Pleasure and Purpose Read online

  Nessa disentangled herself from a loop of sheet and Edward's arm to prop herself on an elbow and look down upon him. Alaric had rolled onto his back upon Edward's other side, arms and legs flung wide.

  "Edward," Nessa said. "You are utterly destroyed." Edward's hand snaked up to cup the back of her neck, his fingers sliding into her hair. "I am, indeed."

  "Your head will ache upon the morrow," she murmured as he tugged her closer.

  "The one above my shoulders may, but I don't intend for the one below my belt to face the same fate." Edward pulled her down to brush her mouth with his. He took her hand from his chest and settled it on the bulge in his pants.

  She glanced at Alaric, who hadn't moved, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling slowly. "Sir, we are not alone."

  "Huh?" Edward got up on one elbow to look to his other side. "By the Void, Alaric, you're asleep? What manner of fool have you become?"

  Alaric cracked open an eye and turned his head to look at his friend. "If only I were not walking on the clouds right now, I would give you a smack for that accusation."

  "Handmaiden," said Edward. "It would greatly please me if you would help me off with my clothes."

  Nessa smiled. "Indeed? You care not to sleep in your clothes?" Edward smiled, too. "I do believe I have already indicated I don't intend to sleep."

  "Ah." She looked over at Alaric, who had rolled onto his side, facing them. "And what of your friend, my lord?"

  Edward looked at Alaric, then back at her. "It wouldn't please me for my friend to be lonely, Handmaiden. I should find myself very far from absolute solace should I know my dear friend Alaric was left distressed."

  She couldn't hold back another giggle. She looked at Alaric, who'd now propped himself on one elbow to avidly watch the conversation. She didn't balk at being asked to allow someone else to touch her, but there was something else of import, here, and that was the emotional tie between Alaric and Edward. She sat up to look at them both, one to the other. Alaric was in love with Edward, but her loyalty wasn't to Alaric. It would not please Edward to leave his friend distressed, but worm and herb could prompt the tongue to spew what would normally have been kept hidden by the heart. Would it please Edward if this night convinced his friend to reveal the depth of his emotion?

  "Handmaiden?" Edward slid a hand up to cup her breast. "Have I asked you for something you are unable to provide?"

  Alaric looked at Edward, who was still staring up at her.

  "Edward and I have been boon companions for a long time. Naught could change that." The answer to her unasked question was enough, and she nodded slightly when Alaric met her gaze again. "Then it would please me greatly, Edward, to help you both out of your clothes."

  "Ah, Stillness," said Edward, "you do make me happy. Every day I thank the Prince of the Land Above I sent for you."

  Her fingers worked the buttons of his waistcoat and then his shirt. Parting the fabric, she ran her hands across his bare skin. "Sit, and let me take this off." He did, obediently. Alaric didn't wait for her to assist him but was already shrugging out of his shirt and tossing it to the floor. He took the ribbon from his hair and let it fall like a shower of gold across his shoulders. The next moment she'd done the same to Edward's and the river of ebony, like raven's wings, made a dark contrast to Alaric's blond ripples. Nessa pulled off Edward's shirt as he kissed her. The kiss deepened as she tugged the fabric off his wrists, and when they were freed he put his arms around her. Both men had disrobed to skins while she remained fully clothed, and Edward pulled away from another searing kiss to shake his head.

  "This will not do. Alaric, you're swift with the ladies. Help my Stillness off with her gown."

  "My pleasure." Alaric grinned. "Come here, Nessa." Cool air caressed her as the front of her gown parted. Alaric put a hand to her face and tilted her head to kiss her fully while he used his other to pull the dress off her arms and push it down. His tongue slid inside and teased hers to explore the hot cavern of his mouth.

  The bed shifted beneath her knees. Edward knelt behind her, his mouth suckling the back of her neck. Hands covered her breasts, fingers pinching her nipples to stiffness through the fabric of her shift. At last she knelt, naked, with one man in front of her and the other behind.

  "Touch her," Edward ordered. "Feel how hot and wet she is, Alaric." Alaric's hand slipped through her curls and stroked her, then moved to dip inside. "She's so tight—by the Arrow, Edward, how do you last more than one good poke with her?" Edward kissed her shoulder blade. "I'm a better man than you? See how beautifully she responds?" he murmured, lips moving on her skin with every word. "Put another finger inside her."

  Alaric did. Now she knew something else about Alaric. Not only did he love Edward, but he also gained his pleasure from submission. Edward's hand pushed her thighs wider again, then came round the front, too. With Alaric's fingers inside her and Edward's on her clit, Nessa couldn't suppress her low cry. It became louder when Edward's soft kiss on her shoulder became a bite.

  "She likes that," Alaric said.

  "She loves it." Edward licked the small wound. "Kiss her, Alaric. I want her whimpering."

  Alaric bent to capture her mouth again, and Nessa had no need to fake a reaction to please her patron; two mouths, four hands, two erect cocks brushing against her, all were enough to make her body respond without effort.

  Alaric swallowed her cry with his kiss. Edward locked his fingers in the hair at the base of her neck, holding her still while he rubbed her.

  "Put your cock inside her, Alaric."

  With two men to lift her, two to turn her, Nessa needed to do nothing but allow them their freedom. Moving together as if they were of one mind, Edward and Alaric shifted closer to the edge of the bed until Edward supported her from behind and Alaric's feet hit the floor, his prick still inside her.

  "Smooth piece of dancing," Alaric commented, twisting his hips to adjust himself. Edward laughed, his breath hot on her back as he pushed his body against her, a leg on either side of her hips. His cock rubbed the line of her spine as his hands crept round to cup her breasts.

  "With such skilled partners," Edward said, "How could this be anything but?" Alaric chuckled and thrust inside her again, making her moan. She let her head fall back again onto Edward's shoulder. His mouth latched on to her skin, teeth nipping hard enough to send pain-pleasure shudders through every limb.

  "Does this please you?" Edward whispered into her ear after a moment.

  "Yes," she replied immediately.

  "And this?" His hand returned to her clit and pinched it lightly with his finger and thumb. She could only utter a wordless reply, but he chuckled and continued. Her cunt clasped Alaric's prick in a way that made Alaric grunt and grip her hips harder.

  "Shall we let her come, Alaric?" Edward's voice had gone deep, shadowed, like a thick forest. "Or shall we make her wait for it?"

  "Sometimes the longer you wait for something, the more you love it once you have it." Alaric was looking at Edward. Reflected in the mirror on the dresser across from her, Edward was looking at Alaric. She saw her own face, eyes glazed with desire, saw her body held between two others. She saw Edward turn his gaze to her, felt him turn her head to kiss the corner of her mouth, and the moment, whatever it had been, passed.

  "I think," murmured Edward into her ear, "we should let her have her joy, Alaric. She can always have more, later. Come for us both, Stillness."

  There was no difficulty in obeying him; in fact, she had no choice. She was already tipping over the edge into ecstasy. She cried out, body arching and taking Alaric in as deep as he'd go. Bright flashes danced in her vision as every muscle leaped and quivered. Alaric groaned, his thrusts becoming ragged. "By the Arrow!"

  "You can feel every ripple, can you not?"

  Alaric made no answer as he pumped. Nessa floated down from her place in the clouds, smiling when Edward kissed her again. She was happy to lie back in his arms and accept the joy her body had granted.