Playing the Game (22 page)

Henry’s eyes encouraged her. His words painted a picture. Jay’s welcome weight against her back protected her, shielded her from the world. No one could see her touching herself. No one else would see phantom hands. Only she would feel the way they skimmed down her breasts and belly and between her legs to where slick need waited for her expert touch. Recalling the feel of her fingers was simple. Familiar. Yes, she could do that for Henry.

“Can you feel it, Alice? The stroke of a finger? Two? The slow circles when you want to feel lazy and relaxed. The pressure, the rapid side-to-side rush when your need is greater, when your clitoris rocks between and jumps against your fingers.”

Staring into Henry’s eyes and listening to his voice, was it any wonder her focus strayed? The fingers she imagined between her legs became his. Her body thrust hard against Jay’s in response, driving him deeper and drawing a moan from him that vibrated in her left ear.

“That’s it. You feel it now. Those fingers moving so expertly over your flesh. Knowing the precise pressure. The exact angle.”

And she did. She did. But the fingers weren’t hers. They were his, and they were going to make her come.

“Tell me what you’re feeling, Alice.”

“Building. It’s building. I want…I want…” She breathed hard, and Jay matched her. Awareness narrowed to the slide of Jay’s cock, the rumble of Henry’s voice, and the phantom touch of fingers on her clit.

“I know, sweet girl. Hold on to the feeling. Keep it on a short leash. You’re teasing yourself, fingers bringing you close and backing down, bringing you close and backing down, over and over. Can you feel it?”

Her head slid in a nod under Jay’s. She knew that feeling, when she wanted it to last. To hold off her orgasm until it was strong and focused and ready to end with her legs shaking against the sheets or sending bathwater sloshing on the floor. It wasn’t unusual to have Henry or Jay in mind when she did. But this, having Jay in her body and Henry in her mind…
Jesus, Henry, please. Please please please.

A whimper stuck in her throat, emerging as a thin whine. Her eyes closed. She struggled not to give in to the feeling, though she’d clamped down so tightly around Jay she thought he wouldn’t be able to thrust at all if she weren’t so wet, soaking her thighs and the bed beneath.

“Alice.”

Her eyes snapped open. Henry had tipped his face sideways, aligned with hers and Jay’s.

“You want to come now, don’t you, my dear?”

Her garbled moan seemed a suitable substitute for the string of affirmative responses the question deserved. Henry’s left hand hovered above hers and Jay’s where they lay entwined on the bed, a point of focus between Henry’s face and her own.

“Almost there,” Henry murmured. His hand lowered, slow and steady. A fraction of an inch above Jay’s now.

She stared at Henry’s hand and felt the echo of it on her sex, hovering, an instant away from perfect pressure.

Henry growled, a low rumble. His hand pressed hard on theirs, and the intensity of the contact overwhelmed her. “
Now
, Alice. You’ll come for me now, dearest. You both will.”

She let go with a cry of relief as the phantom hands, Henry’s hands, gave her the push she needed. The violence of release drove her into the mattress. Her hips thrust against the sheets, rapid and uncontrolled. Jay stayed with her, stayed deep, less thrusting than rocking without pulling out at all, as quick to come as she was at Henry’s low command.

When their rough breathing softened and the rocking of their bodies stilled, the only motion in the room belonged to Henry. He moved his left hand over theirs, his palm rubbing their fingers. He traced shapes on the back of Jay’s hand and wrist and dipped his fingers down the side of Jay’s wrist to touch hers, trapped beneath it.

His right hand floated toward them in the top edge of her vision. From Jay’s quiet hum, she expected Henry had touched his face. Pushed Jay’s hair back from his forehead.

Henry leaned forward and pressed his lips to Jay’s skin.

She inhaled deeply. None of them had showered since yesterday, before their games had begun, and her nose grazed Henry’s throat. Her tongue touched her lips.

“Go and fetch a washcloth, please, my boy.”

Jay nodded, his head sliding against hers, before he turned and kissed her cheek. “G’morning, Alice.”

She was giggling when he pulled out and left the bed. He’d fucked her silly this morning without saying a word to her. Now he addressed her for the first time with a cheerful greeting as if he’d just woken up. Backward. They were doing everything backward. And God help her if she didn’t like it.

Henry pushed her hair off her face.

“No need to ask if you’re enjoying yourself, I suppose. Certainly we’re at least managing to keep you amused, hmm?” He kissed her forehead at her left temple, whispering in her ear. “Your laughter pleases me, sweet girl.”

His right hand swept down her bare back and squeezed her ass. “Roll over for me, Alice. We’ll have a bit of cleanup before breakfast today.”

She was staying for breakfast? She rolled over in time to catch Jay strolling naked across the room.

He handed Henry a washcloth.

“Thank you, my boy. Lie down and wait a moment, please.”

Jay fell back at her side, making the bed bounce, and thrust his hands under his head with his elbows out. He rolled his head in her direction, watching alongside her as Henry gently spread her legs and raised her knees. The warmth of the washcloth and his light touch was soothing on her thighs and sex. She sighed, and Jay nudged her shoulder with his elbow.

“This is the life, right? Just lie back and follow Henry’s directions, and everything else is taken care of.”

Henry gave a single quiet laugh. He kissed her upraised left knee before shifting to give Jay the same treatment. “You ought to be thinking about what you’d like for breakfast.”

“Waffles!” Jay waggled his eyebrows. “You want waffles, too, right, Alice?”

“You’ll let Alice make up her own mind about what she wants, my boy.”

Jay yelped, his body jumping, and she tilted her head to look down the bed.

Henry had a firm grip on Jay’s balls, she thought, though it was hard to tell with the washcloth in the way. She bit her lip to avoid giggling, imagining Henry leading Jay around with a leash attached to his cock.

“Sure,” she managed. “I don’t have anything against waffles. They’re good when you want something special. Rare. Not for everyday breakfasts.”

“No, not every day,” Henry echoed. “Jay, return the washcloth, please, and then go dress. It seems today will be a waffle day.”

Jay snatched up the washcloth and headed for the bathroom, flashing a thumbs-up at Alice before he darted out the door.

She started to slide off the bed, but Henry’s hands stopped her. “Allow me, Alice.”

He retrieved her clothes and dressed her, his hands light and quick, his attention thoughtful and focused. He dressed himself afterward. Casual, for him. Slacks and an untucked button-down shirt, his feet bare. He reached for her hand. “Come along, and we’ll start on the waffles. Two for you?”

She slipped her fingers into Henry’s and followed him to the kitchen. “Two for me, two for you, six for Jay…”

“Only six for me?”

Jay had thrown on a t-shirt and loose gym shorts. Typical Saturday morning attire, she expected.

“But I burned a lot of calories trying not to come before you. It’s a tough job, especially when you’re all soft and wet and moaning. I’ll definitely need a dozen waffles.”

“Your waffle craving is my fault now?” She hip-checked Jay at the breakfast bar. It was fun spending the night. Teasing Jay. Watching Henry’s hands, whether they were curled in Jay’s hair or stroking her swollen sex or washing up at the sink in preparation for making breakfast.

She sat at the breakfast bar while Jay fetched, carried and served her orange juice at Henry’s direction. Henry hadn’t asked for her help, and Jay seemed at ease in his role as chef’s assistant. She was extraneous. Unnecessary. Had the chairs gotten harder? Finding a comfortable position proved impossible.

“Alice, my girl, come and take the first plate, please.” Henry beckoned her to the waffle iron, and she held the plate while he peeled the golden circle away from the metal. “Sit at the table. Jay and I will catch up with you soon enough.”

She took her plate and glass to the table, to the place where she always sat when she dined with them. The place she’d been sitting ten weeks ago when Henry had ordered her to stand. Her fingers rubbed the edge of the table.

“You’re not having toppings?” Jay settled in the seat to her right at the foot of the table, his plate clattering against the wood.

She snatched her fingers back and picked up her fork. “What? No. I mean, yes. Of course I am.”

“Uh-huh.” He eyed her plate with its bare waffle before he scooped peaches onto his own and topped them with maple syrup and whipped cream. “Have some fruit. Henry will tell you it’s good for you.”

She gave Jay a wry smile and loaded her waffle with cinnamon apples. Henry always seemed to know what was good for her. “Satisfied?”

“Mmmph.” Jay swallowed. “It’s been a good morning. And a good night, too.”

Alice blushed and avoided his eyes, watching Henry’s back as he poured the last of the waffle batter into the iron. “You’re just happy you passed your exam with flying colors.”

Jay nodded in her peripheral vision. “And this morning’s pop quiz. I’m crushing this class.”

She was still laughing when Henry arrived at the table bearing a plate of extra waffles. She waited until he sat and fixed his waffle before eating her own.

Breakfast was lazy and relaxed with Henry leading the conversation. He kept the topics light, and Jay remained his charming, playful self. But the meal ended all too soon. She’d cleared her plate. Couldn’t hold another bite. She fidgeted with her fork until Henry called her name.

“Come here, sweet girl.” He pushed his chair back and settled her in his lap. “Are there any issues you need to discuss with me? Concerns or questions you have?”

Did she? Nothing that warranted Henry’s intervention. Typical relationship uncertainties, minimized by the terms of their contract and magnified by the fact that she’d never been the third wheel in a relationship before. It was an adjustment. He’d told her it would be. Of course, he hadn’t told her he wasn’t planning on fucking her.

But she could hardly say that. As if sex with Jay wasn’t fantastic? As if she weren’t pleased with the time and attention Henry did give her? As if the lover he’d chosen for himself wasn’t good enough for her, too?

She looked at Jay, working his way through a third waffle, and shook her head. “No, Henry. I enjoy our time together. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Henry turned her face toward his. Studying her in silence, he leaned in, brushed his nose against hers and kissed her slowly. He tucked her hair behind her ear when he pulled back. “All right. If you’re certain. Thank you for sharing yourself with us this morning, my dear. I won’t keep you from the rest of your day.”

She slid off his lap as he stood. He led her by the hand to the door and kissed her cheek. “If you happen to think of anything you wish to discuss with me, please know you are always welcome.”

“I know, Henry.” She took her keys and phone from the hall table and kissed his cheek in return. “Thank you.”

He held the door, watching until she reached her own apartment, and she gave him a small wave before she shut the door behind her.

She flopped back onto her futon.

“Did I think this would be a walk of shame? Fuck that.” She rolled on her side, smiling. “I might not be fucking Henry, but I’m not ashamed of a damn thing.”

Chapter 8

Son of a fucking bitch.

She’d known all day. The fatigue, the generalized ache, the uncomfortable tightness at her waistline. A visit to the restroom confirmed it.

Three hours before her scheduled Friday night fun, and she’d have to cancel. Her hand hesitated over her cellphone. Texting Henry was the coward’s way out, but she couldn’t make herself call.

Need to cancel tonight. Really sorry.

She tried to work, turning back to the breakdown on the Davis project. But concentration eluded her when the analgesics hadn’t kicked in yet and she was pissed about having to cancel and nervous about Henry’s reaction.