STORY EXCERPT

He forced a smile to his face. “You do smell coffee. As for what time it is, who cares?”

She reached over him but he wasn’t fast enough. She picked up her phone, scrolling to her missed call, still frowning. “Looks like I missed something.” She’d see that the call had lasted longer than necessary for someone to think about leaving a voice mail message, but hadn’t done so.

“I’m sorry. I answered it.”

“Why?”

Why, indeed? “Because I’m an ass.”

“What did he want?”

“To ask you what time he was picking you up tonight.”

“Oh shit.” She groaned, then fall back onto the bed. Merrick wasn’t sure whether to pump his fist in the air, or hold her close until she told him what was going through her head. “I can’t do this.”

“Come on. Have some breakfast. Let’s talk about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I can’t do this. I can’t see you both, and have sex with you both…and have there be no conflict over it. How on earth did Alaina get together with Jeff and Taj? Or Jade with Estevan and Liam?”

He handed her a cup of coffee. “There are more than two triads on the island now.” She took it, taking a large sip. “And I know for a fact that not all of the Doms were best friends at first.”

She gave him a thoughtful look. “But we’re not talking about the same thing. I mean wanting to make this a triad.” She took another sip while she eyed him from under her lashes. “Are we?”

He shrugged, then handed her a plate. “Eat something. No one can talk about serious shit on an empty stomach, and you must be as hungry as I am.”

That brought a smile to her face, and he sent up a silent prayer of thanks. “I am starving. Thank you for this. You didn’t have to.”

“Yes I did. You gave me a beautiful gift last night. I owe you a hell of a lot more than breakfast and coffee.”

“I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

Didn’t she know what last night had meant to him? He scooted closer to her and picked up his plate. “It wasn’t just sex and play for me, Ivy. I’ve had a thing for you a long time.”

“Same here.”

He took a forkful of food to gather his thoughts. “Thank you for saying so. But I have to ask.”

She didn’t even wait for him to do so. She put down her plate and shifted her body to him. “You and Tom both have been in my fantasies for a long time. I don’t know why I never did anything about it. Our families…and then Scott and Nadine…I have no excuse.”

He put down his plate as well. “None of that matters now. Okay? Seriously. It’s over and done. I only want to move forward from this point.”

“But what am I supposed to do? I can’t even imagine what you each must think of me right now.”

He smiled. “I can’t speak for Tom, but I don’t think any less of you now than I did before, if that helps at all. I want to see you again. I want to see where this leads us. And I’ll take it as slowly as you need me to go. The only thing I refuse to do is pretend it never happened. I can’t do that. Not after last night.”

He was still staring into her eyes when his doorbell rang.

* * * *

Tom eyed Merrick’s sweatpants. “Did I wake you, too?”

“No. We were eating breakfast in bed. Come on up.”

“Really? No angry words? No threats?”

Merrick shrugged. “Why bother? You’re here, she’s awake, and if makes you feel any better, she knows I answered her phone and she’s conflicted about all this.”

That took the wind out of his sails. He hadn’t meant to hurt Ivy. “Actually, that doesn’t make me feel better at all.” Then again, what else did he expect?

“I don’t want to fight with you, Tom. I only want to figure out a way to make her feel better right now.”

“That makes two of us. Her happiness is what matters here.”

Merrick eyed him suspiciously. “I agree. I’m just surprised to hear you say that.”

“Why? I have as much stake in this as you do. And neither of us has a prior claim on her.”

He nodded slowly. “Right again. Let’s go.” He followed Merrick upstairs, and when they entered his bedroom, Ivy was dressed in an outfit that screamed dinner date. She must have put on the same clothes she’d worn last night, which gave him one small measure of satisfaction. She hadn’t planned on spending the night.

“There’s food left,” said Merrick. “You hungry?”

“No.” Tom glanced around, then sat on the bed because there was no other place to sit. Ivy was in the armchair, looking ready to bolt any second. “I’m sorry I called so early.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s all right.” Her voice came out small and tentative, and Tom hated that.

Merrick leaned against his dresser as though they were all outside, having a cozy chat on the patio “So, I guess we have a dilemma here.”

“I’ve already told Merrick I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I like you both. You’ve been in my fantasies for years. Even…” She stopped, her voice trailing off, and Tom swore she was about to put a hand to her mouth as if she’d just spilled a terrible secret.

“Even what?” he asked.

“Even when I was engaged to Scott. I never stopped thinking about you two.”

He swallowed hard. Scott had never deserved her. “What do you want to do?”

She glanced toward Merrick and then at him again, but at least some of the fear had gone out of her eyes. “I want to keep seeing you both.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Are you ready?” asked Merrick, his voice full of amusement.

“Yes, Sir. I think so.”

“Not good enough. We need to know you’re all right.”

“I am. It’s just…new being blindfolded. But I’m very excited right now.”

“Okay. Good girl. Use your safewords if you need to.”

Ivy listened, but she didn’t hear anything. When tiny pinpricks of pain rolled up and down her arms, at first they reminded her of the metal cage, but this was different.

“It’s a Wartenberg wheel,” said Merrick. “What do you think?”

“I like it, Sir.” There was just enough discomfort to send shivers up and down her spine, but no real pain.

Tom brushed a feather along her abdomen, and Ivy tried to move away, but her cuffs held her in place. “Not a fan of being tickled?” he asked.

“Not my favorite thing, Sir.”

“Is that a safeword, then?”

She didn’t want to do that. She wanted to relax against this very comfortable chair and experience everything they wanted to give her. “No.”

“Good girl.” He alternated the feather with what felt like sandpaper, although he didn’t press it hard against her skin. Once she got used to the two sensations, she liked the difference. Merrick used the Wartenberg wheel on her arms and legs, and then he moved it over her neck, and between her breasts.

She moaned as Tom moved to using the feather and sandpaper on the insides of her thighs, teasing the area just short of touching her pussy lips. Merrick did the same thing with his wheel, stopping short of rolling it over her breasts each time. It had the intended effect. The closer they got each time, the more Ivy wanted them to use the implements on her nipples and pussy.

She moaned softly, writhing as much as possible against her cuffs in an effort to direct them where she wanted them to go, but she also suspected they were prolonging this on purpose. It was exquisite torture, and so much more sensual than the impact play had been. Although she had really enjoyed that and hoped for more in the future.

When they finally used the wheel, the sandpaper, and the feather on her breasts and pussy, their touch was delicate, as if testing her limits for each. She moaned louder, shaking her head back and forth as her arousal built.

“I think she likes this,” said Merrick. His voice was seductive and teasing, and Ivy was out of her mind with need at the sound of it.

“Definitely,” said Tom, pushing a bit harder on her clit with the paper. “Look how wet she is.” He slid a finger into her pussy, and Ivy cried out as he moved it in and out a few times. When he withdrew, she couldn’t take any more.

“Please…”

One of them kissed her on the nipples, first one, then the other. “No way,” said Merrick. “We’re not even close yet. But perhaps these will help?”

Ivy yelped as something pinched one nipple then the other. The sharp prick of pain subsided right away, but there was definitely something on her nipples. “What did you do, Sir?”

“They’re nipple clamps. What do you think?”

“I always thought they’d hurt.”

“They will when we take them off, but that won’t happen for a while yet, and we’ll help you through it. They enhance orgasms that way.”

“Oh…” She giggled as decadent images raced through her head, but her silliness soon turned to groans of pleasure as they alternated brushing their fingers over her breasts and pussy lips, then the toys, then licking them. Each pass across the clamps sent a tiny jolt of pain through her breasts as well, but Ivy loved the sensation.

They varied the pattern so she never knew what they were going to do next, and within a few moments their fingers were moving in and out of her pussy and now her asshole, as well, at random intervals. She was so ready to come she thought she’d burst. “Please…”

“Beg all you want,” said Tom, planting soft kisses on her clit. “But we control it, Ivy.”

She smiled and leaned her head back as she floated away into a blissful state once more. It was very close to the one she’d been in Wednesday and last night, and she never wanted it to end. Gradually, their mouths and hands replaced the toys, and when one of them sucked her clit, an orgasm crashed over her that she was sure would make her faint.

One of them removed the clamps, and Ivy cried out in pain until he rubbed her nipples. The pain subsided, and Merrick hadn’t been kidding about it enhancing her orgasm. It was powerful and explosive, and she was certain she’d faint before it ended.

The other man kept up his finger fucking and licking until the contractions finally stopped, and then one of them grasped her hair and tugged on it, hard. “You’re in trouble now,” hissed Merrick. “Did we give you permission to come?”

“Oh…No, Sir. You didn’t. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.” The endorphin rush coursing through her body at his words, and at his hand on her hair, was almost enough to bring on a second climax.

“Too bad,” he said. “We have to punish you.”