by Wendi Zwaduk
“Yes,” she blurted. “Tonight.”
Footsteps thumped on the tile floor. “You can’t sit here during working hours.”
Good feeling sinking, Mindy gritted her teeth. “Thanks, Ronan. I forgot my place as a lowly server.” She released Sav’s hand and stood. “Tea or soda?”
“Cola,” Sav replied.
“Tea for me, please.” Arran winked.
“I’ll be right back.” Mindy whirled around and headed to the kitchen. The dream the night prior hadn’t been a fluke or a one-nighter. They’d asked for her. Both of them. She steadied her shaking hands and filled the two glasses. Tonight, she’d make another night to remember. Maybe enough to create a new, stronger relationship with both men. Three were definitely stronger than two.
Chapter Five
Three hours later at five-fifteen, Mindy strolled out of Ronan’s to her car. She’d mused over the conversation with Arran and Sav all afternoon. They wanted her. Tonight. How could a girl get so lucky as to have her best friends want to be friends with benefits? She untied her apron and tossed it onto the passenger seat. Yes, she still desired Arran—the love had never died—but to be wanted again…
She put her maroon Gremlin in gear and drove out of the slushy parking lot. She’d show Arran just how much she adored him. Maybe as three they had a chance—she certainly cared about Sav.
Twenty minutes later, she pulled to a stop in the driveway of their former home. Now, sitting in her car parked on the crushed gravel and melted snow, things seemed right. She glanced at the garage. Arran’s rusty silver Volvo sat in front of one bay. Was Sav there? She nibbled her bottom lip. They had said to come over, not just Arran. Drawing a long breath into her lungs, she puffed it out as she opened the car door. She rubbed her clammy hands on her jeans legs, then locked the Gremlin.
Here goes nothing.
Her insides trembled as she strode up to the front door. As she reached for the brass handle, Arran appeared on the other side of the screen door. “Hiya, sweetheart.”
A cross between a giggle and a snort escaped her throat. Only Arran called her sweetheart and got away with it. When she dragged her gaze from his eyes, she realised the man wasn’t wearing clothes.
The tips of her ears burned and she dropped her voice to a murmur. “You always answer the door in the nude?” The very idea dampened her panties. Her body throbbed. Yes, she wanted to seduce him, but not in front of the rest of the neighbourhood.
“Only when a beautiful woman is on my stoop.” He backed away from the door. “Come in before the neighbours wonder. You remember how nosy Mrs. Parks is? Well, she’s gotten worse.”
“She’s ninety-three and blind as a bat, but I’m sure she gets her jollies out of seeing your piece.” Mindy crossed the threshold and stopped three feet inside the door before closing it. She rolled her shoulders inside her parka. “You got me here. What is it you planned to do with me?”
“Fuck you senseless, Mrs. Mayes.” Arran’s eyes gleamed.
“Arran.” Her gaze fell to the floor, only to be jerked back to his face when he wrapped his arms around her and unzipped her coat.
“That’s right, sweetheart. Scream my name.” He tilted her back in his embrace and feathered kisses over her cheeks and chin, sending a quiver through her body. “I’m tired of just being friends. Tell me you need me and want me back.”
Losing her footing and shuddering from a case of nervous laughter, Mindy toppled to the floor, bringing Arran down hard on top of her.
“You couldn’t wait, either? Damn, I knew I loved you for a reason.” Arran straddled her hips and rubbed his erection between her thighs. “You’re wearing too many clothes for this to occur properly, you know.” He kissed her neck, lingering at the hollow behind her ear. “I can remedy that,” he murmured and slipped a hand between their bodies and rubbed between her legs. “God, I need you. To be inside you.”
Mindy sighed and clutched him. “Not here on the floor.”
He bolted upright and grinned. “Yes, on the bed. A lady makes love on the bed.”
She snorted as he rolled off of her. “Have you always been so campy?”
“No, this is new for me.” Arran sat back on his knees. His chest heaved with laboured breaths and crimson infused his cheeks. He cocked his head. “Normally I don’t have to try so hard to entice my lover. What’s wrong, love?”
“It’s nothing.” Mindy bit back a wince and stared at the worn beige carpet. He’d enticed her. Hell, she was ready to push him onto his back and ride him for all he was worth. Still, things could change when Sav came home.
“Hey.” Arran smoothed his fingers over her cheek, turning her gaze to his. “This is meant to happen. You, me, Sav. It is.”
“What about third-wheel syndrome?”
Mindy stood and Arran moved in tandem. He folded his muscle-corded arms. His pecs bulged and his hard-on wilted a bit. “Never heard of it. Care to enlighten me?”
“When this is all done, you know, when we’ve run our course again, I’ll be the third wheel.” She toyed with the plain white gold wedding band on her ring finger. “I don’t think—”
Arran silenced her with a kiss. He cupped her skull in both hands, twining his fingers into her hair. She whimpered into his mouth and smoothed her palms over his flat chest. Tears threatened behind her eyes. He’d always liked to divert her with sex before.
When he broke away, Arran’s breath heated her skin. “Unless God or someone else comes here and tells me to leave you, you’re stuck with me and Sav. Three is our lucky number.” He shoved the coat from her shoulders, letting it puddle on the floor, and tugged her towards the hallway. “Come. I want to show you something.”
Mindy followed him into their former bedroom—the only bedroom in the tiny house—and the scene of the crime from the night prior. Since the break up, she’d been in the house, but never enough to really notice the little details. Paying attention to the decor wasn’t important when Sav and Arran lay tangled up together before her. Pictures of their wedding still festooned the walls. Images of their trips to the local amusement park lined the dresser, intermixed with snapshots of Sav and Arran. She touched her lips and broke out of his embrace. Shock and curiosity unfurled in her belly as she surveyed the room in the light of day. Why keep so many memories out?
“Min, you were the one I never saw coming.” He eased up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. “We fought the odds and fell in love. I can’t forget that. I won’t.”
She fisted her hands and pressed her lips together, unsure of what to say. The tears that no longer merely threatened slipped down her cheeks. Dammit. Why’d he have to be so…sweet?
“I never stopped loving you, you know. I said it, but I didn’t really mean it.” He turned her to face him and kissed away her tears. “Everything happens for a reason, right? Like us staying friends. You showed me how to be myself and fall in love—not just fuck for the sake of fucking. I’m trashing the dissolution papers.”
“But you have Sav,” she blurted. “You’re in love with him.”
“I am, but I’m also in love with you.” Arran slid his hands up her back to her shoulders and smoothed the elastic from her hair. “I’ll show you.” With his lips a fraction of an inch from hers, he stared at her with fire in his eyes. “Baby, trust me.”
Those three words became her undoing. Relinquishing control to him, she allowed him to tug her long-sleeved T-shirt over her head. Despite the chill and the snow covering the ground outside, the heat in the house and the blaze in his eyes kept her toasty warm. He scorched her to the bone.
Arran paused and sniffed the air. Shocked out of her sensual stupor, she shifted uneasily. Did she stink of Ronan’s Place?
“Fries.”
Mindy blurted the first thing on her mind. “You’re hungry?”
He chuckled. “For you. But, babe, you smell like cheesy fries.” He silenced her, placing his index finger against her lips. “It’s kinda kinky and I like it.” Us
ing his other hand, he popped open the button on her jeans. “I love you no matter what.”
She shivered as he pushed her panties and jeans past her hips and knelt before her. He nuzzled her bare cleft, the tip of his tongue dancing over her nether folds. “Yum, you’re nice and wet for me.”
Mindy kicked out of the denim and cotton pooling at her feet as he continued his oral assault. “Arran.”
Without looking up or stopping his action, Arran placed her hands on his shoulders and her left foot on his thigh. “You taste divine.”
She writhed against his ministrations, drowning in the exquisite sensations of love and desire coursing through her body. She ground her teeth together. Each time he nibbled on her and probed his fingers into her slick channel, she felt hot, cold, and complete. Nothing made sense and yet it was also crystal clear.
On the verge of going over the ragged edge, Mindy cried out. But instead of spurring her onward to bliss, Arran stilled his movements. She opened her eyes and stared down at him to gather her bearings. “Why’d you—quit?”
He smoothed his hands up over her stomach and stopped at her breasts, giving her nipples each a gentle tug through her bra. “I want to make love to you in our favourite position.”
A fresh rush of love built within her. Doggy style. Hell, yes.
Unhooking her bra, Mindy shimmied free of the cumbersome satin and lace, revealing her breasts to him. Arran’s eyes dilated until just a faint ring of green shone around his pupils. He eased her foot to the floor and stood. “Pinch your nipples for me, love.”
She did as asked, rolling the turgid peaks into tighter points. She groaned. He liked to watch her masturbate and having him play the voyeur turned her on more.
“Yes, sweetheart, just like that.” Arran stooped to suckle her breast while she fondled the other. Cream ran down the inside of her thigh. God, she wanted to come.
As if he sensed her needs, Arran released her beaded nipple with a loud pop and straightened to kiss her lips. “Turn around.”
Mindy knew the drill—hands flat on the bed with her ass open and in the air. In one long stroke, he massaged her pussy lips with his fingers. “You need me?”
Peering over her shoulder, she grabbed his slick digits and placed his hand so he cupped her breast. “Too much, like every other breath.”
He rolled each of her nipples in turn between his thumb and forefinger as he nudged her pussy with the blunt head of his cock. The sound of tearing foil rent the air.
“Hurry,” she pleaded and bucked against him.
“Anything for my love, once I take care of business,” he murmured and rolled a condom onto his dick. “I’m clean, but I want to keep you safe.” Arran thrust into her, burying himself to the hilt. She moaned, loving the feel of him filling her, stretching her. She arched back and wriggled. Arran rewarded her impatience with a light swat. “So pushy.” The sting from the flat of his hand connecting to her ass only added pleasurable pain to the experience.
“Yes, Arran.”
Picking up the pace, Arran surged into her once again. His fingers bit into her hips as he pistoned in and out. A growl ripped from his throat. “Fuck.”
Mindy gasped as he surged forward and stilled behind her. She shivered and wrapped his arms around her. “Hold me.” Slowly, she lowered herself onto the bed and closed her eyes.
Arran’s panted breaths heated her skin as he sprawled over her, his cock still deep within her. “I love you so much.”
“What about Sav?”
“I love Sav as much I love you, but what time is it?”
She cracked open her eyelids and searched for the bedside clock. “Twenty after seven.”
A contented sigh rumbled in his throat and vibrated her being. “He’ll be home in a few.” He nuzzled her neck. “I meant what I said. I want you to live here with us. I was foolish to let you go.”
She tensed for a moment. “And Sav’s okay with this?”
“He’s coming around.” Withdrawing from her body, he slid down onto the bed next to her. “It’s going to be fine.”
A deliciously wicked idea popped into her mind. “He’s coming home from work, right? Why don’t we surprise him and act on every one of our naughtiest desires?”
Arran removed the spent condom and tossed it in the nearby waste bin. “Go on.” He smoothed the tangled hair from her forehead, caressing her cheek. “I’m interested.”
The door clicked shut in the front room. Sav’s footsteps thumped on the carpet and the clang of his keys echoed through the silence as he plopped them on the counter. “Arran? Min?”
“In here,” Arran called. “How about a treat in the shower?”
She kissed the tip of his nose. “Perfect.”
Sav crossed the threshold into the bedroom, but stopped in his tracks. Mindy sat on the edge of the bed, radiant in her nude beauty. He clicked his tongue. A smile lit up her face.
“Arran’s in the shower, getting things ready. You’ve had a hard day at work. Let me undress you.”
Hell yeah.
Sav swallowed a moan as she stood and, with deft hands, unbuttoned his shirt and trousers. She slid the soft cotton of his dress shirt down his shoulders, her touch gliding over the muscles of his arms. His breath clogged in his throat when she peered up at him with passion in her gaze.
She patted the bed. “Sit.”
Sav complied, captured by the lure of her gentle voice. Mindy knelt between his knees and removed his socks, massaging the tension from his feet. Having someone touch the soles of his feet unnerved him, but her exquisite touch cancelled out his discomfort.
Behind her, Arran appeared, also in his naked glory. “You’re home.”
Sav stood and his pants dropped to the floor. Caught in Arran’s heated gaze, Sav strode across the room to meet him in a kiss. When he broke the kiss, Arran’s breath flickered over Sav’s skin, sending every nerve ending into a tailspin. “You need a shower.”
“With you?”
Arran nodded. “With us.”
Steam billowed out behind Arran. Sav grinned. Yes, a long shower with Arran and Mindy sounded heavenly. “Lead the way.”
Mindy yanked back the shower door as Arran and Sav stepped into scorching spray. Sav closed his eyes, luxuriating in the feel of two sets of hands caressing his body, touching him everywhere. He moaned. Whoever massaged his lower back…Mindy? He wasn’t positive, but if so, she needed her hands insured. If she moved just a tad south…He shuddered as she cupped his ass, smoothing her thumbs along the crack. His balls tightened and his cock saluted. What would it feel like to have her mouth on him? Bliss.
When he opened his eyes, Arran pressed tightly against him, capturing his mouth in a kiss. The taste of mint toothpaste and sheer Arran exploded on Sav’s tongue. He groaned.
Sav pushed Arran against the wall. “I need you.”
Arran chuckled. “Let’s do this first.” Angling Sav away from the spray, Arran nodded. Mindy sank to her knees and held out her hand. Arran knelt next to her. Both peered up at him before Arran wrapped his fingers around Sav’s swollen dick. Mindy licked the blunt head, swirling her tongue around the tip. The wet heat of her mouth sent a shiver of heat and electricity through his nerve endings.
“Oh, fuck,” he groaned and forked his fingers into her hair, drawing her tighter to him. She giggled and took him to the back of her throat, massaging his cock. Sav shifted his hips, pumping into her. Fire licked his body from within as the orgasm built low in his stomach.
Adding to his pleasure, Arran cupped Sav’s balls and feathered kisses on the sensitive skin. The combination of Mindy and Arran focusing attention on him drove all rational thought from his mind. She released his cock, offering Arran a taste.
Arran slurped the crown of Sav’s cock. Sav shivered, despite the searing water. Holy hell.
A growl ripped from Sav’s throat as the orgasm charged through his veins. His vision blurred and the scent of vanilla, soap and sex curled around him. He’d never had
a woman go down on him, but as she worked his cock with Arran, Sav was definitely game for another round. Gasping for air, Sav leaned heavily against the wall as he came. “Damn.”
Arran licked Sav clean and kissed Mindy. Spent as he was, Sav’s desire for both of them renewed with vigour. What would it feel like to make love to her as Arran made love to him? Only one way to find out.
Sav twisted the knob on the shower, cutting off the supply of water. Arran helped Mindy to her feet, then stood. Sav grabbed the towel from the nearby rail, rubbing it over Arran’s body. “Continue in the bedroom?”
Arran slid the second towel from the rail and wrapped it around Min. “Our pleasure.”
Before he realised what was happening, Mindy and Arran raced to the bed. The emotion, the connection between them crashed over Sav like a tidal wave. What had he broken up over three years ago? Seeing them cuddle and kiss, Sav knew the passion between them had never really died—had dimmed maybe, but had never gone. His breath caught in his throat. After their actions in the shower, there was certainly enough desire for the three of them. But love? He wanted to love her as Arran did, but was it meant to be? Emotions churned in his heart…lust, need, desire…
“Are you gonna stare at us or join in?” Arran cocked his head.
Mindy’s eyes flashed with mischief. “We need someone in the middle.”
Sav tossed the sodden towel onto the floor. “I’m game.” He crossed the room in two long strides and nabbed a couple of condoms from the bedside stand. Warmth flooded his system as he crawled between Mindy and Arran. Being with them, between them, felt right. It felt perfect. Drawing circles on his nipples with her fingers, Mindy nipped at Sav’s neck. Desire welled up from his groin, extending all over his body. He turned his head, capturing her mouth in a kiss. The taste of Arran lingered with her. The soft scent of their vanilla shampoo and sweat danced on her skin.
She shifted her hips, rubbing his erect cock between her slippery nether lips. If she moved just a bit, he’d be able to slide right into her. He paused a moment. She’d agreed to their living arrangement. She’d gone along willingly with their activities the night before. He glanced at Arran. Fire flickered in Arran’s eyes as he nodded.