Forgiven (The Power of Three Love Series Book 4)

by Leigh Lennon

  “Now, that was funny, even if it was at my expense. But making jokes won’t get you out of this one, Mr. Chambers.”

  After five shots, my mind began to dull a little, and it might have been the only reason I agreed to the chat. I nodded, and he peered over my shoulder. “You weren’t kidding, foxy. He’s a fucking slob in the kitchen.” I gave him a playful middle finger salute, and his return was a smile as he reached over and covered my hand with his. “Are you okay?” I looked at his fingers which were linked in mine and stilled. A loud gasp was heard next to me as Clara saw the same thing I had.

  “He saw my bare ass, so I thought this was only fitting.” He winked at me, then at Clara, and his warmth was gone. His eyes connected back to mine. “No, seriously, Bodhi, I’ve never wanted to make this uncomfortable for you.”

  I had broken Clara to the core. Nothing could be rebuilt, even if she had finally forgiven me. A little hand job didn’t mean anything.

  “I’m fine. Seriously, it was my fault.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “And you got to see my bare ass, and I got to jack you off,” he croaked as he reached out and took the shot of Jameson sitting right in front of him, though he’d seen my bare ass, too. “You know, jacking people off is my specialty.”

  Clara giggled at his little joke with his name being the reason he was excellent at jacking others off, though I couldn’t disagree.

  Clara took her shot of Patrón before she replied, “He had a mighty fine ass, too, and it was one hell of a hand job.” With her remark, I was dumbfounded by all of this.

  “Fuck,” she began, putting down her shot glass, “this has to be the most awkward conversation ever.” Her eyes turned to Jack. “Before you came out, he asked if we were at least able to get off.”

  I was about to correct her with what I actually said as Clara reached for the Patrón, pouring her another glass. Jack cut me off, taking the bottle of Patrón from her.

  “This may be awkward, but probably the most honest you two have been with each other since before the divorce.” After Clara took her last shot of Patrón, he took the glass from her. And because I was off kilter over the entire oddness, I hadn’t poured myself anymore tequila or whiskey. He’d taken the bottle of Jameson and my shot glass from me, too, setting it away from us.

  “Let me ask you something, Bodhi. Did it hurt you at all to see me fuck Clara? Because I can tell you, the idea of you watching us caused her to get off, orgasming in a way I hadn’t seen. And you loved us with you as I got you off.”

  We’re not having this conversation. We couldn’t be. But because a part of me wanted to know if there was truth to what Jack just shared, I spun my body toward Clara. “Is this true, Triple C? You liked me there?” It came out so innocently. In the intimacy of this conversation, my nickname for her rolled off my tongue.

  Her eyes darted to Jack’s, and he answered, “It’s okay. I just want honesty, and with it, there’s a wonder of possibilities that can be unlocked.”

  “You’re okay with her being turned on by me watching you?” I asked. He took a pull of his drink but didn’t drain it.

  “We’ve already established that I find you hot. I don’t randomly wander the streets of Chicago giving free hand jobs.” He angled his head, giving me a little shrug. “And I’ve not kept it a secret how I care for you. You’ve shared the same, albeit, not as honestly, but we’ll work on it. Plus, I know Clara still loves you.” With one more sip of his whiskey, he continued, “And I’m not a jealous person.”

  I stretched for the Patrón, but he pulled it out of my reach. “Clear heads, right now. No shots.” He poured me a little bit when I twisted my attention to Clara.

  “Is he always this bossy?” She blushed at my question, and I had my answer, but I’d already known what her reply would be.

  “Okay, Jack, you want honesty, how about a little yourself? You got pissy earlier because I knew more about Clara’s writing rituals than you did.” My tone challenged him, and in his almost cool demeanor, he winked at me. He fucking winked at me, but more, it caused my erection to strain against my jeans further. I shifted in my seat, but when my eyes connected with Jack’s again, he was amused.

  “I wasn’t jealous. I was upset she hadn’t shared it with me. With as close as we’ve become, it was almost like I was the hinderance in her schedule, and I guess I was. There’s a difference in not knowing information I thought I should know at this point and being upset you guys share a history.” He took another sip of his whiskey, as I did the same with mine. “So, let’s continue since you are trying to change the subject. Were you turned on by watching us fuck, or was it merely jealousy?”

  I twitched in my seat again because I was turned on right now with him using fuck as a verb. He wasn’t getting an answer from me, so he turned his attention to Clara.

  “Foxy, were you turned on when you knew he was watching me pound into your pussy?”

  I would have never thought he’d speak so provocatively, and when her cheeks pinkened, she rotated her body to mine. “Yeah, Bodhi, because I’ve never stopped loving you. I loved it. And I feel like a bitch because I’m sure it hurt you, and I’d never want to…” A tear fell from her face, and I stopped it before it made its way down her cheek.

  “Oh, fuck, Triple C, I wasn’t jealous in the normal sense of jealousy. Sure, I would have liked to be a part of it, just because it was sexy as sin, and the thought of the woman I have always loved with a man I find attractive had me thinking things I have no right thinking.”

  Jack, who’d been very quiet, slapped one hand over one of my hands and one on Clara’s which was on the table. “What was it? And remember, we can work with anything as long as there’s honesty to build on.”

  I looked at her, then at him, and back at her. “Fuck, this is crazy.” I raked my fingers through my hair. Jack squeezed my hand, attempting to channel his reassurance that we could do anything with my honesty. “The two of you. I wanted both of you right then.”

  22

  Jack

  Now, this I could work with. I’d told Clara two weeks ago that I wasn’t looking at Bodhi and her as a package deal, but now, it was a whole new ball game. My eyes wandered to Clara, her hand resting on Bodhi’s shoulder. It wasn’t there a second ago, but now it was.

  “See, now we’re getting somewhere.” I gestured toward her hand connected with his body, and she yanked it away. “No, foxy, don’t do that. I’m not jealous.” She hid her face from me. “What you did, making a physical connection with Bodhi, is innate. It’s like a reflex you’ve been denying yourself for years.” I pushed to my feet, moving around the table to kneel next to her. “Foxy, look at me.”

  Her eyes shifted to mine, and I saw tears in them. “How many times have you wanted to touch Bodhi over the years but couldn’t because you were too hurt to admit you wanted to trust him again?”

  When she didn’t answer me, I twisted my attention to Bodhi on the other side of Clara. “Bo, how about you? How many times have you wanted Clara?”

  I knew the answer. He’d never been shy about how he wanted her back.

  Bodhi cleared his throat. “Since the day she kicked me out three years ago.”

  “Clara, you won’t hurt me. Well, unless you tell me you only want Bodhi, but I don’t think it’s what you want. If I were to wager a very educated guess, I’d say you want us both, and judging by how I continued to make love to you after your ex walked in the room, I’m not against this.”

  A weak smile pulled at her face, and she snickered softly. “Yeah, I’d say that would normally deflate everything.” All three of us chuckled at her wording. “But you’re right, it didn’t.”

  I stood, stepping over slightly to push my way between the chairs they sat in side by side, moving them toward me as I brought a chair between them. “Hell, I know what I’m saying sounds so fucking overwhelming. And I won’t lie, it could go bad…”

  “Way to lead with the bad news first, Jack,” Bodhi crooned next
to me.

  “But”—I directed my attention to him in a teasing way—“as I was saying before I was interrupted…” I turned my head to the side, looking at Clara. “It could be one of the most beautiful things in the world. I wasn’t honest with my first triad because I had so much pent-up frustration, and I couldn’t be true to myself.” I didn’t want to go into my infertility with Bodhi right now, but it would be something I addressed very soon if we moved forward with this. “So, when I push for honesty, it’s because I saw how the lack of it affected my relationship with Cami and Dane. And after listening to you two, I could see why your marriage fell apart.”

  Bodhi hung his head, and when my hand connected with his knee, he moved his hand over my own. “I’m not saying this to upset anyone. What’s in the past is history. And there’s so much to be learned from history.”

  I pushed the chair I’d been sitting in back, giving all of us some space, but I loved my hand on his knee.

  “Um, are we done talking about this?” Clara asked, rotating her body around.

  “Yeah, foxy, for now. I think I hit you both with a lot of shit, and if I don’t start cleaning up this kitchen that this asshole destroyed, I’m going to come undone.”

  Clara pushed back in her chair, standing up, bringing me with her. “Yeah, I’m surprised you lasted this long without getting out the bleach.”

  “It’s not too bad,” Bodhi crooned, standing up as if I’d not just suggested to him and my girlfriend that we think about a threesome together. I knew it was odd how quickly we’d moved from such a sensitive matter with the three of us together to teasing each other about a big mess in the kitchen. But our light banter was due in part to the suggestion I’d sprung on them.

  “And just think,” Clara began, “he hasn’t even started cooking yet.”

  Looking at the time, I saw it was just now five p.m. “Oh, Lord, I’m not sure I can be in here when you cook, Bo,” I started. Clara headed to the fridge, bumping into Bodhi. They stopped dead in their tracks, not sure what to do. Part of me wanted to encourage some form of physical affection, but I just watched.

  His hand moved up her arm to her face. “I’ve really missed you, Triple C.”

  She cupped his cheek. “I know. I have, too.”

  He leaned down, dropping a kiss on her forehead. Moving around her, he connected his eyes with mine, and we shared an all-knowing look. I winked at him, causing him to flash me what I’d characterized as a flirtatious smile. And it worked because I sat on one of the barstools, sliding it up to the countertop bar in an attempt to hide my erection.

  Clara returned to the island with a bottle of wine and one of my beers for me. Moving toward the table, she brought the whiskey back with her, pouring a good amount into a tumbler for Bodhi. “So, you’re actually going to watch me cook?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll power through it.” And that was what we did. I sat and watched him start the teriyaki chicken, then on to his rice dish. He shooed us out of the kitchen when it came to the final stage of his precious butter rice, and when we returned, he had the table set with candles and wine glasses filled with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. “Ah, look at you, with your wine pairing,” Clara teased.

  “Are you calling me unrefined? Wait, don’t answer that.” Bo pulled back a chair for Clara as he continued, “I’m just glad you have every type of wine to choose from.”

  A deep chuckle escaped my mouth. “It’s safe to say we could have a zombie invasion, and we’d still have enough wine for Clara, and maybe even all of Chicago.” Her little makeshift wine cellar in a second pantry was bigger than the one which housed food.

  “Oh, you act like I drink it every day.” Her father was an alcoholic, so she limited her wine intake to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

  “You still only drink four nights a week?” Bodhi asked.

  Clara nodded. She hadn’t shared much with me about her dad except that he was a mean drunk, but he was the best when he was sober, which was seldom. He was killed in a single car accident when he hit a tree.

  “You’re not your father, Clara.” Bodhi’s tone was sincere, lowering it a little as his eyes locked on her.

  “I know, but I don’t ever want to become one. I love wine, but I love my child and my life so much more. The day I need to have alcohol all the time is the day I know I have a problem.”

  She’d never quite explained it to me like this, but it wasn’t a hard leap to figure it out. And after I’d gotten myself upset a little while ago, I decided I couldn’t get my feelings hurt like I was a pussy.

  “Do you still take January off?” Bodhi asked, taking a sip of his whiskey.

  This piqued my attention because it was the first I’d heard of it. “Yeah, I have added June, too. I actually changed my trip with Daria from the end of June last year. I mean, she’s a bitch, and she’d rub it in my face.”

  It surprised me how quickly she went from something that was so personal to almost joking, but Clara couldn’t do serious for long in the areas of her life that pained her. It was why she’d given me as much as she could when it came to Bodhi but still hadn’t shared it all with me.

  The topic died, and we sat in silence as Bodhi started to serve us dinner. “How much chicken did you cook? It’s just the three of us.”

  Clara started to cackle, and my eyes shot to her. “Bodhi doesn’t know how to cook for just three.”

  I hadn’t realized that with the afternoon turning into a fucking fest, and Bodhi walking in on us, and the suggestion of what we all could be to one another—I hadn’t eaten. Taking my fork, I cut into a piece of the chicken thigh, and it was tender, like butter. “Holy shit!” I exclaimed, and it made Clara more eager to dig in.

  Her first bite was with the butter rice, and she let out the same sort of glee over it. “Hell, I’ve missed this.”

  I grabbed a piece of my broccoli with the butter rice. I’d never tasted anything quite like it before. “Fuck, man, I’ll do anything to have this recipe.”

  He’d been watching us. He rubbed his hands together as though he was an excited little boy about to go to the zoo. “Anything?” Bodhi asked.

  “Um, within reason.” My eyes roamed to Clara who was eating all the rice off her plate, grinning at the pleasure of this dish.

  “It’s odd,” I began. “It’s fluffy but a little crispy at the same time, and with the small slices of celery and onions mixed in, it’s so different than the plain white rice I was expecting. And I gotta know, how much butter do you put in here?”

  The bastard was shaking his head at me. “Ah, you’re trying to get something out of me concerning my secret recipe, and I’m not giving it up.” He took another sip of his wine with a piece of chicken on his fork. “I will tell you, I normally put carrots in it, too, but Clara must have been all out.”

  Both Clara and I ate like it had been days, but I hadn’t had any of Mrs. Thompson’s muffins like Bodhi had.

  “I love cooking for you again, C.” His statement was so simple, but it held so much of his feelings, his intentions, and his longing for Clara.

  Her fingers danced over to Bodhi as she was sitting at the head of the table between us. “I’ve missed it, too, Bo.”

  I watched, as I had earlier with the kiss he placed on her forehead, and wondered how this would play out, when Clara started, “Is this not a little bit of an out-of-body experience for you?” She directed this question toward me as she turned her head. “Or you, Bo?”

  Bodhi was the first to answer. “In the back of my mind, it’s all I’m thinking about, but in the limited amount of time I’d been around Daimen with his triad, Elliot and Arden, I saw a love so intense it sometimes ached to watch them. Not saying I needed three, but for men like Jack and me, who enjoy the touch of both a man and a woman, I see how it could work. And for me, it’s not just any man or woman. It’s you, Clara.” His eyes shifted to me. “And you, Jack.” He took a deep breath. “All I’m saying is I see its validity.”


  “Oh, fuck,” Clara bellowed, pushing back in her seat with her eyes peeled on me. “One afternoon with you, Jack, and he begins sounding like you.”

  “See, I am a great influence,” I retorted, and just like that, we were back in an easy conversation, all of us savoring the meal and the company.

  We pushed Bodhi out of the kitchen, both volunteering to clean up behind him, which was a chore in and of itself. “Jack, hon?” Clara asked, washing one of the skillets in the sink. “Are you really okay with this? Barely nothing has happened, but once we cross the line, it’s over. We can’t undo it if it goes every side of wrong.”

  We were playing with fire, and it was quite possible all of us would be burned.

  Her arms were in soapy water, but as I peeked to the side, her face was next to mine, and it was unreadable. “Maybe we should slow it down,” I started, “because you’re right, once we cross the line, it gets way more complicated than just my attraction to your ex, and you still loving him.” She’d moved out of my space, and the smell of bleach permeated the room. “And even more complicated than the hand job I’d given him.”

  But in the past twenty-four hours, since I’d felt a sudden change among the three of us, I’d wanted nothing more than to explore this, even before we had the talk just a couple of hours ago. “Is it bad to say I want you both?” Clara’s back was to me, and it wasn’t long until my arms were wrapped around her waist.

  My lips were next to her ear, and when my breath hit her skin, my entire body broke out in need. I twisted her around in my embrace, and my lips met hers instantly. The kiss was slow, our tongues joining, our bond as strong as it was when I fucked her on the countertop of the bathroom.

  I pulled back only after our kiss was sealed with a little peck on her nose. “No, foxy, I want you both, too, and more so, I want you to have Bodhi back in your life. But this has to be done the right way.”