Three if by Sea: MMF Bisexual Romance

by Nicole Stewart

  He pushed his hair away, and then slid his hand up her side, his mouth moving from her lips to her face, brushing down her cheek and along the line of her jaw. She shivered when his lips trailed over her ear, and he gently sucked the lobe into his mouth, nibbling on it gently. His hand slid over her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple, and she felt it stiffen through the silky material of her blouse. She moaned softly, her head tipping back, and she felt his hand curl under her breast, his mouth going down her neck, over her collarbones and to the small hollow between them. His tongue flicked out, dipping into that space, and she leaned into his arm, her hands running up his thighs. He made a small noise in his throat, his lips trailing down her chest and over the thin fabric of her tank top, his lips finally closing over her nipple through the black material.

  Amelia moaned, her back arching harder, and he was leaning over her then, urging her back onto the couch, and she went willingly, falling back against the cushions as his body stretched over hers. She felt him then, hard against her thigh, pressing between her jean-clad legs, and she arched her hips, rubbing against him. His hands were on her breasts, her waist, fingers sliding underneath the thin material as his lips found hers again, and she ran her hands through his hair, wishing for his hands to slide up further and find her breasts again. Her nipples were stiff through the lace bra, aching for him to touch them, and she rolled her hips against his, wishing all of their layers of clothing were gone. It was just like that evening outside of the pub, except there was no one to stop them here.

  That thought fluttered through her foggy mind, and she paused. “Callum,” she whispered against his mouth, pulling back slightly.

  “Are you okay?” He pulled away, and his brow was furrowed with concern.

  “I’m sorry,” Amelia said. “Every time we do this I wind up running away. It’s not fair on you I know. I came to Edinburgh to clear my head, get some time to think about things. I don’t think this is going to do much to help that.”

  “I didn’t mean to push you into anything,” Callum said. “I’m sorry if I came on too strong.”

  “You didn’t,” Amelia assured him. “Not at all. It’s me. I’ve got a lot going on. A lot in my head, and I haven’t really had a chance to sort it all out. I think this would only make things more confusing.” She wanted to go back to a few seconds ago, with Callum pressed against her, his breath warm against her skin. She shivered a little at the thought. She wanted him, there was no question of that. But deep down, she knew that Callum, in the here and now, wasn’t a good idea.

  She stood up, her legs shaky. “I’ll take the glass to the kitchen,” she said.

  “Let me,” Callum said, taking it out of her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said again, looking as if he wasn’t sure exactly what to say.

  “It’s really not your fault,” Amelia said again, pressing her lips together. She felt awkward suddenly, unsure of how to handle the situation. “I’m, um…I’m going to head back to my hotel,” she said.

  “I’ll call you a taxi,” Callum said. He walked over to stand in front of her, reaching for her hand. “I’m still really glad I ran into you, Amelia. Maybe I’ll look you up if I ever come to Chicago.”

  “You should do that,” she said, feeling suddenly emotional. She gave him a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m really glad I ran into you, too,” she said.

  Chapter 18

  The remaining two days in Edinburgh help to clear her head a little. She wondered though, how had she managed to wind up being pursued by two different men, on a continent that wasn't home? She stayed away from the bar the next day, opting instead to do some shopping and sightseeing followed by a good long soak in the bathtub. The shower at the cottage with its low water pressure and temperamental temperature control was something that she was not missing even a little bit.

  The thought of starting the trip back made her feel slightly flat. She tried to tell herself it was the work that she was not looking forward to, hours alone compiling spreadsheets was not a fun prospect. She knew that it had more to do with Adam though, than it did with data entry and math. Her thoughts had drifted back and forth between the two very different men. She missed Adam and that was really what everything boiled down to. As she endured the bus ride back, she tried not to think about their last conversation, and how open-ended they’d left things. He’d promised he’d see her again but he might have started to see things differently while she’d been gone. She knew fretting over it did no good, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d decided he was well shot of her, and the complications that came with whatever they were to each other.

  The next farm she was due to visit was the best part of two miles away. The thought that she would be in pretty good physical shape by the end of the project made her smile.

  The farmer she was due to meet was friendly, and seemed grateful to have someone to talk to. His wife had died a few years back, and his kids were at college. “Not a lot of kids stay around these parts anymore,” he said. “Farming just isn’t what they want to do. The big city is just too much of a temptation.”

  His words struck a chord. It was as if she were one of those kids, hardly able to wait until she could go back to her city. She knew she’d made Adam feel that way to some extent, as if she were just passing time with him, counting the days until she could get out of here and go home. It wasn’t how she felt at all. But she could see how he would get that impression, especially with her thoughtless remarks about farm life being boring. She still didn’t think she belonged here but she shouldn’t have been so cavalier.

  The farmer was eager to show her around, walking her through the sheep pens and pointing out the ewes that would lamb in the spring. “Things are going well,” he said. “But I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to run the place on my own. I’m going to have to get some help soon, that or sell the place.” He sounded so sad at the thought that it made Amelia’s heart ache.

  She was genuinely disappointed to have to head back, and the farmer seemed sorry to see her go. This was the part of the assignment that she really enjoyed, hearing stories and meeting the people. They were not that different to the people she’d grown up around. There was a familiarity to it that both made her feel good, and unsettled, at the same time. She had after all wanted to get away from her childhood home in Wisconsin.

  The bitter cold wind was getting up again. She tucked her chin into her jacket, wrapping her scarf more tightly around her face. The fireplace waiting for her back at the cottage seemed incredibly appealing. She thought briefly of going to the pub for dinner, but decided against it. She wanted to say something to Adam, something to convey that she hadn’t meant to be so dismissive of his lifestyle, but she wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it. She didn’t want to jump the gun and see him until she had everything clear in her own mind.

  Another day, another farm and farmer. The elderly man there was much less affable than the one from the day before. He went over some numbers with her, but he was suspicious like some of the others. She was unknown to them, and they tended to treat her with what can best be described as tolerant impatience. She was surprised when Adam cropped up in a conversation. It happened when she asked if this farmer was friends with other farmers in the area.

  “Ah, we all get along,” he said. “We don’t see much of the Grant boy anymore though, not since his parents died. He keeps to himself, mostly. Does a fine job of keeping that place going, a fine job. Not that he was ever really meant for it. It was his older brother that was supposed to take the place over. But no sooner than their parents were in their graves, God rest them, than that older Grant boy was hightailing it out of here, and what was poor, young Adam supposed to do but take things over? It’s all fallen on his shoulders, poor lad.” The man shook his head, his distaste for Adam’s brother written clearly on his face.

  Amelia thought about what he’d said all the way home as she walked. Adam hadn’t told her much about his parents, o
r anything about his brother. She wasn’t even sure that he’d mentioned that he had one. Now she had an insight as to why his past was so off limits.

  She knew he didn’t usually work at the pub on Wednesdays, and decided to go over to the farm and surprise him. She knew there was a possibility he wouldn’t be thrilled to see her, but she hoped that after the way he’d left things, he would at least be OK.

  She walked up to the front porch, and knocked firmly on the very slightly open door. There was quiet from the stables, no sounds of work and only the occasional sounds of animals. She rapped at the door again, and it pushed open slightly. She hesitated for a second, but if Adam wasn’t home, she could at least leave a note for him, letting him know she'd called. She stepped into the foyer, and turned down the hall towards the living room, hunting for a piece of paper and a pen.

  Amelia heard a noise, and walked a little faster. “Adam?” she said, stepping into the room. “Adam, is that…” She stopped dead in her tracks, her hand going to her mouth. “Adam?”

  Chapter 19

  Everything in the room seemed to come to a stop at once. Amelia stared at the tableau in front of her, her eyes wide, brain refusing to process. Adam was kneeling on the floor, long hair falling around his face, the powerful muscles of his shoulders tensed and solid. Underneath him was Callum.

  Amelia stared, then said Adam’s name. The only thing in her entire universe at that moment were the two men locked together on the floor, sweating and gasping. For a second she was utterly mesmerized, a hot flush of lust rushing over her skin. It dissolved the shock, and a moment later she said Adam’s name again.

  Both men froze. Then Callum moved as if to sit up, and Amelia backed up, shaking her head. “No, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have barged in like that!”

  “Amelia,” Adam started to say, but she held a hand out to stop him. “No, it’s okay. I’ll go. I’m really sorry,” she stammered, her words coming out in a rush, and then she turned and raced out of the house, her heart hammering in her chest. She stopped just outside the door, the cold air cooling her hot face. She was shocked, angry, and sad, all at once, and she had no idea which emotion to unpack first. Hurriedly, she started down the path to her house, afraid one or both of them would come out to try and talk to her. She didn’t feel up to facing either of them.

  Neither man belonged to her, she knew that. Rationally, she knew that what she had with Adam was tenuous at best, a relationship with a termination date. And as for Callum—well, she’d run out on him twice. And yet, despite these cold hard facts, she felt a tight, angry knot in her stomach. The thought of them tangled together on the floor was just too much to bear.

  She remembered the jealousy when Adam had seen Callum with her in the pub, and that event suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Who exactly was Adam jealous of? She shook her head with confusion, the knot in her stomach tightening. And underneath all of it, she kept thinking back to the image of them tangled on the carpet. She felt a sharp dart of curiosity mixed with desire every time she thought of it. Maybe that was her real issue?

  She reached her cottage and hurried inside out of the cold, busying herself with starting the fire. Everything had suddenly gotten so much more complicated, and she found herself suddenly wishing that she could just be done with it all, and just go home. Amelia had meant for the fling with Adam to be a distraction, a way for her to know that she was still desirable post David. And Callum—he’d been familiar to her, the sort of casually flirtatious, urbane man that she was accustomed to. She hadn’t meant to develop feelings for Adam, or to let things get as far as they had with Callum, and now it was all a mess.

  She’d just have to stay away from both of them. No dinners at the pub, no more casually dropping by Adam’s farm. She’d be going home in a few weeks, and the whole mess would be behind her. It would be what it was meant to be, an adventurous fling in a different country, albeit one with a very odd punchline.

  She was standing at the sink washing her breakfast dishes the next day when she spotted Adam walking down the path to the cottage. She felt her breath catch and her heart give a quick jump, sensations that she’d grown more and more used to lately. She pushed the thought firmly down. Whatever he had to say, this had to be the end of it. He knocked at the door and she went to open it, pasting a smile onto her face.

  He had a sheepish, apologetic look on his face. She didn’t acknowledge it, only walked back to the sink to continue working on the dishes. He took a few steps towards her, and then paused, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I imagine you have some questions about what you saw yesterday,” he said finally. “I wanted to clear things up for you a little, if I could.”

  “I think what I saw was pretty clear.” The words came out icier than she had intended, her voice flat. “I didn’t know that was…I didn’t know you…” she trailed off, not sure how to say it.

  “That I have sex with men?” He raised an eyebrow. “I can see how you would come to that conclusion, based on what we’ve done together.”

  “Well, yes,” Amelia said. “And I didn’t know you and Callum had…that kind of relationship.” She paused, trying to think of what to say. “I know that you and I…we did this with no expectations of each other. I know I have no right to be upset.” She bit her lip. “It was just…unexpected. I wish you would have told me, that’s all. That there was someone else. Especially since…”

  “Since you’ve been fooling around with Callum, as well?”

  “That’s unfair,” she said. “We’re not dating. I had just as much of a right to meet someone else.”

  “You’re right,” he admitted. “I just didn’t think it would be him.”

  “It’s kind of an unfortunate coincidence,” Amelia said. “I mean, if I had known that you and he were…you know…I wouldn’t have gotten involved.”

  “With him, or me?”

  “Him.”

  “We weren’t,” Adam admitted. “Not until yesterday, anyway. Not for a long time.”

  It was Amelia’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Go on.”

  Adam sighed and sank into one of the kitchen chairs. “I grew up with Callum. His parents lived close by. When we were in our late teens, things changed between us. We had both dated girls, and had sex with them, and liked it.” He shrugged. “But we also were attracted to each other. We were more than friends. We did everything together, and talked about everything…there was no person that I was closer to. And eventually it turned into something else.”

  He took a deep breath. “One day, hanging out behind the gym, hiding from the PE teacher—he just lunged in out of nowhere and kissed me. He said he’d been wanting to do it for months, years, even. It startled me as I’d never kissed a guy before, but I liked it. Not more or less than kissing girls. It was different though and I wanted to kiss him again and, as they say, the rest is history.”

  “So what was it, back then? Friends who hooked up? Love?”

  “We never said as much to each other—never said anything about being in love. But there were strong feelings there, stronger than anything I’d felt for anyone else.” Adam shrugged. “He didn’t want to stay here, though. He was like you I guess. He didn’t feel that he belonged here so he went off to university, and I stayed here. I suppose it was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a broken heart.” Adam’s voice seemed distant.

  Amelia collected her thoughts. “So he came back and what…things rekindled between you?”

  “I guess you could say that.” Adam let out a heavy sigh. “I was so jealous, when I saw him flirting with you. I was also really confused because I was jealous of both of you. I didn’t expect Callum to come back into my life, as he and I didn’t part on the best of terms when he left for college. When you and I…” he paused, “There wasn’t anyone else, then. I wasn’t trying to lead you on.”

  “There were never supposed to be any expectations, anyway,” Amelia pointed out. “I had no right to be upset when I saw you with Callum. Our thing w
as always going to be temporary, fleeting.”

  “I didn’t think what you saw…I didn’t expect that to happen when he said he wanted to come to the house.” Adam continued as if he hadn’t heard what she said. “One minute we were talking, and then suddenly he kissed me—very nearly like how it was behind the gym years ago, and things just went from there.”

  “I don’t think I need the details,” Amelia said. “So, what happens now? For the two of you, I mean? Callum lives in Edinburgh, after all,” she pointed out. “There’s no happily ever after on your farm for the two of you, at least not that I see. He doesn’t seem like the type to come here and settle down.”

  “Well…” Adam paused, as if unsure of how to continue. “That’s the thing you see. I’m selling the farm.”

  “Wait, what?” Amelia set down the dish she’d been drying and turned to face him. “You never said anything about that.”

  “I was waiting on an acceptance letter.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve wanted to be an actor my whole life. It was what I wanted as a teenager, and I didn’t stop wanting it. Unfortunately the farm became my responsibility, and everything else was pushed aside. I’m tired, Amelia.” He looked squarely at her. “I’m tired of living someone else’s life, and I’m tired of pretending that I’m happy here. So I applied to the University of Edinburgh’s theater program, not thinking that anything would come of it. That’s why I didn’t say anything, because I wasn’t even sure that it would happen.”