Striking a Chord (Siren Publishing PolyAmour)

by Mary K. Preston

  “I think,” he said slowly, not the charming seducer but the thoughtful, careful speaker she had encountered on occasion, “that this is going to be a conversation that has to go three ways.” Angharad made a face, running her free hand through her hair.

  “You’re right. Before I even think about this, though, I want a shower.” Nick chuckled.

  “I’ll let you shower in peace this time,” he said, eyeing her body appreciatively. “Coffee will be ready when you’re out.” Angharad managed to get herself upright and made her way toward the bathroom, her legs still trembling from the force of the orgasm she’d had. She grabbed a towel on the way and glanced over at Nick, who laughed.

  “If you let me look at you anymore,” he told her, getting out of the bed, “I’ll just grab you and drag you back into bed for another few hours.” Angharad grinned and went into the bathroom.

  Chapter Eleven

  Paolo knew that Angharad had gone over to Nick’s apartment the night before, so he was not exactly surprised to see his friend when he let himself in. By a sort of unspoken accord, they had rarely both been in Angharad’s company at the same time since she had begun seeing Nick. There was no awkwardness when they hung out without her, or when they interacted at practice, but somehow they knew that it would be awkward if they were both around Angharad at the same time, without discussing it. Paolo had come over, expecting that Angharad would be home in an hour or two, and that he’d surprise her. He knew Nick had stayed over at Angharad’s apartment once before, but mostly Angharad stayed over at Nick’s when she saw him or when they went out. Nick was a creature who preferred his own terrain.

  “Oh, hey, Paolo,” Nick said, looking up briefly to wave before adding the last scoops of coffee into a French press carafe. Paolo walked into the kitchen, gave Nick a quick hug, and leaned against the counter.

  “How’s it goin’, man?” Paolo looked at his friend and noticed—not for the first time—the improvement in Nick’s whole demeanor. He was still skinny, of course. He would always be. But where he had grown almost gaunt, wallowing in his grief, he was almost completely back to his normal self. The vulpine intelligence in Nick’s eyes had returned, the air of confidence that bordered on cockiness. He was apparently not missing meals anymore, and his skin had lost the ashen, almost greasy look it had taken on from weeks and months of indifferent hygiene and indoor living. From the moment Nick had showed up for practice the first time since Angharad had started seeing him, he had looked so much more vital, his energy returned, his face lit up with enthusiasm.

  “It’s all good. Annie’s in the shower. Want some coffee? There should be enough,” Nick turned to the whistling kettle on the stove and poured boiling water into the carafe, stirring up the grounds with a long-handled spoon.

  “I’ll have a cup,” Paolo replied. “Let’s grab a smoke while it brews.” They walked out to Angharad’s balcony, lit their cigarettes, and took their first drags in companionable silence. It was both strange and not strange, Paolo thought to himself. They had both been in Angharad’s apartment together before the arrangement had been made, but that had been different. Nick had been there as a friend, waiting with Paolo while Angharad got ready, or accompanied by his wife. To know that Angharad was in the apartment, naked, that they’d both seen her that way, both enjoyed her body, was a different situation to navigate. It wasn’t an issue of jealousy—at least, not from Paolo’s perspective. It was more a question of wanting to ask questions and feeling like they would be entirely inappropriate. To hell with it, he thought. “Annie’s really something, isn’t she?”

  Nick smiled, and Paolo recognized the expression. It was a smile that used to be reserved for talking about Cynthia.

  “She really is. I can’t thank you enough, you know. For being, you know, a good friend and all.”

  Paolo grinned at Nick. “Dude, I’d share anything with you, y’know? And anyway, Annie’s having a good time. You’re good for her and vice versa and all that.”

  “Man, if I’d known you were willing to share, I would’ve asked you sooner,” Nick told Paolo, leaning back in his seat. “The first time she came over, she was absolutely terrified.” Paolo could picture Annie standing outside of Nick’s apartment, working up her nerve. “I know you convinced her.” Nick’s gaze on Paolo was intent.

  “You’re right. But you have to know she’s doing it for herself, especially at this point. Some part of her has always wanted you, or I wouldn’t have been able to convince her.”

  Nick looked away a moment, thinking. He nodded.

  “And you knew… Hell, who am I kidding, Cynthia even knew. She used to tease me about having a crush on my best friend’s girl. With Cyn gone… I wouldn’t have been able to say no to Annie even if I’d wanted to.”

  Paolo gave Nick a little grin. “That was the idea.” He put out his cigarette. “I’m going to go check on our lady.” Paolo stood, waiting briefly to see if Nick had any objection, anything more to say on the subject, before he stepped back into the apartment.

  When Paolo walked into the bedroom, he could hear the shower running in the bathroom, and he could hear Angharad singing. He smiled to himself. He had tried to draw Angharad out on occasion, get her to sing in front of people, but she always refused. He considered calling to her before he went into the bathroom, but found himself standing at the doorway, listening to her sing. She wouldn’t have any idea that he was here, and she probably considered that with Nick in the kitchen, she wouldn’t be heard. Paolo thought a moment longer and took off his shirt, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. He slipped out of his jeans and came further into the room, able to make Angharad out through the vapor and water that blurred the view through the glass shower doors. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back, water running through her hair, down her body. It was an absolutely irresistible sight, and for a moment, Paolo wondered how Nick could have possibly left Angharad to herself.

  He carefully rolled the door open, making as little noise as possible, and stepped into the shower. While the whole bathroom had become humid with vapor drifting out, the stall itself was almost like a sauna. Paolo took advantage of Angharad’s inattention to reach out and cup her breasts in his hands, feeling her nipples instantly begin to harden at his touch. Angharad’s eyes opened at the touch, and she started, before smiling at him, stretching into the hot spray of the showerhead. Paolo stepped closer to her, his hands moving to her hips, already beginning to get drenched. “Want some help?” he asked, leaning in to kiss her forehead and bringing their bodies close together. Angharad’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she rested her head against his chest.

  “That would be nice,” she replied, looking up at him through her eyelashes. Paolo loved the droplets of water on her lashes, the sharp definition of her wet eyebrows against her skin, the way her body felt pressed against him. He felt himself getting hard as he ran his hands over her body, following the course of the water running over her. He stepped away from her long enough to find the bottle of shampoo and poured some into his hand, filling the air with the smell of flowers and cloves. Angharad obediently stepped enough out of the flow of water to allow him to run his fingers through her hair, lathering it up slowly. He had admired her hair more than once, the silkiness of it, the way it clung to his fingers as he ran his hands through it, the way it crackled with static in the winter. He massaged her scalp, enjoying the little pleased noises she made, before carefully tilting her head back, leading her backward into the spray to rinse her hair. He stepped away after the lather was gone and picked up the bar of soap, working it between his hands.

  “Turn around,” he suggested, and Angharad showed him her back, moving her long hair out of the way. He began at her shoulders, massaging as much as he was spreading the soap, working out the few tight spots through her neck. It was then that he noticed the bite mark and he grinned to himself, thinking of laying a few marks of his own. When he had finished her back, moving gradually downward,
he ran his hands more carefully over her ass, caressing instead of massaging. He worked his way around to her front by way of her hips, and he wrapped his arms around her, one hand straying down to her mound, his fingers moving through her curls to part her labia. He pulled her gently back from the shower flow, pressing her slippery back against his body, letting his hand be rinsed by the water sluicing down her body before exploring her pussy, his fingers finding her clitoris. She moaned in his arms, tilting her head to give him access to her neck, the unmarked side. Paolo stroked her slowly, kissing her neck and shoulder, one of his fingers straying just a little lower to slide between her folds, not quite penetrating. She was wet, slick with arousal that even the flowing water had not defeated. His free hand moved up to her breasts, and he teased first one nipple, then the other, rolling them between his fingers and giving them each a gentle pinch.

  “Mmm, Paolo…” Angharad whimpered, trying to push her hips into his hand, wanting more contact. Her face was flushed with heat and arousal, and Paolo kissed her jaw, the corner of her mouth. He probed her slowly, feeling the walls of her cunt tighten around his finger, ready for him. He moved from her face to her neck, and found a sensitive patch of skin, nipping at it for the pleasure of hearing Angharad gasp. Paolo felt his cock growing harder by the minute, especially with the slippery sensation of Angharad’s skin rubbing against his erection when she writhed against him, lost in the pleasure he was giving her with his fingers. He took a deep breath and pushed Angharad away, turning her around so that the hot spray rinsed her back. He smiled at her look of confused disappointment.

  “I’m not done getting you clean yet,” he said, picking up the bar of soap again and lathering it between his hands. “You can’t get dirty until you’re clean.” He put the soap down and began running his hands over her front, spreading the lather over her shoulders and down her arms, teasing her by taking extra care to get each of her fingers clean before he moved his hands back upward to her chest. He took a long time lathering her breasts, careful to coat the entirety of each breast with soap and paying particular attention to her nipples. Soaping her up gave him the perfect opportunity to roll her nipples slowly between his fingers, and the only thing he would have liked better would have been teasing her with his mouth. He moved downward, across her abdomen and then her hips, before cupping her pussy in his hand, his touch gentle. He pulled her to him again, pressing her soap-slippery body against his and running his hands all over her, hungry for her.

  “Rinse off, tesoro mio,” he whispered, kissing her quickly. “I want to screw your brains out before we run out of hot water.” He gave her a playful half shove into the hot water and resisted the urge to take himself in hand as he watched her throw her head back, the water running over the delicious lines and curves of her body.

  Unable to stand it anymore, he pulled her out of the water and crushed her body against his even as he stepped back until his back met the shower wall, sealing her lips with his own, swallowing her moans. The crush of her breasts against his chest and the way her slick limbs slid along his body was almost unbearably hot. He anchored his feet against the wall on one side and the edge of the shower on the other and lifted her up, draping her legs around himself. “Guide me,” he whispered into her ear, one arm wrapping around her hips to hold her close. He felt her hand close on his cock and she took a moment to detour from the task, rubbing him slowly and playing with his head. Finally, he felt her guide him up to her slit. He thrust up into her, moaning into her shoulder at how she felt, her walls tightening around him, so hot and wet. He rocked his hips slowly, pushing down on Angharad’s body to move deeper and deeper inside of her. Angharad’s legs around his body tightened, and he felt her twisting her hips, moving herself up and down in counterpoint to his thrusts, her pussy squeezing him as she moved, her muscles rippling around his cock. He found her mouth and kissed her, hungry for the taste of her lips, the feel of her tongue against his. The sound of her moaning, muffled by his kiss, drove him crazy for more of her.

  Paolo found himself thrusting as fast as he could, his free hand wandering away from her face, caressing her breasts briefly on its way down to her sex, her curls slippery with arousal. He worked his fingertips between their bodies, finding her pleasure center, carefully holding her tightly against him as he drove up into her body and began to stroke her slowly. He broke away from the kiss, whispering, “You’re so beautiful, tesoruccio mio,” his lips moving to her neck. She had rested her head on his shoulder such that the unmarked side of her neck was available to him, and he took advantage, kissing and nipping all over before fastening his lips on the spot parallel to the mark she already had. Paolo began stroking her more firmly, loving the sound of her voice, the way she gasped and panted. He felt her walls clench around him when he found a sensitive spot along her inner canal, and he drove up against it again and again, rubbing her pleasure spot. The way her breasts pressed against him, the erratic tightening of her muscles around him, the pleasure of her hot, wet pussy, was enough to drive a man insane with lust, and Paolo found it more and more difficult to hold back, until he felt Angharad climaxing, heard her moaning his name over and over in her pleasure. His whole body tensed, and he was emptying into her, clutching her close, the sound of the shower running warring with the rush of blood in his veins.

  Paolo carefully let Angharad down, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. Angharad leaned against him. Her body was trembling with release, and he listened carefully for the sound of her breath gradually returning to normal. She pulled herself off of him and smiled, straightening to kiss him sweetly before standing under the spray one last time. Paolo pushed himself from the wall and joined her under the flow, relaxing into the hot water, enjoying the feeling of Angharad’s body close to his. He almost wanted to have her again already, and Paolo toyed with the idea of gently bending her over and plunging into her tight pussy from behind, of fucking her again and feeling her climax around him. Or maybe he could let her feel his cock getting hard again, and let her take him in her hand or in her mouth, and feel her talented tongue teasing the head of his dick while she sucked him. Paolo reminded himself that Nick was waiting for them, and got himself in control. It wouldn’t be fair to have another round with Angharad when Nick was expecting them any time.

  Chapter Twelve

  Angharad stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel. Fortunately, she kept more than one handy in the bathroom, and Paolo, following her, grabbed the other one. Angharad let herself feast her eyes on Paolo’s tight, gorgeous body for a few moments as she absently dried off. She felt both wonderfully satisfied and tired all at once, her muscles sore in a way that was both pleasant and jarring. She pulled on her bathrobe and walked into her bedroom, glancing at the clock and stopping short. She had had sex twice in less than an hour with two different men. That had to be some kind of milestone. She smiled to herself and walked to her dresser to get pajamas. “Is Nick still here, or did he go home?” she called back in Paolo’s direction.

  “Nick’s still here,” Nick said from her bedroom door, a little smile on his face. Angharad was embarrassed for a moment, feeling as if she’d been caught. But then, she had been dating Paolo first. Suddenly, the fact of having slept with both of the men in her apartment within an hour of each other hit Angharad, and she sat down on her bed heavily. Had he heard them? How could he not have? Was he upset at her for giving into Paolo when, by some unofficial rule, she was supposed to be with Nick right now? She looked up at Nick and saw him watching her with concern.

  “I am in dire need of coffee,” she explained, trying to reassure him with a smile. More than that, I need to figure some things out. Her legs still felt rubbery from so much pleasure in such a short time, and Angharad carefully stood, pulling on a pair of loose pajama pants and a T-shirt.

  “It’s ready, actually,” Nick said. “About time for that talk, d’you think?” Angharad caught a hint of tension in Nick’s eyes and wondered at it. Did he think she was going
to end the relationship? Or that Paolo would? Angharad realized that in spite of the confusing welter of her feelings, she didn’t want either relationship to end. She was willing to fight for the right to see both men. The idea surprised her. Maybe she didn’t need to figure out as much as she thought. But there was still the fear. Just because she was willing to fight for both of them didn’t mean they had the same idea. What if Paolo and Nick had already come to an agreement while she was in the shower, before Paolo had come in?

  Paolo came out of the bathroom, shirtless and with his hair still damp from the shower, though he had put on his jeans. “I think I’m going to need a cigarette with that coffee,” Angharad said with a little smile, looking from one man to the other. She stepped around Nick and strode into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup and doctoring it with milk and sugar, Paolo and Nick following in her wake. Perhaps it was an after effect of all the endorphins in her system, but she suddenly felt amazingly cheerful, determined to get what she wanted. For once, she thought, she was going to put her foot down. They stepped out onto the balcony, and Angharad lit a cigarette, waiting a moment for Paolo and Nick to follow suit. She took a long drag, exhaled.

  “Now,” she said. “What just happened was amazing. And I have never had as much sex in my life as I’ve had since I started seeing both of you at the same time.” She took a sip of her coffee.

  “But…” Nick prompted. Angharad felt a moment’s insecurity, with both men’s gazes locked onto her. She felt like a particularly succulent roast beef just placed on the table in front of them.