Hard Candy (11 page)

“
What would make you happier?”

“
You.”

What the fuck? He had the nerve to come in here and say that with Penny standing right beside him?

“
Jesus Christ, Craig. You talk about balls?” Mack charged forward, grabbing Craig by the front of his shirt. “You have the nerve to bring her here and treat her like this? You’re supposed to be her friend. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Penny grabbed hold of Mack’s arm. “It’s okay. He’s not saying anything I don’t want him to say.”

That froze him quicker than anything else could have. “Say again?”

“
I know we’ve never really been anything but friends, but I want Craig to be happy. I want him to be happy with me, but I’m not the only one that can give him what he wants.”

“
Neither am I.”

“
But, together we are.”

Mack shook his head. “What the fuck?”

“
Together we can be the people Craig needs.”

“
Okay, seriously. Stop talking about me like I’m someone special. It makes me feel like I’m taking advantage of this entire situation.”

Penny sighed heavily. “You done? What I’m trying to say is that maybe we can be the right kind of person for each other, too. I mean, I don’t even know if you’re attracted to me at all so I might be going out on a complete limb here, but...”

Mack reached out, cupping her cheeks with both hands and drawing her close to him. He cut off her words with his lips. She instantly moved into his hold, wrapping her arms around his neck. Mack groaned at the taste of her.

He was vaguely aware of Craig beside them, but Mack wanted to savor this first kiss with Penny. He drew back slowly. “You taste like cherries.”

“
It’s my lipgloss.”

“
Ahh...” He grinned at her. “So...”

“
So.”

“
Did that answer your question?”

She smiled sweetly. “Maybe I need a little more help.”

Mack shook his head. “I can see you’re going to be trouble.”

Craig laughed. “You have no idea.”

“
Is that right? Well, I think it’s your turn,” Penny said.

Mack couldn’t believe this was happening. He decided not to look fate in the teeth. Reaching out for Craig, he pulled his friend closer and pressed their lips together. Craig instantly softened, opening up for Mack’s seeking tongue.

They separated. “You definitely don’t taste like cherries.”

Craig beamed. “I could. We brought desert.”

“
Pie?”

“
Cherry pie. Your favorite.”

“
Were you guys trying to butter me up or something?” Mack didn’t know what to say. His heart clutched. Was this really happening. They wanted to be with him?

“
Well, we weren’t sure what it would take to get you to take your clothes off. The cherry pie was Craig’s idea.”

Fuck him. “Craig, get the door.”

“
Yes, sir,” Craig joked.

“
Are you sure about this?” he asked Penny.

“
Definitely. It’s not going to perfect. At least, not at first. But I want to try.”

“
Bite your tongue. I think I can give you perfect.” He grinned at her.

Working quickly, Mack stripped off his own clothes.

“
And the cherry pie wins,” Craig crowed.

Mack laughed. “Behave or you’ll never get to see what I can really do with cherry pie.”

“
As long as it doesn’t involve third base, I’m fine with it.”

“
Okay, seriously. Clothes off. Both of you.”

Penny giggled, but she quickly complied with his order. Out of the corner of his eye he was aware of Craig doing the same. “Condoms?”

“
Right here.”

“
Awesome. Where’s the pie?”

Penny paused. “Seriously, what are you planning?”

“
You’ll see. Craig knows better and I expected more from you, pissy.”

Craig and him instantly set off into peals of laughter. The enraged badger look on her face was priceless.

“
Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you, Douglas?”

“
Whoa. You did not just call me Douglas. No one but my mom calls me that.”

“
How about Doug?”

“
Damn it, Penny.”

“
Oh, so now I’m Penny? Doug. Doug, Doug, Doug, Do–" her words were cut off with a shriek when Mack picked her up and placed her on top of the table.

“
Pie.”

Craig complied, bringing the bag over to them. It didn’t take them long to get completely out of hand. The pie ended up on more skin than he’d planned for. Kisses were shared, bodies touched, the three of them learning and--in some cases--relearning each other.

Soon, Penny was on her back, Craig’s cock arrowed at her pussy.

Mack tapped the head of his cock against her lips.

“
Please, Penny.”

She opened her lips, licking the drop of precum that was weeping from his slit. He groaned. Swallowing, she licked along the head, moving down the shaft.

Craig slowly pushed into her, fitting their bodies together. Penny tossed her head, and Mack’s dick slipped from her mouth.

She slipped her hand around his shaft, giving him some pleasure. He moved his free hand down to help her jerk his dick in time to Craig’s thrusts into her body. Fuck, that was hot.

Mack ran his thumb over the hole at the tip of his cock, gathering moisture and slicking it back over his shaft.

This wasn’t going to take long at all. Seeing the two of them, getting to be with them, was way too much of an erotic experience for him to last.

Penny suddenly tensed, crying out and squeezing down on Mack’s cock. Shit. He felt his balls draw up, tension starting in his back and moving through his body as he followed her into orgasm. His creamy seed dotted her face. Fuck.

Somewhere in his own pleasure, Craig must have found his own release because he pulled out, sliding up to lay on his back to her right. Mack moved her until she was draped across Craig’s chest. If they weren’t careful, one of them was going to fall off the damned table. Mack sat down to the side, pressing kisses along whatever pieces of skin he could reach on Penny.

They panted for breath.

“
All right. I’ll try,” he murmured.

“
Really?” Penny asked. She tried to move, but Mack eased her back into position.

“
Really. I’m willing to try. I don’t want to give you guys up.” He wanted to be honest about that. He wasn’t sure this was going to work. But, he’d do his damndest to make it happen.

Penny watched from the living room window as Craig’s car backed out of the drive, and he drove off toward town.

“
You could have gone with him.” Mack came up behind her and placed both hands on her waist.

“
Nah. He’s got a lot of work to do. And I have a lot of unpacking to do. I can’t believe I own this much crap.”

“
At least you said it, not me.”

Penny laughed. “Yes, I said it. I don’t remember packing all this when I left Houston. Are you sure you didn’t slip anything in?”

She turned in his hold and wound her own arms around his neck. Mack took advantage of her position to duck his head and nuzzle her jawline.

“
You’ve seen my place. You honestly think I’m hiding something?”

“
Oh, of course not.” She snickered. Pulling out of his hold she flopped down on the sofa, before patting the cushion beside her. “Besides, I’m surprised you aren’t the one following Craig into work.”

Mack dropped down next to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Nothing. Just that you’ve been spending a lot of time together lately. It’s good.”

Penny fidgeted. This wasn’t going the way she wanted it to. She just wasn’t sure where things stood with them. It had been two weeks since the three of them had started a relationship together. Penny had left over the weekend to go back to Houston and pack up her condo and now she was back moving into Craig’s house. Mack was still at his rental home in town, which surprised her. She figured he’d be the first person to move in. They hadn’t really discussed it, though.

It wasn’t her house, so she didn’t feel like it was her place to say something. She wanted him here, though. She loved being with both men. If a tiny part of her wondered if they both loved being with her, she wasn’t going to ask. There were bound to be some growing pains, right? She just had to tough them out until she felt more comfortable. Because, when it came down to it, she wanted to be with them. Everything else would be figured out as long as that remained true for all three.

“
Well, I’m glad you think it’s good we’re spending time together. You’re going to see a lot more of me, soon.”

She sat up straighter. “Oh, are you getting closer to opening the brewery?”

“
Yeah, but that’s not what I meant. When you were gone, Craig and I spent a lot of time together here. Anyway, he asked me to move in.”

The words so closely mirrored what she’d been thinking that at first she didn’t react. “What?”

Mack drew back. “Are you okay with that?”

“
Of course. That’s great. I was just thinking we should all be together. Wow, we’re going to be unpacking yours and my stuff in the same week?” The mind simply boggled at how they could merge three households into one. This could be fun.

“
No, I’ll wait until you’ve got all the boxes out of here. We need to figure out what to do with all the furniture anyway. I know you brought some of yours, but my stuff isn’t all that nice.”

Penny twisted her fingers together. “So, you had fun this weekend when I was gone?”

He smiled softly. “Yeah.”

They’d promised honesty, but depending on how this went, it might hurt worse than she’d prepared for.

Mack placed one of his big palms over her hands. “What’s this all about? You upset about leaving Houston?”

“
No, it’s not that.”

“
Well, what is it then?”

“
You. I mean, us.”

He frowned. “What about us?”

“
Would you be happier if I wasn’t here?” Mack didn’t move to open his mouth, so she decided to barrel on ahead. “If it was just you and Craig. I mean, I know we kind of sprung this whole relationship on you, and I know you’ve… I hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve done. This isn’t quite coming out right, but I’m just trying to say that I know you wouldn’t be with me if it hadn’t been for the fact that I came as a set with Craig. So, I just wanted to check with you.”

She gnawed on her lip.

Why wasn’t he saying something? Why had she picked now of all times to say something. Sure, it had been a lingering thought over the past two weeks, but she needed to ask it now. Better now when she hadn’t really moved in yet.

Mack was silent for so long, she started to get worried. She turned her head to see what he looked like. His face was set, his eyes narrowed while he stared down at her.

“
It seems I’ve been somewhat lax. You can trust it won’t happen again.”

Mack grabbed her by the wrist and towed her toward the hallway. What the heck? “Mack?”

He turned her as they entered the bedroom, swinging her to stand in front of him. He moved toward the bed, pulling down the covers before turning back to her.

“
Take your clothes off,” he said, his voice hard and unyielding.

“
What?” Hold on. What the fuck?

“
Either you trust me or you don’t. I’m only going to repeat myself once. If you trust me, take your clothes off.”