by Suzanne Rock
“What is he saying?” Becca asked.
“I don’t know.” Lane’s text flashed on the screen. “Hold on a sec.” He frowned as he read Lane’s response. “He said that he didn’t want to do another paddleboarding lesson.”
“Oh.”
Gabe’s heart thudded in his chest as he looked down at his phone.
Is there something wrong? he texted.
No, a threesome just isn’t my thing.
Gabe sat back in his chair, stunned. “He said that he didn’t think a threesome was his thing.” Fuck. Gabe had been so worried about Becca not liking the idea of a threesome. He never considered that Lane might be the one to back away. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Becca couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Give me the phone.”
Gabe pressed the phone into her hand. Becca shook her head. She loved Gabe, but the man was no good under pressure. She quickly scanned the texts and then started typing.
This is Becca. Where are you?
There was a moment’s hesitation. At Flourish.
She furrowed her brow. The bar?
Yeah.
Stay right there, I’m coming over. She handed Gabe back his phone. “Let me handle this.”
He stared at her, stunned. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go talk to him. He was fine on the beach, so something must have happened after that.”
Gabe nodded and stood. “Let me go with you.”
Becca put her hand on his chest. “No, I think it’s better if I do this alone.” She winced at Gabe’s hurt expression. “He might not open up if we’re both there, jumping all over him. If it’s just me, then maybe I can get him to talk about his concerns.”
Gabe nodded. “You were always better at soothing people.”
“Right.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Gabe’s cheek. “I’ll call you after and let you know what’s going on.”
“Okay. Just don’t be too long.” He pulled her up against him and rubbed his swollen cock against her lower abdomen. “I get lonely.”
“I know.” Heat spread through her body as he kissed her, but she pushed it aside. There wasn’t time for this now. She had work to do. “I’ll call soon.” She patted his cheek and left the restaurant. Once outside, she hailed a taxi and stepped into the back.
“To Flourish,” she said. “And step on it.”
Chapter Eight
It took Becca a long time to find Lane. Flourish, like the rest of the bars along the boardwalk, was packed. Some indie band was playing cover music, and young patrons gyrated to the beat with colorful drinks in their hands.
Lane was a dark hole in the colorful landscape. Customers instinctively left him alone, creating a circle of space around him at the bar. He wore black and nursed a bottle of domestic beer. Becca watched as some girl tried to flirt with him, but he shooed her away. The man looked downright depressed.
“Is this seat taken?” she asked.
Lane looked up and stared at her for a long moment before responding. “No, I suppose not.”
She smiled and took the bar seat next to him. After giving the bartender her order—a glass of white wine—she turned to face hum. “What’s going on?”
He shrugged and played with the paper label on his beer.
“Why don’t you want to give me another paddleboarding lesson?”
He frowned and glanced up at her. “You seem to be doing fine on your own. You don’t need me.”
She leaned her elbow on the bar and rested her chin in her hands. “What makes you say that?”
He returned to playing with the end of his beer label. “You have Gabe to teach you how to paddleboard. You don’t need me.”
Becca sensed they were talking about more than water sports. She placed her hand over his and waited for him to look up and meet her gaze. “Gabe and I have tried to do things on our own before, but it never felt right. When you came along, everything seemed to fall into place.”
He pulled his hands away from hers. “So you’re telling me that you need me in order to make things feel right between the two of you.”
“That’s right.”
“You want to keep using me so that you can keep having those warm fuzzies with your boyfriend.” He shook his head and took a long sip of beer. “That’s seriously fucked up.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way—”
“Then what way would you put it, Becca? You want me to help you connect with Gabe. Fine. But what about after you…” He glanced around the bar. “Learn to…paddleboard? What about me?”
She shrugged. “You’d be right there, paddleboarding with us.”
“Go get someone else to play your fucked-up games. I’m done.”
She sighed and took a sip of her beer. This was getting them nowhere. It was evident that she was going to have to show Lane just how much he was needed. Being together created a bond between the three of them. Lane was integral to the relationship. It was obvious Gabe cared about him, and she was developing feelings too.
She stood, slapped some bills on the counter, and held out her hand. “Come with me.”
“What?”
She wiggled her fingers. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
He frowned and stood. “I don’t see—”
“That’s the problem, you never see.” She grabbed his hand and steered him toward the exit.
The evening was cool and crisp. The moon shone high overhead as they made their way along the boardwalk.
“Where are you taking me?” he finally asked.
“My apartment.”
He dug in his heels, forcing her to stop and meet his gaze. “Becca—”
“I’m going to show you something.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Okay.”
She led him down the boardwalk and hailed a cab. It was a long ride home, and each minute she spent alone with Lane made her more and more nervous.
The cab stopped in front of her apartment complex. She paid the driver and took Lane up to her place. She didn’t say a word until the door closed safely behind them.
“Follow me.” She led him through the small, floral-decorated living area to her bedroom. She loved flowers and decorated her entire house with them. Gabe liked to call it the garden.
“Becca—”
She held up her hand. “Wait. If after this, you want to leave, then fine. But at least hear me out.”
She walked over to her closet and threw open the doors. The place was a mess. Clutter lined the floors and shelves and clothes hung from a bar with no rhyme or reason. Lane stood behind her as she shifted through the contents on the floor. For the first time in a long time, she wished that she wasn’t such a slob.
“Here it is.” She pulled out a large photo album and sat on the floor.
“What is it?”
She patted the ground next to her. “Come here.”
He hesitated for a moment and then sat down on the smooth beige carpet beside her.
She started flipping through the pages until she came to the one she was looking for. “This is it.”
She pointed to the picture of Hannah, Declan and Quinn at the beach. Normally she kept her pictures in folders online or on her phone, but there was something in this picture that touched something deep inside. For a long time, her friend had been miserable and introverted. Quinn and Declan had coaxed her out of her shell in the short time they had been together.
In this picture, there were no remains of the shy girl Becca knew. She was outgoing and fun and…happy. Late at night, on those rare occasions when she and Gabe didn’t share a bed, she’d pull out the picture and look at it.
This was what she wanted. Happiness.
“Who are they?” Lane asked.
Becca started, realizing that she wasn’t alone. “That’s my former roommate, Hannah, and her boyfriends.”
“Boyfriends?”
She nodded. “Quinn and Declan. Exchange students.” She signed
and turned to meet Lane’s gaze. “They’re a triad.”
Lane frowned. “A triad.”
“A—how do you say it.” She waved her hand in the air. “A permanent ménage relationship.”
“Ah, now I remember. Gabe mentioned them.”
“He did?”
Lane nodded. “I was in one of those once.”
She looked up from the photo album. “You were?”
He nodded. “It didn’t work out.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She placed her hand on his arm. “What happened?”
He shrugged. “The other two decided they were better off being a couple than in a threesome.”
“That’s terrible.” She turned back to the book. “It’s funny. Gabe and I are just the opposite. We’ve tried being in a couple, but realized that we prefer being in a triad.”
Lane was silent for a long moment. “You do?”
“Yeah.” She offered him a shy smile. “Being alone wasn’t working for us. I never told Gabe this, but I was considering breaking up with him.” She ran her finger over the picture. “I kept looking at what Hannah had and wanting it for myself.” She sighed and turned back to him. “Can you understand that?”
“Yeah.”
She reached out and brushed her fingers against his cheek. “I know Gabe would never leave you like that.” She leaned in closer. “I’d never leave you like that.” She gently brushed her lips against his.
At first he stiffened, but within seconds he relaxed and began to kiss her back. Pleasure surged through her as he leaned forward and deepened the kiss. If she could just ease some of his suffering and pain…
After a long moment, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. “You don’t understand.” He framed her face with his large hands. “I don’t deserve you—or Gabe. I don’t deserve any of this.”
“None of us deserve happiness. It just is. We have to learn to be smart enough to take what is right there in front of us.” As she spoke the words, she realized them to be true. Happiness wasn’t something that just happened by chance. She had to go and make her own happiness for herself.
He closed his eyes as some indefinable emotion crossed his features. She waited, holding herself still as he worked through some inner turmoil.
“There’s something special between the three of us. Don’t tell me that you haven’t felt it.”
Lane opened his eyes and met her gaze. He looked so intense, so primal.
Something stirred in her lower abdomen. “I don’t know about you, but I want to explore this new bond between us and see where it leads.” She dropped her gaze to his mouth and moistened her lips.
Lane tilted his head and invaded her mouth. The kiss wasn’t gentle, but Becca didn’t want gentle. She slid her arms up around Lane’s neck and leaned into Lane, letting him taste, and explore. He tasted sweet, like honey. Becca moaned as he slipped his fingers down over her breasts and toyed with her nipples.
“I need you, Lane,” she whispered against his mouth.
“Not as much as I need you.”
He tore at her clothes. Suddenly hands and lips were everywhere. Becca became desperate to touch him, to taste him. He lifted her top over her head as she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. One by one the pieces of clothing came off and fell to the floor. Then he was there, on top of her, pressing her body down into the soft carpet.
Lane ran his hands down over her skin, setting every nerve ending on fire. He pulled away from her lips with a gasp and kissed a long, hot trail down her neck and jaw.
“Lane...” Becca threaded her fingers through his hair as he made his way down to her breast. She felt so needy, so desperate. She arched her back as he circled his way around her nipple with the tip of his tongue. “That feels so good.”
He made a low, guttural noise as he slid his tongue around her nipple once more, this time coming a few inches closer to her sensitive tip.
Becca groaned and tried to direct his head toward her aching tip, but he only chuckled and moved back to where he started. Damn, that man could be infuriating.
Closer and closer he came to her nipple, always reaching but never quite ending up where she wanted him to be. Becca squirmed beneath his touch. What did he want her to do, beg? Becca would never stoop so low.
“Lane, please.” Okay, maybe she would.
Finally he slid his tongue over her nipple and grazed it with his teeth. She gasped and curled her fingers into his hair as he teased and caressed her peak with his tongue.
“Yes, just like that.” She closed her eyes as pleasure shot out through her body and numbed her mind.
When he finished, he kissed his way over to the other breast and repeated the same delicious torture. Becca sobbed as he spiraled around her nipple, repeating the sensual torture all over again.
This time as he worked, he slid his hands in between her legs. Becca let her knees fall to her sides, allowing him to slip his fingers in between her folds. He easily found her clit, and rubbed it in the way that drove her wild. Spirals of need wound through her body and clouded her mind in an erotic haze. She whispered his name, desperate for more.
He lifted his head from her skin. “Here, hold these.” He lifted her legs into the air and positioned her hands around them. When he finished, he sat back and admired his work.
Becca couldn't help but feel a little bit vulnerable lying there, exposed for the world to see. She bit her lower lip as she met his gaze and was surprised to find him studying her so intently.
“You look perfect, Becca. So wet and swollen.” He ran his finger over her slit, causing a tendril of pleasure to slide up her center.
“I'm wet for you, Lane,” she said.
“I know. That's what amazes me.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.” He shook his head and touched her again, sending another tendril of heat up her torso. “I just thought that since you were with Gabe—”
“Yes, I'm with Gabe.” She let go of her thigh, reached out and stroked the side of his cheek. “But I'm also with you.”
He held her hand to his cheek as tears stung his eyes. “I won't make you regret that. I promise.”
“I'll never regret it, Lane. Not as long as I live.”
He let go of her hand and dipped his head between her legs. Becca gasped as he ran his tongue over her folds, mimicking the movements he had done with his finger moments before.
Becca replaced her hand on her thigh and spread her legs wider apart, giving him better access. Lane feasted on her body. Each brush of his fingers and swipe of his tongue, made her more and more desperate for release. She watched him work, enjoying the view of his head between her legs. Again and again he tortured her, until she became dizzy with need.
“Lane...” There was so much she wanted to tell him. About Gabe, about herself. All of her words jumbled together as he slid first one, then two fingers deep inside her pussy. Becca gasped as he worked the familiar motions with his hands. He slid his tongue up and rubbed her clit in small circles, just like he did with her nipple a short time ago.
Becca knew she was close. She felt the pressure building as she focused on the sweet friction of his fingers and tongue. Then Lane adjusted his fingers and touched an extra sensitive spot deep inside her channel. At the same time he gently nipped her clit. The added sensation sent her over the edge. Becca cried out as her orgasm crashed over her, the tsunami of sensation blinding her to everything but pleasure. She arched her back as he continued to caress her body and make the ecstasy last as long as possible.
When the last tremors of her orgasm faded, she let go of her thighs. Lane moved up her body and fixed his gaze on her like some predatory animal. Before she could speak, he captured her mouth in a hot, possessive kiss. The taste of herself on his lips made her tremble. Becca snaked her arms around his shoulders, wanting to hold him close.
Lane eased her legs farther apart, allowing himself to slip between them. Within moments he positioned himself at her
opening.
“I’ve been dreaming about this. Once wasn’t nearly enough,” he whispered against her ear.
“It wasn’t enough for me, either.” She squeezed his shoulders as he slid deep inside her core. Becca groaned and wrapped her legs around him. He felt so good, so right. The only thing missing from this erotic interlude was Gabe.
Soon. For now she had to show Lane how much he was wanted. She held on tight as the friction he created caused heat to build deep inside her core. Each thrust brought a greater sense of urgency, and soon Becca was moving with him, their bodies moving together in a primal dance. She whispered his name as they came together, wanting him to know that it was him her body craved. Not Gabe, but him.
Her need rose higher and higher. Becca scraped her nail against his back as his thrusts became harder and more erratic.
“I’m going to come,” she whispered.
“Do it. I want to feel you lose yourself, Becca.”
He thrust harder, faster. Becca kept pace with him, crying out her need as he pushed deeper into her core.
Lane reached under her ass and lifted her hips. The new angle created more intense sensations that sent her over the edge. She cried out as her mind numbed with pleasure and her limbs became boneless. Again and again he filled her, each thrust drawing out the moment and lengthening her release.
Lane roared as he followed her, tumbling over the edge and filling her with every last drop of passion he had. For a long moment they hung there, suspended. Becca had felt a close connection with Lane before, but now, after sex, she was even closer to him.
As the last of her orgasm faded, Lane rolled off her and cradled her to his side.
“That was amazing,” he said.
“It was.” She ran her finger down the side of his cheek. “Think of how much better it will be with Gabe.”
He turned his head and kissed her fingertip. “I suppose you’re right.”
She giggled. “I am right, and you know it.”
He kissed her forehead. “Maybe.”
“Promise you’ll come paddleboarding with us tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, Becca.”
“Promise. Gabe would love to have you there. I just know it.” She kissed his cheek. “Besides, I’m going to need more practice if I’m going to be able to keep up with the two of you.”