Between Hearts: A Romance Anthology

by Alexander, Erica

  “You’re serious?”

  “As a heart attack,” Gabe confirms.

  “How does this even work?” I ask Gabe when I’m standing beside him, my feet firmly planted on the bottom of the pool. I’m still concerned I have the wrong idea, but I’m already sporting a semi at the idea of touching Liv.

  I’m happy to do whatever the hell Liv wants, especially since she wants me, too.

  “However you want it to.” Gabe shrugs, as if it doesn’t bother him that Liv would hook up with another guy.

  My confusion is obvious, because Liv laughs, and so does Gabe. Her laughter sounds like a wind chime. It’s weirdly melodic and beautiful.

  “Since you’re not grasping it, let me break it down,” Gabe tries again. “Liv and I have this thing that’s mutually beneficial, but we’re not exclusive. She wants you. You want her. I want her. Hell, I might even want you.”

  His admission shocks me, and my mouth falls open. I do my best to snap it shut and school my features so I don’t offend them as I process this information. I know several gay people. I have gay friends. But Gabe’s admission comes as a surprise because I’ve never heard anything about him being bisexual. Damn.

  My face betrays me yet again.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Gabe waves his hand dismissively. “You straight guys are all the same. But I know what Liv wants, and I know what I want. If you’re into her — and we both know you are — then why don’t you two have some fun? I’ll sit here and watch . . . or join, if you want me to.”

  I turn to Liv, whose blue eyes are as clear as the summer sky. She’s perched on the little bench, following our conversation with interest. “And you’re into this?”

  She nods eagerly, her lips forming a wide smile as pink rises on her pale cheeks.

  I shake my head. “I need to hear you say what you want.”

  I hear Gabe smother a guffaw, but I ignore him. Even though Gabe is her bestie, I don’t trust another dude, even if he’s on the same page as a chick, to tell me what she’s comfortable with on her behalf. She needs to do that herself.

  “I meant what I said earlier,” she says softly. “I want you.”

  I nod, and I train my gaze on her.

  “Why don’t we do something about this attraction?” she continues as she gestures between the two of us. “I’m down if you’re down, teammate.”

  “Do it,” Gabe encourages as he moves to another small bench on the opposite wall of the grotto. His eyes bounce between the two of us, and he can’t contain his gleeful expression, like we’re going to put on a show for him.

  “And you want it this way?” I ask as I close the distance between Liv and myself. She opens her legs, and I step into them, my hips bumping the concrete step. Her long legs wrap around my waist, pulling me close, and I press my chest against hers. I close my eyes and relish in the feel of her nipples straining against her turquoise top. Her wet skin is exquisite. She is exquisite. “Hooking up with me as Gabe watches?”

  She dips her chin before she opens those pouty lips and murmurs, “Yes.”

  I nod, swallowing the sizable lump in my throat. She’s so gorgeous, and I want to do so many things to her that I don’t know where to begin. I don’t know how I feel about Gabe being a third in our party of two, but if this is the only way I can make out with Liv, I’m taking it.

  She surprises me.

  Liv bites down on her bottom lip, and one of her hands tangles in my hair and tugs me to her.

  The second our lips meet, a shiver of excitement runs down my spine, and I feel the buzz in my veins. It’s similar to the one I felt during tryouts, but at the same time, it’s like nothing I’ve felt before. Why is this new? What’s so different about Liv Samuels than the rest?

  Her lips are soft and welcoming, and she opens so I can swipe my tongue into her mouth. She tastes like the beach, coconut, and salty sea air. Her hand twists in my hair, and the tugging is so erotic, I feel it in my dick. I rub myself against her bare stomach.

  She scoots closer to the edge of her built-in seat and presses against me. One of her hands strokes the length of my spine, and a shudder rolls through me.

  I’m painfully hard, and I need to see and feel more of Liv. I lift her off the ledge, and she clings to me as I maneuver to the middle of the grotto’s private pool. I raise my hands from her firm ass to the back of her top, hoping I can somehow figure out this monstrosity before I embarrass myself.

  My fingers work at the straps, but I make no headway, so I give up and attack Liv’s neck, which she offers up to me with a groan. I nip at her warm skin, then soothe her with my tongue, loving the noises she makes. Little waves crash into me, and I realize Gabe is approaching from behind her.

  I meet his dark eyes, and he offers me a lopsided grin. It’s oddly encouraging, but I refuse to think more about it. He makes quick work of Liv’s top, untangling the straps before he wraps his fingers around Liv’s ribcage and pushes the thin fabric up. She leans into him, loosening her legs around my waist a little, and she lifts her arms, the two of them working together to rid her of the pesky bikini. He pulls it over her head, and her tits bounce free when the fabric peels off her skin.

  He tosses it to the side of the grotto and places a noisy kiss on Liv’s shoulder. She shivers, her little pink nipples stiffening in the warm air. Gabe cups one of her breasts, and water rivulets run down her bare skin.

  God, she looks beautiful writhing against Gabe with her legs around my waist. Her cheeks and chest are flushed. Her pupils are wide. Her naked chest rises and falls with the quickness of her breath. And she looks edible.

  Gabe kisses her neck, so I take my cue to give her tits some attention. And what fine tits they are.

  Liv is an athlete. Her body is long, sinewy, and beautifully conditioned. She’s not stacked, but her breasts are big enough. The weight of them is perfect in my palms. I push them together, my thumbs grazing her hard nipples. She seems to like it, gasping and grinding into me as she presses her back into Gabe. A groan leaves my lips, and I grind back into her in response. I’m sure Gabe is doing the same thing to her backside.

  It’s like instinct takes over, and I no longer care about having a third person involved.

  This girl has been my fantasy since I saw her, and this is my opportunity. I’m not going to blow it by getting caught up in the idea that I’d rather this be just the two of us. Semantics don’t matter. She wants me. I want her. Gabe wants her. And I’m a little buzzed, and I don’t care that this isn’t how I imagined.

  Liv throws her head back and rests it on Gabe’s shoulder. His hands wrap around her ribcage again, cupping the undersides of her breasts as I lick, suck, and nibble on her nipples. She sighs happily between the two of us, latching onto Gabe’s neck.

  “Let’s take this to a bench.”

  Gabe’s husky voice breaks the silence, and we maneuver Liv to the built-in stone bench she sat on earlier. It’s long enough for four people to sit comfortably. Gabe positions himself on one end, so I sit on the other, facing him. We arrange Liv between the two of us, the water lapping at our skin. Her legs drape over mine in the shallow water, her head against Gabe’s chest.

  She looks unbelievable stretched out like this, her toned body worthy of worship. Her skin is damp, and I want to lick the water from her belly. Her blue eyes catalogue my every move. She bites her bottom lip, and the ends of her hair float around her, sticking to Gabe.

  “What do you want, babe?” Gabe asks before bending slightly and kissing her earlobe. Liv thrusts her tits upward in response. I cup them and thumb her nipples, earning a contented sigh.

  “Declan’s mouth,” she says on a whimper.

  Those two words make my pride swell, and my dick becomes harder.

  I specify, “You want my mouth where?”

  My expectations for this encounter are being vastly overshadowed by the reality of it. I don’t want to assume she’s down for what I want. I don’t think she knows just how much I want her or just how mu
ch I’d like to be with her.

  If Liv Samuels wants to make out, touch and be touched, awesome.

  If she wants to go to third base, I might go into cardiac arrest, but I’ll gleefully get her there.

  And if she wants to go beyond that, I’ll die a non-virgin. A very happy non-virgin.

  I spent my summer focused on oral with Jenny. She wasn’t ready to have sex. I thought we’d reach that point before school started, which was why we continued fooling around, but then Jenny met some guy on her family’s beach trip and called it quits.

  Liv drags a hand up from the water, motioning to her mouth, and she slides it down her body, tangling her fingers with mine around her right tit. She gives it a squeeze before continuing downward to the gauzy panties she’s wearing that double as swimsuit bottoms.

  My heart stutters as I realize what she’s asking.

  Well, all righty then.

  We’re going there, and she wants to go fast. But instead of hurtling forward like a madman, I want to slow this down. Just in case I never get another opportunity.

  “You want me to touch you here?” I brush my hand against the lace hugging her hip. She shivers and a contented smile pulls at her lips.

  “Yes.”

  “I want to taste you,” I tell her. “But I want to feel you against me first.”

  Frustration furrowing her features, and her smile turns downward instantly. Huh. Liv wants what she wants when she wants it. Interesting.

  “Trust me,” I say and pull her into my lap, encouraging her to wrap those long legs around my waist again. She pulls out of the water and positions herself on top of me. She rubs her hands against my chest and raises one eyebrow. I drag my hands down her back, loving the feel of her soft skin beneath my fingers.

  “How’s this?”

  “I can’t wait to see what you want to do first,” she whispers throatily.

  “Have at her, man,” I hear Gabe encourage, but my focus is solely on Liv.

  I smash my lips into hers. I lick her mouth, and she answers the move with one of her own, her tongue just as bold, if not more so, than mine. She wraps her arms around me, and she scrapes short nails against my shoulders. Even though it’s a warm August day, goosebumps raise everywhere she touches me. I thrust my hips upward, earning a surprised gasp.

  I see another pair of hands join in. It’s hard to believe this is actually happening, that I’m touching Liv. That I’m touching Liv as Gabe touches her. Never in my wildest fantasies would I have dreamt this up.

  Her eyelids fall closed as Gabe’s hands roam her naked chest and back, and I sink my teeth into her bottom lip. Her breath stutters, and I kiss her, tracing my tongue along her mouth’s seam. She opens to me, her tongue rubbing against mine as she deepens our kiss. Gabe pinches one of her nipples, and she moans.

  The same thrill I felt during the tryouts awakens in me. There’s something weirdly intoxicating about both of us giving her pleasure. And it’s very clear that she’s loving the attention by the way her hips erratically rub against mine and the noises that leave her lips.

  I break our kiss and taste my way from her chin to her earlobe. Once there, I suck the lobe into my mouth, nibbling lightly. Liv shivers and grinds against me. I drag my lips from one ear to the other, tasting the soft skin of her jawbone and appreciating her sweet scent.

  Gabe grunts. “Lean back.”

  Then my lips aren’t touching Liv anymore. She’s lying between us on the bench again, her right hand tickling the edge of her bikini bottoms, with one of Gabe’s larger hands joining hers.

  She looks up at me with a question in her eyes. “You ever done this before, Dec?”

  My heart slams against my rib cage in response. Instead of being outwardly shocked, I take a gulping breath. “Yup.”

  Because while I’ve never done this while someone else watched, I’ve fooled around as much as any other seventeen-year-old who lives here. And I’m confident in my ability to make Liv come. I’m not going to turn down anything she’s willing to throw my way.

  “You’ve been with another guy?” she pries with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, her amusement palpable.

  “Well . . .” I let my voice trail off. Will she say this is over if I admit that I haven’t? And that I don’t particularly want to be with another guy?

  She giggles, waving a hand. Gabe meets my gaze with dark eyes and winks.

  “Relax,” she says, and she leans back and kisses Gabe, who bends and presses his lips to hers in a surprisingly tender gesture.

  I wonder if what they’ve told me is true. They kiss like they know one another, and the way Gabe touches her speaks of intimate knowledge.

  It’s unnerving, but then the moment passes, and I realize what’s about to happen. I’m going to get to taste Liv Samuels. Fuck yes.

  “I’m not asking you to let Gabe fuck you or anything.”

  The blasé statement makes me laugh. I didn’t think she’d expect Gabe and me to get it on, though that’s good to hear.

  I can’t believe this is actually happening.

  I watch the two of them kiss. Gabe is dark where Liv is light. His dark hair and dark eyes compliment her light hair and light eyes. The moment I see Gabe’s hand dip beneath the waistband of Liv’s panties, I can’t bite back my groan.

  Gabe breaks the kiss and looks up at me. “You wanna help?”

  I take a deep breath before I commit myself. “Fuck yes.”

  Chapter 4

  Liv

  Gabe’s hand is already down my panties, and the second I hear Declan growl, “Fuck yes,” I know I’m in for a treat.

  Unbeknownst to our classmates, Gabe and I have been fooling around since we met last summer. After my sister’s drama sent us scurrying from San Diego, I was obsessed with feeling alive and anything that made me feel that way.

  While my sister went down a path of destruction with over-the-counter painkillers, I went the other direction. I’d rather feel a natural high. The endorphins I get from sex are far better than any artificial high I’ve experienced. And while I realize that many would brand me a slut if they knew what went on behind closed doors, I like what I like, and I won’t apologize for it. And I think it’s utter bullshit that seventeen-year-old guys receive high fives whenever they screw a classmate, but the girls are shamed.

  Fuck that.

  Gabe and I hit it off immediately, and our physical relationship started shortly after we met. Unlike our friends, we aren’t interested in a long-term relationship. We both know this won’t be our be-all-end-all, but for now, he and I just work. We somehow know what the other is thinking and what the other wants.

  Case in point: He knows I’ve been curious about Declan since tryouts began.

  And in this moment, I won’t deny myself.

  I want Declan McCoy. I don’t care that he’s younger than me.

  What Declan doesn’t realize is that Gabe not-so-secretly wishes he’d touch him, too. Yeah, he mentioned it, and Declan looked shocked, which didn’t surprise me, but then he brushed it off. What’s going through his head? Most guys would call it quits after that kind of revelation. But not Declan McCoy, which makes him that much more unique.

  What I do know is Declan’s chocolate-colored eyes are shining with appreciation as he stares hungrily at me. Declan grips my hips and pulls them upward. With Gabe’s hands boosting my ass, the two of them raise me completely out of the water and arrange my calves over Declan’s wide shoulders. Gabe’s hands slide up my spine and steady my shoulders, which rest against his waist half-in, half-out of the water.

  Now we’re gonna get to the good stuff.

  I’m not ashamed to say I cannot wait. There’s nothing wrong with taking and giving pleasure, and this initiation is turning into something beyond any of my fantasies.

  Declan spreads my legs wider with steady hands on my inner thighs, then he pulls the crotch of my lacy panties aside.

  “Goddamn,” he hisses, pressing a thumb against my clit and sending a j
olt of pleasure through my entire body. My hips flex at the contact, and my exposed skin pebbles with goosebumps as he touches me like he’s unsure where to begin. His touch isn’t inexperienced, though. It’s almost like he’s overwhelmed.

  “Nicely done,” Gabe compliments, and he strokes the sensitive skin of my neck and collarbone as Declan continues his exploration.

  Declan flicks my clit with his thumb before circling it. He watches me intently, and his dark eyes categorize my reactions to his touch. I can’t stop the gasps that fall from my lips as he continues his slow ministrations.

  “You don’t waste any time.” My voice is shockingly husky.

  He grins shyly at me. I love that I can see his arousal in his features. His brown eyes are dilated with lust, his breath coming faster, his cheeks ruddy. He looks intense with his pinched expression, but I know he’s in no pain.

  “I’m just following your lead,” he says simply. He tugs my hips closer, dips his head, and touches the tip of his tongue to my clit. Pleasure zings through me, vibrating through my very form, and my legs unconsciously widen to allow him more space. He strokes me softly before he jabs a little harder with the tip of his tongue. The slow, steady pressure begins building between my legs, and my mouth lolls open. I whimper, and the sound shocks me. I don’t know if I’ve ever whimpered during sex before, but the way Declan touches me makes me not care what noises I make, so long as he keeps touching me.

  “That’s it, baby,” Gabe whispers in my ear, running his hand up and down my sides until he slides them lower and slips one into the back of my panties. His deft hand squeezes my cheeks before he traces a finger between them. His touch is intimate, and Gabe knows I love how this feels. I don’t protest as Gabe slides his finger between my legs to gather moisture and then skirts back up, pressing against my ass.

  When I lived in San Diego, my boyfriend was obsessed with anal sex. He believed he’d remain a virgin if he didn’t have vaginal intercourse. I thought his reasoning was idiotic, but hey, if that’s what you gotta do to consider yourself a virgin, that’s what you gotta do. I liked him enough to give it a try, and I was surprised by how thrilling I found it. How I still find it. Gabe knows what turns me on, and it makes sense that he wants to bring this encounter to the next level.