I still don't own Chuck. I'm not sure who does at this point.

As always a big thanks to Michaelfmx for his beta services. I really appreciate it.

Content Warning: Again there will be some sex in this chapter that may come close to my definition of smut. In fact this chapter is going to be filled with sexual activity. If that bothers you, it might be a good chapter to skip. Unfortunately, buried in all of this sex type stuff will be some very important story points. If you skip the chapter, PM me and I'll fill you in.

Three's Company

x-x-x-x-x

Once Alex regained enough capacity for rational thought after her massive orgasm she noticed that Devon was calmly sitting on the couch next to her. She sat up a little and sided into him affectionately. "Thank you," she said with a grin. "That was great. It reminded me of a Friday night date in the back seat of Jimmy Roberts' car when I was in High School. Something tells me that's not the first time you've done that. You are very dexterous with your fingers. I'll bet that comes in handy in the Operating Room when they're in the middle of some poor guy's heart."

When Devon didn't respond, Alex playfully bumped his shoulder with hers. "If I remember those days correctly," she teased as she reached for his belt. "I believe we're into the phase of the evening that Jimmy would typically refer to as 'his turn.' Jimmy seemed to think that 'his turn' meant that I would deliver a sloppy blowjob. That never seemed completely fair to me so I didn't always pay off. However if I was a betting woman, I do think that I like your chances here tonight."

Devon pushed her hand away. "That's okay," he said.

"It's not okay," Alex said, still teasing as she ghosted her hand over his pants. "From all available preliminary evidence, you're going to put Jimmy to shame in both length and girth. You're not cheating me out of getting a peak at what you're hiding under here."

This time Devon grabbed her hand and gently but firmly moved it back. "That's okay," he said again.

This time Alex took note of his tone. "Is something wrong?" she asked. "Devon, I seriously don't think you have anything to feel guilty about. This open lifestyle thing was the deal everyone made."

"I'm not feeling guilty," Devon insisted.

"Then what?" Alex asked softly. "Come on, Devon. Please talk to me. Did I do something wrong?"

Devon sighed. "I don't want you to do anything you don't really want to do," he finally said. "Look. You were moaning Morgan's name."

Alex's heart fell. Calling out someone else's name during sex was one of the very worst things you could do to someone. She had been on the wrong end of that enough times to fully understand how awful it felt. "I'm so sorry," she said. "That makes me feel horrible. I'm pretty sure it's not what you think."

That actually got a bit of a smile. "So," Devon said. "You weren't pretending that I was Morgan? Hopefully Ellie never pretended that I was Morgan. But I'm honestly starting to rethink that a little."

At least he was teasing her. That was a good sign. "Okay," she said with as much of a smile as she could muster. "Maybe it is what you think… a little. You're just wrong about why. Look, Devon, it's no secret that I've had sex with my fair share of guys. I like sex. It's sorta become my hobby. I'll offer no apology for that. I was always just having a good time… no strings… no commitments. It was never hard to find a partner, or sometimes a couple, who was willing to fuck with no strings. Whenever I looked up, they seemed to be forming a line. It worked out really well for everyone. I really had nothing to lose. If it turned out to be a lousy fuck, I was never going to see him again anyway. At first I came over here to have that same good time with you. But something happened I didn't expect. Now that we've spent some time together and I found out how amazing you are… this is… Devon, it's different. So now I have something to lose… and I really don't want to lose it. I really like the feeling of having a best friend. And that was just your finger. If we start fucking for real I'm going to be even more tempted to fall in love with you than I already am. Neither of us want that, do we? Things are fucked up enough already. So I figured that it would be best if I pretended you were Morgan and we stay good friends… who maybe occasionally have sex. Am I over thinking this?"

Devon's smile turned into a grin. If she was feeding him a line, it was a damn good one. "I think you're great," he said. "But let's face it. You're in love with Morgan. Have you told him?"

Alex paused for a long moment. "This is really fucked up, isn't it?" she finally sighed. "At least Ellie has an excuse. Once they take away the Intersect, she'll be back. Morgan's being an ass all on his own."

Devon put his arm around Alex and lovingly pulled her in close. "I'm not defending Morgan," he said. "He's not my favorite person right now. But he's in a tough spot. I imagine he's doing the best that he can. You have to tell him. That will change things. For the record, in another time and place I could easily see us together. It just isn't going to work out."

That got a sad smile. "You're such a nice guy," Alex said. "Ellie is really, really lucky. This sucks. She gets you… and I'm stuck with dipshit."

That broke whatever tension remained and got them laughing. Suddenly they were just two good friends talking again. Well, if you could overlook the fact that one was naked. "Thanks," Devon said.

"This is ridiculous," Alex said. "We're being hypocrites. Sex and love are different things. We've established that we're both in love with someone else, right?"

Devon wasn't sure where she was going. So he just nodded.

Alex slid off the couch. "Why should this be weird?" she asked firmly as she sat at his feet and once more reached for his belt. "You're getting paid back for the good time you just showed me. That's simply a moral imperative. I'm putting my foot down. I'm really not prepared to take no for an answer. If it makes you feel any better I promise to resist falling in love with you. Pretend that I'm Ellie if you want. After you've recovered for a few minutes, we're going to fuck… pure sex… one time… just to be able to say that we did it. Then I'll let you be back in charge. If you want to talk, we'll talk. If you want to fuck, we'll fuck. Deal?"

That got Devon laughing. "Deal," he said. "For what it's worth, I think Jimmy Roberts might be the luckiest teenager in the history of the world. Too bad there's not a car on the island. We could actually crawl in the back seat and make the trip down memory lane complete. Just for a future point of reference, am I getting the high school sloppy blowjob? If I remember high school, they weren't all that good. Not to appear like a blowjob snob or anything but as I've matured, I've come to expect a certain standard. The undergraduate sorority sisters at UCLA held something of an unofficial contest for a few years. It was a great time to be alive. Have you improved over the years?"

His teasing got Alex laughing even harder… until she had his pants off and was staring at the most… well it was very, very impressive. "Fuck," she whispered, again drawing out the word to about twenty syllables. She finally was able to tear her eyes away and gather her composure. "I was never in a sorority," she said. "But I've never had any complaints."

"I'm going to let you judge the blowjob quality for yourself."

x-x-x-x-x

Morgan was pretty depressed. Well, as depressed as someone who lived on a private tropical island, gorging himself with vintage champagne and lobster stuffed mushrooms prepared by a personal French Chef could be anyway. It was hard to miss the commotion of Josh and Casey basically carrying Ellie to Chuck and Sarah's suite. He heard someone say that Chuck and Sarah were going to stay on the Enforcer and that Laura was going to stay at their place with Ellie for a while. Frankly no one was paying much attention to him. They were basically treating him as if he was invisible.

So Morgan decided to go back to his room and be invisible by himself. He did discover one unfortunate truth. Too many stuffed mushrooms, while certainly delicious, weren't exactly delicate on the digestive track. He stumbled into his room, fully intending to sleep for a week.

Suddenly he found himself pinned against the wall with an arm firmly across his throat.

"Let's talk," Sarah growled. She pulled him back a little and angrily slammed him back into the wall. After doing that a couple of times she grabbed the wrist of the arm that she had across his throat with her free hand and used that as leverage to press into him even farther, totally cutting off his air supply. "Oh," she said sarcastically. "It looks like you're speechless. That's okay. I'll do all the talking. You want me to beg you to fuck me? Really? How about first you beg me to let you breathe?"

Sarah watched him hopelessly struggle for a while and waited until he was starting to turn blue, then she stepped back and allowed him to collapse to the floor. It took a while for Morgan to catch his breath. His head was burning from being slammed repeatedly into the wall. Finally he awkwardly stumbled to his feet. Sarah was standing there brandishing a huge knife menacingly. "Explain something to me," she growled. "Tell me why I shouldn't cut your fucking head off right here and put it on a stake as a warning for any other moron who wants me to cheat on my husband."

Morgan had finally recovered enough to speak. "I was telling Ellie what she needed to hear," he said. "She was making plans to run off together. So to stall I gave her an assignment that I figured would take a while. Trust me. I fully understand that you begging me to fuck you probably wasn't ever going to happen."

Sarah was still incensed. "Okay," she said. "Even if that's true… why was I even in the conversation in the first place? I'm married… to your best friend."

"Okay," Morgan said. "Yes, I asked her to get you to join us. I was mostly kidding. It was before I knew she had a problem. I never thought that she'd take me that seriously. I certainly never thought she would drug you."

Sarah took an aggressive step in his direction. "You're supposed to be Chuck's friend!" she shouted. "I don't have a lot of experience with friendships. But I'm pretty sure lusting to fuck his wife probably isn't on the first page of the friend manual. Do you have a clue what that thought would do to him?"

Morgan was done being pushed around. "You know what, Sarah?" he asked. "Fuck you. If I really wanted to fuck you, I had my chance. Contrary to popular opinion, I really haven't had a very good couple of days. Don't you even presume to lecture me about being Chuck's friend. I was Chuck's friend before you were in junior high school. I was there for him when his mom left, when his dad left, when he got kicked out of Stanford. I was the one picking up the pieces when you told him that you were in love with someone else. So yes, maybe I've had an impure thought or two involving you. I'm probably not alone in that characteristic… probably not even in the minority. Yes, I asked Ellie to try to make it happen. But I would never, ever, under any circumstances do anything that would hurt Chuck. I told Ellie that the only way it could happen was if he was fine with it. But with the new open sex thing going on with everybody, I thought maybe he would be okay with the idea. I sure as hell wouldn't be the first one, would I?"

"It's so not happening," Sarah fumed. "Ever, ever, fucking ever. Do the words 'last man on earth' mean anything to you? Get that disgusting thought out of your head right now and don't ever let it back in."

"No problem," Morgan said. "The truth is I wouldn't fuck you now if you got on your hands and knees and begged me… not even if Chuck came over and begged me. I honestly don't understand what he even sees in you. Yes, you're gorgeous. But inside you're pretty fucking ugly. You've done nothing but fuck with his head since the day you met him. At least Joey, Laura, and Carina are honest about who they are. You crack me up. You're this CIA seductress who has been trained to use sex as an offensive weapon… you bounce around the island dancing, wearing next to nothing… you smile and you flirt… you pose for naked sexy pictures… you devise a plan to trap Alex into a threesome… then you lead everyone on a sex odyssey in Venezuela. While we're on this subject I'd like you to explain something to me. Exactly what page were you on in the friend manual when you offered my girlfriend to Chuck as his personal sex toy? I didn't think so. Now you want to get all pissed if someone finds himself a little physically attracted to you? Fuck you, hypocrite. Do me a favor. If you're going to cut my head off… get on with it."

"Otherwise, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."

x-x-x-x-x

Alex was trying to catch her breath. She honestly felt a little foolish. Worrying so much about sex was silly. It maybe wasn't the hottest fuck of her life… maybe not even in the top five. Morgan held those honors. But it was way above average. Okay, it had been a long dry spell. But Devon clearly knew what he was doing. Her orgasm was honest, long, and very loud. More important, they had now answered the six million dollar question. They could fuck and still stay friends. They would never have to question that again.

Devon was in better physical shape… but he had also done more of the work. So he took a few seconds longer to recover. But his grin soon was back. "Not bad," he said in faux seriousness. "Maybe we should practice a little more. Call it the perfectionist in me."

That got Alex giggling. "Not bad, yourself," she said. "If that was an example of your smooth pickup line, I'll bet you went home alone a lot. That was maybe the worst excuse to fuck in the history of mankind. You never did give me feedback on the blowjob. Was it better than high school?"

"Not bad," Devon teased critically. "Maybe we should practice that a little more as well."

That got Alex laughing even harder. "Nice try," she said. "I think my price may be going up. In fact I think maybe the next one to hit their knees should be you."

"Me?" Devon asked in faux horror. "You mean… me? Down there? That's gross.

Alex was still laughing. "Very nice Jimmy imitation," she said. "In fact you sound just like Morgan. My jaw is still a little sore. I don't know how Ellie does it."

"She doesn't," Devon sighed. "You sound just like her. Her price has been going up too."

Their teasing session was interrupted by a knock on the door. Devon pulled away to find his pants. Alex thought about covering herself with the sheet. But then she thought better of it. Anybody who could possibly knock on that door would assume she was naked anyway. Why disappoint them? "Hi, Joey," she said as she opened the door. "We've been waiting for you. Come in and join us."

It was hard to read the look on Joey's face as she entered the room. Devon was shirtless still trying to button his pants. Alex was naked as a jaybird. Both were clearly sweaty. It was plainly obvious what had just happened. Joining them could mean for a cup of coffee… or something else, neither of the alternatives at all unattractive. "I can't stay," she said. "Maybe I can get a rain check."

"I just wanted to let you know that Ellie is no longer an Intersect."

x-x-x-x-x

Steven and Joan were sitting on the couch. The sound of Carina in the bathroom retching was clear. Steven turned to his wife. "What's wrong with her?" he asked. "She looks like she's about ready to start crying. I never figured Carina to be nervous about sex. Did she have too many mushrooms?"

That got Joan laughing. "You really are Mr. Romance, aren't you?" she teased. "Answer you own question. She's scared to death of you."

Steven was honestly stunned. "Me?" he asked. "Why would Carina be scared of me? Actually I'm a little scared of her."

That got Joan laughing even harder. "I know," she said. "You two are so much alike… yet so very different. I think that's why I love you both so intensely. Neither of you wants to blow it." Joan started giggling. "Well," she finally was able to get out. "Actually Carina does desperately want to blow something… if you get my meaning."

Steven couldn't help but grin at her so overtly making fun of him. "Why are you in such a good mood?" he asked. "This is awkward for me."

"I'm enjoying this," Joan admitted. "Trust me, Steven. I get that this is hard for you. But tonight is mostly about you and Carina. If we're ever going to go where I think we could go, you two are going to have to work it out. I've told her until I'm blue in the face. She's never going to believe it until you tell her. One kind word from you and she'll melt right in front of you. You can do that, can't you? Then she'll kill herself to make sure that you have the most exciting night of your life. For tonight, I'm going to be mostly in the background paying off my bet. I'll let Carina fill you in on those details. I'm not even completely sure what she has in mind myself."

Finally Carina came out of the bathroom.

Joan was still laughing. "I'm not sure," she teased. "I don't know if the CIA keeps records on these things. But that may very well be the worst seduction attempt in the history of the world." That earned her dirty looks from both Steven and Carina. "Very funny," Carina said, finally making a weak attempt to smile.

Steven sighed noticeably. "Come here," he said. "I have something to say to you."

Carina slowly closed the distance between her and Steven until she was about three feet away. Steven held out his hand in a clear invitation. Joan noticed with amusement that both of their hands were shaking. Carina finally timidly took his offered hand. She didn't resist when he pulled her into his lap but her face clearly showed surprise.

"Look," Steven said. "I'm not a romantic guy. I suspect that's not your strength either. I'm tired of Joan making fun of us. So I'm just going to say this. It's stupid for us to be afraid of each other. I think you're amazing. You're smart and you're funny and you're fiercely loyal. I'm crazy about you. I have been for a while. I love the time you spend with us. It goes without saying that I think you're beautiful. I understand that this is going to start with sex. I don't think either of us knows exactly how this is going to work out. That's honestly part of why it's so exciting. It's certainly not a typical relationship. But here is my commitment to you. I'm not going to break your heart. I'm going to protect you and nurture you and I'm going to trust you to do the same for me. I'll let Joan speak for herself. But I'm pretty sure she feels the same way."

Joan reached over and grabbed her arm. "Of course," she said. "Sweetie, I tried to tell you. We're both crazy about you. You're worried about nothing."

"So," Steven said with a growing grin. "Did that help? A little?"

Carina was like a whipped puppy whose owner had just petted it. She just collapsed into his chest for a long moment. "It did," she said, the relief in her voice obvious. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I'm being so fucking needy about this. I've never felt this way before. I'm embarrassed. I'm not the most romantic person either. In fact those things usually make me hurl. But I want it on the record that I'm just as crazy about you… both of you. I understand that we're not talking about a typical relationship. I hope that doesn't scare us. I just… I feel different about myself when I'm here with you. I really like that feeling, more than I ever thought I could. I want this to happen."

Joan had mostly stayed out of the conversation. But now it was time to get on with it. "We all want it to happen," she said. "We should stop analyzing this to death and trust each other." She turned her grin towards Carina. "So," she said, fighting back the giggles. "You came over here to collect your bet winnings. Are you going to get on with it, or what?"

It was amazing to see the transformation come over Carina. She almost instantly went from nervous and scared back to bold and in charge. She stood up from Steven's lap and faced them sitting together on the couch. "I am," she said. She turned towards Steven. "I don't know how many details you know about our bet," she said. "But Joan lost. Then we bet again for double or nothing… and she lost again. That makes her my slave for two weeks. Part of our deal was that she would get you to agree that I'm in charge for those two weeks and there are no limits to what I can demand of my slave, at least in this room. So I want it on the record. Do you trust me enough to put me in charge? Nothing off the table?"

"One condition," Steven said. "I told you that I would protect and nurture you. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to protect and nurture Joan any less. So I'm not going to see her doing anything she doesn't want to do just because she may have lost a bet. I think I know the answer, but I want to hear from her own lips that she agrees with this of her own free will… for the record."

Joan sided into her husband affectionately. "That was sweet," she said. "I think you get how excited I am right now." She turned back to Carina. "You're in charge."

"Excellent," Carina said. She went to the dining area, got one of the chairs and placed in front of the couch. Then she pulled Joan to her feet and took her place next to Steven. Carina pulled him in for a long, long, wet kiss. "That was nice," she said. "Thank you for trusting me. So while tonight is all about your enjoyment, you are to follow my instructions immediately and without question. Joan and I are going to be taking turns serving you together and separately. We're going to perform for you and arouse you until you're begging for release. Then we're going to repeat the process again and again using plain eroticism and the occasional Viagra to get you hard again and again and again. There aren't many sex acts that we're not going to explore. We're not going to stop until the sun rises. Any questions?"

"No questions," Steven said. "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this. I don't have a way to appropriately thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," Carina said. "I've been imagining this every free moment for the past month. It's the sort of thing you do for someone you love. Maybe I didn't mention this but Joan and I are also going to have some very loud orgasms tonight. If anything, you're doing me the favor. The first step is to see how hot we can get you. You and I also need to get a little intimately acquainted. Joan has an unfair advantage. I need to experience your reactions for myself and learn your preferences. So while we explore each other for a while, my new slave here is going to put on a little erotic show for our amusement." She turned to Joan. "Show him what you did for your mark that day on our mission."

"Go slowly."

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