Husbandry (22 page)

“Surprises are fun. You’re so lucky. I wanted to tell you I
set up an appointment with Genetic Harmony. Since you did so well there, I
figured what the hell. Not like I’ve had a lot of luck, so maybe they’ll
manufacture a stud or three for me.”

“Satisfaction guaranteed.” I gave her a wink.

I owed a lot to Genetic Harmony Inc. Then again, I sometimes
wondered if I really was just lucky. The matchmaking service might have put
together the genes that went into my men and encouraged their personality
traits, but that didn’t diminish the mystery of the human soul. My husbands
were unique. So was our love. That wasn’t something you could manufacture in a
lab.

“Do you believe in destiny?”

Liz cocked her head at me. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“I think I do.” In my case, I was pretty sure science and
kismet had collided, giving me exactly what I needed in life. Glancing at the
clock, I grabbed my purse and picked up my flowers. “I’ll see you tomorrow,
Liz. I’ve got three hot dates tonight and a lot of celebrating to do.”

“Sure, rub it in.” She feigned a pout before she returned to
her desk.

I chuckled on my way to the door and headed home. My good
mood bolstered me through an annoying traffic jam, although I was glad when I
finally reached my driveway. I shouted my usual greeting as I walked through
the door and hurried to perk up my flowers with some water.

Chuck rounded the corner just as I set the vase on the
kitchen table. “There’s the birthday girl.” He pulled me close and gave me an
enthusiastic kiss. “Did you have a good day?”

“Fine so far. I’m still waiting for my surprise.”

“Not yet.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “You’ll have to
wait until after dinner. Speaking of which, Chad is picking up takeout tonight,
so there’s no cooking. I’ve got strict orders to get you off your feet and
pamper you.”

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.” I gave him another kiss.
“So what did you have in mind?”

“Well, I won’t offer to do a pedicure. Sand and shellac,
yes. File and nail polish, no. But I do have a footbath set up, a remote
control with your name on it, and instructions for some exotic cocktail I think
Chad invented. How does that sound?”

“Like heaven.”

I had this image of Chuck trying to paint my nails with a
big roller. It made me giggle as I shot upstairs for a quick change into casual
clothes. Once I was comfy, I returned to the family room, where my promised
footbath was waiting. It wasn’t something I thought to treat myself with often,
but I released an appreciative groan the second my soles hit the warm water.

“That feels nice.” I drew out the last word before I sank
deeper into the sofa cushions.

“All part of the plan.” Chuck returned with two drinks—a
beer for him and something frosty and pink for me.

“Okay, so far I really like this plan.” I took my first sip
of the drink. “Yum. You said Chad came up with this?”

Chuck shrugged as he sat down beside me. “He may have
researched the recipe. I don’t know. He left me step-by-step instructions and
swore it was as easy as mixing concrete. I wouldn’t say that, but if you like
it, it must have come out all right.”

“Better than concrete,” I joked. “Is mixology in your
future?”

“You made that word up.”

“Did not.” At least, I was pretty sure that’s what they
called it.

“I’ll stick to quality control.” He took a big gulp of his
beer. “So what do you want to watch?”

I bounced around the channels for a while. There was a game
show on, so we took a few stabs at the trivia, and then I landed on a comedy.
It fit my light mood.

Halfway through, I removed my feet from the water before my
toes pruned and slipped on some fuzzy socks. The flick was just ending when I
heard a key hit the front door. In walked my other two husbands.

They each came in and bent to kiss me hello.

Chad licked his lips as he straightened. “Good. Chuck
remembered to give you the drink. What did you think?”

“Delicious,” I said, still staring at his mouth. “And the
drink was terrific too.”

That provoked a laugh.

Charles loosened his tie. “Let me go change, and then we can
get this party started.”

“The table is set,” Chuck announced. “You just have to
unpack the food.”

“What did you get?” I was already salivating from the aromas
wafting out of the large bag Chad held in the crook of his arm.

He looked smug. “Some oyster fritters to start. A little
linguini and shrimp for the main course. Although we could have picked up a
traditional birthday cake for dessert, Charles and I agreed the strawberry
tiramisu sounded better. We figured we’d add a candle to it for you.”

“That’s executive-level thinking,” I said, raising my voice
so Charles could hear me on his way upstairs.

“Of course,” he called back. “That’s why they pay me the big
bucks.”

I laughed, having a fine time of it tonight.

It was nice being waited on by my favorite men. They got
everything ready, and all I had to do was sit down to dinner. And the meal was
wonderful. I loved every bite and had an oral orgasm when I got to the
tiramisu. My wish when I blew out the candle was simple: I hoped to have as
many happy moments like this as possible for the rest of my married life.

“The fun isn’t over yet,” Charles announced when we were
finished.

Chuck and Chad cleared the table and disappeared for a
minute. They came back into the dining room carrying presents.

I nearly bounced like an excited kid when they set the
prettily wrapped gifts in front of me. One was in a medium-sized box, while the
other was large and thin. I opened the first one.

“That one is from me,” Charles announced when I removed the
leather day planner inside. “It should make it easier for you to keep track of
work, appointments, and what the three of us are doing.”

The gift was both practical and thoughtful—so typically
Charles. I got up to give him a kiss. “Thank you. I don’t doubt it will come in
handy.”

My other two husbands looked expectant as I opened the
other, more oddly shaped present. Judging by the perfect wrapping job, either
they’d paid a professional or Chad had wrapped it. I was betting on the latter.

I pulled away the paper and found myself staring at…myself.
Framed inside was my wedding photo, only it was done in oil paint. It was the
picture of us taken outside minutes after our small ceremony. My white dress
was so pristine it looked like it was glowing, and I was surrounded by my three
sexy grooms. A glance at the signature told me who had captured the moment so
perfectly.

“Oh, Chad. It’s breathtaking.”

He colored a little, always modest about his talent. “I did
the painting. Chuck cut and stained the frame himself.”

“The wood is from one of the trees growing in the garden
behind us there.” Chuck ran his hand over the side of the frame, no doubt
checking his sanding job. “I found out the groundskeeper wanted to remove a
couple of those hardwoods since the roots were digging into the irrigation
system. He let me have the lumber in return for carting it off.”

I pressed my fingers to my lips as the picture wavered in
front of me. To think I’d cropped two of these beautiful men out of my wedding
photo. I couldn’t believe I’d committed such sacrilege. And here Chad must have
been working on this painting long before that, toiling over it as a labor of
love.

I had to swallow the lump in my throat. “No matter how many
times I say it, you three will never know how much I love you.”

Chuck shifted, uncomfortable as usual around so much
emotion. “Didn’t mean to make you cry about it.”

I sniffed and patted his cheek before giving him and Chad
each a kiss. “These are happy tears. I love my gifts. One helps me keep track
of the most important people in my life, and the other reminds me of why you’re
so precious to me. Thank you.”

“Happy birthday, my love.” Chad spoke the words softly and
was echoed by the other two.

Charles wore a tender smile that morphed into a look of
anticipation. “I think it’s time for Fila’s surprise. What do you think?”

Chuck and Chad concurred.

“This wasn’t the surprise?” I couldn’t imagine what else
they could have done, but now my curiosity was in overdrive.

The intense stares the three of them gave me made me squirm.

Charles took over. “Take another five minutes to relax down
here. Then you can join us in the master bedroom.”

“Okay.” I was off-kilter enough I wasn’t sure of their
intent. Had Chuck put in new carpet? Had they bought a new bed or put up a
chandelier or something? “Five minutes, huh?”

“That ought to do it.” Charles led the way out.

I watched the three of them round the corner and then
glanced at the clock. I literally sat at the edge of my seat.

Watched clocks must have been akin to watched pots because
the minutes took forever to tick by. The instant five minutes had passed, I
leaped up and hurried upstairs. Our bedroom door was closed, but I saw amber
light seeping from beneath it.

I opened the door to a sensual fantasy. Chad had decorated
the room with his usual flair. There were rose petals strewn about and the
flicker of candles—clichés he’d adopted and made fresh again, if for no other
reason than he was the only person who’d ever done things like this for me.

I took in the romantic setting at a glance, but the room was
not what arrested my attention. Posed sexily on the bed were my three husbands,
all of whom wore identical emerald-green silk pants and nothing else. The
material was the exact color of their eyes when their irises darkened with lust,
as they were doing now.

“Oh my.” It was all I could think of to say.

“Happy birthday, Fila.” Charles’s visual once-over made my
panties damp. “Consider this another present. Your surprise.”

My mouth was dry. “Love slaves?”

He chuckled. “More like your harem. I hope you got a good
night’s sleep last night because we plan to wear you out.”

So this was why he’d turned down lovemaking last night. His
declaration should have sounded boastful, but I knew the three of them had the
skill to back up that promise. A shiver worked its way from my scalp to my
pubic bone.

I looked from one of them to another. Chuck was stretched
out on his back with his fingers laced on top of his flat stomach. Charles sat
propped against the pillows, his ankles crossed and his hands linked behind his
head. At the foot of the bed, Chad lay on his side at a right angle to them. He
faced me fully, giving me a nice view of his chest and abs and the bulging
muscles of his arm since he was leaning on one elbow with his head balanced on
his fist.

“Now I wish I was a painter. I’d love to have this picture
framed.” I continued to ogle them.

Chad flashed me a brilliant grin.

“You get to do far more than look,” Charles informed me.
“And for your pleasure, the three of us have compared notes so we can give you
the best of our lovemaking. Chad was especially helpful as far as putting our
mouths to good use.
Je t’aime
, Fila.”

“And I love you too,” Chad added.

Chuck stared me right in the eye. “
Ti amo
.”

“Oh, wow.” My heart did a backflip in my breast, and my sex
gushed so hard I felt slick all the way to my knees. If this was a dream, I
didn’t ever want to wake up.

I expected Charles to take charge, but it was Chad who
shifted off the bed and got to his feet in one fluid motion. He stood with his
head up and his shoulders drawn proudly back.

“
Vieni qui e baciami
.”
He gave the order to come kiss him with the same dominance Charles would have
used in English.

My feet obeyed before my brain processed the command. I barely
even felt the carpet through my socks. We fit together with the ease of
familiarity, my arms around his firm waist and my face tilted up toward his.
His lips touched mine, and I knew I could have recognized him in the dark,
could have picked him out from my other husbands just by the way he kissed me.

Passion and devotion met and mingled so that I felt
worshipped and stripped down to my most basic instincts at the same time. He
captured my lips, licked the seam in between, and nibbled at the corners of my
mouth between incursions. On a moan, I surrendered to him. I melted into his
body and pressed my breasts against his naked chest.

Chad drew the kiss out before he moved his mouth along my
jawline. With his hand lightly fisted, he trailed the backs of his fingers all
the way down my arm, leaving goose bumps in their wake. I shivered.

“
Sei molto sensibile
quando ti tocco
.” You are very sensitive to my touch.

And getting more sensitive by the second. Two could play at
this game. Although I didn’t speak much Italian, I could manage enough. I
wanted another kiss. “
Baciami ancora
.”

He complied, this time pulling me close enough to feel the
hard length of his erection. The room spun slowly around me, or maybe that was
my head spinning. He turned me so the backs of my thighs hit the mattress,
though I remained standing. Other hands touched me. Chad pulled back, and Chuck
was behind me on the bed, already tugging my shirt over my head. Then Charles
was undoing my bra.

I watched, helpless, as my lingerie fell to the floor. In
the next instant, Chad knelt in front of me to remove my socks one by one. My
breathing stuttered when Charles reached around from behind me to fill his
hands with my breasts. He pressed close to my back, bathing my ear with his hot
breath as he whispered to me.

“I want you more than you can know. Take off your skirt.”

I’d thrown on a soft cotton skirt for comfort earlier. Now I
fumbled with the elastic waistband to push it down over my hips. Chad grabbed
the material when I had it halfway down my thighs and dragged it the rest of
the way to the floor. He then reached back up to slip my underwear along the
same path with torturous slowness.