Home · Stories · New No Place Like Home by Jim
CHAPTER 1 — DESIGN FLAW
The architectural drawings lay spread across the mahogany conference table like a map to a life I was finally choosing for myself. Three months of work, countless hours of drafting and redrawing, all now under the eye of the one person whose opinion mattered most to me lately — and not, I had to admit, only for her professional credentials.
"This intersection creates a spatial dead zone," Faith said, her nail tapping decisively at the junction between living area and master bedroom. "It's nothing structural. We can solve it together."
My throat tightened, but not from the news. "Tell me how."
Faith rose from her chair, her silk blouse whispering against the leather seatback. The subtle scent of her perfume reached me across the table — jasmine and something darker, the same note that had been quietly distracting me at every dinner she'd attended with Keith and me for the past year. She'd offered her design expertise as a wedding gift, no fee, no strings. Whatever was in this room with us right now had nothing to do with the invoice.
"Sometimes the most elegant solutions require us to reimagine the problem entirely," she murmured, moving behind my chair. Her hands settled lightly on my shoulders. "May I?"
"Please," I said, before I could second-guess it.
She leaned over to point at another line on the page. The warmth of her body pressed against my back, deliberate now, an offer I could accept or decline. I leaned the smallest amount into her, and felt her smile against my hair.
"Notice how this line creates visual tension?" Her fingers traced the blueprint, but my attention had shifted entirely to the feather-light touch of her thumb stroking the back of my hand. "You have to understand how bodies move through space, not merely how furniture fits within it."
My pulse accelerated against my ribs. I'd told myself this was a professional consultation for months. I was done telling myself that.
"The bedroom presents your greatest challenge," she said, her lips close enough to my ear that I felt the warmth of her breath. "But it could become your strongest asset, if you're willing to explore something unconventional."
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. "What did you have in mind?"
Faith's hands lingered as she slowly straightened, leaving the ghost of her touch imprinted on my skin. She moved around the table to face me, her dark eyes holding mine.
"I think you already know," she said softly. "And I think you've known for a while. So have I. The only question left is whether you want to talk to Keith about it tonight, or whether you'd like me to be there when you do."
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "Tonight. I'll talk to him tonight."
CHAPTER 2 — PROPOSAL
Keith didn't say anything for a long moment after I finished. We were sitting on the couch in our rental, the blueprints spread on the coffee table like a chaperone, and his hand was warm and still on my knee.
"How long?" he finally asked.
"Months. Maybe longer. I didn't have language for it at first."
He nodded slowly. "Do you want her, or do you want her and me?"
"Both," I said. "If you want that too. And only if you do."
He thought about it. He's always been a thinker, Keith — one of the things I loved about him from the start. After a while he picked up my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist.
"I trust her," he said. "I've known her longer than I've known you. And I trust you more than I trust myself. If this is what you want, I want to be there. Not watching from the doorway. With you."
I kissed him then, hard enough that the blueprints slid sideways. "Tomorrow," I whispered against his mouth. "She wanted to walk the unfinished space with us. All three of us."
The unfinished condo smelled of concrete dust and exposed wiring as I led Keith through the skeletal rooms the next afternoon. Faith was already there, standing in what would become our master bedroom, the late light from the plastic-covered windows turning her into a silhouette.
"You came," she said, turning toward us. "Both of you."
"Both of us," Keith confirmed.
Faith crossed the dusty floor and stopped in front of him. "Anything happens here happens because all three of us want it. You change your mind, you say so. Anyone changes their mind, we stop. Yes?"
"Yes," Keith said.
"Yes," I echoed.
She turned to me, her expression softening. "Human scale is fundamental to successful design," she said, a smile playing at her mouth. "Arms out, please."
I laughed and complied, stretching my limbs horizontally. She produced a small laser measuring device from her satchel and ran the red beam across me, ostensibly noting the bustline, actually tracing the curve of my ribcage through my thin blouse with her knuckle. A jolt of awareness ran straight to my core.
"Beautiful proportions," she said, her hand sliding to settle warm against my waist. "Keith, come here."
He stepped forward without hesitation. She took his hand and laid it over hers on my hip.
"This is what I want to show you both today," she said quietly. "Just this. Hands. Permission. Getting used to the shape of three people in one room. Nothing more unless someone asks for it."
Keith's thumb stroked the soft skin just above my waistband, and I felt myself melt against him. Faith's hand stayed exactly where it was.
"Tomorrow," she said, her voice dropping lower. "If you both still want to. We try a little more."
CHAPTER 3 — DEMONSTRATION
The following afternoon found me standing in the unfinished bedroom with Keith, my heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird — not with dread, but with the bright, electric anticipation of getting something I'd let myself name out loud. Faith arrived precisely at the scheduled time, dropping her leather satchel on the dusty floor with a soft thud.
"Still yes?" she asked, looking at each of us in turn.
"Yes," we said together.
She moved behind me, her hands settling on my hips, drawing me back against Keith's chest so that the three of us made a slow, breathing line. "Twelve inches between bodies is intimate," she murmured against my ear. "Zero is something else."
Keith's arms came around me from in front, anchoring me. Faith's lips brushed the back of my neck.
"Want her hands on you?" Faith asked me softly.
"Yes."
Her fingers traced the curve of my buttocks through my jeans, then slid around my waist to cup my breasts. I gasped as her thumbs circled my nipples through the thin lace of my bra, hardening instantly. Keith bent his head to kiss me, slow and deep, his tongue licking into my mouth as Faith's hands moved over me.
"Three points of contact," Faith whispered against my throat. "A triangle. You feel how it changes the room?"
I did. The whole shell of the condo seemed to draw close around us, the bare concrete walls turning the small space into something private and warm. One of Faith's hands stayed at my breast; the other drifted downward, sliding beneath the waistband of my jeans. I bit my lip to stifle a moan as her fingers found my clitoris through the damp fabric of my panties.
"Good," Keith murmured into my mouth, his own hand moving up to cover Faith's at my breast. "God, you're beautiful like this."
My knees trembled as pleasure built. I'd thought I'd be embarrassed, with my husband right here, with another woman's hand in my jeans. Instead I felt held — claimed by both of them, met by both of them.
"Tomorrow," Faith whispered finally, her fingers slowing, then stilling. "All the way, if you both want it. Sleep on it first. I want you sure."
She withdrew her hand slowly, kissed the curve of my ear, and then — to my surprise — turned and kissed Keith too, slow and warm. He made a small, pleased sound against her mouth.
"Sleep on it," she said again, gathering her satchel. "Text me in the morning."
CHAPTER 4 — OPENING
I texted her at six a.m. So did Keith, from his side of the bed, without us having coordinated. We laughed about it over coffee.
I arrived at the condo a little before he did. Faith was already there, standing in the center of what would become our living room, her silhouette dramatic against the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the city skyline.
"You came," she said, not turning around. "Both of you, I assume."
"He's parking," I said.
Faith turned slowly, her dark eyes meeting mine. "And you're sure."
"I'm sure."
She crossed the room, her heels clicking sharply on the concrete floor, and stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from her body. "Then come here."
Her fingers traced the line of my jaw, tilting my head upward. Her lips brushed mine, feather-light, testing. I parted my lips for her and she took the invitation, deepening the kiss with deliberate precision, mapping me with a patience that made my whole body go liquid.
"See?" she whispered against my lips. "You're beginning to comprehend."
I heard the front door open and Keith's footsteps in the hall. Faith didn't break the kiss; she only smiled into my mouth.
"In here," she called, when his steps slowed.
He came around the corner and stopped, watching us for a long moment. His face was open, hungry, certain.
"Don't stop on my account," he said.
Faith led me toward the bedroom, her fingers laced through mine, Keith a step behind. The afternoon light cast long shadows across the unfinished room.
"Both of you," Faith said. "Take off what you want to take off. No more, no less."
I unbuttoned my blouse with steady fingers and let it pool at my feet. Keith was already pulling his shirt over his head. By the time Faith stepped out of her own trousers, the three of us stood naked in the late light, no one looking away from anyone.
"On your hands and knees," Faith said, her voice low. "If you want."
"I want."
I positioned myself on the soft drop cloth Faith had spread on the subfloor. She knelt behind me, her hands tracing the curve of my spine from neck to tailbone, then sliding between my thighs. Her fingers parted my slick folds.
"You're so ready for this," she murmured.
I moaned as she circled my clitoris, my hips rocking back against her hand. Keith knelt down in front of me and cupped my face, kissing me as Faith worked.
"Tell me what you want," he said against my mouth.
"You," I breathed. "Behind me. Now."
He looked up at Faith. She nodded and moved aside, settling onto the drop cloth in front of me so that I could lower my head to her thighs. Keith slid into me from behind, slow and deep, and I cried out into Faith's hip as he filled me completely.
"Good?" he asked, holding still.
"More," I begged.
He began to move slowly at first, then with increasing confidence as Faith stroked my hair and whispered praise. I was caught between them — Keith's steady thrusts from behind and Faith's hands cradling my face — my body responding with an intensity that shocked me.
"You see?" Faith murmured, tilting my chin up. "All three of us, all wanted."
She reached down and found my breasts, squeezing them roughly enough to make me cry out, rolling my nipples between her fingers. The pleasure building inside me was overwhelming.
"Close," I gasped.
"Then come for us," Faith said.
She slid lower, positioning herself so that her face was directly beneath my breasts, her fingers finding my clitoris and circling it with deliberate precision while Keith continued his steady thrusts from behind.
"Oh god," I cried out. "I can't —"
"You can," Faith murmured. "We have you."
My orgasm crashed over me with the force of a tidal wave, my body convulsing as pleasure radiated outward from my center. Keith groaned as my muscles clenched around him, his thrusts becoming erratic as he approached his own release.
"Wait," Faith said gently, reaching up to still Keith's hips. "Lorna, do you want more?"
I nodded, barely able to speak. "Yes. Both of you. Everywhere."
Faith looked at Keith. "Lie back. Let her ride you. I want to be behind her — but only if she wants that too."
"I want that too," I managed.
She moved out from under me, guiding Keith to lie on his back before steadying me as I lowered myself onto him. He groaned, his hands settling on my hips. Faith knelt behind me, and I heard her uncap something cool.
"Tell me if anything is too much," she said, her hand stroking my back. "Promise me."
"I promise."
Her fingers worked slowly, patiently, until I was pushing back against her hand as eagerly as I was riding Keith. Only when I begged did she shift behind me and slowly enter me, her hands steady on my hips.
I was filled completely now — Keith below, Faith behind — my body stretched to its limits and craving more. They moved in tandem, their thrusts alternating, and pleasure built inside me again, deeper this time, harder.
"You're close again," Faith whispered, her fingers finding my clitoris. "Let it happen."
Her words were my undoing. I cried out as my second orgasm crashed over me, even more intense than the first. My muscles clenched around them both, triggering their own releases. Keith groaned as he emptied himself inside me, Faith shuddered against my back, and the three of us collapsed in a heap of tangled limbs, slick with sweat, breathing each other's air.
"Outstanding," Faith murmured finally, her voice thick and satisfied. "All of it."
I could only nod weakly, my body still trembling with the aftershocks. Keith wrapped his arms around me from below, pulling me close, and Faith curled against my back instead of disentangling. We lay like that for a long time, until the light through the plastic windows turned amber.
"So," Faith said eventually, lazy and amused. "My birthday is in six weeks. Would the two of you like to come?"
Keith laughed, his chest shaking under my ear. "Was that a pun?"
"Both meanings," Faith said, and bit his shoulder.
CHAPTER 5 — HOUSEWARMING
Six weeks later, I stood in front of the full-length mirror in Faith's guest bathroom, adjusting the silk robe she'd lent me. The transformation in my own reflection caught me off guard — gone was the hesitant woman who'd first sat at Faith's conference table, replaced by someone settled in her own skin, present in her own desire.
"Ready?" Faith called from the bedroom.
"Yes," I called back, and meant it.
Keith was already there when I opened the door, sitting in an armchair near the window, a glass of wine in his hand and an easy expression on his face. Faith lay sprawled across the king-sized bed in a matching silk robe. Beside her sat Liang — the man we'd all met at her birthday dinner the month before, the architect from Faith's old firm whose dry humor had made Keith laugh out loud and whose attention to me had been steady, patient, asked-permission-for.
All three of us had talked about this for weeks. The four of us, including Liang, had spent two long evenings at Faith's kitchen table, drinking wine and being honest about what each of us wanted and didn't want. Keith was here because he wanted to be, not because he had to be. Liang was here because I had asked him to be, and he had said yes.
"There she is," Faith said, holding out her hand to me. "Come here."
I crossed the room. Keith caught my fingers as I passed him and squeezed once — our private signal, are you good? I squeezed back twice. I'm good.
Liang stood up as I reached the bed. "Hi," he said, a little shy, which I loved.
"Hi," I said, and kissed him first, slow and deliberate, my hand on his jaw. He let me set the pace. Faith made a small, pleased sound from the bed.
"Same rules as always," Faith reminded all of us, sitting up. "Anyone says stop, everyone stops. Nothing happens that isn't asked for."
"Yes," said three voices.
I knelt down in front of Liang, unbuckled his belt, and looked up at him for the last yes. He nodded, his hand resting gently in my hair, not pulling, just there. I took him into my mouth slowly, learning him. Faith slid off the bed and knelt behind me, her hands on my hips, her lips at my ear.
"Take your time," she murmured. "He's not going anywhere."
Keith watched from the armchair, his eyes dark, his hand idle on the arm of the chair. Eventually he set the wine glass down and crossed the room and knelt down beside me, just to put his hand on the small of my back. A point of contact. An anchor.
Liang groaned softly. "That's so good," he managed. "Lorna, that's —"
"Lorna," Faith murmured, her hand sliding between my thighs from behind, "do you want him in your mouth or somewhere else?"
I let Liang slide free for a moment. "Bed," I said. "All of us. Now."
We moved together, the four of us, with the easy choreography of people who'd talked it through beforehand. Faith arranged us with quiet authority but always asked. Liang and Keith met each other's eyes once over my body and grinned, both of them sheepish, both of them in. I ended up on my hands and knees with Liang in front of me, Keith behind, and Faith's hands and mouth somewhere always, her fingers eventually finding my clitoris and circling it with the same deliberate precision I'd come to crave.
"Maximum sensory input," Faith whispered, in a tone that was clearly teasing herself. "Prepare for capacity evaluation."
I laughed around Liang's cock, and he laughed too, and somehow that broke the room open. I was completely lost to sensation now — Liang's slow, careful thrusts at my mouth, Keith filling me from behind, Faith's fingers working magic, her thumb circling my clitoris with maddening precision. The combination was overwhelming.
"Close," I tried to say, and Faith heard me without needing the word.
"Then come for us," she said, against my ear. "All of us."
Her words triggered something deep inside me. I cried out around Liang as my orgasm crashed over me, my body convulsing. Liang came almost the same moment, his hand tightening once in my hair and then immediately gentling, apologetic and grateful. Keith followed seconds later with a low, helpless groan, his hands clamped on my hips.
Faith kept working my clitoris through it, extending the pleasure until I collapsed forward onto the bed, trembling and spent. Liang fell back against the pillows, his chest heaving. Keith pulled out gently, kissed the small of my back, and lay down beside me. Faith settled at my other side and pulled the sheet over all four of us.
"Outstanding performance," she murmured, her voice thick with satisfaction. "All four of you."
Liang laughed weakly. "You are a deeply alarming woman, Faith."
"I know," she said, and kissed my temple.
Later, as we dressed in the soft lamplight, Liang took my hand and looked at me with careful, sober eyes. "Thank you for asking me," he said. "And — thank you, all of you. That was a gift."
Keith and I drove home together through the quiet city. He held my hand across the gearshift the whole way. At a red light he looked over at me and smiled — the same smile he'd given me at our wedding, only steadier somehow, more sure.
"Faith was right," he said.
"About?"
"All of it. Talking first. Asking every time. None of this works without that."
I leaned over the console and kissed him. The light turned green and somebody behind us honked, and we both laughed.
EPILOGUE
Three months later, I stood in our completed condo, running my hand along the smooth marble countertop of the kitchen island. The space was perfect — every detail exactly as we'd envisioned, from the custom lighting to the built-in storage solutions.
"Everything turned out beautifully," Keith said, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "Better than I ever imagined."
I leaned back against him, contentment washing over me. Our relationship had grown into something neither of us had quite known to ask for at the start — bigger, more honest, braver. We talked more. We asked more. We trusted each other in places we hadn't even known were locked.
"It's amazing what a little honest conversation can do," I murmured, turning in Keith's arms to kiss him.
His lips met mine with familiar hunger, his hands sliding down to cup my buttocks as he deepened the kiss. I felt myself responding immediately, my body humming.
"The bedroom is particularly impressive," Keith whispered against my lips, his eyes dark with desire. "Perhaps we should evaluate its structural integrity one more time?"
I laughed, taking his hand and leading him toward the master bedroom. "I think that's an excellent idea. Just us tonight?"
"Just us tonight," he agreed. "Faith and Liang are coming for dinner Saturday."
As we fell onto our new bed, sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I knew that our lives had been changed for good — not by any one consultation, but by the conversations that had made each of those nights possible. What had begun as a design problem had become something much more: a marriage that had learned how to ask out loud for what it wanted, and how to listen for the answer.
And as Keith moved over me, confident and sure, I realized that the best designs aren't about breaking rules. They're about building the right ones together.