by Tara Rose
When they both finally exploded, it was with loud cries from each. Hot cum splashed inside her mouth, on her face, and on her breasts. They took turns pushing inside her mouth again and she sucked them each dry, swallowing every tasty drop. Her blindfold was removed and her limbs were untied.
“You may go and clean yourself up, Gina,” said Harrison.
When she emerged, the men took turns holding her on their laps while seated on the sofa, stroking her hair, her back, and her sore ass cheeks. They cuddled her against their strong, muscled bodies and whispered how amazing it had been, and how much fun they’d had. Tears ran down her cheeks and her entire body trembled. She was overcome with the tender gestures. She hadn’t expected that.
Harrison carried her to the bed and folded her into his arms. Zach snuggled up behind her, and Gina fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
When Gina woke up Sunday morning, she wasn’t sure at first where she was, and then she glanced to her right and saw Harrison, flat on his back and one arm thrown over his head, sleeping. On her left, Zach was on his stomach and snoring softly. She vaguely remembered inviting both men back to her house before they’d all left the club sometime around midnight. Zach had told her it would be perfectly all right with Maddox if they stayed, but Gina had wanted to be back on familiar ground.
She hugged her knees and let the memories of last night wash over her, wondering how anything in her life would ever be the same again. Had they meant what they’d said about repeating it? She certainly hoped so. Everything that had happened last night was exquisite and decadent, but she also felt closer to each man, not only physically but emotionally. She wanted to see both of them again. Could something like this actually work? And would they want the same thing she did?
She was lost in erotic reverie when a cell phone rang, but it wasn’t hers. She crawled out of bed, intending to find the source, but Harrison was awake and sprinting toward the dresser before she could do so.
“Kelly here. What’s up, Dean?” How could he wake up so fast? She imagined cops had to do that all the time, but still…
He frowned, nodded a few times, and then said he’d be at the station within half an hour.
“What’s going on?”
“Gina, I’m sorry. I have to go. Someone set fire to Busler’s Department Store. No one was hurt, but the store is in ruins, and they think it was arson.” He pulled on his clothes as he spoke. “Market Street is a mess. None of the other buildings were affected, but they need everyone on the force to go downtown and help with the crowds.”
“Of course. Okay. They weren’t even done rebuilding it yet. Who would do this?” Busler’s was among the buildings affected by the tornado the month before.
“What?” Zach was awake. “What did you say?”
Harrison was already dressed and reaching for his car keys. “Arson. Downtown. Got to go.” He kissed Gina quickly, cupped her face, and spoke gently to her. “Thank you a million times over for last night. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“What happened?” asked Zach.
Gina told him what Harrison had said.
“Fuck. I have to go, Gina. That’s my district.”
“I understand. Want me to come with you?”
“How fast can you get dressed?”
The scene downtown was a mess. Although it was a Sunday morning, it appeared that most of the people in Racy were crowded on one side of Market Street, staring at the smoking ruin that had once been the only department store in Racy.
The store had been badly damaged in the tornado, but Claude had begun running his business in one of the warehouses near the temporary City Hall and courthouse headquarters, intending to move back into this structure once it was rebuilt.
Busler’s had been one of the first buildings in Racy, and ownership had been passed down through the generations, as had most of the local businesses in town. Claude Busler had been married four times but had no children to leave it to, and speculation had run high as to who would take over the business after Claude died. But Claude was only sixty-seven and still in his prime, at least by outward appearances.
Not only did he still oversee day-to-day operations, but he was carrying on with June Snyder, who owned Have Some Coffee on Riverfront Drive. They liked to pretend they were keeping it secret even though everyone knew. And since neither of them were married to someone else, no one in Racy thought they had a reason to keep their relationship under wraps, but obviously they preferred it that way.
Gina spotted Claude’s imposing figure among the few people who had been allowed close to the building, talking with Cameron Sinclair, the fire chief, and Storm Jamison, the fire investigator. She scanned the crowd and finally spotted June on the fringes, looking worried and wringing her hands. She should be with Claude right now.
“Gina, will you be okay here for a while? I’m going to go across the street and see if there’s anything I can do.”
“Of course, Zach. Go on.”
He quickly embraced her before he ducked under the yellow police tape and sprinted toward Cameron, Storm, and Claude. Gina was just as concerned about the fire as anyone here, but she also couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen tomorrow morning when she and Zach returned to work and the reality of their day-to-day lives. He and Harrison had both made it sound as if last night would be repeated, but now in the harsh light of day, that seemed like a remote possibility.
She glanced around again, but didn’t spot anyone she knew well enough to start a conversation with. The smell of the fire was getting to her. She’d always hated the scent of fires. It evoked images of charred flesh and smoldering memories. She was more afraid of fire than tornadoes.
When she was in second grade, the house two doors down from where she’d lived caught fire one night, and Gina had woken to the smell of charred wood and the scream of sirens. Her parents had stood out on the front porch as the scene unfolded, and even though they’d told her to go back to bed, Gina had sneaked around to the side of the house and watched the fire.
The next day had been Saturday, and before anyone could board up the windows, she’d crept through the backyards to look at the ruined house with Vito and Tony, her oldest brother, because they’d teased her about being a scaredy-cat. Gina had always hated it when they did that, so she went with them to prove she wasn’t afraid. In reality, she’d been horrified, and had nightmares for years afterwards. To this day, she found it difficult to be close to a structure that had recently burned.
One of the cops was shouting at someone to get back, and Gina turned her attention to the men in blue, finally spotting Harrison. His back was to her, and his posture was what she thought of as “cop stance.” Legs apart, shoulders squared, and back ramrod straight. It said, “Don’t mess with me,” and it was sexy as hell, especially from this angle where she could admire the sight of his ass in the uniform.
She was lost once again in memories of the night before when movement close to Harrison caught her eye. A pregnant woman with short dark hair walked up to him and began to speak. Gina couldn’t hear what she said, but she didn’t need to in order to know who the woman was. It was Sylvia, his ex-wife. Did she have no fucking sense at all? This wasn’t the time to bother him. She might be head of HR for the store, but that didn’t mean she had to bother Harrison. He was trying to do his job.
“Want to get some breakfast?”
She whirled around at the sound of Zach’s voice. She’d been so engrossed in watching Sylvia talk to Harrison that she hadn’t seen or heard Zach approach.
He glanced across the street toward Sylvia and Harrison, and then turned his gaze back to her face, watching it carefully. “I thought you might want to get out of here. There’s nothing I can do right now.”
Had he noticed her watching them? Her jealousy was unfounded. Sylvia was remarried now to the man she’d been seeing behind Harrison’s back, and they were expecting their first child. Harrison was most likely only speaking to her out
of politeness. And Gina hardly had any room to talk after last night.
The moment that thought entered her mind, she pushed it away. Last night hadn’t been the same thing at all. Harrison and Zach had both told her they were all right with it. She had no reason not to believe them. She hadn’t cheated on anyone and neither had they.
With one last glance toward Harrison, she smiled at Zach. “That’s a great idea. Let’s go.”
They drove to McDonald’s because it was never crowded on a Sunday morning, and from the amount of people downtown it looked as though most of Racy was lined up on Market Street anyway.
Once they had their food and were seated, Zach glanced around and then leaned close to Gina. “I hate that we have to keep this so secret.”
“Do you really?” It surprised her that he would feel that way. In all the years she’d known Zach, he’d never talked about his personal life. Most of the women she worked with didn’t know whether he was seeing anyone, or what he did outside of work. He was known for keeping to himself, and she had assumed that wouldn’t change. She hadn’t thought he’d want anyone to know what had happened last night.
“Yes, I do.” He glanced around again, but the couple sitting closest to them was absorbed in their newspapers. “I would love to tell all those assholes at work that the rumors about you are most definitely not true.”
Gina stopped in the act of bringing her coffee cup to her mouth and placed it back down. She stared at a spot of dried syrup on the table, unsure what to say in response.
“Gina, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just that I never believed the rumors to begin with, and now it just pisses me off that they’re floating around out there at all.”
She snapped her gaze to his face, searching for a sign he was just feeding her a line, but all she saw was sincerity. “Thank you, Zach. I’m glad you never believed them.”
He put down his plastic fork and covered her hands. “Gina, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You haven’t. I just don’t like to think about it any more than I have to. Those rumors were started by Bill Turner, who hits on every woman both in the courthouse and at City Hall.”
Zach nodded. “I know. He’s a jerk.”
“I know that now. I only went out with him twice, and it was over three years ago. After I didn’t hop into bed with him, he accused me of being a big tease. I blew it off at the time, until I walked into the john at the courthouse one day and overheard two of the court reporters talking about him and me.”
“What were they saying?”
“Apparently one of them had spent the night with him, and he’d told her how I had turned him down. I shouldn’t have confronted her, but well, you know me. I shot off my big mouth, telling her that Bill Turner was worse than a bragging fifteen-year-old boy, and I didn’t sleep with him because I didn’t want him telling the entire city, not because I’m a tease. All she did was laugh and reiterate that Bill had told her all about what a cock tease I was, and it just took off from there.”
“I’m sorry, Gina. Some people haven’t got the sense God gave them.”
“Well, like I said, I didn’t help matters any. I went after him with both barrels, threatening him with a lawsuit if he didn’t stop spreading lies, but of course he wasn’t intimidated. He knew I had no legal standing with which to pin him to the wall. He said I’d never win a lawsuit against him for what amounted to his voicing an opinion. I was just damn so infuriated. It’s sexism at its worst. I should have stopped as soon as I heard the women talking about me, but I felt like I had to defend myself, you know?”
Zach nodded. “I know exactly what you mean, Gina. I react the same way every time Bernie goes after Maddox’s club. It’s all I can do not to stand up and tell him that I’ve been a Dom since I was in college, and then the name the women in this town who’ve been my subs.”
Zach glanced up as a group of teens walked in, then turned his attention back to her. “But I’d only be inviting trouble. I keep my involvement at Maddox’s club under wraps at work, for obvious reasons, but I don’t like having to do so. I want to shout it from the rooftops, because I shouldn’t have to feel ashamed about it.”
He squeezed her hands. “And I’m not ashamed of you either. I want everyone to know how incredibly sexy and exciting you are in bed.” He sighed loudly, and a look of resignation came over his face. “Gina, I have a confession to make.”
His words reminded her of Harrison’s confession the first night they went out. Gina held her breath.
“I have had a crush on you for eight years, ever since you were first hired right out of college to work for your predecessor as a systems analyst.”
Gina let his words sink in. Would he notice her hands trembling? “Zach, I had no idea.” She’d been one grade behind Zach and had therefore known his name since grade school, but their paths hadn’t crossed very often, and she doubted he even remembered her. “I suppose you might as well know that I’ve always felt the same toward you, but I never did anything about it. You were always so…” She mentally searched for the right word.
“Antisocial? Aloof? Elitist? Take your pick. I’m all of the above.”
He was smiling, and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least he knew who he was and could admit it. That was more than she’d ever seen in the likes of guys like Bill Turner. “Well, yes. You are all of those things, but only to a point. It’s more like I never knew how to read you. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t admired you from the sidelines. I have. Often.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
Gina hated those awkward moments after you finally got the nerve to tell someone how you felt, and then neither person knew what to say. For all they’d shared last night, she and Zach barely knew each other.
She let go of his hands and took a sip of coffee while her mind raced, trying to think of a topic of conversation. She scanned the inside of the restaurant, and when she spotted a stylized print on the wall, it gave her an idea. “So, does this mean that you’re finally going to show me the rest of drawings you sketched of me?”
His grin sent a rush of wetness to her pussy. “Sure. I’ll show them to you.”
She squirmed in her seat. “Do you have them with you?”
He shook his head. “No. They’re at home. Guess you’ll have to come to my place, Gina.”
Chapter Eleven
Gina was surprised to learn that Zach lived on Dogwood Trail. The street was close to Birch Lane, where both Maddox and Ellis had built their homes. Zach’s house wasn’t as large as theirs, but it certainly wasn’t the modest home she’d grown up in on Ash Lane. He parked his car in the garage, and when she stepped into the back hallway, Tchaikovsky was playing from the surround sound.
“Zach, you’re a classical music fan?”
He led her into the kitchen and turned off the music. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? It ruins the image. I left this on last night, thinking I was coming back home from the club.”
The wink he gave her made her nipples tingle. While he opened a bottle of wine, she glanced around at the cherrywood cabinets and granite countertops. The place was spotless. “Do you cook a lot? Nothing looks used.”
“I do, but I have someone in to clean twice a week. Who has time for that?”
Gina nodded. “I’ve always thought about hiring someone to clean, but I don’t know. The idea of anyone in my house while I’m not there gives me hives.”
He handed her a glass and clinked his against it. “Gina, I think what gives you hives is the idea that someone might move a dish towel out of place or rearrange the bottles of hair products in your bathroom, right?”
She stared at him for a second, and then burst out laughing. “Well, you sure have me pegged.” She took a sip of the dark liquid. “Mmmm, this is good. Merlot?”
He nodded. “A nice Sunday-morning vintage, don’t you think?”
“Do you always drink wine on Sunday mornings?”
“Only when I’m wit
h a beautiful woman.”
Gina smiled at him and then took another sip of wine. It wasn’t even noon, but she didn’t care. Memories of last night filled her head again. Zach was so comfortable to be around, and she’d never imagined he would be. “Thank you, Zach. You make me feel like I am.”
“You are.” He leaned against the counter. “So…I think we should talk about last night, Gina.”
She took another sip and wished her damn hands would stop trembling.
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t upset that I inserted myself into the scene. It’s just that once you and Harrison got started, I couldn’t stop myself. But I also want you to know I don’t normally do things like that.”
“I’m not upset, Zach. I was surprised, but I’d also be lying if I said that the thought you might join in had never crossed my mind. I am curious about something though.”
“What’s that?”
“Have you done that before? From what you said last night, it sounded like you’ve guided people, but have you joined in as well?”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “Only on the main floor, and only to play. Never to join in on the sexual contact. And I only joined in to play when I was invited to, which wasn’t very often.” Zach took a sip of wine. “There are things we should have talked about beforehand, Gina, and I apologize that we didn’t. My hormones got the better of me, but it also wasn’t very responsible behavior on my part.”
He motioned her into the family room off the kitchen, and she took a seat on the sofa next to him. “I don’t have any social diseases, and I get tested regularly. I’m very careful about who I have sexual contact with, and I always use condoms for vaginal or anal penetration.”
“Thank you for telling me, Zach. I don’t have anything either. But then, my sex life doesn’t have much of a backstory.”
“I know you told me that you and Harrison talked about soft and hard limits, but you and I should, too.”