Love Is Hell: A Valentine's Story, Book 2 [The Male Order, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Edith DuBois

  All of a sudden, a deep, preternatural longing clutched at her insides. The scene she imagined was so overwhelming she had to close her eyes and suck down a deep breath. This was a fierce-clanging truth, something so pure and undeniable it rang through her whole body like a sudden clarion call through the fog. She was stiff and electric with the thought of it.

  It’s time to move forward as a family. With the men she loved, it was time to live the lives they all wanted, lives that included themselves and all of their children. It was time.

  She told herself that again and again.

  It was time. It was time.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Gabby asked, pulling Sherri’s thoughts back to the conversation. “Am I going to go to jail like your husband said?”

  “I don’t think that will happen. But you will have a lot of work to do.”

  Gabby nodded. “That’s okay. Means I don’t have to be at my house.”

  “Sweetie, you’re always welcome to come over to my cabin. Even if it’s two in the morning and you need somewhere to sleep, don’t hesitate. Okay?”

  Gabby didn’t look at her, so Sherri grabbed her shoulders and gave her a little shake. “Okay?”

  At last she nodded.

  Sherri was thinking about bringing Ethan in. She figured it was about time to get the official side of things under way, but Gabby stopped her.

  “Have you ever read that play? The one I took the line from?”

  “No. Why?”

  “I chose it on purpose. I mean, Mrs. Emilie lets me borrow any French film I want, but I’ve watched that one dozens of times.”

  Sherri’s eyebrows popped up.

  “I like it because there’s only three characters, and the whole time, they are just in a room together talking. There’s a flaky, simpering woman who wants the man because she only feels good and worthy when someone loves her. There’s the man, of course, who wants the other woman because she is intelligent and assertive. Of course, she doesn’t want him.

  “This other woman, the intelligent one, her major flaw is that she’s a lesbian and wants the first woman, but that’s what I love so much about it. The author totally made her the smartest character. She has no problem admitting to and embracing her faults. She is always exactly who she is at all times.”

  Sherri studied Gabby for a moment. “And that’s what you wanted to be tonight. Yourself.”

  Gabby picked at the table and nodded. “I guess.”

  Sherri sighed, cursing the soft spot that was rapidly growing for the teenager. “Now I’ve got to go get my husband. We’ll figure out the best course of action for tonight, but trust me, everything is going to be all right. Shitty things are definitely going to happen, but it will always be all right eventually. I promise.”

  She nodded. Sherri got up, but Gabby called her name softly from behind.

  “Yes?” she asked, turning.

  “I didn’t mean it earlier, about your flower pin.”

  Smiling, she reached up and touched her grandmother’s brooch. She unpinned it and handed it over. “Here, you have it.”

  Gabby’s eyes widened. “No, I couldn’t…”

  Sherri set it on the table. “It’s yours. All I ask is that you remember everything we’ve talked about tonight and strive for it always. Strive and reach and grasp for everything. Got it?”

  After eyeing the brooch for a moment, Gabby nodded and then picked it up.

  “I can do that,” she said.

  Sherri smiled. “I know.”

  Chapter Five

  It felt like hours had passed since Sherri went into the room with Gabby, but after checking his watch yet again, Benji knew it had only been a little over half an hour. Gavin, Grayson, and Emilie sat next to each other, Emilie holding one of each man’s hands. All three of them stared at the wall in front of them, just waiting to see if Sherri could pull any information out of the girl.

  Benji wished there was something he could say to the three of them to make them feel better, but Sherri was always the best one at that. He knew they were pretty close to Gabby, Emilie especially, and it must be tough to face such hurtful behavior.

  The door across the room creaked open. Sherri peeked her face through the crack. There was a flush to her cheeks and a lively brightness in her eyes that hadn’t been there earlier.

  Before he could ask her about it or really even do more than notice it, she called Ethan over and disappeared back through the door. Benji popped up, wanting to go inside, too, but Ethan closed the door behind him. Instead, Benji merely paced back and forth across the room.

  About five more minutes passed, and then Sherri, Gabby, and Ethan all emerged from the room. Gabby walked straight over to the Stephenses.

  Her head was tucked down, but Benji could tell she glanced through her curtain of hair to meet their eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  Emilie didn’t hesitate, didn’t ask for anything else. She pulled her close and held her tight. “I know,” Emilie said. “I know you are.” Grayson and Gavin put their hands on each of her shoulders and each of Emilie’s, and the four of them stood that way for a long while.

  Benji was so caught up in that scene he didn’t notice Sherri marching toward him at first. Her rapid approach snagged his attention, and before he could react, she’d launched herself into his arms. “Whoa, sweetie.” She clung fiercely to him. “Whoa.” He laughed, but only because he was a little worried. What exactly had happened in that room? “Are you okay?”

  When she pulled away, he saw tears in her eyes. “Shh,” he said. “You’re okay.” He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “What happened?”

  She shook her head against him. Pulling back, she swallowed and turned around to look for Ethan. When he stepped closer, she said to both of them, “I want to adopt. I’m ready. There is nothing I want more than to have a family with both of you. I’ve been so afraid, but I’m not anymore. I love you so much. Both of you.”

  “Oh my God,” Benji choked out, pulling her against him again. He felt a little bit of hot moisture gathering in the eyeball region, and he squeezed his lids shut. Out of everything she could have possibly said, that was the last thing he was expecting to come out of her mouth.

  Benji saw his brother slide his hands around her waist. “Are you sure, baby? I mean, holy shit, I’m so happy, but what made you change your mind? It seems so sudden.”

  “I know,” she said, laughing, “but I realized it’s what I wanted. I was in there talking with Gabby, and it struck me and just about knocked me over. It’s like I almost can’t explain it. I mean, Ethan, you’ll listen to the recording and maybe understand a little bit, but I’m ready for this. We’re ready for this.”

  “You think so?” Benji asked. “I mean, of course, I want this. I want to have a family with you more than anything else in the world, but is this what you want, Sherri, my love?”

  She put her hands on his face and looked at him with shining eyes.

  “I want whatever is going to make you happy,” he whispered.

  “This is what I want.” He saw the truth blazing brightly in her eyes. He heard it in the steady lilt of her voice. A deep, abiding joy raced through his whole body.

  “You’ve just made me the happiest man alive,” Benji said in a hoarse whisper. “I love you. Holy shit, I love you.”

  Laughing out loud, Ethan picked her up and spun her around. When he set her down again, he brushed a couple ruffled strands of hair away from her face. “You never stop surprising me.”

  “I hope I never do.”

  Ethan smiled. “Me, too.” They kissed, and Benji watched the rapture crossing his wife’s face as her eyelids lowered and she melted into his brother’s embrace. He would never understand how he ended up with such a beautiful, unique woman. At the same time, he’d learned not to question things when good fortune came his way.

  Looking across the room to where the Stephenses and Gabby were talking in low voices,
he wondered if Gabby’s Valentine’s Day vendetta hadn’t forced a little luck to his life after all. Maybe he owed Sherri’s change of heart partly to her. And maybe he couldn’t really regret that one side of his shed had been sacrificed in the process. And maybe sometimes sixteen-year-olds happened to spray-paint hard-earned truths on people’s houses.

  It was a crazy world, but he’d seen crazier things.

  * * * *

  About an hour and a half later, Sherri stopped outside their bedroom door, not quite ready to go inside.

  “What?” Ethan asked, rubbing her arm. “What is it?”

  “I don’t want to go to bed.”

  “You don’t?” Benji looked utterly crestfallen.

  “I mean, I want to do that”—he perked back up—“but I don’t want to go to bed. I don’t want to sleep. I’m so awake and jittery. I want to do something. It feels like we need to do something special.”

  “Anything you want,” Ethan murmured, letting his hand slide down to her ass and holding one of her cheeks for a long, indulgent moment. The tips of his fingers edged forward and tickled the back of her pussy. The heat from his touch tickled up into her stomach, causing her muscles to flex and waver.

  “Mmm.” She turned her face to him and pressed her lips to his, showing him how much she loved his hands doing exactly what they were doing.

  “Wait a second,” Benji said, interrupting the intimate moment. He checked his watch. “Sherri…”

  “Yes?”

  “Did I just hear you say you feel like ‘we need to do something special’?” He made air quotes.

  Sherri was a bit lost. “Yes.”

  “And it’s 11:37 on February 14?”

  “Yes. I guess so. I don’t know the exact time.”

  “February 14, Sherri?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Otherwise known as Valentine’s Day?”

  “Oh my God, Benji.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Seriously?”

  “Otherwise known as a meaningless, consumer-driven abomination of a holiday? Holy crap, Ethan. Could it be that our little wifey is experiencing a dramatic change of heart this year?”

  “No!” she said with halfhearted stubbornness. Benji dove his lips toward her neck and placed tiny, tickling kisses on her sensitive skin.

  “You can’t deny it any longer. You like Valentine’s Day.”

  “No I don’t! No I don’t!”

  “Just admit it. You love it.”

  Benji had moved on to full-on tickle attack, and Sherri began flailing and laughing maniacally, trying anything to escape his determined fingers. “Ethan, help me,” she wheezed.

  “Oh, baby, I really wish I could, but I can’t.”

  “Yes you can, you turd!” She was screaming at this point, but Benji had somehow managed to wrap one arm around her chest while she’d had both arms bent. So now both her arms were trapped, and he had free range over her ribs, ass, and stomach.

  “Please,” she begged Ethan.

  “I’m not allowed to help anyone who doesn’t believe in Valentine’s Day. I’m so sorry, baby. I wish I could. But my hands are tied.”

  She let out a tormented groan, but the tickling had truly reached unbearable levels. “Okay, fine.”

  Benji’s fingers fell still. “What was that?” he whispered.

  “I said fine.”

  “What’s fine?”

  “You’re right, okay? I like Valentine’s Day.” She burst out of Benji’s arms and whipped around to face both of them. “I like the sappy cards and the chocolate and the ridiculous red-and-pink hearts everywhere and the goddamn roses. I like all of it. It makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I can’t help it.”

  Ethan and Benji dissolved into laughter at her rant.

  “Is that what you wanted to hear? Huh? Is it?”

  Without warning, Ethan scooped her up in his arms, eliciting a squeal from Sherri, and carried her back to the den. “You are so goddamned cute.” He kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth, swiping in and out and then back in. He was firm. He was on the edge of domineering, so she met him with her tongue and gave him a few swirls.

  “You’re pretty goddamned sexy yourself,” she said, pulling away. She gave his nose an affectionate pinch and then curled herself up as tightly as possible, enjoying the scrumptious feel of his strong arms wrapped solidly around her body.

  When they got to the den, he set her on her feet. “How about pallet here”—he pointed to the floor at their feet—“and fire here?” He pointed to the fireplace.

  “I love it! I’ll set up the pallet. Y’all get the wood.”

  They all three scrambled in different directions, and about fifteen minutes later, Ethan closed the metal screen in front of a roasty, crackling fire. Behind him on the pallet, Sherri had already reclined amongst a few large pillows upon a thick nest of blankets. Benji brought three glasses and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

  “When did you get that?” Sherri asked. “I thought we drank everything last weekend.”

  “They were having a Valentine’s Day special at Whole Foods. I couldn’t pass it up.”

  “What else do you have?” She noticed a small bag hanging off his hand with the glasses.

  “Well, the wine didn’t just come by itself. I had to get these, too.” He handed the bag over.

  Sherri peeked inside and immediately squealed. Inside was a box with “Godiva” embossed on the top. She quickly pulled it out, ripped off the amber-colored ribbon, and then tore open the lid. Inside, in perfect little four-by-four rows were an assortment of dark chocolate truffles. “Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Seeing no need to hesitate, she plucked one with white swirly designs out of its little niche and took a bite. She closed her eyes. She let the warm, schmoozy deliciousness fill her mouth and then slide down her throat. Its thick, heavenly flavor awakened all the receptors in her brain that craved love and sex and beauty and happiness.

  “I can’t believe you actually bought me something.” She was so happy they had, though. It had been so long since she’d indulged in a Godiva-level chocolate binge.

  “I almost didn’t get anything,” Benji said, “but I texted Ethan for a second opinion, and he told me if you were mad, you would get over it as soon as we got one of those truffles in your mouth.”

  Her eyes opened just enough to form slits so she could smile at Ethan. He was such a smart man. She felt like purring and rubbing herself all over both of her men. The fire and the chocolate had her all tingly and body humming.

  “May I have a glass of wine?” As she asked Benji, she tangled her foot with his and rubbed the ball of her foot along the curvature of his calf.

  “Certainly,” he answered, his voice a little shaky.

  Sherri began rubbing her hand up and down the inside of Ethan’s thigh. She watched his cock grow firm beneath his uniform slacks. She couldn’t resist. She absolutely could not resist. Rolling over so that her body was half slung over his leg, she undid his zipper. Not even bothering to take his pants all the way off, she wrapped her lips around his swollen tip and pushed her tongue against the end, tasting his pre-cum and spreading it around. Then, grasping his hips, she plunged lower, letting his cock go deep into her throat. At the same time, she rubbed her clit across his knee between her legs.

  Even through her jeans, fire zipped through her pussy.

  She rocked over him again and again, taking his cock as far as it could go, letting her saliva warm and slicken his hot length, massaging his balls, and allowing her thumb to drift over his sensitive spot just behind. All the while her hips ground against his leg, and his knee woke up every nerve in her clit.

  When Ethan’s hips began to twitch, he groaned and twined his hands in her hair. “Baby, no. I have to come inside you tonight. Don’t let me finish.”

  She pulled back and met his eyes. They were both burning. She could see her own passion reflected in his gaze. Benji came up behind her on his knees, wrapping his arms around
her torso, pulling her against him, and holding her breasts.

  “Naked,” she whispered.

  Without needing a further word from her, Benji had her blouse off and her pants halfway down her ass before she even knew he’d heard her. In a frenzy of desperate movement, the three of them ripped their own and each other’s clothes off in a matter of seconds.

  Ethan pulled her down for a hot kiss. His hand found her pussy and sank inside her throbbing flesh. They rolled over so that he was above her, but then, keeping his hand inside her cunt, he slid off on the side away from the fire.

  “I want to look at you in the flame’s light.” Both he and Benji stared at her for a long, adoring moment. Ethan rolled his thumb over her clit but kept the two fingers lodged in her pussy still.

  She studied their faces, the way the light danced across their eyes, how its orangey warmth splashed and danced upon the angles and planes of their bone structure. Ethan with his dimples and meticulously carved features. Benji with his boyish tilt and overly generous lips. How the light caressed their brown hair, Ethan’s chestnut and Benji’s sandalwood. Everything was made warm and inviting and soft.

  She looked down at Ethan’s fingers between her legs. The beauty and pleasure she experienced at the sight caused a hitch in her breath.

  “I love you,” she said. “I love you, I love you.” She said it to the two of them, holding their faces in each of her hands. “I want you both tonight.” Ethan touched his forehead to hers. “This is so special.” He nodded.

  Benji got up and walked toward the bedroom.

  Holding her gaze in his hazel depths, Ethan began to stroke her deeper. His fingers pushed hard against the soft inside of her pussy, touching that magic spot and then retreating, touching and then again retreating. She squeezed around him, allowing the tingle-zap-slice to spread out, to stretch, to roll around inside her body.

  “Please, Ethan. Inside me. Please.”

  Grabbing her hips, he pulled her on top of him and positioned the entrance of her pussy against his dick. Slowly, ever so slowly, she sank down, enjoying the delicious, tortuous, maddening stretch. When her pussy lips made it to the base of his cock, she rolled her pelvis, pushing him up even further inside her body. Coarse pubic hair tickled her clit as she rubbed herself on him. Already her inner muscles quivered, jolting at the slightest movement or shift.