“He’s too cocky to get jealous,” said a deep voice from beh
ind her. She turned around to see Colby peering at them, his forearms braced along the edge of the pool, body concealed by the water, and his hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. “Plus, he wouldn’t make the offer unless he trusted that you’re solidly with him.”
Tessa’s heartbeat was pounding too loudly in her ears and she was starting to sweat—and not in a cute way. She looked back to Kade, who was watching her with evaluating eyes. He pushed her hair away from her face. “This is an absolutely no-pressure decision, baby. I want to give you your fantasies, whatever you’re ready for.” He looked over her shoulder and raised his voice. “And if Colby’s too disgusting to contemplate touching, I completely understand.”
“Hey!” Colby said, splashing water their way.
She laughed and pressed her forehead to Kade’s shoulder, the joke loosening that fist of tension a bit. “I don’t know, Kade. A threesome seems so . . .”
“Hot? Sexy? Dirty?” he offered, a smile in his voice.
“Slutty,” she said honestly. Isn’t that what had first crossed her mind when Sam had told her she’d been in one?
He ran a hand over the back of her head. “I have a feeling you’re not using that word in the positive way. Do you think Evan is a slut?”
She lifted her head. “Of course not.”
And she meant that. She’d watched the triad interact with each other. There was so much affection and genuine love there. And those guys looked at Evan like she was the most precious thing ever put on the earth. They were sexy together. Not trashy. Not wrong. They were three people embracing their sexuality and relishing it.
“Then why would you assign that label to yourself if you decide to indulge a little tonight?” There was no judgment in his voice, just genuine concern and curiosity.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a little scared,” she admitted. “Scared that no matter how much the idea excites me right now or how much I enjoy it, I’ll look back at this tomorrow and realize I’ve lost my mind. I’m also scared that if I keep pushing past fences, I’m never going to find my way back into my own yard. You make me want things I shouldn’t.”
His eyes went soft. “Why shouldn’t you, baby?”
“Because when it goes away,”—when you go away, her mind filled in—“everything normal is going to seem mundane.”
He cupped her cheek in his palm. “It doesn’t have to go away. The people around you right now prove that. If you like kinky, it’s out there for those who seek it. Your reactions to this aren’t responses I’m creating in you, they’re things I’m uncovering. Vanilla sex works for most of the world. It doesn’t for me. And maybe it doesn’t for you either. And I don’t think you need to worry about mundane. I don’t plan on finishing your lessons anytime soon.”
She smirked, his little speech quelling the rising anxiety in her. He made it all seem so easy, feel so very okay, like she deserved to have whatever made her feel good without shame or guilt or worry. Like he would think no differently of her no matter what her decision was. “You know, if your CEO gig doesn’t work, you may have potential in the pied piper business.”
He laughed. “Maybe, but really, tonight is your call. I just want you. I don’t care how we go about that. We could go back to your place and forget all these options altogether. This is about what you want.”
She moved her hands up his chest, feeling his heart steadily beating beneath her fingers, and sighed. This man was undoing her—lace by lace, button by button, soon there’d be nothing left to protect her from him or from the secret parts of herself she’d locked away in her own brain. She took a long, full breath and let her chest fall, breathing out the anxiety. “I think I’m ready to be a little scared.”
“Yeah?” he said, his brows lifting.
She glanced back at Colby before looking to Kade again, her resolve building block by block within her. “Yeah.”
“Brave girl.” He gave her that smile that could’ve melted her panties right off her body and ran his hands along her arms. “I promise you’re safe with the two of us. I wouldn’t let just anyone touch you. I’d trust Colby with my life. And you always can say the word if you want anything to stop. We’re going to make this good for you, Tess.”
She nodded, a little too breathless to speak. She was going to do this. She was really going to do this. Two men. Doug would’ve burned her at the stake in a public square if she’d ever suggested a threesome.
Kade gave her one last long look, as if to make sure she was one hundred percent sure, and then he untied the belt holding her wrap dress in place. The two sides fell open, revealing the obscene bra—not that it really had any business being called a bra. All it did was lift and frame her naked breasts for display. Kade’s eyes went molten blue when he took in the view.
“Fuck, it’s even better than I expected,” he said, cupping one of her breasts and running a thumb over her already sensitized nipple. “Lose the dress. But keep the lingerie on.”
She scraped her teeth along her bottom lip, the command giving her something to focus on besides her nerves. She tucked her knees under her and slipped the dress off her shoulders, leaving her in the bra and crotchless panties. Kade turned her around so she was facing away from him.
A soft moaning sound came from in front of her, and she peered across the pool. Jace and Andre had divested Evan of her dress as well. She was on the lounger between them, the silver chain that hung between her breasts glinted in the light from the pool. And Andre was shirtless and on his knees, his back to Tessa and his dark head between Evan’s thighs. Jace was lying alongside her, kissing her all over, worshipping every inch of bared skin like she was some goddess to pay homage to.
Tessa’s body went tight all over, the erotic tableau almost too much to take in all at once. She’d never been particularly interested in watching porn. And most people from the outside looking in would probably label what was in front of her as such, but there was something unbearably gorgeous and right about the three of them together. You could feel the reverence among them. They were in love and unashamed and completely entranced with each other. The scene was dirty, but it was beautiful. And for the first time, Tessa realized those things didn’t need to be mutually exclusive.
Kade kissed her shoulder. “Let’s get in the pool, gorgeous. Your turn to make those pretty noises.”
She let him take her hand and guide her to her feet. Colby peered up at them from the edge of the pool, his hazel eyes tracing over her body with open interest. She should’ve felt self-conscious or awkward considering her outfit and the circumstances, but somehow Kade’s warm hand on her back and Colby’s inherent relaxed state sent a sense of calm going through her. She was, of course, nervous about what would happen since she’d never done this before. It was like climbing up the roller coaster tracks, feeling unsure of what the rush down would feel like. But she was no longer freaked out by the idea of it all. This didn’t have to be some big, life-changing incident. This was just her and two drop-dead gorgeous men having a fun night together.
Kade guided her down the pool steps until she was submerged to her waist, and then he passed her off to Colby so that he could slip out of his clothes. Colby’s big hand closed around hers and he tugged her further into the pool. The warm water lapped at her exposed skin, making her body ache with awareness.