by Maya Banks
be miserable. Being tipsy would solve nothing. The idea, however, that she might never see the guys again—never mind hold or kiss them—made her stomach reel and her head spin. Why not give it a little alcohol-induced kick?
She glanced at the clock. Nearly nine P.M. Sighing, she mentally reviewed the contents of her refrigerator. Eating would be good . . . especially since there was so much wine left in the bottle, and puking it all up before she had a really good buzz going would be a shame.
Turning her back on the suitcase, she made her way to the kitchen and looked everywhere for something edible. Then she saw her sticky note on the freezer: GO TO GROCERY STORE. Which she hadn’t done. Damn!
Laying her forehead against the freezer door, she closed her eyes. Rhys, Tucker, and Jeremy were all there in her thoughts, laughing, passionate, loving. Snatches of their time together flitted through her mind. The best times of her life. Now that they were gone, she realized she’d never felt more protected or more loved for who she was than when she’d been with them. How stupidly she’d taken all that caring acceptance for granted. Giving them all up would kill her.
But it might save their hearts, and that’s what mattered.
Wiping away her tears, she looked around for her phone book to find a pizza joint when she heard someone insert the key in her front door. The lock jangled. The door swept open.
Tucker!
As she rounded the corner, she didn’t just come face-to-face with one of her men, but all three. Wide-shouldered and tall, and determined—a wall of testosterone.
Kelsey’s knees went weak. She was dangerously happy to see them. One last time, just a few minutes . . .
“Guys . . .”
“We’re going to talk,” Jeremy said in that commanding voice that made her shiver.
“As soon as you’ve eaten,” Rhys said as he shouldered his way into the kitchen and set a plate on the table.
“I’ll take that.” Tucker grabbed the wine bottle and frowned at it. “After this morning’s hangover, you don’t need another. And we’d rather talk to you when you’re sober.”
They were melting her with their gruff caring and good food, because whatever they’d brought smelled damn good. Their kindness was wrenching her heart . . . and weakening her resolve.
“Eat,” Jeremy demanded, hooking an arm around her waist and leading her to a chair at the table.
Tucker poured the rest of the wine down the drain.
“Hey!” she protested.
He shook his head. “Saving you the headache, honey.”
Annoyance wrapped around her nerves, which was actually a bit of a blessing. “You’re my friend, not my daddy.”
Calmly, he filled a glass with ice and water, then snagged a coaster. He set both on the table with a smack, then looked her right in the eye. “I’m your lover.”
Kelsey swallowed. Tucker almost never got angry. But he was riding the edge of his temper right now. Still . . .
She shook her head. “It’s over. It has to be. Don’t you see? I’m doing you a favor—”
“One we didn’t ask you to do,” he pointed out.
“Eat,” Jeremy commanded again. “Don’t make me repeat myself or I’ll paddle your ass red.”
“You’re not touching my ass again.”
Jeremy only raised a dark brow at her. “I wouldn’t take that bet if I were you.”
Rhys took the foil off the plate and put something on the fork. “Open up, baby.”
She’d open up all right, to set Jeremy straight. Instead, Rhys forked the most tender, buttery angel hair into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed . . . and damn near had an orgasm from the flavor. “Where did you get that?”
“Franco’s,” Jeremy advised. “I picked it up fifteen minutes ago. While you eat, we’re going to talk.”
Kelsey hesitated. So that was the plan: talk her out of moving. Why? Certainly, they could see her rationale.
But then again, they were three packages of stubborn masculinity. This conversation required a solid, logical argument. Unfortunately with them so close, logic was the last thing on her mind.
Shaking her head, she grabbed the fork from Rhys’s hand and dove back into the pasta, then nibbled on her crisp salad, deep in thought.
“You’re not leaving.” Jeremy stood over her, hands on hips, as if his word were law.
If the whole situation weren’t so disastrous, she’d be tempted to smile. He was a give-an-inch-take-a-mile sort. He’d make assumptions and demands and act as if she would follow. But he knew it didn’t always work that way.
Tucker gritted his teeth at her boss. “Way to go, steamroller. Why don’t you let Rhys and me talk?”
Jeremy tapped his toe for a long moment, then gave them a sharp nod. Kelsey stopped chewing to process his response. Wow, Jeremy had given quarter. That never happened. Whatever they had in mind, he wanted it badly.
Or he just wanted her badly.
Shivering, she set her fork down. She shouldn’t do this. Their visit had train wreck written all over it, but . . . “I’m listening.”
Rhys and Tucker looked at one another. Her neighbor shrugged. So this wasn’t rehearsed?
“What if . . .” Rhys said finally, “we didn’t make you choose between us?”
Kelsey frowned, trying to puzzle what he meant. “Two of you are voluntarily walking away?”
“No!” they all thundered at once.
She leaned back in her chair at the decibel level. “Okay. Then what?”
“What if we all continued seeing you?” Tucker elaborated. “If we . . . had no expectations of you choosing among us until you’re ready to?”
“I’m not choosing among you.”
“Not until you’re ready,” Rhys vowed.
“You mean be a girlfriend to all of you? At the same time?”
Tucker hesitated, then nodded. “Basically.”
Kelsey burst out laughing. “That’s a joke, right?”
“This proposition is as goddamn serious as my face is right now,” Jeremy spat.
And since his face had all the levity of a grave, she surmised that they really meant it.
“I don’t understand.” She bit her lip. “I’d . . . be with all of you? How?”
“In part, that’s up to you,” Tucker explained. “We want you to feel comfortable. Not rushed. You set the tone, the pace, the schedule until you’re ready to decide.”
Kelsey frowned. The Twilight Zone had nothing on this idea. “So, in theory, I could go to a movie with Rhys on a Saturday afternoon, have dinner with Jeremy that night, then invite you over for dessert?”
“Yeah.”
She sent Tucker a skeptical stare. “And if the movie included a blowjob, dinner was accompanied by hot sweaty sex, and dessert morphed into breakfast the next morning?”
Tucker’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. Rhys rolled his shoulders, then nodded as well. She shot Jeremy a look that suggested he get real.
“We’re checking our jealousy at the door.” He didn’t growl . . . but it came close. “This is about you, not our egos.”
“We want you to feel comfortable, get time to truly know us,” Tucker explained. “And not feel like you have to change the way you behave with any of us because the others won’t like it. You have to experience each of us as potential mates for more than a few days in order to choose. We understand that.”
“In other words, this is my real-life episode of The Bachelorette ?” Were they serious?
“You can do anything you want in order to choose who will make you happiest. Just don’t move away.” Rhys grabbed her hand and squeezed.
They were dead serious. Oh. My. God. Three boyfriends at once? She took another bite of pasta, chewing slowly. How would she make this work?
Could she?
No. Too far-fetched. How patient could she expect them to be? What if it took her six months or a year to choose one to marry? Tucker would be hurt. Jeremy would never check his jealousy at the door. Rhys�
��s competitive nature would likely drive her insane.
But she wouldn’t have to give them up right now. She wouldn’t have to leave her house, her job, her parents, her hometown, or the men she loved most in the whole world. The decision could come naturally, in time. It was possible that she’d naturally grow apart from one or more of them over the months, and there’d be no painful breakup.
Kelsey bit the inside of her cheek. And she might be stretching reality, but . . . their offer was so tempting.
How sincere was it?
She took another bite of salad, washed it down with water, and studied the guys’ expressions. Tucker looked earnest. He really wanted her to accept. Rhys squeezed her hand and smiled hopefully. Jeremy gave her a hungry stare that made her belly do flops.
“So . . .” she began, thoughts running through her brain at a hundred miles an hour. “What if I did this?”
Kelsey turned to Rhys, grabbed his face, and planted her mouth on his. As soon as their lips met, the others’ shock sucked the air out of the room. She still pressed on.
Rhys caught on quickly, then nudged her lips apart, twining his tongue with her own, the kiss physical, finessed. Like her experience with him on Monday, he made her head spin as quickly as a whole bottle of wine.
But she had to stay focused.
Abruptly, she broke the kiss and stood. Tucker and Jeremy both looked tense, but to their credit, neither said a word.
Raising her chin, she brushed her body against Jeremy’s as she slid around the table and approached Tucker. She slid a hand under his T-shirt, fingers brushing across that incredible six-pack, and then she stood on her tiptoes and slanted her mouth over his.
He threw his arms around her and kissed her with a fervor that made her breathless. Before Friday night, she would have never believed he could be that intense. But now she knew, and she wanted more. With a moan, she plunged deeper into his mouth, and he met her, allowing her everything she wanted. When he pressed against her, she felt his enthusiasm for the embrace—all those mouthwatering inches of it.
Still, she couldn’t afford to be distracted.
She drew away and whirled to stare right at Jeremy. He watched, breathing hard. They all were, in fact. The irregular cadence of their exhalations sharpened the silent tension gripping her nipples and squeezing. Her sex clenched.
Without a word, Kelsey reached for Jeremy. He met her halfway, plowing into her mouth and pulling her against him in one tense moment. As he gripped her hips, she felt his erection press insistently against her. She writhed against him.
Achingly aroused now from kissing all of them—something so close to her fantasy—she looped her arms around her boss’s neck and threw herself into the kiss. The heat of his mouth mesmerized her. With a hand pressed firmly to the back of her head, he gave her no chance to escape, but continued his onslaught as the endless seconds ticked away.
Suddenly, a wave of male heat shimmered behind her. A hot palm landed on her shoulder, and harsh breath on the back of her neck clawed through her body, all the way to her clit. Tucker.
Another blast sidled up on her right, and she felt a male hand grip her own. Rhys. Even that little touch set her ablaze. They were touching her, somewhere—all at once. Her body sang chorus and verse of Hallelujah!
Then Rhys’s other hand cupped the side of her breast.
She gasped into Jeremy’s mouth, and he used the opportunity to sink deeper into her, while Tucker edged closer and laid his lips on the back of her neck. Incredible, the heat, the need . . . She melted, her knees literally losing the ability to hold her up.
Gasping for air and sanity, she broke free of Jeremy’s mouth and shot a startled glare at Rhys. He didn’t say a word . . . just brushed his thumb across her taut nipple. The sensation pinged through her body. Jeremy watched, hissing in a breath. God, she’d have thought he’d rip Rhys’s hand off, but instead he looked . . . aroused.
Holding herself steady with a grip on one of Jeremy’s shoulders, she turned a tentative gaze behind her at Tucker. Definitely aroused. She almost didn’t recognize him—wild eyes, heaving chest, every muscle in his body tight. No longer her easygoing pal.
With a savage yank, he pulled her around, dragging her against his body again. His kiss came hard, fast. Breath left her, and she felt swollen everywhere. And incredibly wet. Then it was Jeremy’s lips on her neck, nibbling, watching her surrender her mouth to Tucker. She felt his eyes on her. That realization, along with his scorching-hot stare, sent a bolt of need through her.
Rhys pressed against her side, his lips at her ear. “You look so fucking sexy.”
Jeremy sandwiched a hand between her and Tucker to cup her breast and pinch her nipple. “Are you wet?”
Tucker tore his mouth away. “Are you, honey?”
She looked at them—all of them. They must know . . .
“Yes.” She was barely able to choke the word out over her lust.
“Good.” Tucker smiled, then cradled her other breast.
Dear God, she had two men’s hands on her aching mounds at the same time? A fantasy to be sure, but she’d never imagined it could ever be a reality. And it was heaven.
“Please don’t tell me I’m dreaming,” she whimpered.
“You like this? You want us?” Jeremy growled.
“I’ve fantasized about this for months.”
“All of us, all together?” Rhys asked. “Like the book on your nightstand?”
Tucker and Jeremy stared, panting, hanging on her answer. Her stomach pitched and rolled. Her heart hammered loudly in her ears.
Lord, this was crazy, impetuous. Also the most dizzyingly pleasurable moment of her life.
She clenched her thighs together, but nothing was going to ease this ache except her men. “Yes!”
Tucker flicked the nipple of the breast Rhys cupped and took her mouth in a ravaging kiss. When he finally lifted away, he was breathing harder than ever. He looked at Jeremy and Rhys in question. Was this all unscripted? Whatever he saw on their faces made him relax.
“Let me see you kiss him.” Tucker pointed at Rhys—and reached for the buttons on her shirt.
CHAPTER | SEVEN
Heart racing, Kelsey leaned left. Plunging his fingers into her hair, Rhys dragged her mouth to his. With an urgent press of lips, he devoured her.
Rhys’s hunger bled into her and burned. She melted against Tucker with a gasp, her fingers clutching his shirt.
“You like that,” Tucker whispered. It wasn’t a question. She did like it—loved it.
She moaned, and his fingers made quick work of her buttons until he shoved the garment off her shoulders. It had barely cleared her body when he cupped her lace-clad breasts, plumping her nipples with his fingers. Behind her, Jeremy attacked her bra’s hooks and dragged the straps down her shoulders. Tucker ripped the cups from her body, exposing her to their ravenous gazes.
Rhys broke away, panting, and stared. Jeremy covered her right nipple with a slightly rough palm. She shivered. A fresh ache bloomed there. Craving his touch, she arched into his hand.
And into Tucker’s waiting mouth.
Her best friend lifted her left breast until his hot tongue swirled around its nipple, teasing, flicking the sensitive bud. Then he drew her flesh deeper with a gentle suction that brought her to the tips of her toes and the edge of her self-control. She keened out at the dizzying rise of pleasure.
Then Jeremy repeated the motion with her right breast, taking the crest into his mouth and lavishing it with attention, a caress of tongue, a rough scrape of teeth.
As Kelsey looked down, her breath caught. A man at each breast, both dark heads moving as they worked her tender flesh, mouths pulling at her nipples that seemed attached by a thin electric wire to her clit. The sensations engulfed her, tearing through restraint and composure.
