Letters to the Baumgarters (18 page)

I cried out, my nails digging into the hard muscles of Nico’s biceps as
he held himself over me, slamming my pussy with his cock, taking me right over
the edge. My eyes never left Mason’s face as I came, my climax wrenched from
me, wracking my whole body with tremors. And then both men were kissing me, my
face and shoulders and neck and breasts, showering me with sweetness.

“My turn.” Mason grinned, getting up on his knees, and I moaned as they
both rolled me onto my belly. Mason grabbed my hips and pulled me to my knees,
taking me from behind. He didn’t mess around, plunging his cock in deep,
filling the space that Nico had just vacated.

“Suck me, bella.” Nico was on the bed in front of me, offering his cock,
and I took it like a baby looking to suckle. I wanted to be filled completely.

“Oh god she’s got such a sweet little cunt,” Mason groaned, reaching
under me so he could grab onto one of my swaying breasts.

“And a hot little mouth,” Nico moaned, grabbing a fist full of my hair.
He moaned when I took the time to run my tongue around the head of his cock,
tickling the ridge, teasing him.

“Ohhh!” I squealed when Mason grabbed both of my hips, slamming into me,
shaking the whole bed, rocking it against the wall.

“That’s it!” Nico’s eyes lit up, watching Mason fuck me. “Do it hard!”

“Don’t forget about his cock,” Mason reminded me, slapping my ass for
good measure.

I yelped, taking Nico between my lips again, the sensation of a cock in
my mouth and my pussy at once almost too much for me to bear. I panted around
his length, moaning as Mason’s balls slammed wetly against my clit.

“Suck that cock!” Mason instructed, shoving me down on it with just the
motion of his hips, driving his cock into me at the same time. “Oh fuck. Your
pussy feels so good, baby. Ahhhh!”

“You want to swallow my cum?” Nico panted, his hips bucking up, the head
of his dick choking me. “Ohhhh yes yes, I’m gonna come in your mouth!”

I just gagged and nodded and tried to suck him faster, feeling his balls
tighten in my hand. Mason groaned behind me and I knew he was watching, his
cock pistoning in and out of me at a furious pace.

“Do it!” he gasped, fucking me so hard it hurt, his fingers rubbing my
clit. “Oh fuck! I’m gonna fill that hot little pussy with my cum! Are you ready
for it, baby?”

I couldn’t respond, Nico already flooding my mouth with a geyser of cum.
My own climax surprised me, coming out of nowhere, my pussy convulsing around
the length of Mason’s cock again and again. He cried out at the sensation ,
plunging violently into me, like a jolt of lightning striking all of us,
followed by the shaking of thunder as we all collapsed onto the bed in a
sweaty, panting heap.

“Oh my god,” I finally gasped, lifting my head and clearing my tangled
hair out of my vision. “What was that?”

“Fucking fantastic,” Mason muttered, his arm thrown over his eyes.

I sat up on my elbow. “I had no idea you were bi.”

Mason snorted laughter. “News to me too.”

“Nico?” I touched his thigh and he jumped, opening one eye to look at me.
“You okay?”

“Dehydrated.” He swallowed, closing his eyes again. “Need… water…”

I smiled. “Want me to get you a glass?”

He groaned and sat, shaking his head. “I have to pee anyway.”

Leaning over, he kissed me softly before padding naked out the door,
shutting it behind him.

“Wow.” Mason let out a pent-up breath. “I mean… wow.”

“Yeah.” I stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. I hadn’t had an
experience like that since…

“I have something to tell you.” I sat up and turned to Mason, taking the
opportunity while Nico was out of the room. “Remember the Baumgartners?”

Mason nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well…” I confessed. “It wasn’t exactly a platonic relationship.”

He sat up on his elbow, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“We were sleeping together.”

“All three of you?” he exclaimed.

I nodded. “It started out just with Carrie. But eventually things
progressed, and I was sleeping with them both. And then… I sort of fell in love
with them.”

He cleared his throat. “Both of them?”

“I know it sounds impossible, but it isn’t,” I went on. “I loved them and
they loved me too.”

“Wow.” He put his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. “I
had no idea.”

“I didn’t advertise it,” I replied. I didn’t remind him that he and I had
been in the middle of getting divorced, either. “I think most people wouldn’t
understand.”

He looked over at me. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Good question, I thought. I glanced at the door, hearing the water
running in the sink, knowing Nico would be back soon.

“Because Carrie and Doc had a special relationship.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I had to make him understand.

“The Baumgartners were committed to each other, no matter what,” I
explained. “Bringing me into their marriage didn’t change their love for each
other.
Nothing
could change that. Don’t you see?”

“No…” He frowned. “Go ahead, hit me over the head with it. What are you
talking about?”

I swallowed and finally spit it out. “I think we’re like that.”

“Like the Baumgartners?”

“Yes!” I cried. The water had turned off in the bathroom. I expected Nico
back any moment. “Look at what we’ve gone through. My god, we even got
divorced, and still, I kept on loving you. I can’t stop loving you, Mason. I
never, ever will.”

“I know.” He smiled softly, brushing the hair away from my eyes. “Me
too.”

“I don’t think it would matter what happened or who came into our lives,
we would still love each other.”

He nodded. “That’s true.”

“So… if we commit to each other, love each other… why can’t we love
someone else too?”

He looked at me and I saw the understanding in his eyes, finally. “Nico?”

I nodded, snuggling up against his chest, waiting. Waiting for him to
explode with anger. Waiting for Nico to come in and break up our conversation.
Waiting for the world to end. Or begin. Whichever came first.

“Why not?” he finally murmured. I lifted my head, looking at him,
incredulous. “Dani, as long as I know you’re mine, I could share you with
anyone. The whole damned world could have you, as long as I knew you were
coming back to me.”

“That’s how I feel too.” I blinked back tears.

“I want you to be happy.” He rubbed his thumb along my jaw line. “And
clearly, Nico makes you happy.”

“You make me happy too,” I countered.

“I know.” He smiled. “But Dani… I have to know you’re mine.”

“I am,” I insisted. “I always will be.”

“Then marry me.”

It wasn’t a question, but I answered it anyway, without hesitation.

“Yes.”

He brightened. “Really?”

“Yes. Yes!” I threw my arms around him and this time I let my tears fall
as we rolled around on the bed, laughing and crying at the same time.

“Forever this time?” he whispered in my ear.

“It was always forever,” I said. “We just took a little break.”

He kissed me, sealing the deal, as Nico came into the room. He stood
there nude, framed in the doorway, looking at us.

“So I guess you’ve made your decision,” he said, looking at me.

Oh god. How much had he heard?

“Yes,” Mason replied, sitting up. I glanced at him, eyes wide. “And we’d
like you to be a part of it, if you’re willing.”

“Come here.” I sat too, reaching my hand out for Nico.

He came to the bed he shared with both of us, listening to what we
proposed, and it
was
a proposal, of sorts. There would be no piece of
paper between the three of us, no legal document, but he would be ours and we
would be his.

And when he said yes, I sobbed with happiness, falling into his arms,
into
both
of their arms. Nothing had ever felt so right.

Chapter Nine

Dear Carrie and Doc,

I made my decision. I made it before I even received your letter, but
of course, you suggested the very thing I ultimately decided on. Go figure! I
can’t thank you enough for being courageous enough to tell me what to do. I
know I was being crazy. I was crazy. Maybe I still am! But it takes quite a
friend to shake another one awake and tell them… what was it? “Making choices
means making commitments.”

Yes, it does. And I’ve committed. Some people may say I need to
be
committed, but I’ve chosen what works for me, for us. Mason was and is and
always will be my first love, just like Doc is yours. I can’t deny that. But I
love Nico too, and thankfully, so does Mason. And both of them love me. What
could be more perfect than that?

I don’t know what will happen in the future, what it may bring. Italy
beckons and Nico’s home and family are here, but Mason can’t speak a word of
Italian (although Nico is working hard on helping him learn!) and his parents,
although he claims he’s not their slave anymore, don’t want him to stay here,
and they’ve made that pretty unequivocally clear.

What happens if Mason and I move back to the states? Will Nico follow?
What happens if I find a job in Italy? Will Mason be willing to stay? So much
is up in the air.

But at least now I know. My choice is made. I have committed myself to
this, and I have two men who love me beyond words. I am a very, very lucky
woman.

* * * *

“I told her we’d come by for half an hour or so.” Nico squeezed my hand
as we climbed the stairs to his mother’s flat. I could hear Mama Dorotea
calling to one of Nico’s siblings, something about setting the table. “She
wanted to do something nice for your graduation.”

“Are you sure you guys want me tagging along?” Mason asked, standing
behind us as we stopped at the door. “I don’t think your mother likes me very
much.”

“I don’t care.” Nico’s jaw tightened. “Besides, we won’t stay long, I
promise.”

Everyone was already there, Nico’s sisters busying themselves setting the
table, except for the younger Caprice, who was holding the baby in her lap. He
was smiling and laughing, almost sitting up by himself already. Anna’s husband,
Sal, and Giulia’s husband, Will, were parked in front of the television, and
Anna’s two kids were on the floor playing a card game.

“There she is!” Mama Dorotea spoke in English, her accent thick. “The
graduation girl!”

There was a big banner “CONGRATULATIONS DANIELLA” hanging on the wall. I
didn’t quibble about the spelling.

Mama Dorotea hugged me, rocking back and forth, patting me on the back,
saying
“Congratulazioni!”
again and again. I thanked her, finally
disengaging myself, only to have her turn her attentions to her son, hugging
him even harder than she had me, crooning over him.

Mason watched this with a mixture of unease and amusement on his face. I
took his hand and squeezed it, leading him into the room.

“Cute kid.” Mason sat on the sofa, looking down at Caprice playing with
Luka on the floor. “He’s getting big.”

“Want to hold him?” Caprice offered, lifting the baby up. I glanced over
to see Mama Dorotea whispering something intently in Nico’s ear.

“Ummm.” Mason didn’t have much choice. Caprice plopped the baby in his
lap, standing and brushing off her jeans.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, heading down the hallway toward her room.

“Okay then.” Mason lifted Luka up under the arms, looking at him. The
baby drooled, giving us a toothless smile. God, it still made my uterus hurt to
look at a baby, but it was different than before. Now it was the pain of
wanting, instead of the pain of loss.

“You look good with a baby in your arms,” I teased him.

He smiled over at me, letting the baby bounce on his knees.

“How’s the heir to the throne?” Nico asked, joining us in the living
room. Mama Dorotea had finally let him go and had busied herself instructing
her daughters to rearrange place settings at the table.

“Drooling,” Mason informed him, watching a dark spot growing on the thigh
of his dress pants where a pool of Luka’s saliva had fallen.

“He’s teething,” Giulia called from the dining room where I could see her
folding napkins. “Breastfeeding is murder nowadays.”

“Oh.” Mason blinked. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“At least he’s getting some,” Will grumbled. He said it in Italian and
Mason raised his eyebrows at me when I laughed.

“Tell you later,” I whispered.

“So Daniella, what are you going to do now that you’ve graduated?” Anna
asked, coming into the living room. She sat on the arm of the chair her husband
was kicked back in. Everyone was speaking English for Mason’s benefit.

I shrugged. “Look for a job, I guess.”

“In Italy or back in the states?” Giulia joined her sister in the living
room, reaching for the baby. Mason gave Luka back and I smiled at his
reluctance.

“I’m not really sure…” I glanced at Mason and then at Nico.

“You have to hear this!” Caprice came into the room waving a CD case.
“I’m in looooooove with this singer!”

Will and Sal protested but she put it on the stereo anyway, some American
pop singer I’d never heard of named Rick Astley.

“Everything okay?” I leaned in so just Nico could hear me over the sound
of the music.

He shrugged one shoulder, looking up as Mama Dorotea appeared in the
doorway.

“Well, in honor of Daniella’s graduation,” she said, her accent heavy. “I
have something to give to her.”

Nico and I exchanged amused looks. She was talking like I wasn’t even in
the room.

“Girls, help me,” she said, urging them to follow her.

“What in the world?” I mused, watching as Anna and Caprice followed their
mother out the door. It wasn’t long before I found out. All three of them
reappeared in the doorway carrying a ton of cream-colored satin and lace.