Page 183 of Season of Gifts

“All of us,” Alice echoed.She left a kiss at the corner of Jay’s mouth and sought another from Henry.The brush of her lips tingled.

Smoldering need sparked into flame.His hips pistoned more quickly, each steady withdrawal accompanied by a faster return to Alice’s embrace.She flowed between them, molten.Needy, as she nuzzled Jay’s cheek, her nose flattening against him, her mouth open, as if she scented the air on her tongue.

Shadow concealed the bruising of Jay’s kisses.A shame they couldn’t yet admire his good work.

Henry brushed his nose along the rising slope from Alice’s shoulder to her neck, musk and lemon mixing with the faint richness of leather from her collar.“Consider the trapezius, sweet girl.”He clasped hers between his teeth, gently testing the give in her muscle, and released.“Should you be searching for a place to mark our Jay.”

Her shudder rippled through the three of them, disrupting the rhythm and sharpening its urgency.Now he moved faster than thought, body racing ahead of the mind.

Alice bent to her task, fastening her mouth into the muscle beside the juncture where Jay’s collar lay.Dark head tipped back, chin pointed toward the ceiling, Jay whined a wordless plea.His fingers dug deeper into Henry’s flank, five delicious pinpricks of pain-pleasure.

Henry lowered his face, dropping his shoulders and packing the three of them more tightly together.Three bodies joined.One entity moving, burning through the face of creation at the speed of one pounding pulse.

He latched his teeth into Alice’s muscle and held fast.Muffled by Jay’s flesh, she moaned through her chest, a resonance Henry too took up, signaling his pleasure.He would leave his mark upon her, a bruise she might run her fingers across for days as she throbbed with remembered passion.Their moans swirled in harmony, undercurrents whipping up the fierce wind of Jay’s spiraling whines.

Alice flailed one hand back, hunting, gripping, the bite of her fingers finding Henry’s shoulder.

Let them have this singular moment, this perfection, this firestorm—

Jay’s thrusts grew erratic.Alice clamped down so tightly she might never let them go.

Climax seared through him.The wildfire burned away the old world in birthing the new.

He floated in a haze, his hearing muffled, buffeted by wind.No, not wind.Breath.Three sets of heaving lungs sucked down air as their owners succumbed to the heavy lassitude of satisfied exhaustion.

Would that he could rest here forever without crushing his spouses.But careful maneuvering might allow for a compromise.

He forced his hands to take up his weight, though his muscles cried for luxurious rest.“Hold tight, please, Alice.”

Shemmmed agreeably.“Cozy.Not going anywhere.”

“Jay?”The length of Jay’s throat lay exposed, but he’d yet to lift his head.

Slack fingers wiggled to life, one hand cradling Henry’s waist and the other at Alice’s, against his stomach.“We rolling?”

Such a brilliant boy.“To your right.”

“On three?”

Henry counted them down, and with their arms caged around one another, they tipped sideways without losing connection.A physiological necessity soon enough; they needn’t rush it along.

Alice settled back against him, resting her head on his arm.Now could he kiss her properly, lips slanting across each other with the decadent slow pour of molasses.Jay as well, finally within reach and him with a free hand to stroke silky dark hair.He stretched across Alice’s shoulder and delivered a kiss of belonging, thick with gratitude for Jay’s presence, for his very existence.

“Rest, my loves.”He studied the flickering flames and the light they cast as his spouses lay content, shifting lazily, humming peaceably.

Thoughts drifted past; he captured one for later perusal, that midsummer might be an excellent evening to replicate this night beneath the stars.They too shed radiant light.

Only when he’d lost all stiffness did he rouse from delectable drowsing.Alice and Jay yawned and stretched, issuing soft peals of satisfaction.He undertook their ritual cleanup, tenderly caring for his submissives and inspecting the suitably impressive hickeys darkening near their necklines.

While Alice lounged, Jay heaped the pillows higher and set the water and grapes within reach.As promised, the fire yet burned merrily in the hearth, crackling as they basked in their nest.

Alice lay on her back, gloriously naked.She’d bent one arm behind her head, elbow outthrust.With her other hand, she stroked her stomach.Hungry, perhaps.They’d expended a great deal of energy setting the world ablaze.

Henry fed her a grape without teasing, a simple presentation at her lips and her acceptance.Light flared in her eyes as she bit down, juice and sugar coating her tongue.

A more substantial tray awaited them in the refrigerator, filled with chocolates and honey, figs and soft cheese, salami and other small bites.The cordial glasses, as well, for their celebratory sips to greet the new year.Not long now; the wall clock ticked ever closer.

They could enjoy those just as easily here, and he himself was loath to move from the haven they’d created.But he would give them the option nonetheless.

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