“Well?”
She grabbed his sleeve as he started toward the entrance. “There’s a woman with him.”
Whether it was her words or the accusation in her tone, Joshua gave her a warm smile that sent awareness lancing through her body, culminating in a pulse of heat at her core. He lifted her hand and pressed a warm kiss to the center of her palm. She could have melted into a puddle right then and there.
“So far I’ve made an ass out of myself by accusing you of grabbing a quickie after work.”
Leslie was stunned to feel a giggle escape at that memory, followed by a shot of lust as she recalled what had followed that episode.
“Then you walk into my office to rescue me from a wannabe sex kitten climbing on my desk and preparing to have her way with me.”
She supposed it might seem odd that she’d never felt a moment’s suspicion connected to that particular incident. “That was too ridiculous to be intentional on your part.”
Joshua nodded toward the dining room. “So how about we give Seth the benefit of the doubt?”
They bypassed the hostess stand and entered the restaurant. The vaulted ceilings were studded with gleaming chandeliers. A dozen or more tables fanned away from the center of the room. The other guests sat in clusters of two or three to a table. They didn’t even look up when Leslie and Joshua walked in. They had their own lives and their own problems, but the erratic beating of Leslie’s heart seemed so loud, she couldn’t believe no one else could hear it.
Seth and his companion were in a booth at the center of the room. At first glance, they looked too cozy for comfort. As always, he was sexy as hell. The green and white pinstriped dress shirt showed off his olive complexion and the dark hair that fell across his forehead. The familiar lines of his handsome face and slightly crooked nose were set into a pleasant expression. A closer look revealed tension in his body. His broad shoulders were stiff, and he fiddled with his fork and knife instead of eating the food on the plate in front of him.
Leslie exhaled slowly, relief seeping through her body.
Seth’s companion was a gorgeous woman. Her tailored black-and-white outfit screamed “successful businesswoman.” She sat straight, her long hair twisted into an elegant chignon. Her hands were graceful, with a perfect French manicure. If her expression was anything to go by, she was only barely containing the drool when she paused between bites to stare at Seth.
Leslie pressed her lips together. The woman was picking at a salad. Didn’t she know real men liked women who didn’t starve themselves?
“Go get him, sweetheart.” Joshua prodded her. “If you don’t like that woman looking at him, go make sure she knows who he belongs to.”
She looked up at him. Was he serious? Could she do something that seemed so silly? Besides, she wasn’t supposed to be getting so irrevocably attached to Seth and Josh.
Joshua’s handsome face took on a mischievous expression that stole her breath away. “He’s going to be glad to see you, Leslie. I promise.”
He didn’t have to say anything else. She strode into the dining room and was practically running seconds later. People turned to stare, but it didn’t matter. The only thing she cared about was the exact moment Seth saw her coming. His whole face lit up, whisky brown eyes coming to life as he slid from the booth and opened his arms to her.
She snuggled against him and inhaled deeply of that scent that had become so vital to her whole existence. His chest was warm and hard, his abdominals rippling beneath his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his waist and got as close as decently possible in a public place.
“God, Leslie, I’ve missed you so much! You’ve got no idea.” He stroked her hair with one hand and her back with the other, dipping his chin to drop a kiss on top of her head. “How did you get here?”
A tingling at the back of her neck told her Joshua was approaching. Finally surrounded by her two men, she felt complete for the first time in days. The sensation was as terrifying as it was exhilarating.
“I brought her.” Joshua stepped in close.
She tilted her head up to see their faces. Neither of them said a thing, but it was obvious they were engaged in unspoken conversation. Her apprehension about being in New York and her relief at the three of them being back together made her feel almost punch drunk. It was good the two of them were communicating, because at some point she was going to have to find a way to tell them her reasons for dropping everything to fly to New York.
Reaching up, she tapped Seth’s chest to get his attention before her gaze drifted toward his dinner partner. A look of understanding crossed his face, and he leaned down and took her mouth in a hot kiss that let anyone watching know exactly who he belonged to.
“Hello, Cassidy.” Joshua dipped his head to the dark-haired woman.
So he’d known all along, the twerp! Leslie gave Josh a look guaranteed to let him know what she thought of his lack of disclosure. With the three of them together again, she was feeling unusually friendly. No reason not to be polite to the pretty woman in the power suit.
“I’m sorry to barge in like this,” she said warmly. “My name is Leslie Hampstead.”
“Cassidy Cross.” One corner of the woman’s mouth tilted up at an angle that could barely be considered civil. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Sorry to cut our dinner short, Cassidy.” Seth gave her a conciliatory smile. “I’d like to spend some time catching up with Leslie and Joshua before the award presentation tonight.”
Cassidy gave a stiff nod that told Leslie she didn’t understand at all. “Of course, Seth; I’ll see you later on.”
Chapter Fifteen
The Central Park view hadn’t appealed to Seth when he checked into the suite. Having Leslie and Joshua lounge on the sofa changed his opinion. Now it seemed warm and inviting.
Seth unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off, draping it over a chair in the small dining area. He didn’t have to be psychic to see that something had shifted between Leslie and Joshua in his absence. They were obviously more relaxed with each other. Joshua had stripped down to a pair of dress slacks, and Leslie had commandeered his shirt. Under that she wore nothing but a pair of panties. She’d tucked in beside him and thrown her bare legs over his. Arm flung across the back of the sofa, he ran his fingers idly through her long hair. Though they were silent, they seemed utterly comfortable in each other’s company.
A twinge of jealousy stabbed Seth in the gut as he moved to join them. He pushed the unfamiliar emotion away when they both looked up and smiled at his approach. They might have come to an understanding between them, but it wasn’t complete without him in it.
Seth settled into the soft cushions on Leslie’s other side. She shifted, facing him and putting her head on Joshua’s shoulder. He picked up her legs and pulled them across his thighs until he could rest his hands on the soft swell of her hip.
Seth glanced over her head to find Joshua’s blue gaze as solemn as he’d ever seen it. Smoothing back a loose tendril of Leslie’s red hair, he cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her full lower lip. “You’ve obviously got something to say. You know you can tell us anything.”
“Joshua told me about your past—all of it.” She took his hand in hers. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I knew he’d tell you when he felt the time was right. And I think it’s important you understand where we’ve come from.” Seth could feel the tension in the arm Joshua had slung behind Leslie’s head. Obviously this was about more than their ancient history.
She swallowed and took a deep breath. “I think it’s important that you both know where I’ve come from too.”
Joshua’s countenance darkened, and Seth knew he was going to need his best courtroom expression for whatever she had to say.
She turned her gaze back toward the windows. Dusk had fallen, the lights of Central Park shining like ribbons across the paths. “I was born and raised right here in Manhattan. You two have probably
heard of my father, Trevor Marquette. Marquette Industrial Corporation has been in his family for generations.”
Poker face firmly in place, Seth allowed himself a moment of internal shock at her words. Trevor Marquette was an industrial tycoon who was also a legendary asshole in the business arena. He could not imagine such a man fathering a woman like Leslie.
“My mother was a Hampstead. She came from a long line of musicians, and my grandfather was a sought-after solo violinist before he took a professorship at Juilliard.” Her full lips curved into a soft smile. “He put a violin in my hands before I’d even turned four. After that I spent almost all my time playing. I never wanted to do anything else. My dream was to win a chair in a major symphony and work my way up to concertmistress. I kept thinking if I could do that, it would make up for the fact that my mother had stopped playing when she’d settled down and married my father.”
She paused for a moment, and tears began to glide down her cheeks. Using his thumb, Seth wiped them away. He didn’t have to be told how difficult it was to relive the past.
“My mother loved my father desperately.” Her brow furrowed. “I never understood that. He’s not an easy man to get along with. He’s hard and unforgiving, and I was terrified of him as a child. I never understood why she loved him so deeply.”
Joshua’s voice was rough with emotion. “What happened to her?”
“I spent almost all my time at my grandfather’s home on the Upper East Side. I couldn’t stand watching my mother cater to my father’s every whim as if she hoped that would somehow make him love her back. I was there the night he told her that he was leaving her for a woman he’d been seeing behind her back for years.”
Sorrow coiled in Seth’s gut like a live snake. He wished there was some way to take these memories from her and ease the anguish that glittered in her eyes.
“Grandfather had come with me to dinner that night. We were announcing my acceptance to Juilliard. It was supposed to be the happiest night of my life. Instead, my father announced that he was leaving us. He and my grandfather started arguing. My mother went absolutely crazy, ran out of the room, and slashed her wrists open with a butcher knife. The sight of his daughter bleeding to death before his eyes gave Grandfather a massive heart attack. He died two days later at the hospital, and I left New York that night.”
The sound of Joshua’s ragged breathing was drowned out by Leslie’s sudden sob. She was desperately fighting for control. Wrenching her legs off Seth’s lap, she hugged her body as though she were coming apart at the seams.
Seth couldn’t imagine the emotional scars she’d been carrying around since that night. His heart ached for her losses, and he wanted nothing more than to soothe her soul. Together, he and Joshua could help her heal the wounds of the past, and she would help them fill the void in their lives.
Josh wrapped her in his arms. “Don’t shut us out, Leslie.”
“This.” She gestured to the three of them. “All of this is too good to be true! I never intended to let myself get this attached. Moving in with the two of you has changed everything for me. What if I wake up one morning and you’re gone? What if I go crazy like my mother? It was easier to imagine a life alone before you two came in and cluttered it up.”
Seth reached down and took her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to meet his gaze. “We’re all afraid of being left alone.”
Her expression said she was almost too afraid to hope.
Seth was momentarily tongue-tied. What he said next was so important. He’d never wanted to say something so carefully before in his life. This wasn’t some silly lawsuit involving settlements between selfish people. This was an argument to convince the woman he loved, the woman they loved, that there was a future for them all.
Joshua stirred from his silence and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Leslie’s head. “Therapists talk about communication being the one thing that can make or break a relationship. The truth is a little more complex than that.”
As always, his partner gave Seth the jolt he needed to choose the right words. “There are three things that bring people to our office to file for divorce. The first is trust.”
“Which we’ve already explored.” Joshua wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Oh yes, Seth was definitely going to be asking about that one later on. How did you “explore” trust? He cleared his throat. “The second one is communication, which can be made so much simpler with three brains instead of two. You’d never believe how many people screw up the trust when they wind up confiding in a supposedly neutral third party. Human nature makes it hard for us to effectively talk to the person we’re pissed at. With three people involved, you don’t have look outside the relationship for a sympathetic ear.”
She nibbled her lip. “And the third?”
He smoothed her lip with his thumb. “Loneliness destroys more relationships than you could possibly imagine. You’re not the only one afraid of winding up alone. Most of our divorce clients are jumping ship because they’re afraid the other person will leave.”
“Seth and I will never leave you alone like that,” Joshua said. “I love you, Leslie. I never thought it possible, but I do. And I’m never going to let that go.”
She turned and pulled Joshua down for a kiss. Seth was stunned by the deep emotion he sensed between them. He’d watched Josh kiss more women than he could count. Seth had never seen him sink so completely into one before. Her rosy lips glistened as they opened against Josh’s. Her tongue slid into his mouth, and he growled. Arousal stretched his facial muscles into taut lines.
Jealousy sank its fangs deep into Seth’s heart and left him breathless. His cock throbbed painfully behind his fly, and he was reminded that it had been too long since the last time he’d pressed into Leslie’s soft body. He shoved the strange new sense of insecurity aside. She was immersed in Joshua’s kiss, shifting to her knees and pressing her breasts against his chest. The position gave Seth full access to her sweet ass.
He ran his palms up the backs of her thighs, loving the way she arched her spine and shivered beneath his touch. She wore a pair of white panties beneath Joshua’s dress shirt. The fact that they were blocking his access to her pussy meant they had to go.
He twisted the elastic band around his thumb and forefinger until it snapped. The fabric came apart, and he could see the swollen labia of her vagina. She made a noise, tilting her head to give Joshua access to her neck. Seth could see his partner’s gaze flicker away from his leisurely trail of kisses across her shoulder to watch Seth’s progress.
Her thighs were damp with cream, and Seth could smell her arousal. The scent was intoxicating, ripping a groan from his chest and making his cock throb. Placing his hands on either side of her cunt, he spread her wide for a closer look.
Pink, wet perfection begged for his touch. Her opening flexed, her clit swelling before his eyes until the tiny nub was standing at attention. Dipping his head, he licked a hot path from the hood of her clit to the base of her anus.
She moaned and moved her head restlessly from side to side. Joshua shifted to hold her tight against the climax Seth could feel building inside her body. Savoring her familiar taste, he used the tip of his tongue to torment her sensitive clit until a rush of cream from her cunt signaled she was on the edge of release.
Pulling back just as she spiraled into orgasm, Seth caught a spurt of fluid and spread it upward toward her puckered anus. She writhed beneath him, her tight asshole growing more relaxed as he slipped two long fingers into her pussy and massaged the pad of muscle just inside her opening.
Her broken cries filled the room, and Seth sensed another climax coming fast. Freeing his erection, he positioned his head at her anal entrance and thrust beyond the tight ring of muscle into soft bliss.
Liquid fire seared a path through his belly and down his legs until he could only plunge into her soft body with a mindless intensity that left him raw. Her muscles clamped down suddenly, her
cunt reaching a second climax just as his balls throbbed and the burn of his own release left him breathless.
Pulling free of her ass, he let her collapse onto Joshua’s chest while he caught his breath. As his head grew clearer, he became aware of his partner’s low murmuring. Confused, he glanced up and realized Joshua was staring at him. From the look of things, he wasn’t happy.
Time slowed to a halt.
Off-kilter, he watched as Joshua stood and pulled Leslie into his arms. “How about a bath, sweetheart?” Without waiting for her answer, Joshua carried her out of the room and away from Seth.
Seth felt sated and sexually satisfied. He also felt like the biggest dick on the planet. For the first time in a decade, he’d just put his own pleasure before his partners’. If he was lucky, he hadn’t hurt Leslie in the bargain.
Chapter Sixteen
Bubbles frothed over the edge of the enormous bathtub, and water sloshed, dribbling down to pool on the tile floor. Light from the hotel’s twinkling facade spilled through the window. The mirror above the granite sink reflected a shadowy reverse pattern onto the shower doors. It was as if each image bounced back and forth into eternity.
Leslie sighed and let the hot water soothe her sore body. Her second experience with anal sex hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as her first, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t enjoyed it.
She was just worried about Seth.
“Are you feeling all right?” Joshua knelt beside the tub.
Cupping a handful of bubbles, she blew them up at him. “I’m fine. It’s Seth I’m worried about.”
Joshua’s expression was troubled. Muscles leaped in his jaw as he settled both forearms on the wide lip of the tub. His hands hung over the edge, fingers twining restlessly together. His concern for Seth was palpable.
Her earlier fears about being left alone seemed to take a backseat to her worries about Seth’s odd behavior. If it had been just the two of them alone in this relationship, she would’ve been overwhelmed with the urge to flee before the whole thing fell apart. Thankfully it wasn’t her trying to hold things together by a thread. She had Joshua to rely on as well. They both did.
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