by Becca Van
From the moment she’d laid eyes on them she had been attracted to them. Was physical attraction enough for a relationship to begin? Would they grow to care for her and her them? One thing Crystal had learned about herself as well as about them was that they were trustworthy and she trusted them. She would never have accepted their offer of employment if she hadn’t and she still wouldn’t be in their house either. Crystal would have found a way to leave and get back home if she hadn’t felt comfortable with them.
Because of her father she’d learned to be wary of other people. She felt that others always had a hidden agenda and had figured it would be better to keep them at an arm’s length. But after spending time with Duncan and Alec, she was reconsidering her way of thinking.
Would they get angry with her and want her to leave if she decided against getting involved with them? She needed to know how they would react if she decided against it.
“And if I decide I don’t want a relationship with you both?”
“Then we’ll value your friendship.”
Tears pricked Crystal’s eyes. She didn’t know what to do but decided the best thing to do would be nothing at this stage. The thought of being with them both aroused her, big-time. In fact, just being in the same room as them made her body sit up and take notice, but she needed more time. She already thought of them as her friends, but being more to them was very, very tempting. They were so handsome and kind and had taken her in when she’d been a complete stranger. Their actions spoke more loudly to her than their words, and no matter what she decided, she vowed she would always remain friends with them. Even though it was a cliché, she thought it was true. The saying that you had to be friends before lovers had always puzzled her when she was younger, but since meeting Alec and Duncan it had been in the forefront of her mind.
Could she really have a relationship with them both? She would think long and hard before making up her mind.
“I need some time to think about this.”
“Take all the time you need, Crystal,” Alec said.
Crystal was brought out of her introspection when Duncan came out the back door.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She looked up to see him striding toward her angrily. Crystal glared at him. She didn’t appreciate being spoken to like that and wasn’t going to take it lying down.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Don’t get smart with me. You shouldn’t be out here doing this. You’re only just getting over a car accident for fuck’s sake.” Duncan snatched the bag of pegs out of her hand and dropped them into the now empty clothes basket.
She placed her hands on her hips, thrust her chin out, and gave him the evil eye. “Don’t take that tone with me, Mr. MacLeod. I don’t take orders from you, yet.”
It was really hard to keep that angry stance and expression on her face when Duncan’s countenance changed from pissed off to aroused in the blink of an eye, but she wasn’t about to let him know she was affected by his lust.
But then he took two steps forward, clasped her upper arms, and hauled her up against his body. As he stared deeply into her eyes he lowered his head slowly. She had ample time to tell him no or move away from his hold but she stood there as if mesmerized by his gaze. And then the opportunity to refuse or move back was gone and his lips were on hers. She was surprised that his lips felt so soft and warm, and for some reason she had expected him to go in for the kill, but he brushed his lips softly over hers. When his tongue swept over her mouth she gasped with desire and he plunged his tongue in, sliding it along hers and then tasting every bit of her mouth.
He finally lifted his head and she staggered a little, feeling off kilter from the passion that he had wrung from deep inside her. Never had she been so turned on before and she didn’t think anyone besides him or Alec would be able to arouse her to such a fervor again. Duncan turned away from her and headed back to the house. Just before he went back inside he looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a sexy grin and winked.
How long she stood there staring she had no clue but she finally managed to get her brain into gear and went back inside.
* * * *
By the time Sunday of the following week arrived, Crystal was getting to know Duncan and Alec better. She felt almost content when they were around and didn’t even like to think about not being near them.
They had taken turns staying with her while the other went into work at the coffee shop, and even though she had protested that she was feeling much better and didn’t need a babysitter, neither of the men would listen to anything she said. It seemed that they liked being with her, like they enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed theirs. She and Alec had played card games and had watched a couple of movies. She and Duncan had spent a lot of time talking, and when she had begun to tire, he had patted his lap and she had lain down with her head resting on his thigh and fallen asleep. What surprised Crystal was how relaxed she was around the two men. She’d never had such a connection with anyone before like she felt she had with Duncan and Alec. It made her feel warm inside, and she didn’t want to lose that feeling.
The last few days of rest and recuperation had been just what she needed, and she was feeling so much better. Less stressed and tired than she had in a long time. When she wasn’t napping, she was on the phone organizing the cancellation of her utilities and lease on her apartment, change of her address, and the resignation for her current employment.
Crystal had been surprised at the acceptance of her resignation so quickly. Usually a company asked for at least a month’s notice, which she would have had to work out. However, the company didn’t quibble over her resignation at all. She finally realized that to them, she was just another number in a large corporation, and not a person with any feelings. She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders and knew what she had done what was right for her own peace of mind.
Monday morning arrived way too soon. Crystal was up and about at six a.m., preparing to head home with Duncan, to pack up the small one-bedroom apartment she had been leasing. She had arranged for a cheap moving company to come and collect her large furniture and put it into storage for her. The only items she was going to bring back to Passion with her were her clothes and other personal items.
Crystal entered the kitchen with the plan of cooking breakfast for her two new bosses, but she found Alec and Duncan in the kitchen already cooking while they drank their first cup of coffee. It looked like they were early risers as well. If she wanted to cook for them, she was going to have to rise even earlier. Having their own business obviously kept them on their toes. No doubt they started their days early and finished late.
After they had eaten and said good-bye to Alec, Crystal and Duncan hit the road. The drive would take just over two hours, but that also depended on how bad the traffic was once they hit Melbourne. Peak hour was notorious for the bumper-to-bumper stop-and-start, as cars crept along the major arterials, especially if there had been any car accidents.
Duncan drove with the radio playing music quietly in the background. Crystal took in the scenery she hadn’t been able to see before, since she had driven through the night before her accident. The window was cracked a little, and she breathed in the delicious scent of eucalyptus and gum trees.
She loved living in Australia. She wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world. She had planned to travel eventually, to see other parts of the world, but knew she would always want to come back home. She knew now that her travel plans would have to be put on hold. There was just no way she could afford to travel now. Maybe when she was older she would have enough money to see other countries. She had always wanted to go to Scotland, Ireland, England, and America, but now everything had changed.
She loved Duncan and Alec’s Scottish brogues. She could sit and listen to them talking for hours. She gave a sigh and leaned her head against the side window.
“Are you all right, sweethe
art?” Duncan asked, obviously having heard her sigh.
“Yes. I was just thinking about how quickly my employers accepted my resignation. Large companies don’t seem to care one way or the other for their employees. It’s like we’re just another cog that can be replaced at any time, not a person with feelings.”
“Aye, I think you may be right, sweetheart. Well, you’re no longer just another cog. You are going to be working for us now and we always take care of our employees,” Duncan said emphatically.
“I can see that you do. I can’t wait to get started on your website. Why don’t you tell me a little about your business?”
The next hour and a half was filled with Duncan’s musical brogue. Crystal listened to everything he told her about his and Alec’s business, and by the time they hit the city, her panties were wet just from his voice. She also had a lot of ideas running around in her head for their website.
Crystal squirmed in her seat trying to relieve the ache in her throbbing pussy. She crossed her legs and squeezed them together, but that only seemed to make matters worse. By the time Duncan pulled into the underground park for her apartment block, Crystal knew she was going to have to change her sopping panties. She just hoped Duncan couldn’t smell her desire.
Crystal led the way to the elevator and stood to the far side, leaning against the wall as she watched the lit numbers indicate the floors passing. Her breathing was becoming erratic being in such close confines with Duncan. She had the scent of his cologne in her nostrils, and the combination of his own unique scent merged with the cologne drew her to him.
She couldn’t get that kiss out of her head either. It had been just under a week ago that Duncan had kissed her and no matter how hard she tried to forget it she couldn’t. Dreams of Duncan and Alec kissing, touching, and making love to her every night plagued her dreams. She had to forcibly restrain herself from jumping his and Alec’s bones whenever they were close-by.
Crystal had never felt desire for a man before. It was a totally foreign feeling, and it was beginning to make her restless.
Sure, she’d had self-induced orgasms, but she’d never felt a cock sliding in and out of her pussy. She’d never even wanted to, until now. She had begun to think that she was frigid, or that there was something wrong with her. That was one of the reasons she had concentrated on her career, rather than relationships. Why it had to be now, she had no idea, and it wasn’t just Duncan that got her libido revving. Alec seemed to have the same effect on her. When they were both in the same room with her, the simmering embers of her arousal flared to massive proportions. Crystal wasn’t going to act on her desire, though. She was going to concentrate on the business side of their relationship and hope like hell she could get through living with them without giving herself away, until she could get her own place.
Even though she wanted more than anything to have a relationship with them, she didn’t want it to affect her newfound friendship with the two men. That meant more to her than a physical relationship, and although it was getting harder and harder to hide her desire, she was determined that they would never know how much she craved to feel their hands, mouths, and tongues on her body, let alone what it would be like to actually make love with them both.
She led Duncan down the long, dimly lit hall until they reached her apartment door. She froze when she saw that her door was slightly ajar. She covered her mouth to keep her gasp of fear contained. Duncan grabbed Crystal by the waist and pulled her back down the hallway, close to the door for the stairwell.
“I want you to stay here, sweetheart. I’m going to go in and take a look around. If there is any danger at all, I want you to run down those stairs to the lobby and call the police. All right?” Duncan waited for her acknowledgment and she gave him a jerky nod. He surprised the hell out of her when he leaned down, placed a kiss on her lips, and walked back down the hall.
Crystal didn’t want Duncan to go into her apartment and get hurt. She wanted to call out and stop him but knew if she did, she would alert the people or person, if they were still in her home, to his presence. So instead, she kept her hand over her mouth, trying to contain the sobs of fear rising in her throat. She watched Duncan disappear into her apartment and held her breath until black spots formed before her eyes. She took her hand away, gasping much-needed oxygen into her burning lungs, and prayed Duncan would not get hurt.
When Duncan returned to the hallway, her legs nearly buckled with relief. She watched him stride down the hall toward her, and without a word he pulled her into his arms, wrapping her within his warmth and security.
“Whoever it was has gone, baby. We need to call the police and make a report of breaking and entering. I want you to be prepared when you go in, Crystal.” Duncan moved back, gently held her face between his hands, and looked at her with concern. “They’ve wrecked everything, sweetheart. You’re not going to be able to salvage anything to pack up and move. Do you have any enemies? Someone who may want to hurt you?”
“No.” Crystal shivered in reaction. A fleeting thought of her junkie father ran through her mind, but she pushed it aside. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since she was sixteen years old. The day her mother had been buried was the day Crystal had left home. Her father didn’t even know where she lived, and she hadn’t bothered to contact him either.
Crystal had watched her father abuse her mother for years. When her mother had gotten sick, he had turned his fury to her. He had hit her a few times, screaming at her to give him her money. Of course she hadn’t, even though she had stashed the money she earned from her part-time job under a floorboard beneath her bed. Crystal had been saving every single cent she could, in preparation of leaving home. They day her mother was buried was the last day she had seen her father. She hadn’t looked back since.
“Come on, baby. Let’s see if you can find anything to take with you, and I’ll call the police.” Duncan wrapped an arm around her waist for support.
Crystal whimpered as she stepped into her small living room. Everything she owned was ruined. The furniture had been slashed, the stuffing was spilling out, her books were ripped, and anything that could be smashed had been. She felt her knees wobble, wanting to collapse beneath her as she stared at the destruction of her things. She turned around into Duncan’s chest, gripped his shirt, and cried. Everything she had worked for was gone. All those years of scrimping and scraping had been destroyed with the snap of the fingers. She had nothing left.
Duncan soothed Crystal as she cried. He ran a large hand up and down her back as he hugged her to his body with his other arm. He didn’t try to placate her, just held her until she was done.
“Oh, I need to check on my mom’s jewelry. I had it in a box on my dresser in my room.” Crystal pushed out of Duncan’s arms. She stumbled her way through the debris and stood staring at her room from the doorway. The box was gone and her room looked as if a cyclone had swept through it. Her eyes were drawn to the mirror of her dresser and the crude letters in the lipstick writing on the mirror caught her attention.
You owe us, bitch. We’ll be back!
* * * *
Duncan was just in time to catch Crystal before her legs collapsed beneath her. He picked her up in his arms and cradled her against his chest. He could feel her shivering in reaction and knew she was going into shock. He walked over to her ruined mattress and sat down on the side of it. After picking up what was left of her quilt, he shook it out with a hard flick and wrapped it around her body. He leaned to the side, unclipped his mobile from his belt, and dialed the police.
Duncan just sat with Crystal on the side of the bed, rocking her in his arms, trying to comfort her. The police arrived and took their statements, but they didn’t hold out much hope of finding whoever had wrecked her apartment. They dusted the entire place for fingerprints and asked Crystal if she had any insurance.
“No,” Crystal answered before turning her head into Duncan’s chest, sobbing once more. When she had herself under control
again, the two police officers took down the description of her mom’s jewelry, but since it wasn’t unique in design, they didn’t hold out much hope of getting it back to her. Crystal was utterly devastated.
Duncan called on some friends he knew who lived in the city and owed him a favor. He arranged for them to come in to clean out the apartment. And he also called the company Crystal had arranged to come and pick up her furniture for storage and canceled. He picked Crystal up in his arms and headed for the elevator. He met his friends in the lobby, thanked them, took Crystal’s apartment key, and placed it through a mail slot for the landlord. Then he carried her back to the elevator, taking her down to the basement car park. After settling her in the front passenger seat of his SUV, he walked around and got in the driver’s seat.
Duncan made sure Crystal was buckled into her seat belt and watched with concern as she slumped against the door with her eyes closed. Hours had gone by since they had arrived at her apartment, and he was beginning to feel hungry, but he knew food would be the last thing on Crystal’s mind. He buckled up and began the drive back to Passion.
Duncan turned the radio off so he could listen for Crystal in case she started crying again. When he heard her breathing change to a deep rhythm, he knew she was finally asleep. He flicked his Bluetooth on, making sure his microphone was close to his mouth, and called Alec. He wanted Alec to be home once he and Crystal got back. She was going to need both of them. Duncan and Alec were lucky enough to have such great, dedicated employees and knew their employees would keep things running while they weren’t at the shops. Duncan listened as Alec cussed over the phone after he had explained the situation, and his brother promised to be waiting at home for them.
* * * *
Alec was waiting out on the timber deck when Duncan pulled to a stop close to the house. Crystal was just waking up and sat up straight in her seat. Alec saw her shudder before taking a deep breath, pushing her shoulders back and unclipping her seat belt. Alec opened the door for her and lifted her out of the vehicle into his arms.
