Merideth ran her tongue over Lucas’s smooth balls, then up his cock to the tip where she swallowed it to the root. Oliver glided into her. They loved each other slow and sweet until orgasm rolled through them.
Lucas uncurled himself first from their cuddle on the tile. “We gotta get back to work.”
Oliver followed his move. “And I need to make dinner.”
“Good, ’cause I’m really craving that sandwich now.” Lucas opened the door and handed in towels. “Maybe two.” He winked, wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked away.
The innocent statement brought Merideth down to earth. Lucas needed things she couldn’t give. She wasn’t sure she could ever be that person again, not after what had happened to her. Control was there, but so was fear of hurting another person.
Oliver tapped her nose. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
No holds barred. No secrets. Honesty. “That he’s probably craving more than a sandwich right now. I just…” Didn’t know what else to say. Frankly she was tired of hearing herself whine about it.
“You’ll get there.” Oliver kissed her forehead. “In the meantime…” He nibbled along her ear. “It would take a bit of choreography on our parts, but if Lucas is bound and blindfolded, he’ll never know who’s wielding the flogger.”
Merideth looped her leg over his hip. “You are brilliant.”
Grinning, Oliver cupped her breast and thumbed her nipple. “I know.”
* * * *
This was the prize for a job well done—a full belly, a glass of Scotch, and lying sprawled around Oliver’s office, watching the net widen as word continued to spread and take on a life of its own. More victims reported their experiences. None of them were willing to go to the police. All had been threatened. Considering what they’d been through, Lucas couldn’t blame them.
“We can find you anytime, anywhere.”
The words they’d used chilled him to the bone. No wonder Merideth had sequestered herself inside her house for the last six months.
“Damn fine work, Becky.” Oliver raised his iced tea in toast. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
She shut down her computer and stretched to her feet. “No, it was definitely teamwork. I’m very proud of us. I’m also beat and feel the adrenaline crash. I’m calling it a night.”
“We’re leaving in the morning. You’ll keep an eye on the place while we’re gone?”
“Absolutely.” Stifling a yawn, she dragged herself from the room. “I’ll be expecting my present, though,” she called out.
“You’ll have it,” he shouted back.
Lucas shut his laptop and set it on the table next to Becky’s. “Okay, now that we’re back together, I need to set some ground rules. I don’t want any misunderstandings or miscommunications. It screwed us before, and I won’t have it screw us again.”
Merideth eyed him from her chair. She looked like a curled lioness awaiting attack. A rather appealing notion.
“I promise to always have bread.” Oliver set his glass on the end table and leaned forward. “Ground rules are important. Go on.”
“I really have no desire to live in New York. I need wide-open spaces. I’m also tired of living out of a suitcase. Don’t get me wrong. I love to travel, but being constantly on the road is wearing me out. Rachel’s made me an offer I’d be foolish to refuse. I’m going to set up camp here in Palm Springs and focus on my photography.”
The decision had nothing to do with the three of them. Lucas had made it during his hike. The draw of nature was too much to resist. Photography called to him, made him tick inside. No pressure. No having to be at the whim of another. No having to be a hard-ass.
“Excellent. Do what makes you happy. That’s really all that matters in this world. I learned that the hard way.” Oliver eased back. “I’d hope you’d want to make my house your home, but I understand someone needing space if you’d rather not.”
“Oh, I’m staying here.” This also felt right. In ways Lucas couldn’t begin to explain. He didn’t have to. They knew it too. “I’ll want my own room, though, for those times I need to be alone.”
“Agreed. Also, take the rooms to set up whatever you need for your venture.”
Lucas grinned. That was easier than he’d anticipated. This next might not be. “And if this is going to be my home too, it needs to feel like my home. I’m not a slob, but I don’t mind a little clutter. No bitchin’ about my shoes in the living room. And I pull my own weight. I’m not just a pretty boy toy.”
That brought laughter and Merideth slithering his way. The move was unexpected. He nearly backed away. Common sense rooted him in place. His erection nailed him there.
“I don’t know. You’ve always been very pretty to me.” She pushed him down until she could sit astride him.
“Whoa.” He caught her wrists. “You’re distracting me from my purpose.”
One eyebrow curved. “Which is?”
Damn, he couldn’t think with her squishing his manhood. Had he covered everything?
“And none of this
my rules, my way
stuff. We’re a team.”
“We are,” Oliver said.
Lucas waited for his
one Master
decree. When it didn’t come, he didn’t know if he’d won or lost. “Do either of you have ground rules?”
Oliver nodded. “I like to cook. I need to cook. It’s my stress relief, and I love putting together meals. I like to entertain, and I have an open-door policy for my close friends, as you may have guessed. I also do get very involved in my work and can be reclusive. That doesn’t mean I don’t care. I’m much better at holding my temper than I was when we were younger, though the turmoil of the last couple of days has challenged me.”
That would explain the pieces of cell phone Lucas had found on the bedroom floor and the broken glass in the patio door.
“I still have my obligations to the community but have considered taking more of a backseat lately.” Oliver pulled in a breath and let it out slowly. “It might be a little late in the game, but I’m ready to be a father. I want children. I’ll do whatever it takes for us to have them if we all agree. And we must all agree.”
That sucked the air out of the room and, oddly, made Lucas harder. “I think you just scared me, but…all right.”
“It might not be so easy,” Merideth said.
“Life isn’t easy,” Oliver replied. “We’re together. We’ll find a way together.”
“Any ground rules for you?” Lucas directed this question to Merideth.
“I need time and your patience,” she quickly replied.
He slipped his hands over her ribs. “You have it.”
“Good.” She smacked his hip, stood, and reached for his hand. “Now come with me. A little bird told me you need some tension relief.”
Lucas liked the sound of that but tried not to get his hopes too high. He’d promised patience and time, and with that would come trial and error. “Is the little bird going to come with us?”
“The little bird is.” Oliver stood and strode toward the door. “Let’s take this to my room. We can collapse into bed afterward without having the buzzkill of climbing the stairs.”
“Ah…so this is a planned seduction.” Lucas grabbed Merideth’s hand and vaulted to his feet.
Oliver flashed him a grin. “It is. See what happens when you leave us alone in the shower?”
“Plotting behind my back. I like it.” He liked it very much. He liked it even more when they walked into Oliver’s big bedroom.
They’d staged things well. One look had Lucas close to coming. A mound of pillows was piled in the center of the big bed. Leather cuffs rested at the four corners, awaiting his wrists and ankles. A flogger was draped at the foot of the bed next to a blindfold, cock ring, dildo, lube, and condom. Oliver had pulled a chair close, giving himself a ringside seat. A leather paddle lay on the cushion.
“Undress, and stand there with your hands behind your back.” Merideth took off her clothes even as she gave the order.
Still dressed, Oliver took a seat in his chair, idly stroking the erection swelling his shorts while he played with the paddle. Without prompting, Merideth crawled into place over his lap when her last stitch of clothing hit the floor.
She lifted her head to look at him. “Watch, because it’s going to be your turn next.”
Watch? His eyes were riveted to the sight of her ass turning rosy under Oliver’s paddle. He clutched his hands behind his back when Oliver slipped his fingers to her crotch and made her come under a volley of smacks. A wet spot marked the effect the discipline had on Oliver. It was nothing compared to what had leaked from Lucas’s erection.
Oliver helped her stand. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glazed. She turned a hungry look his way. His turn.
“Put on the condom and the ring, and take your position.”
She retrieved the flogger from the bed and ran the falls through her fingers, waiting for him to comply. When he didn’t move fast enough, she swung them against his thigh. Who knew the barest kiss of chamois would have him fighting orgasm? Agony was not being able to tighten his hold as he covered his penis. The cock ring was more hindrance than help.
Another light slap fell across his ass when he crawled into position. She was killing him. He loved it. He dutifully spread his arms and legs toward the restraints when he was in place. Merideth draped the flogger over his lower back and secured him. The blindfold was next. Her nipples raked over his shoulders as she covered his eyes.
“You will focus only on this, on me,” she whispered against his ear, then nipped the lobe and left the bed.
“I suppose this means you’ll be stroking off while you watch?” Her question was clearly directed at Oliver, who chuckled.
“Do you blame me?” The whisper of clothing coming off drifted to Lucas’s ears. “Don’t worry. I’ll still be plenty hard for you.”
“I do hope so.” Those sultry tones he’d dreamed of slithered into Lucas’s blood.
He gasped when the flogger left his back. He tensed, anticipating the first burn.
“Relax.” Merideth kneaded his buttocks.
Hard to do when he’d waited so long for this. Fortunately she didn’t insist.
He heard the swish, held his breath. The first stroke was light like before. The barest kiss against his flesh. Intriguing with the promise of warmth. More followed, covering him from shoulder to calf until he could feel the flush growing. Nice, not perfect, but…
A hard swipe struck his ass. Lucas groaned into it.
Yes!
He fell into the rhythm of falls thudding over his body. What he’d craved was his once more. The fire, the rush, the bliss that rolled in with it.
“You liked that. I could tell.”
The bed dipped with her weight. He gasped at the cool lube that touched his anus. Cried out when the dildo followed. Screamed with pleasure when the strap hit his ass. He fucked the pillows beneath him, trying in vain to roll the ring off so he could come. Nothing worked. Nothing would until Merideth was ready to take him.
He whimpered an unintelligible complaint when she moved away, taking her toys with her. Moaned when she released his restraints.
“Roll over.”
He’d no sooner done so than she’d relatched his ankles and rolled the ring slowly from his erection. Lucas blindly reached for her. The action earned him the flogger again and his wrists rebound. The hits were soft again, bringing fire to his chest and thighs. One sling curled the falls around his cock. Lucas thrust into them and clenched his teeth against orgasm.
Merideth moved away again. He lay there panting, wondering what her next move would be. The groans drifting his way didn’t help his predicament. He jerked with the first touch of her tongue skidding up his thigh. She stopped short of his groin and slid over him until her breasts touched his lips. Lucas tried to suck one. She evaded him, caught his erection in a loose grip, and guided it deep into her heat.
He groaned and thrust into her. Oliver’s presence easing behind her stilled him. Merideth rested her cheek against Lucas’s chest, idly flicking his nipple as Oliver took her ass. Her soft cries of pleasure speared his heart. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He didn’t dare move for fear of ending this too soon.
Someone released Lucas’s wrists. Merideth slipped her fingers through Lucas’s. Oliver covered his hands over theirs.
“Don’t worry.” Oliver’s deep tone comforted them. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you both. And I’m never letting go again.”
“Never.” Lucas laced his fingers over Oliver’s, binding them further.
“Never.” Merideth wiggled between them. “Now, one of you move before I’m forced to take command.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Oliver’s laughter rumbled through Lucas. Then he took control.
* * * *
Lucas lay there long after the fireworks for the sheer joy of watching Oliver and Merideth sleep beside him. Finally Lucas spooned into her. Now he could sleep. She wiggled her ass against him. Or not.
Merideth eased from bed, wary of waking Oliver and Lucas. Sleep had been impossible, and so had moving until seconds ago when the men had finally uncurled themselves from around her. She’d missed the contact at the same time she blessed the chance to slip away. She felt like the biggest bitch in the world. Maybe she was, and that had been the problem all along.
A leopardess can’t change her spots.
No, she refused to believe that. She was changed in ways she’d never imagined, both good and bad. But this…
Merideth snagged her clothes and crept across the hall to her bedroom to dress. Everything was all wrapped up in a neat little package with a pretty bow to match. The three of them were reunited and on the road to forever once more. The hunt was on for the men who’d hurt so many, with little effort on her part. She was safe and secure, her reputation intact. Everything she’d wanted…almost. Rather anticlimactic in retrospect. She was ashamed of herself for admitting how let down she felt. This wasn’t the resolution she needed or envisioned. She’d wanted Oliver and Lucas to help
her
be stronger. And while they had to some degree, they’d in essence taken over, handling her problems for her. Fixing what was wrong.
No. She shook her head. They’d tried to get her to take a stand, and she’d balked.
Then
they’d fixed the problem their way, not the way she’d wanted. And still she balked. Quite the contradiction.