Something New

by Cameron Dane

  The acceptance from his aunt filled Braden up, not for himself, but for Abby and Rodrigo. “I wasn’t worried about you at all, Auntie.” Time and again, Ida proved to Braden her love did not come with conditions. “We’ll come over for dinner sometime soon.”

  “Yes, you will,” Ida responded with a nod. “But now I must go. I have lunch plans with friends, and they will worry if I’m late.” She kissed Braden first, then gave hugs to Abby and Rodrigo and finally singsonged her good-byes as she toddled on down the aisle to outside.

  Abby turned, her attention on Ida’s back until the woman was out of sight. “Well, that was easy.”

  “Christian and Jonah are her honorary nephews,” Braden reminded her. “Are you really surprised?”

  “I guess not.”

  Rodrigo broke away from Braden’s hold and stepped in front of Abby. “How about you, Bit?” His hands were casual in his pockets, but the unblinking way he studied Abby was anything but. “Are you feeling better?”

  Braden watched Abby’s gaze move around the emptied church. When she completed the assessment, she held on Braden for just as long, showing the burn of blue, and did the same to Rodrigo.

  “Yeah,” she finally said. “I think I am.”

  Holding out both hands, Rodrigo offered, and Abby and Braden accepted. “Then let’s go home.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  They were pulling into Rodrigo’s place, Abby sitting in the middle of him and Braden, when Abby remembered she’d driven her own car to church and had left it in the parking lot. The moment Rodrigo let them inside the house, Abby found the church’s number in the phone book, called them, and promised she would return to pick it up later.

  She hung up the phone at the desk, turned, and found Rodrigo and Braden watching her with eagle eyes. Braden held coolly in place, leaning against the back of the sofa, his pale gaze assessing her in that detective’s way of his. Rodrigo paced in front of the wall of windows, his hands clasped behind his back, his line of sight always shifting so he could see her.

  Caught.

  Guilt nagged Abby’s conscience. She had put these guys through so much since this whole thing started, and she hated the distance she’d created between them the last week.

  “You think I’m going to leave again,” she said. She could feel the truth filling the room with everything Rodrigo and Braden didn’t say.

  What you’re not saying either, girl. Conscience pricked at Abby again.

  His gaze not letting hers get away, Braden crossed his arms against his chest, still openly studying her from his position. “I just want to know why you didn’t simply tell us you were going to church.”

  Abby had hoped not to have this conversation this quickly. In dealing with her own uncertainty about church and God and religion, she found them compounded when thinking about Braden and Rodrigo’s reactions mixed in.

  Rodrigo stopped his pacing at Braden’s side, and it seemed he’d suddenly mastered Braden’s interrogation stare. “We’re waiting, Bit.”

  Just say it already, girl.

  “Because this wasn’t who you signed up for when we started dancing around our attraction to each other.” Abby’s voice sounded dangerously screechy to her own ears. “Hell”—she snorted and threw up her arms—“it wasn’t even what you thought you were getting when we all started sharing a bed.”

  “What the fuck?” Braden’s stare narrowed, and his brow pulled with puzzlement. “You’re pulling back from us because you’ve discovered you want to go to church every Sunday? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Feeling too warm, Abby yanked off her floral duster and started to pace the length of the room. “I don’t know what I mean exactly. All I know is that while it was sweet as hell of both of you to show up today, I certainly don’t want you thinking you have to come or be a part of whatever the heck I’m trying to figure out right now.”

  Braden’s forehead only furrowed more, Rodrigo looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language, and Abby scrambled in her inability to articulate her fears.

  “I don’t want either of you to feel pressured to participate in something you might not believe in,” she said. “And you shouldn’t think your feelings aren’t allowed to change about me because I am doing this. If they have or do, or you’re not comfortable, or if you think my attending church makes me someone different than the woman you thought I was…” She dragged her hand through her hair and in the process knocked the barrette loose. “I don’t know… I guess I’m saying you shouldn’t feel guilty if you want to rethink being with me.”

  “Wait a damn minute,” Braden said, his voice hard. He snagged her arm and reeled her in front of him and Rodrigo. Nothing in his pale eyes looked remote or cool anymore. “You think your experimenting with faith and church is something that would make me want to break up with you? Do you think I’ll just move on to someone else who is—I don’t know—an atheist or something?”

  “No.” Honesty compelled Abby to add, “I don’t know. Maybe.” Her scalp tingled as her hair fell out of its binding, but she ignored the itch of the fall as it surrounded her face. “Look, ‘churchgoing Abby’”—she put her fingers up in quotes—“wasn’t a part of the person you started getting to know ten months ago, and it’s feasible that you might not be comfortable with it.”

  Braden kept his hands fisted at his sides, but Abby could tell he wanted to strangle her. “You didn’t have nightmares ten months ago either,” he spat out, “and you didn’t have all the baggage you now have about your parents. You’ll continue to change as that information settles inside you over the next few months too. Should I be allowed to keep that as a free pass to leave you?”

  He clamped his hand around Rodrigo’s nape and drew him right in close between them. “Rodrigo didn’t have a father he knew ten months ago,” Braden reminded her. “That changes him; it will continue to do so; it has to. So should I be able to use that to break up with him as well? Just because it wasn’t part of the list of things that made him the person I was originally attracted to?”

  Now Abby wanted to strangle Braden right back. “No, I’m not saying that, but religion isn’t the same thing. People break up—heck, people never even make an attempt to get together sometimes—due to religion. I didn’t have this desire to know God again when you first met me, and now I’m trying to figure out how it’s going to fit in my life. Maybe it will change me.” That confession hit at the heart of Abby’s deepest, secret fears, and it raised chill bumps all up and down her arms. “Maybe in a way you won’t like.” She blinked rapidly to hold back her pathetic, needy tears. “Maybe in a way you won’t be able to live with or love anymore.”

  “No, it won’t.” Braden did not so much as hesitate in his response. “Abby girl.” He tunneled his hand under her hair and pulled her close. “You wouldn’t be struggling so much to find a place where you fit in a church community—one where you can be yourself—if you were so weak of will that someone else could change who you fundamentally are. I’m not worried about that, honey. As far as things go that will be speed bumps for us down the road, that’s not even on my radar.” Braden dragged her the rest of the way home, pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, and Abby almost sobbed. “I promise.”

  “What he said,” Rodrigo added. Tilting Abby’s face out of hiding, Rodrigo offered her a crooked smile. “I’ll just add that I did not feel any unspoken pressure to go sit through that service with you this morning. Just as you have the strength of your convictions, I also have mine. And as much as it might shock you to hear this coming from me, I can be open to new things. I like this guy, Father Kurt, and I’m willing to give him a try. If I decide it’s not for me, I’ll go back to sleeping in on Sundays, and you can keep going with Braden. If Braden doesn’t want to go either, I have no problems or insecurities about you going on your own.”

  Rodrigo’s gaze darkened, and his hand clenched into a fist at the small of Abby’s back. “You are not shoving me out of your bed be
cause of church, Bit. It took me long enough to figure a way in, and I ain’t leaving. That’s all I have to say.”

  “What he said,” Braden mimicked, making something between a laugh and a choking tightness do battle in Abby’s throat.

  Braden took Abby’s face in his hands, and it was as if the green in his eyes was translucent. “I didn’t fall in love with you originally because you were a person who abstained from church. I don’t need your hair to always be fiery and long because that’s how I first saw you. You run a well-oiled machine of a business and make beautiful jewelry, but if you decided tomorrow that you wanted to try something new, I wouldn’t stop loving you.” As Braden brushed the hair out of Abby’s eyes, his thumbs mapped the angles and contours of her face and mouth, as if desiring to memorize every detail. “You’re allowed to explore and grow as a person while being in a relationship, Abby. At least I think so. I’d think you would be open to me or Rodrigo doing the same.”

  “I would. I do. I am.” Abby kept a bruising hold on one of Braden’s arms but also grabbed at Rodrigo and pulled him in too. “I just love you both so much. I haven’t let myself feel that for such a long time, and I was afraid of losing you over this. I’ve loved you both for so much longer than the time we’ve been together these last few weeks.”

  With her confession, Abby’s heart wanted to pump right out of her chest. But her gaze narrowed at the evenness of both men’s pupils and lack of visible response.

  “Not that I need either of you to drop to your knees or anything,” she muttered, “but you’re not exactly blown away by my declaration.”

  “We already know you love us, baby,” Rodrigo said, his eyes now finally twinkling. “You told us the other night as you were drifting off to sleep all exhausted and happy from a mind-blowing orgasm.”

  “Oh,” she said, somewhat deflated. “Well I guess that explains the little looks in the bathroom that one morning.” Tears no longer an issue, Abby suddenly felt a bit surly. “Nice of you not to tell me that I’d declared my undying love for you both.”

  “We were properly stunned and moved,” Braden informed her, clearly enjoying the hell out of himself. “We also figured you’d get around to admitting it again.”

  “Fine, fine. Have your fun.” Abby wasn’t really upset. In fact, Braden’s teasing lifted the rest of the weight she’d been dragging for days off her shoulders. “This is all so freaking weird.”

  Confessing secrets and fears, as well as being vulnerable with these men, didn’t feel quite so life-and-death for Abby anymore. A new zest for life that couldn’t be contained suddenly flowed through her, and she no longer feared one of these men might look inside her too closely and see something they couldn’t love. She should have had more faith in them. They were too strong and secure in themselves to be thrown by her new journey.

  Abby looked at the sexy, masculine sincerity emanating from Braden and Rodrigo, and every pore in her being filled to overflowing with love. “I apologize for frustrating you both so much this past week. The rigid nature in how my parents viewed faith caused them to lie to each other and maybe even deny who they were. Ever since I discovered that part of their history, I let it seep into our relationship and started to fear we could somehow let an outside force tear us apart too. I mixed that in my head with trying to figure out my own faith again, and it all seemed overwhelming.” She took one hand from Rodrigo and one from Braden and put them against her heart. “What we have between us is different. I know that. I swear I do. We’ll all be open with each other as we try to figure this out. None of us are lying, we all love each other, and none of us are living a public life that denies who we are when we’re alone together. That’s what makes the difference.”

  “Now you’re getting it.” Rodrigo tugged Abby to him and slipped an arm around her waist. Dark eyes sparking with light, Rodrigo said roughly, “I love you, Bit.” He captured her mouth to his in a clinging, fast kiss. “Nothing you discover about yourself is going to change that.” His gaze slid to Braden, and he jerked his thumb in the man’s direction. “A week ago, I told this son of a bitch I loved him too.”

  “I graciously accepted,” Braden shared, grinning wickedly.

  Rodrigo made a face. “What he means to say is that his tongue was tied up over it until this morning.”

  Braden shot an even smirkier expression back at Rodrigo. “Bite me.”

  “I promise to later.” Rodrigo exchanged a dark look with Braden that curled Abby’s toes. Braden then stepped right up to Rodrigo’s side, letting their shoulders touch.

  “Right now,” Rodrigo said as they each cuffed a hand around Abby’s neck and tilted her mouth up, “I think Bit needs us both to bite her.” As one, they descended and captured her lips, kissing not only her but brushing against each other too. Adrenaline immediately spiked in Abby, and she sank into the three-person kiss.

  They already know so well what I like.

  Rodrigo and Braden took turns commanding Abby’s mouth, each one bruising and sensitizing her lips with their own style of scraping and nipping and tugging, keeping her so overwhelmed by wonderful sensation she could barely think or breathe. Already achy and desperate, Abby’s lips parted, releasing a wordless moan that each man understood to perfection. Tongues invaded Abby’s mouth, side by side, and took her over with deep licks and tangles, killing Abby and then bringing her back to life with the force of their attention and love.

  Her pussy began pulsing and lubricating in record time, preparing itself for some kind of penetration—any kind—so long as it involved one or both of these men. Abby rubbed herself against the solid walls of Rodrigo’s and Braden’s bodies and at the same time tore at their jackets and shirts, needing that hot, hard skin against hers, or she thought she might scream.

  Struggling to catch his breath, Braden broke the kiss and reached down to still Abby’s frantic fingers. “Slow down, honey. Slow down.” He lifted one of her hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss into the palm. “Right now, this is all about you.”

  Abby’s heart raced so fast it burned and dried her throat. “Then get naked. Please.” Hints of skin at Rodrigo’s throat and Braden’s rolled-up sleeves spurred Abby’s desires. “I want to see and feel you both more than anything.”

  Rather than undressing themselves, Rodrigo and Braden shared another glance and then turned, giving Abby a show of each man undressing the other. Rough fingers trailed over solid ropes of muscle as Braden drew Rodrigo’s shirt down his arms, letting it fall to the floor in a blue puddle. After Rodrigo removed Braden’s shirt in return, he went for the man’s belt buckle. His knuckles grazed Braden’s stomach as he did it, and Braden sucked in a breath. Once Rodrigo finished undressing Braden, and the man stood gloriously tall and nude against the backdrop of light filtering in through the windows, Braden finished Rodrigo. Pants glided down Rodrigo’s legs to bunch at his ankles; as Braden lowered to his knees to remove Rodrigo’s pants, shoes, and socks, he stayed where he was, his face on level with Rodrigo’s crotch. White briefs still covered Rodrigo’s growing erection, but it only took a moment for Braden to push them down Rodrigo’s thick thighs and take the man’s jutting erection into his mouth.

  As Abby watched Braden pleasure Rodrigo, her cunt filled with more moisture, and she slipped her hand inside her shirt to pluck at her nipple. Rodrigo grabbed a fistful of Braden’s hair, dipped his own head back, and gently fucked Braden’s mouth. Rodrigo made little noises under his breath with each shallow push of his cock past Braden’s lips, but within a dozen pumps, he pulled Braden back to his feet. Before Braden could wipe at his swollen lips, Rodrigo lowered himself to a kneeling position and returned the gesture. His actions still possessed a nervous quality, but the way Rodrigo held on to Braden’s hips as he bobbed down on the man’s penis as far as he could go, and the way he licked all around Braden’s shaft, clearly more than made up for his lack of experience. Braden’s eyes glazed, and a faraway little grin appeared, but soon he murmured, “Enough,” and helped
Rodrigo to stand back upright.

  Braden reached out and rubbed his thumb over Abby’s lower lip. “You are so wet right now, honey.” Awareness of her shone in his eyes. “I don’t even have to finger you to know it.”

  “Yeah.” Abby’s pussy fluttered as she imagined Braden’s long fingers sinking inside her. “I love you two together as much as I love being with both of you myself.”

  “How about both of us at the same time again?” Rodrigo asked, looking into her eyes as he unbuttoned her shirt and let Braden take it off her body. “Because I’ve been fantasizing about your ass since the first time I saw you in that little pair of cutoff shorts you so loved to wear last summer.”

  Abby let herself picture Rodrigo drilling his cock into her ass while Braden drove his dick into her pussy. A shudder—full of possibilities—beat out the underlying trickle of fear of the unknown.

  “You want it.” Rodrigo pressed his palm against her belly. “You’re shaking for it.”

  Abby nodded. Her breasts felt weighty in her bra, and her skin pulled tight and hot under Rodrigo’s and Braden’s open stares. “Touch me.” She popped the first hook on the front clasp of her bra. Her sex clenched too, already reaching for a connection. “Do whatever you want to me. I know I’ll cry for it and beg for more.”

  With two fingers, Braden worked open the rest of Abby’s bra. “You never have to beg.” Her breasts spilled free of the cups, the nipples already heading toward tiny pebbles. Braden uttered, “Not even close.” His gaze falling to half-mast, he dipped down and wrapped his lips around her breast.

  Ohhh yes.

  Braden suckled her, and Abby hissed. Then Rodrigo pulled her other tit into his mouth, and Abby released something that mingled a whimper, moan, and cry. Two men gave full attention to her breasts, and she wondered how she’d ever lived this long without the sensation of both nipples being stimulated so completely with lips, teeth, and suction. Braden continued to pull her toward the back of his mouth, and each time he did, the exquisite line of joy tugged all the way down her middle to her core, awakening her clit out of hiding. Rodrigo laved all around her tit, wetting her skin, and then alternated lightly blowing it dry with pinching the very tip of her nipple between his teeth, tugging it away from her body with delicious torment. Unspoken, they then changed styles, to Rodrigo sucking her till it hurt and Braden teasing her nipple to the point of the most wonderful pain.