Page 49 of The Illusion of Power (Passion and Politics #1)

BECK

C al is reaching for me. His long arm is a strong, steady line that runs parallel to Selene’s. Her elegant fingers strain in my direction, wiggling just a little, relaying the need to connect , but I can’t move.

I’ve been paralyzed since Selene let Cal touch her, since his hands on her body coaxed words I could only hope to one day hear from her lips, since weeks of longing and pining culminated in the breathtaking sight of them kissing.

I knew then how Selene felt when she saw us in Houston because I wanted nothing more than their hands on me.

Cal’s lips on my neck. Selene’s fingers cupping my hard dick through my pants.

I can have all of those things right now.

The two people in the world who own my heart are holding their hands out, offering themselves to me.

But I. Can’t. Fucking. Move.

“ Get over here, Beckham ,” Cal barks.

The bite to his tone is the key to the shackles on my feet. They fall to the floor, lying uselessly on the ground. My steps are slow, hesitant. My legs are leaden, and my mind is plagued with memories of walking into things I wanted, things I cherished and lost.

My new home with my adoptive parents.

The aisle that led to the altar where I married Diana.

The hallway of the doctor’s office we visited to confirm Cameron’s presence in the womb.

I have had so much, lost so much, and I’m scared to want anything again.

Terrified, actually, which is why I stop short, just inches from them.

Cal’s eyes flash as he wages a war between impatience and concern.

His lips part like he’s going to issue another edict, and I wait for it, knowing it will be exactly what I need, but then Selene catches me by the hand and the need for further encouragement no longer exists.

She threads our fingers together, her eyes soft, her expression open, and I remember that she’s lost too. That Cal has as well. And yet, by some miracle, they are both here, wanting. Wanting happiness. Wanting love. Wanting me.

If they can do that, then I have to believe that I can do the same.

Cal reaches for my other hand. He squeezes it for just a second before placing it on Selene’s hip and stepping back, creating space for it to be just me and her for a moment.

It’s not something I knew I needed until I have it, until she’s gazing up at me with eyes sharpened by lust and the blunt edges of her teeth digging into her lower lip.

She’s still gripping one of my hands, her thumb running anxious circuits over the side of mine in what is, to me, a clear substitution for her finger flicking stim.

I’m comforted by the way she’s incorporated me into the self-soothing behavior, but I’m also worried that she feels the need to engage in it at all now that she’s in my arms.

“Is this too much?” I whisper, searching her face. “Do you just want it to be…it’s okay if this is just a you and Cal thing.”

That’s a lie, but I hope she can’t tell. I don’t want my potentially hurt feelings to influence her answer. There are so many parts of her life that aren’t about choice, and I won’t let this be one.

“Yes, it’s too much,” she says slowly, glancing at the ceiling for a beat. “But it’s too much in the best way. I have wanted this for so long, Beck. I have wanted you for so long. Both of you.”

Selene doesn’t say things she doesn’t mean, so her succinct answer is a salve that soaks into the last bit of my anxiety and relaxes it away.

I let go of her hand, so I can plant both of mine on either side of her waist and hoist her up.

Her legs wrap around my middle, the taut muscles of her inner thighs gripping me like a vice.

My heart beats wildly as she stares down at me, her arms draped around my neck.

“Kiss me,” she demands, her voice breaking on the last word as her confidence wavers.

I don’t want her doubting my commitment to doing whatever she asks of me, so I oblige happily, turning feral when our lips meet.

Desperate for the lush wonderland of her mouth.

Hungry for every swipe of her tongue while she moans and rocks against me.

Suddenly, Cal is at my back, liberating Selene’s feet from the confines of her strappy heels. They hit the floor with light thuds I barely hear over Selene’s panting and Cal’s rasping moans as he grinds his dick into my ass.

“Couch. Now ,” he tells me, pushing me in the direction he wants to go.

I lower Selene onto the plush sofa, and we both drop to our knees in front of her.

She’s wearing another one of her fucking pantsuits, but I want her bare legs.

I want her smooth skin. Cal shares that desire.

Pushing up on the balls of his feet, he curves his body over hers and plants kisses along her jaw and neck.

“Will you let us undress you, pet?”

I don’t know where the fuck the name came from, but Selene loves it. She whimpers when he says it, nodding while she stares at me. “Yes.”

Her eyes fall shut as we work her out of the suit. Cal handles the top, while I take care of the bottom, and when it’s done—her clothes in a heap somewhere behind the couch and the entirety of her gorgeous sable skin is on display—neither one of us knows who’s luckier.

My fingers ghost over her feet, caressing her pretty toes and massaging their way up to the inside of her thighs, pushing them further and further apart until I’m looking at the slick, puffy lips of her pussy.

“She’s already wet,” I tell Cal. He’s up on the couch now.

His knees in the cushion next to the one Selene is splayed out on.

His back bowed as he laves at her breasts, his only response a muffled moan around a mouthful of one of her berry brown nipples.

The vibration of it puts an arch in Selene’s back, and I watch her get even wetter, liquid arousal glistening against her skin, peeking at me from between the folds of the most sacred part of her.

“No one gets to see you like this,” I whisper, voice full of awe at the truth of the statement, mouth hovering over her mound while her hips lift and churn, asking me to taste her.

One of her hands snakes down her body, fingers searching for her clit.

I nudge them out of the way with my nose then nuzzle into her, memorizing the scent of desire on her skin.

I’m thorough in my endeavor, moving slowly, breathing deeply, torturing her until her sex is dripping with need, and she’s begging when I pull away.

“Beck, please,” she cries, planting the heels of her feet on the edge of the couch to make the meal I’m seconds away from gorging myself on appear even more desirable. It’s an unnecessary move, but I reward it, leaning in close before diving in.

I go straight for her clit, concentrating all of my efforts on the swollen bundle of nerves that throbs underneath my ministrations and grows more firm when I slip one finger inside her soaked channel.

The strokes are shallow at first, light, almost teasing, because of how tight she is, but the more Cal and I worship her, the more her muscles relax.

Eventually, I add in another finger, angling up until I find the spot I know will send her over the edge.

She curses loudly when I start to massage the ridged flesh, and if Cal wasn’t up there, anchoring her to the couch with one hand pressing into her lower stomach and the other gripping her nape, I’m certain she would be levitating right now.

“Fuckkkkk.” Her eyes roll back into her head, and I feel her walls pulsing around me. I suck harder on her clit, using long, deep pulls that cause her thighs to jerk repeatedly.

“Are you going to come for him?” Cal’s voice is crushed velvet and sin layered over the obscene sounds of my fingers moving inside of Selene. Her eyes are low as she looks at him, her head lolling on her neck in a lazy nod. “Say it, pet. He needs to hear you.”

My heart swells with love for him, and I don’t even question how even in this moment, when he could simply be focused on his needs, he’s managing to hold space for mine.

Selene stares down the long line of her body, trapping me in her gaze so intense it makes the declaration more intimate. “I’m going to come for you, Beck.”

Seconds later, her head falls back on Cal’s hand, and she comes apart at the seams. It’s a quick, violent unraveling that sweeps in and takes over her entire body.

She goes completely still, nothing but her throat moving, working to expel the quiet mewls of pleasure I will never not want the honor of hearing.

When it passes, her muscles relax and she sinks into the couch, boneless and sated.

I retreat from her slowly, my hand leaving her channel with a wet smack that garners Cal’s attention.

He’s sitting on his heels, stroking Selene’s cheek, but his eyes are on me, stretching as I take the digits into my mouth and suck her essence off of them.

“Does she taste good?” he asks, voice thick with need.

We’re both hard, but there’s an unspoken agreement between us that we won’t push her for more.

My fingers are still warm from my mouth when I reach for her center, coating my fingertips in her juices and then holding it out to Cal. “See for yourself.”

He stands, towering over Selene and me. The move puts the bulge in his pants right in her line of sight.

Her eyes flit from it to my outstretched hand like she can’t decide which one she wants to pay more attention to.

Cal’s fingers close around my wrist, and the decision is made for her.

She watches, completely entranced as he brings my offering to his lips, moaning just as loud as I do when they close around me.

I see the moment her unique flavor explodes on his tongue, feel his addiction to it snap into place, and then we’re all moaning.

Him at the taste of her.

Her at the sight of us.

Me at the way the wet heat of his mouth makes my erection strain against my zipper.