by Jayne Rylon
For a long time, Jambrea didn’t answer. Instead, she let Matt fork up a strawberry from his pancakes and slip it between her lips. Clint had never been so jealous of a utensil in his life as he was when she licked the last bit of whipped cream from its tines.
“Jambi, I think you can’t say you’re unaffected.” Matt paused his breakfast long enough to finger-comb some of the tangles from her hair. To see his big hands work so skillfully, with a delicate touch, impressed Clint and inspired wicked thoughts. “For the record, I can’t either.”
“If none of us gave a shit, the last six months wouldn’t have sucked so bad, right?” Clint hoped his rationale panned out. He’d spent a lot of nights repeating this mantra to himself. “We’d have given up and gone our separate ways by now if we felt nothing. Who needs all this bull if you’re not invested, right? Hell, Matt could have handed in the request for a new partner that’s been sitting in his desk drawer for at least the last six weeks.”
His insides twisted and he pushed his plate away.
“Oh, fuck. You saw that?” Matt’s face drained of its usual tan, leaving him pale. Like he’d looked the last couple times he’d had a massive hangover, which had happened more in the past few months than it had in the five years before that.
Jambrea wiped her mouth with her napkin, temporarily distracting Clint from the hot coals eviscerating him. She set the cloth down then reached out, taking one of their hands in each of hers. “That’s crazy talk. You two are a perfect match on the force. You’d never be as good with other cops as you are together. I love watching you team up—like at the annual barbecue. How many years in a row have you won the partner games trophy? It’s seamless.”
“Mason and Tyler broke our streak, one of those years in the middle, but…yeah.” Matt spoke directly to Clint. “I couldn’t do it. Even though I thought it was best for you. I’m a selfish prick. I’m sorry. I couldn’t let go.”
“I would never give up on you.” Clint hated the rasp in his voice. The horror that had sat like slime in his guts since he’d spied the paper while hunting for a pack of gum bubbled to the surface. “I’d never even think about it. You’re stuck with me, asshole.”
“Same goes.” The big guy reached across Jambrea to chuck him on the shoulder. “No matter what happens here today, or in the long run with wild thing, you’re my partner. If that means I have to back away from this, I will. You deserve her.”
Jambi seemed like she might protest, but Clint didn’t plan to let it come to that.
“I’d do the same. Give her up for you. I know you’d take good care of her.” He squeezed Jambrea’s fingers, which trembled in his. “But I’m starting to think neither one of us is going to have to make that sacrifice after all.”
“Would you give us another chance, Jambs?” Matt’s chest didn’t so much as move. He must have held his breath as he waited for an answer from the wild thing they’d nearly scared away with their stupidity. Maybe he simply hadn’t been able to believe he could get that lucky. “Please?”
When was the last time Matt Ludwig had begged for anything?
Clint sat forward, as strung out as his partner, waiting for the answer that could change their lives forever. In reality, she’d already done that. In an amazing way. Would her renowned bedside manner extend to them, even after all they’d fucked up?
He crossed the fingers of his free hand behind his back.
Jambrea nodded then whispered, “Yes, of course. But try not to screw it up this time, huh?”
Clint practically dove for the tray. He shoved it off the mattress, onto the ground, only vaguely aware of it landing right-side up. Their cleared-off dishes clattered before the racket was muffled by the plush carpet. There’d be plenty of time to worry about cleaning up the mess later. After he finished devouring the sweet treats in front of him.
Freedom—to display his lust for Jambrea, and his curiosity about Matt—rioted inside him, transforming him into a beast he didn’t know existed. He scooped his arms beneath their wild thing and lifted her enough for Matt to peel her robe off. If his partner’s hum was any indication, they could get used to her wearing such easy access garments around the house.
Clint knew it’d be a hell of a long time before he forgot this unveiling.
A willing exposure. So different from the sneak attack of the night before. While he’d thoroughly enjoyed every ounce of pleasure they’d infused her with, something about being certain she accepted him—them—made every glancing touch of his skin on hers that much more potent.
Jambrea shivered when he trailed his fingers along the pale column of her neck to toy with her collarbones. He glanced sideways at Matt, who smiled softly as he witnessed the interaction.
“It’s weird to see how you are with her. In a good way, I mean.” Matt cleared his throat. “It’s like I know you so well, but never really thought about how you get it on. It’s fascinating to see this side of you. Familiar. Not.”
“I noticed you staring last night.” Clint tried not to betray how much Matt’s intense watching had contributed to his massive hard-on and the ride he’d given Jambrea, and himself by default. He couldn’t wait to do it again.
Jambrea let her head drop onto the pillows and kicked her feet in a mini tantrum that set all the best parts of her to jiggling. “That’s so unfair.”
“Don’t worry.” A chuckle escaped him before he settled low enough to buss her forehead. “We’ll give you plenty to look at. If you can keep your pretty eyes open, that is.”
For once she didn’t object. Instead she reached up and cupped his cheeks in her soft hands, making him wish he’d taken the time to shave. His five o’clock shadow could get kind of scruffy if he wasn’t careful. It’d been a while since he had to worry about a woman’s delicate skin.
Or maybe it’d be best if she allowed him to mark her. Stake a claim. After this, there would be no turning back. If they proved to each other that this triangular bond was possible, he had a feeling their joining would become permanent. Quickly. At least he knew he would fight to the bitter end to reach that goal.
If he and Matt could figure something out between them…even better.
But he’d take what he could get.
Jambrea tilted his face down so she could stare into his eyes. The focus in her gaze had him stalling for a moment. He could look at her like this forever and die happy. “Would you please kiss me already? For real. Like that night… I’ve missed you.”
Matt groaned and dropped his hand to her shoulder. He massaged her beside Clint’s torso, not caring that his knuckles skimmed Clint’s ribs on the backstroke. Or, hell, maybe he did it intentionally. “Same goes, wild thing. I’ve DVR’d half a season of that murder mystery show you like just so we can cuddle at the scary parts again. More than anything, I miss the friend I found in you.”
Matt stretched out on his side and propped his head in his hand for a front row seat to the show Jambrea put on with Clint. “You know, I think Rob would be pleased that so many beautiful things have come from his case. I’m not saying I’m glad it happened, that we lost him, but if we had to, at least he’s looking out for us, wherever he is now.”
Clint groaned as he thought of their fallen man in blue. Lacey’s brother had been murdered not so long ago. In finding his killer, Lacey’s, Mason’s and Tyler’s relationship had morphed from friendship into…this. The more the guys hung out with Jambrea’s co-worker, Lacey, the more excuses they’d had to get to know their wild thing better. He kissed Jambrea deeply, hoping she wouldn’t mind if he used the bliss they generated together to salve his still-bruised heart.
“Tragedy might have kick-started this chain reaction, but we’re doing our best to make up for it. To carry on like he would have wanted us to. He’d be happy to see this, I think.” Matt squeezed Clint’s shoulder, giving him courage to sample Jambrea’s sad smile.
“Of course, then I’d have had to kick his ass for checking out our girl when she’s naked.” Matt shook t
he bed with his laughter. The sound turned Clint on even more. It’d been so long since he’d heard it.
Jambi arched beneath him and spread her legs, giving him room to settle between the long, strong limbs. He admired her statuesque form and the confidence she gave him to unleash all of his passion. For Matt, those concerns and her mitigation of them would be twice as important. He was huge, but Jambrea had accepted him with minor difficulty last night.
Even though she hadn’t slept with a man in fucking forever.
Clint was both humbled and sobered by that thought. He separated them just enough to nuzzle their noses and take another peek at the bemused look in her eyes. “You’ll tell me if we’re going too fast for you, right?”
“If you go any slower, I’ll die of old age before I get my fill.” She entwined her fingers in his hair and tugged, mashing his mouth onto hers. Ravenous, she devoured him. All he could do was keep up. He stroked her everywhere he could reach, his hands equal parts greedy and restless. And when he collided with Matt’s roving fingers he realized his partner did the same.
The electric jolt caused by their incidental contact had him grinding his hips against the softness between Jambrea’s thighs. In response, she arched up, pressing them more tightly together. Since he hadn’t bothered with anything other than a towel wrapped around his waist for coverage, there wasn’t much left to the imagination.
Especially when the knot at his hip began to unwind.
“You want that off?” Matt paused with his fingers hovering over the terrycloth.
“As long as Jambi’s okay with it.” He nodded.
“Stop treating me like I’m delicate. Almost innocent doesn’t count for shit.” She flexed her fingers on his shoulders, impressing his muscles with the sharp crescents of her nails. The small prick of pain turned him on more.
“Fine. Take it away.” He stiffened his spine and threw restraint to the wind.
Matt tugged on the towel. It slithered between him and Jambrea, rubbing his cock with softness along the way. That sure as hell didn’t help his self-control any.
When it was gone, his first impression was of warmth. Jambrea’s skin and his pressed together, encouraging him to redouble his seduction. This time he concentrated on licking and sucking a path along her jaw, then below her ear and onward down her neck.
With her mouth free, small pants escaped her parted lips. They kept time with the rhythm he set for them with the press of his hips, which dragged his cock along the furrow of her pussy. Soaked, she allowed him to glide through the succulent flesh and teased him with a hint of what it would be like to find his way home again. Buried inside her, he’d felt…perfect.
And he couldn’t wait to do it again.
He might have adjusted the angle of his hips, introducing the head of his cock to her opening if Matt hadn’t taken the opportunity to tip Jambrea’s face toward him and pick up where Clint had left off. His partner bestowed one hell of a kiss while Clint stole glimpses from his post.
In the meantime, he encouraged Jambrea’s surrender to their combined advances by shifting lower to lave her right breast while his hands plumped the other. Once her nipple stood tight and tall, he switched to the opposite side and repeated his treatment.
“Mmm.” She couldn’t do more than moan with Matt’s firm mouth caressing hers. If Clint wasn’t mistaken, the man had insinuated his tongue between her lips and teased her from the inside.
When Clint allowed his hand to wander down her side, something hot, hard and heavy nudged his forearm. Matt’s monster cock. He lifted his head long enough to tease his friend, “Keep that thing to yourself, would you?”
When his partner glanced at the damp spot he’d left glistening in Clint’s arm hair, he seemed to shudder, though not necessarily in repulsion. “I don’t think so. If you were a good friend, you’d jerk me a little while you’re messing around down there.”
Jambrea quaked in Clint’s hold. Had she orgasmed from the thought alone? Or maybe a shockwave of pleasure, a precursor to the real deal, had zapped her nervous system. Either way, that was all the encouragement he needed.
While the two lovers in his bed toyed with each other, he tested out the heft of another man’s cock for the first time. Strange yet familiar, the weight and soft-covered hardness impressed him. He’d never make quite the handful his partner did, even with Jambrea there to beef him up. After measuring the length a few times with his shaking fingers, he felt confident his shaft was a bit longer, which helped salve his pride.
A squeeze around the fat shaft had Matt groaning into Jambi’s mouth.
Clint’s penchant for pranks and practical jokes had him pumping away in no time. While he set a steady pace with his left hand, he continued his trek down Jambrea’s torso. The softly rounded curve of her stomach made a comfy pillow when he issued himself a time out to circle her belly button with his tongue. She was his ideal woman. Lush, curvy and genuine.
Nothing artificial ruined the flavor of her on his palate.
“Hey,” Matt grumbled after a minute. “Quit that. I’m not freaking made of stone, you know. I’ll come all over her if you keep that up.”
Jambrea whimpered as if she might not mind.
“You feel hard enough to me.” Clint relinquished his hold with one final swirl of his finger through the divot at the peak of the head. The puddle of precome there ensured he’d done a decent job for his first time out of the gate.
He heaved a sigh of relief when things didn’t seem any weirder than they had been lately between him and Matt. Actually, they both relaxed a bit. Maybe he should have accosted the dude one night while they played videogames and offered to give him a BJ. He’d have been willing to go down on Matt to shatter the barriers the other man had flung in their path after that one not-worth-the-trouble kiss.
Now this, this could be worth something.
As if they hadn’t crossed some major lines, they returned their attention to the woman between them. Because today, maybe always, she was most important.
After years of waiting, she deserved to have the time of her life. He wanted to be the man—well, one of them—to give it to her.
No secrets, no remorse, no limits.
“Go ahead,” Matt ordered. “If you don’t taste her soon, I’m going to steal your treat. Lucky bastard.”
“There’s plenty to go around.” She clammed up, as if she couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud. Even in the company of her closest friends, she’d always talked the least. Clint guessed she’d gotten in the habit of screening her thoughts, filtering the crazy things she wanted to blurt. His goal was to make her lose those inhibitions. With him and Matt, she was safe to be herself. He hoped she’d see that they didn’t mind at all. In fact, they adored her.
“That’s the spirit.” Clint trailed his fingers down her arm to her wrist. He knew which one held her no regrets tattoo without looking. When he rubbed it, she hummed. Maybe she’d start to see they really had been paying more attention to her than she’d realized.
Lacey, Izzy, Lily…hell, any number of the rest of their friends had assured him and Matt that she didn’t believe, during all those tense times, that he and his partner had been fighting over her.
And here they were, willing to share and be shared. Finally all riding the same wave.
Damn, they’d each come a long way.
This hadn’t been possible a few months ago. Today, they were trying their best to make her believe it could be real. Sustainable. A healthy, lasting relationship.
Because a few smoking romps through the sheets weren’t going to satisfy him.
He prayed she knew that.
“Clint.” His partner snapped him from the initial phases of the worry cycle that’d had them spinning around until dizzy lately.
“I’m on it.” He slithered lower on the silky sheets, which were no match for the smoothness of Jambrea’s skin. He breathed deep of her musk, more potent as he neared her core. The scent of her imprinted on h
im. Forgetting the sweet tang would be impossible.
Inhaling, he nuzzled her mound.
She yelped and flinched at the barest contact.
Matt soothed her from above, leaving Clint to concentrate on the task at hand. The reassuring tone of his partner’s calming litany settled him as well. Despite his size, the big guy was the one who always talked people out of fights, convinced them to drop weapons or to step away from the ledge. This time, he simultaneously relaxed Jambrea while leaving her ready to get all riled up.
Clint extended his tongue, using the tip to initiate the slightest pressure on her lips and the top of her slit where her clit barely peeked from between the folds of engorged flesh. Super sensitive, she lurched above him. Fortunately, Matt squelched any chance of her wriggling away with one massive arm across her abdomen and the press of his leg over hers.
The furry length of his muscled thigh brushed Clint’s side. Instead of gritting his teeth and bearing the connection, it reassured Clint. They were in this together. The heat and strength of his best friend bolstered his confidence and his drive to please the woman they held between them.
This time when he encountered her juicy pussy, he didn’t stop at introductory touches. Instead he sealed his mouth over her and began to suckle, cleaning the spilled arousal from her lips and ringing her entrance with his tongue. He lapped her slit from the bottom of her opening to her clit.
And when she whimpered, he raised his head for a moment.
Long enough to spy Matt expertly manipulating her breasts while he devoured her desperate cries of awakening excitement. Their passion fueled Clint’s. He curled his hands beneath her legs and splayed them on the lower swell of her belly. The tops of his fingers met with Matt’s arm. They both adjusted subtly, making the most of the luscious area of her body while stimulating as much of her as they could.
Hopefully that included her mind and soul.