Sean was the first to notice. His thrusting stuttered to a halt.
'Well, well, well. Looks like our landlady isn't miffed, after all.' He circled one finger around Joe's nipple, a tiny mirror of my own. 'Why don't you ask her if she wants to join us?' Clearly, Sean expected me to run from this challenge.
'Yes, why don't you?' I said, my voice as sultry as I could make it.
Joe's gasp sounded loud in the hush of my attic bedroom. His prick bobbed up another inch - and stayed there. Had I ever seen anyone swing so high? I stepped closer. The tip of his penis was shiny and full, plum-red, plum-shaped. I licked my lips. Joe moaned.
Behind him, Sean eyed me like a snake eyes a mongoose. He didn't pull free, though. Maybe he didn't realise I wanted him right where he was.
I circled the locked pair, savouring the sheen of sweat and the ripple of lean male muscle. They made a pretty picture, what with Sean so fair and Joe so dark. Sean's buttocks tightened as though he could feel my eyes on them. Then I reached the other side.
No one could miss how my perusal had energised Joe. His erection grazed the skin beneath his navel. I suspected it was painful. It looked good enough to eat.
He looked at me and bit his smooth lower lip. 'Do you - do you want to join us?'
'That depends on your partner,' I said. 'Were you serious about the invitation, Sean? Or testing whether I'd bite?'
'Try it and I'll bite back.' He bared his teeth. 'And I do like women - in case that's what you really want to know.'
Smug, sexy bastard. I'd deal with him later. In fact, I was looking forward to it. For now, though, Joe and his beautiful boner were my primary concern.
I gestured towards my shirt, capturing his eyes. The soft cotton clung to my tautened nipples. He stared at the little nubs. 'Would you like me to take this off?' I asked.
'W-would I?' He shook his head to clear it. 'Of course I would.'
Sean snorted. I ignored him. Grasping the hem in both hands, I pulled the shirt over my head, then shook out my auburn curls. Now I wore nothing but jeans and a lacy black push-up bra. Both men's eyes widened, visibly impressed.
See, I mentally told my ex. Some men appreciate what I've got to offer. Some men wouldn't trade me for a raft of flat-chested teenagers.
Emboldened, I ran my hands up my sides and cupped my breasts. I lifted their weight the way a man might; my nipples crested the edge of the lace. A low cry broke in Joe's throat.
'Amen,’ Sean seconded. His gaze roved my chest as he used the bundled silk to draw a slow figure-of-eight on Joe's belly. I had the oddest feeling he imagined he was touching me.
Curious, I tugged the yellow cloth from his hand. When I shook it out, it turned out to be a skimpy silk teddy. It did not belong to me, but someone had sprayed my Chanel No. 19 all over it. I did not know what to make of this, or of Joe's cringe of horror.
'Whose is this?' I asked.
Joe's eyes flew open. 'I thought it was yours.'
Sean cleared his throat. He looked embarrassed. 'Um, that's what I told him. I thought he'd - well, I didn't want him to mess up your nice underwear. I have sisters. I know how women get about that stuff.'
I pressed my lips together against a laugh. 'Very considerate, Sean.'
Joe frowned - not a reaction I wanted to encourage, so I tossed the lingerie aside and shimmied out of my jeans. That got his attention, especially when I dropped to my knees and scooted under his arms between him and the footboard. I considered his rigid penis. It was long as well as thick. This was going to be a challenge, but a nice one. Knowing he watched, I circled my tongue suggestively round my lips.
'Oh, God,' Joe moaned.
Sean's hands were all that held him back, all that held himself firmly lodged. Both men were panting now, caught on the hook of my suspense. A sense of incredible power sang through my veins. I let my breath wash Joe's groin. His hips bucked forward.
'Please, Kate, I can't stand it. Please touch me.'
I touched him. I rubbed my face like a cat along the V of his inner thighs. I kneaded his calves until the knots softened under my palms. I kissed the smooth thrust of his hip-bone. I speared my fingers through his lush pubic hair and then, when his breath was coming in sobs and Sean's hands had clenched into white-knuckled fists, I opened wide and took one drawn-up testicle into my mouth.
'Kate.' Joe stroked my curls with a trembling hand. 'Kate.'
I knew then that, no matter how good Sean made him feel, no one existed for Joe but me. I mouthed my way around both sides of his sac, testing his weight and fullness, smoothing the dark wire-silk hair with my tongue.
'Ready?' I asked, treating the root to one tiny, teasing lick.
Too breathless to answer, he yanked his other hand off the footboard and buried it in my hair. I'd almost licked my way to the head when his fingers tightened and jerked me back.
'Wait,’ he said in a high, thin voice. 'I need a condom.'
Sean cursed. Obviously, he'd had enough delay. 'Don't be such a prude. Just pull out before you come.'
'But I'm dripping.'
He was indeed. Tiny droplets of preorgasmic fluid seeped from the eye of his prick.
‘I’ll take care of it,’ I said, and did the honours with the stash I kept in my bedside table.
When I took Joe's cock in my mouth again, he sighed, long and liquid. I felt as if I were the kindest woman alive. This time I swallowed all I could reach, bearing down and up in a steady rhythm that had nothing to do with teasing and everything to do with relief. Sean began to thrust in time to my sucking, bumping Joe forward. Ever the gentleman, Joe braced his legs to prevent being pushed too far down my throat. He couldn't know I loved the added pressure; loved the sensation of witnessing and doing at the same time.
Too turned on to resist, I moved Sean's hands on to Joe's balls. Sean gave them a squeeze.
'Oh, yeah,’ he said. 'Buddy, you are primed.'
That taken care of, I was free to see to my own pleasure. I slid my hand into my lacy panties.
Joe's cock abruptly changed angles in my mouth. He was craning around to see. Had he watched a woman masturbate before? The thought that he might not have tightened the coil of heat in my belly. Maybe he'd enjoy seeing more.
I brought my hand back to the lacy waistband. 'Would you like me to take this off?'
'Yes.' He was so breathless I could barely hear him. 'Please.'
I released him long enough to twist out of my panties, then slid two fingers between the slippery petals of my sex. Joe's tongue curled out to wet his upper lip. He swallowed. I promised myself I'd let him taste what he was hankering for before the night was out.
Then Sean broke the heated moment. "Think we could hurry this up? I can't hold out much longer.'
'So come,’ Joe said.
'I want to come with you.'
'So grit your teeth. Ah, yes.' Joe hummed with delight as I bore down towards his root. The sound drove me wild. I frigged myself faster and spread my knees as far as I could so Joe could see. He could hear, too. My fingers made a rapid, squelching sound in all that juice. Joe's shaft thrummed its approval against my palate. Under his velvety skin, he was hard enough to hammer nails. I tongued the sweet spot beneath the head. His knees threatened to buckle.
'Do that again,’ he said. 'Oh, yeah. You're going to have to hold on, Sean, because I intend to make this last.' His hands stilled on my head. 'Unless you're tired?'
I laughed and sucked harder. Years of practice had given me jaws of steel. I'd last as long as he could, which - from the feel of things - wouldn't be much longer. No one could get that stiff and not be close to blasting off.
'Oh, man,’ Sean complained.
'Oh, yes,’ Joe praised.
Their reactions were too much for me. I had to come. With one hand gripping Joe's knee for support, I rubbed my rosy bud faster, chasing the pleasure.
Caught up in his own chase, Sean lost the last shreds of his control. 'Come on.' His belly slapped Joe's back as he went into overdrive. 'Do it, do it, I can't - I'm coming, damn you.'
My fingers slid through my excitement. I thrust the longest into my wet, summery heat, felt the muscles flutter and clutch, felt the achy sweetness spread.
But Joe beat us both. His cock jerked an instant before Sean moaned like a foghorn, an instant before my body spasmed in ecstasy. Lost to everything then, the orgasm shook me like a rag doll, jerking me from the inside out until my legs collapsed and my head thunked against the bed.
Joe immediately slipped from Sean's hold to kneel beside me.
'Kate. Sweetheart.' He gathered me against his body. 'Did you hurt your head?'
'I'm all right.' I rubbed the sore spot, more dazed by his concern than by the thump I'd taken.
'Poor thing,’ he murmured, rocking me.
Left without his partner, Sean stepped towards the window and turned away. The setting sun gilded the curve of his spine. He raked his short blonde hair back. His shoulders sagged. A little worry tightened my throat. What if he really cared for Joe? Then a truly horrible thought brought my hand flying to my mouth. 'Oh, God, Joe, I didn't bite you, did I?'
He kissed the tip of my nose. 'No, sweetheart, you let go just in time.'
With a flattering lack of effort, he scooped me off the floor and set me on my king-sized bed. Sleepy and warm, I let him remove my bra - which was the only clothing I had left. His hands passed over my breasts in gentle exploration, a strangely comforting gesture. Then he pulled the chenille coverlet up to my neck.
To my surprise, considering Sean's possessive streak, both men settled on either side of me. Sean snuggled against my back and sighed with exhaustion. I patted the arm he draped around my waist. In all my fantasies, I'd never dreamed of seducing him.
Of course, I hadn't really seduced him tonight. He'd just gone along. Well, more than gone along - he'd enjoyed himself. So why did I feel as if I'd stolen something from him? Why did I feel protective? Most of all, why did I wish we could do it again - not just Joe and I, but the three of us together?
Divorce rebound, I thought. You figure if one man will prop up your self-esteem, two should send it through the roof. I didn't believe that, though. I'd caught a glimpse of the real Sean tonight, and it had struck a chord.
We had more than our lust for Joe in common.
The question was, what did I intend to do about it? Keep it light, I thought. Treat it like a game and no one will get hurt.
The object of our affections lifted the erotic novel I'd
left by my bed a lifetime ago. 'Hm,' he said. One finger stroked the naked clinch on the cover. 'I'm sure you sleepyheads don't need it, but I think I'll read you a bedtime story.'
The sound of furious whispers woke me, that and the circling caress of a hand on my hip: Joe's hand. Already I recognised the long fingers, the gentleness all out of proportion to his years. Or perhaps his gentleness depended on youth. Perhaps life would roughen his soft edges.
The thought disturbed me. In fact, being disturbed disturbed me.
I feigned sleep, which was not an easy task. Sean's naked front spooned my naked back and his erection nuzzled the crease of my buttocks. Lust told me to squirm closer. Curiosity told me to be quiet and listen. Curiosity won.
'What is your problem?' Sean hissed.
'She's asleep.'
'Don't worry. She'll like it.' Sean's chest was damp with excitement, his nipples pebbled and hot. Whatever 'it' was, I suspected he'd like it, too.
'But I've never done it before.'
Sean reached over me to ruffle Joe's hair. 'It's not hard. Hell of a lot easier than going down on a man.'
'What if I can't find it - and how do you know?'
‘I had a life before I met you, you know. Just because I like men better doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good-looking woman.'
'But I thought - You never said -'
This was getting too private for me. 'I'm awake,’ I said and laid my hand on Joe's belly. His stomach muscles jumped.
'Oh,’ he said, and, 'Oh, man,’ when my fingers ventured lower.
Grasping the root of his erection, I pulled slowly until the flare of his glans crossed my palm. He caught my hand before I could stroke him again.
'Behave yourself,’ he said. He threw the covers off the three of us and stared at me in the moonlight. His hand trailed down the curve of my side. 'You are so beautiful.'
My skin heated under the compliment. Had anyone said those words so convincingly before?
The mattress creaked as he scooted lower on the bed. I heard the coverlet fall to the faded Turkish carpet; heard the rush of Joe's breath. Did those hastened exhalations signify anxiety or arousal? I prayed he wasn't doing something he didn't want to do. He kissed the tender skin beneath my navel, then rubbed his face across my fleece. Aside from the endearing gesture, which he repeated, he didn't seem to know where to start. My concern intensified.
'Here,' said Sean. He lifted my upper thigh and arranged it over Joe's shoulder. The scent of male sweat and female musk perfumed the air.