She smiled. She’d basked in his attention through the evening, all the while reminding herself that probably a number of the women they’d met had been treated in exactly the same way. He was charming—and possibly a bit of a player. “Thank you, Jason. I’ve had a lovely evening.”
He smiled wryly. “That was kind of an indirect response.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not the first woman you’ve said that to out here on your deck.”
Jace nodded. “That’s true. You’re not the first.” He dipped his head down and touched her lips with his. “What would be significant would be if you’re the last. And that is the first time I’ve said that.”
Gemini lifted her hand from his shoulder to touch his face. “You’re a very hard man to resist, Jason.”
He smiled again and turned his lips into her palm. “Why would you want to resist, Gem?”
She wondered if she should. It was easy to trust Quinn—he was a good, pure-hearted man who would be true to his death. Clay was edgier—he might not give his heart forever, but while he did it would be fully, all in.
Jace was different. He could seduce a woman, make her feel the center of the universe for him, but still hold some part of himself back. She suspected he never gave his heart away. But she looked into those blue eyes, dark now with only starlight, and sighed. Take what she wanted, she’d decided. It would be cowardly to stop now. So she shook her head. “I guess I really don’t.”
He kissed her again, a soft, sweet meeting of lips. And then a mating of mouths, deeper, intimate. He tasted of wine and a dark, male element.
Pulling her closer, he made her aware of the heat of his body, the hard thrust of his erection. Slowly he danced her to the far edge of the deck and pressed her back against the rail. He had his hands free then, and he used one to bare her breast. Gem moaned as he squeezed her nipple. Then he opened the fly of his slacks and brought his hard dick out. He wrapped her hand around it and pressed back against her, enclosing his cock and her hand between their bodies.
Jace took her mouth and her breast again and moved his free hand under the hem of her dress. Sliding it up her thigh, he found her clit.
He had her then, nipple and clit, and she had him. Rocking against her, stimulating both of them, he took them to quiet, urgent orgasms.
After, he used a handkerchief to clean her hands and then walked her into the house. He poured two glasses of wine and clinked them together as he handed one to her. They both sipped and then shared another wine-flavored kiss.
With a gentle hand at the small of her back, he took her upstairs. He stopped her outside the guest bathroom.
“There are some supplies in there, if you need.”
She lifted a brow, not sure she wanted to use his last girlfriend’s tampons.
“My sister and her two teen daughters spent a couple weeks here in April. Trust me, there were some moments of it I didn’t exactly enjoy.”
She laughed, though all he did was raise a serious brow. Then he took her glass and nodded his head toward his bedroom. “Meet me there.”
Gem watched him walk away. He wore a suit freaking well. She had to figure he hadn’t bought that one off the rack, not so it would fit his ass exactly like that.
He’d shed everything from his waist up when she found him waiting for her at the edge of his bed. When she stepped close, he raised his hands and slowly undressed her. Smiling to herself, she noted that he started with the necklace, ridding her first of Clay’s gift to her. He didn’t stop until she wore nothing but those high black heels. Then he wound his fingers into strands of her hair and rested his hands gently on her shoulders.
He stood looking at her, gradually increasing the pressure of his hands until his intent became clear. She held his gaze just a little longer before she went to her knees.
Jace hummed a little breath of satisfaction, tucked her hair back behind her shoulders, and looked his fill. She knew what he saw and that he liked it. Her black heels were no doubt visible behind her, a tease of girly submission with her on her knees. He could see her breasts, and she knew her nipples had lifted and tightened in response to his sexual intent. While she was in the bathroom, she’d freshened her red lipstick, and he was showing a lot of interest in her mouth.
Still looking up at him, she licked her lips. His hands tightened in her hair, and he brought her face against his slacks. He rutted gently into her, his cock rising and rubbing against her cheek and lips.
When the pressure on her head lessened, Gemini lifted her hands from where she’d grasped Jace’s pant legs and moved them to his belt. Tilting her head to meet his gaze again, she opened his belt and released the hooks on his waistband. She lowered the zipper and ran her fingers over the hard length of his cock, disengaging it so his big cockhead pushed out of the top of his low-rise briefs. Securing it with a hand on either side, she leaned forward and ran her tongue along that sensitive point just south of the head.
Jace groaned and his fingers spasmed into her scalp. He cradled the back of her head, keeping her close. “Gem. Sweetheart.”
She worked at him with her tongue until he groaned again. “Take me out,” he said. “Take all of me.”
He leaned back away from her while she slid her fingers into his briefs to fully release him. She pushed them down, hooking his slacks, too, to let them fall below his knees.
His cock thrust out then, and up, defying gravity with his level of arousal. Gem wet her lips again and ran them and her tongue along his whole length. The tip of him reached to his navel now, and she pressed her head just below his ribs and let her lips open around him.
He clutched her head and flexed, pumping into her just a little. “More, baby. Take more.” He still held her head, but took a half step back so his cock was free to fully enter her mouth. He worked into her, and she wrapped her fingers around him, using her spit to ease his glide.
When he pushed to the back of her mouth, she still had half of his length in her fingers. He pumped into her, obviously enjoying it as she drew suction around him and kept pressure with her tongue against that sensitive underside.
“Jesus. Jesus.” He bent a little and covered one breast with his hand. “Gem.”
He continued to let out heavy groans. Then he took both hands back to her head and held her as he watched his cock slide into her mouth. “Jesus, that’s hot. Swallow me, baby. Open your throat and let me in.”
Gemini knew what he meant but had no experience at it. He seemed to read her mind as she hesitated. “Breathe through your nose,” he instructed. “Tilt your head back a little so your throat’s a straight line.”
He helped her position her head. “Now put your tongue out and say, ‘ah.’”
She complied as Jace held her in that position and slowly slid his cock deeper. He paused when she felt him reach the opening to her throat and waited to let her relax around him. “Good, baby. That’s good.”
He went in further. Gemini struggled a bit at the fullness, but found she liked how much she could accommodate him. He gave gentle pumps, taking each one a bit further, until she had nearly his full length.
With groans and curses of pleasure, Jace pushed deep. After several long thrusts, she felt the rush through his cock as his cum blasted down her throat. He emptied into her, shuddering, cursing and praising her. Then he pulled out and lifted her to give her a sound kiss. “Good girl,” he said. “Good girl.”
He had her in his arms and kept her close. “That was sweet, baby. Fucking hot.”
Following the line of her neck, he took his kisses down to her shoulder, then lower, to her breast. He teased her nipples, first with his lips, then following with his tongue and teeth. He drew her into his mouth, sucking and tonguing her until she moaned.
Dropping to his knees in front of her, he wrapped his arms around her thighs. Holding her close, securing her against any movement, he brought her to his mouth.
He kept her thighs closed and did nothing more than use his lips and tongue on her clit.
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He was extremely expert at it.
Very quickly, Gemini was whimpering. She clasped her fingers into his blond curls and quivered, kept from rocking or opening herself more for him by the way he contained her. It was provoking and exciting all at once, feeling bound, under his control.
He worked his magic until she shook with it, until she’d have collapsed but for the support of his arms. She spasmed and went over, and he had all of her weight as she cried out.
“Jace! Jace!”
He kept at it, giving her a long, indulgent orgasm. She sank down as he loosened his hold on her, falling to her knees and then into his arms.
Cradling her while she crooned out the last of her pleasure, he pressed kisses over her face. After a few moments he lifted up, bringing her with him. He tucked her into his bed, coming alongside and wrapping her in his arms. He nuzzled her hair. “You ‘probably’ love me?”
She smiled, her lips moving against the hot skin of his shoulder. “I love you, Jace.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “That’s better. Sleep, baby.”
* * * *
Tuesday night was quiet in the bar. The crowd that followed Monday night football tended to keep up the habit of nachos and beer even in the off season. And hump day got folks rolling toward the weekend. Tuesday was sort of left as the orphan day, the night Quinn always had the lightest crowd.
So he served up a whiskey neat to Jace and watched with interest what Clay had cooking.
Jace had brought Gemini home early that morning, having his usual early hours at work. She’d tiptoed into the apartment while Quinn was still in bed. She took a quick shower and was headed to her room when he shouted out to her. Stopping at his door, she peeked her head in. “Yes?” Her tone was a bit wry, maybe in objection to his fairly loud summons.
Too effin’ bad. “Get in here.” He lifted the blankets for her, and she hardly paused at all before she dropped her little silk robe and climbed in with him. “Hi, baby. You smell good.”
Like the sweet thing she was, she let him pull her into his arms. She was warm and soft and he was freaking in love.
“I heard you’re not pregnant.”
“No.”
He kissed her forehead in a kind of solace.
That wasn’t all he’d heard. Jace had called just as Quinn was shutting down the bar last night. Clay was there, too, working on a beer after the end of his evening shift. Quinn had put his cell on speaker and they’d all had a talk while Gem was asleep in Jace’s bed.
Gemini wasn’t pregnant. And she was talking about a ménage. Quinn and Clay had exchanged glances as Jace explained.
She was in love with them all, she said. She wasn’t going to choose. They could each decide to be with her, or not.
Clay had no trouble with it. “I’m in,” he’d said, like he’d already had it in his head.
“What does that even mean?” Quinn had asked.
“We share her,” Jace said. “We work it out however we want. We might think about getting a bigger place, all of us together.” He paused for a minute. “She wants our babies. She was happy she wasn’t pregnant by that bastard she married, but she was a little sad about not carrying a baby that belonged to one of us.”
“That’s crazy.” Oddly, Quinn was drawn to the idea at the same time thinking they ought to have their heads examined. He found he could imagine without any trouble at all curling into sleep around Gemini while her belly was rounded with child. “I don’t see how it could work.”
“Think outside the box,” Jace said. “We’ve always lived our lives by our rules and no one else’s. The three of us are like brothers, anyway. What’s mine is yours and vice versa. It’s always been like that.”
Quinn shook his head, sure Jace would get it even if he couldn’t see it. “But the three of us, sharing one woman…”
“It’s Cap’s sister,” Jace said. “Who else are we going to love? How many women are out there that we’re going to fall in love with, that suit us? Any of us? Not one of us has found one yet. Not until Gem.”
“He’s right,” Clay said, meeting Quinn’s eyes across the bar. “She’s it for me. Isn’t she it for you?”
Fuck. She was, though Quinn had to think that was crazy. “What about her? Why is she in love with three men? And why not four or five? Where does it end?”
“It ends with us,” Jace said.
“How can you know that?”
No one answered Quinn’s question for a long beat. Then Clay spoke. “We’ll test it. I’ll set something up here, tomorrow night.” He looked at his watch. “Well, tonight.”
Clay had a plan.
Gemini had tucked into Quinn’s shoulder, and he’d gotten Jace’s point. She was a little sad that she wasn’t pregnant. But she settled in with him, and they’d dozed through the morning. They’d made lunch together, then hauled their bikes out to Bear Creek and had a good ride. Quinn had Emma opening the bar, so they stopped for burgers on the way home and didn’t show up at Mach One until six.
Within the hour, Clay had come in with a couple of his work buddies. He motioned his pals to a table, then went to the hatch and opened it, putting out a hand to bring Gem out from behind the bar. He led her to the table, sat her in a chair, and introduced the two men.
Both were good-looking dudes. Quinn had met them before, and they were decent guys. Still, he felt a little guilty. This was Clay’s test, and Quinn wasn’t sure he wanted to be a part of it. Even if he’d been the one to raise doubts about Gemini’s love for three men.
He hadn’t meant to imply that he thought she was a skank. He didn’t really think she’d open her heart and her body to just anyone.
Either way, he couldn’t help watching. Jace was more subtle about it, but his attention was fully on their reflections in the mirror.
Rita served the table as the foursome appeared to make small talk. After a while, Clay got up and fed some coins into the juke box. “Wonderful Tonight.” “I Will Always Love You.” “Unchained Melody.”
Quinn rolled his eyes, thinking Clay was laying it on a bit thick. But sure enough, Clay’s partner Sam asked Gemini to dance.
Pretty much everyone in the bar watched with interest. Certainly, Clay and Jace and Quinn kept eagle eyes on the pair. And, from behind the bar, so did Emma, since Sam was her husband.
It looked like a friendly dance. When it was over, Sam took Gem back to the table. With the next song, Chris Norton, Clay’s other friend, rose and took Gem’s hand in another dance.
Chris was a big, handsome guy. He was also totally gay.
Gemini danced in his arms like she was a little sweet on him. She looked into his eyes as they moved to the music and stepped a little closer into his arms. When the song came to an end, she stayed where she was in Chris’s arms. Then, while Quinn and Jace and Clay looked on, she leaned up and kissed him.
There might not have been tongue involved, but it was more than just a friendly kiss.
Clay stood up so fast his chair nearly tumbled over. Gemini stepped back from Chris and marched to the bar, shooting Clay a sharp glare along the way. He followed her over as she took a spot next to Jace. When Clay got there, Gemini looked up at him. Then, she gave him a whack on the side of his head. She gave Jace a decent punch to his shoulder and leaned across the bar to thump Quinn in the chest.
She was quick. He made a grab for her fist but he missed. She was pissed, and he admired it even as he was a little scared. Jace rubbed his shoulder and looked wounded, and Clay leaned into Gem like he had his own temper on.
‘“What the hell are you doing kissing another man like that?”
Gem didn’t back down. “This was your idea, wasn’t it? You’re an idiot.” She looked around her little group of three. “You’re all idiots.”
Clay wasn’t done being irate. “You kissed another man!”
“Yeah! Your gay friend. Better I should kiss Emma’s husband?”
“You don’t know he’s gay. And how’d y
ou know Sam is Emma’s husband?” Clay looked down the bar. “Emma, did you rat us out?”
Emma was pulling her purse from a drawer behind the bar. “I had nothing to do with this. And Gem is right. You guys are idiots.”
Sam lifted the hatch for her and put out a possessive arm as they moved toward the door. “Good night, Gemini,” he said as they passed. “It was nice to meet you.”
“Good night, Sam,” Gem said, all friendly there. “You, too, Emma.”
Chris had stepped close, too. “I guess my work here is done. See ya, baby.” He gave Gemini another smooch. “If I turned for anybody, it would be you.”
Gem smiled up at him in mutual adoration. “’Night, Chris. Come back soon.”
He lifted a brow to Clay. “Guess that point about being an idiot has been made?”
“Stuff it, Norton.”
With a laugh, Chris nodded to Jace and Quinn and walked out of the bar.
Everybody watched him go, and then all eyes were on Gemini. She looked at each of them in turn, a sort of inspection that left Quinn feeling he’d been found wanting.
“I’m going to bed. Alone,” Gem added, in case they had any doubt. “Tomorrow, I’ll decide whether I’m speaking to you.”
“’Night, baby,” Jace said to her back.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Quinn added, already thinking it was too little, too late.
Clay was quiet until she’d reached the door and looked back at him. “There’s no way you could know he was gay,” he finally said.
Gemini rolled her eyes, and Jace gave Clay another punch for her.
Damned if she didn’t look good with her mad on.
* * * *
Gemini was still awake when she heard Quinn come into the apartment and stand outside her door in silence. She hadn’t meant to be.
She’d still been cursing the three of them as she readied for bed. She couldn’t explain why they should have just trusted that she would love them and only them, but they should have. It was nothing but offensive that Clay would have thought to test her by dangling a couple attractive men in front of her. So she flounced herself into bed, determined that she would enjoy sleeping alone like the independent woman she was.
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