The Gift of Three

by Kaitlin Maitland, Allie Quinn,

  She grasped the doorknob so tightly her knuckles turned white. Before she could talk herself out of it, she took another deep breath and turned the knob. She opened the door in time to hear Andrew say, “I think she’ll say yes. Did you see the way her nipples perked up when I said I’d suck on them?”

  This shouldn’t be so scary. She shifted her gaze from Jake to Andrew, then back to Jake. Two good-looking, prosperous, successful men wanted her. She should be giggling like a high-school girl asked by two guys to the prom. Her heart was galloping so fast and hard, she was surprised they couldn’t hear it. Yet this was as scary as stepping onto a roller coaster with no safety belt.

  “I’ll do it. I’ll go out with you. With both of you.” She was thankful her words weren’t shaking, because she sure was. “But I have a few conditions.”

  “Oh?” Jake said.

  Andrew merely offered her a crooked grin and raised a brow in question.

  “Yes. First, none of that dominance stuff. While I’m willing to try new things, I don’t want any pain.” There was still enough lingering pain from last year’s broken heart. She didn’t need anything physical. “So I want to be able to tell you no if I don’t want something. And I’m not going to be your slave.”

  “Damn, and I had a pair of handcuffs with your name on them, sweetheart,” Andrew piped in.

  Maggie caught the way Jake rolled his eyes. She fought back the need to laugh. Apparently, Andrew was the mischief-maker of the two. She’d have to remember that.

  “I’ll use them on you if you want me to, but I don’t know if I’m ready for you to put them on me. I’m not saying I’m unwilling to try new things. It’s just…it might take me a while before I’m interested in doing some stuff. If I ever am. And this will be a give-and-take relationship.”

  “We would expect that,” Jake said, leaning against the front of his desk again.

  “I mean, you can take me out to dinner now and then, like a dating relationship between two people. You can give me gifts. You’re not just getting sex for free, and it’s not all about sex. And it’s not all about you.”

  The room fell silent. Then Andrew’s chair squeaked as he shifted in it so he could face her more directly. “I’m sure we can handle that. But we expect honesty from you. If you don’t like something—or if you do and you want more of it—tell us.”

  Maggie nodded in agreement. “And one more thing. There’s no cheating.”

  “Cheating?” Andrew said the word as if he’d never heard it before.

  “Not with any other woman, either of you, while you’re with me. If you want someone else, or if you find a woman you need to marry, you break up with me, you end this. Before. I certainly don’t want to find out either of you is engaged by seeing your picture in the newspaper. There’s no sex, no relationship whatsoever with anyone else while you’re with me. We are exclusive. I will not be any mistress. Neither of you are married, are you?” Damn. She should have asked that question first. She remembered Jake had said they shared a home—several, in fact. That didn’t mean they couldn’t have a wife. After her affair with Stan, she was not going to assume anything. She forced herself to stop biting on her bottom lip while she waited for their replies.

  “No. Neither of us are,” Jake answered for them. “The same goes for you.”

  She nodded. “I might think of more as we proceed, but for now, that’s all I can think of.”

  She turned to leave. Jake’s voice stopped her before she could open the door.

  “MAGGIE.” HIS INSIDES felt as if a million butterflies fluttered around in there. Jake’s heart wanted to race but seemed to keep stumbling over the knowledge she’d agreed so readily. The soft, enticing scent of flowers—her perfume or just her, he wasn’t sure—assaulted his senses. It took all his willpower to remain across the room from her. What he really wanted to do was jump right in, now that she’d said yes. He wanted to discover if her pouty bottom lip that she continued to nervously nibble on tasted as good as it looked. He grabbed ahold of the edge of his desk to stay where he was.

  She turned back to them. She reminded him of a frightened colt facing the world for the first time. He admired her courage. She met his gaze with her back straight, her head held high. The posture made her tits jut out just a bit. Beautiful.

  And he knew Andrew well. He was certain Andrew was staying in his seat to keep from pressing his mouth to the creamy cleavage that worked to escape the top of her blouse. Andrew was such a boob guy, even more than Jake. Jake was sure Andrew was going to love hers. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to have her naked and beneath him. And he absolutely couldn’t wait to watch Andrew with her.

  She would complete the two of them so well. As long as she didn’t change her mind and run in the other direction.

  “Yes?”

  Andrew was right. Her nipples could clearly be seen through her blouse. Perky, large, and pointing at him. He was instantly hard and ready, wishing more than anything he could bury his cock deep inside her while Andrew enjoyed devouring those sweet, enticing nipples. He swallowed and tried to control himself and found it almost impossible. He hadn’t felt such a rich desire in a long time.

  He didn’t move from where he stood, or she’d see his I need to fuck you so bad right now cock. “How much longer do you think it will take before you finish with the final decorating? I believe you’re almost done?”

  She took in a deep breath and nodded. Her beautiful breasts moved when she inhaled. His hands itched with the need to feel them, to test their weight and see how well they fit in his palms. Damn, he’d never had it this bad.

  She blinked at him as if she didn’t understand his question, or perhaps she’d forgotten all about any Christmas decorations. He could drown in her big, blue eyes. He couldn’t wait to see those lovely eyes smoky with passion. A passion he put there.

  She did a quick glance at her phone to note the time. “Um, I’m not sure. A few hours? I assure you, everything will be up and in place by the time the mall opens at nine. I’m almost finished.”

  “We’ll start with breakfast then. Andrew and I will come get you. After you finish with the decorations.” He didn’t think he could last until breakfast, no matter when that was. He wasn’t certain he could last another five minutes. He just might implode.

  She cleared her throat. So he and Andrew had her choked up? He liked that.

  “All right.”

  “Oh, and Maggie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’d like you to come here and kiss me.”

  For three heartbeats, she stood and stared at him. He wondered if she knew she was being tested. Probably. She was not stupid. There was a reason he’d asked her. He wanted to see how she responded to his requests. And everything he would ask of her would be just that—a request. How she responded was up to her. He planned to ask her to venture down sexual roads she’d probably never traveled before. Jake also needed to see if she wanted to kiss him. He really craved her kiss—no, actually, he wanted to press her up against the wall and fuck her until she screamed in ecstasy. How would she react to his kiss? The best part, though, for him would be watching her backside after she’d kissed him and walked away. He couldn’t deny it. He was a butt-and-leg guy all the way.

  With little hesitation, she came toward him. She moved neither fast nor slow. And she never took her gaze from his. He liked that.

  Finally. She was there, in front of him. She lifted her face and fit her lips to his. Her foray was tentative. Soft. Her lips molded to his with unsurpassed perfection. She tasted of coffee and mint and woman, sweet woman. It had been a long time since he’d felt a kiss, since he’d wanted to feel a kiss, and this one drew him to her like no other ever had. She didn’t touch him anywhere else, only her lips to his. It wasn’t a hungry kiss, yet it was perhaps the most sensual one he’d ever experienced for all its innocent uncertainty. She barely touched him with her soft tongue, but he swore she’d been able to lick her way to his dick. Heat rushed through him.
Her breasts brushed against him with a featherlight touch.

  Jake inhaled. Their chests became flush, and he was almost certain he felt her nipples, small but mighty, through their clothing. He couldn’t wait to touch and taste them. Andrew must be going wild with want as well.

  She stepped away, taking her heat with her and leaving him feeling as if she’d set him on fire.

  Maggie met his gaze, his challenge. He wished to hell he had another request, something to keep her close, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think a coherent thought much less form a question. She turned and offered him that great view of her derriere he’d been waiting for. He thought she was simply going to walk away, leave the room without a word. Instead, she paused, leaned over—giving him an even better view of her curvy ass—and kissed Andrew.

  Andrew’s kiss, however, didn’t seem to last as long. Not that it was a quick peck. Perhaps for Andrew, it was a long kiss.

  Then, before either of them could really catch their breath, she left. Jake watched her every step, hot with the need to cup that nice ass with his palms. He held on to the desk to keep from going after her. Funny how his work area had suddenly turned into his lifeline. The idea of sweeping everything off that huge piece of furniture so he could take her on it flashed through his mind, but he understood the importance of moving slow. He’d tasted innocence—not experience—in her kiss. Obviously someone, some dick somewhere, had cheated on her, and still she’d had the courage—or maybe it was mere curiosity—to step into new, uncharted waters with him and Andrew. He was amazed she was eager to try a threesome. What must her fantasies be like that she was willing to pursue and join them?

  He could hardly wait to swim beside her and be part of her journey.

  The silence after her departure was deafening. Andrew’s loud sigh broke the tension.

  “Fuck, Jake, you know how to pick them! She acts like an innocent, but I bet she’s anything but. In fact, I’ll bet she’s a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. Hell, she leaned so far down that I could look right down her shirt!”

  Chapter Two

  Maggie was obviously nervous but hid it well. She absently rubbed the back of her neck, an action Andrew found endearing. He bit his tongue to keep from offering to rub it for her.

  She was beautiful.

  They were at his and Jake’s house for breakfast with a special side order of “something extra.” That something extra was hopefully going to be Maggie. Andrew watched Maggie openly, not caring if it bothered her. He’d spoken the truth; Jake had chosen well. This time. And perhaps being straight with her up front was the way to go. A year ago they hadn’t been, and the time they’d spent with a woman they both thought they’d wanted had been a disaster. She had called them liars, even threatened them with a lawsuit—although Andrew for the life of him couldn’t figure out what the grounds would have been. Jake had even stated he didn’t care if he ever fucked anyone again. Big words, considering his friend thoroughly loved to fuck.

  Yet he truly hadn’t found anyone. Jake had stuck to his words and had hardly looked at another woman, leaving Andrew to resort to fucking a few times solo and secretly, just to let off some steam. He’d tried to keep his excitement over Jake even noticing another woman under wraps until he’d discovered for certain that this time, something would happen.

  When Jake had informed him earlier where he’d wanted to take Maggie to “get to know” her, Andrew had nearly shot off in his pants. Jake didn’t just step in with both feet; he jumped into waters way over his head. Andrew looked over at Jake, who stood off to the side, also watching Maggie and keeping a low profile. He was letting Andrew put her at ease and waiting for Maggie to make the first move. Much as he was. It was almost as if Jake had surprised himself by choosing their house as a first, get-to-know-you-date place, and now he didn’t know how to proceed. But that wasn’t like Jake.

  Andrew shook his head. No, Jake was probably just taking things slow so he wouldn’t frighten her. He was pretty sure Jake was allowing him to make the first move.

  Maggie walked over to the huge living-room window.

  “Two hundred yards of that is our own private beach,” Andrew told her as he stepped up close behind her.

  She looked back at him. “You have a beautiful house.”

  “Thank you. We call this one Moss Grove.” He still couldn’t believe Maggie was here. Jake never brought a woman home on a “first date.” Hotels, their office, or even the back of Jake’s SUV, yes, but never “home.” Andrew thought back on all the relationships he’d shared with Jake over the years, ever since they’d first discovered in college just how satisfying fucking together really was. They’d never taken a woman home until they knew her very well, until the relationship was on solid ground. And while they didn’t usually have a difficult time finding someone to fuck, there hadn’t been too many meaningful, long-lasting relationships either. Andrew could count on one hand how many women had stood in their living room as Maggie did now. Andrew shot a quick glance at Jake. Did Jake see something different in Maggie? Something he had missed?

  A soft, soothing Christmas tune played through strategically placed speakers. They both liked music and that surround-stereo sound.

  Andrew watched Maggie as she took casual inventory of their house, her eyes alighting upon specific features. He could see she had an eye for detail, given her line of work.

  “The living room is beautiful too,” she said. “It’s a great combination of rustic and elegant with the wood and the stone fireplace and all the pillows.”

  Then it dawned on Andrew why Jake had wanted to bring her here. The weather on the North Carolina coast was cool enough for a fire to be lit in the fireplace. The pillows on the floor would create a wonderful place to play. He almost smacked himself. Why hadn’t they thought of it before?

  Perhaps because they’d never found a woman worthy enough.

  Just as they had never told a woman how things really were with them and sex—the threesomes—until they’d had a sense of how she would react to it. Maybe being up front to begin with was the secret.

  “What would you like to drink?” he offered.

  She met his gaze. The brilliant blue of her eyes was the color of the sky outside. “Um, whatever you’re having.”

  Yes, she was nervous. He wished he could put her at ease. “Is iced tea okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know, we aren’t going to hurt you. We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.” However, if she was willing to try things, they probably would test her limits at every opportunity to see just how far she would allow them to go. Just being with two men was obviously a new thing for her. He—and Jake—planned to take things slowly. Even though he was the more adventuresome one.

  “I know. I trust you. I don’t know why I do, when I hardly know you, but I do. I’ve never done anything like this before, you understand?”

  He smiled at her. It was painfully obvious this was all new to her. Perhaps it was her innocence more than anything else that drew her to them, and them to her. He didn’t know. He reached out and brushed his knuckles down her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm. “I do understand.”

  Andrew went to the sideboard across the room and poured them each a glass of iced tea. Jake had thought to have Ed, the butler, set up refreshments for them before he sent Ed elsewhere. As Andrew handed Maggie the tall glass, his fingers brushed hers. He immediately felt an electrifying mixture of hot and cold—her heat mixed with the chill of the glass. He wanted to touch her everywhere, to see where else she was hot or cold.

  She took a sip. “Tea with sugar and lemon.”

  “Is that all right?” Andrew never took his gaze from her.

  “Yes, it’s good.” She looked at the other two glasses. “We’re not having anything stronger?”

  Andrew laughed. “Sweetheart, I want you hot and horny and coming all the way out the top of your head. I do not want you drunk. I want you to enjoy every moment, every tou
ch, every sensation. And I want to make you scream while you come.”

  For a long moment, she stared into her glass as if there was something really interesting swimming around in it. “We should probably talk about that.”

  “About what? About you screaming? Because I promise, there’s no one here to hear you but us, and we’ll like it.” Andrew took a long drink of his tea.

  “About the coming part.”

  She all but whispered those four words, as though she was afraid to say them aloud.

  “What about it?” Andrew asked. He had the odd desire to sink into the sofa and pull her onto his lap, where she could tell him all about it while he held her in his arms. He didn’t move. He and Jake both understood they needed to let her proceed at her own pace. This need she had to talk and drink tea was an important part of foreplay.

  “I have a little trouble with it,” she whispered.

  “What kind of trouble?” Andrew asked, setting his glass back on the sideboard.

  She gave him one of those it’s-really-not-important shrugs. “I just don’t.” Then she rushed on. “Don’t get me wrong. I liked—I mean I like—sex. I just can’t remember if I’ve ever, you know…come.”

  Andrew stepped closer to her, then stopped to let some of the hot flash of anger roll off him. So a guy had obviously cheated on her, given her rules. And then she’d never had a lover who thought enough about her and less about himself to make certain she gained pleasure and fulfillment out of the experience. Damn. Andrew hardly knew her, and yet he wanted to remedy that for her. “I think you’d remember. I think you’d know. I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be any question.”

  He met her gaze when she looked up, wanting to sink into the cool blue waters of her eyes. “I promise you. You’re going to remember every time with us.” He took her glass from her and set it next to his on the sideboard. Then he leaned down and kissed her, pressing his lips to hers with an equal amount of pressure and hunger. His goal was to send desire flowing through her, make her want more, while at the same time allowing her to relax. Since she’d kissed him in the office earlier, he’d thought of little else.