AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The laugh comes from some jagged, painful place, but it heals and it helps and brings up the tears I swore I wouldn’t let fall. Raleigh kisses them off my cheeks, wrapping me up in his arms.
“You mean it?” he asks.
“Of course I mean it,” I say, sniffling, glaring at him.
As one, we look over at West.
“Bed,” he says roughly. “Now.”
We somehow make it back to West’s bedroom, losing clothes along the way. This time Raleigh is unperturbed by the tears I can’t seem to stop; if anything, they make him bolder. West dims the room, closing the blinds and drawing the curtains for privacy. He instructs Raleigh every few minutes to position me this way or that, and I start to wonder if he’s stalling when I see it. In the middle of digging for matches in a drawer, striking against the box to light it, holding it to the candle. Then a second time.
He’s shaking. Scared.
Something has West so scared, he can’t hold a match steady long enough to light the candlewick.
“Raleigh, wait,” I whisper against his lips. “Look.”
West gives up on the matches, bracing his hands on the dresser and letting his head hang down. He takes a silent, shuddering breath.
We leave the bed as one to go to him. Raleigh folds him in from behind, hugging him tight. I cover West’s hand on the dresser.
“We’re right here,” I say inanely, because I have no idea what’s going on in his mind, but maybe that will help.
West takes a slow, deep breath, and his trembling begins to subside.
“Come back to bed,” says Raleigh.
For once, West lets us lead—no commands for Raleigh, no provoking me to fight him. It had taken me a while to catch on to his games, but I understood him now. West was giving us what we needed. Every time he took control from Raleigh, he gave him back the power to explore what he truly wanted without any of the “shoulds” in his head. Every time he provoked me, West showed me how much stronger I could be when I got past the barriers of my own mind. Every time, he was giving us the best of ourselves.
When Raleigh’s eyes meet mine, I know we’re on the same page. It’s West’s turn.
We work in tandem, kissing and touching, pressing West’s hands back down to the mattress when he tries to take control again. I wish fervently for a pair of handcuffs, but that’ll have to wait for another time.
For now, we tend to West, working him over, driving him higher. The third time Raleigh pulls his mouth away to keep him from climax, West starts to swear at us both, describing in detail the ways he was already planning retribution. The threat of punishment never sounded so sweet.
The last of the sunlight creeping through the curtains had gone when West tipped his head back, eyes closed, and whispered, “Please.”
Raleigh takes great care with rolling the condom over him, making quick work of it, then helping me sit astride West as I slide down to take him in.
West tangles his fingers with mine, giving me leverage to ride. Raleigh moves up behind me, the trickle of moisture between my cheeks surprising me. He traces his fingers along the crease of my backside gently, sliding ever so slightly deeper.
“Callie?” The question in his voice is plain.
“Yes.” My head falls back as Raleigh goes to work opening me up in a way I’ve never been before. When I refocus my gaze, West has perked up, watching Raleigh with interest.
“Is he—?”
I nod, unable to speak as Raleigh manages a second finger in alongside the first.
“Relax, baby,” says West, his hips shifting underneath me. I suspect he’s trying to distract me. His hands are everywhere, stroking my hips, my belly, my breasts. West sits up halfway, bringing his mouth to my chest.
As distractions go, it’s a winner. Some moments later, I feel the withdrawal, then the pressure as Raleigh begins to seek entrance.
It takes longer than I want it to, much longer than I thought it would. West grins when I get frustrated and try to force my ass back into Raleigh. Raleigh’s breathing takes off like he’s running a marathon and he moves with me, determined not to hurt me, but goddamn it.
“Hurry the fuck up, Raleigh.”
They both laugh at me then, though the sound is strained. At long last, the head of him pops past something and the slide gets easier and Raleigh moves just a little bit. It’s enough to have me shaking, the relief and the rising intensity somehow winding together to make me need it even more.
