Page 20 of Better When Shared (Kristin Lance Anthologies #2)

Nisha

Three weeks was a fucking eternity.

Julian and I didn’t know what to do without Caleb, as if he had altered us somehow, become a part of the fabric of our lives, and nothing was quite the same without him. We lounged on our sectional, my feet in Julian's lap as he massaged my arches, both of us staring at our phones. We were just killing time until we could go to bed and fuck each other while whispering Caleb's name between us like a shared secret.

"Six more days,"

Julian murmured, not looking up from his screen.

I wiggled my toes against his palm.

"Counting them down?"

His mouth quirked up.

"Like you haven't been."

He wasn't wrong. I'd marked Caleb's return date on our shared calendar with a British flag emoji and an eggplant emoji that made Julian roll his eyes every time he saw it. We'd been back and forth about whether to call him during his time away—Julian worried we'd come across too needy; I insisted that we were all adults and could handle a casual check-in.

So far, we’d only exchanged a few brief text messages, and I wanted more, wanted to get to know Julian, to understand why I felt so drawn to him.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this,"

I said, setting my phone aside.

"It was just supposed to be fun. A hall pass."

Julian's hands stilled on my feet.

"Too much?"

"No, not too much. Just... different than I expected."

I studied my husband's face, the familiar angles of his jaw, the way his glasses slid down his nose when he was tired. Three years of marriage, and I'd never seen him look at anyone the way he'd looked at Caleb. The way he still looked when Caleb's name came up.

"You miss him,"

I said. Not a question.

"Yeah."

Julian sighed, leaning his head back against the couch.

"Fuck, I sound like a teenager with a crush."

"We both do."

I crawled across the couch to straddle his lap, my hands finding his shoulders.

"But I like it. I like seeing you... lit up."

His hands settled on my hips, warm and familiar.

"You're not jealous?"

I traced the curve of his lips with my thumb.

"Of what? The way you look at him? The fact that you've been jerking off in the shower thinking about him?"

I leaned closer, my lips brushing his ear.

"Or how badly you want him to fuck you?"

Julian's hips jerked beneath me, his cock hardening against my ass. "Nisha—"

"Am I wrong?"

I pulled back to meet his eyes.

"You've been fantasizing about it, haven't you? Since that day in the yoga studio."

His cheeks flushed, but he didn't look away.

"I feel so stupid for never realizing what I was feeling.”

The admission knocked the breath from my lungs.

"You've wanted him... before?"

Julian's grip tightened on my hips.

"Maybe always? I don't know. I never let myself think about it that way before. But when I saw him again, when we kissed and fooled around…"

He trailed off, swallowing hard.

"It unlocked something."

I rocked against him, feeling him harden further beneath me.

"Call him,"

I whispered.

"What? Now?"

"Yes, now."

I reached for his phone on the side table.

"Video call. Let's see if he answers."

Julian's eyes widened behind his glasses.

"It's like 3 a.m. in London."

"So?"

I grinned, already pulling up Caleb's contact.

"He might be up, and if he’s not, he keeps his phone on silent when he’s sleeping. We’ll leave him a sexy message."

Before Julian could protest further, I hit the video call button and settled more comfortably in his lap, positioning the phone so we were both in frame. My pulse quickened as the call connected, ringing once, twice—

Then Caleb's face filled the screen, backlit by what looked like a hotel lamp. His hair was disheveled, eyes heavy-lidded with either sleep or booze, and he wore a plain white T-shirt that clung to his shoulders in a way that made my mouth water.

"Julian? Nisha?"

His voice was rough, the accent thicker than usual.

"Everything alright?"

"We miss you,"

I said simply, leaning my head against Julian's shoulder.

"Are we waking you up?"

Caleb's expression shifted from concern to something warmer, more intimate.

"No, I was up. Working late. I’m in New York."

He adjusted his position, and I caught a glimpse of a hotel desk behind him, papers spread across it.

"Miss me, do you?"

"Desperately,"

Julian admitted, his voice low.

“I’ve been counting the days until you're back."

Something flashed across Caleb's face—surprise, pleasure, vulnerability quickly masked.

"Six more days,"

he said, and the fact that he knew the exact number made something warm unfurl in my chest.

"Too many,"

I pouted, deliberately shifting in Julian's lap.

"We've been thinking about you."

Caleb's gaze sharpened, taking in our position, the flush on Julian's cheeks.

"What sort of thinking?"

"The sort that keeps us up at night,"

Julian replied, his hand sliding under my shirt to rest on the bare skin of my waist.

"The sort that makes us wish you were here."

"Show me,"

Caleb challenged, his voice dropping lower.

I didn't hesitate, turning to capture Julian's mouth in a kiss that started gentle but quickly turned hungry. Julian groaned against my lips, his hands roaming higher under my shirt, cupping my breasts through my bra. When I pulled back, Caleb was watching with darkened eyes, his breathing visibly faster.

"Fuck, I wish I was there,"

he murmured.

I was emboldened by the heat in his gaze.

"When you get back, I want to watch you fuck Julian."

Julian yelped beneath me, his body going rigid. "Nisha!"

"What?"

I turned to face him, rolling my hips deliberately against his erection.

"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it. Having Caleb inside you, where no one else has been. His cock is so good, baby. And the way he moves…"

Caleb's laugh was rough.

"Christ, Nisha, you don't pull punches."

"Life's too short,"

I replied, my eyes still on Julian's flushed face. I leaned in to whisper, loud enough for Caleb to hear.

"Imagine it, babe. His cock stretching you open. How good it would feel to finally be joined to him like that. How sexy you two would look."

Julian's eyes fluttered closed, a shaky breath escaping him.

"You're evil,"

he muttered, but his cock twitched against me.

"Turn around,"

I instructed, climbing off his lap.

"Show Caleb that gorgeous ass he's going to fuck."

Julian hesitated, then met Caleb's eyes through the screen. Whatever he saw there must have encouraged him, because he handed me the phone and turned, positioning himself on hands and knees on our sectional.

"These need to go,"

I said, tugging at his sweatpants and boxers until they slid down his thighs, exposing his ass to both Caleb and me. I angled the phone so Caleb could see, then used my free hand to squeeze one firm cheek.

"Isn't he perfect?"

Caleb's breathing had grown heavier, his pupils dilated.

"Absolutely fucking perfect."

I set the phone on the coffee table, propped against a stack of design magazines so Caleb could still see us. Then I knelt behind Julian, both hands now free to explore his body. I massaged his ass, kneading the muscles, occasionally dipping between his cheeks to brush against his hole.

"Have you ever had anything inside you?"

I asked Julian, watching goosebumps rise on his skin as I traced circles around his entrance.

"No,"

he admitted.

I glanced at the phone screen. Caleb had set his own device down and leaned back in his chair. Though the angle only showed from his chest up, the rhythmic movement of his shoulder made it clear he was touching himself.

"I think you need more practice before Caleb gets here,"

I said, reaching for the small bottle of lube we'd started keeping in a drawer on the side table near the couch—one of many ways Caleb had changed our habits.

"We need to make sure you're ready for him."

Julian's groan was muffled against the couch cushion as I slicked my fingers. I started with gentle circles around his hole, watching his muscles tense, then gradually relax under my touch.

"Look at how eager he is for you, Caleb,"

I said, slowly pressing just the tip of my index finger inside Julian.

"He's practically begging for it."

"I can see that,"

Caleb replied, his voice rough with arousal.

"Push deeper, love. Let me see how he takes it."

The endearment—so casual, so quintessentially British—sent an unexpected thrill through me. I followed his instruction, sliding my finger deeper into Julian, who gasped and pushed back against my hand.

"That's it,"

I encouraged, working my finger in and out in a slow rhythm.

"Imagine it's Caleb's cock. Thicker, longer, stretching you so well."

"Fuck,"

Julian groaned, dropping his head between his shoulders. "Nisha—"

"Add another,"

Caleb directed from the screen.

"He can take it."

I slicked my middle finger and pressed both inside, watching in awe as Julian's body accepted the intrusion, his soft whimpers filling our living room. His cock hung heavy between his legs, leaking pre-cum onto the couch below.

"Do you see how beautiful our boy is?"

I asked Caleb, scissoring my fingers to stretch Julian further, so damn turned on by imagining them fucking.

"How he opens up for us?"

It wasn't until Caleb's sharp intake of breath that I realized what I'd said—our boy. My two men. As if the three of us already belonged to each other, as if what we had transcended a simple fling.

But neither of them said anything about the slip. Instead, Julian pushed back harder against my fingers, and Caleb's expression grew even more heated.

"I can't wait to feel him,"

Caleb said, his voice a low growl.

"To watch him come apart on my cock while you tell him how good he's being. Imagine him between us, buried inside you as I fuck him."

The dirty talk and Julian's responsiveness had me soaking through my underwear. I withdrew my fingers, ignoring Julian's whine of protest, and quickly stripped off my leggings and panties.

"I need you inside me,"

I told Julian, positioning myself beneath him on the couch.

"I need to feel how much you want this."

Julian didn't hesitate, stripping off his shirt before settling between my thighs. His cock slid through my folds, gathering my wetness before pushing inside in one smooth thrust that had both of us moaning.

"Look at Caleb,"

I whispered, my hands finding Julian's ass, squeezing the firm muscle.

"Show him how he should fuck me."

Julian's gaze locked with Caleb's through the screen as he began to move, his thrusts deep and measured. I could see Caleb's arm moving faster now, his breath coming in audible pants.

"Wish you could feel how tight he is,"

I told Caleb, my fingers digging into Julian's hips.

"Soon,"

Caleb promised, his voice strained.

"Fuck, you two are gorgeous together."

Julian's rhythm faltered at Caleb's words, his cock pulsing inside me.

"Caleb,"

he groaned, the name sounding like both a plea and a prayer.

"That's it,"

I encouraged, wrapping my legs around Julian's waist to pull him deeper.

"Show him how good it is. Show him how much you want his cock inside you too."

Julian's hips snapped forward with renewed vigor, the angle pressing against my clit with each thrust. I could feel my orgasm building, coiling tighter with each slide of his cock, with each dirty word I whispered to the two of them, each glimpse of Caleb's hungry gaze through the screen.

"Close,"

Caleb warned, his movements growing jerky. "Fuck—"

"Come for us,"

I urged, my own climax approaching rapidly.

"Let us see you."

Caleb's head fell back, throat exposed as he came with a strangled groan that sent Julian over the edge. My husband buried himself deep inside me, his body shuddering as his release triggered my own. I clenched around him, wave after wave of pleasure washing through me as I watched Caleb on the screen, his chest heaving, pupils blown wide from his own orgasm.

For several long moments, the only sound was our collective breathing, slowing as we came down from the high. Julian carefully withdrew, collapsing beside me on the couch as I reached for the phone.

Caleb's face filled the screen again, flushed and satisfied, his hair even more disheveled than before. The sight of him—so clearly wrecked because of us—made something possessive flare in my chest.

"Are you seeing other people?"

I blurted, the question escaping before I could consider its implications.

"In London, I mean. While you're away from us."

Julian tensed beside me, but didn't intervene. Caleb's expression shifted, surprise giving way to something softer, more vulnerable.

"No," he said.

"Of course not."

"Good,"

I replied, unable to mask my relief.

"Neither are we."

Caleb's smile was slow and genuine, reaching his eyes in a way that made my heart skip.

"Six days,"

he reminded us.

"Then we won't have to rely on screens."

"We'll be waiting,"

Julian said, his arm tightening around my shoulders.

As we said our goodbyes, promising to text later, I couldn't help but marvel at how quickly everything had changed. What had started as a hall pass experiment had evolved into... this. Whatever this was. The three of us, tangled together across an ocean, counting down the days until we could be in the same space again.

Julian pressed a kiss to my temple as I ended the call.

"So," he said.

"Our boy, huh?"

I bit my lip, uncertain.

"It just came out. You know how I get when I’m on a power trip.”

Julian laughed and shook his head. “I do.”

“Was it weird?"

"No,"

he said after a moment's consideration.

"It felt right. Us, the three of us. Fucking impossible, but right. Me belonging to both of you, you belonging to both of us.”

I cuddled close to him, threading my fingers through his, wishing I could tell him it wasn’t impossible. But how could it work, really?