Page 77 of The Mountain
Antoine’s brow dips in concern, one long-fingered hand coming out from under the blankets to sweep an unruly lock of hair from my forehead. My eyelids flutter shut at the innocent touch, at the way the pads of his fingers seem to sear my skin.
“Shit, mate.” Liam clears his throat. “I’m sorry. We should have thought…”
My chest clenches, and I give a vehement shake of the head.No. No, I don’t want them to be sorry. I don’t want them to hide whatthey are to each other, to feel like they can’t love each other when I’m around. Not after last night.
It’s just, there’s this fire burning under my skin. And even with my eyes squeezed shut, I keep seeing the way Antoine looked when he came.
“It’s not that. You guys… I mean, last night…”
I reach up, scrubbing at my face with trembling hands, then turn to face Antoine and Liam. Last night, they’d seen every part of me, naked and laid out. There hadn’t been any part of us that had been hidden from each other.
Antoine gives a wry smile, his eyes full of soft understanding. “It was a lot,non? Especially for a first time.” His cheeks darken, lashes fluttering as he looks over his shoulder, to where Liam rests behind him, then back to me. His teeth flash white as his smile widens. “And I can’t imagine any of us have ever had a—what would it be? Aménage a cinq?”
“A five-some?” Liam offers helpfully from his other side. He gives a loud yawn, stretching smooth, toned arms over his head. “I think most people would call it an orgy and be done with it.”
I give a choked laugh, my face burning with embarrassment at Liam’s words. An orgy? Really? Is that what we did?
Before I met Lily, there is no part of me that had even contemplated wanting to have an orgy. Sure, I’d come across images of orgies in porn before, but they’d always just made me feel… unsettled. A little nauseous, maybe.
What we did last night was nothing like that.
“I liked it,” I whisper, my teeth catching my lower lip as I contemplate how to explain what I’m feeling. Words have nevercome easily to me, especially when I’m nervous, but this is Antoine and Liam. I don’t need to be nervous with them.
At least, I’d like not to be.
“What we did last night. It was…” I remember the feel of Lily’s thighs around me, of how wet and warm and strong she felt. Of how right it felt to be deep inside her, to feel her nails biting into my shoulders and her lips against my throat. I let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah.”
Liam chuckles. I shoot him a sheepish smile, then add in a breathless rush: “I didn’t mind what you guys did this morning either.” Which isn’t quite true, not when my cock is still half-hard under the covers. But I really don’t want him and Antoine to feel uncomfortable around me.
Liam gives me an unreadable stare, gray eyes sharp and assessing. Something twists behind my ribs at the feel of his eyes on me, like he can see beneath my skin, down to the very bones of me. It makes me glad to have Antoine between us.
“Matty…” My name comes out on a low rumble, a question and warning, but for some reason, the sound of it on Liam’s lips has heat rushing down my spine. It reminds me of how Liam sounded last night, of the way Antoine went pliant under his touch, of Lily’s languid movements as even she followed his lead.
“I don’t think I’m straight.” The admission tumbles out of me on one pained breath, then hangs between us, an uncertain cloud. My eyes widen, fingertips going icy and face burning as I wait for their response. For anger or a gasp of surprise. For Antoine to move away, for his expression to shutter or for Liam to haul him possessively away.
Liam gives me a bland look, his lips quirking up in a half grin.
“I’d figured as much,” Antoine deadpans, teeth flashing white as he rolls his eyes good-naturedly.
I blink at him, stunned. When had he reached this conclusion? How? My stomach dips with the uncomfortably familiar sensation of being the last to realize something important.Dumb as a box of rocks, my dad had said. Apparently so dumb, everyone realized I was into guys before I did.
“You did?” My voice rises embarrassingly in pitch, cracking at the end. Antoine’s smile softens.
“Mate. It was kind of obvious. You were checking out my boyfriend’s ass the whole time we were hiking yesterday.” Liam huffs out a laugh, and I find myself cringing as I meet his eyes, expecting to find anger or jealousy there. Only, there’s none.
He must see my panic, because his expression softens and he adds, lips quirking into a wry smile: “It’s fine. I don’t blame you. It’s a pretty good ass.”
There’s the faint sound of his palm slapping skin beneath the blankets, and Antoine lets out a startled yelp, jolting away from Liam and toward me. The move has Antoine’s body pressing against me, his thigh knocking against mine beneath the blankets, his leg hair rasping against my own.
My breath catches somewhere behind my ribs, lungs seizing even as my heart thunders wildly, a battering drumbeat. I’m unable to look away from Antoine’s eyes, from his face now suddenly closer to mine, his pupils blown so wide, the emerald is barely more than a thin rim.
I want him.
The realization barrels into me with all the force of that desert explosion, knocking me sideways, tumbling me until earth and sky are blending into one. I want to taste his lips and skin, want to press soothing kisses to the marks that Lily and Liam left on his throat, want to feel those smooth, lean muscles pressed against me.
I want to know what it would feel like to be thigh to thigh and cock to cock with him. Like he and Liam had been moments before.
My throat closes around a pained whimper.
