Roll Against Discovery (3d20 Book 3) (5 page)

I moved to the center of one of the workout spot, and he hovered at the edge, watching. I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, then spun so he was behind me. He wrapped his arm around my neck and pressed into my back, and a shock of familiarity raced through me. “I like this kind of demonstration,” he purred, lips touching the back of my neck.

It would be easy to say
forget it
. Sink into his touch. The temptation surged inside, and I pushed it back. Easy, but somehow also not right, with only the two of us here. “Relax your posture,” I said.

“Yes, Sensei.” His tone shifted to business in an instant.

I situated my hands on his arms. “This is a little more advanced than what we teach beginners, but you said you’ve done some sparring. Do you know how to roll?”

“As in, tuck myself into a ball and tumble, so I don’t get hurt? I’ve got some idea.”

“Good.” I resisted the urge to press back into him and drown in his touch. “I’m going to go slowly. When I toss you forward, fall into the momentum.”

“You’re going to toss me?” Disbelief crept into his question.

“Yup.” Without warning, I shifted my weight, planted my feet, and altered my stance to turn my own body into a fulcrum. I felt him falter behind me, and I used his weight and uncertainty to bring him over my shoulder.

He hit the mat with an
oof
but rolled into the gesture.

I rested my toes on his chest. “Point for me.”

He brushed my leg aside and climbed to his feet. “That was fantastic. Never saw it coming. I have to know how you did it. I mean, I get the physics, but show me again.”

We spent the next half hour repeating the move, with him trying it several times until he was happy. And then I sped it up to full pace. I had him rush me from behind, and planted him on the floor. I straddled him, hands on his wrists, to hold them above his head, both of us laughing.

“You were wrong, you know.” His voice dropped an octave, brown eyes searching my face. “You’re a fantastic instructor. If someone told you otherwise, you need to find a new dojo.”

“Thanks.” I flushed at the compliment and the closeness of his body. It would be so easy to lean in and steal a kiss. So tempting… I crammed the thought aside, stood, and offered him a hand up.

He didn’t let go of my hand when he was on his feet. “Do you have anywhere to be?” he asked.

“Not really. They’re running a Kurosawa marathon all night on the hotel convention channel. That was my only plan.”

“So come watch in our room.” He squeezed my hand.

As we made our way upstairs, I wondered what the rules were about staying friends with a fling after it was over. That was probably a stupid idea, but as I glanced at Evan, I couldn’t help entertaining the thought.

The door creaked open, and Trevor stepped into the room. When his gaze landed on us—me half-sitting, half-lying on Evan, both of us propped up against the headboard—a shadow passed over his face. He shook his head, dropped his phone on the nightstand, and sank onto the edge of the bed. His attention stayed on the TV when he asked, “Did I miss the fun?” It sounded as if he was trying to be upbeat, but his words fell flat.

I’d enjoyed my time with Evan, but Trevor wasn’t talking about that. Honestly, while getting physical had been a background thought, it never became more during the evening. I’d been focused on other things.

“We wouldn’t start anything without you,” Evan sat, disentangling himself from me in the process.

I scooted a little further away, an uneasy pit forming in my gut. I almost felt guilty, as if I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. The thought didn’t make any sense, and I dismissed it. “Is everything better at work?”

“For now.” Trevor finally looked at us again.

“You fixed it with your massive, impressive brain?” I drawled out each word with teasing innuendo.

The shadows melted from his expression and were replaced with hesitant amusement. “I don’t know if I’d call it impressive.”

“You’re being modest.” I winked.

“The woman’s got good taste in”—Evan cleared his throat—”brains.”

“She’s not a zombie.” Trevor’s shoulders relaxed.

“I might be. Or maybe I just have a solid appreciation for a nice organ.”

Trevor leaned back and planted his palms on the mattress behind him. “I’m more than a sexy brain.”

Evan scooted closer to me. “At the risk of shattering all this innuendo,
God
, I’d love to watch you suck his cock, Kitten.”

Arousal rushed through me at the direct request, flooding my skin and drawing my nipples to hard nubs. That escalated quickly. Then again, I didn’t have any illusions about why I was in their room.  I looked at Trevor and licked my bottom lip.

He shifted his hips. “You won’t get an argument from me.”

Gaze never leaving Trevor’s, I slid from the bed and crawled the short distance to where he sat. Still on my knees, I glided my hand up the inside of his thigh. Desire unfurled in my belly, and Trevor groaned when I caressed his bulge. I stroked him through his jeans. His lips parted, and he closed his eyes. With each new touch, I was intensely aware we weren’t alone. Evan’s breathing grew heavy behind me, making the dampness between my legs spread. I moved higher and undid Trevor’s jeans.

I freed his cock, and it jerked against my hand when I wrapped my fingers around the smooth skin. The air around me hummed with anticipation. Every time I shifted my weight, the seam of my shorts rubbed against my swollen clit. I flicked my tongue over the bulbous head. Trevor sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. I pumped while I licked tight circles along his shaft. When I took him in my mouth, I swore my whimper matched his gasp. I had to keep my hand in place, to prevent him from thrusting down my throat.

He thrust his hips toward my face. I squeezed my legs together, as the throbbing between my thighs intensified. The little movements were enough to tease me, sending satin over my nipples and denim pressing into my sex, but I wanted relief for the intense sensations.

Trevor tangled his fingers in my hair, holding my head in place. I looked up again, to find him watching me, pale eyes wide. His breath came in jagged pants, chest heaving each time I slid my lips along his cock.

A hand—Evan’s; that would make sense—palmed my ass, then pushed between my legs. He pressed my clothing into my slit. Massaging my ache. I groaned against Trevor, the vibrations running into my touch. Trevor jerked against me, breathing growing shallow. Evan massaged harder, stroking me and drawing out my pleasure. Every gasp, grunt, and sigh bounced in my mind, blurring my thoughts.

“I want to watch him come in your mouth,” Evan said.

“No. Not like this.” Trevor spoke as if forcing the words through gravel. He jerked from my grasp and yanked me to my feet. Before I could push out a question, or even figure out what I should say, he crushed his mouth to mine, desperate and hungry. He only broke away long enough to tear my shirt over my head and fling it aside. Desperation welled inside, consuming me. I couldn’t get close enough. I sought purchase, digging my fingers into his solid arms.

Evan grabbed my hips, and then scraped his fingers forward to pop the button on my cutoffs, and drag down my zipper. Trevor deepened the kiss. He massaged my breast through my bra, pinching and kneading. Pulling groans from me. Too many sensations demanded my focus, and I wanted to absorb every one. I wrapped my fingers around Trevor’s cock again, stroking in time to the bump and grind between the three of us.

The sharp scent of fresh soap mingled with the musk of cologne and sex. Trevor kissed down my neck, sucking the skin, nipping with his teeth, drawing the sting of pleasure to the surface. Evan dipped under my panties and dove for my folds. I mewled when he found my clit, struggling to find my breath as he circled the swollen nub.

My legs wobbled, but two sturdy bodies kept me upright. Trevor increased the attention to my nipples, thrusting his hips in time with my hand. Evan’s dick pressed into my ass, insistent even through our clothes. I ground against his fingers. Waves rolled through me, building and battling for release. Orgasm crashed over me, and I cried out, riding every feeling.

Before my climax could ebb, Evan yanked my shorts to the ground.

“I need to fuck you.” Trevor’s voice was strained, and his eyes were wide, making him look as unwoven as I felt. He jerked his shirt over his head, then shed his jeans and kicked them aside.

“God, yes. Please.” I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of drawn-out teasing. His bare skin against mine was heat and ice, soothing my desire and stoking the flames.

He grasped my hips, spun us both, and nudged me onto the bed. He fell on top of me, hands on either side of my head.

“Condom,” I managed, hating the necessity.

Trevor gave a shaky laugh. “You’re going to kill me.”

Evan handed him a foil package.

Trevor fumbled, before extracting the rubber and rolling it on. He searched my face one last time, and then thrust inside me. I arched my back at the harsh penetration, almost coming again when he plunged deep.

Evan stood next to the bed, dick in his hand, stroking fast. I tilted my head to the side and licked the head. Trevor pushed my knees forward, slamming against my G-spot. I gripped the sheets in my fists, needing something to grab, to keep from drowning in the moment.

“Oh, God.” Evan increased his pace, and a stream of white—warm and sticky—spurted across my chest and face.

Trevor’s grunts became more punctuated. Staccato bursts of enjoyment. He dropped one of my legs and pressed his thumb to my clit. With him fingering me, I came again, grinding against his pelvis, riding out the torrent flooding me. My pussy spasmed and clenched around his cock.

He gasped and shuddered. I knew it was impossible even if he weren’t wearing a condom, but I swore I felt him spill inside me. He slowed, and then stopped.

Silence blanketed the room but didn’t mute the energy still buzzing in the air. Adrenaline still rushed through me, but my waning pleasure kissed away some of the excess. I wasn’t sure how we’d gone so quickly from playful teasing to frantic fucking. My mind wasn’t in the right place to puzzle it out, too happy to drift along on euphoric clouds.

No way would any con experience ever top this one. It didn’t matter what happened after tonight. I needed to believe that.

A barely-there noise scraped into my drifting consciousness and dragged me awake. Where was I? Something weighed on my hip. Evan’s arm. Right. I’d fallen asleep in their room. My gaze fell on the other bed. Blankets tossed aside. Sheets twisted. Pillows in disarray. Trevor hadn’t slept next to us. I don’t know if that made me sadder, or if it was the fact he wasn’t there now.

It was true I’d known them for less than a day, but Evan seemed to wear most of his feelings near the surface. Trevor was harder for me to read, though. I wasn’t sure why that gnawed at me. Why it mattered at all. Once the con was over, we’d all go back to real life, most likely never to stumble on each other again in this city packed full of people.

Knowing that didn’t silence my nagging curiosity. I disentangled myself from Evan, careful not to wake him, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. It wasn’t hard to figure out where Trevor was. The only sources of light in the room came from under the door to the hallway and from the curtain leading out the balcony. Trevor stood outside, attention directed at the city, jeans hanging low on his hips and nothing covering his torso.

I scanned the room for my discarded clothing, and finally glimpsed a T-shirt the same color as mine. It draped halfway down my thighs when I pulled it on, and I looked down. Apparently, this was Trevor’s. Would he mind? Again, it was so difficult to tell with him. There were moments when we clicked and everything we did felt intimate—even swapping random movie quotes. Other times I swore he built a wall of ice between us. I didn’t want to take the shirt off. It was selfish, but being wrapped in something smelling so distinctly of him settled my rambling thoughts.

I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. He didn’t look back at the soft swish of glass sliding in its frame. His knuckles paled as he gripped the safety rail in front of him, but he didn’t speak.

Maybe I shouldn’t be out here. I didn’t know what to say. Breaking the stillness felt like a violation.

“Have you ever been to L.A.?” His low voice merged with the calm instead of shattering it.

“Once.” I stepped next to him, both to see what he was looking at and to hear him better. “Anime Expo, a few years ago.”

He gave a short laugh. “Us too. First time we did this. She didn’t stick around after. None of us were interested.”

A raw ache grew in my throat. Was that a hint? Snippets of the day raced through my mind, from their insistence we still meet up to talk about what turned out to be the ARG, to dinner, to the second invitation back to their room. I might not be the boldest person, but I wasn’t completely oblivious about the world around me. Despite Trevor’s flashes of hot and cold, I didn’t think this was his way of telling me to leave. I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“It was his idea.” Trevor raked his fingers through his hair. “Not that I took much convincing. I’m a guy. I don’t mind kink, I love sex, and the environment was right. People live different lives at cons. Step outside their shells. Let their guard down.”

I knew this all too well.

Trevor turned to face me, and a smile cracked his somber expression. His gaze traveled over me. “Nice shirt.” An edge lined his voice.

“It was dark. It’s what I grabbed. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine. Better than fine. You look incredible.”

Heat flooded my skin. “Thanks.”

He stepped behind me, fixed his hands on my hips, and pointed me toward the city. “Do you see that?”

I looked out over the view. A million tiny lights, like stars on the ground, twinkling until they reached the mountains and faded into blackness. Something told me he was looking for a more specific answer than that. “See what?” I asked.

“In L.A. it didn’t matter if it was two in the morning. There was always traffic. The roads were never empty. We’re smack dab in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City, and you can only see maybe ten cars from here. It’s quiet, it’s unassuming, and it’s calm. But people don’t want to live here. They want to live in Hollywood. Places like this are boring.”

“I think it’s pretty. I love the way the valley looks at night.”

He slid his palms forward, until his fingers interlocked and rested on my stomach. I leaned back into him, and he set his chin on the top of my head. A tiny voice told me this was too intimate for the relationship we had. I ignored it. Everything about this moment was right for now.

“Me too.” His chest rose and fell against my spine when he sighed. “I always thought it looked like the sky, but upside down.”

I sank further into his embrace, a new kind of warmth filling me when his words synced up so well with my thoughts. “When I was little, one Fourth of July we drove up to the very top streets in The Aves, to watch the fireworks.” The moment from my past sparked in my mind, happy and bright, tinged with a sprinkle of bittersweet because it was one of the few holidays Dad was able to take off and spend with us. “When it was all over, we stayed up there for a while. My dad didn’t want to deal with traffic.” I had no idea why I was sharing the memory. It was something I never talked about, even with Jackson. An idea I’d tucked away long ago. Telling Trevor felt right. The relaxed arms holding me, the way his breathing matched mine, and the stillness of the night drew the words out. “I remember looking out over it all and wondering, if I grew up to be an astronaut, would the sky look like that when I was actually a part of it?”

“I did something similar when I was little”—his lips moved against my hair, his voice low and soothing—“except I was going to be an X-Wing pilot.”

A tiny laughed slipped past my lips. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” His chuckle destroyed any attempt at indignation. “There was no way Luke Skywalker was a better Jedi than me.”

I rested my hands on his. “I wouldn’t fly an X-Wing. I’d want a Bebop.”

“I think that’s the ship’s name. Not what kind it is. But I won’t argue the technicalities of a cartoon. You’d be a space cowboy, huh? Fae?”

I didn’t want to be the sexy hustler in the skimpy yellow leather from
Cowboy Bebop
. I wanted to be the smart hacker girl everyone underestimated. “Ed.” I adored that he knew what I was talking about without explanation and at the same time hadn’t gone hardcore fanboy about my possible misrepresentation of the show. In fact, nothing about the moment left me wanting.

“Brilliant, lost, independent hacker girl, who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. I can see that. Does that mean you need to be found?”

“Depends on who’s looking for me.”

The conversation slipped from one topic to the next. A shared stream of consciousness with seemingly no end in sight. I didn’t know how many hours passed, but light was pushing the dark from the sky when I yawned for the third time in as many minutes.

“We should sleep.” He sounded disappointed.

Or I was projecting. Both, probably. “I suppose.”

He let go of me enough to lead us inside. He studied me again, brows pinched and an unreadable emotion darkening his eyes. With a shake of his head, he dropped my hand. The loss of contact was an icy shock to my system. I tangled my fingers in his before he could fall into his bed. “Don’t,” I whispered, not wanting to wake up Evan.

Trevor raised his brows, and a sad smile flashed over his face before vanishing. “Why not?” His question barely reached me.

I pressed closer. “Because then I have to choose.” The quiet words echoed in my head as loudly as a scream, carrying more meaning than I intended. Far more significance than I wanted them to.

He planted his hands at the small of my back, dipped his head, and brushed his lips over my cheek. “Then choose me.”

Three simple words. We were only talking about where to sleep for a single night. I looked up at him. “Please?” I wasn’t even sure what I was asking, but this didn’t make it any less important he understand.

“Only for you.” Using his entire frame, he pushed me back a step, toward Evan’s bed. I couldn’t help my smile as I slid between the sheets, next to a sleeping Evan. Trevor joined me and drew me close, my back to his chest and his head resting against mine.

A flood of warmth and acceptance blanketed me, singing in my joints and dancing under my skin. I’d never connected with anyone the way I did with Trevor. And while it was completely different with Evan, the bond with him felt just as strong. I was being sucked in by best friends, who were only looking for a random hookup at a convention. Who, as time wore on, made it very clear this was the only time they shared. I needed to lock away my reactions soon, or at the end of the weekend I would be moping over something I had no right to miss.

Evan stirred but didn’t open his eyes. He reached out and covered my hand with his.

Trevor slid his palm under my shirt and settled it on my bare hip. “Goodnight, my amazing Kathryn.” His whispered words sank into my thoughts.

If I didn’t get a handle on this now, my psyche was going to be fucked. I refused to give credence to the ache in my chest, the dull throb telling me my heart wouldn’t fare so well either.