Chapter 2
Chapter Two
JACKSON
“I ’m sorry I almost fucked that up,” Sky mumbled, his mouth full of toothpaste.
They’d been together long enough that Jackson didn’t even wince anymore as flecks of toothpaste sprayed over the mirror. This was why he kept cleaning spray and paper towels under the sink at all times. He’d wipe it down when they were done, and they wouldn’t argue or fume the way they had the first few months of their relationship.
Back then, there had been three of them, and trying to blend together three young men’s preferences, habits, and proclivities had felt next to impossible.
Well, according to Connor, it had been.
Jackson’s eyes wandered over his husband’s naked chest, stopping on the hickies Tyler had left on his shoulder.
After their whirlwind threesome, Sky had curled up in Tyler’s arms, nuzzling and making out with him for almost an hour. Jackson had folded himself around Sky’s back and taken a few turns kissing him and Tyler as well. He’d felt utterly content watching the way the two men explored and got to know each other’s bodies.
“You didn’t fuck up anything, my love,” Jackson assured him. “I should’ve been much clearer from the start—with both of you. That’s my mistake, and I apologize.”
Sky spit into the sink and looked back up into the mirror, making eye contact with him as he licked the last bits of foam off his lips. Jackson allowed himself a moment to imagine those pretty lips wrapped around his cock and then his mind unhelpfully provided the image of it being Tyler’s cock. He rolled his eyes at himself and his feisty lover and walked out of the bathroom.
Ever since Sky started taking testosterone some five years back, he’d been nearly insatiable. Jackson truly didn’t mind, but as they got older, the idea of sharing Sky’s lust with another partner gained even more appeal. It was one of the many reasons he’d initially proposed inviting Tyler into their bed. That, and the way he looked at Sky—and hell, the way he looked at Jackson—lit up a part of Jackson he’d thought he’d lost years ago. Connor hadn’t been their only attempt at sharing their lives with someone else, but he’d been the longest and most successful. Given how it ended, that wasn’t saying much, but their string of polyamorous relationships had gone on hiatus when they got married three years ago.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sky’s soft hands cupping his face. Jackson looked up from where he’d come to rest on the side of their bed.
“I think it went really well? He even said he wanted to see us again?” Sky’s voice rose anxiously, turning both statements into questions.
This was the part of polyamory Jackson hadn’t missed: the uncertainty that came with introducing someone new into their bedroom…and into their lives.
Tyler had been a relatively stable figure in their work lives for almost two years. Jackson had been in charge of his training when he started at the company, and they’d immediately hit it off, becoming fast work friends and, as Tyler liked to put it, “work husbands.” They’d shared numerous lunches, coffee breaks, and a handful of dinners, many that included Sky. There had never been anything overtly flirty about their interactions, and yet he’d always felt like there was more between them than simple camaraderie.
The idea had solidified for him several months back, when Tyler had come into the office looking like hell warmed over. It turned out his on-again-off-again boyfriend had decided they should be off, period. He’d accused Tyler of being afraid of commitment and unwilling to take things seriously. While Jackson knew Tyler was a bit laid back and sometimes missed obvious cues, like Sky’s trans pride flags, he was a steadfastly loyal friend and diligent worker. Jackson found it hard to believe that if Tyler wanted something, he wouldn’t commit to it wholeheartedly.
Tyler had been explaining the breakup, grasping desperately at his head in pain, when Jackson gripped the nape of his neck and began massaging it. He’d done this before when Tyler would complain of blue light headaches and muscle strain, but he’d never done it without asking permission and never over something personal.
Tyler had looked at him with such naked affection and appreciation, something had shifted in Jackson.
“I think it went very well,” Jackson finally responded. “But we didn’t establish what this means for us.”
Tyler had declined their invitation to spend the night, but he’d shyly asked if maybe they could “get dinner” again soon. The way his eyes roamed over first Jackson’s and then Sky’s still naked bodies had made his meaning crystal clear.
“That’s true,” Sky said, climbing into Jackson’s lap, “but maybe it’s too early for the ‘what are we’ talk. We’re clearly great as coworkers, and I’d go so far as to say I’d consider us friends. Now we also know we’re very compatible in bed, but…well, I guess there’s a lot more to it than that, especially in a relationship like this.” Sky’s face scrunched up, and Jackson would have found it cute if not for the way Sky’s hands also clutched anxiously at Jackson’s shoulders.
The beginning of relationships was always harder on Sky than it was on Jackson. Sky tended to throw himself headfirst into the deep end, whereas Jackson preferred to slowly wade in.
He idly stroked the soft skin of Sky’s thigh. He was a fair bit smaller than Jackson’s six foot, two-hundred pound self. When they’d met, Sky identified as male, but hadn’t started testosterone or had any procedures done. He’d been a little softer and rounder back then. Over the years, with the help of two procedures, T, and Sky’s “gender affirming workouts,” as he called them, he’d developed hard muscles, flat planes, and a few sharp edges.
Jackson, on the other hand, had been lanky and awkward growing up. Over the past few years, he’d moved in the opposite direction from his husband, growing softer, gaining some nice padding around his middle and thighs. Jackson didn’t mind, and Sky liked to worship every dimple and roll in his body. Even gym rat Tyler had run his hands over Jackson’s round stomach and palmed his large ass several times the previous night. Personally, he’d always thought his best features were the shock of black hair and pin straight beard he’d inherited from his Vietnamese father. If his lovers liked to appreciate his larger body, though, he wouldn’t complain.
In fact, it appeared Sky had grown bored of Jackson’s silent contemplation, and he slid to his knees between Jackson’s legs and began running his hands up and down the meat of Jackson’s thighs.
“What do you need, love,” Jackson whispered, cupping Sky’s face.
“You. Always you,” Sky murmured as he leaned forward and took Jackson’s soft length in his mouth.
As his husband sucked him to hardness, he let all of his trepidation about the future fade away. He could worry about it on Monday.
* * *
A near catastrophic accounting error kept Jackson so busy that he didn’t end up seeing Tyler, let alone worrying about anything in his personal life, until Thursday morning.
They ran into each other at the coffee machine, and Tyler gave him an appraising once over before smiling his usual smile in greeting. Jackson had to admit, it made his chest heat up, the way Tyler’s cheeks dimpled ever so slightly. They chatted briefly about the shit show that had been their week. Tyler stood a little closer to him than strictly necessary, but other than that, there was no sign of their Friday night tryst.
Sky used the excuse of wanting to “check on the status of an invoice” to visit the accounting department later that afternoon. He leaned against the side of Jackson’s desk, and Jackson studied the soft lines of his spine but also noted the sharp curve of his raised shoulders.
“We’re both a bit swamped right now,” Jackson admitted when Sky inquired about Tyler, “but things should settle down by the end of the day.”
“Lovely. So you can go ahead and extend a dinner invitation to him for Friday night,” Sky said with a loaded look before sauntering out of Jackson’s office.
He couldn’t put his finger on why, but he found himself procrastinating with other tasks for the rest of the afternoon. As the clock neared six, he knew he needed to make a move or risk Tyler making other plans. Hell, he might have already made other plans. They hadn’t discussed exclusivity, and Jackson would never ask that of someone when they first started out.
He gnawed on his thumbnail as he sent a quick instant message to Tyler, asking him to come into his office for a moment.
Tyler appeared a few minutes later, cheeks flushed a soft pink and hair a little disheveled. “Please don’t tell me you found another error. I might quit if you do,” he said, slumping into the chair across from Jackson’s desk.
His shoulders stretched the seams in his pale blue dress shirt, and as he threw his right ankle over his left knee, Jackson couldn’t help but spot the slight bulge in his pants. He’d noticed all these things before but always with an air of detachment. It was different now that he’d gripped those shoulders and watched that length enter his eager husband.
Right, eager husbands. “No, thankfully, we seem to have gotten through all the errors.”
“Oh, thank god. I don’t know if I could do two more late nights.”
Tyler relaxed even further into the chair, tilting his head back revealing a small bruise at the base of his throat. Jackson had watched Sky put it there, saying “you might have to wear a tie the next few days, darling.”
Jackson tilted back in his own chair, trying to give off an air of nonchalance he wasn’t feeling. “It has been a pretty rough week.” He racked his brain trying to remember if he’d been this nervous in their last polyam relationship. There was just something about Tyler that made his head, and his heart, race. “We…that is, Sky and I were wondering if you’d like to come over tomorrow night. Unwind after the long week.”
Tyler raised a curious eyebrow at him but didn’t shift out of his relaxed pose. “I’m actually on kiddo duty. Clara and Stephanie have date nights every other Friday.”
Jackson tried to hide his disappointment, but he couldn’t fault Tyler for doing a favor for his sister and her wife. If anything, his close relationship with the two women had always endeared him to Jackson.
He apparently didn’t do a good job of remaining aloof because Tyler sat up straighter in his chair. As Jackson watched, his face softened, and he gifted Jackson with a small smile. “I’m free Saturday night, though.”
Jackson forced his posture to remain casual as he smiled back. “Saturday night it is.”
He found himself anxiously watching the clock from Thursday evening until Saturday night at six pm on the dot, when a casually dressed Tyler showed up on their doorstep with two bags of Thai food. By eight, the three of them were making out against their kitchen island, and a few minutes past eight-thirty, they were all naked and frotting on the couch.
This time, Jackson was the one to lead them to the bedroom. He watched in awe as Tyler slowly prepped both of Sky’s holes. After he pulled Sky onto his condom-clad dick, he held out a hand in invitation to Jackson.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been invited by a third person to fuck his own husband, but the action wasn’t lost on him—or Sky, who began pleading for more the second Jackson entered his tight ass. Just like the first time, it took them a little while to find their rhythm, but once they did, Sky was shouting in pleasure, reaching a tenor and volume Jackson hadn’t heard in years. Jackson himself reached new levels of pleasure watching their two cocks move in and out of Sky’s gorgeous body.
Jackson reached around his husband’s sweaty chest to give his neglected cock some attention, but he found Tyler’s hand there, already hard at work. Without having to say a word, Tyler flattened his hand against Sky’s pubic bone and used the sides of two fingers to stroke Sky up and down. Jackson rested the heel of his hand on Tyler’s knuckles and used his thumb to rub circles into the tip of Sky’s dick.
“Oh god, Ty, Jackson!” Sky screamed, and he came with an aborted cry.
Jackson found that not only did he not want the sex to end, he didn’t want to move his hand off of Tyler’s. There was something strangely intimate about that little point of connection. Their legs were pressed together, their sweat mixing and dripping onto the bed while they each held Sky in their laps. That was out of necessity, though. This felt like a purposeful union, and he wanted a few more moments of it.
He took a chance, and threaded their fingers together, and Tyler glanced at him in surprise. Their eyes met and held, and he watched with rapt attention as Tyler’s pupils dilated.
Sky whined as he began to come down from his orgasm, and Jackson released Tyler’s fingers. He moved his hand to Sky’s hip, preparing to lift him up and off, but Sky clutched at him and pressed his other hand to Tyler’s chest.
“Just…a minute,” he gasped, and both larger men waited as he fought to catch his breath.
After a few minutes of exquisite torture, where Jackson could feel every shift Tyler made inside Sky’s body, Sky slowly began moving his hips again. He turned his head and gave Jackson a wicked grin as he flexed and squeezed his ass around Jackson’s length.
He didn’t last very long after that, especially after he heard Sky whisper, “You like that, darling? Fucking my cum back into me?”
After he came, Jackson left his softening cock in his lover as Tyler raced towards his release.
When Tyler finally finished, Sky clung to him and refused to let him up to shower until he agreed to stay the night. Tyler blushed harder than at any point while they’d been having sex, but he mumbled his agreement into Sky’s neck. Jackson wasn’t sure whose grin was larger, Tyler’s or Sky’s.
Tyler woke them up in the morning with kisses and groping hands. Before he could get too carried away, Jackson pulled him and his grumbling husband into the bathroom for teeth brushing. When Sky produced a toothbrush he’d bought earlier that week, Tyler didn’t say anything, but his hazel eyes practically glowed as he hugged Sky tight to his chest. Sky finished brushing well before the recommended two minutes were up and dashed back into the bedroom.
Jackson and Tyler found him a few minutes later, kneeling on the bed with his strapless strap-on protruding out in front of him. Tyler dove for him, and the two wrestled around, kissing and caressing as they both attempted to get their fingers in each other’s holes to prep for this new configuration. Jackson slid back into bed and handed over the lube bottle when Sky made grabby hands for it. He tore open a condom, mostly for ease of cleaning the dildo, and for the second time in twelve hours, he found himself lodged inside Sky’s perfect ass.
Tyler made much different noises when his only job was being fucked, not also doing the fucking. Jackson tried to catalog them all, noting the angle Sky used that made him yelp versus the speed that made him moan. Sky was making a litany of noises, too, pressing back on Jackson’s cock just the way he liked it, while also focusing intently on pleasing Tyler. Jackson explored the familiar contours of his back for a while, but when Tyler threaded his legs around Sky’s back, Jackson began massaging the bulge in his calves and teasing the tender skin on the backs of his thighs. They made eye contact a few times, him and Tyler, and when Jackson pressed all their bodies tightly together, Tyler’s eyes rolled back in his head.
To Sky’s obvious elation and Jackson’s more quiet joy, Tyler spent the remainder of the day with them, enjoying sandwiches in bed for lunch and Thai food leftovers in front of the TV for dinner. Jackson ended up with Sky’s feet in his lap as he dozed off in Tyler’s arms. He and Tyler made eye contact again, and something was different in the way Tyler was looking at him. It was assessing and almost curious, a bit of wonder mixed in with his normal good cheer.
That same look was present Monday morning when they chatted at the water cooler and Tuesday afternoon when he invited Jackson to grab a coffee at the Rainbow Bean next door. Wednesday, his eyes held a new fire in them as he asked what Jackson and Sky were doing that weekend. When Friday arrived, Tyler’s eyes were practically molten lava as he sank to his knees in their foyer and took Jackson in his mouth.
“Wanted to do this…all week,” Tyler admitted between sucks. He reached for Sky, who was clinging to Jackson’s side, and nearly ripped the button off his work pants yanking them open.
Sky laughed in excitement and then moaned in pleasure as Tyler gripped his dick between his thumb and forefinger, stroking him expertly as he swallowed Jackson down. Jackson and Sky ended up coming in their foyer, and together they made Tyler come with their hands on their living room couch.
“You know,” Jackson said as he trailed his fingers through the mess on Tyler’s stomach. “I don’t think we’ve ever gotten as much use out of this couch as we have the past two weeks.”
Tyler grinned lazily, stopping Jackson’s hand with his own, only to link their fingers together and lift Jackson’s hand to his lips.
“I’d be happy to help you get some more use out of it next weekend,” he murmured, before pressing a kiss against Jackson’s knuckles.
Sky clapped his hands in joy and dove on top of Tyler, squirming around until he was lying with his back pressed to Tyler’s chest. Jackson tried to feel that same level of joy, but it sounded like Tyler wasn’t planning on spending the evening or the weekend with them. Jackson probably shouldn’t have expected him to, but he’d shown up with a backpack Jackson had hoped was filled with overnight supplies.
He glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough, the backpack sat abandoned in their front hall. He didn’t think Sky would try and hold his shower-access hostage again, not two weekends in a row. Sky would probably rely on Jackson to make that move, but his tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he turned back to face his lovers.
He was surprised to find Tyler had his phone in his hand, and he was looking expectantly at Jackson.
“Did you hear me?” Tyler asked.
Jackson gulped. “Sorry, no, I was…distracted.”
Tyler’s eyes roved over his face but then an eager smile broke across his face. “I asked you if kebabs sound good for dinner. I thought they might give us some leftovers for tomorrow.”
Jackson gulped again, but this time because his heart had lodged itself somewhere high in his throat, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to swallow his next breath let alone his favorite kabab koobideh, so he just nodded. Sky thankfully knew his order, and a few minutes later, they were back to snuggling as they waited for their food to be delivered.
Jackson began to suspect he was in trouble when Tyler spent not one, but two nights in their bed. They spent most of the weekend taking turns on Jackson’s Nintendo Switch and Sky’s Xbox. They came up with new and innovative ways to cuddle, and the hours bled together into a domestic blur.
At one point Saturday afternoon, after it was clear Tyler and Jackson would be preoccupied fighting zombies for a few hours, Sky left them to go workout. Even though it was actually the first time they’d ever been alone together in the house, it felt completely natural. An hour or so later, when Sky got home, they both followed him into the shower, and that felt just as natural.
On Sunday, Jackson had to leave for a pre-scheduled coffee date with his mom. Just like the previous day, Tyler didn’t even bat an eye at being left alone with one of them. Jackson, on the other hand, found it incredibly distracting knowing his husband and his lover were at home together, getting up to god knows what while he was gone.
While he wasn’t an avid runner, on days when he needed to clear his head, he would sometimes go for a jog around the neighborhood. There was this point in the run—he was pretty sure actual runners called it a runners high—where the burn in his lungs would fade into the background, and his thoughts would sharpen. The burn was still there, as were the aches in his knees and back, but it somehow felt less important.
Jackson figured he was definitely in trouble when he began experiencing something akin to this when the three of them were together. The usual stress of the week would fade away, and the dull ache he felt in his chest for Tyler, and even for Sky, would fade away, leaving a buoyant joy in its place.
When he was away from the other two men, the ache returned in full force, often mimicking heartburn to the point he wondered if he should start carrying antacids with him. He wasn’t entirely new to this feeling. He remembered it from the early months with Sky and Connor, where even a few hours felt like too long to be apart. Things had cooled, as they tended to do, between him and Sky as love settled over the lust. It left him with a more sustainable, low-level thrum he carried deep in his chest. Now, though, it felt like that flame had reignited, and he was burning for both men, his feelings for the two beginning to mix and meld.
This seemed problematic, given that they still hadn’t had all the conversations Jackson considered necessary for starting a polyam relationship, though they had talked about other things. They took turns fleshing out their dating history, dancing around some of the tougher moments with Connor, and highlighting instead some of the funnier encounters they’d had in threesomes. Tyler opened up about a string of failed relationships, and Sky held his hand tightly the entire time. They also talked at length about boundaries and consent. They still hadn’t made any move to clarify their relationship, though.
Tuesday morning, Tyler instant messaged Jackson and asked him to come into his office. Jackson did, expecting the worst, and was utterly unprepared to have Tyler close the door and thrust his phone in his face.
“I got an updated panel done last week on a rush order. I’m negative across the board, and–” Tyler fell silent for the length of one of Jackson’s anxious breaths, before he rushed to say, “And I’m not seeing anyone else right now.”
Jackson could only blink at the screen as he slowly took his phone and dutifully scrolled through the document. He might as well have been reading the Bible in Latin, though, because he didn’t take in a word of it. Hope was a scary thing, filling his chest like a balloon and nearly blocking out his vision.
“And you’re showing me this because–”
“Because this weekend, I say we throw out the condoms and celebrate,” Tyler said with an impish grin.
Jackson’s stomach tightened in anticipation, but his heart sank. That wasn’t exactly what he’d been hoping to hear when Tyler said he wasn’t seeing anyone else. He and Sky had begun discussing what the next phase of their relationship with Tyler could look like, and exclusivity was a big part of it. They were polyam, always had been and always would be, but they preferred closed, polyfidelitous relationships.
Jackson wasn’t brave enough to bring it up now, and even if he wanted to, Tyler surged forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Jackson barely had time to return the kiss before Tyler squeezed his ass and sent him back to his own office.
It had been a long time since Jackson had done something salacious at work, but by his lunch break, he was aching so badly he couldn’t think straight. He texted Sky to meet him at the car, which he always parked in a quiet corner of the parking garage.
Sky was curious but all too eager to oblige. He scurried into the back seat and allowed Jackson to pull his pants down and bend him over the front console of the car.
“Which hole?”
“Front,” Sky whined as Jackson teased Sky’s dick with a spit-slick finger.
His mind wandered as he went through the familiar motions of prepping Sky. Tyler played a prominent role in many of his jangled thoughts as he slid a third finger into Sky, scissoring and twisting until he bucked his hips.
“Jackson! Please!” Sky begged, and Jackson pulled his fingers free.
He smeared on some lube from a packet he found in the glove compartment and pushed into his groaning husband.
He bent over and put his mouth right next to Sky’s ear. “Tyler got updated test results, and he wants to come over this weekend to take advantage of that.”
Sky moaned, and Jackson began thrusting into him.
“Does that mean…he’s ours now? He doesn’t want to see anyone else?” Sky asked, whimpering and arching his back as Jackson reached between his legs to stroke his dick again.
“I think we need to discuss that with him,” Jackson said, tilting his hips and slamming into Sky, causing him to scream in surprise. Jackson wrapped his free hand around Sky’s mouth, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to them.
Sky whimpered against his hand and desperately pushed back against Jackson’s chest. The mixed smell of them filled the car, and Jackon’s frantic, disjointed thoughts finally settled.
He could name every freckle and tiny mole on Sky’s body. The shape of him in Jackson’s arms was almost more familiar than his own, and yet, watching Tyler slowly map Sky’s body the past few weeks had reminded Jackson of a few of his husband’s most sensitive spots.
He ran his hand down Sky’s chest and pressed against his belly as he dug his knees into the floor of the car so he could drive up into him. Sky cried out against his hand and sank his blunt fingernails into Jackson’s forearm.
“Please,” he mumbled and Jackson sucked on the spot right below his left ear.
“I’ve got you, love,” he whispered.
He just hoped after this weekend, maybe he’d have Tyler, too.