Fic: Needle In A Haystack
Title: Needle In A Haystack
Author: Lemondilemma
Pairing: Marcus/Esca/Cottia
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: threesome
Word Count: 5000 ish
Author’s notes: Written for Round 4 of the Fanmedia Challenge, inspired by the picture of the shoes. It’s not beta’d so there may be copious quantities of mistakes but I’m running out of time and just managing to squeeze it in before the deadline. Ideally the story should be a lot longer but it ain’t.
Summary: Marcus wants the guy from the party but doesn’t know how to find him or quite what to do with him if they do ever meet again. Cottia meanwhile might just have all the answers.
Marcus stared at the shoe in his hand. A woman’s shoe, black, high-heeled with a bow attached to the back. He’d escaped the party and come outside to get a breath of fresh air and escape from the endless conversations in which he was grilled about his reasons for coming to the UK and joining the London office, every new person asking the same questions. It was getting boring. Still, what did he expect? He was the new guy.
He looked around to see if there was anyone else around, maybe someone wearing only one high-heeled black shoe but he was alone. He considered whether he should just put the shoe back where he found it, lying halfway down the stone steps that led out from the back of the rather grand hotel where the company apparently always held their annual summer ball to the wide expanse of well-maintained lawn. Presumably someone would come back for it because, no matter how drunk they were, the owner surely had to realise at some point that they were only wearing one shoe.
He was about to set it back down on the steps and go for a stroll around the gardens when he heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel path below him and looked round to see someone approaching. It was a man, suited and booted like all the other men at the party, maybe a little younger than Marcus and nobody he recognised. The man looked up as he reached the bottom of the steps and smiled an easy, friendly smile.
“You found it then,” he said, climbing up to where Marcus stood like prince Charming holding Cinderella’s discarded glass slipper.
“It was just lying here,” Marcus explained. “I’m guessing it’s not yours.”
“Nah,” the other man laughed. “It belongs to a mate. We were trying to avoid someone and had to make a quick exit. She was trying to take her shoes off to run faster and dropped one but we just kept going.”
Marcus knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it, like a deer caught in headlights. He hoped his mouth wasn’t hanging open but wow, this guy was cute. There was an air of confidence about him and something else that Marcus couldn’t quite put his finger on but he felt drawn to this stranger in a way that he’d never felt before. It was kind of disconcerting the way his heart had sped up and his eyes were fixed in place, determined not to look away.
“Do you want to keep it?”
“Huh?”
The other man arched an eyebrow and tilted his head to one side, continuing to smile that smile that had Marcus rooted to the spot.
“The shoe.”
He held out his hand and Marcus shook his head to clear it, feeling a little stupid and laughing nervously.
“Yeah, sorry.” He handed the shoe over. “I think maybe I’ve had more to drink than I realised.”
“Well you’re not alone there but that’s the whole point of a party, eh? Especially one where you have to get togged up like a dog’s dinner.”
“I guess.” Marcus tried and failed to think of something smart to say but the man was already turning away and heading back down the steps, shoe in hand. “See you around,” he called. Idiot.
The man turned back. He didn’t say anything but there was that enigmatic smile again, trying to pull Marcus in like a tractor beam. He dropped his gaze for a moment as if he were looking Marcus over then their eyes met again, the stranger’s smile widened a little and he was gone.
Not really sure what had just happened, Marcus forgot about going for a walk and sat down on the steps instead.
@@@@@@
It was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, hopefully with a different kind of prick waiting for him if he ever got successful. In the three days since the party Marcus had been mesmerized by thoughts of the man who’d come back to pick up the shoe, his mind conjuring up all kinds of fantasies when he really should have been concentrating on his job. The guy had obviously been at the party with a girl but he’d only mentioned her as a friend, not a girlfriend so that was a good sign, right? Jesus, why the hell hadn’t he had the presence of mind to ask his name? He’d wasted a lot of time already wandering aimlessly around the offices on the pretence of familiarizing himself with the layout of the company and getting to know faces but the one face he was actually looking for eluded him. He’d even described the guy to a few of the colleagues he’d got to know but nobody recognised the description and he risked arousing suspicion if he kept asking. Marcus wasn’t sure he was ready for that just yet. It struck him, not without irony, that he really was acting like Prince Charming searching for Cinderella. Ok, so maybe the man he’d met hadn’t been an employee. Maybe it was the female friend he’d been with that was the employee. If so, he was screwed. How on earth did someone go about finding a total stranger?
He sighed loudly and tossed the pen he’d been playing with across his office, swinging round in his chair so he could look out of his window on the tenth floor. When the opportunity to transfer to the London office had come up, he’d grabbed it with both hands and it wasn’t just because it meant a big promotion. It meant a chance to start anew, away from the stifling expectations of his conservative family. It meant being able to reinvent himself, to finally have the freedom to be who he’d always wanted to be, on his own terms and top of his list was the determination to give in to the nagging desires which he’d spent all of his adult life suppressing.
For as long as he could remember, he’d found himself looking at other guys and wondering, wanting. Not that he didn’t like women, he did, he really did but as he’d got older he’d found it increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that he liked men too. He’d had it drummed into him as he grew up that his family expected him to get married and produce the next generation of Aquilas and it was an expectation that had always weighed heavily on him because he wanted something different, something more. He’d just never done anything about it.
That was all going to change now but Marcus had promised himself he wasn’t just going to go nuts, like a child let loose in a sweet shop, and throw himself at the first man he met. He’d been in London two months now and he’d had some interest but nothing he’d wanted to pursue. It had to be the right guy and when he’d picked up that shoe three days ago, along came someone who he’d instantly felt a strong attraction to. It was his own stupid fault that he’d let him get away. Not that he was an expert but he was pretty sure he’d seen a corresponding interest in the way Shoe-Guy had looked at him. All he had to do now was find him.
He got up from his desk, grabbed his jacket and headed out to grab something for lunch. Maybe some brain food would give him a Eureka moment and he’d come up with a plan. As he walked towards the stairs - always use the stairs, his grandma had told him - he caught a snippet of conversation between two women in neighbouring cubicles and he stopped dead, his heart thudding hard enough to make him catch his breath. Party. Lost a shoe. A name he couldn’t quite make out.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he lied. He wasn’t sorry. “Who are you talking about? Who lost a shoe at the party?”
The women both frowned at him like he was insane or possibly just very rude.
“Cottia,” one of them said eventually. She was around Marcus’ age with a pixie-crop haircut. “Cottia Kaeso. Why?”
“You have no idea how much hassle you just saved me!” Marcus couldn’t help but grin until his cheeks hurt. “Does she work here?”
“She’s in Sales, on the fifth floor.” Pixie-Crop’s tone of voice inferred that this was something he should already know.
“Yessssss!” Marcus banged his fist hard on the corner of her desk, causing both girls and several items on the desktop to jump. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He knew he was acting like an idiot and that this wasn’t going to do his budding reputation in the office any favours but quite frankly, he didn’t care. A hundred things were flying around inside his head as he went back to his office and dropped into his chair, his intention to get some lunch forgotten. Ok. Now he had to think. He needed a plan. He opened up his e-mail and searched the global address book for the name Cottia Kaeso, found her after several attempts at spelling her name and then immediately decided against mailing her. What was he going to say? No, he’d have to do this face to face. He took a couple of deep breaths to try and help him relax a bit and made his way down to Sales.
@@@@@@
It turned out that Ms Kaeso was out to lunch and nobody was sure exactly when she’d be back so Marcus sat outside her office and waited impatiently. Thankfully it wasn’t too long before he looked up and saw an impeccably dressed woman walking towards him, long strawberry-blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, a few tendrils strategically teased out of the bun and framing her face. She was extraordinarily pretty.
“Hi.” Marcus stood up and held out his hand and she took it, smiling at him. “Are you Cottia?”
“I am,” she said, opening the door to her office and inviting him inside. She indicated that he should take a seat and sat down behind her desk. “Did we have a meeting scheduled?” she asked. “Because if we did, I’m going to have to own up to having forgotten.”
“No, no meeting.” Marcus took a deep breath, sweat prickling along his hairline and under his collar. “Actually, this is kind of weird and creepy and if you want to tell me to get the hell out of your office, I will.”
“Oooh,” she cooed, leaning forward on the desk and wiggling her eyebrows. “I love weird and creepy.”
“My name’s Marcus. Marcus Aquila. I work up in Marketing but this has nothing to do with work. It’s more of a social call.”
Cottia nodded. “Curiouser and curiouser.”
“I found your shoe at the summer ball,” he continued, “and I was wondering about your friend, the one who came back to collect it.”
“Ah,” Cottia grinned and clapped her hands, “so you’re the mysterious hot guy who found my shoe.”
“Well,” Marcus said with mock humility, already feeling at ease in Cottia’s company, “I wouldn’t say mysterious.”
“Esca’s told me all about you.”
“Esca.” Marcus liked the way the name sounded on his tongue. “Is he single?” he asked cautiously, acutely aware that he was potentially making a total fool of himself in front of someone he might have to see regularly in a professional capacity.
“He most certainly is.” Cottia was smiling at him knowingly and Marcus had a feeling that she was already several steps ahead of him on this one.
“I was wondering whether….” He hesitated. God, this was embarrassing. “Whether, maybe he might be…interested in meeting me for a drink or something.” There. He couldn’t be much plainer than that, now could he.
“No reason why he shouldn’t be. He has mentioned you on more than one occasion.”
Marcus was ridiculously happy, nervous, terrified. Everything.
“Leave it with me,” Cottia said, “and I’ll see what I can do.” She leaned back into her chair, picked up the phone to request coffee for two from a minion somewhere and fixed Marcus with a dazzling smile. “So, tell me all about yourself.”
@@@@@@
Marcus was going to ignore the new email notification that popped up on his computer screen until the little voice in his head piped up and advised that it could be Cottia. They’d talked for quite a while in her office the day before and he’d been so relaxed in her company that he’d come clean and confessed all about liking guys but only ever having been with women before. She’d gone from business-like to mothering in the blink of an eye, coaxing all sorts of information from him that he’d never have dreamed of telling anyone else and probably some stuff he’d had difficulty in admitting to himself even.
He stopped daydreaming and turned his attention back to the little envelope icon which was silently beckoning him from his laptop screen. Cottia didn’t seem to be the kind of person who wasted much time when she had something to do so perhaps she’d talked to Esca already. Maybe she had good news for him. Maybe Esca had said he wasn’t interested. Marcus’ stomach flipped uncomfortably as he moved his mouse to open the mail.
From : Cottia Kaeso
To : Marcus Aquila
Subject : Esca
---------------------------------------------------
Hi Marcus,
Hope you’re settling in ok. I spoke to Esca in my capacity as matchmaker and he’s up for meeting you. I explained everything to him and he has no problems with being an experiment if that’s all you want. He’s game for anything! Give me a buzz on Ext. 4371 and we’ll do lunch, talk dates.
Don’t be nervous!
Cottia
xx
Marcus picked up the phone before he had time to chicken out, dialled Cottia’s extension and two hours later they were picking at sandwiches in Cottia’s favourite café.
“So, how’s the new job panning out?” she asked.
“Great, although if I don’t actually do some work soon I’m guessing I’ll be fired.” Marcus picked a particularly large pitted olive out of his sandwich. He didn’t really like olives but he usually tried to make an effort in honour of his Italian ancestry. “All I’ve done recently is try to track down Esca and have coffee in your office.”
Cottia swiped his olive and ate it. “Isn’t the company mantra something about happy staff being productive staff? Well, until you’ve got this out of your system you won’t be happy so all this is actually for the company’s benefit, if you think about it.”
Marcus laughed at that, not really able to argue with her logic. “I bet you’re good at your job,” he said.
“I can be very persuasive with the customers,” Cottia agreed, her voice low and her eyes glinting with steely determination and Marcus didn’t doubt it for a second. She might be young and quite petite but he figured her natural charm and tenacity had got the better of many who’d dared to underestimate her.
“How do you and Esca know each other?” he asked, aware that while he’d been bewitched into spilling his innermost secrets to her only minutes after they’d met, they hadn’t yet spoken of the basics and apart from a name, he knew nothing about Cottia’s equally captivating friend.
“We met on the first day of our first year at Uni and we’ve been friends ever since. I don’t think either of us really fitted in so we kind of became kindred spirits.”
“I guess he must think I’m a bit of a freak for trying to track him down.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head and held out her hand to him. “Give me your phone.”
Marcus handed it over, no questions asked and Cottia tapped in a number then handed it back. She stood up and winked at him, apparently finished with her lunch.
“Ask him yourself.”
@@@@@@
It wasn’t the easiest conversation Marcus had ever had. He’d felt like a ten year-old, tongue-tied and anxious but somehow Esca hadn’t decided against meeting him and now he was sitting in a coffee shop a few days later, fidgeting and waiting for Esca to arrive.
The door opened and there he was. He looked as good dressed down in a t-shirt and jeans as he did scrubbed up and wearing a suit, perhaps even better. His hair which had previously been neatly smoothed down was now fashionably tousled. He looked around, saw Marcus and weaved his way through the other tables towards him. Marcus took a deep breath to steady his nerves, reminding himself that he was starting down a path he’d wanted for so long it would be a shame to stop now.
“Hi.” Esca pulled up a chair and sat down.
“Hi. Thanks for coming.”
“Just so you know, I did ask Cottia if she knew who you might be but she didn’t, which kind of put the mockers on finding you. Serves me right for not staying and chatting you up at the time but I was a little tipsy and madam was waiting for her shoe.” Esca shrugged. “You know how it is.”
Marcus smiled shyly. “It’s nice to know you asked about me.”
“You were the most interesting thing about that party,” Esca admitted. “It’s not really my scene but Cottia needed a wingman and I’m always happy to oblige. Then some guy she used to go out with started hanging around and we decided to split. You know the rest.”
“I do. I found myself in the middle of my own little Cinderella story.”
“Every boy’s dream,” Esca grinned.
They talked a little about themselves, Marcus sticking to the boring summary of his life so far, leaving out the things he’d told Cottia, pretty sure that she’d probably already told Esca all about it. As he listened to Esca talk, a random thought popped into his head that perhaps it was obvious they were on a kind of date and people would be looking at them. He looked around. Nobody was paying them the slightest bit of attention but the thought was in his head now and he felt a knot in his gut. This wasn’t fantasy, this was reality. He was sitting opposite a man who he might actually find himself in bed with at some point in the future. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? They’d touch, they’d kiss. They’d…….. He took a deep breath, smiled at Esca to try and cover the rising panic but it was too little too late. His mind was just a swirling fog and he couldn’t think straight. An unpleasantly hot flush started to crawl over his skin and Marcus had to get some air before he humiliated himself by hyperventilating or passing out.
“Are you ok?” Esca asked. He looked as if he didn’t know whether to be concerned or just amused at the jumpy virgin sitting opposite him.
Marcus made a supreme effort to keep his voice as normal as possible. “I’m fine,” he lied. “I just have a really busy day planned and I….I think I have to go.”
“But...”
“I’ll call you sometime.” He headed for the door, eyes trained on his escape route, bumping into someone’s chair as he went past and not even stopping to apologise. Amidst all the other things flashing through his head, the image of Cinderella fleeing the ball before midnight surfaced again and this time he wasn’t gallant Prince Charming finding the shoe and searching for The One, he was Cinderella doing a runner.
@@@@@@
“Ugh, what a day!” Cottia had tapped on the door of Marcus’ office, not bothering to wait for an invitation before she swept in and gracefully folded herself into the chair at the other side of his desk. “Have you given any more thought to your dilemma?”
“What dilemma?” Marcus grumbled as he took a swig from his umpteenth coffee of the day. As soon as he’d recovered from the disaster that was supposed to be his date with Esca, he had called her and ‘fessed up to having blown everything by being a coward. “I made an ass of myself, end of story. No dilemma.”
“Look, you’re a bit freaked out. Lots of people would be! You’ve spent your entire life hiding something and pretending to the people you love that you’re a flaming, card-carrying heterosexual. You’ve pitched up here where you can indulge the fact that your sexuality is a teeny bit more fluid than that but theory and reality are pretty often totally different things. Along comes Esca. You like him, you’re attracted to him, he’s the one you want to indulge yourself with. Bear with me,” she added, holding up a perfectly manicured hand when Marcus gave her a withering look for stating the obvious. “Don’t beat yourself up about bolting the other day. You haven’t put Esca off.”
“I don’t know what to do next. I keep messing up.”
“Marcus, nobody goes into a relationship of any kind knowing exactly what the outcome will be. You’ve deliberately held out until you found someone who you felt a connection to rather than the first guy who caught your eye. Maybe something more will come out of this, maybe it won’t. But you have to try or you’ll never know.”
“It feels like I’m just using him,” he protested.
“Well don’t. Esca’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions. I remember one time in Uni there was this guy who wanted to experiment and Esca rather selflessly offered to lie down and take one for England and didn’t feel in the least bit bothered afterwards when the guy decided he’d rather stick to girls after all. If I’m honest, I think people see him as rather non-threatening because he’s small and skinny, not some great hairy bear.”
“You think this is funny, don’t you.”
“I’m not laughing at you, Marcus. I’m trying to sort this out because I’m a firm believer in love in all its forms.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” he sighed. “It was dumb to think I could just move to a different country and suddenly things would be so easy.”
“Well, that’s actually what I came to talk to you about. I might have an idea.”
“Yeah?” Marcus couldn’t imagine what her idea might be but he dared to be hopeful. Cottia was a natural fixer, with an answer to every problem.
“You want to get together with Esca. Right?”
“Right.”
“But you’re maybe just a teeny tiny bit anxious about it.”
“Right.”
“Because you’ve never been with another man.”
Marcus frowned at her. “Have we not just been through all this?”
“Ok.” Cottia did her best to look serious but her eyes were sparkling with - excitement? Mischief? Marcus wasn’t sure. “How about you and Esca,” she hesitated, “and me.”
Marcus choked on his coffee.
“A threesome?” he spluttered, shooting a quick glance at the door to make sure it was shut and the entire department weren’t standing outside listening. “What, the two of you hunt in a pack?”
“Just to start with, until you find your feet. You’ve been with women before and I thought maybe we could start off with the three of us so there’d be something familiar - me - and then, if you find that you want to carry on with just Esca, next time I can take a hike and leave you to it.”
“You’d do that?” Marcus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Have you’ve already discussed this with Esca?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gone into battle together, so to speak. Sometimes we both like the same guy and a couple of times, we’ve shared.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, not in the least ashamed.
Marcus couldn’t get his head around this. A threesome? It wasn’t something he’d ever considered, well not seriously anyway. It had always just been a drunken fantasy, one that he could share with his old friends without letting on that for him it would be with a man and a woman, not two women. Cottia was pretty, she was feisty. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed and admired but he couldn’t do this. It couldn’t be this simple. Could it?
“You don’t have to say yes right now,” Cottia said. “Think about it. You like Esca, he likes you but if you’re nervous then this might be a good way to dip your toes in the water. We could go anywhere you’d be most comfortable. Your place, my place, a hotel. Not Esca’s place, it’s a wreck.”
“My place,” Marcus blurted. It wasn’t an invitation. He was just saying.
Cottia raised an eyebrow and gave him a slow, almost predatory smile and Marcus suspected this was how a fish felt when it was caught on a hook.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” she said. “We can just get together and see what happens.”
Marcus already had an explicit image in his head of what could happen and although the conventional side of him was screaming its disapproval, the sensual side of him surfaced and took over. This was his chance.
“I don’t need to think about it,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
@@@@@@
By the time Cottia stood up from the sofa in his flat, took Marcus’ hand and declared “Who’s up for some fun, then?”, they’d polished off nearly three bottles of wine and Marcus was feeling slightly less nervous. Slightly. The three of them moved into the bedroom, never breaking contact, Cottia and Esca each holding one of his hands and gently coaxing him along.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Cottia purred to him. “Just go with it. It’s all good.”
She and Esca took it in turns, each undoing a button on Marcus’ shirt until it was open and they slid it off his shoulders. The air felt cool against his flushed skin and he felt a fresh stab of anxiety - should he be doing something? If so, what? This was all so new to him. One on either side, they stroked and kissed his skin while he stood as still as he could, trying not to tremble. He met Esca’s eyes and held his gaze. Esca smiled slowly and Marcus relaxed a little. He was in safe hands.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Esca said, sensing his concern, licking up Marcus’ neck and suckling his earlobe. “Just feel.”
He pinched Marcus’ nipple then bent to bite it carefully and Marcus jumped, letting out a nervous laugh. He was feeling, all right. He’d fretted over whether he’d be too nervous to get it up but his cock had gone from soft to hard in record time and his knees felt weak already. He watched Esca start to undress, pulling off his t-shirt and dropping it on the floor. Marcus liked what he saw and he continued to stare helplessly as Esca slid out of his jeans. He was beautiful naked.
Marcus felt fingers at the waistband of his jeans and he turned his head to see Cottia had undressed while he was watching Esca. She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him while she unzipped his fly and helped him out of the rest of his clothes. They were all naked now, pressed against each other, Esca and Cottia continuing to kiss and caress him, soothing him, exciting him beyond what he’d thought was possible.
The tree of them moved over to the bed and lay down, Marcus in the middle, hands and mouths all over him. Cottia cooed and shushed him and he closed his eyes, trying to take it all in, allowing himself to wallow in sensation. Someone stroked his cock, he didn’t know who so he opened his eyes to see Esca’s hand on him, pumping him slowly but firmly.
“If you want me to stop,” Esca whispered, “just tell me.” He moved until his lips were next to Marcus’ ear, hot breath tickling the sensitive skin as he spoke. “I’ll do anything you say.”
Marcus watched, completely mesmerized as Esca kissed and nibbled a trail down towards his cock and took it into his mouth, sucking and whirling his tongue around the head. It was perfect, the pressure just right. It was everything he’d dreamed it would be in his fantasies. Cottia kept murmuring soothing words to him, pressing kisses to his chest and lightly stroking his skin. Marcus bucked helplessly, feeling another wave of hot lust surge through him as Esca took him deeper and he reached one hand down to grip Esca’s hair while his other hand gently caressed Cottia’s breast. He wondered whether he shouldn’t be paying more attention to her but Esca tugged hard on his cock and he forgot everything but the warm tingling sensation coiling through his gut.
Cottia kissed him again then she moved away and Esca crawled back up to take her place, the rasp of his stubble a firm reminder that finally Marcus had reached his goal. This was what he’d wanted. He closed his eyes again and let another flush of heat wash over him. It felt good. It all felt better than good. They shifted slightly until Marcus was on his side, Cottia spooned behind him and Esca in front of him, pressing his groin against Marcus’ and rubbing their cocks together. Marcus could feel himself losing control already, overwhelmed by sensations more intense than anything he’d ever felt before and when he came, it was Esca he reached for as Cottia nuzzled the back of his neck and wrapped her arms around him.
@@@@@@
Marcus stood by his bedroom window, nursing his morning cup of coffee. The sun was out already and it looked like it was going to be a nice day, if he could be bothered to do anything other than stay in bed all day. He turned away from the window and watched Esca for a while, still asleep and tangled in the bedding after what had turned out to be a long night. Marcus set down his empty mug and lay down, stretching out along the length of Esca’s body, stroking a hand down his back and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Esca stirred and made a contented humming noise and Marcus smiled, his smile widening when he heard Cottia start singing in the shower. Finally, something she wasn't any good at.
Ok, so this wasn’t quite what he’d expected but he was on his way and Cottia had been right - who knew what was going to happen in the future. That was all part of the fun. In the meantime though, this promised to be the best of both worlds.
Author: Lemondilemma
Pairing: Marcus/Esca/Cottia
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: threesome
Word Count: 5000 ish
Author’s notes: Written for Round 4 of the Fanmedia Challenge, inspired by the picture of the shoes. It’s not beta’d so there may be copious quantities of mistakes but I’m running out of time and just managing to squeeze it in before the deadline. Ideally the story should be a lot longer but it ain’t.
Summary: Marcus wants the guy from the party but doesn’t know how to find him or quite what to do with him if they do ever meet again. Cottia meanwhile might just have all the answers.
Marcus stared at the shoe in his hand. A woman’s shoe, black, high-heeled with a bow attached to the back. He’d escaped the party and come outside to get a breath of fresh air and escape from the endless conversations in which he was grilled about his reasons for coming to the UK and joining the London office, every new person asking the same questions. It was getting boring. Still, what did he expect? He was the new guy.
He looked around to see if there was anyone else around, maybe someone wearing only one high-heeled black shoe but he was alone. He considered whether he should just put the shoe back where he found it, lying halfway down the stone steps that led out from the back of the rather grand hotel where the company apparently always held their annual summer ball to the wide expanse of well-maintained lawn. Presumably someone would come back for it because, no matter how drunk they were, the owner surely had to realise at some point that they were only wearing one shoe.
He was about to set it back down on the steps and go for a stroll around the gardens when he heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel path below him and looked round to see someone approaching. It was a man, suited and booted like all the other men at the party, maybe a little younger than Marcus and nobody he recognised. The man looked up as he reached the bottom of the steps and smiled an easy, friendly smile.
“You found it then,” he said, climbing up to where Marcus stood like prince Charming holding Cinderella’s discarded glass slipper.
“It was just lying here,” Marcus explained. “I’m guessing it’s not yours.”
“Nah,” the other man laughed. “It belongs to a mate. We were trying to avoid someone and had to make a quick exit. She was trying to take her shoes off to run faster and dropped one but we just kept going.”
Marcus knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it, like a deer caught in headlights. He hoped his mouth wasn’t hanging open but wow, this guy was cute. There was an air of confidence about him and something else that Marcus couldn’t quite put his finger on but he felt drawn to this stranger in a way that he’d never felt before. It was kind of disconcerting the way his heart had sped up and his eyes were fixed in place, determined not to look away.
“Do you want to keep it?”
“Huh?”
The other man arched an eyebrow and tilted his head to one side, continuing to smile that smile that had Marcus rooted to the spot.
“The shoe.”
He held out his hand and Marcus shook his head to clear it, feeling a little stupid and laughing nervously.
“Yeah, sorry.” He handed the shoe over. “I think maybe I’ve had more to drink than I realised.”
“Well you’re not alone there but that’s the whole point of a party, eh? Especially one where you have to get togged up like a dog’s dinner.”
“I guess.” Marcus tried and failed to think of something smart to say but the man was already turning away and heading back down the steps, shoe in hand. “See you around,” he called. Idiot.
The man turned back. He didn’t say anything but there was that enigmatic smile again, trying to pull Marcus in like a tractor beam. He dropped his gaze for a moment as if he were looking Marcus over then their eyes met again, the stranger’s smile widened a little and he was gone.
Not really sure what had just happened, Marcus forgot about going for a walk and sat down on the steps instead.
@@@@@@
It was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, hopefully with a different kind of prick waiting for him if he ever got successful. In the three days since the party Marcus had been mesmerized by thoughts of the man who’d come back to pick up the shoe, his mind conjuring up all kinds of fantasies when he really should have been concentrating on his job. The guy had obviously been at the party with a girl but he’d only mentioned her as a friend, not a girlfriend so that was a good sign, right? Jesus, why the hell hadn’t he had the presence of mind to ask his name? He’d wasted a lot of time already wandering aimlessly around the offices on the pretence of familiarizing himself with the layout of the company and getting to know faces but the one face he was actually looking for eluded him. He’d even described the guy to a few of the colleagues he’d got to know but nobody recognised the description and he risked arousing suspicion if he kept asking. Marcus wasn’t sure he was ready for that just yet. It struck him, not without irony, that he really was acting like Prince Charming searching for Cinderella. Ok, so maybe the man he’d met hadn’t been an employee. Maybe it was the female friend he’d been with that was the employee. If so, he was screwed. How on earth did someone go about finding a total stranger?
He sighed loudly and tossed the pen he’d been playing with across his office, swinging round in his chair so he could look out of his window on the tenth floor. When the opportunity to transfer to the London office had come up, he’d grabbed it with both hands and it wasn’t just because it meant a big promotion. It meant a chance to start anew, away from the stifling expectations of his conservative family. It meant being able to reinvent himself, to finally have the freedom to be who he’d always wanted to be, on his own terms and top of his list was the determination to give in to the nagging desires which he’d spent all of his adult life suppressing.
For as long as he could remember, he’d found himself looking at other guys and wondering, wanting. Not that he didn’t like women, he did, he really did but as he’d got older he’d found it increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that he liked men too. He’d had it drummed into him as he grew up that his family expected him to get married and produce the next generation of Aquilas and it was an expectation that had always weighed heavily on him because he wanted something different, something more. He’d just never done anything about it.
That was all going to change now but Marcus had promised himself he wasn’t just going to go nuts, like a child let loose in a sweet shop, and throw himself at the first man he met. He’d been in London two months now and he’d had some interest but nothing he’d wanted to pursue. It had to be the right guy and when he’d picked up that shoe three days ago, along came someone who he’d instantly felt a strong attraction to. It was his own stupid fault that he’d let him get away. Not that he was an expert but he was pretty sure he’d seen a corresponding interest in the way Shoe-Guy had looked at him. All he had to do now was find him.
He got up from his desk, grabbed his jacket and headed out to grab something for lunch. Maybe some brain food would give him a Eureka moment and he’d come up with a plan. As he walked towards the stairs - always use the stairs, his grandma had told him - he caught a snippet of conversation between two women in neighbouring cubicles and he stopped dead, his heart thudding hard enough to make him catch his breath. Party. Lost a shoe. A name he couldn’t quite make out.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he lied. He wasn’t sorry. “Who are you talking about? Who lost a shoe at the party?”
The women both frowned at him like he was insane or possibly just very rude.
“Cottia,” one of them said eventually. She was around Marcus’ age with a pixie-crop haircut. “Cottia Kaeso. Why?”
“You have no idea how much hassle you just saved me!” Marcus couldn’t help but grin until his cheeks hurt. “Does she work here?”
“She’s in Sales, on the fifth floor.” Pixie-Crop’s tone of voice inferred that this was something he should already know.
“Yessssss!” Marcus banged his fist hard on the corner of her desk, causing both girls and several items on the desktop to jump. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He knew he was acting like an idiot and that this wasn’t going to do his budding reputation in the office any favours but quite frankly, he didn’t care. A hundred things were flying around inside his head as he went back to his office and dropped into his chair, his intention to get some lunch forgotten. Ok. Now he had to think. He needed a plan. He opened up his e-mail and searched the global address book for the name Cottia Kaeso, found her after several attempts at spelling her name and then immediately decided against mailing her. What was he going to say? No, he’d have to do this face to face. He took a couple of deep breaths to try and help him relax a bit and made his way down to Sales.
@@@@@@
It turned out that Ms Kaeso was out to lunch and nobody was sure exactly when she’d be back so Marcus sat outside her office and waited impatiently. Thankfully it wasn’t too long before he looked up and saw an impeccably dressed woman walking towards him, long strawberry-blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, a few tendrils strategically teased out of the bun and framing her face. She was extraordinarily pretty.
“Hi.” Marcus stood up and held out his hand and she took it, smiling at him. “Are you Cottia?”
“I am,” she said, opening the door to her office and inviting him inside. She indicated that he should take a seat and sat down behind her desk. “Did we have a meeting scheduled?” she asked. “Because if we did, I’m going to have to own up to having forgotten.”
“No, no meeting.” Marcus took a deep breath, sweat prickling along his hairline and under his collar. “Actually, this is kind of weird and creepy and if you want to tell me to get the hell out of your office, I will.”
“Oooh,” she cooed, leaning forward on the desk and wiggling her eyebrows. “I love weird and creepy.”
“My name’s Marcus. Marcus Aquila. I work up in Marketing but this has nothing to do with work. It’s more of a social call.”
Cottia nodded. “Curiouser and curiouser.”
“I found your shoe at the summer ball,” he continued, “and I was wondering about your friend, the one who came back to collect it.”
“Ah,” Cottia grinned and clapped her hands, “so you’re the mysterious hot guy who found my shoe.”
“Well,” Marcus said with mock humility, already feeling at ease in Cottia’s company, “I wouldn’t say mysterious.”
“Esca’s told me all about you.”
“Esca.” Marcus liked the way the name sounded on his tongue. “Is he single?” he asked cautiously, acutely aware that he was potentially making a total fool of himself in front of someone he might have to see regularly in a professional capacity.
“He most certainly is.” Cottia was smiling at him knowingly and Marcus had a feeling that she was already several steps ahead of him on this one.
“I was wondering whether….” He hesitated. God, this was embarrassing. “Whether, maybe he might be…interested in meeting me for a drink or something.” There. He couldn’t be much plainer than that, now could he.
“No reason why he shouldn’t be. He has mentioned you on more than one occasion.”
Marcus was ridiculously happy, nervous, terrified. Everything.
“Leave it with me,” Cottia said, “and I’ll see what I can do.” She leaned back into her chair, picked up the phone to request coffee for two from a minion somewhere and fixed Marcus with a dazzling smile. “So, tell me all about yourself.”
@@@@@@
Marcus was going to ignore the new email notification that popped up on his computer screen until the little voice in his head piped up and advised that it could be Cottia. They’d talked for quite a while in her office the day before and he’d been so relaxed in her company that he’d come clean and confessed all about liking guys but only ever having been with women before. She’d gone from business-like to mothering in the blink of an eye, coaxing all sorts of information from him that he’d never have dreamed of telling anyone else and probably some stuff he’d had difficulty in admitting to himself even.
He stopped daydreaming and turned his attention back to the little envelope icon which was silently beckoning him from his laptop screen. Cottia didn’t seem to be the kind of person who wasted much time when she had something to do so perhaps she’d talked to Esca already. Maybe she had good news for him. Maybe Esca had said he wasn’t interested. Marcus’ stomach flipped uncomfortably as he moved his mouse to open the mail.
From : Cottia Kaeso
To : Marcus Aquila
Subject : Esca
---------------------------------------------------
Hi Marcus,
Hope you’re settling in ok. I spoke to Esca in my capacity as matchmaker and he’s up for meeting you. I explained everything to him and he has no problems with being an experiment if that’s all you want. He’s game for anything! Give me a buzz on Ext. 4371 and we’ll do lunch, talk dates.
Don’t be nervous!
Cottia
xx
Marcus picked up the phone before he had time to chicken out, dialled Cottia’s extension and two hours later they were picking at sandwiches in Cottia’s favourite café.
“So, how’s the new job panning out?” she asked.
“Great, although if I don’t actually do some work soon I’m guessing I’ll be fired.” Marcus picked a particularly large pitted olive out of his sandwich. He didn’t really like olives but he usually tried to make an effort in honour of his Italian ancestry. “All I’ve done recently is try to track down Esca and have coffee in your office.”
Cottia swiped his olive and ate it. “Isn’t the company mantra something about happy staff being productive staff? Well, until you’ve got this out of your system you won’t be happy so all this is actually for the company’s benefit, if you think about it.”
Marcus laughed at that, not really able to argue with her logic. “I bet you’re good at your job,” he said.
“I can be very persuasive with the customers,” Cottia agreed, her voice low and her eyes glinting with steely determination and Marcus didn’t doubt it for a second. She might be young and quite petite but he figured her natural charm and tenacity had got the better of many who’d dared to underestimate her.
“How do you and Esca know each other?” he asked, aware that while he’d been bewitched into spilling his innermost secrets to her only minutes after they’d met, they hadn’t yet spoken of the basics and apart from a name, he knew nothing about Cottia’s equally captivating friend.
“We met on the first day of our first year at Uni and we’ve been friends ever since. I don’t think either of us really fitted in so we kind of became kindred spirits.”
“I guess he must think I’m a bit of a freak for trying to track him down.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head and held out her hand to him. “Give me your phone.”
Marcus handed it over, no questions asked and Cottia tapped in a number then handed it back. She stood up and winked at him, apparently finished with her lunch.
“Ask him yourself.”
@@@@@@
It wasn’t the easiest conversation Marcus had ever had. He’d felt like a ten year-old, tongue-tied and anxious but somehow Esca hadn’t decided against meeting him and now he was sitting in a coffee shop a few days later, fidgeting and waiting for Esca to arrive.
The door opened and there he was. He looked as good dressed down in a t-shirt and jeans as he did scrubbed up and wearing a suit, perhaps even better. His hair which had previously been neatly smoothed down was now fashionably tousled. He looked around, saw Marcus and weaved his way through the other tables towards him. Marcus took a deep breath to steady his nerves, reminding himself that he was starting down a path he’d wanted for so long it would be a shame to stop now.
“Hi.” Esca pulled up a chair and sat down.
“Hi. Thanks for coming.”
“Just so you know, I did ask Cottia if she knew who you might be but she didn’t, which kind of put the mockers on finding you. Serves me right for not staying and chatting you up at the time but I was a little tipsy and madam was waiting for her shoe.” Esca shrugged. “You know how it is.”
Marcus smiled shyly. “It’s nice to know you asked about me.”
“You were the most interesting thing about that party,” Esca admitted. “It’s not really my scene but Cottia needed a wingman and I’m always happy to oblige. Then some guy she used to go out with started hanging around and we decided to split. You know the rest.”
“I do. I found myself in the middle of my own little Cinderella story.”
“Every boy’s dream,” Esca grinned.
They talked a little about themselves, Marcus sticking to the boring summary of his life so far, leaving out the things he’d told Cottia, pretty sure that she’d probably already told Esca all about it. As he listened to Esca talk, a random thought popped into his head that perhaps it was obvious they were on a kind of date and people would be looking at them. He looked around. Nobody was paying them the slightest bit of attention but the thought was in his head now and he felt a knot in his gut. This wasn’t fantasy, this was reality. He was sitting opposite a man who he might actually find himself in bed with at some point in the future. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? They’d touch, they’d kiss. They’d…….. He took a deep breath, smiled at Esca to try and cover the rising panic but it was too little too late. His mind was just a swirling fog and he couldn’t think straight. An unpleasantly hot flush started to crawl over his skin and Marcus had to get some air before he humiliated himself by hyperventilating or passing out.
“Are you ok?” Esca asked. He looked as if he didn’t know whether to be concerned or just amused at the jumpy virgin sitting opposite him.
Marcus made a supreme effort to keep his voice as normal as possible. “I’m fine,” he lied. “I just have a really busy day planned and I….I think I have to go.”
“But...”
“I’ll call you sometime.” He headed for the door, eyes trained on his escape route, bumping into someone’s chair as he went past and not even stopping to apologise. Amidst all the other things flashing through his head, the image of Cinderella fleeing the ball before midnight surfaced again and this time he wasn’t gallant Prince Charming finding the shoe and searching for The One, he was Cinderella doing a runner.
@@@@@@
“Ugh, what a day!” Cottia had tapped on the door of Marcus’ office, not bothering to wait for an invitation before she swept in and gracefully folded herself into the chair at the other side of his desk. “Have you given any more thought to your dilemma?”
“What dilemma?” Marcus grumbled as he took a swig from his umpteenth coffee of the day. As soon as he’d recovered from the disaster that was supposed to be his date with Esca, he had called her and ‘fessed up to having blown everything by being a coward. “I made an ass of myself, end of story. No dilemma.”
“Look, you’re a bit freaked out. Lots of people would be! You’ve spent your entire life hiding something and pretending to the people you love that you’re a flaming, card-carrying heterosexual. You’ve pitched up here where you can indulge the fact that your sexuality is a teeny bit more fluid than that but theory and reality are pretty often totally different things. Along comes Esca. You like him, you’re attracted to him, he’s the one you want to indulge yourself with. Bear with me,” she added, holding up a perfectly manicured hand when Marcus gave her a withering look for stating the obvious. “Don’t beat yourself up about bolting the other day. You haven’t put Esca off.”
“I don’t know what to do next. I keep messing up.”
“Marcus, nobody goes into a relationship of any kind knowing exactly what the outcome will be. You’ve deliberately held out until you found someone who you felt a connection to rather than the first guy who caught your eye. Maybe something more will come out of this, maybe it won’t. But you have to try or you’ll never know.”
“It feels like I’m just using him,” he protested.
“Well don’t. Esca’s a big boy, he can make his own decisions. I remember one time in Uni there was this guy who wanted to experiment and Esca rather selflessly offered to lie down and take one for England and didn’t feel in the least bit bothered afterwards when the guy decided he’d rather stick to girls after all. If I’m honest, I think people see him as rather non-threatening because he’s small and skinny, not some great hairy bear.”
“You think this is funny, don’t you.”
“I’m not laughing at you, Marcus. I’m trying to sort this out because I’m a firm believer in love in all its forms.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” he sighed. “It was dumb to think I could just move to a different country and suddenly things would be so easy.”
“Well, that’s actually what I came to talk to you about. I might have an idea.”
“Yeah?” Marcus couldn’t imagine what her idea might be but he dared to be hopeful. Cottia was a natural fixer, with an answer to every problem.
“You want to get together with Esca. Right?”
“Right.”
“But you’re maybe just a teeny tiny bit anxious about it.”
“Right.”
“Because you’ve never been with another man.”
Marcus frowned at her. “Have we not just been through all this?”
“Ok.” Cottia did her best to look serious but her eyes were sparkling with - excitement? Mischief? Marcus wasn’t sure. “How about you and Esca,” she hesitated, “and me.”
Marcus choked on his coffee.
“A threesome?” he spluttered, shooting a quick glance at the door to make sure it was shut and the entire department weren’t standing outside listening. “What, the two of you hunt in a pack?”
“Just to start with, until you find your feet. You’ve been with women before and I thought maybe we could start off with the three of us so there’d be something familiar - me - and then, if you find that you want to carry on with just Esca, next time I can take a hike and leave you to it.”
“You’d do that?” Marcus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Have you’ve already discussed this with Esca?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gone into battle together, so to speak. Sometimes we both like the same guy and a couple of times, we’ve shared.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled, not in the least ashamed.
Marcus couldn’t get his head around this. A threesome? It wasn’t something he’d ever considered, well not seriously anyway. It had always just been a drunken fantasy, one that he could share with his old friends without letting on that for him it would be with a man and a woman, not two women. Cottia was pretty, she was feisty. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed and admired but he couldn’t do this. It couldn’t be this simple. Could it?
“You don’t have to say yes right now,” Cottia said. “Think about it. You like Esca, he likes you but if you’re nervous then this might be a good way to dip your toes in the water. We could go anywhere you’d be most comfortable. Your place, my place, a hotel. Not Esca’s place, it’s a wreck.”
“My place,” Marcus blurted. It wasn’t an invitation. He was just saying.
Cottia raised an eyebrow and gave him a slow, almost predatory smile and Marcus suspected this was how a fish felt when it was caught on a hook.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” she said. “We can just get together and see what happens.”
Marcus already had an explicit image in his head of what could happen and although the conventional side of him was screaming its disapproval, the sensual side of him surfaced and took over. This was his chance.
“I don’t need to think about it,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
@@@@@@
By the time Cottia stood up from the sofa in his flat, took Marcus’ hand and declared “Who’s up for some fun, then?”, they’d polished off nearly three bottles of wine and Marcus was feeling slightly less nervous. Slightly. The three of them moved into the bedroom, never breaking contact, Cottia and Esca each holding one of his hands and gently coaxing him along.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Cottia purred to him. “Just go with it. It’s all good.”
She and Esca took it in turns, each undoing a button on Marcus’ shirt until it was open and they slid it off his shoulders. The air felt cool against his flushed skin and he felt a fresh stab of anxiety - should he be doing something? If so, what? This was all so new to him. One on either side, they stroked and kissed his skin while he stood as still as he could, trying not to tremble. He met Esca’s eyes and held his gaze. Esca smiled slowly and Marcus relaxed a little. He was in safe hands.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Esca said, sensing his concern, licking up Marcus’ neck and suckling his earlobe. “Just feel.”
He pinched Marcus’ nipple then bent to bite it carefully and Marcus jumped, letting out a nervous laugh. He was feeling, all right. He’d fretted over whether he’d be too nervous to get it up but his cock had gone from soft to hard in record time and his knees felt weak already. He watched Esca start to undress, pulling off his t-shirt and dropping it on the floor. Marcus liked what he saw and he continued to stare helplessly as Esca slid out of his jeans. He was beautiful naked.
Marcus felt fingers at the waistband of his jeans and he turned his head to see Cottia had undressed while he was watching Esca. She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him while she unzipped his fly and helped him out of the rest of his clothes. They were all naked now, pressed against each other, Esca and Cottia continuing to kiss and caress him, soothing him, exciting him beyond what he’d thought was possible.
The tree of them moved over to the bed and lay down, Marcus in the middle, hands and mouths all over him. Cottia cooed and shushed him and he closed his eyes, trying to take it all in, allowing himself to wallow in sensation. Someone stroked his cock, he didn’t know who so he opened his eyes to see Esca’s hand on him, pumping him slowly but firmly.
“If you want me to stop,” Esca whispered, “just tell me.” He moved until his lips were next to Marcus’ ear, hot breath tickling the sensitive skin as he spoke. “I’ll do anything you say.”
Marcus watched, completely mesmerized as Esca kissed and nibbled a trail down towards his cock and took it into his mouth, sucking and whirling his tongue around the head. It was perfect, the pressure just right. It was everything he’d dreamed it would be in his fantasies. Cottia kept murmuring soothing words to him, pressing kisses to his chest and lightly stroking his skin. Marcus bucked helplessly, feeling another wave of hot lust surge through him as Esca took him deeper and he reached one hand down to grip Esca’s hair while his other hand gently caressed Cottia’s breast. He wondered whether he shouldn’t be paying more attention to her but Esca tugged hard on his cock and he forgot everything but the warm tingling sensation coiling through his gut.
Cottia kissed him again then she moved away and Esca crawled back up to take her place, the rasp of his stubble a firm reminder that finally Marcus had reached his goal. This was what he’d wanted. He closed his eyes again and let another flush of heat wash over him. It felt good. It all felt better than good. They shifted slightly until Marcus was on his side, Cottia spooned behind him and Esca in front of him, pressing his groin against Marcus’ and rubbing their cocks together. Marcus could feel himself losing control already, overwhelmed by sensations more intense than anything he’d ever felt before and when he came, it was Esca he reached for as Cottia nuzzled the back of his neck and wrapped her arms around him.
@@@@@@
Marcus stood by his bedroom window, nursing his morning cup of coffee. The sun was out already and it looked like it was going to be a nice day, if he could be bothered to do anything other than stay in bed all day. He turned away from the window and watched Esca for a while, still asleep and tangled in the bedding after what had turned out to be a long night. Marcus set down his empty mug and lay down, stretching out along the length of Esca’s body, stroking a hand down his back and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Esca stirred and made a contented humming noise and Marcus smiled, his smile widening when he heard Cottia start singing in the shower. Finally, something she wasn't any good at.
Ok, so this wasn’t quite what he’d expected but he was on his way and Cottia had been right - who knew what was going to happen in the future. That was all part of the fun. In the meantime though, this promised to be the best of both worlds.