The Silk Tie (Erotic Threesome Romance) (12 page)

I hoped
I appeared calm because inside I was having a million thoughts at once. My
husband fancied someone else yet I didn’t feel jealous, just curious. More than
curious, fascinated and intrigued. What was wrong with me? If Gabe’s new angle
to his lust had shocked him, my enthrallment with it had also surprised the
hell out of me.

“I love
you, Hayley,” he said. “I want to spend my life with you and if I didn’t have
you at my side I’d die.”

“Don’t
be dramatic,” I said, attempting a smile.

“I’m
not. I mean it. I might look at Brent and think he has a certain…allure and I
enjoy his company but I would never swap you for him, or anyone else, ever.
It’s me and you, till death do us part.”

“Yes.
It is.” I realized that was why I didn’t feel jealous. My husband loved me and
he made me feel wanted and secure. I had faith in him and his love and loyalty
for me. “I love you, too. Which is why I want to work this out. What do you
want? What do you need me to do for you, Gabe? Your happiness is my everything,
nothing else truly matters.”

“This
is what I need you to do.” He slid his thumb over my knuckles. “Just being
here, letting me talk, because I can’t hide it. It’s screwed me up these last
few weeks—no, months—thinking about…” He looked away.

My
temples were squeezing with pressure yet heat was collecting between my thighs.
This had been going on inside of him for months? “Thinking about what?”

“Brent.
Fucking Brent. Him fucking me.” He’d blurted the words out in a fast string of
sound. “When Nadia accused him of a relationship with a man I kept thinking
about him in bed with a male lover…me…”

For a
moment I was quiet, then, “I’ve done the same. I’ve thought about that too…a
lot.”

I’d
thought he might look surprised, but he didn’t. Instead, he nodded. “Yes, what
you said in the shower, about fantasizing about men screwing, I thought maybe
you’d guessed my new desires. That you were winding me up. Goading me.” He
tugged on his bottom lip. “Taking the piss out of me.”

“I’d
never do that.” I shook my head. “No. It’s true. That night with the dildo, it
changed something in me. I started thinking about men together, what they do,
how they fuck, how they come.” My throat was tight but the confessions kept
falling out. “I’ve looked at men on the Tube, at restaurants, on the street,
wondering if they’re gay, how they kiss, how they show their desire…who bends
over.”

“God…”
He blew out a long low breath. “But why…?” His sentence tailed off. “Why would
a woman…?”

“I
don’t know why it turns me on. It just does. Isn’t that the thing about
fantasies? They don’t have to make sense. You don’t have to explain them. They
just are, they’re just hot.”

“I
suppose.”

“And your
fantasy is to have a night with Brent. A night being intimate with him.”

He didn’t
respond.

“A
night as lovers. Him taking my place.”

“No.”
He gripped my shoulders and squeezed. “Never, never taking your place.” He
shook his head. “I love you. I don’t love him, this…this attraction is
consuming, it could be obsessive, but it isn’t love.”

My
chest tightened. “Good.” As I’d spoken I realized that I was pleased it wasn’t
love. Lust I could compete with. Lust turned me on too.

Love
was a whole different ball game.

Gabe
relaxed his grip and sank lower, lower still. He placed his head on my lap and
wrapped his arms around my waist, his legs folded on the hearth rug.

I
stroked his hair and he closed his eyes.

“It’s
all okay,” I whispered. “You’ve told me now, and it’s all okay.”

“Thank
you,” he said. “For being so understanding.”

“It’s
not something I’m having to work at, I
do
understand.” I wiggled my
fingers through the short strands of hair behind his ear. “I can see what you
need and I’m going to give it to you.”

“What
do you mean?” He kept his eyes shut and his cheek on my lap.

I
pulled in a deep breath. This would change everything, but I was banking on it
being a change for the better. Gabe couldn’t go on like this, consumed with
need, racked with confusion, and he needed my permission to satisfy that
curiosity. “Have your night with Brent,” I said. “Fuck him, let him fuck you.
Do all the things that you’ve been thinking about.”

 “What?”

“Go for
it. Seduce him. Be seduced.”

He sat
up, his eyes wide. “Are you really saying this?”

“Yes.”
I knotted my fingers together. “I am, because I hate seeing you so confused.”

“But
you?” He shook his head. “I can’t risk hurting you.”

“It
won’t be hurting me.” I smiled a little. “You can tell me all about it
afterwards.”

“Bloody
hell.” He rubbed at his chin.

“I just
have one rule,” I said. “Because honesty is always the best policy you have to
tell Brent that I know. I don’t want him to think that it’s an illicit night
together. Me being unaware and cheated on.”

“Okay.”

He still
appeared in shock. But I guessed he had a right to. I’d imagine not many wives
would be as open minded as me.

“I
couldn’t bear to be thought of as a victim, an unknowing wife,” I said.

“Of
course.” He rolled his eyes. “Fuck, that sounds as though I’m going to do it.”

I
leaned forward. “You will, Gabe. I know you will.”

“
I
don’t
know.”

He
pulled me close, his big arms holding me tight and his body hard and solid
against mine.

His
strength was returning. He was becoming my pillar, my protector, my lover again.

I
buried my face in his neck and breathed in his scent. I smeared lipstick on his
collar but I didn’t care, I just needed to be near him.

“I
won’t go out tonight,” he whispered. “I need to be with you.”

I
walked out of court the next day elated. I’d got my client the settlement she
deserved from the company her ex-husband had interest in. They’d discriminated
against her when she’d returned from maternity leave after remarrying.

It was
being hailed as a landmark case and I’d given a statement to my client’s union
as well as
The Evening Standard
about its impact on the future of
employment law.

For a
few hours, thoughts of Gabe had been absent from my mind. But now, riding the
elevator back to my office, I wondered how his lunchtime meeting with Brent had
gone.

I’d
been pleased that Gabe had decided to stay with me last night. I’d felt it as
acutely as him—this unburdening of fantasies—and I’d needed to be
held.

We’d eaten
light—soup and a sandwich—then lazed on the sofa, wanting to be physically
connected. That feeling hadn’t changed when we’d snuggled into bed and we’d
made love quietly, slowly, relishing the absolute and soul-deep connection we
shared.

How was
he feeling now? Had he spoken to Brent about what he wanted? How he felt about
him?

My
stomach lurched a little as the elevator reached my floor. It wasn’t entirely
to do with gravity, there was excited apprehension mixed in.

I
stepped out then headed toward my office.

“Hayley,
I just heard. Well done,” Derek Lyle called from where he stood at his
secretary’s desk. “And well deserved.”

“Thanks.”
I raised my hand and grinned. I’d debrief him on Friday. He’d want to know all
the details.

“Hayley,”
Jeannie said, standing. “Brilliant result.”

I
beamed at her. “I know. I’m thrilled. Eight months of hard work paid off and,
best of all, it’s justice. She got what she deserved and so did Branston Ltd.
You just can’t treat people like that.”

She
nodded and handed me several sheets of paper. “I agree and I thank God every
day for having such a nice employer.”

“I’m
glad you think so.” I laughed. “Anything interesting here?”

“No,
not really. They just need signing off.”

“I’ll
get on it.” I let my purse fall from my shoulder and caught it in my hand.
“It’s nice to have a few free hours now to catch up with paperwork and phone
calls.”

“Do you
want me to bring you a pot of tea?”

“If you
did I’d love you forever,” I said grinning.

I
wandered into my office, went straight to the blind and pulled it half shut.
The sun streamed in and stretched long shadows in front of the furniture, but
it was less glaring.

After
placing the papers on the desk and setting down my purse, I put my iPhone on
charge. There was no message from Gabe.

“You
can’t…you can’t go in there. You don’t have an appointment.”

I
turned at the sound of Jeannie’s panicked voice.

“Sir,
really you can’t,” she said again.

I
stepped toward the door.

“Sir. I
have to insist…”

A
man—tall, wearing a suit and with dense facial hair—strutted into
the center of the room, placed his hands on his hips and set his gaze on me.

“Brent?”

“Please,
you must leave.” Jeannie appeared, twisting her hands together and shifting
from one foot to the other.

“It’s
okay,” I said, not tearing my attention from Brent. His expression was dark,
his mouth, usually upturned, a dead-flat line. “I’ll handle it from here.”

“Are
you sure? Shall I call security?” Jeannie asked.

I
wasn’t sure. He was breathing fast and his eyebrows were pulled low. Something
had really pissed him off.

“Yes,
I’m sure.” I nodded. “Just shut the door please, Jeannie.”

“Good
idea,” Brent said, his voice low and husky.

Jeannie
hesitated.

I
nodded at her. “It’s fine.”

She
frowned then pulled the door up.

The
second it clicked shut Brent moved toward me, fast.

I
backed up.

My
shoulders hit the polished paneling that clad the walls of my office. I
couldn’t move any farther.

“What
the hell,” he said, coming up close then pressing his palms against the wood
either side of my head, “do you think you’re doing?”

“What?”
I asked, gulping and looking up at him.

“Jesus
Christ, don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“I have
no idea what you’re talking about,” I managed, flattening my hands behind
myself and pulling in fast breaths.

I knew
exactly what he was talking about.

“Gabe,”
he said, lowering his face. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

I could
feel the air leaving his lungs through his nose as it washed over my cheeks.
His aftershave invaded my nostrils and laced my tongue. The heat of his body radiated
onto mine, blasting through my silky blouse as though it wasn’t even there.

“What
about Gabe?” I asked, tilting my chin.

“He’s
just asked me to fuck him.” His eye contact was unwavering. “And he told me
that it was your idea.”

“What?
No, that’s not right.”

“Which
bit of that isn’t fucking right, Hayley, because it all sounds pretty fucking
not
right
to me?”

I
gathered my strength and refused to be intimidated by him. “You can’t deny you
like Gabe.” I gave him a steely glare.

“That’s
not the issue.” He narrowed his eyes.

“And he
likes you,” I snapped back.

“All of
that is irrelevant because he’s married…to you.”

“Which
surely means, if there is one person who can give Gabe permission to fuck someone
else, it’s me. His wife.”

His
mouth opened slightly and he stared at me.

“What?”
I asked. “It makes sense. Gabe’s got a crush on you, I suppose that is one way
of describing it, and he wants you, badly, he—”

“He’s
not even bloody gay.”

“No,
but he must have elements of being bi for him to be feeling this way.”

Brent
stepped away, turned and locked his fingers on the crown of his head with his
elbows outstretched.

“Brent,”
I said, pushing away from the wall. “Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m
not mad…just…”

“What?”

“Confused,
I suppose.” He dropped his hands and turned to me as he sighed. The hardness
had gone from his face.

“Why?”
I moved to my desk and leaned my behind on it, kept my arms at my sides in an
effort to look open and available for him to express his feelings to. It was a
tactic I used with clients. “Tell me, Brent. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes,
we are.” He sat in one of the two chairs in front of my desk and sighed. “I
like you, Hayley, a lot, and I like Gabe too. I care about him.”

“And do
you fancy him?”

“I’m
not gay either.” He paused and appeared to summon courage. “But I am bi. I have
been with a man before.”

I
nodded and kept my expression neutral even though there was something electrifying
about his admission. No longer a rumor but a solid fact he was able to share
with me.

“And
would you want to be with Gabe that way?” I asked. Again words were coming out
of my mouth that I wouldn’t believe I could utter. This time last month this
conversation would be ludicrous.

“Do I
want Gabe
that
way,” he repeated.

I
waited for him to go on.

“Yes,
in a word. He’s bloody gorgeous and damn sexy too, but I don’t need to tell you
that, Hayley. Heck, you married him.”

I
smiled. “He is gorgeous and sexy, and also the most passionate, loving person
I’ve ever met.” I paused. “His happiness is also my responsibility and right
now, him not being with you the way he wants to be is screwing with his mind.”

“Have
you had a third person in your relationship before?”

“No,
it’s always been just us. We’re strong, our bonds are tight, but…”

“And
you’re willing to risk it all.”

“Perhaps
it’s a risk for it not to happen.”

“Bloody
hell…” He pressed his hands over his face and looked at me from over his
fingertips. “You’re really are deadly serious.”

“Yes.”
I sat on the seat at his side. “I am. He’s been on edge, preoccupied. I know he
loves me, would die for me, we’ve been in each other’s lives for a long time now,
there’s nothing that will tear us apart.”

“Except
me. Maybe I will.”

“Do you
really believe that?”

“It
would be my worst nightmare to split you two up. Seeing you and Gabe together
makes me very happy. You have something special, something I’ve hunted for,
seen glimpses of, but never truly found.”

I
reached out and rested my fingers on the sleeve of his gray suit jacket and
rubbed my thumb on the smooth material. “Gabe and I are strong. Strong enough
to cope with this.” I paused, hoping to hell that we were. “If you feel the
same way about Gabe then this can happen. I don’t have a problem with it.”

He
stared at me, long and hard, then, “You’re right, I do want to fuck him.”

My
belly clenched and I squeezed my internal muscles. This might actually happen
for Gabe.

“But I
have one condition,” he said, leaning back and folding his arms. His suit
jacket bunched at the lapels.

“What’s
that?” I asked.

“You’re
there. You watch us.”

“You
can’t be serious.” I knotted my fingers together and gripped them in my lap.
“Why would…?” Much as the idea appealed, I’d never thought it would become
reality.

“You
remember that film,
Indecent Proposal
? Robert Redford I think it was.”

“Yes.
What about it?” I laughed but the sound caught in my throat.

Brent
reached out, rested his palm over my clasped hands. “It screws him up, the
husband. After his wife has spent a night with another man for a huge sum of
money, he obsesses about what they did, how they were together. Was there love
or was it just sex? Had she had more fun with the rich guy than with him?”

I
nodded. I’d seen the film.

“That’s
what causes the problems,” Brent went on. “They had a million in the bank but
the husband’s imagination, his not knowing, was a much bigger problem than
being poor.”

“And
you think I’ll be like that?”

“I
don’t know. You seem pretty…cool with the idea at the moment.”

“I am.
I’ve given it a lot of thought.”

He
lifted his hand from mine and shifted on the seat.

I
glanced at his groin and wondered if he was getting hard talking about screwing
my husband. “Okay,” I said. “It wasn’t how I thought it would go. But yes, I’ll
be there.” A flush traveled over my skin just at saying that. I could hardly
begin to think how horny it would make me to actually see them together, for
real—fucking.

Brent
stood, slid his hands down the front of his suit jacket then straightened his
tie. “You can tell him yes for me. I’m afraid I was a little harsh on him when
he blurted it out over a cheese panini in Costa. It had been the last thing I
was expecting him to say.”

“I
will, but…” I hated to think of Gabe being upset, confused by Brent’s reaction.

“Yes.
I’ll call him too.” He looked at his watch. “But right now I’m late for a
meeting with my bank manager, and I really have to run.”

“Yes,
of course.”

He
walked to the door.

“Brent,”
I called.

“What?”
He turned and a long shard of sunlight sliced over his face and down his body.

“Thank
you.”

He
smiled and swept his tongue over his bottom lip. “I should be the one thanking
you.”

* * * *

The
rest of the week flew by and before I knew it Gabe and I were heading back
toward Henley. This time, though, instead of going for a night in a beautiful
house with a nice meal and a game of tennis we were going so Gabe could get
fucked by a man while I watched.

A
pleasurable fuzz of excitement worked its way through my body. I wasn’t even
going to be part of it, just a voyeur, but still, I was getting more turned on
as the miles passed.

As we
went slowly over the stone bridge in Henley I stared out at the river Thames.
It was much quieter than this time last week. There were a few rowing boats
meandering about and a bank of swans being fed by a group of children.

One
little girl, in a pink flowery dress, was apart from the group. She was throwing
in pieces of bread for three signets and each time she threw her long blonde
pigtails swung wildly. A woman, her mother I guessed, watched on, barely an arm’s-length
away.