Taken by Two (13 page)

It was hot the next afternoon, and even though Rex’s office was kept so cold I had to wear a sweatshirt, the thick air from outside seemed to permeate the stucco walls. I was clicking away on the travel software, preparing his next group of students for arrival, and Rex was at his large desk tapping away on his keyboard—with only his two index fingers. “How can you not type?” I said, the slow cadence of his hunting and pecking driving me insane. “I can type,” he answered, never looking up from his keyboard, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “With two fingers!” I shook my head and turned back to my own screen. “That’s why I have you, Princess,” he muttered as he finished what he was doing.

“Nate doesn’t need my help with his stuff,” I pouted, wishing I could be a part of both men’s work lives.

“CEO Nathaniel Slater has an entire company of people to help him back in the States. My business is you and me, sweetheart.”

“Well, boss, what are we doing this afternoon?”

“Hm,” he mumbled, pulling off the glasses and tossing them on his desk, “I think I’m going to get some sun.”

“Now you’re talking,” I said, already standing up from my desk chair. “I could use some color.”

“No you don’t. You can swim, but I want your perfect skin wearing sunblock.”

“I live in Las Vegas, I can handle sun, it’s…” I looked over to find him glaring at me. When he got like that, there was no arguing with him. King Rex had spoken.

“Yes, sir,” I begrudgingly answered. “I’ll swim, but can we get outside?”

“That we can,” he said, standing up. “Let’s go suit up.”

“It’s walled, let’s skinny dip,” I offered.

“I’d love to—but Maria is wandering around cleaning. She’s a bit traditional.”

I slipped into one of the slinky swimsuits in the drawer, picked out and stocked by Nate, and wandered out to meet Rex by the pool. Back home, I was self-conscious of my less than skinny body, but here I felt adored, beautiful. Nate was already out by the pool, parked in a chaise lounge, with a cold drink in his hand. “Hey, babe, that suit is rockin’,” he gushed as he stood up and walked toward me. “Help me with this sunscreen? King Rex insisted,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I happen to agree with him. I love your porcelain skin, and I love rubbing cream all over it,” he winked. With a big glug of the lotion, he started rubbing it into my back in smooth, sexy circles.

I was nearly coated when Rex walked up and tossed a towel over his chair. “Do my backside?” Nate said over his shoulder to Rex, his lusty voice leaving no question that the innuendo was intentional. “Penny is right there, what the fuck?” Rex didn’t seem to catch his obvious flirtation. Nate held up a bottle of oil toward Rex, “You’re denying me an oiling up? Penny is slathered in sun block, this is tanning oil.” Rex sighed and walked over toward Nate, his left hand reaching for the oil. “Turn around,” he said gruffly. Nate grinned at me and winked. Before he could process what was happening, however, Rex had given him a hard push directly into the pool.

“So uncoordinated,” Rex joked to me, rubbing the oil into his own chest. When Nate broke the surface of the water, he shook like a wet dog and glared at Rex. “That was rude, bro,” Nate snapped, his middle finger in the air. “What ya gonna do about it, pretty boy?” Rex taunted. I walked over to my own chair, not thrilled that the sexy lotioning up had suddenly turned aggressive. “I think you might need to get wet,” Nate smirked.

Rex sized him up before answering, “If you’re man enough, get it done.”

“Okay, enough, we’re here to have fun,” I said, eager to turn the afternoon back to friendly.

They ignored me. Nate pulled himself up from the pool, his rippled abs dripping water as his feet hit the pool deck. Rex didn’t move, his powerful legs planted in a wide stance, the snug black swim trunks leaving little to my lusty imagination. Nate moved toward him, pissed off and determined to put Rex in the water. Nate came within feet of Rex, his navy blue trunks hanging from the V of his abs as he formulated his plan.

In a sudden rush, he caught Rex around the waist with both hands, his head butting directly into Rex’s stomach, and both men toppled backward into the deep end. I stood up and ran to the side of the pool. I could see them underwater, Nate still had his arms around Rex, and they were twisting as Rex struggled to dislodge him. “Okay, this isn’t funny anymore! Knock it off!” I yelled, as if they’d hear me that far underwater. They were twisting so much through the water I had no idea who was even on top.

I paced the side of the pool. I was an only child—I’d never seen two people I loved
physically
fighting. Sure, my parents yelled and screamed growing up, on the rare occasion when they were in the same room, but neither of them ever head-butted the other into a pool. A head finally broke the surface of the water—it was Rex’s soaked down caramel blonde hair, which he shook from side to side. His large fist was wrapped in Nate’s copper brown hair, holding him just below the surface of the water. I screamed and howled but Rex ignored me. With a slow underwater kick from Nate’s foot to Rex’s unprotected groin, Rex lost his grip on Nate as his body balled up in pain. “Fuck!” he screamed, his face twisted in an anguished growl as Nate emerged from the water.

“Stop it now!” I commanded again, my arms folded in front of my chest. Once again, they ignored me as if I didn’t exist. Nate ducked under the water, this time of his own volition, and glided underwater to the far edge of the pool. Rex’s head whipped toward him, and with a determined breaststroke he swam after Nate. In seconds, Nate was out of the pool and running with Rex close behind. “Don’t run on the pool deck!” I yelled as if I were their nanny.

Nate made it to the grassy area to the left of the pool and turned around, his fingers curled, beckoning Rex to come closer. “Come get me, big boy, if you’re man enough,” Nate taunted. I grabbed my towel, slipped my feet in flip-flops, and scurried to the side of the grass. “Knock this off now,” I sniffed, close to tears. “Oh, fight’s on!” Rex roared, charging at Nate like a bull. Nate spun around, his foot catching Rex squarely in the face as Rex fell to the ground. Rex, his nose bleeding a dark maroon stream, caught Nate by the legs and yanked him down to the lawn before rolling on top of him.

Within a few seconds I was next to Rex, pulling him off the smaller Nate. “Stop it, you’ll kill him!” Nate slithered from underneath Rex, and with a hard knock to Rex’s ribs, pushed the bigger man to the grass. In seconds, Nate had Rex’s large head locked down with his elbow around Rex’s neck. Rex’s fingers coiled around Nate’s forearm, his strong arms pulling Nate’s limbs from around his neck. In another flash, Nate was on top of Rex, his knees on Rex’s chest, his hands fighting for position around Rex’s neck. Rex’s powerful legs rose up in an effort to kick the slender Nate back to the grass.

“Stop it, Rex, you’ll hurt him!” I pleaded.

“Who the actual fuck do you think is winning here, Penny? Tell this asswipe!” Rex looked toward me, his expression instantly softer, the glimmer of play dancing in the corners of his midnight blue eyes. “What?” I couldn’t manage to say much more, the men were frozen in front of me, as if I’d suddenly pressed the pause button. “Yeah, thanks for assuming he’s going to win, Pen, appreciate it,” Nate snapped, his lips in a hard line as he stared at me. “Oh, um…I just…Rex is bigger, like twice your weight…” I felt awkward being the center of their attention, despite the fact that I’d been screaming for the last ten minutes at them. “I’m not fucking
twice
as heavy as this dumbass, and I’m the one
bleeding
here, baby.” Nate rolled off Rex, collapsing into the spongy lawn. “I won?” Nate looked quizzically toward Rex, who nodded. “You won, you wiry fuck. It’s like wrestling a damn greased piglet—you’re quick.”

I sat down on the ground next to them and dabbed Rex’s bleeding nose with my pool towel. “Good lesson for you, Princess. Size isn’t everything,” he winked. “Nate can out fight me any day of the week—because he’s fast and he’s smart. He always knows his next move, whereas I was flailing—reacting rather than strategizing. That’s why Nate here is the one teaching you the hand-to-hand stuff and not me.” Nate rubbed my leg, his body cradled by the soft grass, his lips turned in a satisfied grin. “I just wanted to roll around half naked with him,” he teased with a wink. Rex rolled the towel and snapped it playfully at Nate. “I thought you were really fighting,” I explained, still shaken up. “Sorry, babe, just oversized boys releasing pent up testosterone. We didn’t mean to upset you,” Nate said, his hand still caressing my leg.

That evening after dinner, I rounded the corner to where the men were relaxing in the corner garden. I usually referred to this part of the grounds as “the smoking section” because it was where they often smoked cigars after dinner. Both men sipped bourbon, looked at the stars, and talked about life. I sometimes joined them, sipping a glass of wine, while other times I enjoyed soaking in the hot tub instead. Tonight, I finished my soak and decided to bring them out a fresh bottle from the liquor cabinet. Coming around the wall, I paused as I heard them say my name. They were deep in conversation, and I didn’t want to intrude.

“Yeah, things are different with Penny here now—I agree. I’m not saying no, Nate, I’m just saying—give me time. I don’t know—this is all uncharted territory for me.”

“I know—and I love what we have. I don’t want to fuck it up by asking for more. But…I can’t pretend like I don’t feel what I feel, either.”

“I don’t want you to. We’ve always talked about everything—I don’t want that to change. To answer your question,” I heard Rex gulp audibly, followed by the clink of his glass being set down on the metal table, “with Penny there, yeah, I’m more comfortable physically and could probably allow a little more. There, I said it.” Nate chuckled and said, “Lightning did not strike.” Rex laughed and said, “The ground did not swallow me up.”

I stood in the shadows, absorbing the pieces of their conversation and trying to make sense of it. I jumped when Nate came around the corner and nearly ran into me. Embarrassed and guilty, I held the bottle of bourbon out to him. “I-I didn’t mean to listen. I was bringing you guys a fresh bottle.” Nate smiled, taking me into his arms. “We don’t have anything to say that you can’t hear. I need to pee—go sit with Rex, I’ll be back in a minute.”

I emerged from the shadows where I’d been hiding.

Rex smiled warmly and patted his lap, “Come sit with me—we missed you.”

Rex took the bottle from me as I crawled into his lap. “Johnnie Walker Blue Label, not too shabby of a choice,” he said, opening the bottle and pouring the amber libation into his tumbler and Nate’s empty glass on the table. “Taste it,” he said holding it up to my lips. I sniffed the contents of his tumbler—it smelled sweet, syrupy. “This one is smooth—smoother than that cabernet you were sipping on earlier.” I took a cautious sip, then another, less cautious one. “It’s good,” I had to admit. “More kick than I’m used to, but yeah—I can see the appeal.”

“You smell like smoke,” I whined, handing him back his glass and nuzzling into his chest. “An unfortunate side effect of puffing cigars, I’m afraid.” He was quiet, sipping his bourbon and pouring another. “Nate wants…” He trailed off, as if the words escaped him. “More touching?” He exhaled and pulled me closer. “Yeah—well, he didn’t say it exactly like that.”

“I heard some of it. From what I know about him, he mostly just wants to be able to show you how he feels, even if just a little.”

“I know and I get that. I’ve gotten comfortable with small displays of affection—that was hard for me at first. I touch Nate in ways I would never touch another dude. And, I want him to be happy. It’s just never gotten…sexual.”

“He respects your boundaries, how you feel. I know I do.”

“Thanks, Princess. I’m not proud of this—but I’ll just admit it. The idea of being touched by
Nate
doesn’t bug me. The idea of being touched by a
guy
does, though. What does that say about me?”

“It says you’re a normal conflicted person who is honest about his feelings. Don’t feel guilty—we all have our limits. And…it also says you’re able to take an honest look at it.”

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “This whole thing with Nate threw me for a loop. It was like there was some tear in the fabric of my universe that allowed him to slip in to my heart. I couldn’t make sense of it—until you came. Now, it all just clicks—the three of us are like three broken circles that somehow fused to make a perfectly bonded whole. It’s all there, and I’m happy with it—but I want for Nate to get what he needs, too.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to drink a whole shitload more bourbon and then I’m going to take you both to bed.”

“Oh,” was all I could say. I didn’t want Rex to go further than he was comfortable with, but the idea of my two men getting more intimate did turn me on.

“What if everything fizzles the second he…” Rex sighed and took another big swig from his glass. “It’ll hurt him.”

“I won’t let that happen. I’ll be there—focus on me.”

“That’s never hard to do, sweetheart. You set me on fire every damn time.”

Hours later, the normally in-control Rex was slurring his words and stripping his clothes off in the yard. By the time we got him to Nate’s bedroom, he was naked. I pushed him into the sofa in Nate’s room, falling on top of him. I’d never seen Rex even close to drunk. He loved to sip his whiskey, but he wasn’t one to ever get sloppy—he was too much of a control freak. “Kiss me, Penny,” he howled, pulling my face to his. We made out slowly, my tongue savoring the syrupy-sweet zing of the whiskey on his breath. I sensed Nate moving around the room, but kept my focus on Rex. I wanted him ready to explode by the time I urged Nate to touch him.