Joke

by Mia Malone

  God, they’re hot, I thought.

  Without warning, Gibson bent to hoist Lee up higher, put his hands under the long skirt she had on and moved his hips in a way I knew would push his crotch against her. Heat pooled between my legs, and I felt my breath hitch.

  “Sissy,” Joke rumbled in my ear, and I jolted.

  I had been so caught up in what happened in front of me that I hadn’t heard him walking up to stand behind me. I started to move, but he put an arm around my waist and leaned his head into my neck to give me a kiss there.

  “Joke,” I breathed and tilted my head to the side and around to look at him.

  Our eyes met and the look in his pushed air out of my lungs in a soft sigh.

  “Look at them, Siss,” he murmured, leaning down again to scrape the stubble on his cheek over my neck in a way that made me shiver. “Look.”

  I turned my eyes toward the couple in front of us and saw immediately that they had moved on to serious action. Gibson was moving his hips back and forth slowly, and they were watching each other. It was like watching a live version of that book I’d read, erotic in a way that was far from what had been on the TV in the motel. Their clothes covered them, so there weren’t any closeups or graphic views. It was hot because of who they were, and how they looked.

  “That, Sissy…” Joke murmured. “That’s what the opposite of a shitty marriage looks like.” He moved a hand up to cup my breast and of its own accord, my neck arched. “Does it make you hot?” He moved his hips from side to side against my behind, and my breath hitched, only to puff out in a soft gasp. “Look at him as he slides inside. That look on his face, like it’s fucking heaven and he would do anything to stay there forever.”

  His other hand moved to cup me between my legs, and I shifted against him because the material was thin and I could feel the warmth of him.

  “You know what happens when she comes?” Joke murmured, and then he was suddenly straightening. “Let me show you.”

  My eyes widened as I watched him open the door and walk out, calmly approaching our friends having sex in front of us. They both turned and smiled at him, and then Gibson turned them around, so Lee’s back was leaning on Joke’s chest. He put his hands on her thighs and said something softly.

  It should feel wrong, I told myself. I should leave but my pulse was beating so hard, and I couldn’t look away. Then Lee arched her back and twisted her head away from me. I knew what was happening, and when it did, Gibson started moving jerkily. Then he tilted his head back, and I heard him groan quietly as he pushed inside and stayed there. The look on his face as he came made me gasp, and I turned quickly.

  When I reached my car, my hands were shaking slightly. What the hell had just happened? Were they –

  I started the car and got myself home in a daze, and then I sat on the side of the bed, trying to straighten myself out. I’d just watched two friends have sex and the man I was… dating had participated. I should be embarrassed. Outraged. Scandalized.

  All I wanted to do was put my hand between my legs and work off some of the pressure that still pulsed there. I wouldn’t because that would be wrong and it would be wrong to put the scene I’d just had in front of me in my nightly fantasies too. Wouldn’t it?

  I had thought I wanted to find the wild girl again and a lot of my fantasies had been… creative. I didn’t know what Joke expected from me and wasn’t sure I was ready for this kind of creative in real life, though.

  I’d take a shower. Go for a long walk and think some more about this. Oh, God. What would I say when I met Lee next time? We had decided to go skiing for a couple of days. We’d managed to arrange the trip around everyone’s schedules, and then Day had agreed to do a publicity thing which would give us free rooms for the night, so we’d stay and have an evening together at the hotel. Day was already up there, skiing with a group of wealthy tourists and later being photographed whilst eating and drinking happily at a snazzy restaurant. Jenny and the other guys would leave later that afternoon, but Lee and I would drive up early tomorrow morning. We’d be alone in a car for more than an hour.

  Shower. Walk. Then I would call her, I decided. I needed to tell her I’d seen them. Get it out of the way. Perhaps I could make it into a joke or downplay it into something that was mostly nothing.

  When I reached for the handle to turn on the shower, I heard a sound from Joke’s place and knew he was home. I should talk to him too before I lost my courage. I didn’t hesitate, slid the deadbolt to his door and opened it.

  “We should ta –”

  He was naked. And very, very aroused. I stopped and just watched his beautiful body and the way his hard cock moved a little when he turned toward me. Slowly he bent down and pulled up the briefs he’d been in the process of removing.

  “Uh,” I mumbled, turned and walked into my own place.

  Shit. I was such a moron. Why hadn’t I knocked? Why was he still hard? He’d been with Gibson and Lee, and I thought he would have –

  “Sissy.” His deep voice made me jump, and I swung around. “Can we talk about what you saw?”

  ***

  Joke

  “I’m sorry I walked in on you,” Sissy said, sounding a little desperate and blushing furiously. “I was going to shower, but I heard you and thought we’d –”

  She stopped talking and looked away.

  Right. Joke took a deep breath and made himself relax. Here we go.

  “I meant earlier.”

  “It’s none of my business,” Sissy murmured.

  “I’m trying to hit on you, and you haven’t asked me to back off yet. That makes it your business.”

  She turned back to him, confusion written all over her face.

  “Do you... sleep with them?” she asked.

  “If you meant as in actual sleeping then yeah. We’ve shared a tent a couple of times. If you meant do I fuck either of them, then absolutely no.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He watched her, and since she wasn’t screaming at him, he hoped they could talk things through.

  “I know your leg hurts after your workout,” he said quietly. “Can we go to my place? Sit for a while?”

  She nodded and started moving, but stopped again.

  “I’ll just…” She moved a hand up and down in front of herself and disappeared into her bedroom.

  He waited while she changed into a tee and a pair of soft yoga pants, and then they walked in silence through the bathroom.

  “I was in their kitchen one morning. They’d been away for the night, and I’d had Gib’s dog with me, so I was there to drop him off. Lee came down to make coffee, and then Gibson walked down the stairs.” He paused and felt his mouth soften at the thought of what they had done. “You know it isn’t unusual for men to wake up with a –”

  She made a soft sound, and he grinned.

  “I know,” she murmured, blushing again.

  “Yeah,” he said. “So there we were when the mood suddenly changed. Gibson had his hands under Lee’s tee, and I was about to make my excuses when…” He looked straight at her. “I like sex, and sometimes I like it a bit dirty, Sissy.”

  Her mouth formed the word oh, but not a sound came out.

  “Gib has always been less… Let’s call it less adventurous. Rarely did what some of us did. Then he suddenly kicked off a really hot thing right there in his own kitchen.”

  “Hot thing?”

  “He took her from behind over the kitchen counter while I watched.”

  “Watched?”

  The blush was there, and he saw how she moved a little but hoped it wasn’t because she wanted to get up and leave.

  “Made myself come in front of them, baby,” he said gently.

  “Oh.”

  “We’ve done stuff like that again.”

  “Like a threesome?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure what to call it. Threesome-light?”

  To his relief, her mouth twitched, so he reached out to take
hold of her hand.

  She didn’t pull it back, and murmured, “Okay.”

  “Life isn’t always so easy to label neatly. It’s mostly shades of gray as I see it, and most of the shades aren’t fucked up. They just are.” He paused, tried to find the right words, and went on, “What they have is beautiful to watch. Gib says it was a spur of the moment that first time. Felt Lee get turned on in his arms, just went with it, and liked it. I think he’s still a bit surprised we do it, but they both get off on it in a big way, and so do I.”

  He raised her hand slowly and gave it a soft kiss.

  “Are you still with me here?” he asked quietly.

  He watched her while she thought about it but couldn’t interpret the look on her face. She was still there, he thought. Not screaming and running for the hills, at least, not yet.

  “Is it simply… voyeurism?” she asked.

  “Mostly,” he confirmed, but wanted to be honest, so he added, “They’ve seen my...” He paused and waved his hand over his crotch. “I thought about this when I knew I’d tell you, and yeah. We’ve seen bits and pieces of each other. I’ve touched Lee some, but fairly innocently.“

  “What does that mean?”

  “Mostly ass and mostly with clothes. You saw us, and it’s been stuff like that.”

  “Did either of them… touch you?”

  She was watching him in a way that seemed more curious than embarrassed, so he shook his head slowly, and murmured, “Not in a sexual way, no.”

  “Okay,” she said and nodded slowly. “In a way, this isn’t surprising because you’re all ridiculously sexual. You all seem pretty... normal, though.”

  “What’s normal?” he countered.

  “Not people who share their women,” she retorted, and there was a tiny snap in her voice.

  “I don’t think Gib and Lee see it like that, baby. I think it’s more about sharing who they are together.”

  “How do you see it?”

  “I’ve not thought much about it. I mostly enjoyed it.”

  “You wanted her,” Sissy said.

  He’d told her about when they saw Lee the first time. They’d all been in the mountains, skiing. All five of them single and planning to have a good time. Lee had caught his eye and Gibson had ribbed him about it in a stupid way which Lee had overheard. They had meant to apologize because they might say stupid shit to each other but it wasn’t okay to do it in a way that hurt someone. Lee had left before they reached her, but she’d showed up in Wilhelmine later, and Joke knew Gib had apologized then instead.

  “Wanted to hook up with her, Sissy. There’s a huge difference. I never wanted her like Gib did. He thought I did, but he would because he loves her, so he thinks everyone does. Promise, baby. She’s a great woman, but she’s more like a sister to me.”

  Her brows went up and when her lips twitched, his did too. Then his words registered.

  “Yeah, okay,” he muttered. “Sister was probably the wrong word to use.”

  “I probably was,” she agreed, and he relaxed.

  “Besides, she lost too much weight if you ask me,” he said, hoping he could keep the mood soft and easy. “I like a woman who looks like a woman.”

  “Okay.”

  They sat in silence for a while and Joke moved his thumb slowly over her hand. She’d need time to let what was happening sink in, and he wasn’t going to steamroll her into something that would hurt them further down the road.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked quietly after a while.

  “Are you still doing it?”

  “Told them the night you worked your first shift that we wouldn’t. Today was because I needed you to know about it, and the best way I could figure out was for you to see how fucking hot it is.”

  “What if it is a deal breaker for me?” she asked.

  She’d still sounded curious and hadn’t moved away, so he turned toward her and laid it all out.

  “I can’t change the past, and I didn’t try to hide it from you. I’m also not ashamed of it and absolutely don’t regret what we’ve done.” He waited until she nodded, and raised her hand to move his mouth over it again. “You also know I want you, so if this is something that makes you back away from me, then I’d be really fucking disappointed.”

  “In me?” she asked quietly.

  “Babe,” he said, wondering how the hell she could think that. “You feel what you feel. Like what you like. If stuff like this doesn’t work for you, then we won’t do it. I’d be seriously pissed if you agree to do shit because you think I want you to. And if this turns you off in a way that makes you tell me to leave you alone, I’d be disappointed that something I really want to happen isn’t happening. I wouldn’t be disappointed in you either way.“ He slid his tongue over her knuckles and lowered his voice. “But Sissy, I heard you.”

  “What?” she breathed, and her hand twitched, so he tightened his grip.

  “I think it turned you on a little to see them. To see us.” She pulled harder at her hand, but he held on. “Nu-huh, don’t get embarrassed. You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted you to know.”

  “I –”

  He talked right over her immediately.

  “I was there, behind you. I heard your breath hitch. Felt that small shudder when I moved my hands.”

  “Maybe I didn’t like it,” she said hoarsely.

  “I call bull-shit, Sissy,” he said gently.

  She straightened and raised her chin, and he had to shift his hips slightly because fuck, yes. She wasn’t going to hide that it had turned her on to watch a couple of their friends have sex in front of them.

  “Okay, so maybe it did,” she said. “They’re good looking. It was like looking at that porn they didn’t show in the motel.”

  Yes. She got it because that was exactly it. Like a private, personal porn scene without the close-ups or rehearsed humping and moaning.

  “Yeah,” he said and tried to sound calm and reasonable. Not hoarse and horny. “That’s what it’s like.”

  “I haven’t had sex, good sex, in a very long time. Of course it would turn me on.”

  He grinned at her and moved closer.

  “The book didn’t do it for you?”

  “It did, but Zacharias, it was still just me and my fingers,” she murmured.

  He wanted to groan when he heard her use his name for the first time. Wanted to rip all their clothes off and hear her saying it when he was buried deep inside her.

  “We’ll get to the part where it isn’t just you and your fingers, baby,” he murmured. “But not today.”

  He let his mouth slide over her cheek and brush against her lips. They were soft and warm against his, and he slid his tongue over them.

  “What?” she breathed out.

  “I want you to think about all of this, Sissy,” he murmured. “It’s important. Can’t have it coming back later to become a wedge between us.”

  “I’m not asking you to back away,” she said.

  “Thank you,” he murmured but pulled back anyway. “You still need to think about this. Turned me on to know you were watching us, and it turned you on too. Want you to think about it when you aren’t aching for me to slide inside you.”

  Her breath hitched, and she turned away.

  “Don’t be embarrassed, baby,” he murmured. “Not about sex. I know you haven’t had it in a good way for a long fucking time, but we’ll make sure you get that.”

  “Oh-kay,” she said, stuttering a little but meeting his gaze square on. “So what you’re saying is that I should go over to my place and get myself off, and then think about this?”

  When she put it like that, it sounded pretty dumb. Before he could take his words back, he saw the humor in her eyes. He leaned in slowly, and when his tongue slid over her lips, she opened her mouth to let him in. He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted if she’d come to him with something like this, and felt like a fucking moron but grateful at the same time.

 
“We’re good so far?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Joke, we’re good,” she confirmed but frowned and raised a brow. “Is it okay if I talk to Gibson about what you’re doing?”

  “You don’t want to talk to Lee?”

  “Oh, please,” she murmured. “Lee is in the sisterhood, so you have absolutely no say-so on who she talks to and yes, if I discuss this with either of them, then she’s more likely.”

  “Talk to either or both of them, babe. I have nothing to hide.”

  “I guess you don’t,” she said and moved to get up. “I’ll go and shower now and then I’ll be at Oak.”

  The thought of what she might do in the shower made him regret how he’d pulled back, but it had been the right thing to do. She needed to think and also had a shift at the bar she needed to get to. He wouldn’t have nearly enough time to do all the things he wanted to her.

  “Okay,” he said hoarsely. “I’ll leave later today, so I won’t see you until tomorrow.”

  She leaned down to give him a soft kiss and then she disappeared.

  ***

  It was late, and he was in bed with a hand on his cock when Sissy texted him.

  “I’ve thought things through now. Still not asking you to back away. See you tomorrow. S”

  He stared at the message and wondered if she’d touched herself before thinking or if working and dealing with normal everyday shit had calmed her down.

  “Fucking fantastic.” He watched his phone and wondered if she’d expected a goddamned elaborate book-length message back. Then he grinned and moved his fingers over the screen again. “Relaxing evening at Oak?”

  The answer came immediately.

  “No. I took care of that myself.”

  He groaned and grinned at the same time. Then he started moving his hand over his cock again, picturing her in his bed. Naked. Sliding her fingers through her pussy. Moaning softly.

  “Sissy…” he texted, using one hand.

  Fuck taking things slow. She’d get there the next day and didn’t know it yet, but she would not sleep in any other bed than his.