Healing the Wounds

by M. Q. Barber

  “Into the bedroom with you both, then. Leave your clothes as they are.” Henry took a deep breath and exhaled with steady calm. “I’ll remove them myself tonight.”

  She sauntered into the master bedroom with a bounce in her step, an extra sway in her hips. If Jay, following her, noticed, he held his tongue out of respect for Henry’s mastery.

  Standing side by side, she and Jay appeared cut from the same cloth. Henry’s choice; he’d dressed them both. He trailed his fingers over the buttons down their shirtfronts.

  “You both know you may use your safewords at any time,” he prompted.

  “Yes, Henry.” They responded in unison. Maybe she’d gotten the hang of being a cosubmissive.

  “And you’ll use them when?”

  “If I’m—confused,” she finished, as Jay ended with “scared.” Okay. They might be cosubs, but they were individuals, too. With individual needs. That Henry took care of. She wiggled her toes in her socks. Comfy.

  Fingering the fabric between buttonholes, Henry nodded. “Or in pain of any sort, hmm?”

  Emotional pain, most likely. She doubted they’d play games with physical pain until Jay—be honest, Allie-girl—until they both stopped thinking so much about the club. Henry encouraged them to show him their emotional needs. Like Jay had last week. As upsetting as his breakdown had been, as helpless as she’d felt to help him at first, he’d needed the emotional release.

  Her answer followed on the heels of Jay’s. “Yes, Henry.”

  “Lovely.” He circled them, and she reminded herself not to turn.

  Jay had no trouble staying still. Henry in charge gave him more comfort than not. The flirtatious charm Jay donned like a costume when he went out into the world seemed an outlet for nervous energy. He didn’t lose his charm at home or in bed, but the contrast showed in his steadier, boyish expression of love. A reflection of the difference having Henry in his life made. Their love made a difference in her, too.

  Henry’s kiss took her by surprise, but following his lead came easy when his lips moved against hers.

  He kissed Jay with the same thoroughness. Jay whimpered at the pleasure.

  An answering cry built in her own throat. She breathed deep and quick.

  Henry stepped back and studied them.

  “I’m so very pleased with you both.” Speaking in a conversational tone, he began unbuttoning her shirt.

  She shivered at the brush of his knuckles against her breasts.

  “Brave. Resilient.” With each word, he loosed another button. “Beautiful. Brilliant. Eager.” He pulled her shirt free of her jeans and pushed it from her shoulders, sliding his hands down her back and unclasping her bra as well.

  Leaving her half-naked, he sidestepped in front of Jay and repeated the process. “Courageous. Obedient. Beautiful. Giving. Enthusiastic.” Henry grasped Jay’s jeans, sending his hips rocking and pulling him forward. Nimble fingers unfastened the top and lowered the zipper. Henry pressed his hand against the hard cock outlined by tented boxers. “Very enthusiastic.”

  She squeezed her thighs together. Jay hadn’t cornered the market on enthusiasm. Her panties practically sloshed with anticipation.

  Having stripped Jay bare, he returned. Her body hummed under his touch. He lowered her underwear, and the thick scent of her own arousal flooded her nose. His deep inhalation and satisfied sigh fluttered through her, tightening her stomach and provoking a downbeat of thumping anticipation. But he directed them to lie on the bed on their backs, a narrow space between, arms at their sides, legs comfortably spread.

  Henry undressed himself with customary care, his gaze wandering over her body and Jay’s. Each attractive to him in its own way, she supposed. To her, the body functioned as a system. A machine variable in the weight it could lift, the pressure it could sustain, the rhythm of its movement. God knew he’d built gorgeous machines when he made Henry and Jay.

  But Henry had an artist’s eye for anatomy. The private delights he saw in Jay’s slender, boyish hips and long, lean muscles and in her own padded curves stayed locked in his head or flowed from the tip of a brush. She might never understand him with certainty or precision. But she was learning to accept that what he saw, he loved.

  “Such beautiful creatures you both are.” Nude, aroused, he knelt between them on the bed. “But far from delicate.” He ran his hands down their arms, solid pressure crossing shoulder, bicep, forearm, palm. “So very strong. Inside and out.”

  Lowering his head, he raised their hands in his until he knelt, head bowed, with their palms on his cheeks.

  Alice turned her head, a slow movement mirrored by Jay. An infinitesimal nod passed between them as Henry touched his lips to their palms. Humbled by their devotion, he meant to worship them tonight. A healing voice, a healing touch, for his wounded partners.

  He ran his hands over her as he praised her. He moved with patient, sweeping strokes, leaving not an inch untouched before he rolled her onto her stomach and did the same to her back. Toes curled, she lay panting and trembling on the edge of orgasm when he finally pushed her onto her back once more. Christ, the intensity in the green depths of his eyes pierced her.

  “Come for me, sweet girl.” He ducked his head between her thighs. “Let me taste your pleasure.”

  Closing his mouth over her sex, he tugged her lips and clit inside and sucked with rapid repetition. His tongue pushed and rolled. Disobeying him would’ve been impossible even had she wanted to. Her climax had already begun, a flow of heat and pressure and release crashing outward, an earthquake with his tongue at the epicenter.

  The wavering wail in her ears came from her own throat, her urgent plea for more answered with thrusting between her lips and a hard press against her clit. The cascade seemed never-ending, even when his tongue left her and he blew warm air across oversensitive flesh. Even when his fingers entered and his tongue bathed her clit. These quakes defied measurement on any scale. Unquantifiable. Limitless.

  She lay dazed and sated. Her eyelids slid down. She forced them open. Amusement greeted her in Henry’s soft gaze and pursed lips.

  “Drift, dearest.” He caressed her cheek. “You’ve earned a rest after providing such a delicious dessert. And I’ve a date for seconds.”

  He tapped her nose with his finger and turned away.

  She struggled to keep her eyes open. Dessert. Seconds. Jay. Her body’s sluggish wash of desire failed to dislodge the laxity in her muscles and the mellow contentment in her head. Love you, Henry.

  “My patient boy. Such a kind, generous heart, with so little room for envy.”

  She lay quiet as he praised Jay, his hands moving over Jay’s body as they had hers.

  “Filled with love you want only to express. Your service accepted.”

  She’d burned with more jealousy watching Henry settle a coat on another woman’s shoulders than she did as he stroked toward Jay’s naked cock. Henry praising Jay, touching Jay, gifted her with redoubled pleasure, a joy to witness.

  “Your beautiful submission appreciated and honored.”

  Every shift of the mattress rippled through her when Jay rolled over. Every buck of his hips into the sheets.

  Henry kneaded tight, round ass cheeks under his hands.

  She reveled in Jay’s groaning punctuated by sharp breaths—interrupted by Henry’s commands to wait a bit longer—and finally his pleading cries and thanks. She forced her eyes to stay open, grateful not to miss Henry dragging his mouth over Jay’s cock. Twice in two weeks. Jay had to be in heaven.

  Apology and affirmation both. Tender care, and Henry’s promise to make them whole. Spreading Jay’s thighs wide, he sank his lips to the base of Jay’s cock. The muscles in his throat and jaw worked in flawless rhythm. Jay reached the finish line as quick as she had and with louder enjoyment. Bemusement crinkled in the corners of Henry’s eyes.

  Mumbling from Jay, and Henry nodded, bending forward and kissing Jay’s chest. “Pillows.”

  Jay scrambled around
the bed adjusting covers and pillows.

  Henry turned his attention to her. “Still satisfied, my sweet girl?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She didn’t feel…shortchanged, her brain chimed in, to silent laughter. Neither Henry’s cock nor Jay’s had filled her tonight, but she hadn’t been left empty. Not like the nights when she’d wondered whether Henry desired her at all.

  “Comfy,” she added. “Humming.” Staring into Henry’s eyes made her own tear up. “In love.”

  “Exceptional,” Henry murmured. “Come here, dearest.”

  Reclining into Jay’s pillow-nest concoction, Henry tucked her into his side. He kissed her with slow deliberation, weaving one hand through her hair and cradling her with the other. Pulling back, he revealed Jay kneeling between his legs, head bowed, a perfect waiting pose.

  Henry unthreaded his hand from her hair and stroked Jay’s face, knuckles following his cheekbone. “All right, my beautiful boy. Show me.”

  Perfect. Front-row seat for gorgeous action. Resting her head on Henry’s shoulder, she studied Jay’s tongue technique and Henry’s responses, his hand clutching her ass when Jay particularly pleased him. His fingers drifted, sliding between her cheeks. Unintentional. Hell, if Jay had his head between her thighs, she’d be distracted, too.

  Legs tightening, Henry flexed his muscles. Jay splayed his hand at the base of Henry’s cock. His fingers paled against the purple flush of excitement. His lips, wet and swollen, matched the color much better. He sighed as he sucked with greater speed, crooning his pleasure at being allowed to show his love and satisfy Henry’s desire.

  Henry’s groans reverberated through his cheek and into her skull. Her hips surged against his side in echoing arousal, his approaching climax eliciting a sympathetic response.

  “So close, my boy, you’ve such”—Henry took quick, panting breaths—“delightful devotion to your task.” Clenching Jay’s shoulder in a white-knuckled grip, he squeezed her ass with the other hand.

  Fuck yes. Henry’d trapped her between the pressure of his hand and her clit grinding against his hip.

  With a harsh growl, Henry bucked his hips.

  Jay rushed to swallow, gulping and gasping.

  Tense and ready, she sent her fingers diving toward her pussy.

  Henry got there first. He slid his fingers into her from behind, the heel of his hand bumping her ass as she rippled around him. Her climax arrived with sudden speed, her body shaking for one unending moment.

  She lay in bliss, jolted into blinking finally when Henry’s fingers left her. Accepting the offered fingers, Jay sucked them clean. Henry beckoned Jay forward, and they kissed with deep appreciation before kissing her in turn.

  The three of them lay together, Jay sprawled on Henry’s chest and Alice cradled at his side, until Henry patted their hips. “All right, my dears. Cleanup and sleep. It’s time to put this day to bed, hmm?”

  They agreed it was, stretching sated and sleepy bodies as they rolled to their feet and headed to the bathroom. Head drooping, she noticed little beyond the softness of the washcloths and the wide expanse of counter.

  Less than ten minutes later, she lay under the covers, sleep claiming her almost before her men settled beside her. “Should go camping more,” she mumbled. “S’nice.”

  Chapter 7

  Alice pressed her head into the pillow and stretched. Her arms encountered no bodies. She popped her eyes open.

  Jay lay on his side, cheeks stubbly and lips soft and full. “Hey, sleepy.”

  “Mmph.” She yawned. The hour felt early yet. They’d fallen asleep so late. “Henry?”

  Jay poked a hand out from under the covers and gestured behind her. “Outside.”

  Rolling to the edge of the bed, she spied him through the sliding glass door. Henry occupied a chaise near the edge of the deck, a closed sketch pad tucked beside him. “How long?”

  “About an hour.” Jay stroked her back. She rolled toward him until they lay face-to-face with their arms draped across each other’s hips. Comfort, not desire, drew them together. Henry’s moods rippled through the entire relationship.

  “You haven’t—”

  “Tried to coax him back to bed?”

  She nodded, and Jay shook his head.

  When Henry was pleased with them, she and Jay magnified his joy. But when he was torn, his absence and distraction left Jay anxious and needy and her worried and maternal.

  “I think it needs to be you this time.” Jay drew tight circles on her skin. “If we’re thinking the same thing.”

  She pressed her lips together. Jay might not be ready or even want to be. She’d pushed herself to model openness and share her uneasiness because Henry expected it and Jay needed her example, but his pain ran so much deeper. She carried a pebble in her shoe. Jay bent his back under a mountain.

  “Alice?” He ducked his head. His breath tickled her throat. “I won’t let you down again.”

  She clutched him tighter, flattening her breasts against his chest and pressing her mouth to his ear. “You’ve never disappointed me, Jay.” Both of her lovers held themselves to impossible standards. “We agree he wouldn’t still be thinking about it if the decision was an easy one, right?”

  Jay bumped her shoulder with his nod.

  “And the easy decision in Henry’s mind is whatever is best for us, right?”

  Another nod.

  “Which means he wants to take the not-easy option and accept Emma’s offer to teach. But he’s punishing himself for even thinking about it.”

  “Exile. He’s out there brooding.”

  “Because he wants something he thinks will be bad for us.” Jay’s hum of agreement vibrated against her throat, and she shivered. “But we agree it’ll be good for us, right? To confront the situation? Make it something positive?”

  “I’m…afraid, a little. But not like I was. I know what Cal did was wrong. And how he treated you. He’ll do it again.” Jay clutched her hip and breathed out, hard. “I dunno how many people got hurt ’cause I refused to speak up years ago. But I…I want to now.”

  She kissed him, a firm press on his cheekbone in front of his ear. Tried to buy herself time to work out how Henry would coax Jay to share more. “Why now, sweetheart?”

  “You know I don’t like being in control.” Fidgety fingers tapped at her ribs. “But this is different. I should be able to give up control only when I want to. When it’s safe. To Henry. To you.”

  The depth of his trust woke remnants of terror in her blood. He depended on her.

  “When I saw Cal again, it was like I gave up control when I didn’t want to. I couldn’t stop it. I need—” He cleared his throat, and his voice strengthened. “I need that control back. Helping other subs is a good place to start. Isn’t it?”

  “You’re the bravest man I know, Jay.” Henry had fostered this bond between them for months. His careful crafting had created a place for her in this relationship, one allowing her to give and accept love, one allowing Jay to reveal more than the charming surface comedian. “And I think it’s the perfect place to start.”

  His breath whooshed out. “Good. Then you’ll go convince Henry to do what he wants, because we’re both ready for it. I mean—shit. You are, too, right? If you’re not, that’s okay. You don’t have to be just ’cause—”

  “I am, Jay. You’re not pressuring me. But what makes you think he’ll listen to me and not you?”

  A bitter chuckle broke from Jay’s throat. “Because I’m a liar.”

  “Bullshit.” She pulled back and stared him straight in the face. Cringing self-hatred twisted him in unnatural lines. “You’re as honest as he is.”

  “You didn’t hear me promising him I could handle it. I begged for weeks. He was gonna take you to the club alone, you know. I told him no, I was absolutely ready. That I’d gotten so far these months with your example. That staying home would be spinning my wheels.”

  Okay, he’d overestimated on his self-assessment, but he hadn’t li
ed. Henry would understand the difference.

  “I hounded him day and night. Told him I’d be good for you. Like a guide in case you got nervous. An example. And then I fucking lost it, and you had to save me. After I promised I’d be fine. He won’t trust me now. He can’t trust me now.”

  Fuck. This conversation wasn’t one he needed to have with her. She rubbed his back. “You’re gonna have to tell him that.”

  “What, I fucked up?” He laughed, and his gaze slid away from hers. “I think he knows.”

  “No, sweetheart.” Cupping his cheek, she waited until he looked at her without immediately looking away. “That you’re afraid he won’t trust you. It’s affecting your mood, eating away at you, and it’ll attach itself to the rest of the pain if you let it. And that’ll make Henry’s job harder, won’t it?”

  Jay closed his eyes and mumbled.

  “What, sweetheart?”

  “I said you two really do think scary-alike sometimes.”

  “Good.” She leaned in and kissed him, hard and controlling. “Twice as much love and attention for you.”

  He hummed. “Like catching nothing but green lights on a crosstown run.”

  She giggled. “Let’s hope we get a green light from Henry.”

  She slipped out of bed, Jay whistling as she crossed the room naked. Bathroom first, a quick stop. She paused beside the bag Henry’d packed for her. They hadn’t bothered unpacking last night. He might’ve included pajamas and a robe for lounging. But the house was isolated, the lot wooded. The lake access lay down a set of stairs in the hillside.

  “Need a kiss for luck?” Jay scrambled onto his knees at the edge of the bed, as naked as she, and dropped into his waiting pose. A comfort. Somehow Henry had trained their fidget-prone boy to let go of anxiety and find peace in this stillness. He’d be here. Waiting.

  “I always need a kiss.” Stepping close, she pushed his hair back and proffered a gentle kiss. Sweet. “I don’t have any idea how long this will take.”

  He smirked. “Good thing I know how to wait.”

  She breathed in Jay-scented courage and slipped out the sliding door. The air held the morning’s chill despite the warm sunshine flooding her face. She shivered, her steps quick across boards beginning to retain heat. “Henry?”