Chapter Eighteen
Mitch
“Leo!” I kept shouting his name over and over, but he didn’t respond. I’d watched, horrified, as his eyes had rolled back in his head and closed completely. If I hadn’t been beside him, he’d have collapsed right there in the snow.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gabe asked, as I cradled Leo in my arms and lowered him gently on the path.
I glanced at the soaking wet denim clinging to his legs. “I think he’s contracted hypothermia. We need to get him to the cabin before his body temperature drops even more dangerously.”
“How the hell are we going to get him there? You can’t possibly think of carrying him again, especially over so great a distance.”
Gabe was right. Now he’d passed out, Leo would be a dead weight and there’d be no way for me to carry him, either on my own, or if Gabe and I carried him between us. I needed a plan so scanned the area around us on the narrow path and tried to remember the landscape along the route we’d taken. I’d noticed some fallen branches not that far from us along the trail which might work.
“Wait here,” I ordered Gabe, who immediately took my place when I went to move. “I need to check out something.”
Hurrying back around a bend in the path, I spied the thick branches sticking out of the snow farther up the track. Pulling them free, I sorted through them until I found a couple around four inches in diameter and around six feet long. Taking one in each hand, I dragged them behind me the hundred or so feet to Gabe. After dropping them on the ground, I reopened the backpack, and pulled out one of the ropes.
“What are you gonna do with those?”
“We can build a makeshift stretcher with the branches and rope and carry Leo home.”
“Clever,” Gabe replied, looking at me like I’d suggested something remarkable.
I shrugged. “Just something I learned as part of my training.”
“Still, I’d never have thought of being so inventive.”
I shrugged again, not sure what else to do.
Laying the branches parallel, a couple feet apart, I lashed the rope to one end of a branch, then looped the thick cord around the other, going back and forth until I had a crude lattice mesh bed we could place Leo on.
“You get his legs, and I’ll take his upper body,” I told Gabe. We worked together to lift and carefully place Leo on the webbing between the branches. After grabbing my stuff and Leo’s duffel, we each got in place at either end of the stretcher, crouching down and taking a good grip. “Ready?” I asked Gabe over my shoulder.
“Yep.”
“After three…” We worked in unison and got to our feet.
“Fuck, he’s heavy,” Gabe remarked, more to himself than me.
“Let’s go.”
Measured at first, until we found our rhythm, we made our return trip along the trail on the hour or more journey, the dogs leading the way. Time slowed as we trudged through the forest, but eventually, we stumbled into the yard and reached the house. Lowering Leo on the porch, we picked him up and carried him inside ourselves, rather than trying to get the stretcher through the front door.
“Take him straight to my bedroom,” I urged Gabe, neither of us stopping until we had Leo laying on top of the covers. “Let’s get him out of those wet clothes. He needs to keep warm more than anything else.”
We carefully sat him up and unzipped his padded jacket.
“Why is he not wearing anything under this?” Gabe asked, confused.
“Search me.” I thought back to when I’d found him on the ledge. “I didn’t see any other clothing laying around. We know he left here in a hurry, so maybe he just grabbed his jacket and took off? We can ask him about it when he wakes up, but right now I just wanna get him dry and under a blanket.”
Removing his coat, and mindful of his head, we laid him gently down again. This was the second time I’d seen Leo shirtless, but I didn’t have the opportunity to admire his chest, or the light covering of dark-blond hair. Now we had to get him warm and dry.
Gabe flicked open the button on Leo’s jeans with practiced ease, making me wonder how many times he’d performed the same action in the past with previous sexual partners. This irritated the hell out of me for some reason, and I had to deliberately not think about the idea of Gabe and someone else having sex.
I worked on Leo’s boots, loosening the laces before removing them and his socks from his ice-cold feet. “You get his jeans off and I’ll go grab some pain killers and a glass of water for when he wakes up.” I hurried out of the room and into the bathroom. By the time I got the necessary provisions, including a couple of clean towels, and returned to the bedroom, Gabe had managed to get Leo’s jeans down to his ankles.
I helped him remove them before we both stopped, hesitating. “His briefs are soaking wet too,” Gabe informed me, staring at the final item of clothing.
“So we need to take them off.”
“Yeah,” he grudgingly agreed, and they were down and off his hips to join the jeans on the floor in a moment. This time, I couldn’t help but look at Leo. Even soft, his cock was impressive. In fact, every part of him was impressive, fit and muscular from his shoulders to his ankles.
A rush of emotion punched through my body at determining I wasn’t only jealous of Leo wanting Gabe, I was also jealous of Gabe possibly wanting Leo too. It blew my mind to think I might want them both. I’d kept all my feelings pushed way down for so long these last few years, I hadn’t expected them to ever resurface, yet here they were, swirling in my veins and warring with my head. If I’d ever entertained the possibility of being with anyone again, I’d have sworn I’d choose another woman, not a man, let alone two, the idea never having crossed my mind.
“Let’s get him into bed,” Gabe said, his voice huskier than normal, snapping me out of my head. After briskly toweling him dry, and with some gentle maneuvering, we managed to pull the bedclothes out from under Leo and get him in bed, pulling up the sheets and comforter to keep him warm and preserve his decency. Though I had no doubt the image of his naked body would stay with me for quite a while, now we’d got him comfortable and settled.
“He feels like a block of ice,” Gabe remarked as he tucked him in.
I’d already turned the thermostat up to the max, but Leo remained freezing cold and didn’t appear to be getting any warmer.
“He needs more heat,” I told Gabe, my heartrate shooting up at what I was about to suggest. “We need to get in bed with him.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
I shook my head. “He needs as much warmth as possible, but at the same time, we need to ensure we raise his body temperature gradually,” I advised him, and began stripping off my jacket and outer clothes. “Using our own body heat should enable us to achieve this safely.” Gabe stared at me for a moment before he, too, began removing his clothes. Dressed in only my T-shirt and long thermal underwear, I grabbed a couple of throws from a chair in the corner, adding those on top of us to ensure Leo had the best possible chance of warming up. Next, I sidled into bed and snuggled in beside him. His cold skin made me shiver, but I refused to leave as he needed us as near as possible if this was going to work. Gabe, undressed now too, still in my baggy T-shirt, but wearing a pair of snug fitting briefs, mirrored me on the other side and sandwiched Leo between us, giving us the best chance of increasing his body heat.
“Well, ain’t this cozy,” Gabe drawled, and for once his caustic comment didn’t annoy me. I understood him a bit better now and had worked out that he used sarcasm as a coping mechanism. If he felt in any way vulnerable or unsure, he resorted to being a cocky asshole to try to cover his insecurity.
Leo was generally more forthcoming about his feelings or what was on his mind, though this morning he’d actually gone the other way, becoming completely withdrawn and hard to get a read on. Hopefully, I’d get to talk to him when he awoke, explain my conversation with Gabe to him in more detail, and make him see why I’d gotten so upset.
Since arriving here, they’d thrown my ordered and simple life completely out the window. I’d not been happy on my own, but I’d been resigned to my fate and the monotonous routine of working on the property, determined to finish what we’d started.
My stomach dropped when I remembered Katie, and the fact she hadn’t crossed my mind since last night when Gabe and I had nearly kissed. I glanced across at Leo and Gabe, Leo out for the count, his face a little less pale and developing a bit more color, thank goodness. And Gabe, eyes closed, wrapped snugly around Leo. They looked good together.
What if all three of us were together?
In the short space of time since they’d crashed into my life, I’d unexpectedly grown used to their presence. Seeing their stuff in the living room, hearing them talking or the water running through the pipes as they took a shower. Gabe, naked, jerking himself off. Leo, in nothing but a towel, walking past the kitchen.
Was it so wrong to enjoy the relative domesticity of them here in my personal space for a short while longer before my world returned to its bleak loneliness? Before Katie died, there’d always be the sounds of her moving around our home, baking, sewing, or plain moaning at me for not tidying up. Or the simplicity of the two of us spending our evenings snuggled on the couch in front of the TV, watching some crappy show on cable or a rerun of our favorite movies.
Overlaying all my old memories, since they’d arrived, were new ones of Gabe in the kitchen cooking us a meal. Leo’s calming presence easing any tension between us. Or them both lounging on the sofa, easy and relaxed. Okay, they’d disrupted my life, but them being here hadn’t felt wrong, so why did I keep thinking I was betraying the past and my wife?
We lay there together for a couple more hours until Leo shifted between us, dragging my attention back to him. His eyes lazily fluttered open, and he distractedly scanned the room, tensing as he became more awake and alert to his surroundings.
“Look who decided to wake up,” Gabe spoke softly. Leo’s eyes flicked to him before darting between us a few times, pink hitting his cheeks. I took the fact he blushed as a good sign.
“Never woken up in bed with two men before,” he muttered, making me chuckle.
“Don’t sweat it,” Gabe replied, his Adam’s apple working in his throat. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
His tone sounded off, making me frown. He tried for lighthearted, but there’d been an edge of something darker underlying his response, which had me wondering about his life outside of my cabin. He hadn’t talked much about himself since he’d arrived or revealed anything about his personal life, so I could only hazard a guess at the meaning behind his throwaway comment.
Did he make a habit of sleeping with two or more men at a time? He was a sexy guy able to have anybody he wanted, and probably did, so it wouldn’t surprise me to know he’d have multiple partners at a time.
“Speak for yourself,” I grumbled, returning my attention to Leo. “How are you feeling?”
He took his time answering, and I waited while he completed his own mental check.
“I still feel a bit weak, but at least the dizziness has mostly disappeared.”
I twisted around to pick up the pills and glass of water from the nightstand, before handing it to him. “The pills are for any headache you might have, and the water contains essential vitamins and electrolytes so should help.”
He dutifully swallowed the drugs and the enriched water, before handing me the empty glass.
“Better?
He half smiled before he ducked his head and went quiet for a second or two. “I’m sorry,” he finally whispered, “for leaving the way I did.” He closed his eyes and let out a long uneven sigh. “It’s just, the way you two were looking at each other…and when I heard you say you were jealous, I…”
“You what?”
“I don’t know,” he half huffed, half moaned. “I assumed you were angry with me for getting in the way of you and Gabe…when I wanted to…” He flicked his gaze to Gabe.
“It’s completely understandable you’d both want me,” Gabe replied cockily, his chest puffing up with pride, and his usual arrogance shining through. He grinned when Leo rolled his eyes. “I am in high demand.”
Leo chuckled but stopped abruptly, his gaze flicking between the two of us, as if he’d only now realized our current situation. “Why are you both in bed with me?”
“It’s your stunning personality,” Gabe quipped. “We couldn’t keep away.”
“I was unconscious.”
Gabe’s grin widened. “As I said, stunning personality.”
“You’re an ass, you know that?”
Gabe’s laughter filled the empty corners of the room and broke the remaining tension. “And totally at your service.”
“Leave him be,” I chastised him. “You were freezing and needed to warm up. Using our own body heat amounted to the quickest and safest way to do that.”
Leo mulled over my explanation before he gave a small tilt of his head in acceptance. “I’m warm now though.” He lifted his arms out from under the covers and pushed them down. “Really warm.”
Gabe snuggled in closer. “Yeah, now you’re hot.” He leered, waggling his eyebrows.
“Jesus, do you ever stop thinking about sex?”
He’d spoken the words in jest, but after Leo admitting his reason for leaving, and now how close the three of us currently were, the way our limbs were entwined gave off a distinct sexual undertone, causing the blood to pump harder in my veins and head south with a vengeance.
Gabe’s eyelids lowered, and the expression on his face was pure sex. “Never,” he replied, his voice like warm honey dripping over my skin.
The air around us crackled with sexual tension as Leo’s breathing sped up and his heart began to beat rapidly under my palm where it rested on his chest. Leo haltingly reached for Gabe’s hand. Despite his less than subtle innuendos just now, uncertainty flashed in Gabe’s jade-green eyes, and for a moment I thought he’d resist, but he allowed Leo to grasp his fingers and place Gabe’s hand directly over mine on his chest. Gabe hesitated for a second before sighing gently and applying a small amount of pressure as he entwined our fingers. The low groan Leo emitted travelled straight to my balls, and my own heart thudded hard behind my ribcage alongside Leo’s.
“Stop me if you don’t want this,” Leo told me, causing the air to freeze in my lungs, my mouth going dry, unsure if I wanted this or not, or whether I could take such a massive step after so long. But as soon as I glanced at him, seeing the need burning hot in his eyes, my mind was made up.
“Please,” he whispered, and his desperate tone had the last traces of my anxiety disappearing when he reached for me, his fingers caressing my face before easing me down to his. Tracing his lips lightly across mine sent sparks of energy cascading through my whole body, my cock hardening so quickly I felt faint. I groaned, deep and low as Leo’s tongue slipped out and licked along the seam of my lips. My mouth parted on a gasp, and he delved inside, tentatively caressing my own tongue, the sensation so intense after years of nothing I failed to stop the jerky thrust of my hips against his leg. His answering moan against my mouth only heightened the pleasure.
Pulling away with a final graze of his lips, he turned his head to Gabe, who hesitated again, as a fight I didn’t understand, but could clearly see, went on in his head before he finally gave in, and his lips captured Leo’s mouth hungrily.
Their kiss was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen, watching from so close, as raw and untamed, they ate each other’s mouth. Eventually separating when they needed air, chests heaving as they fought for breath. When Gabe’s smoky gaze looked over at me, all the air left my lungs in a rush. Dark eyes, encompassed by a pale circle of jade, focused solely on mine, lips swollen from kissing Leo, he threw me a look so carnal, a shudder racked my body.
The hand covering Leo’s heart lifted to slide around my neck, his touch burning a trail of fire along my skin. Firm fingers tugged me gently forward as we oh, so slowly, closed the gap between us, and the wickedly sexy smile Gabe gave before his lips crashed down on mine had me groaning loudly.
Gabe didn’t kiss, he devoured. His firm lips captured mine, and I gladly gave in as his touch sent me up in flames. His tongue claimed my mouth, licking, tasting, possessing. I’d never been kissed like it, and something cracked wide open deep inside, as all my pent-up emotions came pouring out. I reached my hand up to slide into his silky-smooth hair and grip tightly, taking over the kiss, my lips hard on his, my tongue in his mouth, tangling with his own. Under us, Leo whimpered, and my mouth was instantly back on his, reveling in the difference between them.
Leo, gentler, more giving. Gabe wanting, taking. I couldn’t get enough.
“Clothes,” I growled. “I need them off.”
Leo lifted the blankets and smirked. “Mine already are.”
Fuck, I’d forgotten.
Frantically pushing the covers down past his thighs, I had the deepest desire to see all of him again. My hand raked over his chest, sliding through the short blond hairs, the sensation so new to me and yet so fucking right. Pulling at the hair, I watched his nipples peak and unable to stop myself, I bent and licked at the one closest to me. Leo instantly arched his back, wanting more. I lifted my gaze to see Gabe bending to take Leo’s other nipple in his mouth, our eyes locking as we nipped and licked at the man sandwiched between us.
“Ah, fuck,” Leo moaned, the sounds making my dick throb they were so wanton, so needy. Gabe slid farther down, licking his way across Leo’s pecs, his abs, and when he gripped Leo’s thick cock in his hand, Leo shouted his pleasure, the sound muffled as I kissed him again, swallowing his groans of lust.
Gabe licked a path along the full length of Leo’s steel-hard dick, his eyes fixed solely on me. Swirling his tongue around the head, licking up the precum before swallowing Leo down, felt like he was licking my shaft, sucking my cock, and it throbbed hard in anticipation of the real thing.