God, please let this work.
“I’m still kind of amazed Shahid’s on board with this,” I said.
“Me too, to be honest.” He touched my face. “We’re both so grateful, though, that you’re willing to do this. I can’t even put it into words.”
I smiled. “I’m glad I can help. I think it’s bullshit you guys keep getting turned down.”
“Yeah, so do we. But we knew when we went into it that it wouldn’t be easy.” Closing his eyes, he pushed out a breath. “We just didn’t realize how hard it would be.” He rubbed his hand over his face again, and looked at me. “I think that’s why Shahid’s willing to go through with this.”
“Do you think it’s actually bothering him?”
“I don’t know. We’ve talked about it, and he insists he’s okay with it, but I’ll talk to him when he gets home tonight to be absolutely sure. We’ll see how he feels now that we’ve…” His eyes flicked downward, and his cheeks colored as he laughed shyly.
“How do you think he’ll feel?”
“Honestly?” He cupped my cheek. “I think he’ll still be all right. Shahid’s not much of a fence rider. If he’s willing to let us get this far, then he’s made up his mind.” He grinned. “And once he confirms that, then you and I can get rid of these bullshit condoms and do this for real.”
I laughed, sliding closer to him. “Doesn’t make much difference to me. Feels the same with or without.”
He scowled playfully, sliding his hand up into my hair. “You’re lucky.”
“I know.”
“Brat,” he muttered, and lifted himself up enough to kiss me. He drew back as if he was about to speak, but then he came back in and kissed me more intently. I pulled him closer. He pulled me closer. Jesus, I could get used to this. Probably more used to it than I had any business being, but as long as we were going to do this, I was going to enjoy it.
Especially his kiss. My God. His kiss had had me hooked from the start, and obviously it wasn’t only because I’d been turned on and nervous before, because it had the same effect on me now.
His tongue was firm enough not to tickle my lips, but not forceful, and I had a very strong suspicion that it would be physically impossible for Gabe to kiss with his hands tied behind his back. If his fingers weren’t in my hair, they were all over my skin—not groping, not fondling, just…appreciating. His hands were always moving, but he didn’t have to have a handful of boob every waking moment. He touched my face, ran his fingers through my hair, caressed my thigh, and yes, sometimes he’d cup my breast or tease my nipple with his thumb, but it wasn’t a constant thing.
Shahid was a lucky man—Gabe’s kiss was addictive. This was the kind of man I could make out with in a car or a movie theater. A dark place, a couple of cramped seats and this kiss, and I’d be a happy woman for hours on end.
Gabe gently rolled me onto my back. I parted my legs for him, and our bodies sank together like they were made for this. He was hardening again too. Anticipation crackled through my veins—I couldn’t wait to have him inside me again.
“For what it’s worth,” he murmured, “you’re incredibly fucking hot.”
“Likewise.” I fidgeted as renewed arousal threatened to turn me inside out. “You brought plenty of condoms, right?”
He lifted his head and smirked. “Do you really think I’d only bring one?”
“Hope not.” I dragged him back down to me. “Because we’re gonna need ’em.”
Chapter Eight
Shahid
Since I was on days for this rotation, my shift technically ended at seven, but it never really worked out that way. Sometimes I was out the door by seven thirty. Other times it was more like nine. Tonight was one of those nights.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came home. Gabe’s car was there. Kendra’s wasn’t. There were lights on, so he was here.
Had they gone through with it? How had it played out? How did they both feel? How did I feel?
With my heart in my throat, I walked up the front steps and into the house. He wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, but as I looked through the fridge for something to drink, footsteps on the linoleum raised the hairs on my neck.
I turned around, nudging the fridge shut with my hip. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He smiled, though he seemed a little uncertain. Across the kitchen, we stared at each other, blood pounding in my ears. His hair was damp, so he must have come home recently. Or just showered, anyway.
“So, um.” I drummed my fingers on the counter. “How did it go?”
Gabe’s cheeks colored, and he laughed softly as he avoided my gaze. “Well, it was… I mean, we…”
I moved a little closer to him. “It’s okay to say you enjoyed it if you did.”
“Okay. Well. I did. It was…” He blushed even more. “We had a good time.”
“Good.” I smiled despite the twist of jealousy in my chest. “That’s good.”
A faint smile formed on his lips. “It’s okay to say you’re still not sure how you feel about it.”
I laughed softly, lowering my gaze. “I’m not against it.”
He put his hands on my waist and gently drew me in. “I know. We all know what this is.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “This is so we can have a baby. Nothing more.”
I nodded. “I know. It’s just a little…”
“Weird?”
“Weird.” I touched my forehead to his. “I trust you. And I trust her.”
“We both know that.” He lifted his chin and kissed me. “But you’re allowed to have feelings about this. You can put a stop to it at any time.”
“I know.” I cupped his face and kissed him fully.
He held me tighter as he opened to my kiss. There was nothing tentative about his touch or his kiss, and that settled something in me. I hadn’t expected him to be distant but found it oddly reassuring that he wasn’t.
Breaking the kiss, I loosened my embrace, but we still stood close together. “So you two are, uh, compatible.”
“You could say that, yeah.” He was so cute when he blushed. “We went two rounds, just to be sure.”
I laughed. “Really? That’s impressive.”
“Impressive?” He snorted. “You make it sound like I’ve never gone two or three times in a night.”
“Fair point. So was it… Were you guys…”
His brow pinched. “Do you really want the details?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. Part of me wanted to know because the fewer secrets, the better. Part of me didn’t, though, because even though this was my husband having sex with a woman so we could have a child, it still seemed a little crude to kiss and tell. I’d never even liked comparing notes about exes. Sex seemed like something that should be between two people. Even when one of those people was my husband.
Could this get any weirder?
“Shahid?” He touched my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just a lot to get my head around.”
“But you’re… I mean…”
“Yes.” I kissed his forehead. “I’m still okay with it.” I paused. “We can talk about it some more over dinner, but first, I should go up and get a shower.”
Our eyes met. And locked.
Gabe swallowed. My heart accelerated.
We spoke at the same time:
“Care to join me?”
“Want some company?”
Then we both laughed.
Pulling him into an embrace, I said, “Well, I guess that answers that.”
“Mmhmm.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I guess it does.”
Chapter Nine
Gabe
As soon as we were in the shower, we were all over each other. I couldn’t stop kissing him. Touching him. Holding him against me. Maybe I’d had
a great time with Kendra today, but I wasn’t going to let Shahid doubt for a second who I loved.
I ran my hands all over his wet skin. All over his body, which I’d memorized long ago, but caught myself exploring as if I’d never laid a hand on him before. He and Kendra were as different as could be. Both were fit—she was a runner and he lifted weights enough to stay in shape for his job—but their frames were nothing alike. He was taller than me, for one thing. His hips were narrow, his shoulders broad—fucking gorgeous from head to toe. Their skin was different—hers was fair while his was a deep olive tone.
As he kissed his way up and down the side of my neck, his goatee brushing my skin, I slid my hands up his chest, through the thin black hair, and ran my fingertips across his nipples. I did it again, this time with my nails, and Shahid sucked in a breath. He cupped my ass cheeks and pulled me against him, rubbing our erections together.
Fuck, he turned me on. Hell, he turned me inside out.
“You’re making it very difficult to take a shower,” he said.
“You want me to stop?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“That’s what I thought.” I pushed him back against the wall and went to my knees. Earlier, I’d tasted Kendra for the first time, and now I had Shahid’s thick cock between my lips, and I didn’t dare touch myself because I was sure I’d come too soon. I’d never been with a woman and a man in such rapid succession, and being with one after the other turned me on more than I’d thought it would.
He cradled the back of my head and groaned something, but the shower swallowed his words. Judging by the way he was rocking his hips and pushing himself deeper into my mouth, he hadn’t been telling me to stop.
I steadied his hip in one hand, the base of his cock in the other, and didn’t hold back at all. This wasn’t a tease—I wanted him hot, turned on and over the edge. And when he recovered, I’d do it all over again.
I had every intention of sucking him off right there in the shower, but he said, “Bedroom. We should… More room.”
Oh. Hell yes.
I sat back on my heels and looked up at him, right into those gorgeous dark eyes, and yes, we definitely needed to take this into the bedroom.
I rose, but before we could step out, he grabbed me and kissed me again.
“Miss me?” he murmured between kisses.
“Always miss you.” I slung my arm around his neck and kissed him harder. He backed me up against the cool tile wall, and as we deepened the kiss, his wet goatee brushed my skin.
He broke away, panting, and turned off the water. “Shower can wait. Let’s go in the bedroom.”
“Love that idea.”
We stepped out and at least tried to dry each other off—still kissing, still holding on, we rubbed towels on each other’s skin and…to hell with it. We let the towels fall to the floor and moved into our bedroom.
He lay across the bed on his side, and I lay the opposite direction, and I was in heaven—Shahid’s lips around my cock, and his cock between my lips. Going down on him turned me on, but having him reciprocating at the same time was the best thing in the world. I loved the sounds he made—the soft groans that vibrated against my skin, the little catches of his breath when I touched him just right. The way he kneaded my thigh as he rocked his hips and fucked my mouth while I did the same, my cock sliding in and out of his lips and his hand. This had always been my favorite thing with him—lying together, sucking each other’s dicks like we had all night to drive each other insane.
Before he’d come home I’d been certain I didn’t have another orgasm left in me tonight, but exhaustion was no match for my husband’s mouth, and every swirl and flutter of his tongue drove me closer and closer.
Shahid groaned. His fingers dug into my thigh, and his cock thickened between my lips. His hips rocked faster, and mine may as well have had a mind of their own, because they did the same. If I could have spoken, I’d have begged him not to stop, but since I couldn’t, I just gave him more, and exactly as I’d hoped, he did the same. The more he turned me on, the more I licked and stroked and sucked him, and the more I licked and stroked and sucked him, the more he turned me on.
Fuck, Shahid. Fuck, don’t stop.
Oh my God. How do you do that with your tongue?
Don’t…stop.
He groaned around my cock, and semen flooded my tongue, and a second later, I was coming in his mouth too, both of us moaning as our hips jerked and trembled.
I let him go and pushed myself up on my elbow, wiping my lip with an unsteady hand. Our eyes met, and we both grinned as we came back together in the middle of the bed.
“Welcome home,” I whispered between kisses.
He laughed. “You do know how to say hello, don’t you?”
Our eyes met, and we laughed before he pulled me in for another long kiss.
“Keep this up,” he murmured, “we’re gonna need another shower.”
“Maybe we should run a bath.” I grinned. “We haven’t done that in a long time.”
He kissed me lightly and met my gaze. “We do that, we’ll end up back here again.”
“Probably.” I laughed. “Assuming I have anything left. Between you and her…”
He laughed too, but there was a beat of hesitation, and he broke eye contact as he ran his hand down my arm.
I put my hand over his. “You’re sure you’re still okay with this?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” He shrugged. “It’s an adjustment, that’s all. The thought of you and her while I’m…”
I studied him for a moment, gnawing the inside of my cheek and wondering if I should even say it. Finally, though, I whispered, “What if you joined us?”
Shahid’s eyes got huge. “Come again?”
“You heard me.”
“I did. And I think you just suggested…a threesome?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Except, forgetting for a moment the fact that it’s… I mean, a threesome? Really?” He gestured dismissively. “That part aside, we should also consider the fact that I’m gay.” He cocked his head. “What would I do except watch the two of you?”
I tried not to visibly shiver at the thought of him watching me with Kendra. “Well, I mean, you and I can still fool around.”
“In front of her.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re serious.”
I rested my hand on his waist. “Because then all three of us are involved. You’re there. You see what’s going on. Maybe it would feel less like I’m going behind your back.”
“Do you feel like you are?”
“No. Well, kind of.” I exhaled. “I’m Catholic, Shahid. I’d feel guilty if Jesus Himself were standing there saying, ‘No, dude, it’s cool.’”
Shahid laughed and kissed the tip of my nose. “I know about it, and I’m okay with it. You’re not going behind my back.” He paused, humor fading a little. “But maybe if there’s a way I can be involved, it would be…”
“Less weird?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, we can talk about it with her.”
“That might be an odd topic to bring up.”
“I think the ‘odd topic’ ship is long gone.”
Shahid chuckled. “True fact.”
“We can invite her over, and see how things progress.” I caressed his cheek. “Nothing has to happen.”
Shahid nodded. “Okay. Have her over on my next night off.” He shrugged. “We’ll see what happens.”
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” I curved my hand around behind his neck. “In the meantime, I have you all to myself.”
“Hmm, yes you do. What are you going to do with me?”
I didn’t answer.
I just kissed him.
Chapter Ten
Kendra
A few nights later, Gabe and I were at his place, but we weren’t in bed together. As we often did, we set up at his kitchen table to grade exams. We’d decided long ago that if we had to use our off time for things like this, we might as well commiserate over beer and munchies.
Today was just like any other day, despite how much the other night was nothing like any other night. Aside from a few playful, knowing glances throughout the last few days, and the odd comment when we were alone, things were almost normal. Which was encouraging—maybe that was a sign that we could pull this off without things getting weird. I’d been pretty sure from the start that we could, but I’d take all the positive signs I could get.
I finished grading one of my exams and added it to the “done” pile. As I started on the next, I glanced across the table at Gabe. “How are yours coming?”
“I’m starting to wonder if I gave my last few lectures in Martian.” He scowled. “Fourth period is damn lucky I grade on a curve.”
“That bad?”
“Uh-huh.” He rubbed his eyes. “I think it’s time for a beer.”
“Go ahead.”
He started to get up. “You want one?”
I hesitated. If getting pregnant was even a possibility right now, maybe alcohol wasn’t such a good idea. Tempting, especially given the answers on the exams I was grading, but probably not wise.
I shook my head. “I have to drive.”
“Not for a while.”
Our eyes locked.
He swallowed, lowering himself back into his chair. “You know, I can probably do without one too.”
“Go ahead. I’m serious.” With a grin, I added, “If their answers are that bad, you need all the help you can get.”
He quirked his lips and then got up this time. “Yeah, I think I need my trusty TA for this one.”
“You need me to review your lectures before the next—”
“Shut up,” he grumbled.
I laughed.
He returned with a beer bottle and took a deep swallow. “Much better. How are yours coming?”
The Best Laid Plans Page 7