CHAPTER 16
Removing one item of clothing from one man at a time, so that they became progressively undressed at the same rate, I enjoyed the experience even more than I thought I would. Although maybe enjoyed wasn't even a strong enough word. Relished might have been. I ran my hands over hard pecs, arms, and six-pack abs, taking short breaks to kiss each of my husbands with my hands becoming even a little hungrier still, going south to feel their already-rock-hard erections, both of which felt quite sizable, which excited me even as it made my stomach just vaguely churn.
After I'd helped each man out of his jeans and even his socks, I removed Nick's navy blue boxers first, just because it was his "turn," stifling a little gasp when I saw how sizable his male member was.
Definitely thicker and longer than average, it stood tall and proud, its meaty head nearly pointing straight at the ceiling. Not exactly wanting to touch it just yet, for fear of causing things to progress too quickly, I pressed my naked body against Nick's, kissing him, at least wanting to feel his manhood against the soft curve of my stomach.
By the time I'd relieved Blaine of his boxer-briefs, seeing that his male member was definitely thicker and longer than average, too, I realized that my feminine lips had already become so slick that the moisture was even dampening my thighs a bit. The sensitive spot between these lips was also tingling, intensifying the dull ache low in my belly.
Now becoming really eager to get my two husbands into our California king-sized bed, I led them there by the hand, and soon I was on my back between the two of them, with Blaine on my right and Nick on my left.
Now suddenly feeling just the slightest bit hesitant and nervous again, I spied a pump bottle of lotion next to some of my other grooming items on the nightstand next to Nick, and I had an idea, recalling what Kathy had said about setting some body zones as off-limits for a certain length of time. "Would you both maybe want to give me a massage with that lotion on the nightstand?"
Immediately, Nick and Blaine both answered in the affirmative, with both of their voices incredibly husky. Blaine's normally-gruff-and-gravelly voice sounded like it had actually dropped about an octave.
"All right, then. You can both give me a nice, relaxing massage. But the rules are that your hands can't go anywhere my bra and underwear would normally cover for the first ten minutes. Okay?"
I now realized that my own voice had grown a bit husky.
If Nick or Blaine had been disappointed by the rules I'd instituted for my massage, neither of them said it or showed it. Blaine just grunted in agreement with the rules, already looking over at the clock to start the ten minutes, which amused me.
Grabbing the bottle of lotion, Nick said the rules sounded just fine to him. "We all have to stick to them, though, Eva. Even you."
Not knowing whether to scoff or laugh, I made a noise that was kind of a combination of both. "Well, how am I going to break my own rules? I'm not going to be giving my own self the massage."
Sitting up, Nick pumped some lotion into one palm, then passed the bottle to Blaine. "You could break the rules by calling them off, asking us to touch your 'off-limits' areas before the time is up. We're not going to let you do that, though. Rules are rules, and every one of us here has to follow them, including you."
Fluffing the pillows behind my head, I scoff-laughed again. "I won't be trying to break my own rules, and I won't be asking you or Blaine to break them, either."
"We're not going to let her break the rules, are we, Blaine?"
"Hell, no. She made 'em."
I snorted in indignation. "All right. Please just start my massage before I head to the bathroom for a cold shower."
That kicked them into high gear. Each of them applying just the right amount of pressure, they started on my shoulders and arms first.
Running his lotion-slicked hands from my shoulder to my wrist, Blaine leaned over and spoke in a low voice near my ear. "I hope you know how gorgeous you are...naughty girl."
Hearing him call me naughty girl, which he'd done once before when I'd been drunk, was definitely something I thought I could get used to. In fact, I wanted to hear him say it again right then.
"I didn't quite hear that last part, Blaine...the last two words you said. Could you repeat them, please? With your mouth close to my ear again."
With his gray eyes twinkling in the golden glow from the candles, he brought his mouth to my ear once more. "I said you're a naughty, naughty girl, Eva."
Hearing him say naughty girl, with an extra naughty no less, combined with my name, had been enough to make me squirm a bit, almost involuntarily, sighing.
Still massaging my shoulder and arm while Nick continued to work on my other side, Blaine had apparently noticed my little squirm of pleasure mixed with frustration, because he spoke near my ear yet again. "I saw that little squirm. I think you're starting to realize what a naughty girl you really are."
He wasn't kidding. I'd squirmed again even while he'd been saying what he just had.
"Touch me, Blaine. Please. Just touch me right now."
Eyes twinkling, he scoffed, shaking his head. "You're really living up to your naughty girl title right now. You're trying to be a little rule breaker only a minute-and-a-half in."
"Well, so what? Let's just forget about all the rules. I just want you and Nick to touch me down lower right now."
Moving his massaging hands to my upper chest, Blaine glanced over at Nick. "What do you think? Should we let her break the rules?"
I turned my face to look at Nick. "Yes."
Moving his hands to my left ribs, Nick shook his head at me. "No. You're locked in, Eva. Ten minutes. That's what you said.”
I turned my face back to Blaine. "Don't be like him. Just move your hands a lot lower. Between my legs. Please."
Moving his slick hands to my right rib, Blaine shook his head. "Ain't gonna happen. And to show you that me and Nick are serious, I think we're going to have to start issuing you a punishment each time you tell us or ask us to touch you lower before the ten minutes is up."
Something about his husky, gravelly voice, combined with what he'd just said, made my tingling sensitive spot begin to outright throb. And when I spoke, my voice came out in a breathy near-whisper.
"Well, what will the punishment be for each time I tell or ask?"
Blaine didn't even hesitate. "The punishment will be three sharp swats on your sexy little rear cheeks. Each and every time. And I did say sharp swats. Not pats. So, think carefully before you ask again. Because now you know what's going to come after."
I had to know if he was being serious or not. Just had to.
So, somewhat in disbelief about what I was doing, I spoke in a breathy near-whisper once again, looking right into Blaine's eyes. "Touch me lower, Blaine. Between my legs."
With a little smirk, making me think that he'd expected me to say what I had right away, he lowered his mouth to speak near my ear. "All right, Eva. You earned this. Naughty girl."
With that, he gently but swiftly rolled me on my side, to face Nick, and immediately delivered three sharp swats to my right rear cheek with his hand even harder than I thought it would be. However, I found that I hadn't exactly minded. Not in the least, especially since I'd had a good view of Nick's rock-hard shaft while I'd been receiving my swats.
Panting, I lifted my gaze to Nick's face, eager to see if he might issue me punishment, too. "Please touch me, Nick. Please."
Doing exactly what Blaine had done, Nick rolled me onto my side with his breathing fast and ragged, then delivered three swats to my left cheek with his hand even harder than Blaine's had been. Wincing, I'd gasped with each swat, though all the while feeling so much slickness seeping from my feminine lips that I was becoming drenched.
My sensitive spot was also throbbing in a way I'd never even felt it before, making me feel almost desperate with urgent need. And it was this urgent, desperate throbbing that seemed to make me suddenly desire something I'd never really desired in my life. I wanted to taste Nick and Blaine, wanted to feel their hard members with my tongue. And, being that Blaine's rock-hard shaft was just inches away from my face, I figured I'd start with him.
"Please let me taste you with my tongue without punishment. Please just let me."
I didn't have to ask him a third time. He'd already moved himself closer to me before I'd even finished asking again.
Really not having a clue what I was doing but far, far too turned on to care, I took Blaine's thick pole in one hand and tentatively began flicking my tongue over the head, immediately making him groan. Encouraged that I was doing something right, I continued, flicking my tongue a little faster, discovering that I really liked what I was doing. However, now it was my turn to tease Blaine the same way he'd been teasing me by refusing to touch me.
After maybe a half-minute of making him growl and groan, I lifted my face, releasing his shaft at the same time. "Now, please touch me, Blaine."
Having been hoping that he hadn't abandoned his punishment plan, I wasn't disappointed, soon feeling the crack of his hard hand against my right rear cheek, with each swat causing just enough stinging to make me squirm a little, gasping.
Now I was facing Nick, and eager to once again feel the head of a hard shaft with my tongue. This time, though, I wasn't just content to use my tongue alone. After a short while of flicking my tongue across the head of Nick's member, making him groan, I flicked my tongue up and down the length of his pole before finally taking it in my mouth, working my lips up and down the first couple of inches.
Growling, Nick wrapped my long hair around his fist to gently keep my head in place, clearly enjoying what I was doing.
The three of us continued our punishment-pleasure game for several more minutes, until my rear was just about blazing, and until Nick and Blaine were really, really not wanting me to lift my face from their granite-hard shafts each time I did.
I myself had become so desperate for release that if someone didn't touch me between my legs soon, I was going to have to do it myself. Fortunately, I just happened to catch sight of the clock, seeing that my ten minutes was up. And actually, fourteen minutes had gone by.
"Do the two of you see the clock? It's my turn now."
*
Almost before I'd even finished speaking, Nick was between my legs. Or, his head was, to be precise. Tangling my fingers in his thick, dark hair, I pulled his face, and mouth, to the source of my urgent need. Normally, when my mind would wander to thoughts of such activities, I liked the idea of maybe working up to things with some tender kisses along my inner thighs; but at this particular time, I wasn't interested in tender kisses at all. I was too desperate, feeling nearly wild in my desire for release.
The moment I felt Nick's tongue connect with my throbbing spot, I cried out, grinding my head into the stack of pillows behind me. And soon, I was borderline-grinding something else against Nick's mouth as he flicked his tongue from side to side rapidly, clutching my hips in his arms.
Seeming to want to prolong my pleasure, Nick and Blaine took turns giving me this most intimate of carnal pleasures, letting me cool down for a few seconds while they switched places. However, after each had given me a few rounds of attention, making me writhe and moan, I realized that my pleasure was heading toward a peak, and I wanted to reach that peak with one of them filling me.
I had an idea that with as drenched in slickness as I was, and as thoroughly worked up as I already was, the sensation of a man making love to me, even a larger-than-average man like Blaine or Nick, wasn't going to hurt this time.
Since Nick was moving to position himself between my legs again currently, he was the one whose shoulder I grabbed.
"Please, Nick. I want to feel you inside of me right now."
With a low growl, he moved to cover my body with his own, gently parting my legs while he did so. So eager to feel his hardness that I didn't even want to wait for him to position the head of his shaft himself, I took it in my hand and guided it to my entrance, telling him that I was ready.
Within a second or two, groaning, he began sliding his thick shaft into my depths slowly, gazing at my face, as if on alert for any sign he was causing me pain. He wasn't at all, though, and I moaned with pure pleasure while he filled me inch by rock-hard inch, until he'd buried his entire pole inside of me.
After a few moments spent caressing the side of my face, saying he loved me, which allowed me to fully get used to his hardness and size, he began slowly thrusting, again seeming to be on alert for any sign he was causing me pain.
But also again, he wasn't at all, and I was pretty sure he was seeing nothing but rapture on my face, because that's what I was feeling each time he slid back into my slick depths, filling me completely.
Beside us, Blaine was on his side, watching my face while very slowly stroking his pole with occasional grunts and quiet groans. Nick was making a few noises of his own, as was I, telling him that he felt so good. With this seeming to encourage him or give him some kind of a green light, he began thrusting a bit faster, making me moan, gripping his hips.
A while later, he pulled my legs up on his shoulders and began thrusting a little faster still, and I suddenly knew I wasn't going to last much longer. His long yet fast strokes just simply felt too good.
And probably not half a minute after he'd pulled my legs up, I began crying out while mind-shattering pleasure began crashing over me in waves so powerful they made me buck my hips, realizing that I'd probably actually never had a real orgasm in my life, and if I had, they'd been very weak ones. Nothing like this.
Around the same time that I was crying out with my peak, Nick reached his as well, thrusting into my slickness the hardest and fastest he had yet, grunting.
When he rolled off me, breath coming in ragged gasps, I turned my face to look at Blaine, panting. "Now I want you to make me feel that good, too."
Within about five seconds, I found myself positioned on all fours while Blaine slid into my depths from behind, making me cry out the word yes. He felt so incredibly good, as did my naughty girl positioning, though soon, when he began moving inside of me, things began to feel even better still.
Not that I had anything to compare it to, because I'd never received a partner from behind before, but Blaine had a way of making love in this position that struck me as just downright dirty, in the very best possible way.
Feeling to me as if he wasn't just thrusting in and out but also somehow moving his hips and his manhood in a circle as well, I'd never dreamed that lovemaking in this position could feel so utterly amazing. And so wonderfully filthy. Though maybe I shouldn't have been surprised since the husband currently making love to me was quite a dirty mud bucket. Every now and then while he made love to me, Blaine gave one of my rear cheeks a little swat with a medium-hard hand, as if just wanting to remind me that I had a husband who had no problems meting out punishment. I loved it.
Even though it was my second, I reached orgasm with him a bit quicker than I had with Nick, burying my face in the pillows, moaning, while Blaine growled out his own release behind me.
When we both collapsed on the bed, side by side, I found that Nick was already becoming hard again beside me, slowly stroking his pole while gazing at me with his breathing accelerating. And though I probably would have considered myself completely satisfied otherwise and would have probably soon drifted off to sleep, I found the sight of his hand around his stiffening shaft to be such an erotic one that I almost immediately became a little worked up again.
By the time I did finally fall asleep that night, more profoundly satisfied than I'd ever dreamed was possible, I'd tied Tracy's record, having had my "bell rung" no fewer than three times. And I'd gotten the feeling that Nick and Blaine would have been very glad to ring my bell once more had I not started to get so tired. I'd come to learn very well that shifter desire and stamina was no joke.
For the next two weeks, each day dawned sunny and bright, matching the mood in the house. No one borderline slammed coffee mugs on the counter anymore. No one bristled because of light contact made during hugs. I was happy. Nick and Blaine seemed happy. Sometimes I even wondered if I was the happiest I'd ever been in my life, despite currently living in a post-apocalyptic world.
However, two weeks to the day of our marriage, it stormed all morning and afternoon, keeping me inside when I'd been planning to spend the day working on an outdoor project with Tracy and two other women named Lily and Marie. Over lunch at Tracy's the day before, the four of us had been lamenting about the fact that that we'd all lost so many loved ones since the virus had hit, but we didn't have any physical place to "visit" our loved ones and periodically pay respects, like a graveyard or even a location where ashes had been scattered.
After we'd all discussed a few ideas, I'd come up with the idea to create a "memorial rock garden" across from the community vegetable garden. We'd use masonry tools to carve the name of a loved one, or a symbol or picture that brought them to mind, in large rocks that could be found in different places in the village.
Then, we'd "plant" the rocks in the garden, planting various wildflowers among them as well. Anyone in the community who wanted memorial rocks to honor their lost loved ones could either make them themselves, or Tracy, Lily, Marie, and I would make their rocks for them.
I loved the idea of "planting" rocks for Jessica and Ebony, Sandor and Marta, and also my parents, even though they'd died long before the apocalypse had hit, and even though they did have physical graves back in Michigan. Of course, the apocalypse had made it so that I couldn't visit those graves.
I'd have to wait to collect rocks and get started on my big project idea until the storms passed, though. In the meantime, I decided to spend the afternoon baking cookies to bring to a woman named Melissa, who'd just given birth to a prized baby girl five days earlier.
However, having to use a mix of rice flour and oat flour since there was a community shortage of wheat flour, I had to experiment with the cookie recipe a little, and the first batch was absolutely horrible, both in look and taste. The second batch I made, this one with oat flour only, I burned when a visit to the bathroom prevented me from hearing the oven timer. After that, I decided to just quit wasting food supplies, giving up on the cookie idea.
Instead, I decided to bring Melissa a half-pound of honey-flavored hard candies from a batch I'd made a week before, tinting them pink and yellow with food coloring and wrapping them individually in plastic wrap. After packing them in a cute little straw basket I'd found in the storage closet, off I went to Melissa's house.
However, despite the fact that I was carrying an umbrella, the pouring rain dampened the fragile basket along the way; when I was nearly there, the handle broke, and all the candies fell into a mud puddle several inches deep. Cursing, I wadded the little basket into a ball and jammed it in my pocket.
Embarrassed to be visiting Melissa without a gift, I sheepishly told her about my difficulties, promising to babysit her precious new flaxen-haired baby, Laurel, any time she wanted me to, no matter how far in the future. Melissa said that was a wonderful gift, making me feel better, but then when I left her house, I promptly slipped in mud, kind of funny for a former Olympic figure skater who'd only rarely slipped on ice; I ruined a pair of very nice white Capri pants I'd just gotten at the community "clothes closet" the day before.
When Nick and Blaine came home for dinner that evening, the day got significantly worse. Right away, I could tell they were both troubled by something, and I asked them what was wrong almost the second they stepped in the door, both of them with soaking wet wet hair and clothes.
Frowning, Nick took my hands and gave me a brief kiss. "Let Blaine and me get dried off quickly, and then why don't the three of us sit down. We need to talk."
*
Although what Nick had said alarmed me, to say the least, he and Blaine were just soaked to the bone, dripping on the hardwood floor; I wanted them to get dried off and warmed up so that they could be comfortable while the three of us talked about whatever it was we needed to talk about.
"Why don't the two of you go take hot showers, and then we can talk out in the living room."
I'd learned that the three of us trying to talk about anything of importance in our bedroom usually didn't work.
Nick and Blaine both agreed, kicked off their heavy boots, and each gave me a quick kiss before trudging upstairs, one right after the other, leaving me to wonder what had them both in such a serious, glum mood.
I had a guess what it might be, though I hoped I was wrong. After the most recent fight with the dozen or so Borderline shifters that Nick and Blaine's men had spotted not a half-mile from the village walls, not a single Borderliner had been spotted anywhere in the area, which was odd. Usually, there was some kind of "Borderliner trouble" at least every couple of days. Some people in the village, including Tracy and Chris, thought that Wesley Archer had finally abandoned his plans to push his mob-style extortion practices into Kentucky. After all, he'd had to retreat with his shifters the first time he'd attacked Helena, and many of his men had been killed.
Then, he'd lost three additional men in the recent fight that had taken place beyond the village walls. During that fight, all Helenian shifters had survived, sending a clear message to Wesley about the strength of our army.
I knew better than to think he'd just given up, though. I knew better than to think that fate was just going to let me have my happily-ever-after, or whatever semblance of a happily-ever-after a person could have post-apocalypse, with Blaine and Nick. I also knew better than to think an apparent psychopath like Wesley Archer would just throw in the towel after a few defeats,
not with such a wealth of food, machinery, and women in Helena on the line. There would be more attacks coming, more turmoil. I could almost feel it.
Though we hadn't really discussed the Borderliner issue much, I got the impression that Nick and Blaine felt the same way I did, and they knew more trouble was coming. So, based on the grim looks on their faces when they'd walked through the door, I had a little idea that they might have learned something that day about Wesley Archer's future plans.
While they both showered and dressed, I turned my attention back to the ground venison stroganoff I'd made for dinner, turning the burner beneath the pan to the very lowest heat setting, just to keep it warm. Having thought I'd hate it, I'd come to discover that I actually liked venison, and Nick and Blaine loved it, as did many other people in the community. In order to bring in a fresh supply for everyone to share, Blaine went hunting the day before, killing two deer.
He hadn't killed them while in his tiger form, though. He always insisted on hunting game with a bow-and-arrow, like he'd learned to do before the apocalypse. When I'd asked him exactly why he didn't hunt while in his tiger form, since it would be quicker, he'd given me a three-word answer. "Wouldn't be fair."
He ended up being the first of my husbands to come downstairs from showering, and he entered the kitchen bare-chested, wearing jeans that hung low on his slim hips. Around his neck, he'd hung a plain black t-shirt, and when I first looked up and saw him, he was reaching up to grab it, presumably to put it on.
However, not wanting him to put it on quite so fast, I set down a knife I'd been using to chop vegetables for a salad, dashed over to him, and grabbed the t-shirt right out of his hand.
"No. Not yet. Just let me look at your chest for a second. I haven't seen it in almost twenty hours or something."
I'd been sleeping when he and Nick had left the house that morning, so I hadn't gotten to study their nearly-nude forms in the first light of dawn as I often liked to.
"Just let me look at you and touch your chest for a second."
With his gray eyes glinting and his mouth curving just slightly, Blaine moved a little closer to me. "Only if I get to do the same to you."
Feasting my eyes on his sculpted pecs and washboard abs, I agreed, soon beginning to run my hands over his bare skin, reveling in the feel of so much hardness beneath my fingertips.
Now my day was getting a little better.
However, Blaine didn't give me too awfully long to explore his chest before he peeled off my shirt, flung it to the side, and then undid my bra clasp with his breathing accelerating. Growling a bit, he actually removed my bra with his teeth, one strap after the other. He flung it to the side using his teeth as well, actions that if done by another man might have been clumsy or come off as rehearsed,
This wasn't the case at all with Blaine. He always acted as if removing a bra with one's teeth was the normal way to remove a bra, like other ways were for more refined men whose hands weren't perpetually stained with motor oil.
After raking his gaze over my chest like I'd done to him, he cupped my breasts in his hands and began gently, slowly circling my nipples with his thumbs, stiffening them. This was what always surprised me about Blaine. Not his definite animalistic tendencies, and his tendency to be a little rough during times when I clearly liked it. It was how gentle his touch could be sometimes that always surprised me.
Soon he was kissing me, mouth firm and warm, thumbs still slowly circling my nipples with just the right balance of gentleness and firmness. After a little while, his strong hands began wandering lower, with one going to grip my rear, pulling me closer to him, and the other going down the front of my yoga pants, fingers roaming. When one of them connected with my most sensitive spot, I moaned into Blaine's mouth without breaking our kiss.
However, a short while later, when he slid two curved fingers into my slickness and began pulling them in and out, I pulled my lips from his with an even louder moan, then told him not to stop. "Just keep doing that. Please."
With his fingers curved how they were, he was hitting some indefinable spot deep inside of me, some spot that when stroked, made me feel such intense pleasure that I could hardly keep my eyes from rolling back in my head. Blaine's fresh-from-the-shower scent, woodsy, clean, and masculine, which I was inhaling through my nose, was intensifying my pleasure, as was the sight of his face, which I was taking a few peeks at. He had a way of studying my face during passionate times, a way of looking at me intently, that always turned me on even further than I already was.
He'd been working his fingers in and out of my slickness for a short time when Nick entered the kitchen, eyes widening slightly when he saw Blaine and me, both shirtless, and with Blaine's hand down the front of my pants. Clearly wanting to quickly make our twosome a threesome, Nick came around behind me, put his hands on my shoulders, and began kissing the side of my neck, which never failed to make me curl my toes, and this time was no exception.
It wasn't long before I felt his hardness pressing against my hip, near the small of my back, and this gave me an idea. I wanted him to make love to me from behind, while we were standing, if possible, while Blaine continued touching me around my front, stroking my most sensitive spot. I just didn't know if this was possible.
With me being shorter-to-average height-wise, and with Nick and Blaine both being tall, I wasn't sure if what I was thinking of could actually work. Only the tiniest bit bashful, however, I spoke right up and told my two incredibly handsome husbands what I wanted, and they acted like my request was completely doable.
Over my shoulder, glassy-eyed, Blaine looked at Nick and spoke in a husky voice. "Her cookbook."
The cookbook he was speaking of was an exceptionally large, thick one, and the only one I owned. The title of it was The Only Budget Cookbook You'll Ever Need, and it featured a lot of recipes requiring few ingredients, which was very helpful, since I usually didn't have a ton of ingredients to work with.
With each recipe, it also provided substitution and swap-out ideas, which were also very helpful for a cook living in a post-apocalyptic world where sometimes certain ingredients just weren't available. I didn't use this cookbook just for cooking, though.
I'd discovered that with it being several inches thick, it served as a perfect handy little step-stool for when I needed to reach something on a high shelf just beyond my fingertips. And now it seemed that Blaine thought the cookbook could give me the little height boost I needed to make something else possible, too.
Within seconds, Nick had grabbed the cookbook, helped me step up onto it, and had lost his jeans and underwear. Then, tipping me forward just a bit, into Blaine's arms, he positioned the head of his already-rock-hard manhood at my entrance from the back, making me whimper with desire. Right as Nick began sliding into my depths, Blaine, around my front, began stroking my now-throbbing sensitive spot, turning my whimper into something much more like a cry.
The sensation of being stroked and filled at once was almost more than I could take, though in the best possible sort of way. I only lasted a minute or two before a powerful orgasm made me bury my face in Blaine's shoulder, moaning, while he continued touching me, and while Nick began growling with his own release behind me.
Having grown accustomed to two releases per lovemaking session, at the least, I soon told Blaine that I was ready for more, and he and Nick switched positions, with Blaine making love to me from behind, gripping my hips, and Nick giving me some very intimate attention around my front.
A while later, Blaine wrapped my long hair around his fist, tugging it a little, before groaning with a powerful release, filling me with his masculine essence. This sensation was all I needed to tumble right over the edge along with him, moaning with my face buried in Nick's strong shoulder.
After, the two of them just held me, kind of sandwiching me, while our breathing returned to normal. With their arms feeling so good around me, I might have been perfectly content to let them hold me for several minutes, but before long, the smell of something burning made me lift my face from Blaine's chest.
"Oh, God. The rice flour rolls. I forgot to set a timer for them."
Underscoring this fact, the acrid scent wafting through the kitchen quickly intensified. And by the time I'd whipped my clothes on and had pulled the tray of rolls from the smoky oven, the tops of them were nearly black.
Feeling more than a bit guilty about all the food I'd wasted that day, between my failed cookies and the rolls, I set the tray on the range with a sigh. "Well...I guess we'll just have to make do with salad for a side."
Getting dressed, Nick said that was just fine, and Blaine grunted in agreement.
Once the three of us had washed our hands, we brought the venison stroganoff, a bowl of cooked egg noodles, and the salad to the table, and upon having a seat, Blaine pulled me into his arms.
"Come here. You're eating on my lap tonight."
What ensued was a boisterous sort of dinner, with Blaine and Nick teasing me about different things, including burning food, me laughing, and the two of them taking turns pulling me onto their laps.
It was only when the three of us had finished eating that the table briefly fell quiet, with the sound of the rain still pouring down outside being the only noise, and I recalled that they'd been wanting to talk to me about something. Unbelievably, or maybe not, their making love to me, and then our shared laughter, had driven away all thoughts of their serious expressions when they'd walked in the front door.
However, now that I remembered, I had to know right then what had caused those serious expressions, even though I was pretty sure I already knew. I had to know exactly what Wesley Archer had threatened.