Disclaimer and Notes: see part 1.
The Velocity of Longing, Part 2
By Raine Wynd
"Either you're working late, or you have a hot date tonight," Robyn said as she walked up to Amy's desk. "Given that I can tell you fixed your hair and makeup, I vote for the hot date."
"Don't you have some place to be? Tai chi class?" Amy said pointedly.
"Yes, but you haven't told me about your date," her friend insisted. "Not even a name."
Amy sighed and gave up on working. "The Easter Bunny," she said.
"Easter was earlier this month, so don't give me that," Robyn shot back. "I can wait until your date shows up."
"The guys who sent me flowers are taking me out," Amy conceded. She deliberately made it sound ordinary, though inside she was bursting with anticipation.
"And you aren't excited?"
"Not really," Amy said blandly, knowing it would drive Robyn crazy. "They haven't changed that much since the last time I saw them."
Robyn stared at her. "But you fixed your hair and your makeup," she said helplessly, as if that alone was significant.
Amy rolled her eyes. "Would you meet two handsome guys looking like you worked all day, even if they've seen you in worse shape?"
The other woman chuckled. "I suppose not. Just friends having dinner, huh?"
"Yes. Now go flirt with the guys in your tai-chi class. Maybe one of them will take you out and you'll feel better."
Robyn sighed theatrically. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your not-date."
Amy waited until Robyn was out of earshot before she let herself giggle. She was still chuckling when Murdock and Face walked up.
"Good joke?" Face asked.
"Something like it," Amy admitted as she grabbed her purse and stepped around the desk and into Face's arms.
Not surprised by the move, Amy accepted the kiss he offered. Kissing him didn't give her the same thrill as kissing Murdock, but it was sweet, familiar, and still gave her a jolt to know there was nothing holding either of them back.
Then it was Murdock's turn to kiss her. To her surprise, he kept the kiss brief, yet heat still shot through her. "Don't want to start something I can't stop," he said with a smile before he pulled back. "Ready to go?"
"Ready," Amy confirmed.
"Do you have a preference for dinner?" Face asked as they made their way out to the elevator.
"Didn't make reservations?" Amy asked in surprise.
"Thought we'd be a little more casual tonight," Face answered.
"Besides, we picked last time," Murdock put in, "so it's your turn."
Amy thought for a minute. "How about Mamasita? I could go for something spicy."
"That the place over on Sunset?" Murdock asked.
"Yes," Amy replied, nodding as the elevator arrived and they entered it. Four other people were all ready in the elevator.
Murdock grinned. "They make the best tacos in town."
Face shook his head as he checked the button for the ground floor, which was already lit. "You'd live on tacos if I let you," he remarked.
"What's wrong with that? I cook, therefore I should have tacos occasionally," Murdock asked with a grin as he stepped closer towards his lover — close enough, Amy noticed, that they could touch without being hassled for it. She hid a smile even as she wondered just how much practice they'd gotten at that particular trick.
"Occasionally," Face pointed dryly, "means you get into this streaks where that's all you want." Yet the look he shot Murdock was full of exasperated affection.
Amy chuckled. "I never knew you cooked, Murdock."
"Took it up as a distraction when we got out of Virginia, went to a couple of classes," he informed her. "Discovered I like it."
"I still refuse to buy you a chef's hat," Face stated firmly. "And don't think you can charm Amy into doing it, either."
"You're no fun," Murdock pouted. Turning to Amy, he said, "What do you say, we ditch this guy and head off to Vegas? We won't even need a ticket."
She laughed. "Won't you miss him?"
Murdock appeared to consider the question. "True. He's horrible at keeping Billy."
"I am not!" Face protested. "You swore you'd given him up!"
The elevator pinged for their floor and they exited with everyone else. "Hmm," Murdock said thoughtfully as they quickly crossed the lobby to the visitor parking lot. "I don't know; that's not nearly enough reason, Amy. You sure I'll miss him?"
"Well, I missed you when you were gone," Amy said honestly. "Besides, how would you do without someone you've known for what, two decades or so?"
"So you won't run away with me?" Murdock said, wide-eyed and shocked. "But, Amy, you swept me off my feet! I must have you!" He pressed a hand to his heart.
"But I'm already with you," Amy pointed out, amused, even as she felt a little thrill at his words. "And from the way I hear it, he's got your heart, so I'd be inclined to make sure you didn't rip it out from him."
Murdock stopped at the edge of his car. "Details, details," he scoffed.
Face shook his head. "You're just angling to be kissed, that's all."
"Oh?" Murdock said, unlocking the doors. "Afraid to kiss me in front of Amy?"
"No, you crazy idiot," Face said, irritation and love and lust making his tone rough, "just preferring to kiss you somewhere more private, where if she wants to, she can help. Have you forgotten we're standing in front of Amy's workplace?"
Heat surged through Amy at that statement, and she saw an answering flush creep up Murdock's neck. He swallowed hard. "Right, then," he said brightly.
Face chuckled dryly, but when Amy looked at him, she read desire in his eyes. She drew in a breath, let it go and let herself be helped into the front passenger seat of the car.
Dinner went by in a blur of spicy Mexican food, drinks, and conversation; though Amy knew she'd be hard-pressed to remember what they'd talked about afterwards. What stayed with her more was how easy it felt to be with them; she'd had far more nerve-wracking dates than this.
Murdock flirted shamelessly with her and Face. Freed from the need to hide his relationship with Murdock, Face was equally flirtatious, though not as over-the-top as his lover. In a hundred small ways, they showed her their love for each other subtly but concretely, and she wondered how blind she'd been not to notice it before for what it was. She didn't feel excluded, either, and she started to see just how easy being with them could be.
By the time they walked her to the door of her condo, she wished the night wouldn't end. She didn't want to stop being with them. Instinctively, she knew if she gave in to that desire, she wouldn't be going to bed alone. It was too soon for that. She nearly reconsidered when they kissed her goodnight on her doorstep and left her breathless.
With a very smug grin, Murdock gently nudged her into her condo. "Another time, querida," he promised her.
"Sweet dreams, Amy," Face added.
Somehow, she found her voice. "Good night," she told them, and watched as Face pulled the door shut.
Shuddering, she took a deep breath. A cold shower was definitely in order before bed, she decided.
Friday, the following week
Amy had a killer headache. As Murphy's Law would have it, the week had turned into the kind of week that would drive any sane person to drink. Between the two urgent write-ups she'd had to do, the rejection of a few stories she'd been really advocating doing, and her boss' complete lack of sympathy for her desire to get out of consumer news, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget the world existed. To make matters worse, her computer had been removed for repair after a decree had come down to remove all typewriters from non-secretarial personnel. The tech who'd come to remove her computer had told her she'd have a new one on Monday, but it meant she'd had to switch desks so she could finish the supposedly urgent report.
Relieved to finally get that task finished, she headed back to her desk, intent on getting her purse and heading home when she saw Murdock leaning against her desk, playing with her stapler as if it was a puppet. He set back down on her desk when he saw her.
"Please tell me you were swept away by Superman," he said, not quite pleading.
"No, sorry, he's still hung up on Lois," Amy replied, confused. She didn't quite understand the worry she saw in Murdock's face. "Why?"
"You didn't answer your phone. I called and called, and your line went ring-a-dingy, but no one picked up. I called your house and all I got was your answering machine."
"Oh." Suddenly, she remembered how the team did periodic checks on each other, and how an unexpected loss of contact would mean alarm. "The voicemail system's been having problems all day. Did I forget we had plans tonight?"
Murdock nodded. "You told Face that since you couldn't go to lunch on Tuesday, you'd see us tonight instead? When we couldn't get a hold of you, he went to your house and I came here to make sure you're okay."
She glanced at her watch, saw it was two hours past the time she should have been at their house, and groaned. "Oh, God, Murdock, I'm sorry. I'm not really good company, though. Can we make it another night?"
He studied her a moment. "Bad day?"
She blew out a breath. "Bad week," she said apologetically.
"Oh, pobrecita," Murdock said softly. "You look like you need a hug."
She went willingly into his arms and took the simple comfort he offered. When he tilted her head up for a kiss, she didn't pull away, but parted her lips and met him halfway. For a minute, she let herself get lost in desire.
Murdock ended the kiss gently and with an apologetic smile. "If we don't get going soon, Face is going to worry about us both," he told her. "Come on; let me take you home to our place."
"I really think I should—" she started to protest.
He laid a finger over her lips. "Let us make up for a bad week, okay? I made pot roast, and Face picked out a really nice wine to go with it."
For a moment, Amy resisted, but the compassion in Murdock's face undid her. "I can't think of the last time I had homemade pot roast." If she was honest with herself, she knew she didn't want to be alone tonight.
He smiled, taking her words for the agreement they were. Within a few minutes, they were in his car, which looked like it had been repaired since the last time she'd been in it.
"No duct tape?" she teased him.
"Finally had a chance to drop it off to BA," Murdock said with a grin, patting the dashboard. "Got it back yesterday."
Murdock headed northeast out of the parking lot, towards the house he shared with Face instead west to her condo. As he drove, he picked up the car phone and dialed. Tucking the receiver under his ear, he said, "Hey, Face, it's me. Amy was just working late and lost track of time. Yeah, we'll meet you at home. Don't get any speeding tickets getting home, all right?" He laughed at something Face said and hung up.
"You shouldn't have worried," Amy said quietly.
Murdock shrugged as he took the onramp to the freeway. "Would you rather I didn't care?" he asked quietly.
"No, it's just — it wasn't like something happened to me."
"Maybe not this time," he returned, reaching across the center console to grasp her hand, "but I'd rather worry needlessly than have a reason. Besides, you're my girlfriend. I'm supposed to worry about you."
Amy couldn't argue with that statement. Murdock flipped on the radio, tuning it to a jazz station, and she sat back to let the music unwind her as he drove to his home.
In the fading evening light, the large two-story house had the look of something that had been around for a good forty years. It sat on a corner lot surrounded by woodland, tucked back from the street smack in the middle of a new development. As they pulled into the garage, Amy noted that it was big enough to fit both Murdock's car and Face's 'vette as well as a large chest freezer. Murdock led her through a small mudroom to a short hallway. While she waited for him to make sure he'd locked the door to the garage, she looked around.
A half bath was positioned immediately to her right; a closet stood opposite it. Directly in front of her was a large living room; just around the corner from the closet she could see the stairs leading to the second floor. To her right, she saw the front door and another room that looked like it was being used as a game room, judging from the pool table and pinball machine she could see through the French doors closing in the room. Beyond the living room and down the hallway from the staircase, she could see a four-person dining table set for three; beyond it was the screen door leading out to a deck.
"I'll give you the grand tour later," Murdock promised. "But to answer the usual questions: four bedrooms, two and a half baths, about three thousand square feet, and I have no idea how Face found this place either. I don't want to know, either." He grinned and gestured to his left. "Come on, the kitchen's this way."
The dining room was bordered on its right by the kitchen, which looked like it had undergone a complete modernization; the stainless steel appliances and stone countertops still looked new. To the left of the dining room was a closed door. Before she could wonder what it led to, she was distracted by the sight of Face as he pulled the roast onto a platter.
His eyes lit up when he saw her. He put down the utensils he'd used to pull the roast out of a roasting pan on the counter and stepped forward to kiss her thoroughly.
"I'm glad you're here," he told her before kissing Murdock as well.
Amy watched them kiss. For a moment, she felt as though the rest of the world ceased to exist. Abruptly, she was aware that this was her real test — she'd watched them flirt and hold hands and be generally discreet about their relationship, but not kiss. Watching them kiss now made her wish she was a part of the love they had, and she was suddenly afraid she wasn't good enough to share in it like they wanted. Then Murdock stepped back and reality came rushing back in like a tidal wave.
Somehow, it hadn't quite sunk in until that moment that Face and Murdock were lovers, in every sense of that word. Abruptly she realized she had seen them as being in love but somehow not the rest of it. It made her feel extremely na ve.
"How did you manage to beat us here?" Murdock asked Face. "You had twice as far to go than we did."
Face grinned. "I was already almost to the station when you called," he told Murdock. "I just hit the freeway and cruised here. Got here about fifteen minutes ago; enough time to heat everything back up."
Turning to Amy, Face asked, "Want anything to drink? Water, soda, wine, beer?"
Amy watched as Murdock scooped vegetables out of the pot and onto a platter, feeling oddly disconcerted by the domestic scene. Of all the things she knew Face and Murdock were capable of doing, this definitely ranked low on the list. She'd known the team could cook to various degrees, but this was beyond what she'd seen them do. Why it surprised her so, she wasn't sure; she'd known they were capable of anything they set their minds to do.
"Wine first, then some water," Amy agreed, grateful for the question to distract her from her thoughts. "If you bought it to go with this dinner, then I'd hate your effort to go to waste."
Face smiled and went to retrieve a corkscrew from a drawer near the refrigerator and the wine while Murdock moved the platter to the table.
"Anything I can do?" Amy asked.
"Have a seat," Murdock invited as he went to fill glasses with water. "We've got it under control."
Soon, the drinks were on the table, the men were seated, and plates were filled with food.
"You left your bathroom light on," Face remarked to Amy after they'd begun eating.
She stared at him. "I'm not sure whether to thank you or be mad you broke into my condo." She sighed. "Were you that worried about me?"
"You're pretty good about calling if you're running late," he said simply.
"If I'd remembered we were having a date, I would have called." She offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. So should I be worried that you were able to get in?"
Face smiled. "I'll call a locksmith tomorrow for you, if you like, and have him replace your locks with better ones." Apologetically, he added, "They generally don't install good ones in a condo complex like yours."
"I wondered if you'd say that; I've been meaning to replace them."
"If it makes you feel any better, Amy," Murdock interjected, "he says that about most locks he's able to pick."
Amy turned that idea over as she ate more of her dinner. "I'm not sure if that does, but I'll take it as a comfort anyway. I thought you weren't doing those kinds of things anymore."
"Well, no, but I figured this counted as an emergency exception," Face replied. "I think you'd agree it was preferable to me breaking down the door."
"True," she conceded. "I just got a little swamped at work. I should probably get you a key so you don't have to do that again."
"He'd pick it anyway just for the practice," Murdock pointed out with a smile, and chuckled when Face shot him a glare. "What? You know you will, so don't give me that."
"Speaking of your work, when I called you on Tuesday to go to lunch," Face said, changing the subject, "you were working on a tip from the hotline for a story. You didn't want to tell me what it was because you were afraid to jinx it. Did you get it approved?"
Amy shook her head. "No, my boss thought the infant cushion recall story took precedence. Sad thing, though."
"Oh?" Murdock said. "What was the tip?"
"Some guy called in and said his daughter had swallowed magnets from one of those travel board games and died. He wanted to be sure we warned other parents. I'd been working on it off and on for a few months now, but this week was the first time I'd gotten to present everything I had on it."
"Died?" Murdock asked incredulously.
Amy nodded. "They got stuck in her small intestine and created a blockage. The father's suing the hospital because they used an MRI on her, which, from what I understand, made things worse. I found out later that he failed to tell the ER staff what his daughter had swallowed, so they ran all sorts of tests on her."
Both men winced. "So your boss doesn't want to give this guy any publicity because it might go to court?" Face asked.
"It would be one thing if this was something I could prove was happening elsewhere, but I talked with the Consumer Product Commission, and my contacts in the medical community, and no one's seeing it as anything widespread. Kids swallow all sorts of things." Amy sounded resigned. "The guy I talk to at County General was telling me about a kid who died because he swallowed his mother's hoop earring."
"That's just awful," Murdock said. "Is that the first time you've been turned down on a story?"
Amy shook her head. "No, I usually pitch five to seven ideas. I consider it a good week if I get three of them approved, and that's not counting all the time I spend gathering all the supporting information. A lot of the story ideas get dictated by what management thinks the public needs to know." She sighed. "This week was not a good week at all."
Face reached across the table to clasp her hand reassuringly. "I'm sorry to hear that. Any other stories in the works?"
Amy grimaced. "Nothing that I don't feel like I haven't already said in the past year, but I got turned down for transferring out of consumer news."
"You put in a transfer?" Murdock looked surprised, putting his fork down. "To what?"
"And when?" Face added.
The alarmed looks on their faces caused Amy to pause. "Back to foreign news," she said carefully. "I submitted the request the same week you showed up in my office."
"And you didn't think it was important to mention it to us?" Murdock sounded hurt.
Amy shrugged. "I didn't see the point in saying anything until I knew one way or the other."
"Are you going to try again?" Face asked.
With a start, Amy realized that they were worried she was leaving them. The realization sent a flash of guilt through her. "My boss made it clear he isn't going to support a transfer. I'd have to either wait until my boss leaves or leave the company."
"Do you really want to go back to reporting the stories you used to tell?" Face looked like he was trying to understand. "I seem to recall you griped about living out of a suitcase."
She chuckled. "I did, didn't I? I just I'm getting bored with trying to make the stuff I think should be common sense interesting. Like 'don't plug in an electrical heater near a bathtub.' They actually issued a national safety bulletin on that, can you believe it? There are days where I feel a bit like a weather girl."
Amused, Face replied, "Oh, but you're much prettier and smarter than a weather girl."
Amy shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask how you'd know, because I'm sure the answer is you knew one."
"It is, trust me," Murdock put in. "But reporting consumer news seems a heck of a lot safer than trying to report international news. Didn't you say you were shot at in Hong Kong?"
Amy grinned. "Well, you guys did teach me how to duck and run."
"I hope we taught you more than that," Face said warningly. "I saw the stories you covered after we lost contact with you. Were you trying to win prizes for being on the front lines?'
Amy flushed at the accusation. "No. I just went where the stories were. And besides, the lessons you taught me did come in handy."
"Well, then," Face said, clearly relieved, "that's nice to know, but really, Amy, that's not what we intended."
She shot him a look. "What did you expect me to do with that knowledge? I didn't see the point in letting it go to waste. All I could do long-distance was research, and I felt guilty I couldn't do more. If it wasn't for Hannibal reminding me that I had to stay out of the country unless I wanted to be arrested, you know I would've shown up more to help you."
"Decker made sure you were listed as a member of the Team," Murdock reminded her. "He kept going on and on about it when he visited me at the VA. If he hadn't, we wouldn't have known he'd put out the word that he wanted you detained for questioning the moment you came back into the country."
Amy rolled her eyes. "I still would love to strangle Decker for that. Did you know I had to stand in an US Embassy Immigration Office and explain that a paranoid colonel thought I knew where the A-Team was? I said I did you were dead." Anger flashed at the memory. "Would you believe I had to stand there and wait for them to call Decker so I could explain to him that you were dead, and he'd missed the memo?"
Face chuckled. "I bet he hated hearing that."
Amy nodded, a smile lighting her face. "Oh, most definitely. He accused me of planting the story to get the heat off you. I said I would never report on the death of the A-Team, and if he'd read it in the paper without my byline, then he had to know was true. It was amazing just how quickly I was allowed back into the US after that."
She looked at both men. "It's nice to know I fooled him again. I never did like him."
Murdock grinned. "Feeling's mutual, querida. He used to bug me every chance he got, trying to see where I'd crack and let him know where the rest of the team was."
For the next several minutes, conversation faded to silence as they concentrated on finishing their meal.
"Why did you leave the LA Courier?" Murdock asked suddenly as they cleared the table a several minutes later.
Amy busied herself with rinsing her plate. "I didn't duck fast enough," she said lightly, using the excuse of putting the plate in the dishwasher to avoid meeting their eyes.
"Amy " Murdock's hands gently turned her to face him. He kissed her tenderly before asking, "How bad?"
She tried to smile as she felt Face behind her, his hands rubbing her shoulders. "Bullet went through my right shoulder." She took a deep breath. "Near as anyone can figure, they weren't aiming for me, but the guy I was interviewing."
Face dropped a kiss on that shoulder. The gesture made Amy's heart ache; made her wish they'd been there for the months of recovery she'd spent alone. "What were you doing there in the first place?"
Now the smile came more easily. "Courting danger," she said, chuckling. "I didn't mind the shooting as much as I minded being told that I'd overextended my medical leave and they weren't going to hold my position open for me anymore."
She paused, her hands reaching up to caress Face's hands as they rested on her upper arms. "I was seeing someone then. He he didn't handle me being shot well."
"I don't think I'd handle you getting hurt like that well," Murdock remarked.
"Yes, but that time I got hurt in Oregon on a mission, you were making jokes, hiding the fact you hated what happened," Amy shot back. "You taught me how to deal with getting injured and still go on."
"Did we forget to teach you only guys like us can deal with that sort of thing?" Face asked gently, turning her around to face him. "And even then we're whistling in a graveyard."
"I knew that, but Philip was strong in so many other ways. I guess I thought maybe he could." Amy sighed. "Anyway, I knew a guy who worked for Channel 11, and he helped get me this position."
"Do you regret leaving the Courier?" Murdock wondered as he stepped away from Amy to put the leftover pot roast in the fridge. Face took that as his cue to finish putting the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Not really," Amy replied. "I just wish my boss now didn't see consumer news as being this vital service to the public, and I should not only support the choir, but preach the gospel, too."
"Oh, one of those?" Face asked with a smile as he led the way into the living room, where an overstuffed green couch took center stage, flanked by a pair of pale brown leather chairs.
"He's a good guy, just " She sighed. "Hard to get passionate about some of the stuff we do over and over."
She sat down between Face and Murdock. "Go ahead, lay down," Murdock suggested.
"Hold on, let me get my shoes off," she said.
"Don't worry about it," Face replied, "I'll get them off for you." He waited until her head was settled in Murdock's lap, then swung her feet up and easily removed her high heels, dropping them on the floor. He then began rubbing her feet.
"Oh, God, I wish I'd known you could do this," Amy murmured in pleasure.
He chuckled, pleased with her response as he continued to massage her feet with expert strokes. "Well, now you know."
"Remember when BA bet Amy couldn't run a mile in high heels in less than seven minutes?" Murdock said.
Amy laughed. "Yeah, and then Hannibal said if I could do that, you better all not be behind me." She looked at Face. "You were running deliberately slow, weren't you?"
Face grinned, unrepentant. "Someone had to make sure that if you tripped, someone would be there to catch you."
"And the fact you were enjoying the rear view was a mere side effect?" Amy asked dryly.
Face's grin widened. "Of course," he said. "Made you run faster, too, didn't it?"
"And avoid you like the plague afterwards," Murdock observed. "How long did your ankles hurt, querida?"
Amy groaned. "Too long," she remembered. "And I'd practiced, too, just in case that came up. That Chinese herbal stuff you gave me worked, though."
"You should've said something," Face admonished her.
Amy chuckled, remembering. "I wasn't talking to you then, remember? Besides, I wasn't sure if you'd take that to mean I forgave you for checking me out."
"She's got you there, Face," Murdock said. "And let's face it, you would have."
"Ignore him," Face suggested to Amy. "He thinks I should apologize for thinking you've always been beautiful."
"Well, that may be," she replied, amused, "but I don't think I'd want anyone to apologize for thinking that."
Murdock considered this a moment and frowned. "Does that mean you like him better than you do me?"
Amy laughed. "No, silly. But I might add a point in your favor if you were to kiss me."
"Nah," Murdock immediately replied. "I wouldn't want to be accused of being easily bribed."
Shaking her head, Amy sat up and glanced at her watch. "As much as I'd like to keep up this merry mayhem, it's late and I'm tired. I assume neither of you wants to drive me back?"
"Not really," Murdock answered slowly. "Face?"
"No," he replied. "Stay, Amy, please. I'll take you back in the morning, but unless you have something going on first thing tomorrow, we'd love to have breakfast with you. Murdock's been experimenting with Belgian waffles."
Amy's eyes narrowed suspiciously, then she laughed. "Okay, okay, you are trying to seduce me through my stomach."
"Is it working?" Murdock asked hopefully.
She didn't dignify that with an answer. "So where am I sleeping tonight, and can I borrow a shirt to sleep in?"
Murdock and Face looked at each other.
"Sure you don't want someone to hold you while you sleep?" Face asked.
She considered the offer as apprehension snaked through her. She knew all too well how quickly such a situation could turn into something more. "Just holding, no pressure for anything else?"
"I'll do it," Murdock offered quickly. "Put him in bed with you, and he'll want more."
"Oh, and you won't?" Amy asked archly, ignoring the frisson of fear that he would. For a moment, her mind was congested with doubt.
Murdock grinned. "Not tonight," he admitted. "The planets are not aligned," he added, donning a haughty air.
She burst into laughter, suddenly aware that he was deliberately acting crazy to lighten the mood. "All right. Which way to the guest room?"
"Upstairs on the right; the office's the room at that far end of the hall," Face answered. "Let me go up and grab you a shirt. Did you want to shower before bed?"
"I was planning on it," Amy agreed, grateful for the excuse to delay.
"The bathroom in the hall's the closest to the guest room and should have everything. Give me five minutes to put the shirt on the back of the door."
Not waiting for her agreement, he headed upstairs.
Murdock took advantage of their privacy to kiss her slowly, savoring the contact. For a moment, Amy was tempted to take the kiss farther and give in the desire that been simmering over a steady flame for the last several weeks. She told herself the time wasn't right; that she wasn't ready; that he'd always pushed for more and this was nothing to be afraid of. Still, the kiss lingered long past their usual length of contact. She was a little unsteady and light-headed when she stepped back.
Desire was reflected in Murdock's expression. He shook his head ruefully. "You'd better head on up, querida, and take that shower before I decide I need to scrub your back, too."
"Maybe some other time," she compromised.
He smiled. "Let me walk you up."
She found Face waiting for them just off to the right of the top of the stairs, blocking her path to the guest bedroom.
"Any chance I get to see you in my shirt before you go to bed?" he asked hopefully as she stepped closer.
"Maybe," she teased him. "Maybe I'll make you wait." She moved to step around him.
"Don't make me wait too long," he said warningly, grabbing her to press a devastatingly intense but swift kiss on her lips. Desire surged within her, a now-familiar flashpoint of fire, and suddenly she wanted nothing else than to keep kissing him.
As if that had been his cue, Murdock stepped up behind her to kiss and caress her neck, her shoulders as well as any part of her body he could reach through and under her clothes.
She moaned. The sound made both men lift their heads and pause.
Face looked at her as her heart fluttered wildly in her breast.
"I don't want to stop at kissing you," Face warned, his hands on the buttons of the shirt she wore, his voice low in his throat. "I'm sure Murdock doesn't want to, either. Amy, let us love you."
"Please, Amy," Murdock added coaxingly. "We care about you, and we want you so much."
Amy closed her eyes. If she told them to stop now, they would. Yet in that instant she knew she couldn't deny her own lust for them any longer.
"Yes, please," Amy decided, opening her eyes. "God, I want you both."
Both men smiled, then they all moved to the master bedroom. In between slow, lingering kisses, Face and Murdock took turns helping her undress before they paused to strip off their own clothing.
Amy soon stood between them, scared in a way she'd never been about sex.
Reading her apprehension in her body language, Face asked, "Having second thoughts?"
"And thirds, and fourths," she confessed. "I've never felt like this before."
"Like what?" Murdock asked.
"Terrified and turned on so much I can't think," Amy told them.
"So don't think," Face suggested. "We only want to give you pleasure, Amy. If there's something you don't want, just say so and we won't do it."
"Promise?" Amy asked nervously as Murdock leaned in again to kiss and nibble her neck and shoulder from behind. His hands came to rest on her waist. Her breath hitched and she trembled at the simple contact. She couldn't believe this was happening, couldn't believe she was so turned on and they hadn't done more than kiss her.
"Promise," Face said firmly, locking his gaze with hers. Her breath caught as she read the desire there.
Slowly and seductively, his gaze slid downward, the look as intimate as a caress. She shivered as if he had touched her. "You're so beautiful, Amy. Kissing you just makes me crave you more. Watching you kiss Murdock just makes it worse. I love the way you look now, with him holding you like that. Do you like the way he's touching you?"
Murdock now cupped her breasts from behind and was rubbing the nipples gently as he licked and kissed a path up from her right shoulder up to her neck. His body was pressed up against hers, a warm, insistent heat against her skin. Caught in a wave of sensation, Amy moaned and let her head tilt back. She wanted Murdock's mouth, wanted to kiss him. He responded to her silent demand, moving his mouth over hers, devouring its softness. For a moment, she forgot all about Face, forgot everything but the way Murdock was kissing and caressing her.
"My turn," Face announced simply, and Murdock let her mouth go. She whimpered at the loss of contact, but quickly forgot what she was complaining about as Face kissed her. She soon succumbed to the forceful domination of his lips as the fire of passion he and Murdock were igniting in her grew higher. Her fear quickly vanished and turned into anticipation and need.
She wasn't sure she could stand; her knees were weak. She didn't know what to do with her hands, and settled for one hand on Face, another on Murdock. They steadied her as she trembled with every touch, every caress, every kiss, before finally moving over to the bed. It felt as though their hands were everywhere, and she couldn't get enough of the way each man felt against her body. She couldn't touch them enough; didn't have enough hands to give them the attention she felt each of them deserved, yet they didn't seem to mind.
They were gentle, considerate, but demanding lovers, giving her the opportunity to explore each of them in turn. They insisted that they give her pleasure first, that this first time was for her, and she could worry about reciprocating in kind later. It felt like she was being introduced anew to sexual pleasure, so sure were they in demonstrating that she was desired, wanted, adored. Her head was spinning with the attention they paid her, with the need pounding through her blood. In this moment, in this circle of flame they'd built, she was mesmerized by the intensity of her own desires.
Ignoring their insistence on her pleasure, for she wanted to give back what they gave her, she did her best to touch and taste and kiss both of them as equally as she could. She was rewarded for her efforts in sharp inhales of breath, in sudden exclamations of her name, and felt a very womanly kind of satisfaction. And still the flame of passion rose higher, like a wildfire on a prairie. Instead of running from that fire she found herself tumbling towards it, throwing even more fuel on it with every new touch, every shared caress, every kiss, every sigh.
Her thoughts fragmented as their hands and lips continued to explore her body, learning her, touching her simultaneously until her world narrowed down to that pleasure center between her legs and the hands stroking the fire there. She looked down to see both men's hands on her most intimate place, and closed her eyes as they took her to the knife-point of pleasure and sent her flying over it.
She lay on her side in Murdock's arms when Face eased into her. For a second, she wondered when he'd managed to slip on a condom, and then he was all the way inside her. The thought was forgotten as the need to feel him deeper inside grew. Her breath caught at the intense desire she saw in his face, moaned when she watched him lean over and give Murdock a lust-filled kiss over her shoulder. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to let Murdock prepare her, open her up so she could feel him inside her as well. He took a moment to put on a condom before he carefully eased into that tighter rear passage.
Amy felt like she was going to explode with the passion she felt in that instant; it was nearly too much, she was going to fall over with this much pleasure. Both men rocked gently, keeping her still even as she tried to meet their thrusts, breathless and wanting as much as they would give her. It took them a moment longer to find a tempo that worked for all of them.
She'd never known pleasure could be like this, never known that she could share in love like this, and she wasn't sure she could ever want anything less again. This was a heady rapture, feeling them inside her at once. She could feel the love they shared wrap around her, grounding the shared lust even as it became stronger. Everything she was experiencing fed into her own bliss until she was nearly blind with the need for release and still the wildfire inside her hungered for more.
She was drowning in a floodtide of sensation and sound, caught on a wave of pleasure that she didn't want to end. She felt Face thrust one more time into her, crying out her name as he shuddered through his orgasm. A heartbeat later, she heard Murdock grunt as he too came. Hearing them, aware of what they'd just done, she crested over the peak of desire, and exploded in a downpour of fiery sensation.
Lying there, trying to regain the breath she'd lost, she felt overwhelmed by the passion they'd expended. It was too much to think about, too much to absorb, and she didn't dare speak lest the magic of it all vanished. It seemed silly now to think she'd been afraid to go this far.
Slowly, carefully, Murdock rose, then Face. Both men disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, then they returned to snuggle her close.
"You okay, querida?" Murdock asked quietly.
She laughed softly. "'Okay' would be a mild term for the way I'm feeling right now."
"So no regrets?" Face queried, looking at her.
She met his gaze and then looked over her shoulder at Murdock. "None," she said firmly.
"Good," Face said with a smile.
Tired, content, Amy slid into sleep, only to be woken again by Face's desire for her.
She woke up alone, the covers tucked neatly around her. A glance at the clock on the nightstand on the far side of the bed told her it was past eight o'clock, which meant Face and Murdock had let her sleep in. For a moment, she luxuriated in the knowledge of the previous evening's pleasure even as the memory brought a heated flush to her cheeks.
Amused at herself, she got up and walked to the adjoining bathroom. Her clothes, once abandoned on the floor, were nowhere to be found. Shrugging, she showered and then borrowed one of Face's dress shirts from the huge walk-in closet that formed one corner of the bathroom. It hung huge on her smaller frame, and she debated whether to dig for something to wear under it. She had no doubt they were hoping she'd walk downstairs naked; she knew them well enough to know that. Amy decided the shirt was enough of a compromise and headed out to the staircase. The sound of raised voices made her pause.
" not leaving you, damn it," Face said angrily.
"No?" Murdock asked calmly. "So why did I find you wrapped up in Amy when I woke up this morning?"
Silence, then, "Do I even need to justify that? Did you forget I'm just as attracted to her as you are? Damn it, Murdock, just because I'm not going to publicly demonstrate to you every freaking second of the day that I love you doesn't mean that I'm changing my mind."
Face paused.
"You didn't," came the horrified assessment. "I can't believe you'd use Amy to test me."
"You always went back to women when you done with me."
Hearing that flat statement caused Amy to realize this wasn't the first time they'd gone through this argument or a variation thereof.
"That was different!" Face shouted. "I was doing my damned job!"
"Hannibal never said you had to sleep with all of them."
"Am I supposed to apologize for having a libido?" Face asked incredulously. "Or just the fact you were asleep when I woke up horny and decided to have sex with Amy instead of you? That's it, isn't it? Is there some reason I can't find her attractive enough to want to sleep with her again?"
"You're not supposed to want her more than me."
"Do you honestly think I'd — Oh, hell." The frustrated, resigned, I love you but you're killing me way he said that last word made Amy's heart ache.
For her own part, Amy was as shocked as Face was that Murdock would use her. She could see why, though, which only made her shock worse, somehow. If she'd been the one in love with Face, only to watch him parade a seemingly endless stream of women through his life over the years, regardless of Face's reasons for being interested in them — she wasn't sure if she'd be just as suspicious as Murdock when Face finally settled down. For that, she could almost forgive Murdock.
Yet she couldn't forget the words they'd said. Hearing them made her doubt what had happened the night before, made her doubt everything — and she made herself stop before she could dwell on just who'd taken her where, but the idea had started to germinate anyway. How much deliberation did it take to seduce someone, she wondered? Was she wrong to have thought they'd been honest with her? At least Face hadn't been, if his shock was to be believed — and she didn't think he'd lie to Murdock about something like this.
You knew Murdock could pull a con, a voice whispered in her head. Did you forget?
Lost in thought, it took her a few moments before she recognized the sound she was hearing.
"Oh, God, Face, don't don't tease like that, I'm sorry, oh God I'm sorry, please, please just Ohh."
Heat flushed through her as her mind came up with possible answers as to what was going on, complete with pictures. It dawned on her that unless she wanted to interrupt in some fashion, the best thing to do would be to go back to bed — but they had to have heard her shower, hadn't they? Even in a house this size, she couldn't quite imagine they hadn't heard.
She was stuck. She could pretend she hadn't heard the entire conversation, but she didn't have the excuse of lingering over getting dressed, either. She glanced down at the shirt she'd borrowed and realized that Murdock was probably going to have a fit about whose shirt it was.
Damn it, I'm not going to win this one. The best thing she could do was to wait until the sounds of passion downstairs had subsided; whatever Face was doing to prove his love for Murdock wasn't something she needed to interrupt. She wasn't sure if she could face Murdock at that moment, either. Anger was building inside her — anger that he presumed so much, anger that he would even need proof.
Deliberately, she moved away from the stairs and into the bedroom Face used as his office. She needed an excuse not to go downstairs; exploring the office seemed as good of a reason as any.
continued in part 3