Playing Favorites: A Reverse Harem Romance Read online

  “Here we are,” he said, indicating a tallish building. “I’m on the third floor.”

  “Great,” I nodded.

  I was almost completely sober now, but as he got out of the car and followed me closely up the steps I realized that I hadn’t lost my nerve. Far from it. He followed me into the lift and stood there, looking so hesitant and a little shy that I couldn’t help myself taking the initiative.

  I kissed him.

  He stared at me in surprise, those round, shining eyes stretched wide with amazement.

  “Oh, my!” he said. He shook his head in wonder and then bent toward me, bending in lower. His lips met mine. His tongue, warm and probing, gently parted my lips and I felt it slide in. I opened my mouth and let him enfold me in his arms, holding me against him.

  We arrived on the floor where his room was, and we walked out of the lift together. He held me close and kissed me again.

  I sighed and let him probe me. His mouth tasted sweet and his arms around he were gentle. I pressed myself against him, wondering if I would have to take the lead here and feeling a tingle of excitement at the thought. It was something I wasn’t used to.

  He stepped back looking a little dazed and I smiled up at him.

  “Where’s your apartment?” I asked.

  He grinned, going pink.

  “Here,” he said.

  We went in together. He looked around. It was still light enough to see in there—it reminded me of Heath’s place, except that where he’d gone for a darker palette, Clarke had chosen beige and cream as his colors. I smiled.

  “I like this place.”

  He went pinker, if that was possible. He was so handsome, but almost like a college boy. I had no idea how old he was. I wasn’t going to ask. He was certainly no more than four or five years my junior, I judged. Definitely not a college boy.

  “It’s better with the light on,” he smiled, turning it on. “But thanks.”

  He sat down opposite me—I was on the couch and he was on a chair. He looked at me with such wanting that I blushed.

  “So,” I said, shifting forward so that my feet touched his again. Evidently I would have to be the one to do the seducing in this picture. “So what do you usually do when you bring someone home?”

  He went pink again. “Offer them a drink, usually,” he said.

  I smiled. “I didn’t mean like that, Clarke.”

  He smiled back. “Well,” he said, letting his feet move in between mine, his knee gently stroking mine, “it depends what they want to do, doesn’t it?”

  “It does?” I asked, making wide eyes. “And what do they usually want?”

  “They,” he said, pausing to let his hand rest beside mine, “usually suggest we go and continue this conversation elsewhere.”

  “Oh?” I frowned. “We could do it as well on this couch.”

  He went red and I tried not to laugh.

  “Yes,” he said hastily. “I mean, no. I mean…I’ll come over. Okay?”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  He moved to come and sit beside me on the couch and I felt my blood rush in my veins as I felt him sit down beside me. He really was handsome—possibly feature by feature he was more handsome than Heath, and certainly more so than Donnell. But there was something so untutored about him that I wasn’t sure where to start.

  The thought of being in the dominant role made my pulse thump. I had never done it before.

  I leaned in and let my lips touch his, gently probing his apart as I pushed him back onto the couch. He didn’t resist and I gave him a deep, thorough kiss, my tongue pushing and probing his.

  He sighed and gasped when I moved back.

  “Wow,” he whispered.

  I grinned, feeling a flush of warmth.

  “Well?” I said. “Shall we try that in the bedroom?”

  He nodded.

  We stood and went to his bedroom together.

  I was dimly aware of the beige and white color scheme again, but not for long before he appeared beside me on the bed.

  My attention was then all taken up by the presence of his warm, lean body beside mine, his arm holding me close, his lips pressing on mine as he pushed me back onto the pillows. His hands played over my body and I leaned back, letting him stroke and squeeze me.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

  I smiled at him. “Well, you’re rather handsome,” I admitted.

  He laughed. “You think so? In a family with Heath and Grayson, I never felt like that.”

  I laughed. “Clarke, you’re stunning,” I argued.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Just in a different way.”

  “Oh.” He grinned. “Well, you’re uniquely placed to tell me that.”

  I blushed. “I suppose I am.”

  His hands stroked lower and I sighed and let my thighs part as he stroked between them. My thighs widened and he let his hand move up between them, gently probing and stroking me through the silky briefs.

  He lay down beside me, pressing his body to mine as he kissed me and fumbled for the zipper of my blouse. I reached back and slowly dragged it down and then he was on me, tugging it off and letting it slide down to fall onto the floor.

  He sat back and looked at me. I was wearing some of my new designer undies. I felt his eyes linger on my breasts and saw real longing cross his face. I leaned back and he reached in, stroking them and cupping them.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he sighed again. He leaned over and, a half-smile on his face as though he were teasing himself, he gently leaned in and teased my nipple with his lips through the fabric.

  I sighed and let him nibble at my nipples, working them with his fingers in turn.

  I closed my eyes as he undressed me, wincing with pleasure as he slid his fingers back between my thighs and stroked my folds there. I parted them and let him gently push on my clit, stroking it in a way that made me feel an ache start in the pit of my tummy.

  He undressed himself with quick proficiency and I was almost sorry not to do the job myself. I leaned back on the comfortable pillows and looked at him, feasting my eyes on his tight, lean abs and stomach. His shoulders gleamed in the lamplight and he had a compact athletic appearance.

  I felt myself get wet as I watched him walk lithely to his desk and put his clothes down on the chair, then come back to the bed. He lay down and looked at me.

  “You’re amazing,” he said, reaching out to touch my breast. I smiled and leaned back, letting him. He tugged on the nipple in a way that made me wince and at the same time made pleasure well up inside me.

  “You’re not bad yourself,” I whispered. I reached down to gently take his big cock between my thumb and forefinger and had the pleasure of seeing him turn pink.

  I rolled over, wanting to go down and take it in my mouth—if nothing else, just to see his reaction to me down there—but he stopped me, shaking his head.

  “No,” he said firmly. “I want to pleasure you.”

  I felt my face go pink. Nobody had ever said that to me before. I was touched.

  “Well, thank you,” I said sincerely. “I appreciate it.”

  “I hope I can pleasure you, anyway,” he said, going pink again. “At least I want to try.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  He grinned, blushed and slid down so that his mouth was between my thighs. I gasped as he drew me into his warm, sucking mouth.

  I closed my eyes letting the pleasure become agony as he exerted sweet suction on my clit, drawing it into his mouth and gently nibbling with his teeth in a way that was starting to make a hazy sweetness grow and rise inside of me. I bit my lip to stop myself crying aloud.

  The feeling was growing and building inside me, and I could feel myself shivering and trembling and…

  I came. Utterly unexpected, a bolt from the blue, flowing through me like lava, I came.

  I lay back on the bed and smiled up at him.

  He smiled at me, earnestly.

  �
��You okay?” he asked. His grin suggested to me that he knew what had happened. I nodded.

  “Wonderful,” I breathed.

  He laughed. “Good.”

  He parted my thighs again and took his cock in hand and stroked it over my folds, wiping it against my clit so that I shivered and trembled and closed my eyes, already aroused and wanting him again.

  “Is it okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, my throat tight.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes.”

  He grinned and moved my legs wider, then knelt between them, guiding himself into me. I closed my eyes and sighed with wonder as he filled me, his hard cock pulsing and throbbing as it pushed into me. It was pushing on all the sweet spots inside me as I moved and he moved and entered me anew.

  I gasped and leaned up, wrapping my arms around him and drawing him into me as he moved and growled and pushed into me, harder and harder and firmer…

  I was panting and sobbing and throbbing as he plowed me slowly and then faster and faster. I could feel that slow insistence building inside me, and building and building and…

  I cried out a second before he did. He collapsed on my chest and we lay there, blissfully. He was wet with sweat and so was I, our skins sliding on each other as he lay down in my arms.

  I lay back, panting and perspiring. His body weight was warm and comfortable on me and I felt myself start to doze off, the post-climatic drowsiness filling me from within.

  I felt him roll off and lie beside me and we lay like that for quite some time. I was barely awake, barely thinking about anything. He was breathing regularly and fully and I wondered if he was asleep.

  While I lay there, I started to wake up a little more. I studied him from half-closed eyes. He was the most conventionally good looking of the brothers, I reckoned. At least, he looked a bit like a corporate Disney Prince, if such a thing could be credited.

  He was a boyish lover too—eager to please. I liked it.

  I smiled and stroked his hair and he stirred, eyes almost opening. He shut them again and shifted in his sleep, rolling over some more.

  I recalled the fact that Donnell had more or less set me up with Clarke. I wondered what the heck all this was about. I liked the thought of having brothers to choose from, though—this crazy game was starting to get a kind of naughty excitement.

  I heard him take a big breath and he sighed, rolling over.

  “I was drowsing,” he said gently. “Sorry.”

  “No,” I said with a smile. “I was too.”

  I reached out and gently stroked his shoulder and he murmured, seeming to enjoy it. I smiled and looked into his eyes. Deliberately, I slid my hand down his chest, hearing him gasp, and took his cock in between my fingers and palm.

  He sighed and his eyes widened, surprised, as I squeezed. I laughed and squeezed harder.

  He gasped and let me gently squeeze his cock, his fingers clasping it tight as I moved my hand back and forth. He was shivering and gasping as I gently played with him. He started to shiver in earnest and I considered working him until he came or doing something else.

  I sat up and he smiled.

  “What do want to do now?” he asked.

  I flushed, one brow raised.

  “I get a choice, do I?” I teased.

  He grinned.

  “You bet you do. I’m all yours.”

  I felt my heart thump with excitement at that thought.

  “In that case,” I said, my insides already heating up at the merest offer, “take me from behind?”

  His eyes widened and he nodded.

  “Sure,” he said. “I’d like that.”

  I bent over and he moved behind me and, slowly and deliberately, entered into me. I gasped as he filled me, relishing the sweetness of having him fill me up, rubbing on something sweetly pleasure-giving inside.

  I thrust back, meeting his motion as he moved forward. His hands were in my waist and I felt a sweet freedom as we moved together, his hands tight on my body, his breath panting in my ear as we rocked and moved together.

  I was starting to gasp as I felt the climax building inside of me.

  I panted and panted and then cried out as a wave of pleasure so intense I couldn’t withstand it crashed through me and left me feeling limp and exhausted.

  He was still holding me, moving inside, though I could hear that he was starting to get close to his own climax.

  He was grunting and thrusting and when he finally came we lay like that, side by side, his arms wrapping me close.

  We slept a bit longer and then he sat up, looking down at me with some surprise. It had gotten dark in the room and I could just see his eyes, white irises blue in the ink darkness of the room.

  “It’s gotten late,” he said with a smile.

  “What’s the time?” I asked lazily, rolling over onto my back.

  “It’s nine,” he said, brow raised in surprise.

  I chuckled. “We should probably do something about dinner, right?”

  He went pink. “Hell, Kelsey,” he said, sounding appalled. “I’m so sorry. Where have my manners gone to?”

  I laughed. “It’s okay,” I said, sitting up and relishing the feeling of his gaze on me. “We can either get something together here, or I’ll just go back now.”

  “No,” he said insistently. “You can’t do that. Let’s see what I have.”

  I smiled and let him head off to the kitchen. I rolled over and sat up to join him. He discovered cannelloni in the fridge, ready to heat up and eat. So we ate those.

  “You’re an unusual person,” he said to me, as we sat at the kitchen table. I smiled. I was just wearing my hastily donned dress, no underwear, my hair loose, sitting at his kitchen table eating store-bought cannelloni.

  “I guess,” I said with a smile. “Maybe not in a good way.”

  “No,” he said, setting aside his knife and fork. “In the best way.”

  I blushed. “That’s sweet, Clarke.”

  “It’s true.”

  I smiled.

  We finished eating in companionable silence. When we’d eaten and drunk something, I leaned back, sighing.

  “You know, I guess I should get a taxi home?”

  He stared at me. “I can take you home,” he said.

  I smiled. “You’re sweet,” I said, and meant it. “But I’ll be okay.”

  “No,” he said. “I insist. Really.”

  I shook my head, smiling at him. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Let me take you back?”

  I sighed. “Okay.”

  He drove me home. It felt weird, sitting beside him. I wasn’t sure what to say, so we didn’t really talk much. We drove back in a bubble of contented silence. I kissed him in the driveway.

  “Have a good evening,” I whispered back. “Thanks for the lift.”

  “You too,” he said softly. “And it’s nothing.”

  I smiled at him and whispered, “No, it isn’t,” under my breath as he walked away.

  I was touched by the care he showed me. And my body was tingling as I walked up the leaf-bordered pathway and up the front steps into my home.

  I unlocked the door and walked softly up the steps. Someone had thoughtfully left a light on so I could see where I was going. I reached my room and shut the door softly behind me and collapsed on the bed. I looked up at the ceiling, my head whirling with sleepy fulfillment.

  When I was safely in bed, I lay back and contemplated my crazy few days. I had slept with three brothers in a week. It was an insane thing to do but it was also insanely exciting. I closed my eyes and tried to recall what Grayson looked like.

  Oddly enough, though I hadn’t really focused on him in the beginning, and though my recent times with the other brothers were more recent, and thus more vivid in my mind, didn’t seem to make any difference. I could still remember that long, dark-haired face with the square jaw.

  I needed to do something about him.

  I sighed and laughed to myself. I was going t
o have to wait. I wasn’t about to push matters now that I had sampled three of the four men. The fourth was going to have to wait.

  8

  Grayson

  I couldn’t bear being at work. Seeing and hearing my brothers just grated on my nerves at the moment. There was some secret going on and I didn’t know what it was. They were all smiling at each other in my presence, and I felt like they were making a fool out of me.

  On Saturday, I made the weekly trip to Heath’s house for dinner, even though I knew in my heart it was a bad idea. As it turned out, I was right: the moment I saw him I got tense and my temper grew.

  “Grayson!” Heath greeted me at the door that evening, the scent of cooking dinner billowing out behind him. “Great to see you. Come on in! Donnell just arrived earlier.”

  “Donnell?” I ground out. “You said he wasn’t coming.”

  I had only agreed to come on the assumption that my other brothers were going to be out of town this Saturday. Of them all, Heath was the only one I could tolerate right now. Somehow, I didn’t hold him responsible for this weird game that the others were playing. Even though I knew it had something to do with Kelsey. Now, I suddenly found the others were here too?

  “Yeah. He said he wasn’t coming when we chatted on Friday,” Heath explained. “But this morning he called, saying he needed to talk about the financial predictions for the next year. So I reckoned, why not?” Heath shrugged. To give him his due, he looked sheepish about it.

  I shrugged. Tried to hold my anger at bay. “Sure,” I nodded. “Why not?”

  I went into the sitting room.

  “Hi,” Donnell called out. He had a straight face this time, which was a relief. “How’s it going?”

  “Fine,” I said woodenly. I sat down on the couch opposite. I tried not to wonder about Kelsey and whether she had sat on this couch with him a week ago. I focused on Donnell instead.

  “So, you want to discuss work, eh?” I asked.

  “I do,” Donnell nodded. “I found myself at a bit of a dead end, discussing the financial prospects this year. Thought I could do with some help on the matter.” He inclined his head in Heath’s direction.