  ‘Then you’d better hurry up. I can feel it melting already.’

  ‘A little hot, Miss Potter?’

  He watched her retort quiver on her bottom lip, and then watched her bite it back.

  ‘Of course I am,’ she conceded huskily. ‘I’m always hot when I’m with you.’

  Ryan let the last dollop of cake fall on her stomach, then set everything aside and bent over her. He was careful not to wreck his culinary masterpiece as he kissed her, though all it took was the silk of his tongue against hers to make her want to break free from her restraints and just take him.

  He drew back before they both ended up covered in sweat, sex and chocolate and went for the phone he’d left between her legs.

  ‘Home. Evie’s,’ he recited as he typed.

  And then he took a picture to send with it.

  ‘Ryan!’ Her tone had none of the outrage she’d meant to convey, and her giggle told him just how she really felt about what he had done.

  Still, he said, ‘I didn’t include your face in the picture.’

  ‘I don’t think he’ll show anyone,’ she said, and lifted her head at the sound of Seth coming up the fire escape. ‘That was quick.’

  ‘If someone sent me a picture of you covered in chocolate and cake, I’d bust through the floor like the Hulk.’

  Seth emerged from the shadows and laughed as he leaned against the doorjamb.

  ‘Look at you,’ he said, and touched his tongue to his upper lip, then cocked his head at Ryan. ‘What are we celebrating?’

  ‘I don’t think we’ve properly thanked Evie for bringing us all together.’ Ryan licked a streak of chocolate he had missed on the back of his hand.

  ‘How do you propose we do that?’

  Ryan turned his crooked grin to Evie. Seth joined him at the foot of the bed and undressed. They stood over her, two sentinels looking down upon a valuable prize. As she grew more feverish, the confectionery melted and ran down her body in ticklish rivulets. Her shiver wasn’t from the cold.

  Seth was down to his tartan boxers. Both men were hard, and she wondered how they’d have her this time. The straps that kept her tethered were long enough that she could be twisted any number of ways. Her head spun with the possibilities, but it was Seth’s next move that made her whimper from the throbbing ache between her thighs.

  He turned and helped himself to a handful of Ryan’s hair, dragged him closer and splayed the other hand across Ryan’s flat belly.

  ‘She’s not going anywhere,’ he said, low but loud enough for her to hear. ‘What do you say you let me take care of this so we can give her our undivided attention?’

  With a hungry growl, Seth rubbed Ryan through his boxers.

  ‘Oh,’ Evie sighed as Ryan closed his eyes and moaned.

  Free of her bonds, Evie would have loved to pin him from the other side, push down his shorts as Seth did now and fall to her knees to take what Seth placed upon her lips.

  Instead she squirmed as she watched her boyfriend do the same against Seth. Hungry sounds spurted over his lips in tune with the firm hand that worked him.

  Chin propped on Ryan’s shoulder, Seth turned his gaze upon Evie and grinned.

  ‘Look at how wet she’s getting.’ He jerked Ryan around and pushed his head down. ‘Look how bad she’d love to get a little attention on her clit.’

  ‘She can wait,’ Ryan replied quickly, and with a twist he released himself from Seth’s grip. Standing nose to nose with the bigger man, he hooked his fingers in Seth’s waistband. ‘She can wait all night if that’s what it takes.’

  ‘Takes for what?’

  ‘For me to come in your mouth for a change.’ He shoved Seth’s shorts to his knees, then took a step back.

  The sugary sweets ran in rivers over her now. She was so sticky and hot, so ready for them both, but the lure of Ryan’s edict kept her from begging. She’d seen Ryan on his knees before Seth, had joined him with tongues twisting together as he jetted against their lips. She’d touched herself as Seth pushed Ryan’s head into the bedding and took his ass.

  Not once had Seth supplicated either one of them and they hadn’t asked, but now it appeared that Ryan was telling him – in that same tone he used on Evie.

  Seth pushed his shorts all the way down and kicked them away, then strode to the head of the bed.

  ‘I know you want the best view, sweetheart, but I’m an old man and my knees aren’t what they once were.’ He pulled one of the pillows from beneath her head and tossed it on to the floor at the bedside, then bunched the remaining one behind her. ‘You’re not the only one getting messy tonight. What do you think of that?’

  ‘I think you’d better make it worth the wait,’ she retorted.

  He looked at Ryan and patted the bedding at Evie’s hip. ‘You heard the lady. Sit your ass down so I can give her something to think about.’

  Ryan took his place, giving her a saucy grin as he leaned back over her body and rested on his hands. Down to his knees Seth went, then leaned aside and plucked one of Evie’s hair elastics from her night table.

  ‘I’m a little nervous,’ he joked as he twisted his thick hair at the back of his head. ‘The two of you kind of set the bar when it comes to blowjobs, together and apart. I might be a little rusty.’

  ‘I doubt that,’ Ryan retorted, then lifted his hips as Seth lowered his head.

  If Seth was out of practice, Ryan didn’t seem to mind. He moved in sync with Seth, pushing up, and Seth took a little more with each thrust.

  Watching, Evie was driven out of her mind and body. Though they often worked together, Seth would usually overtake Ryan and assert his dominance over the couple. No matter what they did together, he just didn’t seem the type to be ordered about.

  Yet now, as Ryan rested his hand on the top of Seth’s head and pushed up into that greedy mouth, she wondered if different circumstances would see Seth bent in the middle of the bed, hands bound above that lightly furred ass, made to beg for more the way he did Ryan or Evie.

  She tried and failed to struggle up on to her elbows to get a better vantage point. Her grunt of frustration earned Seth’s attention. He held on to her gaze as he ran his pink tongue alon
g the underside of Ryan’s cock. Such softness in contrast to the scarred hand that wrapped around that thick shaft, and that bristle of beard framing his wet mouth.

  ‘Never mind her, she’s not going anywhere,’ Ryan reminded him, then hissed as Seth bared his teeth and grazed the glistening crest.

  They’d done a lot of things to tease her in the last couple of weeks, but this was by far the worst. God, if they really kept this up all night she might bend the bars of her headboard trying to get loose. She couldn’t do anything. She was all but ignored as Ryan slung his legs around Seth’s massive shoulders. She twisted in her restraints, not to escape but because she couldn’t stay still. She was so swollen between her spread legs, so slick, that it would be a miracle if she didn’t come screaming the moment one of them touched her.

  ‘Rusty, my ass,’ Ryan said through his teeth, then arched up as Seth took almost all of him into his mouth. He fell silent for a moment and Evie held her breath along with him, until he grasped the bunch of hair behind Seth’s head and let out a desperate cry.

  As mesmerised as she was the first time she watched Seth do the same, Evie trembled at the thrill of seeing that thick fluid rain over Seth’s tongue and drizzle into his beard.

  When every drop had been licked up, Seth rose and stood over him. She hadn’t realised that he’d been taking care of his own hard-on out of sight. Now he cranked the length to the finish, uttering a curse as the stream splashed against Ryan’s chest.

  Done with being ignored, Evie shunted against the mattress.

  ‘If someone doesn’t make me come soon, I’m going to bust this headboard out.’

  Seth laughed, but Ryan gave her a playful scowl.

  ‘Big talk for a little woman tied to the bed. You ought to be a bit more considerate, considering we’re both a little weak in the knees.’ He swung his gaze back to Seth. ‘Behind you. Top drawer.’

  ‘More toys?’

  ‘Something a little more old-school than that.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ she sighed, but her jubilation amped up a notch as Seth went to the dresser and chuckled. He drew from the mixture of winter wares a thin black and white scarf.