Out of the Box 6 Read online

  "I won't—” I couldn't even manage to say it. “No,” I said again, taking a step back and breaking free of his embrace. “I'll play but only so far."

  I was shaking, and I felt like my knees were going to fold beneath me. Anando's wounded expression didn't help anything. Biting the inside of my cheek, I made my way to the staircase and back to the first floor, clutching the safety rail the entire time the same way I clung to my resolve. I wanted Anando, only you know how much, my lady, but I was scared. Scared of him or of myself, of what he wanted me to do or what I would consent to if he insisted, I don't know which.

  I wanted to leave when I reached the bar level, but I was shaking too much. I had to calm down. I climbed onto one of the high stools at the bar. Another bartender had joined Leo behind the counter, but Leo approached me before I could even raise my trembling hand to get his attention.

  "You look like you could use a drink,” he said, his usual smile replaced by a concerned look. “Are you all right?"

  Before I could figure out what to reply, he had placed a glass of wine on a coaster in front of me. It was as dark as the wine Lisa and Anando had drunk earlier. The heady scent by itself was enough to make me lightheaded.

  "Thanks.” My tight throat refused to let more than this quiet word out.

  He observed me a little longer, and I had the feeling he wanted to say something else, but a customer called his name on the other side of the bar. He gave me an apologetic look and stepped away.

  My fingers tracing the foot of the glass, I watched him serve a couple of drinks and exchange a few words with customers. It wasn't the first time I had observed him like this, and it felt almost familiar to do so, even soothing. He was a solid element I could cling to in this brand new world where I had said no to Anando.

  I hadn't taken more than a sip of wine before Anando sat down next to me, as part of me had expected, even hoped, he would.

  "Virginia,” he murmured. “Would you care to tell me what's going on?"

  I had heard many things in his voice before, but it was the first time I could hear disappointment. Feeling a twinge of regret, I turned my face fully toward him.

  "It was all very well orchestrated,” I said, the words bittersweet on my tongue. “Having me talk to them, and share a drink, and even dancing ... But I'm not interested. Not in either of them. And you can't make me sleep with them."

  That last claim was no louder than a whisper, but Anando heard it; the way his eyebrows rose made it quite clear.

  "When did I ever force you to do something you didn't want to?” he asked, and now he sounded hurt.

  I didn't have to think before I answered. I dropped my eyes to my glass and raised it to my mouth. I returned it to the coaster without doing more than touch my lips to the wine. “Never."

  "I thought I had earned your trust."

  He had, in a dozen ways since the first night we had met. I was beginning to feel silly. “You have.” I looked back at him, relieved when he returned my slight smile. “I guess ... I guess I was imagining things. I'm sorry."

  He reached over and picked up my hand from the counter, pulling it up to his lips for a brief kiss to my knuckles. He didn't let go afterwards, and linked our fingers together. Our joined hands rested on the counter between us, a sign that my fears hadn't ruined everything. At least, not yet.

  "Don't be sorry, Virginia. You weren't completely wrong."

  I could do nothing more than stare at him, too shocked to move or say a word.

  "I do think you'd enjoy having two men take care of you,” he continued. “I was going to suggest it. But I'd never force you to do anything."

  I shook my head, not because I didn't believe him—I did—but to reiterate that I wasn't interested. “I don't know that guy. He's nice, but I'm not—"

  "Attracted to him,” he finished for me. “Yes, I noticed. And as delightful as you are, he wouldn't be interested anyway. I had someone else in mind. Brett only wanted to talk to you—to us, I guess—before he gave his permission."

  With every new sentence he uttered, I was becoming a little more lost. “Permission?” I repeated, both confused and fascinated. “What do you mean?"

  Anando must have heard something in my voice because he grinned and took his time answering.

  "Brett lives with two vampires. I don't pretend to know what kind of agreement the three of them have, but I know one thing. He has to approve of any lover his male companion might want to take."

  Part of me was intrigued. I had seen the way Brett looked at Lisa, I had heard him talk about her, and I was sure he loved her. Where did that leave this ‘male companion'? What kind of relationship did they share for them to have rules about taking other lovers?

  My curiosity wasn't enough, though.

  "It doesn't matter. I don't want it, with his permission or without. I'm not interested in anyone—"

  I cut myself short before I could add “except you."

  "Then I apologize, Virginia,” he said without missing a beat. “I must have been mistaken. I thought I had noticed you looking at Leo that way, and you didn't seem all that repulsed when I hinted at him joining us before. I won't mention it again."

  At first, I didn't understand why my heart was suddenly thundering inside my chest, or why my mouth felt dry. Of their own accord, my eyes looked for Leo, at the other end of the bar, and the meaning of Anando's words jumped at me. It wasn't just any man Anando was trying to bring into the bed we shared. It was a man I had had a few lustful thoughts for, a man I imagined myself with all too easily.

  Even now, I still don't know how Anando figured out which one man I wouldn't mind joining us. I can only marvel that he knows and understands me so well. Maybe it should scare me, too.

  I could feel my cheeks grow hot as I considered Leo. Anando's fingers squeezing mine let me know that he had noticed both my reaction to his words and my lack of protest. In truth, I didn't know what to say. It had been easy for me to refuse the idea of sleeping with Brett; he was handsome but, as Anando had guessed, I wasn't attracted to him. Now, however, this excuse wasn't available to me anymore. I could have used it as soon as Anando had made his suggestion, maybe, but I couldn't use it anymore, not after staring at Leo as though he were candy. I couldn't play the ‘not interested’ card, so the question was now entirely different. It wasn't about my willingness to sleep with another man. It was about whether or not I could sleep with Anando and another man.

  I wish I could pretend I hesitated even for a second when Anando asked, sotto voce, “Do you trust me, Virginia?"

  Of course I trusted him.

  I nodded, and my heart started racing again when he called out Leo's name. Leo finished with a customer on the other side of the bar before coming over to us. He gave me a strange look, and I remembered suddenly that vampires had excellent hearing. Had he heard us talk about him and Brett and Lisa even through the noise of the bar? How could he not when he had only been a few feet away? My blushing only increased, and I looked down at my glass rather than hold his gaze. I took another sip, barely a mouthful. Getting drunk now was the last thing I wanted.

  "Have you ever met Virginia?” Anando asked him when he leaned against the counter in front of us.

  I glanced up again, just in time to see him nod.

  "I've served her a few times, but we've never been formally introduced.” He offered me his hand to shake along with a self-deprecating smile. “Hi, I'm Leo."

  Amused despite myself, I let go of Anando's fingers and took Leo's hand. Electricity ran down my back at the touch of his cool, smooth skin.

  "Virginia,” I played along. “Nice to meet you."

  On the side of the bar, a waitress called his name. He held on to my hand just a second longer, then let go with a shrug and a quiet, “Sorry.” I kept my eyes on him and took another sip of wine. Next to me, Anando chuckled.

  "If Leo was interested in anything more than one night, I think I'd be worried by now."

  I turned my face
toward him and rolled my eyes. “Don't be silly."

  Without warning, he cupped the back of my head and pulled me toward him for a short but sweet kiss. Surprised both at the gesture and at the burning need it had lit inside me, I blinked twice and licked my lips.

  "What was that for?"

  "I don't need a reason, do I?"

  I would have believed him if there hadn't been flames dancing in his eyes.

  If you had asked me before it happened, I would have guessed that setting up a threesome tryst would require a lot of talking and figuring out of who would do what. I would have been wrong. Or maybe the details had been ironed out before I had even known what was coming my way. They had to have been. It all went too smoothly, too easily, not to have been carefully planned out. I guess I could ask Anando about it. I don't think I will, though. He prepared that night the same way he had prepared that dinner date, or the night we spent playing in his pool—he just made it perfect.

  For the next couple of hours, I continued to sip my wine while Anando ordered whiskey. Every few minutes, Leo would come over and share a few words with us about the music playing on the dance floor, how crowded the place had become, how unseasonably hot the weather was, little things that showed me he had a sense of humor and made him even more attractive. I wasn't sure what was going on. Were they waiting for me to give the word, maybe? In my mind there was no doubt that Leo was in on the plan, and if the three of us agreed, why wait? It only occurred to me when a third bartender slipped behind the counter and Leo finally came out that he had simply been waiting for the end of his shift. Somehow, it made the whole thing seem a little more ... normal, if that's even possible.

  Anando and I took his car to go to his house; Leo followed on a sleek silver motorcycle. It was very strange to see the bike seemingly drive itself in the side mirror. I had to turn, once or twice, to assure myself that Leo was still following. When I did, Anando laughed quietly, and my heart only hammered a little harder in my chest.

  The modern house in a posh neighborhood of Haventown was so familiar by now that I felt safe as soon as I stepped inside, even if the situation was strange. Anando and Leo each held on to one of my hands, and Anando guided us toward his bedroom, turning on muted lights when we entered. Against the wall, the white chest attracted my eyes as it always did, even if I knew I wouldn't be choosing a toy in it this time.

  Anando kicked off his shoes, and I imitated him. I was used to his hands on me, always undressing me so gently. It dawned on me, when he stood in front of me and made short work of my pants—when a second set of hands pulled my tank top up and off me from behind—that things wouldn't be so different. There just would be four hands on me, two bodies against mine, two mouths feathering kisses on either side of my neck. Two men focused on me ... the idea had never been as precise as it became at that moment, or as enthralling.

  Before I knew it, the two mouths had lifted from my neck, leaving the scars on the one side tingling in anticipation. Also, I wasn't sure when it had happened, but my lacy bra and panties had joined the rest of my clothes on the floor.

  "Will you return the favor, Virginia?” Leo asked from behind me in a voice as deep and smooth as velvet.

  I looked up at Anando and received an encouraging smile. I turned toward Leo and, my hands shaking a little with nerves, I reached for the hem of his t-shirt. I tugged it out of his pants before pulling it over his head. I dropped the t-shirt to the floor and trailed my fingertips over his chest as I lowered my hands again. His skin was pale and smooth. His muscles rippled beneath my light touch.

  His pants buttons gave me some trouble. I could feel his cock straining in the confines of the leather, and just imagining it free was wreaking havoc on my self-control. I almost jumped when Anando's now naked body pressed against me, his cock hard at the small of my back. He reached around me to help me with those damn buttons, then tugged down the sides of Leo's pants while I carefully guided his cock out. For just a second, I wondered how he could bear to wear pants that fit so tightly without underwear, but my mind soon stopped wandering. How could I have thought of anything else when I had a lovely cock in my hand, thick and long, and a second one, just as perfect, nestled against my ass?

  Again, they each took one of my hands and pulled me into the bed with them. The three of us knelt at the center of it, and their hands and mouths returned to me. For the first time since arriving at the house, I hesitated. Where was I supposed to start? Who was I supposed to touch, or kiss? How was this going to work?

  As always, Anando seemed to guess what was going on in my mind. He leaned in toward me and pressed his lips to mine for a second before murmuring, “You think too much, Virginia. Just let us take care of you and enjoy."

  How could I resist such an offer?

  I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, shut my mind, and enjoyed.

  Where before I had been aware of their caresses, they were now my entire world. As cool as their hands were, they seemed to set my skin on fire everywhere they touched me. One hand was trailing on my shoulder and neck, sending sparks through me every time it brushed against the bite scars there. On the other side, a mouth was alternating kisses and soft bites on my neck. This was Leo, but it didn't occur to me to worry that he might bite me.

  His other hand had slipped over my hip and now coaxed my thighs apart with the barest amount of pressure. When I complied, his fingers began to play in my trimmed curls before sliding lower. I jumped when he found my clit. He responded by flicking his thumb against it a few times while his other fingers dipped lower, finding wetness and slowly breaching me. I moaned aloud. Instantly, a mouth—Anando's—covered mine, drinking in my pleasure, before kissing its way down my throat and to my breast. One nipple was thoroughly tortured with lips and just a hint of blunt teeth, while sneaky fingers massaged and pinched the other one in turn. It was too much, I wanted to cry out, but even as the words struggled to pass my lips I found myself clutching Anando's face closer to my breast, silently begging for more.

  Then they moved, shifted on the bed next to me. Gentle hands pushed me down until I was lying on my back. I didn't know anymore who was where, and I wanted to open my eyes to check, but I resisted the impulse. It didn't matter.

  A hand on my right thigh pushed lightly, and I parted my legs—and jumped when without warning a tongue ran along my slit and came up to press against my clit. Two hands on my thighs held me open; two more on my shoulders held me still for a second before letting go. The tongue touched me again, this time just dipping past my folds. I opened my mouth to let out a moan, but before I could, something was nudging at my lips, something thick and hard. I flicked my tongue at it and found a bead of precome. I raised my head and tried to close my lips over the head of that succulent cock—not even wondering for a second whose cock it was—but it pulled back, and only returned when I rested my head down on the pillow again. I felt a twinge of frustration at being denied what I wanted, but it was hard to hold a grudge when that mouth was doing sinful things down between my legs, and a hand had returned to my breasts, and that lovely cock was painting wet lines of precome on my lips.

  Lost in too many sensations, I didn't pay much mind at first to the hands that guided my legs up until both of my feet were resting on the bed. I realized what was going on, however, when a wet, slippery finger brushed against my ass and slowly, oh so slowly, pushed in. At the same moment, that so elusive cock finally pressed against my lips and into my mouth, and then the finger and cock were gone. They soon returned, both pressing a little deeper, a little longer, but not long enough still, not hard enough. Not enough, period.

  "Please."

  I'm not sure which of them I was pleading with; both, maybe. They shifted on the bed again, until there was a strong and very aroused body lying on either side of me and Anando was chuckling against my cheek.

  "Always so impatient, sweet Virginia."

  His hand pushed at my hip until I rolled onto my left side and away from him—toward Leo.
I realized now that I knew again who was where. Gentle touches again guided me, positioning my right leg over Leo's, opening me to him, even as Anando molded his body to my back. Leo touched my face, resting his hand against my cheek, caressing my eyelid with his thumb. I finally opened my eyes again. There was a question in his eyes, in the set of his mouth. I answered it by sliding a hand between us to take hold of his cock. Slowly, deliberately, I guided it to my folds. He entered me with a long, unhurried thrust before pulling back until only the tip of him remained inside me. When he thrust in again, Anando's cock breached my ass. I took in a sharp breath at the still unfamiliar sensation.

  Anando's words from what seemed like an eternity ago were branded in fire in my mind. He had asked me then if I was imagining someone else—Leo—while he fucked me with both his cock and a dildo. I wasn't imagining anymore. I was experiencing it. It was beyond anything I could have dreamed of.

  They took a few tentative strokes together, filling me completely when they were both inside me, and leaving me bereft when they retreated. Moving, speaking, even touching them was beyond me. My free hand rested on Leo's hip, where I had left it when letting go of his cock, but it didn't occur to me to caress him, or hold on to him. My mind was focused entirely on the heat that consumed me with each of their coordinated movements. I could almost have wondered how often they had practiced like this to work this well together—

  But then, it all changed.

  Rather than moving to the same tempo, they fell out of sync so that one was pulling out while the other thrust in, and vice versa. The change of rhythm felt odd at first, as though something was missing. They soon began accelerating their tempo, however, and all coherent thoughts fled my mind. All that was left was friction and movement and the feeling of being complete with each passing second. It didn't take very long before I came, bucking between them and accentuating their movements.