Raising the Bar

Chapter Three

Harper shook as he knelt, worshipping at Dylan’s feet. Good Christ, but the man was built like an Adonis. Handsome of face and form. Harper usually waited until he knew his partners well before engaging in anything questionable, but he had to taste Dylan. Now.

Just seeing that pearly white slit and that flushed cockhead exposed over the band of Dylan’s shorts set him off. The man was finer than fine. It just figured his cock would be amazing as well.

Harper lowered Dylan’s underwear, not exposing him all the way, but little by little, to prolong the pleasure. Dylan groaned and shifted, clearly needing attention. Even though Harper had been expecting a nice-sized cock for a man Dylan’s size, he was surprised at the man’s girth.

Harper didn’t wait any longer. He licked at Dylan’s slit and felt hands on his shoulders, gripping him tight. He licked again, then sucked the man’s cock between his lips.

“Yes, God yes.” Dylan moaned his name and arched his hips off the wall, pushing deeper into Harper’s mouth.

Salty, clean. Dylan smelled like sex—a compliment in Harper’s mind. The man wore designer clothing and used a soap that might as well have been an aphrodisiac. A hint of sandalwood and spice. Addicting. Harper dragged Dylan’s underwear down his legs and off, then pulled back to fully see his new lover.

A long, thick cock, a nest of trimmed dark hair, and a heavy sac. He cupped Dylan’s balls and wanted to purr with satisfaction when Dylan spread his legs wider and palmed Harper’s head.

“I want to fuck you so bad. Eat me. Suck me down. I need you. Please,” Dylan rasped, yet he didn’t push Harper to do anything. He’d said please, and he waited, trembling.

Harper had broken the man of his need to control, and for that Dylan had earned a reward. “That’s it. You need me, yes.” Harper kissed him, then sucked his balls.

“Harper. Yes. That’s it. Oh Christ. Anything you want, it’s yours. Please.”

Harper fondled Dylan’s sac and pulled his cock down. Then he took Dylan to the back of his throat in one swallow.

Dylan swore and gripped Harper by the hair.

Harper used his tongue, flicking underneath Derrick’s crown, and tasted a burst of salty fluid.

“Gonna come so hard,” Dylan moaned.

Harper bobbed over him a few times before Dylan lost it. He shouted and came, flowing down Harper’s throat like honey. Harper continued to cup and caress him, stroking his thighs and balls, running his hands back around Dylan’s tight ass. And he kept swallowing, sucking that thick, still half-hard rod as Dylan finally finished his release.

After Harper slowly withdrew, Dylan leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Standing, hard as a pike and hungry for more, Harper looked his lover over, gratified to find the drugged pleasure there in Dylan’s cloudy green eyes.

“You are incredible,” Dylan said hoarsely. “Now it’s your turn.”

“Anything I want, I think you said.”

Dylan straightened. “I said that?” He stared at Harper, his gaze drawing down Harper’s body to his jeans. “You need to get naked first.”

“Take them off me.”

Dylan took his time. “You’re bossy, you know that?”

“I… Oh yeah.” He blew out a breath when Dylan unbuttoned his fly, giving him some relief from the pressure. He was so hard.

Dylan pulled him out, pushing his underwear and jeans down to his thighs. “You’re a big boy yourself.” He held Harper in hand and sucked on his nipples.

Harper rocked into his touch and wrapped an arm around Dylan’s back, keeping him close. “Yeah, that’s good. Your mouth is so warm.”

Dylan continued to suck, alternating between Harper’s nipples. Then he slowly kissed his way down Harper’s body, until he knelt between Harper’s legs. With his jeans trapping his legs, Harper couldn’t spread his feet any wider. But then Dylan was running that amazing mouth across his pelvis and lower, all over his shaft. Those soft yet firm lips dragged the length of his cock.

“You’re so big,” Dylan murmured. “I like a fat cock. But yours is long too. Wonder if it’ll fit in my mouth?”

Harper groaned. “Tease.”

Dylan chuckled. He cupped Harper’s balls and nibbled at Harper’s tip. “You want my mouth, sexy?”

“More,” Harper breathed and pushed himself between Dylan’s lips. He’d never seen anything better than his cock in that man’s beautiful mouth. “Let me fuck you. Hold still.” He held Dylan’s head and shallowly thrust between his lips, making sure not to move too deep. He had no idea how far he could push Dylan, and Harper didn’t want to end this yet. Not now, tonight, or for a while to come.

He continued to thrust in and out, but when he neared his end, he withdrew. “I want you on the bed. On your hands and knees. Spread for me,” he growled between breaths.

Dylan stared up at him, his lips slick, his cheeks flushed. “I don’t know…”

“No, you don’t. But I’ll make it so good for you. Want to come again, Doc?”

Dylan opened his mouth and closed it. He seemed undecided, but a glance at Dylan’s erection told Harper the man could find satisfaction again if he let himself.

“I’ll be gentle. But it’ll sting.” Harper wouldn’t lie. Not that he had to. Dylan could see his size.

“Fuck. Okay, but you’d better lube up. No lube, no way in hell.”

Harper chuckled and took off the rest of his clothes. “I’ve got condoms and lube in the drawer.” He left to fetch them while Dylan moved to the bed and waited on his hands and knees, his ass so tight and bitable.

After putting on a condom, Harper slathered himself with lube, then moved to put some in Dylan. But that ass beckoned. He moved closer and kissed the small of Dylan’s back.

Dylan tensed. “What are you doing?”

“What I’ve been dreaming about since I saw you this morning.”

Dylan groaned, but Harper didn’t stop. He continued to kiss his way over Dylan’s cheeks and licked at his tight hole. Dylan blew out a breath as Harper licked and then shoved his tongue inside Dylan’s ass.

“Oh fuck. That’s good.”

Harper pulled back to see tight balls, and he reached under with his free hand and gripped Dylan’s thick cock. “You’ve got stamina. I like that.”

“Get inside me already,” Dylan ordered. “Or I’ll come without you.”

“Tsk, tsk.” Harper let him go, then slowly, gently, lubricated Dylan’s tight ass. “Oh yeah. You’ve been a long time without someone in here.” He paused. “You sure about this?” Why he’d even ask again, when he wanted inside Dylan like nothing else, he didn’t know. But it meant everything that Dylan not have regrets about tonight.

“Don’t make me beg.” Dylan’s growl settled the matter, and with a hoarse chuckle, Harper joined him on the bed.

He nudged Dylan’s knees farther apart, then put himself at Dylan’s hole. “I wish you could see this. Watching as I disappear inside your ass.” Harper slowly inched inside. “Push out. Tell me when it hurts.”

“You’re so big. Oh yeah. It stings. Give me more,” Dylan whispered. “Fuck, more.”

Harper didn’t want to hurt him, but he couldn’t stop himself from surging deeper. Dylan fit him like a glove, like a hot, silken sheath that would soon milk him of every drop of seed he possessed.

“Yes. That’s it. So fucking good.” Harper moaned and slid deeper still, until he couldn’t move any more. He sat like that a moment, trembling from the effort not to fuck Dylan until he came.

“You’re huge. I feel you in my throat,” Dylan moaned. “Move. Give it all to me.”

“You’re…okay?” He held Dylan’s waist, his hands clasped over the muscled flesh. A thought flashed out of nowhere, and he wondered what Freddy would think if she could see them like this. Would she be freaked? Or would she find it as arousing as he did?

“I will be. Fuck me already,” Dylan moaned.

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m in control here, Doc.” Harper slowly pulled back before pushing forward again. He rocked leisurely, gently inside Dylan, fully aware that they were joined more than physically. “You feel perfect. So damn good.” The image of himself coming inside Dylan, without a condom, made him push harder.

“Yeah. That’s—oh, yeah.” Dylan backed against him when Harper changed his angle.

Now knowing where to touch his doc, he fucked harder, aware Dylan was jerking himself off as Harper took him.

“Oh shit. I’m going to come again. Come with me, Harper. Yes, oh yes.” Dylan groaned as he clenched tight around Harper.

Unable to stop himself, Harper rammed harder and faster until his climax obliterated everything. He continued to pump, unloading into the condom as he came, whispering praise to his sexy lover. Finally the two of them stopped moving, the sounds of their heavy breathing and grunting all that could be heard.

“I made a mess,” Dylan confessed. “I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard. Well, except for before, in your mouth.” He sounded like he was smiling.

Harper wanted to see him, to look into his eyes. He carefully withdrew and flopped beside him. “You okay?” he asked softly.

“Better than okay.” The smile Dylan gave him opened something in Harper he hadn’t felt in too long. And he didn’t want it to end.

“How about we clean up? There’s a big shower in there.” Harper glanced down at himself and sighed. “And I made my own mess.”

Dylan glanced down. “Wow. That’s a lot of come, Harper. Been a while for you too?”

“Uh, well, a few months at least. But this is pretty standard for me.”

“You’re blushing. Aren’t you cute.” Dylan laughed at him, but before he could dodge the attack, Harper pinned him to the bed.

“I was right. You do need discipline.” He left the bed and hauled Dylan behind him. “Okay, slave. Make our shower ready. Then after you clean me, maybe I’ll let you suck me off. To reward you.”

Dylan sputtered, and Harper grinned at his pique. “Slave?” Dylan muttered. “I’ll show you slave. I’ll have you begging me and moaning my name. See if I don’t.”

Oh boy, but he did.

As Freddy watched another vampire rerun on television, she wondered if Harper had nailed the hot guy he’d been with. Dealing with her attraction to Harper was bad enough. The guy he’d brought with him, Dylan something, had nearly fried her to a crisp.

Both men were big, but where Harper had that rough, bad-boy thing going for him, Dylan seemed more refined. Especially wearing nice clothes that made him look smart, professional and beyond sexy. The barbarian and the model—what she wouldn’t give to be the meat in that sandwich. She sighed. God, it had been so long since she’d had a relationship that excited her.

She turned off the TV, marveling at the incongruity of being part owner of a sex club and getting less action than her octogenarian neighbors. She admitted she was picky about her boyfriends, but it had been over two years since her relationship with Mike and Tim had ended, and a year since she and Lou had broken up, and she still hadn’t found anyone who tripped her switch. Well, not like Harper or Dylan. Someone attainable.

Those guys didn’t count. For a while she’d thought she and Harper had a mutual attraction going on. But he visited the club so infrequently she rarely saw him. And when she’d heard about his visits on the rare times she’d had a day off, she’d heard he’d hooked up with guys. The chemistry she’d seen between him and Dylan had been unmistakable.

So much for her gaydar. Yet she could too easily picture him and Dylan kissing, and her heart raced in excitement. That she’d love to see.

“I so need to get laid.”

Guys always said women had it easy. They had no idea about reality. Sure, if she wanted to catch a venereal disease or chance getting it on with a serial killer, she could easily hook up with strangers online. Most people thought that a woman in to an alternative lifestyle was either a slut or immoral. She’d had several offers from members at the club, people who actually understood that kink didn’t equal unclean, but one good thing she’d learned from her father was to keep her personal and business lives separate. One more reason not to have anything to do with Harper…or Dylan.

The club offered her steady income. Alienating paying patrons when the sex inevitably led to boredom would lose her customers. Besides that, she liked her work. She didn’t want to feel uncomfortable about seeing anyone after they broke up or they had bad sex.

She fell asleep dreaming about Harper and Dylan and woke Saturday morning to the phone ringing off the hook. “Yeah?” she growled into the receiver. Then she turned the phone around and barked again, “Yeah?”

“Easy, Freddy. It’s me.”

“Brian, get a life, would you?” Ironic, coming from her. “It’s eight o’clock on a Saturday morning. Please tell me you’re not working.”

Her brother needed to get a life even more than she did. Though he’d invested in the club to help get her business started, he remained a silent partner, making his money doing corporate investments and logistical development for big businesses. He’d recently moved back to Augusta and she couldn’t have been happier. She’d missed him when he’d left ten years ago, but she’d understood his need to escape from their father and find himself. She was still trying to figure life out after twenty-nine years and was no closer to finding the answers than Brian.

“Hey. I have things to do. A house to decorate.” He sounded way too cheerful over so menial a task. “Come over and help me.”

She moaned.

“Oh please. What are you doing right now?”

“Besides lying in bed and praying for your early demise?”

He sneered. “You have no life. Get your ass out of bed and come help me decorate my house. I’m doing a Christmas party this year, and you’re good at crap like that.”

She was. But she was even better at sleeping in and loafing—what she’d planned to do today. Though she loved her job, a girl needed her downtime.

Pouring drinks and listening to people gave her a connection to others she’d been trying to establish forever, thanks to an unavailable father. She knew her shortcomings because she’d always prided herself on being honest—especially with herself. Of course, she didn’t have to admit her issues to anyone out loud. Her secrets stayed secret.

“What do I get if I help you?” Her brother was a notorious cheapskate. At least around her.

“Breakfast?”

“That’s it?”

“Well, what else do you want?”

I want some hot, sweaty sex with men who have stars in their eyes for me. Not something she could share with her brother. “How about a really good breakfast? You have to make me French toast.”

He sighed. “Fine. Then pick up eggs and bread on the way over.” He paused. “How about some coffee and milk too? And cinnamon.”

Two hours and fifty dollars worth of groceries later, she sat with her brother at his new kitchen counter and ate the French toast she’d made. At least he’d paid for the groceries.

“You suck,” she said around a mouthful of calories she’d burn off just breathing. Some women had to worry about losing weight. She usually worried about not gaining enough.

“Yeah yeah. You’re eating, aren’t you?” He sipped his coffee. “You know, I’m still surprised I love this house. After living in condos and shitty apartments over the years, I didn’t think I’d ever want grass. But I have a yard and a pool. I like this.”

“You’re getting old.”

He laughed. “Probably.” Just five years her senior, Brian had spent the majority of his life doing what their father wanted. Then he’d seen the light and left Brian Senior behind. Freddy could have told him their father would never find anything Brian did good enough, but then, she was the bad daughter who’d chosen to live with her mother after the divorce, so what did she know?

At least she had her mother and brother in her corner. “Talked to Mom lately?” she asked.

“Yeah. She’s living it up in Paris until spring. I think Aunt Selma’s been a good influence.”

“Good. Mom gets too down in the winter. She can’t do Christmas without thinking about him.” Their father put Scrooge to shame.

“True. I still don’t understand how she can consider them friends. I’m his son, and I can’t stand the guy.”

She snorted. “Hangin’ Judge Goode. What a bastard.”

They laughed together. She almost wished she’d kept her father’s last name, so she could flaunt that a Goode owned a sex club in the judge’s own hometown. But she didn’t relish opening that can of worms. The more distance between her father and her, the better.

“You seeing anyone?” Brian asked out of the blue.

Her thoughts immediately went to Harper and Dylan. “No.”

“Me either.” He sighed. “I was hoping Sydney might… But she’s head over heels for her boyfriend. Bad timing on my part, I guess. I should have moved back earlier, before they started dating.”

“Sydney?”

“The beautiful redhead who sold me the house. Sydney Fields. She’s been a good friend and a real help since I moved here. Her boyfriend lives down the street. Nice guy, actually.”

She shrugged. “In my experience, timing is everything. If I’d been just five minutes earlier coming home last December, Lou might not have met Sarah Ann and realized how much better a girlfriend she’d make than me.” She sighed. “Is it wrong I’m happier without him, and that I still remain friends with him? Maybe I’m just a loner.”

“I guess we both are.” They stared at one another and made sad faces.

Then Brian cracked up, and she snorted and said, “We don’t do pathetic well, do we?”

Brian shook his head. “No. And though I probably shouldn’t admit this, I’m not exactly a loner. I’ve had my share of dates since being here. Just no one steady.”

“Right. Dates. That’s a euphemism for sex. Nice.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a guy.”

“Hey, I have needs. And too many people would talk if I introduced them to my blow-up doll girlfriend.”

She laughed. She’d been pestered too many times at the club, so for the last April Fool’s Day, she’d shown up with an inflatable man and introduced him as her true love—a joke people still talked about to this day. “Mr. Freddy was a gag.”

“For you, sure. How many women turn to plastic men for fun? But guys actually do buy dolls for sex. Ech.”

She had her trusty vibrator at home, for all the good it was doing her lately. She just hadn’t been feeling sexual in a long time. Although, seeing Harper and his new boy toy had certainly given her some dreams to think about.

“So these decorations,” she said to change the subject. No point in lusting after gay men. “What were you thinking, and am I invited to this party or what?”

He pointedly glanced from the dishes in front of her to the sink.

She frowned. “Don’t think I’m washing up after I had to make my own breakfast.”

“But I paid…”

“Brian.”

“Fine,” he huffed and walked to the fireplace, staring at the mantel.

She frowned and walked over to him to see him better. “Have you been working out? You look huge.”

He pushed up the sleeve of his henley and flexed a few times. As she’d done as a child, she grabbed on to his bicep and hung, bending her knees so as not to touch the floor.

“You sure you’re not shrinking?” he teased.

They looked enough alike to be twins. Both blond and blue-eyed, but where Brian had inherited their father’s large stature, she’d taken after their mother’s petite frame.

“Funny. Ha ha.” She let go of him and they stared at the fireplace. “How many people are you talking about for this party of yours? Because you have plenty of space to work with.”

“I was thinking local clients and friends, but more friends than business. I mean, I’ll still write it off but have fun at the same time.”

“My brother, the scourge of the IRS.”

“It’s legitimate,” he defended.

“Whatever. So you think I should buy a bunch of blow-up dolls and butt plugs—”

“For my party?” He looked horrified.

“—and throw a shindig at the club, I was going to say before you interrupted.”

He made a face. “Don’t say butt plug around me. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, they don’t feel right, do they?”

“TMI. Seriously.”

She laughed and smacked him on the arm. “I’m just kidding. You’re such a prude. You know, you should come to the club. Expand your horizons.”

“Why don’t you?”

“I work there. I don’t mix business and pleasure. Ever.”

“Smart girl.” He tousled her hair. “Okay, squirt.” She hated that nickname. “So I’m thinking a big tree, tinsel, some lights…”

“No. Big tree, yes. No tinsel. White lights, garland. The works. I have a plan in mind.” She poked him the chest. “But don’t cheap out.”

“Shut up. Just because I refused to let you spend an extra twenty grand on fancy faucets for the club, you throw cheap in my face once a month.”

“But they were the cool curvy ones.” And she still wanted them.

He blew out a breath. “Focus, squirt. My party? I want to have it in three weeks. Well?”

They spent the weekend shopping and decorating, and Freddy had a blast. She genuinely loved her brother, and they were close enough in age and temperament to like spending time with one another. Sunday night came to a close as they stood in his driveway talking about his food budget.

“Shrimp? But if they get too warm, ew.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Don’t be silly. Have a few chilled bowls and the shrimp will be fine. Geez. I—” She watched as a silver car paused in front of his driveway.

The window rolled down, and she stared in surprise at Harper’s friend, Dylan.

“Hey man, what’s going on?” Brian moved to talk to him and his passenger. After some talk about Charleston and some B&B Brian had once stayed in, he pointed to her. “Oh, sorry. This is my sister, Freddy. Freddy, I was telling you about Sydney and her boyfriend.”

She approached, still startled to see Dylan sitting in the driver’s seat. She’d studied him and Harper together and knew she hadn’t been mistaken about their connection. Maybe they had a kink for threesomes?

“I’m Derrick.” He stuck out his hand, pretending he didn’t know her. The jerk. Some of the club members had secret lives apart from their families. She had no room to judge, but she’d thought better of Dylan, being a friend of Harper’s. She was disappointed to see him so like the many men living in the closet. “Nice to meet you,” he added with a smile.

She nodded. “You too” came out cooler than she’d liked, but she couldn’t help it. Then the thought hit. Did Harper know his new boyfriend had a girlfriend? For that matter, had Harper and Dylan hooked up? Maybe theirs was a new relationship, not yet consummated. Perhaps they hadn’t acted on their attraction and had no hold on each other. Not her business. Yet she couldn’t help wondering if she should say something to Harper when she saw him next.

After a few more words with Brian, they waved and drove a few houses down the street, then pulled into the driveway.

She stuck her hands in her pockets and said to her brother, “So that’s Derrick and Sydney, huh? They close?”

“Inseparable. You should have seen how jealous he was when he thought Sydney and I had a thing.”

“So no kinky stuff for you three at the club,” she said, half teasing. “Just neighbors and nothing more.”

“Hell no. He’d kill anyone even thinking of touching her. And, well, I’m not in to guys, but if I were, I doubt Sydney would share. She doesn’t seem the type.” He glanced at Freddy and grimaced. “I try hard not to think about other people’s sex lives. Can we talk about something else?”

She inwardly fumed. Dylan was a skunk. She’d mention this to Harper when she saw him again. And if Harper knew and didn’t care about fidelity either, she’d mentally cross him off her fantasy list too. She might be unconventional, but Freddy had some standards.