Assignment: Second Chances

by Honor James

  “Lee’s right. I can’t help myself. I see certain parts of the movies and I get all needy and start to want so I have to attack the man that I need and want. The man that means everything to me or men in this case.”

  “All you can do is hold on for the ride. We got kicked out of more than one movie theatre in the day because she’d be in my lap. I think we were even banned from two of them, right?” Lee asked her.

  “Banned? Really?” Nathan asked, looking her way as well.

  “Three, remember Regal Cinema?” Olivia was grinning as she said that. “I can’t help it if I can’t help but get naked when I see others loving on screen. I happen to really enjoy being able to watch people on screen making love and being able to do the same. I know I should wait until we get home, but come on, you put your hand on my thigh and slipped it under my skirt and then all bets were off.”

  “Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the Regal,” he said with a happy grin.

  “Holy hell.” Nathan let out a whistle at that. “I am so tempted right now to go and find a love story we can watch. Is that wrong of me?” he asked.

  “At least you don’t have pornos here.” Olivia was grinning and looked at Lee. “Gracious, it was awesome when you and I had your parents’ house and found that stash of pornos. I learned a lot by those videos.”

  “You don’t have pornos?” Nathan asked.

  Lee only blinked at them both, absolutely no expression on his face.

  Nathan chuckled and shook his head. “He has pornos. You may not have seen them, or found them, but he definitely has some here. Obviously he has them tucked away somewhere out of sight for guests.”

  “That’s too funny.” Olivia shook her head. “You boys choose a movie. I’m going to stake out my place on the couch and grab the blanket that I saw in the coat closet. I will watch whatever it is that you boys want to watch, even blow-’em-up movies.”

  “We’ll let Nathan pick since he’s yet to experience you during one of these. No horrors though otherwise we’ll have to have every light blazing in the place for the next month. I don’t think I want to see what my power bills ends up being now that I actually have to pay for it instead of our parents.”

  Rubbing his hands together, Nathan hopped off the bed. “Right, no horrors. Any other restrictions I should know about before I start browsing?”

  Lee shot her a look and then rolled his eyes. “Nothing with clowns. Doesn’t matter if it’s a comedy. It will not end well if it has a clown.”

  She shivered. “Yes, thank you. No clowns. Ever.” She was rubbing her hands up and down her arms now. “Holy crap, there is just something about clowns that makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry.”

  Getting off the bed, Lee leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Sorry I said the C word, little one. Go and get some drinks for everyone. I’ll get the popcorn going while I clean up, and Nathan picks the movie. I think I have everything tagged with her phobias, but confirm it before you put it in. Oh, and fast forward through any previews, or don’t play them depending on the disc you choose. Depending on the genre there’s a couple out there that has one of those clown horror movies on it. Never, ever play that where she can even hear it.”

  She saw the look that Nathan shot Lee and she nodded. “Yes, sadly he’s being honest. I really don’t do anything well when it comes to clowns or horror movies.” She had no idea why she had such fears, especially when she had survived the hell she had survived. She moved so that she was curled close to Lee and sighed happily. “I think I could become very accustomed to this, you know.”

  “Well why don’t we move this party to the sofa,” he suggested. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head he tugged her off the bed. “Go on, and make sure he’s not picking anything you will need to beat him bloody over. She’s got a right hook you never see coming, and it’s vicious,” he warned Nathan.

  “Really? Well you are an intriguing little bundle of sex on a stick, Olivia.” Nathan held out his arm to her. “Come and tell me more about the time you hit Jacobs. All the gory details if you don’t mind.”

  “I will.” She looked over her shoulder at Lee and winked. “The first time I hit him was an accident,” she said as she leaned into him. “He had just shown me how to make a fist and hit someone. He told me to try for a punching bag that he was holding and I missed the bag and hit him by accident. Really I didn’t mean to hurt him but I did. Hard.”

  As they walked by the closet, she grabbed the blanket she wanted. “I sometimes get cold when sitting still for too long, likely part of why I am always up and running.”

  “We’ll ensure you stay nice and warm,” he told her. “Now you said the first time you hit him. Which leads me to believe there were more times, or at least one more. So, keep talking,” he said when they reached the living room. She went to the sofa, and he went to the wall of DVD movies that Lee had. “Holy hell they are in alphabetical order by genre and director. Who does this?”

  “Lee.” She smiled at Nathan. “God I love that man and his OCD tendencies.” She sighed and curled up in the center of the sofa and wrapped the blanket around her. “I hit him another time, I meant it the second time though. He had just patted Tammy Scott’s ass. Granted he thought that she was me, but that was unacceptable.” Tammy looked just like Olivia from behind, or did before Tammy’s nine kids. “So I walked in and saw him pat her ass and then saw him realize that he had done that and walked up and punched him. Just as a reminder to be sure that he knows whose ass he’s patting when he pats it.”

  “I’m guessing he didn’t make that mistake again,” he murmured. He was staring at her in awe. “I’m also going to jump to the conclusion that he got himself out of that mess of hot water since you were still speaking to him after that. You are one forgiving woman, Olivia Green.”

  “Yes he got out of that mess quickly.” As soon as he was able to see her that was all that mattered. “And of course I was forgiving, I love him. Why wouldn’t I forgive him?” she asked softly. “I would forgive you as well, as long as you talked it out with me.”

  “I’m definitely a talker, if you hadn’t noticed.” He grabbed a couple of movies and brought them over to her to look at. “I have to admit to being curious though. What was he like back then? As a kid, and a teenager I mean. I met him in basic, and I have to say he wasn’t all that big on talking, or being sociable. He’s totally different around you, not at all like the guy I became friends with.”

  “Pretty much just like he is now, only he and I talked all the time. Not so much with everyone else but the two of us were always talking,” she said with a smile. “I hated going to sleep at night because it was that much time stolen from me that I could have had with him. He would sometimes sneak into my bedroom and we would talk all night as well. He’s my Lee,” she said simply.

  “Wow,” he breathed out. “That kind of bond is amazing. You are one hell of a lucky woman. He’d pretty much do anything for you. Even when he was all bent out of shape about the assignment, all he could talk about was ensuring your safety. In between snarling, and all the bitching. Oh God there was so much bitching,” he said before groaning as if in pain.

  “I hate that he hated me as much as he did.” She confided. “It hurts my heart that he was so angry at being forced to watch over me. I was pretty angry too, but only because I was terrified that he would see that I still was in love with him.”

  “He didn’t hate you, I don’t think he ever has. He may have put that front up for everyone else to see, but they weren’t there for the two times he got drunk. It took a while but eventually he gave me enough to know that he was hurting inside. Until I met you, the pieces didn’t really start to click. Then I saw you interacting with one another. He’s always loved you, Olivia. At a guess, I think he put on that ‘pissed at everything’ face to keep from showing how much being near you hurt him and dredged up the past. In his mind you were married, and living the life he’d always envisioned being a part of. Without him.”


  Nathan leaned to the side, likely to see what Lee was up to. When he eased back into her, he lowered his voice. “The second time I got him hammered, he told me about the girl who still owned his heart. How even if he’d wanted to give it to someone else, he couldn’t because at least he knew she had a part of him even if she didn’t want it, or him anymore. I’m not saying he lived like a monk during the last years, because I’d be lying, but there wasn’t any emotional connection for him with anyone. Even the team. It took him a long, long time to let any of them in even a little bit.” Rubbing his hand over her leg, he gave her a look. “I don’t tell you this to upset you, sweetheart. But I thought you needed to know so that the three of us can figure out how we’re going to work together. Just promise me you won’t tell him any of that, please?” he whispered.

  She nodded and lay her head on Nathan’s shoulder. “I guess that I’ve lived like a monk then,” she whispered. “Lee’s the only man who’s ever made love to me.” Aside from the very glaring nightmare she went through, but that was best left unsaid. In her mind she had to think of it as only Lee being her lover, and not the asshole who raped her over and over again.

  “I care for you, Nathan, I want to have something that would work out between the three of us as some of your other partners have. I love Lee, you know that and I’ve always loved him, but I’m feeling for you the things I felt for him when we first began to be together. Does that make sense?”

  “Absolutely it makes sense,” he told her. The sound of dishes being moved around in the kitchen could be heard. Shifting, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’ve wanted you from the first time you bent over to show me that sweet little ass of yours. Which then was promptly followed by a cutting remark to get my eyes up, and a lot of sass that gave me visions of bending you over my knee to spank that pert little bottom.”

  She fanned herself. “I like that idea. A lot. More than I should actually.” She looked up at Nathan and licked her lips. “What else do you have in mind for my ass? By the way, I don’t think that I’ve had anyone spank my ass before.”

  “Oh, the things I have in mind for our sweet bottom is pretty damn hot. Including sliding my cock into your tight little anus. But that’s for later. Pick a movie already, would you woman? Those are for choosing from, not to use as a fan. Though you are rather flushed, maybe you won’t need the blanket after all,” he teased.

  “Not if you follow through with your promises,” she blurted out and blindly passed him one of the movies. “I can only imagine just how good it will feel to have you in my anus and Lee filling my pussy again. I really, really look forward to that. A great deal.”

  “I like the idea,” he said. Squeezing her closer to him he pressed a kiss to her temple. He took the movie and frowned. “Uh, you may want to reconsider this one. I didn’t notice this when I pulled it off the shelf, but he has it marked with a C on the front. I’m betting that means there’s a clown in here.”

  “Right, yes that’s not good. Okay so this one then.” She handed him the other movie. “If this doesn’t work we will just have Lee choose a movie when he finally comes in here. What do you think is taking him so long?” She didn’t like that Lee was lollygagging and dragging his heels on coming back out to be with them.

  “He was making popcorn, and cleaning up from breakfast. I may have made a bit more of a mess than absolutely necessary. But he was backseat cooking in there and driving me insane, so I had to do something to distract him.” Grinning, he popped up from the sofa and took the movies back to the shelf. He put away the ones they weren’t going to watch, and put the one she’d chosen into the DVD player. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked as the scent of popcorn began to drift into the living room.

  “Just a bottle of water if you wouldn’t mind? Oh, and can you add some extra salt and butter to the corn? Not a lot, just like a pinch or two extra please. Especially the whole butter thing. And why in the world would you have made an extra mess for my guy to clean up? Shouldn’t you be in there helping him then?”

  “Nope, house rules are he who cooks doesn’t clean.” He smirked at her. Tossing her the remote, he wandered into the kitchen whistling softly. A moment later she could hear the two of them talking. Not the words, but their voices at least and the rhythm of how they spoke. A laugh came from Nathan before he wandered back into the living room. “He said all that butter is bad for you, but he’ll give you the extra pinch of salt. Sorry, but I tried.”

  “It’s okay, he’s only trying to take care of me. Hopefully he will remember to put some popcorn in a bowl just for me and add in a bit of chocolate shavings as well.” She saw the reaction on Nathan’s face and laughed. “Yes, I like chocolate on my popcorn as well.”

  “Weird, but okay,” he said. Handing her a bottle of water he stuck his feet up on the coffee table.

  Lee came in a few moments later as she got the movie going, and sat down with them as the opening credits started. He handed her a smaller bowl, and as she liked it, there were a bunch of chocolate shavings on the top for her to mix in. “I never forget my girl’s favorite toppings for her popcorn,” he said with a wink. He handed another bowl over to Nathan. “Trust me, you do not ever want to make the mistake of reaching into her bowl.”

  Given the face Nathan was making as she mixed the chocolate into the popcorn, she didn’t think he’d make that mistake.

  “Well just know that I will protect my bowl. I will also go and brush my teeth before either of you kiss me if you really insist.” She rolled her eyes. “Although that really would be sad all around, especially if this is a movie that gets me all hot and bothered.”

  “I don’t mind the idea of chocolate, or popcorn, it’s the mess you’ve created in that bowl that offends my popcorn purity soul. How you could do that to the poor little poofy kernels,” Nathan said.

  “You get used to it,” Lee told him. He slouched down on the sofa, his bowl balanced on his stomach as he stretched his legs out on the coffee table. “Just don’t watch her when she gets into licking it out for that last bit of chocolate, salt, and butter. Shit, that’s what I forgot, the wet naps.”

  “Oh, yes we will need those. That or just a wet washcloth?” She took a handful of the popcorn and popped it into her mouth. Chewing slowly, she waited for the movie to start and settled in between the two men. Comfortable and relaxed, happy even.

  Nathan wrapped an arm around her when she twisted a little, and Lee moved his bowl so she could throw her legs over him. He even ensured her toes were covered by the blanket before he settled the dish down once more. One hand he used to crunch the occasional popcorn kernel, the other Lee kept resting on her legs.

  She watched the opening credits and laughed from time to time. “Oh I love this movie.” I was a comedy, a really good one actually. She took another bite of her popcorn and sighed. “So good.” Her chocolate on top of the corn was just melty and she liked it. A lot. She also enjoyed the fact that she was lying cuddled up against Nathan with Lee holding her legs.

  As the movie progressed, and their bowls emptied, the guys both shifted around a little more to create the sandwich Nathan had mentioned previously. Nathan had his cheek on her hair, and she would bounce around whenever he burst out laughing. Lee wasn’t quite as open in his amusement but he did give a chuckle a time or two during the flick.

  When it was over almost two hours later, Nathan gave her a squeeze. “You want to watch another one?” he asked curiously.

  “Sure, you guys pick this one.” She looked up into his eyes and smiled. “Surprise me with something saucy.” Liv could no longer deny how much she wanted these men. She wanted to be with them in all ways.

  Lee shot her a look, and then looked past her to Nathan. If not for tiny facial tics, she’d have thought they might be having a stare-off. But she was watching closely and noticed there almost was a pattern to it. Then he nodded, and lifting her legs, got off the sofa. “You want more popcorn, Vi?” he asked her after pulling the othe
r movie from the player.

  “No thank you,” she told Lee and shifted slightly against Nathan. “I’m not bothering you lying against you like I am, am I?” She was comfortable against the large male. “I could get very used to this, spending my nights with the two of you like this. Just relaxing and being close to you both.”

  “Nope, you are good where you are, sweetheart. I like this, it lets me look down your shirt,” he said. At her sharp look he waggled his brows and laughed. “What? Just being honest with you.”

  Lee snorted at that. Turning, he came back to the sofa, scooping up the remote to start the movie. He got it far enough in that she didn’t see what it was as the opening credits began. Given the music though, she had a feeling it was a Bond film.

  “Oh you know how much I love James Bond,” Olivia told Lee as they sat together. She was grinning, and undid the top button of her shirt. “Just so that you can see down my shirt a little better and all that fun stuff.” She stroked a finger over her upper breast as she spoke.

  “Holy hell, it has to be Christmas,” Nathan said. “A Bond flick, and a better view down your shirt. I’m loving this a lot.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then blew a raspberry against her skin giving a laugh when she squirmed.

  “Hey now, watch where you’re digging those feet into,” Lee said, grabbing her legs up from his lap. “I really don’t like being a soprano thank you very much.”

  “Well you do know how much I love it when you rub my feet and then my legs.” She did however shift so that she didn’t hurt him. “I’m sorry though, Lee. I hadn’t meant to hurt you.” She did however undo another button and looked up at Nathan once more and gave him a wink.

  “You didn’t, love. But you were getting a little too close for comfort.” Settling her legs where he wanted them, he uncovered one of her feet to begin massaging it slowly. He used strong strokes of a knuckle along the ball of her foot before using his fingers to work out the tension.