Three (8 page)

“Everything is ready for the surprise, you two.” Jackson said with one raised dark eyebrow.

Simone broke eye contact with Jackson, totally ashamed of the display he had just witnessed.
He’ll never want me now that he knows I’ve kissed Xander too. I guess I just made my decision really easy. Xander it is.
Simone’s heart broke at the thought that she would never have a chance with Jackson. They both appealed to her, but on different levels. Xander made her laugh and brought life to wherever he went. And Jackson was like her kindred spirit, having both been left as orphans.

One moment she was in the throes of passion and the next she was hit with a wave of melancholy as she followed dejectedly behind Jackson as he led them through the lodge. He stopped at a door and turned to Simone with a winter scarf in his hands.

“I’m going to blindfold you so that you won’t see the surprise until the perfect moment.” Jackson said holding the scarf up to her face.

“Are we going outside? Shouldn’t I take my coat?” Simone asked as he blindfolded her.

“Nope. I have it all taken care of.” Jackson said to her softly.

Jackson looked at Xander and Xander brought his clenched fist up to his face and bit it in a sign of blissful agony at the passionate kiss he’d finally had with Simone. Jackson silently chuckled at Xander’s usual antics as he gently guided Simone outside to the little wintery oasis he had created just for her. When Jackson had her right where he wanted her he removed the scarf from her face.

As Simone’s eyes adjusted she saw three comfy looking cushioned chairs with blankets and a raging bonfire with the rustic lodge as the backdrop to the very romantic scene.

“Jackson it’s lovely.” Simone said quietly.

“Well if you love that, then you’ll faint over this.” Jackson said as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face the other direction.

“OH MY GOD!” Simone gasped in awe at the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.

In front of her were the vibrant greens, blues and fuchsias of the Northern Lights that lit up the night sky. Instant tears clouded her vision and then the hot tears started to drop down hitting her cheeks.

“Never in all my life did I think I’d see something so beautiful.” Simone said in a wobbly voice filled with tears.

“Neither did I.” Jackson said looking directly at her and not the lights.

Simone blushed deeply, not sure why he’d still want her after what he’d witnessed earlier.

“Come on, let’s sit and enjoy the lights.” Xander said pointing over to the chairs.

They sat with Simone in the middle as usual and she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and stared at the lights in wonder.

“Thank you so much for this. You didn’t have to do all of this for me, but I’m glad that you did.” Simone finally took her eyes off of the lights to look at both the men.

“It’s our pleasure. It’s something that you’ll always remember and we wanted it to be perfect.” Jackson said reaching over to grab her hand firmly.

“Yeah, and I thought it was best if Jackson set it up for you, he’s the romantic one.” Xander smiled brightly.

“I…I don’t understand you guys. You practically bite the bartenders head off for flirting with me, yet you two flirt with me in front of each other all the time and you don’t get mad at one another. I don’t understand how this works. You’re making it really hard for me to choose. That is…if either of you actually want me that way.” Simone said unsure of herself and their feelings towards her.

“You don’t have to choose, Simone.” Xander said softly.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.” Simone looked at one then the other, in confusion.

“Here, we’ll show you.” Jackson said, pulling her out of her seat and onto his lap. “Straddle my hips.” He instructed her.

“But…” Simone looked over at Xander as she put both knees on either side of Jackson’s hips.

“It’s okay.” Jackson coaxed, raising his hands to her neck and pulling her in for a soft kiss.

Jackson flicked his tongue over Simone’s lips and as she gasped he took advantage of the access she provided and plunged his tongue into her awaiting mouth. Xander stood up from his chair and walked up behind Simone and softly pulled her hair back from her neck and leaned down to give the soft sensitive skin just beneath her ear a gentle kiss. Simone released Jackson’s lips on a gasp at the feel of Xander’s lips on her.

Xander put his index finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his as she looked at him in bewilderment. Xander leaned in and took her mouth in a blistering kiss, as Jackson put his hands on her hips pulling her closer to his steel heat aching to be inside of her.

Jackson continued to guide her heat back and forth over his hardness confined in his jeans as Xander plundered her mouth. Simone started to moan seductively in the back of her throat at the sensations they were giving her.

Xander’s hand that was cupping her face, slid down her neck and into the collar of her sweater and further still, until his hand reached into her bra to caress her naked breast. Simone’s moans became louder at the feeling of her breast being touched for the first time.

Jackson took the moans as a good sign and started to slowly raise the sweater up her body. Xander released her plump breast and helped Jackson draw the sweater up until her white cotton bra was exposed. The virginal bra nearly sent them over the edge. Lace, satin and vibrant colors couldn’t have given them a stronger reaction.

Jackson pulled down the bra, trying to be gentle, but in his excitement he accidentally ripped the bra in two with his large hands. He felt like a randy clumsy teenager with the feelings she was evoking in him. And her bare breasts and little brown nipples didn’t help the situation. With shaking hands he reached up and gently cupped her breasts, positioning them for his eager mouth. He leaned forward and flicked a tongue against her turgid nipple and Simone bucked her hips and cried out.

Xander watched as Simone’s passion was unleashed and it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. To watch a woman that was so unsure of herself, shy and timid lose all control, was almost more than he could take. His hands dove into her hair and he pulled her face up to his once more. He bit and nibbled at her full lips like they were his last meal. Her moans and cries as Jackson continued to rub her clit against his jean-clad erection, rippled against Xander’s tongue.

“Ah God, Simone!” Jackson shouted out as her hips now moved over his without his help, seeking release just as much as he was.

Simone was mindless to everything around her. All she knew, all she felt were the feelings and sensations coursing through her body. Something was building inside her that was ten times as intense as the massage earlier that day. It was like her dream that afternoon was a premonition, a prelude to what was happening to her now. She was on fire, yet her body was exposed to the cold night air, but she couldn’t feel it. All she felt was them.

Her body started to tingle and the feeling was mostly concentrated at her wet core. The inner walls of her vagina started to pulsate. Jackson suddenly grazed her nipple with his teeth at the same time as he thrust up against her clit and Xander flicked his tongue against hers just right. The onslaught of pleasure all at the same time combined to send her body over the edge. She bucked out of control against Jackson’s imprisoned manhood and screamed into Xander’s mouth as she reached her pulsating climax.

The moment it was over, instant shame crashed down upon Simone so hard that she could barely breathe. She quickly pulled down her sweater and crossed her arms over her breasts, still feeling completely naked.

“Simone? Are you okay?” Jackson asked with concern trying to look at her face, but she kept her face turned away from him as she tried to hold back tears.

Jackson looked up at Xander completely dumbfounded by the change in Simone.

“Si. What’s wrong?” Xander tried next.

“Please don’t call me that.” Simone said with a shaky voice, trying to keep it together. “Xander can you please give me some room so I can get up.”

Xander immediately stepped back a few paces. Jackson reached out to grip Simone’s hips to help her up, but she flinched away from him.

“Don’t touch me.” Simone said with underlying anger in her tone, as she scrambled off of his lap.

“Simone please, let us explain?” Jackson implored, holding his hands up so she could see he wasn’t going to touch her.

“I don’t want to hear it. You don’t have to explain anything to me. You used me. Turned me into
that
girl! You just made me feel like a slut.” Simone choked out the last sentence.

“God, no Simone! That wasn’t our intention. You’re not a slut. And we don’t think of you that way. We never intended to make you feel bad about what just happened. We were trying to make you feel good.” Xander tried to explain, coming towards her.

Simone stepped back quickly, too afraid to let one of them touch her again. She lost her footing in the snow and fell into the white slush. The men leapt to help her.

“Oh God! Please don’t touch me!” Simone sobbed, finally breaking completely.

She clumsily got up out of the snow and raced to the lodge, nearly falling again in her hurry to get away from the two men.

“What did we just do?” Jackson said putting his face in his hands.

“I thought that she enjoyed herself. What woman gets upset over an orgasm?” Xander said with exasperation.

“Well, she’s obviously not like other women, Xan. When was the last time you had sexual relations with a twenty-nine year old shy and sheltered virgin?” Jackson looked at Xander like he was an idiot.

“Never.” Xander said in defeat.

“That’s what I thought. She’s the type of person that is used to analyzing, studying and observing things. We should have explained it to her first and then let her make the choice.” Jackson reasoned.

“I don’t buy that. Yes, you’re right she is someone that thinks about how she’s supposed to feel. But if we would’ve sat her down and told her about how we like our relationships, she would’ve run for the hills. She needed to know what it would feel like to be with us. She can’t analyze what she’s never experienced. She might be upset now, but when she starts to think about what it was like, she’ll want more. And we have the trip back alone with her tomorrow. She can’t get away from us then and we can talk to her about everything.” Xander suggested.

“I hope you’re right.” Jackson said, sadly looking up at the fading Aurora Borealis and thinking about how well the night had started. “We better put out this fire and head in.”

Chapter 6

Simone woke to the sound of gentle knocking on the door. She had barely gotten any sleep, and looking over at the clock that read nine in the morning she knew she had to get up and moving.

When she had ran back to her room the previous night sobbing uncontrollably, the instant she came in she jumped in the shower trying to wash away the memories and the feel of their touch from her skin. She felt so humiliated over the spectacle she had made of herself. So she had cried herself into a fitful sleep.

The knock sounded at the door again and Simone got out of bed walking slowly to the door, afraid that it might be Jackson or Xander.

“Who is it?” She asked hesitantly.

“It’s Rachel. Can you let me in for a moment?” Rachel’s gruff voice reached Simone’s ears through the door.

Simone unlocked the door and let the older woman in.

“I’m guessing you had a rough night if those puffy eyes and dark circles are any indication.” Rachel observed.

Simone just looked at Rachel sadly, too afraid to speak or else the waterworks would start again.

“I’m guessing those fools botched everything.” Rachel shook her head, as Simone just looked at her with a perplexed look on her face.

“I know what the boys like. I’ve known them for years. And I know their tastes. They like to share their women.” Rachel finally said and Simone’s eyes bugged out of her head and a blush spread over her entire face and neck. “Don’t be embarrassed, Simone. It’s the way they’ve always been.” Rachel stopped talking when Simone held up her hands.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Was there a reason you came up here, besides defending those two?” Simone asked tightly.

“They just wanted me to tell you that they want to head out by ten. They wanted to let you sleep in as much as possible, but there’s a snow storm coming and they want to get you back to the Drake Lodge before it hits.” Rachel relayed the message.

“Thank you.” Simone said, as she purposefully walked Rachel back to the door.

“Just hear them out is all I’m saying. Let them explain, and then make a decision based off of that.” Rachel said lastly before shutting the door.

Simone walked back over the bed and flopped back onto the mattress.
How am I going to face them today? I’ve never been so humiliated in all my life.
But no matter how hard she tried to focus on her anger at being used like a common whore, her mind kept creeping back to the sensations she had felt last night.
God, it felt so
good
!

“Oh shut up Simone!” She yelled to herself, trying not to remember their touch.

Simone got up from the bed to start packing up her things, knowing that she had to face the inevitable sooner or later. She braided her hair in a side braid that rested against her neck and breast. She threw on her black pair of snowboarder pants with white piping down the sides of the legs and grabbed her white jacket. Picking up her duffel bag, Simone reluctantly left the sanctuary of her hotel room.

~~~

Simone thankfully ate her breakfast by herself when Rachel told her that the guys had already eaten and were outside readying the dogs for the journey back. Once she was done she gloomily headed outside to face Xander and Jackson.

The dogs and sleds were ready to go and the men stood talking quietly together. The moment Simone laid eyes on the tall handsome men, her breath caught in the back of her throat, her stomach flip-flopped and her heart started pounding. Apparently her humiliation was no match for her attraction to them. So she just shook her head in disappointment at her weakness, took a deep breath and walked over to the men.

Jackson and Xander stopped talking mid-conversation and watched silently as Simone made her way towards them. They seemed sad and more reserved than normal, causing Simone further confusion because they actually made her feel bad, like she was the bad guy in this scenario.

“Good Morning, Simone.” Jackson said gently, as if she’d break.

“Mornin’.” Xander said at the same time.

“Jackson. Xander.” Simone acknowledged.

“Ready?” Xander asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Simone said shortly.

“Just let us know if you get tired. We can stop when you need to. You’ll probably still be a little sore from the trip yesterday.” Xander suggested.

“Thanks.” Simone responded, not giving an inch.

“Alright then, let’s get going.” Xander said, backing down for the moment.

~~~

Xander stopped his team after two hours for a break, since it seemed Simone was going to refuse to show any sign of weakness and ask to stop.

“WHOA!” Simone shouted the command to the dogs as they came up beside Xander’s team. And a few seconds later, Jackson’s team stopped beside hers.

“I thought now was a good time to take a break to stretch and eat a snack.” Xander said handing Simone another protein bar that he pulled from his pack on the sled.

“Thank you.” Simone said grudgingly.

Jackson walked over to Xander to get his bar. They gave each other a meaningful look before they both turned to Simone.

“Simone, can we please talk about last night?” Jackson started.

Simone gave no sign that she even heard him, other than the tightening of her jaw.

“Simone, please? Give us a chance to explain.” Xander implored.

Simone slowly laid her half eaten protein bar down on her bag in front of her and turned to look at the men. She stared quietly at them for a moment.

“You had all the time in the world yesterday, to explain. Hell, even the day before that! Because if I’m not mistaken you started in on me even then, trying to wear me down from the moment we met. But no, you both just flirted with me and stole kisses here and there driving me to distraction and making me believe that I had to choose between the two of you. When all along you wanted to use me like some chick you picked up at the local bar, and do God knows what to. And if you haven’t noticed, I don’t operate that way. I don’t just jump into bed with a man, let alone
two
! You had your chance and now it’s passed.” Simone ended her tirade as the men looked down in shame.

Not wanting to spend any more time in their presence, Simone turned back to the sled, grabbed the reigns and shouted out to the dogs.

“HIKE!” And like a gunshot the dogs took off.

“Simone! Stop!” Xander shouted.

“Shit!” Jackson exclaimed at the same time.

Both men ran to their sleds and jumped on, shouting out commands at their teams. And they took off after her. By the time their dog teams were up to full speed Simone was already several yards away.

The cold air whipped at Simone’s face as her dogs speed through the snow. Something unseen or heard to Simone caused the Huskies to growl, bark and whine collectively. And without her command the dogs turned left and careened through the woods that ran along the path they were taking.

“GEE GEE!” Simone shouted at the dogs trying to get them to turn back to the right, but they kept going at a break neck pace through the woods.

Simone held on for dear life as she tried to look around at what had spooked them. To her right she caught a glimpse of something running. Gripping the sled tighter, she looked again and saw about four loose dogs running a few paces away from them. And then realization hit. They weren’t dogs, they were wolves.
Oh my God, oh my God!
Simone’s heart started to pound with fear.

Her team broke free of the woods and started running straight for a rushing river that ran along the middle of the forest.

“GEE GEE! Simone screamed trying to get the dogs to turn away from the river.

At the last minute the team turned sharply to the right and the sled started to tip. The momentum of the dogs, the off balance sled and the sharp turn flung Simone through the air.

Simone felt weightless for a split second and then bone chilling cold enveloped her as she plunged into the ice cold rushing river. Her body instantly seized up from the freezing temperature of the water. Her muscles locked, making it nearly impossible to swim against the current of the rushing water. And within seconds her clothes were soaked through and she started to lose feeling in her fingers and toes.

Her body started to shake uncontrollably and she quickly started to sink down into the water like a stone. The ice cold water enveloped her, enclosing her in an icy tomb. Simone’s lungs started to burn with the need for air. Instinctively, she took a breath trying to get precious oxygen, taking the frigid water into her lungs and her world went black.

~~~

Jackson and Xander saw the wolf pack chasing down Simone’s sled, and their hearts raced with panic. They knew there had been some wolves uncharacteristically hanging out in the Fairbanks area killing local pets, but they never imagined that they’d be so bold as to chase down a dogsled team.

The men watched helplessly as Simone’s team careened through the woods. Jackson shouted out at his dogs to go faster, trying fervently to catch up with Simone. But her team was going at a breakneck pace.

Xander watched as her team cleared the forest and he and Jackson followed closely in pursuit, gaining a little speed on the erratic sled. The wolves still gave chase alongside her sled team. Simone tried to command the dogs to turn right before they plunged into the river and at the last minute they made a hairpin turn that set-off a chain of events that sent Simone sailing through the air and into the raging river.

Her team kept going trying to get away from the wolves, but they surround them forcing them to stop. Sampson tried to defend his team and attacked what looked to be the alpha male. Xander and Jackson’s sleds came to a halt near the scene and they jumped off their sleds and sprang into action. Jackson ran straight for the river, ripped off his coat and shoes and jumped into the frigid water without a second thought, watching helplessly as Simone struggled against the current. Her limbs flailing uselessly until her movements became sluggish and she started to sink.
No, no, no! God, I can’t lose another person I care about like this. Please just let me save her. I couldn’t save them, I couldn’t save my family. I wasn’t strong enough. Please, let me be strong enough now.

Jackson reached her a few seconds later, the adrenaline pumping through his veins kept him from feeling the glacial temperature of the river and he swam like an Olympian in his desperation to save her. Jackson reached out to grab her arm and pulled her to the surface. He wrapped an arm across her shoulders and began to pull her to the river’s edge.

As Jackson rushed for Simone, Xander jumped off of his sled grabbed the gun that he always brought with him on sled tours, in case of this very scenario, and shot it off a couple of times into the air. The wolves immediately ran off back into the forest.

As soon as the threat of the wolves was gone, Xander ran to the edge of the water to meet Jackson as he pulled Simone in. Xander grabbed Jackson’s collar on his coat and started to pull him out of the water as Jackson held on to Simone.

Jackson fell back in the snow catching his breath for a moment while Xander pulled Simone to lay her flat and ripped off his gloves to feel her pulse and leaned his ear to her mouth to check if she was breathing. When he quickly assessed that no air was passing through her mouth or nose he lifted his head, pinched her nose and opened her mouth that was an unsettling shade of blue and started to perform CPR.

He released her mouth after forcing two breaths into her lungs, clasped both hands together and started to pump her chest for about sixty seconds. He pressed his ear to her mouth again, but still there was nothing. Xander started to panic, fear of losing someone who had become important to him and Jackson made him refuse to give up.

Jackson knelt beside them helplessly waiting for any signs of life from the beautiful woman, as Xander continued to work on her. And finally, Simone choked and sputtered out the water that was trapped in her lungs, gasping for breath.

“Oh, thank God!” Xander exclaimed, dropping his forehead to her heaving chest.

“Simone!” Jackson cried out as she came to.

“Are the dogs okay?” Simone’s voice rasped out in a whisper.

“Oh baby, they’re fine.” Xander said, rising up to look at her. “Sampson is a little torn up trying to defend the team, but otherwise fine.”

“Good.” Simone wheezed before passing out again.

“We need to get her to the hospital.” Jackson urged. The worry of losing her to drowning now transferred to losing her from hypothermia.

“There’s no time. The hospital is too far and we’re not that far from my lodge.” Xander reasoned. “But first we need to try to get her out of these clothes. Check her bag, to find another coat and pair pants. And grab some of the blankets, while I get her out of these wet clothes.” Xander instructed Jackson.