“I’m afraid so,” she said with a sigh, remembering her strict parents and her neglectful brothers. “After my husband’s death, they reached out, but it was too late.” She looked directly at him. “I am my own woman now. Any decisions I make are mine and mine alone. I need not consider how my family would react.”
He looked sad. “I can’t imagine not having family around me.”
“I am not alone,” she told him with a smile, pleased that he had no idea what she had planned for him. She stopped and looked up at the building in front of them. “We’re here.”
Hamish looked around. “Where?”
“Finn’s apartments.” She started for the door but stopped when Hamish didn’t follow her. She turned back and held out her hand. “Come, Hamish,” she said softly
After a brief hesitation he slid his hand into hers and followed her inside.
Chapter 7
Finn opened the door to his room expecting to see Edith. He’d been intrigued by her note earlier today asking to meet him here. She’d been avoiding him for a week and he’d feared that she was through with him. But her note had mentioned a happy surprise. The surprise was seeing Ham with her. “Edith,” he said warmly, catching her hand and dragging her inside to kiss her cheek. “And Ham,” he said, his greeting just as warm. He couldn’t be sorry Ham was here, even if it meant he still couldn’t touch Edith the way he’d been wanting to for a week.
“She brought me,” Ham said, pointing to Edith’s back. “I should be getting back to the hospital now that I’ve seen her here safely.”
“Nonsense,” Edith said firmly before Finn could respond. She reached back and grabbed Ham’s hand, pulling him inside. She shut the door and leaned against it, as if to prevent Ham from fleeing. “We’re here now. You might as well stay for a bit, and then you can walk me back. Right, Finn?” she asked.
Finn nodded, not sure what was going on. He could tell Edith had something up her sleeve, but had no idea what. She wandered over to his bed, unbuttoning her coat as she went. Finn had stoked the fire in the little stove in anticipation of her visit and the room was nice and warm. Edith had never been to his rooms before, their stolen moments restricted to the freezing cold alcove behind the hospital and a kiss or two captured in a storage room. Finn liked the look of her here.
She struggled a bit to get her coat off and Ham beat him to the punch when he stepped over and helped her off with it. She took it from him with a smile that would normally have heated Finn right up from his nose to his toes, but this time it was directed at Ham. Finn’s heart raced at that smile and what it might mean.
Edith tossed her coat on a chair already overloaded with books and papers and clothes. She sat down on the bed and arranged herself very precisely. She leaned back on both arms, straining the front buttons of her dress across her breasts. Then she crossed her legs, showing her ankles and began to bounce her foot up and down, making her skirt dance around her slim legs. She looked positively wanton sitting there on his bed like that.
“What has Finn told you about us?” she asked Ham casually, leaning down to pick something off her skirt. She inadvertently folded the fabric up, showing more of her calf, shapely even in the thick woolen hose she wore.
“He told me you like to meet him outside for a smoke now and then,” Ham said cautiously, casting a wary look at Finn.
“Did he?” she said in a low, soft voice. “Don’t tell anyone else about the smoking. Miss Nightingale would not approve. What else did he tell you?”
“What else should he have told me?” Ham asked. He’d situated himself in the corner of the room, watching Edith and Finn, trying to read the situation as always. Finn was no help. He had no idea what Edith was up to. He had hopes, of course, but knew them for fantasies rather than possibilities.
“Nothing,” she said, leaning on the bed with studied nonchalance. “Except that we are lovers, of course.”
“Edith,” Finn said with a warning in his voice. Did she somehow know about him and Ham? Was she trying to make a point? He wouldn’t let her hurt Ham like that, no matter what he felt for her. “What are you doing?”
For the first time since they arrived she looked uncertain. “I’m not really sure,” she said, sounding slightly exasperated as she sat up and plopped her hands in her lap. “How on earth do you seduce two men at once?”
Finn looked up at the ceiling and mouthed, “Thank you,” to the powers that be.
“No,” Ham said firmly, bringing Finn crashing down to earth.
“Why ever not?” Edith demanded. “Don’t you want to? I thought you wanted us both.” She stood, looking between him and Ham, confusion on her face. “Was I wrong?”
“Why?” Ham asked, crossing his arms and glaring at her belligerently.
“Why?” she asked as if she didn’t understand.
“Yes, why. Why are you trying to seduce me? Is it a lark? Do you think it will make Finn happy? Why?”
Finn hadn’t even thought to ask he was just so thrilled she seemed to want the same thing he did. But now that Ham had asked, he needed to know, too. He didn’t want Edith doing it just because she thought it was what Finn wanted.
Edith sighed and sat back down, her shoulders slumping. “I heard you two talking, last week,” she said. She waved her hand in the air. “Outside.” She looked at Finn. “You kissed him.”
“I knew it,” Finn said. “I knew somehow you’d figured out what was going on.” He sat down next to her and took her hand in his. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Edith. Ham and I, we’ve known one another since we were children. Those feelings…they just happened. But it doesn’t change how I feel about you.” She surprised him by laughing.
“Oh, I know that,” she said dismissively. “I worried about it at first, but you still treated me the same, still looked at me like you wanted to sneak out and fuck every chance you got.” Finn had trouble breathing when she used such coarse language with Ham in the room. “And you,” she said, pointing at Ham, who was still standing there with his arms crossed. “You looked at him the same way. And at me.” At her words Ham looked away.
“So you think it’s what Finn wants?” Ham said, stiff and unrelenting.
“Of course it is,” she said. “But it’s what I want, too.” She’d shocked both men with her blunt statement. She just shook her head at their surprised looks. “You men are so unobservant. For a month I’ve been worrying myself sick over my growing attraction to Hamish, over what I perceived as a betrayal of you, Finn. And then I thought I’d come between you. But that’s not true, is it?” she asked, looking at them in turn. “You both want me. And I want both of you. We’re adults, there’s no one here to see.”
“If someone found out,” Ham said, shaking his head. “I can’t do that to you, Edith, no matter what you think you want.”
“Don’t condescend to me,” she snapped, making Ham frown. “I told you, I’m my own woman. I make my own decisions. Kindly do me the honor of accepting those decisions. I won’t make yours for you, but don’t base yours on what you think I should or shouldn’t do. That is my decision.”
“I don’t believe I have ever loved you more than I do at this moment,” Finn said, dangerously aroused at her fierce independence.
“Well, you might have told me that before now,” she said, exasperated. “But being an intelligent woman, I figured it out.”
Ham laughed then, the sound as unexpected as it was delightful. “Fine then, Edith, I won’t make your decisions for you. But I will make my own.” He looked at Finn. “This is what you want?”
Finn nodded. “Yes, it’s what I want.”
Ham took two long steps to the bed and surprised Edith by pushing her back onto the mattress. He straddled her hips and pulled off his cap, tossing it towards the overburdened chair. “Fine then. My mind is made up. I’m going to fuck you, Edith, and take everything I can from both of you before I have to leave Scutari.”
Chapter 8
Hamish’s lips cras
hed into Edith’s and he let all the pent up longing and desire he’d been suppressing the last month —for her, for Finn, for them both—out into their kiss. She clung to him, and he wrapped her up in his one good arm, not knowing how many times he’d have the chance to do so. At that moment he wanted her as he’d never wanted anyone, not even Finn. She was breath and life to him right then, everything he’d ever wanted and thought he’d never have. When he thrust his tongue into her mouth he moaned at the taste of her, one he knew he’d come to crave. How could that be? How could she mean so much to him so quickly?
He broke off the kiss as abruptly as he’d started it and stared down into her eyes, which were heavy-lidded with desire. He thought back to all the days he’d followed her around the hospital, to the way she’d eagerly come to see him, her little touches and shy smiles. The way she’d buttoned his jacket today. Perhaps it wasn’t so quickly. Perhaps it had been growing and leading to this since the first time he’d seen her. He’d denied those feelings until this moment, when she’d opened herself up and let him in.
She gentled her hold on him, caressed his cheek with her hand as she pulled him back to her soft lips, and he changed his kiss to one of exploration and languid desire, afraid he’d frightened her with his rough intensity. When he tenderly cupped her breast in his palm she sucked in an unsteady deep breath and he was lost. Their embrace became one of lovers rather than two desperate, lonely people. It was a brutal reminder to Hamish that they could never be lovers, not when he’d have to leave soon. They’d go their separate ways and he’d become that lonely person again. At least she and Finn would have each other. She broke the kiss with a sob and hugged him tightly, as if she could read his thoughts in his kiss.
“See?” he whispered. “I can be gentle. Let me be gentle, Edith. Let me love you.”
She nodded though he wished she wouldn’t, because he knew it would make it harder to walk away and pretend upon meeting her tomorrow or the next day that he hadn’t held her like this, hadn’t whispered those words against her cheek. But he didn’t care. He’d have this if nothing else.
Her kisses were like opium, drugging him with their sweet intensity while his hand roamed freely, learning her body. He tried to unbutton her dress but couldn’t one handed. And then Finn was there; helping him and it seemed natural and right that he was there with them. Edith ran her hand up Finn’s arm lovingly as he pushed her undergarments aside so that Hamish could put his mouth on her breast. She gasped at the touch of his lips. Hamish loved the thrill of being with them both more than he thought he would. He used the pull of his mouth and the sting of his teeth to make her gasp again. Slowly he pulled her skirts up until he could cup her between her legs. She wore no drawers tonight. Had she done that on purpose? Perhaps she had. She had only a light bush of hair, and she seemed even more delicate to him. When he gently pressed his finger inside her she came in slow, deep, undulating waves that left him as breathless as her. But he didn’t stop, he couldn’t. When he kneeled on the cold floor and placed his mouth on her she cried out loudly. She wantonly spread her legs and held her skirts up while he licked and sucked her most private, tender places and she let him.
“Hamish,” she whispered in desperation, “I need you. Please.”
He stood immediately and tried to get his jacket off. In frustration he nearly ripped the buttons off, but then Finn was there in front of him, helping him again. Finn removed his jacket and left his shirt undone. He caressed Hamish’s exposed chest, running his palms over the hair there, and it seemed natural to reward Finn with a kiss, the taste of Edith still wet on his lips. Finn wrapped Hamish up in his arms and held him tightly while he kissed him. The earthy taste of Edith’s arousal between them and the damp whiskers against his cheeks made Hamish groan. He felt Finn fumble between them and then his kilt fell to the floor. Edith moaned from the bed and Finn broke the kiss, turning to look at her over his shoulder. Hamish could see what Finn saw. Edith had shimmied out of her dress and petticoats and lay there naked, shivering, a flush of arousal on her cheeks and chest as she watched them. He tried to take it all in, the beauty of her, but her bright pink nipples were peaked and he needed to taste them. Finn had the same idea. Hamish straddled her hips again while Finn lay beside her and they both leaned down and feasted on her pale, chilled flesh until she warmed beneath their hands.
Hamish adjusted their position, sliding between her legs. He lifted her leg to his hip and wasted no time pressing inside her, taking her as he’d longed to do for so many nights. She felt soft and wet and tight, and he gloried in the feeling of being inside a woman again. He’d missed it, but this was so much more than it had ever been before. Just as the thought went through his head, Finn straddled Edith’s legs behind him and pressed his naked chest to Hamish’s back while he kissed the nape of his neck. The experience became richer, more meaningful, more sinful and Hamish nearly forgot to breathe. As he slid out of Edith he met the hot, hard length of Finn against his backside and he groaned, then thrust hard and fast into her again. Her nails scored his back and Finn laughed behind him, a rough, heavy sound that made shivers chase up and down Hamish’s spine.
“It’s so good,” Edith whispered brokenly, voicing Hamish’s thoughts.
“It is,” Finn said softly, gripping Hamish’s hip as he pulled him back against his cock again. Finn was humping his behind while he fucked Edith. Hamish was in heaven.
Hamish grabbed one of Edith’s hands in his and stretched them both out over her head. Edith’s hips strained upward. The coupling became more desperate then, more sensual and instinctual. With each thrust inside her she gasped and Hamish groaned, and then he’d pull out only to meet Finn’s cock and Finn would give a shuddering breath and then it would start over again as he slammed back into Edith. Their breathing was heavy and harsh in the quiet of the dark night. Hamish heard his advance and retreat, the slap of flesh on flesh, and it drove him mad with need.
“More,” Edith told him breathlessly. She brushed his shirt out of the way and bit his neck where it met his shoulder and his hold on her tightened as he increased his pace and his strokes became rough and hard.
It was just what she needed. “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Yes. Yes.” Each word was forced out of her by his thrusts.
“Edith,” he said. He pressed his mouth to her cheek in a messy kiss and then stayed there, his breath fanning the hair at her temple. “Edith,” he groaned. He thrust deep and ground against her and Edith came with a shuddering cry, her hot sheath gripping him tightly. He shook in her arms and his hips jerked, holding him deep inside her as he came, too. Behind him he heard Finn groan and then a splash of warmth on his backside made him shiver and jerk with another jolt of pleasure.
Chapter 9
“We should have asked.”
Finn’s soft words broke the warm, intimate silence between them. They were lying on Finn’s small bed, Edith sprawled on top of Hamish, her head pillowed on the shoulder of his good arm, Finn pressed against them on the right. Finn was leaning on his elbow, stroking his fingers down Edith’s bare back, making her shiver. Hamish liked it, liked the feel of her on top of him, the heat of Finn next to them. He closed his eyes and memorized how it felt, so he could the pull the memory out later, when he was back at the front. Years ago his older brother had told him that his parents had this, a threesome with their friend Davie Farrell, who had lived with them since before Rowan was born. Hamish hadn’t understood. He thought he’d finally figured it out when he was with Finn. But that paled in comparison to this. To the three of them together. Now he truly knew what his parents had had.
“Asked what?” Edith said sleepily. She kissed Hamish’s shoulder and snuggled into him, straddling his waist. He could feel the cool damp of her sex against his stomach and it stirred him.
“If you were all right with Hamish and I being intimate when we were with you.”
Edith burst out laughing, her whole body quivering against him and Hamish smiled. “Do you think
you needed to ask, Hamish?” she said coyly, running her hand over his chest as if she liked the way the hair there felt. Like Finn had done.
“No,” he said simply. He’d known her in those moments before he first kissed her. Had looked into her eyes and seen what she wanted and who she was. He’d always been able to read people better than Finn. That’s why his amorous advances all those years ago had surprised Finn as much as Finn’s response to them. Hamish had known. Finn hadn’t.
“I just never want you to feel like we rushed you, Edith,” Finn said solemnly.
“Finn, darling,” she said, reaching out to stroke his cheek. She tugged on his beard and he made a face. “I’m the one who dragged Hamish here and tried in my own fumbling way to seduce you both. Together. I knew what you were and what you wanted. I wanted it too. I thought I made that clear.”
“You did,” Hamish said. He patted Edith’s bottom just because he could and she wiggled against him. So he did again.
Finn kissed her palm and lightly bit the end of her finger. “Good,” he said. “Years from now when we’re all sitting around the fire and you’re nagging us about something, I want you to remember that.”
“Oh,” Edith said with studied nonchalance, though Hamish could feel the sudden tension in her, “do you think we’ll be together years from now?”
Hamish was tense as well. He’d wanted to avoid this part. The talking part.
“Of course,” Finn said. “After all, we’ll be married. If you divorce me it will cause a terrible scandal. My mum wouldn’t be surprised, of course, but still, you don’t want to embarrass her, do you?”
“Your mum was taking bets on whether it would the whiskey or the women that did you in last time I saw her,” Hamish teased him. “She’s beyond embarrassment.”
Edith laughed as Hamish hoped she would. “Was she? Well, apparently it was the women. And the men.” She pinched Hamish on the side.
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