Abby bent over Melina, whose eyes were flickering open, and kissed her, too, a little longer, a little slower. “Bye, Melina. Thanks.”
“Thank you, Abby.” Melina’s voice was husky with sleep. She caught Abby’s hand and squeezed. Abby turned out the light and blew out the still-burning candles before she left the bedroom, leaving them in darkness.
Melina snuggled into Gavin’s arms, warm and soft, and he hugged her tightly, tucked her head under his chin. His mind still reeled at what had taken place but lethargy weighted his eyelids and he fell back into sleep.
In a fantasy, a threesome is hot, exciting, free of consequences; in reality, there were complex emotions involved. Gavin lay blinking up at the ceiling as he relived the events of the past evening, a sick feeling in his gut.
Melina stirred in his arms and snuggled closer.
“You awake?” she whispered, one hand on his chest.
“Mmm.” He swallowed, his throat dry and tight. “I had the craziest dream last night.”
He felt her smile. “Was it about a threesome? ’Cause I think I had the same dream.”
They shifted and moved their heads on the pillows so they lay there looking at each other. Gavin’s insides burned and churned. “I flunked, didn’t I?” He could barely get the words out.
Melina’s brows drew together. “Huh?”
He had to breathe before he could explain. “You were testing me last night, weren’t you?”
She still looked at him with her brow crinkled. “What are you talking about?”
“It was a test. Because you didn’t trust me. You brought Abby over here to test me and see if I’d break down and do it.” He scowled. “And I did.” He rolled away from Melina, covered his eyes with his forearm. “I flunked. Are you happy now?”
Melina crawled over him. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t testing you, and you didn’t flunk anything.” She pushed at his arm, but he kept his eyes closed and his head turned on the pillow, unable to face her.
“Gavin, truly.” She paused, her body tense against his. “I was trying to give you something special. I overheard you talking to the guys about your stag and how you turned down a blowjob from two women and I wanted to…reward you. That sounds crazy, but I just felt so…overwhelmed that you loved me enough to do that and I wanted to give you something back. I wanted to make your fantasy come true and prove to you that I do trust you. And…”
Gavin opened his eyes. A furrow of worry wrinkled between her eyes.
“What?” he asked, his voice raspy.
“If anything, I was testing myself.”
Now he frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean…” She licked her lips. “I wanted to make your fantasy come true, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to handle watching you with another woman. I wanted to prove to you that I trusted you, but I…wanted to prove it to myself, too.”
He blinked at her, trying to make sense of her words. “Ooookay. So…did it work?”
She smiled, relief clearing her face. “Yes. At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel, but…I liked giving that to you.” She closed her eyes. “Maybe I’m some kind of sick pervert, but I liked watching you.”
“I liked watching you, too.”
She met his gaze. “Now I know…I can watch you with another woman and be turned on by it instead of jealous.”
“I don’t think you’d feel the same if it wasn’t a situation you’d set up.”
“No, you’re right,” she admitted. “If you did something like that on your own, I’d kill you.”
“It felt weird,” he confessed, pulling her up against him. His big body radiated heat. “I didn’t want to kiss her or touch her…I felt guilty.”
“I know. I could tell.” She touched a fingertip to his mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. For whatever crazy reasons you had, it was…amazing. The hottest night of my life. Again.” He grinned. “Once I realized you really wanted me to do it, it was fucking hot. Until this morning when I thought…”
She touched his lips with one finger. “You were wrong. Are you mad at me?”
He paused. “I was kind of pissed when I thought you’d done it to see how far I’d go with another woman. And pissed at myself.” He moved his head from side to side on the pillow. “Because I was so goddamn weak I couldn’t resist.”
“I wanted you to do it.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “I knew you were hesitating, and I encouraged you.”
“Yeah. I just want you to know, Mel, baby, that I would never have done stuff like that with a stripper. And I never wanted to be with any other woman but you.”
Her eyes became shiny and she gave him a shaky smile. “Thank you. I know that.”
“You’re amazing, Mel. Wait till I tell Duncan and the guys.”
Her eyes flew wide. “What! You can’t tell them about this!”
“Why not? Wasn’t that what this was all about? So my friends won’t think I’m all pussy whipped?”
“But…”
He kissed her. “I’m kidding. I won’t say anything. Maybe.”
She blinked at him and squirmed. “Your friends will think I’m the sluttiest wife in the world.”
“They’d be jealous.” Their eyes met. “I love you, Melina. We don’t need to have crazy nights like that, but I love that you’re so adventurous, so sexy…you keep amazing me.”
She peered at him through her lashes. “I have a confession to make.”
“What?”
“When you wanted to watch me and Abby—I liked it that I could do something that was hot for you, but I also wanted to…make it good for Abby.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. After the last time, he’d gotten the fucking weird idea in his head that maybe Melina had switched teams. This time, he knew that wasn’t the case. He tipped her chin up so their eyes met. “You care about her.”
“Don’t think that…”
“No.” He kissed her mouth. “I think I know what you mean. It’s not love. But you’re not the type to do something like that without emotion involved. You have to care about Abby. And I guess I do, too, and don’t you take that the wrong way. I love you, Melina. Abby’s kind of…a special friend, I guess. To both of us.”
“Yes.” Her eyes cleared and this time she kissed him. “That’s it. I love you, too. So much.”
Gavin’s insides had settled down, relief and gratitude and overwhelming love for Melina filling him. “Christ, Melina, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. My God, woman. At least I know our sex life will never be boring.”
He smiled at her so she’d know he was teasing.
“I won’t do it again,” she promised.
He wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t wait for what’s in store when we get married. What will the next fantasy be?”
She giggled, her face pressed against his hard chest. “Weeeell…I’ve always had a fantasy about a threesome…with two men.”
He tensed, his hands tightening on her body. “Uh…no. No way. Two men…uh-uh.”
“Okay. It’s just a fantasy. It’s not like it’ll ever happen.”