Nichols, Tara S. - Island of Three (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Tara S. Nichols

  A sudden bout of lilydipperitis kicked in, and their canoe soon lagged second to the end.

  The gap between their canoe and the rest continued to widen. When the last canoe was out of earshot was also about the same time when the life jackets came off. Without anyone around to chide them on safety, both of the guys turned into rebellious teenagers.

  Adele felt confident they could handle themselves, though. At least they looked like able-bodied swimmers. In fact, she felt certain their bodies were capable of many feats. Visions of erotic scenarios flashed through her mind, drawing a smile across her lips. If they wanted to give her a better view of their muscles at work, well, she wasn’t going to complain.

  Suddenly, the world seemed like a happy place, brighter, fresher, and hopeful. She took in a deep breath, inhaling the pungent fragrance of cedar, pine, and fresh, cool water.

  Oh, how she’d missed it. Waves slapped against the side of the boat, and she reached out to see how cold the lake was. Barely swimmable, she decided, retrieving her hand.

  Her eyes followed the flight of a cormorant overhead. A moment later, she spotted a loon in the distance. When the bird dove under, she held her breath and counted, just like she did when she was a kid spending summers at the lake with her family. Only when the loon resurfaced did she let out her breath.

  “One hundred and eighty seconds,” Blaine said, and she realized he had been watching her and playing along. She smiled, thrilled that they had something in common. Spending summers at the cottage had been a huge part of her life, and her decision to reacquaint herself agreed with her. She could feel the tension leaving her muscles already. It would help more if the weather would cooperate, though. She frowned at the sky.

  The wind had picked up noticeably, deepening the trough between each wave. She had to tie her hair back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck to be able to see. Again, she caught Blaine openly admiring her as her fingers worked on her hair, her arms raised above her head, showing off her shapely figure. She welcomed the attention. Steve, her ex, had been too engrossed in the markets to appreciate her feminine charms. For two years, she’d tried to get his attention only to fail, and finally, she’d become sick of being ignored.

  What she wanted was a good, rigorous fuck that made her toes curl under. Since the breakup, and consequently an abrupt decline in sex, she discovered she had sex on the brain a lot. It worked its way into everything she did and nearly everyone she came into contact with. The lack of contact made her feel insufferably promiscuous, and she knew she was dancing on thin ice. It felt like an eternity since a man looked at her with as much open interest as Blaine was, and she knew it wouldn’t take much to tumble him into her sleeping bag. All afternoon he’d made his interest in her clear. He certainly wasn’t one to hide his feelings, but then, why should he? He was beautiful, masculine, and potentially dangerous. An intoxicating mixture, one she had a weakness for. He gave her something to think about now that they had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the group and a peaceful silence had fallen over them.

  Feeling a little playful, she reached into her backpack and retrieved her sun block. Despite the cloud cover, her exposed skin was starting to burn, and if there was any hope of starting something with either tall, dark, and mysterious men, she damn well did not want tender flesh.

  She slathered the lotion on, rubbing up and down her arms, neck, shoulders, and legs, moving as sensuously as she could.

  Her flirting had the desired effect on both of the guys. They had slowed their pace even more until the rest of the canoes were far ahead. Poised mid stroke, Tyler had turned halfway around just to watch. Their interest was so blatant she struggled not to giggle.

  A shrill sound cut into her performance, waking the guys abruptly from the trance she’d successfully lulled them under. The noise came again. It sounded like a phone ringing.

  Tyler blinked and came back to the present. He twisted his body around, bent over, and reached for the pack beneath his seat. Adele watched as he fumbled through his belongings, the majority of them appeared to be electronic devices, until he found the item he was looking for, a cell phone. Hitting a button, he answered it using a rather professional tone.

  Great, a workaholic, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut.

  It was clear from the broken conversation that he was having a hard time getting reception and eventually had to give up.

  “Taking your work with you?” she asked.

  Tyler paused, and a tight smile flitted across his lips. He briefly glanced over her head at Blaine and raised one eyebrow quizzically. She wished she could see Blaine’s reaction.

  “Yeah,” he answered after a moment, but his voice held an edge. “I can’t afford to leave it behind.”

  Pity. She mentally stroked Tyler off the dating list. That was the main reason she and her recent ex broke up. They never took time for each other or for life in general for that matter. Both of them were always working, and she had vowed never to do it again. It was the whole purpose of her trip, after all, to force herself to slow down, reevaluate her priorities.

  The exchange of looks had her wondering about her two companion’s connection. “So how do you two know each other?”

  “We don’t,” Blaine answered bluntly from behind her.

  This news startled her. “But I thought—” She frowned and turned to face him. “Didn’t you come in the same car?”

  “Yes, but that was a matter of convenience.” He shrugged easily. “This trip is a part of our company’s team building program.” He rolled his eyes, making his distaste for the company’s program known. “They send two or three of us out at a time for a moral boost or for networking. I only went on the trip to get out of the city.”

  Tyler made a face at Blaine’s confession. “I have an apartment downtown. At least you can afford to take time away.” He turned to address Adele. “I’m an architectural engineer, and Blaine here is in shipping and receiving.”

  Blaine arched his eyes brows and gave his head a shake as though Tyler had insulted him. It seemed as though there was a little department rivalry at Gil and Sons. “If we’re talking about money, pal, that’s where you’re wrong. Us shipper-types don’t make anything what you brainiacs on the top floor make, and you get to see the sun.”

  Tyler took a deep breath. “I was talking about time management, and I don’t know what you are complaining about. At least you get fresh air.”

  “Exhaust fumes is more like it,” Blaine countered.

  Tyler scoffed. “You’ll notice he didn’t bring any work,” he said jerking his thumb toward his coworker.

  “Nope.” Blaine let the personal attack go with an easy grin.

  Adele studied Blaine’s proud expression. Perhaps the loading-dock worker was too much the other way, she thought. A workaholic and a guy without ambition. Great. Her shoulders slumped, and she prepared herself for a weekend without romance.

  Tyler’s backpack rang again. He glanced at each of them warily. “Do you mind if we pull over to that island over there? I really should try and take this call, and I have a computer, and I might be able to set something up that will help with the reception.”

  Blaine didn’t object, to Adele’s relief. For nearly an hour she had been all too aware of an uncomfortably full bladder. At least now she could find relief somewhere in the privacy of the island without drawing attention to herself.

  “Sure,” she said glancing to the tour group paddling off in the distance. “I’m sure we’ll catch up.”

  Chapter Three

  The canoe scrapped against the shore with a nails-on-chalkboard screech, making everyone inside the vessel cringe and shudder. Somehow, they had miraculously ducked out of view and pulled over at the very next island undetected, a feat Tyler thought impossible given the tour leader’s ever alert scrutiny of her flock.

  Blaine launched himself overboard and waded through the cool water in order to pull the boat onto higher ground, grumbling and
muttering the whole time.

  Tyler could tell Adele and Blaine disapproved of his inability to leave work behind. Hell, he himself disapproved of it. The office knew he was supposed to be on an island, in the middle of a lake, singing campfire songs with his new pal in shipping, yet, they had called. The fact was, he could have ignored the phone. He could have chosen to leave the equipment at home, but he’d have twice as much work to do when he got back. His stomach cramped just thinking about it. Reaching into a zippered pocket, he retrieved the bottle of antacids he always kept on hand. His career would put him in an early grave, he thought, just like his dad.

  What he wanted was to return to the days of his youth where he spent the summers splashing on the beach shore, skipping stones across a calm lake at night, and snuggling around a fire under a blanket with a pretty girl.

  He looked to Adele, who had just come out of the trees. He knew what she’d done in there, and the thought of her bottom bared to the elements for that short span of time had been enough to make him enter the wrong GPS coordinates. Then a tree fell over, crashing noisily to the ground, and he had to do it over again.

  To make matters worse, she came over to squat next to him, throwing his concentration off even more. He knew she was just curious, but in that position he could see the supple curve of her inner thigh just before the crease to her sex. If he leaned forward he’d have been able to see what color her panties were.

  The sound of a shoe crunching against rock brought his gaze up to discover Blaine watching him. As usual the sturdy shipper had a knowing smile plastered on his lips, but there was something in his eyes that told Tyler he was not amused.

  When he pulled a scraggly bouquet of wildflowers out from behind his back, Tyler wanted to scream foul!

  Adele’s pretty face lit up at the gallant gesture. Tyler just wished he’d been the one to think of it first. Anything he did now would just seem petty, competitive. Well, that’s what it was, wasn’t it, a competition? A knot formed in his guts just thinking about it.

  Tyler matched his smile, feeling triumphant, that was, until Adele patted the ground on her other side. Blaine was only too happy to oblige.

  He studied Blaine’s face, noting the eagerness twitching within every muscle. Something about it looked familiar, and he felt certain he’d seen a nature documentary featuring some odd insect doing the exact same thing.

  He groaned inwardly. Well, if he had to resort to the tactics of mating bugs, then by golly, he would.

  * * * *

  Adele had breezed right past the small clump of saplings where Blaine had stood with his hand resting on his dick. Moments earlier she’d pushed into the forest with the urgency of a woman on a mission. He’d done much the same, only his goal was different. If he was expected to spend heavens knew how long in a canoe staring at her luscious body, he was bloody well going to take the edge off first. Otherwise, he figured he might have trouble paddling around a rock hard erection.

  He’d barely pumped his shaft three times when she’d dropped her drawers and squatted out of sight on the other side of the trees. Just the thought of how close her naked bottom was to his exposed flesh had sent him over the edge in seconds. He’d barely been unable to control the mighty groan that would have exposed him, but thankfully she’d hurried on her way, unfortunately, back to where Tyler was sitting.

  Blaine watched Tyler squirm with unabashed pleasure. His traveling companion was no match for Blaine’s sex appeal when it came down to a show of physical strength and raw masculine power, especially when the other man insisted on geeky indulgences such as—whatever it was Tyler did with that electronic box and antennae. He felt confident Adele would feel the same, but just to be certain, he found a dead tree that was still standing and pushed it over in hopes to show off his pretty muscles.

  She shrieked satisfactorily when the trunk smashed to the ground. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem all that impressed. Still clutching her hand over her heart, she returned her attention to Tyler’s progress, and to his chagrin, sat down beside the competition.

  Frowning, Blaine decided to take another tactic. Wrenching a fistful of flowers from the ground, he thrust them in front of her face and waited for her to gush.

  At first Adele seemed taken aback, but then he saw her smile, albeit a slow, knowing smile, but he decided to take what he could get, and it was worth it, if going by Tyler’s pursed lips were any indication.

  Adele brought the flowers to her nose and inhaled deeply. He knew his sentiment wasn’t lost. If Tyler knew what he was up against, he’d throw in the towel right then and there. Blaine wanted Adele, and by golly, no computer savvy geek was going to beat him at the game he knew best. His efforts were rewarded when Adele patted the space next to her.

  Blaine fixed Tyler with a level stare, ready to challenge the other man, but was surprised when he was met with a weary smile. Immediately Blaine felt like a heel. How was he supposed to prove his masculine prowess when his opponent toppled at the first sign of a fight?

  Swallowing hard, Blaine accepted the seat Adele offered him. She glanced from Blaine to Tyler, then contented herself just sniffing flowers.

  Chapter Four

  By the time they climbed back in their canoe, they’d been off the water for nearly an hour. Somehow time got away from them, and now there was no sign of the group. Pulling out of the bulrushes, they struggled to keep the canoe heading north.

  Adele looked woefully out at the lake. The water had grown choppier with the ever increasing wind. Intimidating, dark clouds had crept in on the horizon, cooling the air to an uncomfortable temperature. Regretting the decision to not pack her sweatshirt, she crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. Maybe a warm campfire with a bunch of loud, obnoxious idiots wasn’t so bad after all.

  The little boat rocked back and forth so much that Adele decided to tie a rope to her backpack. She held the other end in her hand. Eventually she had to let the end of the rope go and take up a paddle as well.

  It took all of their effort to get out into the middle again where they could finally make some progress. Now and again Adele took the time to look at the map every team was given just in case they strayed. As she studied it, she noted that they needed to take a left down an arm of the lake. There were dozens of tiny islands, some that were just bare boulders, while others looked as though it could house a village. The one with the campsite on it was at the far end of a long chain of islands.

  The wind whipped at the flimsy paper, and before she could do anything to stop it, a large, unexpected gust ripped the map out of her hands. She cried out with surprise and leapt up to catch it, nearly capsizing the boat. Tyler moved to steady the vessel while Blaine grabbed the back of her skirt to keep her from falling overboard.

  She watched with horror as the wind carried the paper high into the air.

  “Let it go!” Tyler hollered. “We don’t need it anyway.”

  She chewed her lip, feeling embarrassed.

  “Yeah,” Blaine added with a snort. “We should be able to track them just by listening for them.”

  She managed a weak smile. The guys were handling the loss very well. Relieved they weren’t angry with her, she laughed, too.

  “I can’t say I miss them,” she heard herself admitting.

  “No way! This trip has already improved twice over since we ditched them.”

  “We did, didn’t we?” she said covering her mouth, ashamed at the idea.

  “What?”

  “Ditch them. My god, we’re a bunch of snobs.”

  “Uh, uh. There’s only so much of that I can take,” Tyler shouted over his shoulder.

  “I suppose,” she agreed. “I’ve got to say, until you guys showed up I was busy thinking up excuses to get myself out of there.”

  “Really?”

  She grew shy having been bolder than she intended to be, but talking about their delinquent behavior had lightened her mood. It seemed as though no one wanted to mention the impending weat
her.

  The occasional drop of rain hit the water now and again, and the wind didn’t show signs of letting up.

  As they neared what clearly was an arm off the main lake, they steered hard to the left. Unfortunately, their new direction turned their boat against the waves. The canoe lurched precariously, and it became Adele’s job to be the counterbalance using her paddle as a leveler. It felt as though they were going backwards, and they realized they had drifted considerably to the right side of the lake, the direction the waves were going. They couldn’t do anything about it at the moment, though.

  “Are you paddling?” Adele called out desperately over her shoulder to Blaine.

  “What do you think?” he snapped back.

  She pursed her lips, holding back another impatient comment. Suddenly tensions were high, and they soared even higher when it started to pour. Sheets of rain pelted them sideways, quickly drenching them to the bone. Her life jacket offered her little protection from the cold, but she knew it was far better than going without.

  A large wave caught her off guard, and Adele nearly lost her paddle, and the sudden movement to retrieve it rocked the boat.

  “Sorry!” she cried out, but neither of the guys responded. They were concentrating so hard that there wasn’t any time to be picky. Water began to build up in the bottom of the boat, so Adele began to bail. Her feet slipped along the floor, tangling the rope around her legs, but she was helpless to do anything about it. All she had time for was bailing.

  Glancing at the sky behind them, she noted the weather had worsened, and it didn’t look like there would be a reprieve any time soon.