Limitless Love: A Polyamorous Charity Anthology

2. Zeke

Ice-cold snow smashed into the side of my face, making me gasp. I whipped my head around. Connor grinned at me as he formed another snowball. It was good to see him like this, smiling and stress-free. He’d wrapped up a big case and to celebrate the victory, we’d stolen away from the city to the cabin owned by our best friend’s family. Hudson said no one would be there this weekend and that we’d have the place all to ourselves.

We’d arrived earlier that day, and I’d unpacked while Connor started a pot of soup for lunch. We let it simmer while we headed out into the snow. The cabin was surrounded by well-used trails, and we’d strapped on snowshoes for a walk.

But it seemed Connor had other ideas on what he wanted to do. I bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, barely dodging the next projectile he launched at me.

“The first hit was free, Connor.”

“Oh, I’m so scared, Ezekiel.” Connor only used my full name when he wanted to torment me. Usually because his teasing led to other things, mainly my dick in his ass. But sometimes he liked to be pushed around a little first, and I’d learned over the years to read his moods. Today, he was definitely up for a bit of rough.

“We both know you couldn’t hit the broad side of a—” Connor’s premature taunt cut off when my snowball hit him square in the chest. “Barn,” he finished.

“You were saying?” As quickly as I could, I formed another snowball to throw at him. It was hard to use my natural agility to my advantage with snowshoes strapped to my boots, but that was probably his plan. I might never have gone pro, but I still played basketball every week. I used to try to get Connor to join in, but he said that spectator was the best role in sports he could ever hope for.

Connor had deadly aim, though, and he managed to get me even as I dodged away. I started after him, laughing, but running was comically difficult. I felt like I was in a cartoon.

Another snowball splatted too close to my face. “You’re going to pay for that one,” I said.

“Oooh, I’m shaking.” Connor laughed, but then he tripped over his feet and went down hard. My laughter died when he didn’t move for a second and let out a low groan.

“Connor?” I raced over to him and dropped awkwardly to my knees in the snow. “Connor, are you okay?”

When I rolled him over, Connor looked up at me and smiled, then brought his hand up and shoved snow down the front of my shirt.

“Aaah!” The snow was shockingly cold against my overheated skin, almost to the point of pain. It felt like a million tiny needles poking into my skin. “That was a dirty trick.” I tossed myself on top of Connor. The cold seeped into my skin and my legs were twisted at an awkward angle. It wasn’t comfortable at all, but I didn’t want to move.

Instead, I leaned in and kissed him hard and deep. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me in close. Trapping me. Not that I minded. The kiss quickly heated into something far more feral than I wanted to entertain outdoors. My discomfort had its limits.

Panting, I pulled away. Connor’s expression made my breath hitch. His cheeks were ruddy, and his blue eyes sparkled up at me. His dark blond hair was damp from the snow that had been falling for the past hour or so.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I said to him.

Connor looked at me with a lusty expression. I was by far the more romantic of the two of us, at least when it came to words.

“That’s quite the compliment. Are you trying to get into my pants?”

“Absolutely. Is it working?”

“It might if I wasn’t laying in the snow.” Connor gave me a gentle shove, and I got to my feet. It wasn’t the most graceful I’d ever been, but with some grunting and windmilling, I was able to stand and help Connor up.

Connor surprised me by grabbing me by the jacket and yanking me into his space. He slanted his mouth over mine and kissed me lazily, until not even the heat we were generating was enough to keep me warm.

I pulled away and shivered. Not only was I cold from being wet, but the snow had started to fall harder and wetter.

“We should head back. I think we’re in for a hell of a storm.” Connor linked his hand with mine and tugged me back in the direction of the cabin.

Being with Connor was the easiest thing in the world. We’d known each other for as long as we could remember. We’d been in love since we were teenagers, but we didn’t know it until college. We’d been together ever since. Through law school and my first failed business. And my second. And my subsequent sleepless nights and panic attacks.

Gripping his hand tighter, I let him lead the way back to the cabin. Not that I had a choice. I got lost in the grocery store half the time. I was definitely a ‘leave a trail of breadcrumbs’ sort of person. Sleeping in the cabin was the closest thing to camping I got. The great outdoors were wonderful, but only if Connor was there to make sure I didn’t die.

The cabin was toasty warm when we got back. We changed into dry clothes, and were it not for my empty stomach, I might have pinned Connor to the bed then and there to have my way with him. I couldn’t remember whether I’d eaten breakfast before we left, and we hadn’t eaten on the way or after we arrived.

Connor heard my stomach growl, and he laughed. “I’ll check on the soup.”

“I’m so hungry.”

“I tried telling you that coffee isn’t breakfast.” Connor shook his head and went to the kitchen. The cabin wasn’t huge or anything, but it was definitely not a one-room shack in the woods. There was a main living space with a kitchen-living room combo, a bedroom with a king-size bed, and an attached bathroom. A small detached garage out back housed some of the winter gear, with room for a vehicle. I also couldn’t wait to climb into the hot tub out the back door later.

I pulled on a sweater and tried to shake the lingering chill before joining Connor in the kitchen. “It smells amazing in here.”

“I popped some buns in the oven to toast. Lunch should only be a few more minutes.”

“I’ll stoke the fire.” I grabbed my phone off the counter and flipped to one of our favorite playlists. We’d built several over the years, but this was the first one we did together. I was feeling a little nostalgic and a whole lot in love.

Maybe it was the solitude of the mountain, or the fact that Connor had left his work phone in the city, but I felt like we were reconnecting. After hooking my phone up to the speaker system, I turned the music to a comfortable volume and shifted things around in the living room so we could eat by the fire.

* * *

“This is nice.”Connor set his now empty soup bowl aside. I’d finished eating a few minutes ago and was pleasantly full. Not overstuffed to where I’d regret eating at all, but comfortable.

“It is.” I shifted behind Connor and wrapped my arms around him, cradling him against my chest. “It’s perfect.”

The crackle of the fire lulled me into that familiar floaty, romantic headspace, and I took my time dragging kisses up and down the curve of Connor’s neck. My hand might have dropped lower from his abdomen to his crotch. He groaned and leaned into me, giving himself over to whatever I wanted to do with him.

“We could try again, you know,” he said out of nowhere.

That one little sentence could mean anything to other people. It could mean they wanted to try kale again even though it tasted like lawn mower clippings. Or maybe it meant they could try ballroom dancing again. But for us, it meant that we could try looking for a third again.

“Are you sure?” I asked, not stopping my ministrations despite the serious nature of the conversation. “We both know why it’s never worked despite us wanting it to.”

Connor let out a breath and sagged in defeat. Cupping his chin with my hand, I turned his head. “But we can try. After this weekend.”

Ever since we became a couple, we’d always imagined adding another person. It wasn’t like something was missing. We both got along well. We were compatible sexually and emotionally. Our relationship was solid and built on trust and communication, but we’d always thought that we had more to give. That adding a third person was less about filling in missing spaces in ourselves or our relationship and more about the love we had to offer. On our own we were fine, but with another person, the right person, we had the potential to be amazing.

It was an idea we could never quite let go of. We’d tried to meet people over the years, but for whatever reason no one had ever felt right. I didn’t want to analyze it at that moment. Instead, I tugged the hem of Connor’s shirt until I divested him of the garment.

“It’s chilly in here.” Connor shivered. Probably more because he was horny than cold, but I happily played along.

“I’ll have to warm you up.” I eased back and urged Connor to lay on the floor. Lowering myself over top of him, my dick hovered in his face while I mouthed his erection through the thin pajama pants he wore. Connor moaned and arched up into me. His hands bracketed my hips, and he tugged my pants down. Warm breath washed over me then an eager tongue flicked against the tip of my dick, making me jump.

Snaking a hand into Connor’s pants, I freed his cock and took him down to the root in one swallow, making it his turn to twitch and moan. Two could play that game.