Absolute Surrender (29 page)

Hugh reached around her waist, insinuating his hands between them to grasp the ties of the drawers. As he did so, layered so closely between the two of them, his knuckles brushed the evidence of
Charles’s arousal, and he paused, catching
Charles’s gaze over her shoulder.

They silently exchanged apologies and understanding in that glance. They
knew
this would happen, had discussed it at length in the carriage on the trip to Pembroke. They
’
d come to a clear understanding, which required a great measure of trust on both their parts. They had to brush aside the discomfort to prevent Amelia feeling any from them. If this was to happen. If this was to work.

This was truly the point of no return, and while the touch he bestowed
Charles was entirely incidental, without purpose, and unavoidable…it
was
contact. Hugh
’s knuckles bent, pressing against
Charles
’s
cock and abdomen, as he grasped the ties and pulled the bow loose, sliding his hands from between the two of them, then returning to finally untie the knot.

It seemed as though it took forever, when in reality the time he
’
d been between them had to have been mere seconds.
Charles’s hips pressed into Amelia as soon as Hugh
’
s hands were free, and Hugh rested his hands momentarily on her hips, taking a single, strengthening breath before his hands moved the fabric of each leg of her drawers, and he smoothed them down her hips, bringing them off. He urged her to step out of them, finding her legs rather more pliable then expected and realized Charles truly
did
have her, supporting all of her weight on him.

“Charles.”

Had the breeze moved another direction, he may not have heard her quiet plea to the other man, or the answer that followed.

“Amelia, I have you, we have you. Don
’
t think, just feel. We have you,”
Charles said quietly.

Hugh watched for a moment as
Charles nipped, licked, pressed and tasted her. It shook Hugh to his core.

Anything for her.

Hugh stood and smoothed the arms of her chemise down, as
Charles moved his arms to allow his access. Hugh
’
s hands skimmed the smooth skin over her rib cage, paused at the nip of her waist and then, with another deep breath, he pushed the chemise down to her hips, leaving her upper body fully unclothed but for the drops of water on her skin and the other man wrapped around her.

Hugh stood momentarily, just taking her in, this woman who
’
d grown from the girl of his best friend. He took up a serviette from the basket and wetted it, then wrung it out on her back, following the water that coursed her spine. He knelt again, and dropping the napkin in the tub, he ran his hands up one smooth leg, playing at the edge of her stocking, feeling the difference between the silk of the stocking and the silk of her skin.

He loosed the tiny bow and slid the stocking down, only to repeat the maneuver with her other leg. This time, as his hand slid up her inner thigh, drawn to the heat of her very core, his hand swept gently across the smooth pink lips he could see peeking out. He saw her hips push back at him to allow more access and knew then she wasn
’
t steeling her control, but allowing her body
’
s response for the moment. That response was magical, it was wondrous, and he had never felt more accomplished in the entirety of his life.

He was overwhelmed by the moment, the reality, something he
’
d never thought to witness. And witness he did
Charles’s hand, slipping down her back to cup one of the sweet globes of her bottom, pulling her closer to him possessively. Hugh
’
s breath halted. He nearly choked on it, and
Charles’s gaze moved to him.

This was it.

Amelia felt. Simply felt. It was the simplest explanation, really. She did nothing else. Her back curved, her hands held gently against Charles’s warm chest. She was naked as the day she stood in. Well, nearly.

She kept her eyes closed.

Her heart was full.

There were hands on her seemingly everywhere. There was a slight breeze, but the bright of the sun cut the chill of it, warming her skin even as the goose bumps rioted against it.

Charles held her, supported her with one strong, solid arm around her waist, his fingers spread against her side, lifting her up. His other hand…his other hand was warm on the round of her bottom. Squeezing and stroking.

Charles’s
hand is on my bottom. On my bottom. I can feel his hand on me…on me. Hugh
’
s as well,
though Hugh
’
s was of less concern to her, except that his hand was there at the same time as Charles’s, or perhaps it was there…because of Charles’s.

Charles’s hand shifted slightly, and she panicked.
Charles…
is touching me.
Charles is touching me. Charles…

Amelia
’
s mind swirled, and she tensed, attempting to ward off the coming deluge of emotion. She knew where that feeling led. She always knew where it led. That feeling, that swirl, always led to the same place.

The same damned place.

The loss of control, the darkness that spreads, the complete failure of her mind—

“Amelia.”

She felt more hands moving on her, up her back, but not Charles’s hands. His hands still held her to him.

Hugh.

She breathed deeply and opened her eyes. These were Hugh
’
s hands, and they calmed her, as they always did. She was grateful.

“Stay with me, Amelia. Stay with us. We’re here. We’re not going anywhere. I have you…
We
have you,”
Charles said.

Amelia shook her head and closed her eyes again. Charles couldn’t be witness to this…this. Charles had never been a true witness to what happened once her tethers broke loose and she lost her mind to the dark. That cold, shuddering place that wrapped itself around her and wouldn’t let go. A deep, swirling terror, nothing to hold on to, no anchor to the world. The fall from herself…

“Hugh.” Her voice broke on his name. She heard it. She knew how her voice sounded and expected Charles to back away again, like he had before. Speaking his name put Hugh between them, like in the gardens. He would always be between them. The pain of it manifested behind her breastbone, spread like a flood to her limbs.

“Amelia, he’s here, he’s with us. Hugh isn’t going anywhere, and…neither am I. Look at me, Amelia. Open your eyes,”
Charles said.

She didn
’
t…instead, she tightened her hands on his lapels. If Charles saw the crazy in her eyes right now, he
’
d leave, and she
’
d be truly lost. She wished for Hugh, and as an answer to that whispered prayer, she felt the full warmth of his body against her back. Warming her soul. Hugh
’
s mouth against her ear stilled her heart’s
raucous cadence.

“Amelia mine, I’m here.
Feel me.
I’m here. Open your eyes.”

Amelia did, and Charles’s beautiful eyes were there like a stormy day bearing down on her. That incessant strength that oozed from his very pores attempted to saturate her very being. She heard the sob more than anything. It rent the air like a crack of thunder, and her skin answered in an electric jolt of response shuddering between them.

Charles held her gaze, refused to let her look away, spoke softly as Hugh breathed against her neck, his hands warming her arms, willing her body to relax into him with his very presence. Hugh took her hands,
willed
them to relax into his, massaged the stiff tension from them, and removed them from Charles’s lapels.

Their fingers entangled, Hugh pressed her hands up Charles’s chest, against his neck, then brought them to Charles’s face, cradling his chin.

“Kiss him, Amelia,” Hugh said.

Charles leaned toward her, his eyes dropping to her mouth. “
Here,
” he said, then touched his mouth to the edge of hers and ran his tongue the length of her lower lip as she gasped and watched his eyes sear her flesh, igniting her nerves, pulling her toward him like static.

Then Hugh’s mouth was on her neck, wet, open kisses running up her nape.

“
Here,
” Charles said again. “Stay here, Amelia. Stay with us.”

Charles’s tongue touched the very center of her upper lip, drawing it out, before he kissed it back. “
Here,
” Charles said so quietly it might have been the breeze. Then he pressed his mouth to hers.

Hugh’s fingers separated from hers, and she held on to Charles, though she felt the loss of that contact in every part of her through the shudder that racked her physically.

“Hugh,” she cried.

“Here,” Hugh replied. “I
’
m still here.” His words warmed her neck. Then his hands alighted on her hips. “I
’
m here,” Hugh said as he pulled her bottom against him, his hands heavy and demanding. “
Here,
” Hugh said, the heavy, thick evidence of his cock resting against her backside. “Here,” Hugh whispered gruffly as the wet fabric of her chemise rose against her leg, his hand gathering it from where it rested against her hips, the fingers moving so slowly. Then his hand smoothed around her thigh, his fingertips cupping her bottom, teasing the crease there, that sensitive flesh where her backside ended and her leg began.

“Hugh,” she breathed and knew the word found it
s
home between Charles’s lips.

“Yes,” Charles breathed back. “Stay with us, Amelia. Stay here.”

She looked at him again in a fascinated way. Charles had seen into her eyes while her mind had tried to hide. She
’
d said Hugh
’
s name into their kiss, and he was
still
here
.

“I
’
m here, Amelia. Look at me,”
Charles said.

She couldn
’
t take her eyes from his for anything. The pull of his gaze was a tangible thing, the strength in his eyes big enough for both of them, for all of them. “Charles,” she whispered against his lips, and she saw an answering spark when the black of his eyes widened, overtaking the chestnut. His eyes darkened, and they held her, mesmerized.

Charles knew she saw it, knew by the way her mouth dropped open that she recognized the passion in him. The pure
want
. He pulled her tighter against him and was reminded of Ender by the feel of his hand on her hip, pushing against parts of Charles that were no longer soft. But it had been
Charles’s
own name
on her lips. It had been
Charles’s
own name
she’d last breathed against him as he looked into her eyes. She was here, and she was with him. She blinked, and the tenuous connection faltered.

“Amelia, stay with me,” Charles said quietly, then
Ender
’
s hand shifted, coming between him and Amelia, pushing against the very core of her womanhood, stroking Charles as
Ender stroked her.

Her eyes widened, and her breath caught.

“Feel, Amelia, feel. Everything is right, this is right, this here—with us, this is right. Just stay with me, just feel.”

Charles saw the slight nod. Her hands slid to his shoulders as she held on to him, and her mouth dropped open so he could see the sweet pink of her tongue, and Charles groaned. The sound resonated between the three of them.
Ender
’
s hand delved between her thighs, his hold on her tightening as did his own.

The puffs of her breath against Charles’s mouth sped, her hands clenching on his shoulders, digging into his muscles through the layers of fabric, and he desperately wished to be rid of his clothes, to give up the blood from his very body to her hands if that would help her find release from this tension. Then her tongue darted out between them, licking his upper lip. Charles tensed, bringing them all closer together.

He slid the hand on her bottom, his knuckles grazing
Ender
’
s cock through the fabric of his trousers until Charles’s finger traced the crease of her thigh, leading him to her center—and Charles had found home. The breath left him in a heady rush at the discovery of her warmth. And he rested there, his hand between her thighs, his fingertips teasing the softest of her lips until they met Hugh
’
s own fingertips, there in the middle, their fingers touching at the confluence of her very being.

“
Charles, I
—”

“Stay with me, Amelia.” Charles heard the roughness of his own voice, the want in it. Knew he needed to rein his passion. This was her moment, this was all for her. This was her awakening, and that he was here for it, that she was with him,
truly with him,
touched him soul deep.

“Amelia,” Charles whispered against her mouth.

Her eyelashes fluttered shut against her cheek as he took her mouth in a searing kiss, Charles’s tongue sliding against hers, sweeping, tasting, tickling, willing her to open to him in every way.

Warmth suffused her core, and Charles knew
Ender felt it as well, his movement against her picking up, the steady roll of his fingers sliding through her wet folds, teasing her core, certainly circling that nub of pleasure. That Charles could feel
Ender stroking her in the answering strokes against his own erection, and against his own fingertips, only drove him further into his want of her.

Her mouth fell open, her head fell back against Hugh
’
s shoulder and her breath turned to veritable pants as she held fast to the remaining
binds
.

Charles moved toward her, his lips against her ear. “Let go, Amelia. You
’
re safe,” he said. His warm breath collected in the shell of her ear, and she cried, her tears joining his breath there. “Let go, Amelia, we have you.”

Her hands clenched on his shoulders, and the whole of her tensed as his arms took all of her weight onto his frame, his hand sliding from her warm heat and pulling her leg up against him as she broke—and he merely held on.

It was the most beautiful moment Charles had ever been witness to. He looked down, caught her gaze, saw her focus soften on him as she bit her lip, then dropped her jaw in a scream. He didn
’
t know whose name had been carried away on the wind, but he chose to hear his own.