The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 7

by Maxim Jakubowski

  Keith and Jake embraced there in the parking lot of the coliseum. Inside, the crowd was rowdy and loud – the show had just started. We had tickets, but it had taken us a bit too long to find each other in the many parking lots around the venue. Out among the many cars, the scene was quiet. The two men clapped each other on the back and talked about the usual things – how’s that truck holding up, how is your Momma doing, would you like to meet my girlfriend?

  Jake turned to me. He gave me a quick once-over, but that was enough. His eyes met mine and the appreciation in them was evident. I blushed as he looked at me.

  “The pleasure is all mine,” he said, and I blushed harder.

  Keith looked at me, then at Jake. He sized up the situation and cast a knowing grin in my direction.

  “Let’s ditch the show and go out to dinner,” he said.

  Dinner was at a bistro just outside of town, where the locals rarely bothered to venture and the out-of-towners seemed to have missed in favor of the concert going on down the street. We were practically alone in the restaurant. I twirled my fork through the spaghetti and listened as the two men talked about football and travel and music and everything in between. I occasionally spoke, but mostly I was just quiet, taking it all in while the two of them caught up on what life had brought them in the six months since they had last seen each other.

  “I’ve missed you,” Keith said once, and Jake smiled at him. The look that passed between them was that of two old friends who are closer than brothers, who have spent their lives looking after one another. Watching them together made me feel warm from the inside out.

  “I missed you too,” Jake said.

  Keith excused himself from the table shortly after that, and Jake turned to me.

  “You’ve been quiet all night,” he said.

  “I’ve been listening.”

  “Do you always do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Listen so intently? You don’t miss much. You seem comfortable as an observer. Either that, or you have something serious weighing on your mind.”

  I looked at him in surprise. “You read people very well,” I murmured.

  Jake smiled at me and took a sip of wine. “Sometimes.”

  “There’s nothing on my mind,” I said. We both knew I was lying. Jake didn’t say a word – he simply sat back in his chair and swirled the wine in his glass, staring straight at me.

  I tried not to squirm under his gaze. It was impossible.

  “I’ve got a few things on my mind,” I admitted.

  “I know how Keith is,” he said, and I looked at him in surprise. Jake went on. “I know why he wanted us to meet. I know what’s on his mind, so I’m pretty sure what’s on yours.”

  I took a big drink of my own wine. “So he’s done this before?”

  Jake shrugged. “I don’t think so, no. But I know he’s always wanted to.”

  “Why me?” I said, almost to myself.

  “Because you were open enough to consider it.”

  “But I’m not.”

  “You’re not?”

  “I can’t get past the lack of jealousy.”

  Jake shifted in his chair. His eyes dropped to his wineglass. “Some people just aren’t jealous. I know it’s hard to believe, but Keith really is one of those people. It must be hard to adjust.”

  “Did other women find it hard to adjust?”

  Jake smiled and answered carefully, “I think they just weren’t right for Keith.”

  “That’s a diplomatic answer.”

  “I’m a diplomatic kind of guy.”

  “Are you a jealous kind of guy?” The question came out of nowhere. I hadn’t even known I would ask it until the question was already out in the open. Jake raised an eyebrow. He blushed and for once, looked as though he didn’t have an answer. He looked over my shoulder.

  “Hey, look who’s back,” he said, and refused to meet my eyes for the rest of the meal.

  That night in bed, Keith asked me what I thought of Jake.

  “He’s a very nice man,” I said honestly. “I like his manner. And he’s very talkative but he doesn’t monopolize the conversation until you start talking about sports.”

  Keith laughed. “He’s the sports fanatic, definitely.”

  “I like him,” I said.

  “How much do you like him?”

  It was very odd to hear that question from Keith, knowing there was no jealousy behind it. There wasn’t even a hint of it in his tone. He was simply curious as to how I felt, and of course, there might be an agenda behind that curiosity.

  “A lot,” I said frankly. Keith cuddled me closer to his side.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Enough to like him as more than a friend?”

  I bit my lip. This was the strangest conversation I had ever had with anyone. “If I were not with you, maybe. But I’m a one-man kind of woman. You know that. I’m not going to look elsewhere. Even if you encourage me to do so.”

  Keith sat up in bed. I thought he was reaching for something on the nightstand, but he was actually reaching for his robe. He shrugged it on and walked out of the room. The door slammed behind him.

  I lay there for a moment, completely stunned. I didn’t know how to react. I couldn’t see the situation the same way he did. I couldn’t imagine doing what he wanted me to do, even though the fantasy was huge in the back of my mind. Sometimes I fantasized about more than two men – sometimes my fantasies involved gang-bangs, strings of men who wanted only one thing and took it, over and over and over. But could I actually do those things? The fantasies stopped at the point where the reality began. The fantasy was great but the reality might not be.

  But maybe that wasn’t what was really bothering me. Maybe it was the fact that Keith wanted the fantasy so badly, he wasn’t willing to see my point of view. I simply wasn’t comfortable with being with anyone else. Why couldn’t he accept that?

  Everything else about him was perfect. Why was I so intent on having a jealous man?

  I lay there for a very long time before Keith came back to the bedroom.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he crawled in beside me.

  I didn’t answer. Soon his breathing was deep and even, but I was awake for hours before I could finally join him in sleep.

  Keith awoke the next morning in a very pensive mood. We hung around the house and said little to each other during those hours when he was thinking things through. Finally he came to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

  “If you aren’t comfortable with it,” he said, “I won’t bring it up again.”

  I was startled by his change in attitude. I had a surprise for him, too.

  “I thought about it last night,” I admitted. “And I decided that I would try it.”

  Keith and I looked at each other, neither of us knowing how to respond. Finally Keith cleared his throat and kissed my forehead.

  “Seems we love each other enough to compromise,” he said.

  I took him down to the kitchen floor right then and there and had my way with him. Our lunch burned on the stove. I was making love to Keith, but Jake was in the back of my mind.

  The next night Jake came over for dinner.

  I had a whole spread for us – chicken with mushroom sauce, asparagus steamed to perfection, mashed potatoes and carrots that were golden with brown sugar. Fresh bread cooled on the sideboard. A good bottle of wine was chilling in the cooler. Jake walked up behind me in the kitchen and kissed me on the cheek.

  “It’s good to see you,” he said.

  We sat down to dinner and I watched the men talk. Keith kept looking at me, more animated than he had been in a long time. Jake was drinking the wine like it was going out of style. Keith watched him with growing concern.

  “Are you all right?” he asked once, and Jake glanced at me before he answered.

  “Of course I’m fine.”

  I was puzzled at Jake’s attitude. He had said he knew
how Keith was, and he had agreed to have dinner at our home – surely he knew the kind of things Keith and I had discussed since the first time we had dinner. He kept looking at me as though he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the proper words or the proper time.

  As I was cleaning the kitchen, Keith went out onto the porch. Jake leaned on the counter and looked at me.

  “You’re not okay with this,” he said bluntly.

  I didn’t play dumb. “I told him I was okay with it.”

  “That doesn’t mean you are.”

  I turned to Jake. His green eyes were bright with too much alcohol. He looked at me with a very guarded expression, but his body told a story he couldn’t hide. He was tense from head to toe. He drained the wine. I watched as he set the glass on the counter. He picked up the bottle and tipped it in my direction.

  “I think I’ll just drink from the well,” he said, and turned it up. I watched his throat move as he drank the wine. He sighed and looked at me, then motioned with the bottle.

  “Want some?”

  I stepped forward. Now that I was so close to him I could smell his cologne, something deep and woodsy and masculine. Jake moved the bottle away from between us, giving me even more opportunity to come closer. His free hand came around to the small of my back. The first touch was electric, almost frightening, and I suddenly knew that I wasn’t ready for this after all.

  Keith walked into the room. Jake put more pressure on my back and pulled me closer. I looked at Keith as he sank down into one of the kitchen chairs. I watched his eyes for any trace of jealousy, any sign that he was uncomfortable, but there was none. He looked at us with something that could only be approval.

  I stared at him. Minutes ticked by on the clock. Keith watched us closely. His eyes took in everything, from our toes to our hair and then back down. Jake tipped up the bottle again, and that was the only time Keith looked concerned about what was happening right in front of him in his kitchen.

  “You’re drinking fast,” Keith commented, and Jake looked at me.

  “I’m not drinking fast enough,” he said. The expression in his eyes was unreadable. He pulled me tight against him, hard enough that I could feel what the wine and the tension had done to him. His cock was hard as a rock. His whole body was tense. Jake didn’t take his eyes away from mine.

  I was very aware of Keith. He sat there and watched his friend pull me tight against him. He knew what was coming, and he wasn’t about to protest. I knew he wouldn’t. My body leaped at the thought of having Jake. My heart fell at the fact that I actually could.

  I twined my fingers through Jake’s hair and pulled him down for a kiss.

  Jake moaned lightly as soon as my lips touched his. His tongue found mine. He tasted like wine. I kissed him slowly. I took my time and explored every inch of his mouth. Jake’s arm came around me as he kissed me back. I was wrapped up in his arms, wrapped up in his scent, wrapped up in what he was making me feel – a deep and low trembling, right between my thighs.

  Jake uttered a curse against my lips. He pushed me back against the counter. He kissed me harder, all doubts forgotten. The fire that raged in me was obviously in him, too – he kissed me with what was almost desperation. I twined both hands into his hair as he settled himself firmly against me. My breath was harsh. His heart was beating even harder than mine was.

  It was only when I opened my eyes and pulled away to catch my breath that I remembered Keith was in the room. He sat on the chair at the other end of the kitchen. His eyes were bright with something I recognized. Keith was horny as hell.

  My face flooded with heat. Jake kissed his way down the side of my neck and then back up. He found my ear and the gentle stroke of his tongue made me shiver. I stared at Keith while Jake worked magic that made my nipples hard and my body wet. Keith stared right back. Jake thrust up against me, one time only, and whispered into my ear.

  “I would never let another man do this to you.”

  My heart and my body were plunged into confusion. Anger swamped me. Part of me wanted to pull Jake closer and another part of me wanted to push him away. Guilt was a violent tempest within my head. I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see Keith.

  But I couldn’t shake the fact that I wanted Jake.

  Jake was the one who stopped. He ran his fingers through my hair, kissed me hard and then slowly took a step back. He looked right at me while he spoke to Keith.

  “I can’t do this.”

  Keith looked from Jake to me. He didn’t seem surprised at all. Jake was breathing hard. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine for a long moment.

  “I’m the jealous kind,” Jake said.

  Keith did look surprised then. The edge of anger surfaced in his eyes. Though he buried it quickly, the quick blush on his face said he knew I saw it. Jake stepped away from me and handed me the wine. The bottle was cool but where his hand had been was almost slippery with warmth. He shook his head once, slowly, then turned and walked out of the kitchen. He went out the front door.

  “He’s too drunk to drive,” I told Keith. He didn’t meet my eyes.

  “He will be fine.”

  I ran to the front door. Jake was pulling out of the driveway. He gunned the engine and tore down the road without looking back. There was no way I could have stopped him.

  I turned to see Keith standing there behind me.

  “Is that what you wanted to see?” I almost hissed.

  “Yes.”

  I threw myself at him like a wildcat. Keith caught my arms and we both tumbled to the floor, right there in the open doorway. The wine bottle thumped on the floor and then rolled across the hardwood, spilling drops of wine as it went. Keith yanked my shirt open. I pulled his jeans down. Within seconds he was buried inside me, thrusting hard into the wetness Jake had created.

  It was the best fuck of my life.

  I could not get Jake off my mind. Keith called a few times but Jake never answered his phone, and didn’t return the messages. Days went by and Keith and I settled back into our routine. We rarely mentioned Jake and we never mentioned what had happened that night. It sat between us like the elephant in the room that nobody mentions, but that nobody can ignore.

  It was a few days later when Keith came into the bedroom and saw me packing the smallest of my suitcases.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  I was quiet as I pushed in a pair of sandals. “I’m taking a few days up at the cabin,” I said. “I need time to think.”

  Keith glared at me. He went from calm and collected to furious in the time it took me to answer him.

  “Like hell you are,” he said. “Like hell you do.”

  I wasn’t expecting that. Keith had taken my silence in stride these last few days. Surely he knew what was going through my head? Did he really think everything would continue as it had been?

  “I feel as though I have done something horrible,” I said to him, and I was chagrined at the tears that pricked my eyes. I had sworn that I wouldn’t cry over this. I took a deep breath. “I feel as though I have betrayed you, and myself, and even Jake. I need time to sort things out in my head and I can’t do that here with you.”

  Keith grabbed my wrist as I reached to close the suitcase. He shoved it off the bed. Clothes went everywhere. I didn’t move as he stood over me.

  “You said you were okay with what you did,” Keith said. “You were okay with it. What if Jake hadn’t stopped? You would have fucked him just like you fucked me as soon as he left.”

  My face flooded with heat.

  “I thought that was what you wanted,” I said to him.

  “I didn’t want to lose you over him!” Keith hollered.

  “That’s what I warned you might happen!” I hollered right back. “I told you I wasn’t comfortable with it! I told you I was a one-man woman! I told you those things and you kept insisting. You were so certain I would like it that you pushed and pushed and pushed and now this is how I feel and I
can’t help it. I don’t know what to think or what to do or what to want anymore!”

  Keith stared at me with wide eyes. For the first time, I saw fear in them.

  “Your lack of jealousy is not something I can handle,” I said softly. “You show your love in so many ways. But if you really loved me, wouldn’t you want me to be with you, and nobody else?”

  “If I really loved you,” Keith countered, “it seems to me I would want you to have as much pleasure as possible.”

  I took a deep breath. “In this whole situation,” I said, “the one thing you haven’t taken into account is that maybe being with you and nobody else – being your girlfriend, and not being touched by any man but you – is the most pleasurable thing I can imagine.”

  Keith sank down on the bed. He let go of my wrist. My hand throbbed, and I rubbed it while Keith watched me.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said.

  “It’s all right. I know you didn’t mean it.”

  “I don’t mean just your wrist. I’m sorry for all of this.”

  Keith and I looked at each other. Finally he looked down at the suitcase, but not before I caught the tears in his eyes.

  “I think we both need time to think,” I said, and Keith nodded.

  “You’re right.”

  I should have been happy that he agreed with me, but instead I felt as though I had lost something very special in return for winning the argument. I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Keith buried his face against my neck. We sat there like that until the sun started to fall from the sky.

  I watched the stars and thought about the last few weeks. I knew I couldn’t handle making that fantasy a reality. If kissing Jake in the kitchen had caused so much turmoil, there was no way that I could handle doing anything more. But pleasing a man was so important to me, and I wanted to give Keith the fantasies he longed to fulfill. He had trusted me enough to share them, and this was how I rewarded him?

  It seemed we were at an impasse, with no compromise possible.

  I laid there on the deck and watched the stars twinkle. I listened to the crickets and night birds. I watched a plane glide across the sky, its lights flashing red in the midst of black and white. I studied the Milky Way. I tried to count stars, a fruitless exercise in frustration, but it kept me from thinking about other things.