Lover

by Marni Mann

  Just thinking about it makes my cock hard.

  “If that’s what you want, they can come over here.”

  Swinging is on Tilly. The affair is on me. I’m not mixing those worlds by telling my wife how much I want to be inside another woman. Things will end between Tilly and me because our marriage isn’t working. Piper isn’t going to be the cause of it. I won’t put that on her, and I certainly won’t do that to my wife.

  “I’m down for it,” she says. “Cannon’s been fun.” She walks over to the desk and looks at the screen. She doesn’t say anything as she checks out the emails. She just climbs on my lap and straddles my legs. “I haven’t asked because I just assume you’ve been happy, but you’re not looking to find a new couple to swing with, are you?”

  I shake my head. “Things are good the way they are.”

  “I agree. Cannon is just starting to be the kind of lay I need, and I don’t feel like going through another training period with some other guy. This one was exhausting enough.”

  I smile. “He’s having a hard time making you come?”

  I have to think, most husbands don’t have conversations like this with their wives, yet it feels so normal to be talking about this with her. And none of it bothers me—not the thought of him touching her, being inside her, making her come.

  But the thought of him with Piper?

  That shit, I don’t like at all.

  “He was at first,” she says.

  I lean back in the chair, so she isn’t pressed so close to my chest. “Your pussy isn’t a puzzle, Tilly.”

  “For you, it isn’t because you have the most perfect cock, and you know what to do with it, but Cannon struggled for a bit. Now, I just tie him up and dominate the hell out of him.”

  “You’ve finally found yourself the sub you always wanted.”

  That is a side of her that she’s not able to explore when she’s with me. I’m not into it, and I never will be. I have to be in control. But it’s something she does with the women she hooks up with and now Cannon. I wonder if he likes being her bitch.

  She runs her hands through my beard and laughs. “He’s all too willing.”

  She shifts over my lap, and her pussy rubs against my cock. I know all this talk about sex is making her horny, and if I touch her cunt, it’ll be dripping.

  “He lets me do whatever I want to him, so I bought a toy that will stimulate his prostate. I can’t wait to see how he reacts.”

  “Jesus, fuck.”

  “Right?” She bounces on my legs; she’s so excited. “What about Piper? She must have died the first time she had you. I mean, I heard her screaming since we were in the next bed, and I saw you pounding her, but you never told me what her reaction was.”

  I have to play this cool. Talking about the way I have sex with Piper feels wrong on every level. Not that Tilly’s jealous; that isn’t the problem at all. But what happens between Piper and me is more than just fucking, and I don’t want that to come through in my words.

  “Yeah, she was loud,” I say, “but she never told me if I was good or not.”

  She gently punches my chest. “You’re always so modest when it comes to your cock. Let me assure you so that there’s never any doubt; it’s fucking amazing, West. The best I’ve ever had.”

  She leans in for a kiss, and I’m surprised when she pulls away so quickly and climbs off my lap, moving into the doorway.

  “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then I have some errands to run, but I’ll be back in a few hours. You want to grab some dinner before they come over?”

  I nod. “I’d like that.”

  I watch her leave, my eyes staying on the door.

  The best she’s ever had.

  But she didn’t want to fuck me today or yesterday. I’m not complaining. That would only make shit more complicated. It just shows me that things are definitely starting to change, and we’re both realizing it.

  I glance back at the computer screen, knowing I still have so much thinking to do. I don’t want to rush into any of the offers. If the networks want me badly enough, the opportunities will still be available in a few months.

  But, first, I have to figure out my personal life, if Florida will really be my home, and if this rental house is something I want to buy.

  The important thing is, I’ve opened the emails. I’ve read them. And, the next time I speak to Eddy, I’ll be able to tell him that I’ve taken the first step.

  Things are getting better.

  So fucking slowly.

  Piper

  When I get home, Cannon’s car is in the garage. My palms start to sweat because I have no idea how I’ll feel when I walk into the house and see his face. Will I see a liar, a man who’s hiding secrets from me, or will I see my husband, the man who’s slowly drifting from me, yet has always been loyal? Maybe that’s all this is—him trying to protect me, trying to keep my heart in one piece, while he does what I asked of him.

  He can’t help if his feelings have changed. And I’d never expect him to be so close to Tilly physically and feel nothing emotionally. I’m not sure it’s humanly possible to fuck another person and not feel something. Whatever that something is, it makes him want more of Tilly, just like I crave more of West.

  Tonight, when I see Cannon and Tilly together, I’ll look at them in a new light. Maybe Cannon does the same when he sees me with West. I’m sure we’re not great at hiding our true feelings. I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face when I look at West. And the longer this arrangement goes on, the less I want to hide it. We feel too good together.

  When I get to the top of the stairs, I brace myself for what kind of mood I might find Cannon in. But he’s sitting peacefully on the couch with a beer in his hand, sipping it, as he watches a movie.

  “Hey, Pipes,” he says.

  “Hey,” I say, suddenly unsure of how to act in front of him.

  I want to scream about the torn condom wrapper I found in his pocket and get answers to all my questions, like where he was all afternoon. But I can’t. I’m no better than he is when it comes to cheating. As much as it kills me, I hold on to his secrets and lock them up in a little box next to my own.

  He gives me one of his lopsided grins and pats the cushion next to him—a sign he wants me to join him and that he doesn’t want to be alone. “I wasn’t sure when you’d be back, or I would have made something to eat.”

  “That’s okay. I was just shopping,” I lie. Guilt wraps its ugly fingers around my throat, and I almost choke on it. This isn’t me. I’m not a liar. Only that’s exactly what I’ve turned into. “I got an email while I was out.”

  Before I can elaborate, he nods and automatically assumes. “Tilly?”

  “Well, she emailed, too. This email was from the school. I have no idea what changed, but I can have my job back.”

  Cannon sets his beer on the coffee table and grabs me, peppering kisses from my cheek down to my collarbone. “Damn straight they want you back. You’re amazing at your job.”

  I adjust my body, so I’m leaning against his side. He reaches his hand over and rubs circles with his thumbs on my bare thigh. I get goose bumps for the wrong reasons. Reasons that have everything to do with the last time West touched me and nothing to do with Cannon.

  “I’m proud of you, Piper. I know how lost you’ve been, worrying about where you’ll teach in the fall.”

  Proud. If he only knew. Nothing about what I’ve been doing with West behind his back would make Cannon proud. Ashamed, yes. Proud, no.

  “Thanks. I’m relieved mostly. My kids mean a lot to me.”

  “I know they do,” he says. “You’re great with them.”

  It’s nice, talking to Cannon. I feel like we haven’t done much of it since we got home from Belize. Still, I can’t help comparing this conversation to the one I just had with West at the park. It’s a lot of the same, yet my heart isn’t racing the way it was when West congratulated me.

  The excitement ju
st isn’t there.

  Cannon and I are an uncomfortable routine.

  No edge.

  Zero mystery.

  I crave the fire West carries around with him. How he makes every moment together better than the last. That’s what I want, what I need. To be consumed by every touch, kiss, and breath.

  “Do you want to see Tilly tonight?” I ask, leaving the choice to him.

  If he says yes, we’ll go. And, if he wants to stay in tonight, just the two of us, I’ll accept that even though I want to see West more than anything.

  “I’m up for it if you are.”

  Of course he is. Who wouldn’t want to fuck Tilly more than once a day?

  “Okay. I need to shower.”

  I start to climb off his lap, but he grabs my hips and stops me.

  “I’m sorry I ran out of here so fast this morning. I didn’t even kiss you good-bye.”

  “You had to go to work,” I tell him. “It’s okay.”

  Here’s his chance to tell me the truth—that he was messing around with Tilly.

  I wait, each passing second a little bit closer to our new reality—broken trust and unspoken truths.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” he says.

  “You don’t have to do anything, Cannon. It’s over and done with.”

  My heart shatters the second his lips brush against mine.

  Are we over and done with?

  The only way he’ll make it up to me is if he stops sneaking around and lying. And, since he has no idea I’m on to him, that’s never going to happen. We’ll just keep secretly disappointing each other, ruining the little bit of goodness we have left in our marriage. Once that’s gone, the glue holding our foundation together will be completely destroyed.

  My relationship might be a total mess, but my time with West evens it out. He’s what keeps me looking forward to tomorrow. And that’s why I’ll respond to every email from Tilly and every text from West while I try my hardest to pretend nothing has changed. Even though everything is different.

  I’m too far gone to stop.

  Too far gone to let go.

  West’s become my sanity. My safe haven. The comfort I need.

  Legally, he belongs to Tilly. In every other sense, he’s mine.

  All mine.

  And I can’t wait to see him tonight.

  West

  After we return from dinner, we have about twenty minutes before Piper and Cannon are set to come over. I’m hanging out in the kitchen to wait, grabbing myself a beer from the fridge. Tilly goes into the bedroom. When she finally joins me, she’s changed into her white silk bathrobe. With the kitchen light shining through it, I can see her black lace bra and matching panties.

  She looks hot as fuck.

  She leans against the other side of the island, the top of the robe opening to give me an eyeful of cleavage. “I spoke to my dad today.”

  “Yeah?”

  “He told me he asked you to buy their business.”

  “He did.”

  “Were you going to mention it to me?”

  There’s attitude in her voice, and I’m not sure why. I also don’t know why she’s bringing this up now, minutes before Piper and Cannon are supposed to come over, or why she didn’t say a word about it at dinner.

  “I planned on it,” I say. “It just kept slipping from my mind.”

  “But it seems like you’ve had lots of time to think about it. Since moving here, all we’ve done is eat, work out, and fuck. So, I don’t understand why you haven’t done this one thing for me.”

  There it is.

  The perfect dig.

  I was months into the hockey season when I was forced to retire. That meant spending most of my days at the rink, games at night, traveling the country nonstop. When all that was taken away from me, I just needed a minute. Did I take my wife somewhere exotic to celebrate? Did I turn into this romantic, loving guy, giving her all my attention?

  Nah. I didn’t do any of that.

  I thought about myself instead.

  She deserves more than that. But there’s nothing I can do to change what I did, and there’s nothing I want to do at this point.

  “If you’re trying to start a fight, Tilly, I’m not going to sit here and argue with you. But, if there’s something you want to say, I’ll listen.”

  Her stare intensifies. “I want their business.”

  “Then, it’s yours.”

  Her shoulders drop enough to show me she feels relieved.

  Why the hell is she worried that I’d say no? I’ve never said no to her in the past, nor have I ever treated her like it’s my money and not our money.

  “Come here.”

  “West—”

  “Come here,” I say louder.

  She walks over to my side of the island and halts right in front of me. I don’t pull her into my arms and hug her, trying to fix whatever the hell is eating at her. My wife doesn’t want that. She would much rather be fucked than consoled. So, I stare into her eyes to see how they’ll change when I give her the answer she wants, hoping they reveal the source of all this edge she’s carrying.

  “I’ll call the attorney in the morning,” I tell her.

  There’s more relief, but there’s something else, too, that I can’t quite place.

  “Thank you.”

  “Tilly—”

  The doorbell cuts me off, and she immediately moves away to answer it.

  I stay where I am and hear voices from downstairs.

  “He’s up there,” Tilly says.

  There are footsteps on the wooden stairs. They continue to get louder until I watch Piper enter the kitchen. She comes to the other side of the island, the same place Tilly stood until I called my wife over to me.

  I don’t take my eyes off Piper as she looks around the kitchen and living room and says, “Nice house.” Her hands are on the stone countertop. She pulls them back until she reaches the edge and grips it tightly. “I tried to imagine what your place might look like.”

  “And?”

  “I wasn’t even close.”

  That’s because this isn’t my place. This is a rental that Tilly found, and she only used half of our shit and put the rest in storage. It’s cold as hell in here, and it looks like Piper can sense that. I need to get her somewhere where I can warm her up.

  I drain the rest of my beer and grab her hand, leading her toward the master bedroom. Once we are inside, I shut the door behind us and turn her, so her back is pressed against it. Her mouth opens to say something, but I stop her when I slam my lips onto hers. I hold her face, sucking in as much as I can of her. When I start reaching for her clothes, I pull away only so I can lift the shirt over her head.

  “Is this your bedroom?” she asks.

  I unclasp her bra with one hand and unbutton her jeans, stripping them off her legs. “Yeah.”

  She looks down at me as my face hovers in front of her pussy. “Are you sure you’re okay with me being in here? It’s such a personal space. I—”

  I stick my tongue on her clit and lick the entire length of it. “Does that answer your question?”

  Her head goes back, and she grips my hair and tugs it, bringing me in even closer. “My God, West.”

  I don’t bite. I don’t give her a finger either. I just flick my tongue back and forth over her clit. “I know you’re sore. I’ll be gentle with you tonight.”

  She twists my hair and uses it to pull my face away until I look up at her. “Don’t. I want you to give me whatever you want. I can handle it.”

  I growl, standing from the floor, and wrap my arms around her waist, so I can carry her to the bed. Once I set her down on the mattress, I start taking my clothes off. It’s the first cool night since I’ve been in Florida, so everything I have on is heavier than normal; therefore, it takes me longer to strip. This isn’t the night for that to happen. My need to have her is making me even more impatient than usual.

  The second my boxers hit the floor, I crawl o
ver her body and find my way to her mouth. “There are condoms on the nightstand,” I mumble against her lips.

  “Don’t use one.”

  “He won’t check?” I hate even asking that, but I don’t know what happens after Tilly and I leave them. For all I know, he sticks his face between her legs, searching for the scent of latex.

  “No.”

  I don’t hesitate before pushing my crown straight into her. When I bury my entire shaft, she closes her eyes and moans.

  God, she’s fucking beautiful.

  I want to pull out and do it again just so I can hear that sound, so I can see the look of pleasure across her face.

  “More,” she groans. “Make it hurt, West.”

  Her pussy has already taken a beating today. She doesn’t know what she’s asking for, and she will regret it when she wakes up in the morning and can’t walk. She’ll hate me then, and I’ll have to wait days until I can have her again.

  I have a better idea.

  I slip completely out of her and move up the bed until I reach the pillows. Then, I turn around and lean my back into the headboard. “Get over here.”

  She crawls onto my lap, straddling my legs, her cunt opening just enough to take in my tip.

  “I want you to ride me,” I demand. “And take as much of me as you want.” I surround one of her nipples with my teeth. I wasn’t rough with her tits earlier, so I know this is a part of her body I can torture.

  She sinks a little lower and slides back up.

  I press a finger onto her clit, and she lets out a drawn-out scream.

  “That’s it. Tell me how it makes you feel.”

  Her hips drop again, but she doesn’t take all of me. “I could come so fast.”

  “Do it.”

  I clench down with my teeth, her nipple between them, flicking the end with my tongue. And, with my hand, I rub the pad of my fingers across her clit, giving her all the friction she needs.

  “West,” she hisses.

  I release her nipple and grab a fistful of her hair, so I can guide her mouth toward mine. “Come right now, Piper.”

  She glides down to my root, keeping me completely inside her, and rocks her hips back and forth just a few times. It isn’t her sounds that tell me she’s coming even though they are loud and fill my ears. It’s the way she clenches around me, her body quivering until the inside of her pussy finally releases me.