He walked back to the living room and handed Caleb his bottle.
“So, we have our work cut out for us.”
“Not quite as much you might think. She does respond beautifully.” Caleb’s eyes cut over to him, his tone a little more intent than normal.
“Do I need to ask?”
“No, I don’t think that you do.” Caleb opened his juice bottle and examined the ruby colored contents. “She wasn’t comfortable with her responses. She didn’t understand them at all.” They both sighed.
“It’s a hell of a lot more than sex. I knew it back when we worked with her at the school, but Jesus, Caleb.” Leif was confused. He hated being confused. The army had taught him to quickly assess a situation, make a decision and stick with it. His gut told him she was it for him—for them. But everything that Caleb just told him highlighted just her youth and naivety. Even though she had done what many men couldn’t have done and was living a life far beyond her years, there were still parts of her that were so young.
“She’s not, you know.”
“What?”
“Young.”
“Jesus, Caleb. This is my head. My head. Stay the fuck out.” It was a long-standing argument. They both tended to know what the other was thinking, but Caleb was much better at the game than Leif. The bastard was just more empathetic. That’s why he got further with Isabella first. What an asshole!
“She’s a match for us Leif. She’s an adult in every sense of the word and she needs us. She needs exactly what we can bring. If she got involved with a man her age, he couldn’t help her get past these issues.” Leif listened. He really listened to his friend. Caleb was making good sense. Now it was time for him to make some.
“So you’re saying that she’s a sexual submissive, just like we had suspected?”
“Oh yeah.” Leif watched as his friend paused and looked down at the juice bottle in his hand, and then back up at him. “But she needs to go into this with her eyes wide open, Leif I’m going to talk to her about sexual submission and Dominance. She’s bright, and she’s curious. I think that understanding why she responds the way she does will make her feel more secure.”
“You do realize that working with her submissive nature will make her healing easier, right?”
“Leif, that’s more your gig, than mine. I’ve gone along with it, but I don’t have a need for it like you do. I understand it intellectually, but not at the gut level that you do. But I trust you. If you want my opinion, I think some good, old-fashioned TLC is what she needs.”
“You’re wrong, Caleb. She needs a Dom she can trust completely to keep her safe.”
“You’ve tried to explain this to me in the past, but I’ve only seen you play with subs in the clubs, or with a couple who have seemed more into it as a game. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some really fun games.” Caleb gave him a big grin and Leif couldn’t help grinning back at him. He knew exactly which experiences Caleb was replaying in his mind. “But I do remember the talks we had about finding a woman to complete our home,” Caleb added.
Leif remembered those talks, as well. They couldn’t have given serious consideration to seeking a permanent ménage if they hadn’t been up front about one another’s wants and needs. Over the years, their idea of the perfect woman had changed…a lot. Leif grinned.
“Remember our perfect woman in high school?”
“Oh yeah, anyone from Bay Watch.”
“Lies, it was anyone blonde from Bay Watch!” Leif laughed.
“It was anyone blonde with big boobs from Bay Watch!” Caleb countered.
“Pamela Anderson!” they said in unison and burst out laughing.
God, it was good having a friend who was really a brother. Leif had two brothers by blood, and he loved them dearly. But Caleb was like a missing piece of his soul…without the sex.
“Isabella is the one, isn’t she?”
“Oh yeah,” Caleb answered in a reverent tone. “She’s such a good person. She’s intelligent and kind. She’s fearless, which scares the shit out of me. Please tell me that as a Dom, you can get rid of that tendency, because I can’t take her risking her life again.”
“We’re both going to be her Doms. You don’t want to take a back seat in this, Caleb. We need to start this out right.” Watching Caleb, Leif saw that he was struggling. He knew that his partner had never totally understood this concept. Oh, he understood it intellectually, but he hadn’t understood it at a gut level. Now Caleb was going to have to take a front seat alongside him with this aspect of their relationship to Isabella, and it was up to him to help Caleb understand his role.
“Look Caleb, I don’t ever expect you to need the Dom/sub experience to the extent that I need it. I need this like I need air to breathe. The very idea of Isabella’s submission, of her wanting to gift me with that ultimate level of trust, soothes me.” Leif paused, he almost had it right. Not that what he had said was wrong. He tried again. “Caleb, this type of relationship, what I’m considering with Isabella…it will elevate me into being the best man I could possibly be with a woman.” Leif watched his friend. It was the first time he had really been able to put these feelings into words, probably because Isabella was the right woman.
Caleb drank his cranberry juice and got up to look out the window. Leif knew he was processing. “Should we have a barbecue today?”
“Did you get all the fixings?” Leif knew he had, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked. Caleb turned back to him and grinned.
“As long as you do the grilling, I have everything.” Leif grinned back. He knew it would take Caleb some time to process what he’d said, but not too much time. That was the truly great thing about being such good friends, especially those who lived in your head. You pretty much knew what they were going to say, and agree to, before you asked the question.
* * * *
Isabella felt good. Her leg kind of ached, but otherwise she felt good. She yawned and stretched and sat up in bed.
“Shit!” she yelled. She clamped one hand over her mouth and used her other arm to cover her naked breasts.
She was naked! Madre de Dios.
She’d had sex with Caleb! Madre de Dios.
She’d liked it! Madre de Dios.
She’d cursed! Madre de Dios.
She unclamped her mouth and pulled up the covers, trying to find her sleep shirt.
The door flew open and two sets of eyes were on her.
“Madre de Dios.” She pulled the covers up to her chin and looked at the two men.
Caleb grinned at her. Leif just stared. She didn’t know which one to look at. Looking at Caleb was just, just…well, it was just too much. Then there was Leif looking like he was cast from stone. She wanted to pull the covers over her head, but she settled for staring at a spot just over both of their shoulders.
“Isabella, look at me.” She shook her head. She couldn’t look at Leif, either.
“Isabella.” Leif’s tone was low, but the command was unmistakable. She jerked her head, and met his ice-blue eyes. “Good girl.” She thought she saw his eyes soften. Caleb started to walk into the room, but Leif put his arm out in front of him. Now she wanted to look at Caleb, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Leif.
“Isabella, drop the blanket.” Mother of God, what was he asking? Surely he knew she was naked—or, as good as naked. She’d remembered that she was wearing panties, at least. The sky-blue satin of Leif’s eyes was amazing, or were they ice blue? She’d been unable to decide on his eye color since the day she had met him. But there was something hypnotizing about those eyes. They seemed to draw her in.
“Right now.”
“She’s not hearing you, Leif.” She finally turned to look at Caleb.
“I beg your pardon?” Caleb chuckled.
“I told you, she didn’t hear you. She was too stunned by your classical good looks.” Isabella felt all the blood rush to the surface of her skin. She turned to face Leif to find that once again, he was just s
taring at her, and any hint of softness on his face was gone.
“I want you to drop the blanket, Isabella.”
“But I’m not dressed.”
“I know that.” Isabella considered her options and dropped the comforter, but continued holding the sheet. Caleb laughed at her literal interpretation of Leif’s directive, but Leif’s expression darkened. He held her eyes captive with his. Part of her wanted to whimper because she was scared, but this was Leif. This was the same man who had kissed her senseless just hours ago. He had made her feel things that she could never have believed possible. This was a man she held strong feelings for, and she wanted to do whatever Leif asked so that he would look at her warmly once more. Finally, she dropped the sheet.
She didn’t cover her breasts. It took all of the courage she had. Trying to climb the barbed wire fence was nothing compared to this. Hot tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them away rapidly. It made Leif look blurry, but even through the prism of her tears she saw him smile. “Good girl, Isabella. I am so proud of you. You are exquisite.” She blinked again. Now her lower lip was trembling and she saw their fuzzy-looking forms walk into the room.
Why couldn’t she stop the tears? She knew Caleb liked how she looked, and now Leif was saying such nice things. Why did it feel like her heart was breaking? Why was she so overwhelmed? Caleb moved across the bed where he had lain beside her, and Leif sat next to her near the nightstand. As if they’d choreographed it, each man grasped one of Isabella’s hands and pulled them gently behind her, so that soon her shoulders were pulled back and her breasts were prominently displayed. Tears leaked faster down her face.
Leif leaned in closely to whisper in her ear. “Never in my life have I seen a woman as stunning as you are, Isabella. You take my breath away.” But she was the one who stopped breathing. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
Caleb’s thumb grazed across her lower lip and pulled downward, parting her mouth. “Breathe, Bella, breathe.” She gasped in air. She stared forward, unable to look at either of them. She could feel the differences in their hands against her skin. Caleb’s palm was a little rougher, a little drier. Leif’s hand held her more firmly, as if his grip was letting her know that he was in control. Their touches made her dizzy, made her want things that she shouldn’t.
Caleb continued brushing Isabella’s lower lip with his thumb, back and forth, even though her lips were parted and she’d long since resumed breathing, no matter how unsteadily. Leif was still close to her ear. She waited for his next words, and it didn’t take long.
“I’m going to touch your breasts now.” She flinched. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to close her eyes, but she knew that would disappoint Leif. Not Caleb, he would just coax her into opening them…but Leif? Leif would be disappointed in her. She just knew it. Almost all of her tears had dried up. Almost. One more dripped down, and it landed on her left breast, rolling downward until it reached the edge of her large dusky rose areola.
She kept her eyes forward, focused on the pale cream paint on the wall. Leif’s finger touched that liquid bead, and circled it around the puckered disk. Isabella knew she was making sounds of distress, but she couldn’t help it. All the while, Leif just kept crooning to her.
“You’re such a good girl, baby. You’re my good girl.” Over and over again he said it until finally his touch and his words somehow calmed her, settled her. Caleb was no longer touching her lower lip. His hand was stroking the hair at the back of her head, pressing softly so as to shift her focus downward. She saw Leif’s tanned finger against the honey gold of her breast and the darker shades at the tip. Then she watched as his entire hand opened and swallowed her breast, squeezing a pulsing rhythm that washed over her like waves in the ocean.
Mesmerized and drowning in sensation, Isabella heard sounds escaping her mouth. This time they weren’t sounds of distress, but a low hum—nothing else, just a hum. Caleb’s hand left her hair, and she knew what was going to happen next. She didn’t know if she could to bear it. She kept humming, a little louder, a little faster.
“You’re doing so well. You’re such a good girl, Isabella.” She could breathe, just a little easier, but it was enough. Her humming evened out, and she watched Caleb’s hand engulf her other breast. How was she supposed to stand it? How could any woman possibly survive this kind of intense attention? God, it was just so powerful. She started swaying her head back and forth, so she could look at each hand.
Leif’s fingers were longer, and she thrilled to see the top of her breast plump each time he pressed and released. Caleb encompassed her entire breast in his large hand with her nipple nestled against the center of his palm, as he rolled the globe of her breast. The power of these men to make her lose her mind astounded her. In tandem, they slowly repositioned their hands on her breasts, their movements so perfectly orchestrated Isabella wildly wondered whether a conductor was hiding in the room with them. Surely, this was all a dream.
Leif and Caleb each held only a nipple between their thumb and forefingers. She felt her own hands go damp behind her, clenching at the hands holding hers.
“Breathe for me, Bella.” Caleb’s lips lightly grazed her cheek and she melted.
Leif moved his fingers, circling his forefinger around and around the tight tip of her nipple. Her breath escaped like a long whine.
“Good girl, keep breathing.” She took a long shuddering breath in, causing her chest to push her flesh into their hands. Isabella closed her eyes, the feeling staggering.
“No, baby, look at me.” The air was thick like molasses, as she slowly turned her head. How could she have ever thought those glittering blue eyes were cold? Leif’s eyes were as warm as a summer sky.
“More?” Leif queried.
“More?” What was he asking?
“Do you trust me? Can I try to please you even more?” The air thickened but she managed the smallest of nods.
“Words, Isabella. I need words.” Leif directed.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Yes.” Her reply was no more than a puff of air. Even though she expected it, the slow pressure that morphed into a pinch caused her to sigh. The air between their eyes thinned so that all she could see was blue, and she fell in. Now the three of them were the ocean and Leif’s fingers were waves. With his mouth against her cheek, Caleb’s fingers now followed Leif’s lead and her cries were the crashing surf.
“Simply exquisite, you know you’re exquisite, my Isabella, don’t you?” She knew to give him words. She knew, but she could only nod, it was all she was capable of, and thankfully Leif understood. He let go of her hand, stroking up her arm, to tangle in her hair. He leaned in and bestowed the softest of kisses.
Caleb’s big hand now grasped both of hers, his other abandoning her breast, and she mourned the loss, until she felt his hand trailing downward, followed soon by Leif’s. Her nipples puckered in the cool air, which made no sense. The air was still a bubble of syrup containing only the three of them. She relaxed her legs for the second time that day, allowing two very different hands attached to two very different men to slide under the thin barrier of her panties. She felt them skim through the hair of her sex. Then, and she didn’t know how she knew but she did, she felt Leif touch her clit, and slide his finger past it to her dripping slit.
Isabella shook her head, trying to protest, and clamped her legs shut, trapping his hand between her legs. Leif kept her lips molded to his, gently moving his finger up and down the lips of her inner labia. The sensation grew more intense now that she had tightened her legs on his large digit. Finally, Leif pulled away from her mouth to look at her, his eyes still that ocean blue.
“Spread your legs, Isabella.” Again he commanded her and she obeyed. She moved her injured leg to the edge of the pillow and spread her good leg wide.
“Good girl.” He shifted his gaze over her shoulder, and then she felt Caleb moving through her curls to circle her clit. Isabella immediately pushed against him, tr
ying to increase the pressure.
“No, hold still. We are in charge of your pleasure, not you. You will not move.” Caleb, who had been so playful, so generous before, now remained stock still, his full lips pressed into a stern line. While Caleb’s countenance was clearly implacable, she didn’t have to look at Leif to know that his expression mirrored Caleb’s. She settled back down onto the bed.
“Isabella, my good girl.” A smile bloomed on Leif’s face, and with a steady thrust of not one but two fingers, he entered Isabella’s tight channel. The sting and pressure were sublime. When he was halfway in he began to ease out.
“No.” She knew the rules, but could not help her hiss of satisfaction. “More. God, more.” Leif’s eyes shimmered like sun struck mirrors as he shoved in hard and deep. “Oh, God!” she cried. “Perfect, so perfect.”
“Yes, perfect,” Leif said, spreading his fingers, as Caleb circled and rubbed harder, and then she went flying and falling, as Caleb’s hand released her arms. She fell back only to be swept up in their arms. Isabella felt herself floating softly onto the fluffy pillows and she felt Leif’s mouth kissing her parted lips. He left her far too quickly, and then came the soft brush of Caleb’s lips grazing her eyelids.
With one mind, they massaged the balls of her shoulders, ensuring no discomfort remained from having her arms restrained. Isabella smiled inwardly, wondering how they thought she could have felt anything but the most heavenly sensations from their loving touches.
Gradually, she opened her eyes, and she smiled outwardly, this time. Suffused with joy, she felt her emotions were appropriate to her circumstances for once, and they shone like the sun. As her eyes widened, she saw an answering smile on Leif’s face, and knew that he, too, had found joy.
Chapter 8
After showering, Isabella felt like a fully functioning, in control, woman. She didn’t like relying on crutches, but her doctors stressed keeping her weight off of her leg for at least the first day would reduce the swelling. She called Murphy’s Truck Stop only to learn that they had fired her, and her check was waiting for her. When she requested that they mail it to her, they said it was too much of a bother and she would have to stop by for it. She had never really liked the management there, but it had been the one job that dovetailed with her hours at the school, and her apartment’s location.
Isabella's Submission [Fate Harbor 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 11