ChristmasisComing (13 page)

Gaby went soft inside. “That’s the way I
feel. Kiss me, Liam.”

He moved up the bed, taking her in his
arms. She tasted her juices on his mouth when their lips met. Fletch stretched
out beside her, his rough fingers exquisitely gentle as he stroked one breast.
He lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking almost
painfully hard. Gaby relaxed under the attention. This had happened so quickly
between them, but she couldn’t be sorry, despite the storm of gossip and
disapproval.

Fletch moved away and opened the bottle of
lube. He turned her onto her side, rearranging her body to his satisfaction.
She flinched at the coldness of the lube when he smoothed it over her pucker.
He stretched her carefully. First one finger. Once she took him comfortably, he
added another.

“Put the condom on for me, Liam?” There was
a dare in his voice, and Gaby felt him tense a fraction, as if he thought Liam
might balk at the suggestion, despite performing the service for him before.

Liam opened the nightstand drawer and
pulled out a Fancy Free condom, one of the experimental ones she’d asked them
to test for her. He opened the plain packet and moved down the bed.

“Not ready for a condom,” Liam said.

“What do you mean?” Fletch demanded. “I—”
He broke off with a strangled groan when Liam took his cock into his mouth.
Gaby grinned at his expression of shock, rapidly slackening into a haze of
pleasure when Liam sucked and licked him. He obviously reached all the good
points, judging by Fletch’s expression. “Fuck, not too much. I want to come
inside Gaby with our cocks touching, with the three of us together.”

Liam pulled off his cock with a loud pop.
“That’s better.” Satisfaction echoed in his face. With competent moves, he
rolled the latex down Fletch’s length. “Anything else?”

“Not at present,” Fletch said, his eyes
narrowing when Gaby and Liam both laughed at him. “You’ll keep,” he added in
warning. They both laughed harder, and finally he huffed and moved behind her.
He pressed against her pucker, pushing in carefully, pressing forward and
withdrawing until she took him easily. Once he was fully embedded, he waited
while Liam worked into Gaby’s pussy.

“I don’t think I’m ever gonna get tired of
the connection I feel when we’re together like this,” Gaby said, her tone
dreamy. “It feels good. Right. I love you guys.”

“Glad to hear it,” Fletch said, shuddering
at the drag of Liam’s cock when he withdrew from her pussy, unhurried as if
they had all the time in the world.

Liam pushed back inside, stopping when he
was balls-deep. “We feel the same way.”

“You ready for us to start moving in
earnest?” Fletch asked.

“Please,” she whispered. Instead of closing
her eyes as she normally did, she watched Liam’s face. The pleasure she saw in
him rippled over her, both inside and out. Her men did good work together. Like
a well-oiled machine, they pushed her higher and higher.

“Damn. Can’t hold on any longer,” Fletch
said, his next thrust erratic.

Liam reached down to finger her slippery
clit, the insistent brush of his finger sending her soaring. A ripple went
through her pussy, the hard clench around a cock bringing satisfaction. Like a
ripple effect, the pleasure shot through them all until they collapsed in a
sweaty heap.

After a quick cleanup, they cuddled with
her in the middle.

“Do we need to make a plan?” Liam asked.

“As long as we stick together and refuse to
talk, we should be okay,” Fletch said.

“What about your family? Gaby’s family?”

“My mother and sister have already left
messages.” Gaby couldn’t restrain her scowl. She tried so hard with them, but
she’d come to the conclusion that nothing she did would ever find approval with
them. They were too different in their beliefs. “Gran and everyone at work will
support me. I know that without even thinking about it.”

“My family could go either way,” Fletch
said, doubtfully. “I don’t know.”

“You love your family. Hell, I love your
family because they’ve treated me like a son ever since the time I came home
from school with you,” Liam said.

“I can’t pretend a rejection won’t hurt,
but I love you guys, both of you. You’re my family,” Fletch said.

“The next few weeks will tell,” Liam said.

“What I don’t understand is how the paper
found out. I haven’t told anyone.” Gaby’s brow creased. “No wait. I talked to
Gran about testing the sex toys with you both, but she’s the only person I’ve
spoken to about the testing.”

“We haven’t discussed our changed
relationship with anyone apart from each other,” Liam said, and Fletch nodded
agreement.

“I suppose someone might’ve guessed.” Gaby
scowled again. “Unless we have a peeping Tom spying on us and peeking through
our windows.”

“I say we behave normally and try to ignore
the inevitable comments,” Fletch said.

“That’s all we can do,” Liam agreed.

“What about Rachel?”

“I’ve made it clear I won’t marry her. I’ll
ask for DNA tests once the baby’s born and if it’s mine, I’ll offer financial
support. I don’t love her. It was sex, dammit, and I made it clear to her at
the time. She knew the score.”

“That’s a bit brutal,” Fletch said.

“You think I should marry her?”

“Hell no. I just mean she’s probably
scared,” Fletch said. “I sure as hell wouldn’t marry her either. She’s a
flake.”

“I think she’s putting on an act,” Gaby
said. “There was something calculated about her display tonight. She went out
of her way to make everyone sympathetic toward her.”

“You don’t think she’s pregnant?” Liam
asked.

“No, I think she’s pregnant. It’s too easy
to disprove. She either knows the real father will reject her or knows her
family don’t approve of him. She’s trying to land a husband her father approves
of.”

“You didn’t hear him today,” Liam said
drily. “He was pissed about me rejecting his daughter, and the idea of the three
of us together horrified him. He said it was against everything the church
taught.”

“You forgot the bit about ruining us,”
Fletch muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Gaby said. “He can’t do
that. Pray for another scandal and we’ll be yesterday’s news soon enough.”

Chapter Twelve

Late November

Fletch and Liam were working in the garden
when Gaby arrived home. Both bare-chested, their torsos gleaming in the
late-afternoon sun. A sight to behold. She sighed in appreciation.

“Very sexy,” she purred.

“We’ve been here most of the day,” Liam
said tersely.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Gaby said.

Fletch draped a sweaty arm around Liam’s
tense body and gave him a quick hug. “Don’t be sorry, sweetheart. It’s not your
fault.”

Liam finally relaxed a fraction, sagging
into Fletch’s embrace. “We had to lay off the rest of the staff.”

“Did you finish putting up the last of the
hay sheds?”

“Yep, all done,” Fletch said. “It’s
official. We don’t have any work because Rachel’s father has blackballed us.”

“James and Alice invited us to a barbecue
tonight. You guys want to go?”

Her two men exchanged a quick glance.

“Sure,” Fletch said.

“We could do with some tension release
first,” Liam said slyly.

The garden was private, their closest
neighbor unable to see their house let alone the garden. Gaby sank to her knees
in front of Liam and dragged down his shorts.

“Ooh, I like the way she thinks.” Fletch
looked on with interest as she guided Liam’s cock into her mouth and took him
deep. His flavor burst over her, musky, a little sweaty and all male.

Liam groaned, his hands coming down to hold
her head. Unable to help himself, he started to thrust. She breathed through
her nose, swallowing to control her gag reflex while her fingers stroked his
balls. When she withdrew, her tongue snaked over his tip and around to tease
the acutely sensitive part below. She glanced up to catch Fletch’s gaze and he
grinned. She watched him finger Liam’s nipple before twisting it. During the
last month they’d learned a lot about their likes and dislikes. Liam liked this
and they were happy to oblige. Fletch kissed Liam, his fingers still busy. It
was working. A rapid stream of pre-come filled her mouth and his balls drew up
tight beneath his cock.

Fletch pinched Liam’s nipple again and a
jolt went through Liam. She sucked hard and he started to come, shooting down
her throat as she swallowed him down. When he’d finished she gradually eased
up, licking him clean before pulling back.

“Is that better?” she asked.

“Only if you’re Liam,” Fletch complained.

Gaby laughed, and she rose to her feet,
flashing a sly wink at Liam. Seconds later they attacked Fletch together. He
didn’t stand a chance. Not that he put up much of a fight.

* * * * *

They arrived late to the barbecue. When
they walked around the back into James and Alice’s garden, the area was full of
laughing groups of friends and family. Fletch and Liam had been to a couple of
barbecues with her before and knew everyone. Along with most of the board
members and their spouses, Marc was present with a woman she didn’t know. Luke
Morgan, Richard’s son and James’ friend, was there with his wife Janaya.
Richard’s wife Hinekiri stood talking to Gran and a small black-and-white dog
with spots ran from group to group seeking attention. The dog barked when she
saw them and trotted toward them. Gaby smiled because she’d met Killer before.

Killer made a beeline for Fletch and rubbed
against him before flopping to the ground and turning over to get her belly
scratched. She barked the entire time, and Luke and Janaya laughed while
Richard let out a disgusted snort.

“She likes you, Fletch,” Luke said.

Gaby shook her head and grinned. “I’ve
never known a dog to bark so much.”

“Killer is very talkative. You could say
she has an opinion about everything.” Janaya smirked at her husband. “She’s part
of the family. We wouldn’t be without her.”

“But we’d let you borrow her anytime,” Luke
said.

Killer barked several times and moved on to
seek attention from Liam.

Gaby relaxed when no one mentioned the
rumors. Public outings were rare these days. With the continuing gossip, the
three of them still featured in the
Sloan Gazette
headlines.

James brought them drinks.

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Alice said.
“To Marc and Gaby our wonderful designers. Without them we’d be a very ordinary
company. Instead our pre-Christmas orders are booming. It’s shaping up to be a
record year for us. So, to Marc and Gaby.”

“To Marc and Gaby,” everyone said.

After that, the conversation moved on to
more general things.

“The three of you are still making the
gossip column,” James said.

“We keep hoping something else will grab
the headlines from us,” Fletch said.

“We need another UFO sighting,” Hinekiri
chirped.

“No, we do not,” Luke said. “The last time
there was a sighting the police phone went all day and night for a week. I do
not need more weeks of bedlam.”

“I agree,” Richard said. “The Sloan police
department doesn’t need that sort of excitement.”

“The Sloan Ladies Division would welcome
the money-making opportunity,” Hinekiri said. “One can only do so much
knitting.”

“God forbid,” Luke muttered, rolling his
eyes.

Liam and Fletch gravitated toward James and
Luke.

“I hear Rachel’s father blackballed you,”
Luke said.

“Yeah. He’ll be gloating tomorrow when it
becomes public knowledge we let the last of our workers go. We can’t afford to
pay them,” Liam said.

“Why don’t you branch into furniture or
something similar until things improve?” James said. “Or try making wooden
trains or toys for the Christmas market. I remember the stuff you made at
school workshop. You’re both good.”

“You could sell them at the farmers’ market
in Clevedon,” Luke suggested. “Cut out the middleman.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Liam said slowly.

Fletch nodded, his expression distant as if
he were thinking hard. “We have a load of timber and shorter off-cuts we kept,
hoping to use them on another job. That’s a great idea. If we can sell a few
things, it’ll pay the bills.”

“Robert Saunders always was an ass.
Remember when Rachel accused Luke of chopping off her pigtails when we were at
primary school?” James prodded the sausages and turned several of them. The
scent of cooking meat filled the air. “Luke, hand me those vegetables, will
you? I think everything else is almost cooked.”

“I still remember the fuss. She always was
a bit of a sneak. I saw her cut them off,” Luke said.

“Why?” Liam asked.

“She wanted one of the short, trendy cuts
her friends were getting, but her father wouldn’t let her cut her hair. He
likes women to wear their hair long.”

Fletch glanced at Liam and laughed when his
lover winked at him. “So shoot me, I’m partial to long hair too.”

“I could’ve done without knowing that.”
James flipped off the burners apart from the one under the vegetables.

“I take it some of Ms. Knowall’s column are
right?” Luke handed his friend a plate for the sausages and steak.

“No comment,” Fletch said.

“The no-comment thing worked real well for
me,” James said.

“It’s something to do with Fancy Free.”
Luke cast a sly glance at his father. “Talking about sex and sex-related items
must relocate the blood south. Nothing left to help the brain process. Makes
you behave without thinking first.”

“We don’t work there,” Liam pointed out.

“Gaby does,” Luke countered.

“Gaby is a gifted designer.” Fletch stole a
glance at Liam.

Liam couldn’t restrain his smug grin. Gaby
bore all sorts of gifts—something to keep between him and Fletch. Despite the
problems at work and the fact most of their family members weren’t speaking to
them, the last six weeks had been the happiest of his life.

“Your smirk tells me we want details,”
James said. “But we’re damn pleased Gaby works for us. We couldn’t do without
her and Marc.”

Liam glanced over at Gaby to find her deep
in discussion with Marc and his lady. To his relief, Gaby’s body language said
friend and nothing more.

“Does anyone know Ms. Knowall’s identity?”
Richard asked.

“It was my mother for a while,” James said.
“She’s been visiting the grandchildren on the Gold Coast. Somehow I don’t see
her sending a column from Australia.”

“The
Gazette
has two part-time
reporters plus the owner,” Fletch said. “We’ve kept an eye on them. It must be
someone else.”

“Has anyone considered Gaby’s sister?
Doesn’t she fill in there sometimes? Isn’t she friendly with one of the
reporters?” Luke said. “I’ve seen them have lunch together in the cafe.”

“Hell,” Fletch said. “Would Elsa do that to
Gaby?”

“She’s a jealous cat,” Liam said. “I
wouldn’t put anything past her. I rebuffed an advance from her a few years ago
before she married. She hasn’t spoken to me since.”

“No loss,” James said. “The vegetables are
cooked.” He transferred them to a plate and handed it to Luke.

Liam and Fletch grabbed a plate of meat
each and the men joined the women.

Almost three hours later, they said their
goodbyes. In the car, during the drive back to the house, Liam brought up the subject
of Gaby’s sister.

“Is it possible Elsa would know about us? I
mean before the story hit?”

Gaby frowned. “Gran and I discussed testing
sex toys and condoms when I went to my nephew’s birthday party. We were alone,
but it’s possible Elsa eavesdropped.”

“Or it’s possible whoever wrote the column
knew the three of us lived in the same house and took a calculated guess,”
Fletch said.

“Next time I see her, I’ll ask her straight
out.” Gaby shrugged helplessly. “Not that it matters now. The damage is done. Learning
the identity of the culprit won’t change a thing.”

* * * * *

Shopping for groceries was a pain in the
butt. Normally she dragged one or both of the guys went with her, but they were
busy working on making stock to sell at their first farmers’ market.

Gaby pushed the trolley down the
supermarket aisles, mentally crossing items off her list and humming to the
Christmas carols. Unable to resist she threw in a pack of candy canes to
decorate their Christmas tree. She saw lots of women she’d gone to school with
and many others she knew, but most of the women ignored her. The flurry of
whispers that followed her was like background static on the sound system.

She rounded the corner and came
face-to-face with her mother.

Gaby pasted a pleasant expression on her
face. “Hi, Mum.”

Her mother pushed her trolley past,
sticking her nose in the air and ignoring her totally. Two women standing by
the Christmas hams witnessed the snub and sniggered.

“Hussy,” someone spat as she wheeled her
trolley past the bread aisle. Gaby ignored the insult and tossed two loaves of
wholegrain bread into the trolley. Maybe she should brand S for scarlet woman
on her forehead or shave her hair or something. Honestly, she’d expected a bit
of flack from her mother and sister, but this backlash and pettiness—never.

Sighing, she consulted her list and wheeled
her trolley to the checkout. The teenage girl on the register stared but at
least she didn’t refuse to serve her. She’d suffered that indignity the
previous week.

Outside, Gaby wheeled her trolley to the
far end of the parking lot, past the bins of rubbish and food scraps waiting
for collection by a local farmer. She unloaded the groceries into the car and
wheeled her trolley to the collection point. She caught a flash of white from the
corner of her eye and glanced up to find four cult members surrounding her.
They held a placard each.

“You need to stop working at Fancy Free,”
one shouted.

“You’re a fallen woman,” another said. “A
bad influence. You should encourage the birth of children.”

“Birth control is bad,” a third hollered,
waving her placard.

Gaby’s brows rose. She glanced at the
fourth woman. “Do you have anything to add?”

“Yes, don’t you like it’s selfish to keep
two men to yourself? One man. One woman!”

“Oh brother.” Gaby rolled her eyes, a surge
of anger zapping her. Fletch and Liam belonged to her and she belonged to them.
No sharing allowed. “Excuse me.” When the women didn’t move, she pushed between
two and tugged open the driver’s door.

The women hoisted their placards and
started marching around her car, shouting anti-condom slogans at the top of
their voices.

Gaby started up her car and eased off the
handbrake but the women stood their ground, blocking her way. Frustrated tears
filled her eyes. It had been a hellish day all round. She’d burned her hand on
hot latex while she was pouring a sample and the spot still throbbed like hell.
She’d suffered through whispers and snubs when she’d ventured to the café for
lunch with Alice and now this. She pressed on the horn but the women continued
their chanting and obstinately blocked her departure.

She kept inching her car forward and
suddenly one of the women fell in front of her vehicle with an ear-piercing
shriek. Alarmed, she slammed on the brakes. She switched off the ignition and
leaped out of her car. “Is she okay?”

“Call the cops,” one of the cult women
shrieked. “She ran my friend down on purpose.”

“Gaby Montgomery. I should’ve guessed,” a
mocking feminine voice came from behind her. “Not only do you steal boyfriends
but you run down innocent bystanders. Call the cops. I’m a witness. I saw the
entire incident.”

“I did not run her down,” Gaby snarled,
turning to glare at Rachel. Her eyes narrowed on Rachel’s belly, her brows
drawing together in shock. That was an awful big baby bump if her dates were
correct and Liam was the father.

A crowd gathered around Gaby and her car.
The cult lady continued to screech and moan while her cohorts made enough din
to prod the beginnings of her headache into full bloom.