Nicole Edwards - Entrusted

“How long were the two of you married?” Sam asked.

“It’ll be thirteen years this month,” Elijah said, noticing that when Logan’s hand disappeared beneath the table, Samantha retrieved her hand from his. “We dated for three years before I found the right time to propose. We lived together for two years before we were finally married.”

Which meant he’d been married to her for almost nine years before she passed away, but as far as Elijah was concerned, Beth was it for him. Even without her there every single day, he still thought about her. Still loved her with every breath he took. And he knew without a doubt that there would never be another woman to take her place.

When the waiter interrupted to bring salads, the table quieted and Elijah couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d darkened the mood at the table. A minute or two later, Samantha’s gaze aligned with his and he saw that she didn’t seem at all bothered by their topic of discussion. No, now she just looked curious.

“So, can I ask a personal question?” Samantha asked as they ate.

Elijah paused, his salad fork resting against his plate. “Of course.”

“Have you ever done this before?”

Well, that was about as personal as any question could get. Not that Elijah minded because he received that question quite frequently. He interacted with many people who shared the same lifestyle that he did and because of how taboo some people felt it was, there were often inquisitions into how many polyamorous relationships he’d been a part of.

“My official answer to that is one,” he said easily. “If you’re asking how many threesomes I’ve interacted with, it has been several. However, I assure you that I’ve always been safe.”

“Only one of them was permanent?”

“I’m not sure I’d call it permanent. More like long term. Beth had believed it was forever.”

“You were in a threesome with your wife?” Sam asked, sounding surprised.

“My wife and my best friend, James. Why? Did you think this was something I came up with recently?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume,” Sam answered, glancing down.

Elijah reached over and lifted her chin with his finger. “I don’t mind answering questions,” he told her. “This is an important topic.” Considering. “So, yes, technically, I’ve only been in a long term polyamorous relationship once. It unfortunately came to an end when Beth got sick.”

Sam’s eyes were shiny, her emotions right there for anyone to see. Elijah found that endearing.

Elijah decided to steer the conversation back toward Samantha for now. He didn’t want to be an emotional drain on her tonight. He had a lot of baggage, he knew it, and from the looks of it, Samantha and Logan knew it too. There would be a better time and place to talk about all of the details later. “And how about you? How many threesomes have you been a part of?”

Elijah waited for Samantha to answer, knowing full well what the answer was. He’d already questioned Logan about this exact subject. Considering Logan had approached him, Elijah had been curious as to what Logan and Sam were interested in. What their intentions were.

“Two…” Sam hesitated.

“Only two?” he asked, setting his fork down on his salad plate and pushing it away.

“Yes. I didn’t engage in this sort of activity prior to meeting Logan. And since we got together,” she explained, glancing over at Logan briefly, “there have been two men who I was involved with.”

“And you enjoy that sort of interaction?”

“Yes.” Samantha’s straightforward answer made Elijah smile.

“And you’re looking to find a more permanent – as you referred to it – person to be involved with?”

The hesitation that followed was the answer Elijah was looking for. Samantha might know what she wanted, but how she was to go about asking for it, she still appeared confused.

Based on what he understood, Samantha enjoyed threesomes; however, she seemed to establish attachments to the men she was with. For Logan, he wasn’t looking for temporary. Not that he seemed interested in permanent, but the man was looking for something more. That he was certain of.

Elijah was happy to say, he believed he could offer them both what they wanted. And in return, he’d get what he needed.

Sam stared back at Elijah, wondering how she should answer the question. Truth be told, she’d already started to see where Elijah was going with the conversation and she couldn’t help but realize exactly what the man was implying.

Glancing over at Logan, then back to Elijah, Samantha opted for the truth. “At the risk of making this sound like a job interview,” Sam told him with a laugh, “I’m not looking for a one night stand. I don’t care for temporary or fleeting either. We’ve done that already and as you can imagine, it isn’t easy for me.”

Sam noticed the way Elijah’s eyes darted to Logan and then back to her. “Then I’m happy to say that the three of us seem to be on the same page,” Elijah said and a bolt of heat erupted in Sam’s core. “In fact, I informed Logan yesterday pretty much the same thing.”

Sam kept her eyes on Elijah, seeing the heat reflected in his intense gaze. The man was mouthwatering. He reminded her a lot of Logan in the way he carried and presented himself.

He was a businessman, first and foremost. And it was clear that he put a lot of effort – and money – into his appearance with the expensive suits he wore. Not that the money mattered to her in the least, but the effort certainly did. His hair was a dark chocolate brown, his eyes were honey gold. He had a chiseled jaw, his nose was just a little too big, but somehow perfect on his face, and his thick eyelashes probably made a million women jealous.

And of course, there was that GQ stubble and the slightly unkempt hair that made her want to reach out and touch him just to feel the rasp of his beard and the silky softness of his hair.

He was incredibly handsome; there was no doubt about it.

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked bluntly, suddenly anxious to know everything there was to know about this man.

“Blue,” he answered without hesitation.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“One sister, she’s almost fifteen years younger than I am. Yes, she was planned. My parents started early with me. Really early. They had me before they graduated from high school.”

“Wow,” Sam said, speechless. “Sorry, not that sort of wow. I’m just… That’s interesting. I’d love to meet your mother.”

Logan chuckled and Sam looked over at him. Her husband seemed to be enjoying this discussion.

“How about we make a deal?” Elijah stated, catching her attention again. When she made eye contact, he continued. “For every question you ask me, I get to ask you one in return.”

Sam loved his accent and the sexy cadence of his voice. It was smooth and rich, with a hint of raspy mixed in. “All right,” she agreed, realizing too late what she’d just agreed to.

“Do you like to be spanked?” Elijah asked and the deep baritone mixed with the question he was asking sent a shiver down Sam’s spine.

“Not particularly.” Sam remembered the time Logan had spanked her and yes, she had enjoyed it, but that had been different. He hadn’t been intending to cause her pain. That had been the day Tag had waltzed into her life and turned their twosome back into a threesome.

“Very well.”

It was her turn again. “Do you belong to any other clubs besides Devotion?”

“No. Not now anyway. I was a member of a polyamory club, but I recently left on my own accord. Most of the members were in a committed relationship, and those who weren’t generally wanted one night of fun. I grew tired of that quick.”

Sam didn’t even have a chance to process his answer before he was asking another question. “Do you like to be blindfolded?”

Sam felt her cheeks heat and knew she was probably turning bright red. Instinctively, she turned and looked at Logan who merely shrugged. He had informed her before they arrived that he wouldn’t be answering her questions for her. If she wanted to establish a relationship with Elijah, she had to make him feel comfortable with her. As Logan had put it, Elijah wasn’t interested in him; he was interested in her, which meant Sam would be Elijah’s sole focus. Sam understood that, but it didn’t make the questions any easier.

“Yes,” she choked out, grabbing her wine glass and downing the rest. She noticed the smirk on Elijah’s mouth and she forced herself to look away.

Suddenly, Elijah’s smooth fingers were on her bare thigh and Sam felt the air rush from her lungs. His touch, although unexpected, was incredibly gentle, yet firm. Completely different from Logan’s slightly rough touch. Elijah’s hands were much smoother against her skin and Sam was suddenly motionless, her body absorbing the feel of those soft fingers.

“I only have one request, Sam.”

“What’s that?” Sam managed to say the words although there was no air in her lungs. Elijah’s fingers were gently brushing up her leg, sliding over her inner thigh.

“I expect complete honesty from you. I want to know what you like, what you don’t like. And more importantly, I want to get to know you a lot more.”

Sam hadn’t expected them to get quite so personal so quickly tonight. But she understood, so she nodded, unable to find her voice.

And just like that, Elijah’s hand was gone and Sam felt slightly ashamed because she immediately wished for it to be back.

When the waiter approached with their food a few minutes later, Sam welcomed the distraction. She needed a minute.

Or hell, maybe ten.

****~~

All through dinner, Logan sat quietly, adding his comments only when necessary, but mostly taking in the dynamic at the table. Most of the interaction was between Sam and Elijah and he had to admit, he was rather impressed. By both of them.

Not often did Samantha engage in such personal conversation with practical strangers, but she was opening up nicely to Elijah. Whether they were talking about business or sex, the two of them never wavered in their responses. The topics continued to border on intimately personal, at least as much as Sam was willing to discuss in a public setting such as this one, but she was holding her own.

Logan could tell that Elijah was impressed. Or perhaps enamored was a better word for it. He could see the lust burning in Elijah’s eyes. The man wanted Sam. And it was a fucking turn on to watch.

There was unquestionably attraction on his part, but Logan couldn’t blame the guy. Sam was a remarkable sight that was for sure. She’d managed to catch his attention from the second he laid eyes on her on his computer monitor during a video conference call and even after all this time, Logan was just as intrigued by her.

Now that dinner was finished, dessert passed up and coffee being savored, Logan had to wonder what was going to happen next. His original plan had been to take Sam to Devotion, but based on the fire kindling right there at the table, he was beginning to think somewhere a little more private was in order.

A few minutes later, it was clear they were finished and ready to move on to something else. He just wasn’t sure what that was at the moment.

Logan didn’t have a chance to pick up the check because apparently Elijah had taken care of that beforehand. Or so he’d been told when Logan had excused himself from the table and approached the waiter directly. He’d have to hand it to the guy; Elijah knew how to take care of everything.

He had to confess to watching Elijah with genuine interest for some time during the night. The man was refined and extremely confident, making it difficult not to pay attention to him. He didn’t appear to be playing games with Sam. Instead, he was straightforward with both his questions and his answers. He didn’t stumble with his answers, didn’t insert filler words at any time, and he didn’t fidget.

He’d been completely up front with Sam and the only time Logan saw Sam falter was when Elijah touched her. Hell, he had faltered himself. Not that he could see what Elijah was doing, but based on the expression on Sam’s face, he knew that his wife had been enjoying his touch.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Logan asked, wanting to get this moving. He didn’t care one way or the other if Sam decided not to take things to the next level tonight, but he did want to know which direction they would be headed.