Bound to be Taken (Emergence) (19 page)

Dane sucked hard. The man could deep throat like nobody Aiden had ever met. Aiden drew in a breath, released his hold on Dane’s head and leaned back on his hands over the island to enjoy the blowjob.

His eyes closed, and he tipped his head back toward the ceiling. Dane sucked and Aiden moaned. In no time at all, he came, his come jutting forcefully into Dane’s mouth. God, he’d needed that. After all the time they’d spent wooing Stephanie and staring at her fantastic body, he was permanently horny. He would love to have more from her, but this was the next best thing without having to pressure her into something she wasn’t ready for.

When he opened his eyes, spent, his gaze landed first on the come streaming from Dane’s cock onto the floor as the man squeezed himself with his own hand. But a tiny shuffling sound to one side made Aiden shift his gaze.

He froze. Stephanie stood just feet away, staring intently, her bottom lip between her teeth. Her face was red, her hands shook, and she had one leg crossed in front of the other, squeezing them together. When their gazes locked her mouth fell open, and she moaned.
Fuck yes. Thank you, God.

She might not have realized what her reaction would be to seeing them so intimate, but there it was in black-and-white—or red, in this case.

“I…” She uttered just the one syllable, high pitched. More of a squeak.

Dane stood straighter and tucked his cock into his pants. He didn’t button them. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she repeated. “I didn’t mean to…well, I guess I did.” She smiled, a small lift of the corners of her mouth as she lowered her gaze.

“It’s okay, babe,” Dane said. “We have no secrets from you.” He grabbed a paper towel from the counter and cleaned off the floor. When he finished he reached for her and pulled her back to his front in a little circle between Aiden’s legs. “Did you like what you saw? Answer honestly.”

Her breath whooshed out and she nodded. “Very much.” She lowered her head and then jerked it to the side when her gaze undoubtedly landed on Aiden’s semi-hard cock.

Aiden chuckled. He weaved his fingers into her hair and pulled her against him. Her face buried against his chest. “It’s okay, you know. We aren’t judging you.” She wasn’t repulsed by his interaction with Dane. The question remained, could she join in?

She turned her head to one side. “I know. It’s just…so much to take in. I was just a regular woman four days ago. No men in my life. No threesomes. No Doms and subs. No sex.” Her words ended abruptly.

“No sex?” Aiden pulled her face back and up to meet her gaze. “Why? You’re so sexy. So fucking awesome. Why don’t you have a boyfriend? I mean don’t get me wrong. I’m so glad you don’t, but I’m wondering why no man has snatched you up and run.”

“I didn’t let them.”

“Why’s that, babe?” Dane stroked a hand down her back.

“Long story. I don’t do men. Ever.”

Aiden chuckled. “Ever? ’Cause you’re doing two men right now.”

Her face grew even redder. “You know what I mean. Didn’t…do men.”

Dane lifted Stephanie off the ground and settled her on a high stool at the island. “You talk. I’ll cook. Tell us about yourself. We want to know everything.” Dane pushed off the granite top and headed for the sink. He washed his hands and then started grabbing everything he needed to make a meal. Aiden loved to watch the man work. It was an art with him. Not just a simple production but more of a well-choreographed dance.

Aiden jumped down from the island, pulling his shirt over his head. He tucked himself back inside his jeans and planted himself in the seat next to Stephanie. He knew better than to attempt to assist the professional. Dane preferred to work alone in “his” kitchen. Aiden usually helped clean up.

First on the agenda was always wine. Three wine glasses landed on the counter before anyone even spoke and Dane twisted the cork out of a bottle of red. Aiden couldn’t see the label, but he knew it would be delicious and pair perfectly with whatever was on the menu. It always did.

This was their typical ritual when they were both home. Usually afternoons and late nights, but Dane manned the kitchen and Aiden kept him company chatting about whatever was on their minds that day and sipping expensive wines.

“Is it just me, or do you find it intensely sexual the way he handles a bottle of wine?” Stephanie asked the question while staring at Dane, but turned her face to Aiden with a grin.

“Very. It’s not just you. He insists the wine doesn’t taste quite right if you take the cork out any other way but the manual screw and pull method…kind of like how he likes his sex.”

Aiden watched Stephanie’s mouth fall open before she giggled. The tinkling sound of her voice warmed him all over.

Dane poured them all wine and then set the bottle next to Aiden.

“So tell us about your childhood. Everything. Leave nothing out.” Aiden leaned his chin on his palm and stared intently at her.

She swallowed. Aiden watched her throat bob up and down and wanted to run his tongue over the spot. “It’s not that interesting really. My dad ran off when I was little, never to resurface. My mom raised me as best she could, but her life was a series of bad relationships after my dad. Men that treated her without respect. I hated them. And they walked all over her. It was like a revolving door and she wasn’t strong enough to keep it from swinging around again and again.”

“So that’s why you don’t date much?” Aiden asked.

“I don’t date at all,” she said. “I’ve had a few boyfriends in the past, in high school and college, but nothing serious. Nothing that amounted to anything.”

“Steph, are you a virgin?” Aiden sat up straight and held his breath.
Oh God.
A pan clanked on the stove.

“No, no. Don’t worry. I’ve had sex. Just not good sex.” She smiled.

Aiden exhaled, and he heard Dane exhale loudly too.

“Listen, nothing personal,” she began, “I just have a hard time trusting. Men don’t stick around. They wine and dine women and then leave them. They fuck them and then leave them. They mistreat them and then leave them.”

Aiden hesitated. Holy fuck. She had been through a lot. “Not all men,” he hedged.

Dane saddled up beside them. “God, babe. I’m so sorry. You got a rough lot.”

“Well, not me so much as my mom. I’ve never let anyone get close enough to me to prove their staying power, male or female.”

Dane rubbed her back and then kissed her. “We aren’t like those men, Stephanie. Not even close. Give us a chance and you’ll see.”

Stephanie gazed at Dane as he walked back to the stove.

She turned back to Aiden. “What about you two? You’ve been together three years. What were you doing before that?”

“We’re both from this area. We grew up here, but we didn’t know each other. We actually met at a gay bar. We had both gone with other friends and bumped into each other while waiting on the bartender.” Aiden poured more wine into both their glasses.

Stephanie picked up the deep red beverage and took a sip. “This is really good.”

“Dane’s a wine snob. And I can’t even tease him because he’s always spot on.”

“So what else?” she asked. “You have to give me more than that. I spilled my guts.”

Aiden didn’t think she really had revealed all that much about herself, but it was probably more than she’d ever told anyone. “Not much else about me is interesting. The usual high school dynamics. Dated girls back then. Liked it, but knew I was missing something. I wanted both from a pretty young age and kept that to myself.

“Until I met Dane. I mean I did date a few guys, even had a serious relationship with one in my early twenties, but that didn’t work either. He was gay, and I was bi. That will only work for so long. Dane and I, we love each other, but we need a woman too. Someone who can join our lives and be equal in the relationship.”

Stephanie stared at him, but gave nothing away with her face. Was he scaring the pants off her, or was she intrigued? Either way, he knew he had to take the risk and lay the cards out on the table right now. Before they went any further. If she didn’t know what she was up against, she couldn’t make an informed decision when they asked her to stay.

Dane set a pile of plates down on the island, the clanking sound breaking the stare-off. “Hey, so serious over here.” He hip-butted Stephanie. “My life is much more interesting.”

“Yeah, how so?” she asked.

“Oh, let’s see.” Dane bustled around as he spoke, moving pans and lifting pasta out of hot water. “My dad kicked me out when I was eighteen. Said, and I quote, ‘I won’t have no faggot for a son.’ He was a real bastard. Never did come around.”

Stephanie gasped.

Dane turned to her with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m over it, completely. My parents split after that, and I’m still in touch with my mom long distance. She moved to California with her boyfriend about ten years ago. She wasn’t so homophobic. I secretly think my dad is also gay. Would explain a lot.

“Anyway, I moved in with my boyfriend at the time. He was twenty. That didn’t work out. Then, I worked my ass off to pay for culinary school. I didn’t have much time for men, or women, during that time. I was about twenty-six when I realized I also liked women. Once you’re labeled gay it’s really hard to overcome the stereotype. I just ignored the urge for pussy all those years, thinking I was a pervert for wanting both sexes.

“I dated several women in a row that year, experimenting with all the things I’d missed out on for so long. It was…educational.” He chuckled.

Aiden laughed even harder. “I love to listen to his tales of wooing women in the early days. Imagine a twenty-six-year-old guy telling you he was a vagina virgin and didn’t even know a clitoris from a urethra.” He slapped his hand on the marble counter, but then straightened a little when Stephanie didn’t laugh at his joke. “Sorry, baby. That was crude.” He gazed at her.

“No worries. It’s fascinating really. I can actually relate. Probably why I don’t find it so funny. I’m not much better. Sure, I have always dated
men
, but I’m twenty-five and can count my experiences on one hand. I’m sure you’ve gotten a few laughs out of my reactions over the last few days too.”

Aiden sobered completely and stood. “Stephanie, no.” He set a shaky hand over hers on the table. “Not even for a second.”

Dane came to her other side and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Aiden’s heart ached. Her eyes watered and she swallowed and fought hard to keep her emotions under check. “Ah, fuck. I’m so sorry.” He pulled her face into his shirt. “I wasn’t thinking. That was uncalled for. You…you’re different.”

“How? How am I different?” she mumbled into his chest.

“Because you’re you. So pure and innocent. We love that about you. And you’re strong. The strongest woman I’ve ever met. That’s what’s so attractive about you.” Aiden swallowed the lump in his throat.

He continued, “You’re all fire and vinegar on the outside, fighting so hard to climb the corporate ladder in a man’s world. On the inside, you’re sweet and kind and generous, and so fucking sexy we can’t breathe around you. You’re all woman and more than that. Only the strongest of women can fit the part of a submissive, crave it, enjoy it, live it, and also hold on to their true selves and slay the dragons in the world by day.”

Dane stroked her neck. “Babe, it takes a very special type of woman to pull off the submissive role, and you do it spectacularly. It takes a perfect balance of inner strength to allow even one man, let alone two, to dominate you in a way that makes you so aroused you hunger for more while still holding your head high. It’s so fucking sexy and more than we ever dreamed of finding.”

Stephanie smiled. “I didn’t mean to dampen the mood. It was silly.”

Aiden squeezed her hand and released her. “Not silly. Nothing is ever silly. You feel what you feel. That’s not to be taken lightly. I’ll try to be more sensitive in the future.”

“The future. Like tomorrow? Saturday? We had a deal here. A trade. My date needs for yours. Are you suggesting it should be more?”

Are you suggesting it should be less?
Aiden sucked in a breath. He needed to choose his next words carefully. Fuck. What he said could make or break this…thing. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off before they even got to tomorrow or Saturday. “We’re open to consideration if you are.” There. That was noncommittal. Non-threatening. Non-definite. Non-anything.

Stephanie changed the subject. “What smells so good? I’m starving.”

Aiden let it drop. He sat back in his chair and passed out plates, silverware and napkins.

Dane turned to the stove and brought over several steaming dishes. “Hope you like ziti. I make a mean red sauce with sausage and ground beef and lots of mozzarella.”

“Sounds divine.” Stephanie relaxed her shoulders and let Dane serve her a full plate of salad with all the fixings, pasta and French bread.

Dane took a seat across from Aiden and they all three enjoyed their meals for a few minutes. Aiden swallowed. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was. All that dominance made me work up an appetite.” He winked at Stephanie.

She smiled. “Apparently the same is true for a day of submission.”

Once the ice was broken and the weirdness out of the way, they ate in companionable silence. The clank of silverware and wine glasses filled the room, along with the occasional moan over a bite, which made them giggle.