The Experiment

by HelenKay Dimon, Foreword by James Patterson

  “We need you naked.” Those were the first words Dave uttered. He moved between Annie’s upraised thighs and tugged her underwear down inch by slow agonizing inch until she was bare. “Beautiful.”

  It was like unwrapping the biggest present, the one that you had saved for last. Jasper loved sharing her, seeing both their hands moving over her, caressing her skin and pinching her nipples. Jasper was ready to slip inside her. But they needed more time. They could rush later, share her, sleep with her however they wanted, but this first time had to be slow. They would savor her one after the other.

  Dave slid down onto his stomach and ran a hand between her legs, making her shiver. Jasper could see the bumps on her skin as she threw the back of her hand across her mouth.

  “Lick her.” He gave the order as he balanced his head on his hand and glanced down her body, watching. Unable to resist, he leaned in and kissed her breasts, sucking on the pert nipples as Dave lowered his head between her legs. Jasper saw his tongue dart and his finger slip inside her.

  “So wet.” Dave sounded almost reverent.

  “God, yes,” she said, her heels digging into the mattress.

  “Not yet, baby.” Jasper reached down and lifted Dave’s head, shifting so that he could bend down to cover Dave’s mouth with his. Their tongues tangled and Jasper could taste Annie on Dave’s lips.

  She slipped her fingers through his hair. Jasper felt the tiny bite of her nails and knew she was close. He looked down at Dave. “Take her now.”

  Her eyes remained closed but she nodded. “Please.”

  Dave didn’t wait for more. He sat up on his knees. “Condom?”

  “I put some in the drawer until we were sure.” Jasper shifted and kneeled beside her head, caressing her cheek until she opened her eyes and turned her head. “That’s right. Take us both.”

  Jasper felt the mattress dip and heard the thud of the nightstand drawer. Then Dave was back, rolling the condom over his considerable length. Jasper longed to touch him…but next time.

  Dave pressed his hands against her inner thighs, opening her, but then he stopped. He glanced up.

  Jasper nodded. “Do it.”

  Dave brushed the tip of his cock across her seam. Moved back and forth, barely entering her. Jasper could see her wetness and feel her squirm as she tried to get closer. She balled the comforter in her fist and lifted it off the bed.

  When Dave finally slipped inside her, inching forward before pressing deep, she sighed. Jasper was right there to catch the sound. It wrapped around him as he slipped his cock into her mouth. She sucked and caressed him with her tongue as Dave plunged inside her.

  It took a few seconds for them to find a steady beat that worked for all three of them. Then they enjoyed her, each of them inside her. And together, at the same time, they filled her and she took it all.

  Her hands moved and fingers curled around Jasper’s wrist. Her other hand dropped to Dave’s hip. They were bound together and touching as Dave pressed in and out faster, going deep, then retreating. The pattern continued as Jasper’s body tightened. Every muscle clenched as his orgasm raced toward him.

  Seeing Dave enter her while her lips wrapped around him proved too much for Jasper. His hips shifted forward and he felt his body letting go. He tried to keep his eyes open, to stay focused on her, but his body had other ideas.

  As the orgasm tore through him, he felt her move underneath him. Her mouth closed over him one last time as she lifted her legs. She moved on the bed, almost without control, as Dave used his fingers to push her to the edge.

  Jasper heard her groan and saw Dave’s shoulders fall forward. He was lost in the sensations pulsing through him, but he knew Dave had found his release. He could feel the trembling of her body as her head fell back into the pillows and his cock slipped out of her mouth.

  A few seconds later, Jasper collapsed on the bed beside her. The sound of her heavy breathing soothed him, as did the feel of Dave’s arm as he joined them and draped it over her waist.

  Jasper wanted to sit up, to check on Dave and Annie. He owed them that, but he couldn’t move. The words stuck in his throat as his muscles turned to liquid. Relaxed, he worried about dropping off to sleep too soon.

  He managed to kiss her cheek and slip his hand over Dave’s where it lay on her bare stomach. “You’re staying here tonight.”

  “Yes. That’s an order.” Her voice sounded groggy and her eyes stayed closed.

  Dave didn’t argue. He settled in deeper against them. “Just try to make me leave.”

  “Never.”

  And Jasper meant it.

  Chapter 25

  Four days and four unbelievable nights later, Annie walked into the condo. A lightness filled her steps. The thoughts of what could go wrong still flooded her every other minute, but she’d found a peace of sorts in being with both of them.

  They were so different. Jasper, easygoing and hard to rattle. Dave, a bit compulsive with a need for order. They complemented each other, even as they joked and gave each other shit about almost everything.

  Dave had skipped the hotel and slept with them ever since the night. Their first time. Since then, they’d had her together and taken her one at a time. But other than touching each other and some kissing, Dave and Jasper hadn’t actually had sex with each other. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she intended to ask.

  The comforting mumble of voices and deep male laughter greeted her as she dropped her bag and kicked off her high heels. She was pretty sure she smelled bacon, nature’s perfect food.

  She tiptoed across the family room, thinking to surprise them. Hoping they would give her a special kind of welcome home.

  She turned the corner and stopped. They stood in the kitchen. Jasper was stirring something in a pan on the stove and Dave was standing behind him. They were touching everywhere. Dave rested his front against Jasper’s back and had his arms wrapped around Jasper’s waist.

  Dave leaned in, kissing the space behind Jasper’s ear. “I missed you.”

  It was a whisper but she heard the words. They shot right through her, waking every doubt and shining a glaring spotlight on them.

  Jasper must have heard or felt her, because he looked up. He didn’t disconnect from Dave or push him away, but he did smile at her in his usual warm welcome-home way.

  For Jasper, this was normal. He’d already come to accept what the three of them had and had sorted through any problems he had with it. That realization hit her and nearly knocked her over.

  “Hey, baby.” His smile slowly fell. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” She forced the word out over whatever was clogging her throat.

  Dave stepped back then. His eyes narrowed as his arms fell to his sides. “Annie?”

  “Seeing you two together.” God, she didn’t even know how to explain, especially since she had wanted this relationship. She loved when they touched. But that was in the bedroom. For some reason, seeing their hands on each other while doing something as mundane as cooking had her insides tumbling…and not in a sexy way. “You fit.”

  Jasper nodded. “We all fit.”

  The words rolled out of him and she knew he meant them. Jasper rarely said anything he didn’t mean.

  “Is it really that easy for you?” The question spilled out of her before she could call it back. She didn’t even know she thought it until it was out there and then it was all she could think about. “You proposed to me and now you slip into this relationship with both of us, and…”

  She heard her sharp tone and knew she was being bitchy and unfair. She started over. “I’m weirded out that you can accept all of this without question.”

  Jasper took a step toward her. “You think I’m not treading carefully through this, trying not to ruin what we have and destroy Dave in the process?”

  She tried to be reasonable. “We knew this wouldn’t be easy.”

  “For you?” Dave’s voice rose. “I’m the extra. I’m the one walking into a happ
y relationship.”

  In just a few sentences she’d cracked the thin shield holding them together. All their insecurities spilled out. The warmth seeped out of the room and Annie wasn’t sure how to get it back.

  “What’s going on? I thought everything was fine.” Jasper reached for the knob on the stove and turned the burner off.

  “Me, too.” She did, but now she was shaking. She didn’t know if it was fear or something else. Panic, maybe? She leaned against the couch and tried to catch her breath.

  “Should I go?” Dave asked.

  “You can’t do that.” Jasper practically shouted at him. “We promised we’d be honest and talk things out. You can’t run whenever doubts arise.”

  All the color drained from Dave’s face. “Is that what this is?”

  She wanted to reach out to him to reassure him, but her muscles refused to move. Her body locked up and the start of a massive headache pounded at the back of her brain.

  “Dave…” That’s all she had.

  Pain settled in his eyes. “We can still turn back. We can call this off.”

  “Absolutely not.” Jasper shook his head, clenching his jaw. He looked from Annie to Dave, then back again. “Everything was fine ten minutes ago. We talked twice today and you were happy.”

  “I know.” She did. She was…she probably still was. Hell, she didn’t know what was going on or why it was punching her to the floor right now. “I just need…”

  She had no idea how to finish that sentence. Her heart ached. Dave’s expression, which held a mix of confusion and fear, crushed her. So did Jasper’s frustration. It bounced off the walls and thumped all around her.

  “Give me a minute.” She didn’t even know what that meant, but she said it anyway.

  “For what?”

  She had no idea how to answer Dave. She had to move. Somehow, she put one foot in front of the other and shuffled away from them. Ignored them when they called her name and pleaded for her to come back.

  She broke out of there and headed for the bedroom. She’d spent her entire adult life refusing to run away from things…and now she couldn’t leave fast enough.

  Chapter 26

  Jasper started to go after her but Dave grabbed his arm. “Hold up.”

  Jasper could feel Dave revving up to make some big speech and stopped it. “Don’t do it.”

  Dave’s hand dropped. “Okay.”

  “Not that. You can touch me anytime you want but don’t be a martyr. I don’t want you to go.” That was an understatement. Having Dave there felt right. Jasper had come to count on him, on the three of them settling in each night, after such a short time.

  After a lifetime of following someone else’s rules, he’d finally found a path that worked for him. He’d had a renewed sense of being settled. And all of that was under threat right now.

  Dave stood in front of Jasper, so solid. “This isn’t just about you.”

  “No, it’s about all three of us.” Jasper thought they’d settled at least that part. The fact that their growing relationship was unraveling without warning had him stumbling.

  Dave visibly swallowed. “She’s allowed to be unsure.”

  But since they started this, Jasper hadn’t heard one word that suggested she was. Not until right this second. “She isn’t unsure, or she wasn’t.”

  Dave frowned. “You don’t get to be the one who decides that.”

  A wave of nausea hit Jasper. “So what am I supposed to do?”

  “Exactly what you promised.” Dave leaned in and pressed a quick kiss on Jasper’s mouth. “Talk to her.”

  The words sounded so reasonable. Jasper had no idea how Dave was holding his emotions together right now. “I’m not letting you go.”

  “Good.”

  That was almost too easy. “And you’re not leaving this condo.”

  “You need—”

  “I mean it. You leave this time and I will track you down and drag you back here.” Jasper couldn’t live through that again. “Got it?”

  Jasper may have messed up once, but Dave hadn’t fought for them, either. For so long he shouldered the full blame. Now he knew better. A relationship wasn’t about one person. Every person had to want it. Jasper truly believed this time both he and Dave did. They wanted it with Annie.

  Dave didn’t break eye contact this time. “I know I messed up before.”

  The fact he admitted it meant everything to Jasper. “Then don’t do it again.”

  Dave almost smiled. “Yes, sir.”

  “Damn straight.”

  Jasper exhaled. One down. One to go.

  Chapter 27

  Annie heard the door open less than an hour after her strange breakdown. She lay across the mattress in the dark, trying to analyze her reaction. The heat that had boiled inside her died down. A certain calmness came over her.

  She didn’t lift her arm off her face as she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

  The mattress dipped next to her and Jasper’s familiar scent filled the air. “Don’t be.”

  He was always so decent and understanding. Jasper had flaws, but you had to work hard to find them.

  She wasn’t so lucky. She felt like one giant flaw some days. Words sometimes failed her. Worries could overwhelm her. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she let her past define her. Not always, but when it came to relationships she did. She’d been so busy running from her parents’ choices that she often fell into bad ones of her own. She could see that now, lying there in the dark.

  It was time for her to own up to one. “I didn’t say yes to your proposal because I was so afraid marrying you would mean the death of our relationship. Now I worry I’m dragging all three of us into a relationship that will blow us apart. But I want it. I can’t seem to stop wanting it, even as I worry.”

  Jasper slipped a hand over her stomach. Rubbed his palm over her in a soothing circle. “But you didn’t say yes.”

  Her arm dropped to the side and she stared up at him. “What?”

  “You never said yes to my proposal.” He didn’t sound angry. He wasn’t accusing.

  She knew he was trying to make a point. “True…and?”

  “I know about your first marriage and your parents, but do you think that maybe you didn’t say yes because you didn’t have everything you needed? Maybe Dave was the missing piece.”

  That’s all she thought about these days. It was bad enough worrying she’d lose Jasper and feeling like she wouldn’t be enough for him. Now she had to worry that Jasper was the one who wasn’t enough for her. Perfect Jasper, whom she loved.

  The pressure weighed on her, but as she stared into Jasper’s eyes it struck her that maybe the worry was misguided.

  Jasper and Dave both seemed sure and clear about her, and about all of them together. They didn’t push her to the side. They wanted each other and her.

  “You know I’m going to fall in love with Dave in about two seconds. It’s inevitable.” She waited to see Jasper’s reaction. If the idea of sharing Dave threatened him in any way. If their relationship would start to crumble.

  Jasper’s smile was sweet. “He’s pretty loveable.”

  Relief hit her out of nowhere. A sense of rightness settled over her. He wasn’t setting her up or judging her. He was being exactly the man she thought he was. That she depended on him to be.

  “You never stopped, did you?” She knew the answer but she wanted to hear how he viewed it.

  “Before I met you I was convinced he was the love of my life and I blew it.”

  One more time she tensed, expecting a wave of jealousy, but it didn’t come. It was as if she’d crossed some line out there in the family room and the doubts lessened with each word she’d heard ever since. “And now?”

  “Maybe we don’t get just one great love. I look at both of you and this idea of a life with all of us together…” He looked up at the ceiling as if he was trying to find the right words. “For the first time, I feel settled. I’m no longer rushing y
ou down the aisle because I’m afraid you’ll leave.”

  She could feel her mouth drop open. “That’s a big comment.”

  He shifted, getting even closer as he continued to rub her stomach. “I’m not saying that I love you less or want you less now. The proposal was very real.”

  “No, I get that.” She really did. It was as if they both had doubts and fears that had caused them to make choices that threatened to drive them apart instead of together. But now, with Dave, that pressure faded. The rush to prove something disappeared.

  “I love the idea of having the two people who mean the most to me right here.”

  The conviction in Jasper’s voice melted the rest of her wariness. “Let’s keep being honest with each other. Always.”

  He nodded. “Agreed.”

  “I’ve spent a lot of time worrying that I’ll be the one pushed out, but Dave has a point. I don’t want him to feel unwanted or extra.” She’d been so busy doubting and panicking that she fed his fears. “Speaking of which, where is he?” She called out, “Dave?”

  Footsteps sounded in the hallway. After a brief hesitation, he knocked, then opened the door. She realized she hated that. The bedroom needed to be his, too. He had to be comfortable coming in and out and not feel as though he was intruding.

  She knew that would start once she welcomed him. Truly welcomed him, not just in bed, but also in the house and in their lives.

  He bit his lower lip as he looked at them on the bed. “Hey.”

  She held out a hand. “Come here.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want—”

  She cleared her throat, cutting him off. “Don’t make me order you.”

  “So hot,” Jasper mumbled under his breath.

  Dave stepped up to the bed and climbed on the mattress. He sat behind Jasper and rested a hand on Jasper’s arm.

  She loved the closeness. She ached for it. “This is your house, too.”

  Dave shook his head. “Excuse me?”

  “I’m firing myself as your agent because you don’t need a house.” This was big. Huge, actually. She hadn’t expected to take the step but now she knew they had to.