Voyeur - Lacey Alexander [76]
To her surprise, he sat up on the couch, the departure of his firm thigh leaving the spot between her legs woefully empty. He patted her knee and said, “Tell you what, snowflake. Tommy has a couple of new computer games he wants me to try out, so I’m going to head up to his place for awhile and let you work—and think. I’ll set out some steaks to thaw before I go, and I’ll bring Tommy back with me for dinner around seven. You can let me know your decision then.”
She blinked, then sat up, a bit taken aback. He’d stopped pressuring her, persuading her, was truly putting it into her hands, letting her decide. “Um . . . how will I let you know?”
He cast the sexy grin she’d grown used to. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
Braden puttered around the house a bit before leaving, and Laura tried to write—but who could write now? She sat at the computer, staring out at the peaceful winter setting, trying to let it calm her—but her emotions ran wild.
The truth was, no answer seemed the right one.
Did she want this? Braden and Tommy, both of them, touching her, fucking her?
God help her—yes, she did. Her every nerve ending turned inside out just thinking about it. And God knew that the deeper she sank into this affair with Braden, the more she wanted to please him, the more she wanted to keep showing him she could be the exciting woman he wanted her to be.
And yet . . . this was a big line to cross, at least in her mind. Even Monica hadn’t been with two guys at once. And what if five years down the road she met Mr. Right and felt compelled to tell him she’d done this and it made him think badly of her? No, Braden was wrong—once you did something, you couldn’t take it back.
Of course, if it were a guy like Braden, she’d have no worries. She’d felt the need to ask, but had totally believed him when he’d promised he wouldn’t think of her differently. She knew that about him now somehow—knew that he sincerely liked her, utterly respected her, no matter what. Maybe only a guy like that should qualify as a Mr. Right.
She let out a sigh. She had a feeling guys like Braden—truly free and forward thinking, truly into the deeper, more intense sorts of pleasures he wanted to bring her—were few and far between. Most men, deny it though they might, still lived by a double standard—they would probably think it was A-okay if they indulged in a threesome but wouldn’t want to marry a woman who admitted the same.
Just then, her lover came trotting back down the stairs. “I’m taking off,” he told her, approaching from behind, then squeezing her shoulder as he bent to lower a kiss to her neck.
She looked up at him. “Have you ever done anything like that before?”
“A three-way?”
She nodded.
She thought he almost looked a little sheepish as he said, “No,” shaking his head lightly. And in all honesty, she was surprised, had been almost certain he’d had a long history of multiple partners.
“Then why do you seem so sure about it, so positive you want it?”
“I don’t shy away from my desires, Laura, never have. I just never wanted this before. But now I do. With you.”
Her stomach churned. He wanted to experience something with her that he’d never wanted with another woman. It seemed like . . . an opportunity to be special to him, to give him what he’d given her so many of: a memory of something new to take with him when this was over.
As he walked to the door, he paused to look over his shoulder. “Tommy has, though, just so you know.”
“Oh?”
“He’s been with two women before. A couple of times.”
She gave a slight nod. She’d just started thinking they were all virgins at this only to find out Tommy was not. “Snow bunnies gone wild?” she asked.
He grinned, his eyes softening. “Something like that.”
Another nod on her part, then she spoke quietly. “I’m more than a snow bunny, you know.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I know that, snowflake. I know that very well.” With that, Braden threw on