by Cole, Fiona
"It's mine," Carina spoke up behind him.
He turned to her with a warm smile. "That explains why it looks so good."
"Thank you. Why don't you two boys go sit down at the table while I finish up. Jackson, is there anything I can get you? Beer? Bourbon? Wine?"
"A bourbon would be great."
"Okay, let me grab dinner and I'll bring it all out."
I turned toward the separate dining room without checking to see if Jackson was following. Maybe if I didn't say anything, he wouldn't have any comments to toss back at me. Maybe I'd survive the night.
Jackson sat across from me and boldly stared as I drank from my glass. Carina popped in and dropped off his drink and then left back into the kitchen.
"Just you and me again. You gonna be able to keep your hands to yourself?"
"Why are you doing this?" I finally caved and asked, done with the games.
"Doing what?"
"Turning everything between us into something sexual. Flirting with Carina. Flirting with me."
"Well, first of all, I just like Carina. And I'm overtly friendly with people I like. We get along and I've enjoyed our conversations. Obviously, you understand since you're with her." He paused to take a drink, and I ground my teeth, needing to get this conversation over with before Carina came back. "As for you, it shouldn't be a big deal, right Jake? We're just friends and I used to fuck around with you in college. You never had a problem with my jokes then. So, why does my sexuality bother you now?"
"You know why."
"Because you're attracted to me?"
"I'm not. You're my friend and that's all." The lie rolled off my tongue. Maybe if I said it enough, we'd both believe it.
"Then the comments and jokes shouldn't be an issue."
I knew they shouldn't have been. I should have laughed and made jokes in return. But we both knew it was different now. We both knew why.
"I'm just being the friend you asked me to be."
"This isn't what I asked for. When we left Friday night, I thought we had cleared it all up to leave it behind."
His smile slipped, and his jaw clenched. "Don't bullshit me, Jake." His tone was low and hard as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You know as well as I do that there was no going back after Friday. There would have been cordial conversations and avoidance until the job was over."
"That's not what would have happened."
"Stop lying. You did it five years ago, and you know you'd run scared again if you could."
"I am not scared."
"You are too. You can't even admit what we both know. That you're attracted to me. You can't even admit how much you liked it when I rubbed my dick all over you. How much you liked it when my tongue was rolling with yours. How much you want me on my knees again sucking you—"
"Enough," I whispered harshly. "I have a fiancée I love very much."
"You have a fiancée who wants another cock in both your lives. That's her fantasy, isn't it? To have two men touching her. To watch two men touching each other. That's what she requested at Voyeur that night."
The air was sucked out of my lungs, and I struggled to ask, "How did you know about that?"
"I may not have some posh job, but I'm not fucking stupid."
I wanted to deny it until I was blue in the face, but it would be a waste of breath. "It doesn't matter what her fantasy is. I'm not into guys."
"You seem pretty into me." He waited for me to say something and I clenched my jaw, holding back all the words fighting to escape. "Just fucking admit it. It's not about being into guys, it's about caring for someone and feeling that connection. You feel a connection with me and that's what's so attractive about us. Why can't you just accept it?"
"It doesn't matter if I did accept it. It wouldn't change anything for me."
He rolled his eyes. "That's right. You promised to continue the Wellington bloodline."
"Jackson." His name escaped like a plea. A plea for him to stop pushing me because no matter what I felt, no matter how obvious my denial was, it didn't change anything. Seeing the muscle clench in his jaw, I knew he wasn't going to go any easier on me no matter how hard I begged.
"I'm not stupid enough to believe things will remain the same between us. So, why not enjoy what I have left?"
My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He was wrong. I would not have bolted this time.
The denial was on my lips, but then Carina came in carrying a glass dish and a bottle of wine tucked under her arm.
"I hope you like lasagna."
I jumped up to help her and grabbed the bottle before she dropped it.
"Did you want something more to drink, Jackson?" she asked.
"That's okay. I need to drive home. I'll stick to water for now."
"Next time don't drink it so fast," she joked.
"What can I say, I like to swallow." He looked directly at me, that damn smirk back in place.
Carina laughed, and that was how the next hour of dinner proceeded, my restraint slowly slipping away.
12
Jake
"Tell me about some of your crazy college stories," Carina said as she poured her third glass of wine. She tipped the bottle all the way up until only a few drops clung to the opening. "Well, that went fast. I guess I like to swallow, too." She giggled and sat the now empty bottle off on the side table.
"I bet you do," Jackson said. "What about you, Jake? Do you like to swallow?"
A part of me wanted to stare him down, give him a smirk of my own and say, ‘why don't we find out?' That was about how close I was to losing my mind. To the point that I didn't care about the outcome as long as I shut him up for more than ten fucking minutes.
"You guys are hilarious," Carina said. "Now, tell me something good."
Jackson's eyes said they were rolling all my secrets around in his head, trying to decide which one to spill first. My breath remained trapped in my lungs waiting for him to answer.
"Our group turned truth or dare into a sport. Winning for bragging rights. But Jake here always got himself into the most trouble with truth or dare. Didn't know how to say no."
Carina placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm, her eyes alight with excitement. "Oooh, tell me how."
"No," I cut in before Jackson could say any more. This was a dangerous road to go down, and I was already on edge without the past coming up. Not that it mattered, because Jackson ignored me completely and answered the question.
"Well, a few drinks in and the dares always turned sexual. We were all a bunch of horny college kids. Our boy, Jake…" He began but stopped and scrunched his nose. "I'm sure you don't want to hear this about your boyfriend."
Carina sat up, shoulders back. "I'm aware of his sexuality."
My drink went down the wrong pipe and I began coughing. Carina stopped to give me a concerned look, but I waved her off. She didn't know it was her comment about my sexuality—with Jackson across the table—that had me choking.
"I knew Jake was a player in college."
"I won't tell anything specific," Jackson reassured. "He just always ended up being the one performing exhibitionism."
Carina turned to me with an eyebrow raised, her eyes heated with ideas I was eager to hear about later. "I want to play."
"Play what?" I asked.
"Truth or dare. Come on, ask me something."
"Carina," I warned. This dinner felt like a small flame making me sweat, and she wanted me to throw gasoline on it.
"Come on."
"Fine. Truth: are you going to have more wine tonight?"
She gave me a deadpanned stare. "All signs point to yes." She sighed and turned to Jackson. "You're right. He lives on the wild side."
Jackson laughed, and it reached across the table and gripped me, yanking me closer to saying fuck it. Add in the three glasses of bourbon and admitting my attraction to him didn't seem so far-fetched.
"Okay, I'll ask you a truth,"
Jackson said to Carina. "Have you ever kissed a girl? If so, how did it end?"
I already knew the answer to this question, but I didn't know all the details.
The old excitement of playing the game and the thrill of pushing the limits started pumping through me. Lingering explosion or not, old habits die hard.
Carina tipped back her glass of wine and emptied it. She carefully set it down and folded her hands on the table, dragging out the suspense. "I have," she finally said. "And it ended with her giving me a kiss in return. On my pussy."
"Hell, yes," Jackson said, leaning back and reaching under the table, making it obvious he was adjusting his cock. Carina's eyes dropped to the motion, but she quickly looked away, smiling. The idea of Carina on her back with a girl between her legs had all the blood dropping to between my legs.
When she turned to look at me, there was a small hesitation like she wasn't sure how I'd receive it. So, I let her see me adjust my pants as well and mouthed later. Later we'd let that play out between us and fuel our fucking.
"Alright, Carina, now a dare," Jackson said out of turn. Were we taking turns? I didn't know, and I was beginning not to care.
"Okay. I'm ready."
"I dare you to go make Jake harder than he already is and kiss him."
Jackson stared at me, the challenge in his eyes to put a halt to the game. Instead, I pushed my chair back and patted my leg, gesturing for Carina to take a seat on my lap. The scrape of her chair pushing back on the hardwood was the only sound in the room. She stepped forward and sat her soft ass against my aching cock, twisting her body to wrap her arms around my neck.
If Jackson wanted a show, I'd give him a show. I dug my hand into Carina's loose hair and tugged her down to me, dropping my other hand to grip her ass. I latched on to her mouth and pushed my tongue inside to tangle with hers. She tasted like wine and sweet intoxication. Her moan vibrated against my lips, and I pushed my hips up, letting her really feel how hard she made me.
She pulled back and gave me a heated smile before standing and walking back to her seat. I looked back at Jackson preparing to find his confident look gone from his face. And it was.
But it had been replaced with a look that burned my skin. His brown eyes looked almost black from across the table. His chest was rising and falling with heavy breaths, and my cock ached knowing I'd done that to him. Instead of deterring him, I'd only turned him on more.
Another inch closer to the edge.
Carina cleared her throat. "Jackson," she said, bringing his attention to her. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
I was sure he was going to pick dare, and I let out the breath I'd been holding in anticipation of what that dare would've been. I could handle a truth.
At least I thought I could until Carina's question proved me wrong.
"I know you're bisexual. So, what's your preference? Girl or guy?"
"Guy." No hesitation at all.
"Top or bottom?"
"Only one question per turn," I said, not needing to know any of this.
"Top," he answered anyway before letting his eyes slide to mine. "But I may let someone fuck me. They'd have to earn it though."
"Whew, that's hot." Carina fanned her face, making Jackson laugh.
"Jake," he said even though he'd already had a turn. "Truth or dare."
There was no fucking way I was taking a dare from him. "Truth."
His smile was slow and dangerous. I should've picked the dare. "You ever kissed a guy?"
My heart stopped beating, and my stomach dropped. That motherfucker knew what he was doing, and a big part of me wanted to stare him down and lie. But the competitive part, the part that had me stripping on a table in a crowded room had me tipping over the edge, my control a forgotten myth that existed before five seconds ago.
For the first time of the night, I returned Jackson's cocky smile with one of my own. "Yeah."
"Oh, hell yes," Carina cheered from the sidelines.
"Who?" Jackson asked.
"You only get one turn," I reminded him.
"Who?" This time the question came from Carina. "Is it anyone I know? A random guy from a dare in college?"
Jackson's smile was victorious and heated. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and he intentionally sunk his teeth into his bottom lip. I clenched my jaw, not answering, but not backing down.
Apparently, Carina picked up on the tension because she slapped her hand on the table. "You two?" she asked incredulously, excitement evident in her tone. "You kissed Jackson?"
I turned to face her, and her eyes were shining. I could only imagine the ideas going through her head. "It was a dare."
"Truth or dare," she asked me softly.
I laughed. "I think I'm done with truths for the night."
"I dare you to let Jackson kiss you, so I can watch."
There was a moment where the only thing I heard was all the oxygen being sucked from my body, a ring of black forming around my vision. Then there was laughter. Loud, male laughter filled with amusement at my predicament. Fuck him. He thought he knew me so well. He thought he knew what my next move was.
He should have known better. Jake Wellington never turned down a dare.
I scooted my chair back enough to cause the legs to scrape along the floor, pulling his attention to me. Keeping my stare blank, I patted my leg, just like I had with Carina, loving the idea of making him come to me. His laughter stopped abruptly. Jackson was the lead in relationships, and if he was going to torture me, I wanted the satisfaction of making him come to me.
"Try not to fall in love with me," I said, repeating the words from all those years ago.
I enjoyed the way his throat bobbed over a swallow before he stood and prowled over to me, confidence covering every inch of him. I kept my shoulders back, even as he stood over me and I had to tip my head to hold his stare. He placed both hands on the back of my chair, caging me in.
My pulse thundered through me. My skin tingled with anticipation and doubt and excitement and every other feeling under the sun. He leaned in close, his lips an inch from mine, and stopped.
"You don't have to do this." He gave me an out just like he had the first time. Except this time, I knew the outcome. I knew what it would feel like. My cock was already hard and something about this felt like it was more than just a kiss. Like I was giving in to so much more than a single dare. Like I was finally admitting how I felt about him.
I could hear Carina's short breaths and it made the tension filling my cock that much more intense. Knowing this was turning her on gave me something to pin my excitement on. I latched on to that and explained that I was doing it for her. She wanted this.
"Try not to suck."
One cheek stretched, and his dimple was the last thing I saw before his lips pressed to mine. I breathed him in. His hand dug into my hair, and he tipped my head, pushing his tongue against my lips. I opened and groaned. The taste of him mixed with the sweet and spicy tang of alcohol filled my mouth and made me feel drunk, dizzy, and lightheaded.
I gripped his cheeks between my hands and fought to control the motions, tugging him hard into me so I could feel his scruff against my lips, the abrasive texture not letting me forget that I was kissing a man. He moaned, and my cock twitched. When he pulled back, I embarrassingly chased his lips, making him laugh.
That laugh pissed me off and I wanted to shove him away—tell him off, but he came back to bite at my lips and stole any words that were on them. He stood tall and winked at me before turning to walk back to his chair.
I looked over at Carina, probably having the same concern written on my face that had been on hers after her confession. She'd asked for this, but did she think less of me? Did she have regrets? Find me disgusting?
No.
Her cheeks were flushed. Her blue eyes were swallowed by her dilated pupils, leaving them dark with desire. Her nipples were hard and pebbled beneath her shirt. And she was squirming in her chair like she was trying despe
rately to relieve an ache.
Watching her, seeing her full lips parted over her panting breaths, I wanted to give this to her. I wanted to make her fantasies come true. I could almost believe that it was all for her and none of it had to do with the curiosity I had for what the night held. It had nothing do with the way my cock jerked at the memory of seeing Jackson's ass flex as he thrust into that woman at Voyeur.
No. Carina gave me an excuse to believe it was all for her.
"Truth or dare, Jake?" Carina breathed the question. I didn't even answer before she was already asking me. "Was it only a kiss? Or was it more?"
Despite my best efforts to keep a neutral face, I could feel my eyes bulge a little. How did she know to ask that? Had she seen more than just the kiss? Was there something written all over Jackson and I that said we did more?
"I sucked his cock," Jackson answered for me.
Carina closed her eyes and whimpered before standing and coming over to press her lips fast and hard to mine.
"I'm so fucking turned on right now," she whispered against my skin.
I stood and held her in my arms. Keeping my forehead rested against hers, I asked, "How far?"
She didn't even need confirmation on what I was asking. "All of it."
I smiled. "You're a dirty girl." She blushed so pretty, making my cock jump against her stomach. "Truth or dare, Jackson?"
"Dare." His voice was strangled and filled with desire.
I turned Carina in my arms and held her back to my front, looking at Jackson over her head. "Come kiss Carina."
Jackson
Come kiss Carina.
Come kiss Carina.
Come kiss Carina.
The words thundered through me so hard I could feel tremors working their way down my spine spreading fire through my entire body.
Add in Carina's heavy-lidded eyes and Jake's impatient stare and I was clearing the distance between us in less than three steps. I didn't know where to look, but I settled on Jake's eyes, searching for a hint that he didn't want this to happen.
"Do it," he said when I hesitated.
Carina looked so small sandwiched between our large bodies, her head fully tipped back against Jake's shoulder so she could present her full lips to me. My blood thumped, chanting to go, attack, take. But this was our first kiss, the first time I would taste her.