Trifecta (27 page)

"What do you expect to happen now?"  Anne went to her cart and put both hands on the bar.  "Maybe for once you won't come out on top.  In fact it looks like you’re stuck in the middle." 

She shuddered at the venom behind Anne's voice, poisoned words that weren't a product of embarrassment but something much deeper and more evil.  "Anne."  Leave it to her so-called friend to voice her exact fear in the most cutting way.  The only thing she was certain of was, Anne was not her friend.

"At least now I know why you didn't return my calls."  Anne turned to Russell.

"I didn't return your call because I didn't want to."  Russell put his arm round her.  "But most importantly I have a girlfriend."

Somewhere in the background Lauren heard Anne say goodbye, saw her stomp away, but she froze at Russell's word choice.  It was quite possible he didn't think that meant what she thought it did, and if she were Russell's girlfriend what did that make Jason?  In Vegas they only agreed to give this a try, they never agreed to make a commitment. 

"I think you sort of blew the whole thing we had planned for later."  Jason put his arm around her. 

"I think your planning sucks ass, look at her, she looks like she's going to pass out."  Russell took her shoulders and turned her to face him.  "Are you all right?"

She tried to nod but only succeeded in staring at him.  With tears forming in her eyes, his image became all blurry like when she would mess around and put his glasses on.

Jason stood by Russell and waved his hand in front of her face.  "Our girlfriend looks spooked."

When Jason used the G word her heartbeat sped up and she was sure the poor organ was attempting to escape her chest.  However, at the end of the day she needed to remember these were her best friends.  The two people she could tell anything to and they wouldn't judge her, but could she ask them this?

"Say something."  He leaned in, bangs falling down into his eyes.

"Girlfriend?"  Now she used the word, one of the most deadly and misunderstood in the human language. 

"Girls always need things to be so official.  We had something all planned, but with Anne and all."  Jason exhaled.  "I don't have to be nice to her anymore, do I?"

Not sure what was up with Jason, she turned her attention to Russell.

Russell picked her hand up and brought it to his lips.  "Will you be our girlfriend?"

"What do you mean?"  The world seemed to swirl and she grabbed his forearm for stability. 

"You know, like we don't see anyone else, we're committed, we're more than a sum of our parts."  Jason put his hand over his chest as he if he were about to make a pledge.  "We are officially a trouple."

"Trouple?"  Her entire speech had been distilled down to one word questions.

"You know a couple, but three."  Jason motioned between them.

"Do you want to know what we bought at the home improvement store?"  Russell kept hold of her hand.

"Okay?"  Trouple, home improvement, commitment? 

"We are going to redo the closet so that all of our stuff fits in our room."  He smiled. 

"I really thought unveiling the closet would have been better than doing this in the warehouse store."  Jason shook his head.  "Maybe this was perfect."

"We want you, Lauren."  Russell pulled her in close.  "Let’s do this, okay?"

"Yes." Again only one word came to mind. This is what she wanted from the beginning and she could finally take a breath. Actually, another word came to mind, but she pushed it away.  How?

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Oh my god, that is so freaking ugly."  Jason stared up at the rain lamp that haunted his childhood.  He thought he was free of it except for visits to his parents, yet here it was in his old bedroom, hanging in the corner. "Seriously.  Who has this?"  He made his fingers into a gun and pretended to shoot at it.  The lamp was a parody of a lamp.  "It doesn’t even give off any light."

"I love it."  Lauren's head bounced on his stomach as he laughed.  "Where do you think it all goes?" 

He glanced down at her profile.  She gazed up at her gift with a slight smile.  Yes, he missed that smile, the one that told him she was happy, calm and safe.

"Where what goes?"  Russell lifted his head from her chest and took her hand.

"The rain in the lamp.  All the golden droplets."  Her voice sounded light and airy like a dream.

Russell pointed up to the monstrosity.  "There is a pump at the bottom of the lamp that recycles the oil back up that pipe in the center so the liquid can travel down the wire again." 

Jason shook his head.  Leave it to his best friend to give the real answer.

She wrinkled her nose.  "That was incredibly romantic." 

"Well, it’s a fact."  Russell shrugged his shoulders. 

She turned up backwards at him.  "Say something different."

"It goes back to the 1970's where it belongs."  He grinned at her.

She groaned and settled back down. "Can we keep the lamp here?  I think it will make a perfect addition to our new office." 

Jason raised his thumb and assessed the lamp.  They came home from their shopping, and while he and Russell worked on the closet, Lauren made some dinosaur for dinner. All she wanted was for them to hang the lamp now that they were official.  They decided to turn his bedroom into an office, but they had to spend the night in here while the paint in the new master bedroom dried.  Now they lay all tangled on the bed, he and Russell in boxer briefs and Lauren in some little see-through nightgown watching the show.  This would make an amazing painting. "I think it's a great burglar deterrent." 

"You don't think anyone will steal it, do you?"  She raised herself up on her elbows.

He pushed her back down.  "No, I think a burglar would see it in the window and run the other way.  He wouldn't want to steal from the house with the orange Formica countertops and olive shag carpeting."

"I think that any burglar who would want to steal it would be too old to break into the house, so we're safe."  Russell patted her hand.

"I don't care, I love it."

"It sort of reminds me of Grecian pornography."  Jason inhaled making her head travel up and down with his diaphragm.  The woman in the center of the lamp was draped in some cloth and always looked as if she were about ready to strip.  He supposed it was all right with the eclectic style in here.  Unlike Lauren's old room that was all frilly and flowered, and Russell's neat space, his domain was a mish-mosh of whatever he liked at the time, much like his parent's home.

"Your parents had it since before you were born."  She grabbed his hand and put it to her chest. 

Imbedded forever in his memory were that lamp and his parent's waterbed.  "Yes."

"It belonged to your aunt and uncle and they gave it your parents when they got married."  Russell got up and fixed the cord woven through the antiqued brass chain.  "They said it would bring them good energy."

He narrowed his eyes trying to remember the story.

"Yes." Lauren played with his fingers. "Good energy."

"What?"  Now he sat up.  That may be the story that was told, but it didn’t make it true.

Russell gave the cord one more adjustment and returned to them, giving him a quick glare before resuming his spot.  "Yes, that is what your mother says." 

"Okay."  It seemed as if Russell knew the real tale as well, but for some reason they were keeping it from Lauren.

"What does that mean?"  She pushed Russell up and turned over on her stomach.  "Your mom loves the lamp, it gives off good energy."

"It must give off good energy."  He reached forward and touched her protruding lower lip deciding not to tell her the lamp was regifted to his parents after his father lost a bet with his uncle.  He didn't think his mother remembered that part of the story either.  "As long as you love the lamp, I'm down with it."

"It belonged to your parents."  She flipped back over.  "It's good to have family."

Maybe he needed to remember how much Lauren needed family.  He hated the way she looked so hopeful at Russell's parents when they warmed up to her before all hell broke loose.  She was a sponge who needed them.  Her mom died before she knew them, and her father years before that.  When they first met her she used to always say she was an orphan.  Only after they all moved in together did she stop branding herself with that title.  "Do you think your mom would've approved of the light?"  He knew all about her mom telling her to marry a doctor, it was why she went into pharmaceutical sales in the first place.  If her mom were alive what would she think of the two of them?  Since they made the decision to be together, this answer suddenly seemed important.

Russell kicked him in the ankle.

Lauren took a breath.  "I think what she wanted was for me to be happy and stable."

Once more he leaned up and studied the scene before him.  The way her hair fanned out over his chest, how she held his hand but had her other hand in Russell's hair, how they all were laying on the bed with the light giving off a glorious glow.  Everything was right here.  The security, the people, even the lamp.  Everything.  "We are the next link in the chain.  That's why my mom gave us the lamp."

"Do you think we are?"  She stared straight at the light.

This would normally be a Russell question, and as if on queue, he answered.  "Yes, we are."  He sat up and pulled her up.  "Look at what we're building."

She grabbed Jason and took him with her as she scooted into Russell's arms. "Russell."

Jason joined them and he put his face in her neck.  "Are you happy?"  He swore he never asked anyone that question in his life, but he also never really had any sort of relationship. 

She kissed Russell, turned and gave Jason a light kiss, one where their lips melded together.  "I'm very happy.  The two of you are my family."  She smiled and pulled them in.  "Always have been."

The three of them sat with their foreheads together. 

"You never answered my question."  He whispered since they were all right there, as it should be.

She tilted her head toward him.

"Would your mom have liked the lamp?" 

"My mother would have loved the lamp." A small laugh escaped her throat.

"Not like I love you."  His mother always said when it was right the words would be there.  Though he didn't plan on saying it, never thought about it, it was right.   Somehow with the three of them like this, he was free, free to have a relationship, free to be himself, free to create.

"Jason."  She squeezed his hand.

"I always thought I would be the one to say it first."  Russell took her chin and turned her toward him.  "I've loved you for a long time."

He inhaled and nodded.  Russell loved her from the second he saw her, but it did him good to hear him say it anyway.  Again, this was right. 

With one tear streaming down each of her cheeks she looked down at their hands together. "I've never not loved the two of you." 

"I feel like you were made for me and Russell."  He leaned in and nuzzled her neck.  Strange, the only relationship in his life he was ever certain about was Russell.  Somehow they were given the love of their life, someone who needed them, and the perfect way for them to all be together.

"I was."  She put one hand on each of their chins, her fingers tracing both, taking her time and taking them both in before giving him another kiss.  For this one she opened her mouth, took time tasting each one of his lips, and teased him with only a flick of her tongue.

In an instant, his body responded.  Her taste, a sizzling sweetness radiating through his body, but he resisted deepening the kiss, wanting to let her guide them.

She finished her kiss, stared into his eyes and turned her attention to Russell.

Russell must have received the same memo because he simply sat still, closing his eyes as Lauren traced his lips with the tip of her finger and moved in to kiss him.

With her mouth still on Russell's she reached back, finding Jason's hand and guiding it around her waist.

He accepted her invitation, catching the bottom of her tiny excuse for pajamas, moving it out of the way in favor of caressing her bare skin. 

Lauren pushed Russell down, but rather than landing on top of him, moved to the center of the bed on her back.

Russell moaned, their hands colliding when he took hold of her.  Over the last couple of weeks Russell had become more comfortable around him.  Not flinching and tensing if they happened to touch or get close to each other. 

As a test, Jason didn't move, and he swore Russell paused, keeping his hand there a bit longer than needed before sliding it over his and down to Lauren's hip.  Jason arched his back, prolonging an unexpected heat to radiate through his body.  No, he never even dabbled in anything with another man, didn't feel the urge, but Russell was Russell, part of them. 

"I want you to make love to me."  Once more she kissed Russell then turned back and kissed him. 

While he knew that right now Russell only considered them both with Lauren, the fact was they were all together. He reached over to Russell's hand and moved it up to her breast.  "Let's make love to our girlfriend."

***

With the golden raindrops falling from the lamp, the ethereal glow in the room and two of the most amazing men on either side of her, Lauren didn't know if life would ever be more perfect than this minute. For the first time in her life reality completely outweighed any fantasy.  As the day calmed down and she watched her men work on redesigning their bedroom while she cooked, the doubts began to fade. 

When they said they loved her it was more than she could ask for, but when Jason said she was made for them, she found her place in the world.  Her search led her to what she had wanted all along.

She closed her eyes and let the sensations flow.  Jason's lips on hers, Russell caressing her breasts, her hands occupied with taking each one of her loves in, wanting to remember this night, each emotion, each touch, each word. 

Caught up in pure appreciation of this time, she barely realized they completely undressed her and themselves until Jason turned her to her side facing him, and she had two more than ready men pressed up against her.

Now skilled in what they needed, she took Jason in one hand and reached behind her to Russell, giving them both some attentive but soft strokes.  As if they rehearsed their next move, Jason's fingers parted her folds, while Russell focused on her most sensitive spot with a light massage.  Her desire grew, turning into an ache she now wanted satisfied. "Now."

At the same time, Jason went to pull her on top of him as Russell tried to push her back.

"This way."  She resisted and stayed on her side wanting to feel surrounded by them.  "I want you both right here."

Jason positioned her leg over his hip. 

"We're both here."  Russell kissed her neck and took her chin turning her toward him.  "Look at me as Jason enters you."

She stared into his eyes, waiting for the ultimate fulfillment, but neither man moved.  "Do you need a condom?"  They had a huge tub from the warehouse store, but with her head foggy with need she couldn't remember where they put them.

"Do we need one?"  Jason punctuated his question with a kiss on her chest. 

She broke eye contact with Russell, focusing on the lamp and the amazing moving shadow it made on the wall.  "I've never done that."  Though the image of them not fumbling with cellophane and latex was alluring, enough to make her move her hips toward Jason. 

"Neither have we."  Russell's lips brushed her ear.  "But if you don't feel right…"

"No."  She bit her lip.  A first for all three of them.  Something intimate and special to only be shared by those in a commitment.  "You're right.  No condom."  

"Then look at me as Jason enters you."  Russell's tone one of control and confidence.

Again she gazed into his eyes, greenish blue, arching her back as Jason ran the head of his cock over her and slipped inside her without anything in the way, maybe a metaphor for her life.  "Oh." While she knew men craved this, she didn't think she would notice a difference, but before he even moved, there was no doubt this wasn't the same at all.  She held her breath waiting for Jason to thrust into her.

"Yes."  Jason pressed his face to her shoulder and stopped. 

"Jason?"  She gasped.

He took hold of her face, crushed his lips to hers and began moving inside her.

Yes, there was a difference, a major one, not only with no condom, but with the way Jason made love to her.  He wrapped his arms around her, and seemed to take his time, Russell directed her and she rocked her hips back and forth. He stomach coiled, the beginning of the euphoric build up.