by Vivian Arend
Their expressions were priceless.
“What? You’ve never seen a woman take off her bra like that before?”
They both shook their heads, utter disbelief on their faces. She tossed the fabric aside, then motioned for Tim to come forward.
“You want my panties? Take them off me, then,” she ordered.
He was out of the pool in one motion, water streaming off his broad shoulders and down his body. He stalked toward her with animal lust in his eyes. His cock was primed, hard and rising toward his belly. He knelt at her feet and gazed up, a proud smile and the haze of lust mixing into one. “It’s not so bad, is it? Being in charge?”
She answered him just as quietly. “Not bad, but yes, you were right. It’s a different mind-set.”
He ran his hands up her legs, nails scratching lightly on her inner thighs as he hooked his thumbs into the fabric of her panties. “Watch. Listen. People give out clues all the time as to what they want.”
“You’re doing it to me now, even while I try to read you and make the decisions.”
He tugged the material down an inch at a time, teasing her skin with the slowness. “It’s not something I can turn off, I guess. But it simply means I want the best for you.”
She placed a hand on his shoulder to balance as she stepped out of the flimsy material.
What did he want?
His rising cock made the answer pretty clear.
She glanced at Matt, but he only smiled, easing himself into a comfortable position in the pool. The watcher wanted to watch—and she wanted Tim.
Tim planted a kiss on her thigh. “May I?” he asked, teasing his fingers up the inside of her leg.
She hesitated.
“Don’t deny yourself something I really want to do,” he coaxed.
“You can’t turn off the bossy part, can you?” Erin shuffled her shirt higher again, twisting so Matt had an unobstructed view.
“You don’t mind,” Tim muttered, leaning in and nuzzling her belly. “Jeez, so soft. So perfect. I need to taste you.”
He eased his fingers through her curls, and right about then, Erin gave up worrying about who was in charge. This was all about sensation, especially as he found her clit and stroked it gently, leaned in close and applied his tongue.
Erin braced herself the best she could as Tim buried his face against her and thrust his tongue into her pussy. He planted his hands on her ass to hold her in place as he licked greedily, throwing her body to the edge of pleasure far more rapidly than she’d expected.
It wasn’t just his touch. It was being watched as well.
Hell, it was everything leading up to now, and Erin confessed, “I liked getting to order you around a little, but I like you in control even better.”
The sound of splashing water briefly drew her attention to the side, where Matt was now out of the pool and moving closer.
What was next? What did the situation call for? Did she ask Matt to join them again, or let him simply keep observing? Coaxing her brain to focus while Tim went down on her was nearly impossible, but she tried. She threaded her fingers into his hair and used him as an anchor to stay vertical.
Matt paced around them, one hand wrapped around his cock as he pumped lazily. His gaze dropped over her, falling onto Tim, totally mesmerized as he continued his slow journey.
That was when she noticed it. A gaze that lingered for a second longer than necessary. A little more heat aimed in a direction she hadn’t expected. She checked again, but it was real. Matt wasn’t just getting off on being there while she and Tim fooled around.
He was watching Tim with something near enthrallment in his eyes.
A ripple went through Erin. A sensation she wasn’t used to at all—
Jealousy.
Followed immediately by shock, because Tim seemed unaware that his friend not only liked to watch, he liked to watch Tim.
The lack of awareness seemed so out of character—he was the one who always knew exactly where everyone was. What they were doing. What they needed. But he seemed blind to the fact that his good friend was as turned on by being next to him as by her presence.
Did she point it out? Was that the next decision to make? Images leapt to mind of all that powerful male flesh around her connecting intimately, and suddenly it wasn’t just Tim’s talented tongue flicking in slow circles over her clit that made her moan.
Tim and Matt fooling around? God, part of her would give anything to watch some of that.
A near-paniclike rush hit her, of the responsibility she held. What if the revelation wasn’t welcome on Tim’s part? He’d said she should never be afraid of sexual attraction, but he’d never mentioned that he was okay with exploring that kind of new territory. Maybe he did know Matt was interested, only had chosen not to act on the attraction for his own reasons.
On the other hand, what if Matt had been holding on to this information for years? Perhaps he didn’t want to bring a new element into a relationship that had been around for a long time and seemed rock solid in spite of how seldom they got together.
Suddenly there were no scenarios that didn’t end in someone being hurt, and the hugeness of the decision became nearly overwhelming. She wanted the best for them, which meant her first impulse of asking Matt to join them and working toward a little guy-on-guy time was not going to happen.
If comprehension built like slowly falling rain, complete understanding hit like a thunderclap. Being in control was about far more than temporary pleasure. It was huge and ominous even while it was exhilarating.
Humbling. Terrifying in terms of not wanting to make a mistake, and deeply humbling to know this was what Tim put into every moment of his time with her.
The entire time she’d debated, the talented man had continued to torment her.
She stroked his hair and fought to keep her feet. He eased his fingers into her, slowly at first as he stretched her. Once they were wet, though, he showed no mercy. Hard, wicked pumps, fingertips curling inside her, driving her to the point of exploding.
Erin’s pleasure levels were skyrocketing, but the choice she had to make was clear. This was what Tim needed. What he craved. He’d given her the time with Matt the previous day, but when it came down to it, he wanted her for himself.
His next words confirmed it.
“You like me in charge of your body.” Tim tilted his head and caught her gaze, refusing to let her look away. It was the two of them in the room, and no one else. His words rasped like a physical stroke over her skin. “You like it when I push you to the point of pain, easing off just before you lose control. Taking you up again and again until there’s nothing left but us. Nothing you want more than me. Fucking you with my fingers. Fucking you with my cock until your legs are shaky, and you’re sure you’re going to fall over. And I’ll fuck you until there’s nothing you can do but feel me, everywhere, because you’re mine.”
The unrelenting thrusts mixed with his words—“Oh God.”
“Say it. You’re mine, aren’t you?” He pumped slower, adding a third finger and pushing deep inside her, drawing a gasp from her lips. “You’re mine, and you love everything I do to you.”
“Yes. I’m yours.”
He put his mouth back on her and sucked her clit hard. The wild pressure combined with his clever mouth and fingers were too much. She clutched his head and shook as she came.
Before the waves were completed he had her over his lap, cock nudging her pussy as he slipped past her folds. He thrust upward, dragging her hips down, and filled her.
Tim paused, Erin continuing to shake around him as the aftershocks of her orgasm squeezed him tight. His head fell back and a low groan escaped. “Sweet fuck, that’s good,” he moaned.
Through her hazy vision, Erin caught a glimpse of Matt, now seated on a chair to one side. Their eyes met, and a flash of understanding settled as Matt glanced over at Tim, then back to her. He smiled softly, then rose and left the room.
Matt was the one kee
ping his attraction on the quiet. He was content with it staying secret.
Then she couldn’t focus anymore as Tim raised her hips and found his rhythm, thrusting into her with steady, solid pulses. She clung to his shoulders, relinquishing her power. Accepting the gift of his complete attention as he tore her apart physically with another powerful climax, the two of them shouting as they came.
He took control and, in doing so, put the missing piece of her soul back. The part that had been absent since she’d left him so many years ago.
CHAPTER 27
The rest of their days off passed in a state of lazy relaxation and easy companionship. He and Erin hadn’t come right out and talked things through after that explosive session by the pool, but they hadn’t had to. Not yet.
Tim had never been more grateful for Matt. For the maturity and strength his friend had shown as he eased back on the sexual overtures, following Tim’s lead as promised.
Erin . . .
She continued to observe everyone around her far closer than Tim had ever seen her before. More importantly, though, she softened. Not a diminishing of her bold and sometimes demanding attitude, and she didn’t lose her wicked sense of humour, but when he turned his gaze on her, it was if there were no longer any walls between them.
She’d accepted him as he was. Accepted herself, and was willing to move toward accepting them.
Somehow in the midst of the casual conversations and board games the three of them shared, the sense of more continued to grow. More of them—of Tim and Erin as a couple. The sex didn’t stop, the games and the exploring didn’t stop, but even the casual activities seemed more intimate.
It wasn’t about exploring the limits, not like it had been when they were young. He wasn’t in a hurry to do anything else too wild sexually, not for a bit. Watching her tentative but complete surrendering of her trust was enough of an incredible thing. Like stepping into a honeymoon stage of their new relationship, fresh and intoxicating without the need to add additional kink.
Tuesday afternoon they stood at the front door of the rental waiting for Matt’s ride to arrive to take him to Calgary. Erin kissed him full on the lips, and he tangled her up for a moment in his arms, enveloping her in a huge bear hug and squeezing tight.
“I’m going to miss you,” Erin confessed.
“Door is always open, even if Tim’s not with you,” Matt promised. “And I will be coming to Banff in the near future. You can count on it.”
Tim held out a hand, but when Matt took it, Tim pulled his friend close and gave him another enormous hug, patting him heartily on the back, doing that guy thing. “You’re one in a million. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Are you kidding?” Matt glanced at Erin and winked, a moment passing between them.
Tim kept silent, then waved his friend off, Erin tucked against his side.
The return trip to Banff passed quickly. Erin curled up next to him on the bench seat, her fingers linked with his. “Thank you for introducing me to Matt. He’s a good friend.”
It was as good a time as any to clear one issue up.
“He’d like to be more than friends.” Tim smiled as Erin lifted her head from his shoulder to turn to stare at him. “You figured that out, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but . . .” She shifted farther away, disbelief on her face. “He’s attracted to you, yet you seemed completely oblivious.”
“Because while there’s a physical attraction, that’s not what Matt really needs. A lifelong friend is far more important than a temporary lover.”
Her gaze shifted out the window, as if processing his comment.
Tim adjusted his hand on the wheel, speaking softly. “It’s part of knowing what I want as well. He can’t give me what I need long term.”
“So you pretend not to even notice the hints he’s giving?”
“He doesn’t usually give hints anymore,” Tim admitted. “That was because you were there. Maybe he felt your presence would distract me, and he was safe to show a little more of what he usually keeps hidden.”
“Maybe he was hoping for more,” Erin pointed out. She caught his eye. “Is he happy?”
“What do you think?”
She stroked his fingers softly. “Yes. Even though he wishes for more, he knows what he’s got is very special.”
“And I’ll never take that from him.” Tim squeezed her hand, turning on the signal to head down the center of town toward her house. “Besides, he knew there was someone I’d been hoping to get back together with. Someone who had a special place in my heart.”
“Matt knew about me?”
Tim nodded. “Of course. I’d talked about you often.”
“Huh.”
He pulled in front of Erin’s small bungalow, the tall pine trees that lined the block casting shadows over the snow covering her front lawn. He caught her before she could wiggle away to the other side of the truck. Fingers firmly wrapped around the back of her neck, slowly easing her forward until their lips were only inches apart. “Let’s get your things, then head to my place. I have some ideas for the evening.”
Her kiss was as eager as his. Total involvement, a melting under his touch that made the hurts and time apart fade into nothing but the here and now. Their past was put aside. The future grew brighter by the moment, and that was what he wanted to concentrate on.
Breaking apart to crawl from the truck took effort when all he wanted to do was sit there and neck like some love-besotted teenager. Erin slipped out his door, her fingers still linked in his as if she couldn’t get enough of him, either.
Stupid, crazy emotion like he hadn’t experienced in years blasted his brain into near incoherency. He scrambled for something to say other than blurting out I love you far too soon and with far too little fanfare.
“Someone’s shoveled the walks.” Tim stifled his groan at the fake perkiness in his comment, then laughed as Erin sounded just as stilted as she replied.
“Since I never know when I’ll be gone, I pay the teen next door to shovel and mow.”
They grinned at each other, sheer happiness soaking through as Erin led him up the steps and unlocked the door. “It won’t take me long to pack a bag.”
“You need me to go through the fridge?” Tim asked.
She tossed her keys on the side table, then headed down the hall. “You can look, but there shouldn’t be anything rotting. I only shop for fresh stuff a day or two at a time, and our last call-out happened before my shopping day.”
He’d just stepped into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge door when a burst of unexpected sound rang from her room.
“Erin, you okay?”
No answer.
Tim moved quickly down the hall only to jerk to a stop as a familiar, but unwelcome, face reappeared.
Ken held a gun straight in front of him, forcing Tim to back up.
Adrenaline and fear shot through him instantly. “Shit.”
“Yeah, shit.” Ken waved the gun, continuing to close the distance between them. Erin emerged into the hallway, her arms locked behind her as John manhandled her forward.
“Don’t hurt her,” Tim snapped, a hand raised before him in caution. Erin’s eyes had gone wide, her lips a tight line as Tim backed into the living room and the others crowded around him. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but we don’t want any trouble.”
“You should have thought about that before you took off. Now where is it?” Ken asked.
“Not trying to be a smart-ass, but where is what?” Tim frantically rolled through escape options, discarding them as quickly as they came to mind. If it had been only one person with a gun, he might have risked rushing the man, but two?
Waiting was the only option.
Ken kicked the grey-striped backpack Erin had abandoned to the floor the other day. “There was another one of these in the helicopter. Where is it now?”
Erin shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. Either in the back of the truck, or at headquart
ers. I can’t remember if that’s one of the bags we dropped off the other day.”
“Both of you, drop your cell phones.”
Ken waited until they’d reluctantly followed his directions.
“Take her outside to check the truck,” Ken ordered John before facing Erin. “Don’t try anything. Your boyfriend stays with me as insurance.”
Tim cleared his throat. “I need to give her the keys for the canopy. They’re in my pocket.”
“Slowly,” Ken said.
“I’m not stupid,” Tim assured him. He pulled out the keys and held them in an open palm. “Get whatever it is you need, and go. We just want to get on with our lives, and you’re welcome to get on with yours.”
Erin took the keys from him, her eyes haunted. They’d seen John kill a man—Ken had ordered it. It wasn’t going to be that easy to simply walk away a second time. But saying that out loud wasn’t going to help anyone.
One second, and the world had turned.
Tim watched the laughter and hope in Erin’s expression fade to misery. Fear. Tim did the only thing he could. He lied like an ace.
“Do what John tells you. We’ll be okay.”
The woman he loved stepped outside and took all the warmth with her, leaving him alone with a gun pointed at him, and a horrifying fear that this was one situation he wasn’t going to be able to talk his way out of.
* * *
Erin moved slowly toward the car, desperately taking in everything around them as John silently escorted her, his grip on her arm steady. She wasn’t aware enough of who drove what in her neighborhood to identify an unexpected vehicle, but they had to have gotten from the ranch to Banff somehow.
The gun had disappeared, but she wasn’t positive she could escape his hold easily. Breaking his grip and running was out of the question, not with Tim still in the house.
“Do you want me to open the back?” she asked, the keys dangling from her fingers after undoing the two side locks holding down the back canopy window.
“I don’t see the pack in there,” John snarled, leaning against the truck and glancing in a side window. “Yeah, open it.”