Boston Avant-Garde 2 - Crescendo (9 page)

Riveted, Leslie watched his heavy testicles clench closer to his body.

Joshua’s breathing grew harsher. “He’s ready to come, Leslie. Are you ready to watch him?”

A moan erupted from the very core of her body. Seth opened his eyes just before a stream of white ejaculate spewed from the head of his cock. The hot fluid splashed against her belly, and she convulsed, nearly coming undone.

Joshua spread the satiny liquid down her body and through her slit. The feel of their combined essence sent her spiraling over the edge. Her hips bucked as her body shattered into orgasm. Joshua held her steady, working her clit and pushing her past climax into a higher state of desperate arousal.

She struggled to breathe. “I can’t.”

Seth gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You can.”

Seth lifted her away from Josh and held her against his chest while Joshua shifted to his knees. She shuddered as Seth reached down and spread her pussy wide. Joshua groaned in exquisite pleasure when Seth guided him to Leslie’s slick opening. Watching them both, Seth pressed his thumb to her throbbing clit just as Joshua’s full length eased deep into her channel.

The sensation of his heavy cock stretching her inner muscles was agony and ecstasy. Leslie was already strung tight from being goaded past her orgasm by Joshua. He drove his hips upward, pushing his broad head deeper into her core until she was whimpering with each thrust.

“Hold her open, Josh. I want a taste.”

The sight of Seth kneeling before her was too much. His tongue skated from the root of Joshua’s cock to the distended hood of her clit. The pinprick of sensation spread until her pussy melted around Joshua’s shaft. She fixated on that point of contact. It was more erotic than she’d imagined possible, and she gave in to the pleasurable sensations overloading her brain.

Seth’s tongue worked her folds, suckling in time with Joshua’s thrusts until her body was wholly focused on their rhythm. Her muscles knotted, heat pooling at the base of her spine. Her cunt bore down on Joshua, holding his cock moments before a climax exploded from her center.

Joshua thrust deep, the vein in his cock pulsing as he ejaculated deep inside her. Seth moaned against her pussy, suckling their mingled fluids and pressing gentle kisses to her swollen clit.

Had Joshua not been holding her, Leslie would’ve collapsed. Her muscles were warm and languid, incapable of supporting her weight. She nestled against him. A yawn took her completely by surprise.

Seth chuckled. “I think we need to get you in shape.”

“Practice makes perfect,” Joshua agreed.

She was too tired to argue with them. Although tired really wasn’t the right word. She was exhausted, sated for the moment, and content to curl up between her two sexy lovers.

The bed moved as Seth adjusted his position. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close. He was warm, and his skin was damp with his spicy sweat. She inhaled as his scent enveloped her in its security.

The bed moved again, and Joshua was gone. He’d rolled away and gotten up. Her heart gave an unpleasant lurch.

“Where are you going?” Seth’s muscles rippled with tension.

“I need to get some shut-eye before tomorrow. If we’re keeping the meeting with Mikayla to discuss a settlement for Niles’s custody case, I want to be on my toes.”

There was a pause, and then Seth relaxed beside her. He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “Suit yourself.”

Leslie closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see Joshua walking away.

* * *

The penthouse was utterly silent. Forty floors above street level, it was next to impossible to hear the heartbeat of Boston’s streets. Unfortunately, none of that mattered to Joshua. Exhaustion stalked his psyche. Images of Leslie’s body cradled against his chest tickled the edges of his mind. The memory of their shared passion sent him reeling into confusion. He’d never experienced anything like this before. He’d never expected to.

Gaining enjoyment from watching Seth take possession of a woman’s body was nothing new. Neither was reaching his climax under his best friend’s gaze. They’d eventually hoped to find a woman to share in the excitement of double penetration, Joshua’s cock sliding in and out of a wet pussy while Seth pushed deep into a tight ass. Those were all physical things. What had happened between them and Leslie was different. One woman had forged a deep connection between him and Seth. That alone told him this was about more than just great sex.

Sitting upright, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. The chill air seeped through the sweatpants he’d pulled on after his hasty retreat from Leslie’s bedroom. They were the same pants she’d borrowed the night before. Her scent lingered on the fabric. He should’ve thrown them in the wash, but he’d liked the idea of her in his clothes. Now they were a constant reminder of the woman who’d managed to get under his skin despite his better judgment.

Mottled blue and white moonlight filtered through the windows and cast shadows on the floor. Careful to tread quietly, he moved through the open door and rested his shoulder against the frame.

They were both dead to the world. Their deep, steady breaths fell in tandem. Even in sleep, Seth couldn’t seem to stay away from her. His muscular frame curled subtly around her slender form. She slept on her belly with one long leg pulled up beneath her and Seth’s arm for a pillow. Tangled locks of her red hair spread out over Seth’s shoulder like a silken drape.

Something about their position on the bed seemed strangely off-kilter. It took Joshua a moment to realize the twosome lay off-center on the wide mattress. Leslie slept with Seth to her right. Their position left a third of the bed oddly empty. And though beds had been divided in half since men and women had started sharing them, the one before him looked strangely unbalanced.

The urge to join them was almost overwhelming. Joshua stared until his breathing was ragged. It would be so satisfying to slip beneath the sheets and pull Leslie into his arms. He’d bury his face in her hair and drift off to sleep listening to her and Seth’s even breathing. But he couldn’t open himself to the emotional bond he sensed building between the three of them.

Seth had already offered Leslie a long-term relationship once. She’d walked out. If Seth couldn’t maintain his objectivity this time around, then it was up to Joshua to prepare for the possibility that this brief moment was as fleeting as everything else had always been.

Chapter Eight

If Leslie had been the least bit savvy and cosmopolitan, she would’ve known better than to get used to sleeping with a warm set of arms wrapped around her body. Unfortunately, she was nowhere near that levelheaded or experienced in the relationship arena. She should have been focusing on the reality of shoebox apartments and sleeping alone. Getting attached to Seth was the height of stupidity, but it seemed impossible to avoid. Her perpetual smile ruined any attempt at trying to remain cool and composed.

“Obviously the sex is just as good or better than it ever was before.”

Not even Jen’s wrinkled nose and dour mood could squash the sense of tingling acceptance Leslie had carried around since opening her eyes and stretching within the circle of Seth’s warm embrace.

“Nope.” She swatted Jen’s round backside as her friend leaned over to adjust her cello case. “Good and better don’t cut it at all. Try fantastic, amazing, and unbelievably satisfying.”

“Yeah, well, remember that some of us still live in the real world of sharing one-bedroom apartments with our sisters who call you to come get them at a club at two in the morning because some guy left them high and dry with no cab fare.” Up went the cello case as she slung the carry straps over her shoulders.

There was a hint of real spring warmth in the air as they exited the music building and descended the steps into the quad. Students lingered in the common area, enjoying the promise of better weather and sharing the latest gossip. Leslie waved to a group of girls from her third-hour strings class. Their vivaciousness made her feel ancient.

Jen craned her neck to see past the narrow entrance to the quad. “Niles had better be at the curb waiting with that cab, or I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”

Leslie grabbed her friend’s arm before she mowed down a slender girl in a leotard. “Slow down. You’re practically running. At this rate, you’re going to kill a student. And although the headmistress might cut you some slack, I’m pretty sure that would mean losing your teaching job.”

“Some days I think that would be a blessing.” Jen heaved her shoulders to keep the cello balanced.

“You don’t mean that,” Leslie said. “We’re only required to teach three classes a semester. You signed up for that and thirty private lessons a week on purpose.”

“That’s a money thing, not a love of teaching thing.” Jen sidestepped to avoid smacking the neck of her cello. “Not all of us can give up teaching private lessons and live off the Trio’s earnings.”

Leslie didn’t bother correcting Jen’s erroneous assumptions about her finances. No need to borrow trouble.

“This thing weighs a ton! I’m really glad I didn’t decide to take up the double bass the day our orchestra teacher let us try out instruments. My cello is almost more than I can handle.”

The words sent Leslie spiraling back through time to the moment when her grandfather had placed a violin in her hands for the very first time. She vividly recalled the conservatory lights gleaming in his silvery hair as he gave her the special smile he saved just for her. His big hands had made the tiny piece look like a toy. At three years old, she’d played a sixteenth-size instrument. From the very first time she’d dragged a bow awkwardly across the strings, she’d known it was going to be her life.

“You started really young, right?”

Startled by Jen’s question, Leslie wondered if her thoughts were that transparent. “My grandfather was a violin teacher, so he started me before my fourth birthday.”

Jen ducked through the stone arch at the quad entrance, making sure the scroll portion of her covered instrument didn’t drag across the pillar. “He was a teacher? Really? Where did he teach?”

“Why the twenty questions?” Leslie’s palms grew sweaty on her instrument case. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t like to talk about her grandfather or anything else related to her past. She’d told her story once, to the headmistress, and only when she was begging to be allowed to join the Boston School for the Arts as a working student on scholarship.

“Niles was asking me if either of us owned a half-size violin that Caleb could borrow.” Jen paused at the sidewalk and looked down at her watch. “Speaking of Niles, if he doesn’t hurry, we’re going to be late to the wedding.”

It only made sense that Niles would want Caleb to start playing the violin. Like Leslie, Niles played both the violin and viola. It was easier to start a beginner on the violin, if he could find a small, student instrument to teach with.

She would’ve helped him in a heartbeat. To her knowledge, her instruments, with the exception of
La Bella Ragazza
, were still in the conservatory at her grandfather’s home. If she closed her eyes, she could picture them in the glass case on the long wall. They’d been there since she was a little girl, waiting for the sunlight to stream in through the windows and burnish their spruce and maple surfaces in shades of red and brown.

“Finally! There he is.” Jen waved madly as a cab recklessly skidded to a halt at the curb.

Niles tumbled from the back door, his black bowtie askew and his buttons mismatched. Honey-colored hair fell over his forehead, and he tossed it back before giving them a smile. “Sorry I’m late. I had to take Caleb upstairs to Mrs. Potter’s apartment.”

Holding the cello case, he helped Jen slide the straps from her shoulders before stowing the large instrument in the trunk of the cab.

When he reached for
La Bella Ragazza
, Leslie held it out of range. “That’s okay. It’ll ride up front with me.”

He shook his head. “You are so weird about that thing.”

She opened the front door and settled herself on the seat before carefully wedging her instrument case between her legs on the floorboard. Before Niles and Jen had even shut the rear doors, the crazy driver was already butting into traffic.

“I don’t know why you want Caleb to play the violin. There are way too many violin players already.” The opinionated statement was textbook Jen.

Niles gave her his best patronizing smile. “Poor little cellist. There are plenty of mediocre violinists out there. If I start him now, Caleb has a chance to be great.”

That was all it took to start a lively debate. Pushing Jen’s buttons was one of Niles’s favorite pastimes. Thankful for the distraction, Leslie sank into the dingy seat. Brushing her fingers over the worn end of her violin case, she wondered why the past never wanted to stay in the past.

* * *

“Don’t look at me. You’re the one who intended to sleep with her.” Seth jabbed Joshua in the ribs.

Joshua adjusted his tie and straightened his cuffs. “I’d have never gotten to her pussy.”

Seth took the bait. “Why’s that?”

His best friend gave him a smug smile. “I would’ve kept my cock lodged in her throat to keep her quiet.”

Choking back a laugh of epic proportions, Seth pasted a smile on his face and stood alongside Joshua to greet Mikayla Stevens, the opposing council for Niles’s custody case. He’d picked the busy steak house because the atmosphere was just quiet enough for conversation without allowing too much privacy. To that end, they’d commandeered their standard table near the center of the main dining room. Servers buzzed around the crowded room with steaming platters of food held high. A bottle of good wine sat open on the table, but they hadn’t waited for their guest before helping themselves to a glass. Considering Joshua’s recent date with Mikayla, romantic entanglements were something they needed to actively discourage.

Seth watched Joshua shake Mikayla’s hand. His friend touched her only as long as courtesy demanded. Nothing in Josh’s expression gave any indication he was even remotely attracted to the woman. Relieved, Seth offered her his own brief handshake and waited for her to sit down.