NaNoWriMo Story Snippets

17. Excerpt from THE ARRANGEMENT

I needed a break from the Viking AU. Not enough Roman for my brain, I guess, so I thought I'd switch to THE ARRANGEMENT for a night or two. Warnings: vague M/M sexual content.

Seth wasn't that surprised that he was the first one up or the one who had slept the worst. Becky might have been the most upset, but once she was nestled between him and Roman, the warmth triumphed over her worries and she fell asleep easily. Roman had been the calmest of them, or maybe just the most realistic, and after Becky had finally settled down, it hadn't taken him long to doze off either. It was Seth who had the fitful sleep, though he did his best not to disturb his lovers. When the three of them shared a bed, he usually spooned behind Becky so she could get body heat from both of them. It was one of his favourite positions too, if he were being honest: he knew he wasn't the biggest or tallest guy on the roster, but being able to curl around Becky was comforting—not to mention a boost to his ego.

Roman had done his best to soothe and sate them both, so Seth felt vaguely guilty that he couldn't just sink into the pleasure and enjoy it the way Becky had. When the broken sleep became too much to bear, he tried easing his arm out from beneath him as gently as he could; if it had been just the two of them, Becky would have been using it as a pillow, but if she was between him and Roman, she loved resting her head on Roman's chest tattoo. The slight movement still made her shiver, though, and Seth tried to tuck the blankets in behind her as quickly as he could. "I'll be right back," he whispered by her ear. Before she could fuss, he kissed a soft trail down her neck and between her shoulder blades until she melted up against Roman again. Once upon a time, he would have felt a stab of jealousy at that, but now it was more of a hum of contentment. If he couldn't be there to comfort her, at least Roman would be. Stephanie's discovery was weighing on him too heavily and he needed to do something about it. Confronting her in the middle of the night probably wasn't the smartest thing he would ever do, but he had to do something or else he'd never get any rest.

Seth eased off the bed slowly, careful not to make the mattress move too much, and then realized the first flaw in his plan. The room was dark and they had shed their clothes haphazardly—which led to the whole problem with Stephanie in the first place, so he had no idea where his clothes were. Cursing inwardly, he felt along the floor for his bag. We really need to be more organized, he thought as he fumbled in the dark.

"Don't wake up your wife." Seth glanced back to the bed to see Roman propped up on one elbow, cradling Becky's head against his chest so she didn't slide off. She whimpered a bit, but Roman stroked her back with his other hand. "Don't get up," he said softly, kissing her temple. "Everything's fine." Then he gently eased out from beneath her, moving his pillow into his spot and settling her on it as he tucked the blankets in again. It wouldn't be as warm or solid as he was, but at least his scent would be there. As he stood, he motioned for Seth to head into the suite's sitting area. After shutting the bedroom door behind him, he turned a lamp on low. "What are you doing?" His voice wasn't loud, but the bass was still in full effect.

Frowning, Seth made a shushing motion. "I can't sleep," he said simply. Telling Roman about his plans would solve nothing, and the longer they talked, the more likely they would be to wake up Becky, which would just make things a hundred times worse.

"Don't make me wake up your wife." Roman stepped closer, holding his gaze. "I know what you want to do, man, but it won't help anything. Going to confront Stephanie might make you feel better for five minutes, but it will make everything worse in the long run. We're going to talk about it tomorrow, remember?" Then his mouth twitched in a wry smile. "Today, whatever. The point is we're going to talk about what to do—all of us, together. You know Becky will be pissed if she finds out that you snuck out and tried to fix things on your own. She already feels guilty as it is; that'll just make her think she should have gone to Stephanie and confronted her instead."

Seth motioned to the suite's main door with a helpless shrug. "But I can't do nothing. Maybe Becks is all calm now, but I'm not. I guess the worry is contagious."

Roman gave a low chuckle. "Let's hope that's the only thing that's contagious in this suite." He took Seth's face in both hands and held his gaze. "It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay, all of us. Should we have been more careful? Absolutely—and going forward, we will be. That's going to be Steph's main concern: avoiding a social media catastrophe, especially involving three of her top stars. If we can promise that, we won't have a problem. I'm sure she'll take her shots at us, but she's too much like her daddy. What's best for business and all that. And if the three of us fucking keeps us all happy and focussed, then that's that."

Before Seth could reply, Roman leaned down and kissed him. He didn't have to go far—there was only an inch or two difference in their height—but it made Seth appreciate Becky's fascination with fitting into him a bit more. He relaxed into the kiss for a few minutes, letting it pull the worry out of him and replace it with hazy delight. "The event this morning is going to be hell," he murmured against Roman's lips. "You know Steph's going to be watching our every move."

"Let her." Roman kissed Seth again, lighter this time, and then went back to the bedroom door, opening it slowly. After a few moments, he shut it again. "Good. She's still sleeping. Come on." Grabbing Seth's hand, he headed toward the children's room where he was keeping his things. When Seth tried to turn on the light, however, Roman pushed his hand down. "Nope. Sit down on one of the beds."

The lamp in the sitting area cast a dim glow that lit up parts of the room, but it made more shadows than anything. "I thought we were keeping this room off limits for obvious reasons," Seth said, lingering at the foot of the bed. Maybe if they had brought Roman's travel bed sheet with them, they could have a quickie, but it was probably tangled around Becky's legs.

"Well, we'll just have to be very careful, won't we? Sit." Roman nudged Seth towards one of the beds and waited until he had sat down to shut the door, sealing the room in darkness.