Boston Avant-Garde 2 - Crescendo (8 page)

Joshua didn’t like classical music. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect the discipline it took to master a hundred-year-old piece of music. He’d just never been moved by music he’d always considered prissy.

Until he’d heard Leslie.

Music filled the hallway between the elevator and their front door. Blood rushed through his veins, lifting the hair on the back of his neck. He fumbled for his keys with shaking fingers, finally managing to open the door. Half a dozen paces away, Leslie played in a patch of sunlight.

He groaned, but the guttural sound was lost in her melody. Arousal swept him like a storm. His cock pushed painfully against his slacks, hard as iron and longing to end his self-imposed denial. He wanted this woman with every fiber of his being.

She stood on the hardwood floor with her bare feet braced slightly apart, her back straight, and her head tilted against the instrument. Her hair trailed over her shoulder in a silken curtain. Her breasts moved in concert with each stroke of the bow. He longed to take them each in his hands and taste their sweetness.

Her eyes were closed, her face utterly at peace. He was struck by the overwhelming urge to prolong that feeling for her, to protect her. Was this what Seth had sensed? Was this the reason he believed the three of them could somehow forge a relationship from the scattered pieces of their lives?

Arching her back, she played a long, vibrating note that jolted Joshua to the core of his very soul. She sustained the tone for a moment, finally bringing it to a close and lowering the instrument.

Seth shouldered his way through the door. “Don’t stop. I love that piece. It’s Vivaldi, right?”

Leslie spun around; a pretty blush colored her cheekbones. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the door. I guess I didn’t think you guys would be home this early.” She fiddled with her bow before setting both it and the violin aside.

Something snapped inside Joshua. It was the way Seth looked at her—as if his whole world was complete the moment she was in it. Joshua had no right to hinder whatever feelings his best friend had for this woman.

In fact, the two of them looked as if they were resisting the urge to attack each other. An unexpected jab of jealousy caught him by surprise. He’d never been jealous of Seth before. Never. Jealousy had no place in their lives. What was it about Leslie that shook his equilibrium?

Seth reached out and snagged her hand. Pulling her into his arms, he pressed a kiss to her temple. Joshua was intrigued by her bewildered expression. She was stiff at first, but it didn’t last. Moments later she melted into Seth and rested her cheek against his chest.

Joshua stood less than five feet away from their warm embrace, but it might as well have been fifty, considering his sense of acute disconnection.

She offered a tentative smile. “How was your day, Joshua?”

It was a pointless, mundane question. So why did he feel as if the sun had just come out after a lifetime of gray skies? “It seems to be improving.”

The answer slipped out before he could think it through. If Seth’s expression was anything to go by, he hadn’t missed the possible implications behind Joshua’s words. No doubt the topic would come up later. Joshua let the moment pass. Now wasn’t the time to discuss his decision to let the Leslie relationship run its course.

After all, fighting chemistry was about as pointless as trying to turn back time.

“So, how about some sustenance?” He winked at Leslie. “We wouldn’t want anyone wasting away to nothing.”

Joshua’s mood swings were making Leslie dizzy. The day she’d moved in, he’d been a sexy devil one minute and hostile the next. Now he’d switched to good-natured teasing. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what was next on his list. She only wished she could control the way she felt around him.

When she’d realized he was listening to her music, she’d felt more connected to him than she’d ever felt to another person in her life. Her nerves were still tingling with the desire to snuggle into his arms and feel his body heat soak into her skin.

She wished she could turn off her hormones. It was impossible to remain clear-headed when her pussy was calling the shots. She’d come multiple times yesterday: in Seth’s office, once by herself in Joshua’s rumpled bed, and more than once last night in Seth’s arms. Considering the dry spell she’d been having prior to this whole bizarre living arrangement, she should be drowning in satisfaction.

Seth brushed another kiss across her forehead, setting off a chain reaction that had her stomach doing backflips. “Anything out of the ordinary happen today?”

She thought about the Donna Show and the happy woman flanked by her two men. How did you even explain something like that? “It was just a day, I guess.”

He stroked her spine, sending chills racing to her fingertips. “You know, we never even asked if we were screwing up any plans you already had. Do you have someplace else you need to be?”

The question caught her off balance. “I’m playing a wedding tomorrow evening but no plans for tonight.”

He smiled, and her heart leaped at the genuine warmth in his face. “Perfect. Joshua and I have a business meeting tomorrow evening that I’d intended to reschedule. If you already have plans, there’s no reason not to get it out of the way.”

Tears burned her eyes. Why did he have to be so considerate? Where was the domineering control-freak lawyer? But Seth had never been like that. Ever. That was why she’d broken off their relationship the first time, when she started crossing the line between casual and something else.

She pulled away, moving toward the windows and the barren patio area. A few deep breaths had her more or less back in control of her emotional baggage. “Don’t you guys ever use the space out there?”

Seth didn’t comment on her obvious change in topic. “We’ve talked about hiring a landscape architect to put in plants or something. But we lack time and creativity.”

The memory of a stone bench tucked between purple asters and spicy jasmine came immediately to Leslie’s mind. It had been her favorite place to steal away and read or practice her music before betrayal had sullied the serenity of her mother’s garden.

“Eventually this bone-chilling spring weather will roll around to summer. It would be nice to be outside.” Seth cast a glance over his shoulder to where Joshua was busy whipping up something in the kitchen. “Josh loves to grill.”

She couldn’t stop herself from conjuring images of the three of them sharing dinner in an outdoor kitchen before cuddling together before a crackling fire. Was she determined to torture herself repeatedly with scenes from a life she’d never have?

“Dinner is served.” Joshua approached with a bar towel in hand. “What are you two staring at over here? I thought we hid the binoculars so she wouldn’t think we spent all our time watching our neighbors have sex in the shower.”

“Leslie agrees with me that this patio space could use an overhaul.”

Joshua spun the towel and snapped it at Seth’s backside. “Ah, so everyone can watch us have sex on the patio. Sounds like a good plan.”

Coming from almost anyone else, the bold suggestion would’ve been annoying as hell, but Joshua had just the right balance of charm and sauce to pull it off.

Her earlier fantasy shifted until she was lounging back into the arms of one while the other spread her wide to lick her pussy.

She resisted the urge to clamp her legs together against the rush of cream that dampened her thighs. Her clit pulsed, a tiny pinprick of pleasure that demanded attention whether the time was appropriate or not.

Something in Joshua’s expression said he knew exactly what she was thinking about. “How about some food first this time?”

A flush crept over her skin. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Chapter Seven

Leslie’s pussy was beginning to ache from her constant state of arousal. It had taken almost no time at all to polish off Joshua’s meal of chicken and sautéed vegetables. Normally she would have spent a moment savoring the complex combination of spices Joshua had used on the meal. This time she’d barely tasted the food passing her lips.

She hadn’t missed out on the fact that Joshua seemed obsessed with what she ate. He’d watched her like a hawk during the entire meal. Apparently her vending machine confession from the night before had really bothered him. Now dinner was over, and the atmosphere was relaxed. The remnants of the cannoli Seth had brought for dessert sat in the middle of the table beside a half-empty bottle of sweet rose wine.

She felt light-headed from the wine and the giggling. She’d been relentlessly teasing them, picking on everything from their housekeeping habits to their choice to cohabitate. Her tongue was loose from the alcohol, and she was feeling braver than was probably wise.

“So.” She ran the tip of one finger around the edge of her wineglass. “The two of you have never questioned your sexual orientation? Never?”

Joshua rolled a sip of wine around his mouth before giving her a long, slow grin. “Two cocks in one room is one cock too many unless there’s a pussy to connect them.”

She rolled her eyes. She wondered if he’d been using that line since college. “Did you come up with that all by yourself?”

“No, he didn’t,” Seth said.

“Sex is a performance, sweetheart.” Joshua set his glass down. “There’s nothing more beautiful than passion on display.”

Her hand trembled, and she nearly spilled the remainder of her wine. She wanted them, both of them. So what if it was unconventional. Conventional never worked anyway.

Joshua took her glass and set it beside his. “Why would you not want an audience for something that incredible?”

“Enough talking. I’d have never brought the cannoli if I’d known how long it’d make me wait.” Seth pushed away from the table and stood. The front of his slacks bulged over his erection.

“Wait for what?” She gasped as he plucked her from her chair and slung her over his shoulder.

He was already walking toward the stairs. “For
my
dessert.”

Joshua didn’t seem to mind being left behind. Moments later she realized why when he cupped her face and kissed her senseless. The spicy taste of him was intoxicating. His tongue swept inside her mouth again and again before receding when they reached her bedroom door.

He pulled back far enough to meet her gaze. “Can we come in?”

“Please.” She hadn’t intended to sound so desperate. Her position on Seth’s shoulder put the hand he’d placed on her leg mere inches from her tingling center.

Seth’s body moved beneath her, and she found herself cradled against his chest. He took her mouth in a kiss—as different from Joshua’s as night and day—that left her lungs burning for want of air. Her nerves sizzled, longing to get closer. Her fingers found purchase in his shirt, clawing the material as he set the rhythm of their passion.

Enthralled by Seth’s kiss, she barely felt Joshua’s fingers at her waist. He untied her loose yoga pants and slid them over her hips as Seth lowered her to the bed. Cool air raised gooseflesh on her legs. Joshua hooked his thumbs beneath the waistband of her panties and worked them over her butt and down her legs.

Seth released her mouth. “You are so beautiful.”

“You’re still wearing too much clothing,” Joshua said in her ear.

Seth tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor with the rest of her clothing. Joshua unsnapped the front clasp of her bra. It fell down her shoulders and wound up on the discard pile.

Dazed, naked, and unbearably aroused, she melted into Joshua’s arms. He’d already removed his clothing, and the warm expanse of his nude, muscular body was delicious against her flushed skin. He cradled her against his chest, and her head nestled against his shoulder.

Joshua briefly cupped her breasts in his big hands and thumbed her nipples into hard little points. He slid his hands lower, stroking her sensitive inner thighs. Continuing his downward path, he touched her knees and tugged her legs apart. Feeling shy and exposed, she clamped them together.

Joshua pressed gentle kisses to the base of her neck. “No need to be shy with us, sweetheart.”

Seth shucked out of his clothing in record time. Broad-shouldered and olive- skinned, his naked body was a mouthwatering sight. His cock bobbed before him as he knelt on the bed.

“Show me her pussy, Josh.” His whisky brown gaze sought her face. “I need to see it.”

Leslie’s gut wrenched at the command in his voice. Something inside her wanted to obey, to spread her legs and show him the damp, pink folds of her vagina. She pushed her insecurities aside and let her legs fall open.

Joshua helped her shift position, and she spread her legs until they rested alongside his. She squirmed when the cool air made contact with the hot flesh of her cunt. The hard length of his cock slipped into the crease of her ass, and he thrust against her.

“Touch her, Josh.” Seth gripped his own shaft, pumping his cock as sweat beaded on his forehead.

Seth’s plum-shaped head disappeared into his hand. She was close enough to reach out and touch his soft skin. Mesmerized by the sight of Seth, she was unprepared for the brush of Joshua’s fingers through her silky, wet slit. Her back arched, and she cried out when he straddled her clit with two long fingers and delved deeply into her swollen folds.

“God, she’s wet, Seth. I want to be inside her sweet pussy.”

A shining bead of precum crested the tip of Seth’s cock, and he swirled his fingers through it. “Not yet.”

Leslie gripped Joshua’s knees, squirming against his hold as he continued the sweet torment between her legs. His steady rhythm had her panting with the need to climax. He’d braced his legs against her shins, forcing her to remain exposed and open to his touch and Seth’s sight. She’d never felt so deliciously out of control in her life.

“Hold still, sweetheart,” Joshua coaxed. “You’ll get your release soon enough. Let us please you.”

He threaded his fingers through her narrow swatch of pubic hair, tickling a teasing path back to her wet cunt and plucking at her clit. Seth shivered before them, jaw grinding with the effort of holding back. Precum glistened on his cock, making wet noises beneath his fingers as he stroked his long shaft.