Chapter 25 Jackal
JACKAL
By the time we reach the bedroom and put Isla’s feet back on the floor, the lines in Garrett’s face say he’s bone tired in a way that comes from healing while trying to pretend you’re okay. Running across the street to get to Isla without any thought for himself is exactly the man I know and love.
I wouldn’t have expected anything else.
Same with the stubbornness that he couldn’t wait downstairs for me to help him, because help makes him feel weak. And it’s the first step to admitting that you need someone badly.
“Let’s get you undressed,” I say as he slams his hand against the doorframe and sucks in a breath.
“I got it,” he says, slowly toeing off his boots.
Isla steps in front of him. “With respect, you don’t got it.”
I can see him grapple with finding an answer. I say, “We can undress you together.”
“That sounds way hotter than it’s actually gonna be,” he grumbles.
Isla takes his hand and leads him closer to the bed. “What do you normally sleep in?” she asks.
“Nothing. But if that makes you uncomfortable, I can find something.”
She smiles shyly. “I think we’re past the point of that being an issue.”
He cups her chin and kisses her tenderly. “I think you’re right, Sunbeam.”
There’s something about watching the two of them that affirms what I already knew. That my Bear has an immense capacity for love, but like a mistreated pet, he’s been wounded almost every time he’s tried. And Isla brings out a different kind of tenderness in him.
It’s like a little kitten just got put in his big hands and he knows not to be too rough with it.
I step behind him and slide my hands beneath the shirt, stroking a chest I’ve touched a million times. He smells of the soap he put in the bath and the laundry detergent we use, and I press my nose against his neck.
“I missed having you with me today,” I say.
“I’m always on your right, even if you can’t see me,” he replies.
I press a kiss behind his ear and slide my hands beneath the waistband of the sweats. “No underwear. I like it.” My hand shifts until I’m cupping his cock. It’s heavy in my hand. Not soft, not yet fully hard.
Isla studies the buttons on the shirt like there’s gonna be a midterm on them later. I try to remind myself that this is new to her. I don’t want her to think she can’t look at the two of us when we’re intimate with each other.
But I’m reasonably certain that isn’t the reason she keeps her chin down.
“Hey, Sunshine,” I say. “You forget how to open buttons?”
Her eyes shift to mine. “I was just thinking how lucky I am that the two of you moved in across the street. If you hadn’t, we might never have…”
Garrett pulls Isla to his chest, and I gently wrap my arms around them both. Isla’s head is tucked against Garrett’s chest, my forehead on Garrett’s shoulder.
It’s not awkward to hold them both, and the self-enforced binders I wrapped around my chest when I agreed to monogamy all those years ago release a little.
I’ve loved this man for a long time. Loved him loud and quiet.
Chosen him when choosing him meant closing doors I used to leave cracked open for the possibilities of more.
So, watching him like this, watching him soften under someone else’s careful attention, watching him allow himself to be…
tended…does something else to me entirely.
Isla looks up at me, eyes questioning, and I wink at her. I’m rewarded with a playful smile that reaches her eyes.
Our bedroom is warm, lamps casting soft light over the big bed I’m in no rush to climb into. The sheets are rumpled from earlier.
Isla is the first to move, uncertain fingers reaching for the top button of Garrett’s shirt. I let her take her fill as she undoes them one by one. Eventually, she steps back so she can reach the lower ones.
And I use the opportunity to slide my hands back into his sweats, pushing them down strong thighs. When I reach his ankles, he steps out of them. Then, I take a moment to remove his socks. As I stand, Isla is running her fingers over his shoulders to push the sleeves of the shirt off them.
When Garrett is naked, I ease him down onto the mattress.
“Fuck me,” he grumbles as he settles back against the pillows.
“I’m pretty certain that isn’t what you need.” My tone tells him I’m joking.
He hooks his hand around my neck. “Or maybe that’s exactly what I need.”
I let him tug my lips to his and kiss him firmly.
The intimacy of properly kissing another person is deeply personal.
This won’t be the first time in my life I’ve been in bed with two people, but in switching between kissing Isla and Bear, I realize that it’s different.
Hard to define. It’s the kind of life-changing special that most people spend their lives looking for
I suppose there’s the obvious. Their lips are different.
The way we fit together is unique. And I kiss Bear with the familiarity of someone who has kissed him a thousand times before.
With Isla, it’s new. Exploring what works, what feels good.
There’s the comfort in kissing someone I know and love; there’s the excitement of learning to kiss someone new.
And they touch different parts inside me. With Garrett, I let him lead when I can sense he needs it. With Isla, I want to lead her to the possibilities of us.
“It’s beautiful how you love each other,” Isla says, and I pull away from Garrett a little.
“Are you up to joining in?” I ask her.
“Yeah. Just…go gently,” she replies.
I offer my hand to Isla, and after waiting for half a second, she exhales and steps closer. “I don’t want to do this wrong.”
“You can’t do anything wrong,” Garrett offers. “Except lie to us about whether you actually want this.”
Her fingers are warm and small in mine. I say, “There’s only what we want and can offer each other. And what the big guy can handle.”
Garrett huffs. “You don’t need to be taking care of me. I’m not made of glass.”
I place my hand on his chest. “No. But you’re made of skin and bones that can break just as easily when you’re catapulted from your bike or run to the aid of a woman when you’re already broken.”
He smiles at that. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same.”
I stand fully and cup Isla’s cheeks. “You okay with this?”
“I am. I just…I want to be mindful. You were…are each other’s, first.”
I kiss her, savoring the way she lets me in so easily. Our tongues meet and my cock fully engages. “We’ll always be each other’s. We just want to know if you want to be ours too.”
“I want to say we should go slow, but I also know enough that I’m about to end up naked,” Isla says. “I’m nervous.”
Garrett exhales. “You want to know something wild, Isla?”
“What’s that?” she asks.
“I haven’t ever been with a woman before. And I’m glad you’re my first.”
“Oh,” is all she says to the revelation, but her eyes are wide with surprise. “I think this week might hold a lot of firsts for both of us. I’ve never done…well, this…with an established couple before.”
Garrett chuckles. “You don’t need to do anything. You can join in. You can watch. You can head downstairs and we’ll give you a shout when we’re done. Every option is on the table for you.”
She shakes her head. “I want to be here. I was just verbalizing how I’m feeling.”
I kiss her again. “We appreciate your honesty.”
I help Garrett adjust against the pillows, so he’s sitting reasonably upright but without all the pressure on his ribs.
He tips his head back, and I trace my fingers along the ink over his collarbone.
While this isn’t the first time I’ve been in bed with more than one person, it’s the first time I’ve been nervous too.
I’ve loved this man in a hundred different versions of him. I’ve loved the feral man who fucked me hard the first night I met him. I’ve loved the broken man he revealed beneath. I’ve loved the part of him that has been healing slowly all this time.
And I want to love this woman with him.
Perhaps my anxiety is because this means so much more. I know this is new for Garrett and me to navigate. And maybe it’s because I’ve seen polyamorous relationships work, that I’ve been too confident, but I can’t allow this to break the foundation we have.
I doubt it will.
I hope it doesn’t.
I won’t let it.
But like the spark of a campfire, I can feel this triad starting to take hold. There’s so much more that the three of us can become.
I boop the end of his nose, partly to play with Garrett, but also to ease my own mood.
“Come here, Sunshine,” I say. “It seems unfair that Garrett is the only one naked right now.”
I slip my hand beneath her hoodie…my hoodie…and remove it, along with the tank top. Her tits sit high, even without a bra. Pretty dusky nipples that immediately pucker, even though the room is warm. I toss the clothes in the direction of the chair but miss.
Isla giggles, and I wink at her.
I place my hands on her shoulders, moving them over her skin, the roughness of my palms catching her. “So soft,” I say.
My hands move around her, dip over her ass as I kiss her. She rises onto her tiptoes, and I pull her tight against me. My cock presses up against her stomach. I love the way she feels against me. Such a contrast to Bear’s solid frame. It stretches me in different places to reach her mouth.
My protective instincts flare.
How fucking dare someone try to hurt her?
Under my protection, she won’t have to worry about facing that alone anymore.
Isla’s hands curl into my shirt as she grips it.
My hands roam her naked back, enjoying the feel of her as I kiss her. “Did you enjoy helping Garrett get off earlier?”
Isla’s cheeks bloom pink, but she nods.
In their own way, they went slow. “He looks hot when he comes, doesn’t he?”
She glances over her shoulder at him. “He does.”
I dip my hands into the waistband of her pajamas and drag them down her legs, dropping to my knees so I can help her step out of them.
Fuck, I forgot how much I love the smell of pussy.
I place a run of kisses from her belly button to her mound. Isla’s hips move of their own volition, and I look up at her. “Did helping him get off turn you on?”
Isla covers her face with a hand. “Why are you asking me questions like this?”
I pull her hand away. “Because you admitted to us that you lost track of what you were consenting to. And as a result, probably lost touch with what you really enjoy. So, every step of the way, I’m gonna need to know that you want this.
I’m gonna need to know if you’re enjoying it.
I don’t want to add to the list of people who took what they wanted and left you high and dry.
And until I know your body well enough, I’m gonna need to hear you tell me. ”
“Fine, yes, it did.” There’s a spark of fire in her response. I wonder if the real Isla is somewhere between the club girl she was and the good girl she’s become.
I glance around her so I’m looking at Garrett. Arousal always mottles his chest a blotchy red. “Turns me on too when I see him working his cock.”
My knee cracks as I stand and spin her so she’s facing Garrett. I reach around Isla and cup both her tits, holding them in my palms, rubbing my thumbs over her nipples. “What do you think of our girl, Bear?”
He holds Isla’s gaze for a hot moment, and if there’s one thing my man gives, it’s a good eye fucking. “Worth every minute we waited.”
I turn my lips to Isla’s ear. “That’s a really good answer. I think you should go say thank you while I take my clothes off.” I sweep her up and place her astraddle Garrett’s thighs.
“Oh my God, no. We’re going to hurt him,” Isla says.
“Takes more than the weight of you on my thighs to hurt,” he says, but Isla remains upright on her knees as Garrett pulls her to him.
From this angle, I get a glimpse of her pussy. It’s hairless and glistening, and my cock aches in response to thinking of all the choreography we can do in the future when Garrett’s healed.
For now, this feels too special to rush. Garrett’s too hurt for us both to penetrate her at the same time, but I have an idea.