Chapter Five
T revor placed his hand on top of Matt and Niall’s. “What’ve I got to lose?”
I hope it’s not my sanity .
The smiles coming from both Matt and Niall nearly blinded Trevor. Two more hands landed on top of Trevor’s, and the heat surrounding his hand traveled up his arm and floated around his heart before dissipating.
“How about I get us some drinks?” Matt said.
Niall nodded. “I’d love a vodka tonic. Trevor?”
Trevor was once again held captive by Niall’s dark eyes. “Bushmills Black Bush, on the rocks.”
Before leaving the table, Matt placed a soft kiss on Trevor’s lips. As the kiss had done the night before, Trevor yearned for more, but Matt pulled back and walked away toward the bar.
When Trevor looked across the table, Niall’s eyes reminded him of charcoal right after a match had ignited the surface.
“I would love to know what that feels like.”
Trevor smiled. “I’m not quite that easy. Matt and I spent several hours together before his lips ever touched mine. I think in the spirit of fairness, and so I don’t start thinking I’m a total slut, I need to know more than your name and that you’re a Mohegan in search of his destiny.”
Niall nodded. “Fair enough. Will you sit next to me?”
Trevor moved over to the bench, and when the side of his body came in contact with Niall’s, he had the urge to climb into the man’s lap.
Niall wasn’t as large as Matt. He was a few inches shorter and leaner than Matt, but still rippling with muscles as evidenced by Niall’s sturdy neck and what was visible between the couple of open buttons of his shirt.
“There, that’s better. So what would you like to know?”
“How did you get the name Niall? That’s Irish, isn’t it?”
“It is. My name is in honor of my great-grandfather, who lived in Ireland.”
Niall spent the next several minutes explaining to Trevor how his family tree worked.
At the end of the story, Trevor’s mind was spinning with all the connections, but he thought he had it figured out.
It also made him glad that his own lineage was straightforward.
Trevor looked up as Matt returned with their drinks.
Matt’s smile at seeing Trevor and Niall sitting next to each other caused a resurgence of heat in his belly.
Of course, that might have been because of the large swallow of whisky Trevor shot back.
The alcohol went straight into his bloodstream since Trevor hadn’t had lunch that day, and a wonderful glow spread throughout his body.
“So you’re named after your great-grandfather. What else?”
“He’s an amazing photographer,” Matt volunteered.
“Photography? Really?”
Niall nodded. “I have a studio and gallery in Fort Point.”
He bounced in his seat. “You’re Roberge Photographics?”
“You’ve heard of me?”
“Are you kidding? I loved your pieces at the Boston Public Garden exhibit last year. I stood there for hours staring at your ‘Boston Reflections’ series, and the light you used in ‘Desert Angel’ was spellbinding.”
“Thank you.”
Trevor realized that in his excitement he’d leaned in closer to Niall.
He felt the man’s breath on his skin. Trevor stared at Niall’s bottom lip.
The skin was a darker rose than the rest of his skin.
Trevor wanted to taste it. He tilted his head up a couple of inches and brushed his lips across Niall’s, a long, lingering sweep that enabled him to taste the softness of both Niall’s lips.
The kiss Trevor had initially denied Niall became reality.
Trevor’s lips tingled and his eyes fluttered closed.
He placed his hand on Niall’s stomach as Niall’s arm snaked around his back and pulled Trevor closer.
Lights danced behind Trevor’s eyes when Niall’s tongue traced the seam of his mouth.
Trevor opened and greedily sucked the slick appendage into his body.
Niall’s tongue swiped the inside of Trevor’s mouth.
Trevor reciprocated, licking into every soft nook and cranny of his dark warrior.
A deep sigh vibrated from Niall’s throat into Trevor’s mouth.
They pulled back from one another and, as one turned to see Matt staring at them.
His forest green eyes blazed from within, causing them to brighten.
Trevor finished the last of his drink. His head swam, and the room turned slightly hazy.
He tried to shake it off. “This was only my first, correct?”
“Yes. Do you not feel well?” Matt asked.
“I feel like I’m well underway to getting my drunk on, but I normally have a decent tolerance level.”
“When did you last eat?” Niall questioned.
“Oh, right. That explains it.” Trevor smiled. “I was a little nervous about coming here tonight, so I skipped lunch and…”
“And?” Niall waited.
“Well, I was trying to pick out what to wear, so I ran out of my apartment without breakfast in order to get to work on time,” Trevor finished sheepishly.
Matt shook his head. “What are we going to do with you? At least you remembered your coat this time,” he added, jokingly.
“Well, excuse me for being more worried about my friend’s mental state than some outer garment.”
“Don’t be mad, Trevor. I meant it only as a joke.”
Trevor crooked his finger at Matt. Matt scooted his chair close to the bench, and Trevor pulled Matt in for a kiss.
“I’ll eventually learn not to get so defensive.
” He looked at Niall. “I’m not used to anybody trying to take care of me.
For most of my life, it’s been me against the world; now all of a sudden I have two older, very accomplished soon-to-be lovers.
” His head felt as though he were watching a tennis match, but this was important, so he looked back at Matt.
“If this is going to work, I need both of you to treat me as an equal. Not some little brother you have to take care of.”
“I can’t speak for Niall, but I hardly look upon you as a little brother figure. Your safety and health will always be on my mind, but that goes for Niall as much as you. And I wouldn’t dream of stripping my little brother and licking him from head to toe, as I did last night after leaving you.”
“Matt is correct. As we grow closer, it’s only natural we’ll worry about each other, sometimes unnecessarily but always with the right intentions. I don’t like the thought of you being cold anymore than Matt does, and we only met an hour ago.”
“You’re right, guys. I’m sorry. I realize I made it sound as though you’d be babying me, and I’d be a coldhearted bitch, when in fact I’ll probably be the biggest worrywart of the three of us.
As for me being cold? Sorry to tell you this, but it’s a foregone conclusion.
I’m always cold, coat or no coat. If we ever end up in bed together, I’ll be the one in the extremely unsexy flannel sleepwear. ”
“No. When we end up in bed together, you’ll be sandwiched between two living furnaces.
Frumpy flannel is a thing of your past. From now on, I want access to every inch of your skin so when Niall and I wake up in the middle of the night, we can ravish you ‘til your mind is so satiated, you’ll forget the meaning of the word ‘cold’. ”
Trevor’s mouth dropped and his brain flooded with images of him, Matt and Niall twisting around in a myriad of configurations atop a wide mattress. He couldn’t wait to see, touch, and taste the skin that he had only glimpsed that evening. “Now? Please?” he begged.
Matt looked at Niall. “Shall we?”
“Oh, yes. My place?”
Trevor watched Matt nod. It was obvious Matt was at least familiar with Niall’s place, wherever that was.
Trevor couldn’t help but be a little jealous.
He shook off the feeling as ludicrous. Matt and Niall had known each other for a week, not months or years.
They were all starting out on an even footing—relationship-wise anyway—and Trevor was interested to see how the balance between them would play out.
Trevor tried valiantly to keep from tripping over his jaw as Niall gave him the tour.
Apartments like this only existed in dreams or on TV.
Trevor stared at the red brick wall where the original print of his favorite black-and-white photograph hung.
In it, the dunes of a grassy beach surrounded the decimated hull of a ship.
Planks rose into the sky as if they were asking “why”.
The textures and details in the wood were excessively sharp, but the background was only a haze of images from the surrounding landscape.
A beam of sunlight landed directly on the wooden carcass, and every time Trevor saw this photograph he wondered what had happened.
What story lay behind the powerful image?
Warm arms came around him, and Trevor leaned back against a solid chest. He knew instantly it was Niall. The scent of cedar wove around Trevor, and he closed his eyes, inhaling a deep breath.
“Do you like it?”
Trevor nodded. “It’s one of my favorites. In a way, it reminds me of myself.”
Niall turned Trevor in his arms. “How’s that?”
“Isolated, yet surrounded. The highlights show all the imperfections, but within the shadows you can see the beauty of what the ship once was.”
A wall of warmth braced Trevor as Matt came to stand behind him. Matt’s arms came around Trevor and rested on Niall’s hips.
“You’re not alone anymore. We all have imperfections, and our beauty will be in how we support each other,” Matt said.
Trevor rested his head on Niall’s shoulder.
“Why does this feel so right? I barely know either of you, but at this moment have nowhere else I’d rather be.
I have no experience with this kind of situation, and frankly I’m a little overwhelmed.
I want to be with both of you, and yet I’m not sure how this all works.
In my past relationships, there have always been clear expectations regarding sex and boundaries.
” Trevor closed his eyes and whispered, “I feel a little lost.”