by Sylvia Ryan
“Yeah, but I didn’t think she would leave. We’ve got to find her.”
“Ben, we’ve already searched the entire farm. She obviously doesn’t want to be found right now. She just needs some time to think things through. She’s a little scared I think. We all are a little bit, I guess. Nobody wants to get hurt here. We’ve had some time to process how you and I decided to handle this. She hasn’t.” Despite his calm words, Arden looked queasy and vacant.
The position of the sun said it was at least noon, probably later. Ben knew she would come back, unless something happened that made her unable to.
“The big question for me is what do we say to her when she gets back? She’s at best confused and, at worst, pissed as hell. I love her, Ben, and I know you love her, too. We have to tell her what she means to us—to us both.”
“I think her absence sends a pretty loud message that this arrangement might be a problem for her,” Ben murmured.
“If she says it’s a problem after we’ve told her how we feel and what we want, we know our solution. We created this mess. We have already decided how to fix it if this isn‘t what she wants.”
“You’re right. We’ve been friends a long time.” Ben met Arden’s gaze and let out a deep breath. “I couldn’t bear to lose the woman I love and my best friend. We have to stick with our original plan. She loves us both, or we give it up. All or nothing.”
They sat in silence, waiting for the solution, waiting for Julia.
Arden looked at Ben with relief when he saw the buggy pull up and stop in front of the house. Julia jumped out and waved to the boy with the reigns and started up the drive, smiling.
Ben’s mood shifted from worried and angry to just angry. Over the past hours, his anger had been kindling under the surface. Now, with Julia’s appearance safe and sound, the small smoldering fire suddenly flared to a roaring inferno.
“Keep your mouth shut. I’ll handle this,” Arden said.
“I don’t think so,” Ben said, pushing around Arden to get toward the back door.
Chapter 14
When Julia walked into the kitchen, Ben stood only feet away with his hands on his hips. He looked at her with the stone-hard face of barely bridled anger. Only silence met her for a moment, and then the deep, thundering roar of Ben’s anger hit her with the force of a hurricane.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he blared. “You had to know that we’d be worried sick about you.”
And with the quickness of a bandit, Ben stole the calm Julia had found when she was gone. “I was pissed off, so I went for a run,” she spat back.
“A run!” he yelled. “Did it occur to you that you could have let us know what you were doing before you left?”
“Why should I? You guys planned what happened last night as if my feelings about what’s going on with all of us are irrelevant. It pissed me off! And, for your information, I don’t need to fucking tell you where I’m going. I don’t answer to you, either one of you.”
Ben and Julia were rapidly closing the distance between each other.
Arden stepped in between the two of them. “Easy, guys, let’s just calm down and talk about this.”
“Screw you, Arden. I’m just as pissed off at you as at Ben!” Julia yelled.
She realized that she was trapped in that kitchen with them. She felt the overwhelming need to run again. She wanted to hurt them. She wanted to send the message that she didn’t need them or care about what they thought so they would know how bad it felt.
She felt near tears, and crying was the last thing she wanted to do in front of them. She needed to get out of there. She turned and walked back out the door into the cold winter air.
“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere,” Ben said as he followed her out and scooped her up. “You’re going to come in, sit your ass down and listen to me.”
“Bullshit! Take your hands off of me!” Julia screamed as loud as she could and tried to wrench herself free from his grasp.
He grabbed her as if she were a two-year-old child having a temper tantrum and brought her back into the house. He sat her down on a kitchen chair and pointed at her. “Stay!”
She crossed her arms and shot him a seething stare. “Bite me.” Then she looked down into her lap and closed her eyes.
Arden sat next to Julia at the table, and Ben paced back and forth in front of the two with the table between them.
“Julia, what exactly are you angry about, the fact that last night happened or that Ben and I talked about it without including you?”
Julia tried to ignore Arden because now she was just feeling belligerent.
“Answer him,” Ben ordered.
After a lengthy silence, Julia said, “Both. I don’t want to be some toy that you can manipulate into doing whatever you want.” She shrugged. “The sex was good. I liked it, but being a sexual novelty for two men is not what I want for my life, no matter how different the world is now.”
Arden took both of Julia’s hands in his. “Julia, you’re so much more to us than that. How do you not know that—feel that—by now? We both love you.
“Okay, maybe it was wrong that we didn’t talk with you about having a relationship with us both, loving us both. But Ben and I didn’t keep it between us because we didn’t care how you felt about it. We did it because we knew how you felt, and we didn’t want you to say no just because it would feel weird to you at first or because you’d feel ashamed or judged if you openly agreed. So, we made the decision. The only thing you had to do was just let it happen, or not happen. Just accept us, our love, that’s all you had to do.”
Silence stretched between them. Julia couldn’t reply. The knot in her throat was preventing her from doing anything except try to swallow it away.
“You don’t love me,” she choked out.
“We do love you. You’re everything to us. Please don’t run from us, kitten. You nearly killed Ben today,” he said, snickering.
Julia sat shaking her head, processing what Arden was saying to her. It really all came down to trust. Could she trust him enough to believe what he was saying to her?
Deep in her heart, she thought she could.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just so fucking bizarre. I ran because I had to sort things out. I just don’t know how this is going to work. Even if I agree, how are you guys going to be able to…share…without jealousy or alpha male competition shit. It could destroy your friendship eventually, and I don’t want to be the reason that you guys aren’t friends anymore.”
Ben stopped pacing and placed his palms down, fingers spread, on the table in front of him. He leaned over his hands, bringing his head closer to Julia. Hitting her with a burning stare, he growled. “How long is it going to take for you to trust us?”
“It’s hard for me to trust!” she yelled. “I grew up having learned that I couldn’t trust the one man in my life I should have been able to trust the most. I don’t want to get hurt. I’m afraid that once you’re bored, once you know me inside and out, you won’t want me anymore.”
“Don’t you think after all these months of living together we know you?” Ben yelled. He closed his eyes and shook his head. In a softer voice, he continued, “We do know you, Julia, and we love you and want to protect you and take care of you, together, the both of us.” Ben gestured between Arden and himself. “So, cut the fucking crap and just accept it as it’s given, honestly and without reservation.”
Silence.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m just…scared.”
“Well, you should be, because when this conversation is over, which I think it almost is, you have a punishment coming the likes of which you’ve never seen before.”
Julia felt a momentary flicker of mischievousness when her gaze met Ben’s, but she feigned indifference. She stood up. “Whatever.”
Ben strode toward Julia, closing the distance between them in a split second.
Suddenly, she found herself with a somewhat-pacified Ben directl
y in front of her and Arden standing directly behind her. They both stepped forward and enveloped her in a long clutch between them. They whispered to her how much they loved her, respected her, and that they would never abandon her. They gave her sweet kisses and caresses on her neck, hair, arms, and face.
Just as she thought they were going to release her from their emotional hug, Ben growled in Julia’s ear. “Oh, you are in so much trouble.”
Arden grabbed her wrists behind her and pushed her toward the kitchen wall. “Tell us what you want,” he rasped in her ear from behind.
“I–I want you to–to love me.”
“Who?”
“I want you,” she breathed back.
“Who?”
“You…both.” Julia surrendered. She openly accepted both of them.
Ben took off his shirt while Arden held Julia. The muscles of Ben’s broad shoulders and the expanse of his chest were pulsing with his movements and the rapid panting of his breath. He unzipped his pants and peeled his jeans off. Julia drank in the sight of his washboard abs and hard cock. She was starting to savor the familiar rush of wetness between her legs that Ben inspired. She perused his body with a want she had never before known.
Ben yanked Julia’s sweatpants down her legs while Arden lifted her from around the waist to get her feet off the ground. In a perfectly choreographed move, Julia’s shoes, pants, and panties were complete stripped off her. Arden let go of her hands while Ben pulled her shirt off over her head. Julia, fully exposed, was handed over to Ben. He turned her face first to the wall, and pressed the entire length of her body against it. Grabbing both wrists, he held them above her head.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” he seethed into her ear as she felt his rock hard length press into the soft, round flesh of her ass. Pinning Julia’s wrists with one hand, Ben’s other hand went down between her legs, and with a crude motion, he parted her legs wide. “You should know, kitten, that when a person does something wrong, they have to take their punishment.”
Julia groaned. “Yes.”
Ben reached down between her legs and felt her welcoming wetness. “You want me there?” he teased as he floated his finger over her clit.
“Yes, please!”
“How about here?” He penetrated her anus with his finger.
“Oh,” Julia cried out, “yes!” As Ben withdrew his finger, she cried out again. “Please!”
“Please what?” Arden rumbled low in his throat as he rejoined them, now totally undressed.
“Our hellcat here seems to enjoy having my finger in her ass,” Ben said.
Suddenly, Arden pulled Julia’s hips away from the wall, while Ben was still holding her wrists captive above her head.
Arden ran his fingers along her wet core and spread the creaminess up toward her rear. He lingered there and then penetrated that tight opening with his finger ever so slowly. He worked her there, stretching her while she squirmed beneath his fingers. Without warning, she felt his erection pressing against her small hole there. He worked his way into her. A little pressure and back, a little more pressure and back, again and again.
“Arden!” Julia cried. Her head fell back as she whimpered his name again.
Ben still held her wrists with one of his broad hands and used the other to grate her nipples with his palm. He kneaded and worked her breast and whispered in her ear. “Do you want more?” he asked while pinching a nipple between thumb and forefinger.
“Yes,” she groaned softly.
“What?” he barked.
“I want more!”
Arden’s cock was to the hilt inside her now, and as was her habit, she started to back herself into him, making sure she had everything.
“No,” Ben ordered.
Arden withdrew from her.
“You don’t move,” Ben said, pressing Julia’s upper body flat against the wall with her hands still bound above her head. Ben’s hard, hot length pressed against her when he leaned into her.
“Stop teasing me, you son of a bitch.” Julia’s words were razor sharp.
Unexpectedly, Arden buried his cock into her rear again, and the unexpected pleasure and pain brought a gasp from Julia. He pumped his full length into her now as Ben’s free hand worked her throbbing, wet clit.
“Oh, hell yes,” Julia responded as soon as his finger touched her there.
“I think you like that too much.” Ben’s words rumbled through her as he pulled his finger away.
“Oh, no. Don’t stop, please don’t stop!” she cried.
“Are you going to run away from us again?” he asked as he tormented her once again with the rake of his finger.
“No, no, no. I promise.”
Arden’s strokes were becoming faster as Julia promised Ben that she wouldn’t run away, that she would be a good girl. She begged for his finger to touch her more.
Her need had never been so strong. She wanted them to master her, to take her any way they wanted to. She wanted them to own her.
Just as she was promising anything, Arden climaxed with a groaned curse. “Fuuucck!” He wasn’t pumping anymore, just feeling the tight clamp of her ass on his cock. Her begging words for more now included him. He leaned forward and laid his head and chest against her back for a fleeting moment then withdrew from her.
“No! Arden, no,” Julia pleaded.
“I’m sorry, Julia, but you were very bad,” Arden informed her with a chuckle. “No coming for you today, just us.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” she seethed at him with a glare.
“Uh-oh, Arden, Julia doesn’t look sorry for all the worry she put us through.”
She heard Arden putting his clothes back on behind her.
“No! Arden, help, please.”
“I am going to help, Julia. I’m going to help Ben as soon as I get my pants back on.”
“Oh you—” but Julia didn’t get to finish her thought. Ben picked her up and slung her over his shoulder for the few steps it took to get her to the wooden kitchen table.
With his jeans back on, Arden joined them. Ben lay her down on her back with her ass at the edge of the table. He penetrated her immediately, his hard shaft splitting her. He picked her hips up with his massive hands and directed them where he wanted them to go, bringing her body toward his cock hard, then away. His arms did all the work. His body was still. He impaled her body as he wished, sometimes deeply, sometimes with an undulating motion. When he was completely inside of her, he teased her clit with a brush or a moment’s pressure.
Arden took his post next to Julia, re-catching her wrists above her head and leaning down and biting her nipple.
Julia squirmed and arched, trying to get as much of the two men as she could. Ben’s full attention returned to her clit, and mercifully, he rubbed her stroke for stroke with the same tempo of the enter and retreat of his cock. Julia’s body responded immediately. Her back arched, her muscles tightening with the sensations and the knowledge of her orgasm coming, coming. She felt Arden’s mouth on her nipples. Hands rubbed her, handled her everywhere. Hands, teeth, tongue, moist breath, roamed over her. She didn’t know who was doing what, and she didn’t care. Tremors started at the viselike clamp she had on Ben’s dick and ran up her spine. Her body overcome with sensation, her arousal peaked. She wailed as she climaxed. Her body shuddered out of control. The rest of the world melted away.
Immediately, she felt Ben’s hot release surging inside of her as she drained him, held him, gripped him tight with the muscles of her pussy until they both were sated and panting.
Arden let go of Julia’s hands and leaned over her listless body, kissing her softly on the lips. “I love you.”
Ben came around to the other side of the table and also kissed her. “No more running,” he rumbled. “I love you too much to have something happen to you just because you’re being stubborn.”
Julia looked up at her men, dazed. “We’ll see,” she said and meant it, too.
Chapter 15<
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It was almost Christmas, and it was John’s second time back to the Army National Guard base since the EMP.
Word of mouth and unofficial reports had spread over the months that the EMP had taken out most of the United States. There were rumors that far southeast Florida had not been affected. A truck from there had delivered food to a base nearby.
The guardsmen were spread thin when they went out to try to preserve order in the larger cities and bury the dead that they found out in the open. It became apparent very quickly that they were outnumbered by desperate, hungry, and thirsty people who would do anything to save themselves. Riots and lawlessness broke out during the first two months. Many of his guard buddies had been killed for their rifles or the water canteens they carried. Ironically, it had been his responsibility to bury the men he had killed defending himself.
Now, most of the survivors were hunkered down for winter, and public areas were relatively free of cadavers and a bit safer.
During the last two months, he’d continued his clear, stack and bury duty. This time he went house to house, clearing the corpses of the people who had never left their homes, probably because they were too old, ill, or because they were killed there for the food they had. Underlying problems that he and his men had dealt with had been culling the massive amounts of wild and starving dogs that were once kept as family pets and helping the living that were left. He protected them when he could and shared what little information he had.
John thought about trying to get to Julia but wouldn’t have known where to look even if he tried. They had talked about survival situations together, and his sister was smart. But if she was still alive, where she’d ended up would be pure speculation on his part.
During the past two months of clear, stack, and bury duty, there was not much else to do but think. He did a lot of thinking about his big sister. More than once he wondered if there was another guardsman somewhere stacking her body.
He knew their mom was probably beside herself with grief and worry since he was sure she was watching the tragedy of the U.S. attack and subsequent collapse on their TV in Italy. Their mom was a strong, independent woman. She had learned to be when their father took off to be with some slut he could fuck and get high with, leaving her and two kids behind.