Spirits Shared (7 page)

He reached over, pushed a strand of hair
away from her face. Heat flared in her stomach and she had a sudden
vision of the three of them playing strip poker.

Turning away before he could read it in her
eyes, she said, "Poker it is."

Tekoa grinned and took the opportunity to
boldly survey the long, tanned legs left bare below the shirt. He
was making progress with her. She was very close to accepting that
the three of them were meant to be together.

He just had to survive the torment of
wanting to touch her, kiss her, make love to her. She was killing
him, turning him into one huge ache. But in the end, the wait would
be worth it.

He picked up the chip rack and the cards,
glanced at the mantel above the fireplace and his heart sang. The
cups had been offered and the contents accepted by Clay and
Jessica. Now it was up to the three of them to find their way to
intimacy.

He didn't have casual sex with the men who
came to the area to hike and climb and camp. It'd been years since
he'd been with another man, but even if that weren't the case, he'd
want Clay.

He reached the kitchen table. His eyes met
Clay's across the glossy wood. Heat flared between them and if he
weren't holding the chips and cards, he might have reached for his
shaft, squeezed to drive back some of the need.

It was impossible to drive back images of
Clay kneeling, his own hands fisted in Clay's blond hair as he
thrust his cock into Clay's mouth, of Clay bent over, his ass
cheeks parted…

Longing shuddered through Tekoa. He set the
chip rack and cards onto the table, forcing his gaze to follow them
there. What came next had to be Jessica's choice.

He didn't know the details, didn't
understand how or why Clay had kept his bisexuality from her before
asking her to marry him, but when she'd said yes, she hadn't
thought she'd share the man she loved with another man. She hadn't
thought she'd share herself.

A swell of tenderness intensified his desire
for her. He could wait until she was ready to give herself to him.
He could wait until she was ready to share Clay.

Clay dropped into the seat to her right.
"First rule, no crying at the poker table."

Her smile was sunlight streaming across a
meadow. "As if."

* * * * *

Chapter
4

Clay reached for the cards, pulled them out
of the box and shuffled like a professional. "Texas Hold'em?"

"Sounds good," Tekoa said, sitting and
distributing chips. With Jess and Clay in his life, he was already
a winner.

They played until well past midnight, ending
with all the chips stacked in colorful towers in front of Clay. "Am
I good? Or am I good?"

Tekoa snorted. "Lucky more like."

Clay grinned. "There's always luck involved.
Should I tell him, babe?"

Jessica's laugh was like the springtime
blossom of flowers and it was all Tekoa could do not to reach for
her, admire her with his words, kisses and the stroke of his hands
over her skin.

"Wouldn't be fair for him to sit down at the
table with you again without knowing," she said.

Clay pushed away from the table and stood.
"Your phone in your jacket pocket, Jess?"

She nodded and he retrieved it, found
whatever he was looking for as he walked back to them, then put the
phone down on the table in front of Tekoa. "How do you like that
jewelry?"

In the picture Clay was standing in a casino
poker room, elbows bent, hands fisted on either side of his chin
and grinning like a fool—with cause.

Tekoa whistled. "World Series
bracelets?"

"You got it. Pot-limit Omaha on the right.
No-Limit Hold'em on the left."

Tekoa shook his head. "I've been
hustled."

Clay's smile held no shame. "So same time,
same place tomorrow?"

"I'm in." Tekoa stood and stretched, his
gaze going to the bed. Tomorrow maybe, but for tonight… His eyes
met Clay's. "Since there are two of you and only one of me, you
take the bed. I'll crash on the sofa."

"Sounds good to me." Clay collared Jessica's
neck in a possessive, masterful display, guided her out of the
chair and into his arms so her back was pressed to his chest.

He kissed along her throat, and Tekoa
suppressed a moan, his heart racing like a fast moving stream over
smooth rocks. He wasn't going to survive the night.

Her cheeks were flushed, the outline of her
nipples visible. Not for the first time, he fought the urge to cup
her breasts, to latch on and suck.

"I've got an easy way for you to pay off
your chip debt," Clay murmured, husky-voiced, his hand stroking
over her belly.

Tekoa's breath caught. He was about to go up
in flames.

She slapped Clay's arm and said, "You were
more endearing when you had a concussion."

Clay nuzzled her, more than willing to lie
down and pretend he was helpless while she kissed him back to
health. He didn't care where her lips started, as long as they
ended up on his dick.

He closed his eyes. He wanted her. He wanted
Tekoa.

He captured her earlobe and sucked. She
shivered and tried to pull away but his arm below her breasts
prevented her escape.

From the first moment he'd seen her it'd
been like this between them. A look, a touch, sometimes only a
single word, and heat engulfed them, the need to make love
overpowered them.

If he fucked his tongue into her ear, she'd
spread her legs and welcome his hand between her thighs. She'd
whimper as his fingers slipped underneath her panties.

She'd beg him to stroke her clit. She'd beg
him to thrust his fingers into her hot channel. And she'd be wet.
So, so wet.

He could finger-fuck her and she'd beg for
his cock. He'd done it often enough to be completely confident
about her response. And once he got her that far she wouldn't fight
him if he pulled her panties off and lay her on the table.

She'd take his cock. She'd take Tekoa's
cock.

But it wouldn't really be her choice. It
wouldn't be the way it needed to be. Not that they wouldn't take
the next step, making love tonight, with Tekoa in the room.

"Let's go to bed, Jess," he said, his voice
husky and his intentions clear. If she joined him on the bed, they
would
fuck.

And though she would try to be quiet so her
moans and whimpers didn't fill the dark cabin, she'd know Tekoa was
a few feet away. She'd know Tekoa was aware of what they were
doing. She'd know Tekoa was imagining himself on the bed with them
and she'd wonder if Tekoa's fingers were locked around his own
cock, gliding up and down in time to the sounds of their making
love.

"I'm going to bed," Clay said, releasing her
to make her choice.

She headed toward the bathroom and raw
desire pounded into him as he visually caressed the curve of her
ass and her long, sleek legs. When she disappeared behind the
closed door, his eyes met Tekoa's then traveled downward, neither
one of them hiding the fact that they were checking out the aroused
state of the other.

His gaze returned to Tekoa's face and
Tekoa's mouth curved into a wry smile. "Enjoy the bed. The couch is
going to be sheer torture."

There might as well have been a hot wire
strung from his dick to Tekoa's. Clay stepped closer, testing his
self control. His buttocks clamped and it was all he could do not
to humiliate himself by air-humping.

It'd been too long since he'd had another
man's hand on his dick, had another man's mouth around it, and
another man's ass taking him, squeezing and clinging and burning
him alive.

Nearly panting he said, "I was afraid this
would be harder."

Tekoa laughed. "If it gets any harder you'll
be taking what's left of me to the emergency room. But I know what
you mean, despite the painful choice of words."

Clay clenched his hands. It was that or wrap
one around his dick and the other around Tekoa's. He wanted Jess
with an intensity that would have become an obsession if she'd left
him. But he wanted this too.

He needed masculine hands and masculine lips
on his body. He needed to touch and taste and kiss Tekoa before
sliding into his ass.

He craved it. But it was more than the need
for sex.

Because of Jess, he knew what it was like to
be intimate with someone he loved completely. Because of her, he'd
never again be satisfied with casual.

The love would come with Tekoa. The respect
and friendship were already there. It seemed like they already
were
together in the most meaningful sense.

He flashed back to the surreal dream and the
old man rolling a cigarette. Shook off the memory.

He didn't do the mystical stuff. What
mattered was that he'd come out to Jess and with Tekoa in his life,
he'd never be tempted like he'd been on that last trip. He'd never
have to live through the gut-wrenching fear of one day losing
everything because in a weak moment he'd cheated with another
man.

"I'll find a way to leave you alone with
Jess tomorrow," he told Tekoa.

Tekoa's smile was slow and sensual and
heightened the desire to slide his hand beneath the borrowed
sweatpants and grasp his cock. Or better, push the pants off his
hips and let Tekoa do it.

The bathroom door opened and Tekoa's eyes
reflected the hunger Clay felt, and the worry that Jess wasn't
ready to take the next step, that she wouldn't get in bed.

She emerged from the bathroom, crossed to
the bed without looking in their direction and Clay nearly stripped
where his stood.

He wanted to rush to her and hug her tight
for her courage. He wanted to shout his thanks, his joy. After the
colossal fuck-up of coming out to her in the car, and the pain he'd
caused her with his confession, she was willing to keep trusting
him with her heart.

She placed the folded bra on the nightstand
then slipped between the covers wearing the shirt and panties. He
grinned, tender warmth exploding in his chest. They both knew he
wouldn't allow either the shirt or the panties to stay on for very
long.

Even the ultra-sexy nightgowns and teddies
she paraded around in at home didn't last once they got to the
bedroom. He liked her naked and she liked being that way for
him.

Clay met Tekoa's gaze and heated at the
anticipation in Tekoa's dark eyes.
Tomorrow
, he silently
promised, cock bobbing and rubbing against the soft sweats.
Tomorrow you'll have your turn with Jess
.

Tekoa's lips pitched upward and Clay caught
himself before he tipped forward to press his mouth to Tekoa's.
They needed to wait. They needed to be sure Jess was ready, that
she was okay with their kissing, touching, fucking.

Clay detoured to the bathroom. When he came
out, a pillow and blanket were on the couch and Tekoa was crouched
in front of the fireplace adding wood.

Reaching the bed, he peeled off the T-shirt
then shoved the sweats downward. He felt Tekoa's appreciative gaze
and grinned.
You ain't seen nothing yet.

Not that Jess was getting the better view
lying on her side with her back to him. But that was about to
change.

He got into bed and pressed against her,
draped an arm and a leg over her. He cupped her breast and kissed
along her neck.

Her nipple stabbed his palm through the
shirt. She trembled and her back arched, pressing her breast harder
against his hand and her ass into his cock.

The light went out but it didn't plunge the
cabin into total darkness. He kicked the sheets and blankets down
past their feet. He wasn't about to let her hide.

"I love you," he said, easing away and using
the hand on her breast to roll her onto her back. He covered her
mouth with his, thrust and rubbed his tongue against hers as button
by button he opened her shirt.

She made a small sound of token protest but
he didn't relent. She didn't really want him to. He stroked over
her stomach, reached her panties and jerked them down roughly.

He tossed them away from the bed in a
gesture that said the shirt had been pushing it but the panties
were an outrage. She wasn't going to deny him. They both knew that.
She needed him as desperately as he needed her. When she'd gotten
into bed, she'd told him she accepted this, that she was ready to
take this next step toward becoming a threesome.

His heart spasmed. He'd been so afraid of
losing her. She was his world, and the thought of her leaving
him—

Didn't happen. Not going to happen.

She'd be his wife, the mother of his
children. God willing they'd grow old together, the three of them,
then spend the next life loving each other again.

He cupped her mound and she whimpered. Her
clit stabbed his palm, demanding his attention.

He rubbed over it and she bucked. Did it
again and she opened her thighs.

She was wet. So, so wet. Just like he knew
she'd be.

He fucked her mouth with his tongue. He
fucked her pussy with his fingers.

Her soft whimpers always filled him with
intense satisfaction. She could never be completely quiet.

If he lifted his lips from hers she'd say
his name. She'd ask him prettily to make love to her. Or she'd beg
him to fuck her if that's what he wanted. She was a natural
submissive and he was naturally dominant, not that either one of
them wanted it to morph into a lifestyle.

He pulled his fingers from her, rubbed then
over her clit and swallowed her sob. He could feel Tekoa watching,
getting off on the sight of them making love.

It turned him on, same as watching Tekoa
fuck Jess would have him jacking off and panting and coming all
over himself when they came. It almost blew his mind how fast this
had happened.

How he'd gone from the stupidest move of all
time, telling Jess he was bi in the car, to lying in another man's
bed, while that man watched him with Jess, all three of them
knowing that tomorrow they'd take the next step. He deepened the
kiss, plunged his fingers in and out of her sweet pussy.