Chapter 74

Marcus stepped inside the bedroom, leaned against the door as it closed, and tried to focus. He wondered if he'd have enough time to change the sheets, but realised that the new bed didn't have drawers beneath it, and the sheets were now kept in the airing cupboard in the bathroom.

Running through his mental list of romantic gestures, he quickly discarded chocolates and flowers as too difficult to acquire quickly. His gaze fell on the row of candles on the desk. Candles were romantic, he'd read. For a moment he paused, wondering if it was still considered a romantic gesture if it were chosen by picking from a short-list rather than being spontaneous.

On the one hand, it was a conscious effort to set a mood, to consider the impact and expend effort to try to elicit a response. On the other hand, though, there was the fact that it wasn't an instinctive thing. It was contrived and deliberate.

He jumped a little as the door handle turned against his hip, and he panicked slightly and pushed back, holding the door shut.

"Marcus?" Shawna's quiet voice called.

"Just a minute," he managed, feeling his palms start to sweat and his mouth go dry. "I'm not ready."

"What are you doing?" Shawna laughed.

"You've only been four minutes nine seconds," Marcus said, hurrying across the room to the candles, looking for the little lighter Shawna had for them. Four minutes and thirteen seconds... He realised how long he'd been standing still trying to make the decision.

"Sorry, Marcus. My little internal clock isn't as good as yours."

He fumbled with the lighter for a few moments before remembering to turn the little gas canister on and then lit the four candles in quick succession.

"Come in," he said. Shawna pushed quickly through the door, closed it behind her, and looked around.

"The candles?" she asked pointing.

"Yes."

"No, I mean was it just the candles?"

"Well, I did think about changing the sheets, but..."

"Never mind, Marcus." She smiled, holding a hand out to him. "Come and sit down. Calm down. It's not a test or anything."

"I know." He settled onto the bed beside her, facing the door. "You didn't get changed."

"I did." She lifted her t-shirt to show the blue bra beneath. "I figured finding it was at least half the fun."

"Oh." He managed a nervous smile. Shawna's throaty chuckle was cut off by a gentle tap on the door.

"Come on in, Hope. It's your room too," Shawna said as Marcus paused.

Hope hadn't dressed and stood nervously in the doorway in the black lace, her hands wandering aimlessly as she tried to resist the urge to cover herself under the scrutiny.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked after a few seconds of the two unblinking stares.

"Wow," Marcus finally managed to blurt out, and Shawna got to her feet to pull Hope into the room.

"Are you OK?" Shawna whispered in Hope's ear, giving her a gentle kiss as she did.

"I think so," Hope said although she knew she was trembling as Shawna stood upright again. They both turned to look at Marcus who had stood up as well, and was waiting by the bed wide-eyed and pale.

"Honey," Shawna called to get his attention. She lifted her t-shirt over her head when he looked at her. "Why don't you sit in the chair, there, and we'll make a start. You can join in when you're ready."

"Can I sit in the chair, too?" Hope's voice quivered slightly.

"If you'd like," Shawna said. "But I'd rather you stayed."

"Me but not Marcus?"

"Both of you, but ... Well, you see, I think if you watch Marcus and I," she said as she kicked off her shoes, "you'll probably just watch for the whole thing, which defeats the object."

Shawna slipped her shoes off and reached out to wrap an arm around Hope, pulling her close and planting a row of burning kisses along her shoulder.

"On the other hand, if Marcus watches, even if he is scared to death right now, he'll be more than willing to join in soon."

Whatever reply Hope might have been intending to make, Shawna muffled it by leaning down to kiss her soundly. Hope relaxed ever so slightly, and Shawna pulled her backwards onto the bed, their legs twining together as they hung off the side. Marcus' eyes managed to grow just a little wider as he watched.

Hope willed herself to relax. Part of her wanted to let Shawna know that right now all she wanted to do was watch — or perhaps run. She knew it was a stupid fear, that men and women had been having sex since there had been men and women, but it was still there lurking in the background.

Shawna twisted slightly as they fell, moving out from behind to land beside her, and immediately breathed into her ear, sending a quiver through her.

Another part of her was excited at the sheer carnal sexuality of the moment. That part of her was brought out by the wet tip of a tongue on the hollow of her neck below her ear. She felt Shawna move and opened her eyes. Her glance met Marcus' eyes as he settled into the seat opposite.

His mouth was agape and he was hunched as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit. She felt her gaze drawn down to the sight of his discomfort, and she tensed again, the fear returning.

Those thoughts were brushed aside, though, by the feathery touch of Shawna's fingers as they trailed up her sides. She shivered at the sensations, shifting around on the bed to get her legs on the mattress. Almost of their own volition her hands came up over Shawna's stomach, returning the loving touch, and she let herself get swept away in the moment.

Her hands drew up higher, pushing the bra up until Shawna lifted her arms and let it be pulled away.

"In a hurry?" Shawna whispered into Hope's ear. The gentle breath against her ear made Hope quiver again. She was about to answer when Shawna's roving hand swept down across her hip, sliding a finger inside the tie-string side of her knickers. She turned her head, clamping her lips over Shawna's and rolled onto her side as she reached for the button of Shawna's jeans.

Shawna moaned as Hope's fingers stroked across her belly, which just enticed Hope more. She slipped a hand inside Shawna's jeans, stroking across the damp black lace and relaxed a little as Shawna shuddered. Knowing that Shawna was genuinely aroused drew her into the moment a little more.

"Someone's excited," Hope said, smiling at the redhead as she disengaged her lips and moved down to tug Shawna's jeans off and onto the floor.

"Everyone's excited," Shawna said, pointing past her to where Marcus stood, one leg still in his own trousers.

"Oh, my!" Hope gasped.

"You saw it when we got him changed," Shawna said, "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise." She sat up, wrapping an arm around Hope's shoulder and leaning in to her.

"It didn't look like that when we got him changed," Hope whispered.

Marcus froze as they stared, one leg off the floor.

"Should ... should I..." he said haltingly, and Shawna tugged Hope with her as she slipped off the bed to cross over to him.

"Stop?" she asked, pressing into him. "I think you should..."

"Right." He failed completely to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Then we can finish undressing you, and you can finish undressing us."

"Oh!" He stumbled a little as Hope reached for the waistband of his jeans, tugging it from his hand. He started even more obviously when Shawna reached up to squeeze him through his boxers as Hope stripped the trousers away. By the time he'd managed to tug his shirt off over his head, Shawna had his boxers in a puddle on the floor and was gazing at Hope's wide-eyed expression.

"Go on," Shawna urged, leaning forward, her breath playing across Marcus' cock. Hope shied away a little. "Like this," Shawna explained in a whisper and opened her mouth to slide him in slowly. Marcus hissed at the sensation, and Hope's eyes flicked upwards briefly to stare at his face, seeing how it affected him.

"Go on," Shawna urged again, pulling her face away. For a moment Hope almost nodded her head forward, but up close it just appeared huge and imposing, and she couldn't do it.

She couldn't deny, though, the stirrings in her belly and breasts at the idea, at how completely enraptured Marcus had looked, how sexy Shawna looked with it in her mouth. Hesitantly, she reached out her hand and wrapped it around his shaft, surprised a little at the heat and texture — surprised by how sexy it was, soft but resilient in her grip.

Marcus groaned, his eyes fixed on hers and she flushed as much in excitement as embarrassment. Almost on its own, her hand started to move slowly back and forth, stroking him tenderly. Her other hand joined it, one at each end sliding in to meet in the middle.

They were only short strokes — her hands weren't that small — but it was barely a minute later when Shawna's hand slipped in between Hope and Marcus, cupping his balls.

"He's almost there," she said giggling, and Hope looked up again into Marcus' eyes as he leant back against the wall for support.

"Oh, god," he squeaked and swelled in her hands. She knew what was happening, in an abstract sense, but the reality suddenly frightened her, and she turned slightly, pointing him away from her face as he stiffened in her hand.

A harsh, grey-white stream jetted out, dribbling over her hand as it faded but splattering over Shawna's shoulders and breasts before it did. Marcus' knees buckled as the second jet burst forth, spraying slightly higher with the new angle, falling over the redhead's chin and neck as Hope jerked her hands back.

Shawna moaned, her other hand between her legs, stroking herself slowly, and she leant forward to capture him in her mouth before anything else emerged.

"Oh, wow," Marcus managed to whisper, shaking slightly, his eyes alight as he reached a hand out to Hope. One of hers was covered with his spend, but the other felt clean. She checked it was before holding it out to him, and he kissed her fingers tenderly, still smiling. "Thank you."

Deep in her belly the warmth spread a little further, but deep in her head the fear grew a little more as well.

She knelt on the floor, transfixed by his gaze, her small hand still clasped in his until Shawna lifted herself away from him and, turning slightly, flicked her tongue over Hope's rock-hard nipple, sending a shudder through the smaller girl's body.

"Let's get back to the bed, shall we?"

Shawna practically leered as she said it. As she stood up Hope realised Shawna had shed the last of her clothes at some point.