His meaning was clear.
His expression softened. He gave her a sad little smile and then made a shooing motion with his hands after blowing her a kiss.
She finally let Doc lead her into the living room, to the couch. He sat at one end and pulled her down so she could lay her head in his lap. “Just a nap, at least, babe. Okay? I promise I’ll wake you up.”
She didn’t have to ask him what he meant by that. She knew all too well.
The first stick test.
Chapter Thirty-One
It was a gentle nudge to her shoulder that disturbed what she thought was just a brief interlude of her closing her eyes.
“It’s time,” Doc said.
She sat up, blinking in confusion as she gathered her wits around her. Then she jumped up from the couch and ran to the kitchen where Papa and several others were gathered, watching. They parted for her and Doc to take up their station by the window.
Tango was still sitting on the garden bench, but now he had the kit in his hand, a lit flashlight in his lap, and was breaking out a test strip. They all watched, collective breaths held, as he stuck his finger.
After a ten-count, he smiled and held it up in one hand, the beam of the flashlight illuminating it.
Still clear.
A collective sigh of relief rolled through them. She brought her hands up to her mouth to forcibly hold back her relieved sob.
“One down,” Doc whispered in her ear, as if reading her thoughts.
She nodded and took a deep breath, waiting to drop her hands until she could force a smile. She kissed her fingers and pressed them to the glass.
Tango blew her a kiss in reply, then turned off the flashlight and settled on the bench to wait for the next hour.
They repeated the process, Celia’s nerves jangling more with every hour that passed. Even when they hit the six-hour mark with still no bad news, she didn’t dare let herself relax because Doc surely hadn’t. A light drizzle had started, so Tango had moved to the garden shed. He had to sit on the floor, but at least he was dry.
“Can we take him some food?” she asked early the next morning at hour nine.
“Not yet,” Doc said. “We’re almost there.”
“This long, he should be okay, right?”
“We have to wait ten hours. Just to be sure. Even Quong said ten hours is more than enough of a safety margin. Just take it as it comes and don’t get your hopes up yet.”
“Too late for that,” she muttered.
* * * *
They all gathered in the kitchen when, a little before daybreak, Tango performed the final stick test. It was as if the tension drained from his body as he stood, pulled the blankets around him, and trudged through the drizzle from the shed to the back door.
She threw it open and hugged him, somehow holding back her tears.
He grabbed her and kissed her, his lips feeling cool to the touch. “Care to join a guy in a hot shower?” he asked her.
“Damn straight.”
“I’ll get you some food,” Doc said. “Take your time.”
“Thanks.”
Doc grinned. “Fucking goldbricker.”
Tango grinned back. “Yeah, saved your sorry ass, though.”
She was about to rip into Doc for his insensitivity when she spotted the pain in his eyes, hidden by the smile he wore.
The men hugged, clapping each other on the back. “Don’t fuckin’ scare me like that again, man,” Doc softly muttered in his ear.
“I’ll do my best.”
She practically dragged Tango to the master bathroom, which had a slightly larger shower and no bathtub. She started the water and quickly stripped, following him in.
“Hang on,” he said. “Let me soap off first.”
“You’re fine.”
“Just in case.” He wouldn’t let her touch him again until he’d thoroughly scrubbed his body and washed his hair. Then he engulfed her in his arms under the hot spray.
“Better?” he asked.
She looked up and kissed him, hard and deep, immediately stiffening his cock. Pulling at him, she backed against the wall, spreading her legs to give him access. She didn’t need to get ready, she was ready for him, her pussy aching, wet, needy.
He dipped his knees, using one hand to line the head of his cock up with her cunt and sliding into her. She held on, her arms around his neck, as he grabbed her by the ass and picked her up. Then she was able to hook her legs around his hips, clinging to him as he fucked her, hard and fast.
She kissed him, sucking on his tongue, nipping, biting, hell practically growling she wanted him so badly.
It didn’t take him long to explode inside her, his cock spasming, filling her with his cum.
Still he didn’t put her down. He leaned back against the wall with her still draped around him. After a moment, he eased her down onto her feet. “Against the wall, baby. Spread ’em.”
She didn’t argue. He dropped to his knees and buried his face in her pussy, his tongue flicking at her clit, fingers spearing her and fucking her as hard as his cock had moments earlier.
With her eyes closed, she held on to his head, his short hair brushing against her fingers and his mouth feeling like heaven.
He started with two fingers in her cunt, then added a third, keeping her on the edge and not letting her come at first, even as she rocked her hips against his face and held on tight.
“Please!” she begged, knowing damn well what he was doing.
He wanted her to beg for it.
He let out a low, rumbling sound as he sucked on her clit, hard, sending her over the edge. Frankly, she didn’t care who heard her at this point. She was just so damn happy he wasn’t infected she let out a cry of pleasure. Only when he was happy he’d made her come enough did he relent, standing and turning her around to face the wall.
“Bend over, baby,” he gasped.
He was hard again. He swiped the head of his cock through her pussy lips as she braced her hands against the wall. Then he was inside her, hard and fast and deep. He grabbed her by the waist and this time it was a hard, deep, pounding fuck she wished would never end.
“Finger yourself, baby,” he gasped, voice strained with the effort of holding back.
She reached down with one hand, the other still keeping her from ramming face-first into the tile. As she touched her swollen, sensitive clit, she knew she was close.
“Come on, baby,” he said. “I need you to come on my cock for me. Give it to me.”
She rubbed harder, faster, letting out another cry as she tipped over the edge and gave him what he asked for.
“That’s my good girl.” He took several last, hard strokes inside her, finishing with his thighs pressed against the backs of hers, his cock once again emptying a load of his juices inside her.
She heard the door open. She didn’t bother looking when Tango reached out and pulled the shower curtain back enough to see who it was.
Doc walked in. “Want the applause now or later?” He carried a plate of something that smelled like leftovers from the night before.
“Screw you,” Tango lightly said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against his chest. “I earned those fuckings the hard way.”
He bit down on her right shoulder, where it curved up into her neck, and sucked. It sent pleasant shivers throughout her body. She loved it when he marked her like that. “Besides, she wasn’t arguing with me,” he finally said, immediately sucking on her shoulder again.
She wished she could stand there forever with him. Both of them.
This was a precious few minutes of heaven.
“Room in there for me?” Doc asked.
Tango grinned and released her shoulder, pulling her with him to move to the front of the shower. “Tight fit.”
“That’s what she said,” Celia joked, making both men laugh.
Doc quickly stripped and joined them, Tango holding her steady while Doc picked her up and settled her down
onto his cock. “Damn, baby,” he rumbled. “You feel so fucking good.”
“Why don’t you show me?”
He crushed her lips with his as Tango reached around her and cupped her breasts. His fingers pinched and rolled her nipples, making her moan and triggering another small explosion within her.
She hung on to Doc’s neck and didn’t let go, enjoying the way her body squeezed his cock as she came.
Finally, he ended their kiss. “That’s it, baby. You love having us ready to fuck your brains out, don’t you?”
She stared up into his sweet brown eyes and nodded. It would be stupid to lie. And as she’d found out, life was too fucking short for lying to the men she loved. “I love you both.”
Doc let out a groan, burying his cock deep inside her before falling still, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. “Fuck, what you do to me, baby,” he gasped, leaning in to kiss her again. “I love you so fucking hard, you have no idea.”
Behind her, Tango nibbled on her shoulder again. “Love you, too, baby.”
She tipped her head back and kissed him. “He’s right. You’re not allowed to scare us like that again. I can’t stand the thought of losing either one of you.”
He nuzzled noses with her. “It’s not in my game plan either, sugar. Trust me.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
After Tango got something to eat, Papa made an executive decision. He hooked a finger at the smallest bedroom. “Go get some rack time. All three of you.”
Sleep is exactly what Tango wanted, naked and spooned against Celia in the bed and soon softly snoring against the nape of her neck, both of them lying on their right sides. The curtains were pulled, but some light from the growing day still spilled into the room. At least it was on the side of the house where a large, willowy tree she couldn’t name stood sentry and shaded the window from the sun.
The bed was barely big enough for them to squeeze into, but Celia wouldn’t complain. Doc snuggled in next to her, also naked, his back to her and her arm draped around him, holding him tightly against her.
Before long, he, too, was lightly snoring, her palm pressed against the warmth of his chest, the light hair there coarse against her flesh.
She’d gone from fear over her abduction, to joy over being rescued…to terror over Tango being exposed.
Life was truly short. She’d make sure she never forgot that. Ugly Fate could have snatched Tango from her arms before she’d even had a chance to get to know more about him. To make a life together.
Then again, that’s what life would be like with them, wouldn’t it?
The alternative?
Walking away from them.
And she knew she couldn’t do that. Despite the danger, she knew, especially after what they just went through, that she never could walk away from them, not knowing if they were okay, trying to survive alone. If it wasn’t Kite, it was increasing violence, even back in the States. Unrest was growing, between peoples’ fears of Kite, and dissatisfaction over the political and economic establishment.
History showed that it would likely get uglier before it got better.
The Kite problem, they might be able to make a difference. The rest of it…
When they secured a vaccine and delivered it, maybe they’d just have to find a secluded little corner of the world somewhere and hold up there until time passed them by. She was used to Chicago’s bitter winters. Maybe they could find a place in Canada, or somewhere in the States, close enough she could visit Carole, Daryl, and the kids. Or even bring them with them, to keep them safe, too.
But it was time for her to start a new chapter in her own life. Yes, her priorities had shifted. She didn’t have the need to be a famous reporter any longer.
She had Doc and Tango.
She had the Drunk Monkeys.
And, finally, she had the guidance her life had sorely lacked, something she didn’t even realize she’d been missing. She’d merely been ambling along. Being a reporter had been a means to an end. A way to say fuck you to the assholes who’d used and discarded her in the past because she wasn’t pretty or rich enough.
She would still make sure this story got told. That was a given. She felt she owed it to the world to tell the story.
It was more important, however, to help shape the story. Reporting it was no longer the priority.
Reporting it was worthless if the human race died out because they didn’t successfully complete their mission.
And she was ready to start living, even if living meant dying next to the men she loved.
* * * *
At some point Celia drifted to sleep between them. Despite the cool weather, the warmth of their bodies kept her perfectly comfortable.
When she awoke a few hours later, she was aware of Tango’s fingers now playing between her legs.
In fact, that was what awoke her, her clit refusing to stay asleep even if the rest of her body wasn’t on board with the plan.
Doc was also awake and had rolled over at some point. Now on his side facing her, he had two fingers deep inside her pussy and was slowly sliding them in and out of her cunt.
Mmm. I could get used to waking up like this.
Doc realized she was awake first. “There’s our girl,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.
Tango nibbled on the back of her neck. “About time,” he playfully grumbled.
She also realized there was a very stiff cock pressed against the seam of her ass. Now that he knew she was awake, he started slowly rubbing himself against her.
Doc’s cock was poking her in the thigh. She reached down and wrapped her fingers around it. “Looks like you two have been up a while.”
“Sugar,” Tango drawled, “you have no idea.” He nipped the side of her neck. “I wanted to wake you up a while ago, but he said to let you sleep.”
“Big meanie, huh?”
“Damn right.” Another nip, slightly harder than the first. “I’m tellin’ ya, he’s downright cruel sometimes.”
“Oh, stuff it,” Doc lightly said. “You big crybaby.”
Tango ground his hips against her ass. “I want to stuff something, all right,” he rumbled against her flesh.
She bent her left knee and rested her foot on top of her right knee. “Then get busy, buddy.”
He let out a happy moan. “The things you do to me, baby.” He withdrew his fingers just long enough to reach behind her. Doc’s fingers disappeared and then Tango guided his cock into her pussy from behind. Doc’s fingers moved to her clit.
She let out a soft moan as Tango grabbed her hip and held on. “That’s it, baby,” he said. “You know you want my cock in you.”
Fuck yeah, she did. Both of them. In fact, she tapped Doc and pointed at the head of the bed. After he moved, she rolled onto her hands and knees between Doc’s legs. Tango moved with her, never pulling out.
Now Tango groaned. “Oh, fuck yeah. Suck his cock.”
Doc gathered her hair in one hand, holding his cock with the other. He wouldn’t let her engulf him with her mouth just yet, though. He smiled down at her. “Open wide, baby,” he said. “Lick the head.”
She did, enjoying the desire simmering in his brown gaze. She flicked her tongue along the slit of his cock, where a drop of pre-cum had pearled, ready for her. She let it roll down her tongue as she tried to tease more from him.
“You’ll get a mouthful of it shortly,” he assured her. “I want to watch you playing with me with that sweet mouth for a minute first.”
Ah, so he wants a show, huh?
She gave him a good one, never looking away from his eyes, licking and sucking the head of his cock.
“Finger yourself,” Tango ordered. “I can hold out as long as I need to. I’m not putting another load in this sweet pussy of yours until you come for us first.”
Heat filled her face as she shifted her weight to her left arm and reached between her legs with her right. She’d have to get used to this. She wasn’t used to playing with
herself with an audience.
Hell, who am I kidding? If they wanted to have sex with her and let all the Drunk Monkeys watch, short of letting the other men join in, she’d probably give her men anything they asked of her.
Lucky for her, she knew they weren’t into sharing with anyone but each other. She didn’t miss the warning looks they shot their fellow Monkeys when one of them thought a man was giving her too much eye time.
“Fuck, you look so sexy when you do that,” Doc said.
No denying the lust in his tone. His cock hardened even more. He held it flat against his stomach and pulled her head closer. “Lick my balls, baby. Suck on them.”
She did, eagerly, loving the way his sac tensed and flexed against her tongue as she did.
Tango slowed down even more. “Holy fuck,” he said. “I thought I could hold back. That’s damn sexy.”
After a few minutes of that, Doc let her suck his cock all the way into her mouth. Now the men set a rhythm between them, Tango’s thrusts pushing her deeper onto Doc’s cock as they rocked her back and forth, totally in control. Tango held on to her hips, grinding his cock deep inside her at the bottom of every stroke.
“Get yourself off, baby,” Tango said. “I’ll spank you if you don’t.”
That almost made her stumble. She knew they wouldn’t hurt her, but the thought of trying that intrigued her.
Then again, no way that could be done without everyone hearing them.
She picked up the pace with her hand, closing her eyes and losing herself in the sensations of Tango’s cock stuffing her cunt, and Doc’s cock stuffing her mouth.
From being alone to having two guys who seemed unable to get enough of her was still soaking through her brain, but she was quickly growing used to it and craving them.
“There you go,” Tango said. “I feel you getting closer. Come for us, baby.”
Doc still had her hair gathered in his right hand. He reached under her with the left and found her right nipple. Warm fingers kneaded her breast. He pinched her nipple between his thumb and index finger, slowly increasing the pressure.