Page 83 of Triple Threat

How pragmatic and cold of him, the way he made it sound… too bad I knew Kyle Lachlan and some things about a person? They really never did change. I mean, it was one of the reasons why we were both here, right now… Kyle was all sharp angles personality wise but underneath he held such an unwavering devotion and loyalty that if you did something to catch his eye… well, that was it.

He may have been a pain in the ass to live with, but he was a loyal pain in the ass.

Knowing Roan, the way I did; I knew he had to have done something to earn that loyalty from Kyle. Otherwise, their friendship wouldn’t even be a thing. I still wasn’t entirely sure what it was that I had done, back when we were kids to earn Kyle Lachlan’s attentions, but right now and especially after last night, I was glad I did.

I love you…

God, how long had I waited, breath held, to hear him say those words to me when we were teens?

“Something the matter with you?” he asked, and I startled slightly.

“No, why?” I asked.

He gave me a crooked grin that if I’d had panties on, would have vaporized them and said gently, “Then get dressed.”

“Oh! Right!” I found forward motion and moved around the bed in the hut toward our suitcase, my train of thought derailed for the time being.

The sun was warm on my skin and Kyle, almost as mindful as Roan, insisted on spraying my pasty skin down with sunblock kissed with a bronzer again before we went out.

I stood, nude except for my sandals, dress laid out nearby, giggling and turning on his order as the spray misted my skin, the smell of coconut hanging sweet in the air.

“You’re good,” he declared, kissing me with a smile.

“First time I think I’ve ever had a decent tan,” I murmured against his mouth and he grinned.

I put on the short, steely blue satin bodycon dress, the top a halter, the skirt flirty layered petals in front and hugging my ass in back. No bra or panties required, according to Kyle. ‘Never ruin a good dress with panties’ he had told me but I hadn’t paid that much mind. He said they ruined the line of the dress and took them off of me. Kneeling in front of me and sliding the scrap of silk down my legs and over the black, strappy sandals I had on. He had such an intensity to his gaze, I half expected him to push up the short skirt and go down on me.

I was half right, he did push up my skirt, only he pressed an all too short reverent kiss over my clit and then let it drop down to cover me again, standing and flinging the panties off his finger back into our open suitcase.

I shuddered, and it took a second for me to get it together. Kyle, being the little shit that he could be, smiled in complete satisfaction at how well he could disarm me of my senses and I very nearly rolled my eyes at him. If he only knew, despite how infuriating he could be, just how much he had me wrapped around his little finger.

Me and Roan both, apparently.

He answered a call from Roan as we strolled through the island’s marketplace and kissing the top of my head wandered a bit of a way off from me to take it. I was incredibly grateful that he stayed within my sight. He was like a worry stone for me, something I could see and touch to keep me grounded in this strange and admittedly somewhat scary place.

I wasn’t sure if Kyle saw the things I could see. The squalor in corners and alleyways, the men licking their lips as their eyes traveled over my body in the admittedly cool, but thin dress… it wasn’t any different, really, than Indigo City… except here, I wasn’t in America. I didn’t know my rights, and I knew in countries like this that women weren’t anywhere near as ‘equal’ as back home which that was a joke… I knew that firsthand.

The island’s marketplace was a little strange. The buildings full of upscale boutiques, little tents and kiosks full of cheap, kitschy items parked just outside. The streets were narrow, far too narrow for cars, and I realized they were even almost too small for cart and horse which told you just howoldthis place must have been.

A hand fell lightly on my lower back and I jumped, looking up at Kyle with relief.

“You okay?” he asked, eying the shop owner who had been trying to sell me an array of batik silk scarves.

“Yeah, yeah! I’m fine. Look at these…”

“You like them?” he asked.

“I don’t think I would mind having one,” I said with a faint smile.

“Which one?” he asked, and I considered. “I havea lotof purple in my wardrobe,” I said with a laugh.

“Isn’t it your favorite color?” he asked, and I smiled a little bigger.

“Ah, Roan’s I think… my favorite color is blue.”

Kyle considered me a long moment and whispered in my ear, “You should tell him that, you know… he’ll get you things that you like better.”

“It’s okay,” I said smiling. I sighed. “It’s nice, you know?”

---