Rule of Three (25 page)

He too nodded. “What about your families?” he asked.

She frowned. “What about them?”

“What will you tell them?”

She’d been so freaked out about her parents knowing what she, Chris and Dag were doing, and now here they were discussing making this a permanent arrangement. “We don’t have to tell them. They like you. Maybe after a while, when you’re even more a part of my family, we can sort of…break it to them…”

He nodded, his eyes full of emotion. “Yeah. That could work.”

“No.” Chris spoke up.

She and Dag both swiveled their heads to look at him.

He shook his head. “No,” he said again. “We have to tell them.”

Her breath stuck in her chest. “Chris…”

“My family’s not such an issue,” he said. “They live far away. But I’ll tell them.” His jaw tightened and she could only imagine the guts that would take. Her heart swelled with love for him. “I’ll tell them if they’re coming to visit, or if we go see them.” He met Dag’s eyes. “It’s not fair to you to sneak around and deny your relationship with us.”

Dag’s eyes got very shiny. He reached over and grabbed Chris’s hand in a tight grip.

“People at work are one thing,” Chris continued. “We don’t need to announce anything and it’s our own business. But family…and friends…need to know the truth.” He sucked in a breath. “I know you don’t want to disappoint them, Kass. I know you’ve always been their angel. But they’ll still love you. They might have a hard time understanding at first, but they love you.”

“Christ, man,” Dag said hoarsely. “You’re killing me here.”

A smile flickered on Chris’s lips.

“But Kassidy’s right,” Dag said. “Maybe we should just wait until I’ve been around longer, and ease them into it.”

Kassidy nodded and leaned into Chris.

Chris lifted his chin. “I’d do it,” he said. “I’d tell them right now. But if you think it’s better to wait a while…okay.”

They all nodded.

“I’ll tell Hailey,” Kassidy said. She closed her eyes briefly, thinking about her last conversation with her sister. This time, she knew Hailey wouldn’t judge her or tell their parents before she was ready. Her heart squeezed.

“And one more thing,” Dag said.

Now Kassidy bumped her forehead against his shoulder. “What else?”

“Where am I going to sleep?”

Oh god. That was his question?

“Thank god we bought that king-size bed when we moved in here,” Chris said, echoing her own thoughts, and all three of them laughed.

“Okay,” Dag said.

“Anything else?” she asked Dag.

“Oh probably,” he said, leaning down to brush his lips over her cheek. “Probably a million things. I guess we’ll figure some of it out as we go.”

“We’ll figure it out together,” Chris said.

Kassidy let out a long breath. “Thank you.” Her lips trembled. She could hardly breathe, excitement and joy bubbled up so fiercely inside her. “I was afraid I was going to lose both of you.” Tears blurred her vision.

“I think that’s what we were all afraid of,” Dag said with a rough chuckle. “I was pretty damn sure that’s what had happened to me.”

“Yeah.” Chris sighed. “Me too, dammit.” He rubbed his mouth. Emotion filled his eyes, and even though he hated all this emotional crap, as he would call it, she sensed his relief that things were working out. She also sensed his hesitation, and she knew at that moment, despite his courage at being willing to speak up and tell her parents, he was still afraid, still confused.

She reached up and touched his face. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered, using his own words. “I promise. I’ll be with you.”

He closed his eyes, covered her hand with his and pressed it to his face. “Yeah. I need you, Kass.”

“I’m here.”

She moved into his arms, and he wrapped her up, his body hot and damp with perspiration as if he’d been running miles and miles, and she felt his trembling too. “I love you,” she murmured against his lips. “I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart, so much.”

His mouth found hers and clung in a long, heartfelt kiss.

Then she turned to Dag, who sat so close, watching with a soft expression on his face. “I love you too,” she whispered. “And thank you.”

He lifted an eyebrow, smiling. “For what?”

“For not being jealous. When I kiss Chris. When we make love.”

“I was jealous of you. At first.”

She drew back a bit. “You were?”

“Hell yeah. When I got here. That night we had dinner. I knew Chris was seeing someone, but I didn’t know you’d moved in together. I had this faint stupid hope that maybe things had changed, but when I saw you, and I saw how much in love with you Chris is…” He hitched a big shoulder. “I was jealous, damn jealous.”

“Oh.” Her chest tightened.

“But…” He reached out and smoothed some strands of her hair back. “It wasn’t long before I was attracted to you too. Which wasn’t exactly what I’d planned, and god knows I didn’t need any more complications in my fucked-up life.”

Her eyes searched inside his, seeing the truth of what he was saying. She turned to Chris. “What about you? You’ve never been jealous of me and Dag.”

He moved his head slowly, side to side. “No. I never have been. I don’t know if I can explain it…” He paused, searching for words.
“I feel happy when you’re happy–even if it’s with him. And
I want to give to Dag. I feel like I’m giving him something when you and he…make love.”

“And I felt like you were giving
me
something,” she said with a smile. “Like you’d given me a special gift I didn’t even know I’d wanted.” And she wanted to give him that too. So much.

“There’s no room for jealousy in this,” Dag said in a firm voice. “For any of us. Ever. If anyone ever feels that way, you gotta say something.” And his gaze zeroed in fiercely on Chris.

Chris choked on a laugh, gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, yeah, I know you mean me. Okay, so I’m not good at talking about that. I’ll try to be better.”

Dag tipped Kassidy’s chin up then and kissed her. He tasted of Scotch and the same minty gum Chris tasted of, and she knew then that they’d kissed. A thrill of heat ran through her and her pussy clenched. Dag must have felt it because he deepened the kiss, fingers hard on her jaw, his tongue licking into her mouth, his mouth opening wider on hers.

Her breasts swelled and her nipples tingled. She moved from Dag’s mouth to Chris’s then back again, her hands sliding around the backs of both their necks. “I love you guys,” she whispered, the complete preposterousness of it only a vague brush at the edges of her mind. Time drifted as they kissed and touched, and with her hands on their necks, she brought both their faces closer to hers…closer to each other.

She pulled back, not far, just a bit, all of them breathing the same air, sitting there on the couch. “I want you to kiss again,” she whispered.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chris’s eyes flickered. “Again?”

“Yes. I know you kissed.”

He and Dag shared a look. Everything inside her pulled up tight and hard as she waited. She shifted back just a bit more so they had room. She relaxed her hold on their necks. She wasn’t going to push them together.

They looked at each other. The air around them caught on fire, flames licking over her skin. Their eyelids drooped, their faces moved closer together. And they kissed.

Dag slid his hand around the back of Chris’s neck too, over hers, and his did tighten and pull Chris toward him. Their mouths connected in an open-mouthed, fierce kiss. With identical low groans, they ground their mouths together and she watched with hot fascination.

It was beautiful. That was all she could think. Beautiful. She saw tongues as their mouths lifted, joined again, the heat flaring higher around them. Chris’s hand slid to Dag’s shoulder and tightened there, but his other hand was on her leg, and he held on tightly to her too.

“Jesus.” Chris drew back, gasping, his mouth wet. He slanted a glance her way, his eyes questioning. She smiled at him and drew his head to hers so she could kiss him again.

“I wanna do more than kiss you,” Dag said to Chris, his voice a black velvet brush over her senses.

Chris licked his lips. She’d never seen him look so hesitant and it made her heart swell a little.

Was he sure about this? God, she didn’t want him to do things he was going to regret. But…they’d talked. They’d kissed. They’d come home to her, together. He had to want this or they wouldn’t be here.

“Like what?” Chris finally asked, tipping his chin up. Dag rubbed a thumb over Chris’s bottom lip.

“I wanna suck your cock,” Dag said. The air squeezed right out of Kassidy’s lungs and Chris’s lips parted. “And then I wanna fuck your ass.”

Oh dear god. A small moan leaked out of her mouth. Her body was melting, her pussy clenching hard at his words.

“Jesus,” Chris muttered.

Her gaze dropped to his fly and, oh yeah, he was as hard as a flagpole beneath his suit trousers. She guessed that took care of her worries that he might be doing something he didn’t really want to.

“Here?” Chris asked. “Or in the bedroom?”

He was always the one giving direction, and she had to smile at him letting Dag take the lead. How long would that last?

But this was new to him, all new, scary new, she could still see the flashes in his eyes that told her he was still a little apprehensive.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed, and he turned his gaze to her. “Need you, sweetheart,” he said, voice rough and shaky. “You have to be there.”

“I know.” She held his gaze steadily. “I’m here. Always here.” She glanced at Dag. “We’re both here for you, you know that.”

“Yeah.” His eyes closed briefly.

“In the bedroom,” Dag said abruptly. “Now.”

He led the way back to the bedroom where Kassidy had shed tears not that long ago. And even though over the last few weeks the three of them had grown so comfortable together and it no longer felt weird to be doing this, tonight felt…different. She, too, felt a little unsure. Her guys had always been focused on her
–
undressing her, kissing her, making her come over and over again. She loved it.

But tonight wasn’t just about her. She stood there, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. Dag looked up and caught her eye. He smiled.

He moved toward her, all long legs and lean muscle, a wicked promise in his dark eyes. “Kassidy.” He bent his head and kissed her and his hands started removing her clothes
–
the unsexy sweat pants she’d changed into after work, the thin T-shirt, the cotton bra. Chris stepped up behind her and they fell into their rhythm, the cadence of three, one lifting, one pulling, until she stood between the walls of heat that were their bodies, one in front, one behind. Lust sliced through her, her heart pattering in a rapid beat, their hands and mouths sending sparks sizzling over her skin, through her skin, right inside her where they sparkled and shimmered.

“Oh yeah,” she whispered, running her fingers through Dag’s silky hair, burying her other hand in Chris’s shorter hair at the back of his head. “Yes.”

“Three of us,” Dag murmured against her ear. “All together. At the same time. Chris fucking you. Me fucking Chris.”

She shivered, her insides burning with desperate need.

“But first…” Dag turned to Chris. “Take off your clothes.” Chris dragged his tie over his head, and then shed his rumpled shirt and pants. Dag stripped too, the two of them watching each other undress, while she watched both of them with avid eyes. “You too, baby doll.”

She pushed the sweatpants down over her hips and pulled her T-shirt off, all the while watching the lamplight slide over Dag’s olive skin, highlighting the muscles beneath as he moved closer to Chris, grabbed him and drew him up against him. They kissed again, long, hard kisses, full-body kisses, naked bodies pressed together, all ripped muscle and hair-dusted skin. Dag groaned and thrust both hands into Chris’s hair, holding his head, deepening the angle of the kiss.

It should feel weird watching your boyfriend kiss another man. It should feel wrong. It should feel hurtful. But all she felt was a huge surge of emotion so powerful it brought tears to her eyes. Relief. Joy. Love.

She touched her fingertips to her lips as she watched, her body turning to liquid. Chris grabbed hold of Dag’s shoulders and held on and they kissed again and again.

Then Dag pulled back and reached for her, pulled her to them. Heat from their bodies surrounded her and he kissed her mouth then slid his hands down Chris’s neck, over his shoulders and onto his chest. His fingertips rubbed over Chris’s nipples, almost experimentally, and Chris let out a soft groan. And then Dag reached between them and took hold of Chris’s cock. Chris stood there, eyes closed, fingers digging into Dag’s shoulders.

She moved around behind Chris, slid her arms around him, and rested her chin on his shoulder to watch. She didn’t know if Chris pushed Dag to the floor or if Dag just went down of his own volition, but Dag sank to his knees in front of Chris, still holding his cock. He looked up at Chris, up the length of his body. She watched their gazes connect, her heart still hammering away in her chest, and then Dag’s gaze moved just a fraction, and his eyes met hers. She smiled at him. His eyes flickered with warmth and then he turned his attention back to Chris.

“I have to taste you,” he said to Chris. “I’m gonna suck you. Next time you’ll come in my mouth, but not…” He glanced at Kassidy. “Not this time. I just wanna taste you.”

Chris gave a short nod, and when Dag took him in his mouth, his head fell back toward her. His fingers tangled in Dag’s hair and her mouth opened at the same time Dag’s did as he took Chris in.

“Christ,” Chris moaned, his face tight. “Jesus Christ.”

She rubbed over his chest while Dag sucked on him, licked him with such emotion and tenderness she thought her heart might explode. She loved watching this, the way Dag closed his eyes, rubbed the head of Chris’s cock over his lips, swirled his tongue around it, then opened so wide and took him deep.

Chris’s body vibrated in her arms. It thrilled her to observe Dag finally getting to demonstrate the feelings he had for Chris with action, and to see Chris finding out how good it could be.