“Can I ask you guys something?”
“You can ask us anything,” Justin assured her.
“You know how you said you do forced orgasm play with others?”
“Yeah?” they asked.
“If we’re going to be together, like this, I’m not sure I’m cool with you doing orgasm play on people you play with.”
“On anyone?” Cody asked, “Or just on women.”
She thought about it. “On other women. I’ll probably be okay with it on guys.”
Justin chuckled. “Doesn’t work exactly like that, but I understand what you mean.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Then we definitely won’t be doing orgasm play on our female play partners.”
She felt a little badly that they agreed so quickly. “Maybe I’ll be a little less jealous about it in the future.”
“No, it’s your limit, and that’s okay,” Cody assured her. “Would you be okay with us supervising someone else doing that part of the play if they need our advice?”
“Yeah, probably. As long as you aren’t, you know, actually doing the touching.”
“Will you even be okay with us playing with women at all?” Cody asked. “And no is always an acceptable answer.”
“Probably. Maybe not some women. I’d have to meet them, I guess. I don’t want to come in and suddenly be this jealous, control-freak bitch,” she said. “I want to be okay with you playing with others.”
“Baby steps,” Justin assured her. “We’ll start with just playing with guys.”
“Maybe if she’s like, married or with someone else,” she added. “It might be easier for me then.”
Cody gently cradled her chin in his palms and looked her straight in the eyes. “You don’t owe us an explanation,” he said. “Nor do you owe us any justifications.”
“But I want to understand why I feel like this. I’ve never been jealous before.”
Of course, she hadn’t had a lot of relationships in the past to ever have a chance to get jealous before, either.
“Hey, this is new and confusing and a lot to take in,” Cody said. He kissed her. “Baby steps. Just what he said. We move at your speed.”
“I don’t want to say no all the time and then it ends up denying you guys what you want and need.”
“And we can clearly see that,” Justin said. “That’s why we’re perfectly happy with being patient. Just keep talking to and with us. Don’t shut down or shut us out.”
“Is it really this easy?”
“It is if you let it be,” Justin said, looking around. “But I can tell you one damn thing.”
Her heart sank. “What?” From his tone of voice, he sounded disgruntled.
“We’re getting you a king-sized bed for your birthday. Or next month. Or whatever the next holiday is in the next few weeks, even if we have to make up a holiday. This is ridiculous. I’m about to fall out.”
“It’s a queen-sized bed.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not queens,” Cody joked.
Chapter Fifteen
It was hard for Brooke to believe she’d known the guys nearly a month now. She couldn’t remember what it was like before they’d accidentally walked into her life.
She couldn’t remember the loneliness, or the forced celibacy, thank goodness. Brooke enjoyed cooking for the guys, too. It wasn’t often she got to cook for anyone now that her dad had his own place.
It felt good to have something to look forward to for a change.
Sex was no longer a problem, either. If she was in the mood, there was a better than good chance at least one of them were. And the one time they were both exhausted, they still took the time to get her off before they all collapsed into a pile in her bed. Bonus, if she was tired, she could just lie there and watch the two of them get it on.
Sometimes that even helped her find a second wind to join them.
No, she had no complaints. They hadn’t tried to push her around or dominate her other than taking charge in bed—which she was totally fine with.
She’d even started enjoying watching them top others at the club, yes, including some women, loving the frisky way they would take her home later and bang her brains out, leaving her little more than a drained puddle of goo.
Yeah, that was pretty cool. It meant she could enjoy, guilt-free, their attentions without worrying they were giving something up in return. Watching one or both of them top another guy was especially hot, even if the guy was straight.
Her curiosity about rope bondage was growing, though. She found it to be artistic, intricate. One night after she watched Mike play with Jenny, then do a forced orgasm scene on her, Brooke realized she totally got the attraction in that.
If she were to work up to something, that would be her first step, light bondage and orgasm play, although she hadn’t brought herself to ask her men for it yet. Having one of them hold her wrists down in bed—which she loved—was one thing.
Being completely restrained and not able to immediately get free…that was something she wasn’t sure her PTSD would allow her to do.
Yet.
It was a goal, however. One she hadn’t told the men about yet, but something that produced no pain and all pleasure?
Sure, she’d like to get to the point she could at least try it.
After dinner on a Sunday night, they were all snuggling on the couch, and as much as she would have liked to have had some sexy time with them, she needed to get to bed and they needed to get home. They hadn’t yet purchased her a new bed, because she really didn’t want them spending that kind of money on her, and she kept delaying the mattress shopping trip they wanted to take her on.
“Oh, the parts for your truck came in late Friday,” she told Justin. “I’ll be working on it first thing tomorrow.”
He’d dropped the Fairlane off at her shop Friday morning before they went in to work. The speedometer had broken, and it wasn’t just the cable, either. He’d asked her to get him a whole new instrument cluster. It didn’t have to be original, just look nice and work well. She’d ordered everything on Tuesday, hoping the parts would arrive late Thursday, but the shipping had been delayed by a day. Rather than take the truck back home just to bring it in again, she’d had him leave it there over the weekend.
“Excellent,” he said. “I didn’t bump anyone else’s appointments, did I?”
“Nope, because you’re speeecial,” she teased. “I know I can keep your vehicle as long as I need it. I’m working you in around some scheduled jobs.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
When a loud beep sounded on the TV, it caught their attention. The local TV channel was running a weather alert warning on the bottom of the screen, complete with a map.
Hello, Sarasota.
Severe thunderstorms were moving into the area off the Gulf, with severe weather expected. Including the risk of damaging winds. She grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the weather radar.
Sure enough, the bright line of showers sweeping in toward their area looked menacing.
“You guys better get home,” she said. “I don’t want you driving in that mess.”
“You know I’m not one to pass up sex with you,” Cody said, “but I’m not going to argue with you, either.” He kissed her, stepping aside for Justin to kiss her, too.
“Text me when you guys get home,” she said, walking them to the door. Already, the temperature was dropping, the wind brisk, the sky obscured by clouds, the metallic hint of rain in the air.
“Will do,” Justin said.
“Have a good night, sweetie,” Cody said.
She waited until they’d pulled out of her driveway to close and lock the door. Dixon jumped up on the sofa and maowed at her.
“Nope, buddy.” She walked over and picked him up. “Bedtime.” She grabbed her phone and took it into the bedroom, hooking it to the charger on the bedside table.
She turned the bedroom TV onto the weather radar channel and deposited Dixon in the middle of the bed.
<
br /> “Keep it warm for me, buddy.” She’d finished her nightly routine and had climbed into bed when she heard her phone chime with a text message from Justin, followed immediately by one from Cody.
Smiling, she texted them both back, turned down the TV’s volume, and set the sleep timer.
Maybe I do need to invest in a king-sized bed.
It could mean the men could spend Sunday nights with her and go to work the next morning right from her house. She wouldn’t have to crawl out of their bed on a Sunday night so she could get home for Dixon, then have to drag her ass out of bed early Monday for her run.
She’d just have to figure out what kind of mattress and frame to get. Then again, the bedroom furniture was old. It had been her parents’ bedroom suite, except for the bed frame.
Maybe it was time for a full upgrade. She could probably find it in her budget.
That would be a nice problem to have, for a change.
* * * *
Brooke wasn’t sure what awakened her. The TV was dark, which at first she attributed to the sleep timer.
But then she realized the cable box was also dark, and she didn’t hear the AC running.
Outside, the wind had picked up and drumming rain slapped against her bedroom window.
She reached over to the bedside table and fumbled around for her phone, finally finding it. It was a little after one a.m. and when she pulled up the weather app, she gasped.
Then the phone blared a weather alert alarm from a different app, startling her and almost making her drop the phone.
On the app, the radar displayed a large blob of severe weather over their region, and a large red box around it outlined the area for a tornado warning. At the front of the blob was an area sliced through with green, and she knew what that meant.
Hook signature.
When she zoomed in to the street-level map, she realized it was close. Too close. Barely a mile away from her.
Adrenaline started pumping through her system before she even realized it. Using the small LED flashlight from her bedside table, she grabbed Dixon’s cat carrier from her closet, shoved the protesting pussy in it, and set it in the tub in her bathroom, which was an interior room with no windows.
Then she pulled on clothes, jeans, and sneakers, found her purse and a large flashlight, and grabbed pillows and a rain jacket and huddled in the tub with the now crankily maowing cat.
Her dad’s facility, fortunately, wasn’t in the danger zone, several miles farther north than the worst of the weather. As she watched the app cycle in real-time, she nervously hoped it stayed away from her neighborhood, even though as it marched from west to east it appeared to be on an intersecting course.
Cody and Justin!
They lay right in the path.
Hands trembling, she tried to call their house phone and got a fast-busy tone. She tried Justin’s cell phone, but it went to voice mail. So did Cody’s.
She texted them both.
Tornado warning! Take cover!
They didn’t text back.
Fifteen minutes later, the radar showed the hook signature dissipating.
Unfortunately, it looked like it might have crossed right over Cody and Justin’s neighborhood before it did.
She tried calling their cell phones again and they still went to voice mail. Before she could think about why she shouldn’t do it, she pulled on her rain jacket, left Dixon in his carrier in the safety of the tub, and with the large flashlight guiding her, she headed out to her Cherokee.
Fear built inside her, threatening to trigger her, but this was Cody and Justin. She’d never forgive herself if something had happened to them and she didn’t bother to go check on them.
She drove through the blinding rain, realizing not only was the power out in her neighborhood, but nearby as well. Traffic and streetlights were out, making it an eerie drive. Fortunately, for that time of the morning, very few other vehicles were on the road. And most of them were emergency vehicles with lights flashing.
As she entered the men’s neighborhood, she started spotting damage. Branches, parts of screen enclosures, and the power was out here, too.
She rounded the final corner and let out a gasp. In the beam of her headlights, she could see where the tornado had cut a swath of destruction about three houses wide, fortunately not nearly as much a monster as Midwest twisters. Also, fortunately, the men’s subdivision was newer, and the powerlines were underground, although the feeder line for the development had apparently been taken out by the storm.
Two houses in the tornado’s path across the street from the men’s house still had walls, but it looked like most of their roofs were gone. She was forced to pull over because of debris and worrying about puncturing her tires. After locking her purse inside, and with her cell in one hand and the large flashlight in the other, she ran the rest of the way to their house.
Justin’s car lay upside down inside the garage, the roll-up door collapsed under it. Their roof looked mostly intact from the front, despite one neighbor’s roof being completely gone. There were large patches of shingles missing, but at least the decking was in place.
She ran up to the front door, tried it, found it locked, and started pounding on it.
After a few heart-wrenching seconds, Cody, looking wild-eyed and terrified and dressed in nothing but briefs, threw the door open.
“What are you doing here?” He pulled her into his arms, clutching her to him as he slammed the door shut behind her. She felt his heart pounding in his chest.
“Where’s Justin? Is he okay?”
“I’m in here,” he called out.
That was when she cried, relieved they were okay.
“We need to get back in the bathroom,” Cody said.
“It’s okay. The worst is over. It’s just rain now.”
“Is your cell working?” Justin asked. “I can’t even find ours.”
“Yeah.” She tried 911 and got a fast-busy. When she tried it again, it put her on hold immediately. She handed her flashlight and phone over to Cody so he could give their address when the operator finally came on the line.
Justin looked around, stunned. She felt the small LED flashlight in her pocket and pulled it out and turned it on. She went over to Justin, taking his hand. He was dressed in boxers and looked stunned.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
He slowly shook his head. “We were asleep, and then it was like all hell broke loose. We ran into the bathroom and got in the shower.”
“All hell did break loose. The power went out at my place. I was checking my phone and the weather alarm went off.”
“Is Dixon okay?”
“My house doesn’t have any damage. Let’s go find you some clothes.”
The windows in their bedroom looked intact, but she spotted cracks and wet spots in the drywall when she trained the flashlight’s beam up on the ceiling.
She helped him locate their phones, which had ended up on the floor by the bed. Then she helped him find clothes, and shoes, and got some for Cody.
Cody rejoined them. “They’re on it. They said they’re getting lots of reports. How did you get here?”
“I had to park down the street.”
“Then that’s why I didn’t see your Cherokee out front,” Cody said as he returned her phone to her. “This is going to sound like a really stupid question, and I swear I don’t have a head injury, but did you happen to see where our cars went?”
* * * *
Cody’s car had been parked at the far left side of the driveway, which overlapped the end of the house and side yard. It had landed wheels-up in the side yard, crushing both the car and the fence between their house and the neighbor on that side, whose house had sustained even more storm damage from the direct hit.
As they stood there staring at the upside down car while the strobe of emergency lights flashed all around their neighborhood, Cody shook his head. “Thank god the Fairlane is at your shop,” he said.
She’d already called her alarm company, which had verified no alerts from her building. That meant the building, which had also been just outside the threatened area, likely sustained no damage.
“Well, fortunately the house is a rental and we have renter’s insurance,” Justin said. “And we have comp and collision on the cars.”
Cody had already checked the spare bedroom where his book collection resided and found, much to his relief, that they were all okay.
Although they wouldn’t be for long, if he didn’t get them moved, and fast. At least the rain had stopped for now.
“Brooke!”
They turned at the frantic sound of Eliza’s voice. Brooke had called her friends once she’d realized the extent of the damage to the men’s house and the immediate need to salvage their belongings.
Eliza came running across the debris-strewn lawn and hugged her, then the guys. Rusty was close behind her, carrying a large flashlight. “Are you all okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Brooke said. “The guys are okay, but their house is a wreck.”
Rusty joined them, snorting as he took in the garage. “Dude, no offense, but that’s one hell of a parking job.”
Justin let out a laugh. “Took me forever to get it lined up perfectly inside like that.” He held up his hands and mimed a runway operator’s waving movements.
“You’re driving wrong,” Rusty said. “Rubber side always goes down.”
“That’s what she said,” Justin and Cody shot back in unison, making all three men bust out laughing.
Brooke knew her men would be okay if they could joke around that soon after the events.
“I’ve already called Essie,” Eliza said. “They’re mobilizing a group and bringing trucks with them. And Kel and Mal said if you need to, you can store stuff over at his place, or even stay at their apartment as long as you need. They’re on their way, too.”
Justin ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll need to. I don’t want to lose any more than we have to. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon. This afternoon,” he corrected himself. “Wow. Guess we’re calling in to work.”