Progressing with Storm [Granite County 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting ManLove)

by Bellann Summer

  “What do you need, Corey?” he asked.

  Corey sat up a little. The hazel color of his eyes changed so rapidly it looked as if they were swirling with emotions. “I need a kiss goodnight and good morning. I need a kiss in greeting and at goodbye. I need a genuine thank you if I give you a gift.”

  “It has to be a reasonable gift,” Kris said.

  Corey nodded, but Storm saw the hurt expression on his face. Storm placed a tender kiss on Corey’s lips. “It’ll be fine, honey. We’ll work it out.”

  “Okay,” Corey whispered.

  “Are we in agreement? We’re now going steady?” Storm asked. He received the reaction he was looking for. Both men laughed.

  “I didn’t know people went steady anymore,” Corey commented.

  “Well, we haven’t progressed to dating yet,” Storm pointed out.

  * * * *

  Corey sat on his lonely full-sized, four-poster bed wondering what the hell he was doing. When he’d had the epiphany and come back to Kris, he’d thought they would get back together and everything would be great.

  Instead, they had separate bedrooms, and Kris was clearly harboring a lot of anger toward him. When Storm demanded rules, Corey’s heart hurt that all of Kris’s rules were directed at him. He couldn’t understand why Storm would want to join their messed-up relationship.

  Thinking about Storm had Corey yearning to go and find the man. Kris’s isolation was pushing Corey to the brink mentally and physically.

  A knock on the bedroom door brought Corey out of his frustrating thoughts. “Come in,” he called. With his bandaged hands, it wasn’t like he could easily open the door.

  “I’m glad to see Kris helped you get into your sleep clothes,” Storm said as he stepped into the room.

  Corey couldn’t speak. His purple T-shirt and green plaid sleep pants didn’t compare to the way Storm’s blue boxer-briefs revealed the man’s huge, muscled thighs and long legs. Drool pooled in Corey’s mouth at the way the material emphasized Storm’s package.

  Storm wasn’t wearing a shirt. Now that Corey’s brain wasn’t hazy from the powerful drugs the doctor had given him, he clearly saw Storm’s massive chest. He didn’t know real men could look like that. Chest, shoulder, and ab muscles that were so hard you could crack an egg on flexed with Storm’s every move. Corey’s dick plumped up, letting him know it was ready for Storm’s attention.

  Jagged scars and what Corey suspected were bullet holes couldn’t detract from the man’s beauty. A badass tattoo added to the breath-taking overall picture. It graced Storm’s left shoulder and ran down to his wrist in a swirl of colors and shapes. The tornado on his shoulder stood out, as well as an American flag.

  “Corey?” Storm’s voice caught Corey’s attention.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Um, sure?”

  Storm chuckled, and Corey’s want turned into need. “I came to see if you needed anything,” Storm said.

  Corey groaned. He was sure a powerful someone in the universe hated him. Storm’s big arm wrapped around his shoulders, and Corey groaned again.

  “Come on, honey. Tell me what’s wrong,” Storm said.

  Corey buried his face into Storm’s shoulder and breathed in a clean, musky scent that was all Storm. Corey decided he wanted to soak in the luxury and never leave Storm’s arms for at least a couple of years. To Corey’s dismay, his body had other ideas, and he felt pressure in his balls.

  “Storm, don’t move,” he pleaded.

  “Shit, Corey, is it your head? Did you hurt your back, and they didn’t catch it?” Storm’s concern only made things worse.

  “Storm, you have to give me a minute. It’s been too long, and I miss Kris so much, and now you are here, and I’m so attracted to you, and it’s been so long.” Corey couldn’t stop the words bubbling out. “I should be this upstanding guy and stand by my boyfriend in his time of need. It should be all about him, not me. But sometimes the loneliness hurts so bad it tears me up inside, and my hand is no substitute for Kris. Storm, if you move right now, I’m going to come, and then the guilt will eat me up.”

  Quiet ensued, and Corey started getting control of his traitorous body.

  “Did Kris decide on the separate bedrooms?” Storm asked.

  “Yes. He insists that Oliver didn’t rape him. But I think he did. Since the attack, he won’t let me see or touch his body. When he came home from the hospital, he wouldn’t let me help him. I finally had to hire a nurse.” Corey took a deep breath to calm down. “I try, I really do, but he will only allow me to do so much.”

  Talking about the situation had a cold-shower effect on Corey’s dick. He lifted his head and looked up into Storm’s handsome face. “If I were you, I’d get out of here. Kris and I are fucked up.”

  Storm’s face hardened, and his blue eyes flashed with anger. “There will be no more running.”

  The next moment Corey was lifted in the air and being carried out of the room.

  Chapter Ten

  Kris helped Corey get ready for bed before taking the hottest shower he could stand to try and chase away the cold. Now that Kris thought about it, he hadn’t felt warm since the day Oliver came into the store that last time and dragged him into the back storage room. That had been a few hours after Kris had said that maybe they should cool their relationship down a little.

  During their time together Kris had convinced himself that it was his duty as a good boyfriend to let Oliver shove his dick into him without preparation. That last time when he couldn’t stop from crying out in pain Oliver held him down and pulled out a knife.

  The doctor Kris had talked to in the hospital after that nightmare had explained that his mind had shut down to protect himself from the events that followed. Kris knew only that he didn’t remember anything else until opened his eyes to Oliver rigging up a series of wires, and what Kris later found out was a bomb, to the shop’s delivery doors.

  He faked unconsciousness when Oliver walked over and stood next to him. The hardest thing Kris had ever done in his life was not move when he felt Oliver’s gaze on him. And then the madman had laughed. Kris’s heart stopped, and he thought it would never start again because his terror was so great. After the insane laughter had stopped, Oliver laid something on his chest and walked away. Much later Kris found an ounce of courage and opened his eyes. A pink orchid was lying over his heart. With the last of his strength, he threw it off of him.

  Kris took out the prescription lotion the doctor gave him to ease his sensitive skin. After a month, the skin the doctors had to sew together was somewhat touchable and getting more comfortable every day. Running his lotion-slick palm down his arm, he tried to suppress the shudder when his fingers dipped down into the concave where muscle used to be. The doctors assured him the hollowed out indents that now covered him would fill in somewhat. That didn’t make it any easier for Kris to look at his disfigured, hideous body.

  After Kris had finished with the lotion, he put on lightweight long-sleeved pajamas with matching pants. Pulling down the sheets and blankets, Kris sat on the big bed wishing life was different.

  There was a thump on the bedroom door, and Storm’s voice rang out, “Kris, open up.”

  Crossing the room, Kris tried to figure out what could have happened. Ralph was safe in the utility room. Kris had fun helping Storm make a bunny nest for him. He’d assisted Corey and had told Storm where the clean sheets for his bed were. Kris opened the door and stood there amazed when Storm barged into the room carrying Corey.

  “Good, it looks big enough,” Storm commented. The confusing man proceeded to set Corey down onto the king-sized bed.

  “What’s going on? Corey, are you hurt?” Kris asked. Storm’s body was blocking Corey, and Kris couldn’t see him.

  “No, he’s not hurt,” Storm stated and turned to Kris.

  Before Kris could react to the determined expression on Storm’s face, the man scooped Kris up into his arms and proc
eeded to climb into the bed. Storm didn’t stop moving until he was sitting in the middle with Kris on his lap.

  Kris looked at Corey, who turned over until he was facing them. The wary look on his face put Kris on alert.

  The passive Kris, who at one time had let everyone do what they wanted, had left the building after the last time Corey came back. Frowning, Kris looked up at Storm and asked, “Are you going to keep picking up and putting us wherever you want? There’s this thing called asking. It does work sometimes. For instance, why are you two in here?”

  Storm’s expression darkened, and Kris started to worry he’d gone too far.

  “Fine, I can ask,” Storm said. “Corey, come here. I want you near us.” Corey slid closer, and Storm looked back at Kris. “See, I can listen. I wanted to pull him over, so his leg was touching mine, but this worked too. As for why we’re here, Corey and I don’t like separate bedrooms.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this?” Kris asked. A knot of fear started forming in his gut.

  “From what I understand, you’ve been alone since the attack,” Storm pointed out.

  “I needed time,” Kris defended. A trickle of sweat made its way down his spine.

  “You’ve had time. All we want to do is snuggle and be together. That’s not too much to ask.”

  “Corey?” Kris looked down at his lover. Those hazel eyes that Kris loved so much glistened with emotions.

  “I miss you, Kris. Will you try?”

  Kris turned to Storm. Their eyes met, and they continued to study each other. Kris understood his choices were few if he wanted Storm and Corey in his life. “All right. But you don’t have any clothes on.”

  “And you have too many clothes on.” Storm’s blue eyes were twinkling, and Kris wanted to kick him.

  “I’m cold,” he defended.

  “I’ll keep you warm.”

  “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” Kris was starting to think this was a bad idea.

  “Let him keep the pajamas on. As long as we can be together, I’m happy,” Corey said.

  Kris reached out to Corey and laid his hand on his leg. Love welled up inside him and covered the fear. “Thank you.”

  Corey’s smile enhanced his already handsome face. Kris leaned forward and laid his hand on Corey’s cheek. The short, rough whiskers scratched against his tender palm. Corey lifted up from his reclining position, and they kissed. For the first time in a long time, Kris felt a true connection between them.

  Too soon, the kiss ended. Kris sat up, and his gaze locked onto Storm. If seemed natural to lift his mouth to the big man. Storm immediately took control. The kiss was brief but potent enough to leave Kris boneless.

  Relaxing against Storm’s chest, he watched Storm snag his hand around the back of Corey’s neck and pull him up. Their kiss was rougher and contained enough tongue to have Kris’s heart speed up with excitement.

  Both men’s lips were wet when the kiss ended. Kris wanted to lick them dry and then get them all wet again. That thought startled him.

  Storm ended the moment by saying, “Let’s get some sleep. We can continue this tomorrow.”

  Shortly after that, Kris found himself lying on one side of Storm with Corey on the other. He wasn’t sure about this whole snuggling thing, but his last thoughts before sleep overtook him was to wonder what exactly they were continuing with the next day. And would it be as exciting as things had been so far?

  * * * *

  The persistent ringing of a phone seeped through the thick fog of sleep in Storm’s brain. Storm opened his eyes to a light blue ceiling divided down the middle by a crooked crack in the plaster. He had woken up four mornings in a row snuggled between Kris and Corey, and looking up at that ceiling. Someday he was going to patch up that crack.

  The phone continued to ring, and neither man sleeping next to him moved. Storm wasn’t surprised. They both slept like the dead, only in totally different ways.

  Corey was most comfortable on his stomach, burrowed as deep into Storm’s side as he could get. At times, he was almost under Storm. Kris was the opposite. He lay on his back and stretched out using as much of the bed as he could steal. Currently, Storm had a thin arm across his neck and a slim leg lying over both of his. The one time Storm teased Kris about his snoring resulted in Corey waving his hands in warning and Storm almost ducking from the fire in the stink eye Kris had thrown at him.

  Reaching across the bed, Storm picked up Kris’s phone. Heidi’s name showed up in big letters across the screen.

  “Hello,” Storm said.

  “This is Heidi. I’m trying to reach Kris.” Urgency marred the woman’s words.

  “Just a minute,” Storm responded.

  Storm laced his fingers through the hand near his ear. “Kris, wake up, sugar. You need to talk to Heidi.”

  Kris’s arm across Storm’s neck pressed on his windpipe when Kris moved around and groaned. Storm brought Kris’s hand to his mouth and kissed it. Neither of his men woke up easy or ready to dance a polka.

  Storm put the phone next to Kris’s ear. “Talk, Heidi,” he said, raising his voice so she could hear him.

  After a few seconds, Kris’s light blue eyes popped open. He stared up at the ceiling and nodded. Kris frowned and looked confused before clearing his throat and saying, “Yes. Okay, that’s fine.”

  Kris took the phone out of Storm’s hand and ended the call. “Heidi thinks her son Jerry has strep throat. The clinic can see him if she has him there within the next twenty minutes. I need to go open the shop.”

  Corey popped his head out from under Storm’s armpit and said, “Do you have time to eat breakfast?”

  Kris shook his head. “No, I’m going to jump in the shower and head right over there.”

  “You need to eat,” Corey insisted.

  “I think you and I can make something for Kris and take it over to the shop,” Storm said.

  “Or you could pick up some blueberry muffins, and we could share them,” Kris said.

  “We could do that,” Storm agreed.

  Kris had a weakness for anything blueberry. One evening they had blueberry pancakes for dinner. As long as there were bacon and sausages with them, Storm didn’t care what else Kris served.

  “I have to go,” Kris said. He gave Storm a quick kiss before leaning over and kissing Corey.

  Over the last four days, Kris had diligently fulfilled Corey’s request for greeting and parting kisses. Both men seemed to be doing their best to work things out, and the tension between them was easing more every day.

  Yesterday, Storm had walked into the kitchen and found the two men in a heated make-out session. But the minute Corey went beyond kisses, Kris backed off. Storm, too, had enjoyed some steamy kisses with each man. He had kept things light between them, not pushing for anything more physical than either man was ready to give. He found he enjoyed this getting-to-know-them period. But Storm’s instincts were happily telling him that soon things were going to progress into something more than going steady.

  Kris disappeared into the bathroom. Five minutes later he came back dressed and with the ends of his dark hair still damp. After goodbye kisses, Storm heard Kris’s footsteps walk down the short hall and descend the creaking wooden staircase. Minutes later the back door banged shut and a car engine started.

  “Why doesn’t Kris park his car in the garage?” Storm asked.

  The day after the three had gotten together, Kris had Corey and Storm put their vehicles in the garage. Yet Kris’s car sat outside.

  “I don’t know,” Corey answered. “I think half the time he forgets and the other half he’s too impatient to wait for the garage door to open and close.”

  Storm captured Corey’s lips. Corey let him in, and Storm enjoyed every taste and feel of the sexy man’s mouth. Storm’s cock lengthened, wanting more of Corey.

  Corey responded by humping his hard dick through the thin material of his sleep pants against Storm’s bare thigh. Storm flexed his leg
muscle, and Corey cried out.

  Storm became caught up in his need for Corey’s body. He deepened the kiss, sucking on Corey’s tongue. Storm’s hips thrust forward, his hard cock seeking relief. Hands landed on Storm’s shoulders, and Corey cried out in pain.

  Storm ripped his mouth away from Corey’s. He scanned the smaller man’s stiff body searching for the source of his discomfort. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “My hands. I tried to hold on to you,” Corey answered.

  Storm leaned his forehead against Corey’s, giving them time to calm down. When he could breathe normally again, Storm said, “Are you okay?”

  Corey’s smile held a touch of sadness. “Yeah. I need to take a shower.”

  “I can help you.” Storm kissed Corey’s nose.

  “Give me a minute, and I’ll call you when I need you,” Corey said.

  “Okay.” There was an odd note in Corey’s tone, but Storm decided now wasn’t the time to push the man for his thoughts. He regretted that decision when Corey left their bed. Right before he disappeared into the bathroom, Storm caught a glimpse at the look on his face. Corey was pissed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kris hurried to his Honda, happy that every evening he preset the coffee pot to a timer. In the morning, lovely hot liquid of the gods waited for him. Today he carried a large insulated travel mug filled with the wonderful goodness that would hold him over until the guys brought food to the shop.

  Opening the car door, Kris heard a noise behind him. Startled, he swung around. Standing before him was Jerry’s friend George.

  “Hi, Mr. Winters.” George smiled, showing Kris a mouth full of wire braces.

  Kris didn’t know what to think. Over the years, he had seen Jerry and his sidekick George riding bikes around the neighborhood with baseball gloves hooked over the handlebars. The last few years, baseball equipment had been replaced by earbuds and smartphones. It was unusual enough to see one boy without the other, but Kris couldn’t recall George ever talking to him before. There had been a time Kris doubted George knew how to talk until Heidi had assured him he could.