Chapter 21

21

Eli

Trust Abel to turn this into a competition, to somehow know it’s exactly what the three of us need keep things from spiraling out of control. At least in theory. I feel completely untethered as he wraps a fist around my cock and guides me to Harlow’s entrance. She sinks down slowly. This is nothing like the last time we had sex, with ugliness bubbling up between us and spilling from our tongues.

Here, there is only pleasure.

She looks down at me, her hair a tangled mess around her head, her skin flushed from pleasure, her lips parted around each ragged exhale, and it’s almost like all the bad shit doesn’t exist anymore. There’s just us and our love, and things make sense again.

And then she leans over and takes Abel’s cock into her mouth.

I wait for the anger I felt last time I watched them together, for the pain and jealousy and rage. There’s a faint pang in my chest, but it’s different. Diffused. Maybe because this feels different. This isn’t us or them. It’s the three of us meeting on a somewhat even playing field. No one’s trying to prove a point, at least not one beyond the fact that we could be good together.

Can’t afford to think like that.

Except it’s nearly impossible to resist the siren call of what could be as Harlow starts rocking on my cock, slowly fucking me even as Abel thrusts into her mouth. It’s seamless, and it feels like we’ve been here before, like this isn’t new but merely a continuation of what was.

Dangerous thoughts. Ideas I should tuck away and forget as quickly as possible. Any future with either of these people is an ask I’m sure as fuck not entitled to.

But then, I’ve always been a selfish bastard when it comes to what I want. I don’t want to let Harlow go. And, even knowing it’s impossible, part of me still craves a future similar to what Abel and I once dreamed of. Not the same one, not when we’ve both changed so much, but a future where we stand side by side.

Impossible.

And yet…

I arch up and capture one of Harlow’s nipples. I use one hand on her back to hold her to me and slide the other up Abel’s inner thigh to cup his balls. He curses and then gives a rough laugh. “So, it’s like that.”

I lift my head enough to glance at him. There’s something in Abel’s dark eyes that I can’t define, but it looks a whole lot like possession. There was a time when he looked at everyone he cared about that way, with an emotion that went beyond love. I never thought to have it aimed my way again, and even as my mind tries to reason its way through it, part of me can’t help responding. “It’d be a shame if you came before Harlow did.”

He gives a rough laugh. “Uh-huh. Since you’re not getting the job done…” Abel moves down to straddle my thighs. I realize what he’s doing a second before he lifts Harlow off my cock and impales her on his.

She cries out and falls forward, bearing us both back to the mattress. It’s the most natural thing in the world to kiss her; it’s something I’ve done a thousand times in the past without thought, but it feels different now. Of course it does. We have so many things that were left unresolved between us for far too long. They might be out in the air now, but I’m fucking terrified that it’s too little, too late. I know better than most that sex isn’t enough to bind Harlow to me, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try.

As Abel fucks Harlow in short, brutal thrusts, I slide my hand between us and stroke her clit. She starts to retreat, but I’m having none of it. This closeness might never happen again, and I’ll be damned before I miss a moment of it. I hook her neck and tow her back to my mouth, kissing her even as she moans and whimpers against my tongue. She clutches at my shoulders, her whole body going tense. I know her signs as well as I know my own, and I keep up that steady, light touch against her clit as Abel pounds into her. Her thighs tighten on either side of my hips, and then Harlow is moaning her way through an orgasm.

Abel barely lets her finish before he’s moving us again, a conductor of our bodies and pleasure. He ends up leaning against the headboard with her between his legs and leaning against his chest.

I kneel between her thighs and spread lube over my cock. She just came hard enough that I can see evidence of it all over her thighs, but I meant what I agreed to; we’re going to fuck her over and over again until she can’t take any more.

And then Abel’s going to fuck my ass.

I have to pause, to let the thought wash over me and away, or I run the risk of blowing my load the second I penetrate her. It’s been a long time since I had anal. Harlow and I have engaged in some pegging, but it’s more an extra little spice than a regular occurrence. And her dildo is not Abel.

Fuck, I have to get control of myself.

Abel’s watching me closely as he palms Harlow’s breasts. He’s playing with her, keeping her riding that edge, touching her body with a familiarity that I crave and resent at the same time. “Problem?”

“No problem.” I drag my cock through her pussy folds, watching her part around me. The sight does nothing to drive back my desire. Gods, I’m already in trouble, and we’ve barely gotten started. I clench my jaw and press into her.

Abel takes the opportunity to hook his hands around her thighs and pull them up and out until her feet touch down on either side of his knees. The position allows me to sink even deeper into her, and she whimpers in a way that tells me I’m rubbing against her G-spot with every stroke.

He presses three fingers to her pussy above where I enter her. Not stroking her clit so much as providing the tiniest bit of friction as I fuck her. The tips of his fingers brush my cock with every stroke, the light touch nearly sending me out of my mind with need.

How many years did I fantasize about Abel’s hands on my body? How many partners did I have while we were still friends? People who were great but simply not him?

Harlow is the first person I was with who didn’t come with that baggage. I was never thinking about him when I was with her, because she’s overwhelming in a completely different way.

It’s as if eight years of missing him, decades of wanting him, all of that time spent not having him, roll into this moment.

Even as I try to hold back, it feels like the most natural thing in the world to press my body to Harlow’s, to lift my chin until my mouth is even with Abel’s. We share a breath, a harsh exhale as I drive into her, and then his mouth is on mine.

Abel kisses me like he owns me. Like he has just as much pent-up, thwarted desire as I do. He keeps strumming Harlow’s clit, and I keep fucking her, but he laces his free hand through my hair, keeping my mouth to his.

Her cries escalate, reaching a pinnacle well before I’m ready to break the kiss. Harlow digs her nails into my ass as she comes around my cock. I try to hold out, to resist the feeling of her pussy clamping around me, but it’s too good. I curse against Abel’s tongue, and then I’m following her over the edge, pumping into her and filling her with my come.

Finally, a small eternity later, Abel leverages my face away from his. He’s grinning in the low light. “That’s a good start.”

Harlow curses, but I don’t have to look at her to hear the smile in her voice. That strange feeling in my chest gets stronger as I ease out of her, and Abel makes an impatient motion for the bottle of lube I dropped near his feet. I raise my brows but retrieve it. A few seconds later, he’s lowering Harlow onto his cock.

She makes a keening noise. “Not even a little break?”

“You can take it. Can’t you, sweetheart?”

She whimpers but finally nods. “Yeah. I can take it.”

I kneel between their spread thighs and watch Abel fuck her. Or, rather, watch him use a grip on her thighs to lift and lower her on his length. The sight of his thick cock spreading her pussy has my cock giving an answering twitch. It’ll take me longer than this to recover, but hell if my body isn’t doing its damnedest to make a liar out of me.

He’s so much bigger than she is. And the look of intense concentration on his face as he shifts his angle to hit a spot that makes her whimper is just as sexy as everything else happening. Her breasts shake with each heaving breath, and a light sheen of sweat dusts her skin.

I start to lean forward, but Abel gives a sharp shake of his head. “Not her mouth, Eli.”

He doesn’t need to elaborate. Not when we’re moving like two parts of a whole. Or, rather, three parts of a whole.

I slide down to settle between their thighs. Harlow makes a whimpering noise I’ve never heard before, and it feeds my fucking soul as much as this connection with Abel is right now. I drag my tongue over her clit, and she jolts so hard, Abel has to grab her hips and pin her down on his cock. So I do it again. And again.

Fuck, I lose myself in this moment, in the taste of her and him and me, all mixed together. And I’m a glutton for desire, because I dip down and give the base of Abel’s cock the same thorough treatment.

He reaches past her hip to dig his fingers into my hair and yank me back up to her clit. “You can suck my cock later, Eli. She needs another.”

Harlow gives a thready laugh. “I can’t come again.”

“You’re not done yet, sweetheart.”

I obey the unspoken command in his tone and flutter my tongue against her clit in the motion she loves above all others. She moans, but Abel holds her steady. In fact, he’s the one that starts to move, thrusting up into her in slow strokes that, combined with my mouth, have her panting and speaking in words that are barely comprehensible. Her hand joins his in my hair, and I look up her body to find her reaching back behind her head with the other to hang on to his neck.

She’s shaking, but she’s not there yet. Harlow writhes as much as she’s able. “Oh gods, that feels so fucking good.”

“You can take more, can’t you?”

“Yes,” she sobs. “I can take more.”

Abel gradually picks up his pace, while I keep mine the same. She needs the steady touch to bring this home. From the way she’s whimpering, it’s going to be one hell of an orgasm. She always gets loud with the big ones.

“More, Eli. Suck my clit. Please.”

I obey, watching her closely. My cock is already hard again, and it’s everything I can do not to fuck against the mattress like a wild thing. The need to bury myself in her, in him, is nearly overwhelming.

Not yet.

My tongue is getting tired, but I don’t give a fuck. I could do this for hours. I have done it for hours. I let my tongue and lips do what I haven’t been able to with words.

Apologize.

Start the first steps to try to make things right between us.

Fucking is only the gateway, the path to soften Harlow enough that she’ll actually listen to me instead of shutting me out. Even with that, we’re still a long way off.

With that in mind… I slow down.