She closed her eyes, unable to believe what had just happened. When she opened them again, Chad was cleaning the cum from her legs and wrapping her in a towel. She blushed, still buzzing from being taken twice, and coming a third time by her own hand. She had never masturbated with an audience before, but neither had she ever watched another couple make love.
“You okay?” he asked her, helping her to sit up.
“Yes, I am.” She swallowed. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked.
“For sharing that with me. It was...I’ve never been so turned on.” She could feel herself blushing even more.
“It turns us on too, baby,” he said. “And we loved that we could make you get off like that. That was so hot. You are so hot!” He leaned down to kiss her, and then turned to Xander, who was watching them lazily.
“Want a drink?”
“Water would be nice, thanks.”
Lee closed her eyes again, feeling curiously at peace, for the first time in a very long time. This was going to be one wild weekend...and she was going to enjoy every minute of it.
EPILOGUE
“School starts in a week,” Xander said, rolling over and spreading his legs. “I’ll have to get in all the loving I can before then. Come here, liefje.”
Lee grinned at the blond god draped across her bed. “What do I get for my trouble?” she teased.
“Two of us, in about two hours?”
“Is that when he’ll be home?” she asked, leaning in to his side like a cat.
“Sooner, if I know Chad. And he’ll be very hungry…” His voice trailed off as he pulled her face up to kiss her. “Good morning, Ms. Wilding!”
“Good morning, Mr. de Graaf. Happy Sunday.”
In the four months since their first meeting, Lee and Xander had found their feelings for each other growing, much to Chad’s delight, and though she didn’t know it, they were both going to propose to her that evening, after a spectacular evening out. Chad and Xander had kept it a secret from her, because they knew she liked the surprises they loved to give her. For now, Xander was happy to make love to her slowly, thoroughly, exhaustively. He had had her to himself for only two weeks, for the first time, and it had been more than he could ever have imagined or hoped for. He smiled into her hair, as he gentled her after that last orgasm, the one he had shared with her. She made him feel like a teenager again, and both he and Chad loved how much richer their love lives had become since Lee began to share their bed. But she was more than a great lover. She had become his friend, his confidante, the other person he could turn to when he needed a shoulder. She made his heart sing...sappy words but true, and he would spend the rest of his days showing her how much he loved who she had become to him.
The sound of the garage door opening alerted him to his other lover’s return, but Lee was dead to the world. He eased his big body out from under her, covered her with the sheet, and walked naked out to the landing and down the stairs. Chad was just walking onto the front hallway when Xander hit the bottom step.
“You just couldn’t wait, could you?” he teased, as Xander reached for him. “You just had to have a piece before I got here.”
“Just getting ready for you, lover,” he answered, cutting off Chad’s words with a hard kiss. “She’s asleep. Guess I wore her out.” He chuckled as he said it, and Chad laughed.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” he said. “As long as she recovers in time for the big event.”
“Oh, she will,” Xander reassured him. “I’d like to make time for the three of us before then,” he added, winking at his friend. “So, where is it?”
Chad grinned at his enthusiasm, and pulled a small red velvet box out of his trouser pocket. Xander opened it and stared at the most beautiful engagement ring he had ever seen. He and Chad had designed it together, and it had been specially made for them. It had been one of the reasons for Chad’s latest trip abroad. The ring, featuring a diamond in the center, ringed by alexandrite stones, was elegantly mounted in platinum. He hoped she wouldn’t think it too extravagant.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Brilliant, like she is.”
Chad had to agree. And he was happy to have found her -- the answer to his wildest dreams.
THE END
Lover Awakened
Chapter 1
Amy marched through the dark city streets, moving forward as though on a mission. Really, she had no particular destination in mind. She wished she had somewhere to be, but sadly did not. She simply needed to be out right now, out of that suffocating apartment she shared with Steve, away from his stupid, perfect face as she made a desperate attempt to clear her head. It seemed, however, as though nothing she could do could empty thoughts of him from her mind, and she kept on walking faster and faster, as though speeding up might somehow rescue her from her demons.
God, she needed a drink...
Truth be told, she didn't really know what it was she needed, but alcohol sounded about like the closest thing to a solution right here and now. She was so torn, so conflicted in her options. The choice she had to make didn't feel like a choice at all. It was pure torture to try and even consider it, even on a theoretical level. The fact that she would, in the end, have to act in one way or another on these hypothetical thoughts made matters about a million times worse for her. Her head began to pound with the anxiety of such a decision, and the craving for intoxication welled up stronger than ever inside her.
She put in her earbuds, and cranked her mp3 player up to nearly deafening levels. Music, perhaps, could soothe her, as often it could in ways that little else managed. Of course, the demons she was battling right now were especially formidable ones, and trying to find a song to drown them out was no easy task. She flipped through several tracks by any number of artists, hoping one of them would do the trick. Half of her playlist consisted of modern pop heard on the radio, music that made her feel connected to the people around her. This didn't serve her well at the moment, however, as she didn't want to feel connected to anything or anyone. She needed a refuge from it all, to feel alone to herself and recover enough to take in the blow of her circumstances.
She flipped through several more songs, until at last she settled on a playlist that hit the spot. A sentimental playlist, music she remembered hearing at her grandparents' house back when she was a kid. She might have outgrown it had it not been genuinely great stuff, and now it stirred something within her, deep and sentimental, in accordance with the tone of the low male voices in her ears.
She took in a deep breath, feeling soothed, and thought for a moment that she might yet be able to make it through this intact. She emptied her mind, and tried not to think of anything. The notes in the music hit highs and lows, made her chest tremble with emotion. The cold night air kissed her face as she moved along on her way through the streets, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, rolling down along her cheeks.
It was all too much for her...
She began to sob, unable to put thoughts of Steve out of her mind. There was simply no point in trying to hide it...
She kept moving as she wept openly in the streets, oblivious to the fact that she was being watched- both from the ground- and by an even more unexpected pair of eyes peering down on her from above...
The whole reality of her circumstances presently bore down upon her, and for the hundredth time she found herself playing the whole thing over and over in her head.
It had all caught her so unexpectedly. Things had been going so well, her day seeming like such a bright one. She'd been going to meet her friend Julie at a cafe for lunch, completely oblivious as to the bombshell she was about to have dropped unceremoniously upon her head.
From the first moment she'd lain eyes on her, she'd been able to tell that something was up with her best friend since college. When they hugged in greeting, as per their habit, Julie's body had been stiff and awkward, as though her heart wasn't truly in it. Still, she tried to pretend to be happy to see
Amy, and Amy didn't see it within her rights to pry for what was wrong. If Julie wanted to open up to her about whatever was on her mind, then certainly she was more than welcome to. But for now, Amy didn't want to overstep her boundaries by demanding an explanation.
The rest of their lunch date, however, continued on in this strained, uncomfortable manner, and after a time it became impossible to ignore any longer. Julie scarcely said a word to Amy unprompted. Amy did her best to keep the conversation going in as innocent a fashion as possible, but no matter what she said, Julie seemed to give a word in response, or else nothing more than a noncommittal smile.
Amy still didn't want to breach propriety or encroach into territory that she knew wasn't her business, yet it seemed as though Julie had something on her mind that she couldn't force herself to speak up about.
Finally, Amy had to speak up. “Look... Julie, are you alright? I don't want to pry or anything, but you've seemed... I don't know... Like something was up. I don't want to be nosy, but if you need someone to talk to...”
“It's Steve,” Julie blurted out, all of the sudden, and she seemed pained at having finally brought it up. “Your Steve...”
This was about the last thing Amy had been expecting, and she paused for a moment, blinking as she took this in. “Oh?” she said, waiting patiently, but with a knot in her chest.
Julie hesitated, her jaw quivering. “Look, I... I didn't even know whether I should tell you... I don't know anything, other than what I saw... I don't want to cause problems, or make accusations, without... Oh God...”
She put her elbows on the counter now, her head in her hands.
Now, Amy was really beginning to worry.
“Julie... What did you see?” Amy pressed, scarcely hanging onto her composure.
Julie took a deep breath. “Amy... You're my friend... And I wouldn't be troubling you with this, but I just feel like it would be wrong of me not to mention it. Steve... I... I saw him the other day... With another woman...”
Amy kept staring, giving no reaction to this news, and waiting for further information.
“I honestly have no idea what the circumstances were, but... But they were holding hands... Looking like a lot more than just acquaintances...”
“And where was this?” said Amy blankly, a bit stunned. It was the only immediate question that came to mind.
“Just out, on the street... Downtown, the other day...”
“I see...” she said, moving her lips a few times without saying anything in her astonishment. “Well... Thank you for telling me...”
Going home to Steve that night, and pretending like she didn't know anything, had been like sheer torture for her. When their paths crossed, Steve acted all innocent and oblivious, greeting her with a cordial smile.
“Hey hon. How was your day?”
He tried to kiss her on the lips, but Amy had turned away, so that his mouth met her cheek instead.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, and she had a burning urge at his asking to slap in the face.
“No,” she said instead, shaking her head from side to side. “I'm just tired.”
Something was holding her back from accusing him just yet. She told herself that it was for the sake of practicality- she didn't yet have any solid evidence that what Julie had told her bore any weight. Not that she would ever have accused her best friend of lying, but what if she just hadn't seen correctly? Maybe she'd thought she was seeing Steve from a distance, but it was really someone else. Or, alternatively, maybe it was Steve, with another woman, but she'd mischaracterized the nature of their relationship in her mind. Maybe it had only looked like they were holding hands, but it was just a friend of his... It really could have been any number of things.
Deep down, though, she knew there was another reason for keeping this newly gained information to herself. Deep down, she believed that Julie had genuinely seen what she'd believed she'd seen. That Steve was more than capable of cheating on her, and that the fact of his doing so suddenly put into new light a lot of erratic behavior going on right under her nose for the last few weeks.
She wanted, desperately, to cling to the ignorance she'd enjoyed up to this point, to hold on to the slim hope that maybe, just maybe, Steve could truly be innocent of the sins of which Julie had accused him.
But as the days wore on, and Steve's acting skills became more and more shameless, Amy could no longer help but call him, at last, on his bullshit.
He had just gotten into bed with her, and had leaned over to kiss her goodnight, when suddenly Amy stopped him short.
“Steve, I... Have you been cheating on me?” she asked, point blank.
Steve looked at her for a moment slack-jawed, but didn't deny the accusation.
He broke down crying.
He seemed, almost, relieved at being found out. Like the dishonesty of his actions had been torturing him, and having finally been caught in his own web of lies might finally provide him with some relief at long, long last.
He confessed to everything. He gave Amy the girl's name, how they'd met, the extent of their infidelity. He'd seemed, almost, as though he was confessing to a priest, giving up all his secrets to a neutral third party in hopes of being absolved from his sins.
Of course, though, Amy was hardly relieved in hearing all of this, and the burden of misery he'd been shouldering simply shifted its weight from Steve onto her.
How the hell could he have done this to her? And how the hell did he expect her to respond?
He was weeping openly by the time the entire confession had been made, promising that, if she could only find it within her to forgive him, he would be true to her forever. It had all been a huge mistake, and it would never happen again. He'd been so stressed with his job, at such a confusing time in his life, that he'd acted the part of a selfish idiot and risked losing the woman he truly loved.
It was all so easy for him... Like snapping his fingers and just absolving himself of all of it. And he expected Amy to go along with it, to buy into his act of penitence and just forget about all that he'd done to her.
Amy had tried... She'd really, honestly tried to forgive him.
She told him she would try to forgive him, but that for now things would have to change. Steve started sleeping on the couch. The two of them didn't have sex for the time being, and although Steve was around nearly all the time to prove to her the fact of his innocence, the two of them scarcely exchanged words or interacted with one another outside of meals they sometimes shared together.
He was giving her the time she needed, but Amy couldn't decide whether all the time in the world would ever be enough.
He'd wounded her, in a very big way, and as deeply remorseful as he genuinely seemed about his actions, she didn't know whether it was something she could forgive.
They'd been together for years now, since their sophomore year of college, and up to this point Steve had been the man she'd felt certain she wanted to spend the entire rest of her life with. He'd been sweet, handsome, kind- in short, perfect...
There had been no question in her mind, up to that point, that he had been “the one,” but now?
Now she simply didn't know what the hell to believe...
She'd needed to get out of the house tonight. Even with the distance between them, her proximity to Steve had felt sweltering, and she'd needed to escape his presence.
Now, the tears welled up so intensely in her eyes that she couldn't see, and the world seemed to spin around her as she struggled to keep going.
She froze, however, and could see clearly the barrel of the gun presently stuck straight into her nose.
Her blood seemed to run cold, every nerve in her body frozen, as the mugger scowled at her, looking dirty and vicious, and perfectly capable of shooting should she see fit to raise a single finger in protest.
“Give me your purse! And the ring!” he snarled, and she began to shake all over, her scattered brain leaving her immobile. “Do I look like I'm fucking around
?!” he insisted, when she still didn't move, and this spurred her to action.
Quickly, she thrust the purse out to the man, and with quivering hands moved to take off her engagement ring- somehow, this felt symbolic of something, even in her present state of absentminded anxiety...
Now, the mugger had everything she could have given her in his possession. Yet his eyes roved up and down along her, as though contemplating Amy herself as an additional object of his spoils. He decided better of this, however, thank God, and nodded at her with a smile. “Have a lovely evening,” he growled, and turned in the opposite direction to dash off.
Amy stood paralyzed to the spot, her heart beating like a hummingbird's in her chest. Her hands were balled into shaking fists, and she felt like screaming, or collapsing onto the ground.
Suddenly, however, she found herself doing neither. Instead, she was bringing her hands up to her mouth in alarm, screaming at the top of her lungs with her eyes wide open.
Out of nowhere, a black, shadowy figure had come gliding out of the darkness, like a man-sized bat, in the direction of the fleeing assailant.
Game of Throbs Complete Series (Books 1-3) Page 88