Three Player Game

by Jaime Samms

  Once more, Lee stared, lips parted, like Pete had taken all his words from him and left him helpless. And maybe, without words, Lee was a little helpless. He certainly hurled them around like tiny daggers sometimes.

  Before Lee could come up with anything sharp to fling, Pete moved in and placed a palm against his cheek. “That’s what this is, Lee. Us. You, me, Vince. Add it up, it equals us.”

  “You make it sound like a done deal.”

  Pete smiled, ignoring the churning in his gut. “Isn’t it?” Maybe if he just acted like he had no doubts, like it was a done deal, Lee would accept it as such.

  “Is it that easy for you?” Lee wasn’t moving or pulling away from Pete’s hand on his face.

  “I do a lot of listening to what my gut tells me. When it gets churny and jumpy, I know I need to eat better. So I cook. When I can’t concentrate or focus, I know it’s time to meditate. When I can’t sit still, when meditating feels like a chore, that’s when I know I need Vince.”

  Lee swallowed hard. Under Pete’s palm, his jaw flexed, and he gave such a miniscule nod, Pete might not have noticed if he hadn’t been touching him.

  “You know what that’s like,” Pete whispered.

  Lee stared into him, eyes fierce. He said nothing.

  “When you came to stay, some things clicked into place.”

  “Things?”

  Pete shrugged, stepped closer. “I used to have to meditate every single night. Vince spent a lot of energy on me too, keeping me in my skin. It was getting hard on him, always working to ground me, and he wasn’t taking care of himself. But he isn’t the kind of person who lets anyone else take care of him, either. He does all the caretaking. Sure, he tolerates me telling him how to balance his chi and all that. He even does what I tell him, most of the time. But it isn’t really in him to let me do that shit.”

  “And you think I need you to look after me?” Lee’s eyes darkened.

  “Stop,” Pete admonished. “Of course you don’t need looking after, any more than any other grown adult does. Well, not now that your back is mostly better.”

  “So then . . .”

  “If I dropped to my knees right now and offered to suck you off, you’d let me.”

  Lee frowned at him. “Vince wouldn’t?”

  “The kinds of scenes Vince likes don’t have much to do with sex. And that’s okay. I like what he needs as much as he does. But I probably like sex more than he does. Or, at least, I want it more often.”

  “So . . . I’m a sex surrogate?”

  Pete grinned. “No. Although we can start there, if you want.” He went up on his toes and planted a hungry kiss on Lee. It was only a heartbeat before Lee responded, and another before he wrapped both arms around him. Before Pete could pull away, Lee had snaked a hand into the hair at the back of his head and tangled his fingers into the curls.

  Pete couldn’t stop a moan. Fuck, he loved that. Vince was strong and sure and reliable, but Lee had an edge of aggression to his manhandling that bored right under Pete’s skin and sent sparks of electricity straight to his dick.

  It didn’t surprise him when he felt Vince’s heat at his back, cocooning him between the two men. It was a bit of a shock when Vince pulled Lee out of the kiss, though, and when Pete blinked the world back into focus, Vince and Lee were so deeply lip-locked they both had their eyes closed, and their hands were clamped so tightly on Pete that it was almost as if they feared they might float away without him to anchor them.

  Pete contented himself with leaning on Vince and nuzzling Lee’s neck as he listened to them share a long moment of connection that, for once, didn’t necessitate words.

  It was about time. A blowjob was one thing. Pete knew plenty of people who could—and did—give them out like currency. No intimacy required. Lee was probably one of those people. But a kiss—one where neither of them could bear to break it off or speak or even, from what he could tell, breathe—that was impossible to fake.

  For one bleeding instant, he wondered why Vince would kiss Lee like that, when he rarely kissed Pete so intensely. The thought disintegrated though, because even as he had it, Vince was pulling away from Lee and turning to Pete. “Did I interrupt?”

  Pete glared at him, though he barely held back the underlying grin. “Ya think?” He smacked Vince’s chest. “Neanderthal.”

  Lee grunted, gripped Pete’s chin to lift his face so he could finish the kiss Vince had begun, then abandoned. The force behind the touch was welcome, as was the certainty that Vince was watching them and enjoying the show.

  Kissing Pete was easy. Safe. He wanted it. He didn’t fight for control like Vince did, and Vince wasn’t supposed to want control. He never went after it in the office. He never pulled rank or bucked any of Lee’s often petty orders to him. Even today, when Lee had balked at a mere tone of voice, Vince had backed off, accepted Lee’s boundary.

  But here, in his home, and especially in the bedroom, there was no question Vince was the one in charge. He had all the power, and it made Lee nervous.

  When Vince pulled away, Lee hadn’t been able to look him in the eye. He hadn’t dared. What if, in that crack between Lee’s control and Pete’s capitulation to him, Vince saw the truth? He could gain control over Lee in an instant, and once he was in, Lee would have no defense. He couldn’t—hadn’t dared—let the other man in.

  Pete was a safe cushion, though. Lee kept him between himself and Vince, breathing hard as Vince guided Pete with fingers through his hair and words, softly whispered, encouraging Pete to suckle and kiss over Lee’s skin, down his neck, and along his collarbone. Vince could rule the show from there. It would give Lee the chance to let go, let Pete in to him and safely loosen his death grip on his lonely life, but not let Vince glimpse how desperately he needed this.

  Watching Lee command Pete’s attention took Vince’s breath away. He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t anticipated having any problem indulging them, but to see how much Lee wanted Pete, and how easily Pete fell into his grasp, tugged at Vince’s libido, and it was fascinating. Here was something he had never been able to draw out of Pete, and all Lee had had to do was kiss him. Vince’s imagination failed him when he tried to think about what it might be like watching them do more.

  And yet. Why use his imagination?

  He cleared his throat.

  Lee flinched. His closed eyes fluttered, and his grip on Pete’s hair spasmed, causing Pete to groan.

  “There a problem?” Lee growled, looking over Pete’s shoulder at him, but managing not to meet his gaze exactly or move his mouth far from Pete’s. He didn’t let go of Pete, but peered around him like Pete was his shield.

  His expression smoldered, and Vince watched his guards go back up. Oddly, Vince’s cock took notice. The challenge to get Lee to open up certainly had his attention. More importantly, the idea that all that heat and strength would be his to share with Pete, once he finally did get inside and show Lee it was safe, was more exciting than he would ever have predicted.

  “We really going to do this up against a wall?” he countered.

  Pete huffed and laid his head against Lee’s chest. “Vince?”

  “I’m here.” Vince ran a hand down Pete’s back.

  His lover crooned softly and shivered. “Okay,” he whispered.

  Pete was fading into a dazed, pliable state fast. Vince needed him to hang on to reality a little while longer.

  “Come on, babe.” He took Pete’s arm and gently turned him. “Bedroom.”

  Lee snarled and snatched at Pete’s other arm.

  “Calm down, caveman,” Vince said, meeting Lee’s gaze. “You too.” He jerked his head in the general direction of the master bedroom. “I don’t even know why you keep sleeping in here. You’re being stubborn.”

  “You can’t say it and make it so.”

  “Watch me.” Vince glared at him. He wasn’t entirely sure what it Lee was referring to, but maybe that didn’t matter. The point was that if this was going to wor
k, Lee had to agree Vince could say something, and it would be so.

  Lee stared back.

  It was Pete who pulled free of Lee’s grip and, instead, took his hand. “He’s right. You’re digging in your heels for no good reason.”

  “You’re building this—” he waved a hand between them all “—on nothing.”

  “Everything you make starts out with pieces you put together. You just have to find the way they fit.”

  Vince stared down at Pete. “What?”

  “You heard me.” He leered a bit. “Fit the pieces together. You know. Tab A. Slot B.”

  “Nice.”

  Pete’s grin broadened. “Tabs are going into slots tonight. You both are just being power hungry like you think there isn’t enough of me to go around.” He went up on his toes to peck Vince’s cheek. “I can assure you. There’s plenty. Come on.” He tugged at Lee’s hand. “You know you want me.”

  Lee shook his head, but there wasn’t a lot of resistance when Pete started walking toward the door.

  In the master bedroom, though, Lee stopped, barely inside the room. He stared at the bed, then glanced down at Pete. “You sure about this?”

  Pete smiled at him. It wasn’t sultry or teasing. Just happy. “Of course.”

  “Because you feel it in your gut.”

  “Something like that, yeah.” Pete faced Lee and pulled his head down to place an almost chaste kiss on his mouth. “Stop overthinking. Let yourself feel things and be okay with that. It doesn’t have to be scary.”

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “That’s why Vince is here. He won’t let anything bad happen. Do what he tells you to do, and he’ll take care of the rest.”

  God. Pete trusted him so much. It hurt Vince’s chest a bit to think how completely Pete put himself in Vince’s hands every time he surrendered.

  Lee blinked at Pete, but then changed his focus to Vince. “Aren’t there . . . protocols or . . . whatever?”

  A small pocket of worry in Vince’s chest popped and vanished. Here at last was a sign Lee knew something about the dynamic and how it could work. “For a scene, absolutely.” He let his face relax, let his calm take over. “For tonight, no. Just us, doing good things together. Like Pete says, do what I say, and everything is golden.”

  Lee continued to stare, not at him, exactly. Their connection was tenuous, at best. Lee was still afraid. It would take a lot of concentration to get this right, but it would work if Vince didn’t drop the ball.

  “Pete?”

  “Yes, lover?” Pete gave him that sweet, trusting smile. It was small. Barely turned his lips up, but it made his eyes sparkle.

  “Let’s start with Lee’s clothes, shall we? Undo his shirt for me?”

  Baby steps. Lee wanted Pete between them? Vince could work with that. He’d use Pete to show Lee it was safe.

  Pete nodded and turned to Lee, placing a hand on each pec and looking up at him. “Okay?” He fiddled with Lee’s top, closed button.

  “Okay.” Lee focused on him, swallowed hard, and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

  Pete’s smile lit up the intimate circle defined by their three touching bodies.

  “Perfect,” Vince encouraged, and reached past Pete to cup the nape of Lee’s neck.

  God. Vince’s hand on his neck was warm. And he was stronger than he let on. Vince was no big, tough-looking alpha. He was Vince. He filled the office with chatter. He did all the grunt work, fetched coffee, and ran errands.

  And then he came home to peel Pete off the walls, to make sure Lee was comfortable in his borrowed bed. To run baths and heat up food.

  “What?” Vince asked, meeting Lee’s eyes before Lee had the presence of mind to avert his gaze. “You seem worried.”

  “I’m not.” Lee’s voice ground a little, catching on the hooks of emotion he hadn’t expected to find.

  Vince ran a thumb over his lower lip. Lee hadn’t realized he’d been holding it under his teeth. The sting of letting it go made him wince.

  “Better,” Vince said. “Relax. Focus on what he’s doing.”

  That was an innocuous enough suggestion, so Lee trained his attention back on Pete, who had undone three buttons and was working on the fourth.

  Pete glanced up at him through his lashes. “Doing okay?”

  Lee swallowed. As he watched, Pete’s tongue nipped out to lick his lips. The fourth button fell open, and Pete moved close to kiss the section of chest he’d just revealed. The soft touch of lips at the base of his sternum made Lee shiver.

  Pete was already onto the next button, then the next, and Lee’s shirt fell open, baring his chest and stomach.

  “Very good,” Vince praised, kissing the side of Pete’s head, then leaning, turning Lee’s face by his chin and kissing him on the lips. It was a short kiss, not nearly deep enough. Lee didn’t have a chance to get a handle on it before it was gone. “Don’t think you can take over here, Bradshaw,” Vince quipped. “You aren’t going to kiss me oblivious. That isn’t how this works. Pete, stay where you are, babe.”

  Vince let go of Lee for a moment, and Lee felt the loss of his touch keenly. He jerked in reaction to the bite of nerves crossing his psyche at the loss, swiveling his head to watch as long as he could while Vince walked around behind him.

  “Are you attached to this shirt?” he asked Lee.

  “It’s just a shirt.”

  “Good.” He was behind Lee now, and his touch returned in the form of feather-light fingertips at Lee’s shoulders, slowly sweeping the shirt back and off.

  “The cuffs—” Pete clinched his mouth shut. “Sorry.”

  Behind him, Lee heard Vince chuckle. “I know, babe. Sort of the point.” He tugged at the shirt, and Pete, the traitor that he was, clamped small, firm hands around Lee’s upper arms, preventing him from wiggling his hands free of the still-buttoned cuffs of the dress shirt.

  “No fair,” Lee breathed as Vince pulled the shirt down his arms and proceeded to methodically wrap the whole thing around Lee’s wrists. It was a loose wrap. Not containing, but unquestionably symbolic of what Vince expected of him. “Two against one,” he whispered.

  Pete perched on his toes to kiss Lee.

  Lee bent to accept the kiss, heart unfurling at the delicate way Pete licked at his lips. Caught off guard when Vince crowded against his back, he gasped. Pete’s tongue slipped into his mouth. The moan that elicited was a pitiful sound.

  Pete’s tongue was sweet and exploratory, like a flitting little bird where Lee wanted possession. If he was being taken, then he wanted someone to do the taking, not tease and leave him hungry and wanting. If Pete wasn’t going to take, then Lee would. He pushed his tongue against Pete’s, determined to up the ante of the kiss.

  Pain jolted him out of his aggression. Vince had taken a handful of his hair and tugged. Not away from Pete, but just pulled to get his attention.

  “Take care,” Vince whispered, mouth against his ear so hot breath wafted right through Lee. “He’s precious. You take care of him, and I’ll let him take care of you.”

  Fuck. Why was that such a turn-on? He should be pissed off, for Pete if not for himself. But Pete had retreated to trail kisses over Lee’s jaw and down his throat, and instead of throwing Vince off and storming away from them, Lee lifted his chin, baring his throat to Pete.

  “Good boy,” Vince whispered, even more quietly, directly into Lee’s libido.

  And that was the thing Lee hadn’t known he’d been waiting for. He sagged, caught before his knees buckled, against Vince’s ready chest.

  “I’ve got you.” Vince wrapped an arm around Lee until Lee was balanced again. “Bed,” he commanded.

  Without so much as a whisper, Pete backed toward the bed, slipping a finger into Lee’s belt loop to drag him along.

  “Okay,” Lee agreed, because what else was he going to do? He turned his back to the bed under Pete’s direction, and didn’t complain when Pete undid his belt and pants, nor when he pulled everything down past hi
s hips, leaving his cock to spring free.

  “Fuck,” Lee whispered.

  “If Pete has his way,” Vince agreed. “Now sit.”

  Lee did because he was getting weak in the knees again.

  Pete dropped to the floor between his feet, tugging at his pants and underwear to get him naked. Lee watched, at a loss for words.

  “Doing okay?” Vince had mounted the bed behind Lee and now knelt behind him.

  Lee nodded. “Yes. I—” He glanced over his shoulder and was surprised when Vince caressed his cheek and bent to kiss him. He missed most of Pete getting his pants and socks off while he was lost in that kiss.

  Vince knew how to take what Lee wanted to give. Despite Lee’s resistance, and the tussle for dominance, ultimately, Vince knew how to tame the beast in Lee’s chest and control him. This could never be undone, and a part of Lee knew that.

  Another part of him had been waiting for this for so long he could no longer remember the first time he’d had a taste and knew it was who he was. Long before he’d ever met Vince or even come to Bluewater Bay. Before Caruthers Industries, before graduate school.

  And, suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. Those ghosts crowded his chest, blocked his airways, and he couldn’t go on kissing with no air. He tore his mouth free with a gasp.

  “Okay.” Vince immediately sank down to wrap himself around Lee. “What was that?”

  “No.” Lee settled against Vince’s chest. “Nothing. Doesn’t matter.”

  “It scared you.”

  “Wasn’t you. Promise.”

  Vince fiddled between them, unbuttoning Lee’s cuffs.

  “Please don’t.”

  “Take it easy.” Vince curled an arm across his chest to keep him in place. “I’m only undoing the buttons. It gives you more freedom. No one is holding you to anything. Understand?”

  Lee nodded.

  “Just relax.” Vince rested his chin on Lee’s shoulder. “Pete?”

  “Yes, sir?” Pete blinked up at them, clearly concerned.

  “Can you help him relax?”

  Pete grinned, but it was soft, not greedy or lascivious: confident. “You know I can.” He took off his glasses and handed them to Vince, who slid them onto the bedside table. His own quickly followed.