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“Several nights.”He looked pointedly at Phillip. “Perhaps they’ll stop now.”

Phillip smiled back at him. “Yes, I hope so.”

* * * * *

Dinner was a lighthearted affair, served by the one remaining footman, Jack Thompson. He’d been mostly relegated to out-of-sight jobs because he’d been injured in the war, but the lack of staff had forced him back into the open. Maggie had secretly decided to keep him there. He needed a boost to his confidence.

With cook gone, they ate a cold, rather simple supper, but Sheldrake surprised them with a bottle of champagne. The mood was festive, and Phillip dismissed the staff early.

Maggie was floating on happiness and champagne. She could hardly believe she was free to love these two beautiful men. She kept gazing between them, stunned at her good fortune. Unfortunately, she still had to tell Phillip about this afternoon and wasn’t sure how to go about it. She wasn’t worried he’d be angry, on the contrary, but she was nervous.

For their parts, Jonathan and Phillip were just as stunned as Maggie. Jonathan found himself several times on the verge of pinching himself to see if it was a dream—Maggie and Phillip and him, together at last. It had taken so long, had seemed so out of reach just a few days ago, and now she was theirs.

Maggie watched in a daze, a secretive, womanly smile on her face, as Jonathan rose and walked around the table to her. Phillip was sitting at the head of the table, Maggie on his right, Jonathan on his left. He placed his chin in his hand, elbow on the table, and watched the two.

Jonathan stopped behind Maggie’s chair, and she playfully tilted her head all the way back, looking at him upside down behind her. It made her dizzy, and she laughed out loud.

“Tell me what’s so funny, Maggie,” he said softly, running the tips of his fingers down her arms, from shoulders to wrists.

Maggie shivered, both at his touch and the deep rumble of his voice behind her. “I’m dizzy,” she answered breathlessly.

Instead of answering her, Jonathan smiled slowly and, without looking away from Maggie, spoke to
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Phillip. “I made love to your wife today.” His voice was quiet, as if he were discussing the weather.

Maggie gasped and her eyes flew to Phillip. Neither his position nor his expression had changed.

“Did you? How marvelous. Did she like it?” Phillip sat back in his chair completely at ease, only the glitter of his eyes giving anything away. Whatever emotion lurked there Maggie couldn’t decipher it.

Jonathan lowered his head and kissed Maggie on her exposed shoulder. His voice was a husky murmur against her skin when he replied, giving her goose bumps. “I believe so, if her moans and screams were any indication.”

Phillip quickly hid a smile behind his hand. Maggie couldn’t understand his lack of a more profound reaction. She stared at him a moment as his laughing eyes met hers, and suddenly she knew.

“You knew,” she whispered incredulously. Her voice got louder. “You knew we’d been together.But how? Oh Phillip, please tell me we haven’t hurt your feelings.” Her own heart was breaking at the thought that Phillip might be even slightly upset at this development. She felt guilty that she had barely spared him a moment’s thought all afternoon since she and Jonathan had made love.

Phillip rushed to reassure her, reaching out and placing his hand over hers on the table. “Maggie, darling, set your mind at ease. I’m overjoyed that you have finally welcomed Jonathan into your body, that I can truly share you with himnow, and him with you. I did know already because I walked in on you two this afternoon. You were so caught up in fucking each other, you didn’t even know I was in the room, and it was beautiful. It was very hard not to join you.”

Maggie’s blush colored her whole face red, and she furtively looked around. “I would prefer not to discuss this in the dining room,” she whispered loud enough to be heard by both men.

Jonathan was still standing behind her, although he’d lowered his hands to his sides. She glanced over her shoulder at him and his face was closed, devoid of emotion. Oh Lord, she thought, what have I said now? The thought led to another—it wasn’t going to be easy to keep two men happy, especially when she refused to give them what they truly wanted. She abruptly pushed her chair back and felt Jonathan ease it from beneath her as she stood.

Her face still burned with embarrassment. “Enjoy your port, gentlemen, I shall see you in the drawing room.” She rushed from the room before either could answer, desperate for a little time to prepare for the discussion ahead.

Phillip glanced at Jonathan and saw the other man staring hard at the floor, a frown furrowing his brow.

“What’s wrong, Jonathan?” he asked quietly. “What did I say or do to upset Maggie so?”

Jonathan looked at him bleakly. “I believe I am to blame. Clearly she does not wish our new physical relationship to continue.” He roughly pushed the chair back under the table, banging the two together loudly in the quiet room.

Phillip stood immediately and stepped over to Jonathan, placing a hand on his forearm. “That’s impossible, Jonathan. You know Maggie as well as I do, she would never fuck a man just for the thrill of it. She shared her body with you because she loves you, and she will continue to do so.”

“I don’t know, Phillip.” Jonathan’s voice betrayed his worry and confusion. “Then why is she so upset
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that you know about her and me? She has to know after all this time that this is what we’ve wanted all along.”

Phillip gently placed his arm around Jonathan’s shoulders tucking him into his side, and steered him toward the doors. “The only way to find out is to ask her. Let’s grab the port and go talk to our wife.”

* * * * *

In the drawing room Maggie was pacing back and forth before the empty hearth, wishing she hadn’t run from the dining room so precipitously. She had need of a drink or two to fortify her. How on earth was she to tell these two wonderful men that she could not, would not, let them share her bed at the same time? She hoped and prayed that some arrangement could be made that satisfied them. Surely the fact that she loved them both and was willing to fuck them both individually would be enough? It had to be because she just couldn’t give them what they asked.

She whirled to face the door as the two men entered. She tried to school her features into a serene mask, knowing even as she did so that she was failing miserably. Then she saw the port and glasses in Phillip’s hand.

“Please say that one of those glasses is for me,” she asked, only half joking.

Phillip quirked a brow at her.“All you have to do is ask, darling, and you shall receive whatever you desire.”

His double meaning was not lost on Maggie and she cursed inwardly as she felt her face flame again.

Surely she was beyond blushing at this point?

Phillip grinned knowingly at her expression, but when she glanced at Jonathan standing quietly—too quietly—at Phillip’s side, his expression was as closed as when she’d left them.

“A drink is all I desire right now,” she mumbled, turning toward the settee. She didn’t miss Jonathan’s slight flinch at her words. Oh God, this was not starting well. She sighed a little too loudly and Phillip heard.

“What is it, Maggie?” he quietly asked, even as she heard the sound of him pouring drinks, the clink of decanter against glass, the splash of the liquor in the crystal. “Surely it can’t be as awful as the not knowing,” he continued.

She turned back to him as she sat down and he was walking toward her with a full glass. She took it from him. “Please join me, sit,” she pleaded, indicating the two chairs opposite the settee, looking pointedly at Jonathan. He reluctantly moved toward one of the chairs as if he were going to the gallows, she thought, and realization came.

“Oh Jonathan,” she cried, reaching out to him. He slid forward in the chair he’d just taken and took her hand. His was cold, clammy, belying his emotionless expression.

“Jonathan, dearest,” she told him, letting her love show on her face and in her voice. “I love you, and I desire above all things that you should stay here, with Phillip and me, for as long as you like—forever, I hope.” The relief on Jonathan’s face was so intense that Maggie nearly wept at the pain she’d inadvertently caused in her mishandling of the situation.

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Phillip slid into the chair next to Jonathan’s and placed his hand over Jonathan’s on the armrest. “I told you so, Jonathan. Maggie is as constant as the sun. She would never share her warmth with you only to take it away.”

Maggie looked at him askance. “That was quite poetic, sir. To what do I owe these rhapsodies?”

Her tart reply had both men smiling and broke the tension, as she had hoped.

“Why, my darling wife, do I not sing odes to your beauty and love each night?” Phillip teased, unconsciously raising Jonathan’s hand from the armrest to rub it along his cheek.

The look Jonathan gave him caused Maggie’s breath to catch. She flashed back to the daydream she’d had of the two of them fucking. Had they? She lookedagain, sure she had misread the love on Jonathan’s face. He and Phillip were best friends, had been for a very long time. They shared women, for heaven’s sake. Of course there would bea closeness between them greater than other men shared. She’d almost forgotten the thread of the conversation when she realized both men were looking at her oddly.

“Maggie?”Phillip asked, his voice puzzled. He’d let go of Jonathan’s hand and the two were sitting back in their chairs, relaxed. Had she imagined the touch, the look? She couldn’t be sure anymore. She didn’t even remember letting go of Jonathan’s hand. She hastily put her drink down. She’d obviously had too much liquor already tonight.

Maggie pasted on a smile.“Odes? Is that what you call it? I thought you were merely moaning a great deal and ordering me about.”

Jonathan’s bark of laughter soothed Maggie’s nerves. Yes, she’d just imagined that flash of something between them. She refused to dwell on the disappointment she felt at the thought.

“The greatest compliment a woman can receive is to render a man incapable of coherent speech,” Phillip was saying with an amused tilt to his lips, his eyes brimming with laughter.

“Hmmm,” was all Maggie could muster in response.

Phillip suddenly leaned forward, serious again.“Maggie, why were you so upset earlier, when you fled the dining room? What did I say?”

Maggie’s breath caught in her throat, and she literally had to cough to clear it. She knew she sounded as if she was choking, and in a way she was. She was choking on regret and guilt and, yes,fear— fear that they would seek out another woman who could satisfy them as they desired.

Jonathan quickly came to his feet and rushed over to Maggie on the settee when she started choking.

What the hell had happened? Why was she so upset? He could see the panic in her eyes.

“Maggie? Maggie, are you all right?” He barely refrained from pounding her on the back, instead taking her hand in his.

She began vigorously nodding her head and spoke hoarsely. “Yes, yes, I’m fine.” After a few deep breaths, she continued.“How utterly embarrassing and unnecessary. I seem to be handling this whole affair rather badly.”

She clutched Jonathan’s hand so tightly he nearly protested, but one look at her face assured him she
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needed the support.

“Phillip,” he said quietly to the other man still sitting in his chair but relaxed no longer, “join us here.” He indicated the settee on Maggie’s other side.

“Oh no!”Maggie cried, leaping up and away as if the furniture were on fire. Her sudden movement startled Jonathan so much he fell back against the upholstered cushions.

“What the… Maggie, what’s going on?” he demanded, perhaps a little more forcefully than he ought, but really, this was getting ridiculous.

“You don’t want me, Maggie?” Phillip asked quietly, his voice expressionless.

“Oh no,” she cried again, “that’s not it! That’s not it at all! Oh bother, why can’t I just say it?” She was wringing her hands, standing a good distance away from both of them. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“I do want you both, you see, just not together. That’s the problem.” She opened her eyes and Jonathan could see the tears lurking there. “I’m so sorry, really I am, but I just can’t. I know it’s what you want, but I…I just can’t. Can’t we be together, separately? Isn’t there some way youcan…can share me without, well, sharing me? Can’t that be enough?” Her voice, her eyes, her whole body pleaded with them for understanding.

Phillip had fallen back against the chair, slumping with his hands over his face. “Christ, is that all?” He moved his hands and Jonathan could see the relief on his face. “Maggie, we, well, at least I, never expected you to take us both to your bed at the same time. I know you’re not ready for that,” he held up his hand to gesture her to silence when she tried to speak, “and may never be. That’s all right. Having you at all is enough, being able to love you and knowing that Jonathan has that right as well is enough. I love you more now than I thought was possible, and I always will no matter what, even if you never take us to bed together. Does that set your mind at ease?”

Both Maggie and Phillip turned to look at Jonathan expectantly. He had to clear the emotion from his throat before he could speak. “I told you earlier today, Maggie, that loving you is enough, that being inside you is enough.” Maggie blushed at his words, and his heart expanded in his chest with love for her.

She had gone against all she’d been brought up to believe and the strict codes of behavior by which she had always lived to love him, to make love with him, to enjoy him—him, who never thought to be worthy of a love like that. Telling her the lie was hard, but he’d do it to set her mind at ease, to make her comfortable with this arrangement, until they could seduce her yet again into giving them their ultimate desire. He felt only a small flash of guilt. He knew, in the end, that desire would give her the ultimate pleasure, all that she deserved.