No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,101

didn’t doubt that.

Still, maybe having Gray stay away from Taylor and River would be easier. Then again, that would mean Avery couldn’t be as involved either—not without being a hypocritical asshole, at any rate—and that wasn’t as much fun.

“Just not Jonas. I’m fine with the rest of them.”

“Okay.” Gray pulled him into his arms, holding him close. “How many times today have I told you that I love you?”

“One short of enough.”

Gray laughed. “Come in the bedroom with me and I’ll say it as many times as you want.”

Two days later, Avery once again found himself being a coward. Everybody else greeted Jonas as they arrived at the poker party. Phil especially seemed to welcome him back into the fold as if he’d never been gone. But Avery hung back.

It wasn’t that he disliked Jonas. He didn’t know him well enough to make an educated decision in that regard. And River was right. Jonas deserved the benefit of the doubt, and Avery intended to give it to him. Except he’d now avoided Jonas for so long, he had no idea how to fix it. The longer he waited, the more awkward it became.

And of course Taylor was dying to get the party started for real, practically climbing River like a mountain to be summited. Charlie and Gray sat staring at each other, silently communing, and Avery cursed them both. They should have sorted this shit out before things got this far, but they hadn’t.

Jonas sat staring at the tabletop, his cheeks red, obviously not wanting to upset anybody.

“What’s the holdup, guys?” Taylor asked, finally turning away from his attack on River to see why nobody else was participating. “I’ve been riding this wave for two days now. I’m ready to crash it tonight for sure.”

Jonas stood up. “Don’t stop on my account.” There was no bitterness in his tone. He said it lightly, as if trying to make a joke, but it came out full of sad resignation.

This was when Charlie or Gray should have stepped in, but Jonas dodged Charlie. And Gray wouldn’t make a move, probably because he feared upsetting Avery. And so even though it took every ounce of courage, Avery stood up and caught Jonas’s arm.

“Wait.”

He felt their eyes on him, all of them wondering what he would do. He didn’t have a plan. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. All he knew was somebody needed to address the elephant in the room.

He moved close enough to speak in Jonas’s ear. “You’re right. It has to start with us.”

After that, it was easy. Jonas willingly submitted to him in the kitchen, so much so that Avery felt a bit guilty for it afterward. Jonas also seemed relieved by the suggestion of the “no sex” policy with Gray and agreed without hesitation.

Once in the bedroom, the awkwardness fell away. Jonas fit in well with Avery, Taylor, and River, having fun without any inhibitions. He let Avery kiss him while River and Taylor double-teamed him, as planned. But when Gray first began using the crop on Avery, Jonas pulled back to meet his eyes.

“Do you enjoy that?” Jonas asked quietly.

Avery was already melting into the pain, anticipating the activities to come, letting himself be carried away by the eroticism of Taylor’s cries and River’s moans, but the question still surprised him. “You don’t?”

Jonas hesitated, then grudgingly shook his head. It surprised Avery. He’d always assumed Jonas was a masochist too.

“I could come just from being flogged,” Avery told him as Gray smacked him again. “Although that’s not my first choice.”

Later, Avery and Taylor took turns straddling River while River sucked Jonas. Gray used the crop on Avery’s back, driving him into a frenzy as he rode River’s cock. He had to cede his spot to Taylor before he came. A few minutes later, River had the same problem.

“Purple,” he cried out. “Jesus, purple!” Then he realized only Phil knew what that meant. “I mean, wait. Give me a minute. I don’t want to be out of the game already.”

Taylor groaned in frustration before turning on Avery, pushing him onto his back, his intentions clear.

“Wait,” Avery said, almost wishing one of the Doms would step in and volunteer to fuck Taylor instead. “I don’t even remember the last time I topped.”

“Shut up, Avery,” Taylor grumbled, already bearing down onto him. “All you have to do is lie there.”

Avery did his best to relax into it. It wasn’t as if it didn’t feel good, but there was something awkward about