"They say you only have one soulmate. I say, love doesn't follow rules, it writes its own."
Alec never planned on falling for either of them. Let alone both.
But there they were Viv and Mara curled on either side of him on the oversized velvet couch in the loft they'd all started calling the nest.
The storm outside tapped gently against the tall windows. A record played low from the corner speaker, the melody lazy, soft, coaxing. Inside, the air was thick with warmth and something unspoken. Not tension. Not confusion. Something heavier, more tangled: connection.
Alec sipped his wine, eyes drifting from Viv to Mara, and wondered for the hundredth time how they got here.
Viv was all fire. Golden hair, wicked laugh, the kind of confidence that could command a room or start a riot. Mara was the opposite. Ink-black curls, dark curious eyes, and a softness that made you want to confess secrets even you didn't know you had.
They were polar opposites. And yet, they loved each other openly. Deeply. Fiercely. Long before Alec ever entered the picture.
And then came him a bartender with a brain full of poetry and a smile that made Viv pause for the first time in years.
Viv was the first to flirt. Mara was the first to ask if they should invite him in not just to their bed, but into the space between their hearts.
Now, months later, they were three.
It wasn't simple. Love never is. But it was real.
"I saw how she looked at you today," Viv murmured, her fingers grazing Alec's jaw. "The girl at the gallery. She would've devoured you whole."
Alec chuckled, eyes half-lidded. "Jealous?"
"Please." Viv leaned in, teeth grazing his earlobe. "If I wanted to ruin her, I would've."
"She was cute," Mara added from the other side, voice low, thoughtful. "But not ours."
The possessiveness in her tone made Alec's stomach flutter.
"Ours?" he teased.
Mara sat up slightly, straddling his thigh, hands pressed against his chest. "You're not just mine or hers. You're ours. That's how this works."
"Exactly," Viv said, climbing onto the couch to kneel behind him, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. "We don't do half-claims in this nest."
Alec's breath caught as their touches began to sync Mara's fingers drawing lazy circles against his sternum, Viv's hands sliding down his shoulders. It wasn't just sensual, it was intimate. Familiar. Electric.
"How did I get this lucky?" he whispered, voice rough.
Viv smirked. "You let us in."
Their mouths met his in turn, each kiss a different language. Viv's was wild, impatient, full of bite and fire. Mara's was soft, explorative, tasting him like a secret. Alec let them lead, surrendering to the rhythm of two women who knew him in ways no one else ever had.
It wasn't just about lust.
It was the way Mara looked at Viv before kissing Alec, as if checking in. It was the way Viv reached out to brush Mara's hair back, even mid-moment, making sure she was seen, included. It was the way Alec touched them both like they were whole on their own but divine when together.
They undressed slowly, letting the layers fall like petals.
Viv's bra strap slipped from her shoulder as she climbed onto Alec's lap, her thighs gripping his hips like she belonged there which, in truth, she did. Mara joined, curling around his side, her fingers tracing down Viv's back before resting on Alec's wrist.
The three of them moved as one, no rush, no agenda just the shared hunger of a bond built on nights like this. There were moans, yes, and gasps, and the undeniable electricity of skin on skin but above all, there was intimacy. Laughter between kisses. Eye contact that made your breath hitch. Hands gripping tightly, not just from pleasure, but to anchor the moment.
They whispered names like prayers.
And when they finally collapsed onto the couch, tangled and breathless, no one spoke for a while. Just the sound of the rain, the heartbeat of the city, and the quiet rise and fall of their chests.
Later, wrapped in sheets, Alec reached for Viv's hand, pulling her close, then reaching for Mara's too.
"You still good with this?" he asked quietly. "Still okay being three?"
Mara leaned her head on his shoulder. "I've never felt more wanted. More seen."
Viv's fingers traced his chest. "You don't make us halves. You love us whole."
They lay in silence, the weight of what they shared finally settling into the softness of post-storm quiet.
Polyamory wasn't a game or a phase.
It was three people daring to love outside the rules. Daring to give everything and to take nothing that wasn't freely given. They didn't need validation. Or definition. Just this: a love with enough room for all of them.
Alec kissed Mara's forehead.
Then Viv's temple.
And closed his eyes.
For the first time in years, he wasn't torn between two choices.
He was held in both.