Keely, Book 3, 003

In the dark, Cole said, “He’s going to ask.”

“Ask what?”

His head turned on the pillow to face her. “You know what.”

Her eyes didn’t meet his, stayed on the open door to their ensuite bathroom, the mirror still fogged from their hot bath. “I know he will,” she said and tickled her nails on the center of his chest.

They lay together in bed, tangled naked in the covers, her leg over his as she cuddled at his side. The night was full dark. They’d made love three times now, and it was almost midnight.

Cole waited, but when she said nothing, he said, “What then?”

“I don’t know.”

He breathed in slow waves a moment. “You’re ready for that?”

She rolled her eyes up to meet his and dug into his chest the point of her chin. She told him the truth. “I thought about it.”

His eyes stayed steady on hers, contemplating her. What they talked about had huge implications. He said, “What do you think?”

She said, “What do you think?”

His jaw muscles flexed. “I don’t know.”

She said, “You want to sleep with her?”

He looked aside. “I haven’t thought about it.”

“That’s a lie,” she said, smirking, tapping four fingers on his chest.

He closed his eyes a moment, then looked at her. “It’s a lie,” he admitted.

“It’s okay,” she said, still smirking. “Don’t do it anymore.”

He laughed, slunk his arm further under her body so he could fold it around and cup a hand on her shoulder. He said, “I don’t want to do it.”

“Could you do it?”

He showed her a get-serious face. “Of course I could.”

She said, “I know you could, you stud.”

They laughed together, and he hugged her against him. He said, “It’s a big deal what you’re saying.”

“I don’t think it isn’t.”

They were quiet a long while, both of them looking across the room and into the bathroom now. In the mirror-fog there was a clear handprint with dribbling streaks from when he’d taken her from behind against the counter. Cole asked her, “Do you think it’s something we could do?”

“We were three for so long,” she said as a matter of fact. Then added what he already knew: “You know I still care about him.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to lose you. I don’t worry about that. . . . Are you saying you’ll sleep with Max again?”

She lifted her chin from his chest and sneered. “You thought it was going to be just you and Keely?”

Cole’s eyes widened, and they both smiled. He thought about her question.

“Look at you,” she said. “You think you’re the only stud around here?” She stroked toes on his shin. “You don’t think I’m the hot one?”

“You are the hot one,” he said. “I love you so much, Maggie.”

She moved her mouth closer to his, and they kissed, nice and slow, and the sweet heaviness of desire for him returned.

She whispered, “What if we had a foursome?” Then more to the point: “What if I slept with Max again?” The difficulty of what they proposed had tangled threads; not just what he would do, but what she would do.

How would Cole take it? How would she take it? How would Keely take it? All this for Max. And if all this was for Max, what would that mean for Cole? There was so much to consider, and maybe all they would do was consider it. All they should do was consider it. Of course, in some ways it’d already happened in a hotel room in Michigan.

There may be a part of her that wanted Cole to take part only to ease the burden of her own curious desires.

Cole said, “I’m not afraid. Half a year ago it was all three of us in this bed.”

“Sometimes.”

It may be too much for Cole. It should be too much for her. The last thing she should want is for the love of her life to have sex with a friend of theirs. Why on earth would she want that? Not want. That wasn’t it. She would accept it.

In a weird way, a foursome restored all the attention to her. As much as their threesome had to end—her and Max and Cole—there was a special feeling awarded by the love and constant attention from two men.

And now that her own selfishness faced her, the dread of sharing that attention with another woman crept up her back like a chill. Stepping back into a realm of sexual sharing would bring complications for which none of them may be ready.

The whole matter should be dropped. She smiled the cute smile Cole loved and stroked a hand on his hard cheek, thumbing his strong chin. She caressed his hair, wove fingers through it. “Look how long your hair’s getting.”

“You like it?”

“I like it,” she said and kissed his chest.

But Cole still thought about it. He chuckled and said, “I like how you think Keely will let you sleep with Max.”

She turned away and smiled, dropped back into the crook of his arm. He patted her ass cheek.

She said, “I don’t want to sleep with him. It just seems—”

“Keely will kill you.”

“I’m not suggesting it, I’m not trying to make it happen. We figured it out this weekend. She wasn’t mad. I don’t think she was. God, I’m going to see her this week. It’s going to be so weird.”

“Maggie, maybe we should wait till Max asks.”

“It’s better we’re prepared,” she said. “It’s not something I want. You know that, right?”

“I’m okay if you sleep with Max. I’m thrilled to see you sleep with Keely. I’m into that. So into it. The fact you did it and I wasn’t there . . .?”

“Sorry.”

“I wanted to see that.”

She could see he was serious and for the first time since she’d got home from Michigan, Cole made her feel guilty. She should feel guilty. There was a certain disregard for Cole in her actions. But it was only because she trusted him.

She said. “Okay. Yeah, okay . . .”

“Okay what?”

“If Max asks, we can do it.”

“You know what we’re really talking about . . . what the real question is.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’ve made my decision.”

Cole waited, but she said no more.

Cole prompted her: “Well . . .?”

She giggled and hid her face in his collar. “Hold on . . .”

He said, “If it’s not okay . . .”

“It is, it’s okay,” she whispered near his ear. “I just . . . saying the words are harder than I thought, but I know what I want to say.”

“Me and Keely . . .”

“If it comes up,” she said now, drawing her face back so they could see each other. “For Max—for us—I would be willing to share . . . explore . . .”

“Say it for me, please,” he said, moving his hand along the small of her back, stirring the desire again. “Or I won’t do it.”

She drew a long breath and held it a moment. Then: “If we’re all together, you can be with Keely.”

“Wow.”

“Wow is right,” she repeated.

He raised his eyes and shifted to get comfortable, lowing a long masculine exhale. He said, “You weren’t kidding about the words part. Hearing it out loud. I knew what you were going to say, but hearing it come out of your mouth . . .?”

“Freaky, huh? You should try saying it.”

He sighed. “If it comes up. Max might not want to.” He looked to her again and hugged his arm around her.

She slunk a leg over his knee and up his thigh, snuggling against him. “I don’t want him sharing Keely with some other guy. Like, I forbid it.”

“You think he would?”

She thumped her forehead down on his chest and groaned. “God, why do I want to save him from himself?”

He pressed his chin on the crown of her head and they got closer. She ran a hand down his stomach. He said, “Because you love him.”

It was useless to argue with him. He knew the truth. “I do. I love him.” She looked up. “What if he brings a Jay into their relationship?”

Cole said, “You think Keely wouldn’t be able to handle it? She’s not a little goof like you were.”

“I wasn’t a fucking goof.”

“I’m trying to keep it light here,” he said. “I know what you were.” When his hand cupped her face she fell into it, let him cradle her and rub his thumb on her bottom lip.

“You’re right, though,” she said and kissed the pad of his thumb. “Keely’s strong.”

“She is,” she admitted, lamenting how she wasn’t a confident young woman in the way Max’s new girlfriend was. If Max shared Keely, she would have eaten up an asshole like Jay Carmichael. “I just don’t want to share her, you know? Like she’s ours, too. Not just Max’s.”

Cole looked at her like what she said was crazy, and she laughed and hid her face in his collar.

He said, “We have a grave responsibility.”

“We do,” she said and kissed his neck, sliding her body over top of his. She kissed his perfect mouth, and he held her arms.

He said, “Or you’re just the most possessive person I know.”

“I am. But you’re all I really want,” she said and humped herself on his big, soft cock, feeling it stiffen against her wetness.