Chapter Nine
Knox clamped down on his rising lust, and shot a sharp look at Jesse over Chloe’s shoulder to ensure he did the same. They’d fuck the hell out of each other later, but this moment was about Chloe.
As he’d expected, disappointment made Jesse’s expressive mouth droop, but then he nodded in agreement and shifted her hand to cradle it against his cheek. “Chloe.”
She turned to look at him, giving Knox the back of her head, and the long, delicate line of her neck.
He wanted to sink his teeth into it and devour.
“Is it all right with you if we play a little?” Jesse was asking.
“Play?” Chloe echoed.
Jesse nodded, dragging the stubble on his jaw against the soft skin of her palm. It was a small caress, a subtle one, but Knox noted the way she shivered.
“Play,” Jesse repeated, his voice lowered to a soft rumble. “So we can find out what you like.”
“Um.” Chloe’s head swiveled back to Knox, her pretty blue eyes hazy with lust and confusion. “Does that mean sex?”
“No,” Knox said and bit back a smile at the disappointment that darkened her expression. “No intercourse, anyway.”
“But…other stuff?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said, pulling her attention back to him. “Lots of other stuff.”
“We want to make you feel good, Chloe,” Knox chimed in softly, wanting those big blue eyes back on him. “But only if that’s what you want, too.”
She let out a fluttering laugh. “Are you kidding? I’ve been wanting that for months.”
Jesse’s grin could’ve lit Cincinnati at midnight, but Knox sent him a quelling look. They needed to stay in control for this, and tread carefully. “Then kiss me, Chloe. Like you’ve wanted for months.”
Delight lit her gaze even as the pink in her cheeks deepened, and without taking her hand from Jesse’s face, she leaned in to brush her mouth over his.
She was so soft he almost couldn’t stand it.
The urge to take, to plunder, was a weight inside him, a force that took concentrated effort to hold back.
She sighed against his lips, wine and red sauce on her breath, and kissed him again, and the stroke of her tongue over his bottom lip nearly broke him.
Instead he parted his lips in invitation, and with a little hum of pleasure, she accepted.
Tentative at first, then boldly, she explored his mouth, tongue flicking, teeth testing. He let himself enjoy it, let the need and the pleasure twine through him in a dizzying swirl of sensation until he couldn’t wait any longer.
She squeaked when he sucked on her tongue, moaned when he scraped it with his teeth. And when he slid his free hand up her back to cradle her head, to angle it and take the kiss deeper, she melted against him like candy in the sun.
“Oh, shit,” Jesse muttered, the sound reaching Knox’s ears as though from a great distance, and it broke through.
He eased back, tightening his grip on her skull when she tried to follow his mouth. “I think Jesse’s feeling a little left out, darling.”
Her eyes blinked open, the blue so hazy with need that only his great love and affection for his husband stopped him from dragging her back. “Oh,” she breathed. Licking her lips, humming with pleasure, she turned to Jesse.
Who wasted no time.
He slid off the coffee table to kneel on the floor in front of her, still holding her hand to his face, and kissed her like he was dying of thirst and she was the only puddle of water in the desert.
Watching, wanting, Knox let his hand slide from the back of her head to her waist, under the flannel shirt.
The tank under it had ridden up, baring a strip of the soft, warm skin of her back, and he savored it while Jesse savored her mouth.
Jesse broke away, breathing heavily. “God damn, you can kiss.”
“Really?” she asked, her voice bright with pleasure.
His head bobbed. “Nobody ever told you that before?”
“No.”
“Men are such assholes,” Jesse griped.
She giggled, a bright, happy sound. “Will you kiss me again?”
“Baby, I’ll kiss you whenever, wherever you want,” Jesse told her, flicking his gaze to Knox. “We both will. But can I take these off first?”
She glanced down the flannel, the tank underneath. “Oh.”
“It’s okay if the answer is no,” Knox told her gently, his hand resting on her back. Her skin had popped out in goosebumps, and she wasn’t nearly as relaxed as she’d been a moment ago.
“It’s just…” Her gaze flicked between them, her plump lower lip caught between her teeth. “Can you take your shirts off, too?”
Surprised, Knox nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“I’ll feel less weird if I’m not the only one who’s half naked,” she explained, then jerked back, startled, when Jesse started wrestling his way out of his Henley.
“Christ, Jess,” Knox began, wincing when Jesse cracked an elbow against the coffee table. “Slow down. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Why won’t this come off— Ow!” Jesse exclaimed from inside the shirt. “What the fuck is my hair caught on?”
Since Chloe had collapsed into giggles, Knox got up to assist. “It’s wrapped around one of the buttons. Hold still.”
“Why does this thing have buttons, anyway?” Jesse asked, his voice muffled by the cotton. “Ow! Dammit, Knox!”
“I told you to hold still,” Knox said without sympathy and worked the hair free of the button. “There.”
Jesse tossed the shirt away, his eyes wild, his hair wilder. He raised a hand to rub at his scalp. “Shit, that hurt.”
“Poor baby,” Chloe crooned through her giggles.
Jesse grinned, then pinned a pout on his pretty face. “A kiss would make it feel better.”
Knox rolled his eyes, but he was smiling when Chloe leaned forward to press her lips to Jesse’s scalp. “There. All better.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He aimed a smug look at Knox. “And that’s how it’s done.”
Knox’s chuckle mixed with Chloe’s laugh. “You’re shameless.”
“Who needs shame?” Jesse jerked his chin at Knox. “Go on, get that sweater off so Chloe feels more comfortable.”
Smiling, and enjoying the way Chloe went from cheerful giggles to wide-eyed stillness at the order, Knox reached for the hem of his sweater.
Oh, my.
Chloe swallowed as Knox peeled the sweater over his head. She’d been distracted by the humor of the moment when Jesse had taken off his shirt, so the impact of his smooth, muscled chest and thick abs had been mitigated somewhat. But there was no lessening the impact of Knox.
He was swimmer lean, with hair fanning over his pectoral muscles. It was thick, a mix of silver and the dark brown that she assumed was his natural, pre-gray color. It trailed down to bisect his abs, fanning out again around his belly button before disappearing into the waist of his jeans.
Happy trail, she thought, her dry mouth beginning to water, and was jolted out of her fascinated stare when she felt a tug at her flannel.
Jesse was looking at her expectantly, one hand on the sleeve. “Your turn.”
It was a question still, giving her a chance to back out or slow down, and gave her the courage to peel the shirt off.
Knox murmured in approval as her shoulders were bared.
The shirt off and away, she grasped the hem of the tank and lifted it over her head, dropping it into Jesse’s waiting hands.
The room was warm, but still she shivered—not from cold, but awareness.
They were looking at her, as she’d looked at them, only the thin spandex of her bralette shielding her now.
“What do you call this thing?” Jesse wondered.
She looked at him, kneeling in front of her. “A bralette.”
He stroked one blunt fingertip down the thin strap over her shoulder. “It’s pretty.”
She’d had no idea she’d end up half naked tonight, so pretty was just the luck of the draw. The soft pink color complimented her skin, and the lace trim lent a little romance to the utilitarian garment.
“Very pretty,” Knox agreed, his eyes on hers. “Take it off.”
Her breath caught in her throat. The words were soft, with an edge of pleading, but there was a demand in his eyes.
She’d never been one for orders when it came to sex.
Egalitarian, that was her style in bed. Everyone was equal, everyone got what they needed.
But the command in those smokey eyes was compelling, the need even more so, and with her eyes locked on his, obeyed.
She dropped the garment, then held her breath as Jesse skimmed a finger over the upper curve of her right breast.
“Look at you.” His face was a mask of concentration, his touch impossibly light, desperately gentle. “God, you’re so pretty.”
“I’m small,” she said, the apology for her petite curves automatic.
“Dainty,” he corrected her in a voice rich with awe. “You’ve got fairy boobs.”
Her startled laugh made the boobs in question bounce. “Fairy boobs?”
“Tinkerbell tits?” he ventured, brown eyes twinkling into hers.
“This is getting weird,” Knox announced.
“I bet they taste like cotton candy,” Jesse said, ignoring his husband. “Can I?”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Um. Yeah, if you want.”
“Baby, there’s only one thing I want to taste more,” Jesse said and, grinning outrageously, dipped his head to her breast.
She held her breath, heart thundering, as his tongue circled her already puckered nipple.
She’d expected him to plunder and take, to devour her breast as he had her mouth, so the soft caress took her by surprise.
She sighed into it, relaxing muscles she hadn’t realized she’d tensed, and felt more than heard his answering rumble of approval.
“Well?” Knox asked.
Lost in the sweet pleasure, Chloe wondered fuzzily what he was talking about.
“Better than candy,” Jesse declared, smacking his lips, and raised his head long enough to grin at Knox. “You should taste for yourself.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Knox drawled and bent his head.
Chloe jerked at the touch of his lips, fast where Jesse had gone slow, voracious where Jesse had been restrained. His mouth closed over her nipple and sucked strongly, tongue stroking, teeth nipping, and sent her arousal spiking.