Finding Elvis Ch. 12

"Will you love it?" I asked, wishing I could see her face. "Tell me you won't hate me."

"Oh, Hawk." She knelt beside the chair and kissed me. Not like a friend, but like a lover, her tongue hot and alive inside my mouth.

I grabbed her hair and kissed her as though I were a woman dying of thirst in the desert, just handed a cup of water to drink. When I came up for air, she pulled away.

"That's as far as we go tonight, but I do not hate you," Lisa whispered in my ear. "In a couple of months, as soon as Ted and I feel comfortable, and as soon as you and Gretchen feel comfortable, I promise we'll get together and do everything in bed you can think of. I love you Hawk. Not the same as I love Ted, but except for Ted, you're my best friend, too."

She stood up and caressed my cheek with her hand. "I'm going to go get Ted and Gretchen to help get you to bed. Don't you dare go back outside and no more booze for you. I don't want you falling over something and hurting our baby. Yours, Gretchen's, Ted's and mine. Our baby."

I swallowed and started crying. Dammit, I was a sloppy drunk.

Lisa kissed my forehead and went out the door. The light from the hall hurt my eyes, so I turned away and curled myself into a ball, crying in relief.

A few minutes later I heard the door open and could now see enough to tell it was Ted and Lisa. Lisa was speaking into his ear, softly but urgently. He nodded in agreement with whatever she was saying.

Then I heard Gretchen in the hall. "Where is she? Is she okay? Lisa?" The door swung wide and she hurried in, looking around. "Why are the lights out? Hawk?"

Suddenly, the room was filled with blinding light and I clapped my hands over my eyes. "Argh."

Gretchen snagged me half off the chair. "Oh my God, I was so worried! Where have..." She pulled back a little. "You smell like a brewery! Have you been drinking?"

"Gretchen," Lisa said, "Don't climb her ass tonight; she's been suffering from a personal crisis of her own. I'll explain what happened while Ted gets her into bed."

"Wait," I said, my voice sounding odd even in my own ears. "I have to say something." I uncovered my eyes and I could see Gretchen, kneeling in front of me, a mixture of worry and anger on her face. I took her hand in mine.

"We talked about each of us having our own problems," I said, hearing my voice slur and having to focus on speaking slowly and carefully, looking her in the eyes, "and I was run over by one of mine tonight. It's not about you. It was never about you. I'm sorry. I fell apart over a misunderstanding and the pain in my past. I understand you're mad. I deserve it. I deserve everything you do to me, but I need to know that you love me."

Gretchen's eyes widened and she pulled me into a hug. "Never doubt that I love you. I don't know why sometimes, but I love you and I'm loving you more every day. I don't want you to ever wonder about that." She pulled back and glared at me a little. "Even when I rake your ass over the coals for getting shit-faced and shutting me out. And for endangering our baby."

"Our baby," I said, waving an arm around and trusting the chair to catch me when the room spun. "Do you see the baby as all of ours?"

Gretchen quirked a smile. "Yes. All four of us. Lisa and Ted talked with me about it when you left for the bathroom and we're all on the same page." She blinked in surprise. "Is that what this is all about? You're upset because they won't sleep with us right now?"

Lisa stepped in smoothly. "That's enough for right now. I'll explain while Ted gets Hawk put to bed. He has some experience getting her in bed drunk."

"Too bad I won't get the same entertainment as last time," I said grumpily.

Gretchen searched my face and slowly nodded. "Okay, I'll tear a strip off her tomorrow." She leaned forward and kissed me even more thoroughly than Lisa had. "I love you more than anything or anyone, Hawk. Remember that when you pay the piper tomorrow, because we're going to hash this out. I won't have you running to a bottle and away from me. We're in this together."

Gretchen stepped back and Ted slid his arm around my waist and lifted me off the chair and into his arms.

I put an arm around his neck and protested. "I can walk."

Ted laughed and started out into the hall. "You're lucky I don't put you in a fireman's carry and paddle you after the scare you gave us."

I blinked back more tears and looked at his face as he carried me. "I can see some shircum..." I stopped and spoke slowly. "Cir-cum-stances. Times I might let you do that."

Ted just laughed harder and carried me up the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an upside down image of Lurch. I think he was scowling at me.

"Stop here, Ted. I need to throw up on Lurch."

"We'll make a stop in the bathroom, but you be nice to Ivan," Ted said reprovingly. "He has your bed all ready for you."

"Be nice to him?" I asked. "Are you drunk, too?"

That burst of laughter kept Ted amused until we were in Gretchen's and my room. He set me on the bed and I promptly fell over onto my side. Undeterred, he started taking off my shoes.

"Will you take advantage of me?" I asked. "I think I'm properly drunk."

He smiled at me and slid his hands up my legs in a way that made goosebumps spring up all over my body. "No, though I wish I could. Hawk, Lisa's right. Once you're sober, you'll realize it, too. It's not forever. It's just a couple of months to let Lisa and me settle into our relationship, and to let you and Gretchen settle into yours. Gretchen's already agreed we can all take a cruise or something in a few months and make a big deal out of getting to really, really know one another. I'm not rejecting you and neither is Lisa. We love you, but what you have with Gretchen is special, and deserves to be treated as such. For this to work, Lisa and I have to be secure in our love for each other. Once we have that that, having sex with you and Gretchen will be about friendship and having fun."

I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand. "But Ted, it's just so... You're friends and you're family. I wish I knew what to do."

All the while he was talking, he continued to strip me out of my clothes, moving me as required to get everything off. When I was naked, he leaned over me and kissed me deeply, letting his hand dip between my legs to caress me gently once, lighting a low fire inside me that I wanted to quench.

"That's not nice," I complained, "if you're not going to ravish me."

Ted grinned at me and helped me stand up. "Time to go potty. You can dream about me bending you over a desk for a few months and that will just have to tide you over."

"Gretchen told you?" I asked, aghast. "That's not very fair." I let him help me into the bathroom and hold me upright while I peed.

When I was done, he took some toilet paper and wiped me clean, restarting all those warm, squishy feelings low in my belly. Although still woozy, it struck me as especially intimate. I opened my legs wider, but he stopped.

"You stopped," I complained again. "No fair starting and stopping."

"Any more than two shakes or five wipes is playing with yourself," he quipped. "Do you need to throw up?"

I shook my head and smiled at him. "No, I need to get off."

Ted helped me up and back out to the bed. He slid me between the sheets and gently covered me up with the blanket. Then he kissed me deeply and let his hand wander under the covers, to my sex. He kept kissing me hotly and used his fingers to good effect, rousing me higher and higher. In just a few minutes of panting, moaning and kissing I came with my back arched high.

Ted held me while I calmed. "I shouldn't have done that," he admitted, "but I needed you to be sure that there isn't a problem between us."

"If it's going to cause trouble..." I started before he shook his head and cut me off.

"No, openness and honesty is the only way. I'll tell Lisa and Gretchen," Ted said. "You go to sleep and dream of Gretchen. She loves you a lot. You know that, right?"

I nodded, already feeling the arms of Morpheus pulling me deeper into some warm realm where I was comfortable and safe. "And I love her. And I love you, Ted. Just like I love Lisa. My family, with benefits."

Ted kissed my forehead and turned out the light. After the door closed, I drowsed and the world faded away into a cloud of peace.