The Space Between Us Read online

  “Who, Charlie?” I rolled onto my belly to face her. “Really, it’s okay.”

  Clearly, it wasn’t. She sighed and wriggled deeper into the pillows. She brushed her fingers over the tips of my hair. I’d kept it blond but added some dark streaks at the ends. “I like your hair.”

  I laughed. “Thanks.”

  “I’m serious. I do.” She sat up and looked over at the mirror on the dresser as she ran her fingers through her own shoulder-length waves. “Maybe I should get it cut.”

  “If you want. But I love your hair the way it is.” I sat up to shift closer to her. I touched it, curling one long strand around my finger before trailing my fingers over her shoulder. When I leaned in to kiss her neck, though, she moved away just enough to stop me.

  “But yours seems so easy to take care of. You never have to fuss with it. Mine takes forever to look good.” Her eyes met mine in the mirror.

  In the reflection I saw two women, both blonde, though my hair was platinum and hers honey. She was full-breasted and flat-bellied; I had curves in my hips and thighs and ass. I saw two women sitting close enough to touch, but with a canyon-size space between them nonetheless.

  “Your hair is beautiful,” I told her.

  A slow smile curved her mouth. “You’re just saying that.”

  I shook my head. In the bathroom, the sound of the shower stopped. I heard Charlie humming. In the mirror, Meredith’s eyes never left mine.

  “I…I had a fight with Vic. A pretty bad one. I told him I wasn’t coming back tonight.”

  “What’s his problem?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to discuss it. “It was time for me to get out of there anyway.”

  “You’re moving out?” Meredith pursed her lips.

  I shrugged again.

  Her mouth parted. The pink tip of her tongue peeked out, just barely, touching the center of her top lip before disappearing. “You should stay here.”

  “Tonight,” I said.

  “You could stay longer than that, Tesla.”

  “What about Charlie?”

  “Charlie adores you.”

  “Yeah. When I’m sucking his cock.” I figured there was no point in sugarcoating it. “Living here’s a totally different thing. For you, too, Meredith.”

  “It would be great. We’d see so much more of you. And what could be bad about that?” She gave me the smile that got her what she wanted every time.

  “Having a third person living with you isn’t the same as having a guest. Your house, your kitchen, your washing machine. Your things.” I ticked off the list on my fingers. “There’s a share of utilities to consider. Who buys groceries? Where would I sleep?”

  “You make it sound so complicated.” She touched my hair again, toying with the fringe against my cheek.

  “If you don’t talk about this stuff up front…” I took a breath to keep my voice steady. “You told me you talked about me with Charlie before you asked if I’d join you.”

  She had a blank look for a second. “Yeah?”

  “You had to, right? To make sure everything was set up? So that nothing went wrong, nobody got hurt or jealous. Right?” I thought that’s what they’d done. It was what I’d have done.

  “I thought you liked being part of us.” Meredith frowned and the crease appeared between her eyes.

  I took her hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed her knuckles. “I do. I like it a lot.”

  “What, then?” She shifted closer. “What’s the problem?”

  “I like being with you. Both of you. And I adore Charlie.” I deliberately used the term she’d used. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? Being with you? Both of you,” I added. “But I’m really not.”

  She frowned but didn’t look away from the mirror. “What’s that mean?”

  “It means that I’m with Charlie, and Charlie’s with you, and you’re with Charlie. But you’re not with me.” I brushed my lips over her shoulder, not lingering. “And I need to know if that’s going to change.”

  She kissed me.

  After all the months of imagining it, fantasizing about the softness of her lips and how she’d taste, this kiss nevertheless caught me completely unawares. I drew in a breath, startled, and she put a hand on the back of my neck to hold me still. It didn’t last long, that kiss, but it was long enough to promise something more.

  She drew back just enough to look me in the eyes. “I made the offer. Think about it.”

  “About what?” Charlie asked, entering the room with a towel around his hips. He went to the dresser, not the one with the mirror, and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms.

  “Tesla moving in with us.”

  I could see him in the reflection, too, as he turned. I didn’t want to tell them I’d already decided. That in fact I had almost no choice, at least in the short term, until I could find something else. That I was flattered and grateful she wanted me, afraid he didn’t, worried about how it would all change. Or not change.

  “Oh?” Charlie asked.

  Meredith and I didn’t look away from the reflection as he crawled onto the bed behind us. She leaned back a little toward me. He moved to her other side.

  “But Tesla has some issues with how things have been going between us, Charlie.”

  He let out a slow breath, appearing confused. This was between us, the women in the mirror. I gave my head the tiniest shake.

  “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to,” I told her. “But if you kissed a girl…”

  Charlie gave her a slightly startled look.

  “And you liked it,” I added, “I’m just wondering why you don’t want to kiss me.”

  “We never talked about that.” Meredith glanced at Charlie in the mirror’s reflection. “We talked about him being with you.”

  I nuzzled her shoulder again. “Like you said, there’s always something to talk about.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to, that’s all,” Charlie said. “I never wanted you to think I’d have a problem with it, Meredith.”

  “Do you?” I asked him.

  We looked at each other face-to-face. Without the mirror bridging us. Charlie shook his head.

  “No. Of course not. Hell,” he admitted with a sheepish grin, “it would be hot. You know, what guy doesn’t want to watch two women together, right?”

  From this angle I could see Meredith only in the mirror, but I thought that made it easier somehow. That distance. She shivered when I touched her.

  “I guess I have to ask the question. Why do you want me to move in with you? What would make that better than what we’re doing now?”

  That earned a smile from her. “You need a place to stay. And we have a good time together. Don’t we?”

  “Sure.” Charlie rubbed my back. “I do, anyway.”

  I smiled. “Me, too. But living together is a big step.”

  Meredith relaxed, leaning back against me. “You spend so much time with us already, I just thought it would be easier. And fun.”

  I put my chin on her shoulder, my hands on her belly. “I just want to be sure, before I say yes....”

  “Say yes,” Meredith said.

  Charlie’s rubbing hand slowed and came up to cup the back of my neck. “Say yes, Tesla.”

  “I want to know if you want me, Meredith.” Said aloud, the words weren’t scary. And if she said no, at least we’d have it out between us. “Because I’m never sure where to go with you.”

  She drew in a slightly stuttering breath and put her hand over mine. The three of us sat very still. Charlie’s fingers squeezed my neck gently before sliding down my spine again, and he moved away from us, back against the pillows.

  “How about all the way?” Meredith said finally.

  Tension that had coiled in my gut got a little tighter. “Are you sure?”

  Her lips parted and the pink hint of her tongue appeared, delicately touching her top lip. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  I grinned and pressed my mou
th to the nape of her neck as her fingers linked with mine. “It’s only kinky the first time.”

  She laughed then, relaxing even more against me as she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Charlie?”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “Do you want to watch me and Tesla make love?”

  “Um, yeah, of course.” In the mirror, he grinned, his hand already rubbing at the front of his pajamas.

  She moved my hand lower, our linked fingers skimming the waistband of her skirt. In the reflection, her eyes never left mine. She slid our hands down her thigh and up again, bringing her hem up, too. My fingertips whispered on her tights and discovered the heat between her legs. She pressed my hand against her pussy.

  Shifting, I moved so my knees pressed on either side of her hips, my front against her back. I kissed her neck, slow and sweet and careful. I breathed in the scent of her and let my tongue flick out to taste her skin.

  Meredith let go of my hand to use both of hers on the buttons of her blouse. She had them undone in half a minute, her shirt gaping to show off the pretty, hot-pink demicup bra that revealed just the barest hint of her areolae. I pushed my hand inside her tights and panties and found the soft brush of her curls. Lower, the slippery heat of her pussy and tight button of her clit. I pinched it gently, so gently between my finger and thumb, and was rewarded with her low cry. The shift of her hips. She arched against me, her gaze never leaving mine.

  Two women still in the mirror, though now only one could be fully seen. Behind us both, Charlie’s reflection watched. He’d pulled his cock out, stroking it. I slipped a finger inside Meredith’s pussy, then out to circle on her clit.

  Sitting this way, my pussy against her ass and my knees cradling her, it was sort of like we’d become one person. Kind of like I was touching myself. I knew so well how good it felt to push one, then two fingers deep inside myself, curling them against the slight roughness of my G-spot. How it felt to coat my fingers in my arousal and use it to slide over my clit. To jerk it like a tiny little cock. I knew how fucking delirious it made me to press against the hood of my clit and shift my hips against my hand the way Meredith was doing now, instead of using my hand to press on my clit.

  She cupped her breasts, pushing down the bra, showing her tight pink nipples. She licked her fingers, using them to wet her nipples. Make them harder. She rocked her pussy against my hand as her head fell back farther, against my shoulder.

  She turned her head and kissed me.

  Our tongues met and danced, slow at first, then faster. I heard Charlie groan, and wanted to make the same noise myself. Meredith broke the kiss with a small gasp.

  “Oh, God,” she said. “Oh, my fucking God.”

  In the mirror, she watched my fingers play against her pussy. She watched me watching. Still looking, she hooked her fingers in her tights and panties and lifted her ass so she could get them down and off her feet. With her skirt pulled up, her pussy completely revealed, she pressed back against me and offered me everything.

  I slowed the pace, letting her watch my fingers slide inside her. Then up. From this distance it was hard to see the details, but I had no doubts she felt everything. My breath caught at her shudder and the jump of her inner muscles against my fingers. I shot Charlie a glance in the mirror and found him concentrating, a little grim-faced, his cock in his fist. But when he saw me, his grin lit up the room.

  I was doing this as much for him as for her or myself. In this position I couldn’t really touch myself, but for the moment that was fine. It was arousing enough to watch her face and feel her thrusting against my fingers.

  Meredith put her hand on mine, stopping me. She swallowed, her voice rough. “I want your mouth.”

  She didn’t have to ask me twice. We turned on the bed, scooting up closer to Charlie. She kissed him, their tongues sliding against each other. She stroked his cock and cupped his balls. Then she turned on her back, thighs tipped open.

  I knelt between her legs and undid the button on the side of her skirt. Eased it off her. She was bare now but for the open blouse and her bra, but I liked the way she looked, wanton and disheveled, so I didn’t take those off her.

  I moved my mouth over her thigh. Her belly. I listened for her soft sighs and moans. Her hand found my hair again, ruffling it.

  When I found her clit with my tongue, she cried out. Her hips jerked. I slid my hands beneath her ass and used my thumbs to open her. Her clit, perfect, tight and hard, twitched beneath the flat of my tongue when I licked her.

  There’s one secret to making a woman come: consistency. It can be difficult to find what works, but once you do, don’t switch it up.

  Meredith liked long, slow swipes of my tongue. She liked the press and slide of my fingers inside her. And she really, really liked it when I used my fingers to press just above her clit as I licked her.

  Charlie groaned again. In the next minute, he moved, getting on his back so that his face was under my pussy. His mouth found my clit; his hands grasped my hips. I rocked against his lips and tongue, the brief press of his teeth.

  We came within seconds of each other, me and Meredith. She shook with her orgasm, but bit back her cries. Mine were muffled against her flesh. I pressed my lips to her clit as it pulsed, and felt mine echoing it almost exactly.

  Something that can take so long to achieve is over so soon. I rolled onto my back and caught my breath. Charlie moved against me, one hand resting on Meredith’s hip. She didn’t stir.

  Then she said, “The room at the end of the hall can be yours, so you’ll have your own space. And we’ll expect a third of the electricity and other utilities, including groceries. You can cook, I’ll clean up—I’m shit with cooking. Charlie takes out the garbage and I do the laundry, but you can do the vacuuming.”

  She pushed up on one elbow to look at me cuddling with her husband. She wet that lovely mouth with her tongue. She kissed me. Then him.

  “There will always be stuff to talk about,” Meredith said. “But is that enough for now?”

  I’d been pretty sure before coming over tonight that it would be, but now I stretched, lazy and sated, and pulled her down to snuggle with us. “Yes.”

  And that was how it began.

  Chapter 26

  “We either go with her or we have Thanksgiving here.” The dishes rattled in Meredith’s hands as she moved them from dishwasher to cabinet. “That’s just how it’s going to be, Charlie. Or you go to your sister’s by yourself. Whatever. You think I care if I miss her dried-out turkey breast and baked spaghetti? Who the hell serves baked spaghetti at Thanksgiving, anyway? Oh, that’s right, the sort of person who doesn’t serve mashed potatoes.”

  I paused in the upstairs hallway, not meaning to eavesdrop but unwilling to go down into the kitchen once I’d heard them arguing. Well, Meredith was arguing. Charlie was his usual amiable, softer-spoken self. I heard him say something, but couldn’t catch the words.

  Another cupboard opened and closed. Hard. “She lives with us. You agreed to it, and the last time I checked, you were having a great old time. She’s part of us, Charlie. And so, what? Because you don’t want to tell your family, you’re going to tell Tesla she has to stay home by herself? Fuck that noise.”

  My heart sank. I didn’t want to be the reason Meredith and Charlie fought. This was a complicated business, being a third of a relationship instead of half. It made it hard when we went places together because someone always had to sit in the backseat. I could only imagine what a commotion it would cause if they took me to Charlie’s sister’s house as something other than a roommate. After all, I’d been living there only a few days. It was unlikely Charlie’s family even knew he had a roommate.

  Honestly, it would’ve been fine with me if they left me home. I didn’t really want to go to his sister’s house for Thanksgiving. I had to work the Friday after, so going to my mom’s in California was out, even if I’d wanted to make the trip to see her. I’d figured I’d get Cap to cook me something, since Lyn
ds was going to be out of town with her family, and we’d watch old movies all day long.

  I’d been back to Vic’s house once to get my things and say goodbye to the kids. Simone had refused to talk to me. Max hadn’t seemed to understand. Even though Elaine hadn’t protested my moving out, she’d told me I was welcome to go to her mother’s house with them. When I asked her what Vic thought about that idea, all she’d been able to say was, “The kids and I would like you to be there.” I believed her, but I still couldn’t go to Thanksgiving at her mother’s house.

  “You can’t just expect me to tell them the truth.” Charlie sounded reasonable. He always did. “You’re my wife. I’m not supposed to have a girlfriend, too.”

  More rattling and slamming. “News flash. You do.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about asking my sister if I can bring a stranger to Thanksgiving dinner—”

  “She’s not a stranger. She’s Tesla. You might remember better if your face was buried in her pussy.”

  Even I cringed at that. Yet I heard Charlie laugh. I figured it was time to make an appearance. I made it loud enough that both of them would have to turn. Strangely enough, it was Meredith who looked as if she’d been caught at something.

  “Honey, come here.” Charlie beckoned and I went to him willingly enough. He put an arm around me and then around a reluctant Meredith, who suffered his embrace for only a second or two before pushing away from him to finish unloading the dishwasher.

  “I can make plans with my brother,” I said, before Charlie could dive into the embarrassing explanation of why he wasn’t going to invite me to eat turkey with his family. “Really, Charlie. It’s cool.”

  “It’s not cool.” Meredith shot the remark over her shoulder.

  “If Tesla wants to spend Thanksgiving with her family—” Charlie began, but she cut him off.

  “That’s not what this is about, Charlie, and you know it. It’s about you not wanting to admit what’s going on, because God forbid your family figure out you’re kinky.”

  He drew me a little closer to him, though he was looking at her. “It’s none of my family’s business what I do in my house or in my bedroom. But it is their business what I bring to their house.”