The Gift of Three

by Kaitlin Maitland, Allie Quinn,

  She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen and leaned against the frame. Dylan had watched her intently as she sang. He probably thought it was the beautiful lyrics that had made her close her eyes, a facet of the song affecting her. But it was him. It was Dylan and Austin and the need she felt for them churning in her gut, making her dizzy from lust. She needed to get them out of her system and be done with it.

  “You okay there, butterscotch?”

  Devin Johnson sat at the kitchen island. There were piles of nutshells lying on the countertop and stacks of fancy tins for receiving the nuts.

  “Daddy!” She laughed, running over to receive one of his massive hugs. The boys took after their father physically, with his giant girth and height. But Mercy, she inherited his solitary temperament.

  “Hey, butterscotch,” he said, lifting her off her feet as he hugged her tight. He’d called her butterscotch ever since she was a baby, her hair more the color of butterscotch then the deep, copper red it had turned as she aged. “How are you, baby girl?”

  “You know the answer to that.” She groaned as he put her down, then pulled out a seat for her.

  “Miserable?” Her father laughed shortly. He kissed her on the head before sitting and getting back to work on those nuts, the new party favor her mother had come up with to give him an excuse to duck out of the loud crowds. “I heard you singing a minute ago. You sounded lovely, of course.”

  “Of course.” She grinned, enjoying the praise from her father, a welcome change from the criticism she received from the rest of her family.

  “Also heard you beat Billy up.” He raised his hand for a high five she was all too glad to give. They both hated the sleazy piano player.

  “Not that I’m not proud of my girl, but what happened there, butterscotch?”

  “He said something to piss me off.”

  “About Lucas?”

  She nodded, fiddling with the nutshells on the marble counter.

  “Then he deserved it.” She appreciated the sentiment but still felt bad for pummeling a guy her mother had hired for the party. Her father handed her a metal nutcracker and then waved to the large pile of nuts he had yet to crack and the many, many tins he had yet to fill. “Help an old man out?”

  Mercy knew he was giving her an excuse to stay away from the party, but she enjoyed the quiet time with her dad, basking in the silence and welcome company. She set to work on the nuts, lulled by the steady presence of her dad and the calming effect of a set routine, cracking nut after nut.

  She lost track of time, looking out the large windows of the kitchen every now and then, smiling at her father as they noticed the snow beginning to fall once more, adding to the serene bubble they had always been able to create during their alone time together. It wasn’t until she had to reach over to the other side of the table for one of the tins that she noticed two other men had joined in on the quiet nut-cracking venture.

  Dylan and Austin sat a couple of seats down from her, filling the tins in silent companionship. They hadn’t said a damn thing, simply took a chair, grabbed a nutcracker, and set to work. She was shocked. Most people needed to say hello or at least let their presence be known.

  “Hey.” Austin smiled, noticing her attention.

  “Hey…how long have you been there?” Mercy glanced back at her father to see if he’d noticed their arrival, but he kept on cracking those nuts, a small, contented smile on his face.

  “About fifteen minutes. We saw how many tins you guys needed to fill and thought you’d like a bit of help. Bringing wine to a party isn’t all we should do to help the host out.”

  “You played the piano for the kids,” Mercy pointed out, taking the tin Dylan was offering her.

  His index finger caught hers during the exchange, and her eyes darted up to the dark brown pools of demand staring back at her. She swallowed heavily and licked her lips, sitting in her seat, unable to pull her gaze away from his. Where Austin’s eyes were currently light and sparkling with mirth and mischief, Dylan’s reflected an unsatisfied hunger, proving to her with one simple look that he could remind her of everything they’d done earlier and all the things he had yet to do.

  “That was nothing,” Austin said, bringing her back to the present where she was supposed to be cracking nuts with her father.

  “You helped me”—she peeked self-consciously at her father before continuing—“ice my hand after I hit Billy.”

  Austin frowned, almost like he wanted to chastise her. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. “Mercy, we didn’t do that to help the host. We did that because your knuckles were swollen and bleeding, and we didn’t like seeing you in pain.”

  She felt her cheeks warm in a blush, impressed he wasn’t deterred from speaking plainly in front of her father.

  “Good men, your friends here,” her dad said, his concentration still not derailed from his nut-cracking task.

  “Oh!” Mercy cried out, remembering her manners. “Dad, this is Austin and Dylan… Sorry, I don’t even know either of your last names. Austin and Dylan, this is my dad, Devin Johnson.”

  The men stood to shake her father’s hand. It was weird, but she could have sworn her dad was giving the guys the stink eye, which he only did when sizing up one of her dates. He had given Lucas that look every time they came to visit…for the entirety of her relationship and marriage. But she felt with Lucas, it had been more a “you’ll never be good enough for my daughter” glare than the “what are your intentions” stare he was giving Austin and Dylan.

  “Austin Solberg. Pleasure to meet you.”

  “Likewise.”

  “Dylan Foley, sir.”

  “Please, call me Devin.” Her dad gestured for them to sit once more. “We certainly don’t stand on ceremony here.”

  As if to emphasize his point, a riotous bark of “Tucker, I’m gonna kill you!” rang from the living room and into the kitchen.

  “Daddy, Tucker has been asking for it tonight.”

  “Give your brother a break, butterscotch,” her father said, picking up the nutcracker. “He’s stressed about the baby.”

  “Oh, your brother is about to have a kid?” Dylan asked, looking genuinely happy at the news.

  “Three of my brothers are about to have kids,” Mercy muttered, beginning to put the lids on the nut-filled tins. “The rate at which this family breeds is exhausting.”

  “You love your nieces and nephews, butterscotch,” her dad said knowingly, nudging her playfully with an elbow. “You’ll love the many more you’re going to get in the future. Along with however many kids you have of your own, of course.”

  “Dad!” she whined, physically unable to keep the annoying blush from her cheeks, this time for a completely different reason.

  “Right. Sorry, butterscotch. Don’t worry about what Billy said about Lucas.” He stood and kissed her on the head. “I always knew he was a douche bag anyway.”

  “Who was a douche bag?” Mercy asked. “Lucas or Billy?”

  “Both.” And with a nod at the men, he left in the direction of the living-room ruckus, carting several tins of cracked nuts.

  “Your dad is awesome,” Austin said, staring after the man.

  “Yeah, he rocks,” she said with a smile.

  “So,” Dylan started, chucking the nutcracker on the table and giving her his whole attention. “Is Lucas your ex?”

  She groaned. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”

  “Nope. We want to get to know you.”

  “Why?”

  “Do we need a reason?” Austin asked with a pointed look.

  “Fine…” She might as well rip the Band-Aid off fast. “I dated Lucas for three years in high school, and we eloped when I was eighteen, much to my family’s dismay. I loved him more than the world, and of course I thought, in my naïveté, that world would end if I didn’t marry him. So we married, against both our parents’ wishes, and lived together while we went to college.

  “E
verything was great. We bought an apartment, we were talking about having kids, and then right after we graduated, four years ago exactly…at the CHK Extravaganza…” She ran her hand through her tangled curls, telling the story like she was reading boring tax laws off a piece of paper. But no matter how much she tried to distance herself from it, this part stung and always would. “I caught him fucking one of my cousins in a closet. I learned later they’d been having sex for a year…since the previous holiday party where they met, in fact. Although Lucas took great joy in pointing out at our divorce proceedings that she was not the only woman he messed around with while we were together.”

  “Fuck,” Austin exclaimed, throwing a covered tin onto the table and looking away from her for a half second, tension marring his frame. “Sorry,” he said, mussing his hair with a tug of his fingers.

  Mercy couldn’t blame him for the outburst; most people reacted that way upon hearing the story. Especially the people who had known Lucas and Mercy as a couple, for even though Lucas hadn’t been a crowd-pleaser, it had seemed obvious to anyone with eyes that Mercy and Lucas loved each other. It was the only reason her family tolerated Lucas, because he made Mercy happy.

  It still, to this day, baffled her. How had she misjudged him so intensely for so many years? Why hadn’t she listened to her family when they voiced their concerns? And how, how, had she missed him cheating on her? Had she been that blinded by love that she’d purposefully ignored any signs of cheating until it was right in front of her face? No, Mercy had never been the jealous type, and she’d foolishly trusted Lucas, the man she adored and who was supposed to honor and respect her in return.

  “I remember standing there, staring at them. I’d been searching for my coat. I couldn’t remember where I put it. I heard moans…recognized Lucas’s voice.” Mercy pushed away from the table, unable to handle any frowns of pity from them. She grabbed a bottle of red wine, and then poured herself a rather large glass. Without any shame she took an unladylike swig before continuing. “I opened that door, and there was his pasty ass, pounding one of my second cousins up against the wall. He didn’t see me at first, and my cousin had her eyes closed. But soon enough he realized the door was open, and once he saw me, he didn’t say a thing…not a fucking thing. Well, neither did I, actually.”

  “What did you do?” Dylan asked, his voice deep and rumbly.

  “I slammed the door shut on them and locked them in the closet.”

  She laughed then, remembering how good the next part felt, even though it had come from a place of pain and vengeance at the time. “I found my brothers playing the Xbox in the den and told them I thought I heard a raccoon or something in the closet, and that I’d locked it in. They of course had to see what it was…and when they found Lucas and my cousin together, trying to get their clothes back on…well, I didn’t stick around for the show, but I’ve heard it wasn’t pleasant. I went home and threw Lucas’s stuff out.”

  “Where is he now?” Austin asked, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles gently, still swollen from her earlier outburst.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve said more than three sentences to him since that day, divorce proceedings included. My lawyer, who also happens to be my brother Micah, handled the details.”

  “Idiot,” Dylan said, leaving his seat to stand in front of her and cup her face with both his hands. Dylan had appeared to be the perfect gentleman while her father was in the room, but now that he was gone, she saw Dylan’s barely contained wall of civility break down as he stared at her. “He didn’t know what a treasure he had.”

  “Dylan—”

  He kissed her, plundering her mouth with his tongue and pulling her in tight to his hard body. Mercy could feel his erection long and hard underneath his well-fitted slacks, and even though she had reservations about this whole situation, she had a stronger realization that she desperately wanted to return the gift they’d given her from their earlier encounter. The need built in her body as Dylan kissed her, her panties soaking with her lust with each hot lick of his tongue and squeeze of her hips. All her worries and hesitation flew out the snow-covered window as she capitulated under his needy ministrations. Her mind flipped a switch, and she was all of a sudden resolute in and shaking with what she needed and wanted to do.

  Chapter Six

  “You’re beautiful, Mercy,” Austin whispered, coming up behind her and licking the small silver-hooped piercings on her ear. He hadn’t been able to sit still and just watch his lover kiss and touch this magnificent woman. Listening to her story had made him admire her even more, fascinated by her inner fortitude. The woman was beautiful and strong, and he wanted her savagely. He wanted to take Dylan and Mercy to bed and ravage both their bodies, torturing them with the most sensual of pleasures. Judging by the way Mercy and Dylan were groaning and groping, they both wanted it as well.

  Austin trailed his hands down Mercy’s back, tracing the line of her dress, enjoying how it dipped low on her back. Her skin was soft as silk.

  “Come with me,” she said, abruptly pulling away and walking through a large door leading off the kitchen.

  Austin tugged Dylan in for a quick kiss. After taking Dylan’s hand, he followed Mercy, excited by what was to come and the blossoming warmth he had begun to feel ever since setting eyes on the redhead.

  They were led to a walk-in pantry lined with shelves upon shelves of baking supplies, canned goods, and other various food products. They walked in farther, not spotting Mercy until the door slammed shut behind them. Mercy was there, placing a stool in front of the door. Her hands were shaking.

  “It won’t lock, but we’ll have warning if someone starts to walk in.” With that succinct statement, Mercy shoved Austin and Dylan up against the shelves and then dropped to her knees in front of them.

  “Mercy!” Austin said, wanting to stop her. He wanted this night to be about her, to prove that they weren’t like her ex and that if she gave them a chance, they would take care of her and appreciate her and, hell, possibly even love her. Yes, Austin thought as his pants came undone and his boxers were pulled to the floor. He could love Mercy.

  “You both made me feel good before. It’s your turn now.” She licked the tip of Austin’s cock, and pleasure shot from the head of his hard shaft, up his spine, and down his toes. Her small mouth somehow engulfed him completely, her tongue flicking the bottom when she moved up and down, sucking as she went.

  “Oh fuck,” Austin muttered, reaching over and helping Dylan unbutton his pants. Austin wanted to see if watching Mercy pleasure Dylan’s cock was as good as watching her on his. He bet it would be better. Austin loved watching Dylan overcome with pleasure.

  Mercy pulled back for half a second to glance up at Austin with wide eyes and say, “Austin…your cock is huge. I love it.” She sucked him back down, and he groaned, working harder to get Dylan’s cock out.

  He thrust his length past her lips, forcing Mercy to take him deeper, to the back of her throat. Mercy’s mouth was sin and sex, and she sure as hell knew what she was doing. Watching her plump lips stretch around his cock was nearly enough to make him blow.

  Once Dylan’s cock was released, he tugged at Mercy’s hair to pull her off him. She stared up in question, her eyes firing as she waited for more. “Lick Dylan for a bit, baby. He needs to feel how fucking amazing your mouth is.”

  Mercy regarded Dylan’s penis, and her eyes widened, just as they had when she first saw Austin’s. Austin’s cock might have been considerably long, but Dylan’s was hands down the thickest dick he’d ever had the pleasure of sucking and fucking. It was fat and delicious. Austin knew how good Dylan would feel against Mercy’s tongue as she stretched to encompass the tip of his cock in her mouth.

  Dylan groaned and dug his hands into her hair, guiding her up and down his cock at a torturously slow speed. Dylan was a bit of a masochist, liking drawn-out sex and being pushed beyond his limits. He loved when Austin drove him crazy with teasing.

  �
�Yes, baby.” Dylan moaned, leisurely fucking her mouth. Austin stroked her hair away from her face, needing his view unobstructed as she took Dylan down her throat.

  “Austin, baby, kiss me,” Dylan pleaded, digging his hands into Austin’s sweater and pulling him closer.

  Austin could never deny Dylan anything. He leaned in, stroking his cock, still wet with Mercy’s saliva as Dylan’s mouth fused with his. He heard Mercy moan around Dylan’s cock. She was watching them kiss as Dylan fucked her mouth, in and out. In and out. It was the sexiest thing Austin had ever seen.

  Mercy pulled off Dylan with a gasp. “I wish I could have you both in my mouth at the same time,” she said, nuzzling the side of Dylan’s cock and flicking her tongue out to lick his balls. The movement stirred something inside Austin—a protective feeling, a tender feeling.

  “We’ll all take our pleasure, baby,” Austin said, dropping to his knees and pulling Dylan down alongside her. “Lie down, Dylan. Mercy, come over here and put his cock in your mouth.”

  “What about you?” Dylan asked, reaching over to stroke Austin’s cock with those big, rough hands.

  “I’m going to lick our Mercy’s sweet pussy…and you’re going to suck me.”

  “Mm, yes, please.” Mercy panted, tearing her panties off in order to position herself at the perfect angle for their circle of oral sex.

  It was divine, licking and sucking the juices off Mercy’s pussy as Dylan’s mouth surrounded Austin’s erection with hot, wet heat. It didn’t take long for his balls to tighten, for his gut to twist into that tight ball right before he was about to come. He sucked Mercy’s clit into his mouth. He thrust his fingers deep into her pussy and massaged her G-spot. She cried out around Dylan’s cock, and Dylan moaned in response. Then, without warning, Dylan took two spit-covered fingers and pressed them into Austin’s asshole.

  Austin climaxed so hard he saw stars, jets of cum shooting from his cock and into Dylan’s sexy mouth. He made sure to watch as his man swallowed him down. Knowing he’d marked him in some primitive way had chills running up and down his spine. But the most beautiful thing was seeing the small drops of Dylan’s orgasm dripping down Mercy’s chin. Dylan usually came like a freight train, shooting large streams of seed out of that thick, beautiful cock. Austin wasn’t surprised Mercy hadn’t been able to take all of it. But he’d help her out with the excess.