“Spread your legs,” he commanded.
“I’m sick.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything but sit on the bed. Spread your legs and answer my question, then you can shower. Where do you touch yourself? Tell me how you touch yourself, then you can have your shower.”
“I touch my vagina,” she threw at him.
“How?”
“I masturbate. Isn’t that what you want to know? There, I said it. I picture you naked and I masturbate.” She turned her head. She couldn’t look at him.
“I asked you how.” She turned, looking up at him in confusion.
“What do you mean how?”
“Do you play with your clit, or do you use a toy, or do you put a finger into your pussy?” Josie was hypnotized by his green eyes, unbelieving that anyone would ask such intimate questions.
“Answer the question, baby.” Again it came out as a command, and again it aroused her. He moved closer, his legs pushing her thighs wider, the outline of his erection under his jeans in front of her face. How could he expect her to answer?
“Clit, toy, or fingers?”
“I don’t have a toy.”
“Oh, we’re going to have fun.” He smiled seductively. “So, clit or fingers?”
“My fingers,” she stuttered.
“How many fingers?”
“Two,” she whispered so softly only her lips moved. He bent down and kissed her. Then he ripped off his shirt, and took off his shoes, belt and jeans. He went commando, she noted. His cock bobbed in front of her. It was just like she remembered, just like she thought about when she was alone in her bed.
* * * *
He reached down and grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off. He sighed at the sight of her heavy breasts unencumbered by any bra. God he loved the sight of her luscious tits. He didn’t touch. She was still sick. He stood her up, and skimmed off her sweats, relishing the musky scent of her arousal. She was so passionate. Just words had made her so wet that he saw her juices glistening on the inside of her thighs. She was such a treasure.
He picked her up, and she moaned. He knew it wasn’t in pain, at least not from the flu. He smiled. He carried her to the shower.
“Open the door, baby.” She did, and he leaned her into the shower stall. “Turn on the water.” She did, and she tested the temperature. When they went in, he let her slide down the front of his body to her feet. He groaned at the feel of her soft, womanly flesh gliding against his raging hard-on.
“Now you’re going to just hold onto me, and let me take care of you.”
“I’m okay, you don’t have to do that,” she protested.
“This is my pleasure. You’re not going to deny me my pleasure, are you, baby? I didn’t deny you yours.” He watched as her long curls got wet and ended up straightening to the point that they reached down to her magnificent ass. He took his time washing the silky mass, enjoying how it felt like wet satin against his fingers. He was careful that no suds got into her eyes, and then he conditioned the beautiful strands, massaging her scalp. He beamed with satisfaction when she sighed in pleasure at his ministrations. Taking care of Josie had become his life’s goal.
He got her out of the shower, sat her down at the vanity, and spent time blow-drying her hair. She told him how to do it so that she didn’t become a poodle. He didn’t know what she was talking about. He was pretty sure that she would still look beautiful even if she did look like a poodle, but he did what she asked. He dressed her in one of the corsets, nighties, and robes that Chance had bought her, and blessed Chance’s taste. God that man sure knew how to pick out women’s clothing. Of course she protested, but he once again cajoled her, and he found that he was getting good at it. Maybe that was how he could spend his money, buying things for Josie. Of course Chance had already bought the good stuff, thongs and corsets and nighties, but he could think of things, too. Maybe sex toys. He didn’t think there were enough sex toys to spend the kind of money Chance was talking about, but maybe ruby nipple clamps? Yeah, that had possibilities. Sam was grinning broadly by the time he and Josie got to the dining room.
Chance had made a chicken dinner with some kind of sauce that looked like it would be gentle on Josie’s tummy.
“Oh, my God, you look beautiful, Josie,” Chance breathed.
“This old thing?” Josie looked down at what she was wearing and giggled. She had never worn anything so beautiful. She sat down, and frowned. “Are these chairs new?” she asked as Chance flushed.
“We just wanted you to be a little more comfortable,” Sam explained smoothly. Josie looked at Chance and saw that he was looking uncomfortable, then she looked back at Sam who gave her a slight shake of his head, so she dropped it. The chairs had more padding, and she was pretty sure they had been purchased for her comfort. She was dumbfounded, but obviously Chance didn’t want a big deal made out of it, so she took Sam’s lead and didn’t say anything.
“The dinner looks amazing, is this something else you learned to make with Betty?” she asked.
“Yep, it’s a form of chicken noodle casserole. I hope you like it. I figured you were going to shower, and with as long as it takes to wash and dry your hair I knew I had enough time to fix a casserole. Your hair is pretty heavy, does it ever give you headaches?” Chance asked.
“Occasionally,” Josie said as she started to eat. “This is really good.” She took a sip of her apple juice.
“Have you ever thought of cutting it?” Chance asked bluntly.
“Don’t you like it?” Josie stammered, a hurt look on her face.
“Baby, your hair is beautiful.” Sam shot Chance an accusing stare.
“Honey, if it gives you headaches, maybe you should think about cutting it. I just hate to think about you being in pain,” Chance defended himself. He shook his head. He couldn’t believe how he had blundered that. Normally, he was much smoother.
“I know my hair can be a pain, but my mom always made me cut it. She said how ugly it was because it was all black and curly. I always thought it was pretty and I promised myself that when I was on my own, I would let it grow.” Josie hated the fact that once again she felt herself tearing up. It had to be the damn flu. Normally she wasn’t so emotional.
Sam came around the table and took the chair next to her.
“Baby, you never have to cut your hair. Chance was just worried about your health, that’s all. We both think your hair is beautiful. We just don’t want you to be in pain. It’s just because we’ve seen you in pain with your back, and now with the flu we’re probably feeling overprotective. Please forgive us.” Chance could not believe how Sam was once again pulling his ass out of the fire. Talk about a role reversal!
“Zee, I’m sorry. How you choose to wear your hair is definitely your prerogative. Sam is right. I’m an idiot. I was just thinking about your wellbeing.” He reached over to clutch her hand, and breathed a sigh of relief when Josie grabbed it back.
“It’s okay, Chance. I would probably feel the same way if there was something that occasionally hurt you. I would hate to think of you in pain.”
“Josie, I know this is probably the wrong time to bring this up, but I don’t know when is going to be the right time.” Chance paused and took a long sip of his wine. Josie took a deep breath. She knew this was going to be big, and she didn’t know if she was going to be able to handle it.
“Can you move in with us until your sisters arrive?” Yep, it was a big one. She looked over at Sam.
“Sam?”
“Yeah, we’re both on the same page. We want you to move in until Becca and Sarah get here. We really think that the three of us need this time together to see if this is really going to work, especially before Becca arrives.”
“Why before Becca arrives?” Josie asked, curious.
“It’s because of what you said in the bedroom,” Chance answered. “You’re right. I’m the one who is really committed to this. Before you possibly put a permanent wedge in your relatio
nship with your sister, I want to make sure that you and Sam are committed to this. So, I want the next three weeks to see if we really have a shot.”
“You think in three weeks’ time, we can determine if we can make a lasting commitment, like Dale, Karen, and Jace?” Josie was flabbergasted.
“Yes, I do,” Chance said firmly. “I know both of you. When you make up your minds, it’s forever. Time really isn’t a factor.” Sam and Josie sat still, both of them lost in thought. Sam was the first to speak.
“Yes or no, you’re right. When I make a decision, I make a decision. But it’s going to be after the girls leave. Not before they get here.” There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in his voice.
“I’m sorry Chance, that’s asking too much. Making a decision for the rest of my life in three or four weeks’ time…I can’t do it. Even if my sisters are all right with everything. But I do agree to stay here for the next three weeks. I think you’re right. I have to know if this is something that is real and not just some hormone-induced fantasy.”
She watched as Sam and Chance smiled at one another in satisfaction.
Chance hadn’t expected either of them to agree to his plan. The fact that Sam had was quite a win. What he wanted them to do was to start thinking of this as a permanent relationship, and he had achieved that. He picked up his wine and took a sip, toasting himself, quite pleased with his accomplishments.
Chapter 16
Josie’s temperature was back to normal the next day. But she waited until Wednesday before returning to the bakery, to ensure she didn’t expose Elise or any of her customers to the flu. Neither Chase nor Sam was happy with her decision, thinking she should wait until at least Friday to resume her busy schedule. Elise and Rob had done a great job keeping everything going in her absence, and Josie made a note to put an extra something into both of their paychecks.
“So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Josie asked Elise.
“I think that’s a question I should be asking you. It seems that you’ve made yourself at home over at the Reynolds-Booth household. What’s that all about?” Elise smirked good-naturedly.
Josie felt a strong kinship with Elise from the beginning. The only reason she hadn’t come out with her, Kara, and Karen on girl’s night, was that someone needed to babysit Sweet Dream Desserts.
This morning they had time to talk, since they didn’t open for another hour, and Josie needed some advice. “How long have you lived in Fate Harbor?”
“I was born here.”
“This thing with two guys and a girl…” Josie waved her hand, spreading flour over her workstation.
Elise turned on the mixer for the cake batter she had been working on, and then started kneading some of the dough for the cinnamon rolls. Josie could see she was gathering her thoughts before replying. “I’m fifty-seven years old. That means I grew up in the sixties, free love and all that, but polyrelationships were already well established here at that point. Our unique little social dynamic was really a by-product of a significant population imbalance, i.e., too high a ratio of men to women due to the logging and fishing industries that were founded in this region. When I grew up, there were kids in my school who had parents who were in polyamorous relationships, so it was accepted. My parents never raised an eyebrow, so I never thought anything about it. It wasn’t until I was in third grade that I heard some girl telling my friend that her parents were going to go to hell, because of how they were living. I had gone to sleepovers at her home, and I knew her mom and dads and I didn’t want them to go to hell. So, I went home to my parents, crying about what this other girl had said to my friend. They had to explain to me that some people didn’t think it was normal to have two dads.”
Josie listened, surprised that triad relationships were so deeply embedded into the culture of this community. “Have you ever considered marrying two men?”
“Honey, I met Ed in high school, and that was all she wrote. He’s the only man I’ve ever had eyes for. That’s not to say I would have been opposed to having two husbands, but I was only ever attracted to my Ed.” Josie had seen the two of them together, and the love between them was palpable.
“How do you keep that kind of love and desire alive after so many years?”
“Oh, there’s work involved, don’t think there isn’t! I imagine in some ways there would be more work involved and less work involved in others, if there were three of you.”
“What do you mean?” Josie asked.
“Kara’s mom is one of my best friends. I don’t know that you’ve met her. Isla says that usually when two of them are having a conflict the third will come in and smooth things out. For instance, Leif Sr. is usually the hothead, but if Isla and Conn are fighting, he’ll all of a sudden do something to get them laughing, or say something profound to defuse the situation.”
“What about the children, don’t Leif and Conn wonder who their father is?”
“Conn and Leif are brothers, so I don’t think it matters to them. But I’ve noticed that even where the men aren’t related, it really doesn’t seem to matter. They both share in the parenting, and they don’t play favorites. Trust me, you look around this town, and you will see some instances where it is clear who the baby daddy is, but that kid is loved the same by both of their dads. That’s what it really comes down to, is the love. What’s more, because there are so many obstacles and people willing to challenge the validity of this lifestyle that, well, these relationships seem to really stick. United we stand, divided we fall, right?” Elise looked over at Josie, and saw that she had stopped decorating the birthday cake that needed to be ready that morning.
“I hope I haven’t rambled on too much.”
“No.” Josie put down the tube of icing and went over to Elise, and gave her a big hug. “I really needed to hear all of that. I’ve been so confused. Not about my feelings for Sam and Chance, but just about this situation.” She went back to her station and picked up the icing. “But what about the uniqueness of this area, Elise? This town is just a little bubble. If you go out of it, you’re really up shit creek.”
“Nah, there are a few places in Texas, and there’s always Alaska,” Elise winked at her. Josie laughed, and they both got back to work.
By the time the shop closed for the day, Josie was wiped out. Maybe Sam and Chance had been right. Maybe she should have stayed home at least another day. But, she had two custom cake orders to fill, and as much as she loved Elise, she wasn’t proficient enough to do them alone while running the shop. She headed around back to get into her Honda, wishing she only had to walk up to her apartment. She thought about calling and telling the guys she was too tired to drive to their house, when she looked up and saw Sam waiting for her.
He walked over to her, and pulled out the clip that was holding her hair on top of her head, which immediately soothed the headache that had been brewing for the last two hours.
“How did you know?” she asked in wonder.
“I’ve been studying you, baby.” He took her into his arms, feeling the tight corset underneath her oversized shirt, and bent down for a ravenous kiss, greedily partaking in the taste of Josie. She couldn’t catch her breath. He was overpowering, melting away all the stress and pain of the day. As he eased his mouth away, she whimpered and stood on her toes, trying to keep in contact longer. “Easy, baby! Wait until we get home, we’ll have all the time in the world,” he assured her.
He put a solid arm around her, and she leaned in, sinking into his strength as he led her to Chance’s Audi. “Come on, don’t these prewarmed plush leather seats sound like heaven about now?”
Josie nodded, as he helped her in and buckled her seat belt. She had really thought that by now she was going to protest that little kindness, insisting she could do it herself, but it made her feel so cared for, she just couldn’t resist allowing Sam and Chance to do it for her. From the time she left the Hutchinses and went back to live with her mother, she’d had to take care of hersel
f, which was fine. She was capable. Hell, she was more than capable. Right this minute, you could put her in the middle of any city in America with no money, just the clothes on her back, and she’d make it. Maybe that’s why she was seduced by the things that Sam and Chance did to take care of her, because it had never happened before. But the idea of coming to rely on it scared the hell out of her. If life had taught her anything, you could rely on nobody but yourself. If they ever really understood just how messed up in the head she truly was, she knew they wouldn’t want her. Once you scraped off the veneer, the real Josie wasn’t all that loveable, her past proved that. But nothing was stopping her from enjoying it while it lasted.
“You’re thinking too hard.” She looked over at Sam, and realized they were almost to the house. She was busted. She had been thinking too hard, and Sam was looking at her a lot more intently then she would have liked.
“What’s the matter, Josie? You looked like you were in a bad place.”
“It was just a hard day at work. I think you guys were right, I could have used another day of rest.”
“If you say so.” But Sam didn’t sound convinced.
“Seriously, Sam. I’m so happy to see you. The drive back to the house seemed too much. I hope you’re willing to give me a ride back, since I left my car.”
“That was the plan. Chance and I want to get you back home, get you fed, and into bed.” Josie felt a sting of tears. Damn it, they were killing her.
“Honey, do you need a pain pill?” Sam asked as they pulled into the driveway. Josie realized that was probably part of her problem. She was in a lot of pain, from standing so long after lying down while recovering from the flu, so that was making her maudlin.
“Yeah, I probably do,” she admitted.
“Stay there. Let me help you out of the car.” When he got to her side, she was surprised when he scooped her up and carried her up the steps. Chance met them at the door. He was on his cell phone, but he muted it, and asked what was wrong.
Trusting Chance [Fate Harbor] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 18