Cross My Heart

by A. M. Hartnett

Ryan got up from the bed. ‘Do your thing while I clean up.’

  Left alone with Seth, Evie stuck out her bottom lip. ‘You know, it’ll be more fun if you let me loose.’

  ‘That’s what you think.’ He folded the scarf over itself, then covered her eyes. ‘You looked a little surprised when I was sucking your boy’s cock.’

  ‘I was,’ she confessed. ‘You do it a lot before?’

  ‘Probably more than you have.’

  Evie sniggered as he made a knot against her temple. ‘You should give me and Ryan some lessons.’

  ‘I don’t think either one of you needs lessons.’

  Ryan’s footfall on the bare floor ended the conversation. ‘Here. Wipe your beard.’

  The bed juddered beneath her, and Evie gasped as fresh syrup was drizzled all over her body.

  ‘Guess I can kiss these sheets goodbye,’ she murmured.

  The bed sagged again and she heard a whisper, then sighed as two tongues followed the tracks Ryan had made on her legs.

  To hell with the sheets. To hell with everything as Ryan and Seth covered every inch of sticky flesh. Beginning with her legs and leaping to her arms, licking and sucking and nipping, coming together between her swollen breasts.

  ‘Coffee?’ Seth teased, then bit down on her nipple.

  ‘Mocha.’

  ‘Good stuff.’

  Evie giggled and lifted her head from the pillow. ‘No whipped cream?’

  ‘Let’s not get too fancy,’ Ryan replied, and led the way with his tongue to where her clit had plumped from its shelter.

  Seth followed, and Evie moaned as both tongues invaded her.

  Mercifully, neither broke to tease her any further as they devoured her with the same gluttony Seth had used on Ryan. In spite of her restraints, both had to hold her down, pushing on her thighs to keep her from wriggling as the pleasure became more and more intense.

  Yet each time she came close and cried out that she was there, that she was ready, they retreated. Seth’s beard tickled the insides of her thighs as he moved down to give her a maddening tongue-fuck, while Ryan tickled the tip of his tongue around and around her clit, close enough to keep pumping her with this insanity but not close enough to offer any relief.

  Another whisper and the rip of Velcro made her jolt. Though both her legs were let loose, she was given no freedom. They spread her out completely, one leg draped over each man’s shoulder. The hysteria of the moment made it impossible for her to tell who pumped his fingers into her pussy and who spread apart her slippery lips.

  A scream threatened at the back of her throat but she couldn’t get it out. She could barely breathe as together they lapped at her. Twin tongues left not a single nerve-ending untouched. There was no end to it, and for a moment she was certain this was how she would die, ripped apart by the infinite rhapsody they played upon her.

  And then it came, sparking where their tongues met and exploding through her body. She jerked and was held down, made to endure every last lick even as she begged them to stop, until both had taken their fill and were sated.

  When they retreated and she was able to catch her breath, Evie shook her wrist. ‘Let me loose.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Ryan. He removed the scarf and stood at her side, winding the fabric around both palms as he looked down on her. ‘I don’t know about Seth, but I’m going to be ready to go again.’

  Seth climbed up her body and straddled her waist. Like Ryan’s, his cock was beginning to fill out again. ‘I’m with you, but I think she could stand a few minutes to recharge.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ Ryan let the scarf loose and tossed it on to her chest. He bowed over her, took her chin and turned her head. ‘We’re going for a beer on the fire escape. Don’t get too comfortable.’

  ‘You’re mean boys,’ she teased and snapped her teeth at his bottom lip.

  ‘Oh, we’re mean, aren’t we?’ He glanced to Seth. ‘Two beers?’

  ‘It’ll keep me up, but I don’t see how that’s going to be a problem.’ He leaped from the bed and pulled on his shorts. ‘Thanks for the dessert, sweetheart.’

  Evie sucked in a deep breath and blew it out on a growl. ‘I’ll get my revenge.’

  ‘You work on that while you’re alone in here.’

  He held up his hand and caught the jockeys Seth tossed to him. ‘Maybe we’ll split a third.’

  Seth followed him, then glanced over his shoulder as he reached the threshold. ‘You better be nice to him when he comes back in here. I think all this control has made him power hungry.’

  Ryan hit the lights, and with their exit Evie groaned – not in complaint, but in celebration.

  Left wonderfully slippery and lethargic, she closed her eyes. She wouldn’t plot any revenge. It would be much more fun to see what more they could dish out to her.

  ‘Can I ask you a question?’ Ryan approached cautiously while Evie was in the shower.

  Seth nodded, eyes flicking to Ryan as he lit his cigarette. He took a long drag and blew it out the window. ‘Fire away.’

  Even with permission, Ryan hesitated. He knew asking Seth about Rita in passing was all right, but he wasn’t sure just how well the widower would deal with deeper questions. He knew he should keep his mouth shut, but the question had been curdling in his gut ever since Evie left them.

  ‘You and Rita – you said you both used to have play dates like these. Was it always like that?’

  Seth chuckled. ‘No. It took us years to go beyond toys. Then when Rita got laid off and started hanging around the apartment all day with me, she spent more time online. I’d walk in and she was forever sitting at the kitchen table with her feet up and the laptop in front of her, cigarette in one hand and typing away with the other. One day she hit upon some adult site that had streaming videos. We were just going to watch, but after we watched for a while we decided to do some broadcasting of our own. Then we started to get men and women from nearby messaging us to see if we wanted to play. We figured, why the hell not?’

  ‘Just like that?’

  ‘Just like that. I mean, we talked about it. It was just going to be sex.’ He tapped the end of his cigarette out into the balcony and grinned. ‘Unlike you, we didn’t feel the need for a lengthy selection process.’

  ‘It wasn’t lengthy,’ Ryan mumbled, then with Seth’s snort he rolled his eyes and nodded. ‘Yeah, it was lengthy.’

  ‘It’s probably easier to get a ticket to the Super Bowl than to your bedroom.’

  Ryan didn’t want to laugh, but the sarcasm dripping from Seth’s words pinched him and he sniggered.

  ‘I told you, you’ve got to be cautious.’

  ‘And nothing happened until you were spontaneous,’ Seth reminded him. He finished off his cigarette and crushed the butt on the windowsill. ‘Rita and I played in moderation. We’d wait until the itch struck one or both of us, and we’d get it out of our system, and that would be that.’

  ‘You never worried it would send things south with you and Rita?’

  ‘Why would it? We were doing it together, not to mess around with one another.’ Seth leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, and stared at Ryan. ‘Second thoughts?’

  ‘No, I was just curious. As crazy as it sounds, it sometimes feels a little like we’re the only ones doing something kinky like this.’

  ‘That’s how Rita and I felt.’ Seth lowered his gaze and turned his attention to the package of cigarettes next to him. ‘She would have got the biggest kick out of this, called me a stud and kept at it until I growled at her. She was one for trying to wind me up. Evie reminds me a little of her, if you want the truth. She’s got that same wit. Maybe that’s why I like talking to her so much.’

  ‘Yeah, and it’s hard to stay mad at her,’ Ryan conceded, surprised that Seth’s comment hadn’t sparked that acrid bubble in his stomach. It pleased him, like he was shaking off some of the tension he’d been carrying for all these weeks.

  ‘Why did you ask?’ Seth probed, a
s deeper in the apartment Evie turned off the shower.

  ‘I was just curious. I guess it’s no secret that this has all made me a little manic.’

  Seth chuckled. ‘No shit. You gotta relax, man. You’ve always got this look of panic on your face. I thought it was just this whole thing, but now that I think about it you wear it all the time.’

  ‘I can’t help it, I’m a natural worrier.’

  ‘And what do you have to worry about?’ Seth asked with a smirk. ‘Good job, roof over your head, beautiful woman who can’t take her eyes off you even when another man is inside her, and you suck cock like you’re getting paid to do it.’

  ‘Thanks, I think.’ He stood with Seth but before he could turn he found himself captive with a beefy hand at the back of his neck. He had only a chance to draw a quick breath before that hard mouth crushed against his.

  Of all the things they had done, kissing hadn’t been one, save for that first time. This wasn’t like when they joined together and kissed Evie in the midst of it all. His heart didn’t give the same kick as when he kissed her, but he felt the punch in his gut, breaking free something that was still unexpected and powerful.

  Seth held tight as his tongue insisted past Ryan’s lips, and with a shudder Ryan conceded to the other man’s demand. He angled the way Seth’s grip demanded and opened his mouth for the hot invasion, drunk in moments and left panting when it ended.

  ‘That’s the sort of thing you miss when you think too hard,’ Seth said quietly. ‘Stop asking so many questions and just let your instinct take over once in a while.’

  ‘Thanks?’ Ryan managed, still too dazed to say anything intelligent.

  Grinning, Seth gave Ryan’s hair a quick tug before releasing him completely. ‘Tell Evie I’ll see her tomorrow night.’

  Moving like he floated, Ryan went back inside and pushed down the window, then met Evie as she came out of the shower.

  ‘What’s wrong with you?’ she asked, eyeing him as they headed back to the bedroom.

  ‘Nothing,’ he lied, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t keep the giddiness inside. He let it out in a laugh and flopped down on the bed. ‘Seth just snogged the lips off me.’

  ‘Oh? Have a little crush now, do we?’

  Her laughter vibrating through her naked and damp body, Evie straddled him. She grasped his wrists and pinned him, arms over his head, her smile as wicked as Seth’s now that she had her captive.

  ‘A little bit,’ he confessed, drawing his knees up behind her to give her the throne she deserved. ‘It was kind of like when I first kissed you. He just did it. Not nearly as good, though.’

  ‘Ours was a good first kiss, wasn’t it?’ She bowed down with a little purr and nibbled the corner of his mouth. ‘I think he has a bit of a crush on you, too.’

  Ryan scoffed. ‘Can you blame him? I’m fucking adorable.’

  Her gentle kiss turned into a raspberry on his cheek and, as her giggles took over, she released her hold and dropped down next to him. He seized the opportunity and put her in the same captivity he had been released from.

  ‘Promise me one thing,’ she whispered as he nuzzled between her breasts.

  ‘Mmmm?’

  ‘If you two decide to run away together, take me with you. I won’t be much trouble.’

  Ryan snorted. ‘Right. You’re more trouble than the two of us combined. I wouldn’t worry about Seth and me running off to elope.’

  ‘And why is that?’ she asked, lifting her head to chase his kiss as he righted himself.

  He held on to her wrists as he settled back, then drew her on to his lap and cupped two glorious handfuls of her ass as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  ‘It was a good kiss,’ he conceded, his smile turning crooked as he cocked his head. ‘But not as good as this one.’

  He felt her melt a little as he pressed his lips to hers, and there it was – that kick, that love-craze that filled him every damn time. He held her tighter and melted right along with her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Even with her hair damp and streaked across her forehead, spotted all over with red splotches, her mascara streaking under her eyes, Evie was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

  Sealing his mouth around her clit, he kept his eyes upon her face as he sucked her. She bucked up with a gasp, but trapped in Seth’s big arms she could go no further and she didn’t bother to beg that she needed some time to recover from the delirium his tongue had brought out in her just moments ago. She was trapped doubly: in Seth’s grip that cinched around her torso while his legs kept hers apart, and by both men in the bed – one who used his cock and the other his lips and tongue.

  Even though it was Ryan who kept her in this frantic state, it was Seth who owned her in that moment. He spoke into her ear words not meant for Ryan, and she clung to him in a way she had only ever done with Ryan.

  Ryan abandoned his perch between her legs and climbed up, letting his fingers take over as he kissed her swollen lips and damp cheek, and before the impulse evaded him he murmured into her other ear.

  I love you.

  It was so easy to let those three words slip out, and when her eyes opened and she looked up at him with astonishment he felt something crack inside and all the exhilaration in his body oozed out.

  He said it again, and again and again as she squirmed with the onslaught of another climax. He took her other hand and squeezed it as she cried out.

  Barely a breath later, Seth grunted and the bed creaked as he went balls deep one last time.

  ‘Be right back,’ Ryan promised her as he swung on to the floor. He hated to leave her, but at this hour Seth wouldn’t linger and she’d be all his again. He threw on his boxers and went into the kitchen, where he guzzled a half a glass of soda before pouring another, and one for Evie.

  Seth emerged from the bedroom tugging his hoodie back on.

  ‘Come out for a smoke with me,’ he said quietly, bumping Ryan as he passed him.

  Ryan shook his head. ‘I’m going to hop in the shower.’

  He took another drink, and his mouthful gurgled at the back of his throat as Seth clamped an arm round his shoulders and yanked him close.

  ‘Come out for a smoke with me or else I’ll break all your fingers.’

  Words delivered in the same hot purr as when Seth had urged Evie to open up for him a short time ago, but now carrying with them a dead serious warning.

  Ryan swallowed hard and set his drink aside, then followed Seth to the fire escape.

  Once outside, Seth sat on the window ledge, blocking the way back inside. He lit a cigarette and glared at Ryan.

  ‘Feel better about yourself now?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  Seth leaned forward and punched Ryan in the thigh. Hard. Hard enough for the pain to make Ryan hiss through his teeth.

  ‘She’s probably in there crying her fucking eyes out because you’re a goddamn little prick.’

  ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

  ‘I heard you,’ Seth snapped, then drew hard on his cigarette. ‘I heard you, and so did she. While I had her like I did you just come out and tell her you love her?’

  Struck dumb, it took a moment for Ryan’s anger to bleed through the numbness. With it came the unwanted sour feeling of shame.

  ‘It just came out,’ he said, meaning it at first but realising once the words were out that it was a lie.

  He’d needed to tell her in that moment. He’d wanted her to hear him say it through the rush of blood as she climaxed.

  It was a mistake, he realised as soon as he could breathe again, but he didn’t think it was that big a mistake until he cringed under Seth’s glower.

  Seth drew long on his cigarette and glared at Ryan as he held the smoke in.

  ‘I’ve been trying to keep my nose out of it, but I think it’s time I asked you if you’re going to break her heart when all this is said and done and you’ve got what you want out of this,’ he
said through his teeth, ‘because, if that’s the case, let’s just get right to it so I can punch out your front teeth and get back to my miserable life.’

  It took a moment for Ryan to breathe again through his fury, and he returned Seth’s grimace. ‘You think you’re a part of this now?’

  ‘You made me a part of this. I told you, I’m not your fucking boyfriend, Ryan, and I’m not hers, but if you think I’m going to sit around with a hard-on watching you fuck her over you’ve got another thing coming.’

  ‘I’m not jerking her around. I love her,’ Ryan insisted. ‘I love her so much there are some days I can’t even look at her without wanting to burst out crying just because I can put my arms around her whenever I want.’

  ‘Then why did you wait until just now to tell her that?’

  ‘I don’t know why. I just felt it and for the first time I couldn’t hold it back.’

  ‘Bullshit. That wasn’t for her. That was for me. That was your way of bringing all the attention right back to you. Just when I think you’ve got over it, you do something like this. You’re just an insecure little brat.’

  Ryan had hit few people in his life, and he still didn’t plan on starting anything with a guy who could mop the floor with him. Nonetheless, he made a fist and imagined what it would be like to just once act on that impulse and knock Seth back.

  ‘If you have a problem with me being here,’ Seth went on, his gaze flicking quickly to Ryan’s side in a clear message that he knew what Ryan was thinking, ‘then you’d better take it up with me. I’ll back off.’

  ‘What if she doesn’t want you to back off?’

  ‘I can’t say I blame her. She knows what this is, even if you can’t wrap your head around it.’

  ‘And what is it?’ Ryan said through his teeth. He hated that Seth was presuming he knew more about Evie than he did.

  ‘How many more times do I have to say it? It’s the three of us fucking. Nothing more and nothing less. I’ve got it. She’s got it. Why can’t you get it?’

  Seth pushed away from the window, tossed his cigarette, then stood nose to nose with Ryan. He smelled of cigarettes and sweat, and there was some of Evie’s perfume on him as well.