Page 47 of Rough Fantasy

She nodded and he practically carried her up the stairs to the bedroom. By the time she was in PJs, she was almost asleep. He tucked her into bed then looked up at Rory.

“She’s wiped out,” he said.

Zeke nodded and waited. It was going to be a real test if he wanted to sleep with her. Zeke wanted to, but Rory tended to avoid sleeping with other lovers. The intimacy was something he could not handle. Zeke was pretty sure he was the only lover Rory had ever really slept beside.

Rory pulled his shirt up over his head, and dropped his pants. He climbed into bed with Maura as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Zeke was so happy, he didn’t even mention that Rory had left his clothes on the floor.

Zeke undressed and then brushed his teeth. When he walked out of the bathroom, he stopped and just looked at the scene on the bed. Maura had rolled all the way over to Rory. Both of them were fast asleep and she was snuggled up against him. Rory had his arm wrapped around her as if to protect her.

Zeke’s heart melted. The two of them probably didn’t even realize what it meant to him to see them like that. In their sleep, they accepted each other. He slipped into bed behind Maura, snuggled up close to her and sighed as he closed his eyes.

It wasn’t a huge step, but it was at least a step in the right direction.

twenty

Zee was already dressed by the time Rory and Maura crawled out of bed. Rory was glad to finally have a partner with them who enjoyed snuggling in bed rather than getting up and going to work. Zee always berated him for it. Rory was just sitting down at the kitchen bar when Maura came stumbling in.

“There has to be some coffee, and it better be hot.”

Zee sighed as he poured her a cup, handed her sweetener and retrieved the creamer from the refrigerator.

“She takes it black, Zee.”

Zeke looked at him and there was a flash of irritation in his eyes before he hid it. He put the creamer back in the fridge.

“You two are pathetic.”

Rory opened his mouth and laughed. Maura flipped Zee off.

“Well said, love. Anyone who wants to work with the ocean view like that one out the window is an idiot anyway.”

Zee frowned at him. “I’m just going to spend this morning going over some figures with Conner. I don’t know when we’ll be able to sit down in person again.”

Maura snorted. “You can do a teleconference any day.”

“And for some reason, I don’t want to hang around with you two this morning. Not that your shiny personalities don’t do it for me, but I am not in the mood to deal with two grumpy lovers.”

He picked up the keys and walked around the counter. First, he kissed Maura on the cheek, then gave Rory a kiss.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Zee said, as he walked out the door.

“What the hell is it with morning people?” Maura asked as she laid her head down on the counter. “Conner’s always freaking chipper, all smiles and shit. Well, not smiles. Conner hardly ever smiles, except sometimes at me and more when he is around Jillian. He should thank me for that, dammit.”

She looked so…cute. Grumpy as Zee had pointed out but cute. Her hair was a mess, her face was still flush from sleep and she had her hand on her coffee cup as if she were afraid someone would steal it. This was a side of her he had never seen. She had always been so put together at the office and she was there early every day. He would have never thought he would see her like this and it made her even more tempting. Seeing the soft side of such a buttoned down perfectionist turned him to goo.

“So what should we do?” he asked.

She yawned, took a sip, and put her head down again, closing her eyes. “Pretend we are sleeping.”

“No really. There’s gotta be something to do.”

“With Mr. Sunshine out of the picture, I think we should go back to bed,” she said. It wasn’t said coyly, as if she were trying to entice him, and that made it all the more arousing. She still didn’t understand her appeal to him or even probably to Zee.

“Yeah?” he asked. She opened one eye and looked at him. He didn’t blame her. His voice had already deepened at the idea of a little play with her. She was one of the most amazing subs and they had just started.

“I thought…”

Her voice trailed off and she frowned. Now he knew what Zee meant about her brain. It got her into trouble.