Stephen knew it was silly to consider Aaron competition, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help feeling competitive, with a tiny trickle of jealousy mixed in.
It wasn’t just the history between Aaron and Ethan that rubbed him the wrong way.
No. It was more of the fact that the two men shared so much more in common than Stephen did with Ethan. They both served in the Corps, whereas Stephen had always been more arts-inclined. Aaron and Ethan both came from small towns, while Stephen grew up in Brooklyn. They could talk college ball until the cows came home, and Stephen wouldn’t know a football prospect from a basketball star.
Stephen sighed, and told himself to stop being silly.
Ethan loves you, dumbass, he told himself.
Although, he had to admit, Aaron had a nice body. Men with military background tend to be quite muscular, which Stephen loved. It was how he and Ethan began-he was at a club, just cruising, and Ethan caught his eyes.
Aaron wasn’t as huge as Ethan, but he was ripped. Stephen couldn’t help the images that invaded his thoughts of Ethan and Aaron on a bed, in an alley, over some random surface…
Stephen was surprised by the fact that he actually found those images arousing-his uber-top boyfriend dominating another man. He swallowed hard and tried to squash the images in his head as he willed his hardening erection to go down.
“You all right?” Ethan’s voice interrupted Stephen’s thoughts. His lover was sitting next to him with one arm over the back of his chair. Ethan ran a hand over Stephen’s hair before letting the hand settle over Stephen’s back. Stephen leaned over naturally, basking in the warmth of Ethan’s embrace.
“Yeah,” Stephen replied absentmindedly. “I’m good.”
On their way home, Stephen couldn’t help asking, “So why did you guys break up? Beside you moving up here. You and Aaron have so much in common. Same interests, similar backgrounds…”
He knew he shouldn’t have asked-it wasn’t his place-but he knew if he didn’t the question would bug him for the rest of the day and he wouldn’t get anything done.
“Too much in common is part of the problem,” Ethan said, the corner of his lips pulling into a half-smirk. “We make better friends than lovers. When I was in the Corps, having someone that you could spend time with while on liberty was good, but we never really developed that emotional connection to last very long.”
Stephen nodded. “You still think about him sometimes? Before today, I mean.”
“Well…” The blush on Ethan’s well-tanned face was barely visible. “I… Babe, you know I love you…”
“I know. I don’t mind, really.” Stephen said calmly. The blush told Stephen plenty even though Ethan didn’t want to acknowledge it. “You guys do have history after all.”
“Yeah…”
“So?” Stephen asked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. “Was he good in bed?”
It was a good thing Ethan wasn’t drinking anything, but that didn’t prevent him from nearly tripping over himself. “What?”
Stephen laughed. “I asked if he was good in bed. You need your hearing checked?”
“Stephen!” Ethan gawked at him with a look of disbelief.
“I’m serious.” Stephen stopped, turning to face Ethan. “If we weren’t together already, would you still have sex with him?”
Ethan blushed harder. “I…” he began hesitantly, scratching the back of his head, but continued when Stephen urged him on. “I don’t know. Probably? I still find him attractive and all…”
“What if I said… that I found the thought of you two having sex kinda… hot?” He reached out to touch Ethan’s arm as he asked carefully.
Ethan’s jaw dropped, and it took him a while before he was able to process what Stephen said. “Babe? Did you just say… Do you know what you’re saying?”
Stephen cringed when he felt Ethan’s arm tense up. “I know what I just said, and I meant it. I… You know what? Forget it. Forget that I even brought it up,” Stephen said and finished with a sigh. Why did he have to go and rock the boat?
Ethan grabbed the wrist Stephen was about to retract. “Stephen? Wait a minute. You’re serious? About watching Aaron and I?”
“Ethan, it’s okay. I don’t…”
“Are you?” Ethan asked again, gentling his hold on Stephen.
Stephen swallowed before answering, his expression unreadable. “Yes, I am. I don’t know why, but I find the idea intriguing and it turns me on.”
“Okay.” Ethan released Stephen and brought his hand up to palm Stephen’s face and lean in for a kiss.
When Ethan had said “okay”, Stephen hadn’t really given any thought about what Ethan would do with that information. Ethan hadn’t seemed to mind the fact that he wanted to see his lover fuck a former boyfriend, but he never thought Ethan would want to, or even consider going along with that idea.
So, color Stephen surprised when Ethan told him the next day that he’d called Aaron to talk about it.
What was more surprising was the fact that Aaron had said yes.
Oh my God, I’m in Bizarro World, Stephen had thought to himself.
“Well, you said you found it a turn-on.” Ethan had said, almost sheepishly. “I know I’m not the most imaginative when it came to the bedroom, but you seemed to like the idea. Aaron and I worked well together. I’m willing to try this if this is what you wanted.”
Stephen had been speechless.
“Stephen?” Ethan’s voice pulled him back to the present. “Last chance to say no.”
They were at the door of a hotel room that Ethan had booked. Aaron had said he’d meet with them there.
Stephen nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Ethan slid the keycard into the slot, opened the door then followed Stephen into the room.
Aaron had already arrived and was freshly showered, sitting on the king-size bed in a bathrobe channel surfing.
“Hey guys,” the man greeted with a cheeky grin, turning off the TV. “I have to say, Ethan, you surprise me. And you too, Stephen.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Aaron,” he quipped, slipping out of his jacket and hung both his and Stephen’s up in the closet. Underneath, he’d worn a simple t-shirt with jeans. “Ground rules.”
“All right.” Aaron nodded, sitting up to pay attention.
“First, this is my show. You do what I say and only what I say,” Ethan said calmly, his eyes panning slowly from Aaron to Stephen. “That includes you too, Stephen.”
“Okay.” Stephen shrugged.
“Anytime any of us begin to feel uncomfortable about this, say so and we stop. Walk away and that’s it,” Ethan continued, his eyes still watching like a hawk. “Stephen, you get to watch, you get to touch and play with yourself, but you don’t get to participate. You’ll come when I let you.”
Stephen thought about complaining, but he was mesmerized by the commanding tone of his lover’s voice as Ethan’s inner soldier took over.
Ethan reached out to pull Stephen close by his waist, his hands stroking Stephen’s flank in a light massage. “Now, go sit down on the chair and make yourself comfortable,” he said after giving Stephen a deep, dominating kiss and a playful squeeze of Stephen’s ass.
Stephen could see the hungry look on Aaron’s face as the other man watched them. He felt a spike a jealousy for what was about to happen, but it quickly dissolved into curiosity and lust as the arousing images came forth in his mind.
He watched his lover approach the bed and Aaron as he settled himself into the armchair. He could feel himself begin to harden just watching Aaron approach Ethan with his bathrobe loose and hard body peeking through the gap. A noticeable tenting of the terrycloth told Stephen that Aaron was just as turned on as he was.
He still felt that tiny stab of jealousy that fed his curiosity and lust, but now there was a sense of pride as well. Aaron looked strong enough to rival Ethan, and yet he was about to be topped by Ethan-was about to submit to a man that only Stephen could lay claims on. Stephen wasn’t sure what exactly he was feeling anymore, with all
