Is Three A Crowd? (22 page)

Blake moved up her body and kissed her lips while Nathan slowly drew his fingers from her.

“Oh, my, did we always start the day like this?” She meant to tease them but was curious.

“We usually ended the days like this,” Nathan told her, settling beside her, his hand stroking her belly.

“I’ll take it whenever I can get it, morning,
noon
, or night.” Blake laughed, and Nathan gave him a scowling look out of habit.

“Where do we go from here?” she asked, hesitant to hear their answers.

“I say we sleep for a bit,” Nathan decided, moving to lie closer to her, his arm protectively over her hips.

“I could nap,” Blake added, snuggling on her other side.

Maris didn’t let herself think about what they’d done, what she prompted. Instead, she let herself drift off to sleep, the reality of them both fucking her at the same time forming in her mind.

* * * *

There were no awkward morning moments when she woke later. The shower was running, and both men were gone from beside her. Nathan exited the bath with a towel wrapped around his hips, using a second to dry his hair.

“Morning,” he said with a huge smile.

“Morning,” she managed, suddenly embarrassed, grabbing for the sheet to cover herself with. She heard the water shut off, and Blake was beside the bed, toweling his naked body.

“No covering up, Maris. We get to look at you all we want.”

Maris felt an embarrassed heat chase up her chest, past her neck, and land on her cheeks.

“Why not jump in the shower and meet us downstairs for coffee?” Nathan tossed the towel he was holding to the foot of the bed and began dressing. Blake watched every move she made, laughing at her embarrassment.

“Darlin’ it’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” he said, smiling while he picked his clothes from the floor.

“Maybe to you two, but this isn’t normal behavior for me.”

“Thank God it wasn’t, or we might never have gotten you here.” Nathan’s tone spoke more than his words.

“Shower, my dear, or we’ll both jump you again.”

“Promises, promises,” she mused, dropping the sheet and crawling to the bedside. She stood to steady herself and let her body reach to a full stretch, her arms high above her head as she worked out the kinks.

“Standing like that will get you two hard cocks again,” Nathan mused, tossing the towel he’d had tucked around his waist at Blake to stop his forward reaching hand.

“Yeah, coffee sounds good.”

“I’ll be down in a bit,” she said, and managed not to run to the bathroom. Inside the already steamy room, the hot spray felt wonderful against her cum-coated skin and her aching muscles.

“My, my,” she mused, knowing they couldn’t hear her. “Maybe I can have the best of both worlds.”

* * * *

Standing under the hot spray, she let her hands wander along her body with a soft washcloth. It amazed her how normal everything seemed, at least from the men’s actions. She saw a familiar camaraderie between them, each pausing before staking his claim to her, as if they’d planned ahead who would do what and how.

“That’s silly,” she said, using her fingers to massage the soap through her hair. In the confines of the shower, she mused aloud. “Who was I, and how did I manage to get these two men in my bed, at the same time?” She knew it was true in the past, but wondered what would have happened if they hadn’t taken the first step. She was thankful they hadn’t made her decide who to love first. That was a step she was finding hard to contemplate. With the memories she was retrieving so clear, Maris understood that years earlier their bonds had been strong. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t been pushed over the side of
Niagara Falls
by a deranged half sister she never knew was family.

Standing before the mirror, she used her towel to wipe the steam away, tugging a comb through her wet hair. Staring at the reflection before her, an image formed. Another memory, she decided, and tried to focus on it. Instead of one of her men coming to mind, it was a feminine hand reaching from a yellow rain coat, pushing her backward. In that instant, she saw the long red fingernails her stepsister, Robin always agonized over. The scream she let out was involuntary. To Maris it was as if she were falling backward that very moment.

Chapter Eighteen

Nathan and Blake were in the kitchen after their morning interlude, both just short of strutting like peacocks after their morning in Maris’ bed. They sat at the table, coffee cups in front of them. Nathan broke the silence. “I don’t remember it being that easy with the three of us together. This morning, it was like we did this every day.”

“That’s our Maris. Once she decides what she wants, she makes it happen.”

“Can you live like this?” Nathan walked to the pot and brought it back, topping off each of their cups.

“Look, I understand in some unspoken way, she’ll always see you as the true alpha male. Maybe because you’re older.”

“Thanks.” Nathan frowned at Blake.

“Or maybe because you met her first. But together, we seem to fill all her needs. Isn’t that better than always wondering what if?”

“She is one hot bitch in bed, I can’t get around that. When we were alone together it was good, but when it was the three of us, it seems to put her over the top.” Nathan’s admission cost him a part of his pride.

“I get it. It’s the same when she and I were alone. It was amazing, but never the fever pitch she works me into when it’s all of us.”

They heard her scream, and both vaulted from the room, Blake reaching the bedroom first. “Maris?” He pushed ahead, glanced in the room, and when he didn’t see her, headed to the bathroom. Nathan was just behind, all but stumbling into Blake when he stopped short in the bathroom doorway.

“Are you okay?” Blake turned to look at Nathan. She was standing at the sink, her fingers white-knuckled at her grasp.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I had a bad memory.”

“What was it, honey?” Nathan moved into the room and grabbed a bath towel, wrapping it around her. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” She led them back to the bedroom on shaky legs, dropping her weight on the chair beside the fireplace. Nathan bent down before her, and Blake sat on the edge of the ottoman between the chairs.

“I was combing out my hair, and I got a glimpse. It was Robin, her hand pushing me over the edge. And I knew it was her, those deep red acrylic nails she always futzed over.”

“It’s okay now. It was a bad memory, that’s all. You’re safe with us, and we won’t let anyone hurt you again, do you understand?” Nathan waited until she nodded.

“Come on, let’s get you dressed.” Blake hesitated and said, “Did you ever think I’d want you dressed?” He laughed and saw the smile Maris was trying to hold back.

“Coffee,” she whispered, and stood. Nathan watched her take several unsure steps toward the closet. “I want to finish the files today, and I want to get beyond all this.”

“Not a problem, coffee and files. Want some breakfast first?” Blake headed toward the door, and Nathan realized it was a sign of acceptance of their situation.

“No, just coffee.”

“I’ll call Aminta and have him bring us a tray in an hour or so to the greenhouse. In the meantime, you get dressed before we both tackle you to the bed and have our ways with you.”

“Promises, promises,” she said, but didn’t turn to look at him. “Nathan, I’m sorry to be such a pain.”

“Not a pain, Maris. I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but Blake and I both love you. Whatever it takes to make you whole and happy again, that’s all we want.”

“Is it that simple?”

“It might work out that way. Let’s just find you your history and we’ll go from there. Come on, coffee’s waiting.”

“I’ll be right down.” Nathan knew leaving her alone in that bedroom was a necessity, but he didn’t have to like it.

* * * *

The next hours went by in a flash. Being in the greenhouse centered her, but the information she found was hard to believe on several levels. Beyond confirming her mother’s marital situation and their financial situation, she found glimpses of the woman she used to be in the trial transcripts. It seemed her whole, torrid sexual history had been laid open before a jury of strangers. There were copies of the lawyer’s letters to Nathan and Blake, warning them to stay away from her. There were copies of the restraining orders her mother had taken out to do just that. Finally, there were copies of the newspaper articles recounting the completely awful incident, including her mother’s infidelity and ultimate marriage to her father along with the sentence for her stepsister, Robin. She’d been remanded to the custody of a mental health facility until she proved stable to join society again. They gave no projected terms. The last papers were the worst. It was a copy of the letter to her mother from the facility, dated just before her death, that Robin’s release was imminent. Attached to it was a curt note from Nelson, confirming that Robin had been released into his custody, but that she’d disappeared and he had no information about where she currently was.

Maris dropped the pages and started to pace between the planting tables in the greenhouse.

“She’s out there again, trying to hurt me, isn’t she?”

“We don’t know for sure, only that she left her brother’s care without telling him, and he hasn’t seen her since.”

“She’s been on the run for over a year, so why hasn’t she found me or tried to hurt me again?” She continued to pace the aisles. “Maybe she has, and that’s why the last months in
Manhattan
I felt so vulnerable. So am I supposed to live in limbo until she tries again and hope she doesn’t succeed?” She paused and looked directly at her two men. “Is this how you’ve both felt all these years, empty and hollow?” She watched the men glance toward each other and back to her. “Tell me, how did you get through the days?”

“One at a time, my sweet.” Blake stood but didn’t approach her. “While it seems a cliché to say, it really was one day after the other until we started to form some kind of rational life. But, having you back here with us is much better, well worth the wait.”

“I don’t know what to say or think. This morning,” she hesitated, feeling her cheeks heat with embarrassment. She stood tall and shook her hair from her face. “This morning, it all seemed so natural, so easy.”

“That’s how it was with the three of us. Do you really think we would have waited all this time if we didn’t love you enough to share you? Granted, I always thought I wanted a regular, ordinary relationship, one man one woman, but in the last days, I’ve come to realize there is something undeniable about the three of us together. It’s hard to admit I’m not man enough to please you, that it takes Blake to make us complete.”

“Man, I never thought I’d hear you stay that.” Blake gave Nathan a mock salute.

“I never thought I’d say it, but it’s become our reality. The three of us together are a fully functioning unit, one I don’t want to put on hold any longer. If it takes both of us, I’m in for the long haul. I’m not saying I won’t have bouts of jealousy and contempt for Blake, but I understand he’s part of us, of this place, this land, and our relationship.”

“Oh, Nathan, I’m so relieved. I knew I couldn’t decide between you. I was prepared to leave you both and hope you’d find someone who made you happy.”

“Maris,” Blake interceded, “If that were possible, neither of us would have waited for you.”

“So where does this leave us?” Her tone sounded hesitant to her own ear.

“Let’s just take it as it comes.” Blake seemed relieved, and she noted a twinkle in his eyes that had been missing. “How about we all get out of here for a while, go to town for lunch, window shop, anything? Just away from here.”

“Okay, is that all right with you, Nathan?”

“Yeah, it sounds like a plan.”

* * * *

Their time in town turned into a short history lesson of the area, with both men filling in bits of information she’d forgotten.

“You used to love hockey, but hated it when they started using so much padding and protection. You always said it wasn’t a great game unless there was some blood on the ice.” Blake reached to brush the curls from her face.

“I didn’t, I mean, really I was bloodthirsty?”

“Not bloodthirsty, but you liked a good show.”