by Marla Monroe
“Yeah, I love her. It doesn’t change anything, Neal. She’s not for us.”
Chapter Twelve
The trip back to Dallas was made in a subdued mood. Alexis wasn’t sure what was going on, but something had changed. Then again, so had she. She’d realized she loved two men who lived several hours away from her. Two men. She couldn’t get past that part, either. She couldn’t love two at the same time. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t legal.
Once they made it back to the house, they split up and went about their own agendas. Alexis wasn’t sure what Mark was doing outside with the bikes, but Neal was cooking. She decided on a long bath. Maybe she could soak some common sense into herself.
The warm water felt divine against her skin. She wished she had added her lavender bath salts, but she had forgotten them. She’d been in too much of a hurry to get into the tub and relax. Relax. There was that word again. She’d learned how to relax with the men. As long as they were around her, she felt that way and enjoyed it, enjoyed doing nothing but lying around or watching a movie. How would it be when she returned home?
Alexis feared she would be right back where she started. The rat race would pull her in. It was her life, after all. She lived for it. Didn’t she?
The last few days had shown her another way to live. Maybe she was living the wrong life. Maybe she was talking herself into a heartache, too. She closed her eyes and sank beneath the water until only her face was above it. She loved the floating feeling and hoped it would calm her racing mind.
“Hey!” Mark pulled her out of the water. “Are you okay? Did you fall asleep?”
“I was fine. I was just relaxing in the water,” she fussed, frowning up at him.
“Damn, I thought you were drowning. Don’t scare me like that.”
“I didn’t realize you would be up here. You were down with the bikes.”
“I came looking for you.”
“You found me.”
“You were really quiet on the way back this afternoon. Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Why would you think that?”
“You’re usually a lot more talkative.” He leaned against the tub and dragged his hand through the water.
“I’m fine. Just thinking too much. That’s why I was trying to relax, so I wouldn’t think so much.”
“What were you thinking so hard about?”
“What is it with you and Neal that you want to know my innermost thoughts?” she asked with a frown.
“I guess because we wonder if maybe we’re part of them.”
“And if I said you were, what then? What does that matter?”
“It matters because you’re in our thoughts. You’re in our hearts.” Mark’s face was totally serious.
Alexis drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Careful what you say, Alexis. What did she say to that?
“I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
“Maybe that we mean something to you, as well.” He ran his fingers along her lower leg toward her knee.
“I’m not sure what I feel for you. I care a great deal. Maybe it’s something more, but I just don’t know.” Why had she lied?
It gnawed at her almost as soon as she said the words. Why didn’t she tell him that she loved them? Maybe because she knew she shouldn’t love both of them at the same time. Well, that and the fact that she couldn’t pick between them. She didn’t want to pick between them. She wanted both of them, but that wasn’t right.
“I’ll take that. It’s a start.”
“Mark? Alexis? Are you up here?” Neal’s voice called up the stairs.
“In the bathroom, Neal,” Mark called back.
Neal popped into the bathroom with his mouth open to say something, but he looked from one of them to the other and a serious expression took over. Then he sighed.
“I came up to tell you that dinner is ready. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, Neal. I’ll get dressed and be down in a few minutes.” Alexis stood up in the tub.
“Don’t dress on my account,” he teased.
Mark immediately stood up, as well and steadied her. It ate at her heart how caring both men were. She’d never had that before. Neal disappeared from the bathroom as Mark grabbed a towel to dry her off with. Once she was dry, he left her to dress.
She chose a pair of red panties and an extra-large T-shirt, forgoing pants. She figured they would either watch TV, a movie, or go on to bed. She didn’t see the need to fully dress around them. She was much more laid-back now than before.
When she walked downstairs, both men paid attention. Mark’s eyebrows went up and Neal stood up from where he’d been lounging in the recliner.
“Um, ready for dinner?” Neal asked.
“Yeah, I’m famished.” Alexis hid her smile. If she’d realized they would enjoy her eating almost nude, she might have done it sooner.
All through dinner they snuck peeks of her legs, paying little attention to the food and more attention to her. If Neal dropped his napkin once, he dropped it a dozen times during the meal. Maybe she was flashing some panties. Whatever the reason, she fought to keep a straight face throughout the meal.
Once it was through, she realized she had been the only one to really eat. The men had picked at their food, seemingly too preoccupied to eat. When she offered to do the dishes, both men volunteered to help. She shooed them out of the kitchen and cleaned up by herself. They were beginning to hover now. She hid a grin as she shoved the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on.
No sooner had she walked out into the living room than the guys were standing next to her again.
“How about a movie?” Mark suggested.
“You can pick it out,” Neal offered.
“Sounds good to me.” Alexis wandered over to the massive DVD section of the entertainment center and searched through until she found something she thought they would all like.
Both men seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the title. She settled herself in the middle of the couch, making sure her shirt rode up her thighs a good bit. It earned her some hungry looks. Well, well, well. She could tease them, as well.
Alexis found herself squeezed between the two men until she had no elbow room to speak of. She doubted any of them watched the movie since the men kept rubbing up and down her legs. At one point in the movie, they each hooked a hand around a leg and pulled them apart. They didn’t touch her already-wet pussy. They just left her like that for most of the movie.
When the credits rolled, Mark leaned up and grabbed the remote to turn off the DVD player. Then he leaned forward and snagged his beer to turn it up and finish it. He sat it back on the coffee table and Alexis realized he could see her panties each time he leaned up.
Neal caught on and did the same thing. Then he handed her beer to her and she finished it. This time when he leaned down to set her empty can on the coffee table, he trailed a finger back up her leg as he sat up. His finger raised the hem on the shirt all the way to her crotch this time.
“Red panties are so sexy on you,” Mark said when hers were showing.
Neal ran a hand up the inside of her thigh from her lower leg up to her pussy where he let a finger glide across it.
“Fuck, she’s wet, Mark.” Neal brushed back and forth across her pussy through the panties.
“How wet is she?” Mark asked with a hand on her thigh.
Neal pressed his hand against her pussy, eliciting a moan from her and another curse from him.
“Soaking wet. I want a taste,” he said as he slipped from the couch to the floor on his knees.
He reached up with both hands and rolled her underwear down her legs until he could pull them off her feet. Then he spread her legs so that he fit between them. He shoved the T-shirt up out of his way and buried his face between her widely spread legs.
“Oh, God,” she groaned as Neal speared her cunt with his tongue.
“I think the T-shirt needs to go,” Mark whispere
d in her ear.
He pulled at the hem nearly covering Neal’s head and pushed it up over Alexis’s head and arms. It disappeared from view. She suspected it was lying behind the couch now. Her panties were on the floor next to the coffee table.
Mark’s hands and mouth found her breasts. He teased and squeezed them until she was pushing them into his mouth and hands. They were so sensitive to his touch that she almost lost track of what Neal was doing between her legs.
He quickly became the focus of her attention when he sucked in her pussy lips and began tugging on them with his mouth. Then he released them and circled her clit with his stiffened tongue. He ran the flat of it over her clit once then licked his way down her slit until he could stab her cunt with it.
Alexis squirmed on the couch, but couldn’t go anywhere since Mark had her pinned with his mouth on her breast. His tongue lapped at her engorged nipple over and over. Lightning began to fire between her sensitive nipples and her needy clit. She moaned as Mark nipped at her breasts then laved the spot with his tongue. The more he played with her, the deeper she sank, drowning in sensations.
Neal hummed against her pussy as he stroked it with his tongue, then added two fingers in her cunt. He searched out her G-spot and pressed on it with both fingers. She nearly came unglued as fire spread throughout her body, consuming her in the process. She screamed out their names as she came in a wash of colors and feelings.
They slowly brought her down until she was exhausted and lying back on the couch totally nude. Both of the men were still completely dressed. Mark chuckled and picked her up.
“Time for bed for you, Alexis. I think you’ve had it for the night.”
She hummed her approval and wrapped her arms around Mark’s neck.
“I’ve got her clothes,” Neal said from behind them.
Alexis floated in an ocean of orgasmic bliss that seemed to go on and on. Even when Mark laid her on the bed and covered her with the covers, she continued to ebb and flow with the feelings that surrounded her. It didn’t take long before the softness of the bed and the warmth of the covers lulled her into sleep.
* * * *
Mark and Neal slipped out of the bedroom as soon as Alexis drifted off to sleep.
“Fuck, I’m horny,” Neal said, adjusting his cock.
“I know what you mean. We can always wake her up later or in the morning, though. She could use the sleep now.”
“You’ve changed your mind about her, haven’t you,” Neal said.
“She grows on you.” He didn’t want to give Neal the idea that they could win her over. He still didn’t see her dropping everything to move in with them.
“But you admit you love her and she’s the right one for us.” Neal was persistent.
“I wish it were that simple, Neal. Yeah, I love her and would love for her to move here to be with us, but she’s got a life already, and we’re not part of it.”
“We could be.” Neal stuck his hands on his hips. “I want to ask her to move in with us. I need you to support me on it, though, or she isn’t going to think we’re serious.”
“Neal, she isn’t going to take us seriously anyway. We picked her up on the side of the road. Literally.”
“I don’t see where it would hurt to try,” Neal argued.
“Maybe not. I don’t know. Let’s give it another week, and then if she still seems to be interested in us like we are her, we can approach her about it.”
Neal huffed out a breath and looked down at his boots. It was obvious that he didn’t want to wait.
“Okay. I’ll wait for a week. She’ll be leaving soon after that, so I’m not waiting any longer.” He walked downstairs toward the kitchen.
Mark figured he was going for another beer and would probably end up out back sitting on the deck. He could use a ride, but didn’t want to wake anyone up starting his bike. He’d take his beer and sit in the living room. He waited until Neal had walked outside. Then he headed for the kitchen, as well. He popped the top on the beer and settled on the couch with his booted feet stretched out in front of him.
It didn’t take much to smell the sex in the air. The scent of Alexis’s sweet pussy reached his nose and he inhaled deeply. How long would her presence linger in the house once she was gone? How long would he miss her after she left? He was sure she would leave. She wasn’t ready for a relationship with both of them and might never be.
He had to admit that he had never felt the kind of connection he felt with Alexis before with any other woman. Something about her called to him. Her sweet nature and stubborn independence touched his heart as no other had.
He drank his beer and got up to make his way back to the kitchen to dispose of it and the other beer cans left from earlier. About the time he threw them all in the garbage, Neal walked in.
“I think it’s going to take more than a beer to put me to sleep tonight,” Neal complained.
“Go jack off in the shower. You’ll feel better if you do.”
“You’re probably right.” He sighed and shook his head. “Just isn’t the same as slipping my cock inside her hot cunt, though.”
“Nope, it’s not. But if that’s your only option for a few hours, it might be worth it,” Mark said with a chuckle.
“You’re a bastard. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but we’re still friends.”
“I’m going to take a shower. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” Neal tossed his beer can in the garbage and walked out of the kitchen.
Mark sighed and made his way up the stairs behind him to turn in for the night. Sleeping next to Alexis with a hard-on wasn’t going to be any bed of roses, but it was better than the alternative of not having her there at all.
Chapter Thirteen
The next week flew by as the three of them explored Dallas on the back of the bikes and made wild, passionate love at all hours of the day and night. Alexis had to admit she had never had so much fun doing nothing and anything in her life. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this relaxed. Not even as a teenager when they were constantly on the move.
What was she going to do when she returned home? She only had a couple of weeks left. The thought sickened her some, so she pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on enjoying the time she had left with the men.
“How are you feeling today, baby?” Neal asked when they were sitting out on the back deck after lunch.
“Great. I love your backyard. The deck is wonderful. I’d spend all my time out here if I had it.”
“Ever thought about building a deck at your place?” Mark asked.
She noticed Neal kick Mark’s chair and wondered what that was about.
“I live in a condo. I don’t have a backyard. I have a balcony, though. It’s not big enough for more than standing outside.”
“Too bad,” Mark said.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Neal began.
“What’s that?” she asked as she sipped her beer.
“Move in with us and you’ll have the deck anytime you want it.”
Alexis froze. Then she decided he was kidding.
“That would be wonderful, but I have a job I have to go back to.”
“I’m serious, Alexis. Quit your job and move down here with us. We’ll take care of you.” When she started to balk, he hurried on. “Or, you can find a job here and work. Either way, live with us and enjoy being able to relax anytime you want to.”
“You can’t be serious, Neal. I mean, there are two of you. I can’t live with two men. It’s not right.” She wasn’t sure what to think.
“Why not? You’ve been living with us for nearly a month now.” Mark spoke up this time.
She turned to look at him. He was just as serious as Neal. Somehow she hadn’t expected this from him. He seemed too down-to-earth and sensible. Surely they were just joking with her. Looking back at Neal’s face, she knew better. He was just as serious as a heart attack.
“I–I guess I thought of it more
as a fling. I wasn’t thinking long-term. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.” She stood up. “Maybe I should go ahead and pack my things and leave.”
She made two steps before two sets of hands stopped her.
“We don’t want you to go at all, much less this soon,” Mark told her. “Don’t leave. At least stay through the end of the month like you planned on doing.”
“I feel guilty now knowing that you want more than I’m willing to give. It doesn’t seem right.” Alexis didn’t want to leave so soon, but she felt like she was dragging out the inevitable by staying with them.
“We want everything you are willing to give, Alexis. Don’t leave like this.” Neal leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips then nuzzled her neck with his nose.
“Sex isn’t the answer to everything, Neal,” she managed to get out.
He pulled back. “I know it’s not, but it is a good distraction.”
“See, there has to be more to any relationship besides sex, or it won’t last.”
“I think there is more to us than just sex. Sex just happens to be fucking amazing between us. We enjoy each other’s company and can actually hold an intelligent conversation. I know you’ve been to college and all, but we aren’t stupid.” Neal seemed to be grasping at straws.
“I never said you were. I enjoy our talks. I enjoy spending time with you both, but if you’re expecting me to stay…” She hesitated when Neal stomped off, but he turned around again.
“We love you, dammit. We want you with us permanently, not just for a few months or a year.”
“Neal,” Mark said.
“She deserves the truth.” He turned back to Alexis. “I don’t want you to leave at all. I want you to marry us and be part of our family. I want to drag you along on some of our working trips and listen to you fuss about leaving our beer cans around the house.”
“Family?” She couldn’t get past that word. They wanted her to be a family with them.
“Yeah. We want the entire thing, children, growing old together,” Mark said.
She looked deep into his eyes and saw it all there. He was just as serious as Neal. They both wanted her, together. She shook her head and stepped back.