That level of secrecy meant my two best friends were up to no good.
I might have settled for just being annoyed at them lying to their mommas and dragging me into it, but the looks Roman and Chase had given me before walking away had my blood boiling over for an altogether different reason.
Racing from my air-conditioned vehicle to the dark, cool safety of my apartment, I locked the front door and headed straight for my bedroom. There was no way I was going to make it through a night of chauffeuring those two around to every bar and strip club in the tri-city area -- both of them no doubt trying something with me when the other wasn't looking -- without a little mechanical tension reliever beforehand.
I tossed my handbag onto the bed, the clasp opening and spilling the contents across my mattress. Ignoring the mess, I opened the drawer to the small nightstand beside my bed and pulled out a divorced woman's best friend -- my Hitachi Magic Wand with its Gee-Whizzard attachment.
"Fuck, yes." Collapsing on the bed, I hiked up the skirt of my white, sleeveless sundress. I hurriedly pushed my panties down to my ankles, where they snagged against the buckles of my white sandals. I left them there, my hands too shaky for anything other than masturbating.
I popped the attachment onto the wand and buried it inside my pussy. Five inches of knobby, curved heaven began to vibrate inside me. Closing my eyes, I saw Roman and Chase. Delicious, dirty memories coursed through me. Play house, pool house, school yards, churches, open fields and barns. All through the last half of high school they had found a hundred little ways to be alone with me, each trying to convince me I should surrender to him and him alone.
I had always refused to give in, refused to choose. But I also always waited to pull away until after they had managed a kiss, a stroke, a hand skipping along the fabric covering my mound or breast, their lips at my throat.
You belong to me, Gracie.
They'd both said it -- in the flesh and in their letters and phone calls during their two deployments overseas. It was only in the last few months they'd let up, but the look in their eyes, right in front of their own mothers no less, told me neither man was finished trying.
"Fuck...oh..." I pushed the little Whizzard deeper, the heat starting to pool low in my belly.
I'd let another man take my virginity. Stupid me, I married him and was treated like shit -- like his fat little pity fuck and personal slave until, to the great mortification of my family, I divorced his ass. All because I couldn't choose, wouldn't doom my friendship or watch as the undeniable brotherly love Chase and Roman had for one another turned to hate.
I clicked the wand's vibration setting to high and tried to stop thinking about either of the two. I needed to come and come and come again until I was all wrung out, exhausted and immune to their advances and mouth-watering bodies.
Above the drone of the vibrator, my cell phone began to buzz next to me. Not thinking, I looked at it, the text of an incoming message from Roman readable.
Wear that dress you had on at the airfield.
The hell I would! I thoroughly intended to put on jeans and the biggest pair of granny panties I could find.
The phone vibrated again, this time Chase's number preceding the text.
No panties, baby girl, or I'll spank you.
Sweet Jesus, they were texting me in unison. Growling, I cursed the wand for only having two speed settings. And then I cursed my two best friends. Those glorious bastards had been on Georgia soil for less than four hours and were already ruining my sex life.
Such as it was.
********************
Damn me if I didn't wear the sundress -- with panties, thank you very much. Even so, I still felt all kinds of naked walking into the dimly lit interior of Elma's. It seemed like every damn eye in the bar turned my way. It might have been the wholesome appearance of the white sundress filled out with my plump curves, but I thought I saw a couple of the men stand a little taller, while a snarl or two crept along the faces of the women next to them.
Elma was probably the only place in town where a girl my size could get that kind of reaction. It was the home of low expectations. Still, I was ready to spin on my heels and retreat to my Jeep when Chase emerged from beyond the far end of the bar.
Meeting me halfway down the middle of the room, he cupped my elbow and guided me to a corner booth. The table with its curving bench seat had to be the darkest spot in the entire place. The light hanging over the table was out and only the barest illumination from the next booth showed Roman waiting with three Coke bottles on ice.
With Roman along one side of the seat and Chase directing me to the other side, it was clear they planned on sticking me between them. Right where the bar's other lights didn't seem to penetrate at all.
I eased my way around the cushion to the center. Roman slid left towards me and Chase piled in behind me. He hadn't said anything out at the airfield, but the minute his ass hit the booth's seat, Chase lifted one lock of my artificially blonde hair and cocked an eyebrow at me.
I scowled at him. "You try getting a job at Adams-Pennington Real Estate without blonde hair."
The job also required a minimum of D cups, but those I could claim naturally.
A small click at the back of Roman's throat had me looking right.
"Grabby-hands Pennington knows we'll break every bone in his body if he harasses you, right?"
Chase dropped the strand of hair and leaned closer, adding a single word to Roman's threat. "Twice."
Picking up the unopened Coke bottle in front of me, I popped the cap and took a hard swallow. "I'll figure out a discreet way to inform him."
"How about you qui--"
Roman made another one of his clicking noises, stopping Chase before he could finish his sentence. The idea that Chase wanted me to quit was preposterous. I could barely afford my rent and vehicle as it was, and any thought of college had flown right out the window -- along with my savings -- with the divorce attorney's bill.
"We didn't bring you here to talk about Pennington." Roman traced a finger along the back of my shoulders, the motion sending a shiver all the way down to my toes.
Not to be outdone, Chase smoothed his hand across the top of my thigh as he leaned in and placed his lips against the side of my neck. His fingers plucked against my sundress for a second before he offered a small growl. "Are these panties, baby?"
Wrapping both hands around the bottle, I started to vibrate -- or parts of me did. The threat of a spanking from Chase did weird things to my body, but I ignored it and smiled at Roman. "Of course you didn't bring me here to talk about my boss. You need a chauffeur since you can't exactly pick up your car from your parent's without Maxine knowing you lied about equipment watch."
Curling his hand around my bicep, Roman started to slowly stroke the side of my breast with his thumb. "Wrong, beautiful."
Chase moved his hand down to my knee and then his fingers started a slow crawl up under the skirt of the dress.
"You!" I hissed and slapped at his hand.
His progress unhampered, Chase laughed. "No one can see, baby."
"He's right." Roman's touch became bolder, this thumb sliding forward to trace my swollen nipple. "We unscrewed the light to make sure no one can see you, Gracie."
Surprised by the coordinated attack, I gasped. This wasn't like them. They would do anything short of intentional injury to keep the other from touching me. Now they were both openly teasing my flesh.
"What the hell, guys?" I whispered, afraid of what I might see if I dared to look at either of them.
"Hell is right, Gracie." Chase's voice was as solemn as if he stood in church with Pastor Brown looking on. "Hell is where we've been -- and the only thing outside of each other that pulled us through it was you."
"We both want you. That hasn't changed." Roman's mouth lit just below my ear, his tongue laving along my jaw line as his fingers took a little pinch of my flesh. I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from moaning as my wet pussy slowly soaked through my panties.
Chase surfed his fingers along my inside thigh, a harsh groan escaping him as he touched the moist fabric of my underwear. "Only now we're willing to share."
I stiffened and they both felt it, each reacting differently. Roman's response was to touch me more lightly and murmur softly against my ear to just hear them out. Chase's grip on me tightened, his words far from placating.
"Baby, you belong to us. There's no arguing it."
Roman growled at him. "You're going to get her back up if you go ordering her around like that."
I crossed my legs, surprised when Chase let me break his hold on me. "What makes either of you think I want to be shared?"
"Your wet panties." Chase answered first and earned another disapproving growl from Roman. He laughed it off, the pad of his thumb flicking across my neck in a rough caress before he took a soft nip. "It's true. You're drenched, baby girl."
Ignoring him, Roman grabbed my chin and coaxed me into looking at him. "Is it crazy of us to think you love us -- that if it weren't for the one, you'd be with the other?"
I closed my eyes. They thought they had me, that they knew me so damn well.
Problem was -- they did.
Roman kissed me full on the mouth. Alongside me, Chase stiffened but remained quiet. I tried to pull out of the kiss, but that would have left me pressing against Chase, who was all too ready to toss me over his shoulder and carry me out. I could feel the tension running through him, hear the erotic threat of domination with each carefully drawn breath he took to control his urges.
So I let Roman kiss me, let his tongue part my lips and his open palm find my breast. A little moan gurgled at the back of my throat and he released me.
Breathing hard, he pulled back, his green eyes almost glowing as he watched my face. "We just want to talk it over with you, Gracie. Give us that at least."
"All you've been talking it over with are your hands," I bit out. I could have added that they'd used their tongues and lips and -- sweet Lord -- what felt like Chase's very large erection butting against my hip as he turned into me.
Stop it, Gracie, stop it right now!
I did not need to think about Chase's cock. More than a dozen years hanging out at lakes and pools with them, I had a good idea of how much steel they both packed. I'm not some kind of size queen, but they each had far more than a couple mouthfuls of meat between their legs and all the wet, tingling bits of my body grew damper at the thought.
Chase backed out of the bench and reached into his wallet. Pulling a twenty out, he tossed it next to the bucket of ice. "Well then, let's go someplace more conducive to using words."
He wasn't fooling me, not with the way his dark eyes burned through me. But I wanted out of Elma's pretty badly. Whether I wound up throwing one hell of a tantrum or surrendering, I didn't want to do it in a crowded bar with curious onlookers. As big and transitory as the base's population was, there were still places like Elma's where half the people knew at least one of our parents.
I snatched my purse up and headed for the front door, my Jeep keys already out.
A hint of daylight had played across the western horizon on my arrival. It was completely gone when I exited the bar. A single bare bulb over the front door cast a feeble light for a few feet. I stepped out of its circle and headed for my Jeep.
Hearing Roman and Chase exit behind me, I glanced in their direction and froze.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" I hissed. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Chase won, a wolfish smile cutting across his face. "Just deciding who drives, baby."
"It's my vehicle. I'm driving." I yanked on the door, my frustration causing me to drop the keys. I looked down. Not seeing them, I took a step back and swore.
The keys had bounced off the dirt and gravel and were about twelve inches under the Jeep. I hesitated half a second too long over getting my dress dirty to retrieve them. That was all the time it took for Chase to reach me and gently hold me back while Roman scooped the keys up.
"I won." Chase tried to steer me toward the back seat. "He's driving."
I attempted a quick twist to free myself. "I'm riding up front."
"No, baby, you're riding in the back with me."
"The hell I am!" The front had bucket seats and a center gear box that would separate me from whomever was driving, making it a hell of a lot hard for either of them to keep trying to persuade me with their hands.
I twisted free.
Chase pulled me back.
I was just getting ready to raise hell with him when the bar's front door opened again and three of Elma's biggest, drunkest patrons weaved their way out. They glanced our way in slow motion.
Chase placed his palm along my lower back, no real pressure in his touch as he worked the situation to his advantage. "You really want to argue this out here, baby?"
Pumped with adrenaline, his tone crackled in anticipation of a good old-fashioned brawl. I looked to Roman, but he just lifted a brow. If it would coax me into the Jeep, he was more than ready to leverage my desire to protect their dumb asses from some drunks mistaking my distress for something it wasn't. I had no doubt Chase and Roman, together or alone, could handle the three men, but they'd have hell to pay when their company commander found out. Duty restrictions, lost rank, not to mention the security clearances they both had.