Limitless Love: A Polyamorous Charity Anthology

1. Brandt

“Babe, the new neighbors are here!”

Nosy as I was, I peered through the curtains at the two U-Haul trucks and cars parked in the yard of the house next door. Too many people were going in and out of the house for it to be clear who was moving in, though. Whoever they were, they sure had a lot of fancy stuff.

My husband’s footsteps echoed behind me, and he slipped a hand around my waist and under my shirt to stroke my stomach. I was one lucky man to be married to a guy for over ten years who still touched my body like he’d done the night of our honeymoon.

Cairo placed a kiss on my neck, and my pulse jumped. “I thought you were working on your part of the assignment the therapist gave us, but here you are, being a Peeping Tom.”

“I am not. I’m a concerned citizen checking to ensure our neighborhood remains safe.”

“Mm-hmm,” he said in that condescending tone that meant he thought I was fooling myself.

“Do you think we should go by to introduce ourselves?”

“Let’s give them a few days to settle in first.”

“You’re right. What do you think about a chocolate mocha cake?”

“Yum, that sounds good, babe. It’s been a while since you’ve baked for me.”

“It’s not for you.” I elbowed him. “It’s to welcome our neighbors.”

“Why is it so important for you to get to know these neighbors anyway? We were never friendly with the Adams, and they lived there for five years before they moved.”

“They were never interested in being friends, and the husband was a prick.” I straightened and wrapped my arms around Cairo’s neck. “We haven’t really made meaningful friendships with others while we’ve lived here. This is a chance to change all that by taking the initiative.”

“I can do that if it’s what you want.” He tipped my chin up and covered my mouth with his. “Working on that list the therapist gave me kind of put me in the mood. Are you?”

I loved that although he wasn’t too into kissing, he did it often because he knew how close I felt to him through kissing. “Why, sir, it’s broad daylight. What kind of hussy do you think I am?”

Laughing, Cairo backed me into the wall and took my lips in a searing kiss. I melted into my husband’s arms, digging my fingers into the material of his shirt as I held on. I loved this. Loved how our desire to explore with others didn’t affect intimacy between just the two of us. We were both careful, covering our bases and ensuring we understood each other before taking any action. We wanted to explore safely without damaging our relationship, and we would take as long as we needed to get to that mental space and emotional maturity to handle being entangled with someone else after being each other’s only since high school.

“Hmm, why do you get hotter every year?” Cairo mumbled against my lips.

I cupped his junk and squeezed until he groaned. He tugged my shirt and yanked it over my head. His lips fastened over one nipple, and I cried out, slipping my fingers into his hair.

“Babe—”

The chime of the doorbell echoed through the house. We both froze.

“Maybe they’ll go away,” Cairo said.

The doorbell rang again. I sighed. “Just let me get it.”

“All right, but don’t get too caught up in the conversation.”

“Is that your way of telling me I talk too much?”

He grinned, his teeth white against his rich dark mahogany skin. “It’s one of the things that makes you adorable.”

“Nice save.”

I walked to the front door. Shit, I didn’t have my shirt on. I shrugged and opened it anyway. A stocky man with inky black hair streaked through at the temples with gray stood on the step. He smiled, and my breath caught in my throat. He was about ten years older than me and gorgeous, with a square jawline and deep-set hazel eyes that held a glint of intrigue.

His gaze dropped to my naked chest, and when our gazes met, his smile widened. It wasn’t just my imagination, was it? My stomach fluttered, and I inhaled a deep breath.

“Hi, I’m Jim.” He had a pleasant voice, warm and soothing, like the velvety texture of dark chocolate. “My partner says I’m being impetuous, but I saw you peeking through the window and thought I’d drop by to assure you we’re not aliens moving into your neighborhood. Just regular people—Jim and Merry.”

Oh, drat, he was taken. I must have been wrong about the interest I’d seen in his eyes.

“Jim!” Cairo shouted from behind me. My mouth fell open as he passed me, and he and the man embraced.

Jim! Could it be the Jim from work Cairo had told me about? I hadn’t seen a picture of the guy, but Cairo had been open about them having lunch together, which sort of budded from him showing the new guy around.

“Cairo, man, am I glad to see you! You didn’t mention you lived in this neighborhood.”

“You didn’t mention you were moving.”

I cleared my throat, feeling left out of the conversation.

“Oops, my bad.” Cairo placed an arm around me and pulled me to his side. “Babe, this is the Jim I told you about from work, so I can vouch for him that he’s not an alien. Jim, this is my husband, Brandt.”

“Hi Jim, nice to meet you.”

He shook my hand, his grip firm. Tingles shot up my arm when his gaze fell fully on me once more with undivided attention, just like Cairo had done when we first met. I’d fallen for Cairo then and there. He’d made me feel like the only person in his world. I’d never thought anyone else would look at me that way again.

“Brandt, the pleasure is all mine.”

Holy shit, why did I get the impression he meant that?

A man with long blond hair down to his shoulders walked from the house next door, carrying a white Maine Coon in his arms. He seemed to be in his midtwenties. Tiny high-waisted shorts with a textured pattern and white trim around the edges showed off long, toned legs. He had complemented his outfit with a pair of white and rainbow Chuck Taylor All Star Pride from Converse. I knew the specific details because I had a similar pair.

“Merry, come on. Meet our neighbors.”

Merry stopped next to him, stroking the cat. “Hi! I hope Jim hasn’t been bothering you. I told him we should settle in first before we disturb everyone.”

A barbell piercing flashed on his tongue, matching the several piercings adorning his ears and left nostril.

“It’s no disturbance at all,” I said. “We’re always happy to meet our neighbors.”

“Believe him,” Cairo said. “He was thinking of making you all a chocolate mocha cake when you knocked.”

“Yes, please,” Merry said sweetly. “That sounds so yummy.”

Oh fuck, the way he said “yummy” went straight to my dick. Those two really suited each other.

“All right, I’ll definitely bring one over soon. I will have some time this weekend.”

“Sounds great. Then you should stay for dinner so we can get to know each other better.” Jim brushed a lock of hair from Merry’s forehead. “Guess what, Merry Berry? This is the Cairo from work I told you about. The one who’s been super helpful.”

“Ah, that Cairo.”

They exchanged a look.

Cairo and I exchanged a look.

When we glanced back at them, they were smiling, with a spark in their eyes that was hard to read. If we were single, I would think they were hitting on us. Maybe Cairo and I’d been talking too much about adding a couple to our relationship.

“By the way, do you know whose cat this is?” Merry asked. “I found her lying on top of one of our boxes in the yard. Figured she belongs to a neighbor.”

“She’s ours.” I held my arms out, and Merry kissed the head of our purring cat and handed her to me. “Thank you. She doesn’t normally leave our house.”

“I was shocked to see her wandering around,” Merry said. “A white Maine Coon isn’t something you see every day. How long have you had her?”

“Almost six years now.” I glanced at Cairo to confirm, and he nodded.

“We got Frostine four years after we got married.”

“That’s right.” I smiled at Cairo. We’d decided we didn’t want children, but a pet would make our home complete. That weekend we’d gone to the pound and had fallen in love with Frostine. Two days later, we had brought her home.

“Well, she’s a beauty. Don’t blame me if I come over to pet her.” Merry scratched Frostine behind the ears, making her purr.

I didn’t blame the cat one bit. I wanted to purr, and he wasn’t touching me.

“Well, we should get back to unpacking,” Jim said. “But we’ll see you this weekend for dinner. It was nice to meet you.”

We waved at the couple and closed the door. I let Frostine down, and she sauntered away, bored with us now that her new friends were gone. Her haughty indifference always made me chuckle.

“Holy shit, is it just me, or are they…”

Cairo nodded. “They are. Do you see what I meant about Jim now?”

“Yeah. I can see why you find him attractive, and Merry is a babe. Ugh, those legs.”

Cairo cupped my face and smiled. “I feel so close to you right now, being able to talk to you about these things.”

I knew exactly what he meant. It hadn’t always been like this. It had taken us a while to feel this level of comfort with each other, to open up and talk about our desires.

“You think we’re ready?” I asked.

“I think so. We’re ready for our sex surrogate.”

“Okay. We’ll let the therapist know when we visit next week.”

“In the meantime, I believe we have unfinished business…”