She threw herself into the routine they all knew. Fortunately, things did level out for the next couple of hours. Maybe just having them close was all she needed. There was a lovely, different cadence to their three-way bond now, exercised in ways large and small. Lingering touches, easy affection, intimate teasing.
Geoff was looking out for all of them, right? Emotional recuperation was important. Time to breathe and think. Plus, him and Chris making the mature decision that it wouldn't be 24/7 sex should make her feel even better about her earlier thoughts. This was how a normal relationship worked. Quiet times, companionship, mixed with intimacy. Friendship. And the really hot sex. Right here at her fingertips, if she could force the issue.
She had that thought as Chris was loading the dishwasher and Geoff was settling down with his work. Her phrasing, the use of the word "force", gave her a start. Why was she trying to challenge Geoff? What was the problem, damn it?
If she could have some kind of physical release, maybe she could settle down. She just needed to feel a little more in control of what was happening inside her. Though she was eagerly embracing her submission, something was warring with it, saying that she needed to assert herself. Make sure there was a balance.
Or maybe it was the inner child poking out her lip and saying, He can't tell me what to do.
Shaking her head at herself, she left them to change into her pajamas. Pausing over her choices in the dresser drawer, she didn't pull out the flannels and comfortable oversized T-shirt she would have normally worn. The T-shirt was an extralarge freebie Geoff had given her some time ago after he'd run a half marathon for the animal shelter charity drive.
He'd chastised her about wearing provocative outfits in front of them, but that was before they'd all been sexually intimate. Now they could act on it if they wanted to do so, right? It was fine for Geoff to act as Dom, but they hadn't agreed he could impose things on her full-time. Okay, yeah, some things, sort of. But this was still a willing thing, and ultimately they were equal partners. She could change the rules if she wanted to do so.
She withdrew a baby tee and coupled it with gray jersey shorts she donned over a hot pink pair of panties with a high Brazilian cut. The light pink T-shirt was thin, showing off the shape of her nipples. When she was curled on her hip in her favorite reading chair, the shorts would ride up the curve of her ass. Just enough to make them a little bit crazy, which seemed quid pro quo, since she was all crazy at this point.
Don't do this, Sam.
Why not?
Her mind couldn't give her the right answer. Her gaze fell on the Naughty Bits envelope she'd pulled out of the mail, and she seized the distraction it offered. Coming back into the living room holding it, she pasted a smile on her face, trying to pretend she had on nothing out of the ordinary. Their new intimacy was simply making her comfortable wearing less around them. It wasn't like she was doing it as a deliberate provocation.
Which she was.
Chris was stretched out on the floor, his feet up on the arm of her reading chair. Geoff was on the couch reading through something work-related while Chris channel surfed.
"Hey, look what we got in the mail." She waved the invitation. Her cheeks were flushed, so she kept her head down as she spoke. "Madison is doing a benefit for an erotica theater she's planning."
She placed the brochure on the coffee table where they could both see it. "She's calling it Carnival in the Round. It'll be in that old theater in downtown Matthews. There'll be performances with whip play, wax, all sorts of things. Says it's a fetish costume thing, so we can dress up however we want. Or not at all, but I think I'd like to, even if you two don't. There will be changing areas at the theater if nee
ded. What do you think?"
She was talking in a rush of words, so she made herself shut up and backed into her reading chair, sinking down in it and curling her legs up beneath her. She dared to give Chris's bare feet propped there a quick caress, then she drew a steadying breath and raised her gaze.
She realized immediately she should have looked at Chris first. She met Geoff's cool hazel eyes, inscrutable as a sphinx's. Her cheeks flushed anew. "Hmm," he said. His gaze swept her, then Geoff put his feet down from the coffee table with a decided thump. She jumped, but he merely leaned forward to pick up the invitation. She looked toward Chris, trying a casual smile. He was trying to look anywhere but where it was obvious he wanted to look, at her scantily clad body, so he turned his attention to the invite when Geoff handed it to him. After Chris set it on the coffee table, the two men exchanged a glance.
"I think it's time to give her the gifts we set aside for her birthday," Geoff said. "One in particular."
Chris's mouth tightened as if he was undecided about that, but when he glanced her way at last, his gaze latched on to her trembling breasts and bare legs. For some reason, when her nervous gaze slid back to Geoff, she felt exposed in the wrong way.
"I think you may be right," Chris said at last.
"My birthday isn't for another month," she said. "And we're supposed to buy only small things. We agreed."
"Well, in this case there was an exception clause to that agreement, supported by two of the three signing members." Geoff gave her a trace of his normal smile, which made her feel easier and, oddly, a little ashamed. She crossed her arms over her breasts. Not trying to hide them. Not exactly.
"I wasn't aware the agreement was based on popular vote," she said.
Chris took one of her hands, pulling it away from her body. "This one time it is. You know you never have to buy me anything for my birthday, anyway. Just make one of those white layer cakes with the powdered sugar on it."
"Suck-up," Geoff grumbled. Rising from the couch, he took her other hand. Her fingers were tense, but she curled them over his, absorbing the strength and heat as he brought her to her feet. "Stand up straight, Samantha Beth. You wanted us to look at you. So let us look."
She swallowed, but when she would have spoken, he touched her mouth. "Not a word. Unless you want me to take off those nonexistent panties, stick them in your mouth and keep them there with duct tape."
She stilled. His tone was velvet over steel, as was his expression, and she wasn't the only one brought up short by it, or by the shocking words. Chris's fingers had dropped to caress her ankle, and now they paused, as if he'd looked up at Geoff to see if the menacing tenor was a joke. It hadn't been, but Geoff tightened his fingers on her, caressing her pulse.
"It's all right. Come on, sweetheart."
He called her that when he wanted to reassure her, and it worked. She let out an unsteady breath. Chris rose with a warm look, which helped further. Geoff led her to his room and snapped on the light. "Your gift is in a box under the bed."