Three (18 page)

“Cooking shows. Plus, by the time we got into high school my grandparents were pretty elderly, so I helped out with cooking for them. Then they passed away, and I had to take care of myself. And when I moved in with this knucklehead, I definitely had to learn. Otherwise I’d be dead by now. Of either starvation or poisoning.” Jackson looked up at Xander with a smirk.

“Please dude! You act like your shit don’t stink because you can cook a meal. Yeah…yeah, cooking is
soooo
sexy. But if it wasn’t for me you’d be turning your underwear inside out, once you ran out of clean clothes.” Xander said giving Jackson the stink eye and then turned to Simone to continue. “He did that you know…before we moved in together, in our first place.” Xander said smugly.

Simone turned to Jackson with her mouth hanging open in disbelief. A telltale blush spread across Jackson’s cheeks. “Did you really turn your underwear inside out when you ran out of clean ones?” Simone asked.

“I hate doing laundry.” Jackson said quietly, the blush spreading from cheeks to hairline and down his neck.

“And washing dishes.” Xander continued on Jackson’s behalf, which the big man didn’t seem to appreciate, if the scowl on his face was any indication.

“Okay, okay. No more puffing out your chests and banging on them trying to prove who the better man is. It’s a tie. You both obviously help each other immensely. I’m impressed with both of you, okay?” Simone said, calling a draw before the knife Jackson was gripping in his massive paw ended up buried in Xander’s skull.

“Okay?” She repeated when they didn’t answer.

“Okay.”

“Yep.”

Xander’s cellphone rang, fortunately helping to end the debate.

“Hey, mom… Just helping get dinner ready.” Xander said as Jackson nudged Simone and they laughed at his definition of ‘help’. “What’s up?” Xander said into the phone and scowling at them across the island.

“What did she tell you?” Xander said, his smile turning into a frown. “She is such a brat.”

Simone had a feeling that the ‘brat’ in question was his sister Delanie.

“
Mom
…
seriously
?!” Xander groaned. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” Xander paused as she said something. “But…. Alright fine.” Xander grumbled before holding out the phone to Simone.

Simone wasn’t exactly sure what the one-sided conversation was about, but she definitely hadn’t been expecting to be involved. She looked at the phone with trepidation, like it was a living snake about to bite her.

“She wants to talk to you a moment.” Xander said, still holding the phone out to her.

Simone hesitantly reached out to take the phone from him and slowly raised it to her ear. She tried her best to hide the tremble in her hand. Never having dated anyone before, the mastery of ‘winning over the parents’ was something she definitely wasn’t familiar with. But having little choice, Simone lightly cleared her throat, trying to unblock the lump of fear in her throat before speaking.

“Hello?” She said softly.

“Hello, Simone. This is Alexander’s mom, Gail. I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner tomorrow evening. The whole family takes a break in their daily lives to get together once a month to have dinner. And I would love it if you could make it.” Xander’s mom said kindly.

“Oh…um…sure. I would really like that.” Simone said, though she wasn’t so sure she was being completely honest.

I’d like to meet his family
eventually
. And one at a time, but meeting
all
six of them at once. Being surrounded by a family of seven and Jackson. Even when my mom was alive, it was still just the two of us. Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?

“Uh…what was that?” Simone quickly asked. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she had missed part of what Gail had said.

“I said, that Frank and I are looking forward to meeting you. And is there anything that you don’t like to eat or allergic to?” She said thoughtfully.

“Oh, no. No, I’m not a picky eater. I’m sure anything you fix would be perfect. Is there anything that you’d like me to bring?” Simone asked, the manners that her mother had drilled into her, kicking in.

“No dear. Just bring yourself.”

“Okay.”

“Well, alright then. We’ll see you tomorrow at seven.” Gail said brightly.

“See you then.” Simone ended the call, handing the phone back to Xander. “I think I need to sit down.” Simone said walking back over to the stool in a daze.

“Don’t worry, Simone. My family doesn’t bite. I’m sure they’ll love you.” Xander reassured her.

Not if they’re anything like Bethany,
Simone grumbled to herself.

“Don’t let Beth get to you.” Jackson said firmly, making Simone look up in shock, realizing that once again she had voiced her thoughts out loud without realizing it. “The Drake family is the best family I know. As much as they adopted me, I adopted them. I got a ready-made family, right when I needed them.” Jackson smiled fondly, with a faraway look in his eyes.

Simone smiled back at him.

~~~

They sat in front of the fireplace in the three large comfy chairs that made a semi-circle in front of the warm glow. Simone taking up the middle as usual. Sampson huffed in his sleep, worn out after eating some food and being rewrapped in fresh bandages. Stuffed from the delicious meal, they relaxed for a bit before bed. An underlying sense of anticipation coursed through them, at the thought of bedtime.

“So…is there like some unwritten rule that you two don’t share the master suite on a normal basis?” Simone asked before taking a sip of wine, feeling a little light-headed from all of the wine she had consumed throughout the night.

“Kind of.” Xander responded.

“The room is sort of reserved for three, if you couldn’t tell.” Jackson grinned at her. “I know it’s weird, but for some reason it just doesn’t feel right using it when we don’t have someone to share it with.” Jackson explained further.

“Huh… I guess I get it.” Simone looked down into her glass before asking the next question, not entirely sure she wanted to know. “H…have you shared it with someone before?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Jackson started.

“We only finished the house this past summer. And when we designed the house, we designed it with our future in mind. You know, building a family eventually.” Xander explained further.

“The room is reserved for someone that we can see building that family with. And there was something about the last woman that we dated that we knew wasn’t quite right. So the room has remained unused.” Jackson finished, easily picking up Xander’s train of thought again, like they were long lost twins separated at birth.

“Oh.” Simone said softly. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask which room she was going to be in, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted them to say. If they said one of their individual rooms, it might hurt that they didn’t think more of her. But if they said the master suite, that was a lot of pressure. So she remained silent, not wanting to put them on the spot or put herself in a position to feel awkward.

Jackson and Xander looked at each other, communicating silently. They drained the rest of the scotch they had in their tumblers and stood. Jackson grabbed Xander’s glass, strode over to Simone and took the glass from her hand as well. He took his free hand and stroked it down her face from temple to chin.

“I have something for you. I’ll be back in a moment.” He said quietly in a deep voice that sounded like honey over gravel.

When Jackson walked away, Xander stepped up and gently clasped Simone’s hand and pulled her up from her chair. He reached up and unwound her hair that she had knotted into a loose bun on top of her head. Xander’s eyes followed her hair as it cascaded down her shoulders and back.

“Beautiful.” He said softly, and Simone felt the word in her gut, like a living thing growing and spreading warmth throughout her body.

Tipping her chin up with the tip of his finger, Xander leaned in to take her lips in a scorching kiss. His full lips molded themselves to hers. Totally absorbed in the kiss, Simone didn’t realized that Jackson had returned until she felt a thick fabric slide over her eyes. She assumed it was a scarf as he tied a knot behind her head. And she felt his large hand smooth her hair away from her neck and his firm lips on her neck, at the sensitive spot below her ear.

“I’m blindfolding you to keep you from freaking out based on the bedroom we chose.” Jackson said softly, his breath tickling her ear as he flawlessly read her insecurities. “And also because I want to introduce something to you and I don’t want you to be nervous about it. So just relax, we’ll take care of you. Do you trust us?” Jackson asked.

“Y…yes.” Simone whispered hesitantly, her breath coming out in pants of anticipation.

“Good.” Jackson said.

He turned her to face him and she felt his arms wrap around her ass a second before he lifted her up. She instinctively circled her legs around his waist and her hands clutched at his shoulders. His mouth found hers and he kissed her deeply, stroking his tongue over hers as he started to walk with her in his arms. He tasted of scotch, like Xander and she felt drunk off of the flavor. He broke the kiss as he started to climb the stairs to one of the bedrooms. Simone was glad that she couldn’t see, because she knew she’d be too preoccupied with the meaning behind the room they chose, instead of the passion they were about to unleash upon her.

Once inside a room, Jackson released her ass and let her body slide down his, feeling every hard rippling inch of him. Then he raised her arms up and she felt her shirt glide up her heated flesh and up over her head. Simone could feel her nipples harden from the slight chill in the air. Next, someone grasped the waistband of her flannel pants and slowly pulled them down to her ankles, caressing a path down her smooth legs in the process.

Simone stepped out of the pants, keeping her balance by holding onto the wide shoulders crouched in front of her. She felt them step away from her, leaving her naked, exposed, vulnerable and blind. Her breath came in short little gasps, her skin prickled with gooseflesh and her heart pounded out a beat in her clit.

With her sight taken away from her, her hearing was heightened to the sounds in the room. She could hear the fire crackling in the fireplace and she was sure she heard the whisper of clothing being discarded to the floor. And obviously her sense of touch was elevated as well, because when a sudden fingertip flashed out and retreated with a quick caress across her nipple, she cried out at the feeling.

They unleashed a series of gentle touches on her skin, that were quick but so intense as to feel them minutes later. A knuckle stroking down her throat, a fingertip across the sensitive skin behind her knee, lips and a wet tongue at the base of her spine, warm breath blowing delicately at her nape, a soft tap at her swollen clit, and a flick of a tongue over her erect nipples. At one point she was almost positive she had even felt long eyelashes fluttering against her trembling tummy. They pulled out all the stops, doing everything in their power to leave her a quivering mass of anticipation. No sensitive spot went untouched.

Then something smooth, hard and cool touched her lips and instantly warmed to match her temperature as it slid down her chin, neck and between her breasts. “This is going to get you prepared to take both of us at the same time. I picked it up during lunch today.” Jackson explained cryptically.

Simone had absolutely zero knowledge of sex toys, but whatever it was, her gut and behind clenched simultaneously at what was to come. She felt them step up to her and whoever was at her front, she thought it was Jackson, reached around caressing large rough hands down her round globes to firmly spread them apart. With Xander at her back, she felt a cold wet liquid pour over her puckered skin and she shivered in response. His finger smoothed the fluid over her and she tensed.

“Just relax, Si. He’s just getting you ready, so that we won’t hurt you.” Jackson whispered against her lips.

As Xander eased a finger into the tight muscles of her anus, Jackson smoothed a hand from her backside to her front. He stroked a calloused finger over her throbbing clit and Simone gasped, quickly reaching out to grasp his enormous biceps to steady herself.

Xander continued to lubricate her forbidden entrance, as Jackson played at her sensitive nub. Jackson crouched down in front of Simone and his tongue sought out her slick heat, just as she felt the hard object at her back entrance. Jackson must have sensed her trepidation, because he intensified his assault on her clit. Behind her Xander kissed and licked at her neck and back. And wrapping an arm around her chest to hold her still, he slid the object home into her taut muscle. Her rectum stretched and molded around the smooth hardness.

Simone hissed in response to the foreign object inside her. Jackson continued to suck and flick at her clit and her hips pumped into his mouth. Xander placed a hand under her chin and turned her face to him, kissing her deeply from behind. His other hand strummed her nipple gently. The passionate kiss, her sensitive nipple, the plug pressing on an unknown tender spot inside her body and a tongue on her tingling button; sent her over the edge.