Sedonia Guillone

“Leda, there’s something I need to tell you.” Duncan lifted the brush from her hair and sat down next to her on the bed. She looked at him, his dark brows drawn together, the concern darkening his eyes. Her stomach fluttered.

“What is it, Duncan?”

He sighed and gently ran the palm of his hand down her arm. His touch was warm through her cotton nightgown. “I don’t want you to feel bound to me,” he began softly. “I mean, after the year of our handfast.”

She furrowed her brow as the meaning of his words sank in. “I don’t feel bound to you in the way I believe you mean it.” Reaching up, she touched his cheek. “Does this have to do with what happened today?”

“Aye.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Ian and Helen’s marriage has never been consummated. It could be dissolved. You and he would be free toâ?¦” he paused, the word he was about to say stuck inside him. “Marry.”

Leda gasped. “Duncan, don’t you love me anymore?”

His gaze snapped to hers, his eyes wide. “What? I couldn’t love you more. That’s why I want you to be with Ian if it’s what you want.”

She looked down at the hairbrush dangling from Duncan’s large hand, a hand that had caressed her, pleasured her and comforted her countless times. The mere thought of giving him up made her hysterical inside. And yet, when she thought of Ian, remembered the way he’d looked at her earlier, with desire and tenderness, as in the days of their engagement, she couldn’t imagine living without his, either. As strange and as confusing as her heart was, she loved both men. They were both part of her soul. “It’s not that simple, Duncan.” She put a hand over his, squeezing it. “I don’t want to end our marriage. Ever.”

He looked at her. His gaze caressed her and his relief was palpable.

“But I know you and Ian still love each other. I never expected you to stop.”

Leda opened her mouth to speak, but Duncan gently put a finger to her lips.

“Leda, I want you to have us both.”

She stared at him, waiting for him to lift his finger. When he did she gasped. “Duncan, do you realize what you’re saying?”

He nodded. “Aye. Don’t think I haven’t given this a great deal of thought.” He set the hairbrush on the bedside table and reached for her hands. “If it were any other man, I doubt I’d feel so strongly. But I know what you mean to each other and, well, Ian has more than proven himself worthy of you.”

Her lips trembled and hot tears crowded her eyes. “Does Ian know how you feel?”

“No. I haven’t spoken with him yet.” He reached up a hand and pushed her hair back, away from her face. “I said back on our honeymoon that I believed what I wanted most deeply in my heart was to give love unreservedly to the people I love.” He brushed a tender kiss across her lips. “This is my gift to you, Leda, to give you what you want most deeply in yours.” He fell silent and wiped a tear off her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

A knock sounded at the bedroom door, which opened at Duncan’s call. Ian stepped inside and approached them. He wore a bathrobe over pajamas and his hair was damp and combed back. He looked at them hesitantly. “Is it all right I’m here?”

“Come and sit with us,” Duncan told him.

Ian went over to the bed and sank down next to Leda. He sat with his shoulders hunched. “I can’t say enough how sorry I am,” he said after several moments.

Leda noticed Ian’s hands shaking and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, his green-gold eyes lined with grief.

“Leda, I’m so frightened,” he whispered.

She realized instantly what he meant, and her terror over his leaving for war washed over her. “Ian.” She threw her arms around him, burying her face into his neck. His strong back heaved under her palms, making her aware he was sobbing. She held him as tightly as she could. God, it felt so sweet to hold him after so long. She’d missed him horribly, even during her time with Duncan. And not because she loved Duncan any less. Her heart was meant to hold both of them. And, she thought, as warmth tingled inside her, igniting in her sex, her body.

Ian’s sobs abated and his breathing changed, growing more ragged. He stirred against her and she felt the change in his body. He lifted his face and looked at her, one large hand smoothing or and that only the thing material of their nightclothes separated them. “Leda,” he whispered. His eyes smoldered under heavy lids as he gazed. “Leda, I can’t bear the thought of never seeing you again. I’ve missed you so much.”

He looked suddenly at Duncan and pulled away from Leda. “I’m sorry, Duncan.”

Duncan reached out and squeezed his brother’s arm. “Don’t be sorry, Ian.” His voice was low and husky. “Love her.” His hands went to Leda’s shoulders, rubbing them in slow, sensuous circles. The heat of his hands radiated through the thin material of her nightgown and she breathed heavily as the tingling in her body increased, trailing deliciously through her entire body. “She wants us both,” he whispered, burying his lips in the side of her neck, feathering the tip of his tongue along the delicate skin. His strong hands slid down the length of her arms and onto her hips, rubbing and caressing them.

Leda opened her eyes. Ian was staring at her hungrily, yet hanging back, as if he thought he were dreaming. She reached a hand out to him, gently tugging him to her.

When he was only a few inches away, he exhaled sharply and leaned into her, taking her mouth in a deep kiss. She felt him releasing pent-up longing in the way he mated his tongue fervently with hers. His hands cupped her breasts, squeezing them tenderly yet urgently.

Duncan grabbed up fistfuls of her nightgown, raising it above her knees. Ian lifted his face from their kiss so that The gown could be raised over Leda’s head, exposing her bare flesh. She watched Ian’s gaze travel the length of her body.

“She’s yours too,” Duncan whispered, leaning over to press a kiss into her shoulder.

Ian leaned into her again, kissing her deeply. She breathed in his masculine scent that she’d missed for so long. Reaching up, she laced her fingertips into his hair as he nibbled her lips and jaw, trailing kisses down her neck to her breasts.

Duncan caressed her hips. One large hand slid over her stomach, his fingertips raking through the curls on her mound. Her hand followed the movements of Ian’s head as he went from one nipple to the other, suckling each one hungrily to a hard peak. Tingling heat coursed through her body as he tugged each sensitive nipple between his lips and tongue. She wilted against Duncan, melting under their exploring hands and tongues.

Duncan’s fingertips slipped down between her legs, into her moist center, rubbing back and forth over her clitoris. She spread her legs wider, sagging back further against Duncan. When Ian sat up to pull of his pajama top, Duncan’s hands slid back up to her breasts, cupping them from behind, kneading her nipples gently between her fingertips.

Ian’s hazel eyes were dusky, his face flushed, his muscular chest heaving. One hand reached out, his fingertips tracing a path from her inner thigh to her knee and back up again while Duncan turned her face to the side and kissed her, slipping his tongue between her lips, tasting her mouth languorously in slow strokes.

She moaned, her eyes fluttering closed. She felt Ian move closer and then felt his lips press into her stomach, the tip of his tongue flickering over her skin. His palms caressed her inner thighs before skating upward to her sex, spreading her open gently with his thumbs. His breath was suddenly warm over her clitoris, which he began to lave with his tongue.

Leda surrendered completely to the overwhelming pleasure. She spread her legs wider as Ian slipped two fingers inside her swollen channel, musky and wet from arousal. The combined ecstasy of Duncan’s kisses, his fingertips squeezing her nipples, and Ian’s tongue on her desire brought her body over the edge. An orgasm erupted under Ian’s mouth, shimmering through her womb. She cried out from the intensity of the waves that gripped her. When they passed, she wilted again Duncan who laid her back against the pillows.

“Leda, may I?” Ian whispered, his eyes smoldering. Her musk glistened on his lips.

She nodded and he pulled off his pajama bottoms. His erection was full and thick and she gazed on his magnificent body, her desire stirring again.

He parted her legs and settled himself between them, guiding his penis to her opening. Leda moaned as he pushed the head in, the glided up inside her until their bodies touched. He took her mouth hungrily in a kiss as he moved inside her, bracing himself on his elbows.

Duncan had pulled off his pajama top and stretched out beside them, his hand fondling her breasts, squeezing the nipples. When Ian lifted his lips from hers, she turned to look at Duncan who smiled at her and leaned over, kissing her full open mouth, suckling her tongue feverishly.

Sarah, Fallen Angel Reviews

Oleta M Blaylock, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Barb Hicks, The Best Reviews

Marina, Cupid’s Library Reviews

Holly, Euro-Reviews