by Liz Crowe
“Go, go.” Rene waved her off. “I’ve got this. See you tomorrow at the awards.”
By the time she’d exchanged texts with him, desperation to see him made her breathless. She tried to keep the texts cool. Sinking back into the pedi-cab seat, she white-knuckled her fingers. She loved him so much and needed to prove it. Tonight.
The restaurant had been packed, so she sat at the bar, ordered a beer and sent him a text, but frowned when it didn’t go through. Too many people clogging up the network, no doubt. She sipped, and tried to compose her words. Tried to ready herself to open up to him, like he’d showed her, without freaking out.
When her scalp tingled with a someone’s watching sensation, she glanced over and caught the eye of the tallest, handsomest blond man she’d ever seen. A light red, neatly trimmed beard dusted his jaw. He’d smiled at her then looked away, talking to the person across from him, just out of her line of vision. She turned back to the bar, her head buzzing with likely too much beer and the image of the guy ogling her. Finally her phone dinged and she stood, looking for the one set of eyes she needed to see more than anything. When she finally spotted him her knees nearly gave out.
She made her way over, gave him a huge hug then turned to meet the man who’d been staring at her earlier. The man who’d been her husband’s lover in Germany. Erik Aldrich, legitimate brewmaster and one of the most attractive men she’d seen in a long time. Dustin had told her about him within a day of her reluctantly moving in with him.
“Pleased to meet you.” She held out a hand, shivering slightly when he touched her. She turned to Dustin. “Honey, I—”
“Hang on a second. I’m gonna hit the head. You guys talk amongst yourselves.”
She watched him walk away, then turned to face the other man, struck all over again by the incredible perfection of him. When he actually reddened under her scrutiny, she smiled and started to relax.
The minute he saw the immediate chemistry between the two people he loved, Dustin knew. The longer he sat with Erik the more he realized how much he’d missed their connection, both physical and emotional. It was nuts, but he felt he had a moment to capture, and needed some time to gather his thoughts and figure out a couple of things. One, if he could handle it and two, if he could convince her to try it. Because suddenly, nothing seemed more perfect in his universe than to be with them both.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror, splashed water on his face and made a decision that would change all of their lives. How he got from frustrated and furious and ready to tell her to move the fuck out if she wouldn’t commit, to horny and contemplating a threesome escaped him. But before he chickened out he sent a quick text to Erik. Make an excuse and meet me in the back hallway. Then he sat on the bench outside the men’s room, his heart pounding and his gut in knots.
The sight of his tall, handsome friend relaxed him immediately. He kept his voice low.
“Let’s all go back to our suite. We can talk there. In private.”
Erik sat, staring straight ahead. “What exactly do you want to talk about?”
“I think you know. Something tells me the three of us could really hit it off. And you can help me convince her to…”
Erik turned to look at him, disbelief in his deep blue eyes. “Something tells me you are certifiably insane.”
“What? You don’t find her attractive?”
“If you were not my very good friend, you would probably gut me for what I’m thinking about her right now.”
Dustin smiled. This could be the answer. He was fine with it. And it would be so good for her. Would bring her happiness, reunite him and Erik and, well, who knew what might happen? Nothing had ever seemed more right to him. His innate need to fix, to make it better, to calm the fever of her recent frustration combined with his need to reconnect with Erik. Which perhaps made him exactly as insane as Erik suggested. He sucked in a breath.
“Good. Hold that thought. Go ahead, I’ll be right over. Act surprised when I suggest we leave.” He watched Erik walk away, gathered his composure and joined them, smiling at the sight of the two people he loved most sitting across from each other.
Tension crackled between them already. Perfect. He shoved down the small voice of protest, the part of him that demanded possession of her. He was sharing her body, perhaps a bit of her heart, but there was not one person in the universe that he’d rather share with than Erik. He sat quickly, planting a long, lingering kiss on her lips. She broke away and glanced at Erik, pulling her hair into a ponytail.
“Let’s go,” he whispered in her ear. “I can’t take another minute of these damn crowds.”
“Okay, but what about…” She gave him a significant look.
“Oh, he’s invited. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Uh, hang on. What exactly are you proposing, Dustin?” Her eyes took on a hard edge again. He had a brief moment of panic but cupped her neck, brought her face near his.
“I’m proposing a nice dinner between friends. In our suite. Away from the maddening throng.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I love you. Relax. See where it takes you.” She pulled back, her face red, clutching his thigh. He held her gaze. When she glanced across the table at Erik, Dustin knew the man must have touched her leg.
She sucked in a breath. “Okay. Let’s go.” Dustin smiled, threw some money down on the table and took her hand. The long look she exchanged with Erik told him all he needed to know.
*
Helena let the warm water caress her skin, the lilac-and vanilla-infused steam soothe her rattled nerves. She smiled and sank deeper in the massive tub, holding her breath and letting her hair billow out above her. She emerged and heard the loud, masculine laughter from the next room. Her skin pebbled at the sound of Erik’s deep, accented voice, then Dustin’s own raspy reply.
“Honey?” she called out. Dustin poked his head around the corner. The relief she felt seeing his grin made her grateful all over again for him. “Can I get some of whatever you guys are drinking?”
He disappeared and she sank back below the water again. She yelped when she sat back up and the man who stood holding a large bottle of rare Imperial stout was not Dustin, but Erik. Clad in only his jeans. She tried not to stare. The man was physical perfection, writ large. Wide shoulders tapered to a narrow waist, a light dusting of yellowish red hair covered his upper chest. His legs were impossibly long. And that face—sharp, as though chiseled from granite, with high cheekbones, large bright blue eyes and topped with a shock of shoulder-length, thick blond hair. She curled her fingers into fists under the water against the urge to plunge them into it or to touch the beard on his jaw and slipped back beneath the bubbles.
When she reemerged, his smile had grown. He held up the bottle.
“Dustin said you were thirsty. And I need a shower. Do you mind?”
“So, you want me to get out for that bottle or are you going to bring it here?” Her face heated up at her boldness. This had to be the strangest day of her life. He took the two steps over to her and knelt down, trailing a long, elegant finger through the water. She took the bottle from him and drank, letting the rich, roasty essence and the alcohol burn set fire to her already zinging nerve endings. He stayed put, staring at her. A bit of the dark brew dripped down her neck. He touched it. She licked it off when he placed it near her lips, shivering, keeping her rock-hard nipples hidden by sliding farther down into the water.
Oh God. What is happening here? She needed Dustin, needed his voice, his hands, and his reassuring presence.
“You are perfection.” His soft accent made her shiver. He stood and stepped out of his jeans. She averted her gaze at first, then took another deep draft of the rare brew and got her first look at his statuesque magnificence. The muscles of his thighs and ass drew her eyes like magnets. She watched him lean into the slate-tiled space to gauge the water temperature. When he slipped underneath the spray and turned she had to bite back a gasp. Holy shit. His cock was every
bit as impressive as the rest of him and it was ready for action.
She slid back under the water to keep from embarrassing herself. What in the hell was Dustin thinking? She knew these two had history. And she was no one to judge when it came to trying new things, sexually speaking. She’d spent about a year visiting BDSM clubs when she’d lived in Detroit and thoroughly enjoyed it. Something tapped her head so she rose back into the now even steamier room. Dustin knelt behind her, his hands on her shoulders—he’d put the bottle on the floor next to the tub.
“Damn.” She let him work through her tension. Tears stung her eyes. “I so don’t deserve you.”
“Huh. Funny how you’re the last one to figure that out.” She giggled and lay back against the tub’s tall back once again. He made his way down her front, to her breast, cupping it, flicking a thumb over her nipple. When he tilted her face back and up, his beautiful, lovely mouth worked its familiar magic. She had missed him so much and had no one to blame but herself for the iceberg between them. She broke away, needing to tell him.
“Seriously, Dustin. You were right.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Hang on, need to get my recording device. This is an historic Gettysburg Address-style moment.”
“Shut up and listen.”
He resumed working her shoulders and neck, adding his lips to the mix, forcing the heat from her face straight down between her legs. She looked up at Erik’s tall form still encased in the shower, shampoo coursing down his body.
“You were right. I’m being a stubborn bitch. I don’t know why and I’m going to try to be better. To…consider your offer.”
His mouth tickled her ear. He ran both palms down her front, held both breasts, whispered into her skin, “I need to ask you something…else. About someone, actually, who could make us even better than we are.” His fingers took hold of both nipples, making her arch up, at the same moment the steam cleared enough for her to get a nice long look at Erik. He stared straight at them. “I love you, Helena. I will always love you.” Dustin’s lips found her neck again, making her gasp.
He interspersed his commentary with nibbles and light suction along her shoulders. “I want you to be happy.”
She sat up and he moved around beside her.
“Dear God, Dustin, I am happy. You make me happy. I just, I don’t know, lost it for a while, but I’m good. Honestly.” He smiled and she relaxed back again, let the realization of what he was about to suggest burn a hole in her libido.
“Why don’t we see where this takes us?” He ran a finger down her cheek.
She narrowed her eyes. “Okay.” She grabbed him, covered his mouth with hers, taking control, slipping her fingers into his coarse hair, loving everything about the man who’d changed her whole life, in spite of her own stubborn resistance. Breaking the kiss with a little nip at his lower lip, she snuck a look at the Adonis in the shower. “Go to him.” She kept her voice soft and low. He sat back on his heels and stared at her. Her heart pounded, but she knew what they both wanted. “Go to him, Dustin.”
“This is for you, baby, not me.” He started to move back to the tub’s edge.
“Oh, trust me, it will be for me. Now go.” She pushed his arms off and watched as he stood, running his fingers through his hair, a nervous twitch that made her smile. He kept staring at her. She put one foot on the edge of the tub. “I want to watch.”
“Damn, woman, you never cease to surprise me.” With a grin, he unzipped his jeans and tugged his T-shirt over his head. “You sure about this?”
“I think that given what you’re proposing for the three of us, yes, I am. And I’m pretty sure you are, too.” Her eyes landed on her Dustin’s lovely, long, fully erect cock. He gave her one more look, then opened the shower door.
Chapter Twelve
Exhaustion stole over Erik’s brain. The endless rounds of negotiations with Jefferson after a whirlwind trip from Europe, and now the long, late hours necessary for a huge beer fest had taken their toll. He’d been operating on about four hours of sleep for the last couple of nights. He let the water beat on his shoulders, keeping his head lowered, trying to ignore the pulsing in his cock that refused to soften.
The touch on his hip startled him and he turned, coming face to face with the man he’d once loved, briefly, and now counted among his best friends. He couldn’t get his head around the fact that Dustin would commit to a woman and fall that hard. And he would admit to avoiding communication with the man over it. But now he got it. Her magnificence left him speechless.
“Hey.” He laid his palm against Dustin’s cheek, rough with dark stubble. Dustin leaned into it a minute, then tugged him close, slanting his mouth over his. The kiss made him groan, as the need he denied himself—for a man’s hard body under his—roared up and almost suffocated him. He held Dustin close, the moment their bodies touched revving his overheated libido even higher.
Their tongues, arms and legs tangled together as Dustin brought back all the old memories and sensations Erik buried for so long. He tore his lips away, put both hands on the side of his face. “She okay with this?” He would stop if there were a hint to the contrary. Dustin gripped his cock, hard, giving him his answer.
“I missed you, Erik.” The throaty voice brought a shiver to his skin. “And yeah, it was her idea.”
He looked over Dustin’s shoulder. She laid back, one foot propped up on the tub’s flat edge, one hand on the side and the other… Dear God. He groaned into Dustin’s mouth once more. “This is insane.”
“No, it’s not,” Dustin mumbled around his kisses. “It’s perfect.”
Erik caressed Dustin’s strong body, clutched his ass, pulling him closer, forcing even more contact between them. “Turn around,” he growled. “I’ll give her a show she’ll never forget.” Dustin threaded fingers through his hair, his touch demanding, eyes dark and serious.
“This isn’t about show, Aldrich. It’s about sharing. And love and a host of other shit we’ll talk about later but for now, I need you to fuck me and not worry about showboating. Oh God!”
Erik grabbed the man’s hips, turned him, and pushed him up against the opposite wall of the shower, rubbing his leaking cock into the cleft of Dustin’s ass. Closing his eyes at the noises coming from Dustin’s throat, he wrapped a hand around his long cock. “No protection,” he growled.
Dustin sighed. “No. I don’t keep any around anymore. I’m good though. As long as nothing’s changed since…” His soft words turned to a groan. Erik stroked Dustin’s long shaft, guided the tip of his own against the beautiful pink opening presented to him. “Wider,” he grunted, shoving a foot between the man’s legs. “And put your hands up on the wall, turn and look at her. I’ve got this, baby. All of it.” He sighed as the man relaxed and let him in.
He kept his palm moving up and down Dustin’s shaft, faster with every moment, and put his other on top of the hand Dustin had propped against the shower wall. “Look.” He bit Dustin’s shoulder then turned and got a good look at the pink petal beauty of Helen’s pussy and her finger. “That’s right, baby,” he called out. “Make it come for us.” Grunting, he shoved hard inside Dustin’s body, making the other man shudder and cry out. Gritting his teeth against the urge to blow, he moved his hips slowly, pulling out and pressing back in, letting the tip of his cock touch Dustin’s sweet spot deep inside while continuing to work the other man’s cock with his hand.
“Erik! I’m gonna…ah. God!” Dustin jerked once, twice and Erik’s own body contracted at the sight, feel and smell of the other man’s climax. His cock stiffened and released.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, leaning against Dustin’s back until the other man’s breathing calmed. He curled his fingers around the ones Dustin still had propped against the wall. “Forgot how great that felt. How about you? Sorry, I was a little, um…” He touched his lips to the other man’s shoulder and neck, then turned his chin so he could kiss him again.
“Mmm…” Dustin mumbled against
his mouth.
Erik sighed and slid out of Dustin’s body. “I, um, hope that was okay, you know, without…I mean, I’ll use, for her. Shit.” He stepped back, realizing what came next, and for the first time in his adult life, unsure if he could handle it. What had just happened between them had been hot, intense, but he honestly worried how he might feel about Helena. He shook his head, ducked back under the steaming water, and tried to get a handle on what Dustin suggested.
“We’ll cross that bridge soon enough.” Dustin slapped his ass and stepped out, grabbing a towel. “Honey?” he heard the man say. “Helena?” Erik opened the shower door. The tub stood empty.
*
She lay back on the massive bed, trying to calm her spinning mind, coming down off the image of the two men and her own body’s reaction and climax. Dear Lord, they were beautiful together. She looked up at the ceiling, willing back tears. Did they even need her? Stop it. You told him to do it. Do not be this woman. One who says yes when she means no.
Dustin called her name. The sound of his voice made her shudder. She had been unbelievably turned on by the sight of them. Her body buzzed with erotic energy, the release she’d achieved in the tub only serving to charge up her libido.
“Here,” she called, pulling the silky duvet up to her breasts. He sat, ran a hand down her face. She put her palm over his and smiled. “I love you. And that was fucking hot.” He bent down, kissed her hard, with a possessive edge that set her nerves humming. She pulled away, staring at him. “I mean it.”
He grinned and stood. “Show me.” His low, raspy voice set her off like it always did.
“Where’s…” She gasped when he yanked the cover off and crawled up between her legs.
“Later, baby. First this.” He lapped at her inner thighs, working his way up to her drenched pussy. She clutched at his hair, the covers, when he shoved his fingers into her, using his lips to suck at her, elongate her clit, bring her to the edge.