Chapter 8: Eve

“We should head back inside.” Liam nudged me, and I reluctantly straightened, instantly missing the feel of his warm body against mine.

I glanced out at the lake one last time. The sun was just making its appearance, a rainbow of colors announcing its arrival while the water shimmered in a celebratory dance. I sighed. “I haven’t watched the sun rise over this lake in years.”

“Don’t you come here every summer?” he asked.

“Yes. But you know Derrick. He’s worse than a teenager with the way he likes to stay up late and sleep all day. It’s a wonder he hasn’t lost his job yet.”

He laughed. “He certainly likes to have his fun, but he’s a good guy. Responsible.”

“I know.” I stood and dusted the sand from my butt. That was the thing with Derrick—it was always all or nothing with him. He was either cutting loose and having fun without a care in the world. Or he was strait-laced and so serious, he was no fun at all. There was never a middle ground with him, and it could be exhausting at times. At least this weekend, I was getting the fun Derrick.

Liam stood and took my hand. We walked inside, and I went to the kitchen. “Want some coffee or something?”

“No. Thank you.” He sat on the couch and crooked his finger at me. “Come here.”

My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I fought to take a deep breath as I slowly approached. I joined him on the couch, and he draped his arm around my shoulders. Taking the blanket from around my shoulders, I spread it out over the top of us and snuggled to his side. “This is nice,” I said around a yawn.

His only response was a tender, lingering kiss on my forehead. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table, allowing me to stretch my legs out on the couch. I put my head on his chest and yawned again.

“There’s really no special woman in your life?” I didn’t know why I couldn’t let this go, but it made no sense why he was still single when he had so much to offer. He was smart, sexy, successful, and now I knew he could satisfy a woman, too.

He chuckled softly. “No. Why does it feel like you’re trying to pawn me off on someone? Are you hoping to get me hitched so Derrick will stop sharing you with me?”

“What? No. Of course not.” In fact, the thought of him leaving had my heart seizing. I twisted around to look up at him, shocked and relived to see the playful twinkle in his eyes. “I just figured someone would’ve snatched you up by now.”

“Oh, there have been a few who’ve tried, but there hasn’t been anyone I want to settle down with.” He twisted a lock of my hair around his finger, then released it before grazing his fingertip across my jaw.

Settling into his warm body, I sighed and draped my arm across his stomach. “Do you think you’ll ever settle down?”

“Maybe. Someday.”

“Would you be monogamous? Or would you want to share?”

Liam was silent for a few moments, his fingers moving to the side of my neck, featherlight in his caress. I held my breath, waiting, hoping I hadn’t pushed the issue too hard. Finally, he said, “I guess that would depend on who I ended up settling down with. If it was someone who enjoyed the same lifestyle, I’d probably welcome a third into our marriage, but it would have to be someone I trusted. A lot. And right now, the only person I trust that much is Derrick.”

I laughed. “He’s sort of spoken for.”

“I know.” He sighed.

“But, for the right woman, you’d be willing to give it all up?” That was what I really wanted to know. I thought Derrick had done that for me, but apparently, I’d been wrong.

“In a heartbeat.” His voice had dipped low, the raspy lilt whispering over my senses. “What’s with all the questions, Eve?”

I shrugged awkwardly. “I guess I’m still trying to understand all of this. Why there’s a need to share, where it comes from, how some people can give it up while others can’t.”

“It’s different for everyone.”

“Well, what’re your reasons?”

“So inquisitive,” he said, humor lacing his words. He moved his hand down to rest on my hip, pulling me closer, and I didn’t resist. For a fleeting second, I wondered if I should feel guilty about snuggling on the couch like this with my husband’s best friend, asking him some very personal questions that I had no right to ask. But just as quickly, the guilt fled. Derrick had invited Liam here for the sole purpose of sharing me, and my husband wasn’t stupid. He knew I would never have sex with someone and not spend time getting to know him.

“For me, it all started with Sarah Cranston,” he said.

“Wait, wasn’t that Derrick’s first college girlfriend?”

“Yes. Derrick had been dating her for a few months before I met her, and I liked her immediately. I didn’t know it at the time, but he’d been sharing her, and he suggested I try it, too, with them. It took me a while to warm up to the idea, but Derrick sold the lifestyle hard, and so I tried it.”

I swallowed hard. For some reason, I’d always thought it was Liam who brought Derrick into the lifestyle. I had no idea it was the other way around. “So, Sarah is the one who convinced Derrick to share in the first place?”

“I think that’s something you should ask your husband.”

“I have. Repeatedly,” I snapped. “He won’t talk about it with me. I know very little about his life before me, and I have a feeling the things he does tell me are only half-truths.”

Liam put his hand under my chin and tilted my head so I was staring into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Eve, but it’s not my place to tell you his story. That’s something he needs to do.”

“I know,” I whispered, disappointment settling in my bones.

“But”—he brushed his lips over mine—“I can and will tell you anything you want to know about me. All you have to do is ask.”

My eyes fluttered closed, and I moved my head just enough to feel his lips whisper over mine again. I wanted him to kiss me like he had on the beach, but he wasn’t, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. “Obviously you liked sharing, because you continued to do it.”

“Yes.” He sucked my bottom lip between his teeth, and I moaned.

“Have you always been the third?”

“No, not always.” He traced my lip with his tongue in a diabolical tease of a kiss he had yet to give me. “But usually.”

It was impossible to focus on his answers or what my next question should be when he was teasing my mouth, pushing me to the verge of begging for a kiss. “Why’s that?”

“Because I’m a possessive asshole when it comes to a woman I care for.” He pressed his lips to mine, then smiled. “Maybe greedy is a better word.”

“So, you don’t want to share what’s yours, but you’ll share what belongs to someone else?” I grinned.

“Exactly.” He slipped his hand around to cradle the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair. “It’s easier to share when I don’t have a prior emotional connect to the woman, because then it’s all about the pleasure. It’s fun and easy.”

“Wait.” I pulled back, stunned, but Liam didn’t release his hold on me. “Are you saying every woman you’ve shared has just been sex? You’ve had no feelings for any of them?” The thought of Liam using women like that twisted my stomach. He’d been nothing but gentle and caring with me, like it was in his nature to be that way. How could he be so careless with others?

“It’s not all about the sex, Eve. I’ve had a certain level of feelings for every woman I’ve been with. I don’t use them or disrespect them. I care for them, but I don’t love them.” His gaze was unflinching and sincere.

“Have you ever been in love?”

His eyes darkened with what could only be described as heartache. “Yes.”

“Did you share her?”

“Yes.” His answers were becoming clipped, and I knew I should stop prying, but he was willing to share this part of himself with me, and I was dying to know more.

“What happened?” I whispered.

“She fell in love with someone else.”

My eyes widened, and my heart cracked for him, for the pain I heard in his voice, for the devastation I saw in his expression. “Oh, Liam. I’m sorry that happened to you.” I closed the distance between us and slanted my mouth over his, hoping he’d take the comfort I was offering.

And he did.

He parted my lips, his tongue sliding over mine, licking and swirling, tempting me to do so much more than kiss him. And God help me, I wanted to. I wanted to climb on his lap and demand he fuck me. Without my husband. Just me and Liam getting lost in each other. I whimpered at the adulterous thought, but I couldn’t tear myself away from him. But he had no problems doing just that. He broke the kiss and held me away from him, his lips red and wet from my kiss, his chest rising and falling with his labored breaths, his eyes darker than a stormy midnight sky.

“I’m sorry,” I said for a lack of anything better to say.

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “For kissing me?”

I shrugged, embarrassment heating my face.

“Eve, honey, don’t ever apologize for taking what you want.”

“Even if what I want will hurt the person I love?” What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I thinking these things let alone saying them aloud? And what exactly did I mean with that question? Because deep down, I knew I was talking about a hell of a lot more than just a kiss or sex.

“If it was going to hurt him, he never would’ve invited me here.”

Logically, that made sense, but still. Having sex with Liam when Derrick was sleeping in the next room was wrong. Even though this was Derrick’s idea, it would still be a betrayal. “Does a situation like this ever work out long term?”

“You mean do three people settle into a committed relationship?”

I nodded and settled back down so I was tucked against his side again.

“Yes. I know a few people who’ve done it.”

“Is that something you think you could do? Be in a relationship like that with two other people?” I slipped my fingers under the hem of his shirt, caressing his bare skin. His stomach hollowed, and he groaned softly, which made me smile. It amazed me I had that kind of effect on him.

“With the right two people, sure.” He paused, and I moved my hand up to his chest. His heart pounded beneath my palm. “Are you asking me to be your permanent third? Is that what you want, Eve? For me to give up everything and be with you and Derrick?”

And now my heart was racing as hard and fast as his. I swallowed hard. “I think that’s what Derrick wants.”

“I didn’t ask you what Derrick wanted.”

I trailed my fingers across his chest, and his nipples hardened almost instantly. One glance down and I knew that wasn’t the only thing on him that was hard.

“He doesn’t get to make this choice for you, Eve. But even if this is what he wants, I wouldn’t agree unless you asked me to stay.”

My breath caught. It was on the tip of my tongue to say exactly that, but I wasn’t completely sure this was what Derrick wanted. Hell, a part of me was still undecided. But I had a sinking feeling this topic was going to come up again before the weekend was over. I licked my lips. “But you would stay? If I asked?”

“I think you already know the answer to that,” he said, his tone level, not giving me any indication as to what he was truly thinking.

“Maybe I need to hear you say the words.”

He laughed, the sound rich and genuine, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

“You two out here having a party without me?” Derrick’s sleep-laden voice had my heart lodging in my throat.

I jerked my hand out from under Liam’s shirt and sat up abruptly. “No,” I said too quickly, the guilt evident in my tone. “I mean, we were just talking. That’s all.” I stood, needing to put distance between me and Liam. My legs felt like rubber, and my hands shook. “Want some coffee?” I hurried into the kitchen, feeling both Derrick’s and Liam’s eyes on my back. I stood in front of the coffee pot, needing a minute to calm myself.

“Eve, babe.” Derrick entered the kitchen, a small smile on his face. “I was only teasing, you know.”

“What?” I had to have misheard him.

“I know you weren’t doing anything with Liam.” He snaked his arms around my stomach and rested his chin on my shoulder. “But even if you were, I’d be okay with it. Hell, if I had walked out here and found you riding him…” He let out a low groan. “That would’ve been so fucking hot.”

My ears rang as I struggled to make sense of his words. He was not standing here telling me it was okay for me to have sex with Liam, was he? What the fuck? I could kind of understand the appeal for him when all three of us were involved, but to admit that catching me with another man was a turn on…? That was beyond twisted.

“Easy, Derrick,” Liam said as he entered the kitchen. “She’s still trying to understand all of this. Don’t push so hard.” He caught my gaze and gave me a wink.

How could a man I barely knew understand me better than the man I’d spent the past five years of my life with?

“I know,” Derrick said, releasing me and giving my ass a firm smack. “But she needs to know this is okay.” With that, he disappeared into the living room.

I had to be stuck in some bizarre dream, that was the only explanation that made any sense. Slowly, I turned to look at Liam, who appeared to be as confused as I was. What the hell had gotten into my husband?