CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

 

Colin watched the brick façade of Edmond's townhome from across the street, puzzled as to why he was here. A few days after his row with his former best friend, Penelope had sent him a note asking her to meet him here. The dead of night had fallen, and he couldn't imagine what she might want with both of them. He certainly had nothing left to say to Edmond after his betrayal. Penelope had been far easier to forgive … as far as his supposed friend was concerned, he doubted he could ever trust the man again.

He'd spent the past couple of days closeted away at home, nursing his wounds—both physical and emotional—in private. The bruising across his nose had begun to dissipate, and he hoped the ugly mottling of yellow and green would vanish by the time he would report to the War Office for duty in three days.

Turning to glance down the lane, he spied a hansom cab barreling toward him through the night. Pulling to a stop in front of Edmond's house, it opened to reveal Penelope, shrouded in black, her head and face covered by her hooded cloak. Crossing the street, he met her before the front steps, taking her arm to assist her up to the front door.

"Why are we here, Penny?" he asked as she raised her hand to the doorknocker.

Pausing with one hand on the brass fixture, she turned to stare at him. In the shadows of her hood, her face appeared worn, her eyes ringed with dark circles. She looked as if she'd hardly slept.

"Because I have things I must say to both of you, and I do not believe I could do it twice."

Her words set a tight knot of anxiety working in his gut. Had she decided already, then? This must be it … by the end of the night, one of them would claim Penelope forever. The other … well, he tried not to think of that. He hoped not to land on the wrong side of her decision.

After a short while, Edmond came to the door himself in a state of dishabille—barefoot, no cravat or waistcoat, hair tousled. He looked as horrid as Penelope—as wretched as he supposed he must appear.

"Wonderful," he murmured, backing away from the door to allow them entrance. "Everyone's here. Let the breaking of hearts commence."

Colin glared at him over the top of Penelope's head, but Edmond merely shrugged and went back to avoiding his gaze.

"Shall we adjourn to the library?" he asked, gesturing toward the open door.

He allowed Penelope to precede him, then followed. Edmond entered last, closing and locking the door behind them, leaving the key in its hole.

Penelope moved to stand near the fire, extending her hands to soak in its warmth. Colin idled near the door, uncertain of how to proceed. She had arranged this meeting; it rested on her to guide them.

Edmond crossed the room, leaning against the desk and folding his arms across his chest. He watched Penelope as closely as Colin did, likely for some sign of what this could be about.

Eventually, she lowered her hood and turned to face them, hands clasped tightly in front of her.

"Thank you both for meeting me. I realize I have no right to ask anything of either of you … and I appreciate you putting your differences aside for me."

Lowering her gaze, she paused to draw a deep breath. Releasing it on a sigh, she cleared her throat and continued.

"In fact, your differences are the reason we're here. You see, I have spent the last three days thinking over both your proposals. I vow, no woman could ever be as conflicted as I have been. Colin, you were my first love, and what we share is so very special. You are kind, thoughtful, passionate … everything a woman could want. Edmond, you're witty, charming, and sweet … again, everything any woman could ask for. I do not believe I could ever deserve either of you."

"Penelope, you are unlike anyone I have ever known," Edmond said, gaze cast downward at his bare feet. "It is I who is not worthy."

Colin inclined his head. "On that, we agree."

When Edmond's head snapped up in surprise, Colin raised a hand in defense.

"I was referring to myself," he amended.

"It occurred to me that I cannot choose," she said, her voice growing hoarse. "Because whoever I choose, the other man will be hurt. But, more than that, your friendship will be forever ruined, irreparably. That breaks my heart most of all, to know that you two may never speak to each other again … that your camaraderie has been destroyed by this. It is all my doing, and I regret so much what I have done. Please, forgive each other and be friends again. I am not worth all this fuss."

Colin felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. "Penelope …"

While he fumbled for words, Edmond straightened, taking a step toward her.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I am not choosing," she said, raising her chin. "If I must choose, then I choose your friendship over my own needs. I can't be responsible for breaking you apart."

"You are not responsible for that," Edmond argued. "I am. If you need to place blame somewhere, lay it at my feet. Choose Colin."

That took him by surprise, though it shouldn't have. Edmond had been convinced that she would choose Colin over him, anyway. Closing the distance between them, Penelope reached up to touch Edmond's face.

"But I love you, as well," she murmured.

The tenderness in her voice, directed toward another man, should have hurt him. Yet, for some odd reason, seeing them together like this didn't hurt as much as it had the first time. In fact, something seemed natural about it. Almost as right as he felt when she was with him.

"How could I choose which part of me to rip away?" she added. "I would be like deciding which half of my heart to live without. It is impossible, Edmond."

Turning to him, she left Edmond and came to him, taking his hands in hers.

"And I love you … just as much. It is too hard, I just … I cannot. Please don't ask me to choose. You two must choose each other. That is what I want."

She released him and moved as if to walk away, but Edmond stepped forward, trapping her between them.

"Wait," he said.

She turned to face him, placing Colin at her back. Edmond reached for her, cupping her head, his fingers gripping her hair in a tight but tender hold.

"What if, just this once, you did not have to choose?"

Penelope's back stiffened, and she gasped. Yet, Colin felt nothing but curiosity at what Edmond might say next. The same emotion he'd experienced watching them together in the alley began to creep over him, foreign and intriguing. He hardly knew how he felt about the sensation.

"What do you mean?" she asked, clearly affected by being trapped between both of them.

Edmond, he could see, enjoyed it, too. He eyed her with a predatory gleam in his eye, as if he were a lion stalking a skittish doe. Colin began to feel a bit feral himself. What the bloody hell was happening here?

"You don't want to choose," he continued. "I understand why. I think it is safe to say, neither of us is particularly excited by this news. And I would rather have half your heart than nothing at all."

"What … what are you saying?"

Edmond lowered his head and kissed her, the action pressing her closer against Colin. The feel of her soft curves against him sent blood rushing straight to his groin. His cock swelled, and he grasped her hips, pressing against the soft curve of her derrière.

This was madness. He'd never shared a woman with anyone before, yet the thought had crossed his mind once or twice before. He and Edmond had frequented whorehouses together in their youth, and he supposed if he were ever to share a woman with someone, it would be his best friend. However, his salacious imaginings of sharing some nameless, faceless whore with Edmond did not compare to this. They shared a common bond as friends, but also through this woman, who had ensnared them both so completely they would never be free.

Yes, he would do this, because there seemed to be no other choice. He felt safe in sharing her with someone he knew and trusted, someone he loved like a brother. Just now, nothing felt truer than what he experienced, sharing in their mutual love for this one woman.

"It's all right, darling," Edmond whispered, pulling away and reaching for the clasp of her cloak. "Stop fighting this."

"He's right," Colin added, helping him remove the garment. "Don't deny yourself the thing you want most. Don't deny us, either. Let us love you, Penny."

With a soft whimper, she went limp against him. "This … this can hardly be proper."

He chuckled, working at the back of her dress to open it. No, it wasn't proper at all, yet it felt stunningly right. His anger at Edmond notwithstanding, he could hardly fault the man for loving her. Hell, he himself proved incapable of getting her out of his mind, of putting her aside despite what she'd done. Perhaps Edmond had been right. Sharing her with someone else must be preferable to being without her at all.

"No, it is not," Edmond replied as her bodice sagged away from her breasts, revealing she wore no undergarments. "But it's going to feel so bloody good."

 

***

Penelope lost the ability to think beyond the things Colin and Edmond simultaneously did to her pliant body. If she'd found it difficult to resist one, she never stood a chance against two. Her every fantasy of having them both kiss her, touch her, ready her to take them both inside her body, was coming true. It all created a riot of sensation in her gut, which only increased her arousal.

Every inch of her skin tingled with awareness as they trapped her between them. While Colin kissed her neck, his open mouth and hot tongue setting her on fire, Edmond lowered his head as he drew her gown down, the fabric rasping over her nipples, causing them to harden. He took one into his mouth, while Colin's hand found the other, kneading and squeezing while he continued devouring the column of her throat. His erection, now fully hard and insistent, pressed against her arse, while Edmond's made its presence apparent against her belly. She trembled in the face of such power and raw maleness—all of it for her.

Edmond continued on his path down her body, grasping her gown and lowering it past her hips. His mouth traced a languid trail over her belly, his tongue creating slow circles that caused her to shudder in response. Grasping her wrists, Colin lifted her arms over her head. The feel of something soft whispered across her skin, and before she realized what was happening, her hands had been bound together, Colin's cravat knotted around them.

Skimming his hands over her goosebumps-riddled flesh, he traced his way back down her arms, palming her breasts. While Edmond knelt before her, parting her lower lips to expose the slick flesh of her quim, Colin tweaked her nipples, causing the stiff peaks to harden and shrink even more. When Edmond's tongue flicked out to taste her, she cried out, the sensation of both of them teasing her at once almost too much to bear. Yet, she felt as if she might die if either of them stopped. Never had she known such pleasure.

Edmond lifted one of her legs, draping it over his shoulder and keeping a firm hold on one thigh, increasing the pressure of his tongue strokes. She turned her head to meet Colin's questing mouth, hooking her bound hands behind his head, her fingers caressing his hair as their tongues met and dueled.

At her feet, Edmond continued his torture, taking the throbbing bud of her clit and sucking it between his lips. A moan burned in her throat, a climax striking her far too swiftly. They had hardly begun, and already, she felt as if she'd reached her limit.

Colin's hand circled her throat, his thumb stroking her pulse, his lips nibbling hers, while Edmond drew out the fluttering spasms of her completion with relentless determination. Moaning against Colin's mouth, she clung to him, using her tied hands to hang on, keeping herself on her feet.

When Edmond had finished, he stood and began undressing, his glittering green gaze fixated on her, his dark pupils widening and causing a primal light to glitter in the depths. Between the two of them, they managed to make her feel like the most treasured, desired woman that ever lived. God help her, she loved them both in a way even she didn't understand.

Colin took her up in his arms, crossing the room to lay her on the thick rug before the fire. Now nude, Edmond knelt at her head, the firelight caressing the taut stretches of muscle making up his perfect body. Colin, divested of his coat, shirt, waistcoat, and boots, knelt at her feet, and both men reached for her at once.

She felt like a pagan sacrifice, offered up to two gods—one dark, and one light—as Colin grasped her ankles and Edmond her wrists, stretching her out between them. Colin bent her legs and knelt between them, picking up where Edmond had left off. Sinking two fingers into her wet, beckoning sheath, he pumped them in and out while his thumb traced slow circles over her sensitive pearl.

She turned her head to find Edmond's thick cock angled toward her. Licking her lips, she raised her gaze to meet his and smiled.

"Come here," she murmured before her words broke off on a moan caused by Colin's skilled fingers.

Edmond edged closer to her, grasping her hair and guiding his cock toward her lips. She parted them, taking him in and stroking the underside of his shaft with her tongue. He groaned, his fingers tightening around her hair as his hips took up a slow thrust, sliding himself in and out of her mouth in the same rhythm with which Colin stroked her with his fingers. She sucked Edmond with deep pulls, closing her eyes and savoring his masculine scent and heady flavor.

"Will you come for us again, love?" Colin whispered, his fingers quickening inside her. "Christ, you're so wet … so close …"

Whimpering, she nodded, feeling another telltale tremor deep in her core. Pinching one of her nipples, Edmond teased her even closer.

"Yes, darling," he murmured. "That's it. Come for us."

She lifted her hips, urging Colin on harder, faster. He obliged her, slamming his fingers in deep, sheathing himself to the third knuckle, his fingers finding the secret place deep within that caused her to cry out as flashes of light and color stole her vision. Colin applied pressure to her clit with his thumb, and the pleasure of it combined with another pinch from Edmond on her tender nipple, and she spiraled, toppling over the edge.

Her lips tightened around Edmond's cock, her suckling pulls becoming more desperate, offering an outlet for the storm tearing her apart inside. Crying out, he trembled, his grasp on her hair growing tighter. She reveled in the sting, enjoying it as much as she did the pounding spasms causing her inner walls to grip Colin's fingers with shuddering contractions.

Colin tore his breeches open, kneeling between her knees and snatching his fingers free before replacing them with his cock. He slammed into her with one forceful thrust, coming fully into her until his pelvis met hers. Her cry of ecstasy became trapped in her chest, with Edmond's cock thrusting in and out of her mouth, his cadence now speeding up to match Colin's between her thighs. Over and over, they entered her, filling her and satisfying every urge at once. Four hands touched her, one of Colin's on her thigh, the other stroking her clit; one of Edmond's in her hair, the other teasing her sensitive nipples. Their hoarse moans sent a thrill through her, filling her with pride that she could be a source of such satisfaction for them both.

Penelope's climax faded, but had barely died before another came, this one far more powerful than the other two. Her back arched, her hips bowing up off the floor, pressing herself even closer to Colin, whose grip on her thigh tightened painfully in reaction as he slid even deeper into her, stroking her secret, innermost places.

Above her, Edmond began to tremble, his chest heaving as his breaths seemed to come shorter and shorter, each one emitting on a low moan. Finally, he thrust one last time with a groan, his seed flooding her palate with his primitive taste. She didn't let up, her cheeks caving in as she sucked him until the hot spurts ceased, until he looked as if he might die, his eyes closed and his face contorted into an expression of pure bliss.

Colin spent a moment later, jerking away from her and spilling into his shirt—the closest scrap of cloth he could lay hands on.

Edmond withdrew from her mouth, leaning down to kiss her before he began untying her hands. Once freed, however, all she could do was lie there and wait for her body to climb down from the rapturous heights they had both taken her to. Drowsiness pulled at the edges of her consciousness, while euphoria caused the languid sensation of floating to buoy her. And in the midst of it all, love for them both robbed her of breath.

Never had she imagined being with them both could make her feel so fulfilled—or that it would feel so perfect. It was no wonder choosing between them had been so impossible, when it felt as if she'd always been meant for both.

Edmond's hands found her shoulders, helping her to sit up.

"We've exhausted her," Colin mused, fastening his breeches.

Nodding, Edmond reached for his shirt. "I'll ensure there are no servants up and about, then you help me get her upstairs."

Penelope allowed Colin to help her into her gown, though he left it unfastened at the back. Her eyes slid closed when he lifted her in his arms, cradling her against his chest. She heard Edmond return a moment later, informing them the way was clear. Colin handed her off to Edmond to be carried up the stairs, following with his arms full of their discarded articles of clothing, including her cloak.

Once safe inside Edmond's chamber, she found herself laid on his soft bed. A moment later, Colin removed her dress once more, while Edmond draped her in one of his shirts. One laid her against the pillows while the other pulled the blankets up to her chin. Just before drifting off to sleep, she giggled.

"Whatever could you find so funny at a time like this?" Edmond asked, his tone tinged with amusement.

A smirk pulled at one corner of her mouth as she opened her eyes and peered at them, standing together at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, nothing," she mumbled. "It's just nice to see you two working together again."