* * * *
If this was a dream, she’d kill the motherfucker who woke her up.
With Reed pinning her down, and Lyle once again working to bring her over again, she had lost all track of time.
If this was being kinky?
She was damned cool with it.
It didn’t take very long for her to feel Reed’s cock grow hard and hot against her tongue.
“There you go, baby. Good girl.” He released her hands and pulled his cock out, swinging off of her. The sudden disappearance of his comforting weight on her surprised her.
Lyle removed the vibrator again and got out of the road for Reed to kneel between her legs.
“Tell us what you want, baby girl,” Reed said. “Where are we? Give us a color.”
“Green,” she said. “I want to feel your cocks in me,” she said.
“Beg me to fuck you, baby.”
“Please, Sir! Please fuck me.”
He fisted his cock and nudged her legs wider apart. Then he slowly swiped the head up and down through her pussy juices. “Fair warning, baby. You cheat on us? You won’t get these again. Ever.”
She nodded. “I won’t, Sir. I promise.”
“Good girl.”
It…felt…amazing. There was something far different between a piece of slick plastic inside her and a real, warm, hard cock. He took his time, easing in, slowly fucking a little bit at a time into her before pulling back, deeper with each thrust until she felt his pubic bone rubbing against hers.
He let out a breath. “Okay,” he said, sounding strained. “You are so fucking tight, this one won’t take long.”
He grabbed her legs and raised them over his shoulders. Then he withdrew until just the head of his cock was inside her before thrusting forward again.
Lyle stretched out next to her. “He’s going easy on you, baby. He loves a good, hard, vicious fuck sometimes. Don’t be afraid to grab onto him, onto either of us. We won’t break. Dig your nails in, whatever. We like that. Full-contact fucking is the best kind. If you’re just lying there, and you’re not tied up? That’s boring.”
She held onto Reed’s upper arms, his hands planted on the bed on either side of her head. Lyle reached between them and alternately started rolling first one of her nipples, then the other, between his thumb and index fingers.
“Color,” Reed said.
“Green.”
She gasped as he started picking up speed. It felt so…fucking…good!
“Harder!” she begged. “Please!”
He obliged.
Nothing had felt this good. Then again, her previous partners hadn’t been so generously endowed, or done so much prep work. She’d never come just from being fucked before, but from the way his body was rubbing against her swollen clit, and the sparks of pleasure from Lyle playing with her nipples, she was really…damn…close.
And when she felt that gentle ripple begin, she nearly started crying with joy that for the first time in her life, she finally was having an orgasm just like this. Her fingers dug into his arms, making him grunt.
“That’s our good girl,” Reed said. “You just came for me, didn’t you? Excellent.” He started pounding her, quickly finishing and his body going rigid as he came and fell still inside her.
Then he leaned in and kissed her. “So beautiful,” he whispered. “Our beautiful baby girl.”
The men switched places. Lyle had a different style this way, too. With her legs flat on the bed, he easily slid his cock into her, really grinding against her clit in the process. Then he stretched out straight, every stroke he took driving her straight back up the slope again.
He reached up, laced his fingers through hers, and held her hands over her head. “Yeah, this way doesn’t work every time, but you’re all prepped and ready, aren’t you, baby?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. That sweet clit of yours will be throbbing all day tomorrow, especially when you think of this.” He kissed her, still slowly fucking her, making her wish he’d fuck her hard and fast, too. “Tomorrow night, maybe we’ll bring some rope with us, if you’d like. And we’ll take turns licking that sweet pussy, filling it with our cum, and then licking you clean just to do it again. Would you like that?”
“Yes…Sir…”
Reed chuckled. “I think subspace has been achieved,” he said. “She’s fully glazed.”
Lyle squeezed her hands. “Give me one like this, baby, and then I’m going to put you on your hands and knees and fuck you doggy style while he eats you out.”
He sped up a little, and yes, she was soon tipping over the edge again. Once he was sure she was finished, he pulled out, sat up, and flipped her over onto her hands and knees.
Reed had been ready and waiting and climbed under her, reaching around her and pulling her hips down so her pussy was over his mouth.
She gasped when Lyle slowly started filing her with his cock again.
“I know, baby. I’ll be careful. And you’ll be coming again pretty soon, too. That’ll make it feel really good.”
He dug his fingers into her hips, holding on as he slowly fucked her.
Reed sucked on her clit, relentless, flicking it with his tongue while Lyle started picking up the pace.
“One more, baby girl,” Lyle said. “One more, and then we can cuddle.”
Reed reached down and started pinching her right nipple.
That triggered her orgasm. She didn’t understand how there was now an expressway from her nipples to her clit, but apparently her body had eagerly constructed that superhighway without her knowledge.
And she wouldn’t question it.
Once Lyle felt that start, he moaned. “Oh, fuck yeah, baby. Just like that.” Faster, harder, deeper, until his flesh slapped against hers and the whole bed shook. Reed’s mouth kept her orgasm going, rolling, flowing through her.
Finally, too soon almost, Lyle came, burying his cock deep inside of her before sitting up to keep his weight off her and off Reed beneath her.
“I don’t know about you two,” Lyle said, “But I need a rest before round two.”
She flopped over onto her side on the bed. “Round two?” she asked in disbelief. “That was like five rounds!”
Reed sat up and kissed her. “No, baby girl,” he said, tugging on her hair. “It’s only the round your Sirs tell you it is.”
She started giggling. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.”
She whimpered.
Chapter Nineteen
The men did spend Monday night with her, and she was more than happy to have them there. Her queen-sized bed was a little snug, but to her that was even better.
As she sat at her desk Tuesday afternoon and struggled to work, she realized that, for the first time ever, she had a distraction in her life that could even pull her mind from her work.
Something that had never happened before.
Her clit, chafing against her panties, still felt puffy and swollen and tender in the good way. In fact, her whole body ached in good and pleasant ways every time she moved, reminding her of the fantastic night before. She’d showered with Lyle that morning, while Reed had opted to sleep in a little and shower at home later. Lyle would drop him off there.
I need to get them a key.
Another first. Something she’d never done for anyone but Tony, get a key made.
She could have given them Tony’s key, but then decided she wasn’t ready to do that yet.
Hell, she couldn’t even deal with his things yet.
Yes, she realized hot sex with hunks was also a delaying tactic, to avoid dealing with her grief, but she didn’t care.
She wanted those two men, and she needed the distraction until she was able to deal with everything else.
When her personal cell phone rang a little after two, she didn’t recognize the local number that popped up on the screen, but she answered it anyway. Sometimes, local employees or managers called from their cell phones if their st
ore lines were busy and they needed to talk to her right away, but it was unusual for them to call her personal cell.
“Riddick.”
“Ms. Riddick, this is Michael Parker from Moalen Brother Funeral Services. I’m calling to inform you we have your brother’s remains ready to pick up at your convenience. We also have the certified copies of the official death certificate ready for you.”
It shocked her into silence. Of course they’d have them back. It had been a week, and that’s what they’d told her.
It just wasn’t what she’d expected.
“Um…thank you,” she finally said. “How late are you open today?”
“Somebody will be here until ten tonight, ma’am.”
“Okay. It’ll be before then. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She ended the call, numb, unable to remember what it was she’d been thinking about only moments earlier. As she felt her chest tighten, her eyes prickling with impending tears, she realized she had to get out of there.
Immediately.
Otherwise, she’d have an emotional breakdown right there, and she refused to do that.
Hands trembling, she frantically scooped everything together into her laptop case, grabbed it, her purse and her phones, and rushed for the front door. Before she jogged for her car, she barely took the time to tell the store’s manager she was leaving for the day and to tell people she’d be back tomorrow if they called for her.
She wasn’t sure where she was going at first, and pulled into the parking lot of a shopping center just down the street from the store to think.
As she stared at her phone, she knew what she needed to do.
She called Reed.
He was off today, had been trading sexy, teasing texts with her all afternoon. She was supposed to go over to their place tonight for dinner, her and Carlo both.
Reed answer. “Hey, baby girl. What’s up?”
She tried to talk and dissolved into tears.
“Honey? Nessie? What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
She must have finally gotten enough intelligible words out for him to understand what was going on.
“Where are you? Are you still at work?”
She got that information out, too. Somehow.
“Okay,” he firmly said in a tone that sounded both completely unlike him and comfortingly firm. “Stay there. We’ll be right there. Do not leave. Just sit there and wait on us.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Even that felt right.
She laid her head back against the seat, struggling against feeling weak and helpless, worthless.
What had happened to her? The woman who could take care of herself?
Or had she ever really taken care of herself? She felt lost and adrift now. Was she really falling for the hunks, or were they a convenient replacement for her brother as the true anchor of her life?
She didn’t know anymore.
But when Lyle’s car raced into the parking lot fifteen minutes later, with both men inside, she shoved aside her thoughts of feeling guilty and instead let herself feel relief over their arrival.
The men parked next to her, both of them getting out and walking around to her driver’s door. She got out, and they enveloped her in their arms, holding her as she cried.
“We’ll go with you,” Lyle said. “Do you want to go home first and change clothes?”
She shook her head. Once she got home tonight, she wanted to stay there and maybe revisit the getting drunk plan again.
Hell, Stu wanted her to take extra days off. She could call in tomorrow.
Reed drove her in her car while Lyle followed. On either side of her, holding her hands, they walked with her inside the mortuary, to the office. Michael Parker led them to a smaller side office and had them wait while he went to get…Tony.
Him.
She didn’t feel right thinking “it,” even though the spirit and soul of who he was had been reduced to a few pounds of ashes inside of a cobalt blue urn. She’d picked it because it’d been his favorite color.
The thought of casting him onto the Gulf to drift away forever wasn’t something she could bear. She needed him there, with her, what little she could keep of him.
When Parker returned a few minutes later, he spoke to her, but she didn’t absorb a word he said. He’d handed her the urn and she clutched it to her, eyes closed and tears spilling down her face.
Finally, she heard Reed and Lyle speaking with the man, apparently getting whatever information it was from him, while one of them gently dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue when she wouldn’t take what they tried to press into her hand.
Tony.
She supposed part of her still thought—hoped—as stupid and childish that it was, that her brother would pop through the doorway, grinning ear to ear and claiming it was the world’s best prank ever in an attempt to get her to live her life, to force her out of her bubble.
As the cool urn slowly began to warm to her flesh, she realized Michael Parker had left them alone again.
Reed touched her arm. “Baby girl,” he softly said, “let’s get you home and we’ll take care of you tonight. I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“He’s really gone,” she whispered. “He’s not coming back, is he?”
“No, sweetheart,” Lyle said. “He’s not. I’m sorry.”
* * * *
Lyle truly worried for her. He definitely didn’t want her driving like this. He absolutely did not want her left alone in this condition. In his mind, their plans for a sexy night had vanished upon getting the call from Reed, replaced by knowing they had to help her through this.
Although she was far worse than he’d thought she would be.
She softly keened, sobbing, curled over and around the urn as if trying to become one with it.
It shattered his heart, his soul, her pain and the fact that the only thing he could do was stand there beside her and walk with her through it. He couldn’t fix it. He couldn’t make it better. He couldn’t even tell her things would be okay when, in her mind at that moment, she felt her world had ended.
And he had no adequate reply to that truth. It might be a temporary truth that would eventually be replaced by a new one as she processed her pain, but he knew for now it was her truth. Cold and black emptiness she couldn’t fathom, had never before dreamed of.
Eventually, they got her up and moving. He carried the large envelope with the death certificates and other paperwork the man handed over. It took him and Reed to get her seatbelt buckled around her, because she wouldn’t let go of the urn to make it easier and they didn’t have the heart to try to take it from her.
At home, Reed went to walk Carlo while Lyle got her settled on the couch, the urn still clutched in her arms. He laid the paperwork on the counter and returned to her side, an arm around her shoulders as she pressed her face against him.
Two hours later, she finally let them help her up, set the urn on the counter, and take her to her bedroom to help her change clothes. They got her into a long T-shirt and then back out to the kitchen.
There sat Carlo at the counter, in front of the urn, staring up at it intently, the way he usually did his Batman cookie jar.
Vanessa collapsed, sobbing, Reed and Lyle barely managing to keep her from hitting the floor.
* * * *
The rest of the week passed in a blur. She called Stu and took off the next three days, knowing there was no way in hell she could function.
He didn’t even tell her he told her so.
“I’ll mark you as tentative for next week,” he’d said. “If you need more time, call me Sunday and let me know. It’s not a problem.”
Her men rallied everyone together. When they couldn’t be with her, Tilly, Eliza, Jenny, or someone was, at least one person, usually two.
The men spent every night with her, snuggled tightly together in her bed, holding her as she cried herself to sleep.
By Saturday, she was beyond gratefu
l for them and all her friends’ love and support. Tilly had helped her with the pictures, getting them to the man coordinating the vanilla service. And Lyle, Reed, and a small contingent of her other new friends, who’d known Tony, were all in attendance. Kel and Mal were there as well, to videotape it for her parents and anyone else who couldn’t be in attendance.
She’d even brought Carlo, as much for her own comfort as everyone else’s. It didn’t matter if he’d be allowed in the park or not, she needed him and knew that everyone else would support her, under the circumstances.
And she’d brought Tony, his urn carefully clutched in her arms until it was placed on a picnic table under a shelter where she perched herself, sitting in front of it, protectively flanked by Lyle and Reed, and Tilly and Jenny and everyone else.
She had no idea how many people came. People got up to speak and eulogize him, people she didn’t know, had never met before.
Everyone had loved him, from their words. The guest book someone had provided was quickly filled to nearly three-quarters. People spoke to her, gave her their condolences, but her world had shrunk and she only nodded in acknowledgement, unable to process, much less speak.
Stu had even driven over, which greatly touched her. At one point, he leaned in to hug her and whispered in her ear, “If you come to work before Wednesday, I’ll call the store manager and have them force you back into your car. Understand? And if you need longer than that, call me.”
She nodded, no energy to argue with him.
There wasn’t any way she could work in this condition and she knew it.
She was barely aware of it when the men finally helped gather her up and trundled her back to the car some time later.
As they rode home, she asked, “Can I bring Carlo to the club tomorrow?”
He was riding quietly in the back seat, next to Reed.
“Yes,” Lyle said. “We can bring him. That won’t be a problem.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
* * * *
Tony had pulled the men aside earlier the week before, Saturday night, and warned them to keep an eye out for certain signs as Vanessa went through her grief. Tilly and Eliza had both echoed those thoughts at various times.