Three's a Crowd

Jake had his usual look of triumph when he slammed his cock all ten inches deep and blasted a truly staggering amount of cum into her. Yet another area where he outperformed her previous boyfriends: Dani had never felt so much cum in her pussy and womb. Thank God she was on the pill, for Jake's cum was thick and full of sperm, and Dani had little desire to be a mother again.

Not yet, at any rate.

"Now that's how you start the day," Jake said, wiping his cock with a towel as he regarded her; Dani still lying back on the table, a hand on her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Fuck! Yes! Oh my God..." Dani moaned, still recovering from her last cum. "Although... we do start *every* day like this..."

It was true: Dani had never had so much sex with a boyfriend before. Every morning Jake and her would fuck furiously for a good hour or two. Dani cuming hard many times; Jake often only the once, but that was all he needed. In the evening they would fuck again, and sometimes Jake would cum several times; displaying a truly shocking sexual stamina.

Three years and Dani had never had so much sex. It more than made up for the times when he could be... problematic... to put it mildly.

Still, in comparison to some of the men Dani had fucked before, Jake was a gentleman.

"Fuck you filled me up!" Dani gasped as she slowly sat up.

Jake grinned. "Might get you pregnant this time!" He said.

It was an old boast of his. The pill wasn't one hundred percent, of course, and Jake's cum was fucking thick with sperm, but three years of unprotected sex and he hadn't managed to put a kid in her belly; Dani was confident he wouldn't today, either.

"We'll see," she said, smugly.

Smiling at her expression, Jake made to leave; half-turning to give her a look: "You know, you would be a great mother," he said. Not the first time he'd made that comment either.

When he left the kitchen, a man basking in triumphant sexual performance, Dani fixed up her sweatpants and returned to the patio, and to her art.

After several minutes her mind wandered to the end of the garden, where Jake had built a greenhouse and surrounded it with small plant beds, where he was slowly growing vegetables. It was a curious thing for a man in his thirties to do, but Dani found it somewhat quaint: it was obvious Jake was settling for the long haul here.

She wondered again about his continuing comments regarding her suitability for motherhood; Dani hadn't told him about *that* part of her past. Not yet. There just hadn't been a good time to bring Chloe into the conversation. Sooner or later she would have to mention to Jake that he was wrong: she wouldn't be a great mother.

She *wasn't* a great mother.

Though perhaps Jake saw in her something she wasn't seeing herself.

Again: trust in Jake. He knew what he was doing.

Which was more than Dani could say for herself: her scribblings still looked shit.

*****

"I don't think so, babe."

Dani blinked: she had just zoned out, staring out the window at the fading sunset; the last light of day giving way to the streetlights. Myle Hye still had those old style of streetlights that bathed the front driveway, pavement and road going past the house in a sickly yellow; combined with an almost deserted road it made the whole scene like something from a horror movie. Dani missed the white lights of central Coytoss; where the colours of the streets were allowed to shine. After a day spent trying to recapture her old artistic spark, it was a shame that she didn't have the time now to be inspired by such a creepy ambience. "Sorry babe, you don't think what?"

Jake appeared by her right arm and proceeded to tug on the loose neckline of the blue blouse she had chosen for the evening. "Too much," he said, drawing the fabric together. "Do you want them to think of you like a street harlot?"

"Jake... it wasn't that much..." Dani protested, but she did nothing as he buttoned it up by one more button. She honestly wasn't showing off that much cleavage! If anything he had now made it worse: the blouse strained against her tits, making it even more obvious she had a great pair.

"Bad enough you still have..." he didn't finish his sentence; instead gesturing at her breasts.

Dani knew he was referring to her implants. A rash decision made when she turned nineteen, she had kept them for reasons that Dani found difficult to articulate on the occasion anyone had asked, including Jake. She hoped Jake wouldn't make an issue out of it right now. "Jake..."

"Don't worry, babe," Jake said, suddenly smiling like everything was OK. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks..." Dani said, returning his smile; although hers was laced with anxiety.

The doorbell didn't make her feel any better.

"Jake!" Felicity greeted him at the door. "Thank you for inviting us over again! Dani! You look simply radiant tonight!"

"Thank you..." Dani said, holding her arms tightly around herself as the couple entered.

"Very beautiful," Albert said, following his wife.

Handshakes were shared between the men, while the women kissed each other politely on the cheek. When Albert leaned down to kiss Dani's cheek as his wife had done he lingered just a few heartbeats longer than Felicity; Dani swore she could feel him sniffing the perfume she had on.

Glancing at Felicity, worried what the older woman was thinking, she was disappointed to see Felicity watching her husband's actions with something like amusement. Oh great: this was just Albert being Albert; Dani could practically hear Felicity's voice in her head describing it as such.

"I can't wait to see what you've prepared for us tonight, Jake!" Felicity said, taking Jake's arm as he led her into the dining room.

Dani mentally groaned as Albert slipped his arm through hers. "Surprising to find a couple like yours where it's the man who cooks, and not his beautiful wife!"

"Oh I'm... I'm not much of a cook..." Dani said. She had a habit of burning anything she tried to cook; constantly getting distracted by something. Jake had learned quite early that he would be doing most of the cooking. He didn't seem to mind: if anything Dani got the suspicion that he actually preferred to be the one in charge of the kitchen.

"Not to worry: I'm sure it's not your aptitude in the kitchen that Jake here loves about you," he said; Dani didn't like the way Albert winked at her as he spoke, and she definitely didn't like the way his eyes briefly looked down her blouse; even with Jake's last-minute adjustments almost sealing the fabric to her neck. "A woman of your physicality need not worry about aptitude in the kitchen, anyway."

Looking ahead, Dani was annoyed to see Felicity and Jake deep in conversation, having heard none of Albert's comments.

She felt Albert's breath on her ear, and her head froze as it was: looking ahead.

"Especially with lips such as yours," Albert whispered. "So perfect to wrap around a man's-"

Jake's head suddenly turned back, and Dani breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Albert return to a normal posture. Although then her boyfriend spoke: "Are you OK sitting by the window?"

Of course he hadn't seen or heard anything: Dani was annoyed at herself for thinking Jake had and was going to chastise Albert, or even (hopefully!) ask this creepy couple to leave the house.

"I'll be fine!" Albert said cheerfully. He had the audacity to give Dani's hand a squeeze before joining his wife at the table.

Giving her boyfriend a concerned look, Dani was disappointed to see Jake more concerned for the food than his girlfriend, and settled herself at the table, forcing a polite smile to her face as Jake and Felicity began to talk; conscious of Albert's eyes constantly feasting on her.

*****

"Jesus... what did he do after that?"

"Nothing!" Dani said, before taking another large bite of the baguette. Noticing Gareth's face she held her fingers to her lips to prevent food from exploding outwards as she fought back her laughter. "I know! But honestly nothing else happened last night!"

They were sitting on one of the art sculptures that someone, many years ago, had arranged to fill the large square outside the office buildings that Blue Ball shared with many companies. This time of the day lots of workers were enjoying their lunches at the portable food vans that called the square their place of business between the hours of ten and three. Several different cuisines were offered by the vans, from Thai to supposedly authentic Indian, but Dani and her colleague, Gareth Bates, always found themselves drawn to the simple sandwich van.

The sun was out in force - Dani and Gareth had stripped down to their t-shirts; their coats on the smooth marble of the sculpture - and the square was packed with people. Surrounded by so many voices, Dani found herself at ease; the uncomfortable events of last night having happened far away in another place entirely (quite literally!)

"Still... what a fucking creep," Gareth said between mouthfuls of his own baguette (cheese and pickle, like Dani's). "I mean he actually said you have dick-sucking lips."

"He didn't *actually* say that!"

"No, but he was about to, right?"

"I mean..." Dani laughed. "Yeah... I think that's what he was definitely gonna say..." She looked at him and his expression, and laughed again. "I know! What a fucking creep!"

"I can't believe you put up with that shit!" Gareth said, shaking his head.

Dani shrugged. How could she explain this to her colleague? She did it for Jake. As he ate she watched Gareth; she really did enjoy his company, despite being several years younger than her and fresh out of university, Gareth made her laugh and was easy to hang out with; and he was easy on the eyes as well! At five-foot ten he was a good two inches taller than her, although quite a bit shorter than Jake; Gareth was lean, muscular-but-not-too-much, with a mop of brown hair and light brown eyes. Working with Gareth made the long commute into Coytoss bearable for her, otherwise Dani might have taken up her manager's offer of working from home a long while back.

"So Jake did nothing?" Gareth said incredulously.

"I don't think he noticed," she said.

"Have you told him how this guy makes you feel?"

"I..." Dani said, before her voice trailed off. She had tried to raise the topic with Jake, but each time she thought about how much Jake was trying to make a place for them both in Myle Hye; a good standing with Felicity Farrow would definitely help. If it meant smiling and grinning as her lecherous husband made inappropriate comments to Dani, well...

At least it was just comments.

"So you haven't?"

"I'm getting around to it!" Dani said defensively.

"In the same way you're getting around to that new tattoo you want on your other arm?"

She glanced at the bare skin of her left arm: her right was covered in an elaborate design she had been working on for several years now. Frequent trips to the tattoo artist Nikolaj had seen a simple sleeve swallow her right arm entirely. In contrast, her left arm was untouched. "I'm just thinking of what I want..."

"You've been thinking for how long now?"

"Shut up!" Dani said, giving him a friendly elbow. "You can't rush art!"

"Spoken like a true artist!" Gareth said, smiling with her. "Speaking of which, how's those new designs you were working on last week?"

"Oh those..." Dani sighed. "They weren't going anywhere."

"Really? I thought they were great! That dude with the axe for the head... wow!"

She smiled. Gareth seemed to be her biggest fan, but he only got to see the occasional doodles she made while in the office between projects, or when they were out here having lunch. He did not get to see the crap she spent hours on when at home. Maybe she should bring in her art for him to take a look at someday. Maybe not: part of her enjoyed Gareth's praise for her work, and him seeing what she came up with when at home would definitely spoil that.

Why was it so difficult to draw at home?

"So... Do you think the strike will happen?" He said, changing the subject.

Dani shrugged. "Possibly." The ongoing disagreement between Transport for Eroshire and the local government about pay was rumoured to be turning quite sour; talk was a strike could be on the table, possibly later this month. With the pay issue spilling over to both the local rail and the tram drivers the rumour was shaping up to be, if the strike went ahead, a total shutdown of train and rail transport into and out of the city. With decades of privatisation having stripped the city of almost all bus routes it would mean a long and miserable commute for anyone looking to get into and out of Coytoss by bus.

If the strike happened. It was all rumour, anyway.

"Wouldn't affect me much," Gareth said. Dani knew he lived fairly locally: renting a small flat with three of his friends; all ex-students of the UOE. He looked at her with sympathy. "Would be a bitch for you, though."

"Yeah..." Dani sighed. "Downside of living on the other side of the county..."

"Erm... you can tell me to mind my own business if you think I'm overstepping boundaries," he said, "but... er... I get the vibe you don't like living out in the sticks."

"What?" Dani tried a dismissive smile. It didn't feel as genuine as she wanted it to. "No... I like the place. It's peaceful. It's helping my art." Was it though? Wasn't she just thinking that her art made at home wasn't worth bringing in to show Gareth? Why was she defending Myle Hye? "It's totally unlike the city," she continued, although this was quite true. Even sitting here, on this bit of pretentious modern art that littered the area, Dani was surrounded by people; everyone going about their day, their lives intersecting only briefly as they passed each other.

It was all so beautiful. Pulling out the sketchpad from the satchel resting beside her Dani took it all in: the people, the food vans, even the fucking pigeons eating up scraps as people walked by without giving the birds a second thought. She retrieved a pencil from behind her ear - she never left the office without one perched there - and began to sketch as she continued to defend Jake's choice to move out to the sticks. "I've got plenty of time to myself. No distractions. No neighbour to keep me up all night with his loud sex, or awful choice in music." The latter had been so much worse than the former; at least Dani could masturbate to her neighbour's sex life.

Gareth chuckled. "Yeah... that was uni digs for me. All three years. Mind you..." He looked over at her and winked. "I was that guy keeping everyone up all night."

Dani shared his mischievous grin. "Same!" She whispered like a schoolgirl gossiping. "I was so bad at your age-"

"My age?!?" Gareth said, obviously pretending to be offended. "Come on! I'm not that young!"

"No, you're a big strong boy now," Dani said, ruffling his hair.

"Alright you old bat," Gareth said. "I'll forgive you because I know your menopause has set in."

Dani looked at him, mouth wide in mock outrage. "The fucking audacity!" She gasped. "After I bought you lunch, as well!"

"Cheers for that," Gareth said, finishing his baguette. He nodded at her sketch. "That's coming along real nice."

Looking at what she had been creating while they spoke, Dani smiled at the cartoonish pigeons waging a mock war between the feet of city dwellers. Rough outlines of pigeon guns fired small bullets as a half-sketched pigeon tank rolled between the suited legs of a banker. "What do you think I should have for flags?" She said, sketching a few pigeons planting blank flags on the dirty flagstones. "Bird feet? Beak? Or be really fucking tasteless?"

"What? A pigeon AK47?" Gareth shook his head. "Yeah... let's not. You know Derek's been looking for suggestions for a small kid's project. Something to put on CBBC to earn a bit for the company."

"Hmm... what if I swap the guns for swords?"

"Pigeon D&D?"

"Fuck yeah!" Dani was already scribbling over her work. Guns became swords, and wings had shields drawn over them. A few pigeons waved magical staves over their beaked heads. "I could have dragon pigeons!"

"Drageons? Pigons?"

"We can work on it," Dani said. Her hand was flying over the page now. Ideas tumbling out of her head and onto the paper, like they used to. This was why she enjoyed coming into the city to work at the office. Work alongside Gareth. He reminded her of how easy it used to be to draw.

Pausing, Dani looked over at Gareth. "What time is it?"

He checked his phone and sighed. "Time we should be moving," he said. "Don't want to be late to the meeting, do we?"

"You wanna meet up after? Hash a few ideas out?" Dani said, knowing full well that Jake did not appreciate her staying late at the office. Still... if she gave him heads-up so he didn't spend so much time cooking a meal only for it to go cold, like last time. She didn't want to go home with all these ideas still buzzing in her head, and she really did enjoy creating with Gareth.

Jake would understand.

So why was Dani hesitating to call him? She would just be staying for an hour of two after her work ended to focus on some personal art developments. Working with a colleague. It wasn't a date or anything.

Yet Dani found herself unable to call Jake and explain that, not after what happened the last time she spent time after work with Gareth.

Thankfully she was spared coming up with a plausible excuse when her phone rang on the way back to the office. "Hey Zee," Dani said when she answered her phone.

"Hey Dee," Zehra Sydin, Dani's long-time friend and former partner in crime (literally), said. "Fancy a drink after you finish work?"

"Sure! Just got to finish a few things and I'll be right over."

*****

'A few things' ended up taking two hours: Dani and Gareth had spent ages hashing out a whole backstory for the Pigeon Wars, as they took to calling Dani's absurd depiction of the secret life of Coytoss' 'rats with wings'. An epic tale of avian combat beneath the sight of normal citizens. Two hours of Dani creating sketch after sketch of several principle characters, while Gareth's excited banter fueled her imagination.

Eventually Dani had to apologise to him and tear herself away, otherwise she would probably still be at the empty offices brainstorming ideas about fighting cartoon pigeons with Gareth. She was kinda disappointed to say goodbye, even though she would be back in the office tomorrow.

Silly girl, she told herself as she walked through the doors of the Paradiso Costiero.

"Sounds like you've got a crush," the blonde behind the bar was saying as Dani approached; Rhian Carter was a regular barmaid, and one of Dani's closest friends. The other was sitting just in front of Rhian, resting her bare arms on the bar's surface with a single drink in front of her.

"It's more than a crush! I'm like..."

"Besotted?" Dani finished for Zehra as she sat down next to her friend. Similar in height to her, Zehra Sydin had hair of more a brown shade than Dani's pitch black, with skin so tanned it was like she had just come back from a holiday in the Mediterranean. Contrasting nicely with Dani's pale, almost white skin. Though like Dani, the other woman had several tattoos; done at the same time, and the same place (although Dani had paid less for hers, opting to settle her debt with the handsome tattoo artist, Nikolaj, with some great sex instead - this was all before meeting Jake, of course! These days she paid for her ink with cash like a normal person.) "Sorry I'm late," she added with an apologetic look.

Zehra smiled at Dani. "You've got to stop staying late at the office," Zehra said. "They're not going to reward you."

"I don't mind it."

"Gives her more time to spend with that cute newbie," Rhian commented slyly.