Venus rising boxset, p.31
Venus Rising Boxset, page 31
“You look great,” he said, his eyes traveling over her. “Although I kind of miss the uniform.”
Jessica laughed and punched him in the shoulder.
“Hilary, I'm leaving!”
“Bye, have fun!” her friend called from her room.
They chatted on the way although Chris refused to tell her where they were going. She nearly fell over laughing when he led her to a laser tag arena. The sparkle in her eyes told him he'd made the right choice. Both he and Justin were showing her their different sides. Justin with his love of the outdoors and domineering personality, which Jessica seemed to need. Chris knew he wasn't as dominant as Justin, and he wasn't going to try to be, but he could be playful and fun. He and Justin preferred paintball to laser tag, but he figured he'd go easy on Jessica, to start.
They ran around for two hours like little kids, and she was able to surprise Chris with how good a shot she was. Eating fried food in the overpriced diner afterward, he mentioned paintball to her, and her eyes lit up. It was something she'd always wanted to try but had never gotten a chance. Although she had to tease him a little about how it was technically an outdoors activity. He rolled his eyes at her.
“You just wait; playing with Justin is a pain in the ass. He knows exactly how to blend in and move, so you can't hear or see him coming.”
“So, you always lose?”
“Hell, no,” Chris laughed. “I just always make sure he's on my team!”
The entire date was fun and teasing, and Jessica was having a wonderful time. When he took her home, he walked her to the door, and she got the feeling he would leave if she wanted him to. Instead, she invited him in for coffee, which he quickly accepted. She called Hilary's name, but her roommate didn't answer.
“Guess we have the place to ourselves,” she said with a nervous giggle. Sleeping with both in one day had seemed completely natural when she was at the school; at home, it seemed a little awkward. She went into the kitchen, hoping making coffee would calm her nerves. Instead, she found herself turning away from the cabinet with the bag in her hand, only to find Chris looming over her. He put his hands on the counter behind her, one on either side, trapping her between his arms.
“You look nervous.”
“Well, there's this big lump of a man blocking my way,” she retorted. That got her a snort of laughter.
“I'll give you a lump,” he said, winking at her. She giggled as he leaned down to kiss her. Suddenly, all of Jessica's reservations, her worries it would be slutty to be with both of them today melted away under his skilled oral assault. She put the coffee on the counter behind her and let herself press against his hard body, her hands kneading his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. His hips moved against her, mimicking the sex act, inflaming her further. It didn’t help that she knew exactly how good he was at that particular act.
Then his arms were underneath her, pulling her up, so she was cradled in front of him.
“Bedroom. Where?”
“Down the hall, first door on the right,” Jessica said, wrapping one hand around his neck as she nuzzled the other side, letting her lips travel up to suck on his earlobe as he walked quickly down the hall. When she pulled the sensitive skin into her mouth and bit down gently, he groaned with need, his fingers digging into her soft flesh as his pace quickened.
For a moment, she felt embarrassed about the clothes lying on the floor of her room, but Chris didn’t leave her much time for petty emotions. Without looking around, he tossed her on the bed and climbed on top of her, devouring her mouth with his. Reason fled, the desire to clean her room disappeared, and she moaned as Chris’ hands ran down her body, loving the feel of his hard weight on top of her. Spreading her legs, she wrapped them around his torso, rubbing the underside of her jeans against his, making him shudder at her brazen temptation.
More clothes joined the ones already on her floor as they stripped each other, sliding their hands under fabric and moaning at the sensation of skin against skin. Every nerve felt like it was on fire as Chris sucked her nipple hard, biting down and rolling it between his teeth. Jessica cried out, her body throbbing with the need for relief.
It was incredible how quickly both he and Justin could arouse her passions.
“God, you’re beautiful,” Chris muttered under his breath as he kissed her again.
“So are you,” she replied, wrapping her bare legs around him and bending her body upward to take his nipple in her mouth. It was the most aggressive she’d been able to be during sex with him. The lack of dominance was surprising to her, but she’d always know Chris could be a little more vanilla than Justin. This playful, sweet lovemaking was the perfect balance to the controlled, erotic domination Justin had given her earlier in the day. They were counterpoints, fulfilling the needs of her body.
Chris growled under his breath as she sucked on his nipple, his hips pumping forward. The feel of his weight on top of her, the rubbing thrust of his cock as it pushed into her... Jessica moaned as she wrapped arms around him, releasing his nipple from her lips, her entire body already on fire. Once he was inside her, Chris slowed things down, which drove her crazy. The lazy thrusts of his hips were interspersed with teasing touches on her skin, kisses on her shoulders, brushes across her nipples.
Having the foreplay combined with the sex was intoxicating, thrilling... and oh so frustrating. Her hips thrust against his, but no matter how she tried to speed up the rhythm, he ignored it, concentrating on building the slow heat inside her when she knew if he just let loose, she'd orgasm almost instantly.
“Oh, Chris...” she said, almost growling as she dug her nails into his back. “Pleeease...”
“I like hearing you say my real name,” he responded, thrusting into her with force, so she shuddered and clenched around him, her hips tilting up in excitement.
“Chris...”
Another hard thrust that left her gasping.
“Oh, Chris... fuck... fuck me, Chris...”
Saying his name got to him like nothing else, and suddenly, he was thrusting and heaving on top of her, plowing into her as she cried out his name over and over, her legs tightening around his body as she came. He swelled up inside her as she screamed out his name, rubbing his body hard against her, and they came together.
Chapter 5
Although she wanted him to, Chris didn’t stay the night. Which, when she thought about it, was only fair to Justin. Of course, that just made her want to keep Chris at her apartment and call Justin, inviting him over too, but she wasn’t sure how Chris would feel about that, so she didn’t say anything.
The next evening, she, Hilary, Justin, and Chris went out for dinner, then dancing. The two men took turns dancing with her and Hilary, and she was relieved to see her best friend getting on fabulously with both of them. She also couldn’t help feeling even more relieved when neither of them showed any interest in Hilary beyond friendship. She knew it was selfish of her, but she still wanted both of them.
They were foil and counterfoil, two sides to the same coin, her yin and yang. Okay, she could wax kinda eloquent with metaphors, but the truth was, she felt more complete with both of them. Spending time with them separately yesterday had just confirmed to her that, while she enjoyed them one on one, she was happiest when all three of them were together. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to enjoy them individually if she didn’t know she’d be seeing the other later.
What a fucked-up situation.
Mostly, she tried not to think about it, just lose herself in the enjoyment of the moment and forget the complicated situation. Afterward, the guys dropped them off at their apartment and left, leaving Jessica rather sad that they wouldn’t come in together.
“So, what do you think?” Hilary asked when they got inside, stripping off their heels and plopping down on the couch.
“Other than thinking I’m never wearing these shoes dancing again, I’m not sure,” Jessica replied, moaning a little as she rubbed her poor soles. The heels had been a little too high for a long night of dancing, but Justin and Chris were so tall, and she’d been so excited about being able to wear truly high heels, she hadn’t even considered how uncomfortable they’d be at the end of the night.
Hilary smirked at her. Since she hadn’t been going to impress anyone, she’d worn much more sensible one-and-a-half inch heels.
“I meant about the guys. Not that you should decide after one date with each of them, but I was just wondering if you still want both of them.”
“Why, are you interested in one of them?” Jessica asked, half-hoping Hilary would say yes while simultaneously feeling a little sick to her stomach at the idea of an affirmative answer.
“Not at all. Neither of them is my type. Justin’s a little too intense for me, and Chris is too playful. I can never tell whether or not to take him seriously about something.”
“Which is why they’re such a perfect balance to each other.”
Lifting her feet onto the couch and leaning back, Hilary laughed. Taking pins out of her long blonde hair, she looked rather thoughtful.
“You know, I think I finally get that. The whole wanting both thing. It was really confusing to me at first, but after spending time with them tonight, I can see how you’d need both of them to keep things on an even keel. They’re a little different together than they are separately, and if you had to deal with dating only one of them, eventually, you’d probably want to kill him a little.”
“Exactly. Chris keeps Justin from getting too serious, and Justin keeps Chris in line. Justin can get a bit caveman and alpha-male, but then, I could just hang out with Chris, and we could visit an art museum or something. Of course, they both get all dominant when we’re… you know. But even there, they balance each other out. If I could just smoosh them together into one person, I’d be set.”
The girls fell silent at the truth of Jessica's words. Part of her wished they really were one person, so she could feel normal, but the truth was, she loved each of them individually, and she loved them together. Sex with them individually was fantastic, but together, it was explosive. If they were one person, they couldn't do the wonderfully depraved things she wanted them to do to her.
“I'm going to bed,” Jessica said mournfully. “Maybe I'll have a better idea in the morning of what to do.”
“So, I'm thinking about taking that job,” Justin told Chris Sunday morning. The two of them were getting some male bonding time in, something they hadn't had a chance to do yet during the weekend. Some of their friends were coming over in a few hours to drink beer and watch the game. Chris wasn't really into football, but he liked the company and liked watching. He just didn't know that much about the teams or the stats, unlike Justin.
“What job?” Chris gave the queso he was currently making in Justin's slow cooker a quick stir before putting the lid back on. Both of them could cook, but Chris tended to be more limited in his selection, making easy recipes of comfort food, unlike Justin who was currently basting another layer of sauce onto his chipotle chicken wings before putting them back in the oven to bake more.
“The one Adam mentioned to me open at his company,” Justin said.
Chris looked at him like he was crazy. “You want to work for Adam? You two would kill each other.”
“He and I have an understanding,” said Justin. “He trusts me to do a good job without micro-managing.”
“I can't believe you're thinking about leaving me,” Chris sniffed mournfully, wiping away an imaginary tear. Although, to be honest, he really wasn't all that surprised. Adam had been hounding both him and Justin for a while to come and join his team. He ran a pretty successful mid-sized temp and head-hunting agency, but his internet marketing wasn't on point. While he would have been happy to have either of them join him, Chris didn't want to work for the hardass. All work and no play—that was Adam. Well, not entirely, but he was kind of scary when he played because he did it with the same intensity he worked. While Chris enjoyed their current job, he'd been pretty sure half of the appeal for Justin was the fact that Jessica was working there. Now, that they had Jessica in their life, there wasn’t much to hold Justin to the job anymore. Office politics required playing a bit of kiss ass to move up, and Justin had gone about as far as he could go without doing that. Adam wouldn’t require sucking up, he would just work Justin to the bone.
Which Justin would probably enjoy.
“Like you won't be happy to see me go,” Justin said, grinning at him. Chris was one of the privileged people Justin relaxed around enough to tease; the rest of those people would be joining them shortly. “You're going to end up taking over my position, and you know it.”
“Plus, think of all those lunches I'll get with Jessica,” Chris teased, then immediately regretted it as the smile fell from Justin's face. “Sorry, man, I shouldn't joke about that right now. Not when we don't even know what's going to happen.”
Justin nodded and muttered something under his breath, and Chris froze. Had he heard his friend correctly?
“What did you say?” Chris demanded, his heart pounding. Could it be he and Justin had been thinking along the same lines?
Sighing, Justin shoved the wings back in the oven and closed the door, although Chris could see it was taking self-control for him not to slam things around. Putting the brush down next to the bowl of sauce, Justin avoided his gaze. Chris stayed silent, waiting for his friend to come around and say something. Sometimes, it just took a few minutes for Justin to get going. The silence stretched.
“I said, I wish we could share her,” Justin finally said gruffly before chugging the rest of his beer. Going to the fridge, he reached in for another one.
“Me too.”
Looking over his shoulder, the tall, dark-haired man had an oddly vulnerable expression on his face as he straightened up. It strangely went with his Redskins football jersey and the confident aura he still managed to exude, even when he was feeling unsure of himself.
“Really?”
Nodding, Chris moved closer. They'd known each other since their freshman year of college when they’d been assigned as roommates, longer than they'd known any of the other guys coming over today. Justin had introduced him to a world he'd never known about and had been responsible for introducing Chris to Priscilla, the woman who ran the Venus School. He'd been the one to convince Chris to go to Stronghold, the kink club where they'd learned about being Doms. Not that Chris was as dominant as Justin, but he still enjoyed a lot of the aspects of BDSM and the club. That's where they'd met the rest of their friends. Chris couldn't imagine sharing Jessica—or any other woman—with any of the rest of their friends. He could see it with Justin. They were more like brothers than friends.
He couldn't imagine what he'd have become without Justin's firm hand during college. It had been Chris' first taste of freedom away from his controlling and conservative family, and he'd gone a little wild before Justin calmed him down—after saving his ass a couple of times. It was almost a miracle he'd never been arrested for some of the pranks and craziness he'd been involved in. In turn, he'd helped Justin loosen up a little, showed him it was alright to have fun and kept him from spending his entire college career locked away in his dorm room studying.
They already went to each other for any relationship problems, and they'd both been trying to get Jessica's attention for so long, it already felt like they were in this together. While Chris had enjoyed having Jessica to himself Friday night, he'd also enjoyed being out with her and Justin last night. He'd felt a little bad for Hilary though. Even though there were four of them, she'd obviously felt out of place, just like if she'd been out with a couple. If everything could be as perfect as last night, being with Jessica and Justin would be almost too easy. It had felt incredibly natural.
“I've been thinking about it since we got back from the school,” Chris admitted.
“Me too.”
Wow, now there was a revelation. Chris felt himself growing hopeful for the first time. This could work, it really could. They just had to convince Jessica and hope she agreed.
By the time the rest of their friends showed up for the game, Justin was feeling pretty good. He'd admitted to Chris he wouldn't mind having a threesome relationship, although the truth was, it was more than just not minding—he actively wanted it. The three of them felt right together, as evidenced by the fun they'd had last night. He’d always enjoyed being part of a threesome with Chris when it came to sex, so there was no problem there. Plus, it was easier to be playful when Chris was around. Jessica needed fun in her man—or men.
Now, they just had to convince her.
Before they could get too far into their conversation about how to convince her, the doorbell rang.
“Who invited the skirt?” he asked, joking as Olivia entered with Liam, Adam, and Patrick.
“Suck it,” she said cheerfully. “You know if I wasn't here, you wouldn't have anyone to actually talk with about the game.”
It was true, he and Olivia were much more invested in D.C.'s team than anyone else. Liam and Chris couldn't care less who won, they only watched football as a social activity, not as fans. Adam was a Ravens fan, Patrick had grown up in Colorado and was a diehard Bears fan who joined them only to mock them, and Rick, who hadn't arrived yet but was on his way, followed the Colts, the way his father had when they'd been Maryland's team. Today the Skins were playing the Cowboys, which meant everyone would be cheering for the Skins, but he and Olivia were the only ones who would actually care.
“Maybe I was talking about Liam,” he said with a straight face.
Liam just gave him a look as he headed for the kitchen. The sheer amount of alpha energy in the house should have had the walls bursting outward. Justin wasted a moment, wishing they'd invited Jessica, although that would have made her the only submissive in the house.
Just going by sheer force of personality, Patrick Murphy was definitely the leader of the group. He was actually the owner of Stronghold, the kink club where all of them had met—other than Justin and Chris, and they'd actually brought Rick to Stronghold his first time. Even though Justin was two inches over six feet, he still felt a little short next to Patrick, who was six five and even more broadly muscled. Patrick was probably the scariest looking too—mixed half black, half white, he kept his head bald and shiny, which only emphasized the long scar going down the left side of his face and the bump in his nose from a previous break. Apparently, he'd been a bit of a hellion as a kid, always getting into all sorts of trouble, although he claimed the scar actually came from a sword fighting accident with his best friend, Jake, when they were teenagers. Jake was overseas in Afghanistan right now, and they all missed and worried about him.
