This Moody Bastard Read online

  Sean struck a horse pose, his hands raised like prancing hooves. “I’m ready for my close-up, dahling.”

  Cali smacked his ass. “Not until you’re dressed for the part. Go get ready so she can plan.” He grabbed his duffel bag with his stuff in it, giving Cali a little butt wiggle as he headed off for one of the dressing room alcoves on the far side.

  Seth smiled. “You guys are an answered prayer, you know that? I was not looking forward to getting my family jewels wedged today.”

  * * * *

  Sean already felt his funky mood lifting. He knew he shouldn’t have watched the press conference that morning about Brita’s shooting, but they knew her. She’d been to their house. No, they weren’t her closest friends or anything, but as he watched the kids scattering in the background, running straight toward the road and the cars there, his heart bunched up tightly even though he knew only one child had been slightly injured, and that was from falling.

  He could only imagine the terror those kids’ parents felt watching the video.

  How close any of them could have been to dying.

  And here he was, a fully able-bodied man, and he knew he likely would have been running away, too.

  There was Brita, someone he knew suffered from chronic, debilitating pain, someone he’d seen in person and knew how stiffly and slowly she moved, and she’d been not only running, but running toward danger.

  To protect the kids. Kids that weren’t hers, and putting her own life at risk to do so.

  Yes, they’d already settled the decision of having kids. He and Max were scheduled to go in next Friday for vasectomies. They’d decided to do it at the same time, so Cali could drive them, and they’d have the weekend to feel a little less…nut-punched.

  The videos at the press conference had been one more stark reminder how fragile life was. How little control they really had over their futures, in some ways.

  While at one time he’d thought he’d enjoy being a parent, now he understood he was not parenting material. Being an adopted uncle to Essie’s son, and to other friends’ kids, sure. Enjoy them, spoil them rotten, then hand them back at the end of the time without a look back.

  When does adulting kick in?

  Like this morning. He couldn’t have freely dressed like Jesus gimp bunny if they had a kid running around.

  No at-will nookie when they felt like it without worrying if a kid would hear or see them.

  He wondered if that made him a selfish bastard for thinking like that. If there was something wrong with him for deciding he didn’t want kids.

  Then again, if there’s something wrong with me, I guess that would mean there’s something wrong with Cali and Max, too, so we definitely belong together. Or maybe I need to get the hell out of my own head and stop worrying about it.

  * * * *

  Max kept an eye on Sean throughout the afternoon. Sean seemed to be having fun, but Max knew there was still a hidden current running through their guy’s mind that Sean wasn’t cluing them in to.

  He could read Sean like an open book on most days. Cali, too, to a certain extent. They’d all felt a little bit of melancholy right around the St. Patrick’s Day party when Mal lost her baby. Then on top of that, the three of them had decided to settle for good the question of not having kids.

  All three of them were a little moody as a result as they settled into their decided path.

  He really was good with that decision. As with all other major life decisions, no matter what they were, he knew he personally needed to let it finally find its level in his brain. That was just him.

  And, to a certain extent, Sean.

  They still hadn’t seen Mallory. When they’d gone over to Kel’s the day after the St. Patrick’s Day party to take them food and cards people had brought for them, Mal had been asleep.

  Once the demonstration got underway, Cali and Max stood to the side with Seth and watched Leah. She had about twenty people in attendance, besides them. Most of them already had some rope experience, but not suspension.

  Max considered himself a pretty decent rigger, and had tied plenty of basic suspensions with Sean in the past. Even he found himself learning tricks and tips he hadn’t consciously considered before. Including a couple of things he and Sean had done that were safety issues neither of them had thought about.

  Fortunately, they’d never had a mishap, but Max made a mental note to be more mindful next time they did a suspension at home.

  Once the presentation had wrapped up, everyone laughed as Cali got the bunny ears and tail on Sean and readied the plastic eggs under him. Max manned the lights and reflector. Once Cali had the shots she needed, Max helped Leah bring Sean down so she could restring the belaying ropes through the hard-point ring and harness. Cali helped Sean swap out the bunny ears and tail for the latex hooves on his hands and the unicorn mask, which, for the sake of time, she pulled on over the black leather hood Sean already wore instead of removing that first.

  “I forgot how much this thing smells,” Sean said, his voice muffled by the mask. “It’s damn latex.”

  More laughter from the audience as they watched the events unfold.

  “It’s only for a few minutes,” Cali reminded him.

  Leah hoisted him in the air again. Once he was secured, she stepped out of the way and Cali was able to wedge the unicorn tail butt plug between Sean’s ass cheeks and the back strap for his jock without having to tape it in place.

  More pictures, and once Cali was sure they had the shots, she nodded. “Okay.”

  Max went to help Leah while Cali shut off the lights.

  When his feet were solidly back on the ground, Sean tried to get the unicorn mask off, but couldn’t because of the latex hoof mitts on his hands.

  “A little help, please?” he asked, prompting more laughter from the audience.

  Max snorted. “You are fricking adorable and derpy at the same time. You know that?”

  His head hung low as he pawed the air with one hoof. “Derpy unicorn would like to be relieved of his mask, please.”

  Cali took pity on their guy, freeing him from the smelly mask. Then she unlaced his leather hood and removed it. His hair was damp with sweat and stood up at all angles.

  “Thanks, babe.”

  She smiled as she pulled his hooves off. “You’re welcome.”

  “I wonder how we can Photoshop Baxter into this one? What costume?”

  “It won’t be a dancing Jesus pussy,” Max said. “That’s for sure.”

  Chapter Four

  After the demonstration and photo shoot ended, Sean had changed back into street clothes, and they’d repacked their equipment, they headed off to Sigalo’s following Seth and Leah to have dinner with everyone. Cali rode in back while Max drove.

  “Feeling any better?” Max asked Sean.

  “Yeah. I’m glad I did that. It was fun. Made people laugh.”

  “Yeah, you did, buddy. Lord knows we all need a laugh in this day and age.”

  Cali was actually surprised to see Chelbie and her guys, fraternal twins Rich and Nick Hurst, at dinner.

  Cali hugged her. “You didn’t say you were coming tonight when we were talking this morning.”

  “I didn’t know we were coming. Mal insisted she was okay and needed some time alone. She asked us to come out tonight and update everyone at dinner.”

  Max frowned. “Is that wise? Leaving her alone, I mean.”

  “She’s not alone-alone. Kel and his mom are with her.”

  “Ah.”

  Chelbie shrugged. “What am I going to do, force myself on her? She asked me to come back in the morning, so I’m going to have to let her have the space she asked for.”

  As more people arrived for dinner, it was actually Brita and Ethan and the shooting at Mote that was the more heavily discussed topic of conversation, not Mal and Kel’s tragedy.

  When Ross and Loren arrived, a little later than normal, they all made room for them at the table even though their app
earance was a surprise.

  They ended up wedged in at a corner next to Cali. “How’s she doing?” she asked Ross.

  “As well as can be expected. I can’t say a lot, except she won’t be charged. All the video evidence clears her, as do the other witnesses.” He slowly shook his head. “It was only a matter of time before some idiot did something like that in this state, with this result. You don’t threaten a bunch of young kids and not expect someone to step up.”

  During a lull in the conversation, Chelbie stood and rounded the table to talk to Cali. “Oh, I almost forgot. Kel asked me if you guys would mind if they RSVP’d as provisional to the Easter party?”

  “Of course we don’t mind. They’re always welcomed. They don’t need to RSVP at all.”

  “I suspected, but he asked me to ask, so I’m asking. He’s going to try to coax her into stopping by for a little while, just to visit. I know it’s a couple of weeks away, but it might take him that long to get her worked up to doing it.”

  “Sure, absolutely.”

  On the ride home, Cali spoke up. “You guys are getting vasectomies because you want to, not because I want you to, right?”

  Sean glanced back at her. “Yes. Honestly? I don’t think any guy with half a brain would agree to get one just because his woman wants him to. We’re sort of genetically hard-wired to protect those damn things, not let someone cut a slit in them.”

  “Ouch,” Max said. “That was not a mental image I needed. Besides, it’s the scalpel-less procedure. It’s a tiny hole.”

  “Well, am I wrong?” Sean asked him.

  “No, you’re not wrong.” At the next light, Max glanced back at her. “We really want to do this, babe. At this point, unless you radically changed your mind and insisted you did want kids and it was a deal-breaker if we didn’t have them, I still want to go through with this and get it over with. I want to be back in action before the Easter party.”

  When the light turned green he focused on the road again. “Then again, if you changed your mind that drastically, I guess we would have to talk.”

  “I haven’t changed my mind. I know I’m not going to change my mind. If I haven’t had the overwhelming urge to have kids by now, I’m not going to. That’s what had me dragging my feet for so long. I thought the urge would kick in, and it never did.”

  “We can always be crazy cat people,” Sean said.

  “I think we’re already crazy cat people,” Max said.

  “We have the crazy part nailed,” Cali said.

  * * * *

  Cali didn’t feel like being crazy tonight, though. When she cozied against Sean while Max was finishing in the bathroom, she tweaked his nipple. “How about you two get me off fast and then let me watch you guys play?”

  “Ah, is someone a little too tired to take the two of us on?”

  “Yeah.” Her hand dipped lower to encircle his semihard cock. Being tied up always got Sean frisky. “But not too tired to watch you two.”

  “You’re never too tired to watch, baby.” He lowered his lips to hers, slowly exploring, helping raise the heat on the low simmer her body currently felt.

  Another thing she loved about her guys, that they never made her feel guilty about not being in the mood, or not wanting to be crazy in bed. There were plenty of times one of the men wasn’t feeling frisky. If both of them weren’t in the mood but she was, they never had a problem getting her off.

  There were no expectations on her.

  Sean kissed his way down her chin, down her throat, to her right nipple. Slowly drawing teasing circles around it with his tongue, he trailed kisses across the valley between her breasts to her left nipple and then repeated it. He’d started working lower and had reached her navel when Max emerged from the bathroom to join them in bed.

  Sean lifted his mouth from her flesh for a moment. “She wants to watch us together tonight.” Then he went back to kissing her.

  “Ah.” Max cradled her against him and started kissing her, not needing any further explanation than that. His cock was also firm, not quite fully hard yet.

  Once Sean made it between her legs, he pushed her thighs wide apart, settled in, and got comfy. He wasn’t speed-licking her, but he wasn’t going to drag it out, either. She could tell that from the way he started out slow, circling her clit with his tongue for a few rounds before sliding two fingers inside her pussy.

  Meanwhile, Max used one hand to start teasing her nipples as he kissed her, totally distracting her while adding to her pleasure.

  I’m glad I get to do this for the rest of my life with them.

  * * * *

  Sean easily could have lain there all night between Cali’s thighs. Definitely no hardship. He took his time, reading her body, the sound of her moans, muffled by Max’s mouth. The way she gasped for air or in pleasure at what he did.

  Slightly hooking his fingers up, he found the sweet spot and gently applied pressure as he increased how hard he sucked on her clit. Sometimes, he loved it when they tied her up and kept her hovering on the edge for a long time, until she begged and finally safeworded for them to move on to the next step.

  Nights like tonight, he equated it more to playing a fine instrument, getting what he wanted out of her, making her feel good.

  When she came, he felt the walls of her pussy squeezing his fingers and knew he had her. Keeping her right there in that spot for just a little while, to maximize her pleasure, he eased up with his mouth right before he thought she might be ready to safeword at the intensity.

  Her hand settled on the back of his head, stroking, petting him.

  He loved that, too.

  “Thank you,” she said when Max let her talk again.

  He kissed the inside of her left thigh, then her right. The nice thing about them all being switches was they had no expectations on each other. Whatever role they wanted or needed to fill at any given time that was fine.

  Even better, he and Max trusted her to top both of them when she was in the mood to do that.

  A far cry from their ex—the reason the men had ended up together in the first place—who’d used and abused them and their trust.

  Since Max was right there, in the perfect position, Sean moved over and took his lover’s cock into his mouth, going deep the way he knew Max loved.

  That drew a sharp hiss from Max. “Oh, fuck yeah, buddy.” Max spread his legs, drawing them up to give Sean better access.

  Sean dove in, licking his balls, even rimming him. When he looked up Max’s body, Cali now had him cradled against her and was kissing him, playing with his nipples much the same way he’d been teasing hers just a few minutes earlier.

  Until that point, Sean had hovered between feeling bottomy and feeling Toppy.

  Now?

  Definitely Toppy.

  “Watch out, babe.” Sean changed positions, turning and pinning Max’s arms to the bed with his legs as he lowered his ass over Max’s face. “Get that tongue busy, mister.” He hooked his arms over the backs of Max’s thighs, now basically pinning him in a hog-tied position. And he went deep, spearing Max’s rim with his tongue as Max moaned and did the same.

  Got him.

  Sean lifted his head. “Get it in there, buddy. You know what I like.”

  Another moan from Max that rolled through Sean’s ass and balls and nearly made him spooge all over Max’s neck and chest.

  He got Cali’s attention and mouthed towel, lube, and condom at her, and pointed to the bathroom. Understanding, she immediately fetched them for him. Adjusting his own position on Max’s face so his balls now filled the man’s mouth, he took a few deep breaths to make sure he maintained control.

  Max was damn good with his mouth.

  It didn’t help that as he got Max lubed up, the man knew what would be coming next. And Max moaned every time Sean’s fingers swept past his gland.

  “Don’t you come yet,” he said, nipping the inside of Max’s thigh and drawing a pained yip from him. “I want you riding my co
ck when you come.”

  Once he knew he’d tortured Max enough, he kissed the end of his cock and sat up, wiping his hands on the towel, his balls still in Max’s mouth. Then he rolled the condom onto his shaft and added more lube.

  Only then did he finally relinquish his comfortable seat and lay back on the bed. “Okay, buddy. Mount and ride.”

  Max rolled over onto him, kissing him as he threw a leg over Sean, straddling him. Sean’s hands settled on Max’s ass as the man backed up, getting the head of Sean’s cock lined up with his ass.

  “That’s it,” Sean mumbled, grabbing a handful of Max’s hair. “You know you want it.”

  It’d been a couple of weeks since Sean had actually fucked Max, although Max had blown him a couple of days before. That time, Max had been fucking Cali, and Sean had stood in front of him, over Cali, and grabbed his head and went to town.

  Everybody was a winner.

  The permutations were endless, and a lot of fun.

  He stared up into Max’s eyes as Max worked Sean’s cock deep inside him, until his ass was pressed against Sean’s thighs. Then Sean reached down and slicked pre-cum pearling at his slit down Max’s shaft.

  Then Max started moving. Sean timed the strokes with his hand, getting into a rhythm with Max, slowly building. It was a catch-22, that Max wanted to come as well as draw it out for as long as possible once he’d hit that sweet zone. Sean knew this was Max’s favorite position to take Sean’s cock in, able to control how and where his cock reached inside him, how hard, how deep.

  It didn’t take long before Max was bouncing up and down on him, his hands braced on Sean’s pecs. Max ground his ass against Sean’s cock, hard thrusts that Sean knew would make both of them quickly explode at that rate. Cali snuggled in close, her hands trailing up first Sean’s body, then Max’s.

  Max’s climax started, his tight ass squeezing Sean’s cock and triggering Sean’s release. He kept stroking Max’s cock, now slick with the man’s cum, as his own cock erupted and filled the condom in Max’s ass.