17

Knox heard the click of the front door shutting. It meant he was alone, ready as he’d ever be to face Marcus and Kennedy and beg their forgiveness. The thought skipping repeatedly through his brain was that he had to find a way to show them he was serious about trying to become the kind of person they both already were—beautiful, generous, worthy of love.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated.

“You don’t need to say that again, okay?” Kennedy reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands. She guided his face to hers for an achingly gentle kiss. “I know you are. It’s just that…”

“What?” he asked. Her silence guaranteed not everything was smoothed over yet.

Marcus stood beside them, observing their exchange without interrupting.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

Knox gripped her forearms a little too hard, horrified that he frightened her. He might have left faint bruises if Marcus hadn’t been there to peel his hands from her. But even he didn’t shove Knox away. Instead, he gathered Knox to him and held him tight, as if that would stop his shuddering.

“Come on.” Marcus slid his hands to Knox’s ass and lifted, walking them into his bedroom and settling Knox on the bed. This time they didn’t leave him alone—they joined him.

Much better.

Kennedy snuggled up to one side of him while Marcus bracketed him on the other. She cupped his shoulder, then propped her chin on top of her hand. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I think it’s important to be honest.”

“Yeah. You should be.” Knox winced. “I can take it. I deserve it.”

“No one’s trying to punish you,” Marcus said. “There’s a lot to unpack. Things are complicated as fuck right now. Hell, last week I didn’t even know I was in the market for a boyfriend, and then you turned up. I admit it, I was jealous as fuck.”

“Of me? Don’t be dumb.” Knox rolled his eyes. “You could be on the cover of a magazine. You’re in amazing shape, have a job that pays like a zillion dollars a year and lets you act like a fucking superhero—saving the planet, even if no one knows it. Plus…you have Kennedy.”

“I didn’t. Not until you came.” Marcus tipped Knox’s face toward him. “Were you listening to James yesterday? You’re a part of Kennedy. Without you, she wasn’t whole. She wasn’t able to give herself to me, because you still had her heart.”

“And that’s why I’m afraid,” Kennedy whispered, her eyes shimmering. If she cried because of him, so help him, Knox wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. “I can see how things might be. And I’m petrified we won’t be able to get our shit together.”

“I’m going to do my best for you both.” Knox looked up at the two people who were capable of pulling him out of the hole he’d dug for himself and, by some miracle, willing to do it, too.

“That’s all we can ask.” Kennedy kissed a path along his chin to his lips, then sipped from them for a while before letting Marcus have a turn.

“You were incredible earlier. You got us the break we needed and kept that stuff from getting sold to unsuspecting people.” Marcus wasn’t quite as careful with him as Kennedy had been, and Knox didn’t mind in the least.

“I guess we make a good team.” Knox couldn’t deny they’d partnered perfectly. All things considered, everyone had come out alive. That alone was a miracle.

Kennedy and Marcus loved on him, caressing his chest and nuzzling his neck until things started to get steamier than simple comforting touches dictated. Knox cleared his throat. “I doubt I can get it up right now. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch you two enjoying yourselves. I’m sure you’re riding the wave of adrenaline still.”

Marcus and Kennedy exchanged a smoldering stare over his torso. Neither one denied it. Instead they inched closer and closer as if they were two magnets being drawn inevitably together. When they kissed, the exchange brimmed with passion and the urgency brought on by residual despair and horror.

Knox let himself float in a world where he hadn’t died and the two people he had fallen hard for didn’t hate him. He relaxed as they made out, graduating from sweet exchanges to something hungry and impatient.

After all the time they’d spent so close and yet refusing to explore their attraction, he didn’t blame them for letting their emotions boil over now. Marcus stood on the bed, making it dip. He ripped his shirt over his head, then unbuckled his jeans and when they pooled at his feet on the mattress, Knox ran his hand along one of Marcus’s chiseled calves, impressed that he could barely get his hand halfway around the widest part. Marcus was powerful and possessed enough self-control for the three of them.

He’d honed his body into near-perfection and had somehow kept his hands off Kennedy until she was ready to explore what was between them. He was a far better man than Knox could ever attempt to be. When he realized Knox and Kennedy were both spellbound, staring at his bared form, his cock twitched. “Why am I the only one naked?”

Knox’s entire outfit consisted of a pair of the cotton gym shorts James had bought for him along with a few other wardrobe essentials. The man had a good eye, Knox would give him that. Most everything had fit and been comfy, casual gear. And the few dressier outfits seemed like they might actually look decent on him, although he’d never had a reason for clothes like that before.

When Kennedy smiled coyly at Marcus and started swaying as she stripped her scrub top off, followed shortly by her yoga pants, Knox figured what the hell? He peeled his shorts off and tossed them onto the floor.

“Much better.” Marcus settled onto the bed again, this time drawing Kennedy to him.

“Hey, watch where you’re putting those knees!” Knox cupped his junk as Kennedy ended up between his legs.

“They’re right where I want them,” Marcus practically growled, going bossy and possessive in a way Knox hadn’t seen from him yet, though he couldn’t say he disliked it. “I have an idea.”

Marcus spun Kennedy to face Knox as she knelt between his thighs. Marcus came up behind her, cupping her breasts. The contrast of his dark hands on her pale skin was beautiful to Knox. How could he like two people who were so different and yet had so much in common?

Kennedy’s head tipped onto Marcus’s shoulder, exposing her neck. He gently wrapped his hand around the long column and dipped her forward so that her tit was right in front of Knox’s face. Knox didn’t need any more instruction than that. He feasted on the offering Marcus made of her body, laving her nipple with the flat of his tongue before suckling until she mewled.

“You like that?” Marcus asked, although the answer was plain.

“Yeah.” She gasped when Knox bit lightly.

“Good. He’s going to take care of you while I fuck you.” Marcus slapped her ass, then placed her in Knox’s arms. The fact that he trusted Knox to tend to her meant more than he could say.

He wasn’t about to disappoint either of them again that night.

Knox strained upward until he sealed his mouth over hers. They glided over each other’s parted lips as she sighed and he concentrated on doing whatever she seemed to enjoy most.

It was around the moment that his hand wandered down her belly and rubbed her mound that Marcus groaned. Knox looked up and caught the other man stroking his impressive cock as he watched them kissing.

Kennedy glanced over her shoulder, shoved her ass in the air, and teased Marcus. “Planning to do something with that thing?”

“Only if you ask me nicely.” Marcus was a bad liar. He was putting his dick in her in ten seconds or less. But she didn’t delay the inevitable.

“Please, Marcus. Fuck me while Knox holds me.” She resumed kissing him, knowing full well that Marcus was going to give her exactly what she wanted.

Marcus shuffled behind her on his knees and slapped his dick against her ass a couple times before aligning himself with her pussy. Knox knew the instant he’d fused them, because Kennedy tensed in his hold. Knox redoubled his efforts, sucking on her tongue and kneading her breasts to distract her from any initial discomfort as Marcus stretched her around his thick hard-on.

“Damn, you feel so good on me.” Marcus groaned.

Knox could relate. Even if all he was doing was caressing Kennedy, she brought him more pleasure than he could have imagined. Sharing this with them made him feel like the luckiest bastard alive, which he probably was by this point.

When Marcus grabbed her hips and began to ride, Knox switched his tactic. He trailed his hand across her taut stomach and down to her pussy. First he circled his finger around Marcus’s dick, embedded within her, gathering up some of the natural lubrication he’d already elicited from her.

Then Knox used it to swirl his thumb around her clit. He remembered how she enjoyed a light, indirect pressure from the times they’d fooled around as teenagers.

“Oh shit.” Her eyes flew wide and her jaw hung open as she was caught between him and Marcus, both of them intent on giving her as much pleasure as she could stand.

“Fuck, she’s hugging my cock already.” Marcus leaned forward and bit her shoulder.

Which, combined with Knox’s strumming, was all it took to set her off.

Kennedy dug her fingernails into his upper arms as she flew apart around Marcus, who didn’t stop plowing into her with an unrelenting series of long, slow plunges. It was a quick and hard release, but ebbed nearly as fast as it had crested.

“That was a nice start,” Marcus purred at her.

Kennedy pushed herself up from Knox’s chest, careful to avoid his stitches. She didn’t proclaim that she couldn’t come again or try to evade them. Instead she rocked back on Marcus and tossed her hair like a star. Damn.

“Why don’t you sit on my face so I can help you with the next one?” Knox asked, on board with being smothered if that’s what it took for her to fly again.

“I have a better idea.” Kennedy moved, but instead of climbing up him, she scooted downward.

“I like the way you think.” Marcus smacked her ass then fisted his hand in her hair, using the grip to guide her mouth to Knox’s dick.

Despite his earlier assumptions, Knox felt his cock start to fill as she drew it into her wet, warm mouth and toyed with him. She licked him from root to tip, then sucked without intent. Not trying to get him off but merely enjoying holding him within her while Marcus continued to rail her. Knox figured she didn’t have a lot of experience, maybe only the few times they’d experimented together. But her unpracticed motions were plenty to wake his dick from near-death.

“Does that feel good?” Kennedy pulled off long enough to ask. “Do you like it?”

Knox and Marcus both burst out laughing. In the middle of the hottest moment of his life, they could have fun. It was magical and sealed something in him right then. This was what he wanted. Forever. Love and joy and a whole lot of steam.

“What?” Kennedy got shy and withdrew a bit.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Marcus put her face back into place, then blanketed her back so that his cheek was right next to hers. “You don’t need to be a genius to get a guy off. Of course it feels incredible, I’m sure.”

“What he said.” Knox could feel Marcus’s breath on the base of his cock.

“Here. I’ll prove it to you.” Marcus ground against Kennedy’s ass, joining them as deeply as she could take him.

Knox didn’t quite understand what he meant until Marcus opened his mouth and licked around Kennedy’s lips. Surprised, she pulled off of Knox’s shaft, leaving his rapidly stiffening cock open for Marcus to have a taste.

Kennedy and Marcus kept fucking while they took turns sucking Knox. He’d never seen anything more alluring in his life than the pair of them going down on him while getting each other off.

“Have you ever done this before?” Knox asked, suspecting the other guy was a BJ virgin, though not because what he was doing was crude.

“Nope. But I’ve watched a hell of a lot of porn and gotten a few myself.” Marcus turned his head to kiss Kennedy, their lips bouncing off Knox’s cock in the process. He murmured to her, “Men are simple creatures. Keep sucking and I’ll keep fucking.”

Kennedy moaned then devoured Knox, growing bolder as she realized that she wasn’t about to hurt him and figured out what he responded to most.

Soon she was bobbing over him as Marcus bottomed out in her, pushing her forward so she took Knox deeper and deeper. Kennedy must have enjoyed sharing him with Marcus as much as Knox enjoyed sharing her with the other man.

Soon she reached between her legs and rubbed her clit. It only took a few seconds before she was quaking between Knox’s legs. He withdrew from her mouth so she could breathe through her orgasm and so she didn’t accidently bite down on him while she surrendered to the rapture Marcus was giving her.

“How’s that?” Marcus asked her, still filling her pulsing pussy.

“Better, but…” She turned her head and nipped Knox’s hip. “Now I want him too.”

“Looks like he’s plenty hard enough to give me a break.” Marcus lifted her off his dick, which glistened in the light from the bedside lamp. She’d soaked his shaft.

Kennedy climbed Knox. He was grateful they didn’t need him to do much because while his cock might be willing, the rest of him was still pretty beat up. She straddled him, lifting his cock until she could slide down it. When she sat on him, holding him fully within her, he clutched the bed sheets. He didn’t want to embarrass himself and come before she’d even started moving but she felt like everything he’d ever been too scared to hope for—coming home, understanding, and perfect chemistry.

Marcus edged closer to look over her shoulder at where they were joined. The guy hadn’t even come yet. He had to be craving more.

Kennedy glanced back at him and said, “I want you both.”

Marcus grimaced. “I’m not sure you can take me in the ass without it hurting. Not without prep.”

“I didn’t say anything about my ass.” Kennedy spread her legs, making more room for Marcus to maneuver. “I want both of you inside of me at the same time. In my pussy.”

“Uh, is that a good idea?” Knox asked.

“I’m a doctor. It’s fine. Trust me.” Kennedy nipped his lower lip. “And if we end up in the ER with some kind of freaky sex emergency, I know enough people at the hospital to swear them to secrecy.”

Marcus chuckled. “It’s not going to come to that. Tell me if this hurts even the slightest bit.”

He nudged Knox’s balls with the tip of his cock, making Knox groan, then followed the root of Knox’s cock upwards, using it to shoehorn his way inside Kennedy.

Though it seemed at first like he wasn’t going to be able to wedge himself inside, after a few passes, he began to work deeper and deeper.

Kennedy stretched around them, squeezing their cocks as they slid against each other within her. Marcus made a noise that reverberated his chest against Kennedy’s back. Sandwiched between them, she began to tremble.

“You okay?” Knox asked, kissing her forehead, eyelids, and then the corner of her mouth as he allowed her to breathe through it.

“Incredible,” she whispered before shifting her weight so that she was sheathing them, using them both to the best effect.

Kennedy went wild, bucking between them, while grinding her pussy on his abdomen. He could feel her fisting tighter around them as she neared climax. But he wasn’t quite ready when she screamed their names and shattered, rippling over them, pressing their cocks together, as she came and came.

“Ah, damn. Okay. Too much.” Kennedy shifted until Marcus’s cock slipped from within her, but the guy still hadn’t lost it. Knox had no idea how he was holding off without the lingering effects of opioids in his system, which Knox blamed for his delayed responses. “Sorry.”

Marcus spanked her again. “Don’t you dare apologize for the best sex of my life.”

Knox couldn’t agree more. So he did what he could, and asked for what he craved not only to take the pressure off Kennedy, but because he wanted it for himself. “Fuck me instead.”

Marcus froze and looked over at both Knox and Kennedy.

Kennedy groaned. “I thought I was done. Nope. One more.”

Knox smiled slow and wide at that. Her pussy clenched around his cock, which was still buried in her. This would work just fine.

“I don’t want to hurt you any more than I want to hurt her.” Marcus hesitated.

“I’m sure I can handle you if you take it slow.” Besides, he was willing to suffer some if it meant his lovers were satisfied.

Knox rolled to his side, and Marcus respected him enough not to argue anymore. He dove behind Knox, flailing over the side of the bed in search of the lube he’d stashed in the drawer of the bedside table after their escapades with Kennedy’s toys.

Knox looked straight into Kennedy’s open eyes and swore he could see her soul. “It’s a night of firsts.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“I’ve never bottomed before. Never had the desire to.” He shrugged. “Never had sex with someone I admitted I was in love with either.”

Kennedy halted his confessions by kissing him. Maybe she wasn’t ready for him to drop the L-bomb. Marcus either. Though the man was gentle when he spread Knox open with a lubed finger, then two. And when Knox was afraid he might lose himself inside Kennedy before Marcus had joined them, he tipped his head up and glanced at Marcus. “Go ahead. Do it.”

Marcus fit himself to Knox’s ass and pressed inside, burrowing deep enough to keep from being squeezed out again before giving Knox a moment to cope. His eyes flew open, and he clutched Kennedy to him, thrilled to be at the center of their attention and easy affection.

It meant something to him to be held by them. To be impaled on Marcus’s cock while entrenched in Kennedy’s pussy. Their arms went around him and they held him as they made love to him, showing him with every whisper and caress how glad they were to have him back.

Knox knew in that moment that he was going to be okay. Because there was no way he would ever risk messing this up. He’d found his place in the universe. The spot he’d always been meant for.

It was here, in the arms of two generous lovers and incredible people.

Whether they were ready to accept it or not, he intended to spend the rest of his life showering them with the love they had earned.

Knox kissed Kennedy, pouring his heart into the exchange. And when Marcus began to move, targeting Knox’s prostate with eerie precision, Knox knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Feels great. You’re so tight.” Marcus groaned and bit Knox’s neck.

That was the thing that broke him. That sensual, possessive gesture. Knox stared into Kennedy’s eyes, memorizing the exact shade of blue they were in that instant, like the Caribbean Sea, which he’d only ever seen in ads on TV.

“He’s going to come,” Kennedy warned Marcus.

“I know. I can feel him clamping around me.” Marcus groaned. “Me too. Can’t hold back this time.”

“Don’t you dare,” Knox snarled as his balls drew up tight to his body and the first pulse of come shot from his cock.

“I’m with you!” Kennedy cried.

Knox wasn’t sure which of them fell first, but within instants they were each writhing and emitting guttural sounds that might have been pain leaving their souls and rapture replacing it. They clung to each other as the intensity of the moment rushed through them, amplifying each other’s reactions.

Knox’s ass milked Marcus’s cock dry even as he flooded Kennedy’s pussy with his own release. She drew every last drop from his balls with the rhythmic contractions of her rings of muscles.

And as they lay there, catching their breath then dozing off, still connected, Knox had never felt so secure in his place or sure of his purpose. This wasn’t fooling around. It was forever.

As he watched over them sleeping, he swore he would do anything, even become the man they deserved, to ensure he never had to give them up. At least that’s what he thought until his phone buzzed on the nightstand and the message he received made it clear that he would never be free to make those sorts of commitments.

Knox spent the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling, trying to think of a way out of the trap he’d been caught in since he was seventeen. Addiction had destroyed him, but if he wasn’t careful, he could be the poison that spoiled Marcus and Kennedy’s lives.